If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

What do you do when your two favorite young adult authors come together to write a new book? You freak out and read it all in one sitting!

Thank you Wednesday Books for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heart-breakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet. On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?

As expected, I absolutely loved this book. These authors are phenomenal and work together so beautifully. This book mimics the rumors about the band members from One Direction, so if you are aware of those, you will love this book too. Honestly, if you are a fan of boy bands in general, you will also love this book. I really appreciate how inclusive this book was which makes me recommend this for all readers even more. Enjoy the adventure these boys go through and watch them grow and learn in front of your eyes. It’s the best!

5/5 Stars

You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

I’d been hearing so much hype about this book from the beginning of this year, I’m excited to finally get a chance to dive right in!

Thank you Wednesday Books for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes. Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone. In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.

Unfortunately, this one did not live up to my expectations. I was shocked at how uninterested I became so early in the story. I think the story was supposed to be full of emotion, and the only emotion I got was confusion. I felt there were so many missing pieces that were left unresolved for most of the book. I also didn’t really get this raw emotion from Julie that I would’ve expected from how the story started off. The writing was jumbled and the pace was too. A nice premise for a popular trope, but not a great execution.

2/5 Stars

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

Do you love reading books about book lovers like yourself? Sign me up!

Thank you Wednesday Books for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded. So when Amelia and Jenna get the opportunity to attend a book festival with Endsley in attendance, Amelia is ecstatic. It’s the perfect way to start off their last summer before college. In a heartbeat, everything goes horribly wrong. When Jenna gets a chance to meet the author and Amelia doesn’t, the two have a blowout fight like they’ve never experienced. And before Amelia has a chance to mend things, Jenna is killed in a freak car accident. Grief-stricken, and without her best friend to guide her, Amelia questions everything she had planned for the future. When a mysterious, rare edition of the Orman Chronicles arrives, Amelia is convinced that it somehow came from Jenna. Tracking the book to an obscure but enchanting bookstore in Michigan, Amelia is shocked to find herself face-to-face with the enigmatic and handsome N. E. Endsley himself, the reason for Amelia’s and Jenna’s fight and perhaps the clue to what Jenna wanted to tell her all along.

What a beautiful debut! It’s emotional and gut wrenching, but absolutely breath-taking. I’m not much for best friend stories, but this blew others out of the park. This story won’t leave my thoughts for days upon days. I will be reading more from this author for sure!

5/5 Stars

The Project by Courtney Summers

I may be one of the few people who has not read this author’s previous book “Sadie”, but was excited to be one of the firsts to read her latest novel!

Thank you Wednesday Books for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it. When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point she can no longer tell what’s real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn’t know if she can afford not to.

Oof, this was a flop for me. I can see where there could have been potential, but it just never lived up to it. The multiple timelines were not well executed. I wanted to give up half-way, and maybe I should have…I’ve got so many friends that rave about Sadie, so I think I need to go back and start there and have skipped this one entirely. Can’t all be winners!

2/5 Stars

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

OH how I loved this book…let me count the ways!

Thank you Wednesday Books for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Summer love…gone so fast.
Will Tavares is the dream summer fling―he’s fun, affectionate, kind―but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairy tale ending, and to complicate the fairy tale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realizes it’s the same school Will goes to…except Ollie finds that the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted―and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.
Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts “coincidentally” popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, and Ollie finds his resolve weakening.
The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.
Right? Right. 

Need a feel-good book? THIS IS IT! GOSH I loved this book and read it so fast because it was so dang good and oh my gosh I just didn’t want this book to end! Think of an LGBTQIA version of Grease. Summer lovin’ turned to every day reality. The characters were lovable and relatable too. It’s freaking adorable, emotional, and had a wonderful ending! It’s not graphic in it’s sexual content at all (something I have seen people ask about). It’s just so dang cute.

5/5 Stars

Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan

I’m always trying to expand my horizons when it comes to reading, and fantasy is one of those genres I’m really trying to dive more into.

