We haven’t done a book haul since March, she we thought it was time to do another. Christy’s birthday is in September and she’s sharing the books she received this year.
Happy almost Autumn everyone! I love getting books for my birthday and this year I lucked out with an incredible haul. Have you read some of these books? Let me know in the comments. I can’t wait to spend my favorite season curled up with some amazing new reads.
Continue reading “September 2021 Book Haul”
It’s New York City in 1911. Frances Hallowell is an ordinary seamstress who lives with the other girls she works with. Her life changes forever when she kills a man who is trying to attack her. Except, she never moved a muscle.
Afraid of the impending murder investigation, Frances tries to lay low when a couple of women whisk her away from Manhattan to a place called Haxahaven Academy located in Queens.
Continue reading “Review: The Witch Haven by Sahsa Peyton Smith”
1800 Joseon (Korea). Sixteen-year-old Seol is indentured to the police bureau but is missing home. When a young noblewoman is found murdered in the streets, Seol is tasked with helping a young inspector with the investigation into the politically charged murder. But when the inspector becomes the prime suspect, Seol must go outside the bounds of her servitude to clear his name.
We admit, this book was hard for us to get through at times. We had been so looking forward to reading it because it involved all of our favorite things: murder, mystery, and learning about other cultures and historical periods. But we’re sad to say this story kind of fell flat for us!
Seol was not a very compelling MC and we did not really feel connected to her narration. There were times we had to skip parts to keep our interest going. The other characters were also not very memorable, aside from Inspector Han. Seol had the potential for major growth but we never felt she truly got there. We were, however, invested in figuring out the mystery behind her brother’s disappearance, but even that reveal kind of fell flat for us. Overall, the character development was subpar. But we liked how Seol always spoke her mind and was so brave in her efforts to solve the case.
Our favorite part of this book was learning more about Korea in the 1800s. The political dynamics between the monarchy and the rise of the Catholic Church in this book were fascinating. We learned so much about 1800 Korea. The author did a great job flushing out the world building in this regard, and honestly, without the world building we would’ve probably DNF’d this one.
The mystery was also pretty well written. Again, the political dynamics really pushed the resolution of the conflict forward and made it more interesting. We were hooked and wanted to know what happened to the noblewoman in her past.
We were also kind of disappointed there was no romance or even great friendships for Seol. She was very much alone and treated horribly by others.
Overall, The Silence of Bones was a bummer for us. We loved the history but couldn’t get invested in any of the characters.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Silence of Bones released April 21, 2020.
Silence of Bones has been on our TBR for over a year. We hadn’t read a YA historical fiction in a while and thought June was the perfect time for this book…since it’s the author’s name. Bad pun, we know! Email us at imallbookedupya@gmail.com to join us Sunday June 20th for book club!
Continue reading “June 2021 Book Club: Silence of Bones by June Hur”
We had so much fun discussing These Violent Delights at our recent virtual YA book club. Instead of just telling you our thoughts, we’re going to mention a few of our discussion questions and reactions from the group.
Have you read Gong’s debut YA book? Let us know your answers to our questions in the comments!
Continue reading “Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong”These Violent Delights was released November 17, 2020.
Continue reading “April 2021 Book Club: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong”
Warning: Spoilers if you haven’t started reading The Last Hours series.
Picking up a few months after Chain of Gold, it’s time for James Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs to get married. Except, they are both dreading it. Cordelia always hoped she’d marry James…just not under these circumstances.
Continue reading “Review: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare”If you read our blog you know that we love Jenn Bennett’s YA books. Five out of six are contemporary romance, while one is a historical fantasy. We plan to update this list when Bennett releases more books. The next one, Always Jane, will be released in 2021.
Have you read any of these books? Let us know in the comments.
Bailey Rydell moves from the east coast to California to live with her dad. Her dad also happens to live in the same town as her friend from an online chatroom for movie buffs, Alex. Only Bailey is too scared to meet Alex in person and see if she can find him without him knowing who she is.
Continue reading “Jenn Bennett’s YA Books Ranked”Ready for the holiday season? We are too! We created a list of books to inspire your gift giving…or to buy for yourself. Need more inspiration? Check out our 2019 gift guide.
Do you usually give books as presents? Let us know in the comments!
Dare You to Lie follows Kylene after he dad was wrongfully convicted of murder. She’s determined to clear his name. But first, she has to back to her old school and deal with a group of guys who ruined her life and reputation. Kylene is a total badass and she uncovers some dark secrets in her small Ohio town. This book is perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.
Continue reading “2020 YA Holiday Gift Guide”
Kingdom of the Wicked was released October 27, 2020.
I'm All Booked Up - a young adult book blog 