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Yellowface Review

by amyleighreads4 Comments on Yellowface Review

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song–complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

Because this book was written from June’s point of view it kind of gave me You vibes. Like she very much is Joe Goldberg but in the literary world. The ways in which this woman thread the various justifications around and around in her mind until she actually thought what she did was ok was intense to read. I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering when and how she was going to be exposed and I was so thoroughly invested that I had to put the book down for a few days.

I liked the flashbacks to early on in June and Athena’s friendship and how their tenuous bond was established. Why Athena still chose to keep June around and why that prompted June in taking the manuscript in the first place. I feel like she thought she deserved and earned it after being used by Athena. The way that this one lie just spirals and how June feels so vindicated with all this success and after her initial failure.

Even though this was a pretty short-ish book there were some pretty heavy topics and themes woven throughout this book that without the help of the audiobook would of been a slog to get through. Worth it though I feel because the way the plot wraps up was shocking and unfortunately highly realistic and just makes you question a lot of the publishing industry as a whole.

⭐️4/5 stars This book was wild!

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Zero Days Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Zero Days Review

*SOME SPOILERS AHEAD*

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her. Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery.

I liked the fact that we start off the book in the middle of a break in. I went into this book completely blind so I wasn’t aware of the fact that they were actually hired by the company and I was kind of on the edge of my seat. This was a great way to establish how the relationship between Jack and Gabe worked and how she suffers without him in her ear for the rest of the plot.

I was a tad annoyed that she injures herself so early on the book and that completely hinders her stamina and strength. I would of liked her to be at her best and not be as debilitated by not being able to think more critically due to pain. Because of this most of the answers to the whole mystery behind Gabe’s death is pretty much told to her by those around her and she doesn’t completely come up with the answers by herself like I thought she would.

Again because of this injury she isn’t in motion all that much and we’re pretty much just sitting with her while she stews upon what her next move is and how much she is bleeding at the moment and should she just give up or keep going. It got just a little bit repetitive I think when I was wanting more action and adventure. She was basically just trying to run from the cops rather than on the hunt for the actual people who killed Gabe which is kind of what I wanted to see.

I was engaged and highly invested in figuring out what happened and her genuine sadness over the death of her husband felt very realistic and authentic to me, didn’t shed any tears but that melancholy feeling overcame me for sure! I was very content with the ending and even though there are still a few answers I wish we would of gotten I was overall entertained.

⭐️3/5 stars Not my favourite Ruth Ware but still pretty good!

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Such Sharp Teeth Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Such Sharp Teeth Review

Rory Morris isn’t thrilled to be moving back to her hometown, even if it is temporary. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant, estranged from the baby’s father, and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she’d put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she’s attacked. Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She’s unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver–and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She’s changing into someone else–something else, maybe even a monster. But does that mean she’s putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside of her the key to acceptance?

Rory was an interesting character for sure. I feel like even though this is from her perspective we don’t delve as deep into her character than what I wanted. She reacts pretty realistically throughout her attack and the subsequent changes that start to occur. She is a very defensive and overtly arrogant character as well which I appreciated, she’s not the most likeable person.

I understand Scarlett had a lot going on being pregnant and everything but she wasn’t very observant of her sister. I know they don’t really express their emotions to each other in this family but Rory would continuously wear the same outfit for weeks and apparently smelled pretty bad and she wouldn’t say anything to her. Also the fact that she invited her mother over and didn’t really consider Rory’s feelings at all despite knowing how touchy the subject was.

The romance was very cute albeit far fetched. The fact that this man still continued to allow Rory back into his life when she did some pretty awful things to him just wouldn’t happen I don’t think. But because the book overall is pretty over the top and a tad ridiculous I could let that go and just enjoy the cuteness. The mystery behind who was the original werewolf wasn’t that much of a surprise but I did enjoy the build up to the full moon and how Rory was trying to find a way to stay aware after the change.

⭐️4/5 stars I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to!

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Secretly Yours Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Secretly Yours Review

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she’ll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn’t the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t shake the sense that she did something reckless–and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.

Hallie’s character I didn’t really gel with. She’s supposedly 27/28 years old and she honestly acts as if she is 20-22. Running around town, getting drunk and vandalizing businesses whilst being very cavalier in her own business ( showing up whenever she wants). I understand she is still mourning her grandmother but I don’t think that’s an excuse to throw away all sense of composure and decency. I feel like she needs to grow up and maybe book that appointment with her therapist she keeps putting off and start to heal properly.

Julian I didn’t really like all that much as well. He is very standoffish and he also knows he has a lot of issues that he kept pent up and won’t get any kind of help for it. For the most part he is quite comfortable sticking to his routines and burying all of those emotions further and further down until the inevitable break down. Also in the smutty scenes where he whips out all of this dirty talk was very jarring and kind of pulled me out of the story.

I did however, really enjoy the setting and premise of the plotline. If these character were a bit more memorable and slightly more mature maybe it would of worked a bit better for me. I kept waiting for twists and conflicts and passion but overall it was just a bit weak.

⭐️2/5 stars I felt unfulfilled

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Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers Review

*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet). But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

I absolutely LOVED Vera! Just the way she cuts through all of the mess and is just straightforward with everyone is so entertaining and engaging. Her helpfulness definitely has no boundaries and she will not take no for an answer. I really enjoyed how she just comes to accept that this man has died in her tea house so now it’s her responsibility to figure out who killed him.

The way the rest of the characters are introduced to us by turning up to the teahouse just as Vera suspected was a great way to form a connection with everyone. Throughout the course of the plot I was definitely trying to pin point which of the 4 actually did it and how they were connected to the murder.

The plot at times did get a little unrealistic for me which did in turn kind of take me out of the story a little bit, but once I was able to overlook that I very much enjoyed the book as a whole. It kept me guessing right up to the very end of the plot and I couldn’t predict absolutely anything that was going to happen. This was low stakes but still had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

⭐️4/5 stars Kind of silly but entertaining!