The Smell of Other People's Houses - Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

A solid FOUR stars for THE SMELL OF OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES.

I don't know what I expected from this book, but it is not at all what I got from it.
This book made me feel so many emotions. Goodness!

Guys, I really, really liked this book. Like, a LOT.
It TOTALLY sneaks up on you.

I didn't love this book in the beginning. I didn't think I was connecting with any of the characters. But when I was about 75% though, I WAS CLOSE TO TEARS. And I was just baffled by that. I NEVER feel feelings. I swear I must be a Vulcan. But this book was an exception! I felt SO much and the ending was SO beautiful and I loved everything about this book once I realized that I was totally invested in it.

The characters are definitely the best part, which is always a good thing. I always want characters to be the driving force in a book because THAT is what will keep me reading, often despite the story itself. I cared about all of the characters - except maybe Dora. Sorry, I AM heartless. But they just felt so incredibly real. This story seems so authentic and I wanted everyone to be happy and I LOVED getting all the different perspectives because their stories were all so different. But all so important. I absolutely adored seeing them all intertwine.

This book is set in Alaska, which was really cool for me because that's not a place I know much about. It was fun to see how people's lives there may have been way different than others in the U.S. It may as well have been another country for how little I knew about it.

READ THIS BOOK.
It is excellent. It will sneak up on you and make you feel feelings when you least expect it.

Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson

FURIOUSLY HAPPY by Jenny Lawson gets 4 stars!

I looooved this book.

I listened to this on Audible, and this is the first audiobook I've listened to in about 15 years. IT WAS A GREAT CHOICE. It's narrated by Jenny Lawson and honestly, I just really love her voice. She's so hilarious and sassy and sarcastic and honest. She reminds me of myself a bit. But she's way cooler.

This book is about mental illness and... kind of accepting it. Being okay with yourself because mental illness is NOT a choice. It's not just you having a bad day or week. It's not you worrying too much for no reason. Jenny uses her hilarious experiences and her own thoughts about mental illness to inspire people to live furiously happy, even with depression, anxiety, or whatever else a person might be battling.

Basically, it's great.

I'm all about bringing humor into pretty much every part of life, so I was really able to connect with this. Also, I've recently been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and I've been SO confused and felt so alone and so Vulcan... This book made me feel okay. I'm not cured. I'm not even 20% better. I'm just becoming more accepting of my own flaws, and FURIOUSLY HAPPY really did help me with that.

To avoid getting all mushy and emotional, I'm going to wrap this up. Guys, READ THIS BOOK. Someone you know struggles with a really tough mental illness. This book is good for EVERYONE, I promise. I don't know how anyone could regret reading this.

WARNING: FURIOUSLY HAPPY has... quite a lot of profanity. If that bothers you, you've been warned. Personally, I think it's SO WORTH READING either way.

The Palace Library - Steven Loveridge

I'm giving this book 3 stars!

This was a cute middle grade story. It felt a lot like adventures from my childhood imagination. The main characters - Harry, Grace, and Eleanor - are cousins visiting their great uncle. Grace discovers the library in his home and immediately wants to show Harry and Eleanor what she found. They don't believe her at first, but they soon realize that the library really is a special place full of magic and mystery. The library has enchanted books and it leads them to another world - or another time, I suppose - where they must fulfill a prophecy by facing dragons and overcoming betrayal.

The characters were so cute. I loved the three kids. However, they didn't feel very special to me. They kind of all had the same personality for the most part, so I wish they were a bit more unique. They were uncharacteristically smart for their ages, but that generally happens in books. It just bothers me sometimes when pre-teens are waaayyy more intelligent than I would be in the same situation. That threw me off a bit.

I really enjoyed the plot. Like I said, it reminded me of my childhood and all the things I wanted to do when I was younger and imagined a big, undiscovered world. I thought it was pretty creatively done. I liked the world, but I wish we could have seen more of it. I wanted MORE with the dragons and MORE with the king and queen. But I guess more might happen in the next book. (:

I was skeptical of Eloise at first, but I grew to love her all the way to the end of the book. I wish we could have gotten more of her character, as well as Master John. But again, that's what the second book is for, right?!

Everyone knows I LOVE magic. And the magic in this book wasn't overwhelming or too ridiculous. It was a nice touch and I loved it.

