Category: Books

After a particularly spectacular reading month back in June (you can read more about it in this post), I felt I could conquer the reading world. I saw how much I could accomplish if I dedicated the time to reading. And after finishing one book, the next thing I wanted to do was to finish another. So having read 9 books in June, almost double the amount of my best reading month ever, I was pumped! At that moment, I made a decision. I was going to read my entire TBR, both physical and digital. This decision was not motivated purely by an exceptional reading month. My first reading experiment of the year made me realise the books I buy are based on my mood. Although, I tend to feel guilty for prioritising a shiny new book over the ones collecting dust on my shelves. And if I avoid reading …

The best time of the year has come once again. The air is getting colder, and the days are shorter. The prime cosy time is upon us, and nothing like a chilling and dark mystery to rock you back to sleep. There is something delicious about reading murder mysteries and creepy stories in autumn. Maybe it’s the change to darker days or the association with Halloween. Either way, reading is always better when it’s colder outside and nothing like picking up a Ruth Ware to make the most out of it. Author: Ruth Ware Pages: 338 Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Drama, Horror First Publication: July 2015 Synopsis Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since the day Nora walked out of her old life and never looked back. Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen party arrives. A weekend in a remote cottage – the perfect opportunity …

And Then There Were None is not the first Agatha Christie book I read. Although it is the first one I completely fell in love with. It can be tricky to read her books. They were written a very long time ago, and she often uses references to the 30s lifestyle that is foreign to me. While reading it in a different century, some details can go over my head and doom the book as boring. At least, this has been my experience when reading Agatha Christie. But then, I picked up And Then There Were None. One of her standalone mystery novels. A story with multiple adaptations from movies, to mini-series, to a two-part episode of Family Guy. And I know I’ve seen a few more with different characters while maintaining the same plot, although, for the life of me, I can’t remember where. This is one of her …

Happy April Fools’ Day!! Despite today being a day you can’t trust anything people say, trust me, I’ll not be pulling any pranks on you. *wink* *wink* Now that I’ve taken all the jokes out of my system – probably not! – time to focus on the book I bring to you today: Edokko by Loren Greene. This is the second full-length novel in the Sakura+Maple series that brings Japan and Canada together. The story is a stand-alone, so don’t worry if you haven’t read anything else. So grab your passport, and let’s go to Japan! Author: Loren Greene Pages: 332 Genre: Contemporary YA Publication: 2021 Synopsis: Lily Jennings is Going. To. Japan. Sixteen and on top of the world, Lily’s BEYOND excited to be setting off for an entire year as an exchange student in Tokyo. Fashion and fun are foremost on her mind as she arrives ready to …

The start of a new year means new books. Although I can’t begin reviewing the books I already read in 2022 without closing the chapter of the ones I read last year. And Capsule by Mel Torrefranca is one of the reasons for that. It came out last summer, and I was fortunate to read an eARC of it. So prepare yourself for a deadly phone game! Author: Mel Torrefranca Pages: 255 Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Mystery Publication: July 2021 Synopsis: Two students from Brookwood High School mysteriously go missing on the same night. The first is Peter Moon, a heartless pescatarian who bashes students from Brookwood on his blog, turning everyone against him. The second is the adored Kat Pike, an audacious girl desperate to boost her adrenaline. Three days pass. No leads. Indifferent to the disappearances, sixteen-year-old Jackie Mendoza remains immersed in her virtual world of video games and …

As the name suggests, this book has everything to be a terrifying read during the time we are living in. Although it’s not. Despite the name, Contagion by Teri Terry has little to no similarities to real life – and I’m glad it doesn’t, or the author can predict the future! This piece of light fantasy is highly addictive and has infected me to read the rest of the series – now I see where the name comes from! Author: Teri Terry Pages: 480 Genre: Fantasy, YA, Mystery, Apocalyptic Publication: 2017 Synopsis: Callie is missing. Her brother Kai is losing hope of ever seeing her again. Then he meets Shay, a girl who saw Callie the day she disappeared, and his hope is reignited. Their search leads them to the heart of a terrifying epidemic that is raging through the country. Can Kai and Shay escape death and find Callie? …

Grab a tissue box because You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao will leave you crying like a baby. This YA contemporary story deals with grieving the loss of a loved one. Completely character-driven, the author takes you through a journey of loss, reconnection, friendship, and letting go. Prepare yourself because there won’t be many times to smile. Author: Dustin Thao Pages: 304 Genre: YA, Contemporary, Fantasy Publication: 9th November 2021 Synopsis: How do you move forward when everything you love is on the line? Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone. What would you do if you had a …

Back in 2018, I gave myself for Christmas the Collector’s Edition of the Divergent series. And since then, I’ve been meaning to do a reread of the series. I was also planning another reading log type of post, so I merged both ideas. And I’m glad I did because otherwise, all my thoughts while reading Divergente for the first time since 2016 would be lost. The only thing left was to decide when I was going to read it. And Instagram decided for me. I casually stumbled upon the new 10th Anniversary Editions and… oh my… the artwork is BEAUTIFUL! Now, I want to find a reason to justify spending more money on a series that I already own two copies of (the Movie Tie-in Edition in Portuguese and the Collector’s Edition in English). And maybe, just maybe, rereading the story can give me a reason why I should buy …

I’m sure you have heard of The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn. This book took 2018 by storm. Everywhere I looked, there it was staring at me, judging me for not buying it. You should have seen it. The cold glares, the look of despite, it knew I wanted to read it, but I was denying myself that pleasure. Then one day, I opened the first page. Author: A. J. Finn Pages: 429 Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense Publication: 2018 Synopsis: Anna Fox lives alone, a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbours. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother and their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her …

Reading the entire book series that inspired what once was one of my favourite TV shows of all time was something I wanted to do for a long time. Ever since I discovered that The 100 was based on a book series with the same name, I wanted to spend more time in this virgin version of Earth. I’ve talked about what I enjoyed the most and disliked about the TV show, and now, after almost 3 years, I’ve read the entire book series. I wrote a review for the first book in the series – you can find it here. But since all the others would contain big spoilers, I thought it was better to review the series as a whole. If you want to know all my thought on each of the books, you can find them on Goodreads. Author: Kass Morgan Genre: YA, Sci-fi, Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic Publication: …