en-US Sat, 14 Jun 2025 18:12:10 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 27424547 New victims. New betrayals. New secrets.

When Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI’s Naturals program, she had one goal: uncover the truth about her mother’s murder. But now, everything Cassie thought she knew about what happened that night has been called into question. Her mother is alive, and the people holding her captive are more powerful—and dangerous—than anything the Naturals have faced so far. As Cassie and the team work to uncover the secrets of a group that has been killing in secret for generations, they find themselves racing a ticking clock.

The bodies begin piling up, the deaths hit closer and closer to home, and it soon becomes apparent that this time, the Naturals aren’t just hunting serial killers.

They’re being hunted themselves.]]> 384 Jennifer Lynn Barnes 1484757327 Emma 0 4.37 2016
author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
name: Emma
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2019/01/05
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 16101128 unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.]]> 457 Rick Yancey 0399162410 Emma 0 4.01 2013
author: Rick Yancey
name: Emma
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2014/07/31
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 7741325 If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.]]> 260 Rachel Cohn 0375866590 Emma 0 audiobooks 3.75 2010
author: Rachel Cohn
name: Emma
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2017/12/20
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 27191595 --Psychology Today

CLASSIC SELF-HELP FROM A RESPECTED PIONEER OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
 
From social anxiety to phobias to post-traumatic stress disorder, sources of anxiety in daily life are numerous, and can have a powerful impact on your future. By following the rules of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), created by world renowned therapist Dr. Albert Ellis, you can stop anxiety in its tracks if you will admit this important fact: Things and people do not make you anxious. You do. Your unrealistic expectations produce your needless anxiety. Yet not all anxiety is needless…
 
Healthy anxiety can ward off dangers and make you aware of negative things that you can change. Unhealthy anxiety inhibits you from enjoying everyday activities and relationships, causes you to perform poorly, and blocks your creativity. Using the easy-to-master, proven precepts of REBT, this classic book not only helps you distinguish between healthy and unhealthy anxiety, but teaches you how to:
 
‧Understand and dispute the irrational beliefs that make you anxious
‧Use a variety of exercises, including rational coping self-statements, reframing, problem-solving methods, and Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA), to control your anxiety
‧Apply over 200 maxims to control your anxious thinking as well as your bodily reactions to anxiety
 
…and much more, including examples from dozens of cases Dr. Ellis treated successfully. Now you can overcome the crippling effects of anxiety—and increase your prospects for success, pleasure, and happiness at home and in the workplace.]]> 256 Albert Ellis 0806538031 Emma 0 3.20
author: Albert Ellis
name: Emma
average rating: 3.20
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2019/03/31
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 4020390
Additional notes for each story penned by Professor Albus Dumbledore will be enjoyed by Muggles and wizards alike, as the Professor muses on the morals illuminated by the tales, and reveals snippets of information about life at Hogwarts.

A uniquely magical volume, with illustrations by the author, J. K. Rowling, that will be treasured for years to come.]]> 111 J.K. Rowling 0545128285 Emma 0 3.94 2008
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Emma
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2016/01/03
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 16131484 The riveting follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The 5th Wave, hailed by Justin Cronin as "wildly entertaining."

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.]]> 320 Rick Yancey 1101599014 Emma 0 3.84 2014
author: Rick Yancey
name: Emma
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2014/10/04
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 13612970
A generation ago, powerful mage Constantine Madden came close to achieving what no magician had ever achieved: the ability to bring back the dead. He didn't succeed... but he did find a way to keep himself alive, inside a young child named Callum Hunt.

Facing up to what he is, Callum has battled chaos and evil across four years of magical training at the Magisterium, eventually defeating the armies of chaos in an epic battle.

It came at a cost.

Now, triumphant and heartbroken, Callum Hunt has just about had enough, and is ready to complete his training. But the evil Callum faced has not given up just yet...]]> 256 Holly Black 0545522420 Emma 0 audiobooks 4.01 2018
author: Holly Black
name: Emma
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2019/05/25
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 25057691
To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

Designed by Andie Reid, cover photography by Christine Ferrara.]]> 7 Grady Hendrix 1483049752 Emma 0 audiobooks 3.42 2014
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Emma
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2018/10/17
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 18475593 The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince…but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted—by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets—and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed—if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.]]> 454 Claire Legrand 1442465980 Emma 0 3.59 2014
author: Claire Legrand
name: Emma
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2019/12/30
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 15507958 Discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me.

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A Love Story for this generation and perfect for fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?]]> 369 Jojo Moyes Emma 0 4.24 2012
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Emma
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2016/01/01
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 41473890 Tamar is admitted to Lime Grove, a psychiatric hospital for teenagers. Lime Grove is home to a number of teenagers with a variety of problems: anorexia, bipolar disorder, behavior issues. Tamar will come to know them all very well. But there's one question she can't... won't answer: What happened to her friend Iris? As Tamar's emotional angst becomes more and more clear to her, she'll have to figure out a path to forgiveness. A shocking, moving, and darkly funny depiction of life in a psychiatric world. A stunning journey of one girl's mental illness and the redemptive power of truth and healing]]> 288 Ceylan Scott 1338323768 Emma 0 3.52 2019
author: Ceylan Scott
name: Emma
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2019/03/16
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 68783
Kaysen's memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers. It is a brilliant evocation of a "parallel universe" set within the kaleidoscopically shifting landscape of the late sixties. Girl, Interrupted is a clear-sighted, unflinching documnet that gives lasting and specific dimension to our definitions of sane and insane, mental illness and recovery.]]> 169 Susanna Kaysen 0679746048 Emma 0 3.95 1993
author: Susanna Kaysen
name: Emma
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at: 2018/01/22
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 19501
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.

To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way—unexpectedly.

An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.]]> 368 Elizabeth Gilbert 0143038419 Emma 0 3.64 2006
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Emma
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2019/04/17
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Emma 0 audiobooks
The Giver is a story that sticks with many of us as it is often a part of required reading in school. I consider it one of the most impactful academic reads from my adolescence as it was one of the first stories to feel targeted towards me. I think the concept is fantastic and appreciate it's method of tackling serious issues through the lens of a teen. Though it was published after many famous dystopian stories of similar nature, I feel The Giver succeeds in resonating with younger readers and challenging them to think critically about society in a way many others cannot.

Reading as an adult though, I do feel I enjoyed it less. I had many more questions about the structure of the world that weren’t answered in text (I’m aware it’s a series, but for a first installment, I feel it could have benefitted with more detail). I felt it was lacking in characterization as I did not feel much attachment to the characters. Additionally, with both times I’ve read this novel, I tend to feel unsatisfied by the ending. The last chapter or so is such a drag in my opinion and doesn’t make me WANT to read more.

Overall, I’m sad that I didn’t enjoy The Giver as much as I did at thirteen but I’m glad I read it a second time.]]> 4.12 1993
author: Lois Lowry
name: Emma
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at: 2018/10/25
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:
3.5/5 Stars! I read this book previously in middle school for English class and was still able to appreciate it almost a decade later.

The Giver is a story that sticks with many of us as it is often a part of required reading in school. I consider it one of the most impactful academic reads from my adolescence as it was one of the first stories to feel targeted towards me. I think the concept is fantastic and appreciate it's method of tackling serious issues through the lens of a teen. Though it was published after many famous dystopian stories of similar nature, I feel The Giver succeeds in resonating with younger readers and challenging them to think critically about society in a way many others cannot.

Reading as an adult though, I do feel I enjoyed it less. I had many more questions about the structure of the world that weren’t answered in text (I’m aware it’s a series, but for a first installment, I feel it could have benefitted with more detail). I felt it was lacking in characterization as I did not feel much attachment to the characters. Additionally, with both times I’ve read this novel, I tend to feel unsatisfied by the ending. The last chapter or so is such a drag in my opinion and doesn’t make me WANT to read more.

Overall, I’m sad that I didn’t enjoy The Giver as much as I did at thirteen but I’m glad I read it a second time.
]]> 79876 When sixteen-year-old Amal decides to wear the hijab full-time, her entire world changes, all because of a piece of cloth...

Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full-time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.

