Book Review: State of Emergency

Rating: 4/5

This book was so much fun to read!  I'm a huge fan of horror, and particularly horror tropes, and this book was really fun because it not only played with these horror tropes, but reveled in them.  State of Emergency follows Dallas and her group of friends as they navigate the zombie apocalypse.  Dallas is a hardcore zombie movie fan and uses her knowledge from movies to help her combat the living dead that are roaming their world.

This book is so fast paced, which is great for survival horror ,and was really well written.  I really enjoyed Mary Hallberg's writing style and was really impressed by this debut novel.

Dallas's character was really fun too.  I really liked the way she used her knowledge of zombie novels, as well as her relationship with Sam and how that eventually played out -- spoiler alert, it was adorable.

I was really impressed with this novel and can't wait for more awesome horror from Mary Hallberg!

A copy of this book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.  The fact that I was given a book by the author has in no way influenced my opinion.  

Book Review: No Love Allowed

Rating: 3.5/5

This book was really fun to read.  It tells the story of Didi, a painter who struggles with mental health, and the boy she agrees to pretend to date.  She and her mom live in Dodge Cove and barely get by, but Caleb Parker, the boy she's pretending to date, is incredibly wealthy and needs her to pretend to be his girlfriend to avoid being swarmed by matchmakers at parties.

But there's one rule -- don't fall in love.

I enjoyed this book.  I thought the premise was a little overdone, but it was well written and the characters were really fun to read.  Didi's character was interesting.  She was unique and fun, but also suffered with her mental health.  The balance between these two was done well, and was put as a subplot which is kind of needed for a romance novel.  It was well handled though and Caleb's reaction to it was sweet and genuine.

Overall, if you're looking for a cute and fluffy romance novel, this is a great pick!  You can't go wrong with books by SwoonReads if you're looking for something cute and fun!

Call for Indie Books!

Hi everyone!

Today I really am wanting to explore more independently published books.  I've been really enjoying the ones I've been getting and just want to help get more authors names out there!  There are so many fabulous books that just aren't getting the attention they deserve -- I want to help with that!

If you are a YA author who is looking for more reviews, email me!  I really want to help you out and get your book out there and help you get more reviews and feedback.  I accept print copies of all genres of YA, and on some occasions will take non YA horror and romance if I'm really interested or passionate about the premise.

Here are some genres on my wishlist:

Cute YA romance!  All the fluffies, I needs them.  I'm going back to school and just want to read happiness and cute romance.

Really gruesome and terrifying horror YA.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, I LOVE horror movies.  Anything like Cabin in the Woods, Until Dawn, Friday the 13th, and anything involving slashers makes me so happy and I really enjoy reading them.  Especially since I really want to start scheming up some good Halloween posts....

YA Fantasy and Steampunk.  Always a fan of these!

YA Dystopian.  I'm not the biggest dystopian reader but if you've got a great and original premise -- GIMME.  I wants it!

Basically any contemporary YA.  I just love cute contemporaries...or serious contemporaries.

If it has unicorns, I needs it.  That is all.

So please indie authors, if you are struggling with reviews, don't hesitate to visit my Review Policy page and shoot me an email!  I would love to help you out and review your books!

~ Charlotte

Book Review: Kiss Cam

Rating: 4.5/5

This book gave me all the feels!  I laughed, I cried (literally, my boyfriend was very concerned),  I smiled uncontrollably and squealed aloud.  This book surprised me in the best way and I adored every page.  This book follows three friends who have a very popular vlog and their zany adventures as they decide to indulge the shippers of two of them - Jasper and Juniper.  Jasiper shippers want more than just what they're getting on screen, and inspire them to do a Kiss Cam against their better judgment.  But can two friends kiss casually and have nothing come from it?

This book had some of the most well written watching-your-crush-date-someone-else scenes I've ever read.  It was so heartwrenching and so painful to read at some points it made me cry.  It was so incredibly well crafted and it's such a hard thing to believably and convincingly write.  This was the first time I've actually cried due to these types of scenes.

The friendship dynamic between the three characters, Juniper, Jasper and Lenny was so well written as well.  Every scene that involved these three quickly became my favorite.  They were all so fun and so cute and so real to read.  I loved the way Kiara London writes and hope she continues writing as I really, really want to continue reading her works!

Top Five Books I'm Bringing to College!

As I'm getting ready to pack and leave for my sophomore year of Music College, I have decided to share some of the books I'm bringing with me so you guys can get an idea of what I'll be reading!

 I'm so excited to read this novel!  I've been a huge fan of both of these authors for a really long time and I'm so happy to have this book along with me for college!

 I LOVE Sandy Hall and books from Swoon Reads so this was an obvious choice.  I have a few others from this publisher that I'm bringing with me but this is by far the one I'm looking forward to most as Sandy Hall is wonderful and always writes adorable and lovable books.

And what would I do without my Queen Maas????  I still haven't read this book so I'll bring it with me to school and give it another go!  So excited for it!

I've been following Elise for quite some time on Twitter and really want to support her by reading and reviewing her series.  As soon as I get a fantasy itch again I'll be picking this up immediately!

Music composition, Goblins, and FANTASY???  Of course I'm interested, what else is new?

So those are the top five books I'm bringing with me!  I'm not bringing that many books, but I am bringing all of my review copies from those lovely authors who have sent me some of their books!  Shoutout to all of you guys and thank you so much -- I cherish every single one and can't wait to read all of them and give them the reviews they deserve!  

