Review

Mini Review: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Sofia @ BookishWanderess2 Comments

Hi everyone! I just wanted to mention before the review that I read this book as part of Catch up on Classics! I have been meaning to read a Sherlock Holmes book for a while and I thought this was the perfect chance.

a study in scarlet

Title: A Study in Scarlet

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Publishing date:  1887

Genre: Adult, Mystery

Pages: 143

From the moment Dr John Watson takes lodgings in Baker Street with the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, he becomes intimately acquainted with the bloody violence and frightening ingenuity of the criminal mind.

In A Study in Scarlet , Holmes and Watson’s first mystery, the pair are summoned to a south London house where they find a dead man whose contorted face is a twisted mask of horror. The body is unmarked by violence but on the wall a mysterious word has been written in blood. The police are baffled by the crime and its circumstances. But when Sherlock Holmes applies his brilliantly logical mind to the problem he uncovers a tragic tale of love and deadly revenge . . .

Goodreads | Amazon

This was my first time reading any of the Sherlock Holmes books and sadly I was disappointed. My main issue with this was that the writing style is so dry and boring, which made this book hard to enjoy.

The beginning of the book was interesting because Watson and Sherlock are introduced and it’s exciting to see the first glimpse of this iconic characters, but that excitement fades away quickly because everything feels slow and boring thanks to the writing style. I was hoping once the story got to the crime solving part things would get better, and while it was a bit more captivating, I felt like I couldn’t even try to solve the mystery behind the murder, because there’s almost no clues, there’s no interrogations, and honestly, there’s barely any information about the crime that was committed.

And then, when it seems like it’s finally time to see Sherlock in action, this book jumps 20 years to the past and starts to talk about Mormons, American pioneers and even the Gold Rush. I’ll admit that this was a bit interesting – even if the writing was still very dry- because I’m not American, so I don’t know a lot of the history that it’s glimpsed in this part of the book.

The ending was ok and things were explained, but what I found weird is that if you have 20 years to plan a crime, you wouldn’t leave so many thing to chance. That didn’t make sense to me and it made me wonder why Sherlock Holmes found the crime so interesting. Anyway, I will give another Sherlok Holmes book a chance, since I think maybe a book with a different case will be more enjoyable for me.

Rating: 3 stars

Have you read any of the Sherlock Holmes books? Which one do you think I should pick up next?

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Review

Book Review: In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

Sofia @ BookishWanderess1 Comment

In an Absent Dream

Title: In An Absent Dream

Author: Seanan McGuire

Published by: Tor.com

Publishing date: January 8th 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 187

This is the story of a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

For anyone . . .

Goodreads| Amazon 

In An Absent Dream has become my favorite book in the Wayward Children series. I found the Goblin Market to be a more fascinating and intricate world than the worlds in other books in the series and I found the whole concept of Fair Value, which is the base of the Market, to be really thought provoking and critical of some of the behaviours and systems we have as a society.

Seanan McGuire takes the writing in this book one step further, it feels even more like a fairytale than the other books and the way in which she tells this cautionary tale is intriguing, because there’s a sort of omnipresent narrator that shows the reader this little glimpses of what’s gonna happen later in the book and that kept me interested and made me want to keep reading until I could found out exactly how thing were gonna play out.

The relationships in this story are very complex and they were of my favorite things about this book.  I loved the friendship between Lundy and Moon and the relationship between Lundy and the Archivist, even if the way those relationships ended kind of dissapointed me. The relationship between Lundy and her father was so interesting and intriguing to me that I wish I got more of it. And lastly, I freaking adored the little bit we saw of the relationship between Lundy and her sister, it was precious.

This book focuses on the moments between adventures, the book mentions that Lundy went questing and defended the Market, but those are not the stories the book is telling. instead, it’s about understanding how the market works and the consequences of not paying fair value. At the beginning, I was a bit disappointed that we were not getting to see Lundy’s adventures, but then I understood that wasn’t neccesary because that wasn’t what the story was about. And also, the events and consequences of those adventures were mentioned enough to answer some of my questions about them while letting the world keep an aura of mystery that was very compelling. I think that’s something Seanan McGuire does very well in all the books in the series, she gives enough information about the world to make it interesting, but there’s things that remain unknown and that way the worlds keep being intriguing.

From the start, you know this book is not gonna have a happy ending, but I didn’t see coming the especific way it ended. I wouldn’t say it was surprising, but I was a bit confused and disappointed in how easily some of the other characters let it happen. I feel like Lundy would have done a lot more to avoid something like that happeneing to the other characters, so I felt a little betrayed in her behalf. But then, I remember that Moon had told Lundy that she would never understanding Fair Value completely, because she wasn’t originally from the Market and I think neither Lundy, as a character, or me, as a reader, completely understood what Fair Value means until the last page of the book. 

