Kindle Haul: April 2020

Over the past few months, I’ve collected a lot of books on my Kindle, especially during February when there were a lot of contemporary romance books on sale, which is my favorite genre. Here are a few books that I picked up recently:

• The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Unhoneymooners is a fairly hyped book in the bookish community. While all of the books that I’ve read by Christina Lauren have only been average for me, the plot sounded really interesting to me, so I decided to buy it for my Kindle. Unfortunately, many aspects of this story fell flat for me and only ended up as an average read like Christina Lauren’s other books.

The Unhoneymooners follows Olive, whose sister recently got married. Olive goes on her sister’s honeymoon after she sister, as well as many of the guests, get food poisoning from food at the wedding. However, the trip isn’t as relaxing as Olive hopes because the annoying best man at the wedding joins her on the trip.

• The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

I heard about The Right Swipe, but it didn’t sound like something I would be interested in reading. However, I saw a few reviews of this book online that were very positive, and since I’m always willing to be proved wrong about a book, I decided to download it. Since it was recently on sale, I couldn’t pass it up for such a good price.

In The Right Swipe, dating app creator Rhiannon matches with Samson, a professional football player. However, problems arise when Samson works with one of Rhiannon’s biggest rivals.

• Truly, Madly, Royally by Debbie Rigaud

Truly, Madly, Royally is one of the books on my 20 books I want to read in 2020 list. I’ve wanted to read it for awhile now, so when I saw it on sale recently, I purchased it immediately. I’m typically not into contemporary royal romances, but this sounds like a cute, and fun contemporary, so hopefully it will change my mind!

In Truly, Madly, Royally, Zora meets Owen, a cute boy at her prestigious summer camp who invites her to his brother’s wedding. Since it is a royal wedding, Zora faces scrutiny in real life and online.

• Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

Sandhya Menon’s books are either hit or miss for me, but I couldn’t pass up reading something slightly out of her typical genre. I am a huge fan of fairytale tellings as well, and this one does its own play on Beauty and the Beast. Hopefully, I enjoy this book as much as I enjoy the synopsis!

Of Curses and Kisses follows Raya, a princess, who goes to a royal boarding school to get back at a rival clan of her family by targeting one of its members. However, Jaya struggles once she starts to fall for the enemy.

What books have you purchased recently?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Book Titles that Would Make Good Band Names

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is books that would make good band names. We all know Daisy Jones and the Six took the bookish world by storm, but now it’s time for a new band to take center stage. Here are my choices:

• Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett

The name Chasing Lucky for some reason reminds me of Brighter Than the Sun by Colbie Calliat. Just like with Jenn Bennett books, they are contemporary and make you feel good when you finish listening or reading them.

• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Rising is that rock band that your parents listened to in the 80s. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are a solid writing duo. As a band, they’re solid. They’re classic. They’re probably doing a reunion tour right now.

• Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Brocka

Always Never Yours reminded me of the name Never Shout Never. For this one, I can just hear someone saying the name of a song on a radio followed with “from Always Never Yours.”

• Cold Day in the Sun by Sara Biren

Cold Day in the Sun reminded me of Chasing the Sun by The Wanted, so they probably would be that boy group who thinks they’re too cool to be a boy group, so they never are the biggest boy group out there. This reminds me of Cold Day in the Sun because the main character is so not like the other girls because she plays on the boys’ team, not the girls’ team.

• Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Counting by 7s reminds me of the Plain White T’s. It something that you use in everyday life, but doubles as a band name. If Counting by 7s were a band, they probably sang that one song you played over and over again in middle school because it reminded you of your crush.

• The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Unhoneymooners was the couple famous for singing together, but have since had a very public messy feud, kind of like one of the couples in this book. Now, instead of singing together on tour, their bashing each other in their memoirs.

• The Summers by Iva Marie Palmer

The Summers would be some sort of pop group that had one popular song during the summertime (of course) that you’ll remember all the words to… next summer, when they finally play it on the radio again. Just like this book for me, this band would be forgettable, but say, “Hm…. do you remember them?” when it comes up again.

• Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

Biggest Flirts is that pop girl group or boy group that was thrown together on some talent show after after the contests didn’t make it through as individuals. They probably wear bright colors. They are probably obnoxious. They are probably singing to a target audience half their age. But good or bad, you remember them, and that was more important than the actual music.

• Genuine Fraud by e. Lockhart

Genuine Fraud reminds me of Billie Eilish. Genuine Fraud is the cool girl that everyone wants to be, but only looks like their trying too hard to copy her style.

• Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom? They’re the edgy and loud band that your parents forbid you to listen to, but you still did anyway. Back in the day, you probably would have downloaded them from Limewire and got a virus on your computer because it’s so not a phase, mom.

What books do you think would make good band names?

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ARC REVIEW// Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett

I was so lucky to receive an ARC of this book!

Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett follows Josephine “Josie” St. Martin when she settles back into her hometown after five years of moving around

the New England area with her mother. Back in town, Josie runs into her former best friend, Lucky Karras, who wants nothing to do with her. However, a bad decision brings the two together again.

I have received ARCs for now three out of four books recently released by Jenn Bennett. While I was unsure of my thoughts on Jenn Bennett’s books after I read Alex, Approximately, each time I read a new book by this author, I love her writing even more. Out of the three books that I have read by Jenn Bennett, Chasing Lucky is hands down my favorite.

One of the highlights of books by Jenn Bennett is her writing style. The descriptions of Beauty, Josie’s hometown, were so descriptive that I felt like I was there. Her characters have distinct personalities that are shown through their actions rather than told the reader. Every time I read a new Jenn Bennett books, these characteristics of her writing seem to constantly improve, so I am consistently impressed by her new works rather than reminiscing about her old ones.

I also greatly enjoyed the relationships and relationship dynamics present in this book. The characters, their pasts, and their personalities truly carry the story. While there is miscommunication between the characters, it isn’t thrown in haphazardly to generate some drama, but all makes sense within the context of the characters in the story. While I guessed some “mysterious” or “secret” details of characters and their relationships in the book, this didn’t seriously impact my reading experience because I overall enjoyed each character and their role in this story.

I think Chasing Lucky is a sold contemporary. It reflects real life with its characters, relationships, and setting, but also provides an interesting story that will hook readers from beginning to end. Jenn Bennett has slowly become an auto-buy contemporary author from me and I look forward to her next release. I give Chasing Lucky five out of five stars.

I received a copy of Chasing Lucky via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Moment of Truth by Kasie West Review

Moment of truth: This was not one of my favorite Kasie West books.

Moment of Truth by Kasie West follows Hadley Moore, an overachieving swimmer who vows to discover the true identity of a masked classmate who ruined her last race. Moment of Truth is the third book in the Love, Life, and the List companion series. While it isn’t necessary to read the previous two books, there will be some spoilers about past relationships in this book.

I was extremely excited when I first saw Love, Life, and the List would be a companion series. Love, Life, and the List ranks as one of my favorite Kasie West books. However, my doubts started with Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss as it was one of my most disappointing reads of last year and one of my least favorite Kasie West books. As a result, I went into Moment of Truth a little more hesitantly than usual for a book by this author.

First of all, I was a little confused at the start. Was this book Moment of Truth or Heroes, Hearts, and Heath Hall? Both titles appeared on Goodreads and an online retailer close to release date. After reading Moment of Truth, I believe the chosen title is the most appropriate. This book strays far away from the first two novels. They are only loosely connected and the parts that are, for me, were forced and tried too hard. I think this book would have been much more successful separate from the companion series so those ties were not as forced.

As for the book itself, the beginning is slow. The masked classmate is extremely secretive and our main character is apparently very intelligent and successful. However, for the first quarter of the book, her only plan is to approach classmates to see if they will tell her the classmate’s identity. Even after several classmates refuse, Hadley still uses the same strategy. It was incredibly frustrating to read the same conversations and plot points over and over without any progress.

