Songs To Make You Stay by Jay E. Tria / A Book Playlist

August 6, 2018September 26, 2020 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

Hi, people out there in my book galaxy! How are you doing? I’m here with a new blog post for you all and it’s another Galactic Book Playlist. Fun, am I right? I’ve honestly made more playlists this summer than I ever have before and it’s just the most exciting and fun experience; creating these playlists is almost like reading these books again. These playlists give me a chance to both find new music and relive the feelings I had when I first read the books. It’s the best combination. Expect a lot more of these playlists to come in the future.

This playlist is for the book Songs To Make You Stay by Jay E. Tria. It’s the last book in the Playlist series and it’s the novel that finishes the story of Shinta and Jill. I have also made a book playlist for the second book in the series, Songs To Get Over You, and you should definitely check that one out as well, which you can do here.

BLOG TOUR – ARC Review of Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi

August 5, 2018September 7, 2020 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

Hi readers and welcome to my blog post for the Star-Touched Stories blog tour. Here you can expect a thorough review of the book, purchase links, early praise, and more. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi

Publication Date: August 7, 2018.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, and Short Stories.

Rating:

Purchase here: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice

Synopsis: Three lush and adventurous stories in the Star-Touched world.

Death and Night

He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes.

Poison and Gold

Now that her wish for a choice has come true, Aasha struggles to control her powers. But when an opportunity to help Queen Gauri and King Vikram’s new reign presents itself, she is thrown into the path of the fearsome yet enchanting Spy Mistress. To help her friends, Aasha will have to battle her insecurities and perhaps, along the way, find love.

Rose and Sword

There is a tale whispered in the dark of the Empire of Bharat-Jain. A tale of a bride who loses her bridegroom on the eve of her wedding. But is it a tale or a truth?

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for my ARC of Star-Touched Stories. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion. Any quotes mentioned below are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Star-Touched Stories is an anthology filled with three stories from the world established in The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi. The three stories are beautifully written and I was blown away by their excellence, their originality, and the way they made me feel. This book was so much better, so much more than I ever could have imagined. I have decided to review the three novellas separately for you to truly see what makes them magical.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi Book Playlist

July 27, 2018September 26, 2020 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

Hi galaxy travelers and readers! I hope all is well with you. Here in Sweden, there is still a raging heatwave (like in most of Europe at the moment) and I’m just trying to survive it. Don’t get me wrong, I love the summer and I love the heat but this is really not good for the environment. We at least need a little rain, nature is dying. However, despite all of that, I managed to write up this blog post for you all. This book playlist for A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi was truly difficult to make, I wanted it to be just perfect. I really love this book and Gauri and Vikram which is why I want this playlist to really represent their relationship and the journey they go in A Crown of Wishes. I redid the playlist at least twice but the end results made all the hard work worth it. This is a playlist I’m really proud of. If you haven’t read the amazing books in The Star-Touched Queen series, I really recommend you do so. Roshani Chokshi’s words are magical and her world even more so. You can add the series to your TBR on Goodreads and purchase specifically A Crown of Wishes on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, The Ripped Bodice, and Adlibris.

A Songs To Get Over You by Jay E. Tria Mixtape

July 13, 2018September 26, 2020 Olivia Chanel1 Comment

Hi there people in the galaxy! I’m back with another blog post and it’s another book playlist – this time one inspired by the #romanceclass novel Songs To Get Over You by Jay E. Tria. This book is about Miki and Ana. Miki is in a band called Trainman and is in love with his best friend Jill, who is the singer in the band and together with someone else. The book is about unrequited love, moving on and finding love elsewhere. It is the second book in the Playlist series, though I would argue you could read it as a standalone (but the first book is amazing, and Jill is the protagonist in that one so definitely read it first).

This playlist is dedicated to love that can be messy, unrequited, and hopeful. It is about the fact that love can be a powerful and strange thing and that the sadness of one love can lead to the happiness and future of another. I made the playlist to celebrate this book’s beautiful universe metaphors, the different kinds of unrequited love shown, and the feeling of firsts in new love when you finally manage to move on. If you haven’t read this series yet, I hope you will. You can buy the first book, Songs of Our Breakup, on Amazon and add it on Goodreads. The second book, Songs to Get Over You – the one about Miki and Ana – is also on Goodreads and can be bought on Amazon.

15 Diverse Books Flying Under The Radar with Less Than 50 Reviews on Amazon

July 10, 2018July 10, 2018 Olivia Chanel1 Comment

Hi, galaxy travelers and book readers! I’m back with another blog post and this one is all about diverse books in need of some love from you guys. It is said to be something magical about the number 50, at least in regards to the number of book reviews a novel needs to have on Amazon in order to unlock certain marketing privileges. Because of this, I decided to mention 15 books with less than 50 reviews on Amazon that you should totally buy, read, and support by leaving a review. If you have followed my blog for a while you might recognize this concept and ask, haven’t I seen a post similar to this one before and the truth is that, yes, you have. In August 2017, I did post a blog post called Twelve Diverse Books Flying Under The Radar and the purpose of that post was the same as this one — to recommend books in need of love and book reviews because they have less than 50 reviews on Amazon. To make things easier I have made a key that you can follow when you go through the list,

★ is seen with books that have less than 100 ratings on Goodreads,
✿ is shown next to books with queer authors, and
✱ is the symbol that is shown next to the books written by authors of color.

