More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer

Summary:
Rev has managed. to keep the demons of his past at bay…until he. gets a letter from the abusive father he hasn’t seen in years, and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back.
Emma. has only one escape from her parents’ fighting: the computer game she built from scratch…until an online troll’s harassment causes her to fear for her safety.
When Rev and Emma cross paths one night, they’re both longing to confide in someone-to share the weight of their worries. They connect instantly and deeply, vowing to help each other no matter what. But soon Rev’s and Emma’s secrets threaten to crush them, and they’ll need more than a promise to find their way out. In an achingly beautiful story from the author of Letters to the Lost, two teens find the courage to lift the burden of their scars-old and new.
Review:
Brigid Kemmerer has done it again. I adored this story. Rev and Emma pulled me, chewed me up, and spit me out. Their wonderfully developed characters with interesting and complex stories.
Rev has a complicated past, and not in a good way. I knew I wanted to know more about him when I met him in Letters to the Lost. I’m so happy that he got his own book. We really learn about what goes on in Rev’s mind. We learn his fears and doubts and the things he does to try to combat them. I loved the relationships with his family. I thought it was really interesting to learn about Kristin and Geoff adopting Rev and all the other kids that they’ve fostered over the years. The love they have for Rev was so heartwarming and wonderful to read about. I also really enjoyed seeing more of Declan. I thought it was interesting to see the other side of their relationship. I thought Rev was a strong, courageous character that faced his demons down and stayed true to himself.
Emma was stubborn. Sometimes to the point of annoyance. She gets herself into trouble because of the typical ‘not sharing information’ trope where she could have solved all her problems by telling someone the truth. She was shitty to her friends and didn’t appreciate the things she had in her life. Despite all of this, I couldn’t help but like her. By the end of the book, she knew she’s been an ass and start making amends with those she’s treated poorly. She had great growth and I really appreciated that. I also liked that she’s a gamer. It’s not that common of a hobby for girls and the fact that she created her own game is just fascinating.
Overall, I loved this book. It was heartwarming and heart wrenching at the. same time. I’m so invested in these characters I’d die for another book. I have information from a little birdie that there is potential for Matthew (Rev’s foster brother) to get his own book and I would flip. Kemmerer is officially an auto-buy author for me and I cannot wait to read her newest book A Curse So Dark and Lonely.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Amanda’s January Wrap Up

Hi, lovelies! Happy February! This month is going to be filled with so many fun things. But before we can get to the fun I have to wrap up Contemporary January. I read so many great books this month and managed to knock a fair amount off of my always growing TBR list. So, without further delay, these are all the books I read in January.

Physical Books
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake
How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

eBooks
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia
Beartown by Fredrick Backman
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Audiobooks
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

So I read a total of twenty books in the month of January. Mostly ebooks becasue of all the late nights up with my daughter that I had since she has decided she’d rather sleep during the day. I’m hoping to keep this pace up through February so I can read all the books I have on my TBR for this month. I’m not going to post a general TBR for February becasue I have two TBR posts going up for the two readathons I’m doing this month.

How did everyone do this month for reading? Let me know how many books you read in January down below! Did we read any of the same books?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Summary:
Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.
Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life-or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum guard, Porter Roth-a.k.a her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than in the movies, especially when Bailey discovers those tricky fine lines dividing hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.
And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.
Review:
After hearing nothing but rave reviews for any book that Jenn Bennett writes, I knew I needed to give her books a try. So seeing some of them on BookOutlet, I snapped them up without hesitation. Alex, Approximately is the first one of her books that I’ve picked up from the ones that I bought. It’s a favorite of one of my favorite bookish people, Jess, check out her blog here and her BookTube here.

“Sometimes you have to endure painful things to realize that you’re a whole lot stronger than you think.”

