April Wrap Up — All the Books I Read In April 2020

So For the month of April, I believed I participated in two readathons and I basically failed both of them, only because of so much that is going on but I did manage to somethings which I shared in a youtube video that I filmed for booktube and my blog. Down below is a video I did for my booktube channel as well as the stats or star ratings and links to the reviews. Hope you all enjoy it. 

Here are my stats for the month of April:
36601937. sy475  Rated 3 Stars — link to review Ghost Squad Review
30075802   Rated 4 Stars — link to review The Princess Saves Herself in This One
27233119. sx318   Rated 4 Stars — link to review Small Ghost
34140219. sy475  Rated 4 Stars — link to review Nectar
32076617. sy475 Rated 4 Stars — link to review The City Born Great

Ghost Squad By Claribel A. Ortega | Book Review

36601937. sy475

Synopsis: Coco meets Stranger Things with a hint of Ghostbusters in this action-packed supernatural fantasy.

For Lucely Luna, ghosts are more than just the family business.

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd’s witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely’s firefly spirits before it’s too late.

With the family dynamics of Coco and action-packed adventure of Ghostbusters, Claribel A. Ortega delivers both a thrillingly spooky and delightfully sweet debut novel.



Book Review: 

Ghost SquadGhost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ghost Squad is a fast paced middle grade #ownvoices/ Latinx novel great for young readers or anyone who wants something different. This story is about Lucely and her best friend Syd stumbling onto ghosts in their town. Lucely is also trying to communicate with her mother who passed away sometime ago through fireflies. This book I find has a lot of things going on and kids may like that aspect. Since I’m not a big middle grade reader myself and I’m typically not the audience the author goes after the things happening within the book will be different coming from someone in the 5th grade.

But overall I enjoyed it, the audiobook was great. I thought the narrator did a good job with keeping the story alive. Ghost Squad was fun, cute, diverse, #ownvoices and something I’ll let my son listen to.

#RecentReads Jan Thru April 2020

Hey everyone this is my new blog which I’m starting over. This weeks post will be about what I recently read over the last few months. I have been reading a lot since the covid-19 virus quarantine has lockdown my state. So theses are the books I read before most of this took place. So instead of long drawn reviews I will give short bursts of my thoughts instead on each book. 

All I WantAll I Want by Alexandria House
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was was Navy and Lakeland story. Their story was so was honest and loving and the fact that it happened around Christmas time made it even more special. Great story.

SumWhereOvaRainbows: A Poetry CollectionSumWhereOvaRainbows: A Poetry Collection by Aubreé Pynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I always enjoy Aubree’s poetry and this was no different. Very strong, sensual, dark, and erotic words that she writes to express a love a loss and new love found.

Black Girl MagicBlack Girl Magic by Mahogany L. Browne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this! I enjoyed the flow of this and the important message behind the words. Not just black girls but black boys need to read this, so important for young children!!

Everything Fades AwayEverything Fades Away by Zane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was really good and well written. This was Amanda and Gideon’s story of how they met in such a short period of time and how it all ended. In a way this story unexpectedly was a tiny bit sad at the end. I know this is a novella/short story but I would had loved more back story on Amanda. And more information on Amanda and Gideon’s current marriage’s. As usual Zane came through with the sexiness and I loved every moment of it!

Peeping Tom: A Short StoryPeeping Tom: A Short Story by J.A. Peters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a very a sexy short story. This is story about Thomas basically eating the lustful fruit and being stung later for it. I liked how the sex scenes were described which were believable to read as a reader. I really wanted this story to be longer in a way but I understand not every story gets to be told in 300 pages. This was really good and I definitely will look out for more by this author.

The A.I. Who Loved MeThe A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

DNF.
I wanted to like this but I just couldn’t. Finding a A.i. sexy I thought is weird to me. It was just a meh story to me. I gave it a shot, not for me.

Thirteen Reasons WhyThirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF @ 76% Smh!! Thirteen Reasons why is a terrible way to depict suicide in a novel especially for teens. I felt as though Hannah was manipulative and would and say anything to make herself look like a victim. 

There are tons of people who commit suicide in the U.S. alone each year and I personally feel this story didn’t do a good job at capturing that essence. Now maybe the Netflix TV series might be better I have no clue. But I might come back to update this much later after I have watched the TV series. This was a big disappointment but not really. I once tried to read this 8 years ago and stop didnt get very far then. My way of thinking was the glamorization of suicide and I didn’t like that. Now that I listened to big part of it on audiobook I just can’t take it anymore. It’s written poorly I simply hate it, so 1 fucking🌟

VengeanceVengeance by Zane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vengeance by Zane I think was really good. This particular novel touched on a few topics such as mental illness, rape, the LGBT community, and suicide. I felt as though Zane made her points without filling the book up with so much sex that the reader misses the points at hand.

For Caprice/ Wicked she was simply dealt a messy hand in life. And all she wanted to do was escape it. She meets Hannah (who I loved btw!) Who becomes her aunt. Caprice finds out she can sing and she signs a deal becomes Wicked. Caprice is now focus on getting revenge on childhood friend’s who hurt her years ago. Great story, I enjoyed it!😊💜🌟