April Wrap-Up!

Hey Book Nerds!

So, I don’t know what happened, or what was in the water, but April was an amazing reading month for me. I managed to read 6 things this month which is insane for me! Here’s everything I read in April:

Quicksand by Nella Larson: 3/5 Stars

 

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher: 4/5 Stars (audiobook)

 

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica: 4/5 Stars

 

A List of Cages by Robin Roe: 5/5 Stars

 

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols: 2/5 Stars

 

ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times- 2/5 Stars (graphic novel)

 

That’s everything that I read in April! What all did you read in April?

Brittany

Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon Wrap-Up!

Hey Book Nerds!

This past weekend, as you guys know, I participated in the Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon for the very first time, and I loved it! I am definitely going to attempt in future Dewey’s if I am able to. But, for this readathon, I ended up reading 2 books, which I am pleased with! I read for a total of 14 hours and read 393 pages. Here are the books I read:

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

I went into the readathon at 96/310 pages read of this book. I absolutely loved this book. It broke my heart 1000 times and mended it 1001 times. I may have sobbed about 5 different times, but this book was so beautiful and so sad and so incredible that I couldn’t help it. This book is so important. Please go read it. That’s all because I still can’t form coherent thoughts about this book.

5/5 Stars

 

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

I started the readathon with 66/245 pages read of this book. Unfortunately, I really did not like this book. I hated the relationship, it was extremely inst-lovey, and there were random side plots that were thrown it at the most random times and were completely unnecessary. It honestly just seemed like a “I need to make this more interesting, lets throw something random in there without ever fully explaining why and what it has to do with anything and oh yeah, let’s put it at the most random part of the book where it makes absolutely no sense” idea. This book was just all over the place and confusing. I did like both of the main characters, I just didn’t like their relationship. This book did make me laugh a ton, which is what saved it from a one star rating.

2/5 Stars

 

That’s all I managed to read during the readathon! Did you take part in the readathon? If so, how did you do?

Brittany

Cover Reveal: Rebel Cause by Cassandra Giovanni

Today is the cover reveal for Rebel Cause by Cassandra Giovanni. This cover reveal is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. Rebel Cause (Boys of Fallout #3) By Cassandra Giovanni Genre: Young Adult/ New Adult Age category: Coming of Age Release Date: July 11, 2017

Blurb: Reese White has spent her whole life trying so hard to be perfect, that when she looks in the mirror, she doesn’t know the person staring back at her. Sure, she’s always gotten high grades and excelled academically, but she’s never put much time into herself. Now, as she heads off to college, Reese realizes she’s remained so hidden inside a book that she’s invisible to everyone, including herself. Kellin Lake has always seen Reese, his little sister’s best friend, the beautiful girl hidden behind baggy clothes and good grades–but he’s hiding, too– even from her. Tattoos, lip piercing and lead singer in a metal band, he’s a rebel without a cause. But that’s just to the people at school. At home, he covers it all up, and he’s the boy with the angel’s voice, and a 4.0 only his parents know about. When Reese flips the switch and takes control of her looks, they make an arrangement– pretend to be in a relationship to elevate Reese’s social status. It’s simple. Kellin helps his sister’s best friend, and Reese isn’t invisible anymore. No one falls in love. No one gets hurt. But what Reese doesn’t realize is Kellin is already in love with her. And now things get a hell of a lot more complicated.

