georgiasbookescapes's reviews
434 reviews

This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This was often a difficult one to read. The realities faced by a doctor are difficult and as someone who’s squeamish it could be a lot. There were also times Kay was just plain offensive in the name of humour, but thankfully not consistently. If you want an idea of what medicine is like for people, what your friends working in social services can be like emotionally, this book can inspire some understanding hopefully. The pressures and expectations are extremely difficult to manage and are for those who are the most passionate (generally, some people just shouldn’t be in the job because they’re in it for the wrong reasons). 
Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okay, I know everyone has their rights to names, even connections and reasons, but I couldn’t handle Brighton as a name. I’m sorry! Apart from that… I loved this book! Friends to lovers to exes to lovers? Beautifully done! As someone who tried that once in the start of their 20s with someone who wasn’t right, I’m not a big believer in it working in real life. But in a book? I adore a second chance romance! The starting tensions, finally learning the cause of the break up and the rekindling? Love! It! I love the increasing diversity for a Herring Blake novel to boot! If you hate or are ambivalent at all about second chance romances, this likely isn’t for you. If you love first loves ending for realistic reasons, you might just love this too! Also that Christmas movie trivia? Too hard even for this Christmas movie fan 🤣🤣🤣
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly

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dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A year ago Valdin’s boyfriend dumped him and moved to Buenos Aires from Auckland. But everything’s fine. Sharing a flat with his sister Greta, who’s in love with a fellow grad student who keeps on leaving the crush unrequited, Greta discovers love with another other women. Their family  continues to grow in further crises in their eccentric Māori-Russian-Catalonian family. 

I cannot describe this book in any capacity other than READ IT! It’s fun, it’s hilarious, it’s full of heart and family and queerness and I just adore it! One review described it as a mix between Schitt’s Creek and Sally Rooney and I think that’s honestly the best description?? It’s a literary fiction through and through, with family eccentrics who just show nothing but love. It greatly reminded me initially of Cleopatra and Frankenstein a bit? Anyways. I saw this around when it was initially published in 2021 before being bought out AGAIN by a bigger publisher and HOW IS THIS NOT EVERYWHERE??!! This will easily go down as one of my favourite books and I hope to learn that Reilly has many more books for me to adore!
You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Poppy and Alex have been known each other for 12 years. For 11 of those they’ve been best friends. For & of those years they go on yearly summer vacations. They haven’t spoken for the last 2 years. This summer it’s their last chance to fall in love.

Eep! This one is feet kicking giggling falling in love perfection! One of my all time favourite movies is When Harry Met Sally and it gives a cross between that and One Day by David Nicholls for me! My favourite romances are friends to lovers and enemies to lovers so this slow burning falling in love tension was delectably perfect for me! I’ve been noticing a cute trend lately with romances where I can’t seem to not find ways that the sweet romantic gestures remind me of my partner. And this one was no different! Alex is nothing like my partner in personality. But hey, what’s a girl to do other than use romances to fall further in love also with her beloved? 
The Christmas Swap by Talia Samuels

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Ben Gibson is an unlucky in love sweetheart, who hopes to feel like he meets his family’s perfection standards by bringing a girlfriend home for Christmas. Margot Murray is newly single, busy business woman with no interest in a cutesy seasonal romance. Agreeing to a pact - Margot plays Ben’s perfect girlfriend for a picture perfect weekend away at his family’s manor. Which means of course the perfect romance will ensue for Margot… with Ben’s sister Ellie.

Well safe to say this is a perfect Hallmark queer Christmas movie story! Miscommunications, messy meet-cutes, pregnant Rottweilers, this book touches on so many cute themes and tropes. If you want an easy cute queer Christmas story, this book will hit the mark! 🥰

Our Georgia: by Lynette Williamson

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dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Lynette Williamson is the mother of Georgia Williams who was brutally murdered in 2013 by a person closely known to her. Lynette shares details of Georgia’s life, her passions and plans to join the Royal Air Force, her love for watching the football with her grandfather, her kindness for others. Lynette also shares intimate details learned as her parents, of her brutal murder, and the way lazy police work allowed for this to occur. This is non-fiction. The detail is extremely intimate of Georgia’s murder. Do not enter this book lightly. This is not the level of detail often disclosed in true crime documentaries. This is dark, this is intimate and should not be entered into lightly. Lynette’s extreme honesty is raw. It is painful, and Georgia’s loved ones are still living this traumatic reality to this day. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Mardle Books for this ARC.
Say You Swear by Meagan Brandy

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Arianna, her twin Mason, Brady, Chase and her bestie Cameron, have all long grown up together. Now they’re finally 18 and going to college together. Arianna’s always been in love with Chase… Will this be her chance to finally be with the boy she loves? Or are we meant to not always end up with our first loves?

Following a very character heavy chaotic and confusing start, the book begins to finally fall into place. And the book boyfriend of this book? Swoon! I loved seeing Arianna learning to find herself and falling in love despite a very stressful ending. If you love fast paced romances, with plenty of dramas this one will likely be for you. Beware creepily protective twin brother though???
Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

When Mira finds herself stranded somehow outside the queer club and confronted by her recent ex, she is rescued by tall gorgeous butch Isabel. When both are in need of a new roommate beyond their initial meet cute, the two women agree to live together. But with Mira fighting for her union, and need for some extra help, the forced proximity grows to something else.

Okay, so Mira is a hot lil Indian trans woman, and Isabel is a tall hot butch Asian lesbian? And there’s unions involved and forced proximity? Honestly I don’t know how Liao did it but she wrote the sapphic book of  my dreams I think??? This book is the perfect mix of sexy and real. I adored it!! It’s the perfect form of diversity rep I love to see and I cannot wait to read everything else Liao comes out with!! 😍😍

Thank you Darcy Liao for this ARC! This review is voluntary and entirely of my own opinions! 
The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

15 year old Spencer is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, a soccer champion and he’s transgender. After a year of bullying he moves schools and gets a fresh start, where he chooses to not disclose that he’s transgender. But when a discriminatory law forces his coach to bench, Spencer is forced to make a choice, watch from the benches or fight for his right to play. Even if he has to come out to everyone, including the guy he likes.

This book is just full of so much joy! Trans joy, black joy, queer joy, just 🥰🥰🥰 This was the latest pick for the queer book club I’m in and it was a great excuse to finally read this one! I’m not a big sports person, so the idea of reading a soccer themed book wasn’t something I thought I’d love and Fitzsimons proved me delightfully wrong! 😍😍 Spencer’s such a sweet kid and the support from all those who love him is just so heartwarming.
A Christmas wish on Arran by Ellie Henderson

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emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

25 years ago Lizzie and Callum agreed to meet at the train station, that is if Callum really wanted to go with Lizzie to London to start their lives and careers together, but he never shows. Lizzie, now known as Beth, has a faltering career as a journalist in London has a second chance to return to Arran for work. Will things work out unlike last time?

This book is definitely that of a Hallmark movie! If you want safe Christmas tropes set on a small Scottish island this book is perfect! Easy, quick and full of largely expected twists, with a few unexpected ones to actually keep you somewhat on your toes! I loved that this was about an older couple than you normally see in a lot of popular romances with the main characters being in their 40s and getting a second shot at love together! So if like me, you love a Hallmark Christmas style movie (because it’s always a safe “new” watch) this is perfect for you! And yes despite this being a series it works perfectly fine as a standalone! 

Thanks to NetGalley and Choc Lit and Joffe Books for this ARC!