Can she handle the taunts of "towel head," the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel-Fattah's debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.]]> 360 Randa Abdel-Fattah 0439919479 Emma 0 3.65 2007
author: Randa Abdel-Fattah
name: Emma
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2017/05/01
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 49750 Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.]]> 229 John Green 0525476881 Emma 0 3.54 2006
author: John Green
name: Emma
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2014/07/13
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 32797614
Kira's Twelve Steps To A Normal Life

1. Accept Grams is gone.
2. Learn to forgive Dad.
3. Steal back ex-boyfriend from best friend...

And somewhere between 1 and 12, realize that when your parent's an alcoholic, there's no such thing as "normal."
When Kira's father enters rehab, she's forced to leave everything behind--her home, her best friends, her boyfriend...everything she loves. Now her father's sober (again) and Kira is returning home, determined to get her life back to normal...exactly as it was before she was sent away.

But is that what Kira really wants?]]> 384 Farrah Penn 0316471593 Emma 0 3.79 2018
author: Farrah Penn
name: Emma
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2018/04/26
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 34298785 It was the perfect night for a party.

That is, until twenty-one-year-old Chelsea Dawson disappeared. The social media star was last seen enjoying a beautiful summer night at the Jersey Shore with her friends. But after an explosive fight with her ex-boyfriend, she vanished without a trace.

When Seneca, Maddox, Aerin, and Madison hear about the suspected kidnapping, they notice a jarring detail about the victim: she looks exactly like Aerin’s sister, Helena, who was killed five years earlier. Seneca is convinced she knows who killed Helena, and she can’t shake the feeling that the same person has taken Chelsea.

Desperate for answers about the two girls, and the truth behind her mother’s murder, Seneca will stop at nothing to find out if the cases are linked. So when Maddox receives an invitation to the Shore from none other than their primary suspect, the Amateurs begin an intense new investigation.

Full of disturbing secrets, startling twists, and horrifying revelations, the second book in #1 New York Times best-selling author Sara Shepard’s The Amateurs series follows the team down a twisted path—one crafted by a brilliant killer.]]> 264 Sara Shepard 1484742281 Emma 0 3.75 2017
author: Sara Shepard
name: Emma
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2018/03/16
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 35297394 Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meets the Salem Witch trials in this haunting story about three sisters on a quest for revenge—and how love may be the only thing powerful enough to stop them.

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.

Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to save Bo, or save herself.]]> 310 Shea Ernshaw 1481497340 Emma 0 3.85 2018
author: Shea Ernshaw
name: Emma
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2018/07/17
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 32333338
The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster. There's the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won't stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.

There are the relatives who aren't speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo. Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner's nephew is unexpectedly, distractedly cute.

Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she'll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.]]> 417 Morgan Matson 1481404571 Emma 0 audiobooks 3.75 2018
author: Morgan Matson
name: Emma
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2019/03/19
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 40864841 All Freddy Riley wants is for Laura Dean to stop breaking up with her.

The day they got together was the best one of Freddy's life, but nothing's made sense since. Laura Dean is popular, funny, and SO CUTE ... but she can be really thoughtless, even mean. Their on-again, off-again relationship has Freddy's head spinning — and Freddy's friends can't understand why she keeps going back.

When Freddy consults the services of a local mystic, the mysterious Seek-Her, she isn't thrilled with the advice she receives. But something's got to give: Freddy's heart is breaking in slow motion, and she may be about to lose her very best friend as well as her last shred of self-respect. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnist Anna Vice, to help her through being a teenager in love.

Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.]]> 289 Mariko Tamaki 1250312841 Emma 0
CW: toxic relationships, [spoilers removed]

I appreciated the inclusion in the story and the detail in the art style, but not much else. I felt no connection to any of the characters as they didn't have much personality and only existed in their relationships to one another. I could empathize with their situations, but I don't feel I knew them at all. I picked up this graphic novel because I was looking for something entertaining, but it was more depressing and frustrating. 3/4 of the book was the main character being mistreated and miserable, and therefore mistreating her friends. (It might be realistic, but it was not pleasant to read about whatsoever.) The plot was very small-scale and predictable so there was little for me to be excited about besides the main (and only) storyline.

I do think this book is valuable for teens and young adults who may need comfort and guidance in recognizing and leaving toxic relationships, but I don't think it added much to the overall conversation. I really wished I enjoyed this book more than I did! I'm not unhappy that I read it, but I am glad I did not have to invest a lot of time into it.]]> 3.85 2019
author: Mariko Tamaki
name: Emma
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2020/03/02
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:
I finished this book in one sitting, but I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. I think I may have set my expectations a bit high and somewhere this book did not intend to go.

CW: toxic relationships, [spoilers removed]

I appreciated the inclusion in the story and the detail in the art style, but not much else. I felt no connection to any of the characters as they didn't have much personality and only existed in their relationships to one another. I could empathize with their situations, but I don't feel I knew them at all. I picked up this graphic novel because I was looking for something entertaining, but it was more depressing and frustrating. 3/4 of the book was the main character being mistreated and miserable, and therefore mistreating her friends. (It might be realistic, but it was not pleasant to read about whatsoever.) The plot was very small-scale and predictable so there was little for me to be excited about besides the main (and only) storyline.

I do think this book is valuable for teens and young adults who may need comfort and guidance in recognizing and leaving toxic relationships, but I don't think it added much to the overall conversation. I really wished I enjoyed this book more than I did! I'm not unhappy that I read it, but I am glad I did not have to invest a lot of time into it.
]]> 23497214
Straight-laced, sixteen-year-old Rebecca can't wait for her Acceptance. A fancy ball, eligible bachelors, and her debut as an official member of society. Instead, the Machine rejects Rebecca. Labeled as a future criminal, she's shipped off to a life sentence in a lawless penal colony.

A life behind barbed-wire fences with the world's most dangerous people terrifies Rebecca. She reluctantly joins a band of misfit teens in a risky escape plan, complete with an accidental fiancé she's almost certain she can learn to love.

But freedom comes with a price. To escape a doomed future and prove her innocence, Rebecca must embrace the criminal within.]]> 325 Sarah Negovetich Emma 0 3.75 2014
author: Sarah Negovetich
name: Emma
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2014/12/08
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 22440677 In this witty, heart-tugging novel, two teens take a spontaneous road trip across the Southwest to meet three strangers who received the life-saving organs of their late best friend—charting a journey of loss, hope, and love along the way.

Six months ago, Ashlyn Montiel died in a bike accident.

Her best friend Cloudy is keeping it together, at least on the outside. Cloudy’s insides are a different story: tangled, confused, heartbroken.

Kyle is falling apart, and everyone can tell. Ashlyn was his girlfriend, and when she died, a part of him went with her. Maybe the only part he cares about anymore.

As the two people who loved Ashlyn best, Cloudy and Kyle should be able to lean on each other. But after a terrible mistake last year, they're barely speaking. So when Cloudy discovers that Ashlyn’s organs were donated after her death and the Montiel family has been in touch with three of the recipients, she does something a little bit crazy and a lot of out character: she steals the letters and convinces Kyle to go on a winter break road trip with her, from Oregon to California to Arizona to Nevada. Maybe if they see the recipients—the people whose lives were saved by Ashlyn’s death—the world will open up again. Or maybe it will be a huge mistake.

With hundreds of miles in front of them, a stowaway kitten, and a list of people who are alive because of Ashlyn, Cloudy and Kyle just may find their way to back to her...and to each other.]]> 384 Michelle Andreani Emma 0 3.91 2016
author: Michelle Andreani
name: Emma
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2016/11/12
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 22738563 We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.

With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike.

Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.]]> 52 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Emma 0 4.41 2012
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Emma
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2020/11/01
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 21524446 And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awakened by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.
Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.]]> 325 E.K. Johnston 1484722272 Emma 0 3.63 2015
author: E.K. Johnston
name: Emma
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/10/02
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 18460392 The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!
 
