Tag: get underlined

ALC Book Review: Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Sci-Fi Romance
Length: 288 pages
Author: Amie Kaufman
Publisher: Knopf Books
Release Date: February 10th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

8 HOURS TO STOP AN EXPLOSION… 8 HOURS TO FALL IN LOVE.

From the NYT bestselling co-author of Illuminae and Aurora Rising comes a high-stakes, high-chemistry sci-fi romp about a stowaway girl and the richest boy in the galaxy, racing the clock to outwit a gang of mercenaries.

It’s 2067, and the Graves family has transformed Mars from lifeless rock into a chaotic patchwork of settlements—and everybody wants a piece.

Enter Hunter Graves: handsome, ambitious, and with spectacularly bad timing. He shows up at the United Nations base just as an emergency evacuation sends everyone scurrying for safety. Except he’s left behind. Uh oh.

Also stranded: Cleo, a sharp-tongued stowaway with no intention of dying today, and even less patience for overconfident trust fund boys. But the enemy of your enemy might just help you survive, so here we are.

Turns out the evacuation was just a cover for the mercenaries who came next, and they plan to blow up the base—and every trace of their crime—in eight hours.

Now, Hunter and Cleo have one shot to stop the explosion, escape alive, and deal with the inconvenient fact that they’re falling for each other.

The clock is ticking.

Thank you PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook and Get Underline for the gifted copy.

STELLAR STANDALONE.

I admit to thinking this was a series starter before seeing another friend’s review and I’m glad I knew going in this is a STANDALONE because my frame of mind was much better.

I think Amie Kaufman writes some of the best overall dialogue in the young adult genre. I love the quippy comebacks and sentiments, the right amount of snark and gentleness. This combined with the incredible audiobook made this story come alive. I loved the multiple narrators and sound effects that made the downfall of this Martian settlement all the more intense.

The romance wasn’t 100% believable for me within such a short time line, but I did like it well enough. Hunter and Cleo are a reluctant allies from different walks of life and I liked seeing them come together and find a stronger understanding between them.

This really covered a lot of ground for 250 pages and I had such a good time reading/listening to it. Highly recommend!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Dystopian Sci-Fi Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn

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Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Length: 454 pages
Author: Katherine Quinn
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: February 3rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This magical new YA romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of To Kill a Shadow will steal your heart. Set in Andalay, a world where the ruling Fates bestow gifts among the favored, a thief must join forces with the palace darling after he unwittingly steals a necklace with the power to change everything.

When Damien, a cold and hardened thief, is hired to steal a gift from the powerful Fates meant for Andalay’s sweetheart, Wren Hayes, he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets.

The gift? A locket containing his own phototroph.

Once the locket is opened, hidden truths unravel, ones that shed light on the ruthless ways of the upper-class society. Yearning for the three Fates and the magical gifts they bestow, the lords of Andalay will go to any length to keep their power—including murder.

Brought together by destiny, and fighting a temptation that neither understand, Wren and Damien navigate a seedy world where the truth can destroy not only their lives, but the city itself.

Thank you PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook and Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

I WANT BOOK TWO.

I was kind of up and down with how this book went. The world building was a bit confusing and I’m still not sure how the gods vs. the setting vs. the gifts vs. everything else truly work. The romantic connection between Damien and Wren grew on me. I liked seeing them come from different sides of the track and start to work together to unravel the mysteries before them. The regency vibes were really good too though.

It lost me for a bit in the middle. Things kind of dragged out and I was losing steam. That last quarter though was really good. And on top of that cliffhanger ending I decided I have to pick up book two to see where it goes next. This was my first book by Katherine Quinn and I had an enjoyable time.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: one fade to black
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content warnings: kidnapping, loss of life

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Book Review: Tidespeaker by Sadie Turner

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sadie Turner
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: January 6th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A girl with the power to command the tides has her life changed when she secures a job serving a wealthy noble family—only to learn upon arrival that the last person to fill her post mysteriously died, and her new employers are hiding dark secrets—in this haunting and lush debut fantasy.

