Hey! It’s Kat and I’m here to review an Adult Fantasy that has been on my radar for almost a year. It’s The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. This is Urban-Fantasy set in New York City. We follow five people who need to do whatever they can to save the city that never sleeps. I gave this book 4.5/5 stars. CW: Racism, Neo-Nazi Character, Abuse, Attempted Rape, Xenophobia.
There are five people who represent the five boroughs of New York City. These five people need to come together to protect the city from this dark entity that wants it to be destroyed.
The concept of this book was so interesting! Going to school on Long Island, I frequented the city quite a bit pre-COVID. I spent a lot of time at Penn Station riding the LIRR so its use in the story brought back some fun memories.
Character-wise, I liked reading each perspective. My favorite perspective is a tie between Bronca (The Bronx) and Brooklyn. They are both strong characters with the most backstory. I wanted more chapters that focused on Manny because there were so many open-ended questions with his character. Aislyn was my least favorite character because she just annoyed me to no end, but her character just sort of disappeared after her interaction with the other characters towards the end of the book.
I was a little confused in the beginning but by chapter two everything started to click. N.K. Jemisin wrote a short story that from my understanding is a prequel to this book. It ends where this book picks up. This was also my first dip into Adult Fantasy which was another reason it took me awhile to get into the story.
Listen to the audiobook because it will help you stick with the book if you get confused and the narrator did an amazing job with the narration. Overall, I’m really glad that I decided to finally pick this up. This is a great book to read if you want a unique outlook on New York City.
Those were my thoughts on The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. Which of her books should I pick up next? When do you think the sequel will be released and what major city do think it will focus on? Talk to me in the comments.
~ Kat
First review of the new year! It’s Kat and I’m here to review Majesty by Katharine McGee. I read this back in October, but felt this would be a great review to start off 2021. This is the sequel American Royals and it picks up right after the first book’s ending with Beatrice getting ready to become America’s first queen. I gave this book 4/5 stars, which are well-deserved in my opinion! CW: Blackmail, Death of a Parent, Allusions to Racism. 
This is the sequel to Meg & Jo by this author and I’m so excited to get my hands on a copy! In the first book we followed the oldest March sisters, now we are following the youngest March sisters.
I used to listen to radio all of the time when I was younger. I don’t listen to it so much anymore, but I always loved listening to the banter between the hosts. So, I was extremely excited to add this to my TBR when I read the synopsis.
I love the enemies-to-lovers trope! I’m interested to see how this read will turn out because there is a lot of hype surrounding it. I think I’ll also be craving some Vietnamese food while I’m reading this.
I devoured The Wreckage of Us last month and I’m really anxious to read more of Brittainy C. Cherry’s books. I also want to try read most of her backlist, but I’m not sure where to start.
I love a good YA thriller! It’s been pitched as Gossip Girl meets Jordan Peele’s iconic movie, Get Out. That’s what got me hooked, but I love it when characters are trying to take down a bully.
This is the first book in the Fall Away spin-off series, Hellbent. If you have been following my reviews the last few months, you’ll see that Penelope Douglas has become a favorite author of mine. I can’t wait to devour every book in this series when they are released!
Y’all should have expected this to be on the list. I mean it’s a Cassie Clare book and I never shut up about her series. I really want explore more of the Blackthorn family. Grace just doesn’t seem like a trustworthy character, while Jesse seems trusting and his relationship with Lucie is interesting.
I love the fake dating trope! I haven’t read a lot of YA with fake dating, but this book looks so good. A bad boy who promises to buy his fake girlfriend books? I’m sold! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Also, I believe this is Tashie’s debut so that makes picking up this book even more exciting.
It’s a 24-hour love story between two strangers. Noah is a hopeless romantic on this train trying to win back his first love. Ammy doesn’t believe in love because she’s never had a good example of it in her life. She’s on this train to escape her parents. After a train-wreck, Noah and Ammy are forced to travel together because they are desperate to reach their destination of Upstate New York.
