Book Review - An Anonymous Girl by, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

4 Stars!! 

“People are motivated to break their moral compasses for a variety of primal reasons: survival, hate, love, envy, passion. And money.” 

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. 

Jessica is a make up artist working and living in New York struggling to make ends meet. She is on a job, when the client gets a call about a morality and ethics study that pays $500. The client, Taylor, tells Jessica she doesn't have time for the study-and is going to turn it down. Desperate to make extra cash- Jessica decides she will just show up to the study in Taylor's place. 

Jessica knows nothing other than its a study for ethics research- when she arrives she is dubbed "Subject 52." There are rules before she starts- they seem simple enough- Be open and truthful, and avoid any embarrassment or pain the questions provoke. Some questions she will have to answer are :
Question #1: Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?
Question #2: Have you ever deeply hurt someone you care about?
Question #3: Should a punishment always fit the crime?

Dr. Shields, the psychiatrist - is monitoring Jessica, in another room, as she answers the questions. Dr. Shields is immediately drawn to subject 52- and asks her after two sessions if she is willing to sign on for an extended study and more money. What Jessica doesn't realize - is what this study may or may not personally Cost her. 

The characters in the book were written great. I loved the plot and the twists and turns that it produced. When I first started reading I was immediately hooked and invested. It was a total binge read for me. 

Thrillers are hard sometimes because I try sooo hard to figure them out before the end and most of the time I do. I didn't figure this one completely before it was over. The ending was the biggest issue I had with the book. I thought it was good just could have been a little more thought out- but other than that I didn't have any other issues with it and totally recommend it! 

Book Review - Vicious by, V.E.Schwab

3 Stars!! “Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.” I'm going to be a minority …. I liked this well enough, I just didn't love it. The writing was amazing - there is no doubt Schwab can write and come up with amazing plots. This just wasn't a favorite of mine. This book does raise an interesting question...what makes a hero and what makes a villain? As we read through the book, that's the main thing you will keep asking yourself. I didn't like really any of the characters in this book. Victor an Elli were both psycho.. but I'm pretty sure that's the point. Can you choose the better of two evils? Most people have already read this book, but if you haven't, I would still recommend this one! Just because it wasn't my favorite doesn't mean it wont be yours!

Book Review | FOUR DEAD QUEENS, by Astrid Scholte

3.5 🌟 Stars!!

“Sometimes failure is the beginning of success”

Keralie Corrington is a pickpocket who lives by the words "Get in quick, get out quicker." She works under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:

Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambition
Ludia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainment
Archia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and nature
Eonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community

When Keralie steals a comm disk coming from Varin Bollt, then everything goes wrong. When she watches the comms - Keralie sees the murders of all four queens. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – Keralie ends up teaming up with Varin, to complete his original job and see where it takes them.

I enjoyed this read. At first it was a lot of information and I felt a little overwhelmed- but after about the 20 percent mark, things started to pick up and it was action packed until the end. There was a little world building in the beginning but not really a whole lot. The plot was not at all what I was expecting.

Four Dead Queens is very unique - and is not like anything I have ever read when dealing with Kingdoms. There is a lot of use of tech and it had a bit of a Sci-Fi feel, which was what made it seem different. The characters were well rounded, but I just could not really connect to any of them. There is a M/F and F/F romance as well and sadly I could not get a grasp on either one. Something was missing... I thought the story line was good and the twists and turns were fun to read. I do recommend it for its uniqueness-and do believe its worth reading, just nothing really over the top and it was just an ok read for me.

Heartless by Marrissa Meyer

3 stars!! 🌟🌟🌟 “A heart, once stolen, can never be taken back.” This was unfortunately, just an ok read for me. I loved that it was a retelling, and the writing was amazing as is any Meyer book!! She doesn't waste her time on much world building - which I think is sorta awesome, in a sense, because she realizes most of her readers should already have a grasp on Wonderland. And its true! I had my own idea of wonderland and it worked for this retelling. I felt so sorry for Cath in the beginning and I hate that she was such a sweet girl - and ends up being a villain. But in Heartless, I had trouble connecting to her fully. Her and the Jest. I felt more of a pull and a connection with many of the side characters. They were written brilliantly. The cat and at Mad Hatter were two of my favorites. Overall I can see why this would be a 5 star book to a lot of people- it was just sort of a slow read for me. But I still recommend this to everyone because of the writing and HELLO its Marissa MEYER!!

The Boy I Grew Up With by Tijan

4 stars!!! 

“I will never be worthy of you, but one day, I hope to be better. One day, I will give you everything. I promise.”

Ahhh- its always fun getting a book about a side character. And if I am being completely honest... I prefer Heather to Samantha! So when I heard she was getting her own book... I was thrilled!!

This story follows Channing and Heather from the Fallen Crest series. It goes through their whole life from past to present. These two have grown up together and have a very long past together. It was fun and also very emotional to go down memory lane with them.

I really enjoy Tijans writing style. She has a way of pulling you in and giving you all the feels. She writes dialogue so well for the types of books that she writes. The pacing was great and it kind of reminded me a little bit of the atmosphere that was in her last book- Crew.

