ARC August TBR

Hello, lovelies!! My blog has been a bit dry these past few weeks because I haven't had internet access, and blogging from my phone is too frustrating to even try. BUT I AM BACK!! And though August has already started and I'm a little late to the party, I present you all with my ARC August TBR.

For those of you wondering what ARC August is, it's a reading challenge that occurs throughout the entirety of August in which you read as many ARCs as you can, be they upcoming or backlist, physical or electronic--all ARCs are on the table. For more information on the challenge and how to sign up, head over to Read. Sleep. Repeat's lovely blog.

I'm super pumped about ARC August because, let's be honest, there are soooo many books I gotta catch up on.

Okay, okay, now onto my TBR.

PHYSICAL ARCS

Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland
Published: July 11, 2017 by Disney-Hyperion

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
Published: April 4, 2017 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios
Published: June 13, 2017 by Henry Holt & Company Inc

ELECTRONIC ARCS

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell
Published: July 18, 2017 by Simon Pulse

Of Jenny and the Aliens by Ryan Gebhart
Published: August 1, 2017 by Candlewick Press

No Good Deed by Kara Connolly
Published: July 18, 2017 by Delacorte Press

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller
Published: August 29, 2017 by Sourcebooks Fire

There you have it! It's not a particularly extensive selection, but I do have non-ARC books I want to read this month as well, so who knows if I'll even get to all of these. The end of August is when school starts up again and I can incredibly busy again, so I'm going to do my best.

Are you participating in ARC August? If so, let me know what you're reading. Also, let me know if you've read any of these books and which ones I should be excited for! 

Lefty's Lowdown: What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
(standalone)
Published: July 11, 2017 by Delacorte Press
Source: Won a free ARC in a giveaway. All thoughts stated in this review are my own.

Summary from Goodreads:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things comes a charming and poignant story about two struggling teenagers who find an unexpected connection just when they need it most. For fans of Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Niven, and Rainbow Rowell.

Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.

KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.

DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her.


When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

I knew literally nothing about this book. I won it in a giveaway and someone on Twitter said they really adored it and that we should all put it on our TBRs. It looked like a quick read, and so I picked it up and dove in. I DO NOT REGRET A THING. This book really took me by surprise in the best way. And like that person on Twitter, I say PUT IT ON YOUR TBR STAT.

This book has alternating perspectives--Kit, who is in a really dark place after her father died, and David, who is insanely intelligent but has no friends. These characters had me hooked instantly! They have two very distinct voices, but I didn't find myself favoring one POV over the other. I was equally engaged throughout the whole thing. And boy did I feel for these characters. So, Kit's dad died and nobody wants to freaking talk about it. They want her to move on because that would make the situation more comfortable for them. But on top of that, she keeps a devastating secret bottled up and then uncovers ANOTHER DEVASTATING SECRET. Like, things are not going well for this girl and I totally sympathize with her. And then there's David. He's on the autism spectrum and people are so fucking mean to him. It absolutely killed my heart to see the way that people treated him when he was such a PURE LIL CINNAMON ROLL. Honestly, he's my favorite character that I've read about in a whiiiile. 

What I really admire about this book is that yeah, it's a romance, and yeah, I ship Kit and David out the wazoo, but it's also not just about romance. Like, it's more than just wanting these characters to get to smoochin. It's about getting to know someone and really seeing the good in them. Seeing the truth in them. About being truly comfortable with someone, trusting them, and forgiving them when they do something painfully human. 

Somehow this book managed to break my heart and put it back together again. I love this book. I highly, highly recommend this book. It's underrated, if you ask me, with only 240 ratings on Goodreads. What to Say Next is not just your average YA contemporary book, and I think everyone could probably learn a little something from it. 

Again, I highly recommend this. 

Read it. 

My rating: 

4.5/5

A post shared by The Left-Handed Book Lover (@leftyreads) on Jul 5, 2017 at 4:27pm PDT

Lefty's Lowdown: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell
(standalone)
Published: February 2, 2016 by Simon Pulse
Source: I received an eARC for review from the publisher via Edelweiss, but that hasn't influenced my opinion even a little bit.

Summary from Goodreads: 
For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer.

But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along.

The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the roguish young pirate who promises to keep her safe.

With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But will she be able to save Neverland without losing herself?

 HECK YES. I have major, super duper heart eyes for this book. This is the YA pirate book I have been waiting for my entire life. There's adventure and smoochies and magic and pretty much anything you could ask for from a twisted up Peter Pan retelling. Admittedly, I'm not overly familiar with the tale of Peter Pan, but I know enough to see how Unhooked aligns with the original tale. Maxwell's version is dark and utterly engrossing.

Soooo there are so many awesome things happening in this book, I don't even know where to start. Full disclosure, the beginning was a bit slow, but of course it was necessary. We're introduced to our narrator, Gwendolyn, whose mother is dragging her to yet another town to live, claiming there are monsters, only this time is different because Gwen had started to feel really comfortable at their previous town. She'd settled in, and she even made a best friend--Olivia, who decided to tag along for a couple weeks to help them get settled at their new house in London. We see Gwen struggle to figure out what she wants, not what her mom wants for her life. And then she finds herself in Neverland, and that's when the pacing picks up and shit gets realllllll good.

