Week 26 Review: Keep This to Yourself

From Goodreads:

It's been a year since the Catalog Killer terrorized the sleepy seaside town of Camera Cove, killing four people before disappearing without a trace. Like everyone else in town, eighteen-year-old Mac Bell is trying to put that horrible summer behind him―easier said than done since Mac's best friend Connor was the murderer's final victim. But when he finds a cryptic message from Connor, he's drawn back into the search for the killer―who might not have been a random drifter after all. Now nobody―friends, neighbors, or even the sexy stranger with his own connection to the case―is beyond suspicion. Sensing that someone is following his every move, Mac struggles to come to terms with his true feelings towards Connor while scrambling to uncover the truth.

My Review:


Author: Tom Ryan
Read: June 24th, 2024
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2024 Book!
Publisher: AW Teen
Published: May 21st 2019

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 15 Review: A Wilderness of Stars

From Goodreads:

In this magical romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, an illness cursing the land forces a teen girl astronomer to venture across the wilderness in search of the stars' message that will, hopefully, save them all.

When all is lost, look to the stars.

Vega has lived in the valley her whole life—forbidden by her mother to leave the safety of its borders because of the unknown threats waiting for her in the wilds beyond. But when Vega sees an omen in the sky—one she cannot ignore—she is forced to leave the protective boundaries of the valley. Yet the outside world is much more terrifying than Vega could have ever imagined. People are gravely sick—they lose their eyesight and their hearing, just before they lose their lives.

But Vega has a secret: she is the Last Astronomer—a title carried from generation to generation—and she is the only one who understands the knowledge of the stars. Knowledge that could hold the key to a cure. So when locals spot the tattoo on Vega's neck in the shape of a constellation—the mark of an astronomer—chaos erupts. Fearing for her life, Vega is rescued by a girl named Cricket who leads her to Noah, a boy marked by his own mysterious tattoos.

On the run from the men hunting her, Vega sets out across the plains with Cricket and Noah, in search of a fabled cure kept secret by the astronomers. But as the line between friends and protectors begins to blur, Vega must decide whether to safeguard the sacred knowledge of the astronomers…or if she will risk everything to try to save them all.

My Review:


Author: Shea Ernshaw
Read: April 10th, 2024
Source: Ebook.bike
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a SAC 2024 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: November 29th 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 1 Review: Going Bovine

From Goodreads:

Can Cameron find what he's looking for?

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It's not a lot to ask. But that’s before he's given some bad he's sick and he's going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he's willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

My Review:


Author: Libba Bray 
Read: December 30th, 2023
Source: Own
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2023 Book and a WTC Book!  
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Published: September 22nd 2009

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: Pacifica

From Goodreads:

Marin is corsario royalty, a pirate like her father and his father before him. Sailing the ocean to chase adventure is in her blood. But these days no one cares that the island town her people call home is named after her grandfather. They have a new leader, one who promises an end to their hunger – and one who thinks that girls are meant for the kitchen or the brothel. Marin knows she's meant for more than that, and with the sudden influx of weapons on the island, and rumors of a pending deal with the enemy oil nation in her wake, she knows a big score to gain the council's favor is the only way to save her people, and herself.

Ross lives a life of privilege. As the president's son he wants for nothing, but he longs for a life of adventure. On a dare, he convinces his best friend Adam to sneak out to the Docks, the site of local race riots between the poor Shorlings and the upper class. But when Adam is arrested along with the other Shorlings, and not even the president is willing to find him, Ross finds himself taking matters into his own hands. He journeys back into the Docks, ready to make deals with anyone, even a beautiful pirate, if it means Adam's safe return.

When Marin and Ross meet in dangerous Shoreling territory he sees a way to get his friend back and she sees her ticket home. The ransom a president’s son would command could feed her people for years and restore her family's legacy. But somewhere in the middle of the ocean, Marin must decide if her heart can handle handing over the only person who has ever seen her as more than a pirate.

My Review:


Author: Kristen Simmons
Read: December 28th, 2023
Source: Own 
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a 2023 Dystopia Book and a SAC 2023 Book!
Publisher: Tor Teen 
Published: March 6th 2018

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: The Rest of the Story

From Goodreads:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn't seen since she was a little girl—and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer. 

Emma Saylor doesn't remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.

Now it's just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother's family—her grandmother and cousins she hasn't seen since she was a little girl.

When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.

Then there's Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family's history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It's hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo's spell as well.

For Saylor, it's like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it's time to go back home, which side of her will win out?

