Welcome to Litsy!

What a month! Lots of good reads this month.

Tied my all time personal best! 12 books! Woo hoo! ✅
Read in one day ✅✅✅
#BookSpin✅
#DoubleSpin✅
#Nonfiction2024 ✅✅

#BookSpinBingo

Ready to go! #BookSpinBingo

Here‘s my finished stack for February.

16 total books read
Favorites are
📚 We are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
📚 Lady Tan‘s Circle of Women by Lisa See
📚 In An Instant by Suzanne Redfearn :: (tagged)
The book follows the aftermath of a traumatic car accident from the perspective of a teenage girl killed instantly in the accident. Each character deals with what happened in a different way. I couldn‘t put it down!

Bordering between a pick and a so-so. This book uses the same convention as “The Lovely Bones” in having the main character be dead and watching over their friends and loved ones. It‘s a bit of a survival story, but it‘s really more about the effects of the crash and dealing with grief. It‘s a bit too YA and happily-ever-after as the resolution seems to have everyone in a romantic relationship which felt a little silly and too neat.

Feel like the amount of teenage angst was right for the book and it didn‘t get on my nerves. Kind of wish the oldest sister was involved more but this was a great book. I felt for the characters and was invested in them. I hated Bob.

I was sucked in immediately! The language, sentence structure and delivery is so much of this book; it is poignant, gripping, heartbreaking, and utterly brilliant. The description of this book is wrong, Jack does not accuse Mo of anything, no one does because young Mo is the heroine. Sweet, young, brave, amazing Mo. book #27 in 2022

The first portion of this book was excellent.It was action packed and so full of emotion that parts brought me to tears.The 2nd portion wasnt as good. The momentum totally changed,& I felt that I was reading a romance novel at times.Romance isn‘t my genre,but I still gave it a 4 rating due to other contributing factors.This was one of the Amazon prime free reads this month.I‘m glad I selected it,and will never look at a car ride in the snow again.

Technically written well but this is not I would have read if it had not been a book club pick. Made me cry and angry and end was not consistent with characters Mrs. Kaminsky and Mo. If the girls had been in senior year, 18 vs. 16 it would had made more sense.

1. Tagged
2. Mary Poppins
3. Lord of the Rings
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

It was a little difficult for me to get into at first but 6 chapters in and I was hooked! It was well written and easy to follow. I really felt for the characters and what they were going through.

This was a great book. I read it in a day. Very gripping and unique. The perspective was fantastic and I really enjoyed the characters and the message.
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2.
Edited to Add: This book explores the survival instinct inherent in each of us and asks what you would be willing to do to ensure the survival of your child. It seems to ask, When you think no one is watching, who are you?

"None of us know the whole story. We each only know our parts and from our perspective."

I‘m not one who goes through a lot of emotion while reading but this story got to me a couple times. It‘s a very heavy story from the beginning to the end. There are a LOT of life lessons throughout and the point of view was written as an observer of different perspectives. Very interesting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

WOW! 😲

This is stunning! I cried (big fat ugly tears), I laughed, I empathized, I felt all the emotions with this one. It truly blew me away. I was completely unprepared for this, and I was greatly surprised by how touching this was. #firstreads #highlyrecommend

(At 44%) STOP IT! I'm not crying... you're crying! 😭

Starting this one. I hear it tugs at the ❤ strings. I guess we'll see.

This was similar to other books such as If I Stay. I feel like it had it's own perspective though. It was emotional, captivating, and kept you on the edge of your seat. I couldn't stop reading it!

"I‘ve always believed regret is the most difficult emotion to live with, but in order to have regret, you need to have a conscience: an interesting paradox that allows the worst of us to suffer the least in the aftermath of wrongdoing."

"Regret is a tough emotion to live with, impossible to move on from, because what‘s done is done."

"Regret is a tough emotion to live with, impossible to move on from, because what‘s done is done."

This was a very good book. Finn dies in a car accident and watches over her family and friends as each learn to deal with her death and their inner struggles of guilt.

This was an Amazon First Reads offer a couple of months ago. I believe it‘s the first one I‘ve actually read. This was an amazing story about the decisions we make and have to live with. It‘s also about love and family and forgiveness. I read this in one overnight sitting, finishing at 5 am. Moving, well written, and it‘s pulled me out of a massive slump!
That alone makes it worthy of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just like my last book, this one also dealt with tragedy and was hard to read at times. I was quickly drawn into this book and could not put it down. In it, a family experiences a tragic accident, and one of the victims watches from beyond as her family deals with its aftermath. It raised the question of how do people respond to extreme conditions? Who rises to the occasion, and who is reduced to their worst tendencies.

This book was incredible! I really don't know what else to say. It was so well written, so believable, I don't recall any eyeroll-worthy moments (and I can be a tough critic). The Author's Note at the end added the final touch. I loved that I didn't know about what she revealed in that note, but it was an "ah-ha" moment of why this story worked so well. I am normally not impressed with Kindle First Reads, so I was really surprised. Fabulous book!

When I choose my Kindle First reads they usually sit unread on my Kindle for months. Thankfully, my sister in law told me to read this one and that it was really good. I agree.

Teenage Finn is involved in a horrendous accident with her family and some friends of the family. What happens afterwards is difficult for everyone - the reader included. This book made me examine my morals and had me asking "what if it had been me?"

I recommend this book

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This book is emotional, of that, there is no doubt, but a lot of it is the good kind of emotional. It's not just heartbreaking, it's also heart-mending. You should just read it...or listen to it, whichever is your favorite way to consume books...just do it.

SEE MY FULL REVIEW HERE⇢ https://leahsbookishobsession2.blogspot.com/2020/04/review-in-instant.html

Great book! I loved the story and how it was written...totally worth the read.

The depth of each character evolves as we see how they react to the horrendous tragedy. It is a very emotional tale and I was completely riveted to the pages. Powerful, gripping and revealing.

Read Full Review at https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/2020/02/27/in-an-instant-by-suzanne-redfearn-...

This book had ALL the feels. It grabbed me by the throat and pulled me along on an emotional rollercoaster, keeping me breathless and slightly dizzy. I couldn't put it down - even though the most eventful part happens near the beginning, I had to keep reading. Right book, right time. 😍

This was told from a different point of view than I‘m used to. I don‘t think I‘m spoiling anything when I say that the main character dies early on and then is able to watch how everyone else deals with the tragedy and choices they made. “In an instant” is right. You think you‘ll do this or that when the time comes, but will you really?

Kindle First Reads selection about how lives can change in an instant, and even though a group of people are in the same event, each person‘s experience is unique.

I love it so far, but I'm taking a break at 25%. A character just did something that made me SO angry. I feel as helpless as the girl who's watching it happen. Without spoiling it, things that bother me the most in life are when people hurt dogs, elderly, kids, or the mentally challenged. I don't care if it's survival mode, no one but an ugly soul would do what that character just did. I hope I can continue. I have a feeling it will be a 5🌟 book.

Not the easiest book to read due to the emotional subject matter, but I found it worthwhile. Following a terrible tragedy, a deceased member of the family involved in the incident narrates and leads the reader through the decisions and actions of the survivors and how they cope in the days, weeks, and months of the aftermath.

Great read, ☆☆☆☆☆

*my favorite one pot mac and cheese lunch I made and ate whole reading*
I enjoyed this book. More than I anticipated. I had a few eye brow raises but it was tragic but ended on a happy note.
Arc book from #netgalley