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
 
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
 
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
 
This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.]]> 388 Jennifer Niven 0385755880 Emma 0 4.11 2015
author: Jennifer Niven
name: Emma
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/06/28
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 764347 Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state, is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.]]> 337 Neal Shusterman Emma 0 4.17 2007
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Emma
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2019/07/01
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 8680278 291 Jenny Han 1416995587 Emma 0 3.79 2011
author: Jenny Han
name: Emma
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2014/07/11
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 31193155 But one day, an adorable and charming new bookseller waltzes her way into Chris’s life. Josie Navarro is sweet, flirty, and she always has a new book in her hands. The two girls start a fast friendship that, for Chris, holds the promise of something more. But is she reading too much into this or is it possible that Josie feels the same way?]]> 144 M. Hollis 1539050998 Emma 0 3.41 2016
author: M. Hollis
name: Emma
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2017/06/14
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 35068759 Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.]]> 12 Sally Thorne 0062682164 Emma 0 audiobooks 3.14 2019
author: Sally Thorne
name: Emma
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2019/08/01
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 13503109
In prose that is endlessly energetic, inventive, tender, and funny, the stories in This Is How You Lose Her lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weakness of the human heart. They remind us that passion always triumphs over experience, and that “the half-life of love is forever.”]]> 217 Junot Díaz 1594487367 Emma 0 3.74 2010
author: Junot Díaz
name: Emma
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2014/03/01
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 21529297
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship--the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Audiobook length: 7 hours and 29 minutes]]> 8 Benjamin Alire Sáenz 1442366079 Emma 0 audiobooks 4.16 2012
author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
name: Emma
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2016/08/05
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 22886113
Here, Connor offers a look at his Midwestern upbringing as one of four children in the home and one of five in the classroom; his struggles with identity, body image, and sexuality in his teen years; and his decision to finally pursue his creative and artistic passions in his early twenties, setting up his thrilling career as a YouTube personality, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and tastemaker.

Exploring his past with insight and humor, his present with humility, and his future with hope, Connor reveals his private struggles while providing heartfelt words of wisdom for young adults. His words will resonate with anyone coming of age in the digital era, but at the core is a timeless message for people of all ages: don't be afraid to be yourself and to go after what you truly want.

This full-color collection includes photography and childhood clippings provided by Connor and is a must-have for anyone inspired by his journey.]]> 212 Connor Franta 1476791619 Emma 0 4.14 2015
author: Connor Franta
name: Emma
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/06/22
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 19445725
Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.

Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself.]]> 368 Sophie Jordan Emma 0 3.68 2015
author: Sophie Jordan
name: Emma
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/03/20
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 22918050
But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.]]> 342 Kiera Cass Emma 0 3.64 2015
author: Kiera Cass
name: Emma
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/06/20
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 22328546 This is a world divided by blood—red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.]]> 388 Victoria Aveyard 0062310631 Emma 0 3.98 2015
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: Emma
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/04/09
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 19945657 208 Abby Lee Miller Emma 0 3.39 2013
author: Abby Lee Miller
name: Emma
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2015/02/11
date added: 2025/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 17165932 320 Joelle Charbonneau 0547959206 Emma 5 3.93 2014
author: Joelle Charbonneau
name: Emma
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/06/21
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 19549137 12 hrs 24 mins

She is the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But does she have the heart of a killer?

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. But Calaena is far from loyal to the crown. Keeping up the charade - while pretending to do the king's bidding - will test her skills in an entirely new way. And it certainly isn't the only point of confusion for the young girl. Because though she's made her choice between Dorian and Chaol, the ways of the heart are never simple...]]> 13 Sarah J. Maas Emma 5 audiobooks 4.16 2013
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Emma
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/01
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 54435755
Lisa Jewell weaves another suspenseful thriller about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect for fans of Big Little Lies.

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England. It’s the sort of place where doctors and lawyers and old-money academics live. It’s not the sort of place where people get stabbed in the back thirty times with a kitchen knife in their own homes.

Someone must have seen something.

Newlywed Joey Mullen, for example, recently returned from four years working in Ibiza. She and her husband Alfie are eager to find a place of their own in her hometown. But Joey finds herself distracted by the man next door, Tom Fitzwilliam. He’s the principal of the local high school, twice her age, and devastatingly attractive. What starts as an innocent infatuation soon escalates into fixation, and before long, Joey can’t keep her eyes off of Tom.

Or the principal’s son, Freddie, who dreams of working as a spy, and has been developing his surveillance skills by keeping meticulous logs of the coming and goings in the area. And, as he approaches his fifteenth birthday, his attention—and his lens—are turning more and more towards the local women.

Or perhaps single mother Frances Tripp, who has long been convinced she is being stalked. Her teenage daughter Jenna is worried these delusions are signs of her mother’s deteriorating mental health, particularly now that her paranoia has found a specific target: Tom Fitzwilliam. Frances is determined to keep an eye on him until she can prove that he is behind her persecution.

Twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam.

Nobody knows why this horrific murder was committed, but someone in Melville Heights knows who did it. As the community’s fearful eyes turn on each other, the question remains:

Who else is watching? ]]> 11 Lisa Jewell 1508266883 Emma 1 audiobooks
A misstep on my part may have been listening to the audio version but I strongly believe that is not the main reason why I didn’t like this book. I did listen to a sample of the audio a few months back and determined I didn’t like it. I have a thing with narrators who have really strong British accents – they usually don’t vibe with me. I decided to give it another go because I really wanted to read this book and surprisingly, it barely peeved me throughout the story. Despite my grievances about the content of the book, I was shockingly engaged for most of it, listening for hours at a time uninterrupted. Therefore, I don’t believe this is one of those cases where the narrator ruined the story for me. I just genuinely didn’t like this book. I do think the audiobook would have been improved by a bigger cast as we have multiple perspectives from people of different ages and genders (a woman in her late 50’s is never the right choice to voice a teenage boy in my opinion), but that’s not exclusive to this performance.

The plot of Watching You develops incredibly slowly. We start the book with the knowledge that someone has been found dead in their home and spent the rest of the novel attempting to piece together “whodunnit.” While many mysteries succeed in subtly place clues within a slow build up, this book was ridiculously dull. Half of the book was entirely uneventful with no action and no progress. It was very repetitive, going over the same events with different characters. I also did not like the switching back and forth between the past and police interviews. It felt very convoluted until the storylines began to match up. I expected there to be a lot of neighbors watching based on the title, but I didn’t realize I signed up to watch adults just freaking STARE at each other the whole time. Urban mysteries like this are typically my FAVORITE because I love the close-intimate nature of these stories in a bigger city, but it did not work here. I was under the impression that this book was a thriller, but the most thrilling part was when I could finally return the book to my library and start something new. A total, total bore.

I felt no attachment to any characters whatsoever. There are so many introduced all at once with very specific relationships to one another that it was hard to keep track of. I don’t think I should have to be reminding myself “Okay so X is their teacher and X is their son and X is who he’s watching and X is her sister” so deep into the story. The only two I somewhat cared about were Jenna and Freddie (in the end). They absolutely did the most investigative work that propelled the story when most of the problems revolved around their parents/adult neighbors. They are the only reason the book gets half a star. As for the adults, Tom is a creep, Joey is dumb, Nicola is shady, and the rest of the adults get so little actual attention, I can’t remember much about them beyond how they connect to the aforementioned characters. I see many reviews mentioning development and I just want to ask . . . where?? Though there were some themes of mental health, I think they were explored really poorly. There’s also some Asperger’s rep that I felt could be viewed as alright, but also could be viewed as bad. Additionally, I picked out the murderer nearly as soon as they were introduced and once the main piece of evidence was uncovered, it was so glaringly obvious that the actual reveal had no impact. It was overall very disappointing.

The reason I initially picked up Watching You is because the cover was SO STRIKING! I could not stop thinking about it after eyeing it multiple times in bookstores. Since purchasing it, I’ve had the cover facing out of my bookshelf because I love it so much, and probably will keep it that way despite my thoughts because it is just so vibrant. That being said, this was probably the most prominent example of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” that I’ve ever encountered as a reader . . . and not in a good way. I might pick up another book from Lisa Jewell as some of her other titles still intrigue me, but I will be going in with a cautious mind.

Content warning: [spoilers removed]]]> 3.60 2018
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Emma
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2019/09/18
date added: 2023/10/05
shelves: audiobooks
review:
1.5 Stars. Oh man, I really did not like this book. I was genuinely shocked come on to 카지노싸이트 and see this novel had been mostly well received. It felt so objectively bland and boring to me, but I guess to each their own.

