Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
Title: Get Out of Town (Riverdale #2) Author: Micol Ostow Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Scholastic Inc. Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: May 28, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
When Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead take a road trip, they discover that their small-town problems seem to follow them wherever they go.
Archie’s on trial for murder, and the evidence is stacked against him. Betty, Veronica, and Jughead all know that Archie is being framed by Hiram Lodge, but how can they prove it?
The gang comes up with a last-ditch plan to prove Archie’s innocence: They have to go back to the scene of the crime. They have to go back to Shadow Lake.
Threats are around every corner deep in the woods at the Lodge family cabin. Will the teens find the evidence they need to clear Archie’s name? And more importantly, will they make it back to Riverdale alive?
Review:
I loved the first book in this series, which was set before the events of the show Riverdale began. I was so excited to read this new book in the series!
This story switches perspectives between all of the main characters in Riverdale. All of their voices are authentic. I could hear the characters’ voices while I was reading. This made the book so good!
The story started out very well. It switched between characters frequently and was exciting. However, it got a little boring when Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead went to the Lodge. They had some flashbacks to random events at Riverdale High, which didn’t move the story forward.
The author had the challenge of writing this book to take place in the middle of the TV series. The book had to give some new details to keep fans of the show entertained, but not spoil anything or change what ultimately happens on the show. She did a great job of writing this book.
This book is great for fans of Riverdale.
What to read next:
The Day Before (Riverdale #1) by Micol Ostow
Archie, Vol. 1 by Mark Wait, Fiona Staples
Have you read Get Out of Town? What did you think of it?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle.
Goodreads Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of The Marriage Lie and Three Days Missing comes a riveting new novel of suspense about a woman who, in a fight for survival, must decide just how far she’ll go to escape the person she once loved
Beth Murphy is on the run…
For nearly a year, Beth has been planning for this day. A day some people might call any other Wednesday, but Beth prefers to see it as her new beginning–one with a new look, new name and new city. Beth has given her plan significant thought, because one small slip and her violent husband will find her.
Sabine Hardison is missing…
A couple hundred miles away, Jeffrey returns home from a work trip to find his wife, Sabine, is missing. Wherever she is, she’s taken almost nothing with her. Her abandoned car is the only evidence the police have, and all signs point to foul play.
As the police search for leads, the case becomes more and more convoluted. Sabine’s carefully laid plans for her future indicate trouble at home, and a husband who would be better off with her gone. The detective on the case will stop at nothing to find out what happened and bring this missing woman home. Where is Sabine? And who is Beth? The only thing that’s certain is that someone is lying and the truth won’t stay buried for long.
Title: Once Upon a Frog (Whatever After #8) Author: Sarah Mlynowski Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy Publisher: Scholastic Press Source: Borrowed from a friend Format: Paperback Release Date: April 25, 2017 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
My brother, Jonah, and I just want to TALK to the magic mirror — we’re not planning on traveling into any fairytales today. Promise.
Except we do wind up going through the mirror, this time into the story of The Frog Prince. The princess, who’s supposed to transform the cute little frog back into a handsome prince, turns out to be super rude. Jonah and I decide we don’t want — or need — her help. We can take matters into our own hands and turn the frog into a prince ourselves! Can’t we?
Now we just have to:
– Climb out of a smelly well
– Canoe over a waterfall
– Sneak into a palace
– Kiss a frog (ack)!
And there’s no time to waste — let’s hop to it!
Review:
This story is a little different from the others in the series. In each book, Abby and Jonah travel to a fairy tale. They end up messing up the ending in some way, such as preventing Sleeping Beauty from falling asleep. However, in this one, they intentionally try to change the ending.
In the original story of the frog prince, the princess is so mean that she throws the frog against a wall which makes him turn back into a prince. Abby didn’t want this frog prince to have the same fate, so she stops the princess from rescuing him, and instead tries to change him back into a human. This doesn’t end as she planned, when it turns out that the prince is actually evil!
Abby was able to apply what she learned about the mean prince in the fairy tale to her real bully at school. This shows that kids can learn things from fairy tales, even if they aren’t set in real life.
