As many of you may have guessed from the inactivity over the past few months, I have decided to stop blogging. First and foremost: I am sorry. I cannot say enough how immensely happy this blog has made me. In the five years since I began blogging, I've grown so much as a person and have learned so much from each and every one of you. All of the comments, views, real-life meet-ups, and online discussions have meant the world to me. I found a community that I couldn't find in high school and one very different from the one I discovered in college and for that, I will always be grateful. This bl ..read more

July has been a loooong month but I can't believe it's already over! I only have two more weeks of my internship, one more week at home, two weeks of Orientation at Wellesley and then, bam, my second-to-last semester of college is about to begin!! HOW did I get here? *shakes head* Three Things About My Life This Month 1. I spent 4th of July in the ER. Before everyone begins to panic, let me first say that I am 100% OK. I am staying in a college dorm this summer and the facilities are unfortunately pretty crappy, to the point where my bed was lofted a good six feet off the ground and while try ..read more

Title: Now I Rise (The Conquerors Saga, #2) Author: Kiersten White Rating: 3.5 Stars Note: Mild spoilers for And I Darken, Book 1 of the Conqueror's Saga, below. If you haven't read And I Darken you can read my review HERE. No one wanted to love Now I Rise more than I did. However, White's middle novel in this series is definitely a weak link, IMO. It picks up not long after where we left off--Lada trying to win the throne of Wallachia and Radu faithfully serving Mehmed--and though I immersed myself in this story completely at first, after a quarter or so I began to slow down. I struggled ..read more

Title: Since You've Been Gone Author: Morgan Matson Rating: 4 Stars The weakest part of Since You've Been Gone is its beginning. From the start, this novel feels all too much like an ode to a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Sloane. Our protagonist, Emily, is shy--she lives in the shadow of her best friend, Sloane, rather happily, content to follow in her footsteps and stretch her limits, but only just barely. When Sloane up and disappears in the beginning of the summer, Emily is lonely and lost--why did Sloane leave? So when Emily receives a list from Sloane, she's determined to finish it--to cro ..read more

For those of you who have missed it, this past week has been Scholastic's annual 'I Read YA' Week! The fabulous team over at Scholastic invited me to participate in this event and today I am joining the campaign with one of their Daily Social Challenges, today's being a YA book everyone needs to read.  As an avid reader, it's impossible for me to pick just one YA book I think everyone needs to read. Thus, I'm pulling out this photo of some of the YA books--and authors--I think everyone needs to read. First up? Courtney Summers. Summers writes dark, gritty books that seep into your ..read more

Title: Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist, #1) Author: Renee Ahdieh Rating: 3.5 Stars The only daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has always known she’d been raised for one purpose and one purpose only: to marry. Never mind her cunning, which rivals that of her twin brother, Kenshin, or her skills as an accomplished alchemist. Since Mariko was not born a boy, her fate was sealed the moment she drew her first breath. So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is ..read more

It's finally SUMMER! I love this season!! 3 Things About My Life This Month 1. I moved to D.C. and started my summer internship! The internship has been slow so far but I'm loving D.C., am meeting so many friends I haven't seen in roughly a year, and I really like my co-workers. I'm hoping to get more work to do and have a meatier project to work on as the summer progresses, but so far, so good. 2. The blog turned FIVE this month! I can't believe it's been five years!!! Thank you so much to everyone who has read my posts, commented, and supported me--whether you've been with my from the st ..read more

Title: Ramona Blue Author: Julie Murphy Rating: 4 Stars Ramona Blue has been making internet waves well before its release date. A poorly written summary led readers to believe that Murphy's latest is about a lesbian who is "cured" by a straight male--that she finally meets the one guy who helps her see that she's been heterosexual all along! Well, let me put those worries to rest: Ramona Blue is not about homosexual-shaming in the least. In fact, Murphy's latest is a story of a young girl growing to realize that her sexuality is a lot more fluid than she originally thought it was--and a ..read more

Title: The Names They Gave Us Author: Emery Lord Rating: 5 Stars The Names They Gave Us is tied with The Start of Me and You as my favorite novel by Emery Lord. I enjoyed Open Road Summer but When We Collided made me re-evaluate whether Lord and I had gone our separate ways. We haven't; not yet, at any rate. Lord's latest follows Lucy, from the night of her junior prom when she finds out that her mother's breast cancer is back after two years, to her boyfriend "pausing" their relationship for the summer, just as Lucy goes off to be a counselor at Camp Daybreak, a far cry from the Camp Ho ..read more

Title: A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Author: Mackenzi Lee Rating: 4.5 Stars Release Date: June 27th, 2017 Where do I begin with this lovely, charming novel? I truly believe that Lee has found a hidden niche that we’ve all overlooked—the Victorian England MAN. There are so many incredible historical romances that dissect this time period and give agency to women, but Lee makes us take a closer look at what makes the Victorian England man the person he is—what circumstances and societal expectations he is faced with and, that contrary to popular belief, his life isn’t as charmed a ..read more