The House is on Fire and the Kids are Eating Ice Cream: Thomas R. Langton

Title: The House is on Fire and the Kids are Eating Ice Cream
Author: Thomas R. Langton 
Genre: Poetry
Published: Aug 1st 2019
Publisher: Troubador

In this sequel to his debut collection, Thomas R. Langton writes a contrasting collection about a heart burning with passion and renewed with life. Covering a wide variety of subjects, from social commentary to relationships to myths and legends, this book is dark poetry unlike any other.
The beauty and hatred of the world is there for the taking in this melancholic, dark and downright gritty collection.

*A Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas R. Langton, and the publisher for providing the book for an honest and unbiased review. *

Rating

Hello Fellow Readers,

I think I've said before that I like poetry but I am not an expert. I can only tell you how the poetry makes me feel, and boy did this book make me feel. Typically when I start reading poetry it takes me a while to get used to the flow and style of an author. This causes me to read each poem multiple times before I can fully grasp how I feel about the poem and move on. With Langton my emotions and thoughts were immediate. There were multiple times where I had to stop and look around because Langton had to be watching me in order to know that I would connect with his poems so instantly. I felt like as I continued to read the poems, myself and the author were connecting and becoming friends, but not in that creepy way where I actually think that. 

There were times where I wondered how he knew me so well, times that I actually felt tears come to my eyes, even if they did not drop and other times where I thought 'what happened Langton?'. When I found out this was the sequel to a debut book of poems I knew I immediately needed to buy his first book and read that. This author will be going on my authors to watch list because I do not want to miss a book. 

Hart & Seoul; Kristen Burnham

Title: Hart & Seoul (Hart & Seoul #1)
Author: Kristen Burnham
Genre: Young Adult, Romance 
Published: June 4th, 2019
Publisher: Mascot Books

Girl meets boy. Boy falls for girl.
Girl discovers boy is a runaway K-pop idol in hiding.
Merilee Hart has been doing her best to keep things together since her mother left, her art a welcome escape from her depressing new reality. But things seem to go even more awry the moment her next door neighbor's enigmatic and mysterious nephew arrives from South Korea. Lee is moody, cocky, and utterly infuriating. But when Merri's closest friends betray her and her father crushes her dream of going to art school, Merri finds herself drawn to Lee, who seems to live within even greater shadows than her own. And just when she thought things couldn't get crazier, Merri's world is upended when she discovers Lee's big and bizarre secret: he is none other than a runaway member of the K-pop mega-group Thunder.
It's not long before Thunder's fans, the Storm Chasers, begin to close in on Lee, ready to do whatever it takes to return their favorite idol to his rightful place in the band. Faced with the prospect of even more heartbreak and caught up in an international whirlwind that has a life of its own, Merri realizes that she must find a way to mend herself, gain control of her life, and pursue her dreams - her heart and soul depend on it.

Rating

*A Thank you to NetGalley, Mascot Books, and Kristen Burnham for letting me read this book for an honest and unbiased review*

Hello My Fellow Readers,

I had this review ready to go for Friday, but some reason Blogger decided that it didn't like my review so it deleted the post. I guess I wrote too many spoilers? Anyway, let me tell you about this book.

I am not much of a Kpop listener, but Kdramas I have watched and this book reminded me of one. It was very entertaining and I really loved Merri and Lee. Merri was great, she had a backbone and Burnham really made her reactions to things very believable there was never one time where I thought 'really!? why are you doing that?'. Lee was great and exactly what I thought a leading Kdrama boy would be like. I wish Burnham gave us something with his point-of-view but it isn't anything to gripe about

The one thing I really wish Burnham did was give me moments of Merri with her friends before they betrayed her because I just could not see what Merri had seen in them before this betrayal. Maybe that was the point? Maybe it's Merri who was opening her eyes and seeing what I was seeing this entire time? Maybe I just wanted the book to be longer because this was a really short book. I read this in one night, and I am really glad it is not a standalone because I really to see Merri and Lee's relationship goes, and how it will get past the obstacles they now face. Just know that I will be picking up the sequel when it comes out.