It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

This is only the second book of Monaghan’s that I’ve read and it made me excited to read more! I first read “Nora Goes Off Script” and felt it was a bit meh especially with the relationship development. So I was a bit nervous for this one but luckily it was much better and one I’d recommend.

The beginning is a little slow with the buildup of meeting our main characters, Jane and Dan. I was a bit confused by some of Jane’s mannerisms until I realized it was her anxiety coming into play. This made a lot more sense and added a wonderful depth to the storyline. Jane and Dan are both feeling trapped in past identities and find it difficult to be comfortable just as they are. It was wonderful seeing them both accept things about themselves and pushing past other’s expectations of them. There were several sweet and entertaining scenes and the banter was funny while still being realistic.

I was a bit disappointed near the end with the final conflict. It felt a bit forced, overdramatic and only lasted a few pages, so I felt like it could have been handled in a different way without the cliche third act break-up situation. There had been so much growth and emotional intimacy between the characters, so sliding so far backwards was really just for dramatic effect.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane's idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?

View my Review on Goodreads

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

This series was set in a wonderful fantasy world full of intriguing characters, adventures, self-discovery and pure magic. I didn’t want the story to end and it is now definitely one of my favorite series to date.

In "The Golden Compass”, we meet Lyra, a headstrong girl that has a way of lying and searching for adventures. Along with Lyra is her daemon, Pantalaimon, or Pan. I loved the world building and explanations regarding the daemons that everyone has in this world, animals that are an external physical manifestation of a person’s inner-self or soul and can speak. Daemons can keep changing their animal form when their person is a child, but has a fixed form when they are adults. This story begins as a rescue mission but Lyra becomes involved with a search for so much more. It is wonderfully written and there are multiple plot turns that kept you engaged.

The second installment, “The Subtle Knife” introduces a new character, Will, in our own modern world. This was a great addition as Will and Lyra learn to trust each other on their journeys and develop a tentative truce as Will is outed to Lyra as a murderer. There are new dark twists in this book and Will and Lyra have a lot of adventures, not all of them positive. Once again, this book was wonderfully written and exciting the whole way through.

The final novel of the series, “The Amber Spyglass”, has Lyra and Will fighting together to save the world. It is an epic fight of good versus evil but also a question of who is truly good or evil and what makes them bear that title? This ending was wonderful and heartbreaking and just made the series an overall amazing story.

The Golden Compass Synopsis: Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

The Subtle Knife Synopsis: She had asked: What is he? A friend or an enemy? The alethiometer answered: He is a murderer.
When she saw the answer, she relaxed at once.
Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld – Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power, and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

The Amber Spyglass Synopsis: Will is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel - by the command of his dying father. But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him.

The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead...