Matthew reads, I guess...

  Welcome to yet another book that fell into my lap without me remembering how I even found out about it, Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore. How I likely found out about this book was from Twitter, but I really couldn’t tell you. It just appeared in my atmosphere one day, so I read it. Our blurb says that everyone who lives near the lake knows the stories about the world underneath it, an ethereal landscape rumoured to be half water, half air. But Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia are the only ones who’ve been there. Bastián grew up above the lake and in the world beneath it, and Lore has seen the world underneath only once. Then the lines between the two worlds begin to blur as the world underneath spills into the world above. So, Bastián and Lore have to work together, despite having not spoken for seven years, if they want to stop it from spilling their secrets. Very slay. The chapters in this book aren’t numbered, and the the book flits between Bastián and Lore pretty quickly. T...

  Sometimes, when I want to read a book, there’s a very specific “no think-y” vibe that I want. And in that I mean something that’s not going to require me to use my brain, that’s going to have a predictable plot and an ending I can see coming from just reading the blurb. Lab Partners by M. Montgomery, I assumed was going to be that exact kind of book, so that’s the exact mindset I went into reading it with. So, actually opened the book before I read the blurb. And you know what I saw when I opened the book? “Wattpad Books”. That immediately made me think, “Oh, so we’re getting some fanfiction-y vibes from this book then?” And I don’t mean that as a drag by any means. I mean it in the sense that it just reaffirmed what I assumed I was going to get from the cover, and where is literally says, “Love is a chemical reaction”. Like, that was what made me assume I was going to get some trope-heavy, maybe clichéd, romance book with a predictable plot. But to get into the blurbarella. Wh...

  So, I’ve read Kevin Van Whye’s other book, Date Me, Bryson Keller , and it’s one of those that I know I enjoyed it, but I couldn’t tell you what happened in it. Like, I remember the concept, but no idea what happens in it. Anyway, because I know I enjoyed Whye’s other book, that’s why I’m talking about Nate Plus One today. Our blurb starts with how Nate Hargraves – stage-shy singer-songwriter – is totally stoked for his cousin’s wedding in South Africa, an all-expense paid trip of a lifetime. Until he finds out his sleazeball ex-boyfriend is on the guestlist. Then Jai Patel – hot-as-hell high school rock-god – has troubles too. His band’s lead singer has quit, just weeks before the gig that was meant to be their big break. Nate then agrees to step in to sing for Jai’s band, so Jai volunteers to be Nate’s plus one to the wedding, and the stage is set for a summer of music, self-discovery, and simmering romantic tension. I will say, the very first thing I thought about this was ...