With the Fire On High- Elizabeth Acevedo

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Title: With the Fire On High

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5

And when he leaves 
all you have is the oversized
empty-the gap in 
your heart where a 
parent should be.

Emoni Santiago is a single mom whose had it pretty rough. Balancing school, work, taking care of a child, and trying to accomplish your dreams at the same time can be very challenging. But with the help of her abuela…she’s not alone. Even with all the stress that consumes her life, Emoni still has her love of cooking. When she is in the kitchen Emoni gets lost in the recipes, the spices, and the different concoctions she comes up with. 
When Emoni starts the first day of school, she gets wind of a culinary class that’s going to travel to Spain for an experience in the cooking world, and Emoni right away feels like it’s a great opportunity, but at the same time it seems like a far away dream. While in her culinary class she meets Malachi. Malachi is a caring young man and warms almost immediately to Emoni, but Emoni doesn’t want any friends and definitely not a guy friend. She doesn’t need any more distractions and besides there’s her baby daddy Tyrone. Honestly this book was an emotional one for me because I used to call my grandmother abuela. Just like Emoni my grandmother raised me and unfortunately passed a year and half ago. I used to love being in the kitchen and watching my grandmother cook (it was so DELICIOUS). I will cherish this book forever because of the beautiful sentiment to it. I really wish she could continue with it and see how her life turns out at her new job and how far her dream of cooking takes her.

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July TBR

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These are some of the amazing titles I am looking forward to reading this July. I really hope I can read them and keep up this reading streak.

June Wrap-Up

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This month has been a little slow in my reading but consistent. I was able to finish 6 books this month. I’m hoping for more this month.

Here are my reads:

I truly enjoyed all these books especially Lost You (which was an ARC ) and Girls of Paper and fire. I’m hoping my list next month is even longer.

Mirror, Mirror- Jen Calonita

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Title: Mirror, Mirror

Author: Jen Calonita

Publisher: Disney Books

Pages: 344

Rating: 5/5

After reading Part of Your World, I knew i had to continue reading this book series. Even though they’re written by different authors, they all seem to pull me into these books. We all know what happened in the original Snow White story and how it ended right? Well, this book has a twist.

We meet Ingrid, who in this story is Snow’s aunt. You see Ingrid had a sister named Katherine who was the original Queen. But because of Ingrid’s jealousy and cruelty tragedy hits and both the seat for King and Queen were opened. Because of this event Ingrid takes place on the throne. She now has the responsibility of her niece Snow and of everyone in town and in the castle. As Snow grows older, Ingrid’s hatred, jealousy, and possessiveness grow more by the day and Snow is forced to be alone…isolated from everything and everyone. Because of Ingrid’s lies and deceit, Snow White is obvilvious to the chaos surrounding her beloved castle. She also has no idea that the Queen wants something else…something wicked…something horrifying. 
As the story progresses you come into the seven dwarfs from the original story with a little more in-depth look into their life and how the reign of terror of the queen has affected them. Oh and of course you can’t forget the prince 😮 This book was a real easy and fast read but, it was enjoyable to me. Calonita takes you on an adventure with Snow White and the seven dwarfs to claim back her throne and give the people the life they deserve.

Fuckathon TBR

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The fuckathon is a month long readathon in July for “all the fucks we give, the fucks we don’t , and the shit for which we’re fresh out of fucks”. This readathon is hosted by Noria and you can find her social media at the following links:

☠Twitter

☠Fuckathon Twitter

☠Youtube

Here are the Fuckathon Prompts: 

  • Fuck Racism – a book that explores race relations
  • Fuck the Patriarchy – a book that challenges the patriarchy 
  • Fuck Ageism – a book with an older main character
  • Fuck Heteronormativity – a book that is Queer AS FUCK. 
  • Fuck Realism – a fantasy book 
  • Fuck Pollution – a book that deals with climate change or pollution
  • Fuck Abuse – a book that deals with any type of abuse 
  • Fuck Classism – a book that deals with class stratification 
  • Fuck Ableism – a book featuring a main character with a disability
  • *Read the Group Book – Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lord

Finally here are my choices for the fuckathon.

☠Fuck Racism-

☠Fuck The Patriarchy-

☠Fuck Ageism-

☠Fuck Hetereonormativity-

☠Fuck Realism-

☠Fuck Pollution-

☠Fuck Abuse-

☠Fuck Classism-

☠Fuck Abelism-

So there you have it guys. I’m so looking forward to doing this readathon because it has opened me to different genres and titles I thought I would never have picked up.

In The Gray Area Of Being Suicidal- Tea Jay

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Title: In The Gray Area Of Being Suicidal

Author: Tea Jay

Publisher: Eliezer Tristan Publishing

Pages: TBD

Rating: 4/4

In The Gray Area Of Being Suicidal is a collection of essays written by Tea Jay. Tea jay deals with Mental Illness. Throughout most of her life she lived with the idea that she had ADHD, and then again bipolar disorder, when in actuality it was Border Line Personality Disorder. Just like anyone whose dealt or is dealing with a mental illness, you’ll have crazy thoughts. Sometimes you’ll act upon them…. Sometimes you’ll get a second chance to tell your story. Tea Jay has done just that. She takes us on a journey that even you the reader can relate to. She explains it also in a way where you don’t have to crack open a medical dictionary. 
If you need to understand more about your mental illness or have someone that you care about that is suffering with a mental illness….this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag!!

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As a newbie to the consistent book blogging world, I came across this tag on Sofii’s blog from A Book. A Thought . Apparently a lot of bloggers do this mid-year book freak out tag to see their updates on the books read this year so far. Currently I’m doing very well on my goodreads challenge. I’m only 20 books away from my goal of 50. Who knows…I might just surpass it. i’ve already read more these 6 months than I did in the whole entire year last year.

Lets’s get to this!

Best Book You’ve So Far Read In 2019

This was actually a toughy of a question because I’ve read a lot of great books this year so far, but Michelle’s book was really a moving and definitely life changing. You can find my review here .

Best Sequel You’ve So Far Read in 2019

I’ve yet to read a sequel this year. I have to look into some.

New Releases You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To

Most Anticipated Release of The Second Half of 2019

Biggest Disappointment

I really had such high hopes for this, and all I wanted to do was throw this book against the wall.

Biggest Surprise

I’m sooooo glad I gave this book a chance. It’s sorta my first YA Fantasy ever. Usually I don’t ever read fantasy but, this book really sealed the deal.

Favorite New to Me Author

Favorite Crush

None

Favorite Character

That would have to be Annika from ” The Girl He Used To Know”. There were so many similarities between her and I that I sometimes I had to step reading because it was so on point it was scary.

Book That Made You Cry

Raw essays from people who suffer from mental illness will definitely cause some water works.

A Book That Made You Happy

I saw this book one day at work and since I’m a HUGEEEEE little mermaid fan since I was a kid, I picked it up and fell in love with it. It’s so refreshing to see a different interpretation of how things would’ve been. This series has a lot of mixed reviews, but I didn’t let that take away the fun for me. We all have different tastes.

Book to Movie Adaptation

I was so happy to hear that they were making a movie out of this awesome series. I just finished re-reading them and I’m really excited to see the movie already.

Favorite Blog Post of Mine

Right Here. It was a long post but very fun.

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year

I mean look how beautiful this cover is.

What Book Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year?

Whewww! We’ve made it folks. I would love to hear from you guys on how your mid year is going.