My Review:


Author: Sarah Dessen
Read: December 27th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2023 Book!
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: June 4th 2019

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: Bone Weaver

From Goodreads:

From the author of The City Beautiful comes a haunting fantasy following Toma, adopted daughter of the benevolent undead, making her way across a civil war-torn continent to save her younger sister as she discovers she might possess magical powers herself.

The Kosa empire roils in tension, on the verge of being torn apart by a proletarian revolution between magic-endowed elites and the superstitious lower class, but seventeen-year-old Toma lives blissfully disconnected from the conflict in the empire with her adoptive family of benevolent undead.

When she meets Vanya, a charming commoner branded as a witch by his own neighbors, and the dethroned Tsar Mikhail himself, the unlikely trio bonds over trying to restore Mikhail’s magic and protect the empire from the revolutionary leader, Koschei, whose forces have stolen the castle. Vanya has his magic, and Mikhail has his title, but if Toma can’t dig deep and find her power in time, all of their lives will be at Koschei’s mercy.

My Review:


Author: Aden Polydoros
Read: December 27th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss 
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2023 Book! 
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: September 20th 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: The Assassin Game

From Goodreads:

T.A.G. You're It...

"It is 4 a.m. when they come for me. I am already awake, strung out on the fear that they will come, and fear that they won't. When I finally hear the click of the latch on the dormitory door, I have only a second to brace myself before-"

At Cate's isolated boarding school Killer is more than a game-it's an elite secret society. Members must avoid being "killed" during a series of thrilling pranks-and only the Game Master knows who the "killer" is. When Cate's finally invited to join The Guild of Assassins, she knows it's her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs.

But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save The Guild. But can she find the real assassin-before she's the next target?

My Review:
I had such a fantastic time reading this book! I've really enjoyed her zombie series, but I didn't know about this one, but once I did, and I connected that they were written by the same person, yeah, I was so excited to read this book, and I loved it!

This set up of a private school, on a remote island, with a not-so-secret society that plays a murder game? Yeah, it was such an interesting concept, and when the murders become real, well, I had to know who was behind it all!

I really enjoyed reading Cate's story, she's not one of the popular girls, she has 2 friends, but being a part of Killers, it's something that she really wanted. It's just too bad that the year that she joins, is when all of this goes down.

The intrigue level was high, wondering who was actually killing these people instead of pretending. I really enjoyed the tension, and watching the clues get gathered. Plus the ending came together really well, and I'm pleased with where we left these characters.

This was a fantastic read and I can't wait to read more by Kirsty McKay! 

Author: Kirsty McKay
Read: December 26th, 2023
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really great, and it's a RR Book and SAC 2023 Book!
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Published: August 2nd 2016

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: A Year to the Day

From Goodreads:

National Book Award–winning author Robin Benway returns with an ambitious I'll Give You the Sun meets Every Day story of love, loss, and sisterhood told in a reverse chronological narrative that will claim a permanent home in your heart.

It's been a year—a year of missing Nina. A year of milestones—holidays, birthdays, everything without her.

Leo feels like she should remember what happened that night. But all she knows is that she left the party and got into a car with Nina and Nina's boyfriend, East.

East, who once promised Nina he'd watch out for her younger sister. East, who has been trying to keep that promise every day since. But East won't give Leo the one thing she wants—the one thing she needs. He won't tell her anything about the accident. He won't talk about that night at all.

As the days tumble one into the next, Leo's story comes together while her world falls apart. The only constant is the one person who can help her bear the enormous weight of her love for Nina—and East might be carrying too heavy a load of his own.

Robin Benway's signature exploration of love, family, and finding yourself is on display in her most ambitious story yet.

My Review:


Author: Robin Renway 
Read: December 26th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss  
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a SAC 2023 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: June 21st 2022
Published: Harper Teen

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: The Female of the Species

From Goodreads:
Edgar Award–nominated author Mindy McGinnis delivers a dark and riveting contemporary YA novel that blends the unflinching honesty of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak with the relentless pacing and alternating perspectives of Gone Girl. A stunning, unforgettable page-turner.

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn't feel bad about it.

Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can't be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna's body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher's kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.

