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3/08/2017

This Is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer | Book Review




Book Review:
This Is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer


Spoilers?
Maybe.

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Title - This Is My Brain on Boys
By - Sarah Strohmeyer
Publication - May 10th, 2016 by Balzer + Bray
Format - Hardcover, 342 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Addie Emerson doesn’t believe in love. Not for herself, anyway. With one year left of high school, she’s more interested in snagging a full scholarship to Harvard than a full-time boyfriend.

That doesn’t mean she’s oblivious to the ways of the heart. Or, rather, the head. Because after months of research, Addie has discovered how to make anyone fall in love. All you need is the secret formula.

But will her discovery be enough to win the coveted Athenian Award and all its perks? (See above, full scholarship to Harvard.) Or will she be undone by Dexter, her backstabbing lab partner, who is determined to deep-six her experiments at their exclusive private school?

Those are the least of her problems now that she’s survived a death-defying flight with a mysterious, dark-haired boy, who has delicious chocolate-brown eyes and a few secrets of his own.

With an experiment to mastermind, an infatuated exchange student on her hands, and at least one great white shark (more on that later), can Addie’s prefrontal cortex outwit her heart? Or will she have to give in to her amygdala and find out, once and for all, if this thing called love is more than just her brain on drugs? 


The Rating :




My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 4 stars.

via GIPHY

Book kindly provided by friends. Thank you.

The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.
Cute cover. Bright pale blue background. I love it.
😍


The Story:
I have clearly forgotten what it's about. Too much on my mind.
😑


Relationships:
There were more than one couples, and relationships in this book but I will only talk about one of them.
Addie x Kris
I feel like I've done this before and just forgot to publish it so I barely remember my thoughts on these two. Ugh!!!!!!


Overall:
OK! 
So I'm just going to delete most of the format in which I do my reviews because I cannot, for the life of me, remembers what my thoughts were on this book. It's like it was wiped out of my brain. Now I hope you don't take that to mean that I did not like it or that it was not memorable. It's just me and my busy brain. I forget things a lot.
But I do feel like I have written about this book here and upon some searching, I found that I had was written good things.

I wrote such comments like:
"I just immediately feel I should say that I already love it. It does have a ton of big scientific words that I don't understand, but I still like the story it has, and the romance between the two main characters. It's sweet and smart, and I like it."
&
"I also finished reading This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer last week as well and even if it was all big words and confusing plots I actually liked it a lot. "
 In my blog post 'Stacking the Shelves 5' & 'Stacking the Shelves 6'.


Get a copy at:
Barnes&Noble  |  Amazon US

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Book Depository

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3/07/2017

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson | Book Review




Book Review:
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson


Spoilers?
Maybe.

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Title - The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You 
By - Lily Anderson
Publication - May 17th, 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin
Format - Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.


The Rating :



My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

via GIPHY

Book kindly provided by friends. Thank you.

The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

Although after reading the book I'd think the cover is more interesting than my initial thought, but I wish it was less in your face.


The Story:
This story is bout a girl named Trixie Watson and her rivalry with Ben West.
It's like--OK-- Imagine Much Ado About Nothing but with genius high schoolers in an academy for the geniuses and they are also nerds. Like comic books and Doctor Who, and Marvel vs DC references. I love it.


Relationships:
There were more than one couples, and relationships in this book but I will only talk about one of them.
Trixie x Ben
I thought that it was accurate to the thing it was based on (Much Ado About Nothing) in which they hate each other at first. I thought and felt the same way about Ben like Trixie did. Especially with the mustache part. But after the story progressed I did think they were cute together.
And them being all nerdy and stuff really did make their story much cuter.


Family Dynamics:
As for Trixie’s family.
I really did like her parents. Which surprises me because I rarely like the family of the main characters. Her parents were smart, hard working people. Like her dad is a teacher, and her mom is a psychologist. Which prompted Trixie to have some hard times with them because they didn't understand somethings that were going on with her life but besides that they were cool. Like the parts where her dad was almost as nerdy as her wich led to believe that that's where she got it from.


Settings:
As for my favorite settings in this story:
The comic book shop was cool. With the walls of comics and the Doctor Who figurines behind the case next to the cash register. And the park. The school was also pretty cool. And her room. 

This book had more places that felt real compared to other books. 
Like it was more described and more there. It's hard to explain this but I think that the settings just felt more lived in. If that makes any sense.


Overall:
I think I may have finished this book in like 3 or 4 days. Which alone is pretty impressive, but the fact that I read another book based on Much Ado About Nothing. Cause the last book I read and reviewed was also based on the play was really cool and totally not planned. 

I think that with that in mind this book is more based on the play than the other one. Like in this one it's more obvious what scenes correspond to what parts of it. They hate each other and bicker. They overheard that the other might like them and change their thought on each other. Then they start a secret (not so secret) relationship. There's also the friend that gets framed and how the two, being Trixie and Ben, band together to help her out.

The romance was cute, the friends were great friends and also cute, and even the bad parts were brilliant. I truly do love this book and would re-read it.

Check out my previous review for


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2/24/2017

How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington | Book Review




Book Review:
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington


Spoilers?
Maybe.

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Title - How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
By - Tara Eglington
Publication - October 25th, 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin
Format - Hardcover, 320 pages 
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Sweet sixteen and never been kissed . . .

That’s Aurora Skye’s big secret. And the way she wants it to stay. She’s not going to give away her first kiss to just anyone. Busy dodging suitors and matchmaking for her best friends, Aurora (not so) patiently awaits her prince.

But everything changes when Aurora is coerced into a lead role in the school production of Much Ado about Nothing. Which means she’ll have to lock lips with her co-star Hayden Paris—the smart and funny boy next door who also happens to be the bane of her existence, always around to see her at her worst.

Now Aurora is more determined than ever to have her first kiss with the one who’s truly worthy of it. But first she’ll have to figure out just who that person is.


The Rating :



My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

via GIPHY

I want to say that this was sent to me for review from publisher and that, as all my reviews, this one is full of my honest opinions.

The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

I loe the shade of blueand I love the font , but the first thing I noticed when I got this book from the mail was the cutouts of what is supposed to be the main character and the boy who wants to kiss her. Except that I did not like that part at all. If it was a better cut-out or something else alltogether.



The Story:
The story is based on the main character, Aurora Skye, and how she wants to meet her prince and give him her first kiss. Something she has been saving up just for him.But she doesn't have the best of luck when it comes to guys. None of them seem to fit her ideal prince. Even her next door neighbor and classmate, Hayden Paris who always seems to be there to witness her field dates.
Aurora decides to participate in the schools play─ Much Ado About Nothing─  along with her friends. And as it turns our she is the main character along with her “enemy” Hayden.


Relationships:
There were more than one couples, and relationships in this book but I will only talk about one of them.

Aurora x Hayden
Although they have a strange relationship. Her being all defencive, thinking he's out to get her and he's just constantly trying to get her attention I thought they were cute. 
Think “the guy who is constantly bothering the girl to get her to see him” plus “the girl whose mission it is to find her prince and give him her first kiss” all while they have to worry about school, friends, their family and the school play.


Family Dynamics:
As for Aurora’s family.
While her dad did try and be there for her after her mother left it wasn't a solid family dynamic. Her mother wasn’t Miss Perfect either. She was a bit of a b*tch to be honest.


Settings:
As for my favorite settings in this story:
I think the scene where they were on the set were cool. I liked how it waseasy to picture them in their costumes and the backgrond. Apart from that thre wernt that many settings that stood out to me.


Overall:
I managed to finish this book a few days ago in a single day (minus the first 36 pages which I had read months ago). The internet wasnt working so I just grabbed it from the shelves and it was like diving into water. I passed trough those pages like if I didnt finish this book I would miss something. 
While the story of Aurora and Hayde was very cute I didn’t like her friends stories with their respectable partners. I just thought it was forced. And it kind of was forced by Aurora. She was a bit too pushy with her friends and it ended up bittig her in the ass near the end. Almost.
I think that if her friends stories were better it would have been a brilliant book, but I get it, sometimes it's hard to give the side characters greater stories because they could outshine the main characters.

When they tarted the play and the rehersals all I was thinking about was Catherine Tate and David Tenant’s play of Much Ado About Nothing. It was brilliant and so funny and defintly cute. Hence the gif above.


I actually cried reading the last 100 pages. That's how good it is. Totally recommend!




Get a copy at:
Barnes&Noble  |  Amazon US

Get a copy here using my affiliate link. Please:
Book Depository

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1/11/2017

Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez | Book Review




Book Review:

Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez



Spoilers?
Maybe.

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*As of June 27, 2017 this book review updated after fifth time reading this book*
Title - Nightlights
By - Lorena Alvarez
Publication - March 14th 2017 by Nobrow Press
Format - Hardcover, 56 pages
Genre - Children's Books, Picture Book, Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Every night, tiny stars appear out of the darkness in little Sandy's bedroom. She catches them and creates wonderful creatures to play with until she falls asleep, and in the morning brings them back to life in the whimsical drawings that cover her room.

One day, Morfie, a mysterious pale girl, appears at school. And she knows all about Sandy's drawings.
Nightlights is a beautiful story about fear, insecurity, and creativity, from the enchanting imagination of Lorena Alvarez. 



The Rating :


My Review:


My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

via GIPHY

I want to say that this was sent to me for review from publisher and that, as all my reviews, this one is full of my honest opinions.


