January Reads
The Goal by Elle Kennedy (6.9/10) I was excited to dive into the pregnancy trope and see why everyone hates it sm. I started at the end of December and was kicking my feet at the way Tucker and Sabrina both were obsessed with each other. However, the pregnancy trope came and I was like... um... that's it? Super anticlimatic in my personal opinion, but there was like half the book left. Sabrina pissed me tf off when she didn't speak to Tucker or include him when she was deciding whether to keep the baby or not. Like she was obviously freaking out and super busy, but it annoyed me sm how the father wanted to be apart of this and Sabrina was just like freaking out alone, leaving Tucker to wonder if she already made the decision without him. But the story had a HEA so that was cool.
Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love by Katrina Kwan (8/10) This would've had such a higher rating, but I can't get over how childish and annoying the FMC, Eden, was. Granted, she had a rough childhood, but the way she was irritated me. She faked her way to become a sous-chef to find out about her missing parents so she's saving up and living poorly. The head chef, Alexander Chen, falls for her so it's a case of grumpy x sunshine. Alexander (Shang)'s struggles made me cry maybe because it hit so much closer to home, but I hated how Eden was like stuck in her childish ways like she never grew at all since she was abandoned as a child. Overall, I think this was a solid read.
The Deal by Elle Kennedy (8/10) This was a reread, and it did not disappoint. I just want to say it was a bit underwhelming at some points, and I could see why some people don't like it, but I am so in love with Garrett Graham. Like he is so funny and had me giggling and kicking my feet. There were some parts I reread which made me fall in love with the characters again like Hannah and/or Allie. Or parts that I completely forgot or didn't catch the first time. I do see how this could be a fan fiction, but i don't care because I am absolutely in love with the ego on Mr. Garrett Graham.
Some Things Never Change by Cee Yang (7.3/10) I’m so thankful to be supporting an indie author. I submitted an ARC application last month because I saw it on Instagram, and didn’t know that I’ll be chosen. This book is about a friends to lovers BIPOC couple, and I was absolutely looking forward to this one. However, when getting into it, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Andy, the MMC, at first because he kept referring to things happening in the past. So I thought it was about Anthony, Andy’s twin. However, meeting Anthony, I was like yeah, this is not the guy so Andy it is. Not going to completely lie, this was more of young adult than a romance novel in the beginning. I learned a lot about the Hmong culture more than the characters interacting which was kind of cool, but I was reading for the romance so I was a bit disappointed. But at the end, JESUS. Andy’s a FREAK (respectfully.) I would also like to thank Cindy for sharing her secret of the ninth floor private bathroom because SPICY. I’m so proud of Cee Yang for this amazing debut novel.
Wildfire by Hannah Grace (7.3/10) I liked this book substantially more than the first book. Although I don't think it was as loved as Icebreaker for most people, I thought it was cute. I loved the MMC, Russ, because he's so broken yet sweet. I liked the FMC, Aurora, but she is kind of a pick me. I know she has daddy issues and stuff, but her pick me energy is insane. Her energy wavers from confident to insecure which is realistic, but reading about it annoyed me. Like why are you acting like this rn but a second ago you were crazy? I thought the story of being camp counselors and fraternization being prohibited was a cute idea, but it was also frustrating. How shy Russ was made me want to hug him. But the ending was kind of rushed and boring not going to lie. I don't think the MCs would last together in the real world tbh.
Curious by Jess Savage (7/10) I literally picked this book up by random on a romance stuff your kindle day, and I finished it within a day I would say. This book is a coming-of-age book about discovering one's sexuality (bisexuality.) People say the main character, Hailey, is annoying, but I think her being immature and freaking out makes perfect sense as she is fresh out of high school and is just discovering her sexuality. She is in love with her friend who is dating a girl older than them. Fast forward to summer, she had to watch the bestie and his gf because the gf's parents own where Hailey works. She then falls for the girl as well. I don't know, there wasn't a lot of smut and there was more content which I appreciated. There was steam, but most of it save the end was about Hailey's one person show which I honestly can't blame. She is 18 after all. Anyways, I would love to read about their future together.
