I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The author of Other People's Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar.

Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell.

The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.

When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all--or mostly all--excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?

Nina considers her options.
1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)

It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

God, I love this cover. These covers give me life. Like, I know I’ve talked about this ad nauseum in my I’ve Got You Covered posts, but it bears reiterating how amazing the cover art work being done at Berkley is. Also, it bears mentioning, particularly since this is a review, that it’s not just the cover art that’s good. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill‘s a very atypical sort of romance, and I’d urge you to think of it more as a contemporary novel because stylistically it really doesn’t fit the romance novel genre. BUT omg it’s so cute and funny and quirky and unique, and I loved it so much.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

An honest reflection on cultural identify, class, and gentrification. Fans of Nic Stone and Elizabeth Acevedo will eagerly anticipate Torrey.

On the day Torrey officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he’s even made it through orientation: the bee farm his beloved uncle Miles left him after his tragic death is being foreclosed on.

Torrey would love nothing more than to leave behind the family and neighborhood that’s bleeding him dry. But he still feels compelled to care for the project of his uncle’s heart. As the farm heads for auction, Torrey precariously balances choosing a major and texting Gabriel—the first boy he ever kissed—with the fight to stop his uncle’s legacy from being demolished. But as notice letters pile up and lawyers appear at his dorm, dividing himself between family and future becomes impossible unless he sacrifices a part of himself.

When this book popped up on NetGalley, I stared at it and then stared some more, debating whether I should request it. On the plus side, college and m/m romance, but on the minus side bees and comps that made me think I might not be into it (I didn’t like the Nic Stone book I read, and I haven’t read Acevedo, but her books seem like distinctly not Christina books—though I hear they’re amazing). I waffled but ultimately requested, obviously, since I read this book in July 2019, and it doesn’t come out until October. That was such a good decision I made, because I absolutely loved this book from the very beginning and it made me feel all the feels.

Middle Grade

1. The Fast and the Furriest (Snazzy Cat Capers #2) – Deanna Kent

Gotta love the detail of the fish having a bowl on its head so it can breathe water. Also, THE TITLE.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My first time getting it in the butt was kind of weird. I think it's going to be weird for everyone's first time, though.

Meet Jack Rothman. He's seventeen and loves partying, makeup and boys - sometimes all at the same time. His sex life makes him the hot topic for the high school gossip machine. But who cares? Like Jack always says, 'it could be worse'.

He doesn't actually expect that to come true.

But after Jack starts writing an online sex advice column, the mysterious love letters he's been getting take a turn for the creepy. Jack's secret admirer knows everything: where he's hanging out, who he's sleeping with, who his mum is dating. They claim they love Jack, but not his unashamedly queer lifestyle. They need him to curb his sexuality, or they'll force him.

As the pressure mounts, Jack must unmask his stalker before their obsession becomes genuinely dangerous...

Hi there, I hope you’re prepared to read a glowing-ass review, because I have nothing but praise to deliver today. Years ago, I read and really enjoyed Rosen’s debut, a sci-fi/fantasy retelling of Twelfth Night, aka my favorite Shakespeare play, but he’d sort of fallen off of my radar. Clearly, a mistake, because holy forking shirt balls Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) was everything I never knew how much I needed.

My goal is always to get the review post up right as the new month begins, but oops it’s midway through July already, and I kind of skipped May so ummmm. Let’s just say that I was lazy and leave it at that. There’s some big, good stuff happening in my life right now, and it’s been stressful enough that I haven’t really had much mental energy for blogging, so I kept putting this off. Still, there’s a satisfaction to keeping up with things, so here I am keeping on.