#bookofmonth

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Book of the Month: American Royals by Katharine McGee

My favorite author has done it again! Set in an alternate universe where America is run by a monarchy, Beatrice is about to go from princess to the first queen of the country. But Beatrice just wants to live a normal life away from prying eyes and duties, and definitely doesn’t want to be forced into a marriage with someone she doesn’t love just so her country can have an heir. Her younger sister Samantha doesn’t have the same responsibilities, so she’s free to party and love whoever she wants. But what if what she really wants is for someone to notice her? Daphne just wants to be a princess, and she’ll do anything to make that happen, even after Jefferson, Samantha’s twin, dumps her. But how far is too far? Nina has been in love with Jefferson ever since she can remember. Growing up as Samantha’s best friend has earned her privileges that every girl in America would be envious of. But what happens when the prince actually likes her back? As always, McGee has created a dazzling world full of glamor and secrets in the most compelling way. I love how it goes back and forth between each girl, and I definitely have my favorites and the ones that I hate the most. The characters and the world are so well written, and I was sucked in every step of the way through every secret revealed and every backstabbing move. This is a book that you don’t want to miss, especially if you’re fascinated with the royal family and maybe even a little bit of Gossip Girl. McGee is also the author of the Thousandth Floor series. Happy reading!

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Books of the Year: Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid; If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka; Winner Take All by Laurie Devore; Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Happy New Year, everyone! Though this wasn’t the best year for me book-wise, I thought I’d do a small recap of my favorite ones. I tried to only choose the stand-alones only so I wouldn’t have to choose between series. I’ll do a brief summary of each one, just in case you haven’t gotten to them yet! First up is Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak, which comes from my favorite author of all things heartbreak. This one is about Lu, who gets dumped by her boyfriend the summer before college, and tries to find herself again by looking into another couple who has decided to also part ways- but not until summer is over. If I’m Being Honest is a hard look at what it means when your words affect other people. And when Cameron tries to change herself in order to win a guy, she realizes that maybe being herself is the best honesty of all. Winner Take All is a similar look into who we become as people when everyone is watching, but when Nell and Jackson discover that maybe their rivalry is for a completely different reason, they both need to decide what’s a game and what’s real. My last favorite book of the year was Spin the Dawn, a fantasy Mulan retelling about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to get into trials to become the Royal Tailor for the palace. I had a few other favorites on my list including American Royals by Katharine McGee and House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, but I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone with a huge post. If you want full reviews on any of these novels, just click the tag and it’ll bring you straight to my thoughts! I hope you guys had a better year in books than I did, and I can’t wait to see what new novels come out this year. Let me know some of your favorite books, and happy reading!

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Book of the Month: Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid

I had been waiting for this book since the last book Alsaid wrote, and as always, it did not disappoint. He is one of my favorite authors, and even though this came out at the beginning of May, I knew it would be the best book I read all month. This one is about Lu, the writer of a love and dating column for an online magazine, who hasn’t written a singe article all summer because she just broke up with her boyfriend right before college. Lu is heartbroken and has a very intense case of writer’s block- until she overhears a conversation between two people who seem to be going through the same thing. Except their plan is to stay together until they go away to college, and part ways peacefully. Lu needs to know more, and vows to find out their secret to their amazing relationship- and decides that Cal and Iris would make the perfect story for her comeback. As she interviews them and becomes integrated in their lives, Lu realizes that not everything is always as great as it seems, and sometimes the answer isn’t always that clear. And as Lu tries to write her best article and college looms closer, she also might find herself along the way. I can’t even describe how in love with this book I am. If you’ve never read one of Alsaid’s novels, I highly suggest you start now. They are funny and so incredibly relatable that it will make you wonder how you ever read another teen book that understood you so well. Lu is fun and self deprecating, and her friend Paul is someone that we definitely all need in our lives, and Cal and Iris will not actually make you gag, despite how cheesy they are. It’s a story that we all will know the ending of, but will make you root for it anyway, and it is seriously the perfect summer read. Whether you’re friends with a Lu, have been a Lu, or just have read a lot of teen romance novels, you will definitely identify with this book. Alsaid is also the author of all my other favorite novels, Let’s Get Lost, North of Happy, and Never Always Sometimes. Happy reading!

