PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: A book written by an author in their 20s

Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A book you picked because the title caught your attention, A book published the month of your birthday, A book by a WOC, A book with at least a four-str rating on Goodreads,

TW: Domestic abuse, suicidal ideations, death and loss, homophobic slur, heavy sexual content, stalking, drinking while pregnant, alcoholism



If you've seen the cover of Pizza Girl, and didn't feel the need to read it immediately, you're a liar. I know they say not to, but I judge books by their covers. First impressions are important, and chances of me picking up a book with an ugly cover and wanting to read it are very low. Anyways, Jean Kyong Frazier's editor and art department tracked down the designer of a t-shirt for an actual pizza place, and I am in awe. The cover is so wonderful, and the book itself is pretty damn amazing.


When a woman calls into the local pizza joint with a strange request, a pregnant 18 year-old delivery driver becomes infatuated with the caller, a middle-aged woman named Jenny who's a shitty artist and an exasperated mother. The pizza girl grows obsessed with Jenny while simultaneously pushing away her support system. 


Realistically, this book is not at all what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting rom-com coming-of-age, but this book is more literary. It's contemporary fiction, but it's dark and deep and honestly made me feel so many ways that I still can't quite put into words.

Pizza Girl is reminiscent of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, because I found myself rooting for protagonist, while simultaneously rejecting her actions and being utterly repulsed by her bad choices. I was also heavily reminded of Little Fires Everywhere because this wasn't a book that I was sure of the storyline. I didn't know what the book was about basically the entire time I was reading it. It was a slow burn that provided a climactic scene, but on a level that didn't feel obscenely in-your-face. It felt so raw and real, and again, hard to explain because the emotions I felt when I finished it were so vast.

The major thing that I really didn't love about the book was that a homophobic slur was used and it made me feel so cringey that I couldn't overlook it.






At 200 pages, this book can absolutely be devoured in one sitting, and though I highly enjoyed my one-sitting read, Pizza Girl could also be sipped slowly like a fine wine or nibbled upon like a charcuterie board worth of cheeses. As much as possible, go into this book with no expectations of the story. It will be wonderfully graceful ride. This is a knock-out debut from Kyoung Frazier, and I am impatient to see what she will deliver next.




Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆


















*I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own.

PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: no prompt used

Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A book on a subject you know nothing about (Polish fairy tales),

TW: Animal harm or death, violence, bigotry



The first thing that really sold me on reading Don't Call the Wolf was the cover. I know, I know - "don't judge a book by its cover" and all, but I do. I definitely judge books by their covers. And this one gorgeous. And overall? The story was good, had a lot of potential, and the imagery vivid.


Lucasz is the last of the Wolf-Lords, a family of dwindling dragon slayers, but is convinced his last-seen brother is lost in the Mountains, and is bound to go rescue him. But the forest is dark and full of horrors. So he ventures into the forest alongside a group of newfound adventurers who each have their own reasons for heading into the terrifying unknown. Leading the group is Ren, the forest's young queen and also a human/lynx hybrid. Each member of the group has a different personal goal, and they must all face a series of obstacles and monsters to make it to their end goals. 


Eh, writing this review is difficult. Because I actually really liked the story, but I felt like it should have taken place over two novels. Everything was so cramped into 500 pages, but the potential for this as a series was so great. There are quite a few characters, there's a lot of backstory, and there are a terrifying amount of horrifying monsters. If I would've broken it down, I would have made the first book very much about character development and background information. I would have likely included all the main characters, but they could have been sprinkled in throughout the story. The second book would've been the true adventure, the big action scene, and the wrap-up.

But too much happened in this one book. There was a lot of build-up, a lot of different monsters to try to visualize and fear, some backstories for most of the characters (even the less prominent main characters), and then the ending felt so rushed and also too... happy? Think of it this way - seven seasons of death, brutality, and sadness in Game of Thrones, and then the entirely unexpected series finale that was wrapped up a little too nicely. It was like that. I mean, this book is dark and disturbing throughout, but the ending didn't match the rest of the story, which made it a bit disappointing and actually unsatisfying.

But again, the story is actually really good - I just didn't think it was executed in a way that made sense. I really liked all of Polish fairy tale inspiration. I was unfamiliar with the stories, but they were so interesting and beautiful. I'll also mention that the back of the book has some additional information about the inspiration for the story, as well as a pronunciation guide for the Polish words used throughout the book. Keep that in mind going in, because it wouldn't be as useful to see after finishing the story.

