Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

I have read the first three books in the Heartstopper series and watched the show’s first season. (Yes, I know I am behind). So far, I do like this series. It is a cute series of Nick and Charlee in high school. It is a sweet romance that is easy to read, cute, funny, and fluffy. I like to read fluffy books like these in between a big series or a big fantasy read. It breaks up the world-building and strips things down to manageable and regular.

When are you supposed to read Nick and Charlee? It may be a book after Volume 4 of Heartstopper, but because I have yet to read Volume 4, I might have read this out of order. But it still was a cute, fluffy read. Nick and Charlee start when school ends, and Nick is graduating, leaving Charlee one more year of school. This novel is short and takes place a few weeks into the summer. This is the perfect book for fans of Heartstopper who want more from the characters as they wait for the next volume. I do not recommend this book for someone who has yet to read Heartstoppers just because the series has a lot of character development that you will miss if you dive into Nick and Charlee. Overall, I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. The different format was part of my rating. I liked the book; it was a great filler book in the series, but nothing extraordinary.

An excerpt from Goodreads:

CHARLIE: “I have been going out with Nick Nelson for two years. He likes rugby, Formula 1, dogs, the Marvel universe, the sound felt-tips make on paper, rain and drawing on shoes. He also likes me.”

NICK: “Things me and Charlie Spring do together include: Watch films. Sit in the same room on different laptops. Text each other from different rooms. Make out. Make food. Make drinks. Get drunk. Talk. Argue. Laugh. Maybe we’re kind of boring. But that’s fine with us.”

Everyone knows that Nick and Charlie are the perfect couple – that they’re inseparable. But now Nick is leaving for university, and Charlie will be left behind at Sixth Form. Everyone’s asking if they’re staying together, which is a stupid question – they’re ‘Nick and Charlie’, for God’s sake!

But as the time to say goodbye gets inevitably closer, both Nick and Charlie question whether their love is strong enough to survive being apart. Or are they delaying the inevitable? Because everyone knows that first loves rarely last forever…

Long Way Down By Jason Reynolds

If you love poetry this is a must read. This collection of poems that tell the story of Will. The book takes place in a elevator ride that in real time only lasts less than a minutes. But as Will is faced with a huge choice it feels like a life time has gone by, by the end of the book. I was hooked onto this book. It is a book I could have read in one sitting if I hadn’t started it at work and had to hide in the bathroom to read it.

Will’s brother is murdered and Will decided he is going to revenge his brother. Will knows exactly who could have murdered his brother so he is going to take matters into his own hands.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

“A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator”

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer

Since we are on the trend of reviewing books I read last year and forgot to write about…Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer was one of my favorite books I read last year. It was light and fluffy. I consider this book to be on the fine line of Rom-com’s or not. To me, it is a Rom-com but I don’t read romantic comedies a lot so I can see how other people would disagree. It was a fast paced book that I couldn’t keep down.

This story follows Prudence who falls and hits her head one day and suddenly has the power to give karma when she deems it necessary. I liked Pro as a character because she was really similar to me, a perfectionist. And all perfectionist are controlling. We follow Pru as she sees how imperfect she herself is even if she does not want to believe it. Pru also discovers that even though she can give karma, there is always a bigger story than just the small story she knows.

We follow her as she is partnered for a summer project with a boy she dislikes from school. The reason she dislikes him is because he didn’t keep his end of a group project and she deemed him lazy and unmotivated. I love how this books showed how assumptions of others can really hurt your own option of someone. I loved the humanity in this book and it helps you take a step back and see others as humans and not punk kids or angry adults.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Find this books here on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53174679-instant-karma?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_13

Yolk By Mary H.K Choi

Last year I saw so many people reading this book on TikTok. And then it was a YA pick at barns and noble. I am a reader who goes into books blind so I thought “why not?” I listened to this book as a audiobook. It blew me away. I think of myself as a reader who is hard to make cry. And did this book make me sob like a baby.

