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haleylynnthomas22

May 8, 2021
4 min

Books for Mental Health Awareness Month

AN OPEN DISCUSSION ABOUT MY OWN STRUGGLES I am someone who has suffered from mental health issues my entire life. My mental health conditions, while they don't define me, will always be a part of me. They are my chains, but they are also proof of how strong of a person I am. I see a counselor and a psychiatrist to manage them and recommend others do the same if able. I believe it is important to be open about my mental health because I do not want to contribute to the stigma.

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Written in Starlight by Isabel Ibañez (book review)

haleylynnthomas22

Apr 17, 2021
3 min

Written in Starlight by Isabel Ibañez (book review)

GENRE: YA Fantasy LENGTH: 359 pages PLOT Following the events of Woven in Moonlight Catalina, the heir to Inkasisa, has been banished to the Yanu Jungle. There she struggles to survive while tracking down the legendary indigenous Illari people in the hopes of forging an alliance with them to reclaim her throne. CHARACTERS I was undeniably wary about Catalina being the protagonist. In Woven in Moonlight she was immature and stubborn. In this novel, however, she is a caterpilla

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A Guide to: The Books by Angie Thomas (Including Concrete Rose)

haleylynnthomas22

Feb 27, 2021
3 min

A Guide to: The Books by Angie Thomas (Including Concrete Rose)

THE HATE U GIVE This novel follows Starr Carter who witnesses the death of her childhood best friend, Khalil, when he is wrongfully shot by the police. As rumors run rampant Starr is forced to choose between staying safe and silent or speaking up for justice. MY REVIEW This novel was emotional, powerful, and eye opening for someone like me (a privileged white reader who's never had to suffer from racism or police brutality). Starr and her father Maverick were my favorite cha

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Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (book review)

haleylynnthomas22

Feb 20, 2021
3 min

Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (book review)

GENRE: YA fantasy LENGTH: 338 pages PLOT Cerys lives in the kingdom of Aloryia which is surrounded by a cursed wildwood. When the curse escapes the woods and takes her people she must travel into the wildwoods along with her fox companion. They seek the mystical city of Voryn in the hopes of finding help. CHARACTERS Cerys is a loyal friend and dedicated daughter who carries with her a lot of survivor's guilt. A part of her longs for something more, but she also has a lot of f

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5 Things I LOVE in Books Ft. Recommendations for Each 💖 (Inspired by BooksandLala)

haleylynnthomas22

Feb 13, 2021
3 min

5 Things I LOVE in Books Ft. Recommendations for Each 💖 (Inspired by BooksandLala)

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I debated if I should do a related blog or not. I considered doing a tag or talking about my favorite book romances or simply romance novels. None of those ideas really appealed to me, though. I ended up finally settling on doing a blog about things (tropes, writing styles, character types, etc.) that I love to read in books. I figured it fits the Valentine's theme since it's things I love and Valentine's Day is all about love. It also allows m

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haleylynnthomas22

Jan 30, 2021
3 min

I Matched 5 Disney Princesses with Book Best Friends 👑

Welcome, princesses, to my matchmaking services! You've already found your princes, but life is lonely without a gal pal to share it with. Based on your resumes (movies) I have matched you with some girls from YA books who I just know you'll hit it right off with! I made sure to keep similar interests and upbringings in mind so you'll never run out of topics to gab about with your new BFF! 1. Mulan, I've Matched You with: Sirscha Ashwyn from Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee Mul

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I Read a Book Written by a K-pop Idol: Shine by Jessica Jung book review

haleylynnthomas22

Jan 16, 2021
3 min

I Read a Book Written by a K-pop Idol: Shine by Jessica Jung book review

GETTING INTO K-POP AND ABOUT THE BOOK This past fall I started casually listening to K-pop (Korean pop music). I know a lot of people who listen to K-pop are hardcore fans. I am definitely not that. There are so many groups I am unfamiliar with as so far I've only explored the more popular groups. I mostly listen to Blackpink and Twice, though I am a fan of a handful of other songs by various other girl groups as well. I doubt I'll ever be a 'stan' as some super fans call the

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haleylynnthomas22

Dec 26, 2020
5 min

I Ranked Every YA Fantasy I Read in 2020 (Part II - #12-1)

12. Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova (rated 4.25 ⭐️) Renata is a memory thief of the fallen kingdom of Memoria. She was kidnapped as a child and used by her enemies to aid in her people's downfall. Now, years later, she's returning to the enemy's castle as a spy. This novel had meticulous world building, effective atmosphere, and lots of juicy political intrigue. The pacing, however, left the story feeling like it was stumbling around bumping into things. Read if: You've ever fe

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Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (a review) (A.K.A. The Best YA Fantasy of 2020)

haleylynnthomas22

Nov 21, 2020
3 min

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (a review) (A.K.A. The Best YA Fantasy of 2020)

GENRE: YA Fantasy LENGTH: 343 pages PLOT Tarisai has grown up with a distant mother known only as The Lady and a revolving door of servants and tutors. All she longs for is a family and she just might get it when her mother commands her to travel to the empire's capital. She is to win the love of the crown prince and gain a place on his council. The only catch? Then she has to kill him. CHARACTERS There are quite a few characters in this novel but I'm mainly going to focus on

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Enchantée vs. Splinters of Scarlet: Which Historical Fantasy is Right for You?

haleylynnthomas22

Oct 17, 2020
4 min

Enchantée vs. Splinters of Scarlet: Which Historical Fantasy is Right for You?