You can find Rebel Cause on Goodreads You can pre-order Rebel Cause on Amazon

Excerpt: Lindy narrows her eyes at me, and I shake my head. Maybe it’s a good thing. I don’t need her to think I’m developing something for her brother…or that I’ve always had something for him. I squeeze my fists together until my nails bit into my palms. I look up at Kellin. I don’t feel anything different than I’ve ever felt around him. He gives me a smile and comes forward to pull me into his arms, tucking his head into my hair. “I missed you, Ree.” I smile as I hug him back, the happiness I always feel around him overtaking any of the odd thoughts I’m having away. He pulls away, looking down at me, and I feel like me. Just me. “So why haven’t you packed anything?” he asks as he looks around my room, hands in his pockets. He’s wearing the heather blue Henley with the hood I bought him for his birthday. He has the sleeves pushed up, and the buttons undone so his tattoos show in all their glory, but he’ll be able to hide them if my parents come home. “I don’t know what to bring,” I admit. “You can bring everything if you want,” Kellin replies, crossing his arms. “It’s our home indefinitely. We don’t have to come back for breaks unless we want to.” “Good point…I just don’t know where to start,” I reply with a shrug. Kellin gives me a grin, and my skin heats up as our eyes remain locked on each other. I can’t look away or stop smiling. I finally turn around, grabbing a box as I chastise myself. This is Kellin– KELLIN, my best friend’s brother. My good friend for four years. He’s older. Sexy as hell– damn it! Off limits, Reese! I take a deep breath as I feel Kellin behind me. “Let me give you a hand?” he asks, giving me one of those infectious, crooked-kid-like grins. “It’s an empty box, Kell. I think I can handle it,” I reply, nudging him out of the way. “You sure about that?” he teases, raising an eyebrow at me. “Ree? You up there?” Mom calls my name, and I look at Kellin frozen as her hand turns the knob to my door. I jump on his back, pulling down his sleeves as I do and wrapping my arms around his neck to cover his collarbone. Kellin catches my legs and holds me there just as Mom opens the door. She blinks a few times at us, and I give her a smile. “Kellin and Lindy came over to help me pack,” I say. “I can see that…but why are you on Kellin’s back?” she asks, and I hear Lindy stifle a giggle as Kellin’s arms tighten around my legs in panic. “I was betting him that he couldn’t pick me up,” I say as I slip one hand under my arm and button the shirt. I slide down his back. “I guess I was wrong!” Mom looks between Kellin and me before shaking her head. “Well, Reese could really use your help. As you can tell she hasn’t even started thinking about moving yet.” “I’ve been thinking about it. I just haven’t done anything yet,” I reply. She rolls her eyes in response. “So I should order a pizza for dinner?” “That’d be great,” Kellin replies as he opens one of my drawers and immediately closes it, placing his hands behind his head as he purses his lips together. “Found the underwear drawer?” Mom asks as she smirks at him before shutting the door. Kellin taps his thumbs against his jeans as he looks around the room. “Uh…thanks for that.” I nod as I step past him and open the same drawer and start dropping my bras and underwear into the box in front of him. His eyes find the ceiling as his face turns red. “Really, Ree? You couldn’t like wear, I don’t know…normal stuff?” I look up at him as I drop a pair of black lace boy shorts into the box. “What’s not normal about them?” He rubs his face. “You practically wear bags as clothing–and then you wear that underneath?” I pop my hip out as I lock eyes with him. “Do you like it or something?” Lindy makes a gagging noise behind him. “Could you guys save the flirting for when I’m not around?” It’s my turn to be embarrassed. I drop the last item into the box and start piling my pajamas, which were pretty close to what I wear every day, on top. Kellin doesn’t respond but grabs another empty box and heads to my closet. He pauses, hand on the knob before looking over his shoulder at me. “Is there anything I need to be cautious of in here?” I shake my head. “You found the only thing you really wouldn’t want to see the first drawer you opened.” Lindy coughs, muttering under her breath, “Who says he didn’t want to see it?” I watch as Kellin’s eyebrows twitch, his eyes narrowing on his sister. She shoots him a similar look, and I stand in the middle puzzled.

