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specklife

specklife

Joined November 2016

review
specklife
How to Stop Time | Matt Haig
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Pickpick

“There comes a time when the only way to start living is to tell the truth. To be who you are, even if it is dangerous.”

So, so well done. Matt Haig is definitely on my radar after this one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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specklife
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Pickpick

Xifeng is a stone cold bitch in this YA tale of the ultimate anti-heroine and her ambition to become Empress of her land.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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specklife
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Pickpick

True love = Me + This Book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

21 likes1 stack add1 comment
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specklife
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Pickpick

Multi-generational family sagas just aren‘t my thing, I‘ve learned (although this one was better than most).
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

kiminreverse Same! I'm also usually a miss on sibling books and books where most of the main characters are young children. 6y
18 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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specklife
The Lovely Reckless | Kami Garcia
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Mehso-so

Another standalone YA romance from Kami Garcia. Not as good as Broken Beautiful Hearts. Much more... formulaic & cliche, if you will.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
The Belles | Dhonielle Clayton
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Mehso-so

Wow. Crazy hijinks abound in this dystopian YA where beauty rules the day.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

11 likes1 stack add
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specklife
An American Marriage | Tayari Jones
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Not as amazing as I‘d hoped it would be. 🙁
⭐️⭐️⭐️

MrsMalaprop I agree. High expectations can be hard for a book to live up to when book-love is such a personal thing. 6y
21 likes1 stack add2 comments
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specklife
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Pickpick

A stand-alone YA romance from Kami Garcia. Nicely done.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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specklife
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Ruth journals a year of living with her father as he descends into the depths of Alzheimer‘s. Humorous, heartbreaking, and touching.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jess7 I‘m looking forward to reading this one! 6y
specklife @Jess7 I put it off for waaay too long. Loved it so much!! 6y
Eggs 💕💕💕💕 6y
specklife @Eggs Ikr?!! 6y
Eggs Lkr ??? 6y
16 likes5 comments
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specklife
Emmy & Oliver | Robin Benway
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Kidnapped at seven & found at age 17, Oliver returns home to rekindle his friendship with old BFF - and possibly something more? Fun & sweet story by Robin Benway, whose Far From The Tree is one of my faves.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

15 likes2 stack adds
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specklife
Dime | E. R. Frank
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A brutal and horrifying tale of teen human trafficking. Chock-FULL of triggers. Worth it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
The First Part Last | Angela Johnson
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Super-short but riveting tale of a teen father in Brooklyn.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

11 likes1 stack add
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specklife
The Last to Let Go | Amber Smith
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Another excellent novel by Amber Smith (The Way I Used To Be was ah-ma-zing). Due out 2/6/2018.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
The Wedding Date | Jasmine Guillory
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Adored this sweet, quirky love story!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jas16 My library hold just came in. Cannot wait to read this one! 6y
specklife @Jas16 It‘s a super fun read - enjoy!! 6y
20 likes1 stack add2 comments
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specklife
Girls Like Us | Gail Giles
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Be. Still. My. Beating. Heart. This book was so sweet and real and honest and heartbreakingly beautiful. Won‘t forget these girls for a long, long time.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

11 likes1 stack add
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specklife
Windfall | Jennifer E. Smith
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Cute what-if about teen who wins the lottery, and the fallout that follows.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
The Mountain Between Us | Charles Martin
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Mehso-so

The first 2/3 were sloooow, but then things sped up nicely. The saving grace was a tasty little surprise ending.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

13 likes1 stack add
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specklife
We Are Okay | Nina LaCour
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Short but powerful. Definitely going to look up more of Nina LaCour‘s work.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
Let's Talk About Love | Claire Kann
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Mehso-so

Great to have a narrator from such a marginalized POV but just a touch juvenile for my taste.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
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Mehso-so

Somewhat dry and slow - but full of fascinating facts about the lives of Eleanor, Hick, FDR, and those close to them.

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specklife
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Rom-Com combined with Social Justice? Wouldn‘t have thought it possible, but Samira Ahmed made it happen, and it happened spectacularly. More, please!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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specklife
Long Way Down | Jason Reynolds
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So. Powerful.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SusanInTiburon Love the pic! 6y
specklife @SusanInTiburon Me, too - but the credit goes to someone else!! Got it off of Tumblr. Loved it too much not to share!! 6y
11 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
specklife
Untitled | Unknown
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1. Sofa or Front Porch.
2. Bookmark, always!
3. Stop & start, baby.
4. No to food, YES to Diet Pepsi!
5. Absolutely not.
6. One at a time, every time.
7. Everywhere, fo sho!!
8. Silently, duh.
9. Only when I‘m super bored/frustrated with the book.
10. Like new! OMG. So like new.
11. No. No, NO!!
12. @CraftyBookNerd1

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specklife
Goodbye Days | Jeff Zentner
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OK, so I may or may not have leaked a few tears toward the end. Sue me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
American Street | Ibi Zoboi
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Powerful YA tale of Haitian immigrant struggling to find her place in a new country with new rules and new family.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

