• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    RECKLESS GIRLS by Rachel Hawkins | ARC Review

    4th January 2022
    Cover of Reckless Girls (by Rachel Hawkins)

    RECKLESS GIRLS by Rachel Hawkins

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    MCs     : cishet white woman (*4)+ cishet white man (*2)
POV     : single 1st-person (present) + multiple 3rd-person (past)
location: Hawai‘i, USA + Meroe Island (fictional)
indie?  : no

    I read Hawkins’ The Wife Upstairs (my review) this time last year and couldn’t put it down. With Reckless Girls, I had a similar experience of wanting to keep reading to find out what’s going on, but unfortunately, the final reveal also happened to be a huge, unexplained plot hole that just made the whole build-up fell flat.

    Lux (25) has been stuck in life after her mother passed away from cancer. When she followed her boyfriend Nico (26) to Hawaii, she was hoping for some travel adventures but ended up working at hotels instead. Then Brittany (22?) and Amma (22?) showed up, wanting to hire Nico to take them to Meroe Island, a secluded atoll famous for cannibalism legends in WWII. Soon, Lux finds herself heading for the island with Nico, Brittany, and Amma, but they aren’t the only one there. Rich boy Jake (30) and his girlfriend Eliza (30) are also on the island. As the days go by, terrible things start happening, and Lux begins to see that this was not a friendly trip after all.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Nonfiction

    EDUCATED by Tara Westover | ARC Review

    28th December 2021
    Cover of Educated (Tara Westover)

    Educated by Tara Westover

    CW: misogyny, gaslighting, violence, psychological & physical & spiritual abuse, child abuse, use of N-word by family member

    I have to thank Westover for writing this memoir. It must have taken her a lot of courage to relive everything and share her own life story with the world.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    THE INFINITE SUMMER by Morgan Lee Miller | ARC Review

    26th December 2021
    Cover of the Infinite Summer (Morgan Lee Miller)

    THE INFINITE SUMMER by Morgan Lee Miller

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    3.75 stars rounded up.

    There is something about Morgan Lee Miller’s writing that gets me every time. Despite seeing the obligatory conflict coming all the way from Europa, I enjoyed getting to know all the characters, except for Theo (duh). The Infinite Summer is so nerdy and I love that.

    Remi Brenner (bisexual, white) dreams of becoming an astronaut, and enrolling in MIT’s aerospace program is her first step to realizing the dream. But her father threatened Remi to spend the summer with him and celebrity chef stepmother Serena DeLuca or else he wouldn’t pay for her college tuition. What started out as an involuntary trip to Gaslight Shores turns out to be a life-altering journey for Remi as she meets Harper Herbert (lesbian, white), whose parents own the po’boy shop Acadian.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    ON THE ROCKS by Georgia Beers | ARC Review

    7th December 2021
    Cover of On the Rocks (Georgia Beers)

    ON THE ROCKS (A Swizzle Stick Romance #2) by Georgia Beers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    3.5 stars rounding up.

    This is the second book I’ve read this month featuring an elementary school teacher main (the other one is Marry Me by Melissa Brayden; my review here), and gosh, why aren’t there more books with frazzled teachers and trouble-making kids?

    Vanessa Martini (33) knows what she wants in a woman: not her students’ mom, not under 35 years old. But when she met Grace Chapman (29, bisexual), mother of the headache named Oliver, they connected better than expected. Too good, actually. Could the worst timing of Grace going through divorce while Oliver is in Vanessa’s class turn out to be the best time for them to date?

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    SHAKEN OR STIRRED by Georgia Beers | ARC Review

    30th November 2021
    Cover of Shaken or Stirred (Georgia Beers)

    SHAKEN OR STIRRED (A Swizzle Stick Romance #1) by Georgia Beers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    A new series with gay cousins and I’m so here for it! Shaken or Stirred is the first book in the Swizzle Stick Romance trilogy featuring cousins Julia, Vanessa, and Amelia Martini, respectively. I love this trio and am excited for Vanessa’s (On the Rocks) and Amelia’s stories because Vanessa is such a fun person who is an elementary school teacher and Amelia is in her late forties (48 in Shaken or Stirred) who takes zero bullshit. While Vanessa and Amelia seem to have more personality to them, Julia is… a business owner who is a workaholic. Maybe not the most intriguing character, her story was still an enjoyable one.

    Julia Martini (38) just bought Martini’s from her uncle and reopened the bar. When Savannah McNally (34), who works as a caretaker, comes in for a drink one day, sparks fly. But there is something going on between the Martinis and McNallys on top of other issues within their own families. Will Julia and Savannah retreat to their comfort zones and miss out on this chance of love?

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