Rating: 4,3 stars 

Have you read this book? Are you planning on reading it? Are any fantasy books that you think are similar to this series and that you would recommend?

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#ownvoices · Diverse Books · Review

Book Review: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Sofia @ BookishWanderess1 Comment

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Title: The Astonishing Color of After

Author: Emily X.R. Pan

Published by:Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publishing date:  March 20th 2018

Genre: YA, Magical-contemporary

Pages: 462

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

Goodreads | Amazon 

Trigger Warnings: suicide, depression, suicidal thoughts

Representation: Taiwanese-American main character, Puerto Rican/Filipino love interest,  lots of  Taiwanese characters and a character with depression.

The Astonishing Color of After is a beautifully written book, the writing style is lyrical and poetic. I’ll admit that I usually have trouble connecting to characters and situations when books have that writing style, but that was not the case with this book, I wasn’t even 10% into it and it had already made me tear up. Later in the book, I did feel the writing distracted me a little from the story, but it was still beautiful.

This is a story about grief and mental illness, especifically depression, and it addresses both of these things in such an amazing and heartbreaking way. This talks about the stigma surrounding depression and how it makes it hard to discuss it with family and friends; it also deals with the feelings and thought process of the loved ones of someone with depression; it portraits how hard depression is and how there’s no easy fix, and it also explores in depth what grief can do to someone. Honestly, this book deals with so many important subjects and it does it so well.

The story is told from Leigh’s point of view, which is interesting, because she is an unreliable narrator and it’s impossible to know which of the things she is seeing and hearing are real. Another reason why Leigh is a compelling narrator is the fact that she is an artist and because of that, she has a particular way of seeing the world, which is really well described and it works well with Emily X.R Pan’s writing.

The development of the relationship between Leigh and her father is one of the most intricate and interesting parts of the story. I wish we had seen more of him in the present and not only in the past, because I feel like at the end so many things between the two of them were resolved in the blink of an eye, with one short conversation between them.

I loved Leigh and Axel together, the evolution of their relationship is told through flashbacks and  I completely fell in love with their dynamic and how sweet Axel is. Also, I really liked the fact that this book didn’t shy away from addressing Leigh’s thoughts and desires about her sexuality. It’s a very sex positive book.

The story did lose me a bit at some point when Leigh was in Taiwan, I hoped that the relationship between her and her grandparents was explored more. There are a few meaningful and sweet moments, but overall, her time in Taiwan felt like it was her going to places and wandering around without getting much out of it. And there was a point where the book started to drag a little. Nonetheless, I did enjoyed the fact that this is set in Taiwan and we get amazing descriptions of food, places, traditions and beliefs. I also want to add that, the way Leigh’s feelings of being out of place with her mother’s family were explored was really interesting, and the way this book portraited- both in flashbacks when Leigh was in the United States and in the present when she was Taiwan- the perception and reactions of other people over her being half-asian and half-white was fascinating.

Lastly, the part of the story that is told through magical memories was great. Those memories are basically where all the big reveals take place and it is a cool and unique way for Leigh to discover the truth about her family and it avoids making the book boring.

Rating: 4 stars

Have you read this book? Are you planning on reading it? What other contemporaries with magical elements would you recommend?

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wrap up

December 2018 Wrap Up: Queer Lit Readathon, Smutathon & Shortathon

Sofia @ BookishWanderess1 Comment

Monthly Wrap Up newest

Life Update 
  • December was such an amazing month. I went on a trip to Barcelona with my best friend and we had an amazing time. There are so many things to do and it’s such a vibrant and beautiful city, it’s a new favorite place for me.  We were there for only 4 days and I really want to go back some day!
  • Since I’m living in Spain and I had to spend Christmas and New Year’s eve away from my family that is back in Colombia, my best friend and I planned a trip to Paris for Christmas, then Milan and then Rome for New Year’s Eve (Spoilers for January:  I also went to Florence and Venice at the beginning of 2019, I just got home yesterday!). Paris is my new favorite city, I had the best time there, we stayed for 6 days and got to see so much of that beautiful place. I can’t wait to go back!
  • Even after traveling so much, I managed to read the 16 books that I needed to complete my goal of reading 150 books in 2018, so that’s really exciting as well!
What I Read
Queer Lit Readathon

 

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera (3,6 stars) 

