lisaluvsliterature's reviews
4090 reviews

Build a Girlfriend by Elba Luz

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

The publisher reached out to me about this one and I wasn’t completely sure if I’d enjoy it, but I loved the idea of all the cultural aspects to the family, and the whole find out with the exes maybe what was the problem is one type of story that is fun as well. I was lucky enough to have snow days off from work and got to read almost straight through this in a little over a day. 
There was a lot of humor, between how the family interacted with each other, which I loved – reminded me in ways of the sarcastic qualities of my own family, and the clumsiness and awkwardness that Amelia seemed to go through life and on her dates with. It was easy to see why Amelia wanted to get out and have a gap year away from her family. As wonderful as they were to have around and just be there for her, it also was a bit suffocating for her, not to mention no one had ever really asked what she actually wanted. She gave a description at the end of how she wasn’t good at anything, and not in a way that she was putting herself down, but a way she was describing that the choices she’d made led her to not know what she liked or try to get better at things other than what her family wanted or expected her to do. And those weren’t the things she was good at, or cared to get better at.
Her romantic life was funny, but also I definitely cringed for her a lot. The whole going back to try with exes reminded me both of one of my favorite books/movies – What’s Your Number? and also the episode of The Big Bang Theory when Raj had all his exes meet him and then he asked them questions about what went wrong and what he could do to improve. Of course there was the ONE ex, Leon, who suddenly showed back up in her life. The one who had broken her heart, and never apologized or even explained why he did what he did. And here he is back again in her life, and he still does neither of those things.
That irritated me for her, I mean if he’d just explained it could have saved so much heartache early on. Not to mention maybe she wouldn’t have gotten the revenge plan in her head. All the different things that made Amelia end up going viral, embarrassing things, made so much of the book, and wow, it just sucked for her! And oh did I want to punch that person at the end, I had a feeling that the little journal was going to get in the wrong hands, I just didn’t expect that to happen!
But it wasn’t just a romance, there was the whole issue with her family and how she felt with them, even as she loved them as much as she did. The moment when she talked about why she wasn’t good at anything, and then the whole what you might call “come to Jesus” discussion with her family was so good. There was so much emotion, and so many things that came out, it was great having her mom kind of come out and take a stand, as it seemed Amelia’s mother really did need to do something to take care of herself. And the things that we learned about her aunts, things they’d done and not told her, and how they reacted and possibly changed after the big talk, all of it made for so much more than just a contemporary romance type of story.
I had one small issue, but it is something that would be very unpopular as an opinion right now, so I won’t list it, and it was the reason I was unsure about taking the book and marked it down to 4.5 stars on my blog. However I was so into this story, once I picked it up with time to read I could barely put it down. Another one I can’t wait to share with my students!
Chase Lovett Wants Me by Helena Hunting

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

The Path to Loving Him by Meghan Quinn

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Wow, Ryland was one that hurt my heart so much. It was understandable after all he’d been through that he felt the way he did, and when the one big thing he’d been worried about a relationship making him do actually kinda sorta happened, gah! It made that third act break up so real and so heart wrenching! 
I loved being back in Almond Bay. Gabby was such a sweetheart, but also had her own issues, with good reason, for not wanting to start a relationship. She had been a former resident with her brother Bennett, well, they lived outside of town and didn’t get in much due to their own family struggles. So really she got to try the cookies and meet some of the regular town characters for the first time. While she knew who Ryland was because he’d coached her brother, she didn’t really know his family. Which I love the family. Especially little Mac. Her Chewy Chondra and how she played with her Uncle Wyatt was so much fun! So cute and adorable. 
Of course in true Meghan Quinn fashion there were so many hilarious moments that had me laughing out loud. Especially when poor Gabby slid down the pole she was painting and got burns on her inner thighs. Which of course led to some sexy moments as Ryland was helping her with that. Of course him getting the paint dumped on him when the ladder fell was funny. When Ryland was playing as Godzilla Plus with Mac, and she nailed him right between the legs, oh that whole scene was so funny. 
While our family stories are pretty much wrapped up, especially with how far down the line the epilogue is, I’m hoping for a spinoff for Gabby’s friend Bower and her brother, an older woman romance, I’m all there for that! 
Oh yeah, the author redid the covers with this one, and I do love this one! 
After Life by Gayle Forman

