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One of my goals this year was to read more culturally diverse books, so I was thrilled when received an ARC of LOVE FROM A TO Z by S.K. Ali from Simon and Schuster Canada!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.
An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.
But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.
When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break.
Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her.
Then her path crosses with Adam’s.
Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister.
Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.
Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals.
Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…
Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.
Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

This book focused on a lot of very important messages, including islamophobia and equal rights. It also had a lot of great representation, since the main character, Zayneb is muslim, and Adam, the other main character, has multiple sclerosis. I really enjoyed both of the main characters throughout this novel, and found several connections between myself and them while reading this story. Since this book focuses on a lot of heavy topics, I found myself rooting for them and hoping that everything would work out in the end.

This book is set in Doha, Qatar, and follows Zayneb travelling throughout the city and experiencing a lot of the tourist attractions. Even though I have never even thought about visiting Qatar, I found the city and attractions fascinating.

My absolute favourite part about this novel was learning about Zayneb’s culture and family history. I love learning about different religions and cultures, as I find religions fascinating. Whenever they were eating cultural food, or saying different prayers or phrases, I looked them up online to learn more about them. Since this is an own voices story, I loved how S.K. Ali took things from her own culture and placed them in her book.

Another thing I loved about the story was the journal format/idea. “Marvels & Oddities” was such a cool concept, especially since it was based off of something that both Zayneb and Adam loved. I liked how even when they were talking about an oddity, they still tried to find something positive to talk about.

The one thing that I did not enjoy in this book was the writing style. This book is written in dual perspective (Zayneb and Adam), however, I found the writing quite choppy at times, especially during the beginning of the book. Fortunately, I thought that the last third of the novel was written a lot smoother and read with ease.

Overall, I gave this book 4/5 stars. Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC! LOVE FROM A TO Z is currently available wherever books are sold, so make sure you pick up a copy at your nearest bookstore or library!

Good Night Book Owls!

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If you are not aware of who Christine Riccio is (besides recently becoming an author), then you clearly are not very well versed in the bookish community. Christine (also known as “Poland Bananas Books“), is one of the most followed people on BookTube. She has gained over 400k subscribers on her YouTube channel, and has several thousands of other followers across other social media platforms. Christine was the first BookTuber I EVER watched, and she is the sole person responsible for exposing me to the bookish online community! When I found out that Christine was writing a book, I was overjoyed and watched her writing videos every time they came out. I had the pleasure of receiving her debut novel “Again, But Better” in advance from Raincoast Books, which I am so incredibly thankful for! I tried my best to separate the writer from the novel, and I think I did a pretty good job doing that.

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents…sounds ideal—but Shane’s made zero friends, goes home every weekend, and romance…what’s that?
Her life has been dorm, dining hall, class, repeat. Time’s a ticking, and she needs a change—there’s nothing like moving to a new country to really mix things up. Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She’s going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure!
Easier said than done. She is soon faced with the complicated realities of living outside her bubble, and when self-doubt sneaks in, her new life starts to fall apart.
Shane comes to find that, with the right amount of courage and determination one can conquer anything. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic—the possibilities are endless.

“Again, But Better” is now one of my all-time favourite contemporaries. It was THAT GOOD. I know some people were skeptical about reading a book written by a BookTuber, especially since others have not been great. However, Christine’s was truly phenomenal.

My favourite thing about this book was Shane, the main character in this novel. I found a lot of similarities between myself and Shane, such as being an only child, shy around new people, always wanting to make my parents proud, and much more. I understood a lot of her feelings in several different situations throughout this story, and I thought she was an amazing main character. The other side characters were great as well! Babe, Pilot, and Atticus were my other favourite characters, and I think they added a lot to the story.

The first quarter of the book made me (literally) smile, the second quarter made me (literally cry), the third quarter shocked me, and the last quarter made me feel so proud of the character Shane had become. This book put me through in emotional roller coaster, to say the least (which was quite strange since I read the book in one day!). I felt so connected to not only the characters, but also the storyline overall.

The story and plot were fantastic. The events that took place over the story were all important to the flow of the plot, and nothing seemed irrelevant. Her writing was also fantastic, which made this book read smoothly and not seem like a debut novel. I really enjoyed the different mixed media sections she included in this story, including text conversations and postcards.

