Book Review: Dreaming of Antigone by Robin Bridges

Publish Date: March 29, 2016
304 pages [Kindle edition]
Kensington

Synopsis:
Every star has its own path…

“I can’t ever be the blazing star that Iris was. I’m still just a cold, dark satellite orbiting a star that went super nova.”

Andria’s twin sister, Iris, had adoring friends, a cool boyfriend, a wicked car, and a shelf full of soccer trophies. She had everything, in fact—including a drug problem. Six months after Iris’s death, Andria is trying to keep her grades, her friends, and her family from falling apart. But stargazing and books aren’t enough to ward off her guilt that she—the freak with the scary illness and all-black wardrobe—is still here when Iris isn’t. And then there’s Alex Hammond. The boy Andria blames for Iris’s death. The boy she’s unwittingly started swapping lines of poetry and secrets with, even as she tries to keep hating him.

Book Review: The Soul Thief by Majanka Verstraete

Publish Date: November 10, 2014
218 pages [Kindle edition]
Booktrope
 
Synopsis:
When sixteen-year-old Riley is injured in a car crash and sees a girl stealing a boy’s soul, she’s convinced she’s hallucinating. But when she sees the same girl at the hospital later, she knows she wasn’t dreaming. That’s when Riley learns her secret heritage and who she really is: a halfling Angel of Death.

Riley must come to terms with her new reality and supernatural abilities, but before she can do this, girls her age start dying in mysterious circumstances. It’s up to Riley to figure out why, what the innocent victims have in common, and what she can do to stop them.

Books I Read in May

The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook - 3.5 stars (finished 5/12)
Review to come.
I was gifted this book via Netgalley.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling - 5 stars (finished 5/12)
I was ecstatic about this book and meant to read it forever ago, but then I never got around to it. I need to get the other mini books that are set in the Harry Potter world as well. I loved the humor of this book and the illustrations were gorgeous. My favorite beasts are the Crup (likened to a Jack Russell Terrier - squee), the Demiguise (interested in its textile uses), the Jobberknoll (for its interesting death), the Knarl (that is a suspicious hedgehog), and the Wampus Cat. I found the Lethifold terrifying and the Runespoor very very fascinating. Overall, loved the creatures and writing and illustrations. Cannot recommend it enough to HP fans!

I Survived: Five Epic Disasters by Lauren Tarshis - 3.5 stars (finished 5/13)
This book follows five disasters: The Children’s Blizzard (1888), The Titanic Disaster (1912), The Great Boston Molasses Flood (1919), The Japanese Tsunami (2011), and The Henryville Tornado (2012). Each event has a short story and is then followed by some various facts about the event and similar events as well. I thought it was very well written and loved the pictures in it. I think as a kid, I would have gobbled these books up.  

None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio - 5 stars (finished 5/18)
Review: here.
I was gifted this book via Netgalley. 

Buzz Books 2017: Young Adult Fall/Winter by Publishers Lunch - 4 stars (finished 5/26)
Review: here.
I was gifted this book via Netgalley. 

June TBR List + Upcoming Releases

In May, I read 5 books and that means I am on track with my Goodreads challenge for the year. I'm really happy that I was able to read 5 books. Part of that was that I had read some shorter books during the Bout of Books readathon, but they were on my TBR and they were physical books that had been sitting on my desk that I wanted to put away. In the month of June, I would really like to read 2 Owlcrates, 1 book off my desk, and 2 Netgalley books.

1. I am working on reading my Owlcrate books. I keep starting and then putting down Of Fire and Stars for a few weeks before picking it up and reading a chapter and then putting it down for a few weeks. So I need to finish it. I have Roseblood, Caraval, Daughter of a Pirate King, The Upside of Unrequited, and Eliza and Her Monsters on that list too.
2. The books on my desk are two less this month but still I have: Dead in the Family, The Slippery Slope, This Savage Song, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den, and Aftercare Instructions.
3. Netgalley books are on my need-to-read-like-last-year list. Last month, I reported having 69 books on my Netgalley list. This month, I'm starting with 70. I would like to get this number down to 68 or lower in June.

CHALLENGES
Goodreads Challenge: 21/52 books
ABC Challenge: 10/26 books
Travel Gnome Challenge: 15/23 books
Series Challenge: 0/10 series
Movie Adaptation Challenge: 0/3 books
Netgalley Challenge: 8/25 books
Throwback Book Club: 13/12 books
Diversity Bingo 2017: 3/36 books
Overused YA Tropes Bingo 2017: 3/25 books

Book Review: Buzz Books 2017: Young Adult Fall/Winter

I requested another collection of excerpts from Publishers Lunch when I saw the Fall/Winter 2017 was out for Young Adult. This collection contained 13 books. I had 3 of the books on my TBR, I added 6 more, and I skipped 2 because I couldn't get into them.

I was gifted this ebook via Netgalley.