Dream On by Angie Hockman

Ohhhh that's why the flowers cover their faces and hides the guys hair color. mwuhaha
All of the fluff
I'm getting like...so many While You Were Sleeping vibes...except not.
flower shop flower shop flower shop
the dog the dog the dog 
Insert Phineas and Ferb gif of "WhErE's PeRrY"
352 Pages

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Ok but all of the 1001 Nights vibes. 
Did I look for literally any reference to Disney's Aladdin. yes.
Also the 40 Thieves
481 Pages

Deadly Dreams by K.J. Sutton

sfjkdja;klsfdajklsfd
Kitty cat
ok ok ok.
ummmmm.....
526 Pages

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 

Pages: 485

"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled in with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know..."

Finally going back to re-read this series and finish it this time around. I was intrigued by the "magic" system in this book. Though the Shadowhunters refuse to call it that. The author paints a rich world where the supernatural coexists with the human world, which isn't the most original of ideas, but there is the added Shadowhunters that keep these beings in line that makes this world unique.

Beasts of Ruin by Ayana Gray

y'all....I thought this was a duology....and if it is Imma be very upset

what do you mean that's the end...

496 Pages

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

the corgi the corgi the corgi the corgi the corgi the corgi

I don't even know how to describe this book. But like...I was mostly there for the corgi and his boy. And the magic water girl. 
The magic was cool. 
352 Pages

Flyte by Angie Sage

DRAGON DRAGON DRAGON DRAGON
Ok but the characters are adorable. Can we just protect Septimus please.... He's only a boy with magic. 
I'm excited to see where everything goes with this.
also I love seeing all the interesting charms....the chocolate charm...
544 Pages

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Am I shocked that the female MC is short and tiny and that the male MC is tall and built like a freight train..no. Am I shocked that the two characters refuse to talk to each other and communicate like adults. No. Am I shocked that female MC has the maturity of a middle schooler. Also no.
Yeah I'm really salty about it.... It really took away from my enjoyment of the story, but it's also a sour spot for me. 
Someone please hold my coffee while I yell about how we really don't need any more super short girl and super tall guy romances. like.... it's insulting to women and men, because it creates impossible standards for both. 
*preface with I recognize that body weight and body image are issues that run rampant in our culture, and that eating disorders and body dysmorphia are a thing, but like....if a novice/untrained man can bench press your weight, why are worrying about being heavy
Can you really call a book a STEMinist if it basically fails the Bechdel test...
Ok so it got slightly better during the second half when there was actually some plot. 
Ali....Please....expand your range. Like....please don't write the same story over and over again. But I did love that she had purple hair and tattoos. And there was NASA. and yearning. 
368 Pages

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray

All of Jane Austen's MCs trapped in a house together, and there's murder. sign me up.
It's like Death at Pemberley but there's more characters and there next generation.... I love them. 
400 Pages

The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos

Ok so this book was better than the first. 
The main has more agency, and like...I feel like we understand why Thorn is cold.... To the next book.
Love the mirror travelling and the magic.
516 Pages

Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin

All of the Pride and Prejudice and Bridgerton vibes. 
Like.... there's all the eldest sibling trying to take care of their younger siblings vibes, and the marrying for money. And the snark. I. love. snark. 
Protect baby boy. 

When the bookish sister gets her chance to shine in the background. 
It's fluff, with the classic regency longing, and one scene with hand-holding. I like what I like.  
336 Pages

Master of the Revels by Nicole Galland

All of the she's the man gifs:

The Shakespeare. Just. 
Ummm.....excuse me....I know that's open ended, but like....I need either evidence of a third book or an epilogue for that. 
I. need. more. fluff...Rude
560 Pages

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

 Pages: 296

"Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us."

I am starting banned books week early this year with this difficult yet amazing graphic novel. The author does not hold back in describing the holocaust through his fathers experiences, and the experience of getting the story out of him. This is a book that I wish more people would read. It is so haunting and powerful in telling the duel stories, that of the holocaust survivor and their children trying to make sense of the past. 

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

 Pages: 181

"Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy." 

I was not expecting how this book turned out. It is so hauntingly nostalgic of childhood and I loved the dash of magic the Hempstock family embodied. It is hard to tell if the story is the vivid imagination of a child processing a family trauma, or some forgotten reality that we can only believe in when we are young. I will definitely be revisiting this book in the future and looking at some of this authors other books.

The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni

jkl;fdsajkdajkdsla;f
Just . I am so stressed out, and I just want my babies to be happy. 
fjkldasfkldfkldsfdjkls
My ship. My cinnamon roll that is too pure for this world and my girl who is just trying her best. 
Also my other ship. 
Cousin gives me Soren from the Dragon Prince vibes.
Literally the last two pages....
465 Pages

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

(this is probably going to be a lame review, because I don't have words for it, except that I love that Jennette shared her story, because like.....sharing stories is hecka imporant)
Some of Jennette's story really resonated with me and like..oof.
I don't have words, but like...
I love Jennette. She's cool. I'd be friends with her.
320 Pages

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

The Princess Diaries vibes.
ALSO. JAPAN.
Es so fluffy I'm gonna die
352 Pages

XOXO by Axie Oh

fjkdssakhkldsa
All of the tropes.
Also the cello vibes are giving me "If I Stay" vibes but without all the angst.
ES SO FLUFFY. I'm dead. 
352 Pages

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Ok so the concept was cool
The fact that ace rep is going up is just. My favorite thing.
The fairy tale elements. 
Also it's like....vampires, but different. 
304 Pages

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

So I tried working through this book while I was in college, and I think I got to like...week 6...which honestly tracks. So I listened to the whole thing, and I think I'll go through it week by week with already finished.
I really need to get back into writing morning pages....and artist's dates.... like. fsjkdlsasfjkld
272 Pages