So That Happened by Katie Bailey (6.5/10) If I read this book sooner, I would ate it right up. It's a closed door rom-com. In the beginning, I was intrigued. It was funny and the characters, mainly Annie, the FMC, does very hilarious things. But as the story went on, that's exactly who Annie is, a giant toddler. Who in their right mindset blurts out that she slept with her boss on the first day of work? And it wasn't even sexual like I don't know, but if I wanted to keep the job, I would pretend all is fine and dandy, plus, it doesn't mean HE remembers. Liam, the MMC, was okay. He was a good uncle, but the story treated his niece, Legs, like a toddler, which was so annoying. She's 8 and she still has a car seat? I don't know kids that well, but I'm pretty sure second graders do not have to have car seats to ride in vehicles. So I guess it was like the Hating Game with it being a workplace romance, but the FMC was so unlikable. She's like New Girl's Jess in the first episode without being a kindergarten teacher.
Totally Pucked by Lauren Blakely (6.6/10) This was a short novella that I claimed during one of the stuff your kindle days, and I decided to pick it up because I might have thought it was another book that I recently saw on booktok. I thought it was a menage trois, and that is a book of the series, but this one was a novella so I was like FUCK IT. I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good nor memorable either. It's a friends to lovers trope, which I'm honestly not the biggest fan of from the jump start, but also, since it's a novella, all the major details are skipped so I just knew Fisher (dumb name tbh) was a horny ass hockey player for his best friend. They are always taken/single at different times, but this time, Katie was single and needed bedroom lessons bc her ex said she was weird in bed. Her weirdness? She liked dirty talk and being loud-- jesus. And the spice was eh.
The Beginning of Our Ending (6/10) I got this as an eARC, and I thought it'd be a love triangle, but it really wasn't. I wanted to be supportive of this indie author and her BIPOC representation, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. This is the only book that I feel should've had only one point-of-view because yes, it's true that both men loved Skye, FMC, but they were aggressive as hell and domineering which was unattractive as hell. There were a lot of pregnancies that bothered me since the trope really isn't my favorite, and the reasoning behind it was superficial as fuck like because it ruins the mood??? YEAH, but also safety? But also miss ma'am never liked Lance, and she just let him tie her down. From the beginning, I felt like Skye and Desmond were meant to be, but they broke up for a stupid reason, but it's kind of like meant to be, so when they forced their way back to one another, I was like no effing way.
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Books I've Read This Year (2023):
January:
The First to Die at the End - Adam Silvera, 5/5⭐
Belladonna - Adalyn Grace, 5/5⭐
February:
To Kill A Kingdom - Alexandra Christo, 4/5 ⭐
Sorcery of Thorns - Margaret Rogerson, 5/5⭐ (actually my third reread for this book, one of favourites)
The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood, 4/5⭐
Love On The Brain - Ali Hazelwood, 4/5⭐
Mysteries of Thorn Manor - Margaret Rogerson, 5/5⭐
The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo, 4/5⭐
The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 5/5⭐
The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 5/5⭐
The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 5/5⭐
A Touch Of Darkness - Scarlett St. Clair, 5/5⭐
Why We Fly - Kimberly Jones, 5/5⭐
The Cheat Sheet - Sarah Adams, 4/5⭐
Loathe To Love You - Ali Hazelwood, 5/5⭐
March:
Icebreaker - Hannah Grace, 4/5⭐
Vespertine - Margaret Rogerson, 5/5⭐
This Vicious Grace - Emily Thiede, 5/5⭐
Nothing More To Tell - Karen M. McManus, 4/5⭐
King of Scars - Leigh Bardugo, 5/5⭐
Rule of Wolves - Leigh Bardugo, 5/5⭐
Off the Record - Camryn Garrett, 5/5⭐
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare, 2/5⭐
April:
The Darkest Curse - Rachel Rowlands, 4/5⭐
My Killer Vacation - Tessa Bailey, 5/5⭐
The Nowhere Girls - Amy Reed, 5/5⭐
An Enchantment of Ravens - Margaret Rogerson, 5/5⭐
The Hate You Give - Angie Thomas, 5/5⭐ (reread)
Belladonna - Adalyn Grace, 5/5⭐(yes twice in four months)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna, 4/5⭐
May:
The Awakening - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
The Way I Used to Be - Amber Smith, 4/5⭐
The Crucible - Arthur Miller, 2/5⭐
The Good Girls - Claire Eliza Bartlett, 5/5⭐
