Dua Lipa Inspired YA Book Recommendations!

Today’s post is all about YA Book Recommendations, inspired by Dua Lipa’s self-titled deluxe album. I love Dua Lipa’s album because she deals with such raw and relatable emotions, and I realized they coincided ridiculously with some of my favorite books! What sparked this idea was hearing Homesick by Dua Lipa while I was reading the Library of Fates about 2 months ago. It fit so perfectly and when I started thinking about it more books fit together. 2 of these 17 songs were hard for me to match but I’ve finally done it and here are the results! Here’s a link to her album on Spotify if you would like to listen while you read: https://open.spotify.com/album/5fVY6IeKcgyGdSD3DBxNM4

1. Genesis → Champion by Marie Lu

“Without you, I’ve got no air to breathe in. How can we go back to the beginning?”

2. Lost in Your Light → They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

“Hold me, Trust me, you know you can hide in my arms all night”

3. Hotter Than Hell → The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

“Does it burn when I’m not there? When you’re by yourself, am I the answer to your prayers?”

4. Be The One → Arya and Eragon in Inheritance by Christopher Paolini 

“I see the moon, oh when you’re looking at the sun... I see in blue oh but you see everything in red.”

5. IDGAF → Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde 

“You say you’re sorry, but it’s too late now. So save it, get gone, shut up”

6. Blow Your Mind → Patch from Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

“If you don’t like the way I talk, then why am I on your mind?”

Garden → Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 

“Where do we go? Cause we don’t believe in this Garden of Eden”

No Goodbyes → The Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

“Whisper pretty lies. Just for tonight, let’s love like there’s no goodbyes”

Thinking ‘Bout You → I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness 

“I’ve been working longer, I’ve been drinking stronger, I’ve been smoking deeper but the memories won’t stop. I can’t stop thinking ‘bout you.”

New Rules → Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

“Don’t let him in, you’ll have to kick him out again”

Begging → The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

“Swear I’m gonna hold your head up

Swear I’m gonna break your fall

Swear we’re gonna last forever

Baby, this is all I want.”

Homesick → The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

“It’s a bittersweet feeling, Longing and I’m leaving. I go, I go, I go. But I wish I was there with you.”

Dreams → Top Ten by Katie Cotugno

“In my dreams, you say you need me, believe me. In my dreams you’d say you love me, say you’ll never leave my dreams. In my dreams.”

Room For 2 → The Lies They Tell by Gillian French

“Karma’s got a kiss for you”

New Love → Beyond a Darkened Shore by Jessica Leake

“I’ve been through mountains and seas, tryna to get you to come back to me”

Bad Together → The Rose Society by Marie Lu

“You’ve seen that we’ve got the same pain, same scar... Let’s be bad together, baby you and I. Let’s be bad together, if only for awhile.”

Last Dance → Dreams of God’s and Monsters by Laini Taylor

“Way too young to hurt so long, I’m hurtin’. Was it worth it?”

How's my list? Have any recommendations for me?

Summer TBR Update #1

Here's my first update for the Summer TBR Wipeout challenge hosted by The Candid Cover!

I can't believe we're already writing an update post I feel like I've barley started! I'm loving the comments on my intro post and I'm fired up to read some of my next TBRs. Just have to track down a copy as I'm currently out of town so no library (tears up). 

So far I have read:

Runebinder Review

Merrett's Chase Review

I currently have my hands on:

The books above will definitely be up next while I search for some of the others in my TBR challenge. I'm especially looking forward to tracking down The Hate U Give as it had a long run on the New York Times bestseller list. More details about all of these books can be found on my 2018 TBR Goodreads Shelf.

What have you been reading this summer??

Review: Merrett's Chase by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Merrett’s Chase

by Ian Mitchell-Gill

Publication Date: February 8^th 2018

Publisher: FriesenPress

Find This Book: Merrett’s Chase

Rating: 5/5

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Now for those of you that have been following my reviews of books one and two, you’ll know that this series is about a kick-ass group of teenage spies. From the east to the west, they’re the best at what they do: hacking, chemical compounds, lock picking, scaling buildings, and strategy/disguise. Being book 3, we’ve already seen them pull a heist at a museum and take down a cult. Their biggest mission yet? Leading the CIA and their teacher, Merrett, on a wild goose chase to buy time for the real issues (sorry, no spoilers!)

It was great to see these teens doing what they do best outside the jurisdiction of their school and the CIA. We really got to see what they were all capable of without rules or expectations to deal with- especially Lydia. The chase was action-packed, and it was great to compare how Merrett and I thought, as well as how the other CIA agents who didn’t know the kids very well. We all worked through the crime scenes in our own ways! Unlike book two where you could pretty much enjoy it as a standalone book, Merrett’s Chase really tied everything together and required knowledge from books 1 and 2 to get the most out of reading it. I loved that it brought in some new characters and also brought back some past characters- I was definitely not expecting a certain someone to make a reappearance!

My favorite part was definitely the last scene. Again, no spoilers about the content, but it made me tear up a bit. It was so heartwarming and it felt like the whole series was leading up to the close relationships of the teens with each other and the teens with Merrett. I didn’t realize how close I had gotten with the characters throughout the series until I was sniffling reading the last couple of pages! This is what bumped the last book from a 4 to a 5 for me!

Summer 2018 TBR Wipeout Intro!

Hi everyone! This year I'm joining the 2018 Summer TBR Wipeout hosted by The Candid Cover.

I'm hoping to crack down on my giant TBR list (which is slowly shrinking a bit due to Down the TBR Hole) as well as to bring some structure to my summer and meet more book bloggers! I'm glad I'm in a great book community to try and accomplish all of these goals.

Without further ado, my readings goals for this summer:

I'm not sure if I'll get through all of them, because a lot of them are new and my library hasn't gotten them yet, so I've added some older books that I already own as well! I'm partiuclarly looking forward to Nobody's Princess as is it one of my original TBR books from *gasps* 2012. I'm also excited for Merrett's Chase and 806 which are both review requests! I have created a Goodreads shelf for this challenge- check it out if your interested in learning more about any of these books!

ARC Review: I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness

I Had Such Friends

by Meg Gatland-Veness

Publication Date: August 1^st 2018

Publisher: Pantera Press

Find This Book: I Had Such Friends

Rating: 4/5

I was given an eARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book’s description includes warnings about: child abuse, neglect, sexual assault, bullying, prejudice, death, and suicide. This book covered some heavy topics, and I love that the back matter of the book included awareness messaging and information about suicide prevention organizations in Australia (where the book will be published). These seniors in high school go through a lot, and everyone is not as they seem (I know that’s a horror cliché but I really just mean that the one-dimensional stereotypes people present hide the complicated, multifaceted person they really are, and this book wandered that line in a creative way.

This novel dealt with identity both in an academic setting, as well as personal/sexual identity which I haven't seen very much. Our main character, Hamish, doesn't really know who he is outside of farming with his family, and studying with his only friend until two other students take an interest in him. Why they were both independently drawn to Hamish and how his relationships with them develop created a powerful narrative. 

Hamish discovers himself through his interactions with Martin, Peter, and Annie. Some friendships fall apart and some don’t- that’s just how life is. The people who really matter should love and understand you, and not everyone in your life deserves to stay in your life. Representing positive and negative reactions to the events that take place in this novel creates a reality and almost anyone is sure to be able to relate to. Additionally, seeing LGBT+ representation in a religious suburban/rural town is something that a lot of kids can identify with, and the various reactions to these character identities was both heart-breaking and heart-warming.