Happy Saturday, everyone! 🌷
Seeing as I have an exam on Monday (please wish me luck, because my anxiety has reached insurmountable heights already!!), I’m posting my wrap-up a tiny little bit earlier this month, as I want to focus on revising tomorrow.
As predicted, I read much fewer books this month, but since I didn’t have all too many exams just yet, I still managed to read way more than I thought I would. I also finished my O.W.L.s, and miraculously, I passed all my subjects, and got an Outstanding??
(I know the “yay” is a sarcastic one in this scene, but this is such a cute GIF, so I had to use it, anyway.)
I had so, so much fun, and want to give a huge thank you to Sophie for organizing it, and all the girls, especially Steph, for all the chats. It was such a great experience for me, and definitely one I would love to repeat.
Moreover, thanks to the many re-reads of books I loved, my average rating is actually pretty high this month, and I’m really pleased with that. I’m … less pleased with being disappointed by Wildcard, but that’s okay. Marie Lu is still one of my favorite writers. 😌
Total score 📚: 20
Re-reads 📖: 5
Graphic Novels 🖌: 2
Poetry 🎨: 2
Audiobooks 🎧: 2
Buddy Reads 👭: 2
O.W.L.s read-a-thon ⚡️: 13/12
Avg. Rating ⭐: 3.18
Middle Grade: 2
Young Adult: 14
Adult: 1
Non-Fiction: 3
Honeybee by Trista Mateer 🎨⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐½
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 🎧⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan ⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐½
A Million Junes by Emily Henry ⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐½
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett 🎧⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Legend (Legend, #1) by Marie Lu 📖⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐½
Sadie by Courtney Summers ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Young Elites (The Young Elites, #1) by Marie Lu 📖⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 📖👭⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee 📖⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐½
The Gilded King (Sovereign, #1) by Josie Jaffrey ⭐⭐
The Chaos of Longing by K.Y. Robinson 🎨⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐
Mirage (Mirage, #1) by Somaiya Daud 👫⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 09 by CLAMP 🖌⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐
Wildcard by Marie Lu ¦ ⭐⭐
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram ⭐⭐
The Rose Society (The Young Elites, #2) by Marie Lu 📖⚡️ ¦ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard ⭐⭐⭐½
The Art of Feeling by Laura Tims ⭐⭐⭐½
The Book of Onions by Jake Thompson 🎨 ¦ ⭐⭐½
September’s been a slow month for me, blog-hopping wise, because university started, and I was pretty overwhelmed with classes, and my schedule in general, but I still managed to somewhat stay up to date with the blogs I follow, and here are a few of my favorite posts!
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- Marty‘s Social Media Tag post is so lovingly written, and features so many blogs I adore, so you all should definitely check it out! (And yes, I’m blinking away tears at being mentioned by her, because I love her blog.)
- Fadwa‘s etiquette post on author/reviewer interaction is so incredibly important, and helpful, and an all-around worthwhile read.
- Kaleena gives great advice on how to schedule tweets and pins, and as a newbie tweeter (is that a word?) I appreciate it so much. [MY TWITTER, in case you were wondering.]
- Marie shared her story with ARCs as an international blogger, and it truly touched my heart.
- Malanie compiled a list featuring her top five fantasy books, and her fantasy TBR, and unsurprisingly, it’s gorgeous in every way.
- Marija talks about the eternal frustration of being an international book blogger, and it really resonated with me.
I’m not going to apologize (again) for not getting around to answering your questions (again) this month (even though I am very sorry!), because it’s very probable that one of these days you’ll stop believing me, but I promise I’ll get to at least one of them next month!!
But at least I did a tag? And took part in a read-a-thon? And managed to somewhat reply to comments in a timely fashion? I’m counting these as wins.
O.W.L.s read-a-thon ¦ WWW Wednesday
How was your month?
Any recent or upcoming releases you’re excited about?
I’d love to hear all about the book(s) you’ve been reading, and what you’ve been up to! 💗
Bloglovin’ ¦ Goodreads ¦ Instagram ¦ Tumblr ¦ Twitter
xx, Lily
AHH YOU READ WILDCARD WHAT DID YOU THINK!?!?!?
lovely post as always lily, wishing you lots of love + luck for exams. xox, rhi
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Ahh thank you so much, Rhi, I really appreciate it!! 💜
I’m honestly soo disappointed, but the series didn’t start off very well for me to begin with. Have you read Warcross, or Wildcard?
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I’ve read both, and personally loved them! It is a flippant series though – so many hate it and so many love it! xox
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I’m glad you loved them! And definitely, I’ve noticed the same. 🙂
The Young Elites will probably stay my favorite series by Marie Lu for a little while longer. 😌
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Ahh, I haven’t read The Young Elites? Is it good?
