In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.
Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.
Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.
She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body.
Today I come to you with my second round of 2023 anticipated releases. I said at the beginning of the year that these are just lists of books I’m looking forward to, but I’m not gonna put tons of pressure on myself to read them immediately because I always end up feeling bad. Like here’s a ton of books I’m not gonna read anytime soon.
So far I’ve only read Beach Read. I loved it so much and I was split on whether I should read her other books ASAP or savour them. I chose to savour them and I’m now stock-piling Emily Henry books. Here we have another one to add to my collection.
Happy Place seems like it’s going to be a great book to read in the summer. It follows a newly broken up couple who agree to pretend to still be together for their annual holiday with friends. I’m excited for how this is essentially fake-dating but with the twist of them been newly broken up.
I’m sure this book isn’t going to be all fun, summer, fake-dating hyjinks, especially if it’s anything like Beach Read which packs a bit of an unexpected emotional punch. Hopefully I don’t wait too long to read this.
Here’s the thing. I have nothing going on in my life right now and with the easter break coming up I have even less to do. Instead of spending all my time scrolling and doing jigsaws on my phone (which is exactly what I do now) I’m gonna try and a read a book a day this week.
I do not have high hopes for this for myself – I’m nutourisoly bad at sticking to my own plans – but I’m gonna try.
While I’m not going to box myself into a set TBR for this little experiment/challenge, I do have a couple of books I think would be great to pick up.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath – 294 pages
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar – 209 pages
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake – 304 pages
St Juniper’s Folly by Alex Crespo – 304 pages
Fake Dates & Mooncakes by Sher Lee – 272 pages
She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlan – 288 pages
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie – 341 pages
They’re on the shorter end but that’s what I need. I’m already pushing myself with a book day, I’m gonna make this as easy as possible for myself.
Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.
On the anniversary of these brutal events, Clement and Cristina Trudeau—the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family—are mourning their father and caring for their sick mother. Until, by chance, they discover their mother isn’t sick—she’s cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.
Cristina, once a talented and dedicated practitioner of Generational magic, has given up magic for good. An ancient spell is what killed their father and she was the one who cast it. For Clement, magic is his lifeline. A distraction from his anger and pain. Even better than the random guys he hooks up with.
Cristina and Clement used to be each other’s most trusted confidant and friend, now they barely speak. But if they have any hope of discovering who is coming after their family, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other and their family’s magic, all while solving the decades-old murder that sparked the still-rising tensions between the city’s magical and non-magical communities. And if they don’t succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse.
I had a lecture today all about “literary blogs” and I just sat there in silence while my lecturer explained what an ARC is and what benefit they have etc.
When it comes to juggling this blog, I like to be organised so I make myself a rough blogging schedule each month. For that reason, it’s pretty apt that today’s lecture involved a conversation about ARCs because I’m here today to talk to you about my the state of my ARC shelf.
To sum it up: I’m overwhelmed. I’m not gonna sit here and say “how did it get like this?” because I know the answer to that question. I requested books I really wanted to read, not thinking I’d actually be accepted, and then BAM I was infact accepted for these books.
I have nine new ARCs to talk about today but know that there are many more than that currently waiting for me on my ARC shelf. I’m literally drowning and just trying to keep my head above water at this point.
City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer – Nevemind the fact that I haven’t yet continued on with the Market of Monster trilogy, I am super excited about this new series that in a Gotham like city where “dreaming means waking up as your worst nightmare”. I love a story where the setting, in this case the city, is almost like a secondary character so I’m excited for this one.
Seven Faceless Saints by M.K Lobb – I’m finding myself super into fantasy books with religious undertones at the mintue which is what got me excited about this book in the first place as it’s set in a city where saints and their desciples rule. I’ve already read this book, I was part of the blog tour which you can check out here and I really enjoyed this book.
Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker – A couple of months back I took to Goodreads to say “dear publishers, i would sell my soul for an ARC of this book”. Guys. I think I may or may not have sold my soul because LOOK WHAT I HAVE!! I legit screamed when I got the email for this one. I don’t know much about this one, I don’t want to know much. I am excited about magic, murder and mystery all set against the backdrop of New Orleans . Once I finish my current reads I’ll be picking this up.
I told myself not to go overboard when it came to picking out books for my TBR this month since I failed so spectacularly when it came to keeping on track with last months. Yeah. There are still 8 books on this TBR.