I read this story in one sitting. I was pulled into the story by these characters and they wouldn’t let me go until I hit the last page. I had so much fun reading this book. It was fun and lighthearted and entertaining. There was love to hate romance which I’m always here for. There was just the right amount of cheesy parts, and also just the right amount of serious parts. I want to mention here that I did not read the synopsis before reading this book, so I didn’t know that Porter was Alex going into it. I’m a little upset that the synopsis just drops this tidbit at all. I think the guessing game was one of the best parts. I totally guessed the Porter was Alex about 1/3 of the way into the story, but it wasn’t confirmed until way later in the story.

“It’s hard to think about next week when you’re not sure if you’ll even made it through today.”

I totally loved the characters. I loved their movie obsessions. I loved their sassiness. I loved the friendships that Bailey made with Grace. I loved the love to hate with Porter. I especially loved Bailey’s relationship with her dad. I have a similar relationship with my dad and I really loved seeing it portrayed in this book. On the other side of this, Bailey’s relationship with her mother upset me. I think this was because I can relate to that too. I had a mostly absent mother, so I understand the complex relationship, the disappointment, all of the feelings that come with this dynamic. I think my only complaint is that we didn’t really see any sort of resolution with this or really any sort of explanation aside from her mother being upset that Bailey moved to live with her dad. I didn’t like this because her mother is acting like a child and that made me mad probably because of my own personal experiences.

“We spend our lives trying to find other poeple. Sometimes we get confused and turned around by the distractions.”

Overall, I enjoyed this story. Binge reading it was so fun. It was entertaining and interesting and had all the right amounts of everything I love in a book.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

Summary:
From the bestselling author of All the Bright Places comes an exhilarating love story that asks: As scary as it is to go after dreams, is it even scarier not to?
Libby is the girl whose name everyone knows. But no one really sees her, except Jack.
Jack is the guy who’s friends with everyone. But he doesn’t let anyone in, except Libby.
The two make an unlikely pair. And yet…They just might be able to change each other’s worlds.
Review:
After reading Jennifer Niven’s other book All the Bright Places, I knew I needed to try some more books by her. So, I picked up Holding up the Universe with one of my Christmas gift cards. I’m so glad that I did.
This story focused on Libby and Jack, two characters that are very different but somehow find some common ground. I really liked learning about them. Libby was a girl who has dealt with hardships and still has managed to stay strong and pull herself together. She fights for what’s right, even when it’s not the easy thing to do. I really admired her strength in the face of bullies and those trying to put her down. She knows that she has maybe not made the best choices, but she does what she thinks is best. She loves deeply. I love her relationship with her dad. It was sweet and sometimes sad, but I loved it. I also liked her relationship with Bailey. Bailey was a sweet girl and I liked seeing them rekindle their friendship.
Jack was such an interesting character to me. He is face-blind, meaning that he cannot recognize faces. This is something that I’d never previously heard of. I honestly didn’t know this is something that exists. I liked Jack because he was so flawed. He did dumb things, mostly for the right reasons. A lot of the time he did things because it was the easiest thing until he meets Libby anyway.
I flew through this story. It was easy to read. It was interesting and I feel like I learned something after reading it. I loved that both characters are facing their own issues, but figure out how to work through them together. Libby and Jack got me invested in the story, wanting to know what was going to happen next.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was compelling, thought-provoking, relatable, and so much more. I definitely suggest this to anyone that enjoyed Niven’s other book.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Contemporary January TBR List – Mystery Edition

Hi, lovelies! I am back one last time to share with you the books left of my TBR list when it comes to those fitting the genre of mystery and thriller. I know that these are really their own genre, BUT there are many contemporaries that only have a bit of mystery and  I felt they merited their own post, so here we are.

Adult Mystery/Thriller

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
The Girl Who Takes an Eye For An Eye by David Lagercrantz

Young Adult Mystery/Thriller

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten
The Female of The Species by Mindy McGinnis

These are the books on my TBR list! I don’t know why I haven’t picked them up yet. I know I’ll fly through them once I start becasue I always get through thrillers so fast. So hopefully this month I’ll read at least a handful of these! Have you read any of these? Are any of them on your TBR list too? Let me know in the comments!

