Amber & Clay - Laura Amy Schlitz

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Hermes here. The Greek god - 

No. Don't put down the book - 

I'm talking to you.

I bring you a story that tells

of the quick and the dead:

the tale of a girl as precious as amber,

the tale of a boy as common as clay.

Rhaskos works in the stables. Worth less than a donkey, much less than a horse. But Rhaskos is clever and talented, and beloved of his mother - who has been forced away from her son but is willing to do anything for him.

Melisto is a girl. Wealthy, privileged, intended for a stifling marriage and dangerous childbirth. But first she is to spend a season serving Artemis, goddess of the hunt, as one of her little bears - a season from which she may or may not return.

From the exquisite pen of Laura Amy Schlitz comes a masterpiece of storytelling: the tale of a boy and a girl, told not just in their voices but also in the voices of gods and mothers and the philosopher Sokrates. It brings to vivid life a world two millennia gone and wraps its readers up in an improbable, indelible friendship that crosses the boundaries of class, of gender, and even of life and death.

There they are:

the girl as electric as amber,

and the boy, indestructible as clay."

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This might be the hardest book review I've ever written, because even after I've finished the book, I just...it's hard to pin down. I don't know what to say about it. I don't know how to describe it. I guess we can start with the decision to market it as middle grade. I find that to be a curious decision, because aside from the main characters being kids at the start of the book and growing into teens, I see nothing middle grade about this. A lot of the language and content seemed pretty beyond the average middle grade reader, and even with parts of the book written in verse, it is LONG, and it's fairly dense. 

Obviously I know nothing about book marketing, but it feels to me like they went hmm this is a pretty niche book, how do we sell it? Ummmmm kids always liked those Percy Jackson books, right? This is also about Greek gods and stuff, so let's just call it middle grade and get in on the Rick Riordan crowd? That'll sell some copies. It's definitely why I bought it - I have a handful of older students who are really into mythology, and they've read everything we have in the library multiple times, so I saw this and was like oooh something new for them! Yeah...no. It's not a bad book, I actually quite enjoyed it, but I don't think any of my students would slog through it.

"Heather, you just said you quite enjoyed it, but you sure do seem to be complaining about it a lot for a book you liked!" Yeah, it just really bugs me when things get marketed for an age group that they aren't! I think this was a very unique type of storytelling and a beautiful work of historical fiction, but why not market it to adults? YA is already being targeted to adults instead of teenagers, are we going to start doing that with middle grade too? Yeesh.

Anyway, check this book out if you're a fan of ancient Greece, mythology, etc. It was an interesting read, and the further I got into it the more I liked it. If you do read it, let me know your thoughts about it being marketed as middle grade. I'm curious how other people feel about that.

Property of the Rebel Librarian - Allison Varnes

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Nobody would ever call June Harper a rebel...not until her parents discover an "inappropriate" library book and take strict parenting to a whole new level. Soon everything June loves about Dogwood Middle School - the librarian, the library, an author visit - is gone.

But June can't give up on books...and she realizes she doesn't have to, when she spies a Little Free Library. That gives June an idea: What if she starts a banned-book library of her own?

When June's classmates realize she has access to contraband, they begin a risky reading movement, one that could destroy June - or gain enough power to protect the thing she cares most about: freedom!"

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Sheesh, I tell you what, if you had told me "you're going to read a middle grade book about book banning in the span of a night and then that book is going to give you horrific nightmares about people hunting and killing librarians for sport" I would never have believed you. But that's what happened with this book! My brain is wild. And so is this book. 

The premise is pretty straightforward - June's parents get wildly angry about what seems to me like a pretty mild book and kick off a bunch of nonsense which others in town easily buy into, resulting in ludicrous book bans and kids being threatened with detention or even expulsion if they're caught reading unapproved literature at school. Even some of the students buy into it, forming a dumbass Student Club for Appropriate Reading like a bunch of squares. (For real, even mormon me was not this much of a stick in the mud, and that's really saying something.)

At times, the book reads a little melodramatic, especially because Allison Varnes kind of writes around the reasons most book bans these days are happening and focuses instead on older parent objections to things like characters being disrespectful to authority figures, "potty" humor, and portrayals of magic. The most egregious example of melodrama is probably when the guy crushing on June comes at her with a whispered "you're a liar" and then proceeds to tell her that he knows she's still reading. 

The soap opera vibes from that scene aside, though, and despite my wishing that the book tackled more books being banned for racial representation than just Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry or actually touched on bans for featuring 2SLGBTQIA characters, this book was kind of a downer of a read right up until the very end (and even kind of then) because despite the melodrama, it reflects the reality of SO much of the United States right now. Hence, my nightmare. And I don't even live in an area with serious book challenge issues, the way so many people do. 

