Hearts That Cut (Threads That Bind #2) by Kika Hatzopoulou

Hearts That Cut by Kika Hatzopoulou

My Rating: ★★★

When Io started looking for the most powerful people she’s ever known to exist, she wasn’t sure what she’d find. Now she and Bianca are on a wild chase that’s taking much longer than they expected. What’s worse is that they don’t seem to be any closer to finding the person at the other end of the golden fate thread. Instead, they stumble upon a mystery that appears to be connected to the people they hope to find.

I freaking loved the first book in this series! I was so excited to start reading this only to find myself feeling disappointed for the first half of the book. The story dragged for a smidge over half the book and I feel like Io and Bianca were getting almost nowhere with their mission. It just seemed like not much truly happened on that front until everyone was back together. Plus, as much as I loved the banter between Io and Bianca, they became irritating to follow as a duo after a while.

I loved being able to see and learn about everywhere they went, but I wish there was a map I could reference. It would’ve helped me get a better idea of where everything was and how far they had traveled. I think it would’ve been pretty cool to reference whenever Io mentioned what direction someone’s threads led her to believe they were at as well. That said, I loved learning about every place they went as well as the different gods. It would be so cool if there was ever another book in the same world that takes place in a different location and a different point in time. There’s so much potential here if the author ever wanted to expand on this universe.

The second half of the book was pretty good. I really enjoyed it from this point on. There was so much going on and the story pulled together really well. I loved seeing so many characters pulling together and unraveling exactly what was going on. I do think that some of the plot was rushed as we got closer to the end and that spending more time on developing some of the revelations would’ve been excellent. However, I’m ultimately happy with how things unfolded as well as how the story wrapped up.

Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Activities by Jennie Powe Runde, MFT, REAT

 

Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Activities by Jennie Powe Runde, MFT, REAT

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Rockridge Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re interested in art therapy, this might be something you’ll be interested in! Inside, you’ll find that the book is split into two parts: an overview of mindfulness-based art therapy and five chapters covering different mediums one may use to explore this type of therapy.

As an artist, this book really excited me! I’ve heard that there’s all kinds of different forms of therapy outside of therapy including art therapy, animal-assisted therapy, and horticultural therapy. This is my first step in exploring art therapy, or in this case, mindfulness-based art therapy! Here I learned about how one can benefit from it, how to prepare oneself to begin, and different types of exercises and approaches. I also liked that the book covered the following mediums across five chapters: painting and drawing, digital art and photography, sculpture and textiles, writing, and collages.

All in all, I think this is an excellent book. It’s not intimidating, it explains the science behind the method, and it shows readers how they can explore a different form of therapy. It’s a great way to get the ball rolling, especially when working through traditional therapy at the same time!

The Witch's Cookbook: 50 Wickedly Delicious Witchcraft-Inspired Recipes by Fortuna Noir

 

The Witch's Cookbook: 50 Wickedly Delicious Witchcraft-Inspired Recipes by Fortuna Noir

My Rating: ★★

I received a copy from Rock Point through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful cookbook. If you’re looking for something aesthetically pleasing to add to your collection of cookbooks, this might be something you’ll be interested in. However, it’s a very simple cookbook. Some of the recipes are things like vegetable medley and a fruit salad. There isn’t anything particularly special other than the fun names and the blurbs that mostly consist of fun facts.

Plus, the pictures are stunning but don’t always reflect the recipes they’re for. There are either missing ingredients in the photo or a different ingredient than what’s listed in the recipe. I thought it might be something fixed since I had an ARC, but I checked out a copy of the book from the library and saw that it’s mostly the same. Otherwise, it’s a beautiful cookbook with some tasty recipes that may be something you haven’t had in a while. I know I’m craving acorn squash and coffee cake!

The Quest for Psyche (Cupid's Fall #4) by Beth C. Greenberg

The Quest for Psyche by Beth C. Greenberg

My Rating: ★★★

What does the god of love do when he’s suffering from a broken heart? Go to therapy! At least, that was Cupid’s plan until his potential therapist passes him onto someone else. Now we have two gods flying to Lake Tahoe to find Cupid’s latest worth only to learn that her heart beats back!