Thank you Wednesday Books for gifting me an ebook copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: When Nadya prays to the gods, they listen, and magic flows through her veins. For nearly a century the Kalyazi have been locked in a deadly holy war with Tranavian heretics, and her power is the only thing that is a match for the enemy’s blood magic. But when the Travanian High Prince, and his army invade the monastery she is hiding in, instead of saving her people, Nadya is forced to flee the only home she’s ever known, leaving it in flames behind her, and vengeance in her heart. As night falls, she chooses to defy her gods and forge a dangerous alliance with a pair of refugees and their Tranavian blood mage leader, a beautiful, broken boy who deserted his homeland after witnessing his blood cult commit unthinkable monstrosities. The plan? Assassinate the king and stop the war. But when they discover a nefarious conspiracy that goes beyond their two countries, everything Nadya believes is thrown into question, including her budding feelings for her new partner. Someone has been harvesting blood mages for a dark purpose, experimenting with combining Tranavian blood magic with the Kalyazi’s divine one. In order to save her people, Nadya must now decide whether to trust the High Prince – her country’s enemy – or the beautiful boy with powers that may ignite something far worse than the war they’re trying to end. 

First off, how cool is this cover? I absolutely love it! As someone who doesn’t read fantasy books often, this was powerful. It’s full of quarrelsome in every which manner: magic, politics, religion…it’s heavy, but in a good way. I feel like there are a lot of layers to the story, which intrigued me for some parts, but lost my interest in others. I am always fond of a strong female lead in a story and a nice love triangle, but the characters never really pulled me in. I didn’t feel like I was in a rush to get to the end to find out what happens. It is a dark book which captured my attention as something that pulls me from my ordinary reads. I did really enjoy the villain…any author that can successfully do that is a win in my book! Like I said, it’s dark, so enter at your own risk. Congrats to Emily as this book was chosen as one of the Young Adult Book of the Month Club picks for the month of April. I look forward to hearing what you all think of it!

3.5/5 Stars

In Another Life by CC Hunter

I am honored to be apart of the Wednesday Books Blog Tour for In Another Life. Thank you for the opportunity!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Chloe was three years old when she became Chloe Holden, but her adoption didn’t scar her, and she’s had a great life. Now, fourteen years later, her loving parents’ marriage has fallen apart and her mom has moved them to Joyful, Texas. Starting twelfth grade as the new kid at school, everything Chloe loved about her life is gone. And feelings of déjà vu from her early childhood start haunting her. When Chloe meets Cash Colton she feels drawn to him, as though they’re kindred spirits. Until Cash tells her the real reason he sought her out: Chloe looks exactly like the daughter his foster parents lost years ago, and he’s determined to figure out the truth. As Chloe and Cash delve deeper into her adoption, the more things don’t add up, and the more strange things start happening. Why is Chloe’s adoption a secret that people would kill for?

The first few chapters of this book had one of my eyebrows raised. Chloe had a lot of teenage drama going on and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle it for the rest of the book. Boy, was I wrong! The book quickly took a turn for the better. Chloe runs into Cash. The story turned upside down (for the better)! I will say that I predicted a few of the major events (or twists) early on, but it did not stop me from enjoying the read. Cash completely stole my heart. He has gotten himself into so much mess in his life. But, the determination he had to find his foster parents’ lost daughter was emotional and heartbreaking. I kept cheering him on despite decisions he had made previously. The ending wrapped up perfectly. I didn’t feel like I was left with unanswered questions. All in all, what a fun read to finish in one night!

4/5 Stars

I Do Not Trust You by Laura J Burns and Melinda Metz

Thank you to Goodreads and Wednesday Books for my winning giveaway copy of this book. The cover is gorgeous and it’s a young adult book, so I figured it would be right up my alley!

Memphis is an intelligent, spunky, adventurous high schooler who was raised by parents just the same. M has come across some bad fortune as of recently: her archaeologist father has died in a crash and she is stuck with a guardian couple who don’t follow her love and affection for adventure. One day, a gorgeous British man named Ash shows up and tells M that her father is still alive, being held captive by cultists who want to bring an Egyptian God back to life. M is the key to saving her father because she has the map that the cultists need and desire. Is her father really alive? Is she willing to risk her life to save him? What is this mystery behind this cult group?

This is a modern day Indiana Jones story to me. I went in on this read blindly and, at first, felt like it helped me enjoy the story, but not for long. I was hooked by the first few chapters, but completely lost in the mumbo jumbo of archaeology history. History is not my forte in general, so I found this story to be dull. I was expecting more detailed adventure than what was given. I felt like the ending I was expecting came too late and happened way too fast. I would’ve enjoyed the story a lot more if it were a movie so I’ll keep my eye out for that.

2/5 Stars