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Showing posts with the label surprise reads

April Wrap Up!

  It was a mostly positive reading month! Found many new favorites. I read a total of 17 books and DNF 1 (one).  I hope your April went well, too! Links to my reviews provided if applicable.  The 5 star books:  1. Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao 2. French Girl in New York by Anna Adams 3. Neighborhood Story Volume 4 by Ai Yazawa 4. A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen 5. If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann 6. A Sign of Affection Volume 10 by Suu Morishita 7. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity Volume 6 by Saka Mikami   8. No Talking by Andrew Clements 9. Witch Hat Kitchen Volume 5 by Kamome Shirahama  10. Passing for Human by Liana Finck 11. Kilala Princess Vol 2 by Rika Tanaka   The 4.5 star books: 1. Funny Story by Emily Henry 2. Alice in Kyoto Forest Vol 1 by Mai Mochizuki and Haruki Niwa 3. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers    4. Amari and the Despicable Wonders by BB Alston The 4 star books: 1. Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech...

I Hope This Doesn't Find You Review

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                              (Graphic made in Canva. Pic of book was found on Google Images) This is actually my third book from Ann Liang . The first book I read from her was This Time It's Real , which I read last year but I didn't like it very much. You can read the full review for it here. The second book I picked up was If You Could See the Sun , and I tried reading earlier this month but DNF it. I do believe in giving authors another chance, so I read I Hope This Doesn't Find You , and I really liked it!  This book is about Sadie Wen, who is a top student at her school and her number one nemesis is the other top student, Julius Gong. They've been competing for as long as Sadie can remember. One way Sadie vents out her frustrations with Julius and other students that have done her wrong is through email drafts. She does this because she is a huge goody two shoes and tries to maintain a g...

Moment of Truth Review

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 TW: mentions of a sibling dying young Another new favorite from Kasie West ! The Care Bear figurines were very fitting for this book. Moment of Truth is about Hadley, a girl who is very passionate about swimming and plans to get a swimming scholarship to get into the college of her dreams. But one day, a guy who is dressed like popular movie character Heath Hall crashes her swim meet, and Hadley loses the competition. Annoyed with this fake Heath Hall, she and her best friend Amelia try to figure out who this Heath Hall wannabe is. It turns out he goes to their school, and he runs an Instagram page where is showcases wherever he will strike next. Hadley and Amelia go through every boy they think he could be. One of the suspects is Hadley's ex-boyfriend Robert, awkwardly enough. Another suspect is a guy named Jackson that Hadley frequently butts heads with.  But while the Heath Hall mystery is going on, things start to change between Jackson and Hadley. Especially when Jackso...

Turtle Bread Review

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A sweet (pun intended) graphic novel from the celebrity chef Kim-Joy .  Turtle Bread follows Yan, a 23 year old woman who has trouble finding a job, and generally she feels lonely. One day after a job interview she finds a flyer about a baking club in town. Yan loves to bake and although she is nervous about what other people think of her, she decides to go to the club to make new friends. Despite some awkward first introductions, she is able to form a bond with everyone there, especially the club leader, an elderly woman named Bea. Yan ends up having fun baking with her new friends everyday, and it leads to so many surprises, some nice and some heartbreaking.  This was another graphic novel I picked up on a whim, and it was so fascinating how much it reflected my own life, especially with Yan and her social awkwardness. I am not much of baker (I mostly prefer cooking), but I loved reading about all the thing the friends baked. Especially the fluffy turtle shaped bread. ...

The Legend of Shadow High Review

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  Do you like Monster High, Ever After High, or both?  Either way, Here's a crossover book between my two of my favorite doll franchises! Was this story good? Well... The Legend of Shadow High by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale starts off with Frankie Stein and Draculaura from Monster High who hear rumors about a high school monsters historically went to called Shadow High. They find a map and try out some spells to take them to this  Shadow High, but they end up in Ever After High instead! When their sudden appearance causes chaos and gets them in trouble, they are taken under the wings of Apple White and Raven Queen, and they become friends. Well, the new friends find out that Raven's mother, the Evil Queen, wants to also get to Shadow High and take over the World of Stories. The World of Stories happens to be the world where all fictional characters (monsters and fairy tale characters mostly) live, separate from our world by the Fourth Wall (get it?). They have to stop the...

Snapdragon: Spoiler-Free Graphic Novel Review

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I went to the library the other day and I picked up a copy of Snapdragon by Kat Leyh on a whim. I did not have it on my TBR, but when I saw it I had to pick it up and read it! The cover looked really cute and I have been craving graphic novels recently. They're easy and quick reads and the stories are almost always so relatable to me! Plus the artwork is gorgeous.   Snapdragon is an urban fantasy, and is about a girl named Snapdragon who has trouble fitting in at her school, and she is obsessed with witch movies. Her dog Good Boy goes missing, and she finds him in the house of an old woman who lives secluded from everyone in her area. Snapdragon thinks the old lady is a witch, and when she goes to her house to get Good Boy back, she sees the lady has skeletons of animals everywhere, and freaks out thinking the old lady will eat her dog. Luckily the old lady doesn't eat her dog, and Snapdragon forms a bond with her after rescuing some baby opossums from her school and gets her...