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Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?
Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?
Holly Bourne | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Within the first page, I was in love with this book. I love how Holly Bourne’s books don’t rely on romance to move the plot, and that is why she is one of my favourite authors.

Are We All Lemmings And Snowflakes is perfect if you enjoyed Juno Dawson’s Clean or Ned Vizzini’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story. It’s a bit of a mashup of the two but also manages to still remain original and unpredictable.

The story follows Olive as she stays in a ‘camp’ for people with mental illnesses. It’s set in a big stately home that has alpacas. ALPACAS! I promise I didn’t love the setting just because of the alpacas, but they did definitely improve the story.

The plot started off really quickly, which I wasn’t sure on to begin with, but then I could understand why. I’m used to novels with a build up before the main event, but this jumped straight to sending Olive to the therapy place, and I quite liked that. It meant that there wasn’t too much focus on why she was going there, and her story was more about her journey to getting better.

I enjoyed this even more than I enjoyed It Only Happens in The Movies, which I didn’t expect. I was completely gripped and felt a personal connection to every single character.

The mix of different people in the novel really shows how mental illness can affect anyone, no matter where people are from. It showed a broad spectrum of illnesses, while also fighting the stigmas they all have.

Let’s move on to the ending. When I was reading reviews for Are We All Lemmings And Snowflakes, I saw a lot of negativity about the ending. I’m not going to discuss what happens, but I feel that it really worked. A lot of people say it feels abrupt, but I feel that it fits the plot much better than a long, drawn out ending. If you loved the ending to Clean by Juno Dawson, you will love how this has been finished off.

Overall, I found this book amazing, and I can’t wait to pick up another novel by Holly Bourne.
  
Once Upon A Wolf (Wayward Wolves #1)
Once Upon A Wolf (Wayward Wolves #1)
Rhys Ford | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
MAHOOSIVE sugar rush!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This book is the first in a new series by Rhys Ford. You all know I love her work, and this one is no exception! It came with a warning though, and I was curious as to how that warning would play out.

The warning?? It is "sweet, dammit!"

And it really is!

It's only short. just under 100 pages, but it packs such a sugar rush, I didn't even notice it was nearly finished, til I ran out of bloody book!

Gibson is looking after his brother, Ellis, who is stuck as his wolf. Something happened that trapped him there, we are not told what exactly, just hints are thrown, and I expect that (insert puppy dog eyes, all begging like at Ms Ford) Ellis will get his own story and all will then become clear. Ellis chases Zach, new owner of local bed and breakfast into the freezing lake, and Gibson has to save him from hypothermia. The fact the Zach pushes every single one of Gibson's buttons is not lost on Gibson, and all becomes clear as to why Ellis choose Zach later in the book.

Both Gibson and Zach have their say, and you get just enough of them both to fully engage you in their story, their here and now and their past.

It is sweet, almost sickly, but I think for these two guys, it is right their story be this way. There is very little actual physical stuff between the guys, and I was kinda expecting it to be totally clean, but it isn't, not quite. I think, maybe, even if it HAD been clean, I would still have loved it!

And love it I did! I had just finished a much longer, heavier book, and this was just what I needed at that time, hence the hang over cure tag.

So, a much needed, perfectly written, perfectly delivered, MAHOOSIVE sugar rush....

5 stars

ps, just remember, it IS sweet, dammit!

**same worded review will appear elsewehere**
  
Thief In The Light (Bed, Breakfast and Beyond #1)
Thief In The Light (Bed, Breakfast and Beyond #1)
Jaime Samms | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a thoroughly delightful read!
Independent reviewer for Gay Romance Reviews, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I've left with a deep feeling of delightful!

I mean, it comes with a story line that is a bit darker in places, when Lucky is telling what happened to him and the others but it's not delivered in any GREAT detail. You are just given enough for you to add things up, at first, to make a picture. More comes, in more detail, but still not great detail, you know? You don't have to live through everything Lucky and the kids went though.

It is *almost* clean. I expected it to come out totally clean, to be honest, but still I really enjoyed that fact. This is not about the sex between Lucky and Kreed, it's about the LOVE, or rather, about learning to love, to trust and to just be, you know?

I LOVED Mildred, the house! Loved the little noises she makes to express her opinion and thoughts on a matter or person. Loved that she saw the main trouble-causer in this book way before we did. Mildred did make me laugh, with her little noises, she really did.

I loved Lucky, and what he was running from, but more importantly, what he ran TO. He knew Kreed needed him, very quickly and just as quickly, Lucky was staying, even though people thought he had done a runner. I loved Kreed, too. He knew that Mildred wanted Lucky and he knew that HE wanted Lucky, it was just a matter of whether Lucky wanted Kredd enough to stay.

Like i said, a bit darker in places, but it really is the most delightful read I've read in a very long time! From what I can see, I've only read one other by Samms, and that was a long while ago. THIS book is billed as book 1 in the Bed, Breakfast and Beyond series, and I really hope I get to read the future books and that Kreed and Lucky pop up too.

Thank you, Ms Samms, for an enjoyable, delightful read!

4 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Jade was positive she was just an average girl, until she fell asleep in her bath, inhaled some salt water, and sprouted a mermaid tail. Soon the truth comes out that her mom was a mermaid. But then how did her mom drown last summer? Jade works to come to terms with this new side of herself, maintain her close friendships without spilling her secret, attempt to keep her dignity around her adorable crush, and figure out the mystery behind her mother.

 

I enjoyed every second of this story. I instantly liked Jade and her slight sarcasm. Although the events were, in reality, absolutely ridiculous, they worked in the context of the book, and it was easy to get lost in the story and believe in mermaids for a while. It was much more of an exciting and thrilling adventure than I originally imagined it to be. The twist at the end was perfectly wonderful! I read it twice I liked it so much. (*grins ecstatically*) I would recommend this book in a heartbeat.

 

Content/Recommendation: Clean, ages 10-16
  
The Silver Gun
The Silver Gun
L. A. Chandlar | 2017 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Journey Back to 1930’s New York
Lane Sanders has landed a job as the personal assistant to New York City’s mayor Fiorello “Fio” La Guardia in 1936 New York City. She’s enjoying her job even though some days it feels like she is just trying to keep up with her energetic boss as he is on a crusade to clean up the city. One night, at the scene of a fire, Lane receives a warning for her boss. But soon she begins to wonder if there is more to the warning. And is she really a target?

This new series gets off to a promising start. There’s a good mystery here that kept me engaged most of the time and certainly had me turning pages during the suspenseful climax. I did feel the beginning wandered a bit too much, although it did all come into play by the end. Likewise, the ending could have been tighter as it set up the next in the series. The characters, both real and fictional, are a varied bunch and a delight to be around