Gabriella M Reads

It's Always Sonny by Kate Watson 4 Stars I was given an advanced copy from the author in exchange for my honest review. I'll be the first to admit that closed door romances are mostly not my thing and this is also my first Kate Watson book. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this romance. It's Always Sonny is a classic case of right person, wrong time. The setting was perfect for the kind of story Kate was building. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters, and even in such a short time, I was made to care for each and every one. Well, most of them. Someone's parents are more than a little sucky. A quick read for when you just need a little joy in your life. Basically, I had a good time, which is all I ask of the books that I read. I wouldn't mind reading more of her works in the future. It's Always Sonny is available for purchase as a paperback or an e-book as of today, March 21st. You can also snag it on Kindle Unlimited if you ...

The Opposite of Innocent by Sonya Sones 5 Stars I was originally pulled into The Opposite of Innocent because of the cover, but once I looked it up and saw what it was about I knew that I needed to read it. Luckily for me Emma from Miss Print had an ARC up for adoption through her ARC Adoption program and I was able to get my hands on it pretty quickly. So thank you, Emma. I finished it in one sitting. The Opposite of Innocent is about a girl who has had a crush on a friend of her parents since she was little and now that she's grown their relationship becomes extremely inappropriate. I really wanted to see how this all panned out especially being written in verse. I was curious how enough detail could fit into the story in such a short amount of time. Sonya did a good job with this one. I felt for Lily and while Luke seemed to be a prince, his colors were shown slowly but surely. I think some could see this as a way to spot a snake in the grass. The story is loaded ...

Fat Girl on a Plan by Kelly deVos 5 Stars First I want to thank Kelly for personally handing over her travelling ARC to me at an event last month on a whim. I was so shocked and so thankful. I've been dying to read this one. Fat Girl on a Plane is about a girl who is on a fashion journey. During this journey we see her both as plus size and not which is amazing in my opinion.  Disclaimer : The things I talk about are things Kelly has mentioned in panels, but if you don't want to know too much about the relationships that take place I would skip the last half of this review. Throughout this wonderful debut we see a girl who is trying to pave her way in the world. Cookie is currently a fashion blogger dreaming of being a designer herself. I thought it was awesome to hear that Cookie makes her own clothes and is a huge advocate for how little clothing is available in bigger sizes. I myself have struggled to find clothes that fit me correctly and I have to deal wi...

The Fall of Grace by Amy Fellner Dominy 4.5 Stars I want to preface this by thanking Amy for giving this to me personally at the Tucson Festival of Books after I told her how much I've been dying to read it. She's such a kind human and listening to her speak was wonderful. Now onto the book. The Fall of Grace is about Grace and her life after her mom gets accused of pretty major investment fraud. The book bounces back and forth between right when she finds out and months after which is something I loved. Grace's life as she knows it is falling apart and we get to see how she handles it. The choices she makes as she searches for the truth. I kind of see her as a girl who has lost her way. One who put all of her trust in her mother which is something I do. A mother is supposed to look out for you, teach you. One thing that really grabbed me, other than the mystery aspect, was the fact that she looks to the wilderness to help her. Y'all know I love to escape t...

The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby 5 Stars The thing that initially interested me in The Other Side of Lost was the hiking aspect. I don't know how many of you know this, but I go up to the mountain to clear my head. I hike one trail more often than any other and I find a boulder and climb up high. I sit there. The silence of nature and the fresh air makes me calm, alive, happy even. So whenever I see a book that includes an adventure similar to those I enjoy, I want to read it immediately. The Other Side of Lost is a novel following Mari, a social media star who is just turning 18. Years ago her cousin, who shares the same birthday, and her planned a trip for the day they turned 18. Something amazing for them to experience together. Her cousin is no longer around and in a crisis of self, Mari decides to do it. Alone. When I started the book I couldn't stand Mari. The way she saw the world irritated me. Especially when she complained about it. I couldn't hel...

Hello and welcome to my stop on the Down and Across blog tour! I'm super excited to share this book with y'all as well as my personal thoughts on it! How about we start with the basics? About the Book Discover the secret to success in this incisively funny debut, for fans of John Corey Whaley, David Arnold, and Ned Vizzini! "Quirky and charming, wise and unpredictable." --Khaled Hosseini, #1  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Kite Runner  Scott Ferdowsi has a track record of quitting. Writing the Great American Novel? Three chapters. His summer internship? One week. His best friends know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but Scott can't commit to a breakfast cereal, let alone a passion. With college applications looming, Scott's parents pressure him to get serious about a career path like engineering or medicine. Desperate for help, he sneaks off to Washington, DC, to seek guidance from a famous professor who spe...

Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda 4 Stars I want to start off by thanking Emma from Miss Print  who allowed me to adopt this ARC through her ARC Adoption program . I am so glad that a program like this exists. It allows smaller bloggers more access to early copies they are looking forward to. I've heard that Megan Miranda is a wonderful author who really knows how to tell a thrilling story. Fragments of the Lost is about Jessa who's ex boyfriend has recently passed away and she ends up being the one with the task of packing up all of his things. As you can imagine, she's searching for a reason why and dissecting what she thought she knew about their relationship and his life. The book starts off with her first appearance at the house after the death of Caleb. We aren't told what happened to him or even why they aren't together anymore. These are the things that kept me going. I'm a big "why" person. Throughout her packing we get ...

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson 5 Stars First I want to thank the Epic Reads Insiders program for providing me with this advanced readers copy. I'm so very happy to have received it. I had been looking forward to Truly Devious ever since I first heard of it. I've entered giveaway after giveaway and lost each time. I was so eager to get my hands on it because I have thing for boarding schools and private schools. Not to mention mysteries. For those of you who haven't heard of Truly Devious yet it follows Stevie, a teenager who is completely engrossed in true crime stories. Particularly the one that took place at Ellingham Academy which she is now enrolled in. She arrives at the school intending to solve the unsolved crime that took place in 1936. We follow her through her investigations and then someone dies. We get to watch as Stevie tries to piece everything together and I LOVED IT. I loved being inside her mind and watching this puzzle come together piece b...

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed 4.5 Stars I want to start by saying that I fought hard for this book. I requested it on NetGalley, straight from the publisher, lurked on books for trade and I just could not get my hands on it. So when I saw it pop up in the ARC Adoption program run by Emma at Miss Print I practically begged her for it. I got lucky. It may have taken me a while, but here is my review. From the minute I heard about The Nowhere Girls I wanted to get my hands on it. If you've been around for a while then you know I feel a connection to certain books about the hard stuff. Some being mental illnesses, some on assault, bullying, and so many more. The Nowhere Girls centers on rape, consent, breaking the silence and the sad norms surrounding such things. For this exact reason I needed it in my life. To me this book is pretty slow, but very important. The chapters alternate perspectives as a group of girls try to get justice for a fellow teenage girl previo...

You Don't Know Me but I Know You by Rebecca Barrow 5 Stars First off, I want to thank the kind, Rebecca Barrow for sending me a copy of this book after I won a giveaway. I think I entered quite a few for this book because of how badly I wanted to read it and I am so incredibly thankful that I was able to. For those of you who don't know, the main themes of this book are teenage pregnancy and adoption. Our main character, Audrey, was adopted and while it's not made to be some big deal, it is something she talks about/thinks about quite often in relation to her own current situation. That situation being a pregnancy. I swear that's not a spoiler by the way, it's in the synopsis. We also get the chance to see a decently healthy relationship between Audrey and her boyfriend, Julian , which I really appreciate. The thing that made me want to read this book so bad was in fact the pregnancy. I don't know about you, but I don't see a lot of YA book...

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins 4.5 Stars Before I begin my review I want to talk about how this book came into my possession. Emma from Miss Print runs a program in which bloggers can adopt an ARC if they promise to review it. It really is a great program and I am so happy that I found it and was able to adopt my copy of There's Someone Inside Your House. I can't wait to adopt my next ARC. If you're interested, you can check out the ARC adoption page here . There's Someone Inside Your House was pitched to me as Stephanie's previous work, Anna and the French Kiss, meets Scream. As a lover of both of these things, I was so down for it. Our book follows Makani Young, a teenage girl living in a place where she tends to stand out and she has a secret. I spent a good portion of this book trying to figure out what the hell this secret could be. She has a couple of friends and obviously a crush on a cute boy. These characters, Olli...

Welcome to my stop on the Beautiful Lost blog tour! I seriously cannot wait to tell y'all my thoughts on this book so let's go! About the Book The Beautiful Lost  By Luanne Rice Point Ages 12 and Up June 27, 2017 In  The Beautiful Lost , Luanne Rice deftly uses her experiences with depression to craft a lilting and surprising story about the vagaries of the human heart. Maia has struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts ever since her mother left to follow her passion of studying ocean life in the Canadian Maritime provinces. Maia is convinced everything will be fine if she can only reconnect with her mother, meaning she won’t have to take her pills, she will never need to be institutionalized again. When Maia runs away from home in search of her mom, she gets unexpected help and companionship from Billy, her crush from school. On the roads through New England, Maia and Billy learn truths about each other that are equal parts enthralling and distressin...

Freeks by Amanda Hocking 4 Stars First off I want to thank Beatrice from Griffin Teen for reaching out to me and seeing if I would like a copy for review. I'm all for books that take place in carnivals, circuses, fairs, etc. So I was super excited for this one. In Freeks we follow our main character, Mara, who lives with a traveling carnival full of people with supernatural abilities and some without. They make it to the town of Caudry where something strange is going on and no one can quite put their finger on it. I was intrigued from the beginning, I may have misplaced my copy for a while, but once I found it I breezed right on through. I needed to know what the hell was going on! Freeks takes place in a little over a weeks time and while there is a romance, it does not overpower the story within. What I found it to be about was family and finding your place. Accepting who you are. Everyone really sticks together and it was nice to see an example of creating your...

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes 5 Stars Oh man, Girl Against the Universe was one of my most anticipated reads for 2016 and I was thrilled when I got my hands on it early. It's about a girl who thinks she's bad luck and tries her hardest to prevent anyone from ever being hurt, even if it means not leaving her house. First, I really love how this is set up. We have chapters where our main character is in therapy and also when she's out doing her thing. I can't imagine what this book would be like without these sessions and I'm so glad that they're included as they provide some pretty great insight into our character. Maguire may feel like bad luck and try to isolate herself on behalf of others, but man you kind of feel it too. Paula writes in a way that makes you really empathize with Maguire and everything she is going through internally. It's so wonderful and I definitely cried a few times. (Damn you, Paula.) Now our other main char...

Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi 5 Stars Lauren has done it again! I swear she never lets me down. Autofocus is about a teenage girl named Maude who receives a photography assignment about family and feels compelled to learn about the woman who gave birth to her. In order to do this Maude takes a trip to see her best friend, Treena, who happens to go to college in the same town where Maude's birth mother grew up. Adventure ensues. I really loved the characters that Gibadli created. Maude seems so sure of herself until the moment she doesn't and that felt really real to me. Although my favorite character by far would have to be Bennett. He swoops in like some nerdy knight in shining armor without really meaning to and it's absolutely adorable. What I love about the way these characters are written is that I felt a lot of the things Maude was feeling as I read along, mainly towards the T's. You'll see. What makes this journey so great is just that, it's ...

Emerge by Tobie Easton 5 Stars When I heard about this book, I was so excited! I'm always looking for a good mermaid read. I ended up being lucky enough to receive an e-ARC from the publisher and man, am I thankful! Going in I kind of thought Emerge was going to be a light fluffy romance, but I was wrong. There is indeed a romance, but this story has a dark tone as well. Let's discuss the characters. I quite enjoy our main character Lia and her inner struggles. She breaks rules, but only when her intentions are good. I just loved seeing her internal fight. Lia's sisters and her cousin are also pretty entertaining. However, two of my favorite characters are Clay and Caspian. Clay is human and pretty dang adorable, I am a sucker for a flirty, green eyed man. I found myself falling for him as the story went on. Caspian on the other hand, is mer. Mer is a term you'll see fairly often as a term for the mermaid race. Caspian is intelligent, sweet, and very kind. He...

Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood 5 Stars To start off, I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing me with yet another lovely novel. I went into this book thinking it was basically about some family curse where the women die young and talented. I was wrong. This is a contemporary novel that, in my opinion, centers around family issues, finding your voice, and acceptance. Boy did I eat it up. I found our main character, Ivy, to be smart, strong-willed, but also a tad whiny. I understand her issues, believe me, you will too. But sometimes I just wanted to scream at her for not speaking up when she truly needed to. It was one of the most frustrating things and often it had to do with her grandad. I absolutely adored Grace and Ella. I hope you will as well. These two, while young, can really teach you something. On to my least favorite characters. I wasn't a huge fan of Alex, he seemed quite possessive, but maybe if there is a future book, he can redeem himself. My most...