Review: Beauty Queen (Whatever After #7)

Title: Beauty Queen (Whatever After #7)
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The magical seventh installment in this NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series!

This time, the magic mirror sucks Abby and Jonah into the story of Beauty and the Beast. When Jonah angers the Beast by picking flowers from his garden, he becomes the Beast’s prisoner! Abby has to save her brother by finding Beauty, whom the Beast will surely fall in love with, right? NOPE. The Beast doesn’t like Beauty, so it’s up to Abby and her brother to match-make this reluctant pair and fix this fractured fairy tale before things get pretty ugly!

Review:

This is another fun fairytale retelling!

In this story, Abby and Jonah have to fix the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. Abby also has to find a way to get Jonah’s memories back. His memories were wiped at the end of the previous novel so he didn’t remember any of their other fairytale adventures. There were many twists throughout the story, including Abby being turned into a beast!

As the series progresses, the characters are becoming more developed. Abby and Jonah’s lives outside of the fairytale adventures was shown at the beginning of the story. Abby has trouble with her friends at school. She becomes jealous when her friend makes a new friend. However, she learns how to fix the situation while in the Beauty and the Beast story.

The Whatever After series is great! I highly recommend it!

What to read next:

Once Upon a Frog (Whatever After #8) by Sarah Mlynowski

Have you read Beauty Queen? What did you think of it?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – May 20

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 The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Review: The Way You Make Me Feel

Title: The Way You Make Me Feel
Author: Maurene Goo
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 8, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? 

With Maurene Goo’s signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look. 

Review:

This is a fun summer story!

I loved the character Clara. She was carefree and took risks. At her junior prom, she reenacted Carrie by having fake blood dumped on herself after winning the title of prom queen. It was a dramatic moment, and ended up earning her the punishment of working on her dad’s food truck for the whole summer. She was a fun character to read about because she is so different from me.

I also loved the mix of cultures in the book. Clara was born in America to two parents who were both born in Brazil to Korean parents. Clara’s father’s Korean and Brazilian heritage was explored in his fusion food truck called KoBra. I didn’t know there was a Korean population in Brazil before reading this book, so that was fascinating to learn.

This was a great story! It would be a perfect read for the summer!

What to read next:

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

Have you read The Way You Make Me Feel? What did you think of it?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – May 19

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 9 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… The Beauty of the Moment

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 The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Susan is the new girl—she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy—he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since.

Susan’s parents are on the verge of divorce. Malcolm’s dad is a known adulterer.

Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants—until he meets her.

Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are testaments to family, culture, and being true to who you are.

What book are you in bed with today?

Six for Sunday – 2019 Books I Want to Read

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is 2019 Books I Want to Read. Here’s my list:

1. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

2. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

3. The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler

4. Last Girl Lied To by L.E. Flynn

5. The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

6. Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

Did you write a #SixforSunday post? What was your list of 2019 Books You Want to Read?

Review: Goodbye Days

Title: Goodbye Days
Author: Jeff Zentner
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

What if you could spend one last day with someone you lost?

One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.

The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.

Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.

Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.

Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?

Review:

This story broke my heart and put it back together again. It was incredibly moving.

The premise of the story is that Carver texts his friends while they are driving, and they get into a fatal car accident while responding. Carver has to deal with the guilt of potentially causing his three best friends to die, while also moving on with his life. Carver goes on “Goodbye Days” with his friends’ families, in which they do his friends’ favourite things so everyone can say goodbye to them.

It was fascinating to read about this fairly new experience: texting while driving. There is a law, in this story, where a person could be charged with involuntary manslaughter for doing an action which you know could cause someone’s death. In this case, Carver texted his friend, knowing he may respond while driving and cause an accident. In my opinion, Carver shouldn’t have been blamed for this accident since his friend Mars ultimately made the decision to text while driving. However, it was up to the authorities to decide on his fate.

I don’t want to give anything away, because this is an important story with a modern lesson. I really liked the ending! I loved this whole story, and I highly recommend it!

What to read next:

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Have you read Goodbye Days? What did you think of it?

Stacking the Shelves – May 18

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 received a book from Thomas Allen and Son:

The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White

I received a book from Pajama Press:

The Castle in the Sea by Mardi McConnochie

I was approved for four books on NetGalley from Simon and Schuster Canada:

Titans by Kate O’Hearn

The Helpline by Katherine Collette

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells

The Arrangement by Robyn Harding

Thank you Thomas Allen and Son, Pajama Press, and Simon and Schuster Canada for these books!

What books did you get this week?

Review: The Caged Queen (Iskari #2)

Title: The Caged Queen (Iskari #2)
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 25, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs, but their actions have propelled them straight into the ranks of the realm-wide Resistance against Gardnerian encroachment. As the Resistance struggles against the harsh rulings of High Priest Marcus Vogel and the Mage Council, Elloren begins to realize that none of the people she cares about will be safe if Gardneria seizes control of the Western Realm.

With tensions heating up in Verpacia, more and more Gardnerian soldiers continue to descend upon the university…led by none other than Lukas Grey, now commander of the newly rebuilt Fourth Division base. Though Elloren tries to keep him at arm’s length, Lukas is determined to wandfast to her, convinced that she has inherited her grandmother’s magic—the prophesied power of the Black Witch. As his very nearness seems to awaken a darkness inside her, Elloren finds it more and more difficult to believe that she’s truly powerless, as her uncle always claimed.

Caught between her growing feelings for the rebellious Yvan Guriel and the seductive power offered by Lukas Grey, Elloren must find a way to stay true to what she knows is right and protect everyone she loves…even if that means protecting them from herself.

Review:

I loved this book! I loved The Last Namsara, so I was excited to read this sequel.

This book wasn’t a typical sequel, because it had a different plot. It was in the same world with the same characters, but there was a different heroine in this story than The Last Namsara. I loved Asha’s story in the first book, and it took a little while to get used to the new main character, Roa. She was in the first book, but not as much as in this one. This was a great way to show a different perspective of the world.

I was surprised at the ending. I thought I knew how the story would end throughout the book, but I was wrong. I was pleased with this ending, because it was hopeful.

This is a great series! I’m excited to read the next book in the series when it comes out!

What to read next:

Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy #1) by Laura Sebastian

Grace and Fury (Grace and Fury #1) by Tracy Banghart

Have you read The Caged Queen? What did you think of it?

First Lines Friday – May 17

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:

“Veronyka gathered the bones of the dead. Joints of venison blackened and burned on the spit, and racks of ribs stewed so long that they were dry and brittle as driftwood. She dug through rotten lettuce and potato peelings for tiny, sharp-as-daggers fish bones and the hollow, delicate bones of birds.”

Do you recognize these first lines?

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And the book is… Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers #1) by Nicki Pau Preto.

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Goodreads synopsis:

I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken. 

Have you read Crown of Feathers? What did you think of it?