5 Most Surprising Books of 2017

I wanted to talk about some of the books that surprised me in 2017, because I didn’t know that much about them and ended up loving them or because I thought I wasn’t gonna like them and at the end I did. These books are books that I read in 2017 but they didn’t necesarily were released in 2017.

If the Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman 

I was not expecting to love this as much as I did, I had never read anything by this author and I had never read a book set in the Philippines, which made this even more surprising because I was discovering things about the culture that were new to me. There were 2 things I really loved about this: 1)  The main character, Martha, is plus sized and she has a positive relationship with her weight  and 2) There’s fake dating and the best friends to lovers trope in this story, which are my favorites. I want to re-read this soon!

How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

This book suprised me because I recieved an ARC and when I read it not a lot of people had written reviews, so I didn’t know that much about it and that made me uncertain about reading it. Nonetheless, I found that this book has amazing representation, the main character Grace is bisexual and the love interest Eva is a biracial lesbian girl. Also, the romance in this book is great, Grace and Eva are so cute! and the story of Grace and her mom is raw and complicated and told with so much honesty.

Future Leaders of Nowhere by Emily O’Beirne

I received an ARC of this and I had never heard about it or about the author and  that’s why this book was such a big surprise. The premise sounded interesting and that’s why I read it, but I was still really amazed at how good this book was. I really loved a lot of things about this, but mainly: 1) There’s amazing representation: one of the main characters is bisexual and the other is Indian-Australian and a lesbian, and 2) The setting and premise are amazing, it’s a mix between a summer camp and a Model UN.

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

This book was suprising because I thought I wasn’t gonna like it, so many of the main characters weren’t in it and Chaol is not my favorite so I was a bit worried. BUT I really liked the new characters. I loved the stoyline and the writing in this book.

Dating-ish by Penny Reid 

I think this is the fifth book in a series and I have liked all the other books, but the synopsis of this was not the best, so that made me doubt if I wanted to read this or not. Funny thing, I read it and it’s my favorite book of the series, which was totally surprising to me. I really liked the main characters and I really liked the relationship between them.

 

Tell me in the comments, what books surprised you in 2007? I would love to know! 

9 Books with Bisexual Female Characters

In this post, I will talk about 9 books with bisexual female main characters: 3 books I have read and loved, 3 books on my tbr and 3 books releasing soon. I haven’t read that many books with bisexual characters, but it’s something that’s important to me and I will definitely be reading more books with bisexual female characters in the future.

3 BOOKS I HAVE READ 

The book that inspired this list is How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake, I think the way in which  Grace’s bisexuality is described in the book feels real and honest and the way her bisexuality is treated and viewed by other characters as something normal is so meaningful. here’s my full review.

I recently read Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee and the main character in this books is not only a bisexual girl, she is also biracial. Sadly, it’s not that easy to find positive representation of a bisexual, biracial girl, so I think this book is so incredibly important.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova is especially important to me, because the main character is not only bisexual, she is latinx like me. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres and finding a fantasy book that I can relate to means so much to me.

3 BOOKS ON MY TBR 

I’m so excited to read Keeping her Secret by Sarah Nicolas, it sounds like Parent Trap (the movie with Lindsay Lohan, which I have watched countless times and loved it all of them), but instead of sisters the girls like each other and one of them is bisexual. I think that’s all I need to say about it.

I have heard so many good things about Ash by Malinda Lo from Riley @RileyMarie that I can’t wait to read it. Also, I love retellings and more when the main character in the retelling is bisexual.

Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz has a black, bisexual female main character that has an eating disorder.  Finding a book like that it’s so rare that I can’t wait to read it. I’m so happy this book exist.

3 BOOKS RELEASING SOON 

27 Hours by Tristina Wright sounds amazing, the synopsis is great but the fact that it has a bunch of queer teens in space saving the day has me really excited to read it.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate has a bisexual, Asian-American female main character and it has accapela and I’m intrigued by that. I love books where there’s music and I want to see how they incorporate the accapela into the book.

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde sounds amazing, I have heard the representation is spot on and I know it includes not only a bisexual female character, but also positive representation for autism (this is #ownvoices).

Have you read any of these books? did you enjoy them? Are you planning on reading any of them? Do you have recommendations for books with bisexual female characters? 

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Things I’ve Been Loving Recently: Books, Movies, TV Shows, Music & More

Today, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some things that I’ve been loving in 2017, so this post will cover January, February and the first weeks of March.

