The Romance Bookie

Hey Everyone!!! I know, I know!! I have seriously sucked!  No review for about a month...it's pathetic...I know.  But I have had a very good reason...I've been working, going to school, studying for my classes, and also studying for my real estate exam...which I took today, and guess what??!!! I PASSED!!! I am officially a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in California!! I'm joining the ranks of so many people ahead of me, and taking the real estate market by storm ;). Anyway, I am going to try my best to get to reading a good book again.  I've been in a bit of a funk, and so it's been difficult, but all it takes is that great next book!! :) Hope to write again very soon!! Love you all!! The Romance Bookie :)

Hello!  A review of Fiendish , Brenna Yovanoff's latest book! I was lucky enough this past summer to meet Brenna Yovanoff, along with Maggie Stiefvate and Tessa Gratton! Unfortunately, I had not read her books then, so I didn't fully get to appreciate her being there, but she was so sweet and kind nonetheless! She was also nice enough to give me some of her bookmarks as well as tell me about her books, including Fiendish !  And now...for the review...! From Goodreads: Clementine DeVore spent ten years trapped in a cellar, pinned down by willow roots, silenced and forgotten. Now she’s out and determined to uncover who put her in that cellar and why.    When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Bac...

Hi Everyone! Today I've got a review for We Were Liars , a book that I'd been hearing about a lot over this past summer! I finally got a chance to read it! From Goodreads: A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth.   We Were Liars  is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.  Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE. Erin's Thoughts: We Were Liars  was definitely not what I expected.  Other than reading the book flap, I tried not to learn too much about what the book was about because I heard that the less you know going into the book, the better.  So, of course, if you feel the same way, feel free not to read this review, but I will do my best not to gi...

Hey Everyone! So today's review is a little different from the norm, because it's actually a review of a children's picture book that I read for a project in my Children's Literature Class.  I had to make a puppet representing a character from any children's novel intended for ages 0-5, so I picked That Is Not A Good Idea!  by Mo Willems. This will only be a short review, since it's only a short book, and I don't want to give away too much! From Goodreads : That Is Not a Good Idea!   is a hilarious, interactive picture book from bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems, the creator of books like Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus , the Knuffle Bunny series, the Elephant and Piggie series,   Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs , and many other new classics.   Inspired by the evil villains and innocent damsels of silent movies, Willems tells the tale of a hungry fox who invites a plump goose to dinner. As with the beloved Pigeon books, kids wil...

Hi again!   Plus One  is a book that I was super excited for! I mean, check out that cover!! It's beautiful! So, I bought it a while ago and I'm so happy that I finally got to read it! Here's the review! From Goodreads: It takes guts to deliberately mutilate your hand while operating a blister-pack sealing machine, but all I had going for me was guts. Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live, and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays who live and work during daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol deliberately injures herself in order to gain admission to a hospital, where she plans to kidnap her newborn niece—a Ray—in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. By violating the day-night curfew, Sol is committing a serious crime, and when the kidnap attempt goes awry it starts a chain of events that will put Sol in mortal danger, uncover a government conspiracy to man...

Hello! Today I've got a review for a creepy book I recently read: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea .  Kind of funny, I was utterly CONVINCED I had read this book, but every time I read the synopsis, I was so confused because I could not remember a thing about it.  I finally finally  figured out I was actually thinking of Ashes on the Waves  by Mary Lindsey, which in my defense, has a very similar feel to this book.  Anyways, on to the review! From Goodreads: You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand… Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard.   Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, bu...

Hey Everyone! So Banned Book Week was a couple of weeks ago, from September 21st-27th; and so this past week in my Child Literature class our teacher had us bring in a challenged or banned book.  She had preferred them to children's picture books, but said it was okay to bring a Young Adult novel.  Me, being the avid reader, and lover of the YA genre, brought two... Thirteen Reasons Why  by Jay Asher   and Speak  by Laurie Halse Anderson. Now, to be honest, I have read quite a few banned books, not intentionally, because they were banned or challenged, but because I wanted and also sometimes they were part of my English Literature curriculum in high school and Jr. High; but overall, before this past Monday night (when I have my class), I didn't have much of an idea of banning books.  I just always sort of assumed most people were against it, and that all people who were trying to ban books were narrow minded. Now, I'm not sure if this post will gather...

Another witch book! And there are more coming your way!! This one is called The Near Witch and it is very different from House of Ivy and Sorrow , which I read previously. From Goodreads: The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.  If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.  And there are no strangers in the town of Near. These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.   But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him. As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about ...

I don't know about you, but I love the Matched  series, so naturally I was very excited to hear that Ally Condie was releasing another book! I am such a suck for underwater/mermaid stories, so this one, being one written by Ally Condie, immediately went on my wait list!  I was actually fortunate enough to receive an ARC and read it early! From Goodreads: Can you hear Atlantia breathing? For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose. Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system co...

Hey Everyone!! It's been a while once again, for me to post a review, but FINALLY today I finished a book!! It was Burn for Burn , the first book in the Burn for Burn Series  by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian! From Goodreads : Postcard-perfect Jar Island is the kind of place where nobody locks their doors at night, where parents can sleep easy, knowing their daughters are tucked away safe and sound in their beds.   But bad things can happen, even to good girls . . . and sometimes, the only way to make things right is to do something wrong.   Lillia used to trust boys, but not anymore. Not after what happened this summer. And she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her little sister from the same fate.   Kat is over the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes made at her expense. It all goes back to one person--her ex-best friend. Someone needs to teach her a lesson, and, with Lillia and Mary behind her, Kat feels up to the task. Four years ago, Mary left Jar ...

Hi Everyone!! Today I've got a review for you of House of Ivy and Sorrow ! I picked up this book because of it's gorgeous title and cover AND synopsis and looked forward to reading this a ton!! From Goodreads : Josephine Hemlock has spent the last 10 years hiding from the Curse that killed her mother. But when a mysterious man arrives at her ivy-covered, magic-fortified home, it’s clear her mother’s killer has finally come to destroy the rest of the Hemlock bloodline. Before Jo can even think about fighting back, she must figure out who she’s fighting in the first place. The more truth Jo uncovers, the deeper she falls into witchcraft darker than she ever imagined. Trapped and running out of time, she begins to wonder if the very Curse that killed her mother is the only way to save everyone she loves. Erin's Thoughts: House of Ivy and Sorrow  is a super super cute book! It has a distinct high school-y feel to it and Jo, the main character, has a very cheerful a...

Hey Everyone! As a make up for not being very present lately, I'm holding a giveaway in honor of the Book to Movie Giveaway Hop! hosted by  Bookhounds  and  I Am a Reader ! I'm giving away a Hardcover copy of Gayle Forman's If I Stay ! Enter through the rafflecopter! :) a Rafflecopter giveaway The Romance Bookie :)