Get the first two books in this series! Book one in this series Out of Beat is available! You can buy a copy on Amazon Book two in this series Behind the Lens is available now! You can buy a copy on Amazon

About the Author: Cassandra doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. In fact, the first time she was published was when she was seven years old and won a contest to be published in an American Girl Doll novel. Since then Cassandra has written more novels than she can count and put just as many in the circular bin. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character’s stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. Besides being a writer, Cassandra is a professional photographer known for her automotive, nature and architectural shots. She is happily married to the man of her dreams, and they live in the rolling hills of New England with their daughter, Hope and dogs, Bubski and Kanga. For regular updates visit Cassandra’s website http://www.cgiovanniauthor.com and sign up for her newsletter. You can find and contact Cassandra here: – Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Instagram – Newsletter Giveaway There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the cover reveal of Rebel Cause. One winner will win a paperback copy of Out of Beat and Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni (US Only). For a chance to win, enter the giveaway here: a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon!

Hey Book Nerds!

I am so excited to announce that I am officially participating in the April 2017 round of Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon! I have wanted to participate in this event for 4 years now because I really love readathons. But they only happen twice a year- once in April and once in October, both which continuously conveniently fell on the weekends before finals week or midterms, meaning I haven’t gotten the chance to participate, but that is about to change! As I mentioned in my life update post, I don’t have any finals this semester, which means I can (attempt to) stay up for 24 hours and read with hundreds of other people! Words, honestly can’t describe how excited I am. I’m going to be prepping all week (mostly mentally prepping) by getting food ready for the weekend, getting reading locations figured out, and getting my books ready. The readathon for me starts at 8:00am on Saturday, April 29th and ends at 7:55am on Sunday, April 30th. Everyone starts at the same time for this readathon, so your start time may differ from mine (but this can be found here)

For this readathon, I am going to do things slightly different than the majority of people participating. I am going to have a theme, which is really exciting for me. My theme is going to be, drumroll please, clearing off my currently reading shelf! Unless you are new to my sight, then you guys all know how I am definitely one to start a book and put it down and never pick it back up again. Well, this year, I’ve made it a resolution to try and finish all of the books I have started and not finished on my shelves. So, a couple of hours ago, I sat down in front of my bookshelf at school and wrote down stats for the unfinished books I have here with me (there are more at my parents house, so these aren’t all of them, but I good portion of them). Below are the stats:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: pg. 147/441 (294 pages left)
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin: pg. 55/347 (292 pages left)
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich: pg. 6/320 (314 pages left)
Going too Far by Jennifer Echols: pg. 66/245 (179 pages left)
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: pg. 180/398 (218 pages left)
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare: pg. 162/453 (291 pages left)
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard: pg. 126/412 (286 pages left)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: pg. 22/309 (287 pages left)
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: pg. 88/293 (205 pages left)

Obviously I won’t be reading all of these during the readathon, but I have a good mix of books to choose from and my goal is to finish two of them. So far, I am planning on reading Going too Far since it is the shortest book of them all and I have more pages read in that book for its page count than any of the other ones. As for the other books, I want to mood read. I’m probably just going to pick up whatever I feel like reading at that point, which is going to be difficult since 8 of the 9 books all have over 200 pages remaining. But, nonetheless, I will still aim for finishing two books.

As for a strategy, I have no clue what I am going to do. I’m probably going to watch vlogs and take people’s tips from there. I already know I’ll probably have to nap at least once during this readathon, so at least I have my priorities straight. I’ll probably try to change up my reading locations as well. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to be rainy that weekend here so reading outside won’t be an option. So I’ll probably alternate between reading on my bed and on my floor, let’s be real.

If you have any tips or tricks, feel free to share them with me! Are you participating in Dewey’s? If so, what are you planning on reading?

Brittany

May TBR!

Hey Book Nerds!

I know this is pretty early, but I have already planned out my May TBR and I couldn’t wait to share it with you guys. I have 7 books on my list, which is ambitious for me, but I have some that I definitely want to read and then some that I can choose from if manage to finish the other books, or what to read something different. Here are the books I hope to read in May:

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

I received this book in the April Owlcrate box and just really want to read it. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book and I can’t wait to read it.