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ContemporaryJanuary and tag me & Alana if you’re joining in! You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and/or GoodReads to keep up to date with any announcements and see what I’m reading!

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Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

GoodReads Summary:
Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn’t the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he’s trying to escape the demons of his past.
When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can’t resist writing back. Soon, he’s opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they’re not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.
Review:
I’m binge-reading all of Brigid Kemmerer’s books because I’m going to her book signing on the 28th and I want to have read the book that I’m going to have her sign. I have heard nothing but good things about her writing and I was certainly not disappointed by Letters to the Lost. This story was interesting and thought-provoking, compelling and heart-wrenching.
Juliet and Declan were both such captivating characters. Each of them dealing with the death of a loved one, each feeling in their own way like that death was their fault. I really liked both of them. Juliet, dealing with the death of her mother, trying to get through each day to get her life back to normal. She finds that she can’t do all of the things she loved before her mother died. She won’t pick up a camera. She’s basically just going through the motions each day. I thought it was really interesting seeing how the deal of a loved one can affect your passions. Grief is more than just sadness and Letters to the Lost really shows that with these characters. For Juliet, it’s being consumed by wanting her mother back and losing interest in things she loved previously. For Declan, it was different. He put the responsibility on himself. So along with grief, he feels an overpowering amount of guilt. His grief shows in different ways than Juliet. He’s abrasive and volatile, embracing the ‘delinquent’ reputation that he has.
I found this story so relatable. Showing that everyone grieves differently is such an important message and its one that is shared so well by this story. Kemmerer tells a captivating story of love and loss and how to move toward loving and living again after losing someone you love.
Overall, I’m so happy I read this story and I can’t wait to read more by Kemmerer. Her writing was beautiful. It was also super interesting to read about the area that I live in because Kemmerer lives in a town near me (how cool right?) I definitely recommend reading this book if you haven’t already.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Summary:
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he thinks of ways he might die, but every day he also searches for-and manages to find- something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation when she can escape her small Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school-six stories above the ground-it’s unclear who saves whom. Soon it’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself. And it’s only with Finch that Violet forgets to count away the days and starts living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink…
Review:
All the Bright Places completely slayed my soul. I was not expecting to feel so many different emotions while reading this. Finch and Violet had me laughing on one page and then in tears on the next. I thought I was going to enjoy this book because of the recommendation of a friend, but I didn’t think it would be this much.
I thought Finch was so interesting. It was fascinating to be inside his head trying to fight to stay ‘awake.’ It was really eye-opening to see his thoughts and how they could so easily spiral and then be brought back into reality. He was such a complex character and I just couldn’t stop reading.

“And sorry wastes time. You have to live your life like you’ll never be sorry. It’s easier just to do the right thing from the start so there’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Violet was just as interesting but in a different way. She’s dealing with survivors guilt after the death of her sister and just trying to go through the daily motions until graduation when she can escape Indiana forever. I really liked Violet and enjoyed seeing her pull herself together and choose to really start living again.
Violet and Finch together were fiery and entertaining and a bomb waiting to go off. I think Finch really brought out all the good in Violet. He pushed her in the best ways to move forward, to get back in a car, to try new things, to try to live her life again. I think Violet wanted to be that for Finch too but didn’t quite succeed. I absolutely loved their dynamic. I loved the effect that Finch had on Violet and I loved that Finch wanted to be better for her, he tries so so hard to do better for Violet.

“The thing I realize is that it’s not what you take, it’s what you leave.”

I also want to mention that I loved how Violet branched out after kind of realizing and accepting that her friends were shitty and made new friends. She sort of adopted Finch’s friends and I loved that because if I could change one thing I would have added more interaction with Finch and his friends. But we got the interaction with Violet, making new friends and trying new things.
Then this book went and broke my heart. Jaw dropped. Book almost thrown. I was not expecting certain events in this story and I am so not okay. I think it was the worst and best part of the story. It’s hard hitting and brings important conversations to the table. I’m not going to spoil it because that would be shitty, but it really changes the to conversation of the book. It was heartbreaking, but in the best way.

