Tuesday 28 September 2021

Top Ten Tuesday | Books On My Fall 2021 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that highlights ten books that all relate to a certain topic and is  hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

 

This Weeks Topic Is...


A Freebie! So I decided to just go with last weeks prompt as I missed it and I always enjoy planning out what books I want to be reading in the upcoming weeks. I probably won't get to all of these but hey, a girl can dream...

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Monday 27 September 2021

#5OnMyTBR | Epistolary

 
This meme was created by E. @ Local Bee Hunter's Nook and you can find the announcement post here. Also, side note, these aren't necessarily books that I own physically but they're all on my Goodreads TBR and they'll mostly be the five most recently added.  
 

This Week's Prompt is...

Epistolary! I love books written in the form of letters, emails, documents and such. It's possibly up there as my favourite format as I find it so interesting to follow the characters and the plot through these different entries. I have a lot of these on my TBR so I tried to go for a few slightly more obscure books to mix things up. 
 
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Sunday 26 September 2021

Down The TBR Hole #54


Current TBR shelf: 3672

Last week's TBR shelf: 3679

The rules   

  1. Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youre feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
  4. Read the synopses of the books
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
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Thursday 23 September 2021

Book Review + Playlist (Blog Tour) | To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames


Publication Date: 21st September 2021 by Page Street Kids
Format: Netgalley ARC
Target Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Horror   

Goodreads • Amazon • Blackwells • Barnes and NobleBook Depository


Content warnings: Gore! lots of gore/blood (human and animal), body horror (human and animal),claustrophobia, hallucinations/nightmares, death, animal death, parent death (mentioned), parental conflict (being afraid of a parent), mention of alcohol/drinking, mention of self-harm, mention of divorce, mental illness (perceived/actual), mention of child death/killing, mention of suicide, drowning, paranormal activity. 

Synopsis

Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed sixteen people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumours than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there. Clem and Nina form a perfect loopbest friends forever, and perhaps something more. Their circle opens up for a strange girl named Lisey with a knack for training crows, and Piper, whose father is fascinated with the mine in a way that’s anything but ordinary. The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomenasleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. And no matter how many vans of ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the girls decide to enter the mine themselves.

Rating


My Thoughts

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Tuesday 21 September 2021

Book Review + Favourite Quotes (Blog Tour) | The Wolf's Curse by Jessica Vitalis


Publication Date: 21st September 2021 by Greenwillow Books
Format: Netgalley ARC
Target Audience: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy   
 

Goodreads • Amazon • Blackwells • Barnes and NobleBook Depository


Content warnings: Grief, death 

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Gauge’s life has been cursed since the day he witnessed a Great White Wolf steal his grandpapá's soul, preventing it from reaching the Sea-in-the-Sky and sailing into eternity. When the superstitious residents of Bouge-by-the-Sea accuse the boy of crying wolf, he joins forces with another orphan to prove his innocence. They navigate their shared grief in a journey that ultimately reveals life-changing truths about the wolf––and death. Narrated in a voice reminiscent of The Book Thief and Lemony Snicket, this fast-paced adventure is perfect for fans of literary fiction fantasy such as A Wish in the Dark and The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

Rating


My Thoughts

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Monday 20 September 2021

#5OnMyTBR | Magic Schools

 
This meme was created by E. @ Local Bee Hunter's Nook and you can find the announcement post here. Also, side note, these aren't necessarily books that I own physically but they're all on my Goodreads TBR and they'll mostly be the five most recently added.  
 

This Week's Prompt is...

Magic Schools! We won't talk about that series that kicked off this trend but if you're missing that setting in books, here's some recommendations from my TBR. 
 
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Sunday 19 September 2021

Down The TBR Hole #53

Current TBR shelf: 3679

Last week's TBR shelf: 3686

The rules   

  1. Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youre feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
  4. Read the synopses of the books
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?

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Thursday 16 September 2021

Bookish Buzzwords Tag


I feel like I haven't done a tag in forever so I thought it was about time I did one. This one is all about buzzwords and books that tick different boxes and was originally created by LizziefayeLovesBooks. As usual I found this tag on The Book Dutchesses aka the best place to find all sorts of tags!  