The setting and places they went to in this novel were great, and places that I definitely want to visit as well! The thought of them travelling every weekend throughout their study abroad program was a bit unrealistic, but it was so fun to read about!

Another element of this story that I loved was the subtle connections to Christine throughout this novel. Although I wanted to completely separate the story from the author, Christine was literally all over this book! She frequently mentions books she has loved and read in real life, YouTube and the success you can gain from starting a channel, her love of documenting things on her channel (just wait until you hear the name of Shane’s blog!), and many other references. While not everyone may understand them if you are not familiar with Christine’s channel, you definitely won’t be confused by them.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book and gave it 5/5 stars. Christine, if you are reading this, you did a phenomenal job on your debut novel and you deserve all of the success that comes your way because of this book. I cannot wait to read your other future novels! Thanks again to Raincoast Books for sending me an ARC of “Again, But Better”!

Good Night Book Owls!

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I can’t remember the last time I reviewed something that wasn’t an ARC or a book I had received for review… but here we are! Last week, I visited one of my favourite book stores and picked up a copy of MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing, which was my most anticipated release for April. I finished it early Wednesday afternoon, so it is actually featured in my April Wrap-Up since I read most of it in April. However, since I have been sharing my reading updates throughout this book, I thought it would be nice to post a full review!

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting…
Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.
We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.
We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.
Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

Is that not the BEST Goodreads synopsis you’ve ever read?! It got me hooked on the book before I even began reading it! I first want to say that I recommend going into this book completely blind (other then knowing the synopsis). This synopsis literally only tells you the tiniest fraction of what the book is about, and nothing about the plot is spoiled in it. One of my least favourite parts things in books are when authors take 100 pages to finally tell readers the things that are shared in the synopsis. This book does not do that at all, which makes it way more shocking. So PLEASE, if you want to read the book, DO NOT read this review! Come back when you are done, so we can discuss it! I will, however, say that I gave it 4/5 stars!

Now… I will not be spoiling any plot twists/reveals in this book, however, I will be sharing some extra info about the characters and overall plot line.

My favourite thing about this book was the writing style (which is never normally the case whenever I read an authors debut book… yes, this was Samantha Downing’s debut novel!!!). The writing was in the POV of the husband in this novel. It was so interesting to read from a male characters perspective, while describing a strong and fierce (and  disturbing) female character. I also really liked reading about their kids, the people he gave tennis lessons to, as well as Owen Oliver Riley, the murderer they are trying to “impersonate” in this book.

I also LOVED the plot line. This was one of the most unique and interesting thriller books I have ever read, and I was intrigued from the very first page. Like I mentioned earlier, the synopsis on Goodreads is a very small part about what the book is actually about, so the action truly starts from the first page. I did not see any of the plot twists coming, and the ending I did not predict AT ALL. I was shocked! I also loved the fact that every little tiny element of the beginning of the story was some how involved in the big reveal at the end of the book, so it was great to see those events come around full circle.

The only reason why this was not a five-star read for me was due to the fact that I never felt like I had to keep reading. I was never hooked into the plot, and it took me about 5-days to read this one, where as other thrillers typically take me two to three days to read and complete.

Overall, I highly recommend this book if you love mystery/thriller novels, and rated it 4/5 stars.

Good Night Book Owls!

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Over the past few months, I have not read as much YA books as I would have liked. However, I have been read quite a few YA books this month, and “You Must Not Miss” by Katrina Leno was one of my most anticipated books on my TBR this month!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com)

Magpie Lewis started writing in her yellow notebook the day her family self-destructed. That was the night Eryn, Magpie’s sister, skipped town and left her to fend for herself. That was the night of Brandon Phipp’s party.
Now, Magpie is called a slut whenever she walks down the hallways of her high school, her former best friend won’t speak to her, and she spends her lunch period with a group of misfits who’ve all been socially exiled like she has. And so, feeling trapped and forgotten, Magpie retreats to her notebook, dreaming up a place called Near.
Near is perfect–somewhere where her father never cheated, her mother never drank, and Magpie’s own life never derailed so suddenly. She imagines Near so completely, so fully, that she writes it into existence, right in her own backyard. It’s a place where she can have anything she wants…even revenge.

