# Of Books Read: 7
1.Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Pages: 320
My Rating:★★★★★
Overall Thoughts: Wild Beauty was such a lush and magical tale, one I’ll never forget! It follows Estrella and the Nomeolvides women as they live on La Pradera, conjuring up the most beautiful flowers. However, when a mysterious boy named Fel appears, Estrella and the cousins uncover more about the mysteries that surround the gardens of La Pradera. The writing is gorgeous, the plot is unique + wonderful, and delves into many themes that weave their way throughout the novel, such as love, family, and sisterhood. There is also such fantastic representation from the Latinx culture, genderqueer, and bisexual characters! Another amazing novel from Anna-Marie McLemore, I highly recommend!! ❤ ❤
2.The Backstagers Volume 1 by James Tynion IV + Rian Sygh
The Backstagers Volume 1 Full Review
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Pages: 112
My Rating:★★★★☆ ½
Overall Thoughts: Such a fun and diverse graphic novel! When Jory attends a new all-boys school, his mom convinces him to find some sort of after-school activity to join. He soon finds himself joining the drama club and becomes friends with the stage crew aka The Backstagers! He quickly finds out that there’s magical tunnels backstage and soon gets tangled up with the adventures backstage! As for diversity, there’s so much representation from Jory (black) to Aziz (Middle-Eastern), gay and trans rep. too! The Backstagers is a fun graphic novel with a fantastic cast of characters, great magic/fantasy elements, and themes of friendship/adventure woven throughout!
3.Elizabeth And Zenobia by Jessica Miller
Elizabeth And Zenobia Full ARC Review
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: September 19, 2017
Pages: 208
My Rating:★★★★☆ ½
Overall Thoughts: This was a fun, atmospheric and light paranormal middle grade story! The plot is so unique and it has a lot of important themes of family, self-growth, and friendship. Following Elizabeth & her imaginary friend Zenobia, they embark on adventures while staying at Elizabeth’s father’s childhood home which is supposedly “haunted” and they learn more about it.
4. All The Wind In The World by Samantha Mabry
All The Wind In The World Full Review
Publisher: Algonquin Books For Young Readers
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Pages: 264
My Rating:★★★★☆
Overall Thoughts: Sarah Jac and Jame Holt travel across ranches to gain enough money to one day stop working and settle to have a ranch of their own. However an accident causes them to flee and then they find themselves on the Real Marvelous (which is supposedly cursed). Slowly they find themselves drifting apart and it is heartbreaking to read, but also so emotional 😥 All The Wind In The World is so atmospheric and weaves in contemporary-dystopian/magical realism genres together so well and in such a unique way! Its was also great to see diversity, with Sarah Jac who is mixed-race and an m/m relationship developed through out the novel.
5. This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada (This Mortal Coil #1)
This Mortal Coil Full ARC Review
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: November 7, 2017
Pages: 432
My Rating:★★★★☆ ½
Overall Thoughts: This Mortal Coil is a brilliant sci-fi/dystopia debut! I loved this book so much! We follow Catarina Agatta, who is a brilliant gene-hacker and her geneticist father, Dr. Lachlan Agatta who left her with an important mission. Soon she embarks on a journey with Cartaxus soldier Cole to unlock an antidote which could save thousands of people from a rapidly mutating plague. Suvada introduces such fascinating technology in a detailed and complex dystopian future. This is an action-packed, character-driven tale you don’t want to miss!
6.Life After Legend by Marie Lu (Legend #3.5)
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR
Release Date: October 2017
Pages: 21
My Rating: ★★★★★
Overall Thoughts: As a long-time fan of the Legend Trilogy, I was so happy when this short epilogue was announced! It really brought back the emotions of reading all 3 books again. You get a little more background to the world of Legend from Day’s perspective and what happened to him parallel to the events of the Champion epilogue. This was such a fantastic addition to the Legend Trilogy that definitely will leave readers happy!
7.Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao (Rise Of The Empress #1)
Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns Full Review
Publisher: Philomel Books
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Pages: 363
My Rating:★★★★☆
Overall Thoughts: An immersive and magical retelling of the evil queen! This novel follows Xifeng on her journey to fulfill her destiny fore-told by her aunt. She has a darkness within her and knows she cannot escape both it and her destiny. The world is rich and atmospheric as we uncover more about Xifeng’s role to become empress and the legends and magic that spread across the land. I will admit a lot of the pre-release hype did impact my enjoyment of the book just a little bit (with some plot/world elements not as expanded on as I would have hoped). However, this is a magical, dark, and immersive retelling that definitely has me eager to read the sequel!
Additional Posts From This Month:
Diverse 2017 YA Books To Add To Your TBR {Fall}
What Books Did You Read This Month? 😄📚✨
+ I have some new blog posts (aside from book reviews) I can’t wait to share for November! 😍📚✨