I’ve been loving this series and I really wanted to love this book, but the romance was a bit of a miss for me. I think the book started off strong as we watched some of our favorite characters hot on the trail for Cupid’s latest worthy. I loved Reed in the previous book, and he was just as delightful as ever, but he felt a little out of place at times this time around. However, I really enjoyed seeing him and it helped take some of my attention away from the romance that lacked chemistry.

Of course, our star couple is Cupid and Mariposa aka Psyche! I was so excited to see Cupid meet and fall in love with his one true love. Sadly, they lacked romantic chemistry. I could see them becoming great friends but the romance just wasn’t there for me. There wasn’t a single spark between them, and the story kept telling me they were in love without showing me they were actually in love. It didn’t help that Pan and Reed were both present and clearly super into each other while Cupid and Mariposa were just sad almost friends.

Overall, this was a good story. It’s unfortunate that the romantic chemistry was non-existent since this is a romance novel, but I am happy with how things turned out for the characters. While you can technically read this as a stand alone story, I do think everyone should at least check out the previous book since the events heavily impact Cupid.

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino, Izumi Kirihara

 

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino, Izumi Kirihara

My Rating: ★★★★

When Yamauchi Sakura accidentally left her diary on a seat in the hospital, she never expected to find one of her classmates reading it! Now he’s the only person at school who knows her secret: she’s dying. Sakura has been living with pancreatic disease, but now her doctors think she has around a year left to live. Her classmate has been a very content loner, but Sakura insists on becoming friends with him and convincing him to help her complete her bucket list of sorts.

My younger brother was obsessed with this book last year, so I decided I should check it out because it’s been a while since he’s been super into a book. While this seems like your usual light romance with a terminal illness thrown in the mix, it’s actually so much more. We see two kids learning to live every day to the fullest. I wouldn’t call this a romance because it’s about friendship, grief, and realizing how we all impact each other.

This is such an incredibly sweet, thoughtful, funny, and sad book. I thought I was prepared for the ending, but that very sneaky foreshadowing really caught me off guard! I think that if you’re looking for a contemporary book that will make you cry and leave a lasting impression on you, then this might be the book for you. I highly encourage picking it up!

The Step-by-Step Astrology Workbook: What the Stars Want You to Know by Jessie Eccles

 

The Step-by-Step Astrology Workbook: What the Stars Want You to Know by Jessie Eccles

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Callisto through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for an in-depth workbook to use alongside reading your astrology chart, than this is the book for you! Inside, the basics of astrology will be explained before you get to the information on different aspects of astrology as well as what you will find listed on a birth chart. It helps take away the confusion one may have had after looking at their birth chart and trying to figure out what it means!

Once you get to the workbook section, you are in for a treat. I really like how well this book explains astrology before you get to the workbook section. It’s also an excellent workbook that not only helps you figure out what your birth chart means, but also gets readers to interact with their birth charts. I think that this is going to help so many people understand a lot more than if they were to just read a few things on what their chart means. I think this is such a good resource!

Quite the Pair (Cupid's Fall #3) by Beth C. Greenberg

 

Quite the Pair by Beth C. Greenberg

My Rating: ★★★★★

Just when Cupid thought his punishment couldn’t get any worse, his next worthy son is revealed and it’s his best friend! He doesn’t know if he’ll survive having to watch Pan’s heart beat for someone other than him, but that’s not going to stop him from making sure to get the job done right. Now Cupid is crashing face first into the worst heartbreak he’s experienced yet…

I’ve been really enjoying this series, but this has turned out to be my favorite book yet! This time around, we follow Cupid, Pan, and Reed through their rotating perspectives. We don’t follow Reed that often, so it was interesting to see the newest perspective get scaled back a little. However, it doesn’t feel like he’s lacking in the story!

I really enjoyed how much we dug into Cupid and Pan’s relationship because everything was on the line now that romance was finally on the table. It was also really great to see disabilities be represented in the story, which is something I hope to see more often across literature and visual media in general.

All in all, this was an excellent read. The romances were really sweet, and the series has come a long way from two buddies hitting the town to get laid. I’m really interested in reading the next book, which I’m assuming will be the final book, and checking out what other work the author puts out in the future.