Genre: Mystery

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West

February 7, 2019 3 Comments Regina

There’s just something about Kasie West’s writing-style that makes an otherwise silly plot and shallow romance into something sophisticated and poignant. Her stories are addictive, entertaining, and just plain fun–in the truest sense of the word. The majority of the action unfolds on a zombie-romance movie set and in the on-set trailer of 17 year-old Lacey Barnes (FUN, right!?). Lacey is an ambitious and talented teen on the verge of stardom now that she is […]

ARC REVIEW + GIVEAWAY (US ONLY): Slayer (Slayer #1) by Kiersten White

December 28, 2018 2 Comments Regina

By now everyone knows that a re-imagining/series sequel of the CW hit television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon) is in the works. As if that weren’t exciting enough, Kiersten White’s new series set in the Buffy universe is hitting the shelves on January 8th! Buffy’s back (sort of), bitchezzzz! via GIPHY From what I’ve read on Goodreads, Slayer (Slayer #1) closely follows the Buffy comics and picks up shortly after the ending of […]

ARC REVIEW + GIVEAWAY (US ONLY): We Told Six Lies by Victoria Scott

December 28, 2018 2 Comments Regina

Have you ever seen the COMPLETELY ABSORBING AND BRILLIANT film starring Guy Pearce called Memento (2000)? (If not, you should get right on that because you’re a couple of decades behind.) Victoria Scott brings the same kind of mind-boggling magic to her upcoming novel from Entangled Teen. From what I gather via social media buzz in the book world, We Told Six Lies is hands-down one of the most anticipated upcoming releases in young adult […]

The Future Will Be BS Free by William McIntosh

August 6, 2018 2 Comments Regina

NOTE: I elaborate on some of my issues with this book at the end of my review. It is a little spoiler-ish. I will give a heads-up for when to stop reading/scrolling if you do not wish to know more. I was ecstatic when I got an ARC of this book because I thought it was going to be full of commentary on the most pressing social and political issues of the past four years. […]

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

August 10, 2017 0 Comments Regina

PLEASE DO NOT GO INTO THIS BOOK THINKING IT IS COMPARABLE TO PRETTY LITTLE LIARS LIKE THE BLURB SUGGESTS. IT IS SOOOO NOT. I had a love/hate relationship with PLL, mostly after things started to get old and predictable, after the fourth season. But I still watched it, and I was still highly entertained until the last episode. I read The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas, and I liked it. I was intrigued by it, […]

Blog Tour: The Takedown by Corrie Wang + GIVEAWAY!!!

April 19, 2017 1 Comment Regina

THE TAKEDOWN, Blog Tour Digital Assets Title: THE TAKEDOWN Author: Corrie Wang Pub. Date: April 11, 2017 Publisher: Freeform Pages: 384 Formats: Hardcover, eBook Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads Kyla Cheng doesn’t expect you to like her. For the record, she doesn’t need you to. On track to be valedictorian, she’s president of her community club, a debate team champ, plus the yummy Mackenzie Rodriguez has firmly attached himself to her hip. She and her three high-powered best friends don’t just […]

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

February 24, 2017 2 Comments Regina

Ummmm….An actual relative of COTTON FRIGGIN’ MATHER wrote a book about witches. How am I not going to read and like this book?!?! When I started Adriana Mather’s debut novel, How to Hang a Witch, I knew I was in for a spooky-good time. My anticipation was met, and then some, by the end of the novel. Besides being historically on point, this book was a magical mash-up of some of my favorite 90s and […]

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue + GIVEAWAY!!!

February 7, 2017 2 Comments Regina

ENTER TO WIN a Hardcover copy of The Wonder below! US ONLY. Have you read Emma Donoghue’s Room, or seen the Academy award winning film based off of that book? I haven’t indulged myself in either of these yet, but I did recently read Donoghue’s, The Wonder, and I could not put it down. Set some years after the Crimean War, this story unfolds within the confines of a thatch-roofed home, in a small Irish village, […]

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn

October 5, 2016 0 Comments Regina

This review is long overdue, but that is a common theme for me as of late. Over the past year, I have used any “spare” time (between school, work, commuting, spending time with my family) to attack my leisure/TBR list. So, when I have a moment to write a review/blog during the semester, that means I’m on top of my game. Yay for me! Check out this lovely book-look created by another fan: Book Look: […]

ARC Review: The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard

August 26, 2016 0 Comments Regina

*Sings in A minor to my Russian Blue cat using an operatic voice, “Why? Whhhhyyy didn’t I love this book- the book release of my obsession!?!?”* When I saw the cover of A.G. Howard’s newest novel, The Architect of Song, I instantly coveted it. So, obviously, I was thrilled when I received a digital ARC for review. Despite my excitement for the novel, I made sure not to raise any ridiculous expectations that might ruin […]

