Standalone Sunday | Bellamy and The Brute

Standalone Sunday is a weekly feature created by Megan @ bookslayerReads that spotlights a standalone novel that you loved and would recommend or one that you’re excited to read. Be sure to check out her blog and original post by clicking on the above link! 😊

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When Bellamy McGuire is offered a summer job babysitting for the wealthy Baldwin family, she’s reluctant to accept. After all, everyone in town knows about the mysterious happenings at the mansion on the hill—including the sudden disappearance of the Baldwin’s eldest son, Tate. The former football star and Golden Boy of Wellhollow Springs became a hermit at the age of sixteen, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Rumors abound as to why, with whisperings about a strange illness that has caused deformity…turned him into a real-life monster. Bellamy wants to dismiss these rumors as gossip, but when she’s told that if she takes the job she must promise to never, ever visit the 3rd floor of the mansion, she begins to wonder if there really is some dark truth being hidden there.

Tate’s condition may not be the only secret being kept at Baldwin House. There are gaps in the family’s financial history that don’t add up, and surprising connections with unscrupulous characters. At night there are strange noises, unexplained cold drafts, and the electricity cuts out. And then there are the rose petals on the staircase. The rose petals that no one but Bellamy seems to be able to see. The rose petals that form a trail leading right up to the 3rd floor, past the portrait of a handsome young man, and down a dark hallway where she promised she would never, ever go…

As Bellamy works to unravel the mysteries of Baldwin House and uncover the truth about Tate, she realizes that she is in way over her head, in more ways than one. Can her bravery and determination help to right the wrongs of the past and free the young man whose story has captured her heart?

– Goodreads Synopsis (x)

This week I’ve decided to spotlight a standalone that I’ve yet to read but really want to. Bellamy and The Brute is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, which is a huge reason why it caught my eye. I adore Beauty and the Beast retellings! There’s also the fact that I’ve seen nothing but praise for it and it’s a standalone. Coming across a great fantasy standalone is still pretty rare so anytime one is published it almost always goes straight on my TBR. So, yeah, this is definitely one book I’m going to have to read soon.

If anyone is interested it’s currently $4.99 for a Kindle copy through Amazon US.

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Have you read Bellamy and The Brute? Did you like it? If not, do you want to read it? If you participate in Standalone Sunday be sure to link me to your post so I can see it. 😊

 

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That’s A Wrap! Reading, Reviews, and What’s Ahead | March-April

This month was pretty great! 😊

The Totally Should’ve Book Tag

I’m doing this tag for two reasons. One, because it’s been a while since I last did a tag and I really wanted to do this one. Two, because last week Google Chrome decided to delete all of my bookmarks and thus my whole folder full of tag links. Over half of the tags that I’ve been tagged in and had links to I’ve lost and I learned that my about me section doesn’t have all of them either. So, now I feel really bad. I just wanted to let you guys know because there are a lot of tags I was tagged in that I might never get around to. 😖

Now onto the post –

I’m pretty sure I was tagged by multiple people to do this but I only have the link to the one that Michelle @ Book Adventures tagged me in. Thanks so much again for the tag, Michelle! Be sure to check out her post for this as well as her blog because both are amazing. 💕

This tag was originally created by Emmmabooks on Booktube.

Happy birthday to my blog! + Q&A Announcement

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So, my little book blog hit an important milestone last week – it turned a year old! *cue confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling*

I know we all say something similar but I can’t believe I made it to one year on this blog. I go through hobbies like they’re nothing – crocheting, tumblr, making fan videos, writing fanfiction, and Instagram. None of those lasted very long. I even tried knitting once and that was out the window in hours. But somehow this little blog has stuck and I don’t see myself ever giving it up. I attribute that largely to all of the incredible friends I’ve made on here. Some of you I don’t go a day without talking to and honestly my life would be boring without you! I wonder what I even did before joining the book community and how I spent all that time reading books without anyone to share my thoughts with or fangirl with.

I’ve been wracking my brain this past week on what I was going to do for my blogiversary. I wanted to do a giveaway but can’t swing it this month (might do a belated one in a few months instead). So, I decided to just do the Q&A I originally announced in February’s wrap-up.  

I already have a few questions from those comments but…

Does anyone have any questions for me? Book questions? Blog questions? Random questions? 

I’ll be making a separate post to answer all of the questions within the next week or two! 😊

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Waiting On Wednesday #16 | Words On Bathroom Walls

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases that you’re eagerly anticipating!

