September 2024 – Page 2 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1

Title: Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1
Author: Miyuli
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Publisher: Webtoon Unscrolled
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 3, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What happens when a struggling witch meets an angsty vampire? Either love or war.

Morgana belongs to a long line of witches, and Oz to the rival vampire clan. After a chance encounter . . . and maybe a few stray spells . . . these two need to find a way to work together, or risk all-out war between coven and clan.

It’s a Romeo and Juliet story where a boy and a girl from two rival clans, one a vampire and one a witch, meet cute, like each other, but then the girl makes a serious mistake and turns the boy into a cute kitty.

Collecting episodes 1-19 of the hit fantasy WEBTOON series.

Review:

Morgana is a teenage witch who is struggling to control her powers. Her spells always seem to go wrong. Her family wants to make peace with their rival vampire clan, but after a dinner party leaves the vampires ill, they’re ready to go to war. While everyone else was at the dinner, Morgana finds a vampire named Oz behind her house. She accidentally turns Oz into a white cat. Morgana needs to find the way to reverse the spell, but she doesn’t want to admit her mistake to her family, so she sneaks around with her new vampire cat friend.

This was such a fun graphic novel! It’s the perfect paranormal read for this fall. It was so fast paced and exciting. This book ended on a huge cliffhanger, so I can’t wait until volume 2 comes out!

Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1 is a great graphic novel for spooky season!

Thank you Webtoon for providing a digital copy of this book!

Have you read Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?

Review: Icebreaker (UCMH #1)

Title: Icebreaker (UCMH #1)
Author: Hannah Grace
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Atria Books
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 23, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills, and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team.

Nothing will stand in her way, not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.

Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly can’t stand him.

But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate to take her shot.

Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn’t worried . . . because she could never like a hockey player, right?

Review:

Anastasia Allen is a competitive figure skater at University of California, Maple Hills, who is trying to get to the Olympics in two years. Nate Hawkins is the captain of the UCMH hockey team. When one of their rink facilities is destroyed by their rivals, the figure skaters and hockey players must use the same rink for months. Nate likes Anastasia when they meet at a hockey house party, but her skating partner, Aaron, gets jealous and makes life hard for Anastasia. Despite not liking hockey, Anastasia realizes she’s starting to fall for a hockey player.

This was such a spicy romance! I loved Anastasia and Nathan. One part that was really disturbing was the way Anastasia was treated by her skating partner. He was manipulative in a way that wasn’t obvious at first but later became undeniable. A character who I loved was a hockey player named Henry! I’m so glad that the third book in the series is his love story!

Icebreaker is a spicy hockey/skating romance!

Content warnings: disordered eating, death of parent (off page)

Other books in the series:

Wildfire (UCMH #2)
Daydream (CUMH#3)

Have you read Icebreaker? What did you think of it?

Review: Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons #4)

Title: Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons #4)
Author: Julia Quinn
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Avon
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback, Audiobook
Release Date: July 1, 2002
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend’s brother for . . . well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret . . . and fears she doesn’t know him at all.

Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought of as nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can’t seem to publish an edition without mentioning him. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad, he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same—especially Penelope Featherington! The girl who was always simply there is suddenly the girl haunting his dreams. When he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide . . . is she his biggest threat— or his promise of a happy ending?

Review:

Penelope Featherington has finally accepted her status as a spinster. She’s been in love with Colin Bridgerton for years, but he hasn’t acknowledged her. Colin is sick of reading about himself in Lady Whistledown’s column. When he returns home from another trip abroad, he suddenly sees Penelope in a new light. However, her deepest secret threatens to break up their new romance. They must decide if their love can survive the biggest scandal of the ton.

Penelope is one of my favourite Bridgerton characters. Ironically, I’ve never really liked Colin. I really wanted to see Penelope’s dream of marrying Colin come true, so I was rooting for them. I listened to the audiobook for a lot of this book, and I really enjoyed it! The secret behind Lady Whistledown was threatened in this story, which made for some intense dramatic scenes. I’m curious to see how the dynamics of the series will change after this book.

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton is a great historical romance!

Other books in the series:

The Duke and I (Bridgerton #1)
The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgerton #2)
An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgerton #3)
To Sir Philip, With Love (Bridgerton #5)
When He Was Wicked (Bridgerton #6)
It’s In His Kiss (Bridgerton #7)
On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgerton #8)

Have you read Romancing Mister Bridgerton? What did you think of it?