We follow Jayne as she navigates college in New York City. Jayne has a eating disorder and is trying her best to get by. She lives with a roommate in a shack of a apartment. She is keeping her head above water at school and hardly goes out with her friends because she feels like a third wheel. She compares herself to her sister, June who has it all. I big job with lots of money so she can buy her designer cloths and huge apartment. Jayne has been avoiding her parents and family because she does not want to disappointment, since she is not like June.

And then one day June calls

And not just a annoying sister call.

Jayne’s life is turned upside down when she learns her sister has uterine cancer.

I don’t have a sister but if I did I would imagine that this book would be how my life would go with my sister. What would you do when your family calls for help?

I have never read a book by Mary H.K Choi but I want to read all of her books now. I loved this story. It was hard to put down and even a year later I still think about this book. I thought it was worth the hype. I loved the writing and the flow of the book. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

“

From New York Times bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi comes a funny and emotional story about two estranged sisters switching places and committing insurance fraud to save one of their lives.

Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her.

On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer.

Suddenly, these estranged sisters who have nothing in common are living together. Because sisterly obligations are kind of important when one of you is dying”

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43562313-yolk?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=UpfEWm0dYa&rank=1

Reading Update Sunday May 8th 2022

Well 2022 has been a crazy ride so far. It’s hard to believe we are 5 months through this year.

So, what have you been reading lately?

This past week I became ill which means I had a lot of time on my hands to sit at home and read, play Mario Cart and relax. It has been really nice being off work even if I was sick.

I read 5 books this week. I read 1 poetry book, 2 mangas, and 2 novels.

I read The Atlas Six by Olivia Blake. I gave this 4 our of 5 stars.

I read Heartstoppers 2 and 3 by Alice Oseman. I gave both of these 5 out of 5 stars.

I read The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman. I gave this 5 out of 5 stars.

Finally I re-read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black and gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

I read this book when I was a tween. And I remember loving it. Recently I decided to start buying some of the books that I had loved when I was a tween ( I know I know I am on a book buying ban and I am still honoring it ) and that includes all the books that Soyna Sones wrote. If you are a fan of Ellen Hopkins I think you will love Soyna Sones as well.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. This book is written in verse so it was a quick read. In fact I read in a day. This story follows Ruby after her mother passes as she is sent of to meet her biological father for the first time. Turns out her father is a famous actor. And she hates him.

This book is about family and coming together as one. I love this story. I had actually forgot the ending from when I had read it previously and it came as a shock to me. I kinda predicted the ending but kept thinking that maybe I was wrong and so the ending was a great conclusion to this story. If you are looking for a fast read I highly recommended diving into this book.

Review: Branded

This book has been floating slowly around booktube and I love dystopian so naturally I picked it up. We follow the story of Lexi who is taken to be branded. Each brand is a different sin represents by a tattoo around the persons neck in a certain color. Lexi is accused of the sin lust. Therefore she is branded with a blue band and sent to the Hole, where sinners go after they are branded.

I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I had a lot of issues with it but I still really liked the story.

I love this first half of the book. Though there is insta-love which you can tell the authors where trying not to do, the story started off strong. It even made me tear up. But half way threw I got so confused. I feel like the wording and sentences where missing things. It’s hard to explain. It was like saying “I wanted the ice cream,” but it read as “I want cream.” You as a reader had to fill in the holes that where not explained which made it so confusing.

Lexi makes a 360 degree change. I love the Lexi in the beginning of this book. But then she just froze up. She became a different person with a change of the page.

The worst part was the second half’s plot was interesting but I couldn’t believe it with the lack of descriptions. It just didn’t seem realistic. And it was even hard to follow.

It took me a week to get threw the second half of the book where it only took me a day to get half way through.

The good news is the last chapter picked up. Though it was predicable for the ending, it was a good conclusion for this book. And even though I had issues I do plan on reading the next book in this series. In fact I am part of the street team for this series so plan on seeing some updates for that!