Gwen turns out to be a kickass narrator. She's kinda damsel-y in the beginning, but not in a way that's weak, more in a way that she was just dropped into a strange land and has no idea where she is or what the ef is going on. Even still, we can see that Gwen is stubborn as hell, determined, and she's not going to take any of Captain's crap. SPEAKING OF CAPTAIN. Mm mm mmm. He's the villain, a roguish pirate in every sense of the word, or at least it seems. He's dangerous, ruthless, and he has a very strange effect on Gwen. Except, guys, noooooo. Captain is compassionate and caring, and he is very hard on himself. I love him, and I love him and Gwen together. Talk about chemistry!!! Every interaction between them is absolutely sizzling. Both of these characters are complex and well-developed and such. fantastic. characters. If I'm being honest, though, all the characters in this novel are wonderfully crafted. Pan, Olivia, Fiona...They come alive on the pages.

This whole book comes alive. The world that Maxwell has created is luscious and detailed and definitely a little creepy. This is not the Neverland you read about as a child, folks. And Lisa Maxwell's writing is absolutely beautiful. Whether you like it or not, you will, without a doubt, get sucked into this fairy tale.

I can't even tell y'all enough how much I loved this novel. It was the first novel I actually started this year, and I read the entire thing in one sitting. It was sexy and positively captivating. It's a little reminiscent of Once Upon A Time in Neverland, I will most likely fangirl about this book for the rest of my life because it is amazing and you need to read it.

My rating:

5/5 would read again

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Maxwell is the author of Sweet Unrest, Gathering Deep (Flux, Fall 2015) and Unhooked (Simon Pulse, Spring 2016). When she's not writing books, she's an English professor at a local college. She lives near DC with her very patient husband and two not-so patient boys.

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Lefty's Lowdown: Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer
(Standalone)
Published: December 29, 2015 by Kensington
Source: I received an eARC for review via Netgalley, but that hasn't affected my thoughts in this book in any way, shape, or form.

Summary from Goodreads:
Thomas Bellweather hasn’t been in town long. Just long enough for his newlywed mother to be murdered, and for his new stepdad’s cop colleagues to decide Thomas is the primary suspect.

Not that there’s any evidence. But before Thomas got to Garretts Mill there had just been one other murder in twenty years.

The only person who believes him is Charlotte Rooker, little sister to three cops and, with her soft hands and sweet curves, straight-up dangerous to Thomas. Her best friend was the other murder vic. And she’d like a couple answers.

Answers that could get them both killed, and reveal a truth Thomas would die to keep hidden…

This book was not at all what I expected. but HOLY CRAP I LOVED IT. Mystery typically isn't my genre of choice, so I didn't go into this book with the highest of hopes. but from the very first sentence, I shit you not, this book had me hooked. 

My favorite part of this book was definitely the voice. Thicker Than Water is told in two different points of view: Thomas, the guy accused of murdering his mother, and Charlotte, the girl who just can't seem to stop getting wrapped up in his drama. Both of these characters have extremely sharp, engrossing voices. I'll admit, I'm a bit more partial to Thomas's voice because I thought he was a bit more sarcastic, and there were points I actually laughed out loud. Here are some of my favorite quotes by him.

"She stands with an older woman, and by older I mean that there's a chance her wrinkled skin might give up the fight and slide the rest of the way down her body. Ol' Wrinkly is wearing an honest-to-god navy blue hat with a veil" (location 98).

"She could call me Princess Sparklepants if she wants. I couldn't care less about my name at this point" (location 112). 

"Stan stands close to me. 'I don't mean to pry, but...do you have money for this, Tom?'

'I don't need money. I was planning to wait until the sales guy was distracted, then run.'" (location 1849)

Aside from just the voice, the characterization in this novel was great! Thomas was typically pretty moody, he was also so kind and misunderstood. My heart went out to him so much throughout the book. I got so super duper frustrated on his behalf. I honestly fell in love with him the second he was introduced. Like, I found a new book boyfriend here, that's for sure. I liked Charlotte a lot, too. She initially comes off as the semi-annoying girl who has to stick her nose in but can't stick up for herself, but she definitely redeems herself by the end of the novel, proving that there is some badassery in her after all. She's also kind, understanding, and refuses to accept that Thomas is the guy everyone says he is. I was super connected to the characters and I SHIP 'EM. Truth be told, it wasn't the shippiest ship I've ever shipped, but I was still rooting for them hardcore. I knew they belonged together.

All the secondary characters were interesting and well-developed as well. Charlotte has 3 brothers, each of which have their own distinct personality. I wouldn't say I necessarily loved them, but they were good characters. Stan, Thomas's new step-dad, is also a really interesting character. I loved seeing how much his relationship with Thomas developed over the course of the novel.

I also thought the pacing of the novel was really good. I was not bored while reading this or even a second. I tore through this book like it was nothing. There was not a single part of this novel where I felt like I just needed to power through.

I'll admit, I wasn't entirely surprised by the mystery aspect. I can't say a whole lot about it, but it wasn't that hard to predict. I also would not have minded if the paranormal aspect was a bit more expanded on. Aside from that, I have no complaints about this one! It was intriguing and it kept me ensnared more than any book has done in a really long time. I gotta say, I don't think the general synopsis of this book does it justice. Even if you're not a big mystery reader, I still encourage you to give this one a shot!

Rating: 

5/5