Category: Reviews

Aug 17

Wish You Were Here by Renee Carlino: An Emotional Journey

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Reviews 2 ★★★★

I don’t know how to talk about this book without spoiling things (you really need to go in as blind as possible), so I’m afraid my review might be brief. Suffice it to say Carlino put me through an emotional wringer that I won’t soon forget! What Fed My Addiction: Charlotte getting her life together. Charlotte feels like a screw-up who just can’t seem to get life right—whether it’s work or romance or family … she just can’t seem to make everything work. Eventually, she comes to realize that a lot of her issue is just confidence, and I loved seeing her find herself and learn to take chances. The romance in this book is almost less about romance than it is about Charlotte coming to realize that she can make her way in the world—and finding a partner to do that with. Focus on family and friends. Charlotte’s relationship with her… Read more »

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Aug 14

Deception So Deadly by Clara Kensie: Deceptive, Indeed!

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Reviews 6 ★★★★½

The title of this book does not lie. There were some surprises in this book that caught me totally off-guard (and a few that I guessed, but that’s par for the course). Many characters in the book are deceived by someone or other, but of course, I can’t tell you much more than that. In fact, this is a tough book to review without giving things away, so I’m going to have to be very generic in my review, and you’ll just have to trust me that you’ll want to read to find out where it all goes. What Fed My Addiction: A double life. I’m always sort of fascinated by books where a character has to live undercover, and that’s definitely the case here. Tessa and her entire family have spent years on the run. They rarely live somewhere for more than a few months and they bring almost nothing… Read more »

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Jul 31

Wandering Star by Romina Russell: A Rereadathon Review & Giveaway!

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Current Giveaways, Reviews 7 ★★★★

It’s been a long time since I read the first book in this series (I probably should have actually participated in the rereadathon of the first book, but I just didn’t have time), so it took me a little bit of time to remember what was happening, but once I got myself warmed up, I found that I was enthralled with the worlds of the Zodiac once again! This second book picked up right where the first left off—after the destruction of Cancer, Rho and her brother are refugees of sorts on Capricorn. She’s overwhelmed with guilt over Mathias’s and her father’s deaths (not to mention many other citizens of Cancer) and she’s pretty much given up on being a leader. Of course, she might not get to choose whether or not to lead. What Fed My Addiction: The Zodiac worlds. I just love the concept of the worlds of Zodiac… Read more »

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Jul 27

The Dragons of Nova (& The Alchemists of Loom) by Elise Kova: Review of the Most Fantastical of Fantasies & a Giveaway

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Current Giveaways, Reviews 4

I binge read the first two books of this series and read almost 900 pages in two days. That could have been painful, but Elise Kova is some sort of fantasy genius and she managed to keep me enthralled the whole time. These books are serious fantasy—I called them the most fantastical of fantasies for a reason—there are complex magical worlds, highly developed societal systems and richly drawn characters. Sometimes books with such elaborate worldbuilding can be hard for me to connect to, but that was not at all the case here. I never felt like I didn’t know what was going on or how aspects of the world worked—somehow I understood it all, even though it was complex. Plus, Kova weaves such strong characters that it’s impossible not to be engaged in the story! The first book in the series introduces us to the elaborate world of the Loom and… Read more »

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Jul 21

No Good Deed by Kara Connolly: A Fun Time-Travel Take on Robin Hood!

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Reviews 12 ★★★★

This book takes us on a lighthearted romp through time and lands us straight in Nottingham—where we get to spend time with a certain band of merry men. I hate to overuse the word “fun,” but that’s exactly how I’d describe the book. It twists the tale of Robin Hood quite nicely and never takes itself too seriously. There are lots of elements of the book that I don’t want to give away, so I’m going to have to be really general in my review. You’ll just have to experience the book yourself to get more! What Fed My Addiction: Ellie. Ellie is fascinating because she’s goal oriented enough that she knows what she wants (an Olympic gold medal) and she’s willing to work hard for it, but she’s also somewhat reckless—especially once she finds herself in Nottingham. She makes it through most of the peril in the book by simply winging… Read more »

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Jul 20

Lucky in Love by Kasie West: Review, Giveaway & West’s Top Ten Addictions (with a Twist!)