If you have not read all of the Fallen Crest Series- I highly recommend that you read them before you read this one. Then read Crew- and then, follow it up with this one. I guess it could be read as a stand alone- but I feel like it would be so much better if you know all of the backstory from the Fallen Crest Series.

Overall, I loved getting to read all about Heather and Channing. I adored the ending- it was almost like a little Easter Egg, to what I hope is to come in her future books! So exciting- Totally Recommend - especially if you are a Fallen Crest fan!!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

5 Stars!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“There are moments that you'll remember for the rest of your life and there are moments that you think you'll remember for the rest of your life, and it's not often they turn out to be the same moment.”

When I first read the description of this book, I assumed that it was going to just be about horses and a race. I had no clue that these amazing water horses of mythology would be involved, or that they would be so awesome, yet terrifying. But the story is about so much more than these terrifying beasts.

We follow two POVs Puck and Sean of Thisby Island. On the island of Thisby, each November is a special time of each year because of the appearance of the water horses and the Scorpio Races. The Capaill Uisce (water horses) swim in the ocean near the shores of Thisby and every once in a while, they will climb onto the island looking for food. They are so dangerous that every year people and animals are killed or maimed by them. If you can catch one of the water horses, and take it away from the ocean, they can be tamed.

Puck is a teenage girl who decides to enter the race because she needs the money. Her and her brothers lost their parents one November to a Capaill Uisce. A female has never entered the races before. Puck will be the first not only to enter the race, but also enter with a regular horse and not a Capaill Uisce (which is what everyone else uses). She is willing to gamble her life in this race for her brothers and to keep her home.

Sean was 9 years old when a Capaill Uisce killed his father right before his eyes. Now 10 years later and the winner of the last 4 Scorpio Races- He is determined to win in order to gain something that is very precious to him. Sean has been working for the richest man in town since his father passed, and trains all his horses-including the magical water horses. No one knows these unique horses as well as Sean does.

I fell in love with this book!! The atmosphere, the writing and OMG - The Horses.... I swear I could hear them gallop as I read and during the training I kept hearing Mick Jagger singing "Wild Horses" (which is a favorite song of mine) in the background.

The main characters, in my opinion reminded me of actual horses themselves. There is a sort of romance in this but it is so well done and has such a slow burn that you can only appreciate it more. The way Puck and Sean communicated to one another was so different. Even though the race is ahead, only one can win, and many may even die- they connect to each other on a another level. Only a few words pass between them and they slowly learn about each other through logic, need, and unspoken endearment. It was a breath of fresh air.

The Scorpio Races on a whole was so alluring! Everything about it had me wanting to dive into the book and appear on Thisby Island to watch everything as it unfolded. The only issue I had - was the ending. It was fabulous- and I get why the author ended it, BUT I guess...call me selfish cuzzz... I really just wanted MORE. Pretty sure that is the sign of a great book right?? Totally Recommend this one to ALL!

Book Review I Fire (Graceling Realm, #2) by, Kristin Cashore

4 stars!!!!
🌟🌟🌟🌟

“It was courage and strength, and something else too, as if he were standing with her, as if he’d taken her within himself, letting her rest her entire body for a moment on his backbone, her mind in his mind, her heart in the fire of his.”

When I first started to read Fire, I was confused because it did not fall in line with Graceling. It took place outside of the 7 kingdoms in a place called the Dells. There are no Gracelings in the land of the Dells. Though, there is magic here - the land is full of monsters of impossible shapes and colors. Humans in this land bend their wills to the monsters because of their beauty. The monsters have the ability to trick, impress, and control the minds of the people/prey.

We follow MC Fire, who is the last of her kind and a human monster. Anyone who looks upon Fire- falls under a fog.



They become obsessed with her, long for her - love her and some even want to kill her bc of her unworldly beauty. It is a sort of curse for Fire- but she has the ability to read and change the minds of people around her. Her father was the last King’s advisor, a cruel human monster named Cansrel who abused his beauty and power by bending everyone to his will. Fire struggles with living down her fathers legacy. When war and assassinations begin, King Nash and his brother Brigan, beg for Fire to use her talents to help. Fire finds it hard to say no. She then leaves her life in the Dells for the first time to travel with Brigan’s army.

I was nervous going into this but Fire is a completely different novel than Graceling – an even better novel, at that. I found the writing to be so much better. It was whimsical and beautiful. It felt almost like I was reading a fairy tale. It was so descriptive to read. The story flowed nicely, with a few info dumps here and there. Honestly-there were a few dull moments but I totally was able to overlook them bc I wanted to know what was going to happen with the story.

Besides Fire, the other characters were also more developed than those in Graceling – Archer and Brigan were my two favorites for different reasons. Of course, I had a ship..



and that baby sailed and I'm so happy for it!!! There’s also a familiar character in this book – a boy with two different colored eyes with a huge influence on people.

The world building in Fire far surpassed Graceling as well, in my opinion. There is a ton of action in this installment as there is a war brewing. There is also murder, and plot twists- along with political conspiracies and tactics. Also, I think the Romance subplot of Fire, was well done here and much more believable than that of Graceling.

On the whole- I fell in love with the prose and beautiful world of Fire. I was a huge fan of the action and the romance. This is a book you take your time with and read slow. A book that you can literally soak up the grand lushness of it all. Absolutely recommended to all.