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ATHENYA Athenya, our Harry Potter obsessed employee, not only enjoys copious amounts of Dutch Bros but vast amounts of Sci-fi, Dark fantasy, Romance, and of course, historical fiction. As an Enemies to lovers worshipper, she is often found reading and writing elaborate and out-of-character fanfiction. She inspires to be a writer one day, whether it be involving geoeconomics, or Draco Malfoy. You can find her in the YA section of the store, or talking all her co-workers' ears off on why Severus Snape deserved better! So if you see her please tell her that she reminds you of Hermione Granger! |
Stephanie Garber had one job and one job only. To make a great book. And she most certainly served and I ate it up! She does an enthralling job at blending broken hearts, happy endings, and extremely terrible choices. This fairy tale infused novel filled my little heart with so much joy and anxiety and then utterly broke it. But what do you expect from a book with a title called Once Upon A Broken Heart. So if you enjoy magic, a lot of tension, and Taylor Swift's Lover, then you are done for!
If you read symptoms may include (but not limited to), panic, anxiety, shivers, uncontrollable smiling, questioning of choices, insomnia, leaking tear ducts, sweating, bouts of screaming, no appetite, chest pain, unstoppable wistfulness, irresistible urges of any kind, and a broken heart. Stephanie Garber is a mastermind of manipulation and deception and there is nothing more you should want in a book.
Being an Arizona native, everything that happens in the months of June and August is extremely not exciting to me. BUT this book makes me want to fall in love with summer itself. Jenny Han has written a book filled with teen angst, love, and tragedy. Belly is everything I was at fifteen. Conrad is well Conrad. And Jeremiah I fell in love with easily and just as swiftly as his brother. This book checks everything off my beach read list. My summer wouldn't be the same without reading The Summer I Turned Pretty. It's just one big Taylor Swift Folklore song in a book!
In this Heart-tethering collection of poetry Donika Kelly questions the relationships she has built with herself, her spirituality, and earth around her. Kelly writes about her body, loneliness, generational trauma, and the absence of love within her life and marriage. She creates a sort of sanctuary within her words, bridging the connection between the nature of our bodies, the treatment we receive from the ones who are supposed to love us, and the aspects religion places upon our lives. Her words shed light on the struggles some women face with reconstructing themselves and teach readers that these problems are what stitch us together. Just overall amazing words.
Dana Schwartz does an amazing job stitching together this captivating novel of supernatural murder mystery with gruesome body horror. Hazel Sinnett- a young woman with a fascination with cadavers- is a force to be reckoned with! Especially in accompaniment with the charming grave digger Jack Currer. I was completely engrossed with this historical fantasy. I cried and I laughed at the beautifully woven love story crafted in this wonderfully morbid novel. I have never read a young adult book like it. I want more!
The thing that makes The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston so amazing? EVERYTHING! From quirky Florence who believes that love is dead (and is in for the ultimate surprise when it actually might be), to broody Ben who believes love can't be.. Right? This book is filled with small towns, big cities, graveyards, ghosts, manuscripts, fan fiction, puns, and the most terrifying thing of all... Love. This hauntingly romantic story is filled with beautiful and hilarious characters. My favorite romance this year!!
There is definitely something about the co-worker trope that you just have to love. Especially when you throw in an amazing Enemies-to-Lovers plot! Hazelwood does it again. Her writing is perfectly comical, charming, and HOT. Bee is a beautiful character, inside and out- I really want to be her when I grow up- and Levy, well he is UGH (that was an excited ugh)! This book is absolutely everything I ask for in a romance novel! Academia based romance has definitely become my weakness. Thank you Ali Hazelwood!
This Book of poetry transcends! Stone writes so beautifully and comically. She writes about our existence- how it could be very ugly but very beautiful. She plays with themes of religion and psychology that blend perfectly into one another! What Is Otherwise Infinite has changed my reading and understanding of poetry, that it could be something way more! Definitely one of my favorite poetry books by far!
