Monday Reads: This and That and Everything In Between

See, this is what happens when I don't do a Monday Reads post for a long time. My list ends up being massive.

Anyway, here's what I've read lately...

THAT GIRL DARCY by James Ramos. As soon as I heard about a gender-swapped YA retelling of Pride & Prejudice I was all SIGN ME UP! And this is another problem with not doing Monday Reads posts more often: I know I had thoughts about this book but now I can't remember what they were. I gave the book 4 stars so obviously I liked it, but I remember having a few issues with it. I remember loving the nerd angle, but also that some of the MC's introspection was a bit overdone or not quite believable. At one point, his thing was, I'm just obsessed with Darcy because I need to figure her out. Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that. It was a fun take on one of my fave classics though.

TAKE THE KEY AND LOCK HER UP by Ally Carter. This was the last book in the trilogy. Not my favorite books by Ally Carter (I LOVE her GG series so hard), but you can always count on her to have fast-paced books with humor and romance. Plus she did a great job ending the series, so no complaints here.

THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE by Stacey Lee. Ah, Stacey Lee. Easily one of my fave YA authors now. This book was just all kinds of wonderful. It's about a girl who's an "aroma expert." She can smell people's moods. Awesome, right? Her and her mom make potions for people who want to fall in love, but if she falls in love herself she'll lose her nose. So what happens? ENTER BOY. I mean, this book was funny, great voice, romantic, and completely original.

THE PAINTER'S DAUGHTER by Julie Klassen. This was my first Klassen book and it lived up to all the hype I'd heard about it. I absolutely adored the relationship between Sophie and Stephen, I couldn't stand Wesley (which made the book all the more compelling), but I loved the secondary characters. She interwove a little mystery throughout the story, plus I loved all the art references. I had one teeny tiny issue with the MC at this one point. She thought something that really got under my skin, and although it fit with the time period and she went on to sort of retract her opinion, it still irked me. But it wasn't enough to make me stop reading, or lessen my five-star rating.

ROSEBLOOD by A.G. Howard. A Phantom of the Opera retelling! I mean, right up my alley, right? (One of my YA's has a heavy Phantom influence.) This book was basically everything I wanted it to be. The twist on the original was what really made it awesome, not to mention the swoon-worthy romance. Too much exposition for my taste, but I still really enjoyed the book.

VICTORIA by Daisy Goodwin. What I didn't know about this is that the author wrote the novel and the TV series at the same time. Why that means something? Because the two were almost identical. Which is strange. But not necessarily a bad thing. Just strange. When movies/shows are based off a book, you know there will be some major differences. NOPE. Okay, there was one: the book ends sooner than the TV show. But that's all. I still really enjoyed it, I mean obviously- I loved the show. But like the show, I wanted more Albert. There is so much build-up of her relationship with Melbourne- the guy she doesn't end up with. I wish I could see that with Albert, too. Otherwise, loved it.

And that's what I've read lately people. Now I need a nap. Or maybe I'll go read...