BOOKS

These are my top 5 books I have read so far in 2017, or at least I think so, it’s just that I have read so many amazing books this year that it was really hard to choose my favorites and I’m still not entirely sure about my picks. My favorite definitely is How to Make a Wish, there’s diversity, a cute love story between two girls, and a honest depiction of a complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter.  Here are my reviews for How to Make a Wish and God Smites and Other Muslim Girl Problems. You can read my thoughts about the other books in my January Wrap Up and my February Wrap Up.

MOVIES

I haven’t watch that many movies in 2017, but these 3 are definitely the ones that stand out. My favorite was Hidden Figures, I love stories about women doing amazing things, especially if they are women of color, so I definitely loved this one; the acting was amazing and there’s a scene where Katherine screams at this room full of white people that’s my favorite scene of any movie I have watched this year. A the same time, I think for the cinematography and for the importance of the story, Moonlight is outstanding and I found La La Land entertaining even if I recognize that it’s problematic, mainly I liked the songs.

TV SHOWS

I watched a lot of TV Shows and right now I’m behind in most of them, because I have been really busy. The only ones I’m not behind in are Jane the Virgin and Grey’s Anatomy. I’m loving them both; Jane is always great because being latinx myself I can related to a lot of things that happen in the show and Grey’s is one of my favorite show of all times and I’m liking this season so far.

I have started to watch two new shows thia year: one is One Day at a Time, which I found incredibly funny because again being latinx I can related to a lot of things, this show has been great because when my anxiety gets really bad I can watch this and feel a bit better. I have also been watching Big Little Lies. which I’m very intrigued by and I’m enjoying it so far.

MUSIC

This is the playlist of songs I have been loving lately. I’m currently obssesed with Green Light by Lorde.

BLOGGERS & BOOKTUBERS 

Here are some booktubers and bloggers I have been loving, go check them out!

One thing that made me happy recently is that T just started her blog Novel Paradise ! I have been following her for a while on Twitter and I’m happy to be able to read her reviews and opinions in her own blog.

I have a new favorite blog and it’s Puput’s blog Sparkling Letters, I discovered her blog recently after moving from blogger  to wordpress and I love all her post.

I just found a new booktuber to follow, she is Adriana @Perpetual Pages and she is a latinx. I’m so excited about that! I don’t enought latinx bootubers and I really need to do it.

As always, I’m ejoying Dana’s videos @The Book Horder. She is one of my favorite booktubers.

COVERS

I follow a lot of people on Youtube that make covers, I chose the cover of Lost Boy by the Gardiner Sisters because I have been obssesed with it the last month and a half and I chose the cover of Scars to Your Beutiful by Cimorelli because I have been loving it the last week since they posted it. Th fact that they are both groups of sisters is a total coincidence, btw.

That’s it! Those are some of the things that I have been loving lately. Let me know in the coments, if you like any of the things in this list. Also, tell me what things have you been loving recently. I would love to know! 

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Book Review: How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

 

Title: How to Make a Wish

Author: Ashley Herring Blake

Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publishing date:  May 2nd 2017

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Pages: 336

All seventeen year-old Grace Glasser wants is her own life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for longer than three months and doesn’t have to scrounge for spare change to make sure the electric bill is paid. Emotionally trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie, and the tiny cape on which she lives, she focuses on her best friend, her upcoming audition for a top music school in New York, and surviving Maggie’s latest boyfriend—who happens to be Grace’s own ex-boyfriend’s father.

Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva, a girl with her own share of ghosts she’s trying to outrun. Grief-stricken and lonely, Eva pulls Grace into midnight adventures and feelings Grace never planned on. When Eva tells Grace she likes girls, both of their worlds open up. But, united by loss, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie. As Grace’s mother spirals downward, both girls must figure out how to love and how to move on.

Goodreads | Amazon

*I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. The release date for this book is May 2nd 2017* 

How to Make a Wish is a character driven book with a really quiet story, it takes turns being heartbreaking, honest, complicated, adorable and heartwarming. Something that makes this book incredibly special is the fact that it’s #ownvoices in terms of sexuality, both the author and the main character are bisexual. The way in which Grace’s bisexuality is describe in the book feels real and honest and the way her bisexuality  is treated and viewed by other characters as something normal is so meaningful. The representation in this book is accurate and thoughtful and it’s not limited to bisexuality, there’s also amazing representation with the love interest, Eva, which is a biracial lesbian girl and I think this is especially important because there’s so little accurate representation of biracial people that having such a positive and relevant representation means a lot.