 

Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni

I have been meaning to read this book since March and I’m mad at myself that I haven’t read it yet! I absolutely loved Out of Beat (the first book in this series) and after raving about it for like a week on Twitter, Cassie was kind enough to send me an arc of Behind the Lens. So I need to read it ASAP because I need to be back in this world and need to be ready for the third book when it comes out.

 

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

You guys have seen this book on many TBR’s from me, but this month I finally want to read it. It’s short, and I love Nicholas Sparks, so it shouldn’t take me any time to get through this.

 

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I pre-ordered this book back when it was coming out, and I have still yet to read it. I started it when I got it, but I don’t think I got very far before I put it down because I didn’t have time to read. Well, it’s finally time that I read it, and this will hopefully be the month that that will happen.

 

Cruel Summer by Alyson Noel

You guys know Alyson Noel is one of my, if not my #1, favorite authors. I’ve loved everything that I have read by her, so I need to continue to read her books, considering I own almost all of them. I’ve had this book for a really long time, so it’s about time I finally read it.

 

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

As you  guys know, I read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith last year and loved it. Then, earlier this year I read Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, and thought it was just okay. I own two more of her books, so I want to continue to read them to see if I like her books or not, since I’ve had one that I loved and one that was just meh. This one sounds really cute and I’ve been wanting to read it for a while now, so May is the perfect time to do that.

 

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Much like the rest of the books on this TBR, I’ve had this book for a really long time as well and really need and want to read it. I’ve heard really good things about this one too, so I just need to read it already.

 

As you’ve probably noticed by now, there are two themes to this TBR. 1. reading mostly contemporary romances. I’ve just really been in the mood for contemporary romances so I thought now would be a good time to knock those off my shelves. And, 2. reading books I’ve had for a long time. This year, I made a goal to focus on reading more of my books that I have had on my shelves for a long time. As much as I love reading my newer books, I need to give the books that I’ve had for 5-10 years some love too.

What all are you planning on reading in May?

Brittany

Life Update!

Hey Book Nerds!

You’re probably reading this and thinking “who is this person?” Yes, I know, I’ve been absent for, well, I don’t know how long. I’ve hated being gone for so long, but school has been killer this semester. This is my final semester of college, and as I am approaching my final week of classes tomorrow, I have a lot more time on my hands, because on Friday, I will officially be done with college! I don’t have any finals during finals week, so the first week of May is completely free for me, which means lots of reading (well, lots of reading when I’m not packing up my apartment). I have several posts coming to you soon, and possibly a couple of very exciting announcements coming your way in a few weeks.

So, now that I am about to be done with school (for good!), I will have a lot more time to read and post. One of the main issues I was having was that I wasn’t reading. I’ve read 7 books this year so far, which is pretty good for me, honestly. But, a lot of my Goodreads friends are already at 20 or 30 books (bravo to you if you are one of those people), so that was extremely discouraging for me. I wanted to read, and when I would, it was taking me weeks or months to finish a book that should’ve taken a weekend or a week. All of that was due to school. I’ve been so busy and stressed out this semester, that any time that I had a sliver of free time, I was either napping (sleep deprivation has been real this semester) or watching Netflix or YouTube because I just didn’t have the energy to read. When I would try to read, I would read 3 pages and fall asleep. But, now that I only have 3 things left to turn in this week that are not time consuming, and I have all of the following week completely free, and then pure freedom since I haven’t found a job yet, I will plenty of time to read, which will lead to more posts from me because I’ll have actual things to say. I’ve also been reading quite a bit this month and I’ve noticed that when I have been able to read, I’ve been reading faster than normal for me for some reason. I’m not sure why that is since I haven’t been reading that much since the beginning of the year, but hey, I’ll take it.

