Angel Reads

29 Aug

Ely’s Favourite Novels In Verse

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Hi, everyone! It’s Ely again and today I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite novels in verse. I think these are the perfect kinds of books to pick up towards the end of the year as they are usually quick reads, but also stunning ones. So here we go!

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: It’s not a list of the best novels in verse without mentioning The Poet X. This is probably the one people are most aware of and for good reason—Acevedo is an absolute master of the genre. So if you’ve somehow missed out on The Poet X so far, I highly recommend picking that one up ASAP. At points, it is a bit of a tough read so be prepared for that.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Another absolute icon of writing novels in verse is Jacqueline Woodson. She’s truly amazing at everything she writes, whether it’s in verse or not, so definitely give her a read if you haven’t already. Brown Girl Reading is probably her most famous work, and it is more of an autobiography in verse but it’s so beautiful that I couldn’t resist.

One by Sarah Crossan
This is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking books I’ve ever read. It’s the story of two conjoined twins as they make the decision to undergo an operation to disjoin them. Like I said, completely beautiful and heartbreaking. This is one of the ones I picked out for Angel to read this year, so look out for her thoughts on it at some point.

Shout by Laurie Halse Andersen
Going back to the autobiography in verse, Shout is basically Laurie Halse Andersen’s poetry discussing her experience with SA which led her to write Speak, but also talks about her life and writing outside of that as well. After I finished this, I gained a huge amount of respect for Laurie Halse Andersen and her books.

Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario
This comes out last year and is another book about sisterhood, what that means and why it’s important and finding yourself in life. It’s quite a small little book, but definitely worth your time.

Home Is Not A Country by Safia Elhillo
Finally, another book is also about finding yourself and the importance of family and country. This is also quite a short book. But it gets into some really intense themes and has a dash of something like magical realism to it. Someone on Goodreads said it was like if ‘Elizabeth Acevedo and Nina LaCour wrote a book together. Which I think is a good way to sum it up.

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Have you read any of these? Are any of them on your list?

26 Aug

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston | Discussion with Ely

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews, Discussions 1 Comment

Welcome back to Ely and I’s buddy read discussions. Sorry that it’s been so long – lots of things have just come out. We are a little behind, but we are going to try and catch up. Hopefully soon.

Anyway, here we are. Today we are talking about One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. This is one both of us have been highly anticipating and I’m so glad that we both were finally able to get to it. You can check out our other buddy reads here on Angel Reads and Earl Grey Books.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Pages: 422
Publish date: June 1st 2021
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN: 9781250244499
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.

But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.

One Last Stop:

Angel: Like I said this book is one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. I adored Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, which was actually one of our first buddy read discussions. And let me tell you it didn’t disappoint me at all. It’s different from Red, White and Royal Blue for sure. And it’s not something that I normally gravitate to in regards to science fiction and time travel. But I seriously loved it so much. How did you feel about it?

Ely: Honestly, I feel a little conflicted. I loved it, but I can’t decide whether I loved it more than RWRB or less. It was certainly different and it was incredible, but I still can’t decide!

A: I feel the same. RWRB is top tier for me. I love it so much. And like you said One Last Stop it’s incredible. There were just a few things that just stopped me from falling head over heels obsessed with it.

Firstly I think August was the perfect protagonist for this story. From the start, she captivated me and I didn’t want to leave her story. She was different and stood out, but also felt very familiar. What are your feelings about August?

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

E: I also loved August. She’s such an interesting and layered character and I loved how we got to see her go from this quite closed-off person in the beginning to this completely different one by the end. That was really beautiful.

I absolutely adore her housemates as well, particularly Myla. They are all just such weird and wonderful characters and the relationships they all have with one another are so lovely and pure. What did you think of them?

A: August character arc was seriously spot on. Her growth throughout the novel was so damn good. She didn’t just change quickly, it was nice and slow and worked perfectly with the novel.

August’s housemates added another 10 layers to this novel. Seriously. They were absolutely brilliant. Found family is one of my favourite tropes and it was utilised perfectly here. I wanted to know more and more about them – and got that – without it taking away from August’s story. They made August feel loved – and that just hit.

The romance in One Last Stop was also a massive highlight for me. From the start, Jane is captivating and took me by surprise. And together they are just so good. What did you think of Jane?

E: Absolutely! I think it was almost the perfect description of a found family—one that just kind of sneaks up on you.

I adored Jane. And I think she’s one of the best love interests I’ve read about in a while. She’s so much fun, but she also, of course, has this mysterious depth to her. She and August just work together, there’s no other way to put it.

We’ve buddy read quite a few NA and adult romances at this point, some that we’re kind of ruined by the romance and/or sex scenes. How did you feel about this one?

A: Jane really took me by surprise. I didn’t I was going to like her as much as I did, but she just latched onto me and didn’t let go.

Damn it was good. I was surprised by it, let me tell you. Compared to RWRB this is another level and I was so here for it. It not only added another layer to the novel, but it was a fantastic way to explore Jane and August’s relationship more. What were your thoughts on it?

E: She really does suck you in. Maybe this is something to do with the way August sees her, but either way, Jane rocks.

Honestly, top tier. It also just made me super happy. Their entire relationship just feels really, well, real. I know RWRB sort of ignited this trend of contemporary royal romance books, so here’s hoping some more sapphic books get their turn in the sun.

Photo by Luke Pennystan on Unsplash

A: Oh I absolutely agree with you, this romance not only felt real but honest and it just made it for me. Oh, I am so for sapphic royal romances any day of the week.

Like I said before while this was one of my most anticipated books of the year, I was also very hesitant. The science-fiction/time travel elements of the book made me nervous. But it didn’t feel out of place at all. I understood everything that was happening, and I didn’t get too confused. What about you?

E: I think I got a little lost with some of the time travel stuff, but not in a way that took me out of the story. It was more like oh, I don’t know what that term means but okay. Otherwise, I thought it tied in really well as you said—nothing felt out of place.

A: Oh I didn’t understand everything, but it didn’t make me feel dumb so that is something.

I wasn’t a massive fan of the long chapters – but that is seriously the only thing that really bothered me. Overall, it was such a fantastic read and I couldn’t put it down.

I hope that you all enjoyed this discussion. Have you read One Last Stop yet? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

24 Aug

Ten Books I Want To Re-Read

Posted by angelreads Top Ten Tuesday 7 Comments

This week I’m sharing the books I want to re-read. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and Bookish and is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

So I had to mix this weeks topic a little as I did the original topic just a few weeks ago. If you want to check out the books that I wish I could read again for the first time you can. Instead today I’m sharing the books that I really want to re-read. I love re-reading, it’s one of my favourite things to do. I do a lot of re-read during the year especially when I have no idea what I want to read or I feel like I’m going into a slump.

And while I re-read through the whole year, December is when I do most of my re-reading. It’s a combination of being super busy at work and not wanting to start anything that I won’t finish. So let’s see the books that I want to re-read in the next few months. Like always these are in no order.

Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1) by Katee Robert | Hate (Madison Kate #1) by Tate James | The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn | With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey (Check, Please! #1-2) by Ngozi Ukazu | The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune | Trial by Fire (Worldwalker #1) by Josephine Angelini | Disruption (Disruption #1) by Jessica Shirvington

The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1) by Rick Riordan | The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski

And there we go! Those are just some of the books that I want to re-read soon. Do you love re-reading? What do you normally re-read? If you don’t like re-read why? Nevertheless, let’s Chat!