Hi friends! I want to start with a quick apology, everything is going to be a little late because the last two weeks have been CRAZY. I haven’t been able to blog-hop, write posts, or even edit a bit. I’m ready to ease back in (hopefully) so please drop some of your recent posts below for me to check out! As for today’s Top 5 Tuesday, it’s hosted by Shanah @ Bionic Bookworm as always!!

Y’all are probably sighing but look: I don’t do contemporaries. Too much teenage angst, not enough swords. I’m already living that teenage life, give me faeries and magic! Anyways, With The Fire On High totally shocked me with how much I adored it! The emphasis on friendship, family, and food was so heartwarming, combined with how the focus wasn’t actually on romance, made me crazy happy. Also, we have a biracial (Puerto-Rican and black) main character!!!!

Manga isn’t something I normally go for, so when I picked this up I was kinda wary*. But then! Then the series shocked me! The cast of characters has grown so much where I am, and the dialogue is everything from funny to inspirational. Also, I freak out over the art style and the sweetness of the author way too much.
*that’s a bit of an understatement…it was more like i gingerly pried open a page and immediately closed it out of sheer confusion and fear as to why this strange red-haired girl was wildly upset

Like manga, I don’t really read poetry. But I bought this* to support an independent bookstore, and ended up binge-reading the entire thing. Amanda Lovelace’s story of heartbreak and healing, loss and love, sacrifice and self, comes across so uniquely.
*well actually my mom bought it for me cuz she’s nice and i’m broke

WOW I’M GOING TO SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD I-
okay. so. I don’t actually read many thrillers* because they’re hard for me to actually get around to picking up. But THIS one. It was the opposite of what I expected a thriller to be, because it was so…quiet. But I gasped in shock multiple times and well, my review is written. You’ll see why this is on the list when that comes out haha!
*so in conclusion i don’t read contemporaries, manga, poetry, or thrillers much. who am i.

I was taken by surprise when I realized just how much I enjoyed this! It’s dark and mysterious and Gothic. The romance is, to be fair, problematic in some ways but in others, it’s a story of two broken souls finding each other in the midst of great hardship. Sure, there are some slow parts but generally I really, really enjoyed this one!
So that’s it! Tell me: what is one of YOUR most surprising reads of 2019? Is there a favorite pos you’ve written that I need to catch up on?
Awesome list! And OMG you read Jane Eyre????? That sounds sooo cool! And I didn’t know it was dark and gothic, I might give it a try then!!!! Happy reading!
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Thank you!💜 hehe yes, it’s super good! I hope you enjoy it if you try it!!
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You’re welcome! And I’m happy you enjoyed it, that’s great to know, I can’t stop thinking about it haha!
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Amazing list!! Can’t wait to read With The Fire On High! It’s been on my TBR since I came to know about it. I’m planning to listen to the audiobook and can’t wait to love it. Great post, btw!
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Thank you so much!!💜 Ooh, I hope you love it then!! I’d love to know how the audiobook is!
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WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH is making my “Books I Didn’t Get to in 2019” list and it’s killing me! I’ve heard such good things!
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Awww! I hope you enjoy and get to it in 2020!!💜
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I love Yona of the Dawn too, thanks so much for introducing me to it! 🙂
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YES it’s so good! And you’re welcome, I’m just glad you loved it!!
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I got With The Fire On High out of the library then got super distracted planning blog posts and getting headaches and didn’t get to read it 😦 once I’ve caught up on my blog stuff I’m definitely ordering it back in though. And I seriously need to read Behind Closed Doors sometime, it’s been on my TBR forever. I think my biggest surprise was Stepsister as I thought I’d like it but was quite stunned by just how much. Plus it had some totally unexpected characters involved.
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Ahhh, life happens like that sometimes😅 I can’t wait to see your thoughts on it though! YES Behind Closed Doors is really good!
And oh, Stepsister!! I’m glad you loved that one!! So far I’m shocked by how original a retelling it is 🙂
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That’s true. I’m hoping it won’t take long for me to get hold of a copy of it again. And it does sound really good (:
I agree, it was such a good, unique retelling. I’ve seen that the author has another coming out so I’m hoping that it’s linked in some way!!
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Yay!!
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