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Natalie | thatswhatnatread

@thatswhatnatread

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reading a lot of books + fanfiction and telling you all about them • ask me about my SJM theories • definitely a gemini

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A short, comprehensive guide of why I think Elain x Azriel are end game.

I tried to focus on the facts, maybe I will go into my ideas and theories of what will happen in another post.

I also tried to stay away of talking about why I don't think other ships will happen (but I had to go into it briefly).

Hopefully this explains not only why I think they will end up together, but also why I prefer it. (It's the easter eggs, baby!)

Can you tell I have a passion for these two?

#elriel #elainarcheron #azriel #shadowsinger #acotar #sarahjmaas by @thatswhatnatread

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3 years ago

🪶Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

★★★

Theo shows up in the small town of Golden and quickly makes an impact on the resident’s lives. They know very little about him, but he’s able to make insightful observations of them.

This book is very popular right now, and I understand why. I thought the writing was good, especially for the author’s debut and I think I’d be interested in reading whatever he wrote next.

The mystery of Theo intrigued me throughout. I love the details and reflections on art🖼️ and Portugal. (Theo is Portuguese, one of the few facts we know about him.) The side characters were thoughtful, a wide variety, and made me emotional.

[I have very little insights when I go to an art museum but I want to have more and I love books about art.]

I love the cover of this book (it reminds me of The Goldfinch🪶).

I don’t have a strong reason for why I’m not rating it higher. I enjoyed it. Depending on what you were looking for I would recommend it (Fredrik Backman…ish?). I finished the book earlier this week, maybe in a few weeks I’ll decide to give it another star.

If you’ve read this book I have a question ➡️ … I saw some reviews that said the mentions of religion were heavy handed, but I felt like they were subtle and done well. What were your thoughts?

P.S. My book club 📚 turned 8 this month. Isn’t that so cool!? We’ve read over 60 books together.😊

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #127 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴀʀᴄ | ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ by @thatswhatnatread

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8 days ago

🏙️Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult

★★★★

Molly’s mother Eloise was one of the casualties of 9/11 and Molly’s mourned the loss of her mother her entire life, until 25 years later she runs into her.

This is what I think you need to know about this book…

- 9/11 may be the least traumatic thing that happens in the book. (check trigger warnings)
- This is the third (?) Jodi Picoult book I’ve read and usually I find their endings underwhelming, but I was shocked multiple times at the end of the book. So, well done Jodi Picoult.
- The premise of the book was different than I was anticipating. I was hoping for more of a mystery? But still, it was good.
- Molly’s married to Jesse, who is the brother from My Sister’s Keeper. (I’ve never read this book nor watched the movie but I found this connection exciting nonetheless.)
- If you’ve been following the Lindsay Clancy trial, you’ll probably enjoy this.

The contents of this book make it hard for me to say I “enjoyed” it, parts were pretty hard to read. But I did think it was interesting and had a strong ending.

💭Are you a Jodi Picoult fan?💭

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #127 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴀʀᴄ | ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ by @thatswhatnatread

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9 days ago

📓The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5 by Beth Brower

★★★★

𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

My new favorite of the series. I also said this about Vol. 4 so I’m very excited to announce the series just keeps getting better.

Christmas in St. Crispian. Jack is back! (Actually maybe he is in every book, but you never know when he’ll show up it always feels like such a treat.) Islington and Emma run into each other at a party.

There are a lot of lovely things that happen and I’m very excited to start Vol. 6 today!

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵.

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #125 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴋᴜ | ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ by @thatswhatnatread

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10 days ago

Q3 is looking better than Q2! (Though Q1 may still be the winner, tbd.) September was a tough month, but maybe I was hungover from all the great books I read in August.

Some things to note:

- The more I think about it the more I love Into the Blue.💙
- Have you read Brood yet or not?☢️
- Heart. The. Lover.❤️‍🔥 Wow. What a book. Now I want to reread Writers & Lovers.
- Buckeye. Buckeye. Buckeye. 🌰 I hated this book and then I just really, really loved it.
- The Witches of Cambridge 🔮 is the perfect October read.
- 📝Bad Words it out TODAY!
- Tempest🏴‍☠️ is everything I wanted in a pirate book.

➡️IF YOU WERE ONLY GOING TO READ ONE OF THE BOOKS … I’d vote Buckeye (I’d also tell you to read Into the Blue and Heart the Lover but I think Buckeye would be the crowdpleaser.)

💭Tell me your favorite books of Q3!💭 by @thatswhatnatread

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11 days ago

🏔️North Country by K.A. Tucker

★★★★★

After two decades in jail, Logan is back home trying to start over and stay away from Emery, his first love, neighbor, and now town’s sheriff. When a young girl disappears they find themselves working together to find the girl and clear Logan’s name.

Romantic suspense books are such a great genre when done well and this one was done SO WELL! I really, really loved it. The setting. The romance. The characters (both main and side). The mystery stressed me out. I had no idea how it was going to end, but loved that the clues were in front of me.

K.A. Tucker recently announced she’s coming out with another book in the series (I think in the same location? Unsure about the characters) and I am so thrilled because I fell in love with Cold River.

I would highly recommend this book. I was very impressed by the mystery.

