It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, so why not start back up when there are about a thousand new releases?? Today is a killer day for debuts and sequels, so strap in bbs, we’ve got LOTS TO TALK ABOUT!

The Map from Here to There, by Emery Lord
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: The Start of Me and You #2
Publisher:  Bloomsbury YA
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 368 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 5/5

Mini Review: I LOVE Emery. I have been counting down the days to this one so impatiently, and was so happy to get an ARC! Being back with Paige and Max and the rest of the gang was A+++

Here’s something I heard recently though, and I’m really interested to see what everyone else thinks after they read it–people don’t really want sequels, they want to read the original for the first time again. Come and tell me: true or false? 

EITHER WAY, I’m going to see Emery at the Ripped Bodice next week and I could not be more excited!

“Secondly, there’s a vein of hopeful cynicism in everything you write. You’re trying to believe, but helplessly waiting for the anvil.”

One of Us Is Next, by Karen M. McManus
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: One of Us Is Lying #2
Publisher: Delacorte Press for Young Readers
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 384 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 4.75/5 

Mini Review: A piece of advice–reread One of Us Is Lying before diving in here. I thought I remembered it well enough, especially since this book focuses on new characters, but I WAS VERY WRONG. It was still fantastic but I know there was stuff I missed. 

Anyway GUYS THIS WAS SO GOOD. This time it’s truth or dare and there’s no skipping your turn, because someone knows everything. There are new couples to ship, old ones to whisper “endgame” at every time they’re on page, and a bunch of new mysteries to solve. 

“People like to think they’re open-minded, but if you toss a tired gender stereotype in their path they’ll run with it every time. I don’t understand why the world insists on stuffing girls and boys into boxes we never asked for, and then gets mad when we won’t stay there.”

Throw Like a Girl, by Sarah Henning
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Poppy
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 368 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 3/5

Mini Review:
This…was…fine. It was fine. There’s no way Liv would have been recruited to a guy’s only football team and not a single guy on the team or any opposing team would ever say shit, WHO CARES that was actually kind of nice. 

“I try but fail to wash the loss out of my hair- Garnier Fructis can only do so much.”

Every Other Weekend, by Abigail Johnson
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 512 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 4/5 

Mini Review: If you’re a follower of this blog, I talked about this one yesterday, in a post about trigger warnings. I won’t repeat them here, but there is content that you won’t see coming based on the description alone–if you’d like to hear more about those, check out yesterday’s post here. 

Other than that, I do really love Jolene and Adam’s friendship, even though I spent a lot of the time worrying about what else might happen because BOY a lot of bad stuff happened. 

Also, Jolene after finding out that *spoiler* has a girlfriend now is a Whole Mood.

“You watch too many movies.”
“Someone had to raise me.”

How to Speak Boy, by Tiana Smith
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 288 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 3/5

Mini Review:
I liked this, but it was ENTIRELY predictable. Lots of really tired cliches, lots of tropes with no new spin. I don’t know about you guys, but the “enemies to lovers where only the girl thinks they’re enemies” trope is so worn out for me. It’s not awful. You’re just going to see what’s coming at every turn. 

“…strange, how easy it was to talk to a perfect stranger. Like, by not knowing who he was, I could tell him anything…Anonymity made me bold.”

Loveboat, Taipei, by Abigail Hing Wen
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 432 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 3.75/5 

Mini Review: FYI the only reason that this didn’t get 4 stars was because it was a little long and a little “get to the point already” for me but I still really liked this one a lot more than I thought I would!

Ever’s entire summer gave me RA prep week vibes, which I realize is a very specific vibe if you weren’t a college resident advisor. Basically it’s kind of a free-for-all feeling on campus with a very small group of other students and a very, very tiny amount of supervision right before college is about to begin in the summer. 

Ever is also a dancer, and as a previous dancer myself, reading ballet terminology and choreo is so calming to me. Also a very specific vibe and probably not at all interesting to anyone who doesn’t know what these words mean. 

Anyway, this is a fun book about the summer between high school and college, set in Taiwan. There are shades of a love triangle without really developing into a full love triangle, an excellent pretend dating trope, and a nice ending!

“I have to believe there’s an order to this universe, even if we can’t see it, and that its fundamental design is good. One human was never intended to carry another.”

A Heart So Fierce and Broken, by Brigid Kemmerer
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: Cursebreakers #2
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Length: 464 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 5/5 

Mini Review: Some of the reviews on this one have not been great, but I LOVED IT. It’s a little slow to get into, and it’s a little jarring if you’re expecting the story to follow Harper and Rhen (which is a fair assumption, tbh). But once you get past that and really dig into Grey and the new characters, it is just BLISS. There is ~mAgIk~, there is a deeper look into some of the characters (and guess what? You might not like some of it!), and there is a deliciously slooooow burn. 

“When a man no longer deserves your loyalty, it is not a failing of yours, Grey.”

And guys these are just the ones that I’ve been able to read early!
Some others that I know released today:
Chosen, by Kiersten White
You Were There Too, by Colleen Oakley
Jane Anonymous, by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Just Breathe, by Cammie McGovern
Lie to Me, by Kaitlin Ward
Nameless Queen, by Rebecca McLaughlin
Three Things I Know Are True, by Betty Culley

AND I KNOW THERE’S MORE, WHAT ELSE AM I MISSING??