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3.5 Star

The Herd by Andrea Bartz

October 13, 2021      Leave a Comment

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

  336 Pages | Ballantine | Mystery/Thriller | 3/24/2020

I rarely read long-form journalism but I devoured this piece in the New York Times Magazine about the false utopia of the all-female co-working space The Wing, so when I saw this book had a similar premise I had to pick it up.

In this book, the fictional aspirational feminist co-working space is called The Herd and the novel follows the twisty aftermath of disappearance of the founder, Eleanor Walsh.

The Bradley sisters, Katie and Hana, are best friends with the missing Eleanor and as they search for the truth their own dark secrets surface.

…

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Rise To The Sun by Leah Johnson

September 27, 2021      2 Comments

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

 7 hours 33 mins | Scholastic Audio | Contemporary | 7/06/2021

Content warnings: parental loss, panic attacks, gun violence and nonconsensual picture sharing

You Should See Me In A Crown was one of my favorite reads last year and I was excited to see what Johnson had in store for her sophomore novel. The one was a little more of an emotional heavy hitter with an ambitious plot structure that left me wanting more.

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

July 5, 2021      2 Comments

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

17 Hours | Mamillian Audio| Adult Fantasy| Release Date: 10/06/21

This book is one of a long list of books I read because of TikTok. My interest in this book was initially peaked when I heard Schwab’s interview on Wicked Wallflowers, but seeing it so much on TikTok is what made me sit down and listen to this 17-hour audiobook.

300 years ago, Addie LeRue made a Faustian deal with a dark god to live forever but he also cursed her with the inability to be remembered.  Until now.

This book has a unique premise and of the three and 1/2 (still need to finish A Conjuring of Light) Schwab books I’ve read this one was my favorite. Schwab really leads readers through the intricacies of the curse and I’d liked seeing how Addie worked within the confines of her curse and travels from rural 18th century France to modern-day New York City. I think a book that moves through time just works for me.

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Kat Re-Reads Some Books!

July 1, 2021      2 Comments

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sarah Dessen was one of my favorite YA authors as a teen but I haven’t read much outside of my old faves. This is a quasi-reread because I started this book years ago but never finished it. l picked it up again because I noticed the audiobook had been re-recorded by Rebecca Soler, one of my faves. I’m not sure why this book and Someone Like You have new audiobooks but I’m not complaining because Soler is a great narrator!

I can see why this book is a fan favorite, it’s about a straight laced teen who learns it’s okay to have a little bit of chaos in life. I think there is a certain freedom in learning that if something goes wrong it’s not the end of the world. Plus there is the attractive, artsy, reformed bad boy with a heart of gold.

 But I thought this book was a little twee and overly earnest at times, particularly the reveal of the birthday present. I mean….wouldn’t Wes have known about it? Speaking of Wes, he really wasn’t giving me much. I didn’t understand what exactly he saw in Macy.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

It’s been almost a decade (how???) since I read this and, for the most part, it holds up well to re-reading. I mean, there is definitely some phrasing around Romani people and disabilities we may not use today. Going into the book knowing how it ends was a fun experience, I noticed reveals in the text I hadn’t noticed the first time around. In the interview at the end  Taylor says she didn’t see herself as a storyteller before this book and I literally don’t see how. The way she weaves this story together is incredible. I hadn’t remembered that the Akiva/Madrigal backstory is told completely out of order but it all comes together perfectly in the end.

This time around I found myself imagining Karou looking a little like Anna Taylor Joy because of her big doe-like eyes. I also sort of saw the chimera as being like the animals in Bojack Horseman, I had such a hard time imagining them and like, how their mouths moved when I first read it.

And look, at the end of the day this book is a colonizer romance and there is a bunch of Fantastical Racism but I think Taylor meets the challenge. There isn’t a lot of both side-ism and it’s clear in the text that the seraphim are colonizers and colonizers are always in the wrong.

I think this is the perfect series to binge, I am so amped to finish this series! I can’t believe I waited 3 years for the next one….it’s also occurring to me that I haven’t listened to another Hvam audiobook since this one. I need to change that….it looks like she recorded new versions of the Vampire Academy audiobooks

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This book has had one of the longest hype trains I’ve ever seen in modern YA. I read it 3 years after the initial hype and now, 3 years after that, it’s all over TikTok and social media thanks to the TV adaptation.

I think what draws readers to this book is Bardguo’s compelling character work. Kaz gets talked about a lot as a myth maker but all of our protagonists have had to mythmake  themselves to survive their individual trauma. Bardugo creates stakes for each character (well, except Wylan) on how the mission is their chance at breaking free from what haunts them.  

The audiobook holds up well to a re-listen, I could listen while working because I knew the contours of the character and plot. I don’t think I gave Fred Berman enough praise the first time around. When it came to voicing Kaz he understood the assignment. Kaz’s rough voice is such a predominant feature of his character and I think that’s why Freddy Carter’s Kaz felt like he was missing an edge in the television show.  Speaking of Kaz, in my original review I said he was a Draco In Leather Pants, but he’s not.  I read this before I’d read the original trilogy and the Darkling is the Draco In Leather Pants

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

May 24, 2021      Leave a Comment

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

501 pages | Margaret K. McElderry Books | Urban Fantasy | 9/15/2020

This is my first TikTok made me read it books.

Legendborn follows 16-year-old Bree Matthews, a high school student attending UNC Chapel Hill as part of an Early College program, who accidentally stumbles into the world of the Legendborn— magic-wielding descendants of The Knights of the Roundtable. As Bree works her way into the Legendborn world (and falls for their King) she learns more about her own family history.

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Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant

May 23, 2021      Leave a Comment

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

  10 Hours 19 Mins | Harper Audio | Contemporary YA | 1/05/2021

16-year-old Tessa Johnson loves to write romance. When her family relocates to Long Beach she gets to attend a writing conservatory. But during her first writing class, all her story ideas vanish. She decides the best course of action to jumpstart her romance writing mojo is by falling in love IRL. 

Tessa sets her eyes on Nico, the brooding dark-haired, rich boy who looks like he walked out of one of her stories while being completely oblivious to Sam, the goofy boy next door who drives her to school everyday.

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