Transitive Verve

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Jordan just wants to finish school and get on with her life. Having moved to LA to escape some major trauma, she crosses paths with Nic Medina, the drag racer/auto shop owner with a traumatic past of his own. Nic has to steal a car or else the shady cop who put him up to it will come for his nephew - unfortunately, that car happens to belong to Jordan. Forced to "kidnap" her, he finds himself drawn to her, and before long, she too is caught up in his dangerous world. Thoughts:  This one was definitely action-packed. And I liked finally reading a romance novel with a POC male, even if it seemed like there was some stereotyp...

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Preschool art teacher Elizabeth Marks is not having a great time at her friend's bachelorette party. She's really just not into male strippers. She catches the attention of the club's owner, Matt Stokes, who seems to have her pegged instantly as the "perfect princess" who needs to shed her facade as well as her fantasy of the perfect life with the perfect man. It's just as much of a fantasy as anything that happens onstage at the club, he tells her. He challenges her to let loose, and in the weeks to come, they develop a tryst that starts to become more than just physical the more they get involved. But she...

(Spoilers for the previous movies/books from here on out. But I am going to avoid spoilers for this one.) Links to all my writeups for the previous HG films available  here . So, if you truly understood the message of The Hunger Games  (I mean... some  CLEARLY .  Did .  Not ), you should not go into this movie expecting to be "entertained." I cannot with conscience give this a "Two thumbs up, fine family fun!" sort of review. Don't go into this expecting to have fun. Don't go into this expecting to be amused. Don't go into this expecting an escape from the very harsh realities of the world we live in today. Because that's what I feel this series is all about - The Hunger Games  is not about a teenage girl in a love triangle (which so many people mistakenly assume), it's about a corrupt government, it's about systemic inequality, and it's about war. It's about a nation that is fed up with seeing its children die, if not from v...

If you've read my recent review  of Illuminae , you should not be surprised that I was super excited about authors Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman coming to my area on tour to promote the book. It was great! They are funny and charming and Australian  (which is cool, because yes, I'm an American who likes hearing accents other than mine!), and it's easy to see how their partnership and friendship led to the creation of such an amazing story. The copy that I read for review was an ARC that wasn't in its final stages, so something that actually surprised me when I heard them speak was that in addition to the casualty list that is in the book (that's all I'll say, because spoilers), there were also photos. I immediately checked my actual purchased copy, and yes - there was a "gallery" of people who died in the [redacted] and it actually brought tears to my eyes. As if this book didn't make me cry enough the first time around. If I didn't lo...

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) All the Gail Carriger books I've read were read before I started really getting into book blogging, so I don't have any previous reviews for you, but suffice it to say that she is one of my favorite writers. Quick summary of the series (since this is my first time actually writing up one of Gail's books on my blog):  Sophronia Temminnick, who doesn't seem to fit in with proper London society, is enrolled by her frustrated mother in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. Little did Mrs. Temminnick know, this Finishing School also teaches young ladies to FINISH people, in the Mortal Kombat sense of the word - the graduates can not only throw a proper tea party, but they can also maim, poison, seduce, infiltrate, and fight. In short, they are trained to be intelligencers and assassins, and Sophronia takes to her new training like a duck to water. Proving herself to be one of the s...