You’ll be getting 4 additional posts this week after this one, because a lot of these things are happening either this week or next week, so you will be getting a post on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Then, next Monday you will be getting a post. Those are all that I have scheduled for now, but like I said, some exciting announcements may be coming your way very soon!

Brittany

Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni Cover Reveal!

Today is the cover reveal for Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni. The cover is designed by Gio Design Studios. This cover reveal is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours.

Behind the Lens (Boys of Fallout #2)
By Cassandra Giovanni
Genre: Coming of Age
Age category: Young Adult/ New Adult
Release Date: 14 March, 2017

Blurb:
Natalie Scott’s life is simple with no strings attached. As a band photographer, she’s made metal music her life, and life on tour means no relationships.

At least not ones that last and that’s the way she likes it.

She only has one rule.

Don’t date or otherwise screw around with the client.

But she never said anything about love.

Brent Andrews knows Natalie’s rules.

And he’s about to make sure he’s an exception to them.

All of them.

Even ones she didn’t know she had.

You can find Behind the Lens on Goodreads

You can pre-order Behind the Lens on Amazon.

Excerpt:
I scrunch my nose up as I look at the door hanging open for us. “It’s going to be a love fest in there, isn’t it?”
Brent scratches his chin. “Honestly, every time the girls have shown up, I’ve had a girlfriend–so I’ve never really paid much attention.”
I swallow, looking down at my shoes before looking over at him. “Was it a love fest for you?”
He blinks at me a few times, his lips in a stern line. “We don’t just start fucking all over the bus.”
I throw my hands up. “Hey, I know how it is. You haven’t gotten laid in a few months and you get to see your significant other–”
“Is that all you think we think about?” he asks, a slight smirk on his face. “Or is that all you think about?”
My face burns red, and I shake my head. “No–not at all.”
“Brent?” a woman’s voice calls at our backs.
“Tay!” Brent replies as he turns, pulling her into a hug. “It’s good to see you!”
Tay smiles as she pulls away from him. “I forgot how lovely you guys smell right after you get off stage.”
I watch as Brent’s face turns red, and he puts his hands in his pockets as he rocks on his heels. “Sorry, I haven’t gotten a chance to shower.”
She punches him in the shoulder. “Seriously, Brent? Believe me, Kie smells no better than you do. Speaking of which, where is he?”
Brent glances at me and then to the woman. She has long blonde hair curled into waves with ice blue eyes that are anything but cold. She smiles as she looks over at me, holding out her hand. “I’m sorry, this was rude of me–you must be Natalie, the photographer? I’m Taylor, Kie’s girlfriend. Everyone calls me Tay.”
I shake her hand. “You’re the first one to actually introduce yourself to me. The other girls didn’t even notice me at all.”
She laughs, running a hand through her hair. “I’m sure if I saw Kie, I would’ve ignored you too!”
I nod over my shoulder. “Brent, go take a shower. I’ll help Tay find wherever Kie ran off to.”
Brent narrows his eyes at me, and I smile up at him. “You do smell.”
He blinks at me. “And you smell any better?”
My eyes widen and he puts his hands up before backing slowly onto the tour bus.
“I’m sorry if I smell,” I say as I look down at my damp tank top.
Taylor laughs. “You definitely don’t smell like any of them do.”
“Thanks,” I reply. I nod towards the building. “I think he went somewhere inside the venue.”
We fall into step with one another and she looks over at me with a slow smile. “So you…and Brent?”
My face burns and I feel a cold sweat building on my spine. I tell myself it’s just the difference in temperature between the air-conditioned backstage and the heat of Arizona outside.
“No, not at all,” I reply, and my voice cracks.
Because I’m thirsty. Who wouldn’t be after the workout that is doing show photography?
She bites her lip. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume–”
I put a hand up, laughing a bit too high pitched. “Believe me, I’ve gotten used to people assuming that.”
“So do you?” she asks, biting her lip as she looks at me.
“Like him?” I finish her sentence.
She closes her eyes as we walk further into the venue and shakes her head. “You don’t have to tell me. We don’t know each other…It just seemed like you do.”
An awkward silence falls over us, and I clear my throat. “Uh, I think I saw Kie go this way. All these places are so different — crazy mazes.”
I hear a muffled noise that sounds like Kie and head towards the door I think it’s coming from. I open the door to peek my head in and blink as I stare at Kie with a half naked girl wrapped around him and his pants at his ankles. His eyes meet mine, going wide before I slam the door shut.
Taylor stands back behind me, and she swallows, staring at the closed door. “Anything?”
My hands go into fists as I try to control my facial expression. “Place has rats apparently.”
Her eyes drop to the floor, and she nods. “Sometimes they do.”
“Maybe he made it onto the bus by now?” I say, linking my arm in hers. Guilt washes over me as I try to act like I saw nothing.
Her body is stiff, and I can tell by the blank look in her eyes that she knows the way Kie is. “Sure, if not, I’m sure he’ll make his way there eventually.”
Silence falls over us as we make our way towards the bus. My chest tightens as I glance over at her, and I bite my lip before asking, “So it’s that obvious?”
Taylor shakes her head, looking over at me and her friendly eyes have a dark hint to them as does her tone when she replies, “What?”
I feel the need to distract her from whatever is going on in her head.
“That I might be…” I suck my lips into my mouth before admitting, “A tiny bit attracted to Brent?”
Taylor bursts out laughing. “A tiny bit? And who says it’s only obvious one way?”