A misstep on my part may have been listening to the audio version but I strongly believe that is not the main reason why I didn’t like this book. I did listen to a sample of the audio a few months back and determined I didn’t like it. I have a thing with narrators who have really strong British accents – they usually don’t vibe with me. I decided to give it another go because I really wanted to read this book and surprisingly, it barely peeved me throughout the story. Despite my grievances about the content of the book, I was shockingly engaged for most of it, listening for hours at a time uninterrupted. Therefore, I don’t believe this is one of those cases where the narrator ruined the story for me. I just genuinely didn’t like this book. I do think the audiobook would have been improved by a bigger cast as we have multiple perspectives from people of different ages and genders (a woman in her late 50’s is never the right choice to voice a teenage boy in my opinion), but that’s not exclusive to this performance.

The plot of Watching You develops incredibly slowly. We start the book with the knowledge that someone has been found dead in their home and spent the rest of the novel attempting to piece together “whodunnit.” While many mysteries succeed in subtly place clues within a slow build up, this book was ridiculously dull. Half of the book was entirely uneventful with no action and no progress. It was very repetitive, going over the same events with different characters. I also did not like the switching back and forth between the past and police interviews. It felt very convoluted until the storylines began to match up. I expected there to be a lot of neighbors watching based on the title, but I didn’t realize I signed up to watch adults just freaking STARE at each other the whole time. Urban mysteries like this are typically my FAVORITE because I love the close-intimate nature of these stories in a bigger city, but it did not work here. I was under the impression that this book was a thriller, but the most thrilling part was when I could finally return the book to my library and start something new. A total, total bore.

I felt no attachment to any characters whatsoever. There are so many introduced all at once with very specific relationships to one another that it was hard to keep track of. I don’t think I should have to be reminding myself “Okay so X is their teacher and X is their son and X is who he’s watching and X is her sister” so deep into the story. The only two I somewhat cared about were Jenna and Freddie (in the end). They absolutely did the most investigative work that propelled the story when most of the problems revolved around their parents/adult neighbors. They are the only reason the book gets half a star. As for the adults, Tom is a creep, Joey is dumb, Nicola is shady, and the rest of the adults get so little actual attention, I can’t remember much about them beyond how they connect to the aforementioned characters. I see many reviews mentioning development and I just want to ask . . . where?? Though there were some themes of mental health, I think they were explored really poorly. There’s also some Asperger’s rep that I felt could be viewed as alright, but also could be viewed as bad. Additionally, I picked out the murderer nearly as soon as they were introduced and once the main piece of evidence was uncovered, it was so glaringly obvious that the actual reveal had no impact. It was overall very disappointing.

The reason I initially picked up Watching You is because the cover was SO STRIKING! I could not stop thinking about it after eyeing it multiple times in bookstores. Since purchasing it, I’ve had the cover facing out of my bookshelf because I love it so much, and probably will keep it that way despite my thoughts because it is just so vibrant. That being said, this was probably the most prominent example of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” that I’ve ever encountered as a reader . . . and not in a good way. I might pick up another book from Lisa Jewell as some of her other titles still intrigue me, but I will be going in with a cautious mind.

Content warning: [spoilers removed]
]]> 42771754 All's fair in love and anarchy...

The epic conclusion to Marissa Meyer's thrilling Renegades Trilogy finds Nova and Adrian fighting to keep their identities secret. While the battle rages on between their alter egos and their allies, there is a darker threat shrouding Gatlon City.

The Renegades' worst enemy is back among them, threatening to reclaim Gatlon City. Nova and Adrian must brave lies and betrayal to protect those they love. Their greatest fears are about to come to life, and unless they can bridge the divide between heroes and villains, they stand to lose everything. Including each other.

Intrigue and action will leave readers on edge until the final, shocking secrets are revealed.]]> 549 Marissa Meyer 1250078385 Emma 4 4.37 2019
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Emma
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/11/19
date added: 2023/07/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 27274343 I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”

And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.

In this smart and intense literary suspense novel, Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, *“*your dread and unease will mount with every passing page” (Entertainment Weekly) of this edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, I’m Thinking of Ending Things pulls you in from the very first page…and never lets you go.]]> 224 Iain Reid 1501126962 Emma 1 1.5 Stars. 3.44 2016
author: Iain Reid
name: Emma
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2016
rating: 1
read at: 2020/08/07
date added: 2023/02/13
shelves:
review:
1.5 Stars.
]]> 51918871
Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves - and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest.

Now ninety-five years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. "At some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time," she muses. "After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is." Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.]]> 470 Elizabeth Gilbert 1594634742 Emma 3 3.5 Stars. 4.01 2019
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Emma
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/05/31
date added: 2022/05/01
shelves:
review:
3.5 Stars.
]]> 22456248 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here.

Percy Jackson’s seventh-grade year has been surprisingly quiet. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep-school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among Percy and his classmates turns into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants, things get... well, ugly. And the unexpected arrival of Percy’s friend Annabeth brings more bad news: the magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and unless a cure is found, the only safe haven for demigods will be destroyed.

In this fresh, funny, and hugely anticipated follow up to The Lightning Thief, Percy and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their beloved camp. But first, Percy will discover a stunning new secret about his family—one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon’s son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.]]> 280 Rick Riordan 1423103343 Emma 5 4.18 2006
author: Rick Riordan
name: Emma
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2014/08/20
date added: 2021/10/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 33843251 Before I Fall meets “bah, humbug” in this contemporary YA reimagining of A Christmas Carol from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand.

On Christmas Eve five years ago, seventeen-year-old Holly Chase was visited by three Ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn’t. And then she died.

Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge—as their latest Ghost of Christmas Past. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable. But this year’s Scrooge is different. This year’s Scrooge might change everything…

The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a witty, poignant, and insightful novel about life, love, and seizing second (or third) chances, perfect for readers who loved Before I Fall or Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.]]> 400 Cynthia Hand 0062318500 Emma 5 audiobooks
I really loved the concept of this book (the synopsis does not do it justice). 17 year old terrible girl is visited by three spirits who show her her past, present and future if she does not change her way (Yes, it is an A Christmas Carol retelling). She brushes it off, she dies, and now is recruited as The Ghost of Christmas Past for “Project Scrooge” – a company that takes on a new “Scrooge” every year in the hopes of having them change their ways and make the world a better place. It was a very unique twist on a retelling, where the original tale is a central part of the story and is constantly referred to directly, but it made for a wonderful balance between a classic and new novel.

I especially loved the fact that we have two unlikeable main characters. Holly, being a ”failed Scrooge,” is self-centered, obsessed with wealth and status, unbelievably cruel to those who are “beneath” her, and is probably one of the most selfish characters I have ever read about. That being said, you can’t help but empathize with Holly and root for her happiness. Despite the fact that Holly exhibits so many behaviors I disagree with, I love her. Ethan, being this year’s “Scrooge,” is arguably even more interesting. He is introduced to us as a “Scrooge” yet in the majority of our encounters with him, he is charming, kind, and giving. Throughout the story, we are exposed to his worst moments and it leads to this interesting tug-of-war between “But he’s so great!” and “But look at what he’s done.” I thoroughly enjoyed how much this book challenged my perception of the characters and their true motivations.

Besides the plot completely captivating me all throughout the story to the point where putting my audiobook down was physically painful, the ending was also phenomenal. I made my guesses as to how things would be resolved, but I never would have imagined the truth. Again, this story takes a twist on typical young adult book endings. Though my heart partially wanted something different for the fate of the characters, I’m ultimately satisfied. I loved this book so much I had to force myself to refrain from restarting it the second I finished.

I seriously loved this book. 17/5 stars. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a festive read, or a new paranormal YA story. I can assure you I will be rereading this one in the future!]]> 3.94 2017
author: Cynthia Hand
name: Emma
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/31
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves: audiobooks
review:
I know Christmas was yesterday and a lot of y’all are probably not interested in just now starting a new Christmas story but you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. This book completely took me by surprised. I had no idea I would love it as much as I did, but it totally blew me away.