23 likes1 stack add
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specklife
Nice Try, Jane Sinner | Lianne Oelke
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Snarky little tale of A girl struggling to prove herself after a major trauma - by joining a reality TV show. Loved it!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Woodsh8 YA right? 6y
specklife @Woodsh8 You know it!! Wouldn‘t even look at YA before last year; now I‘m reading the hell out of it! Who knew? 6y
20 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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specklife
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Charlie‘s tale pulled me in instantly, and I wound up devouring this book in one sitting this afternoon.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

16 likes1 stack add
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specklife
The Wolves of Winter | Tyrell Johnson
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Mehso-so

This book was described as similar to The Hunger Games. WTF? No correlation at all, other than the survival aspect... smh.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

monalyisha Love your pic! (Red winter gear always reminds me of Mattie from “Ethan Frome” 😅). 6y
17 likes1 comment
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specklife
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Loved it!! Abelard & Lily 4-Eva!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

14 likes2 stack adds
blurb
specklife
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• Homeschool Mom
• Reading, duh...
• Dogs (especially my Sheltie!!)
• Crimson
• Fresh fruit
• Diet Pepsi!!
• Anything green and pretty
• Fall and Spring
• Harry Potter
#litsylovelist

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specklife
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Great pop-culture bio of that Notorious RBG!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
A List of Cages | Robin Roe
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OMG. All. The. Feels. I‘m not much of a crier, y‘all, but this book had me weeping on and off like a leaky freaking faucet!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

12 likes1 stack add
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specklife
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Mehso-so

The book blurb for this was misleading, and although the story still wound up to be somewhat intriguing it just didn‘t quite hit the mark for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
Beneath the Sugar Sky | Seanan McGuire
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Third installment in The Wayward Children series wasn‘t quite as grand as the previous two, but enjoyable nonetheless.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
When Dimple Met Rishi | Sandhya Menon
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Absolutely fell in love with this adorable YA romance!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️❤️

rachelm Can't wait for her second book 6y
specklife @rachelm Me, too!! 😍😍😍 6y
20 likes1 stack add2 comments
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specklife
Still Me | Jojo Moyes
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The third book in Louisa Clark‘s story was great! Still can‘t live up to the original, Me Before You, though. *swoon*
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

blurb
specklife
2000s | Stephen Feinstein
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Woot-woot!!

GripLitGrl 🎉🎊🎉🎊 6y
Jas16 🎉👏📚 6y
robinb 🎉🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌 6y
12 likes3 comments
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specklife
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Pickpick

Adored this sweeping tale full of love, heartbreak, and loads of dark humor. My first John Boyne novel – I‘ll be checking out the rest of his work now, too!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

13 likes1 stack add
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specklife
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Book 2 in the Clash of Kingdoms duology was a treat; perfect for my last book in 2017!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

robinb Beautiful cover! ❤️ 6y
10 likes1 stack add1 comment
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specklife
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Loved. This.
On to the sequel I go!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

9 likes1 stack add
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specklife
Out of Darkness | Ashley Hope Prez
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This was so much more than just the tale of a 1937 East Texas school explosion. Very dark and bitter, excellent writing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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specklife
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Mehso-so

Moved a little slowly and I didn‘t love it as much as my book club friends. Maybe next time, Diane...
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
Day: A Novel | Elie Wiesel, Anne Borchardt
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“Day” was my least favorite out of the Night Trilogy, however, it was no less powerful or full of gorgeous prose than the other two pieces.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

13 likes2 stack adds
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specklife
Devils Within | S. F. Henson
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Really dove into this one - Henson details Nate‘s conflicting thoughts/emotions with great clarity and tells a powerful tale.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

8 likes1 stack add
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specklife
Starfish | Akemi Dawn Bowman
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Excellent portrayal of social anxiety and narcissism. Loved Kiko and how she grew throughout the book.
“I did not go North, South, East or West. I went Forward.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
The Thief | Megan Whalen Turner
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Picked this up because it was on a list of Sarah J. Maas's Top 10 Books. While I definitely wouldn't place it in my own top 10, I did enjoy it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

review
specklife
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Excellent story of loss and survival. Might have to give The Enchanted one more try, considering how very much I liked this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
The Library of Fates | Aditi Khorana
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What I though was going to be a run-of-the-mill girl fights evil and gets the boy story turned out to be a girl saves the world without the stupid boy story. Not bad!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

17 likes1 stack add
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specklife
The Bitter Kingdom | Rae Carson
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Book #3 of The Girl of Fire & Thorns Trilogy was fantastic!! The only problem is that, while it satisfied my every desire, it left me thirsting for more. Say it isn't over, Rae!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

elkeOriginal Agreed! 7y
10 likes1 comment
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specklife
Words in Deep Blue | Cath Crowley, Wyatt North
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Set in a bookstore, which was nearly certain to make it a winner, anyway, but the tale itself was beautiful and sad and sweet enough to sustain me on its own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

14 likes2 stack adds