As their senior year unfolds, Alex's darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

My first review of The Female of the Species
My Review:


Author: Mindy McGinnis
First Read: July 23rd, 2016

Read: December 23rd, 2023
Source: Own
Reason Why: Rereading, and it's a SAC 2023 Book!
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Published: September 20th 2016

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 51 Review: Knight Assassin

From Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Zayn has special powers she cannot control—powers that others fear and covet. Powers that cause the Templar Knights to burn Zayn's mother at the stake for witchcraft. When a mysterious stranger tempts Zayn to become the first female member of the heretical Assassins, the chance to seek her revenge lures her in. She trains to harness her supernatural strength and agility, and then enters the King of Jerusalem's court in disguise with the assignment to assassinate Guy de Molay, her mother's condemner. But once there, she discovers Earic Goodwin, the childhood friend who still holds her heart, among the knights—and his ocean-blue eyes don't miss a thing. Will vengeance be worth the life of the one love she has left?

My Review:


Author: Rima Jean
Read: December 20th, 2023
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really great! And it's a SAC 2023 Book!
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Published: March 4th 2014

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 51 Review: Suggested Reading

From Goodreads:
In this hilarious and thought-provoking contemporary teen standalone that's perfect for fans of Moxie, a bookworm finds a way to fight back when her school bans dozens of classic and meaningful books.

Clara Evans is horrified when she discovers her principals "prohibited media" hit list. The iconic books on the list have been pulled from the library and aren't allowed anywhere on the school's premises. Students caught with the contraband will be sternly punished.

Many of these stories have changed Clara's life, so she's not going to sit back and watch while her draconian principal abuses his power. She's going to strike back.

So Clara starts an underground library in her locker, doing a shady trade in titles like Speak and The Chocolate War. But when one of the books she loves most is connected to a tragedy she never saw coming, Clara's forced to face her role in it.

Will she be able to make peace with her conflicting feelings, or is fighting for this noble cause too tough for her to bear?

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! I mean, it really triggered some emotions in me, I really raged at the book banned-ness of it all, because I am a book lover, and book banning is pretty awful. Especially books about teens, who've been through horrible things, or who are LGBT+. To ban those books, is to not let teens see themselves in those books, and everybody deserves that.

The thing about book bans, is that nobody should get the say in what a whole group of people are allowed and not allowed to read. If you are a parent, then you can dissuade your child from reading that book. You can't then say someone else's child should not read that book. 

And oh, the way that the school went about the ban, that was so aggravating! To have it barely written in the school code, to barely mention that there were some books banned, to not have a list, to not have communication with the school council...it was all designed to make it as undercover as it could be, and it was rage-inducing! 

When Clara starts spiraling, about the right and wrong of her actions, and the book bans, I wanted to give her a hug. That just because that happened, doesn't mean that it was your fault, and there's a good chance if you hadn't done what you did, then it could, and probably would've, been worse. 

This was a really great read and I can't wait to read more by David Connis!  

Author: David Connis
Read: December 18th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss/Library
Reason Why: It sounded fantastic, and it's a SAC 2023 Book and a Sophomore Challenge Book!
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Published: September 17th 2019

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 51 Review: Fire & Heist

From Goodreads:

In Sky Hawkins's family, leading your first heist is a major milestone--even more so than learning to talk, walk, or do long division. It's a chance to gain power and acceptance within your family, and within society. But stealing your first treasure can be complicated, especially when you're a wyvern--a human capable of turning into a dragon.

Embarking on a life of crime is never easy, and Sky discovers secrets about her mother, who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family's wealth and rank in their community.

With a handpicked crew by her side, Sky knows she has everything she needs to complete her first heist, and get her boyfriend and mother back in the process. But then she uncovers a dark truth about were-dragon society--a truth more valuable and dangerous than gold or jewels could ever be.

My Review:


Author: Sarah Beth Durst 
Read: December 17th, 2023
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a SAC 2023 Book! 
Publisher: Crown
Published: December 4th 2018

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 51 Review: Copper Moon

From Goodreads:

A novel of romance, suspense, and supernatural terror in a small Texas town by the New York Times–bestselling author of the Stillhouse Lake series.

Abby Rhodes is a music teacher in small-town Texas, but she's about to journey to places she never imagined before. When a gorgeous man appears at her door and touches her hand, Abby's world is changed forever. Her heart is overwhelmed by him, but her mind is being taken over by a dark supernatural force she can't understand—a force that makes her question the true nature of the man who has so enchanted her. As she fights to regain control of her own soul, Abby may be forced to choose between love and survival . . . 

My Review:


Author: Rachel Caine 
Read: December 16th, 2023
Source: Ebook.bike
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2023 Book! 
Publisher: Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
Published: October 19th 2021

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars