Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Title: Dark Matter

Author: Blake Crouch

Published: July 26, 2016

Pages: 342

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / Goodreads

Goodreads Description: 

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

I have a confession: for every science fiction book I read, I read roughly twenty books from other genres. That’s alarming coming from someone who claims her favorite genre is science fiction. Let me explain though. I need to space out my sci-fi books with cheesy contemporaries otherwise my brain will melt and I’ll self-destruct from all the feels. It’s quite a predicament. However, it’s always worth the wait when I finally pick up a sci-fi book I’ve been waiting to read. In this case, that book is Dark Matter.

Book Review: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun Is Also a Star

Author: Nicola Yoon

Published: November 1, 2016

Pages: 348

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / Goodreads

Goodreads Description: 

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

I was taken aback by how much The Sun Is Also a Star resonated with me. There were several parallels between this book and my life and, in the end, this was honestly the most emotional I’ve been over a book.

Book Review: A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard (+ a little life update)

Title: A Quiet Kind of Thunder

Author: Sara Barnard

Published: January 12, 2017

Pages: 320

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

Amazon / Goodreads

Goodreads Description: Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life – she’s been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to look after him. To Rhys, it doesn’t matter that Steffi doesn’t talk, and as they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she’s falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder was a pleasant change from the cliché, YA novels I usually find myself reading.

Who Am I? Tag

I would like to thank Puput from Sparkling Letters for tagging me in this Who Am I? tag over a month ago. I love learning more about the people behind the blogs I read, so hopefully this tag will give you readers more insight into who I am 😊. 

Book Review: Wanderlost by Jen Malone

Title: Wanderlost

Author: Jen Malone

Published: May 31, 2016

Pages: 352

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads

Goodreads Description: Aubree can’t think of a better place to be than in perfectly boring Ohio, and she’s ready for a relaxing summer. But when her older sister, Elizabeth, gets into real trouble, Aubree is talked into taking over Elizabeth’s summer job, leading a group of senior citizens on a bus tour through Europe.

Aubree doesn’t even make it to the first stop in Amsterdam before their perfect plan unravels, leaving her with no phone, no carefully prepared binder full of helpful facts, and an unexpected guest: the tour company owner’s son, Sam. Considering she’s pretending to be Elizabeth, she absolutely shouldn’t fall for him, but she can’t help it, especially with the most romantic European cities as the backdrop for their love story.

But her relationship with Sam is threatening to ruin her relationship with her sister, and she feels like she’s letting both of them down. Aubree knows this trip may show her who she really is—she just hopes she likes where she ends up.

I picked Wanderlost up because it seemed like the kind of cheesy, contemporary book I needed to get me out of an almost one month long book slump. For that reason, I appreciated that Malone went straight to the plot and provided necessary information as the story unfolded. 

5 of my Favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

Science fiction and fantasy are two of my favorite genres to read, and I’ve been able to read a handful of fantastic books from both categories. That being said, it took me a while to decide on just these five books for this week’s Top 5 Wednesday:

My February 2017

February went by quickly for me. I feel like I did a lot even though I fell into a deep book and blogging slump that I’m still desperately trying to escape. I haven’t published a post or read a book in almost a month 😬.