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
anticipations

New Romance Reads on my TBR (Valentine’s 2022)

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Hi friends! Today is love day, and I hope we take some time to celebrate love in whatever form it comes in, platonic or romantic.

This is my last post in the series of romance-themed posts leading up to Valentine’s Day (which is today!). I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you want to read the other posts, they are linked below.

Thank you for stopping by! I just wanted to reiterate how much I appreciate you all, the community of bloggers and book lovers I’ve found here. I wouldn’t still be doing this without you.

Now onto the list!

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

After having just graduated with a degree in shoe design, and trying to get her feet on the ground, Cindy is working for her stepmother, who happens to be the executive producer of America’s favorite reality show, Before Midnight. When a spot on the show needs filling ASAP, Cindy volunteers, hoping it might help jump-start her fashion career, or at least give her something to do while her peers land jobs in the world of high fashion.

Turns out being the only plus size woman on a reality dating competition makes a splash, and soon Cindy becomes a body positivity icon for women everywhere. What she doesn’t expect? That she may just find inspiration-and love-in the process. Ultimately, Cindy learns that if the shoe doesn’t fit, maybe it’s time to design your own. 

I’m such a sucker for CInderella based stories, but Julie Murphy’s take seems to include body positivity and a plus sized woman that just makes it different among the others I’ve read. It’s definitely got me intrigued at least, enough to put it on this list!

How Not To Fall in Love by Jacqueline Firkins

A hardened cynic and a hopeless romantic teach each other about love in this swoony and heartfelt contemporary romance that’s perfect for fans of Tweet Cute and The Upside of Falling.

Harper works in her mom’s wedding shop, altering dresses for petulant and picky brides who are more focused on hemlines than love. After years of watching squabbles break out over wedding plans, Harper thinks romance is a marketing tool. Nothing more. Her best friend Theo is her opposite. One date and he’s already dreaming of happily ever afters. He also plays the accordion, makes chain mail for Ren Festers, hangs out in a windmill-shaped tree house, cries over rom-coms, and takes his word-of-the-day calendar very seriously.

When Theo’s shocked to find himself nursing his umpteenth heartbreak, Harper offers to teach him how not to fall in love. Theo agrees to the lessons, as long as Harper proves she can date without falling in love. As the lessons progress and Theo takes them to heart, Harper has a harder time upholding her end of the bargain. She’s also checking out her window to see if Theo’s home from his latest date yet. She’s even watching rom-coms. If she confesses her feelings, she’ll undermine everything she’s taught him. Or was he the one teaching her?

I love it when there’s chemistry between best friends, especially ones that are very unwilling to acknowledge that there might be anything more between them. This seems like the perfect read.

Continue reading “New Romance Reads on my TBR (Valentine’s 2022)” →
4 star, YA

Review: Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Aurora Cycle #3

The squad you love is out of time. Prepare for the thrilling finale in the epic, best-selling Aurora Cycle series about a band of unlikely heroes who just might be the galaxy’s last hope for survival.

Is this the end?
What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course.
Wait. . . . Not. So. Fast.
When we last saw Squad 312, they were working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally.
But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the team has one last chance to rewrite theirs. Maybe two. It’s complicated.
Cue Zila, Fin, and Scarlett (and MAGELLAN!): making friends, making enemies, and making history? Sure, no problem.
Cue Tyler, Kal, and Auri: uniting with two of the galaxy’s most hated villains? Um, okay. That, too.
Actually saving the galaxy, though?
Now that will take a miracle. 

Endings are meant to go out with a boom and I do believe Aurora’s End did that, albeit a quieter one than I expected.

I’m not usually much of a sci-fi reader but I’ve come to realize any sci-fi with Amie Kaufman’s name tagged to it works well for my tastes. The world she and Jay Kristoff created here was expansive with the different sentient species coming together, and the whole legacy of the Aurora Legion. I loved that there was still room for world building growth even here in book 3, which is the kind of great storytelling that exists in expansive worlds such as Star Wars. It’s like the world doesn’t revolve around the characters, but the characters revolve around this world that still holds mysteries that we are only getting a taste of.

Continue reading “Review: Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff” →
recommendations

My Go-To Romance Reads

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Welcome to part 2 in this series getting us into the romantic mood.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and whether you have someone to celebrate with or not (or even still), it’s a great time to just bury ourselves in a cute, romantic book. I mean, my boyfriend already knows this.

While I’m always excited and open to read new romantic contemporaries or fantasies/thrillers that have strong romantic elements in them, there are definitely comfort romances I gravitate towards when I just wanna curl up with a cozy blanket and a hot drink on a cold February night.

If that sounds like something you’re looking for, I wanted to share some of my go-to romances with you. Maybe you’ll find a great read out of the list. Or even better, maybe we can swap favorite romances in the comments below!

This is my list. I hope you enjoy!

Love, Life and the List by Kasie West

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems . . . and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

This is my favorite trope, best friends to lovers, with the angst of unrequited love. I also love the exploration of Abby’s identity in her art, but her growth throughout Cooper’s process of finding out she liked him tested her and made her and their relationship even stronger. Altogether a really cute and solid read.

Continue reading “My Go-To Romance Reads” →