The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

The cover is just so beautiful and that spine, that orange spine, is just perfection.There are unique looking flowers and flora in bright colors. And the main character right in the middle of the front drawing away unaware of the eyes looking at her from the darkness. 
Its a nice soft matte cover with glossy parts here and there. Like some of the flowers, the papers strewn around, the font for the name of the book and author, as well as the little girl.
And there's a bike hidden in the back of the book suggesting that that's how she got there.


The Story:
Sandy has the talent to create whimsical drawings.
Just before she drifts off to sleep she gets surrounded by orbs of light that help her brings her creatures to life. And in the morning she goes off and draws some more. But something strange happened to her after she meets a strange yet fascinating girl named Morfie.


Settings:
Since this is a picture book the setting are more alive. And my favorite places have to be the world created by Sandy with their beautiful wildlife and plants. It's just simply amazing. And it makes you want these places to be real.
Then there are the places in the real world. The town with the bustling streets and crowded stores, the Catholic school Sandy goes to and even her home. I liked them all. 


Illustrations:
There are two different palettes when it comes to Nightlights.
Whenever it's Sandy’s real life the palette is more real. Mixing everyday colors in a way that makes each page sing in the same tone. But for Sandy’s art (her own world filled with drawings) it's a bit more purple and blue. Incorporating pops of that beautiful orange from the spine, and bits of yellow, pink, and green.

One word I’d use to describe how Lorena’s illustrations make me feel would be: Alive.
But more like I’m alive in a curious, colorful world that reminds me a bit of the world of Ghibli. And a smidgen of the game, Night in the Woods.


Overall:
I quickly fell in love with this book. From the beautiful eerie cover to the bright orange end paper with cute flower creatures, to the bright colors and beautiful illustrations. And not to mention Sandy's story throughout.

Lorena is brilliant and glimmering with talent as she brings the life of Sandy to life in this book.
Oh! And that orange title font and spine is to die for. I 💖it!
😍

Would I re-read this book? Definitely. And I already have read this book more than 4 times.

I’m in love with this book, but that's no surprise since I love all the books that have that are published by Nobrow. They are all so colorful and brilliant. I don’t know if it’s my artistic side singing whenever I read these books, or just how the stories are so simple and bright and beautiful, that makes me love them so much. Like if I had children or little ones around me, I’d sit them in a circle and read these books to them.


Get a copy at:
Barnes&Noble  |   Amazon US


Or get it here using my affiliate link. Please:
Book Depository

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12/31/2016

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han | Book Review


Happy New Years!!!

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Book Review:
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han


Spoilers?
Maybe.

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Title -To All The Boys I've Loved Before
By - Jenny Han
Publication - April 15th 2014 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Format - Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her.

They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her, these are ones she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control. 


The Rating :





My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

via GIPHY


The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

This book cover is so awesome. There’s the main character, Lara Jean, on her bed with a disco ball in one corner, a white background, and the really cool script font in something that looks like sharpie.


The Story:
It's a story about a teenage girl, Lara Jean, whose big sister, Margot, goes off for some studies (???) and gets to be in charge. While she has to take care of her little sister, and help her father around the house her hat box filled with love letters she has written for certain boys in her life goes missing.
They start appearing and chaos. But with the help of one of the boys she wrote a letter too she manages to sift things around.


Relationships:
There were more than one couples, and relationships in this book but I will only talk about one of them.

Lara Jean x Peter
Even if their story was a “let pretend to be together” story, I liked them as a couple. And as things progressed they changed as well. I like that.


Family Dynamics:
As for Lara Jean’s family.
They were really together and supportive. The father was there, and he cared, and despite losing his wife early on he didn’t quit his family like most stories I’ve read, or heard about in real life. He didn’t give them up, he took care of them. 
I also liked that they mentioned the mother as being caring, and the energy of the house.
The sisters are adorable. They stick together no matter what. My favorite was Kitty. She is so adorable.


Settings:
As for my favorite settings in this story I’d have to say that I liked their home most of all. Partly because it's the place I  most remember, but also because it felt warm whenever the parts I was reading were on the home.
If that makes any sense?


Overall:
I really wish I had written this review when I finished reading the book, but sadly I did not. So I don’t remember much of the things I wanted to say here. 

I was a bit adamant about reading this book since it is a series, but when my friend offered it to me, after reading it, I had to give it a shot. I was quickly glad I did because I loved it. I loved the Song girls, the boys, and the entire story was just perfect. I actually remember screaming at the end because I wanted more. So you could say I will definitely read the second book in the series, if I can get my hands on it.




Get a copy at:
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Or get it here using my affiliate link. Please:
Book Depository

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12/30/2016

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs | Book Review



Book Review:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs


Spoilers?
Maybe.

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Title - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
By - Ransom Riggs
Publication - November 15th 2016 by Quirk Books
Format - Paperback, Movie Tie-In Edition, 384 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.


The Rating :


My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.