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #88 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴋᴜ | ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴛɪᴄ ꜱᴜꜱᴘᴇɴꜱ by @thatswhatnatread

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11 days ago

🌟Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein

★★★★★

This book was so much more than I expected it to be.☺️

Mia and Cricket are two sisters raised by Liz, a single mother who instilled a deep love of soccer in both of her girls. Their stories are told all of their point of views with alternating timelines, leading us to the present and opening chapter of the book where the sisters are being faced with a life-changing decision.

The more I read of this book the better it became. If you like generational dramas, books about motherhood, or sisters - then I think you’ll like this one. I never knew what was going to happen next. I was sad and encouraged by the adversities the characters faced. The parallels and differences between the daughters and mother were really well done.

I’m not sure what I really expected for this book, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I haven’t seen it talked about much on bookstagram (though it was part of Reese’s Book Club so maybe I just haven’t noticed) and I think it needs more hype.

Bonus Points - this book was very fun to read around the World Cup.⚽️

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #81 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ʟɪʙʀᴀʀʏ ʟᴏᴀɴ | ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ by @thatswhatnatread

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15 days ago

🏕️Lost and Found by Tarah DeWitt

★★★★★

Perhaps my favorite ✨quote✨ of the year from another favorite book of the year. Tarah DeWitt’s books are just getting better and better.💕

Bea and Silas have orbited around each other since they were kids. Tragedy brings their orbits closer than ever, leading Bea to move in with Silas while she debates starting an IVF journey with her deceased best friend’s eggs. They embark on a really beautiful, moving journey that brings them closer to each other.

What a beautiful book about friendship, and love, and choices, and history. The plot may sound a slightly over-the-top, but it’s so well done. Bea and Silas’ story has history and layers that is now meeting them as adults with lives that have recently taken swerves from their expected paths. I appreciated all Bea’s considerations when approaching motherhood.🎀

Bea and Silas are SO GOOD🔥, but the Bea’s reflections on her friendship cannot be overlooked.👯‍♀️

P.S. Rereading all my highlights made me tear up. 🥲

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #62 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴀʀᴄ | ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ by @thatswhatnatread

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16 days ago

📖The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman

Most Alice Hoffman books are perfect 🍂 fall reads, but her newest book was ✨exceptional✨.

Enjoy my simple 🍁🍂 fall inspiration board. I change my phone wallpaper every season to a seasonal inspiration board. They are very pretty and powerful.🔮 by @thatswhatnatread

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17 days ago

💙Into the Blue by Emma Brodie

★★★★★

Maybe my ✨favorite✨ book of the year. What a gorgeous book.

Into the Blue follows AJ and Noah through decades of their lives as fate pulls them together and fear pushes them apart.

This book is beautiful and fun and heartbreaking and hot and romantic and nerdy and made me want to scream. It’s not just the dynamic between AJ and Noah but also the family and friends who make up their lives.

It’s the perfect combination of so many things.👌

It’s challenging for me to capture all my thoughts around this book but with two characters who’s lives are mostly very different than mine I still felt very seen and even learned something new about myself.

‼️Read. This. Book.‼️

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #93 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴀʀᴄ | ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ by @thatswhatnatread

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18 days ago

🕯️The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

★★★★

Anne, an orphaned duchess whose sovereignty is at stake, is working to find the best marriage for herself and Brittany when she encounters a unicorn in her kingdom’s enchanted forest changes. Magic brings opportunity, danger, and romance. Now Anne has a chance to change her destiny, if she can play her cards correctly.

This was a beautiful book that just got ✨better and better✨. I haven’t been a big fan of the other Katherine Arden books I read but I really wanted to like this one (I mean look at that cover) and I’m so glad I gave it a chance because I really loved it. (And now I think I will revisit her other books.)

Historical fiction sprinkled with magic (unicorns, fae, lost cities). It’s not my favorite type of magic/fantasy (fae can be iffy for me) but wow it really worked in this context. The tension just builds and builds and builds.

Also the 💕romance was so good and exceeded all my expectations. I fell hard for Anne and her love interest.

Yeah, I really liked this book.🙌

Bonus points because Belgium, Ghent, and Gravensteen🏰 were key locations and I visited the month before I read this.

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #66 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ᴀʀᴄ | ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ꜰᴀɴᴛᴀꜱʏ by @thatswhatnatread

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19 days ago

🏒The Dare by Elle Kennedy

★★★★

Taylor is a smart girl with some insecurities. Conor is a star hockey player and playboy with past mistakes he’d like to keep secret. They first meet thanks to a dare and after spending an evening pretending to be together they realize they may want to do it for real.

I find these books impossible to put down. I started this one at 8pm … by 5am I’d read 75% (& slept for 4 hours).

Maybe my ✨favorite✨ of the Briar U books? I found Taylor incredibly relatable. Their conflict made sense. Conor was dreamy.

All these books seem to require a third act breakup. I don’t mind third act breakups if they are done well. This one was sort of crazy but … I still really loved 95% of this book so I think I can get over it.

💭Do you have a favorite Off-Campus/Briar U book?💭

ʙᴏᴏᴋ #131 | ᴋɪɴᴅʟᴇ | ʟɪʙʀᴀʀʏ ʟᴏᴀɴ | ꜱᴘᴏʀᴛꜱ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ by @thatswhatnatread

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22 days ago