I always feel like the new year brings along with it so much aspirations, new goals and fears. With every year, I believe we all learn something or the other. I truly believe that every year teaches us something as it goes by. 2019 wasn’t any different either. A year full of new beginnings, it taught me a lot many things – some tiny and uncanny, some big and to take along with me. 2019 was a year of growth and new learning at its best, with some extremely memorable moments that I’ll cherish forever. Spent with my favorite people, trying out new things, a year of firsts and meeting new people a ..read more

This year had been such a phenomenal one in regards to reading. I could complete 100 books and that is a big big big feat for me, who could hardly read 30 books last year. And I’ll be honest, the range of books I read were varied and wide, and I enjoyed a lot of them. So this is a compilation of some of my absolute favorite reads from this year, in no particular order.1. Summer Bird Blue Ah! This book. I had been wanting to read Akemi Dawn’s books for a long time and finally read SBB in the beginning of this year. And true to the reviews, was beautiful. Full of emotions and lyrical writing. I ..read more

Title: Coral Author: Sara Ella Genre: Young Adult Retelling Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishing date: 12th November, 2019 Source: Netgalley e-arc My rating: 5/5 Blurb (as on goodreads): There is more than one way to drown. Coral has always been different, standing out from her mermaid sisters in a society where blending in is key. Worse yet, she fears she has been afflicted with the dreaded Disease, said to be carried by humans—emotions. Can she face the darkness long enough to surface in the light? Above the sea, Brooke has nothing left to give. Depression and anxiety have left her feelin ..read more

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood Author: Kendare Blake Genre: Young Adult Paranormal / Horror Publisher: Tor Teen My rating: 5/5 Blurb (as on goodreads): Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay. Searching for a ghost t ..read more

Title: By any means necessary Author: Candice Montgomery Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Publisher: Page Street Publishing date: 8th October, 2019 Source: Review copy from @theffbc Rating: 3/5 Blurb (as on goodreads): On the day Torrey officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he’s even made it through orientation: the bee farm his beloved uncle Miles left him after his tragic death is being foreclosed on. Torrey would love nothing more than to leave behind the family and neighborhood that’s bleeding him dry. But he still feels compelled t ..read more

Title: Shadow Frost Author: Coco Ma Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Publishing date: 1st October, 2019 Source: Review copy from @theffbc My rating: 3.75/5 Blurb (as on goodreads): IN THE KINGDOM OF AXARIA, a darkness rises. Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes. Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm. Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down. Not one has ever returned. When Asterin Faelenhart, Princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she ..read more

Title: The Babysitters Coven Author: Kate Williams Genre: Young Adult Fantasy / Paranormal Publisher: Delacorte Press Publishing Date: 17th September, 2019 Source: Review copy My rating: 3.75/5 Blurb (as in goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it’s kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she’s good at it. And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let’s just say she owes some people a new tree. Enter Cassandra Heaven. Sh ..read more