I know I promised these book reviews would come out quicker, but here were are halfway through September. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get caught up on these book reviews before the end of the month. March was the month were a lot of my stress starting to think about buying a house started and honestly, I used reading as a way to destress and bring my anxiety levels down. I read a ton of great books from all different genres throughout this month and I can’t wait to share them with you below!
Anna K – Jenny Lee
A modern Young Adult retelling of Anna Karenina, Jenny Lee has created a world similar to gossip girl following Anna as she navigates high school and discovering true love. This is a great story for the younger generation to read to get an understanding of a classic novel, however, I felt like there was too much drugs and alcohol involved in the plot to where there were moments the writing felt trippy. Honestly, I got bored from all the party scenes that were portrayed in the book. The positive though was that the different character storylines was very easy to keep up with in this story, especially after the first third of the book where you get past the introductions and more into their storylines. Leo Tolstoy is known for his complication storylines and Jenny Lee created this one to where you have a better understanding of the characters and what’s actually going on.
I read this as a hardback copy through Book of the Month.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟/5
Love and Other Words – Christina Lauren
Childhood romance meets second-chance romance to create this perfect story. This may be my favorite Christina Lauren novel and let me tell you it was so hard to top The Soulmate Equation, but this one gave me all the feels. Macy and Elliot are up there as one of my favorite literary couple, with a dual timeline of them growing up together and present day of meeting each other again. Second-chance romance is one of my favorite romance tropes because I love to try to figure out what happened to the couple in the past before it gets revealed and this one was definitely a shocker with the plot twist. Both heartbreaking, but hopeful, if you want a romance book that hits you in the feels the way that Colleen Hoover does, I highly recommend this one.
I read this as an e-book through the local library.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Irresistible – Melanie Harlow
Small town romance trope meets single dad trope meets age gap trope. This was such a cute and fun read that was recommended by a bookstagramer who finds all the best Kindle Unlimited romance reads. I loved the dual point of views of Frannie and Mack because you did get an understanding and inside look of what Mack was feeling and thinking throughout the entire story. Frannie is one of five daughters, so you know there are four other books in the Cloverleigh Farm area and I can’t wait to immerse myself more into the small town.
I read this book as an e-book through Kindle Unlimited.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
The Love of My Life – Rosie Walsh
I would call this book psychological thriller meets contemporary romance. Written in dual POV between husband and wife, Emma is a marine biologist with cancer and Leo is an obituary writer. Because his wife is famous for her discoveries, Leo has to write her obituary to have on stock in case she does not win the fight against cancer. As he begins to write her story, he realizes there’s a whole part of her life that he is missing and starts a journey to figure out who Emma really is and the secret she is hiding. Another emotional read that had me trying to figure out what the big mystery was and why it was being kept a secret, this is a great read for those who are fans of The Last Thing He Told Me.
I read this as an e-book through the local library.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Black Cake – Charmaine Wilkerson
A literary/contemporary fiction meets historical fiction in the best way, a family is struggling with the death of their mother. Once close, Byron and Benny get left with a black cake and a voice recording from their mother. As we go through the story of Covey growing up in the Caribbean islands, we are swept away on a heartbreaking and yet inspiring story that helps bring Bryon and Benny close together again. This will hands down be one of my favorite books of the year and I knew it from the moment I read it. It’s hard for me to enjoy a contemporary fiction book as I feel like the story gets stale in the middle, but this book had me hooked the entire time and in tears by the end.
I read this as an e-book through the local library.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
The Magnolia Palace – Fiona Davis
Historical fiction with a mix of mystery, Fiona Davis knocks it out again with another story featuring a historic NYC landmark. This one grabbed my attention because it’s a lesser known landmark that I didn’t even know about during my three years in NYC. This story is a dual timeline of 1919 and 1960s. 1919 shows Lillian who is a hidden model for several famous sculptures around the city, finding herself without work after a scandal at the time of her mothers death. She gets hired by the Frick family to work with Helen as her assistant and she finds herself intwined into the family secrets. 1960’s finds Veronica at the now Frick museum for a photoshoot. After getting locked in during a snowstorm, she begins to find clues to the Frick family secrets and missing jewels. Both time periods had my interest equally and I wanted to find out how they intertwine with each other at the end.
I read this as a hardback copy from Book of the Month.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Dating Dr. Dil – Nisha Sharma
A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s famous play, Taming of the Shrew (the play inspired for 10 Things I Hate About You), with my favorite romance trope of fake relationship, we have another contemporary romance featuring the Indian culture. Similar to Sara Desai’s series, this book was full of humor, while still educating readers on the matchmaking culture and Indian wedding season. This book was also full of Taylor Swift references and even included a Taylor Swift playlist for Kareena and Prem’s relationship created by Sharma.
I read this as a hardback copy through Book of the Month.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
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