Sophie Reads YA: October 2019

monthly summary

October Summary

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Alexandra Christo

Waiting on Wednesday: Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place #1) by Alexandra Christo

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October

Stacking the Shelves: October 26th 2019

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Renée Ahdieh

Waiting on Wednesday: The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renée Ahdieh

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Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pick is:

The Beautiful
Series: The Beautiful #1
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Published October 8th 2019 by Hodder & Stoughton

Goodreads Summary
New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as Le Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sèbastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of Le Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sèbastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.

Goodreads

Why I'm waiting:

I still love vampire books, and Renee is such a good author, so this is definitely one for my wishlist!

Are you waiting for this book? Have you already read it? Let me know :)

2019 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

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Call It What You Want
Series: None
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Published July 1st 2019 by Bloomsbury YA

Goodreads Synopsis
When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.

Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.

When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship...

This captivating, heartfelt novel asks the question: Is it okay to do something wrong for the right reasons?
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

First things first, don't you just love it when you discover an author and she already has 10+ books under her belt? That's how I felt when I read my first book by Brigid (A Curse So Dark and Lonely), and all of them that I've read since, this being the latest, have been fantastic! In Call It What You Want, both of our main characters have had difficulties in the past year, and face anger at school and in life in general. Rob's father was revealed to be embezzling from his financial company 9 months ago, and had swindled most of the town out of their retirement or savings accounts. Rob Sr had also attempted to kill himself, but failed, leaving him in a vegetative state, with Rob and his mam having to care for him. Maegan, on the other hand, was caught cheating on her SATs last year, which led to the whole school's scores being invalidated, and she's now a social outcast at school. She's also facing being the 'imperfect one' at home, even though her sister has just returned from uni with the news that she's pregnant. When students are forced to pair off in Calculus for a class project, both Rob and Maegan are faced with the fact that no-one else wants to work with them, so are grouped together. At first, it's awkward, but as both begin to realise that neither has a very good social life, and with the other they can be truthful and honest about themselves, soon their tentative friendship grows into something more.

I loved this book, and am so glad I decided to pick it up before I went back to work, else it would've got in the way of planning, etc., which would not have been good. Both of the main characters, and the secondary characters, such as Oliver, Samantha, and Mr London, were fantastic, well rounded people - though I shouldn't be surprised with how good an author Brigid is. The romance was beautiful. It wasn't without it's tense moments, or it's angst, but it was real, and it was when both Rob and Maegan's true characters really shined. Without their parent's or society's glare on them, we see them as real people, and I think this may be one of my favourite YA contemporary ships that I've ever read.

Yes, there was a love story in the book, but all of the angst and tension came from the extortion, the cheating, the pregnancy, and the fact that both characters felt so alone, but soon found the people who they could be themselves with - not just each other. The plot line was outstanding, with some of the elements ones that I hadn't seen coming - no spoilers - and I adored the ending, which definitely tied everything up. I'll definitely be ordering any of Brigid's books that I haven't got already, and she's definitely on my auto-buy list now!

Dates Read:

August 29-30, 2019

Rating
5 Stars

October

Stacking the Shelves: October 19th 2019

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#RockMyTBR 2017 Challenge

Review: Ruined (Ruined #1) by Amy Tintera

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Ruined
Series: Ruined #1
Author: Amy Tintera
Published May 3rd 2016 by HarperTeen

Goodreads Synopsis
A revenge that will consume her. A love that will ruin her.

Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war. She lacks the powers of her fellow Ruined. Worst of all, she witnessed her parents’ brutal murders and watched helplessly as her sister, Olivia, was kidnapped.

But because Em has nothing, she has nothing to lose. Driven by a blind desire for revenge, Em sets off on a dangerous journey to the enemy kingdom of Lera. Somewhere within Lera’s borders, Em hopes to find Olivia. But in order to find her, Em must infiltrate the royal family.

In a brilliant, elaborate plan of deception and murder, Em marries Prince Casimir, next in line to take Lera’s throne. If anyone in Lera discovers Em is not Casimir’s true betrothed, Em will be executed on the spot. But it’s the only way to salvage Em’s kingdom and what is left of her family.