Get book 1 in this series!

Book one in this series Out of Beat is available now! You can buy a copy on Amazon

About the Author:
Cassandra doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. In fact, the first time she was published was when she was seven years old and won a contest to be published in an American Girl Doll novel. Since then Cassandra has written more novels than she can count and put just as many in the circular bin. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character’s stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. Besides being a writer, Cassandra is a professional photographer known for her automotive, nature and architectural shots. She is happily married to the man of her dreams and they live in the rolling hills of New England their dogs, Bubski and Kanga.

For regular updates visit Cassandra’s website and sign up for her newsletter.

You can find and contact Cassandra here:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Goodreads
– Instagram
– Newsletter

Giveaway
There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the cover reveal of Behind the Lens. One winner will win a swag pack including bookmarks and postcards (US only). And an ebook copy of the both books in the series, Out of Beat and Behind the Lens by Cassandra Giovanni.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Out of Beat by Cassandra Giovanni (Spoiler Free Review)

I received an eArc from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review.

“Danny ‘Madman’ Maddox isn’t supposed to make Skylar Haze’s heart beat out of rhythm.

At least not anymore.

She hasn’t seen that boyish face, always covered in a five o’clock shadow, dimpled smile and teasing hazel eyes since the day he left to go on tour with her brother Joey’s band. Now with a major record label backing them the band is in need of a bit of help, and when Joey asks Skylar to be the band’s photographer, she can’t help but say yes.

Of course, Joey doesn’t know about that forbidden kiss.

The one Skylar hopes Danny’s forgotten.

But can she?

One smile and she finds herself slipping again.

But he’s the drummer, and he’s beaten her heart before.

And she won’t let it happen again.”

THIS BOOK. Oh man, this book. Let me just begin with saying I absolutely loved this book. This book follows 5 main characters: Sky, Joey, Danny, Aaron, and Zack. Joey, Danny, Aaron, and Zack have been best friends forever and have formed a moderately successful band. Sky is Joey’s little sister, and the other three boys are considered her brothers. Joey asks Sky to be the bands photographer and to go on the road with them during their tour across the U.S. She agrees, and that’s where the book takes off.

First, I have never read a book like this before. I have only read one or two books that have centered around music, so this was a little outside my comfort zone. I have also never  read (at least not that I can remember) a road trip book, especially one like this. So this book included many firsts for me.

