Lemon Lavender is not Fine Review

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This book was super cute and relatable to just about any 16 year olds trying to figure out who they are in the world. Add some family and school drama, and one can be royally confused. Overall, the book was well written but at times felt simple.

Lemon, as the main character was very well developed and although she was frustrating to me at times, it added dept to the book. A good book makes you feel things about the main character. Frustration was a good thing! I wanted to scream at her to talk to an adult! Listen to your friends! But her lack of ability to do either of these things added to the overall story!

Also, because Lemon was the lime light for this book, many of the main characters were underdeveloped. Graham being one of them. Their relationship started too soon, ended even sooner then we barely saw him again until the end and they end up together? A little more full character development for Graham or even more interaction between the two would have really push it over the edge for me. It just felt like the book spent a little too much time on Lemon's tantrums that could have been spent on relationship building or destruction.

However, as I said, overall the book was good! I would be happy reading this again and have even recommended it to my Middle School age daughter to read!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review this book.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unforgettable name…
A longing to be invisible…
And a viral video…
= NOT fine.

Life isn’t all that great for Lemon Lavender. Ever since her perfect sister dropped out of college and fled to Europe, she’s saddled with taking care of her zombified mother while dodging her father’s angry tirades about responsibility. Hiding is her first choice, but there’s nowhere to escape at home, and at school, invisibility isn’t an option when your name is a flashing neon sign.

The one bright spot in her complicated reality is Graham Stuart. As they share their deepest secrets over slushees, Lemon falls hard, even as Graham’s most ardent admirer makes it clear she should back off, or risk being the subject of a vicious gossip vlog. Despite her attempts to lay low, the worst happens, catapulting Lemon—and her notorious name—into a spotlight that shreds her reputation and damages her relationships. With relentless mean girls out to get her and a family on the brink of disaster, Lemon has to find her voice and fight back—if she’s ready to step out of the shadows.

Grace and Fury Series REVIEW

Rating: ★★★★.5

Follow me on Instagram

This series is a two book series titled Grace and Fury and Queen of Ruin. I originally read Grace and Fury after it was included in an Owlcrate box and fell in love with the story not realizing it was part of a series. I quickly became frustrated because the story hadn't ended. Nothing was concluded and questions went unanswered. After a quick Goodreads search, I realized the book was due to be part of a series and would not end with a terrible cliff hanger. I preordered the new book Queen of Ruin and read it within a 24 hour period and couldn't get enough! The story had me on the edge of my seat with so many twists to the story, I was unsure of how it was going to end. Without spoiling the ending for anyone, I will say I was VERY pleased! I took half a star away only because I wish there had been an epilogue or a chapter bringing the story to a full end in how the new laws affected the country and lives or those in the story. The books follow the lives of 2 sisters, Nomi and Serena. One was raised to become a grace to the king, the other raised to a handmaiden. But, when the wrong sister is chosen as grace, their lives take a sudden turn with an unexpectant, deadly twist. No one can be trusted, but something has to be done. What an incredible story!

Synopsis from Groodreads:

Grace and Fury:

In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.

Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace - someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir's eye, it's Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.

Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.

Queen of Ruin:

A fierce sequel full of sisterhood, heart pounding action, betrayal, and intrigue in the royal court in a series that "breathes new life into the feminist story of oppression and resistance" (Publisher's Weekly).

Banished by Asa at the end of Grace and Fury, Nomi and Malachi find themselves powerless and headed towards their all-but-certain deaths. Now that Asa sits on the throne, he will stop at nothing to make sure Malachi never sets foot in the palace again. Their only hope is to find Nomi's sister, Serina, on the prison island of Mount Ruin. But when Nomi and Malachi arrive, it is not the island of conquered, broken women that they expected. It is an island in the grip of revolution, and Serina--polite, submissive Serina--is its leader.

Betrayal, grief, and violence have changed both sisters, and the women of Mount Ruin have their sights set on revenge beyond the confines of their island prison. They plan to sweep across the entire kingdom, issuing in a new age of freedom for all. But first they'll have to get rid of Asa, and only Nomi knows how.

Separated once again, this time by choice, Nomi and Serina must forge their own paths as they aim to tear down the world they know, and build something better in its place.

The stakes are higher and the battles bolder in Tracy Banghart's unputdownable sequel to Grace and Fury. 

Lock Every Door REVIEW

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Follow me on Instagram

I absolutely adore Riley Sager as a writer. Final Girls and Last Time I lied were two of my favorite reads last year so when I found out Lock Every Door was coming out, I was so very excited! I have been looking forward to this book for some time now and have heard amazing things about this book. All of that together had me going into this book with very high expectations! Sadly, they were not met. Granted, this book was great. It really was. But, it was very slow. Over 75% of the book was slow building suspense to the point that I got frustrated several times wanting excitement and action. The last 25% was all action and the ending was MIND BLOWING! And, it made it so much better! I love books I can't predict and honestly, I came to the same conclusion Jules came to.  So, when I saw her coming to the same conclusion I thought "UH-HUH!" But, I failed and another twist came my way! Sager did a good job with this book but truly I wish it had a little most umph from the beginning! 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid's disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building's hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

Life and Other Inconveniences REVIEW

Rating: ★★★★★

Follow me on Instagram

This book was an Advanced Readers Copy due to be released in August 2019. This book had me by my heartstrings throughout the entire book. Emma and Riley have such an amazing mother-daughter relationship that makes the book's beginning captivating. The relationship between Emma and her grandmother, Genevieve, puts a twist to the story that left me wanting more. Kristan Higgins did an amazing job with the descriptions of the relationships between them all as well as the dynamic drama between them. Kristan described the internal struggle found within every part of this family as they attempt to figure out their roles and how they choose to view and change them. As Emma finds out about Genevieve's illness, she must figure out what the illness will mean for her as well as what kind of relationship, if any, she is willing to have with Genevieve as she also must deal with the idea that her grandmother, who raised her is also dying. Truly, this book had me captivated from the beginning to the end! Not my typical genre/read but definitely glad I got this one and broadened my horizons!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Good Luck with That comes a new novel about a blue-blood grandmother and her black-sheep granddaughter who discover they are truly two sides of the same coin.

Emma London never thought she had anything in common with her grandmother Genevieve London. The regal old woman came from wealthy and bluest-blood New England stock, but that didn’t protect her from life’s cruelest blows: the disappearance of Genevieve’s young son, followed by the premature death of her husband. But Genevieve rose from those ashes of grief and built a fashion empire that was respected the world over, even when it meant neglecting her other son.

When Emma’s own mother died, her father abandoned her on his mother’s doorstep. Genevieve took Emma in and reluctantly raised her–until Emma got pregnant her senior year of high school. Genevieve kicked her out with nothing but the clothes on her back…but Emma took with her the most important London possession: the strength not just to survive but to thrive. And indeed, Emma has built a wonderful life for herself and her teenage daughter, Riley. 

So what is Emma to do when Genevieve does the one thing Emma never expected of her and, after not speaking to her for nearly two decades, calls and asks for help?