Title: Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles Author: Thomas Lennon Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Trigger Warning:   Rating: 3 Stars Release Date: March 5, 2019 Synopsis Fourteen-year-old Ronan Boyle is the youngest and lowliest recruit to the secret Garda, an Irish police force that handles the misdeeds of numerous magical creatures. Ronan’s parents are in jail, but Ronan is convinced that they were framed by the wee people. So, despite his small size, poor eyesight, and social awkwardness, he’s determined to learn all he can in the Garda in order to prove his parents’ innocence. To show he’s got what it takes, he’ll have to confront a fiery leprechaun, a sinister harpy, and a whole world of monsters hidden in plain sight next to real-life Ireland. Fast paced, action packed, and completely hilarious, this is the start to an exciting new middle-grade series by actor and writer Thomas Lennon. Review A special thank you to Netgalley and Amulet Books (ABRAMS Kids) for prov

Top Ten Tuesday prompts are posted by  That Artsy Reader Girl This week's Top Ten Tuesday is about places in books I'd like to visit. I struggled coming up with ten, probably because I love dystopian novels but wouldn't want to visit the world despite loving the book. Also, I contemplated a few fantasy worlds (like that in Reign of Shadows) that I probably would not survive a vist to. Still, I was able to come up with a list of five-ish, all of which are fantasy worlds that I think would be really cool places to be able to visit. 1. Camp Half Blood The Percy Jackson and the Olympian series was the first "big kid" series that I fell in love with and I still love the first five books today. It would be amazing to get a chance to visit Camp Half Blood. Like, I know the basics of how it works, but it would be so cool to be able to experience everything firsthand. All of the cabins look different and it would be so cool to see that little hodgepodge collectio

Title: Jake, Lucid Dreamer Author: David J. Naiman Genre: Middle Grade, Magical Realism, Fantasy Trigger Warnings: Death of a parent, bullying My Rating: 3 Stars Synopsis 12-year-old Jake has been suppressing his heartbreak over the loss of his mother for the past four years. But his emotions have a way of haunting his dreams and bubbling to the surface when he least expects it. When Jake learns how to take control in his dreams, he becomes a lucid dreamer, and that’s when the battle really heats up. Using his wits to dodge bullies by day and a nefarious kangaroo hopping ever closer by night, Jake learns about loss, bravery, the power of love, and how you cannot fully heal until you face your greatest fear. This uncompromising novel is a magical yet honest exploration of emotional healing after a devastating loss. Review A special thank you to Netgalley and Kwill Books for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. David J Naiman's Jake,

There are so many books out there with varying amounts of attention by the bookish community. These are my top 10 books underrated books with under 2,000 ratings on goodreads. They are in no particular order, but I hope that you consider giving them a try! 1. The Thing With Feathers by McCall Hoyle 1,381 ratings This book features Emilie, a sixteen year old with epilepsy attending public school for the first time since she was small. It's a really cute romance and I love the main couple and all of the discussion about Dickenson. There is also a sequel about a different character surviving a hurricane, Meet the Sky, but I definitely prefer this one. Also the covers are beautiful and while I know that has nothing to do with the actual book, I still love it. 2. The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy by Diane Stanley 476 ratings This was my favorite middle grade read for a long time. It's not dark at all but still an interesting concept and mystery. There are so man

As some of you may know, I am currently a college student. I did a decent job updating this blog in January. Not so good in February so far, but there is always time to improve that situation. I am also working two part time jobs on campus. Full disclosure, working two part time jobs at college sucks and I would not recommend. I also am actively involved in two clubs and heading to DC with one of them in March. So, it's safe to say I am a busy person who overcommits to everything (as I cough glaring at how many books I've requested on Netgalley). This is just who I am and I have come to terms with it, for the most part anyway. This semester, despite the massive workload, I have done a better job managing my time than I think I ever have, including Nanowrimo. My general Nano time management is just to write until I have something due in a few hours and then scream as I work on that. Definitely not good. But this semester has been going fairly well, and I am here to share som

Title: Just For Clicks Author: Kara McDowell Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary Trigger Warnings: attempted kidnapping, cyberbullying, mentions of stalkers My Rating: 5 Stars Release Date: February 19, 2019 Synopsis Mommy blogs are great . . . unless the blog happens to belong to your mom. Twin sisters Claire & Poppy are accidental social media stars thanks to Mom going viral when they were babies. Now, as teens, they're expected to contribute by building their own brand. Attending a NY fashion week and receiving fan mail is a blast. Fending off internet trolls and would-be kidnappers? Not so much. Poppy embraces it. Claire hates it. Will anybody accept her as "just Claire"? And what should Claire do about Mom's old journals? The handwritten entries definitely don't sound like Mom's perfect blog persona. Worse, one of them divulges a secret that leaves Claire wondering what else in her life

Contemporary has always been one of my favorite genres. Once I started reading YA romance, I was hooked The tropes are so cute. I went beyond YA romance for this post to include the adorable Denna and Mare). I will stick with young adult, because I have read little fiction aimed at older individuals. I have no problem reading erotica, just adult isn’t my thing yet. Potential spoilers ahead! I tried to avoid them but a few, like Simon vs, have a few spoilers I couldn’t avoid. 1. Jordan Woods and Sam Henry, Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally I could not write a favorite couples list without including Jordan Woods and Sam Henry from Catching Jordan. This is the first YA romance I ever read when I was 12 or 13ish and it was perfect. These two are adorable. I am rereading this book right now. Many other couples featured in this series are adorable, but Sam and Jordan will always be my favorite. 2. Dennaleia and Amaranthine, Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst I felt the nee

Title: Love, Aubrey Author: Suzanne LaFleur Genre: Middle Grade and Young Adult (it's a solid in-betweener), Contemporary Trigger Warnings: Death of a parent, death of a child, abandonment, neglect, depression Rating: 5 stars Synopsis "I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else." A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them. With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love

Title: The Dollar Kids Author: Jennifer Richard Jacobson Genre: Contemporary, Middle Grade Trigger Warnings: Gun violence, death of a child My Rating: 5 Stars Synopsis When a family buys a house in a struggling town for just one dollar, they’re hoping to start over — but have they traded one set of problems for another? Twelve-year-old Lowen Grover, a budding comic-book artist, is still reeling from the shooting death of his friend Abe when he stumbles across an article about a former mill town giving away homes for just one dollar. It not only seems like the perfect escape from Flintlock and all of the awful memories associated with the city, but an opportunity for his mum to run her very own business. Fortunately, his family is willing to give it a try. But is the Dollar Program too good to be true? The homes are in horrible shape, and the locals are less than welcoming. Will Millville and the dollar house be the

Title: Ruby in the Sky Author: Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo Genre: Contemporary, Middle Grade Trigger Warnings: Arrest, Death of a Parent, Bullying My Rating: 5 Stars Release Date: February 5, 2019 Synopsis Twelve-year-old Ruby Moon Hayes does not want her new classmates to ask about her father. She does not want them to know her mother has been arrested. And she definitely does not want to make any friends. Ruby just wants to stay as silent and invisible as a new moon in the frozen sky. She and her mother won’t be staying long in Vermont anyway, and then things can go back to the way they were before everything went wrong. But keeping to herself isn’t easy when Ahmad Saleem, a Syrian refugee, decides he’s her new best friend. Or when she meets “the Bird Lady,” a recluse named Abigail who lives in a ramshackle shed near Ruby’s house.? Before long Ahmad and Abigail have become Ruby’s friends—and she realizes there is more to