Then, readers are presented with a side plot. Hadley’s brother, who died before she was born, often takes priority over events in her life. Hadley struggles with jealously towards her brother and resentment towards her parents for consistently choosing him over her. For me, this was the most interesting aspect of the plot and had the potential to provide a little more depth than typically present in Kasie West’s books. However, I found this aspect presented a little too all over the place in the book and resolved WAY too quickly at the end. Overall, this book struggled with inconsistent pacing and repetition and this aspect of the book was no exception.

As for other aspects of the book: the friendship, the romance, and the “mystery”, they were either too generic to remember or not well fleshed out to meet my expectations. When I think about my favorite Kasie West books, P.S. I Like You, Love, Life, and the List, and The Fill-In Boyfriend, they all contained more memorable characters, interesting plots, and consistent story lines. While I typically breeze through books by this author, I struggled to finish Moment of Truth. I give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.

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Kindle Book Haul: March 2020

Last month, I mentioned that I went a little (read: A LOT) overboard buying books for my Kindle. Since it was February, there were a TON of contemporary romance books on sale. This genre is definitely my most read every year, so I couldn’t help but pick up some new books at a cheap cost. Here’s a few of the books that I bought:

• Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

When Always Never Yours was first released, I held back reading it because I typically don’t enjoy books with acting or school plays. However, I couldn’t pass up this hyped contemporary when it when on sale for my Kindle during February. I am so glad that I didn’t let my initial opinions dissuade me from this book because it has been one of my favorite contemporaries so far this year!

• If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Like with Always Never Yours, I wasn’t completely sold on the synopsis on this book. However, I heard this book had an unlikeable main character, which I usually enjoy, so I was slightly more interested. I didn’t like this book as much as Always Never Yours. That being said, I loved the family dynamics present in this book and just like Always Never Yours, it had a huge emotional punch which I greatly enjoyed. This author duo will definitely be an auto-read when it comes to contemporaries for me in the future.

• Throw Like a Girl by Sarah Henning

When I first saw Throw Like a Girl, I was thrown off by the middle 2000s YA cover even though this book was only published earlier this year. It surprised me that this recent release was a Kindle deal last month, and such I am such a huge football fan, I couldn’t pass this book up.

• Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Get a Life, Chloe Brown came on my radar from the bookish community. It has received A TON of hype recently. While I do appreciate the representation in this book, I wasn’t particularly invested in the relationship. Since this is a romance read, the book hinges on whether or not you buy into the couple, and for me that aspect of the book failed to meet my expectations.

What books have you purchased recently?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Contemporary Books that I've Re-Read the Most

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a genre freebie. For my list, I decided to choose my top ten contemporary re-reads. These are books that I have read over and over again throughout the years and greatly enjoyed. Here’s my list:

• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

In high school, Just Listen was my favorite book in high school. I read it at least once a year, sometimes even more than once. Since high school, I usually pick up Just Listen once a year if I need to get myself out of a reading slump. Although Sarah Dessen’s books haven’t impressed me much recently, Just Listen is from the time period when her books were extremely popular and memorable.

• P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

P.S. I Like You was the second or third book that I read by Kasie West and the one that made her an auto-buy author for me. P.S. I Like You is like your favorite romantic comedy in a book. Like with Sarah Dessen, I haven’t been too impressed with West’s most recent releases. However, I always pick up P.S. I Like You or other favorites by this author when I find myself in a reading slump.

• It’s a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison

I think my sister got this as a free book at school and we both immediately loved this book. Janette Allison’s books always make me literally laugh out loud, no matter how many times that I read them. This book takes place around Christmas, so I love to pick it up around December every year.

• Avalon High by Meg Cabot

This was another book in high school that I picked up once or more than once every year. While Avalon High has the fun of Meg Cabot’s other books, it is also very different than her typical books for some magical elements. This was a book I constantly recommended and re-read myself. I also think this was a Disney Channel original movie, but I wasn’t a huge fan of it.

• Secret Santa by Sabrina James

Secret Santa is such a cute Christmas read that I find myself picking up year after year. This book is extremely dated with the clothing and pop culture mentioned, but I like the multiple perspectives and fun Christmas activities throughout this book. I always wished that this book would have been made into a movie.

• Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West

Love, Life, and the List is a more recent addition to this list. Out of West’s most recent releases, this would have to be my favorite. No matter how many times I read it, the story hooks me from start to finish. I can always count on this book to pick me out of a reading slump!

• The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Truth About Forever is another book from the time period where Sarah Dessen was the top contemporary author in YA. I think The Truth About Forever is a favorite of her books. I think I read this book over and over, especially in high school, because not only was it fun, but it also had a lot of depth.

• All-American Girl by Meg Cabot

This was another book that I discovered in high school and read over and over again. This is a more traditional Meg Cabot book with pop culture references and tons of humor. This was another book that I really wanted to be turned into a movie in high school.

• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Unexpected Everything is probably the book that I’ve re-read the least on this list (it is so long!), however, I have enjoyed this book each time that I re-read it. The Unexpected Everything is such a fun summer read and I’m a fan of Morgan Matson’s writing style, so it is another book that I gravitate towards during a reading slump.

What books have you re-read the most?

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Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins Review

Prince Charming was a charming young adult contemporary.

Prince Charming, originally titled Royals, by Rachel Hawkins follows seventeen-year-old Daisy Winters after her sister gets engaged to a prince in Scotland. After Daisy’s ex-boyfriend exposes her to the press, the royal family whisks her away to Scotland to stay ahead of the tabloids. To keep the paparazzi at bay, the queen enlists a family friend to show Daisy the ropes of royal life.

I read the Rebel Belle series by Rachel Hawkins a few years ago. While I enjoyed the fun hook and humorous lead in the first book, the series quickly went downhill for its lack of consistency in characters and pacing. While I overall enjoyed this book by Rachel Hawkins, I think readers of the Rebel Belle series will notice some of the same issues in the second half of this book.

The highlight of this book was the humor. I literally laughed out loud during some of Daisy’s one liners. There are a lot of books labeled as romantic comedies, but I think this book definitely capitalizes on the comedy part more than others. The author also adds in a lot of ridiculous, but realistic humorous moments. For example, at the beginning of the book, we learn that Daisy’s former boyfriend tried to sell their prom pictures to the tabloids.

On the other hand, I feel like some of the synopsis, and new title, does not accurately match the book which may disappoint some readers. The book’s description largely emphasizes the prince’s younger brother and how Daisy shakes up the palace. Going into the book, I expected there to possibly be a love triangle with the prince’s younger brother and Miles. While it didn’t matter much to me when this wasn’t the case, it may irritate some readers if they expected the primary romance to be with a prince. Additionally, Daisy takes a more passive approach to the royal life, often going along with any of their schemes to appease her sister. Although Daisy does argue with several members of the royal family, she doesn’t actively combat them like the description suggests.

Another minor pet peeve that I noticed in this book, which I have noticed in several other books that I’ve read recently, are how some unnecessary scenes are added to open up the story for possible sequels, which ends up rushing other parts of the story. In this book, we get moments of other characters, like the prince’s siblings, that aren’t necessarily for the plot of this book, but are only included to possibly venture into their story’s later. Particularly with Sebastian, the prince’s younger brother, this irritated me because it was all over the place. It also served as the “all is lost” moment in the story, but actually never really affected the plot dramatically. Since I found the end of the story kind of rushed, especially the romance, I wished that the author would have put more focus into this story than the stories to come.

Despite my few issues with this book, I really enjoyed reading this book. Last year was a rough reading year for me because I wasn’t having fun with the books that I read and they never fully captivated me or transported me to a new place. However, Prince Charming was the perfect easy, fun read for me. I gave this book 3.5 out of five stars.

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Kiss Me, I’m Irish Book Tag

Even though St. Patrick’s Day was yesterday, I thought it would still be the perfect time to do the Kiss Me, I’m Irish book tag. Here are my answers:

• Green: A Book With a Green Cover

The first book that I thought of with a green cover is My (Not So) Perfect Life. This green cover fits the story well because it sends the message that life isn’t always greener on the other side.

