Five Steps to Happy is an uplifting story about a stroke of really bad luck with huge consequences and getting up from the ashes after it all. Heidi has a life-changing accident while jogging, passes out and wakes up with an amputated leg and not a real idea about what happened and how her life now seems to be in…
Continue Reading→Author: Evelina AvalinahsBooks
A Brilliant Dystopian Fantasy With A Twist That Uncovers The Dark Nature Of Humanity The Sundered by Ruthanne Reid, ★★★★★ 5 stars
Sometimes we value things based on how much they cost us. We can’t really help it, it’s simply psychology, or maybe its societal. But that’s not always right, and it certainly wasn’t when it came to The Sundered. Because I got this book as a freebie or review copy before I even blogged, and let it sit unread on my…
Continue Reading→Heavy Content, Quirky Writing – Definitely Not For Everyone, But I Enjoyed Reading It Bunyan's Guide to the Great American Wildlife by Quentin Canterel, ★★★★☆ 4 stars
Bunyan’s Guide to the Great American Wildlife is no easy read, both for its contents (quite triggering) and its style (a lot of reviewers found it to be all over the place). Since I’ve read another book by Quentin Canterel, I can firmly say it’s simply the author’s quirky style, but if you get used to his storytelling, you will…
Continue Reading→What Are Some Of The Best Books I’ve Read In 2019 So Far? The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2019 - Because I Want To!
So let’s mark the first day of me actually feeling excited about blogging again by doing a tag! (At least… For a while? I hope it lasts…) Anyway, I didn’t specifically want to do any tag – I just wanted to look at the books I’ve been reading for the past half a year, and especially at the best ones,…
Continue Reading→Women, Hippies, Minorities – But Not The Way You’re Used To Reading About Them Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch, ★★★★★ 5 stars
It’s hard to start the review for Stay and Fight. It’s one of those books you feel is not merely just a book, just a story. It’s so large it encompasses universes. Mindsets. Ideas. It’s so weird, but also so real, you’re simply sucked in. I was charmed and entranced by this book. My moods shifted along with the events…
Continue Reading→What If Jules Verne’s Nautilus Was Actually Built? Well, Someone Looked Into This The Design and Construction of the Nautilus by Demetri Capetanopoulos, ★★★★✬ 4.5 stars
It’s hard to even start reviewing The Design and Construction of the Nautilus, because its so unique and just so stunning. Have you ever wondered what would happen if the machines from your favorite scifi could be brought to life, at least in the form of blueprints and calculations? Of course, some of those might be well off limits –…
Continue Reading→A Heart-Breaking, But Very Good Dystopian Critique Of Our Society Three Days Breathing by Mike Maguire, ★★★★✬ 4.5 stars
Three Days Breathing is a really good book, but its also incredibly sad, painfully so. But it is definitely worth the read, provided you can stomach it and the heaviness of its contents. I would even say that this is as much a literary novel, considering its depth and topics, as it is a dystopian fantasy. I will definitely not…
Continue Reading→State of the ARC #23 – How Are Your Review Copies Doing? The One Where I Finally Reach 80% On NetGalley
It’s that time of the month again! Time to look at our review copies and rejoice… or despair. But hopefully get motivated! I’ve been moving more and more towards the idea of not requesting any review copies anymore, or at the most one or two a month. But I have successfully not requested anything for the entirety of this month,…
Continue Reading→Reading The Weird, Yet The Profound – What A Trip This Book Was The Hike by Drew Magary, ★★★★★ 5 stars
Wow. Two things. First, The Hike is high as all hell on LSD or something. Second, its absolutely bloody brilliant. The Hike isn’t a book for everyone. There will be a lot of people who will finish it with a “wtf did I just read”, or DNF it for the same reason. But at the same time, it’s got so…
Continue Reading→A Book About Kindness And Community With Brilliant Ace Rep! I’M IN LOVE WITH IT Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde, ★★★★★ 5 stars
It isn’t often that I pry myself away from a book in an attempt to get some sleep already, and yet fail to fall asleep because I keep thinking PLEASE MAKE THIS BOOK A BESTSELLER, GOD, PLEASEEEEE. In fact, this is the first such case. Yes, I have stayed awake because of books before. But I’m not sure I have…