YOUR GO-TO GENRE OR FAVORITE TYPE OF BOOK

I've found myself really enjoying mysteries and thrillers over the last few months. It's all I'm kind of wanting to pick up, I just find them so exciting and twisty. My favourite type of books are always the ones that happily surprise you. I was always a contemporary girl throughout my teenage years but as I'm getting older I'm finding myself reading that genre less and less. 

RETELLINGS YOU ARE DRAWN TO


I love any kind of fairy tale retelling, the darker the better. When an author can take such a beloved and well known story and then create something magical and original with it then I know they're one to watch. I am so excited to read my ARC of Midnight in Everwood next month as it's a retelling of The Nutcracker and it looks gorgeously atmospheric and enchanting.   

LIFESTYLES OR CAREERS OF THE BOOK CHARACTERS


I don't think I really have a preference for this one. I do enjoy it when a books main character has a slightly quirky or unusual job that you don't see very often as that can add heaps of fun to the plot. Off the top of my head I always like reading about amateur detectives like Miss Marple so maybe I'd go with that. 

PLACES OR SETTINGS YOU ARE DRAWN TO


If a book is set in a boarding school, a haunted house, a circus or fairground or in a small town community then I'm all over it. Something about these settings always draws me in and can get me reading a book even if I don't know anything else about it. Probably a major reason why I can't wait to pick up A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee cause I love me some dark academia vibes.  

RELATIONSHIPS YOU ENJOY READING ABOUT


Not sure I have a preference for this one either. I am quite drawn to sisterly relationships though especially when they're fairly complicated and don't always see eye to eye. I recently read My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite and I really enjoyed the examination of these two different sisters and how they contrasted each other. 

BUZZWORDS IN THE TITLE OF THE BOOK


I seem to really like books that have numbers or times of the day/seasons like midnight or winter for some reason. I also seem to gravitate to anything that has a magical sounding title (Cinders & Sparrows, The Forest of Stars)  or something that gives off creepy/haunting vibes (Wild & Wicked Things, All the Murmuring Bones) from the title alone.    

THINGS ON BOOK COVERS THAT DRAW YOU IN

   

For me it doesn't get better then a stunning illustrated book cover. I've never liked covers that feature actual people or scenery, they've just never been my thing. I love it when you can look at a book and see all the different elements that make up the story drawn on the front. I mean how gorgeous is the cover for The Poppy and the Rose by Ashlee Cowles?   

NONFICTION BUZZWORDS OR A NONFICTION YOU ARE DRAWN TO


I don't read a ton of non-fiction, although I'm trying to read more, so there isn't any particular words I'm drawn to but I'd say that the majority of what I do read tends to be true crime and mystery focused as I always find it fascinating to read about these cases and how well researched and presented they are. I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara about the hunt for The Golden State Killer is at the top of my list currently.  

MEDICAL OR PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF CHARACTERS


I'm really not fussy to be honest, mental health and disabilities has always been something I enjoy reading about in books particularly if it's a condition I'm not overly familiar with. More recently though I've been drawn to books that handle grief and depression as that's something that I've grappled with for a few years. For that reason We Are Okay by Nina LaCour is a book I desperately want to pick up.  

TIME OF YEAR, OR TIME IN HISTORY OR FUTURE THAT YOU ARE DRAWN TO


Books set during the 60s/70s/80s is a favourite time period for me. Something about those decades will get me adding that book to my TBR cause I think those are the most fun you can have when it comes pop culture and references. 80's horror books are a specific niche for me, None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney sounds like my perfect book.  

BONUS #1:  ANY OTHER BOOKISH BOXES OR BUZZWORDS NOT ALREADY MENTIONED

Nope, I think we're good!

BONUS #2:  WHAT BOOKISH BOXES OR BUZZWORDS TURN YOU AWAY FROM A BOOK?

