DNF or did not finish, is a widely debated topic in the book community. Some are for it, some are against it. I can understand the division, especially if you have been asked by a publisher to review a book. You’ve been asked to do a task, so you can’t just not read it, right? Well, I’m of the belief that you should be able to have the option of not finishing. Let’s discuss why.
Read more
From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord’s You Have a Match, a YA novel of family, friendship, romance and sisterhood…
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.
But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.
When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents—especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.
The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.
But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.*
*Summary from Goodreads
Title: You Have a Match
Author: Emma Lord
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
Representation: Filipino love interest, lesbian main character, Filipino side character, lesbian side character & minor character
Trigger Warnings: Grief, anxiety, injury (mild), death of a family member, adoption/transracial adoption, parental conflict
Rating: ★★★★★
When I get recommended a book, one of the first things I tend to do is add it to my TBR shelf on Goodreads. Usually, I won’t get around to looking at the summary or looking up reviews for it until much later, and sometimes, it slips my mind entirely, until that book is brought up in conversation again later, or until I decide to do my yearly Goodreads shelf-reorganizing. Or other times, I’ll simply be browsing Goodreads, or just going feeds on social media when I see books being recommended and promoted. More often than not, these recommendations come without trigger warnings.
What are trigger warnings?
Trigger warnings are statements at the start of a piece of media that alert the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material.
An example of trigger warnings in books that come to mind is The Henna Wars, which has “This book contains instances of racism, homophobia, bullying, and a character being outed.” printed on the inside. I’ve often also seen them simply listed as trigger warning: [ list of triggers ] or tw: [ list of triggers ] on reviews as well. You can view an example of trigger warnings on my One Last Stop review here.
Read more
From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), V. E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles).
In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.
What is the award all about?
Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award is a non-official Award to the bloggers as a reward of wonderful work on their blogs. It’s just as important because it really reflects the good impact we can have on other people’s lives. It is important for the inspiration towards the success journey of our fellow bloggers and especially newbie’s to become the future Stars.
Major thank you to thefictionaljournal for tagging us! You can see view their post here.
Read more
*Please note, I have not yet read book 2 and would appreciate no spoilers for it please!
I haven’t been captivated in a book just from the first page alone in a very long time. The Gilded Wolves broke this pattern, leaving me anxious to continue on in the story to see where the plot goes. To put this review simply, The Gilded Wolves is a masterpiece, carefully constructing a world that is both magical and realistic, with a band of characters that is simply a delight to read about. It’s honestly a very strong contender for my favourite book of the year.
Set in a darkly glamorous world The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence and dangerous but thrilling adventure.
Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts:
An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.
Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive*
*Summary from Roshani Chokshi’s website!
Read more
Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond for organizing this blog tour and providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Every fifty years, a cult claims twelve men to murder in a small Texas town. Can one girl end the cycle of violence – and save the boy who broke her heart?
San Solano, Texas is a quaint town known for its charm, hospitality, and history of murder. Twice now, twelve men have been brutally killed, and no one knows who did it. A shadowy witch? A copy-cat killer? Or a man-hating murderess? Eighteen-year-old Natalie Colter is sure that the rumors about her great-great-grandmother’s cult of wronged women are just gossip, but that doesn’t stop the true crime writers and dark tourism bloggers from capitalizing on the town’s reputation. It’s an urban legend that’s hard to ignore, and it gets harder when Nat learns that the sisterhood is real, and magical. And they want her to join.
The more Nat learns of the Wardens’ supernatural history, the more she wonders about the real culprits behind the town’s ritualistic murders. Are the Wardens protecting San Solano from even darker forces? As the anniversary of the murders draws near, the town grows restless. Residents start getting “claimed” as this year’s planned victims, including Levi Langford, the boy whose kiss haunted Nat for a year.
Nat knows that no one is safe. Can she and the sisterhood stop the true evil from claiming their town?*
*Summary from Goodreads
Read more
Many thanks to Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read an ARC of How To Fail at Flirting, and to feature an interview with Denise Williams!
Read moreOne daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.
When her flailing department lands on the university’s chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her focus will stray from her demanding job and she’ll tackle a new kind of to-do list. When she meets a charming stranger in town on business, he presents the perfect opportunity to check off the items on her list. Let the guy buy her a drink. Check. Try something new. Check. A no-strings-attached hookup. Check…almost.
Jake makes her laugh and challenges Naya to rebuild her confidence, which was left toppled by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Soon she’s flirting with the chance at a more serious romantic relationship—except nothing can be that easy. The complicated strings around her dating Jake might destroy her career.
Naya has two options. She can protect her professional reputation and return to her old life or she can flirt with the unknown and stay with the person who makes her feel like she’s finally living again.
This month, Caitlyn read 19 books, Cossette read 20 books, and Mary read 5 books. Overall, it’s been a good reading month for us here at teatimelit. If we wrote about every book we read, this post would be far too long, so here are our highlights.
Read more
One of my favorite coping mechanisms after getting my heart ripped out after reading a book is making a playlist, and I usually make my friends suffer through it with me. This time was no different — after I finished Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights, I instantly thought of some Taylor Swift songs that fit Roma and Juliette, and started sending them to Caitlyn (check out Caitlyn’s review for it here). We figured we’d expand on the playlist to share the pain. As always, this post is spoiler free, so we won’t be elaborating on why we picked the songs we did, or why they’re in this order, but you can always ask us on Twitter! Without further ado, here’s some songs that remind us of Roma and Juliette — and you can listen to the entire playlist here.
Read more