RATING: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

GENRE: young adult, fantasy

“Ah yes, the most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sitting alone with a book.”

AHSFAB was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020, especially because ACDSAL received one of four 5-stars from me in 2019. I was very excited that this book would focus on Grey because I actually liked him a lot  in book one. 

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

This book contains bullying, mentions of suicide

GENRE: young adult, contemporary, magical realism

“You have to keep going. You have to. If you push through this, you’ll show them. You’ll show them you didn’t deserve this.”

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

GENRE: young adult fiction, superhero retelling

“Control the chaos.”

Alright, I’ll be honest (note: I am always honest), this didn’t do it. Sarah J Maas is my queen but I did not love this!

There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it, it was just not exciting enough for me, but I realise that I’m not the biggest DC/Marvel fan and I knew I wasn’t going to love this because I didn’t like Wonderwoman: Warbringer. I even skipped book two of the DC Icons series because I’m truly not that interested.

RATING: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

This book contains sexual content, extreme bullying

GENRE: adult fiction, magical realism, erotica

RATING: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

GENRE: young adult, retelling

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (2.5)

This book contains rape, toxic (controlling and manipulative) relationship

GENRE: young adult, contemporary

“Crying is a very obvious sign that something isn’t going right in your life. You should not ignore tears.”

This tells the story of Amelie trying to figure out what went “wrong” in her relationship with her very controlling and manipulative boyfriend, Reese. It’s not an easy read, it’s not even a feel-good read, it left me muted for a good 10-15 minutes after completing the book.

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4.5)

This book contains sexual content

GENRE: adult fiction, fantasy

"Light it up, Bryce.”

I just finished another SJM book and I’m still breathing.

You know those books everyone loves and then authors try to milk it for all its worth, and you’re kind of like “please, no more”? (I think we know that I’m talking about the shadowhunter books here...) Well, I’ll tell you that, for Sarah J Maas, it WORKS and all I want is MORE.

Those last 200 pages... I was near-tears at least three times, I actually cannot believe how emotionally invested I get with any and all SJM characters. I can’t even decide who my favourite character is... but I can definitely tell you that after Cassian and Rhysand, Danika and Bryce is my favourite friendship.

Why isn’t it a 5-star read? House of Earth and Blood will DEFINITELY make it to my top favourite reads of 2020, but no, it did not receive 5 stars from me. Some of the things that bothered me: (1) The first few chapters were a major information dump that it took me a little bit of effort to get through. (2) There were similarities between CC, ToG, and ACOTAR. SJM paraphrases the same lines between all three reads. But, as I said, all I want is more.

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

GENRE: young adult, fantasy, LGBQT+

“It’s a midnight lie... a kind of lie told for someone else’s sake, a lie that sits between goodness and wrong“

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

This book contains sexual content

GENRE: new adult fiction, contemporary, political, LGBQT+

“History, huh?”

Going into this book, I didn’t realise that it was LGBQT+ (but to be fair, I don’t know much about the books I read until I’m reading them!) so that caught me by surprise. It turned out to be a super cute, entertaining, and funny read– Alex was sassy and adorable, and Henry was our little marshmallow!

This next part I’m nervous to write about, because I’m certain that I won’t be able to word it correctly but I’d really like to praise Casey McQuiston that she made this M/M book so normalised, as it should be! It wasn’t making a gay relationship “special” or “strange” like some other books have, or “shove it down your throat” way, and I would honestly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading LGBQT+ books!

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

GENRE: young adult fiction, contemporary

“Can you miss someone you see almost every day?”

THIS WAS CUTE. And cute like MEGA cute. I adored everything about it! I was smiling literally 80% of the book, and the other 20% yelling at Bailey at hOW BLIND SHE WAS BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE EVERYONE KNEW EXCEPT HER. I died.

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

This book contains graphic scenes of violence

GENRE: young adult fiction, fantasy

“You will spark and burn”

I have had this book in my possession for the LONGEST time, and I mean like over a year, and have only picked it up recently. I liked it, it’s definitely a more cliche YA fantasy read (the kind I like!) and this one of the few books where I loved reading about a supporting character more than the main characters!! And by this I mean– HELENA WHERE YOU AT. I hope there’s a LOT more Helena in book two!!

