Nina is the career-oriented, workaholic agent of romance novelists who seems to be the epitome of the one the guy in the Hallmark movies always leavesNina is the career-oriented, workaholic agent of romance novelists who seems to be the epitome of the one the guy in the Hallmark movies always leaves for the small-town girl. So when her pregnant sister Libby drags her off to Smalltown USA to try to capture that rom-com experience, Nina reluctantly goes along - only to find that a rival editor, Charlie, is also in town. After some snarky emails about Bigfoot erotica, they run into each other face to face. Despite Libby's insistence that Nina date local guys only, Nina finds herself falling for Charlie...
I've read Emily Henry's YA books, which were very different from the meta-level rom-com that was this book. I'm not a huge fan of straight-up romance novels, but the connection to books and the publishing business, the snark around the romance tropes, and the great dialogue between the two leads made this quite enjoyable if somewhat predictable. For me the story dragged just a tiny bit by the end but overall I liked this more than expected....more
When Alice and her sister Claire go to an over-the-top Halloween party in a cornfield, Alice doesn't expect for the night to end in Claire's murder. AWhen Alice and her sister Claire go to an over-the-top Halloween party in a cornfield, Alice doesn't expect for the night to end in Claire's murder. A year later, Alice is the only witness who can convict Owen of the murder. But a visitation from an "angel" who looks like Sidney Prescott from "Scream" gives Alice the chance to go back in time and find out if Owen is truly guilty. The only problem with going back and saving her sister is that the body count may end up being slightly higher - and Alice has too many suspects to keep track of.
This was a fun ride! There were a lot of moments that felt way too similar to The Mary Shelley Club, otherwise I might rate this higher - like, I actually got confused in a few places. This plays off of a lot of horror movie cliches without necessarily having to know anything about the movies for it to make sense. I absolutely did not guess how this book was going to end! I do wish some of the side characters had been more fleshed out, but I loved the central relationship between Alice and her sister, as well as Alice's relationship with Wes. Definitely a rollercoaster of a story!...more
Maddy Washington has always been an outcast, even before she's caught in a rainstorm and her hair frizzes, revealing that she's Black. Unfortunately, Maddy Washington has always been an outcast, even before she's caught in a rainstorm and her hair frizzes, revealing that she's Black. Unfortunately, Maddy lives in a little town still ruled by racism, where the prom is still segregated. But after the white students bully Maddy, the school is under fire for such antiquated practices. Now white student Wendy asks her Black boyfriend Kenny to take Maddy to prom... only neither knows the power Maddy holds...
It was clear to me very early on that this book is Carrie if Carrie were Black, and I loved it for how true to the original it was, while still addressing the kinds of racist practices that still exist. From the format (a podcast, which includes transcripts, interviews, book excerpts, as well as fleshed out scenes of what really happened) to all the characters being brought over, this was a great homage to Stephen King's classic story of a bullied girl with telekinesis. I particularly liked how Maddy's forced denial and passing as white vs. Kenny's separation from other Black students to maintain his status at a racist school is explored. While such an homage meant that the ending was spoiled for anyone who has read or watched "Carrie," new readers will likely find this very compelling....more
On the day Margot fails her witch licensing exam, Elena is also having a bad day at the bakery, and the two clash when the bakery doesn't have the kinOn the day Margot fails her witch licensing exam, Elena is also having a bad day at the bakery, and the two clash when the bakery doesn't have the kind of doughnuts Margot wants. The curse Margot casts accidentally makes Elena's band's gig go awry later that night. It would be easy for Elena to hate Margot, but Margot tries to apologize, and soon a romance is born.
This had one of my favorite tropes (enemies-to-lovers), although it felt a little too easy for these two to fall in love after such a disastrous meeting. The wizarding world didn't have much depth other than Margot's potions shop and the licensing exam, so I didn't know exactly how accepted witches were or how many witches there were or where witches might go to school or why Margot was so bad at magic. But it was a fun, cute story and I really liked the color palette of the grayscale and the pink....more
When Jennifer Chan goes missing, Mallory feels like she knows what happened. Jennifer is obsessed with the idea that aliens exist, even though that haWhen Jennifer Chan goes missing, Mallory feels like she knows what happened. Jennifer is obsessed with the idea that aliens exist, even though that hasn't made her popular at school. In fact, Mallory's best friend Reagan has gone out of her way to bully Jennifer into not being so weird. But Mallory likes Jennifer, and she's worried, so she enlists the help of two other girls to look for her. As the search for Jennifer escalates, Mallory begins to face the hard truth of why Jennifer ran away.
