booksandbesitos's reviews
56 reviews

The Spice Box by Meera Sriram

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adventurous inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I loved the illustrations In this book. And the message was so strong. The spice box isn’t just a spice box. It’s hope, it’s history and it’s home.  Every member of the family has memories with it. I love picture books like that, where the story is entertaining for kids, but with messages that the adults reading with them can also enjoy.
I’ll definitely be reading more of this author. And need to try the recipe in the back sometime 
Sari-Sari Summers by Lynnor Bontigao

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hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Cute read!! I enjoyed it as an adult! I’ll definitely have to read if again with my nieces and test out the recipe on the back! The pictures were so pretty 
Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

3.5

I want to challenge myself to read more classic books, and while I typically haven’t been a fan of classic books, I actually enjoyed this one a little. It was kind of fun to see where the inspiration for some of my favorite vampire characters came from. I was kind of disappointed to see that.
carmilla gets killed in the end

But overall, it was still a pretty good read, and one of my favorite classics I’ve ever read

I don’t want to say that it doesn’t hold up because again pretty solid read- however because of modern day vampire stories using a lot of the tropes from this and other classic vampire stories, it is very very predictable.

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The Book That Can Read Your Mind by Marianna Coppo

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

4.75

This was so fun! I did like 5 characters and it was so cool! Guessed it each time! And the after note explaining everything at the end was actually really cool and informative! 
I loved the illustrations and the little intermission card
Heartstopper: Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

It was so sweet! Googling am I gay is so real! 
Can wait to see what’ll happen with these two! (And their friends! The side characters are also fun)

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Old Enough by Haley Jakobson

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow oh my god it was so good! I don’t usually write reviews unless I really LOVE a book and this one was definitely worthy of one. 

The storytelling is so powerful. The characters, even the side characters were written strongly and all distinct from each other.
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El Libro de los Libros la vida lectora a través de las páginas by Rodrigo Unda

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

Escuche la versión de audiolibro, leído por el autor. Y me gustó mucho. También soy mexicana pero nacida en los Estados Unidos. Y aunque hablo español, no puedo escribir y leerlo much. So es un poco irónico que el primer libro que leí en español es acerca de libros. 
pero este libro me inspiró a leer mas libros en español. 

Mi gusta leer mucho, y este libro tuvo muchos momentos e historias con las que me identifiqué. Se lo recomiendo a todos los book lovers 

No sabía de el YouTube del autor antes de leer esto libro pero ahora soy una fan. También agregué algunos de los libros mencionados a mi TBR :)
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In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

A beautifully written memoir about an unfortunate and abusive relationship.

The symbolism of the dream house was very powerful and I loved how the chapters put the dream house as different things to explain the story. The short chapters made it a little easier to consume the heavy topics.
Every chapter is like fragments to show  the big picture. I think that other survivors of abuse can also relate to telling their stories in fragments at first. Until you’ve ready to tell the whole thing. 

Due to the nature of the story, the content in the book is very heavy. I encourage everyone to look at the content warnings before reading this. 

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Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring relaxing sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Here for the Wrong Reasons by Lydia Wang, Annabel Paulsen

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book was great! Big thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC; I can’t wait to buy it in paperback.

To start off, I chose this book because the premise was similar to something I’d read before and enjoyed -Reality TV dating show contestants fall for each other instead of the guy. However, the last time I read something like that, it was YA, and I feel like it works a lot better with older characters like in this book. It made the feelings and experiences feel more realistic.

Meet our main characters, Lauren and Krystin—an impressive duo, a rodeo queen, and a Content Creator. But they’re also sort of rivals at first and love interests as well. You get it all in this book. You also get both points of view. The dual POVs work very well the dating show setting, immersing you as a spectator.

There were also friendships and rivalries formed between the other characters. You didn’t always know who was being genuine and who was faking it to stay on the show since they’re all competing for the same guy. And the contestants compete in different challenges or go on different dates throughout the book. You never really knew what was coming next, and I was so engaged with it. My favorite was definitely the fashion challenge.

It really did feel like watching a dating show. The characters' profiles at the beginning really helped sell it. And after someone got eliminated, the 'interviews' gave you a little more insight into the other contestants. Seeing them outside of the main characters' point of views made it feel like they weren’t just filler characters, since no two were alike. 

Watching them leave one by one made the tension rise, especially with Lauren’s scenes. Because you wanted her to stay long enough to explore what could happen with Krystin, but it was also nerve-wracking to see her get closer and closer to being the finalist and having to end up with Josh, the guy. 
Which she had made it very clear wasn’t her goal. But of course the other characters don’t know that she’s “Here For The Wrong Reasons”
Rising tension as well! 


I recommend this book those craving a more diverse The Bachelor, (Fingers crossed for an on-screen adaptation!)  fans of both dramas and romance, and readers who enjoyed Never Ever Getting Back Together but wished the characters were aged up.

Edit: reread it on audio I dunno why but it just felt like a 5 star book this time around. Changing my rating from 4.75 to 5.0
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