Hurricane Kiss by Deborah Blumenthal

July 18, 2016 0 Comments Regina

And all anyone will remember is that there were unanswered questions about the two kids who thought they could get out of a car in the middle of the freeway and survive a hurricane by running directly into it instead of getting the hell away. Two stupid kids who thought they were smarter than everyone else. Hurricane season is upon us, and for those who live in coastal […]

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

July 18, 2016 1 Comment Regina

I am glad I read this book a year after it released. I originally wanted to read it upon release day because there was so much hype about it in the blogger world/twitterverse. But again, so glad I did not. I think I would have been monumentally disappointed if I had. Instead, I was just a little disappointed after reading it last week. The poetic name and aesthetic appeal of the novel set the bar […]

Blog Tour: With Malice by Eileen Cook + GIVEAWAY!!!

May 31, 2016 5 Comments Regina

A read about a teenage girl who wakes up in a hospital bed and cannot remember the last six weeks of her life, including the accident that killed her best friend– only what if the accident wasn’t an accident? (REMEMBER TO SCROLL TO THE END FOR THE AWESOME GIVEAWAY! US ONLY.) About the Book Title: WITH MALICE Author: Eileen Cook Pub. Date: June 7, 2016 Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads Eighteen-year- old […]

Summer Reading Abroad: I’ll See You in Paris Review + GIVEAWAY!

May 24, 2016 3 Comments Regina

I enjoyed this story for the rich bits of history and biography revealed through long-lost discovered correspondence and the two main narrators of the story. The most entertaining character in the book was The Duchess of Marlborough, who tries her hardest to deny that she is, indeed, the duchess. The story does some time hopping as each chapter reveals another piece of the puzzle concerning the duchess and the main female protagonist’s parentage. The pacing […]

Paris Is Always a Good Idea by Nicolas Barreau

April 10, 2016 0 Comments Regina

As one customer aptly put it in her review on Amazon, “Reading this book is a GREAT idea.” I concur. If you are like me and have never had the pleasure of visiting Paris, then you probably have a stack of travel books and travel fiction as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Not to mention ones with the word “Paris” in the title. Queue my NON-reluctance to read JUST ONE MORE book set among the […]

The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam

April 8, 2016 0 Comments Regina

Мать Россия!!! A little bird told me something. That Historians secretly love to read alternate histories. I’m here to qualify that secret. We love to read well-written and believable alternate histories. The Secret Daughter of the Tsar almost made me want to change my focus of study as a historian-in-training, and that is saying a lot. These days, I am lucky to finish a book in a week. I finished this one in a few […]

Blog Tour: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

April 5, 2016 0 Comments Regina

GIVE IN TO THE BIIIIIINGE! The Darkest Corners is a gripping psychological thriller. Once you read the first few pages of this book, be ready to give in to the binge-reading urge that will overcome you. Once-upon-a-time there was some television-crack called the O.J. Simpson trial, the Casey Anthony trial, and most recently, Making A Murderer. The dark and addictive pull of these trials has been wonderfully crystallized in The Darkest Corners. This book could […]

Blog Tour: The Secrets of Solace by Jaleigh Johnson

March 31, 2016 0 Comments Regina

A fantastic and fun middle-grade fantasy. The Secrets of Solace will inspire those who read it to observe the world around them with curious and magical minds. I wish I would have reviewed this book before Easter so I could have shared this piece of advice: This is the PERFECT book to add to your child’s or favorite friend’s Easter Basket. It’s such a fun book about finding cultural treasures and preserving them. It’s also […]

Blog Tour: The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters Review + GIVEAWAY!

March 11, 2016 0 Comments Regina

Cat Winters takes a brave look into the under belly of the post WWI cultural climate in America and teaches you about all of the things you never learned in history class. History buffs and Shakespeare fanatics will want to add a “Cat Winters Collection” space to their bookshelves. Title: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY Author: Cat Winters Pub. Date: March 8, 2016 Publisher: Amulet Books Format: Hardcover, eBook Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare’ […]

The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth

February 20, 2016 0 Comments Regina

Check out another fantastic book I reviewed that centers around midwifery HERE. Here’s a vague, three run-on sentence long history of delivering babies: Skilled women helped other women deliver their babies and would pass the torch of ”mystical delivery” down to other women because, after all, a woman knows how women things work better than a man. Fast forward to the nineteenth century and the medical field becomes ”professionalized” and the field of gynecology was […]

Book Review: Nine Minutes by Beth Flynn

February 15, 2016 1 Comment Christy

Wow! This book was amazing! Well, if you can overlook an adult having sex with a fifteen year old. Normally I would have DNF’d the book right away, but after reading tons of reviews I knew I was going to go ahead and read it anyway. And honestly I’m glad I did. There are so many layers to this story. I was hooked from the very first page. I can honestly say this book is […]