For the past few months, I’ve been posting some mini-reviews on Instagram (you can follow me there @michelleimason). As I don’t want those books to be neglected here on my blog, when I have a few built up, I plan to do a roundup like I’ve done in the past. So here goes.

A few years ago I reviewed Alex Flinn’s modern fairy tale retellings, and I noticed she’d added another I’d missed. BEHELD follows Kendra, a witch, through four different tales over hundreds of years, starting with the Salem Witch Trials. I really enjoyed these four very different stories, held together by an over-arching story about Kendra searching for her lost love. Tales included were “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” and “The Ugly Duckling.” As with her previous fairy tale retellings, there is a focus on beauty skewing perception, and the characters are far from perfect.

I appreciate when a book ends with a sense of hope, and both THE GIVER and THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR left me feeling hopeful for the characters. In each case, the situation leading up to the ending seemed pretty hopeless, and I wasn’t sure how the author could wrap up the story in a way that would seem believable and satisfying. These two books are very different, and while neither of them tied everything up in a bow at the end or assured me everything would turn out perfectly for the characters, I felt optimistic, and that was enough.

I loved the now and then format of LOVE SONGS & OTHER LIES by Jessica Pennington, which I couldn’t put down because I had to find out what happened in the past *and* how things would turn out in the present. Plus, I love anything with music, whether it’s rock stars (as here) or classical.

FEARLESS, book 3 in The Deception Game series by Kristin Smith, is a fast-paced read that will have you flipping–or swiping–quickly through pages. If you haven’t read this series, start at the beginning with CATALYST. Kristin writes jaw-dropping twists, swoon-worthy love interests, and page-turning action.

Since LOVE, LIFE AND THE LIST is about an artist, I snapped a picture of it with a painting I picked up in Montmartre from a street artist. This book, though … it made me cry, and that is rare. I loved it anyway. As much about friendship as anything, it’s another fantastic Kasie West book!

Have you read any of these? If so, let me know what you thought! I always like to discuss :).