“What if like could be this way? Only the happy parts, none of the terrible, not even the midly unplesant. What if we could just cut out the bad and keep the good?”

Overall, I adored this book. I loved the characters. I loved their adventures as they ‘wander’ all over Indiana. I love the lessons that are learned. I love the way the chapters are labeled. I love everything about this story and I’m sad that it’s over. I’m so thankful to Kim @ Troubled Bibliophile for getting me this story for Christmas.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Beartown by Fredrik Backman

GoodReads Summary:
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream—and the price required to make it come true.
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever-encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.
Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.
Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
Review:
I borrowed this from the library after a friend on twitter (thanks Jenny!) told me about it. This book exceeded every single expectation I had for it. I am completely blown away by this story. I have done nothing but read in all of my available free time because I NEEDED to know what was going to happen in this story. It was compelling, kept me interested, insightful, and so much more. I think this is a story that everyone should read. Going into it I was excited because hockey is the one sport that my family really pays attention to and watches, so I knew this book would interest me. But I got so much more than I asked for.

“Never trust people who don’t have something in their lives that they love beyond all reason.”

This story tells of a town that is so obsessed with their local hockey team and the thing that team inspires. The team (or the hockey club in general) is the most important thing and loyalty should always be to the team. The team, the bears from Beartown always stick together no matter what. But what happens when the leader of this team, the player that all the others look up to the most, does something truly horrible? A town divided between staying loyal to the team, to the club, to Kevin, or believing a young girl’s accusation is what this story is really about.

“There are thousands of ways to die in Beartown. Especially on the inside.”

I loved every single thing about this story. It was hard hitting and honestly, I cried like four separate times. This story was written wonderfully. I enjoyed the beginning, where we’re learning about all the characters that matter, about the town dynamics, how life works in Beartown, what hockey means to all of the characters, and how it has impacted their lives. The story then goes on to tell of events at a party after an important win and this changes the entire course of the story. Instead of following the team to victory for the season, we instead follow a town divided between doing what is morally right or doing what is right for the hockey club.

“Pride in a team can come from a variety of causes. Pride in a place, or a community, or just a single person. We devote ourselves to sports because they remind us of how small we are just as much as they make us bigger.”

Beartown was insightful and heartbreaking and horrifying and just incredible. I think it discusses the love of a parent to their child and other family dynamics in such an interesting and thoughtful way. There are so many different kinds of families, wealthy, poor, white picket fence households, single parent homes, it really explored all kinds of home lives. There is just such an interesting group of different kinds of characters. Different in many ways like race, sexual orientation, age, and all the good things. I also really enjoyed that this story was told from so many different perspectives. We read from perspectives of both the adults and the children, so it’s a story that can have a very wide group of readers. There were also quite a few really hard topics talked about such as being gay (and hiding it), rape, suicide, murder, bullying, and just so many extremely relevant things.

“I know you’d have killed for me, Mom. I know you’d have given your life for me. But we’re going to get through this, you and me. Because I’m your daughter. I’ve got wolf’s blood.”

I thought this was going to be a book about hockey, instead, I was given so much more. I really cannot recommend this story enough. I am going to try to patiently wait for the sequel to be available at my library and then fly through that story as well.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Contemporary January Recommendations – Mystery Edition

Hi, lovelies. Sadly, I am here with my last recommendation post for this Contemporary January that has just gone by too fast. I’m going to separate this week’s recommendations into adult and young adult books. These will be a mix of mystery and thrillers that I really enjoyed.

Check out Alana’s post here.

Adult Mystery

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
Full of twists and turns and never really sure where the story is going, you won’t be able to put it down until the final pages.

Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
Forever one of my favorite adult series. Stephanie is always getting into some sort of trouble. Blowing up cars, going missing. And the men, swoonworthy!