I love this series! I can’t wait to read the next one which is based on Aladdin!
What to read next:
Genie in a Bottle (Whatever After #9) by Sarah Mlynowski
Upside-Down Magic (Upside-Down Magic #1) by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, Emily Jenkins
Have you read Once Upon a Frog? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Penguin Random House Canada:
Sharon, Lois and Bram’s Skinnamarink by Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillienstein, Bram Morrison, Qin Leung
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press:
The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Canelo:
The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen by Ada Bright and Cass Grafton
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada, St. Martin’s Press, and Canelo for these books!
Title: The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1) Author: Michelle Hodkin Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Simon and Schuster Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: November 7, 2017 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.
Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.
They’re wrong.
Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.
He shouldn’t.
And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.
They’re right.
Review:
I’m so glad this series is continuing with Noah Shaw’s story. The Mara Dyer trilogy was only the beginning. Their story progresses a lot in this book.
Though Noah was one of the main characters in the Mara Dyer trilogy, he still remained a mystery. That series was narrated by Mara, so we only got to see her perspective. This book was narrated by Noah, so we got an inside look at what it’s like to be Noah. He is very distinct and different from Mara. Mara becomes the mysterious figure in this book.
I’ve flown through each of these books. I can read them in just a couple of hours. I can’t say too much without giving away the ending, but it was a fast-paced story! Also, there is a page with trigger warnings at the beginning. However, if you’re familiar with this series, you know that just about anything bad that can happen to a person happens in these books, including torture and suicide. The page turns into a bit of a joke, because if you can’t read about these subjects, this series is definitely not for you.
I loved the cliffhanger ending! I can’t wait to see what happens next!
What to read next:
The Reckoning of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #2) by Michelle Hodkin
Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi
Have you read The Becoming of Noah Shaw? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“Of all my many murders, committed for love and for better reasons, the first was the most important. Already this project proves more difficult than I had ever imagined. Autobiographies depend upon truth; but I have been lying for such a very long, lonesome time.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye.
Goodreads synopsis:
“Reader, I murdered him.”
A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.
Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents—the fascinating but caustic Mr. Thornfield, an army doctor returned from the Sikh Wars, and the gracious Sikh butler Mr. Sardar Singh, whose history with Mr. Thornfield appears far deeper and darker than they pretend. As Jane catches ominous glimpses of the pair’s violent history and falls in love with the gruffly tragic Mr. Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: Can she possess him—body, soul, and secrets—without revealing her own murderous past?
Have you read Jane Steele? What did you think of it?
Title: Call It What You Want Author: Brigid Kemmerer Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Publisher: Bloomsbury YA Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: June 25, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.
Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.
When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship…
This captivating, heartfelt novel asks the question: Is it okay to do something wrong for the right reasons?
Review:
In this story, Maegan and Rob are suddenly outcasts at school. Maegan was caught cheating on the SATs, even though she was a straight-A student. Then, her “perfect” sister came back from college, pregnant with her professor’s baby. Rob’s father was caught embezzling money from his financial company, and everyone thinks that Rob knew what was happening. They are brought together in their calculus class, where they form an unlikely friendship.
Morality was a big theme in this book. The main characters and their peers have to ask if Maegan and Rob deserve to be punished for what they did, or what their family members did. Maegan cheated on her test, but it affected everyone else in the testing room whose papers had to be scrapped. Rob’s father stole money from many of his classmate’s families, so they take it out on Rob by ignoring him. They both end up suffering for these actions, until they can open people’s eyes up to the truth.
This book was very touching. Both Maegan and Rob had to look after their family members. Maegan helps her sister deal with her unplanned pregnancy. She ends up stepping up to look after her. Rob’s father attempted suicide, but now he can’t do anything on his own. Rob and his mother have to look after him, including feeding and bathing him. It was heartbreaking to read about his father, and the way that the people he hurt the most had to look after him. This made me sympathetic to Maegan and Rob, even though they had both made mistakes.
This is a great story!
Thank you Bloomsbury YA for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
We Are the Perfect Girl by Ariel Kaplan
Have you read Call It What You Want? What did you think of it?