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Book of the Month: If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Sorry for being AWOL this month, everyone! Life gets in the way, and I also haven’t read anything worth reviewing, until I stumbled upon this gem! Hopefully this is the book that gets me out of my reading slump, and it was a great way to end the month/start the new one. Everyone knows that Cameron is one thing: a total bitch. Her penchant for honesty with others doesn’t exactly get her all the friends, but she’s completely fine with that. Until she’s a little too honest in front of her crush, Andrew. When she realizes that he won’t look twice at herself until she proves that she’s a good person, she sets out on a journey of apologies to everyone she’s ever wronged. But along the way, she starts to discover things about herself, and find unexpected friendships with people who like her just the way she is, and she starts to wonder if anyone, let alone a guy, is worth giving up on herself for. I haven’t resonated with a character like this in SO long. Cameron’s attitude and her eventual realization that the people who really love you will love you for yourself and not the person that you show the world is such an important message for everyone, whether you identify with Cameron’s brutal honesty or not. On the whole, this is about being who you are and not apologizing for it, and not changing yourself for anyone. I loved everything about this book, including the sweet romance that occurs and the budding friendships that come Cameron’s way. This is the absolute perfect read for the summer, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed if you pick this up. Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka are also the co-authors of Always Never Yours, and Wibberley is the author of the Last Oracle series. Happy reading!

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Book of the Month: The Blood Spell by C.J. Redwine

 I do believe that the majority of my month this time has been all fairy tale retellings! I guess I have to switch up my genres a bit this April. But no one does retellings, especially of the princess variety, quite like Redwine, and they always deliver. This one was a Cinderella retelling if you couldn’t tell by the pumpkin on the cover, and is about a girl named Blue who is trying to hide her magic from the world. But when her father is murdered and a cruel woman steps in to take over the shop that Blue’s father owned as well as their house, she has to find a way out without magic. Unfortunately, the only person that can help is Kellan, the prince that she’s hated since she was a child. And now that Kellan is back from boarding school and trying to find a suitable girl to marry, all he wants is to escape. But when a magical force starts terrorizing the kingdom, Kellan and Blue must work together to find out what’s causing it. And the more time the two spend together, they quickly start to realize that they may have been wrong about each other all these years. This was one of my favorites in the series, and I loved the story and the characters and, as always, the magic. Kellan was a side character in The Traitor Prince, so it was cool to see someone I was a little familiar with in this one. I loved Blue as well, and thought she was the perfect embodiment of a Cinderella character, one who is kind and brave and puts others before herself. And her chemistry with Kellan was off the charts, especially when they bantered. Another one of my favorite things about Redwine’s novels is that she always has the perspectives of the heroine, the love interest, and the villain, and they are always written so unbelievably well. If you like Cinderella, or just a really great fantasy story filled with magic and adventure and a little bit of romance, do not miss out on this one, even if you’ve never read any of her others. The other stories in this series include The Shadow Queen, The Wish Granter, and The Traitor Prince, which I just reviewed a few weeks ago. Happy reading! 