Overall, I liked this book, but I felt like it just needed MORE, in general. More of the characters, more REALISTIC characters, and mooooore of the world because it was so cool! I definitely feel like this is more suited for younger kids, since it's middle grade and so incredibly imaginative. So give it to your younger siblings or your kids! (:

The Boundless - Kenneth Oppel

FIIIVE STARS FOR THE BOUNDLESS!

Is this a magical story set on a train? Yes.
Is there a circus on the train? YES.
Do people die on the train? YEEESSS.
Are there sasquatches? YESYESYES!
Is this my new favorite book ever? I think it might be.

Okay. I'm not sure if I can collect my thoughts, but here is me trying:

I. FREAKING. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

Why did no one tell me there were sasquatches in it?! GUYS, THERE ARE SASQUATCHES. Sasquatches are one of my greatest loves. I was absolutely, 100% completely hooked from the moment a sasquatch was mentioned. How can you not just adore a magical book about trains, circuses, and murderous sasquatches? REALLY. WHAT ELSE IS THERE IN LIFE? NOTHING. THERE'S NOTHING ELSE.

So THE BOUNDLESS is a huge train. It's so incredibly massive that it's basically like a little town, which is SO cool. Will, the main character, is an artist. He's an only child and his family now has a lot of money. He's riding first class on the train when he finds a key that someone is willing to kill for. He teams up with the circus in order to stay alive and stop the murderer!

That was a terrible summary, but that's because I can't put my thoughts into words. There's too much going on. I loved EVERYTHING about it. Literally everything.

I love Will. I love Maren, Mr. Dorian, Goliath, Mr. Beauprey, EVERYONE. Kenneth Oppel makes awesome characters. I'm amazed at how quickly I felt like I knew each individual character. I could connect with all of them and I wanted everyone to be happy - even the antagonists (although I can't complain about how it ended).

The setting was my favorite part. Kenneth is a master at giving the reader something to see without forcing his own vision on them.

As for pacing, I know some people think the book is too slow. I have to disagree completely. I thought it was perfect. It was also wrapped up very well. It left me satisfied, wanting more but not needing more.

Basically, you should all read this.

SASQUATCHES. READ IT FOR THE SASQUATCHES.

The Glass Castle - Trisha Priebe

Umm WHAT.

I LOVED this book.
I thought I wouldn't enjoy it all that much, especially since I discovered that it is listed as "Christian" literature. I AM a Christian, but I usually steer clear of those books because... I don't know. I guess they're not bad, but they're just not something I seek out. And I would not call this Christian literature. It mentions God about as much as a lot of other YA books. Fantasy, contemporary, everything. It's really basically just a middle grade fantasy.

So this book is about a girl named Avery. She's in the forest with her little brother when she gets KIDNAPPED and taken to a castle, where tons of other 13 year old children secretly reside. They are not allowed to be seen by adults - they don't even know that the kids are in the castle at all. But there's this whole royal court kind of situation going on within the children's side of the castle.

It was an incredibly unique idea and it really drew me in fast. If you've read pretty much any of my reviews, you probably know that I have a weakness for princess books. This isn't necessarily a princess book, but it's set in a castle. Apparently that's all I need. I was hooked.

THE GLASS CASTLE was a super quick read for me because it's middle grade and the language is fairly simple, but not exactly dumbed down. It wasn't the world's absolute greatest writing, but the plot was so intriguing to me and the simplicity of the writing didn't distract from the story at all, which is really what matters.

I felt like the main character, Avery, was pretty well developed, but most of the others weren't. Luckily this is NOT a standalone, so we'll be getting more later! Hopefully that will give the author another chance to show us who the characters really are. However, I think in this book it kind of adds to the overall mystery.

Also, the chapters are short. I LOVE LOVE LOVE short chapters. It makes it easy to stop... but also easy to read "just one more." I found it hard to put the book down. It just has this addictive quality that makes you want to devour it in a couple sittings, which is what I did.

Overall, I loved the story, enjoyed the characters, and couldn't stop reading it. Definitely one of my favorite middle grade books EVER. And the ending was EXCELLENT. So excited for the next one!

* I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater

I'm giving this book 4 stars! ★★★★

My brain has extremely mixed feelings about this book.

I'll try to explain, but forgive me if I sound like an idiot.

Around when this book first came out, one of my best friends told me she thought I wouldn't like it. I had been thinking about reading it but she made me believe it wasn't my type of book.

HOW VERY WRONG SHE WAS.

Goodness, I've been missing out!

