This is such a lovely and heartbreaking story of love, loss, family and friendship. It’s both heart-wrenching and uplifting and so captivating. It has one of the strongest and most beautiful friendships I’ve ever read about.

At age eleven, Taylor Markham was abandoned by her mother. At fourteen, she ran away from boarding school, only to be tracked down and brought back by a mysterious stranger. Now seventeen, Taylor’s the reluctant leader of her school’s underground community, but her closest friend and mentor is Hannah, a woman who lives on the edge of the school grounds. When Hannah disappears Taylor’s search for her unveils a truth that might not just settle her past, but also change her future.

The story is told in two different timelines, the past via a manuscript that Taylor finds, and the present. It’s so well-written and planned in every little detail and so suspenseful in how it slowly reveals the connections between events in the past and present times. It’s a beautiful story about friendship, but it also deals with a lot of heavy topics such as violence, death, grief, loneliness and desire to belong, suicide and self-harm.

This book is so emotional and happy and sad at the same time. I had smiles and tears all over my face while reading it. It’s a book that made me suffer and that broke my heart, but it also made me so happy and I just loved every little thing about it! I cannot even try to explain how special and wonderful this book is, more than to say that I recommend it with all my heart!

Rating:
5 stars

Get your own copy:
Bookshop.org
Amazon
Book Depository

​Author info:
Melina Marchetta

Beautiful Darkness is the second book in the paranormal YA series Beautiful Creatures (also called the Caster Chronicles) about Ethan and Lena trying to navigate magic, grief, linear curses, lifechanging decisions and teenage love in the Southern town Gatlin. I loved the first book in the series and its magic system, the strong and fierce characters and the Southern Gothic vibes. This book continued in the same style, but was unfortunately a bit slower and I just couldn’t root for Lena until the very end of it.​

The story continued shortly after where the first book left, with Lena acting strange ever since Macon’s death and distancing herself from Ethan. A lot of this book felt like it was just waiting for things to happen; waiting for Lena to turn, waiting for a Curse to strike, and with Lena either whining about it, or being mean and cold to Ethan. Ethan’s feeling that “I knew I was in the moment before the thing happens – the thing that changes your life forever,” actually describes the book very well. It felt like we all knew something big was going to happen, but we were kept too long in the moment before it actually happened. The plot felt a bit unorganized, with a lot of chapters where almost nothing happened, and then a chapter where too much was going on at the same time and some major revelations, then followed by slow, uneventful chapters again. The new underground world of tunnels and all creatures living there was also a bit confusing and quite poorly explained. It took me almost 200 pages to feel invested in the story this time, but the ending sure made up for it, so I’m very glad I stuck with it through the slow first half!

I’m also very glad for the new character, and for Ethan being the same amazing character as in the first book. I really loved the new character Olivia (Liv) and her witt, intelligence and curiosity, and her and Ethan’s snarky banter. A lot of the other characters, like Amma and Link, were also given more depth and being even more wonderful than in the first book, making up for some of the things that were not as great in this one. I also really enjoyed Ethan finding out about his special skills, more about his mother and the reason for his and Lena’s connection, as well as the world building, Gothic vibes and the big part the city itself played.

“This town owned us, that was the good and the bad of it. It knew every inch of us, every sin, every secret, every scab. Which was why most people never bothered to leave, and why the ones who did never came back. Then I fell in love with a Caster girl. She showed me there was another world within the cracks of our uneven sidewalks. One that had been there all along, hidden in plain sight. Lena’s Gatlin was a place where things happened – impossible, supernatural, life-altering things.”

And the big surprise at the end was amazing! So even though it was very slow paced at the first half, and even though I was so annoyed with Lena for the most part, it eventually turned into a four star read making me more than excited to continue the series!

Rating:
4 stars

Get your own copy:
Bookshop.org
Amazon
Book Depository

​Author info:
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

This is something of a teenage mystery novel, where Quentin follows clues to find his missing neighbor and longtime crush Margo. This was an easy an enjoyable read, but a bit slow and I never rooted for any of the characters or felt truly invested in the mystery hunt.

Quentin Jacobsen has always loved his neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she climbs through his window to summon him on an all-night road trip to prank some of her friends who had betrayed her, he cannot refuse. But the next morning, Margo was nowhere to be found… Quentin and a few of his friends therefore decided to undertake a mission to find where Margo had mysteriously gone while using a few clues that she’d left behind.⁠ The question though is, if anyone really knew Margo?

The plot was unique and interesting, but the pacing was a bit too slow. It took me a long time to get into this book, but the pacing picked up a little more about halfways. The characters were interesting and enjoyable, and there were some parts where their banter and jokes were so hilarious I even laughed out loud, but I still never really rooted for any of the characters. The obsession Quentin had with Margo felt annoying at times and quite unhealthy to be honest.

But the ending was cute and overall it was an easy and enjoyable read.

Rating:
3 stars

Get your own copy:
Bookshop.org
Amazon
Book Depository

​Author info:
John Green

I went in completely blind starting to read this book, without any real clue what it was about, and I’m so happy for that! Knowing as little as possible is the absolutely best way to experience this book. Really, this is a book you’ll have to experience for yourself, since it’s the plot twist at the end that’s kind of the whole point of it…

We Were Liars is a haunting portrayal of a group of teenager cousins who spend the summer together at a private island owned by the filthy rich Sinclair family. Together they form a sacred bond, coming together as “The Four Liars”, who long for acceptance of who they are outside the family heritage and strive to be free in their own ways. The story is told through the voice of one of the girls, Cadence, who seems to be very confused and dejected. Which she is, for reasons we will eventually find out, as well as that she is quite an unreliable narrator…

This is a wonderful story that is not like anything I’ve ever read before. It’s a story full of deep secrets and a major twist that you won’t even see coming since the narrator has tricked you so well. This is a book that cannot be described but needs to be read, preferably without any prior knowledge about the plot twist. Highly recommended if you are prepared to be completely blindfolded and get your heart broken!

Rating:
5 stars

Get your own copy:
Bookshop.org
Amazon
Book Depository

​Author info:
​E. lockhart