I Fell In Love With Hope by Lancali #bookreview.

Hello, everyone! I am back with yet another book review. I have been reading so many books lately, despite my exams nearing. I am a bit concerned, but there is no harm in reading during breaks! Thank you to Lancali for sending an e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Book: I Fell In Love With Hope
Author: Lancali
Genre: Romance, Fiction
Age Limit: 13+
Pacing: Medium-pacing
Trigger Warnings: Self-harm, chronic illness, death, eating disorder, child abuse, mental illness

Goodreads Summary:

Against the unforgiving landscape of a hospital, I fell in love with a mischievous, sun-eyed boy who became my only joy in that desolate place. That’s what made it all the more soul-crushing when he committed suicide in front of me.

Since then, I’ve sworn never to love anyone again. With three exceptions: My friends, Sony, Neo, and Coeur, a little gang of rebellious, dying kids. Sony leads the charge with the air of freedom and only one lung to breathe it. Neo, a bad-tempered and wheel-chaired writer, keeps track of our great deeds from stealing to terrorizing our nurse. Coeur is the beautiful boy, the muscle, the gentle giant with a failing heart.

Before death inevitably knocks down our doors, my thieves and I have one last heist planned. A great escape that will take us far from abusive parents, crippling loss, and the realities of our diseases. So what happens when someone else walks through the door? What happens when a girl joins our party and renders me speechless with her mischievous smile? What happens when she has suns in her eyes, and as terrified as I am to lose again, I start to fall?

My Review:

I am so glad that I read this book. It touched my heart in so many ways. The author has beautifully written about how five friends tackle their illnesses in the hospital and are each other’s pillars. She conveys how a sick person is seen through the eyes of sympathy. I really liked the friendship element, her writing made the friendship between the five characters very intimate and deep. Coming to her writing style. It has a poetic style with the normal narrative style. In the starting, it was hard for me, but as I read further I understood and got used to her writing style. The story is so purely written, it is raw, and as I read I could feel the pain the characters went through. The characters are so lovable, they have a charm to them.

Coming to the narration. The main character, sam is narrating the story. But in the ending, something is revealed that elevated the whole story. The author discussed many aspects of life in the book such as the support of family and friends and giving your heart out to someone. Personally, I learned so much about life, relationships, and sickness. The author did a great job of pouring down the emotions. Also, if I had a physical copy, I would have annotated almost every other line. There are so many beautifully written sentences that convey everything!

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Have you read this book? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

Spotify Wrapped Book Challenge!

Hello everyone, hope all are doing good. I am still on a hiatus because my exams are approaching soon. But for a change, I decided to write a post. I am so excited to do this challenge because music and books are very close to my heart. I saw this challenge at Ali’s Books, so let’s get into it!

Rules:

The idea of this challenge is to put your 2022 playlist on shuffle, and for the first five songs, you need to pick a book you read in 2022 that fits that song. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit. You just have to explain why you chose that book for that song.

These songs came on my Spotify Wrapped 2022, so I will be going ahead with this list today.

Song 1: Therapist by Jeremy Zucker

Paired with…

This is an upbeat, chaotic, and fearless song. I get those vibes from The Inheritance Games series. Also, I was continuously listening to this song while I was reading the second book.

Song 2: Hate Me If It Helps by Alexander 23

Paired with…

The pain in this song matches the pain in this memoir. The lyrics in the song tell about, how the person is trying to make his past loved one happy and better by hurting himself emotionally, which is exactly the case with the author and her mom in the book. Impactful song and an impactful read…

Song 3: i70 by Jeremy Zucker

Paired with…

The song is about not driving home anymore and in the book, the main character ran away from his home to explore his new life. This song gives very countryside and chill vibes, which I felt while reading Kafka On The Shore.

Song 4: More Than Life by Machine Gun Kelly x Glaive

Paired with…

I read this book in January, but somehow this song always reminded me of The Naturals. The book is based on a serial killer murder mystery, which was very interesting to read. I must say that this series is very underrated, so please read it!

Song 5: High by Chainsmokers

Paired with…

Reading this book gave me anxiety and listening to this song gave me a serotonin boost because it is so upbeat. Now, both feelings are opposite but somehow the song vibed a lot with the book.

I had a blast doing this challenge! I am not tagging anyone but feel free to do this tag!
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson #bookreview.

Hello everyone! Maureen Johnson, my all-time favorite author released her new book, Nine Liars! Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review of the book. Let’s get into the review!

Book: Nine Liars
Author: Maureen Johnson
Genre: Fiction, Murder Mystery
Age Limit: 16+
Trigger Warnings: Death, Panic Attacks/ Disorders, Murder

Goodreads Summary:

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed.

Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.

My Review:

This book is a companion in the Truly Devious series. You don’t have to read the other four books, but I suggest reading them as they are classic cozy murder mysteries! This book is set in London and the story starts in 1995 where The Nine are going to the manor’s house for a party. At first, I felt that introducing so many characters in the story at once could confuse the reader. But, that was not the case. The author did a great job of establishing the characters and giving their personalities an identity.

In the book, there are statements from the six characters that were very interesting to read and a great addition to the story. There are character developments of Stieve and her friends. At some point, I observed that the author diverted a lot from the main murder and shifted the focus to Stieve’s love life. So, that did not blend well. Stevie and her friends visit London as David invites them. The author shares the history of London which blends with the main murder. I really like the way she linked real history and murder.

Maureen’s world-building in this book was immaculate. It gave off dark and gruesome vibes while reading the book. I really enjoyed it and could not stop thinking about the story. I guessed the killer when there were 150 pages left. It is a very quick-paced read as I finished reading this in 3 days and didn’t even realize that it was a 450-page book! Sometimes a book can be unnecessarily long and it can bore in between, but this was not the case here. One thing after the other the story unravels smoothly. Lastly, I would like to say that, I would like to kill David soon. Read the book and you will know what I mean.

What I Liked:

• The whole story is set in London.
• The blending of the history of London with the murder.
• Character build-up was so good, did not confuse me while I was reading.
• Dark and gruesome vibes in the story.
• Quick-paced read and the story unraveled smoothly.

What I Did Not Like:

• The story kept diverting from the main murder and focused on the main character’s love life.
• I guessed the killer when there were 150 pages left, which is fine but then it kind of ruined the surprise element.

Other Books In This Series:

The first three books are a series, and The Box In The Woods and Nine Liars are companions. You can check out my review for The Truly Devious Series and The Box In The Woods.

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was my highly anticipated book of 2022 and I am so happy that I read this book. I must say that this was a bit different and not my favorite from other books in the series, but yes this book is worth reading! Let me know in the comments if you have read this book.
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

My 2022 Year in Books!

Hello, everybody. Happy New Year! I hope 2023 will be a happy and healthy year for you. I was away from writing for a long time and I am sorry for my inactivity. Things are still hectic as my finals are nearing. I have planned many things for my blog, but I cannot implement them due to time constraints. I will be free in April from all my exams and studies, still, a long way to go But, I will try to stay in touch with my writing and you all in between.

My Goodreads Goal.

I had kept a goal of 50 books and I was able to read 45 books this year. I must say that I read quite a mixed bag this year. There are many books that I rated 4-5 stars and there were many with 2-3 ratings.

Some Stats:

As I mentioned in my posts this past year, my reading tastes are evolving. 2022 was an experimenting year for me. I kept exploring different genres. Some, I instantly fell in love with and others I won’t get back to again.

In 2022, I explored different genres like realistic fiction, translated books, non-fiction, memoirs, and even romance because it was so hyped up. Many disappointments and many favorites in the past year.

My Year In Books:

I will be reviewing and discussing some of the books that I loved in my upcoming posts. It feels good to be back. Thank you for always supporting me and reading my posts. All the comments mean a lot to me, thanks again! I want you all to tell me in the comments how many books did you read in 2022.
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

The Maid: Book Review

Book: The Maid
Author: Nita Prose
Genre: Fiction, Murder Mystery
Age Limit: 16+
Trigger Warnings: Death, Murder, Bullying

Goodreads Summary:

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had united with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

My Review:

Firstly, the main character Molly the Maid. She is a very innocent person who has not seen the true world. When you will be reading, the main character won’t understand the true meaning behind the conversations, but the reader will understand the meaning. I was not a fan of this format particularly. It is like the character is up for a surprise in the case, not the reader. I did not like Molly the Maid since I found her irritating at times. I felt sad for Molly at times as she was not accepted by her co-workers. I really loved Grandma’s advice throughout the book. Molly keeps recalling her dead Grandma’s advice throughout the book which was nice to read.
Coming to the story. I think this was a solid murder mystery. I really liked that the whole story took place in the hotel from a Maid’s point of view. The ending though did not have the wow factor. Throughout, the story was going pretty smoothly (minus the character’s behavior), but I expected a better ending.

What I Liked:

• The whole story is set in a hotel.
• Recalling her grandma’s life lessons.

What I Did Not Like:

• Molly was irritating at times
• The character is up for a surprise, not the reader
• The ending did not have a WOW factor.

What You Should Read Next:

• The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
• The Guest List by Lucey Foley

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This was an average read for me. Have you read this book? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.