Author: Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

A lifelong reader of all things YA and books with heartfelt moments that punch you with all the feels. Currently expanding my reading interests to encompass anything that makes me feel deep and resonate with the characters
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Celebrating Black Authors

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

It’s Black History month and I wanted to take some time this month to also focus on uplifting their voices and the stories they tell. While I know I still have much to learn and understand about Black culture, I appreciate getting to know more through their writings depicting experiences.

It’s so awful that racism is still such a thing embedded in society. I hope we can teach our next generation to learn and appreciate one another’s differences and cultures than use it as ways to tear down each other. I think it starts with learning about what makes us unique, and books are one way of educating.

So here is a list of authors I read or hope to read soon with their most recent releases. This is by no means a comprehensive list and I am always happy to be introduced to more Black authors. So please let me know in the comments below!

Namina Forna

Ibi Zoboi

Ben Philippe

Roseanne A. Brown

Jasmine Guillory

Tiffany D. Jackson

Angie Thomas

Nicola Yoon

Ayana Gray

Jordan Ifueko

Joya Goffney

Dhonielle Clayton

Elise Bryant

Brittney Morris

Tracy Deonn

Tomi Adeyemi

Leah Johnson

Tochi Onyebuchi

Nic Stone

Which of these authors have you read? A lot of these are on my TBR but I hope 2022 is the year to get through a lot of these. I want to continue to educate myself and amplify Black voices in literature.

2.5 star, YA

ARC Review: The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

All it takes is one spark to start a blaze.

At Foxham Prep, a posh private school for the children of DC’s elite, a single rumor has the power to ruin a life.

Nobody knows that better than Bryn. She used to have it all—the perfect boyfriend, a bright future in politics, and even popularity, thanks to her best friend, cheer captain Cora. Then one mistake sparked a scandal that burned it all to the ground.

Now it’s the start of a new school year and the spotlight has shifted: It’s geeky Georgie, newly hot after a summer makeover, whose name is on everyone’s lips. When a rumor ignites, Georgie rockets up the school’s social hierarchy, pitting her and Cora against each other. It grants her Foxham stardom . . . but it also makes her a target.

As the rumors grow and morph, blazing like wildfire through the school’s social media, all three girls’ lives begin to unravel. But one person close to the drama has the power to stop the gossip in its tracks. The question is—do they even want to?

From Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra, authors of the Tiny Pretty Things duology (now a Netflix series), comes the edge-of-your-seat social thriller everyone will be talking about.

**The Rumor Game comes out March 1, 2022**

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

CW: bullying/cyber bullying, sexual abuse, assault, weight loss, body image, fat phobia, racism

How can a lie be that big?

Isn’t that a question, hmm? If I wanted to summarize what this book was about in one line, it’d be this. Do we think rumors, especially the ones not rooted in the truth, can really lead into something far bigger?

The simple answer: yes. And authors Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra attempt to show just how through this story.

The Rumor Game was something I really wanted to love. But the subject matter, even with the warnings, makes it hard. It’s not a book meant to induce warm fuzzy feelings but it was hard to swallow at times.

The story revolves around 3 girls. Bryn has been bullied since summer, falling from grace with everyone, including her best friend, due to a horrible incident she regrets. Cora is the it girl, but with new rumors surrounding her and her boyfriend, even her once-untouchable relationship is in everyone’s mouths. And not all the words were nice. Georgie wants to reinvent herself now that she lost weight but with newfound popularity comes unwanted attention and comments.

Continue reading “ARC Review: The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra” →
top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Too Good to Review Properly

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s TTT got me thinking a lot: what does it take to write a good review for a really great book? And I couldn’t find necessarily a similar thread between them all until I came to one idea – the book somehow uniquely surprised me in a way that no other had before.

I’m not sure if that’s something you all can relate when you struggle to passionately write about a book that blew your mind away even though it should be easier with so much to say! I think my words are never coherent enough to really portray how I feel about the book accurately.

So here are the books I know for certain I could never (or haven’t been able to) write the best review I would want to for these gems.

1. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

There’s no mistaking how much I couldn’t put this into words. There’s romance and great chemistry, but above all, there’s science. Accurate science! I felt so seen in a fictional book and I couldn’t emphasize well enough how that took my breath away. If you want to see my attempt, my review is here.

2. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This is my all time favourite book even after all these years. Nothing has surpassed the way it world builds but also excellently crafts these realistic characters that are so unique from one another. I’ve cried and laughed and loved with this book, and have done so on many re-reads. Yet I have never written a review for it (or attempted to) because I know it wouldn’t be able to hold all that I feel for it. Not unless it’s a 10 page essay.

Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday: Books Too Good to Review Properly” →