Monthly Archives: February 2023

Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi

Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi

Believe Me is the fifth novella (though it’s really more the length of a short novel) and the final book in the Shatter Me series. It’s a truly lovely conclusion and wrap-up to the whole series. It’s told from Warner’s point of view. It’s fun to see him interpret things so incredibly wrong and end up realizing he has real friends, especially Kenji (isn’t it always the extrovert who is just like hey, introvert, we’re friends now?). I miss the characters now that I’m done the series. They are just so well written and likable. I both wanted to finish this book and didn’t because I wasn’t quite ready to leave them behind. I highly recommend this book, and the whole Shatter Me series, to late teens and up who enjoy dystopian books.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 30
Pages Read in 2023: 9366

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Buddy Read, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: I Like the Series, Young Adult

Sisters of the Snake by Sarena & Sasha Nanua

Sisters of the Snake by Sarena & Sasha Nanua

Like the twins in Sisters of the Snake, the authors are twins born on Diwali ten minutes apart, though as far as I know they are not actually princesses. The book is set in an India-like land where some people are born with magic. The premise is similar to The Prince and the Pauper or The Parent Trap with one twin being a princess raised in the palace and the other a thief raised in an orphanage. The chapters alternate between the twins’ points of view. The book was a bit slow to get started, but really picked up in the last half or so. It’s about 500 pages long and still wasn’t long enough for me. The romances are very sweet. The epilogue is very short, but totally made me go buy the sequel right away. I recommend Sisters of the Snake to anyone who enjoys young adult fantasy.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 29
Pages Read in 2023: 9143

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Filed under Fantasy, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Grim Readers, Reason: Owlcrate, Young Adult

I finished LitHub BINGO… 2020

Yes, it’s 2023, but I finally finished my 101 book giant LitHub 2020 BINGO board! Here’s what I read for each prompt (for the TBR Folder prompts I had a kid give me a random number to match the page number of the Kindle screen and then another random number to match the book on that screen):

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Filed under Reason: LitHub Bingo

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi

The last full length novel in the Shatter Me series, Imagine Me is one wild ride. At 80% I had no idea how the series would be able to get wrapped up in the remaining pages. At 90% I was sure there was no possible way it would get wrapped up. At 98% I was very satisfied with the ending but also thinking how much I’m going to miss the characters. Incredible writing, incredible story. I highly recommend this book as well as the whole series.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 28
Pages Read in 2023: 8646

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: Buddy Read, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: I Like the Series, Young Adult

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy is a must read. The work Bryan Stevenson has done getting innocent people out of jail and getting sentencing guidelines for juveniles changed is so important. The book follows the complete story of a Black man falsely accused of killing a white woman, a case with so many holes in the prosecution it’s shocking he was sentenced to death row. Other stories of innocent people as well as those given sentences that were way too harsh for the crime committed are also told along with facts and information about incarceration in America. Stevenson is an amazing writer. The subject matter could easily have been dry and boring, but he makes the stories come to life in a way that makes you want to keep reading because you are totally invested. We have a long way to go in this country to get to a fair prison system, but people like Bryan Stevenson are working hard to get us there. I very highly recommend this book to late teens and up.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 27
Pages Read in 2023: 8184

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Filed under Non-Fiction, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: The Coven of Forbidden Books

Reveal Me by Tahereh Mafi

Reveal Me by Tahereh Mafi

Reveal Me is another novella told from Kenji’s point of view. It’s short, but a lot happens. It really adds to Kenji’s story and character. I sat and read it in one sitting because I didn’t want to put it down. This is a must read for anyone who likes the Shatter Me series and especially people who love Kenji.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 26
Pages Read in 2023: 7842

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: Buddy Read, Reason: I Like the Series, Young Adult

Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

I absolutely love that Defy Me is narrated by Juliette, Warner, and Kenji. It really has to be since they are all split up, but I do enjoy being in Kenji’s head. So much happens in this book. I had no idea where it was going at the end of the previous book but whatever I thought might happen it wasn’t this. There was just one thing after another. As always the writing was incredible. I really don’t know how this is going to get wrapped up in one more book! I recommend it to everyone who enjoys the Shatter Me series of course.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 25
Pages Read in 2023: 7770

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: Buddy Read, Reason: I Like the Series, Young Adult

Aries by Gemma James

Aries by Gemma James

Aries cannot truly be called a novella. It’s a serial, the first installment of what should’ve just been a longer book. It’s interesting and reasonably well written and the premise is good, too. The problem is the direction the story went with the queen falling in love with her captor, the man abusing her and keeping her as a sex slave. That’s not a love story, that’s Stockholm Syndrome. Not cool at all. I don’t recommend this book.

2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 24
Pages Read in 2023: 7455

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Filed under Realistic Fiction, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: LitHub Bingo

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

For the most part Cinder is a very enjoyable book. It’s a very unique take on the Cinderella story. It’s sci-fi but not super technical so it’s appealing even to people that aren’t really into sci-fi. There are two problems with the book, though. First, it is extremely predictable. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I spent 2/3 of the book just waiting for what I already knew would happen to happen. It was just really obvious that was the way it was going. Second, it ends very abruptly. The story continues in the next book, but I much prefer books in series to each have a satisfactory ending. When this one ended I was left feeling kind of cheated out of a chapter or two to wrap things up a bit (it didn’t help that because there is so much back matter, the Kindle book was only at 80% when the book ended). I recommend this book to people who enjoy young adult dystopian books but only if you are planning to go all in and read the entire series.

3 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 23
Pages Read in 2023: 7367

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Book Club, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shadow Me is a novella from Kenji’s point of view with the events occurring at the same time as the tail end of Restore Me. Kenji is such a great, well developed character. I can’t help but fall in love with him. I read this novella in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop reading. It was really cool seeing some of the same scenes from a different point of view and also seeing what Juliette interpreted completely differently. The end left me wanting to hurry up and get to reading the next book. Seriously… what the heck?!?! I very highly recommend this novella to everyone who likes the Shatter Me series and especially everyone who loves Kenji.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 22
Pages Read in 2023: 7022

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: Buddy Read, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: I Like the Series, Young Adult