Review: Tahira in Bloom

 

Title- Tahira in Bloom

Author- Farah Heron

Pages- 381

Publisher- Skyscape

Genre- Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Rating- 3.5/5

ISBN 13- 9780241476178

Review No.- 54

Synopsis- 

Life is full of surprises in a winning novel about a girl dreaming big during one unexpected small-town summer. 

When seventeen-year-old aspiring designer Tahira Janmohammad's coveted fashion internship falls through, her parents have a Plan B. Tahira will work in her aunt's boutique in the small town of Bakewell, the flower capital of Ontario. It's only for the summer, and she'll get the experience she needs for her college application. Plus her best friend is coming along. It won't be that bad.

But she just can't deal with Rowan Johnston, the rude, totally obsessive garden-nerd next door with frayed cutoffs and terrible shoes. Not to mention his sharp jawline, smoldering eyes, and soft lips. So irritating. Rowan is also just the plant-boy Tahira need to help win the Bakewell flower-arranging contest- an event that carries clout in New York City, of all places. And with designers, of all people. Connections that she needs! 

No one is more surprised than Tahira to learn that floral design is almost as great as fashion design. And Rowan? Turns out he's more than ironic shirts and soil under fingernails. Tahira's about to find out what she's really made of- and made for. Because here in the middle of nowhere, Tahira is just beginning to bloom.

Review-

First of, the cover looks awesome and appropriate for the novel. I immediately fell in love with it and clicked the 'Request' button on NetGalley.

Tahira has her future all planned out, right from when she was seven years old. Get into an amazing fashion internship, keep designing for portfolio, increase social media influence and get in to the dream college in New York. But when a parakeet disrupts her perfect plan, she is left with no other choice but to go to Bakewell, where everything is flowery and gain fashion experience by working in her aunt's boutique. Not only did she have to deal with working at the simple boutique and living in a tiny house made of pine, but also the rude grumpy garden nerd next door. 

The writing style is simple, easy to understand and laugh-out-loud humorous at places. The setting of Bakewell, the flower capital of Ontario, is wonderfully described. The characters were diverse- both in terms of personality and representation. There's representation of South Asian Muslim, Black, Pansexual and Bi. I loved how toxic friends were identified and how the mc realized it. I also liked the lovely way in which passion for art is described!

The desi-parent thing- the parents being totally supportive of their kids' ambition was totally unrelatable for me. I am an Indian (if you don't know that already), and I totally know the real 'desi parenting'- no matter what your ambitions are or where your interests lie, you are expected to become a doctor or engineer. You are not supposed to choose even your parents' profession (if they are not a doctor or engineer). I wish Rowan was more of a normal looking guy than a drop-dead-gorgeous guy. I keep telling myself while reading fantasy that, may be, the laws of nature in that world doesn't work the same way. I seriously feel that YA books, at least Contemporary, should have representation of not-so-gorgeous, not-so-perfect people. I also sometimes felt that the main character was too self-centered and a bit judgy but her character development in the second half of the book does solve some of that.

Overall, Tahira in Bloom is a quick, satisfying read that shows that life does not always go on as planned and is full of surprises. I thank NetGalley and Skyscape for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read and review Tahira in Bloom. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1)

 

 

Title- The Inheritance Games

Author- Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series- The Inheritance Games

Succeeded by- The Hawthorn Legacy

Pages- 372

Publisher- Penguin

Genre- Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Rating- 4/5

ISBN 13- 9780241476178

Review No.- 53

Synopsis- 

She came from nothing.

Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, know why.

They had everything.

Now she must move into the mansion she's inherited. It's filled with secrets and codes, and the old man's surviving relatives - a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got 'their' money.

Now there's only one rule: winner takes all.

Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing. But just how far will they go to keep their fortune?

An utterly addictive and twisty thriller, full of dark family secrets and deadly stakes. Perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and Knives Out.

Review-

There was so much of a hype for this book when it released and I understood why only after completely reading this book. This book was sooo entertaining, intriguing and captivating that it immediately became my favorite YA Mystery of the year 2020! (even after all the flaws I have mentioned below). And the first cover (the green one) looks pretty good but I am not a fan of the second one though.