One of the best things about this book is the romance, Grace and Eva are really cute together and their interactions are really smart and entertaining. There are some steamy moments in this book; there are make out scenes and a sex scene and I think there is so much sex positivity and also  it’s amazing to see how Grace and Eva always make sure the other is comfortable with what they are doing, they always ask for verbal consent and I think the fact that that is portrait makes this a really valuable book. Also, there’s  female masturbation in this book and again the sex positivity is off the charts, it’s shown like something natural and normal and that’s incredible. Furthermore, it’s delightful to see an amazing platonic relationship between a girl and a boy being present in this story. Grace and Luca are best friends,  there are no secondary motivations, neither is in love with the other, they are just friends and that is refreshing.

Now, for the heartbreaking part of this book, one of the main parts of the story revolves around this raw, painful and honest depiction of the relationship between Grace and her mother. Maggie, Grace’s mother, is an unreliable parent, she’s reckless, unpredictable and clueless, she puts her child in impossible situations and this part is so well-written that it’s easy to feel and connect with Grace’s anger, sadness and her feelings of helplessness. There’s so many moments between Grace and Maggie that are so profundly heartbreaking that they make reading this book really hard. On the other hand, there’s Eva, who’s mother just passed away and this book explores grief in a devastating way. There’s this scene in the beach when Grace and Eva first meet that it’s so heartbreaking and raw, that it’s hard to imagine how someone is able to write a scene that can make the reader feel so much. Another thing that it’s magnificent in this book is the fact that as much as Grace makes Eva feel better, Eva’s grief doesn’t go away, it’s always there and that so incredibly honest and sad.

Overall, this was a fantastic book with a diverse cast of characters and a story that at times makes you feel devastated and at other times can be heartwarming.

Rating: 4,5 stars

Are you excited to read this book? Have you read it already? Did you like it? 

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Diversity Spotlight Thursday #2

I really enjoyed participating in this meme last week, so I’m back with more diverse books! Diversity Spotlight Thrusday is a weekly meme hosted by Aimal from Bookshelves and Paperbacks. Every week, the participants are suppost to choose one book for each of the three categories: a diverse book you have read and enjoyed, a diverse book on your tbr, and a diverse book that has not yet been released. 

I have decided to pick  books that have  less than a thousand ratings on Goodreads, because I want to promote less known diverse books and authors, and I will try to choose only #ownvoices books, because I want the authors that I promote to be members of minorities and marginalized groups.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women’s bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff. 

Will Juliet be able to figure out her life over the course of one magical summer? Is that even possible? Or is she running away from all the problems that seem too big to handle?

With more questions than answers, Juliet takes on Portland, Harlowe, and most importantly, herself.

Goodreads | Amazon 

I don’t know how many times have I talked about this book in the last 2 months, but I don’t think I will be stopping any time soon. I will say this again, just in case you don’t know, this was my favorite book of 2016 and it’s now one of my favorite books of all times. Because of that, I want everyone to read it. So this is the weekly reminder that if you haven’t read this, you should. This book talks about feminism, queerness and intersectionality in a perfect way. Also, it has a main character that I want to protect at all cost, because she is precious.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza 

Empress

Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.

Fugitive
Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he’s forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life.

Madman
With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly are thrown together to confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.

A saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy.

Goodreads | Amazon 

This book was one of my most anticipated books of 2017 and it was released a few days ago. I’m a big fan of fantasy, so I’m always in the lookout for diverse fantasy books and this book has an asian main character, as well as a black main character . The synopsis of Empress of a Thousand Skies intrigued me and the cover captivated me. Also, I participated in a twitter chat with the author and she is incredibly nice. This is the kind of fantasy book that I want to see more of.

How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

All seventeen year-old Grace Glasser wants is her own life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for longer than three months and doesn’t have to scrounge for spare change to make sure the electric bill is paid. Emotionally trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie, and the tiny cape on which she lives, she focuses on her best friend, her upcoming audition for a top music school in New York, and surviving Maggie’s latest boyfriend—who happens to be Grace’s own ex-boyfriend’s father.

Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva, a girl with her own share of ghosts she’s trying to outrun. Grief-stricken and lonely, Eva pulls Grace into midnight adventures and feelings Grace never planned on. When Eva tells Grace she likes girls, both of their worlds open up. But, united by loss, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie. As Grace’s mother spirals downward, both girls must figure out how to love and how to move on.

Goodreads| Amazon

This book sounds both adorable and incredible sad at the same time. I just got an arc through Netgalley, so I’m super excited to be able to read it before release date, which is May 2nd 2017. The LGBTQ+ characters are one of the main reasons I’m looking forward to reading this.

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Have you read any of these? Did you like them? Can you recommend me some diverse books you love?