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It’s amazing! I love it so much, and I actually re-read it for the third time this year. 🙈
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Wow – I’ll put it on my TBR!
Are you participating in May’s fivestarathon? You seem like you’d enjoy it!
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Yess, I’m so excited for you!! I hope you love it as much as I do. 😊
I’d love to, but I’m still figuring out my schedule. What about you?
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I’m participating… got any good book recommendations over 500 pages? That I can preferably find at a library near me?!
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Is there a specific genre you’d prefer?
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YA is fine – romance, fantasy, sci-fi, futuristic, I’m up for anything!
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Strange the Dreamer, Circe, and The Night Circus—the last two aren’t YA exactly, but they’re both gorgeous.
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Ok! Thank you so much Lily!
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You’re welcome, Rhi! Happy read-a-thon in advance. 😊💓
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You too, if you decide to do it! xox
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💜💜
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Great wrap-up! I hope all goes well with your exams (I totally get anxiety too, best of luck!) So sorry Wildcard disappointed you! 😦
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Thank you so much, Rendz! 💗 Anxiety is the absolute worst, I’m so sorry you have to deal with it, too. 😔
And it’s okay, I was expecting it. 🙈 Are you planning on reading Warcross?
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I’ve actually read both! I enjoyed them quite a bit, though I do think that they could have had a lot more oomph and pizzazz. (Because I like to use snazzy words like those…and apparently snazzy XD)
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Ahh yay, I’m really glad to hear that!
(And now I’ll forever be thinking of you, when I hear these words. 😂)
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Ahhh good luck on your exam on Monday, Lily!! I’m sure you’ll do great; I have faith in you. 💞 (I totally get you about the anxiety, though. 😢) Best wishes for revising tomorrow!
Congrats on completing your OWLs! I’m glad you loved your rereads of your favorite books. And I’m so happy you enjoyed The Lightning Thief!! I love the PJO series so much. 💗 And I keep hearing amazing things about Sadie! I’m glad you enjoyed it too.
I’m sorry that Wildcard (and Marie Lu) disappointed you! I personally really liked Warcross, and I’m excited to read Wildcard. I’ve definitely been hearing mixed reviews, though.
I finished reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller a week ago and I haven’t really read a book since. I absolutely loved TSOA; it’s now one of my favorite books. But unfortunately, I think it put me in a bit of a reading slump, haha. I’m REALLY excited to read Circe by Madeline Miller, though! (I still have to wait quite a while before getting it from the library. 😩) I started reading Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills a couple days ago, so I’m hoping that’ll get me out of my slump.
Lovely post as always, Lily! 💞
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Thank you SO much, Dezzy! 😭💖 (And I’m so, so sorry that you’re going through it as well. 😔)
Ahh thanks! I’m so excited to continue with the PJO series, and so glad that I like it, seeing as I’m reading it for the first time. Sadie is amazing, I hope you enjoy it!
Aw, I hope you’ll like Wildcard more than I did! Definitely let me know your thoughts, when you get around to reading it. ☺️
Yay, I’m so glad!! The ending of TSOA was so beautiful, wasn’t it?? 💓 I hope you can read Circe soon, it’s so gorgeous! And ahh I really liked Foolish Hearts, is it pulling you out of your slump?? 🙏🏻
Thank you for always leaving such sweet comments! It really means a lot to me. 😭💗💗
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Oh that makes me SO happy to hear!! I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the PJO series. (My favorite book in this series is the last book, The Last Olympian! 💙)
Oh definitely, I’ll let you know what I think of Wildcard when I get to read it! And oh my gosh, YES. I love TSOA so much, even though it broke my heart. 😭💔 I saw your review of it on Goodreads, where you wrote everyone who finishes this book will say, “When I die, bury my ashes with this book,” and that’s honestly so true, haha. Madeline Miller’s writing is so gorgeous, and I’m so excited to read Circe.
And yes, Foolish Hearts is definitely pulling me out of my slump (and I’m so happy)!! 😊 I read a lot of it last night and this morning, and I’m enjoying it so much. It’s just what I needed, a cute and lighthearted contemporary. I’m so happy that you liked Foolish Hearts too 💖 And awww it’s my pleasure!! I love reading your blog posts and leaving comments ☺️
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Ohhh well, I can’t wait to get to it now! 🙂
I’d meant to write a full review for TSOA, but somehow that never happened. 😄 I’m glad you liked my mini review, though! It sums up my feelings very nicely, hehe. Ohh, and I should tell you that Circe is quite different from TSOA, so please don’t go into it with wrong expectations, or you’ll be disappointed. 🙈
Yay!! It’s really such a wonderful book, and I’m actually already thinking of re-reading it, haha. 🤓
💗💗☺️
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Haha your mini review of TSOA is definitely very accurate! And thanks for letting me know; I’ll definitely keep that in mind when I get to read Circe. ❤️
Ahhh yes I finished Foolish Hearts yesterday and absolutely loved it! My heart is so full after reading it; I have SO much love for all the characters, especially Gideon. (You should definitely reread it, hehe, and relive the heartwarming journey that is Foolish Hearts. 💞)
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Gideon is definitely a new book-boyfriend of mine! We need more guys like him IRL, please. 💗 c:
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I LOVE THIS WRAP UP. Also, 20 books?? I read 3 lol 😭 Amazing reading month. Loved Sadie this month as well. Thank you so so much for including my post, I am glad you enjoyed it.
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Thank you so much, Marija!! I’m so happy to hear that. ☺️🧡
YES, Sadie’s amazing! It’s not my usual genre, but I’ll read anything Courtney Summers writes. 🤓
My pleasure!! I hope you have a wonderful October, Marija! ☺️🍂
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Good luck on your exam!! Also, shout-out to using a Tangled gif ❤ ❤
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Thank you so much, Becca! ♥️
Tangled is such a great movie! I hope you have an absolutely fantastic month ahead of you!! 🤗
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Good luck on your exams!! ❤️❤️❤️
I might try and read Sadie next month since it’s on the spookier side so I’m glad you enjoyed it ☺️
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Thank you so much, Rebecca! 😭💛💛
Ahh I hope you have the best time with it! I really think you’ll enjoy it, I can’t wait to hear what you think. 🙂
Happy October, and happy reading! ☺️🍁🍂
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You’re welcome! ❤ ❤
Yes! I'm crossing my fingers I like it as much as everyone else has, lol. Samd to you ❤ ❤
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Best of luck for your exams, Lily! ❤ ❤
I still don't know how you manage to read so many books, ahah, tt's so great. I'm so sorry to hear you weren't a fan of Darius The Great, I've heard so many good things about that one and really want to read it. What bothered you about it, if I may ask?
I hope you'll have a lovely October!! ❤
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Oh and thank you so, so much for sharing my post!!! this means the world ❤
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Ahh of course!! I always have the hardest time deciding which one of your posts I want to share. 🙉
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Oh you’re way too sweet, thank you ❤ ❤ I'm going to feel all emotional ahah ❤ ❤
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Thanks so much, Marie! 💗
I’m not sure, actually … it’s a combination of simply not “feeling” it, and not enjoying myself a whole lot while reading it, and a few things regarding the storyline bothered me a bit, but I don’t want to give away spoilers.
Thank you so much, I hope your October is wonderful! ❤
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Oh okay, damn, I’m so sorry this happened, that’s too bad
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Aw, it’s okay! I hope you’ll enjoy it, though! ❤
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20 books?? That’s a lot! Congrats for finishing your readathon and goodluck with your exams! ❤ I've been overwhelmed with my schedule too, this term is crazy!
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Thanks, Tasya!! ☺️💕
Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. 😕 I hope it calms down a bit soon & you have a lovely October! 🍁
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Good luck on your exams! You’ve managed to get through so many books! I wish I was this productive
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Thank you so much!! Ahh well, I wish I was more productive in other areas, haha. 😄
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Good luck on your exam!
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Thank you SO much!! 💛
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[…] big special thank you to Lily ❤ and Steph ❤ for taking the pledge with me and also for the chats, tips and all the support […]
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You did soooo well, Lily! I can’t be any more impressed by your ability to read all your OWLs, read extra books (including re-reads), all of that while taking real classes and sitting exams?? GIRL YOU ARE A WAR MACHINE!!!
I’m so so proud of how much you’ve achieved this month and so happy you’ve had a good time overall 🙂 I loved to share this experience with you and look forward to having you for our N.E.W.T.s! You are an example to us all and I need that kind of encouragement/pressure in my life xD
Thank you so much for everything ❤ I adored your post as always and I can't wait for the next one!
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Sophie!! You’re the sweetest, and I’m so lucky to have you as my friend!! 😭😭❤️
I loved taking the O.W.L.s with you, I hope we’ll get to take the N.E.W.T.s in November together as well! You’re honestly way to kind, I’m so happy that you feel encouraged by me!! That makes me so happy. :’)
Thank you so, so much, this means the world to me! I hope you have a wonderful October! ❤️🍂
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Thank you, lovely! ❤ ❤ ❤
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can you like……….stop reading so many books I’m starting to feel really offended
1) I saw that 2-star coming for Darius and I also saw that 2-star coming for Wildcard, 2) I’M WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST with your exams and I’m confident you’ll do amazing!! and 3) 3.18… that’s SUCH a high average rating Lily!!! (just kidding I know it’s high for you 😘)
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WHY.