This heartfelt story at first seems to be about aliens, but is really about bullying and its ramifications, both for the victim and for those complicit in the bullying. Jennifer is a strong character who stands up to her bullies but clearly is dealing with some heavy issues at home and uses her obsession with aliens to feel closer to her deceased father. Mallory doesn't always come across as the most likeable character, because she struggles not to do what Reagan tells her to do and finds herself being a bully when she doesn't want to be. I liked that, in the end, Mallory and Reagan have their moments of redemption while still not downplaying the effect their bullying had on Jennifer and others. I might have rated this a little higher if it hadn't taken me almost a month to read, and really this was more my fault than the fault of the writing....more
Georgia has always wanted to be an Aspera girl, but ever since her mother was fired from the exclusive resort, sheI read this ARC via Netgalley Shelf.
Georgia has always wanted to be an Aspera girl, but ever since her mother was fired from the exclusive resort, she discouraged Georgia from it. But now Georgia's mother is dead, and her older brother is struggling to pay the bills, and Georgia just spent thousands on professional photos that she hopes will get her into Aspera. Photos that went missing after Georgia is nearly hit by a car. Her near-miss leaves her with a head injury, which is nothing compared to the dead girl further up the road. The incident, on the road to Aspera, leads Georgia to a job - not as an Aspera girl, but as an Aspirant, but Georgia knows she has what it takes to rise up. As the police investigate the crime, Georgia tries to piece together what she knows, believing she's in control when she just might not be.
Like Sadie and The Project, this story has the feel of a true crime story fictionalized. In this case, it felt a lot like the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal. Georgia's point of view gave a lot of insight into why a young girl would pursue and trust someone like Matthew. She sees Aspera as a means to rise up in life, to become one of the rich and famous. Naively she thinks her beauty can be wielded as a tool to do this, not fully understanding what goes on behind the façade of the exclusive resort. She's stubborn, too, and doesn't want to listen to everyone telling her to stay away, but also because her mother never told her the truth about it. A harrowing read for older teen readers.
Content advisory: strong language, sexual assault.
I got about 80% of the way through this one and had to DNF because I honestly didn't know what the stakes were. Cass has been living a rough life for I got about 80% of the way through this one and had to DNF because I honestly didn't know what the stakes were. Cass has been living a rough life for three years, being beaten on the daily and also having plague, which is ravaging the kingdom. He's made his way back to his home, arriving just in time to see an archer kill one of the royals. His identity is discovered and now he's back at court with a number of other royals, most of whom don't seem trustworthy. Though he feels a connection to Lady Lena, who he met on the outside in disguise, he also can't quite trust her. The beginning was fairly strong, but a lot of events happened and maybe I wasn't listening closely enough. The book's official summary talks about other murders happening and Cass and Lena trying to find out why, but to me it just felt like they were going here and there with no real purpose. At one point Cass ended up chained up in a nunnery? I hadn't realized they were at a nunnery or that he had been in chains. If I hadn't read the official summary I'm not sure I could have put together that they were hunting down a murderer.
Obviously, it may have been my own wandering mind that made this story hard to follow, and possibly reading the story as a physical book might have helped me follow better too. But I couldn't get past the drop at the beginning that Cass had signs of the plague and that the plague was barely mentioned after that point. It's too bad, because this book was nominated for a teen reader choice award in my state and it had so many elements that normally I would love in a book....more
Andi heads off to a music camp in hopes of finding her people - after her mother's death, she's felt displaced in the home of her aunt and uncle. But Andi heads off to a music camp in hopes of finding her people - after her mother's death, she's felt displaced in the home of her aunt and uncle. But Andi struggles to find a place at camp, since she prefers to feel the music rather than read it. Zora has been going to camp for years, but her heart lies in dance. When the two girls are instructed to be "buddies," at first they struggle to find a common ground. Soon, however, they realize their differences can help each other.
I'm not a music person, so that whole aspect of the book bored me a little. I did enjoy Andi's artistic spirit and understood why she stubbornly refused to compromise it, and her memories of her mother were probably my favorite in the novel. Zora had the opposite problem, where she was so tightly controlled that she struggled to let it out. Christopher was a surprise favorite character, and the budding romance between Andi and Zora was sweet. I feel like it took too long to get to Zora's point of view and I might have liked this better if it had alternated between the two more quickly rather than starting alternate viewpoints more than a quarter of the way in (it may have been even halfway before it swapped). Overall, a sweet coming of age romance focusing on two Black girls in a mostly-white environment.