Avery Grambs is living in an old broken down car and plans on getting a scholarship to get out of her difficult life until philanthropist billionaire Tobias Hawthorne leaves his entire fortune to her. The catch is that Avery must live in the Hawthorne House for an entire year in order to receive the inheritance. And its not just the riddles, clues and secret passageways that would make living in the Hawthorne House hard for Avery, when she would be living with the real, disowned heirs of Tobias Hawthorne. Will she be able to survive? Will she be able to uncover the mystery of why Tobias Hawthorne chose her as the heiress?

I loved the short-chapter writing style. It made the plot fast-paced but at the same time, easy to follow. Since the entire story is narrated by Avery's point of view, the suspense was great. The riddles and puzzles set up by Tobias Hawthorne were very interesting and entertaining. And I just loved the side characters soooo much!- Libby (the kindest, sweetest person ever), Nash, Xander (the cinnamon roll mad scientist, like Christopher Lightwood), and Max (Best Friend Forever).

I did not quite like the main characters though. Avery's story was a bit too cliche for me- the poor orphaned girl becomes a billionaire because some old, rich man thought it would be fun and exciting to do so? Not my taste. The other two other Hawthorne brothers are just broody. Even though we get a reason for that in the second half of the book, I didn't end up liking them. And the love triangle just annoyed the hell out of me. This opinion may be a little biased because another love triangle from another book is literally killing me (looking at you, The Last Hours). Another personally annoying factor was that there are soooo many questions which remained unanswered at the end of the book. That actually how a mystery series should be but it ended up frustrating me no less.

Overall, I do recommend the book. I am writing this review after reading the second book and I really loved it! It totally worth it to read The Inheritance Games series. I recommend it to fans of YA mystery. 

Review: Legendborn (Legendborn #1)

 

Title- Legendborn

Author- Tracy Deonn

Series- Legendborn

Pages- 501

Publisher- Simon & Schuster/Mc Elderry

Genre- Contemporary, YA Fantasy, Own Voices, Diversity

Rating- 5/5

ISBN- 9781534441606

Review No.- 49

Synopsis-

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC-Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape-until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called "Legendborn" students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a "Merlin" and who attempts-and fails-to wipe Bree's memory of everything she saw.

The mage's failure unlocks Bree's own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there's more to her mother's death than what's on the police report, she'll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn ad one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society's secrets-and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur's knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she'll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down-or join the fight.

Review- 

I immediately picked the book up as soon as it was released because of its gorgeous cover. I did not expect the story inside to be even more mind-blowingly powerful and I finally saw what the hype for this book was all about. This is one of those books that I had been desperately recommend all my bookworm friend to read (if you're reading this review and haven't read Legendborn yet, then quit reading more reviews and just get the bloody damn book!!!). And the fact that the release date for the sequel was not announced when I finished reading this book, was just killing me. 

In Legendborn, we follow Briana (Bree) Matthews, a Black American girl, who gets accepted into the Early College Program at UNC Chapel hill, the college of her dreams, as she struggles to cope wirh her mother's tragic loss. But whe she stumbles upon a demon attack on the first day of college, Bree is sucked into the world of demons, arthurian legends and the Legendborn, which makes her question if her mother's death is all that it seems to be...

The writing style is wonderful- easy to understand yet so full of power. All the themes in the book like racism, black american history, arthurian legends, hereditary power and ancestral magic were well blend and given justice to. The characters were diverse and amazing. This book has so much of representation both in terms of race and in terms of sexuality. I especially loved Alice and her hilarious banters with Bree. I like Nick x Bree ship and I really want them to be the endgame but it's like I know somewhere in my heart that that wouldn't be the case (Sel x Bree). And Sel's giving me "Will Herondale" vibes, so maybe we will get to know about and love him more in the next two books. And GODS...the twist at the end was so unexpected! I totally did not see that coming.

Overall, I LOVED this book. It is my favorite book of 2021 (last year's favorite was The Ten Thousand Doors of January). As I said before I strongly recommend this book to everybody- readers, friends and enemies. Just give it a read and you won't regret it!

Cover and Peek of Sequel: Bloodmarked | Goodreads