I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Hiding Places follows Ellie, an ER nurse, who after surviving I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Hiding Places follows Ellie, an ER nurse, who after surviving a gun shooting, finds herself being thrust into the public eye and a national debate over gun violence, mental health, and the role of healthcare workers.
I believe that my lack of enjoyment reading this book came from my personal preferences in narrative style and characterisation, rather than any major flaws in the book. This book and its execution just didn't work for me.
However, I am sure that many people would enjoy reading this book, and I can definitely understand why people are enjoying it. I would recommend to give it a go if you find the premise or topics covered interesting....more
I received a free advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
Amelia is a disturbing horror novella told through a series of lI received a free advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
Amelia is a disturbing horror novella told through a series of letters from a mother to her daughter.
This novella was incredibly well written. The author really well maintains a sense of dread all throughout using a stream of conscious style of writing. You can feel the mother's deteriorating mental state through the writing. The author manages to leave little hints about what is happening without giving everything away, which makes it all the more thrilling as you come towards the end, where all is revealed. There is no point where this gets boring or repetitive. I was constantly wanting to read more right until the very end, and I managed to read this easily within a day.
I really appreciate that this novella had a list of potential triggers at the back, as it does include some extremely disturbing and hard to read topics....more
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as an advanced reader copy in 2019 and didI received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as an advanced reader copy in 2019 and did not finish reading it. However, recently I've been trying to complete all of my unread arcs and decided to give it another go.
I did not personally enjoy reading this book. I am sure that there are people who can and would find enjoyment in this book, however I had several issues with it, in particular with the characters.
The protagonist is incredibly mean spirited in the way she speaks about and treats her fellow classmates. She is completely absorbed within her own preconceived ideas about the other characters and her own feelings, that it often feels as though she couldn't care less about the school shooting that is occurring. At one point within the narration Ginny rants about how betrayed and heartbroken she is in discovering that a character she has a crush on is gay, despite the fact that he is bleeding out from a bullet wound and there is an active shooter outside of the classroom.
This would not be an issue if Ginny went through a character arc in which she learns not to judge others and that her preconceived ideas about people are wrong. This is attempted, however it does not work as all of the teenage characters are written as archetypes of high schools. The jocks are stupid and impulsive. The cheerleaders are stupid, shallow and identically vain. The popular gay guy is only popular and gay. The biggest attempt at developing one of these characters is the revelation that one of the 'Barbies' as she is referred to by Ginny continually through the book, was bullied as a child for having a speech impediment. The characters are all underdeveloped and viewed through their stereotypes and the author's assumptions of what high schoolers are like. They do not talk, behave or think in realistic ways.
There are also several passages where the process of self harm is explicitly described, the protagonist shares the reasons why she self harms, and her frustration that her mother does not want her to self harm. This does not feel resolved by end, and instead feels like an unintentional promotion of the act.
Overall, this book feels underdeveloped and would benefit from further edits....more
I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This really just wasn't for me, although I do believe that many people will enjoydnf
I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This really just wasn't for me, although I do believe that many people will enjoy reading it. At times it felt very unrealistic, stereotypical and over the top, which is something that I just don't enjoy in books, especially for teenage characters. It felt very along the lines of shows like Riverdale, or Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so if you enjoy those shows then I absolutely recommend it....more
I received a free copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for an honest review
Pride Month 2019 - Reading Challenge - Book 1
I received a free copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for an honest review and giveaway hosted on my instagram account @axiejadereads from the 14th of June to the 30th of June.
Kindred is a collection of Own Voices Australian LGBT+ short stories. It contains a total of 12 different stories, ranging in genre from contemporary to fantasy to dystopia. The authors vary in popularity, but each one brings a unique take on the experiences of LGBT+ people in Australia. I really enjoyed reading this collection. I was very impressed by how well crafted each story was, as usually I am not a fan of short story collections, but I can genuinely say that I did enjoy reading every story.
I was really impressed by the diverse representation. A lot of books that are praised for their representation of the LGBT+ community usually only represent white cisgender LGB people. But this collection was the complete opposite. There were a lot of different races and religions represented. There were many transgender, non-binary and genderqueer characters, as well as characters using they/them pronouns and other gender neutral pronouns. There was also a short story with the protagonist and her love interest both in wheelchairs and a story with autism representation and plus size characters. This near complete representation of the LGBT+ community was very impressive and pleasantly surprising.
My only complaint in regards to representation is that there was no asexual representation, or any identities under the asexual umbrella such as demisexual or grey-asexual. I really would have liked to see this represented, as those identities are regularly ignored within the LGBT+ community.
One of my personal favourite stories were Waiting by Jen Wilde, who is also the author of popular YA books such as Queens of Geek and The Brightsiders. Waiting follows a teenage girl in line at a convention, as she meets new people in her fandoms, but also feels held back by her friend and friend's boyfriend who are attending the convention with her, but do not care about any of her fandoms. I really related to this story, and I really enjoyed reading it.
I also really enjoyed reading Laura Nyro At The Wedding by Christos Tsiolkas, who is the author of The Slap. This story follows a man who has become engaged to his boyfriend, but only under the condition that his estranged father attend his wedding. I found the concept of this story really interesting, especially how the protagonist addressed his father's actions and his relationship with him.