WHAT ARE ENCHANTÉE AND SPLINTERS OF SCARLET? Enchnatée by Gita Trelease and Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy are two YA historical fantasy novels that share several similarities. Enchantée follows Camille who uses magic to disguise herself as a baroness and gambles in Versailles. Splinters of Scarlet follows Marit who becomes a seamstress for a wealthy family she believes may be responsible for her father's death. Both novels feature orphaned girls who are elder sist

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I Matched 12 Spyro Reignited Realms to Books for You to Read 🔥

haleylynnthomas22

Oct 10, 2020
6 min

I Matched 12 Spyro Reignited Realms to Books for You to Read 🔥

I've never been a huge gamer, but I have very fond childhood memories of playing Spyro the Dragon and the two other games in the original trilogy with my family. I decided to combine my love of Spyro with my love of books and matched 12 Spyro realms to books for you to read. This blog has been a long time coming, but I wanted to wait until I had a good number of realm/book matches. What's your favorite Spyro game? Mine is Ripto's Rage! Spyro 1: Spyro the Dragon 1. Realm: Tow

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I Read Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer for the 2000's Nostalgia (a review)

haleylynnthomas22

Oct 3, 2020
4 min

I Read Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer for the 2000's Nostalgia (a review)

WHAT IS MIDNIGHT SUN?/A SHORT HISTORY If you weren't a teenage girl (or her mom) during the height of Twilight's fame then you may be unaware. Twilight is a YA paranormal/fantasy romance novel written by Stephenie Meyer. It depicts the love story between a mortal girl (Bella Swan) and an immortal vampire (Edward Cullen). Twilight is the first in a series of four books known collectively as the Twilight Saga. Twilight is told from Bella's perspective. Midnight Sun is the same

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A Guide to: Jenn Bennett's Contemporaries (Alex, Approximately and More)

haleylynnthomas22

Sep 19, 2020
6 min

A Guide to: Jenn Bennett's Contemporaries (Alex, Approximately and More)

Jenn Bennett is the author of 4 YA contemporary novels to date. She has a fifth coming out in early November which I do plan to read and review but, for obvious reasons, it won't be included in this blog. She also has several adult fantasy novels and one YA fantasy novel. However, this blog solely covers her contemporaries. For each book I will give a brief plot summary, my review, and my star rating. The books are ordered from my highest to lowest rating. TITLE: Starry Eyes

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I Gave Goodreads' Recommendations a Second Chance (Forest of Souls vs. The Kinder Poison)

haleylynnthomas22

Sep 12, 2020
5 min

I Gave Goodreads' Recommendations a Second Chance (Forest of Souls vs. The Kinder Poison)

ABOUT THE RECOMMENDATION Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee is my favorite YA fantasy of 2020 to date. Not too long ago I did a blog reading 3 Goodreads' recommendations, but none were in my favorite genre (YA fantasy). That experiment had...mixed to negative results. However, I wanted to give Goodreads one more chance. So, I picked up one of the books they recommended me based on my enjoyment of Forest of Souls. That book was The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae. This blog will exam

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House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess (a review)

haleylynnthomas22

Jul 25, 2020
2 min

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess (a review)

Genre: YA Fantasy Length: 431 pages Rating: 4.5 ⭐️ Plot: The emperor has died and noble dragon riders are called to compete in four trials to determine who will be his replacement. There is Emilia (the liar), Lucian (the solider), Hyperia (the murderer), Vesper (the servant), and Ajax (the thief). Five will enter the trials, but only one can win. Characters: Emilia is a bookworm who, due to her outlawed, chaotic magic has been isolated for the past four years. Lucian comes fr

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How Accurate are Goodreads' Recommendations? (Sadie by Courtney Summers and More)

haleylynnthomas22

Jul 18, 2020
4 min

How Accurate are Goodreads' Recommendations? (Sadie by Courtney Summers and More)

When you mark a book as read on Goodreads they will recommend you another book based on that book (provided you enjoyed it). I chose three of my all time favorite books (all of which I rated 5 stars) and then read whatever book Goodreads recommended to me. I discussed similarities and, ultimately, deemed whether or not the recommendation was accurate/successful. I got this video idea from a comment left by Youtuber ahugebooknerd on another Youtuber's (BooksandLala) video. I l

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A Review of: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

haleylynnthomas22

Mar 28, 2020
2 min

A Review of: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Genre: YA Contemporary Length: 388 pages Rating: 5 stars Plot: Emoni is a senior in high school with a real talent and passion (or as her grandmother calls it magic) for cooking. Her life is complicated by the fact that at the age of fifteen she became a mother to a little girl with her ex, Tyrone. The novel follows Emoni through her senior year as she is faced with decisions about her future. Characters: The main character of this novel, Emoni is creative, and loving mother,

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