I really loved the concept of this book (the synopsis does not do it justice). 17 year old terrible girl is visited by three spirits who show her her past, present and future if she does not change her way (Yes, it is an A Christmas Carol retelling). She brushes it off, she dies, and now is recruited as The Ghost of Christmas Past for “Project Scrooge” – a company that takes on a new “Scrooge” every year in the hopes of having them change their ways and make the world a better place. It was a very unique twist on a retelling, where the original tale is a central part of the story and is constantly referred to directly, but it made for a wonderful balance between a classic and new novel.

I especially loved the fact that we have two unlikeable main characters. Holly, being a ”failed Scrooge,” is self-centered, obsessed with wealth and status, unbelievably cruel to those who are “beneath” her, and is probably one of the most selfish characters I have ever read about. That being said, you can’t help but empathize with Holly and root for her happiness. Despite the fact that Holly exhibits so many behaviors I disagree with, I love her. Ethan, being this year’s “Scrooge,” is arguably even more interesting. He is introduced to us as a “Scrooge” yet in the majority of our encounters with him, he is charming, kind, and giving. Throughout the story, we are exposed to his worst moments and it leads to this interesting tug-of-war between “But he’s so great!” and “But look at what he’s done.” I thoroughly enjoyed how much this book challenged my perception of the characters and their true motivations.

Besides the plot completely captivating me all throughout the story to the point where putting my audiobook down was physically painful, the ending was also phenomenal. I made my guesses as to how things would be resolved, but I never would have imagined the truth. Again, this story takes a twist on typical young adult book endings. Though my heart partially wanted something different for the fate of the characters, I’m ultimately satisfied. I loved this book so much I had to force myself to refrain from restarting it the second I finished.

I seriously loved this book. 17/5 stars. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a festive read, or a new paranormal YA story. I can assure you I will be rereading this one in the future!
]]> 46113778
But a strange and frightening illness has taken hold of Nevermoor, turning infected Wunimals into mindless, vicious Unnimals on the hunt. As victims of the Hollowpox multiply, panic spreads. And with the city she loves in a state of fear, Morrigan quickly realizes it's up to her to find a cure for the Hollowpox, even if it will put her - and everyone in Nevermoor - in more danger than she ever imagined.]]> 471 Jessica Townsend 1510105301 Emma 5 4.47 2020
author: Jessica Townsend
name: Emma
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/31
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 51791252
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.]]> 343 Brit Bennett 0525536299 Emma 4 4.5 Stars 4.11 2020
author: Brit Bennett
name: Emma
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
4.5 Stars
]]> 36512474 An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Acclaimed author and renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom distills thirty-five years of psychotherapy wisdom into one brilliant volume.

The culmination of master psychiatrist Dr. Irvin D. Yalom’s more than thirty-five years in clinical practice, The Gift of Therapy is a remarkable and essential guidebook that illustrates through real case studies how patients and therapists alike can get the most out of therapy. The bestselling author of Love’s Executioner shares his uniquely fresh approach and the valuable insights he has gained—presented as eighty-five personal and provocative “tips for beginner therapists,” including:

‧Let the patient matter to you
‧Acknowledge your errors
‧Create a new therapy for each patient
‧Do home visits
‧(Almost) never make decisions for the patient
‧Freud was not always wrong

A book aimed at enriching the therapeutic process for a new generation of patients and counselors, Yalom’s Gift of Therapy is an entertaining, informative, and insightful read for anyone with an interest in the subject]]> 259 Irvin D. Yalom Emma 3 4.42 2001
author: Irvin D. Yalom
name: Emma
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 29589074
Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. 

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.]]> 416 Maureen Johnson Emma 5 Truly Devious totally took me by surprise. I had no idea I would love this book as much as I did!


Cw: murder

I loved our main character, Stevie. I wish this book existed in high school so that I could have had a female protagonist interested in true crime to relate to. I feel Stevie is extremely competent, self-aware, and has a really great head on her shoulders. I also loved her best friends, Janelle – we need more black girls who like girls in STEM fields in media, and Nate – he’s such an apathetic lil bean who I hope gets more development in the sequel. I wasn’t a crazy big fan of David (I guess he is considered the love interest? Truly Devious is FAR from a heavy romance story, but there is definite attraction). He just sort of weirded me out; Motives unclear half the time, sometimes annoying, sometimes charming. I can’t really feel out his character at this point, but I did enjoy him more towards the ending and I’m hopeful he’ll grown on me more in the future.

I am not a huge fan of dual timeline books where it jumps from present to past with a completely different set of characters, but it worked well for this book. The scenes set in 1936 do not overtake the present story, but are a great addition to the story. It does not feel “info-dumpy”, rather, it is like reading two mysteries unfolding at once.

I adore the mystery of the story. You truly CANNOT TELL who is “Truly Devious”, if the same killer has returned, or else how these two crimes are really connected! There are so many twists and turns and unanswered questions that you will be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out how everything fits together.

I will add, I do feel like the pacing was a bit slow at some points. There are not many significant plot points until about halfway through. That being said, I keep reminding myself that most thrillers are condensed into one book, whereas this will be a trilogy, so I understand the decision/need to have a more fleshed out beginning before diving into all the drama. I am anxiously anticipating book two and am extremely hopeful that things will be nonstop action from here.

Truly Devious is truly amazing. It is a MUST READ. Book #2 is already going to the top of my most anticipated releases for 2019.

This book was sent to me unsolicited and for free by Harper Collins. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.]]> 3.89 2018
author: Maureen Johnson
name: Emma
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you need a new YA mystery novel, this is the one for you! Truly Devious totally took me by surprise. I had no idea I would love this book as much as I did!


Cw: murder

I loved our main character, Stevie. I wish this book existed in high school so that I could have had a female protagonist interested in true crime to relate to. I feel Stevie is extremely competent, self-aware, and has a really great head on her shoulders. I also loved her best friends, Janelle – we need more black girls who like girls in STEM fields in media, and Nate – he’s such an apathetic lil bean who I hope gets more development in the sequel. I wasn’t a crazy big fan of David (I guess he is considered the love interest? Truly Devious is FAR from a heavy romance story, but there is definite attraction). He just sort of weirded me out; Motives unclear half the time, sometimes annoying, sometimes charming. I can’t really feel out his character at this point, but I did enjoy him more towards the ending and I’m hopeful he’ll grown on me more in the future.

I am not a huge fan of dual timeline books where it jumps from present to past with a completely different set of characters, but it worked well for this book. The scenes set in 1936 do not overtake the present story, but are a great addition to the story. It does not feel “info-dumpy”, rather, it is like reading two mysteries unfolding at once.

I adore the mystery of the story. You truly CANNOT TELL who is “Truly Devious”, if the same killer has returned, or else how these two crimes are really connected! There are so many twists and turns and unanswered questions that you will be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out how everything fits together.

I will add, I do feel like the pacing was a bit slow at some points. There are not many significant plot points until about halfway through. That being said, I keep reminding myself that most thrillers are condensed into one book, whereas this will be a trilogy, so I understand the decision/need to have a more fleshed out beginning before diving into all the drama. I am anxiously anticipating book two and am extremely hopeful that things will be nonstop action from here.

Truly Devious is truly amazing. It is a MUST READ. Book #2 is already going to the top of my most anticipated releases for 2019.

This book was sent to me unsolicited and for free by Harper Collins. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.
]]> 49151299 From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.

The story that I thought

was my life

didn’t start on the day

I was born

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.

The story that I think

will be my life

starts today

Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?

With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.]]> 400 Ibi Zoboi 0062996487 Emma 5 4.40 2020
author: Ibi Zoboi
name: Emma
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/11/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 43923951 Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone family, and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.]]> 310 Kiley Reid 052554190X Emma 4 4.5 Stars 3.76 2019
author: Kiley Reid
name: Emma
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
4.5 Stars
]]> 48717633
Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can't vote.

When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that's how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva's missing cat), it's clear that there's more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.

Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can't sit around waiting for the world to change, but some things are just meant to be.]]> 293 Brandy Colbert 1368053297 Emma 3 3.5 Stars 3.85 2020
author: Brandy Colbert
name: Emma
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/11/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
3.5 Stars
]]> 45046742
Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better. Shay would die for them to like her. She may have to.]]> 343 Greer Hendricks 1250202035 Emma 4 3.74 2020
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Emma
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 53240811
Sixteen-year-old Izzy is used to keeping her thoughts to herself—in school, where her boyfriend does the talking for her, and at home, where it’s impossible to compete with her older siblings and high-powered parents—but when she accidentally walks into a stand-up comedy club and performs, the experience is surprisingly cathartic. After the show, she meets Mo, an aspiring comic who’s everything Izzy’s not: bold, confident, comfortable in her skin. Mo invites Izzy to join her group of friends and introduces her to the Chicago open mic scene.

The only problem? Her new friends are college students—and Izzy tells them she’s one, too. Now Izzy, the dutiful daughter and model student, is sneaking out to perform stand-up with her comedy friends, and she can hardly remember all the lies she’s telling to keep her two lives separate.

Her controlling boyfriend is getting suspicious, and her former best friend knows there’s something going on. But Izzy loves comedy and this newfound freedom. As her two parallel lives collide—in the most hilarious of ways—Izzy must choose to either hide what she really wants and who she really is or, finally, truly stand up for herself.]]> 400 Katie Henry 0062955705 Emma 4 3.97 2021
author: Katie Henry
name: Emma
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 49397758 384 Tiffany D. Jackson 0062840355 Emma 0 4.5 Stars 4.24 2020
author: Tiffany D. Jackson
name: Emma
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2020/11/01
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
4.5 Stars
]]> 34605974 From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu comes the second book in the Eldest Curses series and a thrilling new adventure for High Warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood, for whom a death-defying mission into the heart of evil is not just a job, it’s also a romantic getaway. The Lost Book of the White is a Shadowhunters novel.

Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway.

Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter.

Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon and the wound is glowing, so they have that to worry about too.

Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—to the very realm of the dead. Can they stop the threat to the world? Will they make it back home before their kid completely wears out Alec’s mom?]]> 365 Cassandra Clare 1471162095 Emma 3 3.5 Stars 3.96 2020
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/12/10
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
3.5 Stars
]]> 8755776 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.]]> 535 Cassandra Clare 1442416866 Emma 5 4.22 2012
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/07
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 6752378 425 Cassandra Clare 1442403543 Emma 5 4.09 2011
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2020/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 53287484 When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting beautiful, mysterious Bella is both the most intriguing and unnerving event he has experienced in his long life as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he let himself fall in love with Bella when he knows that he is endangering her life?

In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and, drawing on the classic myth of Hades and Persephone, brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love.]]> 662 Stephenie Meyer 031670704X Emma 3 3.72 2020
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Emma
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/04
date added: 2020/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Emma 5 4.36 2020
author: T.J. Klune
name: Emma
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/09/21
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 24233708 343 Hank Green 1524743453 Emma 4 4.05 2018
author: Hank Green
name: Emma
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/08/14
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 33163388 Spinning, captures what it's like to come of age, come out, and come to terms with leaving behind everything you used to know.

It was the same every morning. Wake up, grab the ice skates, and head to the rink while the world was still dark.

Weekends were spent in glitter and tights at competitions. Perform. Smile. And do it again.

She was good. She won. And she hated it.

For ten years, figure skating was Tillie Walden's life. She woke before dawn for morning lessons, went straight to group practice after school, and spent weekends competing at ice rinks across the state. It was a central piece of her identity, her safe haven from the stress of school, bullies, and family. But over time, as she switched schools, got into art, and fell in love with her first girlfriend, she began to question how the close-minded world of figure skating fit in with the rest of her life, and whether all the work was worth it given the reality: that she, and her friends on the figure skating team, were nowhere close to Olympic hopefuls. It all led to one question: What was the point? The more Tillie thought about it, the more Tillie realized she'd outgrown her passion--and she finally needed to find her own voice.]]> 400 Tillie Walden 1626727724 Emma 3 3.90 2017
author: Tillie Walden
name: Emma
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2020/08/14
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 54177977 I masquerade in makeup and feathers and I am applauded.

A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen - then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers - to show ourselves to the world in bold colour.]]> 4 Dean Atta Emma 4 4.5 Stars. 4.23 2019
author: Dean Atta
name: Emma
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/08/13
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:
4.5 Stars.
]]> 3777732 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.]]> 541 Cassandra Clare 1416914307 Emma 5 4.27 2009
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/16
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 1582996 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.]]> 453 Cassandra Clare 1416914293 Emma 5 City of Ashes to other books in the series. This reread, I viewed this story as an individual entity, which allowed me to better appreciate the complexities and conflicts that arise in this sequel. I had such a fabulous time rereading book two and cannot wait to continue rereading the rest of the series!]]> 4.12 2008
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/07
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:
I guess 9th times the charms because I loved this book way more than I ever had. I think in my adolescence, I spent a lot of my time comparing City of Ashes to other books in the series. This reread, I viewed this story as an individual entity, which allowed me to better appreciate the complexities and conflicts that arise in this sequel. I had such a fabulous time rereading book two and cannot wait to continue rereading the rest of the series!
]]> 2261213
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.]]> Cassandra Clare 0743566580 Emma 5 3.61 2007
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/05
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 40536342 An Amazon Best Book of the Month! A captivating and powerful exploration of the opioid crisis—the deadliest drug epidemic in American history—through the eyes of a college-bound softball star. Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a visceral and necessary novel about addiction, family, friendship, and hope.

When a car crash sidelines Mickey just before softball season, she has to find a way to hold on to her spot as the catcher for a team expected to make a historic tournament run. Behind the plate is the only place she’s ever felt comfortable, and the painkillers she’s been prescribed can help her get there.

The pills do more than take away pain; they make her feel good.

With a new circle of friends—fellow injured athletes, others with just time to kill—Mickey finds peaceful acceptance, and people with whom words come easily, even if it is just the pills loosening her tongue.

But as the pressure to be Mickey Catalan heightens, her need increases, and it becomes less about pain and more about want, something that could send her spiraling out of control.]]> 419 Mindy McGinnis 0062847198 Emma 5 4.28 2019
author: Mindy McGinnis
name: Emma
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/02
date added: 2020/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 52516332 In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.]]> 432 Elizabeth Acevedo 0062882767 Emma 5 4.21 2020
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: Emma
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/07/17
date added: 2020/09/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 40519259 A searing poetic memoir and call to action from the bestselling and award-winning author of Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson!

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she's never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society's failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice—and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.]]> 304 Laurie Halse Anderson 0670012106 Emma 3 4.20 2019
author: Laurie Halse Anderson
name: Emma
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/15
date added: 2020/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 51901147 Ambition will fuel him.

Competition will drive him.

But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.]]> 541 Suzanne Collins Emma 3 3.99 2020
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Emma
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/11
date added: 2020/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 22552026 A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.]]> 306 Jason Reynolds 1481438255 Emma 4 4.25 2017
author: Jason Reynolds
name: Emma
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/11
date added: 2020/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 40265832 How to be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.

In this book, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism. How to Be an Antiracist is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.]]> 305 Ibram X. Kendi 0525509283 Emma 5 4.36 2019
author: Ibram X. Kendi
name: Emma
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/30
date added: 2020/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 V.E. Schwab 0765387565 Emma 5 4.16 2020
author: V.E. Schwab
name: Emma
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/05/24
date added: 2020/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 34273236
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother–daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town – and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . .]]> 338 Celeste Ng 0735224293 Emma 4 4.05 2017
author: Celeste Ng
name: Emma
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2020/05/25
date added: 2020/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 25985242 The finale to The Diviners from author, Libba Bray.

After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows.

While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows-but, she will need the Diviners' help to do it.

Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe's estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crow's plans. Now, the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hopes of joining forces with Sarah Beth and to stop the King of Crows and his army of the dead forever.

But as rumors of towns becoming ghost towns and the dead developing unprecedented powers begin to surface, all hope seems to be lost.