I adored every single character in this book. Sky was a strong, responsible- yet fun, sarcastic character. She wasn’t the ditzy blonde, or the “I’m so in love with you I’m going to let that effect my judgement” character. Sky wasn’t afraid to tell it how it is and she got shit done. The boys were also all fantastic characters. They were goofy and quirky, but protective of each other and Sky. Anytime there was a scene with just the guys interacting with each other, I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. It genuinely made me so happy to see a group of guys that could have a novel long bromance and it be perfectly normal. Even thinking it about it as I’m writing this is making me laugh all over again. Throughout the entire book they all referred to each other as “family”, and you could definitely not only see that, but feel that. The only thing I have to critique about the characters is that I wish we would’ve gotten to know more about Zack and Aaron. The majority of the focus was on Joey, Danny, and Sky, which is to be expected. But I also really loved the scenes with Zack and Aaron interacting with each other because their bromance was on a whole other level and included some of my favorite parts of the book. I also really appreciated how Cassie wrote this book in a relatable tone. Sometimes, I find that some books are written in a tone that “dumb’s down” the characters because they are young (granted the guys are 22, and Sky is in college) or they overuse “text speak” or just narrate them completely wrong. Cassie didn’t do that at all. She wrote them as intelligent, yet goofy and sarcastic characters who cursed and used words like “legit”, but it was done perfectly.

This book was extremely character driven, which is another step outside of my comfort zone. I tend to gravitate more towards books that are plot driven, and not necessarily character driven. But it absolutely worked for this book. There were some plot twists in the story, but this book was just about 5 best friends going on a band tour across the U.S. Being the plot-driven book person I am, I never once found myself bored with this book, not even for a second. When I say I fangirled over every single page, I am being 100% honest. There was never a dull moment in this book.

Overall, if you couldn’t tell by now, I adored this book. I can’t wait for the second book to come out and to see where the story heads next. I would also really love to see a prequel to Out of Beat because there were some things that happened to the characters before the tour that I would really like to read more about. I would definitely recommend this if you are considering picking it up. I can’t wait to see what Cassie writes next.

Brittany

The “You’re Not a Real Reader” Debate

Hey Book Nerds!

Instead of doing a wrap-up or TBR, I decided to go on a bit of a rant. I was on Twitter about an hour ago, when I saw on a booktubers page that someone sent them an anonymous message on Tumblr saying that because she reads mostly YA, she doesn’t really understand literature. This got me fired up, so here are my thoughts on this matter.

Booktubers, book bloggers, and readers in general have been getting a lot of hate for years on their reading tastes. If you only read YA you are not well rounded enough. If you read only academic based books, you don’t understand “reading for fun”. If you read erotica or romance novels, then you definitely are not a real reader because are those even books? These are just some of the common perceptions “real readers” have of us “fake readers”. So what classifies someone as a “real reader”?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Do you love to read? Then you are a real reader. Do you find joy and pleasure in reading? Then you are a real reader. Do you read for the fun of it? Then you are a real reader? Do you read at all? Then you are a real reader.

That is what makes you a real reader- if you read. There are no guidelines or rules that have to be followed in order to be apart of this ever so important “real readers” club that apparently the majority of us are not invited to.

Whether you only read one genre or you read every genre imaginable, one does not classify you as a “real reader” more than the other. As I said before, I don’t care if you only read erotica or nonfiction or YA or Fantasy or Middle Grade or Romance or what have you. All that matters is that you are reading. Read whatever genre or genres you want or don’t want to. Read what you will enjoy and what you love to read, because guess what? You are reading, and that is all that matters. If you never read a classic in your life, that doesn’t make you any less of a reader than someone who can recite Jane Austen and Charles Dickens from memory.

So, no matter what you read, or how much or how little you read, as long as you are reading, you are a “real reader”. Don’t let anyone else try and tell you you’re not because of your reading tastes.

“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” -Anna Quindlen

Brittany