Good old Fake-Dating trope! A classic that can “never go out of style”, as Taylor Swift would say! Hazelwood does an amazing job at this fic-turned-novel! A ph.D. professor and ph.D.student find an unexpected romance from an even more unexpected kiss. This book is filled with the right amount of sexual tension, pining, comedy, and SLOW-BURN! Hazelwood has most definitely earned a spot for one of my best reads of 2022 so far with this smart and sexy romance novel! Ik vond het geweldig!
Bella Higgin gives us a dark romance filled with fantasy and mystery! When Renia’s older sister goes missing after signing up to be a “donor” for a house filled with Vampires, she is determined to stop at nothing until she finds her. That is until she faces the consequences of becoming a “donor” herself. Higgin makes everything a puzzle that Renia must solve, including a Vampire named Edmond and the house of Belle Morte itself. I absolutely couldn't put this one down!
Honestly, whoever doesn't enjoy a good Enemies-to-Lovers is crazy in my opinion. This book tells the story of a young princess who wants nothing other than to control her own destiny. But when a VERY good looking Vampire King comes to invade her home land she has to give up the one thing she thought she had control over. Herself. With an arranged marriage plot and a battle brewing between the “Mortals” and the “Monsters”, princess Isolde must choose between a kingdom she must protect, with the father she has loved her whole life, or a King of blood and his kingdom with a history filled with battle. Scarlett St. Clair leaves no prisoners in her new dark fantasy novel filled with danger, romance and revenge!
Emily Henry does it AGAIN. She creates amazing characters who are charming, witty, and a bit broken. Nora Stephens, a literary agent that might have it all, struggles to find peace with the death of her mother and birth of her sister's child. Meanwhile editor Charlie Lastra struggles with where he does and doesn't belong. Together they just might find a new piece of themselves that fits perfectly together. Henry does such a great job of writing romance novels that feel so real. This book is brilliant, and one of the best books I will read in 2022!
Lexi Ryan once again serves us a book that has me questioning everything I know. This is definitely like no other Fae novel ever. It brings new struggles, more heartbreak, and a LOT of wistfulness. One thing is for sure, you can't trust anyone! With some excitedly crazy characters, you are brought on a twisting journey into the world of the mysterious Shadow Court and Wild Fae lands! Ryan really breaks out of her shell, and puts all ACOTAR claimers to rest with this non-stopping, mind-bending, and heart shattering story.
A Thief, two fae princes, and a lot of betrayal and distrust. That is most definitely my type of novel. Lexi Ryan weaves together a dangerous path of a plot for Abriella, a young girl stuck between saving her sister and discovering her past. This book brings together the political intrigue of Holly Black's works and the seductive world building and adventure of Sarah J. Maas novels. Unlike Maas and Black, Ryan gives us more of a fairy tale, and a female protagonist stuck between two fates. This book will surprise you until the very end! These Hollow Vows is absolutely on my list for best reads this year!
Sarah J. Maas is a literary force to be reckoned with! Just like all her leading female characters, Maas is someone genuinely otherworldly. This series has such a magical balance between Fantasy and Political Intrigue! I could not put any of these books down. Celaena Sardothien is a woman of strength, resilience, and mystery. What I aim to be in my day-to-day life (hopefully). The Throne of Glass series will remain not only an inspiration to me, but a blueprint for all fantasy novels in my opinion. This book along with all 7 others in this enthralling series will be my favorite of all time. THANK you Sarah, especially for Rowan Whitethorn!
If any of you are like me, there is nothing better than a revenge plot. The Ex Hex definitely delivers a brilliantly funny Romantic Comedy filled with magic, quite literally. With a curse, two broken hearts, a talking cat, evil toys, and a ghost, this book takes you to a romantic world where magic exists and apparently love does not. Especially between Vivy and Rhys? Erin Sterling writes wonderfully witchy characters just in time for our spooky season to begin. This was such a fun read! Bringing me back to my romance roots!
Jude Duarte is a character that lives inside all of us. On the surface, she is a young girl who dreams to be part of a society that she was unwillingly thrust into. She wishes for her own choices and respect, but is betrayal, murder, and love the only way to get it? Jude is a formidable force in Holly Black's story. All who live in Elfhame, including the wicked prince himself, are otherworldly! This book is worth the hype everyone gives it! Jude's story is a slow burn of deceit and lies, and what could possibly be better than that! OH WAIT, I know! Cardan Greenbriar of course!