I liked the characters mostly. They were likable often, while other times being incredibly flawed which seemed to exhibit human (and non-human) nature. There's a big theme of making mistakes but meaning well, and I really enjoyed the stories based off that theme. Ren was a wonderful character who went through a pretty great development arc. But closer to the end, I felt she started making really horrible, dumb choices, and it kind of pissed me off. Other characters had storylines that seemed incomplete or not fully explored. There were also some big twists, and I found myself shocked several times during my reading experience. So I'd say a pretty balanced amount of things I really enjoyed, but also things that lowered my rating. This isn't a bad book at all, and I think it's definitely an enjoyable read. I just also found some things within that really irked me.





The story was really interesting, the Polish fairy tale inspiration was so cool to learn about, and I loved the fantasy elements interweaved throughout the book. The writing was also really beautiful. But the story was far too broad to be able to fit within its 500 pages. It should have been broken up into at least a duology to be able to expand upon the potential of the storytelling.



Goodreads rating: ★★★☆☆














*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own.

*I have been compensated for this post, however, all ideas are my own.


Have I ever mentioned the time we had bats in our house? Not just one or two bats, but tens of them if not hundreds. We were living in a rental property and had been there for about three years. We heard scratches in the ceiling occasionally, but we just assumed it was a squirrel every now and then.

There was a week we went on vacation and had a friend come over to let the dog out. When we came back, we found a bat in one of the bedrooms and just assumed that our friend had left the door open when he’d let the dog out and the bat flew in. We got it out of the house and forgot about it.

Instead, our landlord sprayed water into the attic space (?!?!) and bats went flying everywhere. I went inside to figure out how they were getting into the actual living space. I assumed the vents in the bedrooms since that’s where we were finding them at. But when I walked out of the bedroom, there were about 20 inside the living room! Flying around the ceiling fan, attached to the curtains. It was inside. Alongside our landlord, we got most of them out. But ended up staying with my parents for about two weeks, and checking in on the house every few days. We found them under couch cushions, behind bookshelves, attached to the backs of pictures hung on the wall, in the dirty towel hamper. It was a mess. We ended up moving out shortly after.






So when we bought our current house, we negotiated in the contract to have the house inspected and updated to include all rodent/pest prevention. We were not trying to get ourselves in the situation again. It really impacted our way of living and how comfortable we felt just trying to exist in our own home. Not to mention, at the time, hubby worked full-time from home. And now we both work from home (at least I do for the time-being, though not permanently).

Luckily, we have several high-quality pest and wildlife control services in the area. One of those being Eagle Eye Wildlife Control. I first discovered Eagle Eye when I found a very sick squirrel on-campus. It laid it in the same spot all day in a high-traffic area, and I just knew something was wrong with it. I wanted someone to help it or get it to a place where it was out of the way. And when I searched for squirrel removal in Atlanta, Eagle Eye was in the top results. Ultimately, the squirrel didn’t make it to the end of the day, and our facilities team was able to take care of the poor baby. But now I know about Eagle Eye, and though it wasn't the company used when we bought our house (we didn't choose), it’s a company I’d be so comfortable calling if needed.



Eagle Eye provides real results, personalized care, and inexpensive services for removal and trapping. What I think is such a good deal is that they offer free inspections and estimates, which is virtually unheard of. Almost any service you call and request and estimate/inspection, charges upwards of $75. So I am amazed by this deal. And the owner-operator run business even promises a five-year guarantee.

Honestly, before moving into our new home, we had to have our removal and exclusion completed. It was a total deal breaker if the seller didn’t agree to those terms. But we love our house, and I’m so glad we were able to make the exclusion happen. Now I encourage you, if you’re in the Atlanta-area to consider Eagle Eye Wildlife Control if you’re needing some help with rodent or pest removal and/or exclusion.

*All the pictures are from the sites listed below, and are linked to their listings. The product pictures above do no belong to me.



Wow. I'll be 30 in exactly one month. And let's just say this isn't the type of environment that I was hoping to be in during my big milestone birthday. We were planning to go back to New York in June, and so obviously that's cancelled. But I can't really complain. We just bought a house back in March, and we're settled in. I am absolutely in love with our new space. It's so us, and I am so happy.