Content advisory: Characters experience racial and sexual microaggressions (and sometimes macroaggressions), one character engages in self-harm. ...more
Mer's gift of being a water diviner hasn't exactly helped her in life: a branded prisoner of the prince, and now on the run from his guards. The only Mer's gift of being a water diviner hasn't exactly helped her in life: a branded prisoner of the prince, and now on the run from his guards. The only person she trusts is Renfrew, who trained her to fight, so when Renfrew says he needs her help to find a magical well to get back at the prince, she agrees. Along the way they pick up Fane, a street fighter who is also infused with magic: the power to kill and scent iron, granted to him by the fae. As others join their crew, Mer and Fane develop a bond, which will be tested when they discover what the wellspring is.
I've enjoyed all of Emily Lloyd-Jones's books that I've read so far, and this was no exception. Much like The Bone Houses, this story is set in a vaguely medieval setting where magic exists. Mer and Fane's magic feels very physical, in that they can sense and move and smell it. Both of them had a lot of walls up and it was very sweet to see them come down little by little throughout the book. The fae are more mysterious figures in the background which worked well to keep them feeling magical and elusive, and I loved the corgi! Even though the title doesn't really fit with the story, it has a magical feeling. I really love this author's worldbuilding and storytelling, and I'll be looking forward to her next book!...more
In this illustrated story, Medusa tells her side of the story as she now lives on an isolated island with only her two sisters for company. A boy appeIn this illustrated story, Medusa tells her side of the story as she now lives on an isolated island with only her two sisters for company. A boy appears and while Medusa was warned when Athena cursed her to have snakes for hair not to let anyone see her face, she can't help but try to get to know the boy Perseus. In their long conversations hidden from his sight, she explains about how Poseidon extracted a promise from her, then destroyed her chances of help from Athena. When Medusa learns of Perseus's real reason for being on the island, she must decide if she wants to try to hide or change herself for love, or if she should reveal herself to him.
I knew the basics of Medusa but not much of her backstory, so listening to how she reveals it to Perseus, who she begins to trust, was full of new information for me. It becomes clear how much Medusa is trusting him and falling for him, while he reveals not as much about himself. The themes of what beauty means for a woman and also how women can have any agency were well-done. The ending differs from what I did know of the mythology. Some of the speech of the characters felt a bit modern, but the other language in the story and the illustrations offered a lush feel to the retelling.
Content advisory: This retelling follows Ovid's version of Medusa's life, which involves being raped by Poseidon. The rape is referred to poetically and without much detail....more
Cristian is a student in Romania in 1989, when communism has a hold over the entire country. In Cristian's world, no one is allowed to speak out againCristian is a student in Romania in 1989, when communism has a hold over the entire country. In Cristian's world, no one is allowed to speak out against the Beloved Leader, Ceaușescu, or seek out any knowledge besides that which is allowed, including any movies, books, or movies from the West, and even though Cristian does see American movies, encouraged by his grandfather, he doesn't believe they are real. When a government agent coerces him into spying on the son of an American diplomat with the threat of Cristian's illegal activities, he slowly begins to suspect everyone of being a spy, including his girlfriend Liliana and his best friend Luca. But as a revolution begins to spark in Romania, Cristian will discover a spy much closer to home, and a danger that threatens his whole family.
This novel came highly recommended by a coworker, and since it was nominated for a teen reader's choice award, I decided to nominate it for a community read... which meant I had to read it. Unlike most historical fiction, this book was a very fast read, both because of the short chapters and the danger Cristian encounters. I didn't know much about the Eastern Bloc and communism beyond the Berlin Wall and Soviet Union, and even then I didn't know much else, so this book was very eye-opening. The ending has several twists that I did not see coming, and very much read like a memoir even though it is fictional. The author did a great job of researching and making that research come to life....more
Elena has always had trouble with people leaving her behind. First, her best friend Robbie moved away to Korea. Then her friend Felicity found new popElena has always had trouble with people leaving her behind. First, her best friend Robbie moved away to Korea. Then her friend Felicity found new popular friends. Even her own twin brother Ethan overshadows her and doesn't want her around. But when Robbie - now famous in a K-pop group - returns and asks her to prom, Elena refuses. She isn't sure if he really means it or if it's a publicity stunt. But as Robbie continues to pursue her, she remembers her old feelings for him... and begins to fall for him.
