Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau [book review]

Graduation Day

Book: Graduation Day

Published: June 17, 2014

Publisher: Clarion Books

Genre: YA Dystopian

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Creepers Stage Fright by Edgar J. Hyde [book review]

Stage Fright

Book: Creepers Stage Fright

Published: Pushing Daisies

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

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School for Spirits by Aron Lewes [book review]

school for spirits

Book: School for Spirits

Published: January 11, 2018

Publisher: Self-Published

Genre: YA Romance

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Independent Study By Joelle Charbonneau [book review]

Independent Study

Book: Independent Study

Published: January 7, 2014

Genre: YA Dystopian

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About Independent Study

Independent Study is the second installment of The Testing. The story follows Cia as she goes to college, but now she’s getting more tests thrown at her. But now some of the government has grown suspicious of her. They are determined to see her fail. Now will she be able to get through even more tests when she’s being watched at every turn?

What I thought

I’m so so so close to finishing the series! I’m glad I wound up giving the story a second chance because I have really enjoyed the series so far.

Yet again, though, my only issue is that Cia is too smart for her own good, unfortunately. This story has absolutely no supernatural elements. At least not really. But it kind of seems like she has a “supernatural” element to her smartness. Also, most classes that most students have are seven, while Cis is stuck with nine. If those with fewer classes are stretched out to their limit then exactly how is Cis even managing? No, she has no room to fail, or she will die, but when does it become too much? If it were me, I probably would have just given up because her life is not a life worth living.

But the story has quite a of twists and turns that I wasn’t quite expecting. For starters, there’s one person I was kind of hoping Cia would wind up being with, but something happened to him at the end of the story that very well pissed me off. I hate that that happened, and that’s partly why I’m so excited to read the next book.

I just hope that Cia fails a little bit and she’s not so “perfect” at figuring things out. Also, I hope she’s able to kick some butt in the next book and that she’s possibly able to see her family again.

I’m really looking forward to getting to the next book and seeing if I like it or not. If you want more dystopian books, you can find those here.

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury [book review]

Delicious Monsters

Book: Delicious Monsters

By: Liselle Sambury

Published: February 28, 2023

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: YA Horror

Setting: Ontario, Canada

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September 2025 book releases perfect for spooky season

September seems to be a great month for new books. There are so many September 2025 book releases that seem like great books.

I know I don’t need any books right now. Who am I kidding? I always need new books. But I know I want to try and read some of these. Maybe once I get some of my TBR knocked out, then I’ll try to get some of these.

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The Debutantes by Olivia Worley [book review

The Debutantes

By: Olivia Worley

Published: October 25, 2005

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Genres: YA Thriller

Setting: New Orleans, Louisiana

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9 Dark Academia Books for back to school thrills

Where I live in the United States, some schools have already started. Others start later, but where I’m at, they usually start at the beginning of August. It’s early, I know, but we’re used to it here. It’s normal, and now I don’t think anything about it. But with school starting here now, that means it’s time to find some great books that revolve around school itself. So, that means some great dark academia books!

So what exactly does dark academia mean? After looking it up the dark academia meaning is actually vague. But for me, dark academia is usually books that take place in private or prep school. It usually follows the “elite” kids, and obviously, something dark happens and secrets are exposed. There are some exceptions to this where it doesn’t completely take place in a private school. But it usually follows students who have something dark hidden, and it gets found out and exposed.

But here are some great dark academia books that you should add to your TBR!

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The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau [book review]

The Testing

Book: The Testing

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Published: June 4, 2013

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Genre: YA Dystopian

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Books you can’t put down (and want to skip class for)

Life is great. You wake up well rested and get to do all of the things that you want to do. That includes reading books that you enjoy. You’re getting unlimited uninterrupted reading time and almost every book you’re reading are books you can’t put down. Sounds amazing, right?

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