Book Review | Happy Place by Emily Henry

Happy Place

Author: Emily Henry | Release Date: April 25, 2023

★★★★★

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A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

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2022 Wrap Up | 2022 Favourites and 2023 Goals

Happy new year everybody! The last few months have been such an expereince. I’ve gone through some big life changes in the span of three months. I feel like the year went by quickly but that it also took so long for us to get here. Does that make sense? anyway, I read a lot of books that I really enjoyed this year. I was going for quality over quantity again this year so my Goodreads challenge was set to 1 book. I’ve found my reading to be a lot more enjoyable that way and not worrying about reaching a set goal has been a blessing.

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Book Review | The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

The Hunting Party

Author: Lucy Foley // Published: December 3, 2018

★★★

 

Everyone’s invited…everyone’s a suspect…

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

The trip begins innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps, just as a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. . . and another of them did it.

Keep your friends close, the old adage says. But how close is too close?

DON’T BE LEFT OUT. JOIN THE PARTY NOW.

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Book Review | Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom

Author: Leigh Bardugo // Published: September 27, 2016

★★★★★

Welcome to the world of the Grisha.

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

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Book Review | Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Book Lovers

Author: Emily Henry // Published: June 4, 2013

★★★★★

Book Lovers

 

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming…

Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books.

Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he’s Nora’s work nemesis.

Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she’s the woman men date before they find their happy-ever-after. That’s why Nora’s sister has persuaded her to swap her desk in the city for a month’s holiday in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. It’s a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into…Charlie.

She’s no heroine. He’s no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book?

 

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Book Review | Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone, #3) by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising

Author: Leigh Bardugo // Published: June 17, 2014

★★★★

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The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

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Book Review | Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy

Author: Richelle Mead // Published: August 16, 2007

★★★★

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES…

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth’s magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires – the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa’s best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger… and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

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Books I’ve hauled this year! 📚

When was the last time I posted a book haul? Ages ago but we’re going to pretend I do this regularly. Do I have some exciting books to show you! I’ve brought together books that I’ve bought and was gifted so far this year. I’m honestly kind of surprised that I’ve only bought seven books so far this year. I mean seven books in five months is actually pretty good (gifted books aside). Then again my birthday is coming up so I might add another two or three to the shelves but for now here it is. Read on if you’re at all curious about what I got!

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TBR & Wrap Up | April Wrap Up

April has got to be my favourite reading month so far this year. I’ll admit, this year hasn’t gone the way I had hoped. I haven’t been in the mood to blog and I’ve decided to give myself the longest break. I didn’t want to push myself because I know I won’t enjoy blogging if I do. The fact that this is up means I’m getting back into the swing of things. I never posted my wrap up of the first 3 months of the year but I’ll definitely be sharing that on here soon. Along with a bunch of book reviews!

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Book Review | Dead Wednesday by Jerry Spinelli

Dead Wednesday

Author: Jerry Spinelli // Published: August 3, 2021

Thank you Penguin Random House International for the gifted copy!

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Worm Tarnauer has spent most of eighth grade living down to his nickname. He prefers to be out of sight, underground. He walked the world unseen. He’s happy to let his best friend, Eddie, lead the way and rule the day.

And this day–Dead Wednesday–is going to be awesome. The school thinks assigning each eighth grader the name of a teenager who died in the past year and having them don black shirts and become invisible will make them contemplate their own mortality. Yeah, sure. The kids know that being invisible to teachers really means you can get away with anything. It’s a day to go wild!

But Worm didn’t count on Becca Finch (17, car crash). Letting this girl into his head is about to change everything.

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