Ruthless Fae - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
The Reckoning - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
The Awakening as Told by the Boys - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
Perfect on Paper - Sophie Gonzales, 4/5⭐
Shadow Princess - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Cursed Fates - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid, 5/5⭐
A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon - Sarah Hawley, 5/5⭐
The Serpent and the Wings of Night - Carissa Broadbent, 5/5⭐
Six Scorched Roses - Carissa Broadbent, 5/5⭐
June:
The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway, 1/5⭐
Kingdom of the Wicked - Kerri Maniscalco, 5/5⭐
Kingdom of the Cursed - Kerri Maniscalco, 5/5⭐
Kingdom of the Feared - Kerri Maniscalco, 4/5⭐
Heartless Sky - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Sorrow and Starlight - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Dark Fae - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
Caged Wolf - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
July:
Love, Theoretically - Ali Hazelwood, 4/5⭐
This Delicious Death - Kayla Cottingham, 5/5⭐
Legendborn - Tracy Deonn, 5/5⭐
Bloodmarked - Tracy Deonn, 5/5⭐ (the way I would die for Bree and Sel)
Savage Fae - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 3/5⭐
Vicious Fae - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
Broken Fae - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Warrior Fae - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
Alpha Wolf - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 4/5⭐
Feral Wolf - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, 5/5⭐
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid, 5/5⭐
Princess of Souls - Alexandra Christo, 4/5⭐
Tools of Engagement - Tessa Bailey, 4/5⭐
This Poison Heart - Kalynn Bayron, 5/5⭐
The Deal - Elle Kennedy, 2/5⭐
The Weight of Blood - Tiffany D. Jackson, 4/5⭐
Bravely - Maggie Stiefvater, 5/5⭐
August:
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King - Carissa Broadbent, 5/5⭐
This Wicked Fate - Kaylynn Bayron, 5/5⭐
Into The Bloodred Woods - Martha Brockenbrough, 4/5⭐
Trial of the Sun Queen - Nisha J. Tuli, 5/5⭐
September:
The Female of The Species - Mindy McGinnis, 5/5⭐ (the ending killed me, I ugly cried) (def read the trigger warnings tho)
Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros, 5/5⭐ (worth the hype)
Foxglove - Adalyn Grace, 5/5⭐ (I laughed, cried and swooned)
Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros, 5/5⭐ (twice in a week lol)
Rule of the Aurora King - Nisha J. Tuli, 5/5⭐
Ravensong - Cayla Fay, 4/5⭐
October:
Such Sharp Teeth - Rachel Harrison, 5/5⭐
House of Earth and Blood - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
House of Sky and Breath - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Throne of Glass - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Crown of Midnight - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Heir of Fire - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Macbeth - William Shakespeare, 4/5⭐
Queen of Shadows - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
November:
Empire of Storms - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Iron Flame - Rebecca Yarros, 5/5⭐ (I cried like a baby reading the last 30 pages)
Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao, 5/5⭐ (my 100th book this year)
Wildfire - Hannah Grace, 4/5⭐
Raven - Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, 5/5⭐
Beast Boy - Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, 5/5⭐
Beast Boy Loves Raven - Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, 5/5⭐
Robin - Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, 5/5⭐
Tower of Dawn - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Kingdom of Ash - Sarah J Maas, 5/5⭐ (part of my SJM reread for HOFAS)
Salvage the Bones - Jesmyn Ward, 3.5⭐
December:
The Off-Limits Rule - Sarah Adams, 3/5⭐
Once Upon A Broken Heart - Stephanie Garber, 5/5⭐
The Importance of Being Ernest and Other Plays - Oscar Wilde, 4/5⭐
The Ballad of Never After - Stephanie Garber, 5/5⭐ (I read it twice in three days lol)
A Curse for True Love - Stephanie Garber, 5/5⭐ (actually my xmas present from my brother)
Check & Mate - Ali Hazelwood, 5/5⭐
Assistant to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer, 5/5⭐
Lightlark - Alex Aster, 4/5⭐
The Dead Romantics - Ashley Poston, 5/5⭐ (well... I finished the last 50 pages after midnight but Goodreads is still counting it, so I'm still counting it lol)
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to commemorate me being on tumblr heres a questionnaire i filled out a few months ago!
