Review: The Vegetarian, by Han Kang

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction

Goodreads / Skoob / Amazon

When I picked this book up, I expected a tale about a woman with mental illness, and how it affected her marriage and family – that is what I had read in the blurb. But The Vegetarian isn’t about that – it’s deeper and darker.

Yeong-hye is not exceptional in any way. She’s quiet, obedient, not specially pretty, and moves along her day being a dutiful wife. The novel being with the husband’s point of view, who is the first to witness Yeong-hye’s mental state deteriorating. It starts with a dream. After that, she cannot eat meat anymore, nor eggs or milk. At first, her husband tries to persuade her to stop the madness as she throws away all the meat in the fridge, but she won’t be persuaded. This act is taken as shocking and shameful by her husband and family. 

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ARC Review: Juliet Takes a Breath, by Gabby Rivera

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary YA, LGBT+, Feminism

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I have received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a positive surprise. I don’t know exactly what I expected from it, but it wasn’t this strong story, which left me open-mouthed at its freshness, its exploration of feminism and intersectionalism, its nonchalant gayness. I’m so here for it.

Juliet Takes a Breath is the story of Juliet, a girl from the Bronx who has just come out to her family just hours before leaving to Portland for an internship with the very famous author Harlowe Brisbane. Now she doesn’t know where she stands with her mom, and if she still accepts her. Also her girlfriend isn’t picking up her calls, and feminism is a big question mark.

ARC Review: #Prettyboy Must Die, by Kimberly Reid

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Young Adult, Thriller, Contemporary

Goodreads / Amazon

I have received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had seen this book in so many bloggers’ TBR for this year, it got me so curious! Normally, this cover and title wouldn’t be my thing at all, but, as usual, my curiosity overcame my reasoning and I requested this book!

This is the story of Jake, a spy for the CIA who is undercover as Peter Smith in his high school. He is on a secret mission to find the hacker who was involved in his last mission in Ukraine but got away. But when a picture of him goes viral, he is in terrible danger and his days as a spy are over.

ARC Review: Watch Me, by Jody Gehrman

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Psychological Thriller

Goodreads  / Amazon

I have received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had read the synopsis for Watch Me and found it very intriguing, which is why I got the book via Netgalley, but by the time I read it, I’d forgotten it already. And I think that is the best way to enjoy this book – not knowing where it’s heading! So if you want to be kept a little in the dark about the story of Watch Me, skip the next paragraph!

Review: The Ghostwriter, by Alessandra Torre

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Contemporary, Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

To be honest, I didn’t know much about the plot when I started reading this book. I had seen it recommended by many fellow book bloggers and highly so, and although I read the synopsis a few times, somehow I completely forgot about it and thought it was a murder mystery. So I was not emotionally ready for the roller coaster it would get my heart through.

Review: Young Jane Young, by Gabrielle Zevin

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Contemporary fiction

Goodreads / Amazon

Young Jane Young was one of my most expected books of this year, I love Gabrielle Zevin’s writing and the story of this book just caught my eye immediately.

This is the story of Aviva Grossman, an ambitious girl who starts working as an intern to the Congressman she admires the most. She has plans for her future and loves to work in politics – but she makes the mistake of having an affair with the Congressman. While he escaped with his reputation almost untouched, Aviva’s life was destroyed. No one will employ her, date her and she falls into depression. She decides to change her name and move to a small town to start over – but when she decides to run for mayor of the city, her past catches up with her.

Review: Watching Glass Shatter, by James J. Cudney

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary, Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

Disclaimer: I bought this book myself and, although I know the author and had in mind to publish my review to help spread the word about this book, the author didn’t ask me to, neither did it influence my opinions.

When I started Watching Glass Shatter, I actually didn’t know much about it. I’d read the synopsis before and a few reviews, but the week before I actually picked it up, I avoided reading anything about it to be more surprised. Well, I could have read all the reviews I wanted – I am sure I still wouldn’t have seen the twists coming!

ARC Review: Dear Martin, by Nic Stone

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

I have received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Martin is the story of Justyce, who gets top marks at school and dreams of going to Yale. One night, his ex-girlfriend Melo gets very drunk and he attempts to take her home and not let her drive in that state, but before he knows it, two cops arrive and handcuff him, under allegation that he was trying to carjack her. Assaulted and mistreated, even Melo’s testimony for him barely is enough to get him out of jail. After that, Jus can’t ignore anymore the microagressions at school and the major problems in the system and the police when dealing with black people. So he starts writing letters to Martin Luther King, in the hope of becoming more like him. But it won’t be easy, and much more awaits him.

Review: The Female of the Species, by Mindy McGinnis

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Thriller, Contemporary, Young Adult

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

This was excellent! I bought this novel when it was on sale at Amazon, but now I crave to have the physical copy, too.

The Female of the Species is the story of Alex Craft, whose sister was brutally raped and murdered three years before and the culprit walked away for lack of evidence. Alex knows the language of violence well, and is decided to take justice to her own hands. She can’t stop being this way, and knows she’s a danger to normal people and cannot trust them with her secret. But when she befriends Peekay and starts to fall in love with Jack, things get out of control, and it will change their lives forever.

Review: History is All You Left Me, by Adam Silvera

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBTQ+

Add it to your TBR: Goodreads / Amazon US

History is All You Left Me is so heartbreaking. There is no other word to describe it. It follows Griffin as he tries to make sense of the death of his ex-boyfriend Theo. Although they broke up a while ago, Griff always believed in the end they would be together, and the accidental death of Theo comes to him as a shock. As his OCD gets worse and memories keep overwhelming him, Griff sinks deeper into self-destruction mode, and needs to find a way to heal.