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer
This is one that even my husband loves and he’s not much of a reader.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
You need to stop what you’re doing and go read this book right now.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarity
My first Liane Moriarty book and it sure was a good one. Never really knowing what was really going on until the last page.

Young Adult Mystery

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A cute summery mystery full of questions and suspense.

Sadie by Courtney Summers
One of the best audiobooks I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. The story was incredible and so were the narrators.

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl
This was one that caught my eye because of the cover, but the pages inside were just as beautiful.

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
A very atmospheric and suspenseful summertime read.

Jane Unlimited by Kristen Cashore
A book that leaves you with questions right up until the end of the book before revealing its secrets. This story sure was a wild ride.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
One of my absolute favorite mysteries. With all sorts of side plots going on, I couldn’t put it down until the end. The cover is freaking beautiful too which doesn’t hurt.

These are some of my favorite mysteries and thrillers. Let me know if you enjoyed any of these too! Tell me your favorites in the comments!

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ContemporaryJanuary and tag me & Alana if you’re joining in! You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and/or GoodReads to keep up to date with any announcements and see what I’m reading!

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Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia

Summary:
When star soccer player Peyton Rios receives an offer from her first-choice college, her senior year starts off exactly as planned…until she uncovers her boyfriend’s dark secret. Peyton confronts him and finds herself falling down a flight of stairs. Her knee-and possibly her dream of going pro-is shattered. Everyone at school is talking: Was she pushed, or did she fall? Peyton knows the truth, even if no one believes her.
With her future on the line, Peyton goes to stay with her uncle in a small Tennessee town to focus on her recovery. That’s where she meets Owen.
A year ago, Owen Law’s life changed and he doesn’t want anyone to know why-until he meets the new girl in town. But dating is off the table for Peyton, even for a guy as sweet and sexy as Owen. He tries to chip away at her walls, but Peyton senses that he’s hiding something and she’s afraid to trust her own heart. When their secrets are finally exposed, Peyton has to decide if love is worth fighting for.
Review:
I loved this book. I wish that I could just say that and be done with this review because really, I loved it and I just want everyone to read it. This was a compelling story filled with so many different things that I like. We follow our main character as she’s dealing with potentially losing everything she’s worked toward her whole life. Also dealing with her crazy ass ex-boyfriend, moving across the country, adjusting to a new school, and grieving for her father.
There were so many different things going on in this story, but it wasn’t too much. All the different aspects of the story were brought together so well that it just worked out.
Peyton was a fierce and fiery character that didn’t back down, even when it would have been the easy thing to do. She stands up to all sorts of bullies, from snotty cheerleaders to MMA fighters on steroids, she’s brave and stubborn. I really loved Peyton. I don’t know that I related to her so much as I just really respected her as a person. She’s someone I could be friends with in real life for sure.
The twins, Peyton’s cousins, Cameron and Christian were a great part of this story. They come off as big dumb jocks at first, but you learn that there more than that. They’re loyal and quick to defend those they care about. They do say some dumb things but don’t have an issue being corrected and learning why they were wrong. They just made me laugh and I loved them.
I liked Grace too. She was sweet and I’m so happy with how her story ended. She was a good friend to Peyton when she needed one and I loved seeing the girls get to know one another.
Tessa really pissed me off, but I understood (to a point) where she was coming from. She’s another character that I was happy with how things turned out. I’m happy with how she and Peyton figured things out, though we didn’t get a whole lot of closure on her after that.
I hated Peyton’s ex-boyfriend and I’m not going to name him so the thing that happens, in the beginning, doesn’t get spoiled but I hated him. He was a giant jerk and I knew things were just going to get worse. The whole situation at the beginning of the book made me so mad. I think because this is something that happens all the time in the real world, it just made me so mad.
Now, my favorite character, Owen. I loved him. He stood up for the little guy. He was nice even when he was supposed to be portrayed as a jerk. He’s big and tough and exactly what Peyton needed at the time. I love that they pushed each other’s buttons. They made me laugh the whole book.
I just really loved everything about this story. It was real and hard to read in some parts. It talked about real things that happen every day in real life and it doesn’t shy away from anything. I definitely think this should be a more widely read and talked about story because it is an important one for sure.

