alainasanders's reviews
150 reviews

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder

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3.75

I liked it, I just wish it actually answered the questions that it was asking. Although I do understand wanted the story to end in that mystery of the reader not knowing. (It’s not a cliffhanger just unanswered questions)
Sadie Starr's Guide to Starting Over by Miranda Luby

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emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

This book is a memorable one. It made me think about eating habits, and just how food can be thought of in general. Sadie is going through ALOT I just wanted to climb into the book and hug her. It also made me think about toxic feminism or being feminist to be cool or to be popular.

It also reminded me of the movie mean girls. (Not to say they’re the same because they aren’t, writing style and where the story goes are VERY different) The similarities that I couldn’t stop thinking of were; moving to a new school, a seemingly nice group of popular girls (with an ominous vibe) befriending you immediately, trying to change your social image and what people think of you, an ‘uncool’ friend being one of your only real friends but the popular girls can’t know that you’re friends with her, the pink social statuses or markers that you’re cool pink shirts… pink badges. I’m assuming the author probably saw mean girls because it is a big movie but I’d be curious if she was influenced by the movie while writing it. Realistically she probably wasn’t even thinking of it, and if she was it was probably just an ‘oh that’s funny it has a lot in common with mean girls’. 

I know this is very irrelevant but as someone who has seen the movie for the first time this year, it was on my mind the entire time I was reading.

I would 100% recommend this book to someone who would not be triggered easily by food or eating disorders or anything like that. Looking forward to hopefully reading more from this author in the future. This being her debut book is wild to me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Text Publishing for an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this book in exchange for an honest review.




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Stranded on Castaway Island by Amy C. Laundrie

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adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Annie and Mirra don’t exactly get along like they used to. Annie is grieving her mother, while Mirra seems more interested in parties and boys. When Annie and Mirra get stranded together, they have to figure out how to get along with each other to survive.

I loved this book so much. I loved how realistic it was, they were facing real struggles of being in the wilderness or lost at sea. The author didn’t brush over the heavy stuff. Annie was dealing with grief and guilt about her mother and also dealing with a lot of anger and grudges toward Mirra. I was a little worried when I read the synopsis that the author would brush over the fact that they were stranded and just use it as a plot device to make them best friends again. But I am so so glad that it was nothing like that. 

I also loved how we’re sort of learning along with the characters. They don’t know everything about how to survive, they break important stuff by accident, lose things that would’ve helped them, and they do fight and disagree. It made it more enjoyable that this book was as realistic as it could be without going TOO hard on the characters. 

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this book in exchange for an honest review.




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Hollow City by Beth Connor

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1.5


SPOILERS BELOW!!

One side of the wall is ruled by elders. It’s supposed to be the religious side. People that disobey with what the elders or the bible think or say are sent to the institution. Which heavily reminded me of conversion therapy but for anything that didn’t fit into the elder's rules. This side of the wall has ‘enforcers’ (guards) and strict rules.

It’s also very hard to leave. Or to be let back in if you do somehow escape.


The other side of the wall is our world now. No institution. There’s choice of religion.


Every character was connected to every other character which made it very confusing for me to follow. Almost every time a character was revealed it gets revealed shortly that they know all the other characters.


There are two gay relationships in this book. One I thought was done very well, made sense to the book and the character. And the other came completely out of left field, there had been no build-up or hinting. It felt like they made this character gay to have a gay character.


Overall this book was not for me. I don’t think I would personally read anything else by this author unless the plot sounded really interesting to me. Being her debut book, I am excited to see where she grows and what she decides to write next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wolf Grove Media LLC for an E-ARC (advanced reader copy) of this book in exchange for an honest review. 




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Hear Me by Kerry O'Malley Cerra

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Rayne is losing her hearing. She’s grappling with not wanting her parents or friends to know how bad her hearing is as she doesn’t want people to treat her differently. Throughout the book, she’s struggling with no one knowing how hard it is for her. Her parents think that cochlear implants are the ‘fix’ for her deafness, and want her to undergo surgery.

With how the book is written, (words being asterisks when Rayne can’t understand/hear them) it’s so easy to put yourself in her shoes. You get as frustrated as she does when someone talks to her without facing her, or when someone is speaking too quietly.

I liked how as Rayne is researching the implants or when she is looking at deaf community blogs we get to hear so many perspectives. It was very informational for someone like me who didn’t know much about cochlear implants before this book. It was also interesting to hear everyone’s different thoughts about being deaf in general. I think it was really refreshing to have something not stick to one stereotype of what all deaf people must think or feel. 

The ending felt like the perfect way to wrap up the book. You can tell how much all the characters have grown and maybe don’t feel the same way as they might have at the beginning of the book.

~I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review~


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The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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