Em is determined to succeed, but the closer she gets to the prince, the more she questions her mission. Em’s rage-filled heart begins to soften. But with her life—and her family—on the line, love could be Em’s deadliest mistake.
Goodreads

Review
I don't even know how I heard about this series, but by the time it was on my radar, book 2 had been released and book 3 wasn't far off. And, I'm so glad that I did discover the series, as it's one of my favourite fantasy series that I've read. Emelina Flores is a princess of Ruina, but after the assassination of her parents, and the enslavement of her fellow Ruined (for their magical powers), she has nothing by her desire for revenge to keep her going. Alone in the world, apart from a rag tag bunch, she needs to sneak into her enemy's palace, in the kingdom of Lera, to find her sister, destroy the Leran royal family, and retake Ruina. Disguising herself as Princess Mary, the Leran crown prince's fiance, she marries the prince, and works inside the palace to undermine everything, and get close enough to the royals to kill them, just as her family were killed. But, she soon finds the more she gets to know the prince, the less rage she feels and the thought of killing him just isn't as pleasant anymore. She still has her people’s best thoughts at heart, but her heart just might be pushing her into a different direction.

One thing I just loved about this book was how gritty it was. It never shied away from the death that war brought on, or even the lengths some people go to - whether rightly or wrongly - to achieve what they think is right. Em’a character was so fleshed out, and relatable (but also not, confusingly). She had so many emotions flowing through her at every point in the book, and was both strong and vulnerable, but really, she was just a real character. She had seen her parents murdered, her sister taken, and her people enslaved and killed, all at a young age. It’s bound to affect any person, and the added stigma that she’s one of the only Ruined not to have powers, doesn’t help matters. I saw a true growth in her, from vulnerability to strength and leadership in this book, and it definitely made me want to read on with the series even more.

Dates Read:

September 27-29, 2017

Rating
5 Stars

Rick Riordan

Waiting on Wednesday: The Tyrant's Tomb (The Trials of Apollo #4) by Rick Riordan

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2019 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: The Boy Next Story (Bookish Boyfriends #2) by Tiffany Schmidt

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The Boy Next Story
Series: Bookish Boyfriends #2
Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Published May 21st 2019 by Harry N. Abrams

Goodreads Synopsis
The second book in a series where your favorite literary characters come to life, inspired by the timeless classic, Little Women!

There’s no one better than the boy next door. At least not according to Aurora Campbell, fourteen, who has been in love with Tobias May since their very first sandbox kiss. The problem is, he’s in love with her older sister, Merrilee. And Merri is already dating one of his best friends.

Rory is learning all about pining as her class reads The Great Gatsby, a book she doesn’t find “great” at all. Also not great—her GPA, something she needs to fix, quickly, if she’d like to apply for the chance to spend a week studying art with her hero in New York City over winter break. But when Ms. Gregoire assigns her to read Little Women for extra credit, Rory discovers more than she expected—both about herself and Toby. Maybe she wasn’t in love with the boy next door. . . but the boy next story.

Love is complicated, and it’s all about to get even trickier for Rory at Reginald R. Hero Prep . . . where with the help of one quirky English teacher, students’ fantasies come true, often with surprising consequences.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

After immediately finishing my copy of A Date With Darcy, I hate to dive right into book 2, The Boy Next Story. Now, I adored the romance in the first book, and was really intrigued by Rory (Aurora), so had high hopes for this book. I wasn't disappointed, but I will admit, early on, that I wasn't as invested in this book as much, but that's basically because the Pride & Prejudice story line was my favourite, and The Great Gatsby and Little Women, which are the books Rory reads in this instalment, aren't classics I'm overly keen in. Rory, the little sister of the Campbell family, has always felt a bit left out by her sisters. Lilly and Merri always seem to do everything together, and treat her as an afterthought, if she is ever lucky enough to be included. A fantastic artist, she knows that when she grows up she wants nothing more than to pursue that career path. But, like her sister, she is a bit of an outsider at school, and in her advanced art class, the other students, bar one - Huck (who seems to be her only friend in school - treat her horrendously, even going so far as to destroy her artwork as they are jealous of her skill. Luckily, she gets to spend her commutes to school with neighbour, and long time crush, Toby; the only issue here, he's been irrevocably in love with her sister, Merri, for as long as she can remember. She wants to get over him, and when reading The Great Gatsby in English, she realises she is the Gatsby, and it won't turn out well. Trying to get over him, her friends, Huck and Clara, create a plan to make him jealous, with Huck standing in as a fake boyfriend, and, you know what, it seems to work. Toby becomes her maths tutor, after Rory failed a class test, and is on academic report, and we can see the chemistry start to sparkle and fizz in their interactions. As soon as Ms. Gregoire decides that Little Women would be a perfect book for Rory, everything starts to fall into place, with the youngest sister, Amy, resonating with her so well.