Corith Fraine is a Floodmouth—her words can control water. Yet for those born with her rare elemental ability, paths forward are few, and Corith is one of the lucky ones. She has spent most of her life in a prestigious magic institution, training to one day achieve the highest possible honor for a member of her kind: the chance to serve one of the hundred noble houses.

When Corith learns she’s secured a post working for House Shearwater, a reclusive noble family living on a wave-battered island, she thinks her hard work has paid off. Until she discovers that their previous Floodmouth—Corith’s closest friend—mysteriously died in their service. And Corith is her replacement.

To learn the truth of her best friend’s accident, Corith must unravel the dark conspiracies at the heart of Bower Island. Yet doing so will require contending with the island’s deadly tides and her enigmatic new employers—including the family’s brooding youngest son, Llir, who she finds herself equally drawn to and repelled by. With her loyalties pushed to breaking point, these treacherous waters may well pull Corith under…

Thank you Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

WELLLLLLL.

I don’t know quite what to do with this book because I was interested, and then I got bored, and then it kind of picked back up again? But I’m trying to write this review only a day after finishing it and I can barely remember anything so the sticking power for this book is unfortunately low.

Some of my confusion is surrounding the fact that I don’t know if this is a standalone or not. I don’t think so? Purely based off of the ending but I’m not 100% sure. I think that frame of reference would have helped because I spent half the book wondering how it was going to wrap up the new things that kept being revealed as it went on.

I did really like the FMC, Corith. The anxiety and turmoil is relatable. Her decision making skills are a bit iffy but that’s okay. There was an attempt at a romantic plot line, without enough leverage for me to be on board. It was one of those, toss it out completely or add in a bit more to make sense, situations.

Maybe I’ll read book two? I’ll keep going with the audiobook route at least.

OH. I did love the gothic watery atmosphere. It was very haunting.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: physical altercations, near death experiences, loss of life.

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ARC/ALC Book Review: Room to Breathe by Kasie West

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 272 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Release Date: January 6th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the critically acclaimed author of Sunkissed comes a new swoony YA romance. Indy and Beau’s friendship is shattered, but getting accidentally locked in a bathroom together just might be what’s needed to reconnect.

When the walls close in, the truth comes out.

When Indy’s life came crashing down, she made a no one could know. To the world, she’s still the same Indy—cool, calm, unshaken. But behind the scenes? It’s chaos.

Her tight-knit crew—Beau, Caroline, and Ava—were once her everything. Now they’re strangers she can’t seem to reach—especially Beau. And the only person she talks to these days is Cody, a skater-boy she used to think was so not her type. Funny how everything changes when your world flips upside down.

And then, as if things couldn’t get weirder, Indy finds herself literally stuck in a school bathroom with Beau. After months of silence, and there’s no escape. If they want out, they’ll have to face the messy truth about what happened between them and find a way back to what they once had. Or maybe even more.

Thank you Get Underlined for the gifted ARC and PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

FABULOUS.

Oh Kasie West has done it again y’all. I feel like I’ve mostly phased out of YA contemporary romances and West is one of the few authors I will always come back to read. I love the way she makes relatable high school aged characters. As an adult, I of course, feel frustrated, but I think it’s on par for the age group which is easy for me to understand. Alongside no spice and very little language I appreciate that this fits right into the true YA category.

I would have loved just a little less time spent stuck in the bathroom. I think it did lend to some necessary conversations BUT I wanted to see Indy and Beau connect more outside of their too. I did like the flashback chapters!! Which is a hard sale usually but only added to the book here. You could feel the inevitable crash-out coming and it brought the romantic angst.

I loved seeing Indy find herself again after going through some hard things at home. I was grateful to see her work through things with her friends and reconnect with them too. All hope isn’t lost in these valleys.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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