Review Round-Up!

Hi everyone!

I last posted a month ago and that is way too long! I’m so sorry for the lack of posts on here, as well as on Instagram. In September I got hired in three different jobs: one full-time, one part-time, one occasional. I’m still trying to organize my time for when to post and write reviews, but I have been keeping up with my reading which is good!

I thought it was best to do a Review Round-Up of some of the books I read over the summer/recently.

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Review: Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol

Publication: June 7th 2011
Publisher:  FirstSecond
Pages:  221 pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤

Why don’t I read more graphic novels?! I’ve loved all the ones I’ve read, and I still don’t read enough of them!

Anya’s Ghost is a fun read about an angsty teenage girl named Anya who accidentally falls down a well on her way home from school, finds a skeleton in said well, and then befriends the ghost of said skeleton, Emily. At first Anya isn’t too happy to have a ghost friend following her around, but when she learns that Emily can help her improve her miserable high school existence, she immediately listens to everything her new ghost friend suggests.

Review: Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong

 

Publication: April 5th 2016
Publisher:  HarperCollins
Pages:  448pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤

Let me start by saying I love Kelley Armstrong. I love that she is a Canadian author, that she experiments in many different genres, and that she just keeps writing. She has so many books to her name and her stories are loved by many readers, including me.

What I don’t love about Kelley Armstrong are her series. But that isn’t completely true either.

Happy Birthday The Neverending Story!

So who else was surprised to see the Google Doodle celebrating the birthday for The Neverending Story by Michael Ende?

Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Publication: July 5th 2016
Publisher:  Greenwillow Books
Pages:  464pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal,
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤.5

This book has been buzzing around my bookstagram for so long I knew I had to read it. I’ve heard so many good things about Victoria/V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, so I thought it might be good to start with her newest book. It was getting rave reviews, so it must be a good place to start, right?

Yes, it was. I really really enjoyed This Savage Song, but I’m really torn about how to rate it. I felt one way when reading the book, another when it was finished, and another way again when I found out it was a part of an upcoming series. So I’m going to keep my 3.5 rating for now, because it seems the best middle ground to sort out my feelings for the book.

Review: The Crow Girl by Erik Axl Sund

Publication: June 14th 2016
Publisher:  Knopf
Pages:  768 pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Psychological, Adult
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤

If you asked me to describe this book in two words, it would be this: Fucked Up. While those two words definitely sum up certain parts of the novel, it doesn’t even begin to sum up the novel as a whole.

Review: Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

Publication: May 17th 2016
Publisher:  Delacorte Press
Pages:  384 pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fantasy
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤

Once again, Brenna Yovanoff has the uncanny ability of writing a book which crawls right inside my skull.

Like with my review of her other novel, Paper Valentine, it’s hard to know where to begin. Yovanoff’s novels always cover a lot of ground from characterization, setting, to flawlessly meshing genres into a perfect amalgam. 

Review: Samhain Island by Taylor Thomas

Publication: October 30th 2015
Publisher:  CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Pages:  148 pages
Source: Author (Thank you!)
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Paranormal, Supernatural, Fiction
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

When the author, Taylor Thomas, messaged me about this novel, I immediately became interested because of the title. You see, I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween that is much more hate than love. I love the magic that Halloween brings, the myths, the stories, and the magic. But I absolutely hate being scared, and that seems to be the main focus of the holiday. From reading the description, I didn’t get any scary vibes that I usually do when reading the back of horror movies, but instead the feel of a cute, spooky mystery that reminded me of Gravity Falls. I wasn’t wrong. 

Music Monday

Music Monday is a bookish meme/feature where bloggers post links to book related/inspired music each week. If you’d like to use Music Monday for your blog, please give credit to me and link back to Stuck in a Story Book Reviews. 

Review: The Umbrella Tree by Nicholas A. McGirr

Publication: June 4th 2016
Publisher: Amazon
Pages: 27 pages
Source: Author (Thank you! :D)
Genre: Novelette, After-life, Fiction
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Umbrella Tree is incredibly different from the first book in the Tree Collection. It isn’t ambiguous like The Life Tree which I found very comforting. When I received this book in the mail, I wondered whether or not it would be a direct sequel from The Life Tree following the protagonist and whether or not they came to the realize that they had committed suicide and been transformed into a Life Tree. I was surprised to find that the novel followed a new character, a man named Strickland, an alcoholic who had his full memories of life and was transformed as an Umbrella Tree in his next life.