Review: Cry Wolf (The Raccoons)

Title: Cry Wolf (The Raccoons)
Author: John Peel
Genre: Children’s
Publisher: Candy Jar Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 28, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

“Why Scaeffer, what big teeth you have!Why Bert, what big fibs you tell…”

There’s been a tornado in the Evergreen Forest! Schaeffer the sheepdog has gone wild! And there are gangsters at Cyril Sneer’s mansion!

Or maybe Bert Raccoon’s imagination is getting the better of him. Perhaps his quest to become the best (and only) news reporter in the forest means fiction sounds better than fact. It’s certainly not Sneer’s three Pig henchmen making the young Raccoon cry wolf.

Nope, no one will believe Bert’s crazy tales anymore.

But Bert really does have a the biggest thing to ever hit the Evergreen Forest. Cyril intends to pave paradise and put up a parking lot…

The classic TV series returns in these brand new storybooks!

Review:

Bert Raccoon is a reporter in the Evergreen Forest, but he wants to be the best reporter. He wants to write a front page news story, but he has trouble finding one. He thinks he sees a tornado, a wild dog, and gangsters going into a mansion, but none of those stories turn out to be what he expected. Bert doesn’t give up though, and he eventually goes undercover to find his biggest story yet.

This was such a great chapter book. It is based on Canadian 80s The Raccoons TV series. The story can be read as a stand-alone without watching the TV show first. The story was great, and there were some fun additions to the book as well. The book had 7 chapters, meant for children to read one chapter a day for a week. There were also QR codes in the book, including one in the middle of the book that leads to a cooking scene from the TV show that also appeared in the story. It was fun to see a scene played out on the TV show after reading it in the book.

Cry Wolf is a great children’s book!

Thank you Candy Jar Books for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

The One That Got Away
Blast From the Past

Have you read Cry Wolf? What did you think of it?

Happy Pub Day – September 10

Happy Pub Day to these authors!

Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

The Royal Upstairs by Karina Halle

Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel by Kiersten White

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark, Doubleday Canada, Berkley, Del Rey, and Penguin Teen Canada for providing copies of these books!

What books are you most excited for this week?

Review: An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)

Title: An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Review:

Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. When their house is raided one night, her grandparents are murdered, her brother is taken to jail, and Laia escapes. She finds the Resistance who say they will help save her brother if she infiltrates the military school as a slave to the leader, the Commandant. Elias is a soldier at the school, and the estranged son of the Commandant. He plans his escape from their prison-like school, but instead he is put in the Trials to find the person who will inherit the Emperor’s position. Both Laia’s and Elias’s goals become intertwined as they try to destroy the empire that created them.

I’ve had this series on my TBR and I’m so glad I finally started it. It had descriptive world building that hooked me right away. The chapters alternated between Laia’s and Elias’s POVs. It was fast paced, and I had to keep reading to find out what happened next! I’m so glad I can read the rest of the series right away.

An Ember in the Ashes is a great YA fantasy!

Content warnings: death of parents, death of grandparents, kidnapping, stabbing, slavery, abuse

Other books in the series:

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2)
A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3)
A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4)

Have you read An Ember in the Ashes? What did you think of it?

Review: HoverGirls

Title: HoverGirls
Author: Geneva Bowers
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 6, 2024
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The web comic sensation about magical girls by acclaimed illustrator Geneva Bowers, now in a beautiful print edition, featuring an expanded storyline and revised art!

Jalissa and Kim Vasquez are cousins who move to the city of Los Aguaceros together. Kim dreams of becoming a famous model and fashion designer, while Jalissa is just trying to hold herself together after a breakdown the year before.

When a curious incident on the beach leaves them with supernatural powers and monsters start attacking the city, Kim decides that using their powers to stop them is the perfect way for them to become famous. But being heroes isn’t as easy as it seems–and Los Aquaceros is in more danger than they imagine.

This beautifully illustrated and hilarious YA graphic novel began as a web comic and quickly became a WEBTOON sensation. This print edition features an expanded story and updated art, offering something for new and old fans alike!

Review:

Jalissa and Kim Vasquez are cousins who move to the city of Los Aguaceros together to start new lives. Kim wants to be a famous fashion designer and model, while Jalissa wants to escape her problems at home. An incident on the beach leaves them with magic powers and strange fish-like monsters in the city. Kim decides the way to get famous is to defeat these monsters and save the city. However, there is something out of this world behind the cause of their powers and the monsters, which they must defeat to survive.