The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

As most people did when the movie was announced. I got this book because of the movie. So I got the movie cover instead of the original cover with Olive floating on the cover.


The Story:
Jacob is just a regular teenager with no friends whose grandfather just died in his arms, and he sees a monster and gets traumatized by it. Then some things lead him to think that the truth behind his death is in some island in Wales. He goes there and doesn't find anything the first time. The second time around things are different and he meets Miss Peregrine, and the children in her care. 
Adventure ensues.


Relationships:
There was only one couple I could think of in this story so I’ll talk a bit about how I feel about them.

Jacob x Emma
While the movie this is different, in the books Jacob starts a relationship with Emma. Emma is the girl who can control fire.
Though I thought their relationship was weird because she was very close to his grandfather. So her liking Jacob that fast was weird, and understandable since he is a lot like his grandfather.
I believe that since I haven't read the other two books in the series so I can't really say much about these two.


Family Dynamics:
As for Jacob’s family.
With the exception of his really awesome grandfather I though his family was shit. They not only didn't believe him but they tortured him by controlling his life through a psychiatrist. And his dad not believing in what he saw the night his grandfather died was also horrible. Because I’d think, 
“Okay so my dad has been telling us stories about monsters, and creatures all our lives. Maybe something's up because on the day he died my son also saw something. I should believe him”
But no, they think he's going crazy.


Settings:
There was the present Cairnholm, and the past where the children are in their loop. There's also Jacob’s home in Florida. I liked past Cairnholm. Because it's where everything happens. The home is also awesome. Filled with old books and good structure. I’d so like to go there.
😃😍😃


Overall:
Boring bits and all I lied this book. There were photographs which made an easy read, and I liked that my movie edition came with photos from the movie. 

Although there were times when I wanted to punch Jacob’s dad, and whoever didn't believe him because I would believe him.

I really wish I had written this when I finished reading the book because now I can't remember what I wanted to write down and this part is more empty.



Get a copy at:
Barnes&Noble  |  Amazon US

Or get it here using my affiliate link. Please:
Book Depository

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12/28/2016

Stacking The Shelves - 7



Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what books they got throughout the week!



I completely forgot about Stacking The Shelves,  so I'm doing it on a Wednesday. 
This week not much has happened. I haven't read much of anything and I haven't gotten books. Except for today, which is the reason I remembered this post.

I also have been working hard on finishing the first draft of my novel to finish it before the year ends. And I actually finished it yesterday which is both exciting and scary. Now I just have to print it out and do some edits and annotations and stuff to make sure somethings make sense or add certain things. You know editing stuff. 



As For Update:


       

This week and the past one I read a bunch of Harley Quinn graphic novels. I love Harley Quinn since like the beginning of her existence but I think I love her more since I read her recent graphic novel series. Since after her thing with the Joker. Like I'm so glad that she got over him. I love her so much when she's just herself.

I also read the two awesome children books that I got sent by Nobrow.
The Brownstone’s Mythical Collection: Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd Stanton
&
Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez Gomez



Haul:



Gosh! It's just so beautiful. Plus, that orange spine and the title font are way pretty.



Books To Read:


    
I, sadly still haven't gotten to reading this book, which is such a tragedy because it's so good. At least the part I read was good. Last week took it with me to the dentist office for a clean up I had to get and while I waited I read like over 20 pages. It's an easy read but I'm just lazy sometimes.
😏




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12/18/2016

Stacking The Shelves - 6


Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what books they got throughout the week!



This week and the one before I decided to take off of blogging and other things to concentrate on my last two weeks of my first semester of my bachelors in college. Which was successful btw. 😄😄  But I did manage to read a few books and get two.



As For Update:

   

I read To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and loved it. I cant wait to get my hands on the second book in the series.
I also finished reading This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer last week as well and even if it was all big words and confusing plots I actually liked it a lot. 

I stated reading No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista and its getting interesting but I don't know if I like it yet.


Haul:



This week I got in the mail two beautiful books. 
The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee & The Brownstone’s Mythical Collection: Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd Stanton

Lately I've been getting into journaling and it helped me out a lot during my semester. It helped me be more organized and in control. So for next year I'm going to get prepared. I bought more stickers and tape. I also bought a set of 10 or so notebooks for when I'm traveling or stuff. 
I got inspired by this girl who does the most awesome journal entries.



Books To Read:

    

This next week I want to get my hands on and try to finish How To Keep a Boy From Kissing you as well as the books above. And since I don't have any big school responsibilities I can actually read these books.
😎😁😎

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Below those covers I have the books I borrowed from my friend.
Books Borrowed:
This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista

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I usually add the links on the goodreads but  that is a lot more trouble when there are a lot of covers. So I will make a list and link them here.

This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista
The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee
The Brownstone’s Mythical Collection: Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd Stanton
How To Keep a Boy From Kissing You by Tara Eglington




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