• Blarney: A Book that Deceived You into Liking It or It Was Over-Hyped and You Ended Up Disliking It

I decided to pick up The Unhoneymooners because the plot sounded interesting and it landed on a lot of favorite lists at the end of the year. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t wasn’t as enthralled with this book as other readers. I much preferred the latest release by this author duo, The Honey Don’t List, which I received an e-arc of via NetGalley. The Honey Don’t List will be released near the end of this month.

• Brogue (Dialect): A Book Where One of the Characters Has an Accent

Recently, I read Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins which primarily takes place in Scotland. As a result, there are many Scottish accents. However, some readers may find the accents, as well as many aspects of the culture in this book, to be rather stereotypical and cartoonish than accurate.

• Leprechaun: A Book You Enjoyed When You Were Young

When I was younger, I was a huge fan of the Judy Moody series. I remember Judy’s Shark shirt and her little brother, Stink. Now that I’m older, it’s cool to see how the series has expanded with her brother having his own series. Additionally, I had the opportunity to do a unit on Judy Moody Declares Independence a few years ago during student teaching which was extremely exciting.

• Pot of Gold: A Book That Cost You a Lot or is of Great Value to You

One book that cost a lot more than I expected was A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I wasn’t sure if I was going to read this book or wait to borrow it from the library. However, I was making a purchase from Barnes and Noble and decided to pre-order a book to make the free shipping mark. I got this book cheaper than it will be on release day, which is good because it will retail at almost thirty dollars which is a high hike from the original series.

• Four-Leaf Clover or Shamrock: Four Leaves = More Than One Book, Pick Your Current or Old Favorite Series

At the beginning of the year, I read Aurora Rising. I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. However, I am excited to continue this series when the second book releases this year.

• Magic: A Book that You Found Magical or a Book Where You Enjoyed a Magic Element That Was Found in the Story Line

So far this year, I have strictly read contemporary aside from Aurora Rising, which is considered science fiction. As a result, none of m r3cent reads really contained any magic!

• Kiss: Your Current Favorite Book Pairing or Your All-Time Favorite Book Pairing

I have read a lot of romance books this year, so I have so many couples to choose from! One of my favorites would have to be Megan and Owen from Always, Never, Yours. I was glued to this book from start to finish and I really liked this couple together.

• Luck: A Book on Your Shelf That You Will Luckily Get To… Someday

I have had Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson on my TBR for YEARS. While I love books by this author, I am not a fan of sad books and I know this book will be really sad. Hopefully, I can finally get to this book in 2020.

• Jig: A Book That You Don’t Currently Own But If You Could Get a Hold of It, It Would Make You Dance With Joy

I would love to get a hold of The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang. I loved The Bride Test last year, so I would love to get an early copy of the next book in this companion series.

• Rainbow: That’s You! Lead Others to This “Pot of Gold Tag!”

I tag anyone who reads this post!

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If I’m Being Honest Review

If I’m being honest, I would rate this book as 3.5 stars.

If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegermund-Broka follows popular high school student Cameron Bright who always tells it like it is, no matter who she hurts. After she gets burned by a crush, Cameron takes inspiration from Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew and decides to apologize to everyone that she wronged to win back his affections. On her journey to redemption, Cameron reconnects with Brendan, who dropped to the bottom on the social ladder when Cameron gave him a less than flattering nickname.

I have heard about books by this author duo before, but something never clicked with me from the book’s descriptions to pick the up despite my love of contemporaries. I found both of their currently released books on sale for my Kindle during February, so I decided to pick them up since I was on a contemporary kick. While I prefer Always Never Yours over this book, this was overall a solid YA contemporary book. After reading Always Never Yours, I can see this duo becoming an auto-buy for me when it comes to contemporaries.

