Rachel Reads & Reviews

My Sister the Vampire

Yes, I return to the world of early 2000s nostalgia with this series-My Sister the Vampire. This time I read all eighteen books. Here’s the initial premise. When Olivia Abbott moves to town, she’s excited to join the cheerleading team and make new friends. Then she meets Ivy Vega. At first, Ivy, pale and dressed…

rachelbeerwoman

July 23, 2025

Book Suggestions, Book/Author Highlight

#fangsforthememories, #harpercollins, #middlegrade, #mysisterthevampire, #rachelreads&reviews, #scholastic, #siennamercer, #spooktacular, #supernatural, #vampires

Twisted Tales: Cruel Truth Review

What if Anita and Cruella were best friends? It’s 1953, and teenage Anita Weatherby and her family have just moved to a booming postwar London. While her older sister settles right in, to the delight of their parents, Anita finds their new school—and her academic rival, Roger Radcliffe—daunting. Nothing seems to be going Anita’s way…

rachelbeerwoman

July 11, 2025

Reviews

#crueltruth, #disneyhyperion, #jencalonita, #onehundredandonedalmatians, #rachelreads&reviews, #twistedtales, #YA

Book Highlight: Goddesses

As I mentioned in a previous post that part of quarter-life crisis is finding and reading books from my childhood, this is one I never had read but I remember being intrigued by the cover long long ago. Finally, I have read it. Three goddesses, banished to earth by their dad, Zeus (yeah, that Zeus)……

rachelbeerwoman

July 10, 2025

Book/Author Highlight

#cleahantman, #goddesses, #greekmythology, #harpercollins, #heavensent, #loveorfate, #lowergrade, #musesonthemove, #threegirlsandagod

The Singular Life of Aria Patel Review

Aria Patel likes stability, certainty, predictability. It’s why she’s so into science. It’s why she dumped her boyfriend before they went to different colleges because the odds were that something would go wrong, eventually. In a life that’s already so chaotic, why obsess over complicated relationships and shadowy unknowns when the scientific method gives you direction and a straight…

rachelbeerwoman

July 2, 2025

Reviews

#contemporaryromance, #hachettebookgroup, #littlebrownbooksforyoungreaders, #multiverse, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #samiraahmed, #sciencefiction, #thesingularlifeofariapatel, #YA

The Charlotte Years

I did it! I did it! Yay, yay, I did it! Finally finished the Little House books. So proud of myself. And that’s pretty much the most exciting thing I can say about the quartet. Much like The Martha Years, four books over the ages of 5-12 is not enough time to see dynamic growth.…

rachelbeerwoman

July 1, 2025

Book Suggestions, Book/Author Highlight

#1800s, #acrossthepuddingstonedam, #historicalfiction, #littlehouse, #littlehousebybostonbay, #melissawiley, #ontidemilllane, #rachelreads&reviews, #thecharlotteyears, #theroadfromroxbury, #wilderfamily

Beacon Street Girls

As I hit my quarter life crisis or point, whatever you want to call it, I decided that I should finally read the book series I have at this point always skimmed-the Beacon Street Girls! Just as the tagline says “They’re real, they’re fun, they’re just like you.” Each book presents a slice of life…

rachelbeerwoman

June 30, 2025

Book/Author Highlight

#aladdin, #anniebryant, #beaconstreetgirls, #greenalgaeandbubblegumwars, #middlegrade, #rachelreads&reviews, #readysethawaii, #realisticfiction, #simon&schuster, #sliceoflife, #sweetthirteen

Sarah Masters Buckey Interview

Sarah Masters Buckey is the author of several mysteries in the American Girl historical line, and the stand-alone History Mystery series. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about the historic fiction genre, working with the American Girl brand and what’s coming next. Enjoy! 1. What first drew you to writing? More specifically,…

rachelbeerwoman

June 24, 2025

Interview

#americangirl, #enemyinthefort, #historicalfiction, #historymystery, #mariegraceandcecile, #middlegrade, #rachelreads&reviews, #samanthaseries, #sarahmastersbuckey, #scholastic, #smuggler’streasure

Book Highlight: Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate

Friend suggested I read this, and wow, what a ride. If you’re a fan of Percy Jackson or want to learn a new mythology, this is the book for you. Farrah sees her father just one day every year—her birthday. But this year, her wish to bring them closer goes wildly awry when Farrah discovers…

rachelbeerwoman

June 15, 2025

Book/Author Highlight

#afghanimythology, #deebazargarpur, #fantasy, #farrahnoorzadandtheringoffate, #jinn, #middlegrade, #penguinrandomhouse, #rachelreads&reviews

The Martha Years

Well, I’m almost done with the entire Little House series. This is the second series by Melissa Wiley (who also wrote the Caroline Years) about Laura’s great grandmother, Martha Morse. It’s interesting to know that she was rather wealthy, being the daughter of a lord (or laird as Wiley tries to write most of the…

rachelbeerwoman

June 14, 2025

Book/Author Highlight