I sort of liked Rory's character a bit more than Merri - she seemed more rounded and real - but the Gatsby plot really didn't interest me. Once we got to the Little Women plot, that's when I became more invested in the story, and I loved Rory's independence, what with her taking ownership of her feelings, standing up to Toby, and to her bullies, and earning her place at the prestigious artist camp in New York of the Christmas holidays. She really grows and matures from the start of the book, until the ending, and I felt like her character was just more of a proper person, you know? Her and Toby grew on me. At first, I thought it would be forced, but as we got past the half way mark, I could see the real feelings there, and began to ship them so much. I loved how her self worth, and realisation that she deserved more, manifested, not just in her romantic relationships, but also with her relationship with her sisters, which were quite bad at times. The ending of this book left me feeling so warm, that I immediately had to go to twitter and ask Tiffany if there would be more books, and there's going to be 2 more! I can't wait for next year now :)

Oh, whoops! My lips were NOT sealed 🤐

Sorry, this megaphone is glued to my hand 📣 :

❣️TALK NERDY TO ME! (Frankenstein + Anne of Green Gables)

❣️GET A CLUE (Sherlock Holmes!)
— Tiffany Schmidt (@TiffanySchmidt) July 29, 2019

Dates Read:
July 27-28, 2019

Rating
4 Stars

October

Stacking the Shelves: October 12th 2019

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2019 New Release challenge

Review: The Traitor's Kingdom (The Traitor's Circle #3) by Erin Beaty

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The Traitor's Kingdom
Series: The Traitor's Circle #3
Author: Erin Beaty
Published July 9th 2019 by Imprint

Goodreads Synopsis
Unlikely alliances are forged and trust is shattered in the stunning conclusion to The Traitor’s Trilogy.

A new queen under threat.
An ambassador with a desperate scheme.
Two kingdoms with everything to lose.

Once a spy and counselor to the throne, Sage Fowler has secured victory for her kingdom at a terrible cost. Now an ambassador representing Demora, Sage is about to face her greatest challenge to avoid a war with a rival kingdom.

After an assassination attempt destroys the chance for peace, Sage and her fiancé Major Alex Quinn risk a dangerous plot to reveal the culprit. But the stakes are higher than ever, and in the game of traitors, betrayal is the only certainty.
Goodreads

Review
This book was just simply perfection! After adoring both of the previous books, I was slightly apprehensive that this wouldn't live up to expectations, or wouldn't be the perfect ending to the series, but it did not disappoint, at all! Following the explosive conclusion of The Traitor's Ruin, Sage is coming to terms with her injuries, and new position as ambassador. She luckily has Clare to rely on, but she herself is grieving the loss of her fiance, Lieutenant Gramwell, who died trying to help, and save, Sage. When they are called back to the capital, along with the Princess Lani, they know that they will soon have a mission that is their most important of all, talking with the Kimisar in a bid to stop the war, once and for all. While in Tennegol, Sage and Alex meet up again, but have very little time to be together, even with the law being changed for them to allow them to marry early. However, with Sage and Prince Robert being the main negotiating partners, with the Queen Regent, Zoraya, there is more on the line than just their romance, and when plots appear left, right, and centre, they need all their wits about them in order to survive until they can be together, properly.

Because of how much foreshadowing has been in the previous books about the relations between Demora and Kimisara, I hoped that we would see a good resolution to it all, and in this book, that's definitely what we got. Any questions we had from previous books, or from early on in this one, were definitely tied up by the end of the story, and there were no plot holes, anywhere. That's not to say not much happened in this book; rather, it was fast-paced, with action on just about every page, and you were completely invested in the plot, until the conclusion.

Like I've said in previous reviews, Sage and Alex are one of my ultimate OTP's, and all I wished from this book was for them to finally be happy together. There were ups and downs again, but I couldn't have been happier with their conclusion, and when they were together, the chemistry and true feelings for each other was apparent in every look and word. Beaty definitely knows how to write a proper relationship, and proper characters, and I definitely can't wait to see what she does next - I don't care what, but I'll be ordering it as soon as it becomes available. Don't sleep on this series anymore, get yourself a copy now!

Dates Read:

July 6-7, 2019

Rating
5 Stars

Capturing the Devil

Waiting On Wednesday: Capturing the Devil (Stalking Jack the Ripper #4) by Kerri Maniscalco

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2019 Beat the Backlist challenge

ARC Review: A Date with Darcy (Bookish Boyfriends #1) by Tiffany Schmidt

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A Date with Darcy
Series: Bookish Boyfriends #1
Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Published May 1st 2018 by Amulet Paperbacks

Goodreads Synopsis
Boys are so much better in books. At least according to Merrilee Campbell, fifteen, who thinks real-life chivalry is dead and there’d be nothing more romantic than having a guy woo her like the heroes in classic stories. Then she, her best friend, Eliza, and her younger sister, Rory, transfer to Reginald R. Hero Prep—where all the boys look like they've stepped off the pages of a romance novel. Merri can hardly walk across the quad without running into someone who reminds her of Romeo.