“I used to believe that everyone gets one perfect day sometime in their lives-if they were lucky. But I had it all wrong. We don’t get one perfect day. We get a lifetime of imperfect days, and it’s up to decide what we want to do with them.”

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

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Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Summary:
It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person.
Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead-to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse-though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven’t forgiven?
It’s not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was-lovely and amazing and deeply flawed-can she truly start to discover her own path.
Review:
This latest read was a reread for me. I thought Contemporary January was the perfect chance to reread this book because I remembered loving it so so much while reading it the first time. This was a good story of a young girl going into high school and trying to figure out who she is. It’s a story that tells of grief, of what it’s like to lose a sibling and dealing with all of the feelings that come with this.

“I think it’s like when you lose something so close to you, it’s like losing yourself.”

There were a lot of things that this story tried to deal with. I think it did many things right, like the whole grief dynamic in the story. Laurel is a young girl trying to figure out how to move forward now that her sister has died, along with that her parents have split up and her mother has left. I really related with Laurel and her feelings toward her mother because I also had an absentee mother. I thought it was well done, her feelings toward her mother. Also, her feelings toward her sister were so raw and realistic and I loved it.

“When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved.”

Sadly, certain parts of this story were pretty cringy. Laurel was pretty self-destructive and not always ways that I understood. There were just things I didn’t like that I don’t want to get too far into. Things that could have been written a bit better. Things involving the parts with drinking, sexual assault, and things of this nature.

“Maybe when we can tell the stories, however bad they are, we don’t belong to them anymore. They become ours. And maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don’t have to just be a character, going whichever way the story says. It’s knowing that you could be the author instead.”

Overall, I’m disappointed that I didn’t love this book as much as I did the first time. Despite that, I still think it’s a good story. There was a bit too much telling instead of showing. I feel like part of this is because of the way this story is told. Laurel tells this story in the form of letters to dead famous people. So she is essentially telling these people what’s going on, but I think it could have been a bit more ‘show don’t tell’. I think part of me wanted to like this story more than I did, sadly. Though there were tons of quotes that I really enjoyed, some of which will be inserted in this review.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

*Want to buy this book? Click on the book cover! It’s an affiliate link so we will make a small percentage from your purchase, feel free to support us!

Contemporary January TBR List – Magical Edition

Hi, lovelies! This week we will be talking about magical realism and retellings! I don’t have too many of these two genres on my shelves waiting to be read so I thought I would combine them into one post. I love a good retelling (key word: good) but there are so many that are just not that great. So I find myself less interested in picking them up after reading a few duds. As for magical realism, I love it. Which is why there’s only a few on my TBR because I tend to pick them up pretty quickly.

Retellings

Catwoman By Sarah J. Maas
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
As Old As Time by Liz Braswell

Magical Realism

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
A Million Junes By Emily Henry

There are so many more for both of these lists, but for the purposes of the intention of Contemporary January, I’m only mentioning the books I own that are begging to be read from my bookshelves. Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ContemporaryJanuary and tag me & Alana if you’re joining in! You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and/or GoodReads to keep up to date with any announcements and see what I’m reading!