Disclaimer: I have not read all of these books so be aware that there might be incorrect information, and that’s on me. I have taken the information on here from synopses and reviews I researched for this post.

Now go forth and support these amazing books and authors. The books are sorted in alphabetical order after their title and they truly deserve your support. I hope you’ll find your next read in one of these fifteen books. Don’t forget to write a review when you’re done, just a sentence is enough!

What Happened In June? A Wrap-Up Post for June 2018 (Books Read and Bought, Including Free Books)

July 8, 2018July 8, 2018 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

Hi, there world travelers and fellow book slayers! I’m here with a wrap-up post for June, maybe a bit late but it’s here nonetheless. June was a great month for me. My summer vacation from University started, I got all As on my assignments, I went to Gran Canaria with my mom, I saw Arctic Monkeys live, and lastly, I read lots of books. In June I read 12 books which feels like a personal record of some sort. I talked about what I read during my vacation in my blog post Books I Read in Gran Canaria. However, I got more read during the month than the books I mentioned in that post so I thought I’d list them all here together with my ratings of them.

Review of Unrealistic Dreams by Yool Wie — A Poetry Collection

July 2, 2018September 7, 2020 Olivia Chanel4 Comments

Unrealistic Dreams by Yool Wie

Publication Date: June 11, 2018.

Publisher: Clavis & Somnium.

Genres: Poetry.

Rating:

Purchase here: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice

Synopsis: For you, the reader. I hope this book will give you hope: the fuel to carry on. I root for you.

From within the darkness,
you gazed at the stars above.
Mesmerized by their beautiful light,
you thought you were in the sky, too.
Wake up!
Someone smacked the back of your head.
Stop looking at the stars!
Return to darkness.

Why? You wondered.
Because stars are unrealistic.

Thank you to the author, Yool Wie, for my gifted copy of Unrealistic Dreams. I received this review copy in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion.

The poetry collection Unrealistic Dreams by Yool Wie starts with a promise in its very first poem. This is a very bold move. A promise, like the following made by the author, ensures that there are expectations and these expectations have to be fulfilled when the reading experience is over with.

The Boyfriend Backtrack by Dawn Lanuza EP (A Mini Book Playlist)

June 28, 2018September 26, 2020 Olivia Chanel1 Comment

Hi there, fellow aliens and world travelers! Today’s post is all about The Boyfriend Backtrack by Dawn Lanuza and the playlist I made inspired by it – I like to call it the Regina and Chase EP. If you have been following this blog for a while, you might have seen me post playlists before (which I loved doing) but it has been ages and I’m glad to get into it again. Many thanks to my lovely friend Sue who pushed me to do this.

This playlist inspired by my one true pairing in The Boyfriend Backtrack is meant to celebrate love that runs deep, love that is all about second chances, the moments we don’t realize become the moments where we meet the one, and the journeys we go on to finally end up with our one true love. It is no secret that I love The Boyfriend Backtrack, as seen by my gushing review posted earlier this week, and the endless tweets I have dedicated to this book. For those that have read this book, I hope you like this playlist as much as I enjoyed creating it. For those that haven’t read this book yet, I hope this post will be the last push you need in order to finally buy it and read it for yourself. Buy the book on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, and The Ripped Bodice.

Book Review of The Boyfriend Backtrack by Dawn Lanuza

June 25, 2018September 7, 2020 Olivia Chanel2 Comments

The Boyfriend Backtrack by Dawn Lanuza

Publication Date: October 3, 2014.

Publisher: Anvil Publishing.

Genres: Romance, New Adult, Chick Lit, and Contemporary.

Rating:

Purchase here: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice

Synopsis: If they say that life flashes right before your eyes when you die, do you also get a flashback of your exes when your perfect boyfriend is proposing to you? At least that’s the case for Regina Cortez. There’s her dramatic high school boyfriend, her first college crush, the irresistible heartbreaker, and the ever elusive one. By backtracking to her past, will Regina make it to ‘I Do’? Or will she just keep running away?

The Boyfriend Backtrack has overnight become one of my all-time favorite romance novels. The elegant and easy to get through writing and the mix of the friends to lovers and second chance romance tropes makes the book a hit. The main character of the novel is Regina, who after her boyfriend Kevin proposes, gets a flashback of all of her exes. This leads to a journey where Regina meets all of her exes again, in order to figure out what she wants and who her one true love is. Regina is an artist, a lover of France, and an amazing protagonist to follow.

Books I Read in Gran Canaria (ft. #romanceclass titles and an anticipated poetry read)

June 20, 2018July 6, 2018 Olivia Chanel2 Comments

Welcome galaxy travelers! I’m back with a new blog post, one where we get to catch up and I get to share some fun news. I know I have been away for quite some time, only blogging sporadically, but summertime is upon us and that means more time for reading and blogging. Between June 4 and June 11 I was on vacation in Gran Canaria (one of the Canary Islands which are a part of Spain) and during that time I got a lot of reading done. I thought I’d share the books I read with you. I read six books during my vacation and all of them were great reads. The following are the books I read, in chronological order, each with an individual rating.