Iris thought dating a basketball player would be this fairy tale that you see on TV, but she was very wrong. She’s never had the happily ever after that girls have dreamt of having. Then she met August West. She can’t be with him, but she wants to be. August also wants to be with Iris. CW: Domestic Violence. 
Clara’s family are an infamously elite family known for their lack of control except for the daughter, Clara. Everyone has a weakness and Clara’s is her childhood crush, Everett. He invites her to move cross-country with him. His offer sounds too good to be true, which is unfortunately true. Clara is sharing an apartment with a complete stranger, Josh. He happens to be a pornstar. Clare isn’t sure that she’ll be able to survive living with Josh, but it will cause a scandalous story. They both believe that women deserve better sex and decide to do something about it.
In a Cleveland suburb, everything is planned. Think of white picket fences and colonial type houses or just think of the Weeds opening theme. Elena Richardson is your stereotypical rule-following suburban housewife. Then Mia Warren who is an artist and a single mom. Mia and her daughter, Pearl, move into a house they rented from the Richardson family. Mia is hiding a huge secret that could cause an uproar in the neighborhood. Friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby which causes a huge custody battle. Mia and Elena find themselves on opposite sides of it.
Chloe Wang is really nervous about her parents meeting her boyfriend. She hasn’t even met him yet because she hired through a boyfriend renting service called, “Rent For Your ‘Rents.” It’s a company for pleasing a person’s traditional Asian family. Drew Chan took the job because he’s an artist trying to keep a roof over his head.
Hey, guys! Down in Virginia we just had our first winter storm earlier this month. While we didn’t get a lot of snow in my area of Northern Virginia because only a few inches fell, I decided to sit on my couch and curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace. Today, I’ll be reviewing No Exit by Taylor Adams. This Thriller follows Darby Thorne who is snowed-in at a Colorado rest stop and finds a little girl in a cage in the back of one of the cars in the parking lot. I gave this 4/5 stars. CW: Violence, Torture, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Kidnapping, Cancer, Sex-Trafficking. 
Lou is the perfect example of the preacher’s granddaughter. She volunteered at an autism center, sat in the front pew at church, and was a great role model for her younger sister Beatrice. Then Lou was diagnosed with cancer. Years later, seventeen-year-old Lou is sick of her perfect life so she decides to start taking a walk on the wild side. Lou finally sees Zeus Garro again, the man who took a bullet for her when she was a kid. He became her guardian monster, the title she dubbed him when they wrote to each other while Zeus was in jail. Being the president of the Fallen MC, when you make a deal with him, you make the deal with the devil. CW: Gun Violence, Verbally Abusive Parent, Cancer.
This book follows Felix Love, who ironically has never been in love. Felix is scared that since he is Black, queer, and transgender, that he’ll never get to have a happy ending like other people. When someone starts blackmailing Felix with transphobic messages, he wants to get even. The only thing he didn’t plan on happening were things becoming much more complicated than expected. CW: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Bullying, Absentee Parent.
This book follows the life of famous baseball legend, Jackie Robinson. Each chapter centers on a person who became an integral part in Jackie’s life as a baseball player. There are chapters on Rachel Robinson, Branch Rickey, Happy Chandler, Clyde Sukeforth, Red Barber, Wendell Smith, Burt Shotton, Pee Wee Reese, and Dixie Walker.
In this novel, we follow the Creed family who have just moved into a nice house in rural Maine. They seem perfect with Mr. Creed being a doctor, Mrs. Creed being super friendly, an imaginative little girl, an infant son, and a little black cat. Except there is something terrifying behind their house, the pet sematary. CW: Grief. 
Jake Brigance, a young street lawyer, takes on a huge case when he defends Carl Lee Hailey. Carl Lee, a Black man, is being charged with the murder of the two white men who raped his little girl. Now with the case of a lifetime, Jake has to do all he can to free Carl Lee. CW: Racism, KKK, Violence, Rape. 