In this sweeping finale, The Diviners will be forced to confront their greatest fears and learn to rely on one another if they hope to save the nation, and world from catastrophe...]]> 560 Libba Bray 0316126098 Emma 4 3.94 2020
author: Libba Bray
name: Emma
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/25
date added: 2020/05/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 36809135
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]> 384 Delia Owens 0735219117 Emma 4 4.5 stars 4.35 2018
author: Delia Owens
name: Emma
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/05/19
date added: 2020/05/19
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars
]]> 52701968
Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her--or help her rebuild her world.]]> 364 Monica Hesse 0316490571 Emma 4 4.22 2020
author: Monica Hesse
name: Emma
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/05/19
date added: 2020/05/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 43449920
Meanwhile Tao and Elle will face their feelings for each other, Tara and Darcy share more about their relationship origin story, and the teachers supervising the trip seem… rather close…?]]> 384 Alice Oseman Emma 4 4.55 2020
author: Alice Oseman
name: Emma
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/05/19
date added: 2020/05/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 29236380
Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.]]> 416 Kathleen Glasgow 1101934719 Emma 3 3.5 stars 3.94 2016
author: Kathleen Glasgow
name: Emma
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2020/05/05
date added: 2020/05/19
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars
]]> 17699853 An inheritance of shadows. A love in chains. An unconquerable foe.

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.

But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those Shadowhunters have fought before—these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison, and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia's friends discover that a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and forced a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.]]> 582 Cassandra Clare 1481431870 Emma 5 4.37 2020
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Emma
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/03/01
date added: 2020/05/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 49116
Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

(front flap)]]> 435 J.K. Rowling Emma 5 4.57 1999
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Emma
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2015/10/24
date added: 2020/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 33113683
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is an honest and heartfelt look at one young woman’s exploration of her sexuality, mental well-being, and growing up in our modern age. Told using expressive artwork that invokes both laughter and tears, this moving and highly entertaining single volume depicts not only the artist’s burgeoning sexuality, but many other personal aspects of her life that will resonate with readers.]]> 144 Kabi Nagata 1626926034 Emma 4 4.11 2016
author: Kabi Nagata
name: Emma
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2020/01/26
date added: 2020/02/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 45240918
She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.

At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.

Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.

In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson delivers the witty and pulse-pounding conclusion to the Truly Devious series as Stevie Bell solves the mystery that has haunted Ellingham Academy for over 75 years.]]> 369 Maureen Johnson 0062338110 Emma 5 4.12 2020
author: Maureen Johnson
name: Emma
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/24
date added: 2020/02/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 25985241 New York City.
1927.
Lights are bright.
Jazz is king.
Parties are wild.
And the dead are coming...

After battling a supernatural sleeping sickness that claimed two of their own, the Diviners have had enough lies. They're more determined than ever to uncover the mystery behind their extraordinary powers, even as they face off against an all-new terror. Out on Ward's Island, far from the city's bustle, sits a mental hospital haunted by the lost souls of people long forgotten--ghosts who have unusual and dangerous ties to the man in the stovepipe hat, also known as the King of Crows.

With terrible accounts of murder and possession flooding in from all over and New York City on the verge of panic, the Diviners must band together and brave the sinister ghosts invading the asylum, a fight that will bring them face-to-face with the King of Crows. But as the explosive secrets of the past come to light, loyalties and friendships will be tested, love will hang in the balance, and the Diviners will question all that they've ever known. All the while, malevolent forces gather from every corner in a battle for the very soul of a nation--a fight that could claim the Diviners themselves.]]> 552 Libba Bray 0316126063 Emma 5 audiobooks
I seriously love The Diviners series so much and Before The Devil Breaks You was no exception. Libba Bray is genuinely one of the most talented young adults authors to ever exist. I'm blown away by her ability to masterfully create an ever-expanding, historically accurate, well developed world with complete, well-rounded interesting characters.

I am DYING for book four.]]> 4.25 2017
author: Libba Bray
name: Emma
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2020/02/13
date added: 2020/02/24
shelves: audiobooks
review:
AMAZING FANTASTIC WONDERFUL SPECTACULAR

I seriously love The Diviners series so much and Before The Devil Breaks You was no exception. Libba Bray is genuinely one of the most talented young adults authors to ever exist. I'm blown away by her ability to masterfully create an ever-expanding, historically accurate, well developed world with complete, well-rounded interesting characters.

I am DYING for book four.
]]> 23559994
Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.

Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?]]> 432 Abigail Hing Wen 1471192857 Emma 4 3.67 2020
author: Abigail Hing Wen
name: Emma
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/02/05
date added: 2020/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 40916679
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.]]> 433 Holly Jackson 1405293187 Emma 3 4.29 2019
author: Holly Jackson
name: Emma
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/01/26
date added: 2020/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 16060716 The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners.

Piano-playing Henry DuBois and Chinatown resident Ling Chan are two Diviners struggling to keep their powers a secret—for they can walk in dreams. And while Evie is living the high life, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness are turning up across New York City.

As Henry searches for a lost love and Ling strives to succeed in a world that shuns her, a malevolent force infects their dreams. And at the edges of it all lurks a man in a stovepipe hat who has plans that extend farther than anyone can guess…As the sickness spreads, can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld to save the city?

In this heart-stopping sequel to The Diviners, Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray takes readers deeper into the mystical underbelly of New York City.]]> 613 Libba Bray 0316126047 Emma 5 audiobooks
Here's a quick list of reasons you are sleeping on The Diviners series:
-Black mc
-Irish-Chinese, disabled, asexual mc interested in women (last two pieces of info are revealed in book 3)
-Gay mc
-Jewish mc
-1920's New York City setting
-Ghosts, supernatural abilities, murder mysteries
-Extremely lovable, well developed characters

I'm continually more and more blown away by The Diviners series. It's very rare that I enjoy a sequel more than the first installment, but Lair of Dreams really takes the cake. I genuinely cannot recommend this series enough.]]> 4.10 2015
author: Libba Bray
name: Emma
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2020/01/17
date added: 2020/02/09
shelves: audiobooks
review:
5 STARS. AMAZING. FANTASTIC. WONDROUS. WOW.

Here's a quick list of reasons you are sleeping on The Diviners series:
-Black mc
-Irish-Chinese, disabled, asexual mc interested in women (last two pieces of info are revealed in book 3)
-Gay mc
-Jewish mc
-1920's New York City setting
-Ghosts, supernatural abilities, murder mysteries
-Extremely lovable, well developed characters

I'm continually more and more blown away by The Diviners series. It's very rare that I enjoy a sequel more than the first installment, but Lair of Dreams really takes the cake. I genuinely cannot recommend this series enough.
]]> 17899351 A young woman discovers her mysterious powers could help catch a killer in the first book in The Diviners series--a stunning supernatural historical mystery set in 1920s New York City, from Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray.

Evangeline O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries he'll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.

When the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfurl in the city that never sleeps. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened....

]]> 578 Libba Bray 0316126101 Emma 5 The Diviner's is absolutely one of my favorite series of all time. I am so excited to continue rereading the series in anticipation for the finale with the #DivinersClub readalong!

4.5 stars]]> 4.02 2012
author: Libba Bray
name: Emma
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2019/12/20
date added: 2020/02/09
shelves:
review:
Update 12/2/2019 - Raising my rating to 5 stars! The Diviner's is absolutely one of my favorite series of all time. I am so excited to continue rereading the series in anticipation for the finale with the #DivinersClub readalong!

4.5 stars
]]> 44890081
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?

Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood. Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.]]> 373 Kate Elizabeth Russell 006294150X Emma 5 4.09 2020
author: Kate Elizabeth Russell
name: Emma
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2019/12/13
date added: 2020/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 43822024
In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.]]> 625 Neal Shusterman 1481497065 Emma 0 to-read
(y'all i posted this in january, i know when the book is coming out now lol)]]> 4.15 2019
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Emma
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:
um hello where is this book??????????

(y'all i posted this in january, i know when the book is coming out now lol)
]]> 43307358
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family ... and himself.]]> 320 Alice Oseman 1444951408 Emma 5 4.51 2019
author: Alice Oseman
name: Emma
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2019/11/10
date added: 2019/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 40495957
Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie - the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months - but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him.

