The Loyal Book

Review | The Curses by Laure Eve

11.10.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

***Disclaimer: I received a free, early advanced reader copy of The Curses from the publishers and NetGalley for review purposes.

This is going to be a different kind of review. The Curses by Laure Eve is the second novel in a series; it follows the events of The Graces, though it takes on a different point of view. This is not a review for The Graces, but as the The Curses is a sequel, and I don’t want to spoil any of the events of first novel if you haven’t read it, so I won’t be doing a synopsis like I usually do and I will try to be vague about textual details. I will admit that I was really excited to read this one. I finished The Graces in the summer and I was super impressed, so I wanted to read the sequel immediately. Imagine my disappointment when I saw that it wasn’t coming out until December 31st. However, imagine my excitement when I realized that I had been given permission to read the eARC. I was super happy.

Review | This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher

11.03.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

**Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of This Lie Will Kill You from NetGalley and the publishers for review purposes. Thank you to them for letting me read the book.

This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher is a YA mystery novel. The main characters are five teenagers: Juniper, Ruby, Gavin, Brett, and Parker, who are all in their final year of high school and who have all been invited to compete for a mysterious $50000 scholarship by participating in a murder mystery party. Each teen is asked to bring something to the party. The competition is held at a creepy semi-abandoned mansion. Pretty quickly it is revealed that things are not what they seem and perhaps this scholarship isn’t quite as legitimate as it might have seemed. Could it be connected to the fiery death of one of their classmates the previous year? Who knows.

Review | The Similars by Rebecca Hanover

10.14.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

***Disclaimer: I recieved a free eARC of The Similars from Net Galley and the publisher for review purposes.

The Similars is a Sci-Fi novel set in the future of Earth. The story follows Emmaline who attends the prestigious Darkwood Academy. It is a boarding school for the elite of the elite. Each student is special in some way in that they have some talent that helped them get admitted past just being extra smart. Emma is returning to Darkwood for her senior year but there are two things she is going to have to cope with: the suicide of her best friend, Oliver, and the fact that six clones (the similars) will be attending Darkwood with her. This was fine until it turned out that one of the clones is Oliver’s. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the clones and initially Emma couldn’t be bothered about it. However, she quickly gets sucked into the conspiracy surrounding them and the school.

Review | Doctor Strange: The Fate of Dreams by Devin Grayson

10.07.2018 by Kari // Leave a Comment

doctorstrangefateofdreams The prose novel, Doctor Strange: The Fate of Dreams by Devin Grayson has made me a fan of her writing. It’s also wonderful that she was the first female to be a regular writer for Batman. I love seeing progress being made in a prominently male dominated profession because there are just as many female comic readers out there that can give an action-packed storyline.

Review | Sea Breeze Academy by Bryant A. Loney

10.01.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

**Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Sea Breeze Academy by Bryant A. Loney from the publishers for review purposes

Sea Breeze Academy by Bryant A. Loney is an interesting story. The basic premise is that it is about these students at a fancy boarding school in California called Sea Breeze Academy. These students are the subject of a television show that gives me a very Zoey 101 vibe. The protagonist of the show is Brooklyn Rivers who is your quintessential main girl: she’s smart, pretty, girly but also tomboyish. Essentially she checks all of the boxes. However, the twist in this story is that the characters are starting to release that they are on a television show.

Review | Alice of the Rocks by E. Graziani

09.13.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: E. Graziani was kind enough to send me a copy of Alice of the Rocks for review purposes.

Alice of the Rocks by E. Graziani is a novel set in the past and in the future. It tells the story of Alice, a girl from the year 2029, who goes on vacation to Italy with her parents over the summer. Alice seems to have everything going for her. She’s smart, pretty, has a long time boyfriend who loves her, awesome parents, but she’s unfocussed and as she enters her final year of high school is unsure of what she wants to do afterwards. However, she’s excited to go back to Italy, because, as it turns out, Alice was found abandoned as an infant in Italy and adopted by her parents, who later immigrated to Canada. Circumstances summon her parents back to Canada for work, but Alice stays on in Italy, staying with her aunt and uncle and eventually going to stay in a villa near Florence (I think). At this villa, she meets a boy named Claudio and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him.

Review | Chemistry Lessons by Meredith Goldstein

08.29.2018 by Kari // Leave a Comment

Chemistry Lessons by Meredith Goldstein is a light and quick read. I ended up finishing it one night before bed.

I really enjoyed this book. What initially drew me in was the cover. I’m a very visual person and covers play a big factor when I search for books that I might be interested in. I loved how it conveyed the ‘science’ aspect and ‘bubbly romance’ in a complimentary way. It really helps sell the story.

Review | UNRD: Last Seen Online (App)

08.16.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

One day I was scrolling through my feed, on the bookstagram side of things, when I came across an ad. Now this isn’t totally uncommon because instagram is a free app and it advertises a lot of things. However, this one caught my attention. It was advertising an app called unrd and featuring a story called “Last Seen Online.” The brief clip caught my attention and as I was a little bit bored (August has been a slow reading month for me) I decided to go and download it. I hopped over to the App Store on my phone (because I believe it’s iPhone only at this time) and downloaded it.

Review | Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

08.11.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of Toil and Trouble for review purposes from NetGalley, so thank you to them and the publishers for that.

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft is a collection of short stories about, you guessed it, women and witchcraft. The collection of stories is edited by Tess Sharpe and Jessica Spotswood and features stories from a variety of different female authors.

Review | What They Don’t Know by Nicole Maggi

07.30.2018 by Ashley // Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of What They Don’t Know by Nicole Maggi for review purposes through NetGalley, so thank you to them and the publishers.

What They Don’t Know is a story about two sixteen year old girls, Lise and Mellie, who both have a pretty big secret that they’re hiding. Mellie is from a very conservative and religious family. Her father is the mayor of their small town and he’s running for state senate on that pretty typical platform of pro-life, family values, and so on. Mellie is described as the perfect daughter and friend, always toeing the line and doing what she’s supposed to. She wears a purity ring and would have waited until marriage if she had been given a choice. Unfortunately, she wasn’t. At the start of the story, you find out that Mellie was raped and now she’s pregnant. Lise, on the other hand, seems to be Mellie’s opposite. She’s a feminist, organizes a Women’s Fair at her school, and volunteers at the local abortion clinic as an escort. She is deeply caring and loves to help people. She’s also the only person who seems to notice that Mellie is drowning and that she needs help, and Lise does everything she can to try help her.