Right now I’m impassioned and so motivated to read all these books, I’ve even started one or two of them, but those feelings could easily disappear in as little as a couple of days. My attention span leaves something to be desired.
It’s Finals week and you know what that means! It means I’m in the mood to read everything and anything, except the things I actually need to read for my classes. Woop!! It’s a tradition by this point that when I really need to do school work, I am instead overcome with the urge to read.
At this point I’m 2 finals down, 2 to go and I have less than a week to do them, plus pack my suitcase and chase people around campus to fill out forms which leaves little to no time to read. Hence why I am here today to talk about every 2022 release I’m still determined to read!
Gonna be honest, I did not read many new releases this year which is a shame because there’s so many I’m interested in and excited for. I try and give myself a grace period when it comes to new releases which is why I always post a recommendations list a couple months into the new year. To do that though, I’m gonna need to read a couple more books so here are the one’s I’ll be trying to pick up asap:
These three I’m actually planning on reading for February. I wanna do like a whole week of reading 2022 F/F romances that I missed with these books taking centre stage. I would have done this sooner but I just haven’t had the time
Never Ever getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales – I am determined to devour all of Sophoe Gonzeles books. The Taylor Swift title reference and the reality TV aspect also make me excited.
I Kissed Share Wheeler by Casey McQuiston – This plot is giving me “Paper Towns” vibes which I dont like but I trust McQuiston and am excited to read their YA debut.
She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott & Alyson Derrick – I love the cover so much and I love that the two authors are married to each other even more!
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson – Maybe I’ll save this one for Spooky Season. Maybe I’ll read it in preparation to recommend it because I have a feeling I’m gonna love it so damn much. I’ts an adult book about witches. How could I not?
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jennifer Reid – As soon as my bum is sat on that plan to Germany and I have 7+ uninterrupted hours to read, I will be devouring this book. Nothing can stop me.
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong – Chloe Gong is releasing books like they’re going out of style so I need to catch up before I fall too far behind. I actually have this on my desk to start … but I forgot about the book I need to read in its entirety for tomorrow’s classs 😦
I have been so productive this week. Honestly, I’m riding the high of being a busy bitch which is a very good thing because, as you’re reading this, it’s the start of Thanksgiving Break, I’m off to New York for a couple of days (agh!) and when I get back, I’ve got like two weeks before I leave to go back home.
Doing all of this work means I can stress less about uni and focus my anxiety on what is probably going to end up being a 24h travel day next month.
To carry on riding this wave of productivity I come to you today with a very over due bookhaul. This is definitely going to be my final haul of the year (besides from the two books I’m adament on buying when I go to the mythical land of Barnes & Nobel). A lot of these I impluse bought on my Kindle for cheap quite a while ago so I’m actually shocked I haven’t gotten around to hauling them yet but here we are!
Let’s kick off with the books I’ve already read …
Wolfsong by TJ Klune – I always find it so funny when I recieve an ARC for a book that’s been out for a while and that was the case with Wolfsong as it’s set to be re-released in the UK. This is actually a current read. I’m really enjoying it so far. I’m so swamped with school work at the minute though that it’s taking me forever to make any progress. I absolutely love Ox so far though and am excited to read on.
Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson – Halloween has come and gone but either extend the spooky season a little or add this to next years TBR immediatley because this withcy romance was so much freaking fun. I’m so glad I recieved an ARC because it became one of my favourite reads of last month.
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – The trilogy is over. I’m sad. I really loved all three books and this third instalment was a lot of fun. I’m not totally heartbroken about finishing this trilogy though because there’s going to be a spin-off/continuation series following the Hawthrone Brothers coming out next year so I’ve got that to look forward to.
Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous North Tower murders at the elite Carvell College of Arts, forcing Carvell to close its doors.
Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless student Lottie is determined to find out what really happened. But when her roommate, Alice, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual hidden in Carvell’s haunted library, the North Tower claims another victim.
Can Lottie uncover the truth before the North Tower strikes again? Can Alice reverse the ritual before her monstrous alter ego consumes her? And can they stop flirting for literally fifteen seconds in order to do this?
Today I come to you with a review of The Ravens duology by Kas Morgan and Danielle Paige. I’ve been excited to read these books since before even the first book was released. I was super intrigued by the concept of a college sorority that doubles as a witches coven.
It took me a little while but this October, just in time for the spooky season, I binged both books back to back and here are my thoughts 🙂
AceReader 