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Author Top Ten Lists, Current Giveaways, Reviews 23 ★★★★

I don’t even know what to say about this book except that it’s adorable and SO Kasie West (which is a very good thing, mind you). Believe it or not, the themes in this book have been a topic of conversation in our household many times. My husband insists that he would absolutely hate to win the lottery because it would completely change us. And if it somehow didn’t change us, it would, at the very least, change how everyone around us perceives us and acts toward us. He’s probably right (that was certainly the case with Maddie in this book). Actually, I knew someone personally who did win the lottery—when I was in high school, my biology teacher (and her sister) won 17.5 million dollars! And I can say from experience that things actually did change for her a lot—and people did treat her differently. In fact, I had people coming… Read more »

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Jul 19

Bite-Sized Reviews: Crash Land on Kurai, The Star-Touched Queen and Death’s Queen

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Reviews 20

I’ve got three bite-sized reviews today—one for a book I loved and two for disappointing reads. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book is a spin-off of Pajonas’s Nojiku Series, but you don’t have to read that first series to appreciate it. In fact, I have to confess that I’m horrible with remembering details of books I read long ago and I was struggling to remember all the connections between this book and the original series—but it didn’t matter one little bit because I still loved this one (actually a bit more than I loved the original series, I think). Right away, I connected with the main character. Yumi is smart, tough and more than a little flawed (especially when it comes to being somewhat hotheaded and impulsive). She’s used to digging for the truth, not necessarily getting down and dirty in… Read more »

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Jul 13

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum: An All-Time Favorite!

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Reviews 12 ★★★★★

This book was everything I could want as far as the way it portrays a kid who isn’t neurotypical—I loved being inside David’s head and seeing the world from his point of view. We need books like these that shed light on people who think and act differently than the mainstream. This book tackles the topic with sensitivity and candor. What Fed My Addiction: David’s POV. Like I said, I was intrigued by the perspective of a kid with high-functioning autism. David just thinks differently than the rest of the world—he sees life through a different lens. And he knows this, but that doesn’t mean that he can change it. David approaches everything through logic, and he doesn’t recognize social cues most of the time, and he can’t always recognize other people’s emotions. As the mom of a kid who displays these traits (to a lesser degree than David), I can say that… Read more »

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Jul 12

The Lake Effect by Erin McCahan: Review of a Perfect Summer Read!

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Current Giveaways, Reviews 12 ★★★★

This is one of those perfect summer reads—the type of book you can read all in one sitting on a sunny morning (which is exactly what I did!). What Fed My Addiction: Good balance of light tone and heavy topics. This book covers some serious topics like death, chronic illness, class differences and family pressures, but Briggs’ voice is light and funny enough to make the read enjoyable rather than plodding. Plus, there are some really funny circumstances and secondary characters in this book. I found myself laughing out loud several times while reading this book, and chuckling for much of the rest of the time. Somehow this made the serious parts of the book that much more effective—I also found myself tearing up a few times. Briggs. Briggs isn’t a typical snarky teenage YA voice; he’s more sardonic and self-deprecating, which makes him very relatable. It was hard not to… Read more »

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Jul 05

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Upside of Unrequited, The Unlikelies, Dead Ed in My Head, and Bang

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction Reviews 25

I know I’ve been relying on bite-sized reviews a lot lately, but I feel like it’s the only way I can get them all in. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book was all sorts of adorable and it reminded me of me as a teen. Though I didn’t struggle with weight issues, I was very afraid to let a boy know I liked him—much better to avoid being hurt or embarrassed, which is exactly how Molly feels in the book. My friends who have struggled with weight issues have said that they connected to this book even more deeply—Molly thinks about her weight a lot, and in some ways, she lets it define her. Her insecurities lead to a complete unwillingness to take chances. She leaves the risk-taking up to her twin sister, who is daring enough in the area of romance for both of… Read more »

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