If you like dystopian I think you will like this book. Just push through the ending because it is worth the story.

Review: The Young Elites

Oh my god. Words cannot describe how many feels I am feeling right now. This book.

Let’s start with my rating. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. I did not know much about what this book was about other than it’s main character is a villain.

I put this book down many times because I wanted our main character, Adelina, to do the right thing. And it made me feel the feels because she tried to-do the right thing so many times and it just didn’t work out for her.

We follow the story of Adelina who was struck with a plaque that left her scared. Many others were scared to from this plaque and some even developed abnormal abilities. Adelina runs away from home when she discovers that she too has some abnormal abilities.

She is accused of her fathers death and therefore is suppose to be killed when the young elites come and take her under their wing. They train her and show her as much as they can what she can become. But things go wrong and shit literally hits the fan.

The only problem I had with this book was that there was A LOT of back story. And the back story was usually the same. It made the book boring in the beginning. I understand the need of back story but there was just to much.

I also put this book down a lot because I would get so mad at Adelina so expect to get mad at her. lol. this didn’t ruin the story it just made me mad.

The ending though oh my god. ALL THE FEELS TIMES 100!

I need the next book right now or I literally may die.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

So I never have done a spoiler type thing but for those of you who have read the young elites I wanted to know if your prediction is the same as mine so if you are still reading this and have not read the young elites this is your last warning to not look beyond this point I really do not want to spoil anything but I do want others input. Do you think a certain main character will come back and turn bad?

Review: Dark Days

From the moment I watched a review video on YouTube I was dying to have this book. So last week I bought a bunch of new books and finally got my hands on Dark Days by Kate Ormand.

This book was everything that I though it was going to be and so much more. I have Dark Days 4.5 out of 5 stars.

To start I do not like this cover. I think the background is hard to see and the pink in over powering. BUT PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE A BOOK BY IT’S COVER. Especially not this book!

Now I think with all dystopian type books, people who have read The Hunger Games always seek out hunger games like similarities. And yes there are some in this book but this book is completely different than the Hunger Games.

We are introduced to Sia. And she has 15 days left until a cyborg army comes and kills everyone in her sector. Everyone in this sector lives in the same types of houses with the same types of furniture. No one is allowed to be unique and different. The only people in her sector that are not being killed are being taken to the New World. They are being picked because they bring something more into this world than normal people and Sia already knows that here family will not be picked.

I read this book within 24 hours. It was fast paced and gripping. I was shocked at some of the plot twists and the directions they went.

I honestly think this book could have been longer. It could have been a series but in a way I like it as a short book. It is only 250 pages long. If you are looking for a fast dystopian that will engage you this book is for you.

Now like I mentioned before this book does have a few Hunger Games like aspects to it but what I liked the most is one of the characters you meet reminds me of Effie. But this Effie like character goes bad. It kind of makes me image if Effie ever snapped in Mockingjay this would have been her. I couldn’t stop laughing at the image,

I really loved this book. Now I took off .5 stars on it because I felt like there was some repeating paragraphs throughout the book but other than that it was a awesome adventure and I really wish/hope there will be another book like this by Kate Ormand!

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

I’m stuck.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have been really good about pulling this words out my butt but today I am so stuck I don’t want to write.

I am not giving up on my book I just ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So you may wonder what I am going to do about it. I am doing a small time skip. I like the scene I left off at but I have no desire to continue this scene so onto chapter 4 I got to make a different scene and get these words that are in my head out.

To help me find my words I will be listening to Car Radio by Twenty One Pilots on repeat.

More future post update things to come! Happy writing and may the odds be ever in your favor.

I feel like you need a little more taste of Honey so here is a small piece from my novel.

That’s how I feel my life is. Just crazy. Between the parents that argue every night to the point of smoking weed with Leo. And then there was Nathan. I should stop drinking the water here or I may catch some of the crazy.