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The Girl With the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke (Review)

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34448522DIVERSE READ: #Ownvoices Jewish MC* + Romani MC

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Summary: When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process. 

My thoughts: The Girl With the Red Balloon is officially one of my favorite novels of 2017. I didn’t realize how much it would impact me, but it managed to find a place in my heart through its powerful message and heartwarming characters that I never wanted to stop reading about. This fantastic story follows 3 POVs*, two taking place during 1988 in East Berlin, and the other taking place during 1942 in a ghetto in Poland. Majority of this novel focuses around Ellie, who accidentally time travels back to East Berlin with the help of a magical red balloon, but it also follows a character living in a ghetto in Poland during WWII. Both narratives are so well written and deliver a powerful story showcasing the horrors of WWII and the equally troublesome times that followed after the war ended.  More

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Liv’s Book Sale

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Liv’s Book Sale

I am a big advocate of unhauling books from my shelves if I don’t feel the desire to keep them anymore. I tend to get rid of a lot of books on my shelves that I don’t need or want because I’d rather make room for other novels in my life.

So, in order to make a little extra money, I decided to host a book sale on my blog, like my friend Cait did over on her blog. Following Cait’s guidelines, I’m going to do all of this through Paypal where I will receive the payments from you all. I will also provide you with a tracking number for your package if you make a purchase so you will know where your book is! More

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Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore (Review)

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33158561.jpgDIVERSE READ: Latinx characters + Bisexual MC + Genderqueer side character

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, LGBTQIAP+

Summary: Love grows such strange things.

For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens.

The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family. 

My thoughts: Hands down, this is by far the most beautifully written and atmospheric novel that I have ever read. This is my first McLemore novel that I have picked up and the prose and magical realism that was woven into this narrative gripped my attention and made me awestruck that someone can write a story so vividly as McLemore did. From the moment the story began, I fell in love with each Nomeolvides girl who used their fantastical powers in order to create endless amounts of flowers. I adored every second of this novel, simply because every scene was described in such a gripping and wondrous way that made me feel as though I were transported to another world. More

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Dare by Natalia Jaster (Review)

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34593534Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Young Adult

Summary: A Hotheaded Prisoner

They say she’s mad—made of madness, made of fire. In a cage by the sea, Flare dreams of escape. She yearns for the day when she’ll flee to a place only she knows, a hidden world of mystical waters and gilded sands.

The island is calling to her. And she won’t let anyone keep her from it.

Especially not him.

A Coldhearted Prince

They say he’s cruel—crowned of cruelty, as cold as ice. A prince whose gaze cuts like the incisions he administers within his lab. Jeryn has sailed beyond his kingdom for the Trade, to bargain for those wild, imprisoned fools that make his skin crawl.

By law, they’re subjects meant for experimentation. And easy to despise.

One in particular. A girl seething at him from behind bars, with burning eyes and ready fists.

A Mythical Shipwreck

But on the cusp of transport, the tide rages. That uncharted island awaits, a dark tangle of foliage where creatures slither in the mist and poisons lurk in the flora.

Stranded, the prince and prisoner must fight to survive. In this mysterious rainforest, they must band together . . . if they don’t slay one another first. Or become something more to each other.

Something just as dangerous.

*Second book in a duology: same universe, different couple. Can be read as a standalone, though it’s recommended to read TRICK first. Mature YA: sexual content and language. Intended for readers 17 and older.* 

My thoughts: Dare uses one of my favorite tropes which is when two people who are polar opposites are stranded somewhere and have to rely on each other to survive. Specific, I know, but some books do use this trope, and Dare delivered it perfectly while also speaking out about society’s views of mental illnesses. It was such an interesting mix of survival and two characters learning and changing over the time they spent together on this mystical island.  More

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The Next Together by Lauren James (Review)

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23266378Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi

Summary: How many times can you lose the person you love? 

Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time, their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

Spanning the Crimean War, the Siege of Carlisle and the near-future of 2019 and 2039 they find themselves sacrificing their lives to save the world. But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?

Maybe the next together will be different…

A powerful and epic debut novel for teenagers about time-travel, fate and the timelessness of first love. The Next Together is told through a mixture of regular prose, diary entries, letters, “original” historical documents, news reports and internet articles. More

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Booktube-A-Thon TBR

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Hello! This year I decided that I wanted to participate in the annual Booktube-A-Thon which is a read along that spans from July 24th to July 30th, and the main goal is to read as many books as you can within that time frame. You can follow along with the read-a-thon across Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram (just look up Booktubeathon!) to complete video and photo challenges, join in on reading sprints, and play fun games throughout the week! This read-a-thon is hosted by Ariel Bissett and she has created seven challenges for people to complete for the read-a-thon, so I wanted to show you the books I planned on reading for this coming week!

Because I am doing this so last minute, I am not filming any videos about the read-a-thon, but I will be updating everyone on my reading process on my Twitter and Instagram along the way. Wish me luck!
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A Million Junes by Emily Henry (Review)

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30763950.jpgRating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 Stars)

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magical Realism

Summary: Romeo and Juliet meets One Hundred Years of Solitude in Emily Henry’s brilliant follow-up to The Love That Split the World, about the daughter and son of two long-feuding families who fall in love while trying to uncover the truth about the strange magic and harrowing curse that has plagued their bloodlines for generations.

In their hometown of Five Fingers, Michigan, the O’Donnells and the Angerts have mythic legacies. But for all the tall tales they weave, both founding families are tight-lipped about what caused the century-old rift between them, except to say it began with a cherry tree.

Eighteen-year-old Jack “June” O’Donnell doesn’t need a better reason than that. She’s an O’Donnell to her core, just like her late father was, and O’Donnells stay away from Angerts. Period.

But when Saul Angert, the son of June’s father’s mortal enemy, returns to town after three mysterious years away, June can’t seem to avoid him. Soon the unthinkable happens: She finds she doesn’t exactly hate the gruff, sarcastic boy she was born to loathe.

Saul’s arrival sparks a chain reaction, and as the magic, ghosts, and coywolves of Five Fingers conspire to reveal the truth about the dark moment that started the feud, June must question everything she knows about her family and the father she adored. And she must decide whether it’s finally time for her—and all of the O’Donnells before her—to let go.

My thoughts: A Million Junes is a brilliant novel full of fantastical elements while tackling the topics of grief, family, and love. Each topic is explored in such a unique and vivid way that will connect with any reader of any age. This is the type of fantasy novel that will keep your attention until the very last page, thanks to its vibrant characters and mystical writing style. This was a story that I completely fell in love with and did not expect to love as much as I did.

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