There are millions of little things that make up a single person, good and bad, and this book has shown me exactly that! I have never fallen in love with a book so fast. Beach Read is a story of betrayal, grief, and love that's drenched in satire! The journey of January Andrew’s is one of complications and layers, making Henry's characters feel truly real. Not to mention, “the great” Augustus Everett is extremely witty, angsty, and everything a person like January could ever ask for! If I could insert myself in any romance novel this would be the one for me! Definitely one of my favorites of all time.
Beth Harmon's coming of age journey is not only compelling and suspenseful, but makes you wish for that one special thing that separates you from the rest! Tevis' telling of Harmon leaves you breathless and grasping for more, from her struggle with grief, anxiety, and addiction. What really pulled me into the world Tevis had created was how true and real it felt. Beth is not only an emotionally inspiring powerhouse but an independent, creative, and brilliant girl that a lot more women should read about! This work of fiction not only displays struggle and hardship but also displays the reward that one gets when overcoming and overpowering your past. This is definitely a must read for anyone who loves emotionally suspenseful literature.
Levenseller's world building is an elusively elaborate one! She creates a powerful, cunning, and independent woman with a plan, and there is nothing more beautiful in a plot like that! The Shadows Between Us is a stunning and entrapping novel that will leave you with a new sense of empowerment! Nothing is better than a strong minded woman and a man cloaked in mystery and literal shadow! Levensellers's writing is beautifully complex just like her characters, with the right amount of slowburn and enemies to lovers, this book easily makes it to my top picks of 2020!
The Saying "True North '' has never been more true to me when talking about this series! Leigh Bardugo builds a world shrouded in fantasy, mystery, and suspense with every character and setting! Bardugo tells the intersecting stories of Alina, Mal, and the Darkling so beautifully. It was definitely heartbreaking to reach the end. The Shadow and Bone trilogy will definitely belong on my list of books I love until the end of time! With the correct mixture of enemies to lovers, mutual pining, and a man who can control shadows, this series is definitely a must read!
Another amazing duology by an amazing author. Six of Crows is one of my favorites of all time not only for its beautifully crafted magical heist story but for its equally beautiful characters. Kaz Brekker alone is one of the most mysterious, complicated, but wholehearted characters that I have read. Bardugo really knows how to write her men *wink*. Along with the rest of the crew, Inej, Jesper, Wyla, Nina, and Matthias are a force to be reckoned with, even when those forces are aimed at each other! This story continues in a world after the events of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, with new characters and a new plot. Bardugo does not hold back! Again, I cannot put into words how much I loved this story and its characters! My heart hurts just writing about them!
Neal Shusterman's writing is other-worldly, quite literally! Shusterman builds a world where humanity has overcome everything, so you think. The story of Citra and Rowan is a complicated, layered story of death, rivalry, and friendship. When things seem just as they should be, Shusterman picks up the plot and throws it out the window! This story is definitely one of my favorites, mixing enemies to lovers, morally gray characters, and a lot of plot twists! The characters are immaculately crafted in a way that keeps you immersed in Shusterman’s clever writing. Scythe is a must read for lovers of not only the YA genre but sci-fi and fantasy!
If you loved A Court of Thorns and Roses series, you will definitely fall head over heels for this one! Maas depicts a world that has been scarred by war and in its aftermath, Nesta Archeron has to face her past and find herself! This book is not only suspenseful and romantic, but wildly intoxicating! I truly loved getting to know more in depth both Cassian and Nesta, and their dark and sexy relationship! This book makes the top of my list of the best books of 2020! Maas' writing, like always, is brilliant, along with all her beautifully written characters! THANK YOU SARAH!
Where to begin? Sarah J. Maas really knows how to world-build and it shows! A Court of Thorns and Roses is mindblowing, seductive, and unforgettable! Maas writes Feyre in a way that keeps you entranced from the beginning! This book is the PERFECT mix of surprises, enemies to lovers, magic, and fairies!! I fell in love with not only the strong, independent Feyre, but I also fell in love with the world Maas creates through her bewitching writing! The love this book has inspired in me is beyond words and is very much worth the read! TRUST ME, you won't regret reading this alluring series!