It took me a while to get into this books, I didn’t really enjoy the first part of it, but once it got to part two, I found it a very cute read. (full review)

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (4 stars)

I really enjoyed this book, I think it was interesting that instead of a coming out story, this was about a trans girl living her life. I liked the way this book explored the relationships between Amanda and her parents and the way those relationships developed.  I think the main conflict was a bit unnecessary and I wish things could have gone differently, but overall this was a great read.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera  (3,8 stars) 

It took me a while to get into this book, but when both of the main characters finally meet it gets better. While I didn’t really feel the chemistry, overall I really liked their relationship and I think the way they both grew in this book was amazing. I don’t understand what was the point of the chapters told from other people’s perspectives, since I didn’t feel like they added anything to the story, but nontheless, I fount his to be a thought provoking book.

Smutathon

 

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon (3 stars) 

This was just ok, sadly the writing style wasn’t for me and I felt like the characters had no chemistry, they had their sweet moments though.

Big Rock by Lauren Blakely (3,7stars) 

This was a short and fun read, steamy and low on angst. The fake relationship trope is one of my favorites and that part of the story was really well done. Also, the fact that this was friends to lovers made it even better. The characters had so much chemistry and I really enjoyed their interactions.

Mister O by Lauren Blakely (3,7 stars)

After reading Big Rock, I wanted to read the sequel right away. I really liked this couple, their dynamic is playfull and fun and they have lots of chemistry. This book handles the best friend’s little sister trope really well, because it avoids the whole ‘you’re my best friend but you don’t deserve my sister’ narrative.

 

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole (3,7 stars) 

At first I thought I wasn’t gonna like this, because the prince in this story comes off as a entitled jerk, but at the end I enjoyed seeing his development. I really liked the fact that the main character was a woman in STEM and I think the topic of sexism in her field was handled really well. My problem with this was that the last part of the book goes in a weird direction and it didn’t worked that well for me.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (4 stars) 

I really enjoyed reading about Josh and Lucy’s relationship. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this book did it so well. I really liked Josh as a love interest, he is introduced as an asshole, but ends up being such a soft guy and I want to cry just thinking about it!

From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata (4 stars) 

This is the most beautiful enemies to friends to lovers relationship of all times. The main character, Jasmine, goes through so much character development and it’s amazing, and she and Ivan are perfect for each other. I usually don’t get crushes in fictional characters, but I have a huge crush on Ivan Lukov.

Shortathon

 

Filthy Gods by R. Scarlett (3,4 stars) 

I had low expectations for this one, but I found it entertaining and it actually left me intrigued about the next books in this series. A short and steamy romance, it has good characters and it has low levels of angst.

Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen (4 stars)

This was so relatable!!! I really enjoyed this one, it was cute and funny and I wanted to take pictures of so many pages and send them to my friends.

Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert (3 stars) 

My main problem with this was that I didn”t understand why the characters got together, they had cero chemistry and honestly the guy was a jerk most of the time and it was excused because of his tragic past. Also, the writing wasn’t for me. At the end, it got better and when the guy wasn’t being a jerk, they actually had some nice moments, but nothing beyond that.

The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks & Kurt Busiek (3 stars) 

This was ok, it did nothing especial, but it was entertaining. I honestly don’t have anything else to say about it.

 

Soft on Soft by Em Ali (4 stars) 

This was so adorable and soft. I loved both of the main characters and their relationship, even if I did feel like they got together out of nowhere. A f/f romance that I would totally recommend!

Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman (3 stars)

This is a f/f romance novella and I think it was ok, it had some cute moments, but I felt like it tried to cover too much in very few pages and somethings felt both unnecessary and unresolved.

For Every One by Jason Reynolds (4,5 stars) 

I really enjoyed this book, it was the perfect book to end the year because it left me feeling hopeful. A beautiful book written in verse about working to accomplish your dreams and not giving up.

Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Did you enjoy them? Do you want to read any of them?

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reading challenge

2019 Reading and Blogging Challenges

Sofia @ BookishWanderess2 Comments

Hi everyone! In 2018, I only participated in the Goodreads reading challenge, because I sign up for a bunch of challenges in 2017 and I abandoned all of them. But this year, I decided last minute that I wanted to participate not only in the Goodreads challenge (I have a goal of 52 books), but also in a few other reading and blogging challenges. And today I want to tell you about them!

Reading challenges

Reading Woman Challenge

This is a challenge is hosted by Reading Women podcast.  The idea is to:

“Complete as many challenges as you can from the list. If you have one book that covers two categories, feel free to count it for both. It’s not a contest. Our goals is to encourage you to read widely (and fight the patriarchy, but that was probably a given), so just have fun with it!”

