Source: Purchase

Review ~ Spoiler Alert ~ Olivia Dade

Review ~ Spoiler Alert ~ Olivia Dade

Spoiler Alert delivered ALL the feels! It was angsty and emotional, and ODade captured exquisitely the injury and scars that can come at the hands of those we love…those that are supposed to love us unconditionally. I am ecstatic that Spoiler Alert was chosen for February’s COYER Book Club and that I was able to read it with two of my COYER friends, Berls and Kristen. April is a geologist. She chose her field because she loves rocks. She loves rocks for their layers and the stories they tell. She also has a side interest, that of writing fan fiction based on her favorite TV series. The parallels between April’s rocks’ stories and the stories she writes are myriad. When […]

Posted 23 February, 2022 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 15 Comments
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Blogger Wife Chat Review ~ Halfway to the Grave ~ Jeaniene Frost

Blogger Wife Chat Review ~ Halfway to the Grave ~ Jeaniene Frost

Oh wifey! I’m so excited to have started our re-read of the Night Huntress series for the COYER read-along. It’s been so very long since I was in Cat & Bones’s world and I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed them! You know, when I started Halfway to the Grave, I realized I first read this series in 2011, before I even started blogging. And I had forgotten how much I loved both Cat and Bones. It was so nice to come back into the universe of the Night Huntress.   I have to admit that I’d completely forgotten how prejudiced Cat was when we first meet her. I mean, I understand the reasons behind it, but still. I was […]

Posted 26 January, 2022 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 14 Comments
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Mom/Daughter Chat Review ~ Red, White & Royal Blue ~ Casey McQuiston

Mom/Daughter Chat Review ~ Red, White & Royal Blue ~ Casey McQuiston

This is a first! My younger daughter, Berk, and I have read and written reviews of the same books before but we’ve never done a chat review. I’m hoping I can talk her into doing more of them because this was really fun! It’s nice to get a younger person’s perspective. 😉   First off, I have to applaud CMcQuiston on giving us our first female POTUS – and a Democrat from Texas at that – in Red, White & Royal Blue! And although I’m disappointed in myself for letting this book languish on my shelf for so long, I’m also happy I waited. I think if I’d read it during the last administration it wouldn’t have carried with it […]

Posted 26 April, 2021 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 4 Comments
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Review ~ Sing, Unburied, Sing ~ Jesmyn Ward

Review ~ Sing, Unburied, Sing ~ Jesmyn Ward

Sing, Unburied, Sing is beautifully written and emotionally gripping. It’s also thought-provoking and the thoughts aren’t always easy to sit with. This being because the story deals with systemic racism and the lasting repercussions of it. Sing, Unburied, Sing also incorporates grief and guilt, among other things, and the role they play in how we, as humans, live our lives. Sing, Unburied, Sing follows 3 generations of one family. Pop and Mam, their daughter, Leonie, and Leonie’s children, JoJo and Kayla. This family has endured much. Prison, poverty, discrimination, and grief. Lots and lots of grief. JWard deftly portrays life in rural Mississippi. The hardships faced by people still experiencing racism. The culture differences in the population. She also conveyed […]

Posted 22 March, 2021 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 3 Comments
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Review ~ Kindred – A Graphic Novel Adaptation ~ Octavia Butler, Damian Duffy, John Jennings

Review ~ Kindred – A Graphic Novel Adaptation ~ Octavia Butler, Damian Duffy, John Jennings

I read the graphic novel adaptation of Kindred at the request of my daughter, Berk. She read it at the beginning of her freshman year of college (2019) and was so moved by it she wanted to share. I was equally moved by it and I intend to read the novel now as well. The story told in Kindred – that of a black woman being continually pulled back in time to save her white ancestor – translated well as a graphic novel. The illustrations superbly conveyed the setting, mood, and emotion of the story and characters. I don’t feel qualified to discuss the finer details of a graphic novel since this is only the third one I’ve ever read […]