I did find that some of the violent scenes were a little bit much for me, but I am a bit of a baby when it comes to these things. At least for An Ember in the Ashes, there was a purpose for them, so it wasn’t “for nothing”, where some books have these scenes for shock factor rather than any purpose towards character/story development.

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

This book contains mild sexual content, mentions of suicide

GENRE: adult, sexual content

“What happens when people open their hearts?" "They get better.”

Okay, I am always trying to get myself to read more “classic” books. So here is my first classic of the year (is Haruki Murakami considered a classic? He does for me!) SO, I don’t exactly know how I felt about it. There were definitely shock factors in here that took me by surprise– I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

RATING: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

GENRE: young adult fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian

For only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There’s no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that.

Finishing Scythe, I wasn’t entirely sure that I would continue the books. A lot of people love this trilogy so I may continue to see if it gets better. There was nothing I can pinpoint that I didn’t like it... it was just pretty average for me.

RATING: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

GENRE: young adult fiction, contemporary, mystery, crime

I listened to Sadie as an audiobook.

“And Sadie, if you’re out there, please let me know. Because I can’t take another dead girl.”

I really wanted to love it because one of my friends raved over it, but I just didn’t like it. I found it quite boring and hard to follow– however, this could have totally been due to listening to the book rather than reading the book.

RATING ★

GENRE: young adult fiction, contemporary

I listened to Stargirl as an audiobook.

“When a stargirl cries, she sheds not tears but light.”

This was an okay listen. Throughout the whole audiobook, I was waiting for some sort of “big event” but nothing really happened. It’s a cute read, but if you’re needing some extra action, extra cute, or extra drama– not the book for you. Stargirl wasn’t a very captivating character, she was sweet, but I couldn’t invest in her. Leo was better, but he seems a bit childish and his thoughts really consisted of two things, “Stargirl” and “What are they thinking?”. I don’t have much to say about it, but I do adore the message, which is something along the lines of, “Be you!”

RATING ★★★★

GENRE: young adult fiction, sci-fi, fantasy

I listened to Gemina as an audiobook.

“You humans fascinate me. I am shattered fragments of what I once once. But even with all the King's horses and all the King's men, I wonder if even I could truly comprehend you.”

Oh my goodness, the last half hour was a total roller coaster of emotions and... I love AIDAN. The characters are hilarious, they’re badass, and I love how Amie Kaufman was able to introduce Hannah and Nik without us going “Why aren’t Kady and Ezra here?!” every two minutes! The audiobook was amazing, the pacing is great, the characters are sarcastic and fun, and I was totally immersed by the story!

This book contains drug abuse

RATING ★★★★★

GENRE:  adult fiction, historical fiction

I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else's muse.

I am not a muse.

I am the somebody.

End of fucking story.

My first five star read of 2020: Daisy Jones and the Six fully deserved all my stars.

After reading Evelyn Hugo and falling absolutely in love with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing, I had held off reading Daisy Jones and the Six in fear of (a) not living up to my expectations after Evelyn Hugo, and (b) knowing it was about musicians creating music, which did not appeal to me.

Music, rock ’n’ roll, drugs– never a book I would have picked up on my own. But I did it, I read it, and I loved it. Daisy Jones is such a character, I felt for her. I wanted to cuddle her and keep her safe from the world, but.I was also rooting for her and I wanted her to show the world what she had to share. Billy Dunne, his struggles, his faith, his love, and with Camila’s love, Camila’s faith– oh it was just such a beautiful blend. The Six– Karen, Warren, Graham, Pete, and even Eddie, I adored them. I cannot believe how invested I was in these characters by the end of the book. The story isn’t anything special– it reads like a transcript of a band documentary, but it had some magical pull at my heart. I wish I could express the way I feel about this book in words, but I really can’t. It’s just something you’ll have to read for yourself.