~ Charlotte

Book Review: The Bloodless Crown

Rating: 4/5

This book was so much fun!  It's a historical, paranormal novel about a girl named Evelina and her college roommate and their group of friends who get caught up in an adventure.  Evelina is a witch with the ability to heal.  This novel takes place in the present, but there are historical characters in the novel.  In this world, the son of Henry VIII, didn't die, but instead became a vampire.  He now goes by the name James, and his best friend at the time, became a paranormal entity and goes by the name Damon.

Evelina's abilities are the only way to stop James, and so her roommate Alexis from college, who is actually a vampire from the 13th century, recruits her to join Damon and their friend Ryan, a werewolf, to defeat him.

This book was really fun, and my favorite part of it was the romance between Alexis and Ryan.  It was so cute!  They had such a cute relationship and their banter was really fun.

I was provided an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review, but that has in no way influenced my opinion of the novel.

Book Review: Internet Famous

Rating: 4/5

This book was super cute and fun!  As a big fan of books revolving around fandom and the internet age, I really enjoyed this novel about a girl who runs a popular blog on a site similar to Tumblr.  Madi Nakama is internet famous, and this novel follows her relationships, school struggles, romance, and navigating an internet troll.

This book was really fun and easy to get into.  I loved the format of the writing.  A lot of this book has texts between the main character and her long distance boyfriend/crush Laurent.  Reading the texts was really fun and felt real.

I also loved the little memes and posts that appeared in the book and thought that was a really fun idea.  More books should include that!  It added so much to the story to be able to picture the memes and see them in the same format you would see on the actual site.

I loved the relationship between Madi and her sister Sarah.  Sarah is on the autism spectrum and really struggles with changes in schedule.  But her sister Madi realistically struggles with managing helping with her sister but also loves and wants to care for her sister.  I think this was handled really well and added a lot of depth to both the story and to the character of Madi.

Overall I highly recommend this book!  Really fun and cute and a great quick read!

~ Charlotte

Biggest Book Haul EVER

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame: I've been writing and wanting to submit and be published through SwoonReads, so I thought it would be a good idea to do some investigative reading.  Plus this book looked super cute and adorable that I couldn't resist!

Been Here All Along: Again, researching SwoonReads, but also I LOVE Sandy Hall and can't wait to read this!

Kiss Cam: I love this premise and think it's so cute!  Also research!

All the Feels: Currently I'm reading Internet Famous by Danika Stone, so I'm really enjoying it and really wanted to read her first novel!  Also, more researching!

Sharp Objects: I read Gone Girl  a few years ago and found this at a book sale so I had to buy it!  At $1 it was a steal!

Pride and Prejudice: this book was fifty cents so I bought it.  Also Jane Austen = Bae

Emma: This book was fifty cents and gorgeous, I needed it.

Sense and Sensibility: What part of cheapest book sale ever do you not understand???  I couldn't leave it!

A Walk in the Woods: I read this a long time ago as a very young teenager and when I started repeating a bit of the language I read, my mom took it away before I could finish it.  Since it was $1 at the book sale, I needed it.  Like seriously needed it.

Burning: Just recently marathoned this author's series The Merciless and even though I know nothing about this series, I bought it because she is the QUEEN of horror.

Breaking: See above.  Danielle Rollins is great.  I had to have this.

A Week of Mondays: I really liked this author's other book 52 Reasons to Hate My Father so I'm super excited to read this!

P.S. I Like You: Kasie West is one of my all time favorite contemporary authors so this book was necessary for me to buy.  I couldn't not buy it, right?

Saint Anything: Basically the same as for Kasie West's book.  I love Sarah Dessen.

When Dimple Met Rishi: I've already read and reviewed this book.  Super cute and sweet.  Plus it's been getting ALL of the buzz right now.

The Unexpected Everything: Morgan Matson is great, therefore this book will be great, therefore I needed it.

So that's my book haul.  It's record breakingly huge with sixteen books -- far larger than any haul featured on this blog thus far.  Hope you guys enjoyed it!

~ Charlotte

Book Review: When Dimple Met Rishi

Rating: 4/5

This book was adorable and diverse and so relevant in todays world.  There was so much feminism and it was so cute and I absolutely loved it!  Dimple Shah is an aspiring web designer on her way to Stanford for college.  Her parents want her to find the Ideal Indian Husband, but her focus is on her career and education.  When they agree to let her go to a convention for app design, she is suspicious, and rightly so since they agreed so she could go and meet the Ideal Indian Husband, the son of their friends Rishi Patel.

This book explores Indian culture and Dimple's rebellion against it while Rishi wants nothing more than to revel in it.  Dimple's rebellion is against arranged marriage and becoming a domestic wife.  She doesn't want to sacrifice her career and become something she knows she's not.  Rishi doesn't want to sacrifice his heritage, but wants to be an artist.  Together, they help each other bring out their best selves.  This book was sweet, and uplifting, and so feminist and diverse.

I absolutely loved the messages Sandhya Menon wove into this story about the expectations society (both American and Indian) puts on women.  I thought that her character Dimple had really wise things to say about this issue and I love how in the end, she didn't end up sacrificing her career.  She stayed true to her beliefs and ideals, and didn't let anything get in the way -- she only let things add to it.

This is a fantastic story and one I think is needed in YA today.  I'm so excited to read more from this author!

~ Charlotte

Waiting on Wednesday #6

"Waiting On"Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

So excited about this week's Waiting on Wednesday, highlighting Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert!  I've heard so much good hype about it already and am so excited to read it for myself!

From Goodreads: When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse.

This book sounds awesome!  I'm so excited to get a copy in my hands!  Preorder below!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble