Book Review Speed Round: July & August Edition!

I love writing book reviews, but life can get crazy and they get harder to write the further I get away from a book (I should really keep notes...). I still want to talk about the books I've read though, so I thought I'd do an occasional round up of quick reviews for books I read but didn't get a chance to write about sooner!



A modern-day epistolary novel, Gena/Finn explores a budding friendship between two fangirls that just might be a little bit more than they had expected. It is a quick read and I really enjoyed the layout (texts, IMs, emails, etc.). Some novels like this leave a lot of gaps, but I think that the characters and plot were fleshed out perfectly, even in this format. HOWEVER. This book took a crazy (IMHO) turn and got unnecessarily complicated while also keeping the relationship, arguably the focal point of the book, too simple. A lot of people were let down by what the title implies vs. the execution of the story. My review on Goodreads is ramble-y and spoiler-filled, so check that out if you're interested. This is a 2 Star book for me. If it weren't for the enjoyable first half, it might have gotten less. 

Because this is the third and final book in the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy, I didn't really feel that it needed its own review post. Stephanie Perkins wrote these 3 adorable, swoon-y YA contemporary romances that just lift the spirits. Many people consider Isla to be their least favorite and I have to agree. That being said, it was still a fun book that had me giddy with new love! 4 Stars for this one, and for the trilogy as a whole! If you haven't read them, do yourself a favor and pick them up (especially if you're feelin' blue)! 




At about 60 pages, this short story by one of my favorite authors definitely doesn't need a long review. KS is the tale of Elena, a Star Wars fanatic who joins a (very small) line to see the latest movie. In typical RR fashion, the story is cute and easy-to-read. It's not meant to be a deep story, though, and it never gets too serious or too involved. I enjoyed this, though, and gave it 4 stars because I enjoy Rowell so much and I thought the ending was super cute! I also used this as my "Read a book under 100 pages" for the Read Harder challenge.

I almost wrote a full review for this one, but it took too long and my thoughts were quite spoilerific. Liane Moriarty is a favorite author among my friends and I have enjoyed a couple of her books (well, I enjoyed What Alice Forgot...I loved Big Little Lies) but I can't say she's my favorite because I haven't read most of her work. I plan on it, though! I picked this one up because A) I've had it on my Kindle for at least a year and B) I have been slumpy and needed something that would hook me in immediately. I didn't really get hooked in and I found the story to be predictable (like, I guessed The Husband's Secret so...yeah). The more I thought about it, though, the smarter I found Liane Moriarty's storytelling. She is great at weaving lives together. Though one woman's story line felt a bit unnecessary, every puzzle piece fit together. This is a 3.5 star review for me. (Spoilers here.)


Like many people on Planet Earth, I watched and loved Stranger Things. MBFE kept getting recommended in Stranger Things book lists because they both take place in the 80's and deal with friendship and unexplained events. This book had such potential. The possession is a great metaphor for the way that teens change and friendships struggle. There were creepy parts, but I feel this story would've been translated better in a movie. Hendrix seems to write a lot without actually saying anything, something that left me skimming the pages. It could've been so much more. Kudos on the design, though, which looks like an old high school yearbook! 2 stars for this.


Fun Fact: I've had this book on my Kindle since June 2014 and only just read it! Kasie West has written several YA contemporaries and I see them on Bookstagram all the time. I just happened to forget that I had this one, which was her first contemporary. After seeing a post on IG with all of West's work, I decided to give TDBU a try, as contemporaries have a tendency to help me break book slumps. Though I enjoyed Cayman's (ugh, that name, though) excellent brand of sarcasm and thought her budding relationship with Xander was cute without being too insta-lovey, the book ended very abruptly. I felt that some questions were left unanswered and the book wrapped up too quickly. I would've been fine with at least another 20 pages. It wasn't enough to scare me off of West's other books, though. I might not buy the others (unless there's a good deal!), but I will definitely check them out! 3 stars for this one.



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