Final thoughts: This book really captured the "how on Earth did we get here?" sentiment that washes over me on the regular. It's also a good length for its target readers, and I thought the pace moved quickly enough that it will keep young readers engaged without feeling rushed. Solid book.

Reading isn't the only thing that's hard in September

(Unintended entendre)

Yo yo yo, coming at you live in September, feeling so ready for October break! I am TIRED, y'all, and I tell you what, it isn't the students that make working at an elementary school exhausting, it's the fucking DUMB ASS ADULTS. Don't get me wrong, most of my coworkers are incredible, but the ones that aren't...whew.

Anyway, we don't need to get into the handful of dummies I work with. Instead, let's talk about Property of the Rebel Librarian. It was good! I've got a review on it coming out next week and don't really need to get into specifics here, so I'll just say it took me like...three hours to read? I couldn't put it down.

Thoughts about Maame...It came up on a list of under the radar books, but it says on the cover it was a NYT Bestseller, so I don't know how true that is. Either way, though, GOD, such an incredible book. It was so heartfelt and emotional, and I didn't want to stop reading. At one point, several characters are discussing a book they read and the main character says she liked it so much that she stopped on the last page because she doesn't want it to be over...that's kind of how I feel about this book.

Upcoming challenges: I'm finally going to finish challenge #14, read a book by an author with an upcoming event and attend the event. Anna Kang has a virtual event coming up next Friday with Scholastic, so I'll be reading her newest book, Eraser, and watching that event. Woohoo! At last! And for challenge #22, read a manga or manhwa, I'll be reading Young Miss Holmes, which was SHOCKINGLY hard to find, but find it I did.

Can't believe I'm already almost done with my Read Harder for the year. Wild.

The Truth According to Ember - Danica Nava

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar - well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resume is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets 'creative' listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie - a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).

Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life - and her love life seems to be looking up too: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they're caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember's lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything."

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It's always nice after having a couple of lackluster reviews to read a book and think "you know, I quite liked this!" I preordered this book after a bookseller I follow on Instagram posted about it, and when it finally came out and I opened the package, I had to read it right away. (Sorry, TBR piles, I'm not ignoring you, I'm just not reading you yet.) The cover and the premise really captivated me, and I read it pretty quickly. Sadly, I did not write this review pretty quickly...I started it, and then I got busy and came back to it like a week and a half later. So...my memory of the finer details of the book are growing hazy, and this won't be a detailed review. Sorry, blame it on the dummies I work with who won't mask after multiple people test positive for COVID, resulting in a rotating cast of way too many staff members being out sick and me getting more work dumped on me as a result.

Anyway, there were some moments that irked me a bit, just because I was like Ember what in the world are you thinking?! But I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing - she was painted into some tough corners, sometimes by her own (frankly at times strange) lies, but others because other people were assholes. She put a lot of pressure on herself to handle things on her own and to avoid being a burden, and while that led to trouble in ways that would have been easily avoided by just talking to someone, it's supremely relatable to be so afraid of inconveniencing someone else that you dig yourself into a hole trying to handle shit on your own.

It's hard to decide what my favorite part of this book was, but it might be Danuwoa's sister. (I would check the book for her name, but I don't have it with me, so...sorry.) She was so sweet and so fiery and just absolutely hilarious, and I adored her. I also thought Ember's aunt was incredibly warm and kind, and her best friend was a very fun character. High fives all around for the excellent character development, even the catty company receptionist who was friendly until something not at all in Ember's control made her turn on her...the detail and realism were top notch.

Uhh...I'm very tired, and I probably should have waited to finish this review, but I didn't want to leave it for even longer. So I'm just going to say, read this book. It's good! A little spicy, so warning if you aren't into that. But that's just a handful of scenes, and it's still a solid story.

Cleat Cute - Meryl Wilsner

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women's National Team for ten years, even though she's only 26. But when she's sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. 22-year-old Phoebe is everything Grace isn't - a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become teammates with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

Phoebe Matthews is too focused on her first season as a professional soccer player to think about seducing her longtime idol. But when Grace ends up making the first move, they can't keep their hands off of each other.

As the World Cup approaches and Grace works her way back from injury, a miscommunication leaves the women with hilariously different perspectives on their relationship. But they're on the same page on the field, realizing they can play together instead of vying for the same position. With every tackle the tension between them grows, and both players soon have to decide what's more important - being together or making the roster."

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Well, this book sure did try to do a lot, and it did some of it okay. I thought the initial introductions of the main characters established who they were as people pretty well, and I liked how intentionally inclusive the writing was without feeling forced. I'm also very on board with a book about badass women athletes, so it had me there. Where it started to veer off course for me was the immediacy of Phoebe and Grace's romance. It felt forced and not fully developed when it kicked off, and then on top of that, a lot of the drama for their relationship stemmed from pretty flimsy miscommunications. Very meh.

