Nerd Girl Loves Books

3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun, quick read. It’s a YA fantasy/romance book that skews a bit younger than the typical YA book. The main character, Lire, is a young clairvoyant attending a special school for the magically gifted. Her power scares and intimidates her fellow students because if she merely touches a person, or anything they touch, Lire is able to sense that person’s memories and secrets. This makes her very unpopular and essentially friendless. As the new school year starts, Lire meets 2 new students that befriend her. Her new friends help Lire stand up to her arch nemesis, Amanda, as well as other difficulties that she comes across. Continue reading “A Jot of Blood by Katherine Bayless” →

4 stars ( release date Sept. 12, 2017)

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next book in the series. It’s a fun YA Science Fiction/Fantasy book that reminds me of Enders Game and the Hunger Games. The main character is Emmett, a high school student from Detroit that is recruited along with 9 other teenagers to participate in a project for a huge conglomerate called Babel Corporation. They compete for a chance to be taken to an alien world called Eden, where they will live among an alien race named Adamites and mine a new incredible substance called Nyxia for one year. In exchange, they will be paid $50,000 a month for life and their family members will be provided the much needed health care that they need forever. But, is the offer too good to be true? Continue reading “Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) by Scott Reintgen” →

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars (release date Aug. 29, 2017)

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, it is an ok book. It’s a quick, uncomplicated read, but is definitely not without flaws. The book is a standard YA novel that wants to be compared with Sarah J. Maas’ books, but falls short. The main character, Sallot, is a thief that is part of a crew that steals from wealthy travelers. (Sallot is gender fluid, so “they” switch genders throughout the book.) Sallot discovers that the Queen is having a competition for a new assassin and leaves the crew to compete. Much of the book centers on the competition. Continue reading “Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller” →

This is an ok read. It’s like a lot of other YA novels about young, strong women. While set in some undisclosed medieval-like period, the main characters talk like teenagers from 2017. This yanks the reader out of the setting of the story each time a character talks like a valley girl. The main characters are all bastards that are thrown together by circumstance and learn to like and trust one another as they run for their lives against adults hell-bent on starting a war. The book has the obligatory misunderstood person, love triangle, crazy villain, magic, swords, weird creatures, betrayals, castles and warring factions. This is book one in the series. The book was a quick read and good enough that I will probably check out the next book in the series if I have time.

4 stars

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Generally I get a bit skeptical when I see so much hype about a book, but I have to admit, this is a really good book. The Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the citizens of Chicago for five years. Det. Sam Porter has been on the case since day one. When the killer’s body is found it’s discovered that he has taken another victim. He also left behind a diary which gives Det. Porter a glimpse into the depraved mind of the killer. With the help of the diary, Det. Porter races the clock to find the kidnapped girl before it’s too late. Continue reading “The Fourth Monkey (A 4MK Thriller #1) by J.D. Barker” →

4.5 stars

A very fitting ending to a great series of books. I have loved these characters and books for years. It was very bittersweet to say goodbye to some of the characters in the book, but at least the author gave them a worthy finale. Continue reading “Assassin’s Fate (The Fitz and the Fool #3) by Robin Hobb” →

3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, fluffy, quick read. It’s definitely written for a younger audience. It’s not a long book, has short chapters and the writing is fairly simply. That’s not to say that the subject matter and story falls short. Quite the contrary. Continue reading “Knight of Light (The Watchers #1) by Dierdra Eden” →

3.5 stars

This was our July book club book. The author grew up in a poor family from Kentucky and through hard work and a fierce grandmother was able to earn his way into Yale law school and change the course of life for his immediate family. The book tells the story of his life and family and is interspersed with facts and statistics about rural Americans and low income families living in the Rust Belt.

3.5 Stars

I received a free copy of this story on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is being released in 6 parts. This is part 1 of the installment. The story introduces us to Sarah. She is a young mother of 4 month old Elliot. She is married to Warwick, who comes from “old” money. Warwick is a classical handsome man that Sarah feels lucky to be with, but Warwick isn’t quite as All-American as he seems. Continue reading “Take it to the Grave Part 1 of 6 by Zoe Carter” →