I'm not big into religious fiction, self-help books, regency romances, anything with a writhing couple of half naked bodies on the covers (😂) cause you can always tell what kind of books those are going to be! 

A super fun tag, if you do this one make sure you link me to your post in the comments so I can have a read! Happy Reading everyone! 
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Tuesday 14 September 2021

Top Ten Tuesday | Books with Numbers in the Title


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that highlights ten books that all relate to a certain topic and is  hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 
 

This Weeks Topic Is...

Books with Numbers in the Title! A fun little topic this week, I managed to get ten different numbers in there but man, there are a lot of books with the numbers 1, 10 and a thousand out there!

 

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Monday 13 September 2021

#5OnMyTBR | Orange Cover

 

This meme was created by E. @ Local Bee Hunter's Nook and you can find the announcement post here. Also, side note, these aren't necessarily books that I own physically but they're all on my Goodreads TBR and they'll mostly be the five most recently added.  
 

This Week's Prompt is...

Orange Cover! Another cover prompt and just look at how pretty all of these books look together!
 

1. Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer

 
Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy. Her mother sacrificed everything to bring peace to the quadrant, and her uncle has successfully ruled as emperor for decades. But the last thing Alyssa wants is to follow in their footsteps as the next in line for the throne. Why would she choose to be trapped in a palace when she could be having wild adventures exploring a thousand-and-one planets in her own ship?

But when Alyssa’s uncle becomes gravely ill, his dying wish surprises the entire galaxy. Instead of naming her as his successor, he calls for a crownchase, the first in seven centuries. Representatives from each of the empire’s prime families—including Alyssa—are thrown into a race to find the royal seal, which has been hidden somewhere in the empire. The first to find the seal wins the throne.

Alyssa’s experience as an explorer makes her the favorite to win the crown she never wanted. And though she doesn’t want to be empress, her duty to her uncle compels her to participate in this one last epic adventure. But when the chase turns deadly, it’s clear that more than just the fate of the empire is at stake. Alyssa is on her most important quest yet—and only time will tell if she’ll survive it.

 

Why I want to read it ✨

Deadly competition
Sci-fi/fantasy
LGBTQ+

2. How to Pack For the End of the World by Michelle Falkoff 

 
If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do?

This is the question that haunts Amina as she watches new and horrible stories of discord and crisis flash across the news every day.

But when she starts at prestigious Gardner Academy, Amina finds a group of like-minded peers to join forces with—fast friends who dedicate their year to learning survival skills from each other, before it’s too late.

Still, as their prepper knowledge multiplies, so do their regular high school problems, from relationship drama to family issues to friend blow-ups. Juggling the two parts of their lives forces Amina to ask another vital question: Is it worth living in the hypothetical future if it’s at the expense of your actual present?

Why I want to read it ✨

Misfits banding together
Armageddon type plot
Balancing teen life with the end of the world

3. Mayhem by Estelle Laure

 
It's 1987 and unfortunately it's not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy's constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem's own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren't like everyone else. But when May's stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem's questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good. But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.

Why I want to read it ✨

Set in the 80s
Inspired by The Lost Boys & The Craft 
Magic elements 

4. Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis 

 
Truth is a human right.

It’s fall 2007. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first contact. Cora Sabino is doing everything she can to avoid the whole mess, since the force driving the controversy is her whistleblower father. Even though Cora hasn’t spoken to him in years, his celebrity has caught the attention of the press, the Internet, the paparazzi, and the government—and with him in hiding, that attention is on her. She neither knows nor cares whether her father’s leaks are a hoax, and wants nothing to do with him—until she learns just how deeply entrenched her family is in the cover-up, and that an extraterrestrial presence has been on Earth for decades.

Realizing the extent to which both she and the public have been lied to, she sets out to gather as much information as she can, and finds that the best way for her to uncover the truth is not as a whistleblower, but as an intermediary. The alien presence has been completely uncommunicative until she convinces one of them that she can act as their interpreter, becoming the first and only human vessel of communication. Their otherworldly connection will change everything she thought she knew about being human—and could unleash a force more sinister than she ever imagined.