I also think it seemed like the author wanted to take on a lot of things, like female athletes being grossly underpaid, shitty insurance bullshit that classifies gender-affirming surgery for trans people as elective, and how many girls with ADHD don't get diagnosed and are left to just fend for themselves and figure out how to manage their shit without support. Very cool, all of these things (and everything else in the book that I'm forgetting about now) need to be talked about. But it was sooooo many things to try to squeeze in between steamy secret sex between teammates (sidenote: not a huge fan of "baby girl" as a sexy nickname), so it ended up being a lot of "this thing is mentioned" and then...nothing is done with it. 

The ADHD thing in particular kind of caught me by surprise because it seemed the entire book like Phoebe was very aware that she had ADHD, and then we get almost to the end of the book and it turns out she had no idea. Sorry, but she was basically a walking "Signs of ADHD" poster, and there were MANY mentions to all the time she spends on TikTok...but somehow she never ended up on ADHD TikTok? That's TikTok algorithm slander, honestly. At the end of the day, it didn't ruin the book for me, but I found it very odd.

My issues with the book aside, it's alright. Not amazing, not terrible. Short-ish. Pretty quick read. It's fine.

Most Ardently - Gabe Cole Novoa

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats and skirts he's forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society's expectations. The world - and the vast majority of his family and friends - think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone's wife.

But Oliver can't bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family's home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It's during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to "Elizabeth" at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And not to mention incredibly attractive. 

As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man to be possible. But suitors are growing bolder - and even threatening - and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: Settle for safety, security, and a  life of pretending to be something he's not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own."

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I.........am still really on the fence about how I feel about this book. Which is disappointing, because it's well-documented how much I love a good Pride and Prejudice remix, and the premise for this one was sooooo up my alley. But alas, as good as some moments were, I feel like you don't get much more from the book than what is in the synopsis, and there were some choices that were just straight up weird or not at all fleshed out. Gah, where to begin.

I stepped away to gather my thoughts (a.k.a. I started writing this too close to bedtime and decided to just go to bed and finish it later, and now it is later), and I think what my issues with this book boil down to are this: it did too much while simultaneously doing too little. There were multiple threads going on, some better executed than others, but even with the ones that came through a little better, I don't think anything was developed well enough to truly come together. If less time had been spent on the wilder plotlines (looking at you, Wickham and his friend, for some reason, Collins), more time could have been devoted to the more central plotlines, thus making them...better.

Beyond that, I did think it was a very unique take on a story that has been reimagined countless times, and I thought the support system Oliver had built around himself was lovely. I also really enjoyed the insight into how life might have worked for queer, and specifically trans, people in that time period. Obviously queer people have always been around, but I'm not super well versed in history and social norms of different time periods, so getting some insight into customs of that time period was cool. I can't add half stars to my little rating system, but this was a 3.5 for me.

A Whisper of Curses - J. Elle

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"While the new Magick Academy is under construction, an invitation to Retreat Week arrives! Before the students leave Park Row, Kyana is grabbed by an Available and, even after she slips from the spirit's grasp, can't stop either laughing or crying. Ashley thinks whatever it is, Dr. Minzy, a famous teacher at the retreat, will know what to do. But when the portal to the retreat suddenly dissolves, trapping everyone, Ash thinks Availables are involved. With Kyana acting weird and Russ live-casting everything to the MagickWorld, should Ash say something to the directors (even though she isn't sure she's right) or mind her business and trust that Dr. Minzy will fix it?"

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It's always a pleasant surprise when I learn that a book I like has a sequel out that I didn't know about, and this was no exception. I reviewed book one, A Taste of Magic, a while back and really enjoyed it. Very fun, unique take on magic and how it fits into the regular world. I loved the way this book expanded not only on that world, but on the characters within it. Using a dual perspective to let readers get to know Ashley better and featuring Russ more was so fun, and even through all the drama, I loved the way their different strengths complemented each other.

I also found the mystery intriguing. It seems like a hard thing to balance, giving the reader enough information that they aren't totally lost and confused without giving them too much and making it boring and obvious, and I thought J. Elle did a great job of finding the sweet spot. I think my one wish would have been, in a surprise twist for a middle grade review, having a little bit longer of an ending. Shocking, I know. I'm impossible. It didn't need to be much longer, and overall I thought the length and pace were great, but there was some stuff that ended up getting a quick recap instead of showing it play out that I think giving us a teeny bit more would have made more exciting. That's my tiny gripe.

Other than that, great story, very intriguing, and I found the way that stress and pressure was incorporated and influenced the way the characters acted was a really solid way to address the way adults, sometimes unconsciously, put their expectations on kids and create that pressure and a sense that they have to perform to a certain level in order to be "worth it" or good enough. It was a big theme of the book and something I don't see often. Excellent.