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Book of the Month: This Is Not the End by Chandler Baker

I’m doing this a few days early, since the end of the month is on a Thursday, so forgive me! I have to say, I didn’t like any of Baker’s Teen novels (Hyde, Frankenstein, etc) but this had such a unique premise that I couldn’t pass it up and I’m so glad I didn’t! This is set in a world where on a person’s eighteenth birthday, they can choose to resurrect someone from the dead. Lake’s plan was to always try and resurrect her brother- even though he isn’t dead yet. But a few weeks before Lake’s birthday, the unthinkable happens. She and her boyfriend and her best friend end up in a car accident that leaves both of them dead. Now she’s forced to choose between the three of them, and as she goes on a journey to figure out the answer to what she’s supposed to do, she discovers that things weren’t quite as perfect as she thought they were. With less than a month to go, Lake must decide who she wants to save- and who she can continue a life without. I loved everything about this and I thought I would be angry with the ending but I was pretty content with it. I thought it was a beautiful and heartbreaking commentary on what we would choose to do when we have too many choices thrust at us and what we do with the life we’re given and also what happens when we don’t know the people closest to us in the ways we think we do. I think I was surprised by every small twist in this book, and that doesn’t happen often. I liked that it flipped between the present and past, so that you could really see the struggle of what Lake was facing and why she went down the path that she did and the decisions that she made along the way. If you’re looking for something different to read, something that will break your heart, reel you in, but leave you a little hopeful, choose this book. Baker is also the author of the High School Horror Story series, Alive, and Whisper Network. Happy reading!

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Book of the Month: The Devil’s Thief by Lisa Maxwell

Once again, I was completely blown away by this series! This is the second one in the Last Magician series, so if you haven’t read the first one, spoilers ahead. This picks up a few days after the first one ends, with Esta and Harte trying to cross the Brink to hunt down the rest of the artifacts. Esta is coming to terms with the fact that everything she’s ever known has been a lie, and still grappling with her affinity not working as well as it should be. But Harte is making everything worse because  now the power of the Book is inside him, and it’s threatening to take over. To bring the power back to where it came from, the two must find every stone and artifact and bring them together. But the world outside of New York and the Brink is nothing at all like Harte and Esta imagined it to be, especially when the Order is still out to get them and Jack is on their tail. As they venture to the St. Louis World Fair to retrieve the first object, they come in contact with enemies and friends, and a whole time that neither was expecting. I really loved this follow up, but just like the first one, I thought a few of the perspectives could have been cut out. I didn’t care about a couple of the characters, but the villains of the story were still so well written and definitely my favorite part. Esta and Harte continued to be the best POVs in my opinion, and the whole book could’ve been just them and I would have been fine. Unfortunately I understand why Maxwell wrote several POVs, and in this instance, it worked out better than in the first book. There’s so much magic and brilliance in this world that even though it was almost 700 pages, it only took me a week to read. I don’t want to say too much more so that I don’t give away any of the other fabulous twists, but I couldn’t get enough, and I can’t wait for the third one. I will be anxiously awaiting its arrival. Maxwell is also the author of Unhooked. Happy reading! 

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Book of the Month: She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell

Sorry for the delay, guys! The holiday ended up being a little more hectic than I expected, so here’s the post that was supposed to go out last week. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! So this is a book about a set of twins, Rose and Bel, who have lost their mother and are sent to a boarding school by their grandmother. Rose thinks this is the perfect opportunity to start over, but Bel is still missing their mother and doesn’t want anything to do with the school at all. But Bel and Rose have teachers to guide them through- a married couple who go out of their way to make the two feel special in their own way. And when Bel falls into a bad crowd and Rose starts being bullied because of it, the two betray each other and everything turns deadly. I don’t want to say too much more because every little twist in this is so worth not knowing much else about this book, but it was definitely one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while. You know from the start that one of them is dead, but you don’t know which one, and I loved that the most. I couldn’t figure it out until the end, and even though I guessed some of the twists, I definitely didn’t get all of them. I also loved the multiple perspectives from Bel, Rose, and the teachers, as well as the detective/witness interviews that were dispersed throughout the book. It really amped up the anticipation and the feeling of where is this going that has recently been missing in so many mysteries. It was subtly disturbing at times, and blatantly disturbing at others, as well as creepy and mysterious the entire time. If you’re looking for a great read this week, I highly recommend this one. Campbell is also the author of It’s Always the Husband, which I personally can’t wait to check out. Happy reading!