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Book Summary
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back. 

There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

Book Summary
The highly anticipated third book in Sabaa Tahir's New York Times bestselling EMBER QUARTET.

Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister's life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias's devotion--even at the cost of his humanity.

Flo's Review
Wow. What a roller coaster of emotions this book took me through! It culminated at the end when I was driving from work literally yelling out loud at my audiobook because of the situations our three main characters found themselves in and the choices they made. Then, I had to have to have a full text conversation with with a friend who'd recently finished it about all the reveals and plot twists. Unsurprisingly, I saw exactly NONE of them happening. "Sabaa is a genius," my friend said. I 100% agree.

After listening to the audiobook for A Torch Against the Night, I knew that I wanted to read Reaper the same way. The three narrators read their characters so, so well. Laia's reader is feminine but fierce, innocent but daring. Helene's is strong, with a touch of vulnerability hidden deep beneath. And Elias is Steve West. (Confession: I love Steve West and will listen to pretty much any audiobook he reads.) 

Moussa (I'm sorry if I'm spelling this wrong) was an interesting character who I hope we see a bit more of in the final book. I was happy to see the hard-fought for character growth of Darin in the novel. And, without being spoilery, l love one of the conversations at the end of the book and what it means for the next novel. I cannot wait to see how it will all shake down in book 4. 

Book Summary
From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? 

With Maurene Goo's signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

Flo's Review
Why did I wait so long to read this?!?! I've had it sitting on my TBR pile for months now and felt like reading a light, fun, romantic YA this week. I asked hubby and Twitter which one I should go for and they both said The Way You Make Me Feel, so in I went.

So how did it make me feel? Warm. Fuzzy. Happy. Let's start with the cover love. Look at the pretty! It's such a great color combination -- fun, but not in-your-face intense. Happy and calming at the same time.

I adored I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and Goo's sophomore effort did not disappoint. It's been awhile since I've been able to add a new book boyfriend to my list, and Hamlet definitely makes it. Hamlet is everything! I love that he is all energy and optimism and random. More importantly, he is open where Clara is guarded. Their relationship works so well because he is just what she needs to bring her out. Any other type of personality would just bring up her sarcasm and dismissal, but Hamlet made her want to take a hard look at herself. But without forcing her. I cannot say enough about how great the two of them are.

Just like I Believe in a Thing Called Love, I was so delightful to read the relationship between Clara and her dad, Pai. It's the exact opposite of the whole "parents absent from the kid's lives" in YA thing, and it's realistic and refreshing. I also liked the friendship between Rose and Clara. They went from being enemies to BFFs super fast -- it might be a tad unrealistic, but I like them so much better as friends that I did not care. The awkwardness was so cute. 

Two things prevented me from giving this 5 out of 5 stars. First, Clara was kind of a jerk at the beginning. She was hard to swallow. I read several reviews where people DNF because they didn't like her and how she treated people, and I understand. Usually when I don't like the protagonist, I struggle with the book. I don't know what kept me engaged here. Maybe I subconsciously knew that she would get better? Maybe because everything else about the book -- the writing, especially -- was so good? Luckily, Clara got better really quickly.

Secondly, toward the end there is suddenly this whole, "I love LA! I have pride in my diverse city!" thing going on. Like, it's hit pretty hard. I guess there were subtle references to this idea throughout the book, but definitely not enough to make me think that this was an important part of the story. So when the last chapter kept going on and on about it, I felt it read a little random. Like an add-on. "Here's the story, and P.S. Gooooo Los Angeles!"

But everything else I adored. ADORED. I flew through this book in two evenings. When I finished it, I set it down and immediately exclaimed, "Adorable!" I had a big smile on my face, too. It made me so happy. So if you're up for a book that will be fun and easy to read and will make you happy, look no further than The Way You Make Me Feel.

Book Summary
This mystery thriller reunites Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama for a political mashup full of suspense, intrigue, and laugh out loud bromance.

Vice President Joe Biden is fresh out of the Obama White House and feeling adrift when his favorite railroad conductor dies in a suspicious accident, leaving behind an ailing wife and a trail of clues. To unravel the mystery, “Amtrak Joe” re-teams with the only man he’s ever fully trusted—the 44th president of the United States. Together they’ll plumb the darkest corners of Delaware, traveling from cheap motels to biker bars and beyond, as they uncover the sinister forces advancing America’s opioid epidemic.

Part noir thriller and part bromance novel, Hope Never Dies is essentially the first published work of Obama/Biden fanfiction—and a cathartic read for anyone distressed by the current state of affairs.

Flo's Review
I mean, where do I even start with this book?! Did you ever think you'd be in world where "Obama/Biden fanfiction" is a thing?! 

So this book is cray, basically. But in a good way. It's meant to be fun, and it's fun. I had a good time reading it. Shaffer did such a great job with Joe. I could see him thinking these crazy things and saying these crazy things and even doing (some of!) these crazy things. Like, here's an example: have you ever played the game "Cave, Marry, Kill"? (We did this a LOT on the Hunger Games Fireside Chat back in the day. In fact, I think "Cave, Marry, Kill" might be a spin on another game that I can't think of the name of right now.) Anyway, Joe and Barack are having like a slumber party, basically, in a shady motel (and this isn't even the weirdest part of the book, folks!) and Joe tries to start a game of POTUS, SCOTUS, or FLOTUS:

"It's a game we used to play in the Senate, while we were waiting our overnight filibusters, I name three women, and you say who you'd like as your--"
"--POTUS, SCOTUS, or FLOTUS."
"You got it."

I won't reveal how the game went, because #spoileralert.

But interspersed in the book are some great quotes -- I have a lot of page flags in my copy. For example, here's a nice inspirational one:

"You've got to have patience. It takes more than eight years to build a legacy--and it takes more than a term or two reshape the world. Change happens incrementally."

A large part of this book is the focus on the bromance between Joe and Barack. Indeed, it actually reads like a romance novel in some parts (as it's meant to). The beginning of the story starts with Joe idling away at home, looking at all the pictures of Barack out doing water sports and having fun. He feels like Barack just dropped their BFFedness -- yes, I think I just made that word up -- after the two of them left office. His feelings play a part in the plot of the novel. Because, oh yes, these two are running around Delaware trying to solve a murder.

I would be interested to hear how much research Shaffer had to do about Joe Biden for this novel. Because I believe a lot of it is based on fact, and it's just embellished and added onto to get the fiction.

This was a quick read, definitely a tongue-in-cheek kind of affair. It publishes July 10, 2018. Let's end on a final, inspirational quote:

"As long as you have hope," he said, repeating his words from that day, "you're still in the game."
"And when you lose it?" I asked, echoing a field organizer's question.
"You can't lose it. Hope never dies."

*Thank you to Quirk Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for may honest review.