Ok December. I need to finish 13 books in you. Do you hear me? If I read 13 books this month I’ll hit my goal of 48 books this year. I had such a strong start to the year, and then between August and November I read like 1 book. That really set me back. Like most months, I plan on predominantly reading YA Fantasy, but there might be a contemporary book or two in there!
I tried to somewhat order them in the order I plan to read them, but it get’s a little muddy at the end. I want to finish out the Falling Kingdoms series for sure. But we’ll see where I go after that. I just got Perfect on Paper in in my bookmail so that’s high up there, but I also just excitedly got approved for ARCs of both A Forgery of Roses and In Every Generation (and as Buffy is my literal favorite TV show, you can see why this would be high on my list!).
And for a better rundown (with links to their goodreads pages):
Hey ya’ll!!! November was a pretty good reading month for me. I was on bedrest with a torn MCL for 2+ weeks, so you would think I would have read way more, but did I? Nope. Instead I binged watched the entire Attack on Titan series (Sasha is best girl and nobody can do anything to sway me from that opinion), did a lot of art tutorials on my iPad, and worked from home as much as possible so I didn’t have to burn through my precious PTO(the perks of working in IT).
Still, I read 4 books, so that’s pretty good considering I had to keep up with my night classes too! I really enjoyed all of them too! One was a re-read, The Princess Diaries. One was a MUCH anticipated trilogy ender, Aurora’s End, my boy Fin looking so handsome on the cover! Then was the first book in a series I have owned for ages, but never got around to reading, Falling Kingdoms, this was prolly my least favorite of the 4, but I still enjoyed it enough that I’m in the middle of Rebel Spring right now and really enjoying it! And last up was the ARC of Emma Lord’s newest upcoming book, When You Get the Chance, which I absolutely ADORED. The review for that one is up on my blog now, so you can see more info there.
In order to keep my original Goodreads goal of 48 books this year, I need to read 13 in December. Not sure I’ll make it, haha, but a girl can dream! Seriously, I’ll never know how I did it the one year I read 317 books….
I wish more than anything I could ask him something now. I was prepared to lose him, maybe. But I wasn’t prepared for what happens after the losing.
-Emma Lord, When You Get the Chance
Well, life hits sometimes, and I haven’t posted a blog/review in just over a year. I find it hilarious though that my last post from October 23, 2020 was a review of Emma Lord’s You Have a Match, and my first review back is of Emma Lord’s When You Get the Chance! I swear, I didn’t plan it that way. I didn’t even realize it until just now when I opened up wordpress, inspired to write a blog again! It’s good to be back! Now, you aren’t really here for me, you’re here to read about Emma Lord’s newest upcoming book!
Millie (short for Camille, although easily could be equated to Millie from Thoroughly Modern Millie) is a musical theatre nerd in the extreme. It’s good that she lives in New York because she would lost in a small town in the middle of nowhere. We follow her navigating through trying to get her single parent father to let her go away to a musical theatre pre-college, essentially skipping her senior year of high school. When he inevitably says no, her solution is to ask her mother to convince HER to let her go. Only problem, she’s never met her mother. She was dropped off by her mom on her dad’s doorstep when she was an infant, and Millie has been raised by him and his sister, Heather. When Millie discovers that there are 3 potential women who could be her mom living in the city, she takes matters into her own hands. The antics ensue from there.
One thing I loved about this premise, is how much Millie identifies that her situation is reminiscent of Mamma Mia. So far as she and her best friend Teddy, begin calling it her Millie Mia. This book is completely filled with an abundance of musical theatre references (which some may think are too much, but as a musical theatre nerd, I LOVED). And the relationships between Millie and all her supporting cast (hah hah) were very well developed. From her best friend across the hall Teddy, to her arch-nemesis Oliver, to her potential younger half-sister Chloe, her aunt Heather, and to her father, my personal favorite, Cooper. Each relationship feels fully fleshed out and has backstory. And I love how you learn about each of the characters in their lives OUTSIDE of Millie.
One of the biggest things this book also solidified for me. I may read YA books 95% of the time, but I’m in my mid 30s. Do I still fall for the clear love interest? Nope, I’m falling for the single dad every time.
All in all, I loved this book so much. Easy 5/5 from me for this book. My only little nitpicky issue, is that, throughout the whole book, “theatre” is spelled “theater.” Small gripe, but that’s just me. I had to get over it.
Book Particulars:
Page Count: 320 Pages
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Edition Read – eBook, thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Expected Release Date: January 4, 2022
Dates Read: November 24, 2021 – November 26, 2021
Book Synopsis: Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.
There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?
Sometimes the best heroes are the ones in your head—but that doesn’t make them any less real.
Ashley Poston
When I first read the first book, Geekerella, I fell in love with the story. It came out a in April of 2017, but I didn’t get a chance to read it until August of 2017. In June of 2017 my father passed away suddenly and I spent the following month doing what I could to keep his legacy alive. So, when I picked up Geekerella, I sobbed my way through it. I had no memory of ever connecting to a story that much. After that I tucked it into my shelf, not knowing until 2 weeks ago that it was turning into a series. Imagine my delight and happiness when seeing that the book that had gotten me through the darkest time in my life, was just a launchpad for more nerd love.
And that’s exactly what The Princess and the Fangirl truly is. More nerd love. Not just love between nerds, but love FOR nerds. The book is a love letter to those of us who live and breathe stories set in the Stars (Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, BattleSTAR Galactica, etc). The book is littered with so many amazing pop culture references (although I do admit that could be a detractor for some people) it was like fuel for my TMORD* heart.
We follow two characters, Jessica Stone (whom we met in Geekerella) and Imogene Lovelace. The two girls are from different worlds, but look nearly identical. Identical enough that through a chain of events, Imogene goes from accidentally being mistaken for Jessica, to actually intentionally impersonating her for the duration of ExcelsiCon. There is a steep learning curve for both girls, as they realize the other didn’t have it as easily as first it appeared. I loved following both storylines, and I love how Ashley weaves LGBTQ+ relationships into her stories. They feel so natural and I ship all of them so much.
I didn’t love this one quite as much as I loved Geekerella, but I think the latter just will always have a special place in my heart because of my own life experiences at the time. If you are a fan of modern retellings and any type of nerd culture, this series is for you. But I recommend starting with the first one. While this one can be read as a standalone, there are callbacks to the first one that wouldn’t make sense otherwise.
Also – special note. Clearly Ashley has been or WELL researched cons that take place in Atlanta (like Dragon Con), because multiple times the carpet is described as memorable, and if you’ve been to Dragon Con you KNOW what she’s talking about.
*TMORD – imaginary language(?) my sister and I created and identify with: TV-Movie Over Reference Disorder.
Book Particulars
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Quirk Books
Edition Read: Hardcover
Release Date: April 2, 2019
Dates Read: October 14 – 20
Book Synopsis
The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year’s ExcelsiCon isn’t her last, she’ll consider her career derailed.
When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That’s easier said than done when the girls step into each other’s shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these “princesses” race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.
As I mentioned in one of my most recent blogs I am just getting back into reading. As a result I haven’t read a ton of books this month by my old standards, but I did get back into the swing of it! Hopefully I will be able to write reviews of these too, or at least some of them. 🙂
Books read in April:
Stalking Jack the Ripper
Review to come 🙂
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
I loved this book! 4.5/5
The Season
Fun retelling of Pride & Prejudice
Illuminae
Gemina
Obsidio (currently reading)
Review of the entire series to come when I finish this last book!
marenbobarenreads 