When the brooding and complicated Monroe Stratford scales Merri’s trellis in an effort to make her his, she thinks she might be Juliet incarnate. But as she works her way through her literature curriculum under the guidance of an enigmatic teacher, Merri’s tale begins to unfold in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Merri soon realizes that only she is in charge of her story. And it is a truth universally acknowledged that first impressions can be deceiving...
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

I'd had this book for over a year before I picked it up, and, honestly, I'm kicking myself for that because it was just so good! I knew going in that there would be some element of Pride and Prejudice retelling - which is my favourite classic, and any retelling will automatically draw me in - but also have a hint of Romeo & Juliet in too. Boy, was that an understatement! Merrilee is starting at a new prestigious school, Reginald R. Hero Prep, because her oldest sister (Lilly) is marrying the son of a senator. Because she and younger sister, Rory, are late additions, and also seem to have skipped the usual waiting list, they have some haters as soon as they start, including the headteacher's son, Fielding. However, Merri is such a prolific reader of romances, and the brooding boy she saw on day one, Monroe, intrigues her, and soon they get together. In English class, with Ms. Gregoire, the books seem to come alive, and while reading Romeo & Juliet, Merri starts to think she is living the play, with her in the titular role, and Monroe playing a very obsessive Romeo. She doesn't connect with the book as much as she, or Ms. Gregoire, wanted, so they decide she should move onto Jane Austen's greatest work. This book connects so much more with Merri, and as she and Fielding overcome their differences, and grow closer, it seems as if she has met her Darcy, after all.

Merri was such a fun character! I loved how wishful she was in her romances, and how much she cared for all of her friends. Eliza, her best female friend, is a genius, and very matter of fact, but they care for each other so much, and being at school together is perfect for them. Merri's male best friend, Toby, is a bit more complicated. He is her next door neighbour, and has had a crush on Merri for years, but is firmly in the friend zone, and it seems to be working. Both Toby and Eliza don't really get on - both too jealous of the attention the other is getting off Merri - but they will be civil for her case. Both of her sisters are wonderful characters too, and I'm glad the second book will be Rory's story, because I have so many questions I need answering about her, especially considering events towards the end of this book. I also need to make a special mention to Ms. Gregoire too, as if I had had an English teacher like her at school, I might have actually liked the subject. She honestly cared about her pupils, and I don't know if she is actually magic or what, but she just understands the pupils so well!

Now, onto the romances. I'll talk about Monroe first, mainly because of how much I hated him. From the get go, he just keeps appearing at Merri's window, and is completely obsessive over her. He's texting all of the time, won't listen to her, and doesn't want to talk; instead he just wants to kiss all of the time. When Merri finally gets rid of him, I wanted to cheer, but that wasn't the last we saw of him. No spoilers, but if you know P&P, you'll probably be able to guess what role he fulfilled, and he did it so well! Fielding, on the other hand, was the perfect Darcy! From the first few connections we see of him and Merri, he insults her, makes a comment about not wanting to see her, is completely aloof, and then embarrasses us all by asking her out in the most insulting manner. When the iconic email arrives, I even felt myself swooning a bit, so completely understand why Merri starts to, too. Every interaction between them is sparking with chemistry, and I just hope in book 2, The Boy Next Story, we see more of them, because they are my OTP for this book, and likely the whole series!

Dates Read:
July 23-24, 2019

Rating
4 Stars

October Summary

Waiting on Wednesday: Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place #1) by Alexandra Christo

Stacking the Shelves: October 26th 2019

Waiting on Wednesday: The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renée Ahdieh

ARC Review: Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

Stacking the Shelves: October 19th 2019

Review: Ruined (Ruined #1) by Amy Tintera

Waiting on Wednesday: The Tyrant's Tomb (The Trials of Apollo #4) by Rick Riordan

ARC Review: The Boy Next Story (Bookish Boyfriends #2) by Tiffany Schmidt

Stacking the Shelves: October 12th 2019

Review: The Traitor's Kingdom (The Traitor's Circle #3) by Erin Beaty

Waiting On Wednesday: Capturing the Devil (Stalking Jack the Ripper #4) by Kerri Maniscalco

ARC Review: A Date with Darcy (Bookish Boyfriends #1) by Tiffany Schmidt

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