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Sadie by Courtney Summers

Summary:
When popular radio personality West McCray receives a desperate phone call from a stranger imploring him to find nineteen-year-old runaway Sadie Hunter, he’s not convinced there’s a story there; girls go missing all the time. But as soon as West’s boss discovers Sadie fled home after the brutal murder of her little sister, Mattie, he sees the makings of something big and orders West to the small town of Cold Creek, Colorado, to uncover what happened.
Sadie has no idea that her story will soon become the subject of a blockbuster podcast. She just wants revenge. Armed with a switchblade, Sadie follows a meager set of clues hoping they’ll lead to the man who took Mattie’s life because she’s determined to make him pay for it with his own. But as West traces her journey to the darkest, most dangerous corners of big cities and small towns, a deeply unsettling mystery begins to unfold-one that’s bigger than them both. Can he find Sadie before it’s too late?
Alternating between Sadie’s unflinching voice as she hunts the killer and the podcast transcripts tracking the clues she’s left behind, Sadie, is a breathless thriller about the lengths we go to protect the ones we love and the high price we pay when we can’t. It will haunt you long after you reach the final page.
Review:
After hearing the endless hype for Sadie, I finally bought the book when it was on sale for black Friday. Shortly after buying it, my library informed me that they went ahead and bought the audiobook at my request. So, this led me to wait for the audiobook to be available instead of reading the physical book because I have heard nothing but good things about the audiobook. None of those things I heard were wrong. The audiobook and the story were so so much more than I ever expected.
This story follows two alternating perspectives. The first we follow is Sadie. We follow Sadie as she’s trying to deal with losing her sister, the one person she lived for. Sadie spent her life doing everything for Mattie. Taking care of her sister was her life’s purpose. I think I really related to Sadie because my own mother is one that struggles with addiction and wasn’t around for much of my life. So I know how Sadie feels toward her mother and I could understand those feelings. I cannot imagine what it wo0uld be like to lose a sibling like she did, in such a gruesome manner. I would be inconsolable and would likely attempt revenge, just like Sadie. Following Sadie on this mission was hard because it took Sadie to some dark places both physically and mentally. She had some dark thoughts, including but not limited to murder. I think that was one of the things I liked about this book. It was a mystery/thriller but the darker themes within it really made it just that much more exciting.
The second perspective we follow is West McCray who is a reporter, I think. I thought this was a very interesting way to tell this story. His chapters were so perfectly placed. Every time we switched away from Sadie it was always at the perfect place to just add that much more suspense. I really liked that we get to see into the process of West making the podcast instead of just the podcast episodes. I thought it was cool that we got to see how Sadie’s story was affecting West and the impact this project was having on him. I also really enjoyed the interview parts of the story that were included in the podcast. I feel like they really allowed the reader more insight into all the different pieces of the story.
I think my favorite part was the parallels in the storytelling. What I mean by this is that one chapter will be following Sadie going to a specific place or telling us about something and the next chapter will be the podcast where West is learning about the same things. I thought it was really interesting to see how Sadie saw or thought things and then seeing those same things from the perspective of another.
Finally, I have to mention the audiobook. It was freaking amazing. I absolutely adore audiobooks that are read by a cast of narrators. I think they make the story experience so much better and they’re my favorite kind of audiobooks. I actually waited to read this book despite owning the physical copy so that I could experience the audiobook because I’ve heard such good things. I was not disappointed in the least. I think this is even more important because the one thing I never see mentioned in the reviews I’ve seen is that Sadie has a serious stutter. I don’t know how that is portrayed in the book, but the audiobook you heard the stutter and felt the anxiety and anger that Sadie felt about it. I think the narrators for this story were absolutely incredible. They drew me into this book and spit me out in the last pages all used up and emotionally ruined.
If you haven’t read this book, you need to. If you’re not reading this book because of all the hype, don’t be silly.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

*Want to buy this book? Click on the book cover! It’s an affiliate link so we will make a small percentage from your purchase, feel free to support us!

How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett

Summary:
On a warm, listless summer afternoon, Kyle Paxson sent five texts to a few chosen classmates. None of the girls responded-except one. Jamie was the only girl nice enough to give Kyle the time. And that night, deliberately and brutally, he killed her.
On the eve of Kyle’s sentencing a year later, all the other “chosen ones” are coping in various ways. But our narrator is full of questions, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.
Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie’s boyfriend-knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by the what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?
Review:
This was an impulse buy for me after my twinny, Alana, recommended it to me. She better keeps the recommendations coming because I gave five stars to the two books that I’ve read recently at her suggestion.