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I haven’t read this author in a while, although I loved her If I Stay series. This book has a bit of that same feel to it, with a daughter that had supposedly died when a car hit her bicycle. We don’t know that at the beginning of the story however. We just read about Amber riding her bike home from school at the end of her senior year. But when she shows up, no one is home. However when someone does come home, it is shocking, and it’s because to them, she died 7 years ago. 
So Amber has to figure out what exactly is going on. Why is she back? Things of course have changed so much in those 7 years. Her parents are divorced, a common occurrence when a child dies. Her 10 year old sister is now the same age she was or the same age she thinks she is now. Her boyfriend seems to have become completely different from what she remembers. And her aunt, who used to be her mom’s best friend has left the country and hasn’t been back. An old friend of hers that she did something mean to when they were younger because she wanted to move on to new friends seems to be there for her now as well. 
But that’s when I got the hint that maybe it was more than just her being back from the dead. Her friend Dina said she couldn’t go in somewhere with Amber, and I was thinking that was weird. Was Dina alive? Or was Dina not allowed to go into that place because her mother was a cop, so obviously she’d keep her away from unsafe people/places?
When we got Amber’s POV it was in first person. But there were other people in the book we got their POV in 3rd person. Such as her sister. Some people who seemed kind of random too. A teacher, a school photographer, etc. The way those people filled in the story was good, and all the little connections that seemed random were perfect. I really liked how it all fit together at the end, making the story more than just a girl back from the dead, and adding some philosophical aspects to the story. Even getting a mystery solved by all these little puzzle pieces and seemingly unrelated connections.
I definitely can’t wait to share this one with my students, and I could see it being a possible Gateway nominee in a year or two!
Hot Winter Nights by Codi Gary

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A Long Stretch of Bad Days by Mindy McGinnis

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Stealing Second: 2nd book of the Lucky Charms series by Michelle Denise Sodaro

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

3.75

The Song of Orphan's Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I was so excited to get the chance to read this debut novel by one of my favorite fellow book bloggers early! I don’t read a ton of middle grade books anymore since I switched from being a middle school teacher to a high school librarian. But occasionally I’ll give in and give them a try. It’s kind of interesting that both of the middle grade books I’ve read this year were also novels in verse, as I don’t tend to read a lot of poetry or novels in verse either. However, just like the one I read earlier this year, but in a completely different way, this one was a winner for me as well!
The characters were definitely ones that I was rooting for, especially as we see both sides of the story. We see how both have been led to believe things about the other side based on what they’ve been told. And as younger children, well, 13 years old I believe, that is a time when kids start to look and see maybe things aren’t exactly as they’ve been led to believe by their parents or other adults in their lives. When they start basing their opinions based on their own experiences and making or wanting to make their own decisions.
Lyrianna is on a desperate mission to get her brother to a garden to be healed. And she’s heard of the Orphan’s Garden, where no payment or fee is required and supposedly only orphans are called to it. It is so much tension and being on the edge of the seat while reading hoping that each obstacle can be overcome even in this cold, hard world.
Then there is Brob, which I love the full name, Brobdingnag – which I know that word thanks to The Big Bang Theory, lol. Perfect name for a giant! His family has been turned away from their own garden and lives thanks to what their king has decided is a betrayal, a failure by Brob’s father. They are sent away. And Brob remembers the garden he created when he was separated from his parents a long time ago, and he heads there to show his parents what he’s done and maybe help them to secure favor with the king again.
Of course there are children there that he has to get rid of, human children or tinies as they are called. But soon after getting rid of them, he realizes that maybe he needs them to keep the garden going and not having it turn into the winter blight that surrounds the garden. Together they all come to work together to save it. But then there is danger in either his parents bringing the giants back, or possibly the humans coming to take the garden for themselves. The final battle is one that will be won but not without some losses. 
As I said, a wonderful tale that I can’t wait to share with the middle school librarians I know. And I’m so proud of Nicole for creating this wonderful story!
If the Shoe Fits by Laurie LeClair

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.
Just was t getting into it
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

5.0