review policy.

(Note: I review books for free, but I do accept small donations to improve my services. Read until then end for more information.)

Here's what you need to remember when applying for a book review:

• I accept books from publishers and authors (independent authors are great too). I will be glad to support and review books of newly published authors. 

• All books sent to me are considered for review. I always make sure to inform the author or publisher if I am unable to review their book for some reason.

• As of the moment, I am only reviewing two books a month. Details such as date of posting will be revealed through email.

Listed below are my favored genres (not in order). Some are genres that I continuously engage myself with, and some are genres I want to try. Fiction and non-fiction, both are okay with me.

• Crime and Detective

• Fairy tale re-imagined

• Fan Fiction

• Fantasy

• Historical Fiction

• Horror

• Magical Realism

• Mystery

• Mythology

• Narrative Nonfiction

• Poetry

• Realistic Fiction

• Romance

• Science Fiction

• Self-help

• Short Story

• Suspense/Thriller

• Young Adult

Format:

Physical copies or eBooks are fine. Please indicate in your email if you are willing to send a physical copy worldwide or if your book is only available as an eBook. Take note that I am from the Philippines. I also accept ARCs but please indicate it on your e-mail together with the Title, Author's Name, Synopsis and the expected date of publication of the book.

Unsolicited Books:

Unsolicited books from trusted publishers and authors will also be considered for review. There are no problems with you automatically sending me your book. I will inform you if I am not interested in reviewing it, but I will make sure that your book gets delivered to another blogger or booktuber who might be interested in reviewing it.

You can contact me through my e-mail:
contact.zeecruz@gmail.com

Again, my reviews are currently free for authors, but I am accepting small donations through Paypal and ko-fi.

Paypal: contact.zeecruz@gmail.com
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/lovezee

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let's get real about reading slumps.

Hi. You may be wondering why you're seeing this in your subscriptions. Or maybe you just clicked it by accident. But thank you for clicking and taking time to read this post. I am previously called Bittersweet Reads. I used to post book reviews, recommendations, author guest posts and more! 

But as I started college a few years back, I decided to go on a hiatus. The circumstance that I was in made reading books impossible as I needed to focus on studying. I drifted away, and it was such a pain in the ass.

It is now 2020 and I've got nothing better to do because of the pandemic. So instead of wasting my precious time doing nothing, I decided to revamp and use a simpler name, Zee Reads Books. 

Now that we got that out of the way, I wanted to use this post to re-introduce myself to my audience. That is, if I have any audiences left.

I went through a very tough reading slump amounting to 4 years of not finishing an actual book. I stopped reading books completely when I was in 2nd year college, which is around 4 years from now. Since then, I've touched and opened books several times, but I never had the will to finish reading them. It seemed as if my brain vomits the words and information that I get from reading those books. I really had a hard time. If I were to create an analogy, it felt as if I was experiencing a withdrawal syndrome from not reading books. Eventually, I got by through reading fan fictions from websites such as Archive of Our Own and Wattpad. Believe me, they write well too. But still, reading a book that you can actually hold and smell is different. I remember books being my instant serotonin boost, a vital part of my life growing up. And I can't deal with it any longer.

As I mentioned earlier, in that four-year reading slump, I actually tried getting out of it. I remember this recommendation from a booktuber who said that to get out of your reading slump, you should try to read your favorite book again. That way, all the feelings you felt as you were zooming through its pages will come back to you, making you want to read more. I did that. I was desperate. At that time, my favorite books were Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. The funny thing is, they're the type of books that you need to completely immerse yourself into for you to enjoy it. Not that other books do not have that type of depth, it's just that when I was reading both books myself, I did not immediately like it. So in a nutshell, I tried reading Jellicoe Road only to end up re-reading the first few pages over and over again. It wasn't igniting that fire inside me, the reader side of me. So I backed off for a while, feeling defeated.

But today, I think I've really had enough.

I took two lighter reads with me in this new place that I am staying at, hoping that I can finally get out of this slump. I am not pressuring myself to read more for the remaining months of this year. Just two. They're The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan. I've read both of these before and I really enjoyed them. Compared to the other books, these are more on the contemporary side, so it won't be hard (hopefully) to finish them. If you see me review them or other books on this blog then that would mean I finally got out of this hellish reading slump.

To end this post, let me just quickly advertise this blog by saying that I am once again open to book review requests, guest posts, cover reveals etc. More services offered will be revealed in another post. Until then, please stay safe. Wear your masks and hydrate!

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