This story had a lot of potential. I loved the vibrant illustrations. Kim and Jalissa had opposite personalities. Kim was excited and eager but forgetful. Jalissa kept to herself and seemed angry most of the time. I didn’t feel a connection to either of the characters because they both had unlikeable traits.

Unfortunately HoverGirls wasn’t for me.

Thank you Bloomsbury for providing a digital copy of this book!

Have you read HoverGirls? What did you think of it?

Review: Return to Midnight

Title: Return to Midnight
Author: Emma Dues
Genre: Thriller, Contemporary
Publisher: Thomas and Mercer
Source: Firefly Books Distributed Lines
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 27, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

On the anniversary of a savage mass murder, a survivor returns to the scene of the crime―and all its buried secrets―in a twisting novel of suspense.

Nearly ten years ago, five Ohio university students were murdered in an off-campus Victorian home. The media dubbed it the Midnight House Massacre. Ever since, survivor and novelist Margot Davis has wanted to forget it, and never again utter the killer’s name. Until she’s compelled to write her side of the story. To do that, she’s returning to Midnight House.

It’ll be a chance for Margot to reconnect with other survivors, heal the trauma, and dispel the ugly conspiracy theories of obsessed true crime fanatics. But when news of Margot’s book gets out, she receives a threatening note that demands she stop lying. Or else. It chills Margot’s blood. Because she hasn’t been telling the whole truth.

As the threats continue, each more sinister than the last, a journalist comes to Margot with new suspicions about that brutal October night. Now, to save her own life, Margot must reveal her well-guarded secrets―ones that, for good reason, she’s been too terrified to share.

Review:

Almost ten years ago, five college students were massacred in their home called Midnight House. Margot Davis was one of the survivors, and she’s still traumatized from the murders of her best friends. Another one of her best friends was convicted for the murders, but he has always maintained his innocence. Margot decides to finally tell her side of the story and write a book about the murders, so she returns to Midnight House, which is now owned by her friends and other survivors, to do research. However, when her book is announced, Margot starts getting threats, telling her to stop lying about the massacre. Margot does have secrets from her college years, but she can’t figure out who would threaten her about them. She must figure out who is sending the threats before she’s the next victim.

This was the scariest thriller I’ve read in a long time. It was creepy and fast paced. I was hooked right from the first page. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book. There were some graphic scenes, that were more like a horror story, but the suspense made this a thrilling read!

Return to Midnight is a thrilling debut!

Thank you Firefly Books Distributed Lines for sending me a copy of this book!

Content warnings: death, blood, vomiting, stabbing, overdose, gaslighting

Have you read Return to Midnight? What did you think of it?

Happy Pub Day – September 3

Happy Pub Day to these authors!

Morgana and Oz, Vol. 1 by Miyuli

The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gilmore

The Loss of the Burying Ground by J. Anderson Coats

My Vampire vs. Your Werewolf by Paul Tobin

A Curse of Blood and Wolves by Melissa McTernan

The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers

Pablo and Splash by Sheena Dempsey

Taxi Ghost by Sophie Escabasse

Shadows of Perl by J. Elle

The Monstrous Kind by Lydia Gregovic

Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

The Princess in Black and the Kitty Catastrophe by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and LeUyen Pham

Thank you Webtoon, Frenzy Books, Candlewick Press, Bloomsbury Books, and Penguin Teen Canada for providing copies of these books!

What books are you most excited for this week?

Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Title: I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Author: Casey McQuiston
Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQ, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need…

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

Review:

Chloe Green is competing with Shara Wheeler to be valedictorian at her conservative Christian school. After prom night, Shara vanishes without a trace. Everyone in school is obsessed with her and wondering where she is, and Chloe can’t help but be curious too. Shara randomly kissed Chloe in school one day, and Chloe thinks that has something to do with her disappearance. While she’s searching for answers, Chloe discovers that Shara left cryptic notes for her boyfriend Smith and her next door neighbour Rory. Though they don’t have anything else in common, Chloe, Smith, and Rory follow the clues that Shara left behind to figure out the secrets Shara has been keeping.

This was a great YA novel. Chloe had two moms and she was bisexual, so she was constantly fighting against the homophobic rules that were in place at her school. Shara seemed like a Regina George-type character at the beginning. She was the most popular girl in school and everyone seemed to be obsessed with her. However, there was more to her, and to most of the students at their school, than there appeared to be on the surface. I really liked the twist that happened once they solved all of Shara’s clues!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a great queer YA romance!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a digital copy of this book.

Content warnings: homophobia

Have you read I Kissed Shara Wheeler? What did you think of it?