Anyways, I wanted to share what's on my wish list for my big 3-0. Which honestly doesn't look much different than five years ago - plants, jewelry, some house thangs, and self-care items.

I've wanted a piece of jewelry from Automic Gold for a while. They're size and gender-inclusive, and just have really fantastic values. Some of my top choices are a custom nameplate necklace (Kayla), a disc necklace (A+K), initial necklace (K), initial ring (K), or a custom letter necklace (KAYLA).

I have an electric toothbrush right now that has the 30 second intervals, but it's so loud and bulky. I'm very into the Quip toothbrush my husband has. And now it's time for my very own Quip starter kit, preferably the one in all black (it looks so nice!).

I have a black thumb, but I really want to be a plant lady. I just ordered my first plant from Pigment. I'm so pumped to get it, and I really want all the plants. [ one | two | three | four ]

One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to try period panties or a menstrual cup. Nixit is a menstrual disc but looks so cool and comfortable. I really want one of these so there's less one-time use waste in terms of period products.

In terms of house stuff, I'd love a bench for our front porch to replace the plastic adirondack chairs we currently have. We need a new full-length floor mirror to replace the $5 one we currently have. We have some heirloom china given to us from my MIL that have literally never left the box and I'm terrified of breaking them, so I definitely want a console cabinet for the dining room to put our china in.

And because I have a bag of Starbucks coffee beans I'm unable to make into coffee, I definitely want a coffee grinder so I can fix that problem.

*I have been compensated for this post, however, all ideas are my own.


Mental health is one of the most important things there is. And I think over the years, it has become less and less stigmatized, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot more that needs to happen for mental health to be treated as seriously as physical health. In fact, there is so much that needs to take place to end the stigma against mental illness and seeking treatment for yourself.

I didn’t know much about counseling and seeing a therapist growing up. Hell, there’s still a lot that I don’t quite understand. But in college, I saw a counselor several times. My need was so bad that I was actually able to continue working with the counseling center over the summer even though I wasn’t enrolled. I was diagnosed with depression and given a prescription to Prozac. But reading the side effects, I freaked myself out so badly that I never started taking it and threw it all away. After that I stopped going to counseling. And you want to know that thing that got me going in the first place? I was forming really addictive relationships to characters in tv shows - so much that I would get really upset when I finished watching them and I didn’t know how to handle it. And honestly, I still get pretty connected to tv show characters. I mean, I am still very upset after that Veronica Mars reboot ending, and I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it. But maybe I’m able to handle it all a bit better now.

As much I advocate for others to take care of themselves and their mental wellbeing, actually going for myself had me terrified. I finally admitted to myself that something was wrong, what I assumed as a chemical imbalance to make me feel that way. So first step, right?

Then I had to go through with calling different offices to try to make appointments, to figure out who was accepting patients, who accepted my insurance, etc. Between every phone call and every next step, I cried a lot. It was really difficult for me to make an appointment. And that’s okay. It’s all easier said than done, but I make the appointment - which was scheduled for a month after I made it.

Then when I went to my appointment, I got there super early and had to wait for what felt like a really long time. And then I cried some more in the waiting room. I was a mess. And here’s the thing - I don’t feel like there’s anything in my life (past or present) that should make me feel the way I feel. But that’s the thing about mental illness and mental health - it doesn’t always make sense. Luckily, meeting with a psychiatrist has helped me get placed on medication that has definitely made an impact in my mental wellbeing. I’ve been able to manage and handle this COVID-19 pandemic a lot better than I would have ever expected. Even hubby has noticed I’m less irritable and more calm in most situations, which feel so good.

Now what I need is to start meeting with a counselor to really round out my mental wellbeing. It’s something that I’ve been putting off, but so many different practices are offering telehealth options now, so it’s convenient, if not quite “easy,” to make appointments. Ray of Hope Counseling Services has all kinds of appointment types - from telehealth to in-office appointments sticking to social distancing guidelines. They also offer different types of therapy, including individual, couples, family, child, and equine. For someone looking for a therapist in Athens, GA or the surrounding area, Ray of Hope allows online scheduling and has eight offices in the area.



In the time of a shared worldwide trauma, while trying to overcome this pandemic, and find a place in what’s become our new normal, mental health and wellbeing is possibly more important than ever. It’s time I made that counseling appointment. And if you’re ready, meeting with a counselor may be something to consider for yourself as well.