Rules: Complete the form by answering each section truthfully. Once you’ve finished, tag other users to complete the task. Begin by sourcing the person who tagged you.
Have you ever…
Been cheated on: never gave anyone the chance to
Kissed someone and regretted it: i haven’t had my first kiss yet but i’d probably only kiss someone i was already comfortable around
Drank hard liquor: once
Been drunk and thrown up: i’ve never gotten drunk but after drinking tequila for the first time i threw up later in the night (i’m allergic to alcohol)
Met someone who changed you: probably my two friends who i met in the 6th grade who taught me to break rules for the first time. i was always scared to disobey authority figures (parents and teachers) in my life but after meeting them i was able to find who i really was and grow into myself. they also taught me that its LOTS of fun breaking the rules.
Fallen out of love: i have never fallen in love (in another reality, i would love to tho)
Found out who your true friends are: yes—my sisters are my closest friends
Lost glasses: nope, i take very good care of my things
Sex on the first date: no. i would only have sex the night i get married.
Been arrested: i’m not cool enough for that
Turned someone down: kind of? he asked if he could get to know me better and the idea alone made me want to cry forever so i stood up for myself for once and told him i didn’t have time for that. it wasn’t technically a lie since i was extremely stressed about college applications and all he wanted to do was talk about college plans.
Fallen for a friend: i don’t really have guy friends
What was your…
Last drink: lipton iced tea
Last text message: “x men first class guys”. i texted it to a group chat with my sisters and cousin since we were trying to find a movie for movie tonight. P.S. i love x-men!! first class might be my favorite but i haven’t finished the entire saga yet since i’m trying to go through it slowly. the last x-men movie i saw was x-men apocalypse which a pretty good movie too!
More questions…
Do you have any pets: nope but i hope to someday own a fish, bunny and or german shepherd. my sisters have had lots of pets though. they had a bunny, guinea pig, pug and beagle. the bunny and guinea pig have long passed away but the pug and beagle are still alive and are currently residing in our farm. it’s a real farm btw not the kind of the farm that parents tell their kids they put their pets in whey they die.
What did you do for your last birthday party: i went to a cafe with my two friends for breakfast then my family and i went to a restaurant for dinner. the best part was when my sister and i both made our own birthday cakes and blew out candles before midnight!
Name something you cannot wait for: the graham effect by elle kennedy! there aren’t many details yet but im assuming its a book about the children of hannah wells and garrett graham from the deal which is one of my all time favorite books.
What irritates you: when people touch my things/ move it from its rightful spot
Nickname(s): meg (i severely dislike it and told everyone not to call me that but no one listened)
Relationship status: single! since birth!
Favorite TV show: vampire diaries, smallville, gossip girl and rick and morty
High School: oro christian grace school
College: ateneo de manila university (truthfully, i hope to transfer school soon)
Hair Color + Length: dyed brown hair! around mid-boob length
Height: 5’2” (im ok with it)
Your crush: ryke meadows
Tattoos: none. i don’t know if i want one though, i change my mind too much to commit to something permanent on my body
Right or left-handed: right
Any surgeries: never
Any piercings: one piercing on each ear. i have gold diamond earrings i’ve been wearing since the 7th grade but i really wish they were silver
Favorite sport: none but hopefully i get into ballet soon
First vacation: hong kong? i don’t remember what we did but i know we used to go there a lot when my sisters and i were younger. though if i were to guess, we probably went to disneyland and stayed in marco polo hotel.
What do you like…
Hugs or kisses: hugs i think
Shorter or taller: taller for sure. ideally someone around 5’10”.
Older or younger: older but not too much older i guess. maybe 5 years older would be the cut off.
July 2, 2023 (Sunday) 4:04 AM
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