“But love and stupidity kind of go together, don’t they?”

How She Died, How I Lived was incredible. It was thought-provoking and hard-hitting and I just couldn’t put it down. This is a story that follows the main character as she’s dealing with survivors’ guilt and all of the feelings that come with knowing that she was almost the girl that got murdered. Being one of five girls that Kyle texted that day, it could have been any one of them that was killed. Our main character battles with the fact that she is still alive and Jamie is not. I really thought this was a powerful story because the things that she felt were so raw and real and parts of it were almost hard to read.

“You asked us to write about death. I want to write about love. They’re not the same, but the link us together in the same way. Death and love. They both wrap us up in their cords, and they don’t let go.”

I’m having a hard time thinking of what I want to say about this story aside from it being a good book because it was so much more than that. This story was thought-provoking with the idea that anyone can die at any time. It also really brings attention to justice and what that really means, specifically in regards to the death penalty. I was blown away by the final pages.

“This world. This preposterously beautiful world. You’d think we could live in it without killing each other.”

The characters were great. I think my favorite part of this story was the relationship between the main character and her best friend, another girl that Kyle texted that day, Lindsey. I really liked that these two girls became friends and are helping one another deal with their feelings about their shared experiences. I loved that they held one another up when they needed it, but they also weren’t afraid to call the other out on their shit. Their friendship was one that reminded me of some of my friends and I really enjoyed it.

“Our grief is our signature, with everyone dotting the i in their own special way.”

The romance in this book was the one thing I wasn’t really sure about. It ended up growing on me, but I didn’t like it at first. The main character ends up involved with Charlie, the boyfriend of the girl that Kyle killed. I thought it was just a little weird because it had only been a year since Jamie was killed, along with the upcoming trial bringing up all the emotions once again. I still don’t think it’s a relationship that will last, but it definitely grew on me. By the end of the book, I was okay with it because they can hold each other up when they need it, but also because they did their fair share of arguing about different opinions. Their differing opinions is where most of the thought-provoking ideas were brought up because they seemed to have the opposite opinions on quite a few things that really just made you think.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Taylor continues. “It was written in the stars.”

Overall, I loved How She Died, How I Lived. I wanted to read it again from the beginning as soon as I finished it. I definitely think this is a story that needs more attention. So if you haven’t read it, please go do so now.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

*Want to buy this book? Click on the book cover! It’s an affiliate link so we will make a small percentage from your purchase, feel free to support us!

Contemporary January Recommendations – Magical Edition

Hi, lovelies! We’re halfway through Contemporary January already! So many books to be read and so many recommendations to be made. This week we are talking about two topics that I couldn’t find enough to give them lists of their own so I will be including them in one post together for their recommendations as well as their TBR list.

Check out Alana’s recommendations this week here.

Retellings

Splintered by A.G. Howard
An Alice in Wonderland retelling. I loved this trilogy. It was so fun and twisty.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
A classic, but with zombies. What could go wrong?

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz
This was a fun cutesy romance retelling set in modern times.

Timeless Fairy Tales by K.M. Shea
This series is one I found on Kindle Unlimited. Its a whole series of retellings from The Beauty and the Beast to the Twelve Dancing Princess. They’re fun and quick to read.

Quincey Wolf’s Glass Vault by Candice Robinson
A twisted modern story that features fairytale characters here and there.

Magical Realism

The Shack by William Paul Young
A story that blew me away. I’ve loved all the books I’ve read by this author.

Teardrop by Lauren Kate
A story about a girl that can’t cry? Count me in.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
If you haven’t heard of the Night Circus then what rock have you been living under?

These are just some of the books I really enjoyed that fall under the category of magical realism or a retelling. What retellings do you love? Which books with magical realism are on your favorites list?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ContemporaryJanuary and tag me & Alana if you’re joining in! You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and/or GoodReads to keep up to date with any announcements and see what I’m reading!

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