Overall, Kindred is an amazing short story collection. Each story feels so genuine and realistic towards an LGBT+ Australian experience. I recommend it to anyone who could ever feel interested....more
I was sent an advanced reader copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Very informative and detailed.
It is clear that the author put inI was sent an advanced reader copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Very informative and detailed.
It is clear that the author put in as much research as they possibly could have before writing. They put the upmost care into the information they were imparting on the reader.
I absolutely recommend this for anyone who is attempting to educate themselves on gender non-conforming and non binary identities. This book answers many questions that cisgender people, people who are questioning their gender, or people who want to educate themselves on other gender identities may have.
My only complaint it that in many instances, this book is too dense. I feel as though just as much could have been said with half as many pages. But this is a relatively small complaint....more
But that was yesterday, and if yesterday is what I once was then today I'm become someone else.
I received a free copy from net galley in exchange
But that was yesterday, and if yesterday is what I once was then today I'm become someone else.
I received a free copy from net galley in exchange for an honest review.
I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed Becoming Beatriz. I truly loved reading it, and there we're any aspects of it that I didn't enjoy.
I loved the protagonist, Beatriz. She managed to be flawed, yet still likable and relatable. She felt very realistic and I felt as though I could understand her thoughts and motives, which is something that many books fail to do for their protagonist. She was characterized really well, starting off as almost a stereotypical teenage gang member, and then slowly developing as she explored her relationship with dance and her feelings towards Nasser and her brother's gang. Her development felt very similar to that of Katniss' from The Hunger Games.
Nasser, Beatriz's love interest, he was a really fun character to read, and I instantly liked him. Beatriz and Nasser's relationship also developed well and at the perfect pace. I didn't feel as though I was thrown into their relationship, which I feel happens in many heterosexual relationships in the YA genre.
One aspect of Becoming Beatriz that I was actually very impressed by was how the setting and time was built and maintained. In many YA novels that aren't set in a modern time, the setting and time isn't maintained and referenced properly and the novel just ends up feeling like a contemporary novel with the occasional retro references, however for the entirety of Becoming Beatrice, the setting felt like New Jersey in the 1980's.
Overall, Becoming Beatriz was a perfectly executed coming-of-age novel. I completely recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading it....more
I was sent an advanced reader copy from net galley in exchange for an honest review.
Ricochet follows four versions of one 17 year old girl across the I was sent an advanced reader copy from net galley in exchange for an honest review.
Ricochet follows four versions of one 17 year old girl across the multiverse: Tati, Ana, Tatyana and Tanya, as they harness their abilities to communicate with each other and understand their past and how they were given these abilities.
I usually don't read a lot of sci-fi, but Ricochet really spiked my interest, and I was so excited when I received an arc from net galley. This book really was a very interesting and unusual concept and it would have been incredibly difficult to write, but despite this I think it was executed really well by Kathryn Berla.
I think what Kathryn Berla did best was differentiating between the four main characters. Obviously, they are the same person, however their experiences in life are all different, so therefore they are all also individual. While reading there were times when I wasn't really paying attention and I forgot who's perspective I was reading from, but overall, I found it very easy to tell on character apart from the other.
This might just be because it took me a while to read this book, but my only complaint is that I felt that the introduction was too long. I failed to recognise several important plot points because I felt as though I was still in the middle of character introduction and the turning point that kicked off the story. It wasn't until I saw that I was about 70% through that I realised that I was already well into the plot.
Overall, I found Ricochet to be a really enjoyable and interesting read. The concept was amazing, and very well executed. I really liked the main characters and found the plot easy to follow and interesting. I really would like to see a sequel to this book, as I believe that while Ricochet did have a nice wrapped up ending, there is no much more of this concept that I would love to see explored more.
Also can we just appreciate this cover. It is so pretty....more
I was sent an unsolicited copy of the book from the author in exchange for a honest review.
3.5
I really enjoyed reading this book! I'm not the biggest I was sent an unsolicited copy of the book from the author in exchange for a honest review.
3.5
I really enjoyed reading this book! I'm not the biggest fan of Adult Contemporaries, which is the main reason why I didn't give this a higher rating, but I was pleasantly surprised, when it came to this book.
The book follows the main character Cameron as she juggles her relationships, her work and her self-discovery.
The writing style was really interesting, and unlike anything I had read before. It made it feel as though the events of the book were being recounted by a narrator. The writing style really helped to 'set the mood' for the book. It felt really personal and helped me to connect with the main character.
Speaking of the main character, I really loved her. Cameron was a very interesting character. I liked how she was very strong or an 'alpha female' as she's referred to. She is allowed to be emotionally vulnerable while still being strong and resilient, which I believe is so important for women in books.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Video Games. It gave me a new appreciation for the Adult Contemporary genre. I loved the writing style and main character. I found it super easy to read and was able to fly through it. It never failed to keep me interested. Kelly Ann Gonzales did a really good job writing this novel, especially considering this is her debut. I recommend this for fans of juicy and gripping Adult Contemporaries full of drama. ...more
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