Mallory Books

                                          Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson  What’s it’s about: Ellingham Academy is a private school for the most elite, creative thinkers. Albert Ellingham, who was the richest man in America, founded it to create a special place of learning, games, and riddles. During its first year, Albert’s wife and daughter are kidnapped. Only one real clue from the case is ever connected, a creepy poem that was previously mailed to Albert signed “Truly, Devious”. The crime was never solved. Decades later, crime-lover Stevie Bell is beginning her first year at Ellingham Academy. She has one goal: solve the Ellingham Case. But it’s not so simple, she has her hard curriculum and strange housemates to figure out too. But then, Truly Devious returns to The Academy, and so does death. The two mysterious start to connect and Stevie is determined to figure out the...

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins  What it’s about : Millie Quint is having an ideal summer break, until she sees her best-friend-sort-of-girlfriend, Jude, kissing someone else after blowing her off. Millie has been dreaming of Scotland for years, thats why she applied to a prestigious boarding school on a whim. Weirdly enough, an acceptance letter arrived earlier that summer, but Millie was hesitating because of Jude. But now that acceptance letter is her perfect escape. Her new Scotland school is receiving its first class of girls and Millie is making history. Everything about Scotland is a dream, until Millie meets her roommate Flora. Millie calls her out for her bad attitude only to find out later Flora is an actual real life Princess. They can’t stand each other, until well, they can. But Flora is the most off-limits crush Millie could have, and everything will try to keep them apart.   . . . My thought s: This book met all my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, ...

                                        A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson What it’s about : Sal Singh murdered Andie Bell five years ago. Everyone knows he did it, everyone but Pippa Fitz-Amobi, who takes on the case as the topic for her final capstone project. She starts finding connections and secrets everywhere that someone in town is desperate for her to unsee. If the killer is still on the loose, is it safe for Pippa to keep investigating, especially when she might be on to them?  . . My thoughts : I’ve been craving a good thrilling mystery novel and I’ve seen this one around a lot, and it did not disappoint! It was very complex and twisty. I was amazed how everyone seemed to be connected and tied together in that town. It was so captivating to see Pippa’s thought process unfold in her project logs. The audiobook experience made it even more incredible, with the in...

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall What it’s about : Luc O’Donnell is going to be fired from the only job left that will have him: a charity to save beetles. Luc is the son of long ago rockstar parents who split when he was young, leaving him with anger and resentment towards his absent father, and just enough left-over-fame to warrant bad publicity. After a compromising photo from a night out lands in the tabloids, the threads keeping his life together snap. He decides to fix his image by finding a respectable, perfect (fake) boyfriend. Who better than, ethically conscious, vegetarian, lawyer extraordinaire, Oliver Blackwood. It turns out, Oliver could benefit from having a fake boyfriend in return, but their mutual need for each other is about all they have in common... or so it seems. And fake-dating starts to become something more.  . . . My thoughts : OKAY SO PREPARE FOR GUSHING!!!! I so did not expect to fall in love with this book and ALL the characters. Firstly, Luc was suc...

  Night Owls and Summer Skies by Rebecca Sullivan *eARC copy provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.    What it’s about : Against her wishes, Emma is being sent to spend the summer with her mom. However, as soon as she arrives her mom whisks her away to Camp Maplewood, while she goes on a cruise with her new husband. Everything Emma hates is at Camp Maplewood, phobias, enemies, and the past she’s been running from since the first summer she stayed there. She devises a plan to get out: she must get kicked out. But the mysterious Camp Counselor, Vivian Black, seems determined to keep her there.   . . What I liked :  One of the main things I liked about this story was Emma’s secureness of her sexuality. I feel like so many books I read with LGBTQ+ characters revolve the whole plot around coming out or discovering their sexuality, ect. It was refreshing to see Emma be confidant and secure. Even the simple point of her dad ca...