Being Mary Bennet by J.C. Peterson

Being Mary Bennet by J.C. Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publication Date: March 15, 2022

Source: Edelweiss ARC

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzie Bennet.

A less acknowledged truth is that Mary Bennet might be a better fit.

For seventeen-year-old Marnie Barnes, who’s convinced she is the long-suffering protagonist of her life, this revelation comes at the end of a series of self-induced disasters that force her to confront a devastating truth: Marnie has more in common with Mary Bennet—the utterly forgettable middle sister—than the effervescent Lizzie.

Determined to reinvent herself, she enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens herself up to the world—leading lady style. And between new friends, a very cute boy, and a rescue pup named Sir Pat, Marnie realizes that being the main character doesn’t mean rewriting your life entirely. It’s about finding the right cast of characters, the love interest of your dreams, and, most important, embracing your story, flaws and all.

I ADORED this. It was seriously so much fun to read. The humor in this was just so spot on, with such a fantastic story about finding out who you really are. And if that’s not enough, there was a sweet love story too.

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The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publication date: September 2019

Source: library

The Plot: Ryn lives in a small village, where she takes care of her brother and sister after their parents died or disappeared. She has taken on her father's occupation of grave digger. There are dead people coming around the village, called bone houses. Ellis is an apprentice mapmaker, who gets lost on the way to her village. After Ryn helps save him from a bone house, they head into the forest together to try to break the curse that is causing people to come back from the dead.

Why I read it: The September Owlcrate box will have an item inspired by it, so I wanted to read it beforehand.

The Characters: I really liked Ryn as a strong female character, and it was nice to see a male character who wasn't necessarily the strong one of the story. They were both likable.

The Setting: This was an interesting world, that was fairly spooky. It wasn't incredibly developed, though, beyond the little village and the forest beyond that pertained to the curse.

A sample of the writing:
"What stories did your parents tell you?"
"Monsters," she said at once. "Dragons. Pwca. Dramatic battles."
"And is that any better?"
"Yes," she answered. "I grew up thinking monsters could be slain."
"Ah," he said. "And I grew up thinking people were the monsters."

Who should read this: Someone looking for a spooky story that's not too scary or gory.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed this for the most part, but there were too many times where something happened that was just a little too convenient.

Cover Thoughts: I like the cover. I think it would have been nice to have something with a creepy forest, though, as that would have added to the atmosphere.

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Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publication Date: May 2017
Source: library
Reason for reading: Featured in Owlcrate's July subscription box

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here — it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

This was really fun and enjoyable to read. It was fairly obvious that it was inspired heavily by Harry Potter, but that didn't really take away the fun of it at all, and it wasn't a clone of it or anything. There was never a moment where I was bored, except I will say that during the beginning, before Baz shows up at school gets a little tedious. All it is, is Simon looking for Baz, waiting around for Baz, and obsessing about Baz. It just went on a little too long.

I really liked the characters here. There were times when I didn't love Agatha, but by the end I really liked how her story turned out. There was just a lot to like here, and I will definitely be looking for more by this author.

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Mini Reviews & What I've Been Reading

I haven't been updating my blog very often, but I have been reading a lot and posting on Goodreads. A few of my more recent reads are:

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody (3/5)
I liked this, but I have a very strong feeling that if I hadn't listened to it on audio, I wouldn't have liked it anywhere near as well. It seems like I would have gotten bored in parts.

Soul of Stars by Ashley Poston (4/5)
This was a very good follow up book to the first one. I liked it a lot, and will read more by this author in the future.

Bone Crier's Moon by Kathryn Purdie (4/5)
I liked this, especially the beginning. It just felt like it kind of fizzled out by the end. I will definitely be reading the next book, though.


I've also recently started subscribing to book subscription boxes, and I really love getting them. It's such a fun surprise every month. My favorite is Fairyloot. The other two boxes I get are Owlcrate and The Bookish Box. Check them out if you like collecting bookish items, and getting fun surprises in the mail.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publication Date: 1847
Source: Library

This started off good for me, and I thought I was going to really like it. But it just went more and more downhill as it went along. I hated every character, and didn't find it an enjoyable book to read. My copy of the book said "love never dies" on the front cover, which I found laughable, because I hardly felt affection from anyone towards anyone else, let alone love. I don't understand why this has been shelved so many times as a romance.

And I really hated every time Joseph spoke in the book. I don't like trying to decipher dialects while I'm reading, and have never thought it added to any story or made anything more authentic. Especially since this was supposedly being told from the point of view of other characters, and their memories of events. Did they do other characters accents while telling the story, then? I think not.

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Book Review: The Heretic Queen

The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publication Date: September 2008
Source: Library

I really loved this one. I know most historical fiction isn't entirely accurate, but I love reading about different periods in history in such a fun way. Some historical fiction is really dry, but The Heretic Queen was an easy read that was hard to put down.

I often feel uneasy reading historical fiction, especially stories about women. They rarely had it very good, and you know bad things are going to happen to them. And then there are a lot of catty women in these stories, and this one is no exception. It makes it hard to read sometimes, while at the same time keeping things interesting.

Even though I find ancient Egypt really interesting, I didn't know much about Nefertari. She was a fun character to read about, and was very strong and just pretty darn awesome. I would love to read more about her in the future.

I think this is my second book by this author, the first being Rebel Queen. I liked this one better, but I will definitely be reading more of Michelle Moran's books in the future. She's a great author that makes history seem a lot more accessible.

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Book Review: Caliban's War

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publication Date: June 2012
Source: Library

I thought the first book in the Expanse series was okay, but I didn't love it. The ending was good enough to have me looking forward to the next in the series, but not rushing out to read it. So it's been a couple years since I read Leviathan Wakes, and I couldn't really remember much about it.

I didn't really feel lost at all, though, reading Caliban's War. And I absolutely loved it. It was just so much fun. It really reminded me a lot of Firefly, which is definitely a good thing. The story was fast-paced, and I can't even really remember a slow moment where I had even the slightest chance of getting bored.

Obviously I would suggest reading the first in the series before reading this. But definitely read this series! It's great so far, and I won't be waiting so long to get to book 3, I hope.

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