John Logan is a junior at Briar University, so he’s used to getting any girl he encounters. While his life seems perfect, Logan is hiding a family secret which will force him to live a life he doesn’t want. Then he meets Grace Ivers who is a freshman and the perfect distraction. Logan does something stupid and sets off to spend his senior year trying to get Grace to give him a second chance. CW: Alcoholism, Divorce, Attempted Rape. 
The March sisters- Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy- are all grown up, living their own lives and dreams. Jo is living in New York, struggling as a prep cook and is a secret food blogger. She never expected that her journalism career would fall by the wayside, except it did. Then there is Meg. She seems to have it all- loving husband, an adorable set of twins, the nice house in the suburbs- but life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. To add to the sisters’ stress, their mother ends up in the hospital during the holidays. Soon, the March sisters will rediscover that the bond of family is what really matters. CW: Cheating, Sick Parent, Divorce. 
Luna Rexroth is everyone’s favorite wallflower in Todos Santos, California. She’s extremely sweet, hard-working, and quiet. Underneath her shell, Luna knows exactly what she wants. She wants her best friend, Knight Cole. He was the boy who taught her how to cuss in sign language, stood up for her when others brought her down, made her smile, and even got her to laugh. Knight Cole is the football star, the most popular guy at All Saints High School, and the troublemaker. While every girl wants him, he only has eyes for Luna. She isn’t the same girl she used to be. CW: Death of a Parent, Alcoholism, Mention of Rape, Drug Use, Parental Abandonment, Slut Shaming, Grief. 
This book follows three narrators: Natasha, Daniel, and the Universe. Natasha is a believer in facts, which leaves no room for destiny. When her family is about to be deported, Natasha is thrown in a loop when she meets Daniel. Daniel, a poet who is pressured by his parents’ high expectation for college and his future career, forgets all of his pressures when he meets Natasha. The Universe connects the missing dots between Natasha, Daniel, and the people they encounter. CW: Mention of Suicide, Alcoholism, Racism. 
Cordelia Carstairs’ life is about to be turned upside down. Her father gets accused of a terrible crime which forces her mother to move Cordelia and her brother to London. This finally gives Cordelia the chance to reconnect with her childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale. There have been demons attacks all over London and it’s up to the Shadowhunters to stop them.
Misha and Ryen have been penpals since the fifth grade because each of their teachers misgendered the kids because of their names. It didn’t take long for them to figure out their teachers’ mistakes. So over the next seven years, Misha and Ryen embarked on a great friendship. They only had three rules: no social media, no phone numbers, and no pictures.
Tate went to London with her grandmother the summer after senior year. On that trip, she meets Sam. The two hit it off and embark on a two-week relationship. Then shit hits the fan when Tate tells Sam that she’s the daughter of a famous actor. Sam then comes back into Tate’s life more than a decade later. He’s working on the movie she’s starring in with her father.
A mysterious announcer tells Ray Kinsella, “If you build it, he will come.” This inspires Ray to build a baseball field in honor of his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson. He even enlists the help of famous writer, J.D. Salinger who has become quite the recluse over the years.
A group of six friends from Oxford University spend a week together in the French countryside. Things were going great until they were introduced to Severine who lived next-door to the farmhouse the group was staying at. Something happened during the group’s last night and Severine was never heard from again. Ten years later, Severine’s case gets reopened when her body is found. That whole week gets revisited when the group gets questioned and things come to light.
Bliss Edwards hates that she still hasn’t lost her virginity even though she’s a senior in college. She decided a one-night stand would be the best way to lose her virginity because it would be quick and easy. Everything was going well until she freaked out and left this extremely attractive naked guy in her bed. Walking into her theatre class the next morning, Bliss recognizes her professor- Garrick who was in her bed last night.
Hello everybody! It’s almost 2021, which means we’re almost done with this no good, very terrible bad year. This year has not been easy whatsoever, but at least it’s almost over. Today’s review will on The Next Flame by Penelope Douglas which is novella bind-up of Aflame and Next to Never. No surprise here because I gave this novella bind-up 5/5 stars. CW: Domestic Abuse, Alcoholism, Cheating. 