This was a super adorable romance. I'm not into K-pop but because Elena isn't a superfan, I learned about it alongside her. I love the best friends to lovers thing happening here, as well as how Elena dealt with her relationships with Felicity and Ethan, too. There was quite a bit of Korean culture in the story, but again, it didn't overwhelm me and was easy to understand. I'm not sure if I really needed the bios of each of the band members throughout, they didn't seem especially related to certain chapters involving those band members - they did help give a sense of what K-pop culture is like. This was an easy, fast read (it only took so long because I had to stop and read a different book for book club), a perfect cute and cozy romance....more
Being the daughter of the president, Leigh is one of a number of important political figures' kids housed at a facility where a ship called Lazarus awBeing the daughter of the president, Leigh is one of a number of important political figures' kids housed at a facility where a ship called Lazarus awaits the imminent decline of the climate. When disaster strikes, she's herded onto the ship and shot off into space with those fifty other kids - and no adults to keep them in line. So Leigh steps up as a leader, working with a handful of others to make a plan, since the ship hasn't been able to contact anyone else from Earth, and also has a limited amount of food. As the weeks go on, and hunger sets in, things start to get out of hand.
I was expecting something more like "Gravity" than "Lord of the Flies," so I never felt the sense of being alone from the story. There were a lot of characters to contend with and though they all came from diverse backgrounds, I struggled a bit to imagine them all as being different, I think in part because we didn't get anyone's real backstory. Leigh shared some memories of her friends, but I never really got the sense of her life as a president's daughter, and I definitely didn't connect to any other character's past. I did enjoy the slow romance between Leigh and Asim, and last half of the book barrels toward a twist at the end, I just wish I'd felt more connection to the other characters and their motivations....more
This combination of writing and an artist's journal work together for a moving piece about a Black family during the COVID pandemic. I absolutely loveThis combination of writing and an artist's journal work together for a moving piece about a Black family during the COVID pandemic. I absolutely loved how the text was placed and emphasized giving it the form of poetry. And the artwork was gorgeous! There wasn't really a full "story" with plot, but this gave more of a moment in time feeling and each family member's way of dealing with COVID and police brutality, tied in with the concept of breathing. ...more
After the events of the movie "Brave," Merida meets two gods - the goddess of creation and the god of destruction. Feradach promises to destroy MeridaAfter the events of the movie "Brave," Merida meets two gods - the goddess of creation and the god of destruction. Feradach promises to destroy Merida's kingdom, and gives her a year to show change. With the threat of a neighboring kingdom looming, Merida goes to visit three different kingdoms of the course of a year, where she learns about her parents, her brothers, and most of all, herself.
I love Maggie Stiefvater and her writing, and this story brings plenty of Scottish mythology and magic as only she can. I only recently watching "Brave" for the first time and enjoyed it. I'm not entirely sure the Merida in this book felt like Merida to me - I wanted Merida to be taking more action and causing change rather than things happening to her. But it was a story filled with magic and excitement that made it a solid read. The overall story and plot felt meant for a younger audience, although the language felt a little older....more
People have been going missing after playing "The Echo Game" in the Bronx's subway tunnels. After her best friend's brother goes missing and her mothePeople have been going missing after playing "The Echo Game" in the Bronx's subway tunnels. After her best friend's brother goes missing and her mother comes down with a strange illness that looks like black mold, Raquel is ready to play, too. The Echo Game is no joke, and Raquel will need all of her street smarts, research skills, and a little faith to survive.
The cover and title had made me think this was going to be about protests/riots, but then I read a review that called this a genre-bending horror novel, and I was intrigued. There was a little bit of urban legend, a little bit of zombie-esque action, and some surreal imagery. Some of the relationship stuff (like with Aaron also having a crush on Charlize) didn't feel especially necessary, and I would have liked more background on all the others who had disappeared before Cisco. But it was fast-paced and thrilling.
Side note: I've been working on a novel that takes place in the subway tunnels of the Bronx, so it was really interesting to find a book that also does! In light of that, I think some creepy, slower moments in the tunnels would have been cool, but the subway train ride into the Echo gave me "Midnight Meat Train" vibes....more
Carrie, Johnny's mother, tells him about a memorable summer of her teenage years, about how she and her sisters all became liars. The story involves CCarrie, Johnny's mother, tells him about a memorable summer of her teenage years, about how she and her sisters all became liars. The story involves Carrie's first love, a summer boy named Pfeff, as well as Carrie being haunted by the ghost of her sister Rosemary who drowned the previous year.
Okay, so I misheard Pfeff as "Thef" for the whole book and only just now found out the truth. I also had to speed up the narration because it was so slow, so that may have been why.
I don't really remember the details of We Were Liars except the plot twist, and after reading this I might go back and re-read it with this new backstory. This felt slightly anticlimactic to me for some reason - first because of how Carrie tells the ending as a lie before revealing the truth almost immediately, and how in the telling sort of removes the listener from the immediate experience of what happened to Pfeff. I wish I'd felt more of a connection to Penny or Bess, but there was a lot more about Carrie and Pfeff and Rosemary than Carrie's sisters. Overall the story kept me interested but didn't feel like a thriller. ...more
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