September & October 2019 Wrap-Up

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Believe it or not, every post you have read on this blog during the months of September and October have been pre-scheduled and were written in August! I knew I would be hit with a ton of work during the beginning of September, but I have been absolutely SWAMPED. For those of you who don’t know, I am currently in my senior year of high school, and it has been no joke. I thought that I would have quite a bit more time for reading and blogging, but between constant due dates, daily homework, and time for university research, I have had practically zero time to do anything in the book-universe. However, this week I don’t have much to do, so I am going to be pre-scheduling and writing a ton of blog posts for the next few weeks! And yes, this means that new Instagram posts and blog posts will be up frequently – sorry for leaving you in the dark for a few weeks!

You may have noticed that I did not post a September Wrap-Up last month, and that is because I really haven’t read that much. However, I still wanted to write a short wrap up to share the few books that I have read over the past two months, as they have ALL been 5-stars!

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The first book I read in September was THE HOW AND THE WHY by Cynthia Hand. I don’t want to spoil anything in this book, but I will tell you that it was PHENOMENAL. A full review will be coming your way very soon! Thanks to HCC Frenzy for the ARC that I received in my swag bag at Frenzy Presents a few months ago!

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The second (and last) book I read in September was FULL DISCLOSURE by Camryn Garrett. Just like the previous book, I absolutely adored this one. From the characters to the writing style, I enjoyed every single second that I was reading it. You can read my full review here. Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

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The first book I read in October was THE NEWISH JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA by Stephanie Butnick, Lies Leibovitz, and Mark Oppenheimer. I am a huge fan of their podcast ‘UnOrthodox’, and when I found out that they were creating a “Jewish encyclopedia” of sorts, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. I decided to purchase the ebook as the physical copy was over $50, but I’m still super happy that I read and loved it!

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The last book I read over this four month period was 24/6 THE POWER OF UNPLUGGING ONE DAY A WEEK by Tiffany Shlain. I was SO happy when I found out that I was approved for this book on Netgalley just days before its official release, as I knew I couldn’t help but buy it if I didn’t have the eARC! This book was everything I wanted and more. It was so powerful and inspirational, but also humours at times. I loved the personal stories as well as the strong messages and themes. I was not planning on posting a full review for this book, but if you want one, let me know in the comments! Thanks to Netgalley for approving me for an eARC of this book!

Those are all of the books I read in September and October. A (very) short, yet sweet list! Thanks for all of the support over these past two months even though I have barely been posting anything, new content is on the way very soon!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Last month I had the pleasure of reading FULL DISCLOSURE by Camryn Garrett (courtesy of an ARC provided by Penguin Teen Canada). This book blew away my initial expectations, and I am so excited to share my full review with you!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

In a community that isn’t always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love–and lust–for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She’s making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she’s HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real–shy kisses escalating into much more–she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone’s first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on…

As I shared above, this book obliterated my expectations. Everything about it was done perfectly and with purpose.

The characters in this book felt so real. While I didn’t personally connect with the main character, Simone, it was so interesting to read from a perspective of a girl that is HIV positive. The side characters were all so supportive of the main character, which was obviously so great to read about. I LOVED Miles (Simone’s love interest), as he treated her like any other girlfriend that he would have, regardless of her HIV. Simone has two fathers raising her, which was a fantastic addition to an already diverse novel.

Like I said in the previous paragraph, this book had a wide variety of representation. From Simone having two fathers, to a POC HIV-positive main character, there are a lot of things that YA readers will read in this novel that they may not have read before.

The overall plot was great. The story was very interesting and beautiful written. While I thought that some scenes in the story dragged on a little bit, I understand why they were written in. The overall flow of the book was great, too!

Possibly my favourite part of the book was the writing style. It went so perfectly with the overall importance of this story.

Overall, I absolutely loved FULL DISCLOSURE and rated it 5/5 stars! Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for sending me the ARC! I highly encourage you all to pick up this book, especially since it comes out today!

Good Night Book Owls!