Why I want to read it ✨

Aliens!!
Government cover ups
Adult sci-fi 

5. Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

 
Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along.

But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.

Margot’s mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there?

The only thing Margot knows for sure is there’s poison in their family tree, and their roots are dug so deeply into Phalene that now that she’s there, she might never escape.

Why I want to read it ✨

Horror/mystery/thriller
Hometown secrets
Sapphic 

Which books with orange covers are on your TBR? If you've already read some of these, let me know what you thought! Leave a comment with your own #5OnMyTBR posts for me to check out! Happy Reading!

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Sunday 12 September 2021

Down The TBR Hole #52

Current TBR shelf: 3686

Last week's TBR shelf: 3695

The rules   

  1. Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youre feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
  4. Read the synopses of the books
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
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Wednesday 8 September 2021

WWW Wednesday | 08/09/2021



WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking On a World of Words that highlights three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you'll read next?
 

What did you recently finish reading?



I finished the audiobook of Locke & Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez yesterday and it was definitely fantastically produced with some incredible actors (Haley Joel Osment and Tatiana Maslany!) and overall an immersive listen that had me on the edge of my seat. I will say I agree with some reviewers though that this is probably best as a companion listen to the original graphic novels as it can be difficult to follow at times, it occasionally feels like you're watching a film without the visuals. 

What are you currently reading?




My reading pace isn't what I was hoping it would be but I am around 150 pages into Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I was hoping to love this and I absolutely do! I love the way this novel is written and how we're getting the timeline of events through interviews with the characters and getting to see how differently they remember things happening. I'm already hooked so I can't wait to see where the story goes as we progress through the years. 


I'm almost halfway through To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames and really liking it. It's a bit slow as I still don't feel like the plot has really got going yet but I love the atmosphere of the town and the characters and the building sense of uneasiness about the mine and the mysteries surrounding it. I'm glad I'm enjoying because it's always a chance when it comes to books you're reading for blog tours!

What do you think you'll read next?



I'm going to pick up Hereafter by Tara Hudson after Daisy Jones to fulfil the ghosts/paranormal prompt for the Magical Readathon. I've had this book for years and just never felt the urge to pick it up but I'm trying to prioritise books that have been on my shelf for forever.  
 
Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.



Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? What are you currently reading and hoping to pick up next? Leave a comment or link your own WWW Wednesdays below for me to check out!
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Monday 6 September 2021

#5OnMyTBR | Mental Health


This meme was created by E. @ Local Bee Hunter's Nook and you can find the announcement post here. Also, side note, these aren't necessarily books that I own physically but they're all on my Goodreads TBR and they'll mostly be the five most recently added.  
 

This Week's Prompt is...

Mental Health. I have a few books that I really want to get to at some point, a couple I own and a few that I don't. MH is a topic that I feel I should be reading more about though, particularly the different forms and conditions that fall under the term. 
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Sunday 5 September 2021

Down The TBR Hole #51

Current TBR shelf: 3695

Last week's TBR shelf: 3700

The rules   

  1. Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youre feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
  4. Read the synopses of the books
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
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Saturday 4 September 2021

Stacking the Shelves | August 2021


Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by 
Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality that highlights all the books you've recently added to your shelves. Here's all the books I hauled in August! 

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Friday 3 September 2021

August 2021 Reading Wrap Up

 

August is over (!) and I'm apparently sticking with my average of 7 books a month. I think though, hopefully this won't jinx it, that my reading has picked back up again as I'm finally out of my weird not picking up a physical book for weeks thing that I had going on. I've decided to go back to a fixed TBR for this month too, mostly because I'm participating in a readathon and also because I'm hoping that having the books already planned out will help with my motivation for the month. 

Stats 




Silent Victims (Prime Suspect #3) by Lynda La Plante

I finished off my bind up of the three Prime Suspect cases, with this one possibly being my favourite? They all seemed to get around the same rating, fairly average due to the fact that they were entertaining at the time but not particularly rememberable. La Plante always writes really gritty, dark crime books that have all the grim realities of policing especially for women in the 90's. If that's your thing check these out but be aware they contain a fair amount of sexism, racism and homophobia. 


