Posts By: Rashika

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

Posted by 8 Comments

I received this book for free from Swoon Reads in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Been Here All Along by Sandy HallBeen Here All Along by Sandy Hall
Published by Swoon Reads on August 30th, 2016
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA, YA
Source: Swoon Reads
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-half-stars

Gideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having his choice of colleges. They do NOT include falling head over heels for his best friend and next door neighbor, Kyle. It’s a distraction. It’s pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn’t know what to do.

Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong…

Review in a Tweet

A little more elaboration…

I sometimes struggled with Been Here All Along because the writing style was a little clunky but overall, it was so adorable and gave me so many warm, mushy, feels. I love the two main characters and I love the ways in which they come together. Plus bffs to lovers is one of my fav tropes so YAY!

Song I associate with the book: You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.

I mean the title of the book is a reference to the song and the book is basically the music video in book format. Also all of T. Swift’s old songs would go perfectly with this book if anyone needed a playlist to listen to while reading.

Foods that remind me of this book: Fairy Bread

It’s an Aussie snack and also basically this book in food version. Would recommend the snack and the book.

Beverage I associate with the book: Cinnamon Chai Latte

Because cinnamon-y warmth is a good way to describe this book.

three-half-stars

3.5 Hot Espressos

Epic Cover Battles #9: Pretty Dresses Edition

Posted by on 07/20/2016 • 8 Comments

Remember the pretty dresses trend? Remember all those pretty dresses on covers? Remember sometimes loving them and sometimes just being DONE with all the covers and the dresses? Well let’s battle some of them out! I chose 3 covers with pretty dresses and you should pick the cover with the dress that appeals most to you!

May the prettiest dress win!

 

10 Upcoming LGBTQIA+ Books to Watch Out For

Posted by on 07/13/2016 • 9 Comments

Earlier in the year, I did a similar list that covered the first half of the year and I thought it might be time for another list that covers all the amazing LGBTQIA+ books coming out in the second half of the year that have me tingling with excitement (does that even make SENSE?)

1. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

Joanna Gordon who has been out and proud for years is asked by her father to “lie low” when they move to a more conservative town. Sparks fly though when she meets the sister of a new friend…. WHAT WILL SHE DO???

Pub Date: August 30th 2. Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

This book is basically Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me…

Epic Cover Battles #8: Pride and Prejudice Edition

Posted by on 07/06/2016 • 9 Comments

You might love it, hate it, never have read it but you’ve probably heard of Pride and Prejudice. After all, Goodreads tells me there are 2557 published editions of it (and probably even more that haven’t been recorded on Goodreads). While it would be impossible for me to showcase all of them, I chose 3 that I thought were pretty and wanted to battle them out for this edition of Epic Cover Battles! Let me know if you have another fav edition in the comments so I can oooh and aaah over ittt 🙂

May the best cover win!

Epic Cover Battles #7: Series Redesign Edition

Posted by on 06/24/2016 • 9 Comments

Welcome to yet another edition of Epic Cover Battles. I absolutely hate it when a series gets a complete redesign mid-way through the series but sometimes the change is for the better. So today you can voteeee for whether or not you like the covers before the redesign or after… Can redesigns be for the better good? WE WILL FIND OUT. (I feel like an MC for a tv show as I write this)

 

How to Bookstagram in 9 Easy Steps

Posted by on 06/17/2016 • 9 Comments

I am slowly getting more and more into instagram and trying to be more creative with my pictures but it is SO hard and takes so much effforrrttt.. so I decided to share all my knowledge about bookstagramming with you. Basically, lots of deleting and hating your pictures.

How to Bookstagram in 9 Easy Steps 1. Get your bookstagraming spot set up 2. Look through all your shelves and contemplate what you feel like photographing. Pull out a shit ton of books, even though you won’t photograph all of them. 3. Take one photograph. Hate it and take 10 more. 4. Hate everything and delete all the photos. 5. Try something new. Re-arrange the books, put in some more props. Take a bunch more photographs. 6. Get your…

The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Posted by on 06/16/2016 • 3 Comments

Do you like Scandal? Do you like political thrillers? Do you like mind games? WELL. YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. But also, go read book one which is called The Fixer and is amazing.

So, if The Fixer made you swoon and made your heart beat faster and nearly killed you, I have some real bad news for you. It all gets worse in The Long Game. I had my feels shredded, my OTPs stomped on and my heart set on fire. I hope Jennifer Lynn Barnes at least feels a little bad about what she did to me.

Tess is still as amazing as always if a little more nosy than she should be. She thinks she is nothing like her sister but we all know…

Epic Cover Battles #6: Hardcovers vs Paperbacks

Posted by on 06/08/2016 • 6 Comments

It’s been a whole month since I’ve done one of these! Life got in the way so I apologize. It’s summer now so I am BACK with another of Cover Battles! This time, I am going to be battling hardcovers and paperbacks. I love my hardcovers but sometimes, a paperback is just PRETTIER and more affordable. Other times, a paperback doesn’t live up to the amazingness of the book inside and other times, THEY ARE EQUALLY PRETTY.

SO go forth and vote for which cover is PRETTIER! May the best cover win! 😀