1) How about you try to predict the ratings of all the books I read beforehand, and we’ll see how you do 😎, 2) I genuinely have so much love in my heart for you, your messages really helped me a LOT ❤️, and 3) IT IS HIGH, not just by my standards!!
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OH MY GOD SHE SAYS SHE GENUINELY HAS SO MUCH LOVE FOR ME OH MY GOD
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AND I MEAN IT 100%
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Oh wow Lily you’ve been super active here!!! Congrats I am impressed 😉
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Thank you so much!! I hope you have a fantastic month ahead of you!! 💞
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Congrats on all your successes this month! (Ahh, so many books read and your OWL results are amazing.) I hope you have a fabulous month, and best of luck on your exams!❤️
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Thank you so much, Olivia! 💛💛
I hope school isn’t too stressful, and you have the most wonderful October!! 🍁💫
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You did have a great reading month!! Thank you so much for buddy reading Strange the Dreamer with me! <3<3
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Thanks, Leslie! 🧡
My pleasure! I’m so, so happy you loved it, too & I’m looking forward to future buddy reads with you! 😊 I hope you have a fantastic October! x
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You’re welcome!
Me too, I hope we have many more! 😊 Hopefully, October is great for both of us! 💕
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Aw, I can’t wait for our next buddy read! 💕💕
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Same!! :):)
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i…cannot believe how many books you read. or that i’m only just now realizing the extent of it?? i’m going to focus on these pleasant surprises and avoid the nightmare surprise that is the fact that you gave A Million Junes 3.5 stars. & three cheers for the wild disappointment of wildcard!! that book b bad!
& good luck on your exam luv! you’ll do great ❤
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What are you talking about, I-read-four-books-simultaneously?? And 3.5 stars is a good rating, okay. I just … drifted off during especially long-winded paragraphs. I’M SORRY. I don’t even have the words in me to talk about Wildcard, but I’m very much looking forward to your review.
Thank you so much, Emma!! 💗
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Wonderful wrap up, love! I will forever be amazed that you can read so many books!! ❤ I'm sad to see that you didn't enjoy Mirage (one of my favorites this year) or Wildcard (highly anticipated!). I'm glad that you enjoyed The Young Elites and Sadie though. Both of which are on my tbr! 🙂
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Aw, thank you so much, Kelly! 🌷
I wish I could have loved it more, but I kept disengaging from the story. 😕 I hope you enjoy Wildcard more than I, though, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you! And ahh both of these books are amazing, I hope you love them as much as I do!!
Happy reading, and I hope you have a lovely October, Kelly! ☺️💜
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GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EXAM BBY YOURE GOING TO DO AMAZING NO STRESS BC YOU GOT THIS
also what the duck how ARE YOU ABLE TO READ SO MUCH AND BE A FUNCTIONING ADULT IN SOCIETY, true queens walk among us peasants.
i wanna read a little prince, it sounds like such a cute book even THO I GOT SPOILED FOR THE ENDING from a movie (i swear, its unsafe in the world, so many spoilers, no warnings) and 3 and a half stars is too low for the art of feeling, we need to have a Talk about that.
i hope you have a fantastic week my sweet, good luck, sending you lots of love ❤
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Ahhh thank you so, so much, you’re the best, May!! 😭😭
Um, but you read 21 books this month, if I remember correctly?? The internet is such a dangerous place sdnfjdnds, maybe you can wait for a little while longer, until that memory fades? But I think you’d enjoy the book nonetheless, it tells such a heartwarming and wholesome story. :’) And I,,, did not entirely Feel The Art of Feeling. 🙈
Thank you so much for all the luck, and love, I’m sending the warmest thoughts your way!! I hope you’re doing well. 💜
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YOU ARE THE NICEST HUMANNNN c: c: thank you for ft. my post i love youuuu
also I almost bought A Million Junes at the bookstore yesterday! because magical realism and saul + june seem really cute c: c:
And Sadie!!!!!! I’m about to try the audiobook just for the podcast experience. ❤
++++ good luck, i'm sending you hugs + friendship
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NO, YOU ARE!
Saul and June are way too adorable, I’m crossing my fingers that you love the book & ahh Sadie!! I saw that you’re reading/listening to it, I hope you have the absolute best time with it!!
Thank you so, so much, you’re a literal angel, LOVE U!! 💛💛
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I hope you did well on your exam on Monday, I was thinking of you while on holiday!!! You read so many books last month, 20 is so impressive.
Thanks for linking to my post and I’m glad you found it helpful!
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Thanks so much, Kaleena! You’re way too sweet, I’m going to get emotional. 😭 Your kind messages and thoughts helped a lot! I hope you had a great time on your holiday. ❤
Thank you for writing it, it’s a fantastic post!!
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I wasn’t expecting these tears! You are too kind!
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💚💚💚
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[…] promised at the beginning of this month, I’m here, at last, finally getting around to one of my nomination […]
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