the first book haul of the year! // and unfortunately, not the last

Hi friends! I was debating whether to include NetGalley books in this haul because to be frank my dear*, I need an intervention to stop me from pressing the request button. I pretend I have restraint but then a new thriller with good reviews pops up! A gothic fantasy appears out of nowhere! I usually don’t like contemporary stories but this one features one element I really like! And so the circle of Netgalley moves us all. Anyways, after that whole rant, my point is I’m not talking about NetGalley in this particular haul because I’m too scared to look at my list.

*i like referencing movies i haven’t seen so people can bully me into actually watching them honestly

physical books

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee | I picked this book up at a book fair sorta near me for the sweet, sweet price of $6.99 new. I’ve been wanting to read this for so long that it feels unreal to own it now. From what I understand, this is a hard-hitting historical fiction story following the lives of second-generation Japanese-American students during WWII and incarceration camps. I feel like this is one tha really flies under the radar but sounds so, so good.

Tiger Lily by Jodie Lynn Anderson | I’m unbearably obsessed with this cover please send help. I’ve heard really incredible things about this book and I feel like I never read Peter Pan retellings? Like okay, I’ve never even read Peter Pan but reading a bunch of retellings is almost the same thing*. This one follows Tiger Lily and that’s all I know because there’s something telling me not to read the synopsis.

*someone is going to revoke my reader card soon. i can feel it.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin | You guys are probably all like “if we have to hear ONE MORE THING ABOUT A MAGICAL TEA-MAKING COMPETITION WE WILL BREW YOU SOME HELP”. I won a copy of this from BookishFirst so I don’t think that this will be the last time you hear me talk about this book. I’m obsessed because magical tea sounds like my new “wizard school” and “magical competition” book crack.

So that’s it! I actually acquired all three of these books in March so I feel a bit better about not having read them yet. Tell me:

Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them?

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