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It’s been a long time since I last did Waiting On Wednesday. I stopped doing it because most of my anticipated reads were for 2017 and didn’t have blurbs. Alas, it’s 2017 and I have a whole slew of new anticipated reads so I’m going to start doing it again.

This week I’ll be spotlighting Words On Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton. I stumbled across this title while surfing NetGalley one day and automatically added it to my TBR because of the fact that the main character has schizophrenia. I’ve yet to find a YA contemporary that has great representation as far as schizophrenia goes but I’ve been seeing some positive reviews so I have hope for this book.

Release Date: July 4th, 2017
Genre: YA, Contemporary

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Fans of More Happy Than Not, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and It’s Kind of a Funny Story will cheer for Adam as he struggles with schizophrenia in this brilliantly honest and unexpectedly funny debut.

Adam has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He sees and hears people who aren’t there: Rebecca, a beautiful girl who understands him; the Mob Boss, who harasses him; and Jason, the naked guy who’s unfailingly polite. It should be easy to separate the real from the not real, but Adam can’t.

Still, there’s hope. As Adam starts fresh at a new school, he begins a drug trial that helps him ignore his visions. Suddenly everything seems possible, even love. When he meets Maya, a fiercely intelligent girl, he desperately wants to be the great guy that she thinks he is. But then the miracle drug begins to fail, and Adam will do anything to keep Maya from discovering his secret.

 

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You can pre-order it on: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Book Depository, Google Play and Kobo

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What books are you excited for!?

If you do Waiting on Wednesday link me to your post so I can see. 😊

 

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Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

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Title: A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Format: eBook

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kell is one of the last travelers–magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.

There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad King–George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered–and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London–a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

What makes a fantasy novel good for you?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what qualities I love to see in a fantasy novel. What makes a fantasy novel a hit for me, what makes it a miss? As someone who reads a lot of fantasy I’ve noticed the more great ones I find the pickier I become. All of this led to me thinking about how we all have such different opinions when it comes to the books we love and the books we don’t (which is something I love about the book community). Qualities that lead to me loving a fantasy novel could be the qualities that lead to someone else hating the same novel and vice versa. We can all agree that the two things that make or break a fantasy novel are the characters and the world building but beyond that the waters get a bit murky. Which brings into play what I want to discuss –

ARC Review: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Thanks so much to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Title: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Release Date: March 7th, 2017
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Format: eARC

Goodreads Synopsis:

The first day of senior year:

Everything is about to change. Until this moment, Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.

Suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and discovering that he no longer knows who he really is—but if Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

Standalone Sunday | Last Seen Leaving

Standalone Sunday is a weekly feature created by Megan @ bookslayerReads that spotlights a standalone novel that you loved and would recommend. Be sure to check out her blog and original post by clicking on the above link!

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Flynn’s girlfriend has disappeared. How can he uncover her secrets without revealing his own?

Flynn’s girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can’t answer, and her friends are telling stories that don’t add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January’s boyfriend, he must know something.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January’s disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

– Goodreads Synopsis(x)

 

 

I’m running out of standalone novels that I’ve read and haven’t reviewed so this week won’t be a mini review like normal but more of a short recommendation. This book has been on my mind the past few weeks so I figured Standalone Sunday would be the perfect excuse to recommend it.

Last Seen Leaving was my first venture into the YA mystery/thriller genre. I’m someone who has always been more into watching mystery/thriller rather than reading it. I don’t think I’ve had any book surprise me quite like this one did. There were times when I thought I knew what was happening only to be proven completely wrong. I can’t even count the amount of times where I gasped or my jaw dropped. I loved it and it made for an incredible reading experience. However, this book is also more than just a mystery novel. It’s really two stories in one – the mystery of January’s disappearance and Flynn coming to terms with his sexuality. I love how much it explored Flynn’s journey separate from the events as well as within them. Overall this book is an addictive story full of mystery, suspense, and a journey of self-discovery. I highly recommend it to anyone who is even the least bit intrigued!

“There was a corpse in my neighbor’s front yard.”

The first line of this book will always be my favorite. You can check out my full review for Last Seen Leaving here.

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Have you read Last Seen Leaving? Did you like it? If you participate in Standalone Sunday be sure to link me to your post so I can see it. 😊

 

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Five Recommendations Based On My Favorite Female Characters

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I’ve had two recommendation posts planned for a while because I wanted to recommend some fantasy and contemporary novels based on my favorite female characters. However, when I realized that today is International Women’s Day I thought what better way to celebrate that than by combining my two post ideas into recommending five of my favorite books by women based on my favorite female characters.