They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...]]> 288 Alice Oseman 152722533X Emma 4 4.5 Stars! 4.43 2018
author: Alice Oseman
name: Emma
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/10/20
date added: 2019/12/02
shelves:
review:
4.5 Stars!
]]> 43263680
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.]]> 461 Leigh Bardugo 1250313074 Emma 5 audiobooks Review to come! 4.00 2019
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Emma
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2019/11/22
date added: 2019/11/22
shelves: audiobooks
review:
Review to come!
]]> 42080142
What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unravelling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.]]> 337 Ruth Ware 1501188771 Emma 3 audiobooks 3.90 2019
author: Ruth Ware
name: Emma
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/11/22
date added: 2019/11/22
shelves: audiobooks
review:

]]> 42265183
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights... and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.]]> 425 Renée Ahdieh 1524738174 Emma 4 3.65 2019
author: Renée Ahdieh
name: Emma
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/11/22
date added: 2019/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 7736182 JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids," as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn't know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.

PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.]]> 576 Rick Riordan 142311339X Emma 5 audiobooks
I'm so happy to be back in Rick Riordan's magical worlds and cannot wait to continue with this series.]]> 4.28 2010
author: Rick Riordan
name: Emma
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2019/10/10
date added: 2019/10/10
shelves: audiobooks
review:
Tell me why it took me NINE years to read this lmao

I'm so happy to be back in Rick Riordan's magical worlds and cannot wait to continue with this series.
]]> 16150830
When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?]]> 507 Alexandra Bracken 1423157516 Emma 4
Dropping my rating to 4 stars to reflect my more recent thoughts. It did drag a bit more than the first installment and I was not *as* invested, but I adore the new characters and increased political intrigue. It's a satisfying sequel I managed to enjoy five years after the first time I read it :)]]> 4.21 2013
author: Alexandra Bracken
name: Emma
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2019/07/10
date added: 2019/10/01
shelves:
review:
Update 8/11/2019

Dropping my rating to 4 stars to reflect my more recent thoughts. It did drag a bit more than the first installment and I was not *as* invested, but I adore the new characters and increased political intrigue. It's a satisfying sequel I managed to enjoy five years after the first time I read it :)
]]> 39091679
He is also unexpectedly dead.

Is Sydney crazy, or is it kind of weird that her dad-a guy whose entire job revolved around other peoples' secrets-crashed alone, with no explanation?

And why is June Copeland, homecoming queen and the town's golden child, at his funeral?

As the two girls grow closer in the wake of the accident, it's clear that not everyone is happy about their new friendship.

But what is picture perfect June still hiding? And does Sydney even want to know?

THE TRUTH ABOUT KEEPING SECRETS is a page-turning, voice led, high school thriller.]]> 336 Savannah Brown 0241346304 Emma 4 3.80 2019
author: Savannah Brown
name: Emma
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/09/24
date added: 2019/09/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 34189556
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.

You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.

You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.

Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.]]> 432 Greer Hendricks 1250130921 Emma 4 audiobooks 3.81 2018
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Emma
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/09/25
date added: 2019/09/28
shelves: audiobooks
review:
Somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars!
]]> 40597810 Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.]]> 368 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1524798622 Emma 5 audiobooks Daisy Jones & the Six is a masterpiece. Incredible. Intoxicating. Unforgettable. Truly one of the most remarkable stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The moment I finished, I had to immediately start from the beginning again. I refused to let go. And yes, I did read it twice in a row.

CW: substance abuse/addiction, abortion

Set in the mid sixties – late seventies, Daisy Jones & The Six transports readers to the most iconic age of rock n’ roll. The atmosphere and story composition create and authentic tale that I almost refuse to believe isn’t real! Taylor Jenkins Reid is a master of fiction – her characters possess an uncanny ability to charm readers and settle into their hearts. Her novels are multi-faceted and unlike any other books I’ve read, especially due to the oral history storytelling of Daisy Jones. (Side note – the audiobook? SPECTACULAR. If you have access to the audio version, you will not want to miss this experience) Full of timeless quotes, glamourous scandals, and heart-breaking loss, Daisy Jones & The Six has absolutely climbed to the top as one of my favorite books of all time.

FUCK! THIS BOOK IS SO FEMINIST! The women in this book are all so powerful and dynamic. There are so many strong messages about women empowerment, taking no one’s shit, supporting other women, and demanding credit where it’s due. Even the smaller side characters are them much more layered than most supporting characters, as we explore their own storylines. Plus the relationships between all of the women, (Karen & Daisy, Karen & Camila, Camila & Daisy – even Daisy and little Julia made my heart swell!) are wholesome, unique, and authentic. Especially for a story with a bit of a love triangle, I could not be happier with the superb study of the experience of women.

I also was left so touched by the exploration of addiction. It’s a disease very close to my heart and I’m so, so pleased with how Taylor Jenkins Reid captured the dark, devastating nature of it. The story of both Billy and Daisy’s respective addictions bring light to the glamorization of drugs of this time, while not glamorizing it themselves. This book exposes the truth about substance abuse while simultaneously carrying an air of hope and recovery for those who may be in a similar situation. I’ll stand by this novel my grave as one of the greatest fictional stories of addiction ever told.

And oh gosh, THE MUSIC! I just have to give a shout out to the author for writing so many superb original songs with their own distinct voice and sound. I cannot WAIT for the series to come out so I can finally hear these marvelous lyrics sung the way they should be. Again, I REFUSE to believe this isn’t a real band.

I have so few complaints about this book, and honestly, they are so minuscule compared to the novel’s countless strengths. I felt the main plot twist wasn’t all that shocking and the ending could have been stronger compared to the rock-solid build up, but I’m so enchanted by this book that I’m totally unbothered.

In sum, read Daisy Jones & The Six. Prepare to have your mind rocked by the story of a band that wanted to change the world, so they did.]]> 4.20 2019
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Emma
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2019/09/20
date added: 2019/09/20
shelves: audiobooks
review:
Daisy Jones & the Six is a masterpiece. Incredible. Intoxicating. Unforgettable. Truly one of the most remarkable stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The moment I finished, I had to immediately start from the beginning again. I refused to let go. And yes, I did read it twice in a row.

CW: substance abuse/addiction, abortion

Set in the mid sixties – late seventies, Daisy Jones & The Six transports readers to the most iconic age of rock n’ roll. The atmosphere and story composition create and authentic tale that I almost refuse to believe isn’t real! Taylor Jenkins Reid is a master of fiction – her characters possess an uncanny ability to charm readers and settle into their hearts. Her novels are multi-faceted and unlike any other books I’ve read, especially due to the oral history storytelling of Daisy Jones. (Side note – the audiobook? SPECTACULAR. If you have access to the audio version, you will not want to miss this experience) Full of timeless quotes, glamourous scandals, and heart-breaking loss, Daisy Jones & The Six has absolutely climbed to the top as one of my favorite books of all time.

FUCK! THIS BOOK IS SO FEMINIST! The women in this book are all so powerful and dynamic. There are so many strong messages about women empowerment, taking no one’s shit, supporting other women, and demanding credit where it’s due. Even the smaller side characters are them much more layered than most supporting characters, as we explore their own storylines. Plus the relationships between all of the women, (Karen & Daisy, Karen & Camila, Camila & Daisy – even Daisy and little Julia made my heart swell!) are wholesome, unique, and authentic. Especially for a story with a bit of a love triangle, I could not be happier with the superb study of the experience of women.

I also was left so touched by the exploration of addiction. It’s a disease very close to my heart and I’m so, so pleased with how Taylor Jenkins Reid captured the dark, devastating nature of it. The story of both Billy and Daisy’s respective addictions bring light to the glamorization of drugs of this time, while not glamorizing it themselves. This book exposes the truth about substance abuse while simultaneously carrying an air of hope and recovery for those who may be in a similar situation. I’ll stand by this novel my grave as one of the greatest fictional stories of addiction ever told.

And oh gosh, THE MUSIC! I just have to give a shout out to the author for writing so many superb original songs with their own distinct voice and sound. I cannot WAIT for the series to come out so I can finally hear these marvelous lyrics sung the way they should be. Again, I REFUSE to believe this isn’t a real band.

I have so few complaints about this book, and honestly, they are so minuscule compared to the novel’s countless strengths. I felt the main plot twist wasn’t all that shocking and the ending could have been stronger compared to the rock-solid build up, but I’m so enchanted by this book that I’m totally unbothered.

In sum, read Daisy Jones & The Six. Prepare to have your mind rocked by the story of a band that wanted to change the world, so they did.
]]>