This book is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. To be honest, the ending confused me, but actually in a good way. It was definitely very unexpected and unique.

Initially, I thought that this book was a YA thriller, however I would say that this one falls  under the magical-realism contemporary genre, with a little mix of horror included. There are many different events that occur in this novel that make it hard to identify it within one genre.

My favourite part of the book was the characters and representation. This book brings up a lot of heavy topics, including (TW) suicide, depression, alcoholism, divorce, and sexual assault (just to name a few). But, it also featured some fantastic dialogue about illness and sexism. One of the main characters in this novel is transgender, and I really appreciated the representation. I also loved how Katrina Leno didn’t really focus too much on the character being transgender, and just brought it up at the beginning without being discussed further in the novel. Speaking of characters, I really liked the main character, Margaret (A.K.A Magpie/Mags). While I definitely didn’t agree with all of her decisions, I understand that she was making them because of all of the damage she has experienced throughout the last six months of her life.

I also loved the magical-realism part, as I was not really expecting it at all. If you read my April TBR or Dewey’s TBR posts, you would know that I didn’t really know anything about this story to begin with. I wanted to go into it blind without knowing anything. I am actually really glad that I did that, as I was not expecting the magical/light-fantasy elements (this is not a spoiler, as you read about them within the first 50 pages of the book).

Katrina Leno’s writing was so effortless and magical. I loved her writing style, and since this is my first Katrina Leno book, it definitely made me think about picking up her older ones in the future.

However, like I mentioned at the beginning of my review, I didn’t really love the ending and how the story concluded as a whole. Nothing really shocked me, and while I wouldn’t say the ending was predictable, I would say that it didn’t add anything to the story.

This book is definitely not for everyone, as some people may love some of the twists and turns, while others may not appreciate them.

Overall, I gave this book 3.5/5 stars. Thanks to Hachette Book Group Canada for sending me an ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!

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The ARC of “Love & Other Curses” by Michael Thomas Ford has been sitting on my shelf for over four months! I was really highly anticipating this one, and featured it last month in my Spring 5-Star Predictions post! But, did it live up to my high hopes?

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

The Weyward family has been haunted by a curse for generations—if a Weyward falls in love before their seventeenth birthday, the person they love dies. Sam doesn’t plan to fall for anyone in the nine weeks before his birthday. He’ll spend his time working at the Eezy-Freeze with his dad; cooking up some midsummer magic with his grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother (the Grands); and experimenting with drag with the help of the queens at the Shangri-La, the local gay club. But when a new guy comes to town, Sam finds himself in trouble when they strike up a friendship that might be way more than that.
As Sam’s birthday approaches and he still hasn’t quite fallen in love, the curse seems to get more powerful and less specific about who it targets. A mysterious girl Sam talks to on the phone late at night and a woman he’s only seen in a dream might have the answers he’s been looking for—but time is running out to save the people he cares about.

This was a very solid contemporary read! Was it 5-star worthy, however? Definitely not.

My favourite thing about this book was the characters. Similar to a few other books I have read recently, there was a lot of great representation of characters in this novel. The main protagonist in this book, Sam, is gay, and another main character is transgender. I also loved the family dynamic in this story, as Sam frequently spoke to the “grands” his grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother! Since this story centres around a family curse, the focus on his family members is essential to the story, and I thought that it added very positively to the story!

I really appreciated that although this is a YA contemporary with magical-realism, it wasn’t exactly a love story, but was more of a “growing-up/finding yourself” story. There is barely any romance or relationship elements in this story, as Sam is truly just a teenager that is trying to navigate through the summer before his senior year without falling in love.

This book focuses heavily on music, as Sam’s mother, who left after just a few days of his birth, gave him a box of records with notes about her feelings towards the albums. Sam spends a lot of the time listening to these records and trying to understand more about his mother. While these parts were not essential to the flow of the plot, I actually really enjoyed reading them.

The only main downfall I had in this book was the lack of attachment/connection I felt to the story and characters. I didn’t really care about the conclusions of the characters stories, and nothing in this book surprised me. In my opinion, it was a very bland YA contemporary. If you are just diving into this genre and also enjoy magical realism elements, I would definitely that recommend it to you!

For the most part, I enjoyed the novel and gave it 3/5 stars. Thanks to HCC Frenzy for the ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!