Book Review: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

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Title: The Bride Test

Author: Helen Hoang

Format: Trade Paperback

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Number of Pages: 296

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, New Adult

 

Synopsis:

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

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Book Review: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

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Title: The Kiss Quotient

Author: Helen Hoang

Format: Trade Paperback

Publication Date: June 5, 2018

Number of Pages: 314

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, New Adult

 

Synopsis:

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan–from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic.

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#SupportAAPIVoices

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Hi, everyone! I’ve been MIA again for quite some time there. It’s just that this pandemic and the current situation of my country has been taking a toll on my mental health. I’ve also been busy with other personal things, I guess. Another thing that has been bothering me lately is the sudden rise of hate crimes against the AAPI community recently, and I just can’t sit around in silence knowing that people have died while others are terrified and feeling unsafe in a world that we are all supposed to be sharing. Most especially during this pandemic, no one deserves to feel even more scared than we already are. Continue reading

Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately #17

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BOOKS READ:

  • In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
  • The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

BOOKS BOUGHT:

  • Lore by Alexandra Bracken
  • Faker by Sarah Smith
  • Simmer Down by Sarah Smith

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Book Review: There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

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Title: There’s Someone Inside Your House

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Format: Hardcover

Publication Date: September 26, 2017

Number of Pages: 287

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA, Thriller, Mystery, Romance, Contemporary

 

Synopsis:

Love hurts…

Makani Young thought she’d left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She’s found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn’t far behind.

Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.

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Book Review: The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

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Title: The Girl With All the Gifts

Author: M.R. Carey

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Publication Date: November 13, 2018

Number of Pages: 450

Publisher: Orbit

Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Horror

Synopsis:

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

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Romance Book Recommendations

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It’s a few days late, but Happy Valentine’s to all of you! I know, I’m always late when it comes to posting celebratory stuff. Forgive me, but I’ve been crazy busy the past week and this week. Right now, I’m just squeezing writing this post because I just took a photo of my favorite romance novels last weekend!

February has always been coined as the “love month” because of Valentine’s Day and I wouldn’t want this month to end without posting and hyping up my favorite romance novels! So without further ado, here they are: Continue reading

Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately #16

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BOOKS READ:

  • My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins
  • The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
  • A Promised Land by Barack Obama
  • Heartstopper Vol. 1 by Alice Oseman
  • Heartstopper Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman

BOOKS BOUGHT:

  • Heartstopper Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman
  • Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) by Tamsyn Muir
  • The Stone Sky (Broken Earth, #3) by N.K. Jemisin
  • The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer, #2) by Brent Weeks
  • Frankly In Love by David Yoon
  • The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre
  • Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

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Book Review: Becoming by Michelle Obama

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Title: Becoming

Author: Michelle Obama

Format: Audiobook

Publication Date: November 13, 2018

Number of Pages: 426

Publisher: Books On Tape

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Politics, Feminism

Synopsis:

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

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Book Review: Swimming Lessons by Lili Reinhart

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Title: Swimming Lessons: Poems

Author: Lili Reinhart

Publication Date: May 5, 2020

Number of Pages: 240

Publisher: Martin’s Griffin

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

The debut collection of poetry from Lili Reinhart, the actress and outspoken advocate for mental health awareness and body positivity.

Swimming Lessons explores the euphoric beginnings of young love, battling anxiety and depression in the face of fame, and the inevitable heartbreak that stems from passion. Relatable yet deeply intimate, provocative yet comforting, bite-sized yet profound, Lili’s poems reflect her trademark honesty and unique perspective. Accompanied by striking and evocative illustrations, Swimming Lessons reveals the depths of female experience, and is the work of a storyteller who is coming into her own.

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