#PostYourPill + Quick Thoughts Round Up

#postyourpill + Quick Thoughts Round-Up

When I was a kid + young adult, I felt embarrassed & ashamed at different moments of my mental health struggles (to say the least) & it was really only about 8 years ago that I felt comfortable releasing some of those deepest secrets about how my brain + emotions work with someone else.

So anyway, I am a HUGE fan of @justinejustreads ‘ #postyourpill posts on the first of the month. I love them for her candidness & generosity in sharing & I wanted to join in on the mental health struggles fun by showing off my own pill . There she is! (very visible on the top of my stack ).

& now some quick thoughts about some recent books I read from my TBR pile! (Do you feel like you’re watching a newscast where the anchor goes from somber to excited very quickly? ;) )

Belle Calhoune’s Summer on Blackberry Beach: After having her heart put into a blender by her former fiancé, Stella Marshall enters into a brief fake relationship that turns into more with former Seal Luke who has returned to their small town. Admirable mental health rep & leads who are willing to share their insecurities are my fave things about this romance but ultimately the writing style feels a bit repetitive to me in a way that distracted and the romance just didn’t wow me. 2.5 ⭐️️. Out now. Thanks to @readforeverpub for the complimentary copy; all opinions my own.

S. A. Chakraborty’s The City of Brass: the audio for this was really good & despite some earlier stalled attempts at finishing I ended up thinking this is a really great, sweeping fantasy with an ending that left me feeling intrigued & unsettled & feeling those “oh shit” fantasy series feelings . I think I would give it 5️⭐️but I’m not really sure where the second book will go with some characters…out now.

Elizabeth Everett’s A Perfect Equation: this historical romance with an uptight hero & a semi-scandalous, heiress mathematician really impressed me. I stan a whip-smart heroine & like many of you, a hero who’s unsettled about his emotions . The only thing that disappoints for me is that I wasn’t jumping up & down about how the heroine’s former sexual experience is handled. 4.5 ⭐️️. Out now.

have you read any of these?

[ID: Jess, a white woman, wears a red flannel shirt & holds the books in front of a brown roll-top desk.]