I tent to read mostly female authors, so that part won’t be hard, but this has some interesting prompts that I think will help me expand my reading even more.

Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi

This reading challenge is hosted by A Dance with Books and it consists of 3 sections. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and General for a total of 52 prompts which comes down to about 1 book a week. You can do 1, 2 or all 3 sections.

Since one of my goals this year is to read more Fantasy and Sci-Fi, I thought this would be the perfect way to encourage me to do it. Also, it has so many cool prompts!

Blogging challenges

2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge 

This challenges is hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight. Here’s what they have to say about it:

“So often, we book bloggers mean to post more discussions on our blogs, but we just don’t quite get around to it. Well, we wanted to give everyone a little motivation to keep the discussions going, plus give us a place to link up our discussions so that more people will see our precious words of wisdom (or … you know … our GIF-filled rants)”

One of my goals for 2019 is to write more discussion posts and I thought this was a great way to get me to actually do it. I’m setting my goal to 12 discussions in 2019.

2019 Review Writing Challenge

The idea with this challenges is to set a goal of how many reviews you want to write in 2019 and then you write them and share them through the link up. The host is Shari from Delighted Reader.

I’m actually not setting a especific number of reviews I want to write, instead I want to write reviews for at least half the books I read in 2019.

Are you participating in any reading or blogging challenges this year? In which ones?

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bookish list

Anticipated Releases of January 2019

Sofia @ BookishWanderess8 Comments

Hi everyone! A new year means new amazing books that are being released and I’m so excited to talk about 4 books coming out in January that I can’t wait to get my hands on!

There’s one book coming out in January that it’s missing from this list, Tangled Like Us by Krista and Becca Ritchie, because I mentioned in my post about December anticipated releases before it was announced that the publication date was being moved.

King of Scars

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

Nikolai is one of my favorite characters from the Grisha Trilogy and I’m so excited to see how his journey continues. I’m also looking forward to cameos of some of the characters I love from the original trilogy and also from Six of Crows.

Release date: January 28th

The Wicked King

The Wicked King by Holly Black

After the revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

The Cruel Prince was one of my favorite books of 2018, so I’m incredibly excited to find out what happens next. I feel like we are gonna get a lot more of Jude and Cardan in this book and I’m here for it! Also, the fact that so many people that got arcs loved the book is giving me a good feeling about it.

Release date: January 8th

In an Absent Dream.jpg

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

This is the story of a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well. For anyone . . .

I have so much fun reading this series, I truly love the concept behind it and I’m excited to find out more about one of the most intriguing characters in the series and the fact that it’s set in a goblin market makes it even better.

Release date: January 8th

Black Enough

Black Enough by Ibi Zoboi

Black Enough is an anthology that will delve into the closeted thoughts, hidden experiences, and daily struggles of black teens across the country. From a spectrum of backgrounds—urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more—Black Enough showcases diversity within diversity.

Whether it’s Jason Reynolds writing about #blackboyjoy or Renee Watson talking about black girls at camp in Portland, or Jay Coles’s story about two cowboys kissing in the south—Black Enough is an essential collection full of captivating coming-of-age stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America.

I wasn’t much of a fan of short story collections, but in 2018, I found a few that I really enjoyed and I want to read more of them. The topics of this particular collection are so important and I’m looking forward to see how every author addresses them, especially since I have read and loved books by some of them.

Release date: January 8th

What January book releases are you anticipating? Do you want to read any of the books I mentioned? Have you read any of them already? what did you think about them?

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bookish list

Best Books of 2018

Sofia @ BookishWanderess6 Comments

best books of 2018

Hi everyone! This is such an exciting post, I’m sharing my favorite books of 2018! 🎉 I didn’t make this list based on ratings, I just thought about the books that have stayed with me the most, the ones I still think about weeks or months after I read them. Here are my favorite books of this year:

the seven husbands of evelyn hugoThe Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

What is this book about?: An old Hollywood movie star is giving an interview for the first time ever about her life story, including her relationships with her seven husbands.

Why I love it?: It is an amazing story about a morally gray character that unapologetically does terrible things in order to achieve what she wants in life, but she’s also fiercely loyal to those she loves. The main things I love about this is that it’s about a complex woman that’s neither good nor bad, and while reading the books it’s imposible not to fall in love with her. All the other characters are also complex and compelling and, because of that, there’s some very powerful relationships in this book. Also, I really liked that there’s discussions about gender and sexuality that are very well handled, Evelyn is a Cuban-American bisexual woman and there’s lesbian and gay rep in this book as well.

Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

What is this book about?: A West African inspired fantasy, about a girl that’s trying to bring magic back and fight against the king, with the help of some unexpected allies.

Why I love it? This is a captivating read, the world and magic system are so well crafted and it’s action packed. But my favorite thing about it are definitely the characters, Amari is a new all time favorite, her character development in this book is incredible. And Zélie and Iman are complex and intriguing. This book is angsty, dramatic and emotional and it basically gave me all the feels. (Review)

Mirage-Cover

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

What is this book about?: A girl is taken in secret to the royal palace to be the body double for the cruel Princess, who is so hated by her conquered people that she requires someone to appear in public as her, ready to die in her place.

Why I love it? From this entire list, this is the book I keep thinking about even months after I read it. Mirage is a wonderfully written Moroccan inspired sci-fi story, with amazing characters and a rich setting, that provides a message about the importance of culture and traditions, especially for communities that have had a lot taken from them. I was absolutely captivated by the characters, especially Maram and Amani, they are so different but I loved the development of their relationship. Mariam is one of my new favorite characters. (Review)

Kingdom of Ash

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

What is this book about?: Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world.

Why I love it? This is such a great ending to the series, I cried so much while reading it, it broke my heart but it also made me happy. This is a lot more action packed than the other books in this series, but there is still so much character development. Also, both of the ships I had in this series have so many amazing moments together and that made me enjoy this book so much. Honestly, this is one of my favorite series of all times, even if I know it has its problems.

The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

What is this book about?: Jude and her two sisters were stolen away to live in Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, but many of the fey despise humans. As betrayal threatens the Courts of Faerie, Jude will need to risk her life to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Why I love it? I was in a fantasy slump for a long time and this was one of the only books that managed to make me feel consumed by a world and characters during that time. It managed to enthrall me and it made me feel inmersed in a world full of political intrigued, deceitful characters, unexpected turns and so much cruelty. I was so inmmersed in it that it kept me on the edge of my sit, I was so worried for all the characters throughout the book. Also, it gave me a new couple to root for, which always makes me enjoy a fantasy book more.

Into the Drowning Deep

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

What is this book about?: Seven years ago, a crew set off to film a “mockumentary” about mermaids and it was lost at sea. Now, a new crew has been assembled and for the scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Why I love it? This is a very complex and scientific look at mermaids and it’s as fascinating as it is scary. I’m not kidding, this is horror sci-fi, which I had never read, and I was so worried while making my way through it that I had an anxiety attack at one point. BUT it was still such an amazing book with a really unique concept and great execution. It kept me entertained, but also made me think a lot because it was very scientific but also because it dealt with a lot of ethic concerns. Also, I really enjoyed the fact that this had a very diverse and compelling cast of characters.

The Poet XThe Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

What is this book about?: Xiomara, a girl from a traditional latinx catholic family, loves writing poetry. When she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her family finding out.

Why I love it? This is a story told in verse, which allowed me to feel more connected to the main character’s thoughts and emotions. It’s a touching and powerful story, and it explores a Dominican-american girl’s struggle with inhabiting her body, a body that attracs attention and because of it, it’s unwillingly subjected to the male gaze; it also deals with growing up in a conservative latinx family that it’s extremely religious and that imposes faith and leaves no room for questions. It’s a book about trying to figure who you are in an enviroment that doesn’t leave much room to do so and it’s fantastic. I LOVED the way it explored all those topics.(full review)

we are okay

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

What is this book about?: Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend, Mabel. Now, months later, Mabel is coming to visit and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid.

Why I love it? This is a quiet book about grief and it’s so powerful. I loved the alternating timelines, in both of the timelines the main character goes through loneliness, hurt and grief in different ways. In the past, there’s this big reveal about what happened that it’s both unexpected and heartbreaking, and in the present, the book explores the hardships and awkwardness of second chances, of rebuilding relationships and trust. I cried reading this, which doesn’t happen often, it was just such a beautiful book.

the diviners series

The Diviners & Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

What is this book about?: The Diviners series is set in the 1920s and follows a group of people with different abilities that have to solve mysteries and face ghosts, curses and evil spirits.

Why I love it? This series helped me discovered my love for spooky books and it has become one of my favorite paranormal series of all time. This is an atmospheric series with a creepy vibe and some really scary scenes, which is something I loved. Also, both books have these mystery elements that make the stories really intriguing. The characters are captivating and so different from each other and I loved the way their stories intertwined.

What were your favorite books of the year? Have you read any of the books on this list? Did you enjoy them?

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