I saw a few reviews for this book and many of them expressed how they did not like the main character, Cameron, because she was the most unlikeable main character that they have ever read. I love reading unlikeable characters, especially popular main characters, because they rarely show up in YA fiction. I especially appreciate the two authors of this book because in both the books they read, they consistently show outgoing and bold female characters confident in who they are, which is refreshing for me in terms of YA contemporaries. That being said, I can see how Cameron can rub people the wrong way. Honestly, she is the meanest main character that I’ve ever read, especially at the beginning of the book. For people who experienced a lot of bullying in high school, I may steer clear of this one because it may trigger bad memories and it may be difficult to root for Cameron as a main character, even though she does change her ways throughout the novel.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed was Cameron’s relationship with her mom and dad. This relationship is extremely complicated and affects many aspects of Cameron’s life in a realistic way. I enjoyed watching Cameron’s relationship with her mom grow and change. In the beginning of the book, Cameron sees all of her mother’s actions as extremely weak. Eventually, Cameron recognizes that while her mother may not be perfect, all of the decisions that she saw as weak were actually moments that her mother was strong to provide the best life for Cameron. The moments at the end where they began to reconcile their relationship almost made me cry and were some of my favorite parts of the book.

For me, my least favorite part of the book was the connection to Shakespeare. In Always Never Yours, I felt the Shakespeare connection was included more naturally and had more of a clear connection and message to the story. In this book, Cameron bounced around in her interpretation of Katherine’s character in the play, which they read and debated in class. While Cameron finally acknowledges that how Petruchio treated Katherine was not okay, but Katherine still could be honest without being cruel, I thought this could be done in a more direct way.

Overall, If I’m Being Honest is a solid YA contemporary. The emotional moments, especially between Cameron and her mother, made the book an above average contemporary for me, which is why I rated it as 3.5 stars.

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Aurora Rising Review

Aurora Rising is out of this world.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff follows a ragtag team of space cadets tasked to keep a cryogenically frozen safe after she wakes up and takes refuge on their ship. Aurora’s arrival triggers an unpredictable series of events that may place the entire galaxy in danger.

I was extremely hesitant to pick up Aurora Rising. I picked up Illuminae by the same author duo a few years ago in college… and never finished. After I heard several less than stellar reviews to this book, I went in with extremely low expectations. It seems, however, when I approach a book so uneasily that it always turns out much better than I expected. For me, Aurora Rising was a fun read that kept me hooked from start to finish, however, I could see how it comes across as unoriginal or uninspiring for frequent readers of the genre.

One of the greatest criticisms of this book that I see is that the cast of characters resembles many other examples of ragtag teams in YA, like Six of Crows and the Lunar Chronicles, and that many of the voices in this story are too similar. While I do agree that too many of these characters adopt the same sarcastic sense of humor, I overall enjoyed each perspective in this book. While in some books I find myself gravitating to one perspective more than the other, I found that each character in this book had a story that I was interested in reading.

Like with the characters, some readers may find Aurora Rising unoriginal for its genre. While I have seen a lot of comparison to Six of Crows, I actually found Aurora Rising more similar to Guardians of the Galaxy with the ending reminiscent of Annihilation. The plot itself, especially at the end, reminds me of the second Guardians of the Galaxy. More obviously, the crew has the makeup and humor of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast. While I’ve never read Annihilation and have never seen the movie, the world that appears in the trailer looks extremely similar to the trailer of the movie and has some other similar qualities which I won’t mention to avoid spoilers. Since I am not an avid sci-fi reader, this story wasn’t as repetitive to me. However, I could see how frequent sci-fi readers might feel like they’ve seen this story before.

Another problem that many readers have with this book is the pacing and consider it too slow. Looking back in this book, large chunks of the book do take place in either the same location or work to the same goal, so I can see why this would bore some readers if they expect a novel with more twists and turns. For me, since I was so invested in the characters and figuring out the mystery of Aurora, this personally didn’t bother me. However, if you aren’t buying into the characters or the story, I can see how this may be more irritating.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was really invested in this story. Towards the end, I had to keep putting the book down because I was in total disbelief over the ending of the book. Since this book was outside of what I usually read, I was so surprised over how much I enjoyed this book. It actually motivates me to pick up Illuminae again. While I can understand the faults that people have for this book, for me, it was a fun read that I couldn’t put down. As a result, I have Aurora Rising five out of five stars.

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