S.T.A.G.S by M.A. Bennett

This was my main audiobook for the month, I got it free on World Book Day and decided to give it a shot whilst I was in the mood for mysteries. I've heard a lot of mixed things about this book and unfortunately whilst I liked what the book was trying to do, a lot of the plot points and dialogue didn't really work for me. This book follows a northern working class girl beginning at a prestigious boarding school who's invited by an elite group of students to a country estate for the weekend. It tried to be this dark, tense thriller but I just didn't feel particularly threatened by any of the events mostly because I couldn't take the posh characters seriously. They were such stereotypes. Other things like the fact none of the students own phones because they prefer traditional values just weren't realistic either. It was entertaining for what it was but I don't know if I'm invested enough to continue the series. 

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite  

A super short, fast-paced thriller that kept me captivated from start to finish. Oyinkan Braithwaite has such a readable writing style, with short chapters that are still satisfying. I really enjoyed this examination of sisterhood and murder, darkly funny and entertaining. This would be perfectly adapted as a mini-series, hopefully it's already been optioned cause I'd love to see these characters portrayed on screen. 

My lowest rated for the month was this YA mystery that revolved around a group of teens invited to a murder mystery dinner, each with their own secrets about an event that happened one year prior, and how the night turns into a mysterious persons revenge plan. It was all just a bit far fetched and ridiculous for me. The writing was kind of odd in places, the characters were completely forgettable and the ending was so stupid. The plot had so much potential but it failed in terms of execution. If you like the bizarreness of Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars then you might enjoy this but I wasn't a fan. 

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

I'm officially a fan of time travel novels! This was so much fun and I loved the blend of sci-fi and mystery that this had going on. Set over three different time periods, we follow three women involved with the business of time travel as well as a murder that connects everyone together. This had such an original and interesting premise and it delivered on all fronts. I loved the writing, the plot, the characters. Sometimes the scientific stuff would go over my head a little and the timelines could get confusing but overall I had such a good time with this book and I'm excited to read more from Mascarenhas.  


Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey

Another mystery/thriller, this one is set in 80's small town Minnesota and follows a pre-teen girl as she comes to terms with the secrets her parents keep from the rest of the town as well as the horrific incidents of boys being attacked in her community. Whilst this is pitched as a thriller and there is a mystery sub-plot, I'd say this story mainly focuses on Cassie and her family with the attacks happening in the background although Cassie does attempt to solve the crimes throughout. I really liked Cassie as a character and this book was definitely an interesting read especially with the author being inspired by a true story that happened in her hometown. Another reviewer described it as a small town domestic drama, more character driven then plot.    

Strange the Dreamer by Lainie Taylor 

I finally finished this book! After starting it in June and then not picking it up for over a month, I managed to smash out the last 250 pages in two days to get it done. I had such a major slump with this book but beside how long it took, this really was a wonderfully told story. Lainie Taylor's writing is stunning! There are some beautiful passages in here with gorgeously vivid descriptions. The plot is imaginative and intriguing and the characters of Lazlo and Sarai and their relationship is just heartbreaking perfection. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because of how long it took me to finish it but other then that, I loved it completely. 

Lastly, we have only my second DNF of the year! I was actually on the blog tour for this one and was due to do a review but I just couldn't get any further then about 25% in so changed my post to a spotlight instead. This is a contemporary romance about a young woman who discovers her boyfriend is potentially cheating on her after she travels to meet up with him for her birthday and his phone has ended up in the possession of a lyft driver. This lyft driver then begins texting with her and she spends her birthday following his instructions for the perfect day. A year later she decided to track him down in order to finally meet him in person. I just couldn't get behind the set up of the plot, it just seemed really unbelievable to me and I didn't understand how she was falling in love with this guy she'd only texted for a couple of hours. In the end I didn't care enough to continue any further. 

That brings us up to speed on everything I read in August, I'm excited for September and all the books I plan on reading. You can check out my September TBR here! Happy Reading!
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