I really, really enjoyed this book. It took me forever to read it, though (if three days counts as forever). The first half was pretty slow for me. Now, I'm aware this doesn't make sense, but hopefully you kind of get it. I LOVED the second half. And because I loved the second half so much and things started to make sense, I liked the first half. After I read it. When I was well into the second half of the book, I saw the significance of the beginning. Does that make sense? Probably not.

EITHER WAY, I liked it a lot. And I am SO READY to read the second book. Well... in the next month or so.

And this was my first Maggie Stiefvater book! I feel like I made an excellent choice. I also feel like it can only get better from here.

My biggest problem with this book was the very end. I... feel stupid for admitting this, but what in the heck even happened with Adam? I seriously have no clue. Maybe one day I'll understand. Maybe when I read the other books? WHO KNOWS.

So the characters were 50% of why I loved this book. I AM ABSOLUTELY CRAZY ABOUT THE CHARACTERS. I loved Blue. I loved Gansey. I loved Adam. I loved Ronan and Noah and Maura and Persephone and Calla. Unsure about Neeve at the moment. But GOODNESS, does Maggie Stiefvater sure know how to develop characters! They all felt so real and that is possibly the most important part of books, in my opinion. If I can connect with the characters, I am interested in their stories, so I like the book. Right? So I 100% applaud Maggie on her incredible characters.

I also thought the story itself was so unexpectedly original and shocking and intriguing. I like that the ending wasn't really a cliffhanger, but I'm still pumped to read the next one. I love that it was unpredictable. However, fair warning, I find almost NOTHING predictable. I don't do well with thinking beyond the words on the page, sadly.

I also think the best part of Maggie's writing is her ability to make readers feel like they're in the story. More so than other authors do. Let me explain.

So the raven boys and Blue (and I guess Maura, Calla, Persephone, and Neeve as well) get pulled into this crazy thing and it gets so real and so intense that they're sucked into it and once they're in, they're in. You know? There's no getting out now. That is also how I, as the reader, felt. I feel like now that I've read this first book, I'm in. I have to read more. I am now involved and there's no other option. I have to continue. It's too late to turn back. I can't erase it from my memory or go on pretending like I never got so involved. IT SUCKED ME IN AND I LOVE IT.

I probably sound like a crazy person, so I'll end this.

Basically, this book is golden.

Imaginative. Addicting. Thought-provoking. Mysterious. Even a bit creepy.

Read it even if one of your best friends tells you it's not your style. GIVE THIS ONE A CHANCE, I BEG YOU.

The end.

A Darker Shade of Magic - V. E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic - V.E. Schwab ★★★★ 4.0

This book gets 4 stars! Here's why:

• Kell & Rhy's relationship = <3
• ...four Londons.
• The Danes
• Magic, of course.
• Lila Bard totally grew on me!

I thought this book was SO well-written and such a good story! It was incredibly captivating the whole time (except for the first 80 pages or so). Especially... THE DANES. Holy goodness. They were insane. They reminded me of the Lovers in the Arcana Chronicles. You'd think that would be a bad thing, but I LOVE a good villain. I mean, I hated them. But I loved their roles in the book. I only wish they were more involved in it.

Having four different worlds, all connected, was really cool. I liked that Kell was one of the only two people able to travel between the Londons. Well, you know, with the exception of Lila because of the stone, but that counts as extenuating circumstances. I also liked that the Londons were SO unique. Like, vastly different. WORLDS different, in fact!

Rhy is adorable. He reminds me of Dorian in Throne of Glass. I just love him. And I love that Kell & Rhy were so close. Rhy considered Kell family, even though his parents maybe didn't so much.

Lastly, Lila was a great character. I felt like she was really well-developed, and I'm excited to learn more about her in the next book! It feels like there is so much that was just mentioned, but I need to hear the backstory! I thought I would hate her at first, but I was entirely mistaken. She was strong, funny, and a good friend. She had a few unexpected moments when we saw her emotions a little more than she wanted, I'm sure, but those slips are what made her so real.

Basically, I thought this book was amazing. It took me about a week to read, however, because was is NOT the type of book that I could just set down when I was busy, pick it back up again, etc. I had to be fully involved in reading it. I couldn't take a lot of breaks because there was so much going on. I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars because it seemed kind of slow in the beginning AND I needed more of the Dane twins! They were so EVIL. Victoria Schwab could have done so much more with them! But I respect her decisions, and love her beautiful writing either way. (: