ARC Review: “Luck of the Titanic” by Stacey Lee

Thanks to PenguinTeen for sending me a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my first foray into Stacey Lee’s writing, and let me tell you, she writes a story well! I’m eager to read her other works now and am a bit ashamed I waited so long to read something by her despite owning two of her backlist books.

Anyway, this post is not about feeling sorry for myself, so let’s move on, lol.

Content warnings: discussions of alcoholism, racism, misogyny, xenophobia

Review: “My Calamity Jane” by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

If you missed my reviews of the first two books in the series, you can check them out here:

• My Lady Jane
• My Plain Jane

The books in this series aren’t connected; the only “real” connection is that the main characters are all named Jane. So you can read each book without having read any of the others. 🙂

ARC Review: “The Jewel Thief” by Jeannie Mobley

I picked up an ARC of this book from the publisher’s booth while attending the North Texas Teen Book Festival in March 2020.

Content warnings: anti-Semitism, attempted rape

ARC Review: “The Silence of Bones” by June Hur

A huge thanks to Fierce Reads / Feiwel & Friends for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings (from author’s own GR review of her book): violence, murder, gore, character death, misogyny, mention and description of animal abuse, mention and description of suicide

I’ve eagerly anticipated this book since I first read the publication announcement on Twitter. I waited a while before sending an email to the publisher, asking for a review copy. I’m incredibly indebted to them for allowing me to read this book early and celebrate it.

Review: “The Beautiful” by Renée Ahdieh

Look, y’all, I am SO SAD I wasn’t able to give this book more stars. I was crossing my fingers I’d at least give it 4 but it simply didn’t work for me. I want to continue to support this author, but it’s so hard when I haven’t been a huge fan of her works. I think I may have said it before but I don’t think Ahdieh is the author for me. I didn’t even bother to continue The Wrath and the Dawn; Flame in the Mist and Smoke in the Sun, while enjoyable, were books I didn’t fall completely in love with and ended up unhauling from my personal collection. Sadly… this book will be unhauled as well.

Content warning: Blood, racism, attempted rape

ARC Review: “The Fountains of Silence” by Ruta Sepetys

Happy almost October! Can you believe it? Can you smell fall in the air? I live in Oklahoma and to be honest, that’s been really hard lately. Last week it was in the upper 90s, humid, with no relief in sight. Anyway, that’s not what I came here to talk about so… moving on.

A huge thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may change in the finished copy.

To be honest I was a little hesitant. I read Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray a few years ago and gave it 3 stars. Since then I haven’t been too interested to read anything else by her. However, when the opportunity arose to receive this ARC, I was willing to give another one of Ruta’s books a try. I’m so glad I did.

ARC Review: “The Lady Rogue” by Jenn Bennett

This is the first Jenn Bennett book I’ve read. I know she’s written a few popular YA contemporary romances, but of course I had to request this one when it’s historical fiction, LOL.

Thanks to Simon Pulse for giving me a free digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: “Escaping from Houdini” by Kerri Maniscalco

I figured it was about time to start this book since Capturing the Devil releases this fall (September, to be exact). While Hunting Prince Dracula sealed my enjoyment of the series, I had high expectations for Escaping from Houdini. Again, I think this was a case where I hyped the book too much in my mind.

ARC Review: “Courting Darkness” by Robin LaFevers

His Fair Assassin trilogy is a series that got better with each book. I can’t help but scream “Assassin nuns!” when people say they want to read something “different.” When the author announced there would be two more books in the series, I was excited. While Courting Darkness was good, there were a variety of things I didn’t care for in the book, which left me wondering if I should pretend the series is really just a trilogy.

I picked up this ARC from my local indie bookstore, where they have a “buy a book, get a book” (normally an ARC) thing going on. I had hoped to review it before its release date but unfortunately, time slipped away from me.

ARC Review: “An Affair of Poisons” by Addie Thorley

After finishing Enchantée, I wasn’t sure how quickly I wanted to dive back into another historical fiction book involving France. An Affair of Poisons takes places a hundred or so years before the events of the French Revolution, where kings and nobles are still on top. The events of this book are based on real events, too. (I happened to briefly look up the actual Affair of Poison a few days before I started this book, which I found a bit ironic.)

Okay, you didn’t come to listen to me babble.

A huge thanks to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for giving me a free, digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This review may contain possible spoilers.