Posted 23 November, 2020 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 4 Comments
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Jax Reviews ~ The Secret History ~ Donna Tartt

Jax Reviews ~ The Secret History ~ Donna Tartt

My son, Jax, reviewed books from time to time on my previous blog. As a Mother’s Day gift, he wrote this review for me. I hope he’ll do more over the summer. 😉   **Jax Reviews** I enquire now as to the genesis of a philologist and assert the following: 1. A young man cannot possibly know what Greeks and Romans are. 2. He does not know whether he is suited for finding out about them. –Friedrich Nietzsche, and the opening lines of The Secret History. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these reviews. I think my last review was on a book about solar eclipses or something along those lines. I had read Tartt’s The Goldfinch about […]

Posted 11 May, 2020 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 3 Comments
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Berk Reviews ~ The Darkest Star ~ Jennifer L. Armentrout

Berk Reviews ~ The Darkest Star ~ Jennifer L. Armentrout

Every great once in awhile. one of my kids graciously agrees to review a book for the blog. Berk was bingeing on JLA over spring break and agreed to review for us. 🙂 **BERK’S REVIEW** Well I’m not actually sure if I reviewed the entire Lux Series by Jennifer L Armentrout for my mom. I think I only reviewed Obsidian and I’m pretty sure I didn’t give it the best review. I think it’s safe to say that I was incredibly wrong; little high school me didn’t care for a good romance plot :P. The Lux Series has easily become my favorite series (or at least a close second to Percy Jackson) and Ms. Armentrout continues the saga with the […]

Posted 20 April, 2020 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments
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Review ~ Where the Crawdads Sing ~ Delia Owens #UnearthingaBookishBounty

Review ~ Where the Crawdads Sing ~ Delia Owens #UnearthingaBookishBounty

Where the Crawdads Sing was a marvel. I really have no words. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do this story justice in a review but here’s my first attempt: Where the Crawdads Sing is beautiful, lyrical, emotional, thought-provoking, eloquent, and…just, amazing! A true gem! Kya is a young girl – a little girl – living in a shack in the swamp in 1950’s North Carolina. She’s abandoned by her family, one by one, and the marsh adopts her. This story, her story, is about how capable and resilient Kya is, raising herself with a little help from Mother Nature. Or maybe Mother Earth. She also has some help from a “colored couple.” It’s about loneliness and its effects […]

Posted 4 March, 2020 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments
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Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge Reviews ~ Pucked Series ~ Helena Hunting

Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge Reviews ~ Pucked Series ~ Helena Hunting

Woohoo! This time I did indeed read a series in a month! And I’m patting myself on the back considering I had TWO trips to the Pacific Northwest during the month of November. Of course, 6 hour round-trip flights and time to read while waiting on kids to get out of class helped. 😉 The Pucked Series was so much fun and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it! *Note* I only read the 6 main novels of the series. I still have novellas to read. 😀 Here are the reviews that haven’t already been posted. Pucked Up features Buck/Miller and Sunny, who is Alex’s younger sister. There was a lot of angst in Miller and Sunny’s […]

Posted 9 December, 2019 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 5 Comments
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#OctobeRec Fest Review #3 ~ Alien Mate ~ Cara Bristol

#OctobeRec Fest Review #3 ~ Alien Mate ~ Cara Bristol

Welcome to OctobeRec Fest. I started this as a nod to Oktoberfest (books & beer…heaven, am I right?!?) so I’ll spending the month of October reading a few of the many, many books I’ve procured thanks to you, my blogging friends. Title: Alien Mate Author: Cara Bristol Recommended by: Sophia Rose @Delighted Reader and Melanie @Hot Listens Alien Mate is a book I’d not have picked up without a recommendation from a trusted blogging friend. It sounded kinda cheesy if I was judging by the title but if Sophia Rose and Melanie thought it was worthwhile I figured I’d give it a try. Thanks, ladies, you didn’t steer me wrong. 😉 Highlights: Plot I appreciated the premise for the story – […]

Posted 22 October, 2019 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 5 Comments
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