Continue Reading→It’s Mini-Review Time! Real Story: Woman Saves Her Jewish Family In WWII Managing Bubbie by Russel Lazega, ★★★★★ 5 stars
Managing Bubbie was a fast and very enjoyable read. It’s got two layers – the story is told in alternating chapters of Bubbie Lea’s old age in the United States and her impossibly hard youth, navigating nazi Europe and looking for a way to keep her family alive. The story is masterfully written – I couldn’t pry myself away. And…
Continue Reading→A Wild Ride Of A Book: Scifi, Speculative And Plain Old Adventure The Oracle Year by Charles Soule, ★★★★★ 5 stars
My first thoughts after finishing The Oracle Year: wow. That was a ride. Agreed, the book can be somewhat slow burn at first, but when it gets going, it just keeps on going. I couldn’t pull my face away from the page for the last third of the book! Check out on Goodreads ★★★★★ 5 stars The Oracle Year starts…
Continue Reading→A Story Of Love Throughout Lifetimes The Path Keeper by N.J. Simmonds, ★★★☆☆ 3 stars
Time for a mini-review again! I haven’t done a list review in forever, and I think it’s time. Especially because I’m so conflicted about The Path Keeper – it’s an okay book, and yet I struggled to get through the first half of it. Might be personal reasons, really – so I’ll try to lay out all of my complicated…
Continue Reading→Racism, Evil Governments And Our Small Lives: A Relevant Story In Today’s World The Test by Sylvain Neuvel, ★★★★★ 5 stars
Sylvain Neuvel is an amazing writer, and The Test is an incredible book. I don’t understand how you can put this much tension in merely around 100 pages!! And I have absolutely no idea how to review it without spoilers. Maybe you could just take my word on the fact that you should absolutely, definitely read it? Check out on…
Continue Reading→It’s Mini-Review Time! An Uplifting And Light Women’s Fiction Story A Random Act of Kindness by Sophie Jenkins
Time for a mini-review! This time – a light and uplifting book called A Random Act of Kindness, which about a girl finding her own place and voice in the world. And of course, with a dash of romance. And everything starts with a good deed… With more good deeds to follow. Check out on Goodreads ★★★★☆ 4 stars A…
Continue Reading→How Are Your Review Copies Doing This Month? State of the ARC #22
This month I sat down and made a dent in my old ARCs! Posted reviews for some I had read and not reviewed, as well as just sitting down and reading some older ones that needed finishing or tackling in general. I read 10 old review copies and also DNFed four old ones, which at this point is a win,…
Continue Reading→A Dark Semi-Slow-Burn Thriller About Some Forgotten WWII Nightmares A Room Full of Night by T.R. Kenneth
When I got this book off Edelweiss as a free download, I didn’t know if I’d like it. I don’t read a lot of thrillers either, but something in the blurb just hooked me. And it made for some good reading! For lovers of thrillers and conspiracy theories, it’s definitely worth a go. Check out on Goodreads ★★★✬☆ 3.5 stars…
Continue Reading→Continuing With The Teen Books About Theatre The Blue Door Series by Pamela Brown
Do you remember how I recently reviewed a book about kids and teens in a theatre, called The Swish of the Curtain? I loved that book, and of course, I started reading the sequels as fast as I could get my hands on them. This is mostly the review for the second sequel, Maddy Alone, but I read the third…
Continue Reading→A Poignant Coming Of Age Story Angie by K.A. Tremblay
It took me almost half a year to read Angie – but that’s not because I didn’t like it. Angie is one of those books that grips you to the heart, and you just somehow know it won’t exactly end well. Poignant is all I can call it, because while the ending completely flooded me with #feels and broke me, it…
Continue Reading→A Book That Brings Some Magic Back Into The 21st Century The Heavens by Sandra Newman
It’s been a while that I’ve read a book like The Heavens – one that’s essentially a contemporary, but somehow feels so much like a fairytale. And it’s not that it’s got any fairytale stuff going on at all – perhaps it just hints at magical realism or something like that. No, it’s more in the way the story is…
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