Tag: shelby mahurin

Writing Reviews: My Rating System (caitsbooks.com)

Writing Reviews – My Rating System

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The longer I’ve been writing book reviews, the more confused I get with my own rating system.

Rating are hard. I really struggle with them. Since I use Goodreads a lot (shameless plug- add me as a friend), I wanted to keep things consistent and rate every book out of 5 stars. However, with so many people rating books from 1-5 stars, everyone now has their own meaning behind what a 5 star/3 star/1 star book is. Even my own meaning has changed.

So, for the sake of clarification, I want to explain what my ratings mean, and give some examples for each!

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Disney-A-Thon Wrap Up (caitsbooks.com)

Disney-A-Thon Wrap Up!

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Disney is kinda my brand (outside of books, that is). I’m known at work as the girl who always wears Disney dresses, I cosplay as Disney Princesses, I’m a Disney Vacation Club Member and I visit Disney World almost every year, and my house was literally designed after Disney.

Needless to say, I was excited to do this Disney-A-Thon.

Especially because I was going to Disney this month.

However, I’m awful at sticking to TBRs, and readathons scare me, so I knew this would definitely be a challenge. Not to mention, I set up pretty high goals for myself for the month.

If you haven’t seen my Disney-A-Thon TBR, here’s a link to catch up!

Read more to see if I actually managed to reach those goals, or if I crumbled under pressure!

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Caitsbooks Reviews: Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin (5 Stars)

Serpent and Dove (Serpent and Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin – My New Obsession (ARC Review)

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Quick Stats:

Overall: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Plot and Themes: 5/5
Awesomeness Factor: 5/5
Review in a Nutshell: Serpent and Dove felt like it was made for me. From the characters to the setting, everything was well crafted and absolutely addictive. 

“A witch and a witch hunter bound in holy matrimony. There was only one way such a story could end–a stake and a match.”

[ Related: 15 September 2019 Book Releases ]

// Content Warning: Violence, Death, Assault, Mature Content, Suicide Mention, Self Harm (for magic), Rape Mention, Murder, Illness //

“They might’ve all been hypocrites, but I was the biggest of all.”

Release Date: 9/3/2019
Publisher: HarperTeen 
Page Count: 528
Premise:

Serpent and Dove follows Louise la Blanc, a witch who fled her coven, and Reid Diggory, a witch hunter. After a chaotic second meeting, Lou and Reid must marry to save his reputation, and Lou would rather face the pyre than the enemies chasing her. However, when feelings grow, what was first a simple arrangement becomes infinitely more complicated.

Read more to see why I adore Serpent and Dove!

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Caitsbooks.com August Favorites and September TBR 2019

August Favorites + My September TBR!

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I had a busy month is August, but despite that, I managed to read 10 books! I focused a lot on the Disney-A-Thon in August, (I even did some of my reading is Disney World!), so while I’ll talk about some of my favorites now, I’ll be posting a full Disney-A-Thon wrap up soon!

I started August off strong, but I definitely fell behind on my goals. That said, I’m still happy to have read 10 books. Hopefully I’ll keep the momentum going in September!

[ Related: July Favorites, Reading Rush Wrap Up, + My August TBR! ]

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15 September 2019 Book Releases

15 September 2019 Book Releases!

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Fall is here and I’m only a little bitter about it. Okay who am I kidding, I’m very bitter. While fall may be my favorite season, I feel like summer went by way too fast!

That said, I’m not bitter about the books coming out this month! A couple of these books I’m about to talk about have become all-time favorites of mine, and I can’t wait for everyone else to read them!

Now, there are a lot of September releases. Seriously. A lot. So much that I have to split up this list into sections. First, we have my top 7 YA standalones and series starters, but I’ve also included a list of 6 sequels as well as 2 non-YA releases I’m excited for.

Read more for my top 7 September 2019 releases!

[ Related: Top 8 August 2019 Book Releases ]

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Wrap Ups & My August TBR (caitsbooks.com)

July Favorites, Reading Rush Wrap Up, + My August TBR!

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I think I finally did it. I think I beat my reading slump.

It only took me… five months. But I did it!!!

July was a surprisingly good month for me. At this point, I had given up all hope and thought that I would never regain the motivation to read like I had, but then came The Reading Rush.

Readathons scare me. A lot. So I had never done one before. I never liked the idea of pushing myself to read as much as possible, because I thought it would inevitably cause me to burn myself out.

Looks like I was wrong.

Read more to see how I did in The Reading Rush, plus a list of my favorite July reads, and my August TBR!

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Disney-A-Thon TBR (Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, Tangled)

My Disney-A-Thon TBR + A Useful Spreadsheet

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I used to be terrified of readathons. Making a strict TBR and sticking to it had always intimidated me, and honestly, it still does. But then I joined the Reading Rush last month, and actually had a really good time (even though I didn’t read all 7 books). So now, I’m hoping to do the same thing with the Disney-A-Thon.

I mean, Disney kinda is the one true love of my life, so I feel like I have to.

If you haven’t heard of the Disney-A-Thon, it’s a readathon that takes place over the month of August. You pick a team (go team Tangled!), and complete challenges to earn points. Each team has their own list of challenges, but once you finish those, you can do other team’s challenges.

If you want more info, check out the Disney-A-Thon on twitter (@disneyreadathon)!

Also, if you’re doing the Disney-A-Thon, I created a spreadsheet that can help you organize your TBR and keep track of your points.

[In case twitter isn’t working- here’s a link to the spreadsheet]

Okay, enough background info, let’s get started talking about my TBR!

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