Read Harder is Over, Long Live Read Harder

2025 Read Harder is here, and...I guess I'm ready. (I AM ready, I'm just tired. I may have just woken up from a nap.) As always, there are some intriguing challenges and some meh challenges, but overall, I'm looking forward to them. I got a dice tower made out of a book for Christmas, so I decided that I'll be rolling dice to choose which challenges to do each month. What's more fun than rolling dice and reading books? 24 challenges, so I'm keeping it simple and rolling a d12 twice - one for challenges 1-12, one for challenges 13-24. January's challenges?

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5. Read a book about immigration or refugees

For this challenge, I ended up picking two books. I'll be reading The Only Road, by Alexandra Diaz, and its sequel, The Crossroads. 

24. Pick a 2015 Reader Harder task to complete

I debated between a couple and ultimately landed on "Read a book by someone from an Indigenous culture." I'm torn between two for this one - Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters, a book of short stories by Dan C. Jones, and The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson. They're both relatively short, so maybe this will be another two-fer.

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And so it begins...2025 Read Harder, let's gooooo!

The Luminaries - Susan Dennard

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

From the cover:

"Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you. Only the Luminaries, a society of ancient guardians, stand between humanity and the nightmares of the forest that rise each night.

Winnie Wednesday, an exile from the Luminaries, is determined to restore her family's good name by taking the deadly hunter trials on her sixteenth birthday. But when she turns to her ex best friend Jay Friday for help, they discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark."

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The synopsis provided is for the first book in this trilogy; however, this review is for the trilogy as a whole. I posted a review for the first book after I read it but never reviewed the second book...I don't think...so now that I've finished the whole thing, I figured why not review it all? For those of you who don't want to go back and read the first review, I shared that this trilogy is extra special for me because the author did a "Sooz" your own adventure thing on Twitter during the pandemic, which ultimately led to her reviving the manuscript and it getting published. It was such a cool thing to do and the sense of community from it was beautiful, and it just all warms my heart. Also, fun fact, the synopsis in that review is different than this one, so that's interesting.

For the record, I also speculated about whether there was enough backstory and connecting information in the book for people who didn't follow the Twitter adventure to still follow this story, and I asked for volunteers who hadn't been a part of Sooz Your Own Adventure to read book one (for science!). Courageous adventurer that they are, my sister volunteered, and it turned out it's a solid story whether or not you're familiar with the Twitter adventure (read her review here!). 

There is a bit of a learning curve initially as you get up to speed with the structure of the world, but what fantasy doesn't come with a bit of a learning curve, right? Fortunately, once you've got a handled on the mist and the nightmares and all the Luminary houses and what the Dianas are, there are totally no questions at all and everything is super straightforward and not at all stressful.

Hahaha just kidding, this trilogy is so stressful! That's not a knock, though, because it's in the best way. You start off and all you really know is that Winnie, her brother, and her mom got kicked out of the Luminaries after their dad was caught doing magic and revealed to be a Diana. Winnie is convinced he was framed and has a plan for getting their family reinstated to the Luminaries and hopefully ultimately finding a way to prove his innocence. From there, the more you learn, the less you know. Every reveal led to more and more questions, and up until the last couple of chapters, I still was like "ahhhhhh what is HAPPENING?!"

There were so many small details that had to be tied together, and in the end, all the endless questions paid off in a big way. I thought things wrapped up really well, and I can't wait to read this trilogy again and connect dots I know I missed on my first read-through.

Your Blood, My Bones - Kelly Andrew

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

From the cover:

"Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited - to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement - Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.

Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family's property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can't really live, either. Not while he's bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There's only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.

He needs to kill Wyatt.

With Wyatt's parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter - the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who's sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart."

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 Look...I'm going to start this review by acknowledging that this type of book? Really not for me. It isn't my cup of tea, it's never something I'm going to seek out, and I read it more out of obligation than anything else. Disclaimer having been made, I'll also say that the synopsis from the cover makes it sound so much more suspenseful and spooky than it actually ended up being. Former friends, dark secrets, one plotting murder, but then...a grisly twist forces them together. 

Instead, what the reader gets is things revealed that don't totally make sense to reveal, then the narrative sort of pretending like those things haven't been revealed and tiptoeing around them with weird hints even though, hello, that's not a secret! All while things that it would actually make sense to reveal to the reader are inexplicably kept a secret. I didn't totally understand how the author chose what to reveal and what to keep hidden, and it made things both frustrating and a little boring. Maybe I was supposed to get swept up in how Wyatt didn't yet know the things I did, but trying to do that just didn't do it for me.

Add to that that nothing much really happened and...eh. Don't get me wrong, there were a few creepy-lite moments, but thinking back on my reading experience, it was pages and pages of angsty arguing between Wyatt and Peter and then like a few paragraphs of oh my god! And then immediately back to the angsty arguing. It would have been forgivable if all the back and forth between them furthered the story, but it was just rehashing the exact same plot point over and over with no new development. No thank you. Begging you to pick up the pace. 

Maybe I would have gotten more swept away in everything if horror was more my thing, but I don't know. If anything, I feel like my aversion to anything in this vein should have meant even horror-lite gave me the shivers. Instead, I was three hundred pages in and checking to see how much was left, wondering if something was actually going to happen at some point. Spoiler alert: Not really! My approach when I write fiction is "write these big scenes that I already have in my head!" and then "FUCK, now I have to fill in around these, how do I do that?" And this book very much read like that. They had an idea for a beginning, they had an idea for the end, and then...uhh....

Anyway, I totally thought I had finished this review and scheduled it to post yesterday, and I just realized that was not the case. So...enjoy, it was mostly done.

Garden of the Cursed - Katy Rose Pool

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

From the covers:

Garden of the Cursed:

"Since fleeing the gilded halls of Evergarden for the muck-filled canals of the Marshes, Marlow Briggs has made a name for herself as the best godsdamn cursebreaker in Caraza City. But no matter how many cases she solves, she is still haunted by the mystery of her mother's disappearance.

When Adrius Falcrest, Marlow's old friend and scion of one of Caraza's most affluent spell-making families, asks her to help break a life-threatening curse, Marlow wants nothing to do with the boy who spurned her a year ago. But a new lead in her mother's case makes Marlow realize that the only way to get the answers she desperately seeks is to help Adrius and return to Evergarden society - even if it means suffering through a fake love affair with him to avoid drawing suspicion from the conniving Five Families.

As the investigation draws Marlow into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies, a shocking truth emerges: Adrius's curse and her mother's disappearance may just be clues to an even larger mystery, one that could unravel the very foundations of Caraza and magic itself."

Masquerade of the Heart

"The city of Caraza sits poised on the edge of chaos. And cursebreaker Marlow Briggs is at the center of a deadly struggle for power. In the tragic aftermath of the Vale-Falcrest wedding, Marlow is spurned by Adrius, who refuses to speak to her and publicly vows to find a noble wife before the year is out. 

Despite her heartbreak, Marlow is still intent on breaking his Compulsion curse. To do so, she'll have to play loving daughter to the man who cast it - the man who's hell-bent on reshaping Caraza in his own image, no matter the cost. But the closer she gets to her long-lost father, the more Marlow starts to question if he's really the villain she's made him out to be. As the lines between enemy and ally blur, Marlow must decide if she's willing to sacrifice her heart's desire to save a city that wants her dead."

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I don't know if I've ever written about multiple books in one review before, but that's what I'm going with for this one because it's a duology that probably could have been one book. I got the first book in a subscription box and it really hooked me, so when it was a duology I was like ok, hell yeah, let's buy the second book! And then second book? Meh. 

The whole storyline is basically unraveling a mystery, so I don't want to give too much away, but basically book one is Marlow taking on rival gang members, corrupt politicians, and the odd person with a grudge as she tries to figure out a. what caused her mom's disappearance a year ago and b. who cursed Adrius and what she needs to do to break his curse. It's full of intrigue and danger, with just enough information revealed to keep you on the edge of your seat. And then, just as things are coming to a head - to be continued.

Then book two just feels so aimless. Honestly, I feel like this is something that happens a lot with duologies and trilogies. The concept is so good, the first part of the series is action packed and full of suspense and then...not enough compelling stuff left for the last book, but you gotta fill the pages somehow, so it drags. In this case, if anything there were too many ideas. It was like okay, I know we need to get from x happening at the end of book one to y happening to wrap everything up, and we could do that via Twist A, Twist B, Twist C, or Twist D...orrrrrrr maybe we do it with ALL OF THEM! There were so many ends that were brought in and then just kind of dropped, it made the whole narrative feel unfocused, and then when things finally did wrap up in the last handful of chapters it was kind of unsatisfying. 

Probably the most unsatisfying thing about being unsatisfied with the ending is that I thought the main plot hook in the second book was GOOD! Truly, if this had been one like...450-500 page book instead of two 350-ish page books, it probably would have been five stars for me. But alas, had to go with a duology, and now here we are, three stars. Not every story needs to be multiple books, y'all. Someone tell that to publishers.

The Last Bloodcarver - Vanessa Le

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

From the cover:

"In the harsh, industrial city of Theumas, she is seen not as a healer as she was meant to, but a monster that kills for pleasure. And in the city's criminal underbelly, the rarest of monsters are traded for gold. When Nhika is finally caught by the infamous Butchers, she's auctioned off to the highest bidder - a mysterious girl garbed in white. But this strange buyer doesn't want to use Nhika as an assassin or a trophy piece. She intends to use Nhika's bloodcarving to heal the last person who saw her father's killer.

As Nhika delves into the investigation amid Theumas's wealthiest and most powerful, all signs point to Ven Kochin, an alluring yet entitled physician's aide intent on casting her out of his opulent world. But despite his relentless attempts to push her away, something inexplicable draws Nhika to him. When she discovers Kochin is not who he claims to be, Nhika must face a greater, more terrifying evil, turning her quest for justice into a fight for her life.

Her only chance to survive lies in a terrible choice - become the dreaded monster the city fears, or risk destroying herself and the future of her kind."

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I've been making a concerted effort to read all the books I buy this year, which includes my random monthly book subscriptions. This is one that I've been curious about, and I got into it right away. It was a bedtime read, and I finished it in four nights. It was hard to put down, and honestly if I wasn't exhausted from iron deficiency and a pup recovering from surgery who wakes me up over and over every night, I would probably have stayed up past my bedtime to finish it even faster. 

I found the premise super interesting, and I loved Nhika and her very complicated relationship with her mysterious rescuer, the woman in white, and her family. Without spoilers, I will say that I unraveled the mystery pretty early on in the book, but even with my strong suspicions of what was going on, the story pulled me in. I think my last night of reading I had about a hundred and fifty pages left, and I refused to go to bed without finishing it. Crushing decision, because some of the last hundred and fifty pages are so heartbreaking, so then when I went to sleep I was very sad. But it was so good! 

The only downside to having read this book...is that now the other book subscription books I need to read from this year all sound scary and kind of horror-y and not necessarily my vibe. 😭 I guess there's a reason I left them for last.

I read harder, and now it's time to read easy

Oooh baby, read harder has concluded, and a month early?! Go me! I finished my Who Has Done This, Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, and while I will say that I question whether each story really gives you all the information you would need to solve it, I still found it engaging and fun to read and try to figure out what happened. I'm looking forward to adding it to my school library, and I'm thinking I might use some of the short stories as a lesson activity to see if classes can solve the mystery.

Rumaysa was not something related to poetry, which I think was my guess for the challenge that I picked. It's actually a retelling of a fairytale - I went back and looked, and I picked one of the 202 challenges, read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color. I picked a good one! It's a compilation of a few retellings: Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. I loved the way they blended the three stories, with some girl power flavor. My only gripe is that the Rumaysa's story was never fully resolved. Otherwise, excellent!

And...that's a rap, I guess. I'll be back in December with my first picks for 2025!

Sleep Like Death - Kalynn Bayron

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

From the cover:

"Princess Eve was raised with one purpose: to destroy the Knight. Far too many generations of Queen's Bridge have been terrorized by this evil sorcerer's trickery. Eve's own unique magic - the ability to conjure weapons from nature - makes her a worthy adversary.

As she approaches her seventeenth birthday, Eve is ready to battle. But her mother, Queen Regina, has been acting bizarrely, talking to a strange mirror alone every night. Then a young man claiming to be the Knight's messenger appears and shares  a shocking truth about Eve's past. Unsure of who to trust, Eve must find the courage to do what she's always done: fight. But will it be enough to save her family and her queendom?"

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Oh my goddddddddddddddd this book was so good. I've read one other book by Kalynn Bayron, Cinderella is Dead, and I thought it was solid but dragged a bit after a while. I was curious to see if this would be similar, and while I did think there were a couple things that got repetitive, the pace was solid and there were enough big reveals and plot twists that it's easy to forgive a little repetition. I thought Eve and her mother were such badasses, and I was so curious about Eve's powers...but the real strength of this story? The secondary characters. 

Just...SO good. Nova? Nuanced, complicated, and wonderful. Claude? What do I even say about Claude? Thoughtful, strong, vulnerable. His boys? HIS BOYS. Ugh, I love them so much. Truly, they made the book what it was, and the way that Eve had to unlearn being fiercely independent and never needing help, let people in, and lean on them even though it wasn't something she was comfortable with...so emotional. So beautiful.

Plus, don't judge a book by its cover...but judge this book by its cover, baby.

Glorious. And it has bright green sprayed edges (poisoned apple, babyyyyy), artwork on the inside cover and the reverse side of the book cover. BEAUTIFUL.

At the End of the River Styx - Michelle Kulwicki

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

From the cover:

"Before he can be reborn, Zan has spent 499 years bound in a 500-year curse to process souls for the monstrous Ferryman - and if he fails he dies.

In Portland, Bastian is grieving. He survived a car accident that took his mother and impulse-purchased a crumbling bookstore with the life insurance money.

But in sleep, death's mark keeps dragging Bastian into Zan's office. It shouldn't be a problem to log his soul and forget he ever existed. But when Zan follows Bastian through his memories of grief and hope, Zan realizes that he is not ready for Bastian to die.

The boys borrow time hiding in the memories of the dead while the Ferryman hunts them, and Zan must decide if he's willing to give up his chance at life to save Bastian - and Bastian must decide if he's willing to keep living if it means losing Zan."

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Intriguing concept for this Owlcrate book that I will once again argue does not qualify as YA. It hooked me enough that I started it pretty quickly (I have six Owlcrate books waiting ahead of this one but let it jump the line), but sadly I don't know that it fully delivered. Last quarter of the book? Totally. Well...mostly. I found the ending emotional and kind of lovely, just a touch unsatisfying. Maybe like 4-4.5 stars. Unfortunately, that lovely and emotional last quarter of a book is preceded by the first three quarters, which draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag.

Like...so little happens. I genuinely don't think you get much more information or character development from the first hundred or so pages than you start out with from the first few chapters. The pace is way too slow, with lots of hints at upcoming information that, by the time they come, you're like oh ok, I kinda figured. And while I felt Bastian's grief, the two main conflicts - struggling with his relationships and the expectations of his friends/brother and his struggle with the Ferryman/Zan - were both basically repeats of the same interaction over and over with very little change or growth to the action. 

It was kind of a letdown, especially because even though it seemed impossible to tell people about being marked for death, as a reader I was like ok at some point he's going to open up to his friends and tell them about this, right? And they're all going to work together to come up with some solution, right? WRONG! He's just going to repeat the same interaction with them over and over until you get far enough into the book that he decides he's going to try to open up and rely on his friends!

Oh, no, wait, he does finally tell his brother about it...hope! A light at the banks of the river of death! But then...nothing comes of it. Soooooo what was the point of that?

Similarly, he has a handful of mostly negative interactions with Zan, and then pretty apropos of nothing it's like nah, actually, these two are in love. Truly, there was more relationship development in the last couple chapters than in the entire rest of the book combined, which is wild.

Bah, I don't know. I feel like rating this overall at three stars is a wee bit generous, especially given all my griping in this review, but with the exception of the END end, I really did find the later chapters enjoyable, so I don't want to rate it too low. I just feel like there was a lot of potential and it fell short. Could have been great, ended up being meh. The cover art and sprayed edges on the special edition version though? Beautiful. And you know...I feel like people say "don't judge a book by its cover" like something ugly on the outside might be beautiful on the inside, but really it should be used to mean the opposite - don't think something is good just because it's pretty.

Books to read when you're sick

We spent fall break in Costa Rica, and when I tell you it was amazing...y'all, it was amazing. I mean, feast your eyes.

It was very hard to narrow all my pictures down to only four, but I tried to pick a nice sample of all the incredible things we saw and did. There is balance in all things though, so as lovely as this trip was...of course the day after we got back, I got sick as fuck and missed my entire book fair. It wasn't COVID, so that's a plus, but I do have some kind of weird, never-ending stomach bug, so that's very much a negative. Whatever it is, I needed something to fill my time between naps on the couch and what better way to fill time than rewatch Ted Lasso for the millionth time and then rewatching it again read a bunch of books?

I started off ambitiously with a new non-fiction book I was really excited about, Yonder Come Day by Jasmine L. Holmes. VERY good, incredibly emotional. Then I realized I was probably too tired to hyperfixate on another non-fiction book, so I finished listening to an audiobook I'd started on my trip, Gemina, and moved on to the audiobook for the third book in this trilogy, Obsidio. 

Now, the tricky thing about audiobooks...can't listen to them while Ted Lasso plays in the background and pretending you're absorbing both. So between audiobook listens, I also read Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett and Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills (my love for both of these is well-documented), interspersed with chapters from The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon, which is fantastic. 

And while I did manage to work a half day today, today being...about a week and a half before this post is published, I am still very much sick. I'll be off tomorrow so I can go to the doctor and hopefully figure out wtf is going on with my stomach (please, I'd really like to climb again at some point, not to mention just generally be able to eat and feel normal), and while I wait for my appointment, I'll be rereading Starry Eyes, also by Jenn Bennett, my love for this also well-documented. So hey. If you have to be sick, at least there are books. And Ted Lasso.

October's Read Harder was actually Read Easier

Look, I read a picture book for one of them, so that's not a challenge. Young Miss Holmes was quite fun, I enjoyed it. I wish it was more readily available, I would love to read more of it. Sadly, I'm not sure about spending $25-30 per book on these, so...womp womp.

Uhhhhhh two month left and only two books to go? So strange, being ahead of the curve like this. My last two challengers are to read a howdunnit or whydunnit mystery (or, in the words of the great Captain Raymond Holt, a Who Has Done This?) and to pick a challenge from any of the previous years to repeat. God, I hate that prompt so much. Lazy.

Anyway, for me Who Has Done This I'll be reading Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, which is a collection of short story mysteries and should be fun. I didn't write down which prompt I chose to repeat and picked it a while ago, so I honestly don't remember which prompt I'm repeating (sorry), but the book I'll be reading for the last challenge is Rumaysa by Radiya Hafiza. I feel like it was maybe a poetry challenge?

Well, wow...last two books and then Reading Harder is done for 2024, amazing! Let's do it!

Speed Reviews (that's a thing!)

I was ahead on blog content, and then I didn't have much reading and reviewing time, and now we're like sixteen hours out from a flight to Costa Rica, and I want to make sure there's something in the bank in case I end up getting so caught up in ziplining and white water rafting and such that I don't write anything while I'm there. So, I bring you....speed reviews. Like speed dating. But for books. Hopefully I don't accidentally speed review something I reviewed for real and don't remember.

1. Escape from Atlantis by Kate O'Hearn - Interesting. Kind of long. Thought it would be a standalone. Kind of seems like it isn't.

2. The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix - Weird, but in a good way. Fun twists. Quick read.

3. This is My America by Kim Johnson - So heavy, so real. Such a damning indictment of our justice system here in the US.

4. Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino - Loved this so much, it's cute and also gets very real, and I just think it was fantastic.

5. Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool - Hooked me faster than I thought it would! Interesting world, and I really enjoyed it (although the second book in the duology has been less riveting so far, unfortunately).

6. Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh - God, this book got so real. I should have known because it's heavy pretty much from the jump, but it got into so many things, and I learned a lot about the Korean War. Very good, very emotional.

7. Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus - KAREN DOES IT AGAIN. Love it. So many twists.

8. The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna - Final book in the Gilded Ones trilogy, not as good as the first two though. Seemed like not enough content trying to be stretched for a third book - I would have taken a couple longer books and rocked a duology, I think that would have been great.

9. The Spirit Glass by Roshani Chokshi - Look, this book is an adventure story, but also such a unique take on one? Like not a lot happened, but also so much happened at the same time. And it made me cry. It's good.

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."

📚📚📚 

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."

📚📚📚 

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."

 📚📚📚

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?"

📚📚📚 

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.

Reading Harder in August

Art of Drag, what's up babyyyyyy? It was a beautiful book, so informative and colorful and wonderful. It's very much a coffee table book, and even has a cool binding style where the spine of the cover isn't attached to the spine of the book, so the pages can lay fully flat and you can view the gorgeous art in all its glory. I will not be leaving it out on my coffee table, because my brain functions in organized piles, leaving my coffee table a hot mess 90% of the time, but I will keep it easily accessible to trot out when the opportunity presents itself. In addition to the impressive artwork, I thought it covered the timeline and development of drag through the ages in a really accessible way, giving detail without being super overwhelming or academic. Solid, solid read.

Now, six books left. In September, I'll be reading Property of the Rebel Librarian by Allison Varnes for challenge number twenty, Read a Book About Books, and Maame by Jessica George for number twenty-one, Read a Book That Went Under the Radar in 2023. Maame is a bit of a departure from my typical reads, in that it is neither YA nor middle grade, but it should be a solid read, and I'm already looking forward to adding Property of the Rebel Librarian to my school library when I finish it.

The Sun and The Star - Mark Oshiro and Rick Riordan

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

From the cover:

"As the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo has been through so much, from the premature deaths of his mother and sister, to being outed against his will, to losing his friend Jason during the trials of Apollo. But there is a ray of sunshine in his life - literally: his boyfriend, Will Solace, the son of Apollo. Together the two demigods can overcome any obstacle or foe. At least, that's been the case so far...

Now Nico is being plagued by a voice calling out to him from Tartarus, the lowest part of the Underworld. He thinks he knows who it is: a reformed Titan named Bob whom Percy and Annabeth had to leave behind when they escaped Hades's realm. Nico's dreams and Rachel Dare's latest prophecy leave little doubt in Nico's mind that Bob is in some kind of trouble. Nico has to go on this quest, whether Mr. D and Chiron like it or not. And of course Will insists on coming with. But can a being made of light survive in the darkest part of the world? And what does the prophecy mean that Nico will have to 'leave something of equal value behind?'"

📚📚📚 

I was a little on the fence about how to rate this book and ended up going a little high, although the initial draw did some of the heavy lifting with that. I will put partial blame for the lower rating on plot on me - I haven't read a book set in this world in a long while, and while I know I read at least the first book in the Trials of Apollo series, I definitely haven't read them all, so there were references to things that I was like uhhhh what?! Turns out the emotional turmoil over losing Jason doesn't hit as hard when...you didn't know Jason died. (Sucks, though. And now I need to finish Trials of Apollo.) Outside of that, though, I dropped my stars a bit mainly because I found the pace slow and thought the driving drama, turmoil between Nico and Will, while overall an interesting choice after a while became kind of manufactured and repetitive.

That said, I still thought it was an enjoyable read. I thought the story touched on some really important things, like dealing with mental health and maintaining your relationships in healthy ways. I also liked seeing kind of a different side of the Underworld - a big part of the initial action involved worry that the quest would be cursed or go poorly because there weren't three questers, but then throughout their adventures, Nico and Will found a third partner in multiple denizens of the Underworld. Given that one of the big parts of Nico's story is wanting to introduce will to his second home and show him the parts of it he loves, even while they're heading to Tartarus, I thought showcasing the heart and kindness of some of its residents was a great way to do that.

Overall, as is true for so many middle grade books that I read, I thought this book should (and more importantly COULD) have been shorter, but otherwise, it was solid. Not the best book I've read set in this universe, but what it lacked in pacing and excitement it made up for in emotion and heart.

One last thought, because this comes up at one point in the book and is never really answered...is the whole "sun and star" thing a reference to something? Because if it is, I did not know to what.

The Bennet Women - Eden Appiah-Kubi

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

From the cover:

"Welcome to Bennet House, the only all-women's dorm at prestigious Longbourn University, home to three close friends who are about to have an eventful year. EJ is an ambitious Black engineering student. Her best friend, Jamie, is a newly out trans woman studying French and theater. Tessa is a Filipina astronomy major with guy trouble. For them, Bennet House is more than a residence - it's an oasis of feminism, femininity, and enlightenment. But as great as Longbourn is for academics, EJ knows it can be a wretched place to find love.

Yet the fall season is young and brimming with surprising possibilities. Jamie's prospect is Lee Gregory, son of a Hollywood producer and a gentleman so charming he practically sparkles. That leaves EJ with Lee's arrogant best friend, Will. For Jamie's sake, EJ must put up with the disagreeable, distressingly handsome, not quite famous TV actor for as longa s she can.

What of it? EJ has her eyes on a bigger prize, anyway: launching a spectacular engineering career in the "real world" she's been hearing so much about. But what happens when all their lives become entwined in ways no one could have predicted - and EJ finds herself drawn to a man who's not exactly a perfect fit for the future she has planned?"

📚📚📚 

Oh, I do love a Pride & Prejudice retelling! And between this and Debating Darcy, I've been reading some winners recently. (Next up: Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa. Honestly, an embarrassment of riches.) Please note, in case you have interest in reading this, this review will contain some degree of spoilers. Read on with caution.

Similarly to Debating Darcy, I enjoyed that the original characters were incorporated into this story in different ways. Instead of SISTER sisters, they're dorm sisters...it's not really a sorority, right? Although it seems like there are similarities. Anyway, they're chosen family instead of blood family, and the way that they connect and relate to each other is way different and really sweet. 

Additionally, while a bit heavy-handed at times, I enjoyed the way some of the more hurtful moments in the original were honored while being handled differently. For example, Jamie and Lee have bumpy relationship moments, but the way they communicate and resolve them, instead of one of them essentially ghosting, is so sweet. (Sidenote: It really tickles me to think of Bingley leaving in the original as ghosting) Also, while a version of Darcy's terrible first confession of love is incorporated, I like that this confession was a. basically a rough draft and b. shared with other people instead of EJ, so then they could say hey, dufus, that's SO insulting! Instead of EJ's feelings being further hurt.  

If I had one gripe with this book, it would be that there was a little too much crammed in, so instead of REALLY developing one or two things about each character we got lots of partially developed things. Still fine, just a small grumble. Outside of that, and beyond my comparisons to the original inspiration, I found this story enjoyable as its own thing. I loved seeing so many passionate, inspiring women coming together and supporting each other, the way the various families, found or otherwise, supported each other was lovely, and while there were ups and downs and the book dealt with serious things, like discrimination in STEM, disordered eating, and addiction, there was so much encouragement and having each others' backs that it was just...so lovely and ultimately uplifting to read. 

Final thought, I found it very fitting that garbage people Carrie and Jordan ended up together and that Colin got dumped. Very much appreciate those choices.

Allegedly - Tiffany D. Jackson

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

From the cover:

"Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn't say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing Black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn't a point to setting the record straight before, but now she's got Ted - and their unborn child - to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary's fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?"

📚📚📚 

God, this book. As mentioned in my summer reading recap, it ROCKED ME. First of all, what an indictment of our justice system and how fucked it is. I mean, I know it is. But every time I read anything, fact or fiction, delving into it, I realize another dimension of just how truly fucked it is. This book in particular got into how children are treated, and...it's trash. Utter trash. Whether someone, especially a child, has committed a crime or not, mistreating them to the degree that people in the penal system are mistreated is horrendous.

Now, getting into the writing, I thought the decision to intersperse excerpts from Mary's trial and flashbacks into the present day was the best way to tell this story. The reader goes into Mary's story in basically the same way the jury and the general public did, and then we have to form our own opinions with the little bit of insight we're given. And even with the insight we're given, there's really no way of knowing what actually happened or if you're making the right call. It kind of gives you an idea of what it would be like to be in the jurors' shoes, which...it seems like a difficult position to be in, but also it reenforces that I don't ever want to jump to conclusions or make assumptions the way that people did in Mary's case.

I don't want to give any of the story away, so beyond this, I'll just say this is a heavy book. And even after finishing it, I've been thinking about it for days. If you haven't read this book, you should.

Reading Harder in July

The main thing I wanted to do during summer break was climb, climb, climb as many days a week as I could. I started off really strong, and then immediately got hurt...and then got hurt again...and then got hurt again...and then got hurt again...sooooo yeah, didn't get to climb anywhere NEAR as much as I wanted to, but I guess silver lining, all that not being able to climb meant lots of being able to read time. I finished Apple: Skin to the Core, which was great, as well as The Bennett Women (review to come) and Can You Believe It, which is an excellent resource for teaching kids about how to spot fake information and will be added to my library next week when I go back to work.

Well, five months to go, eight books left to read. For August, I was planning to read 50 Drag Queens Who Changed the World by Dan Jones (#18: Read a book about drag or queer artistry), but the only place I could find it to buy was Amazon, so I started looking at other options, and what the fuck, y'all, I've checked FOUR books, and the only one that I could find at my local book store costs FIFTY DOLLARS. Bogus. Do better, publishing industry. Should have been easier to choose a book, especially now that I have multiple options to try and choose from, but of the four I was looking at there's the $50 option, my first choice that is only on Amazon, one that I couldn't find available anywhere, and finally one that the only place I could find it was Half-Priced Books. Sigh. 

tl:dr After much deliberation and skimming of reviews, I've decided to choose The Art of Drag by Jake Hall for this challenge.

I also chose Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert for challenge #19: Read a romance with neurodivergent characters. Last time I chose a book for a similar prompt it was The Kiss Quotient, which was not a great experience. Sidenote, I was shocked when I went back to grab the link for that review and saw that overall I gave it three stars. Past Dewey, what were you thinking? That book was two stars, for sure. Should I do a thing where I go back and re-review previously reviewed books to see if my opinion has changed?

Anyway, I've read a Talia Hibbert book before and found it pleasant (hey, I also reviewed this one! Get a Life, Chloe Brown), if a little unexpectedly spicy, so I went into this one with a good feeling, especially being prepared to expect some spice. Which ended up being an unnecessary preparation, because this book had none.🤣 (Also, yeah, already finished it...I checked it out from my library's digital collection and couldn't put it down).

So...yeah, Art of Drag, let's do this!

Summer Reading recap

Well...it finally happened. My summer break is coming to a close. And what better way to end the summer than with a recap of all the books I read and maybe some brief thoughts about the ones I didn't review on here? Sounds good to me!

Books I read this summer:

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - Well-documented that I love this book. Finished it the first day of break, so I'm counting it.

2. A Fate Worse Than Death by Nisha Patel - So intense, so stark, so real.

3. Abyss by Pilar Quintana - Could not put it down.

4. Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta - Did I review this? If not, I should have. I honestly can't remember. I could check, but I'm tired. Anyway, it was excellent, and I loved the way she kept true to P&P while telling her own story. (I checked, and I DIDN'T review it?! What was I thinking?) 

5. Dragonboy by Megan Reyes - Did review this. Meh.

6. The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle - Love this book, every time I read it I love it more. Listen to the audiobook! It's so good.

7. Bite Me, Royce Taslim by Lauren Ho - Needed something more. The idea was solid, but the main character was deeply unlikeable.

8. The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit - So sweet, I loved the whole family and thought the story took something innocent and childlike, wanting to be a detective like the character in your favorite book, and spun it in a way that was surprising and deep.

9. Omega Morales and the Curse of El Cucuy by Laekan Zea Kemp - love these books, love these characters. I really enjoy how the whole family is incorporated.

10. Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin - Loved the premise, execution was a tad dull but it was still enjoyable.

11. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe - EXCELLENT.

12. Hey, U Up? (For a Serious Relationship): How to Turn Your Booty Call into Your Emergency Contact by Emily Axford and Brian Murphy - I adore these two, and this was so funny. 

13. A Vicious Game by Melissa Blair - WOW, what a twist! Also, totally thought this was a trilogy, learned at the cliffhanger at the end of this one THAT IT ISN'T?! GAHHHH. Now I have to wait for the next one.

14. The Dream Runners by Shveta Thakrar - Reviewed, great idea with meh execution.

15. Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth - So emotional.

16. Disability Visibility (adapted for young readers) by Alice Wong - I read the full version of this and thought it was excellent. This version is also excellent!

17. The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas - Reviewed, loved it loved it loved it.

18. Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson - ROCKED ME. Review to come.

19. The Bennett Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi - Pretty solid, nice twist on Pride and Prejudice.

20. Escape from Atlantis by Kate O'Hearn - Not at all what I expected, pretty good though. My one big gripe, the same gripe I have with almost every middle grade or children's book that I read, is...you guessed it...THIS BOOK IS TOO LONG! I read it pretty quickly, and I can think of a handful of students who would power through it, but 450 pages for a kid's book is too many pages.

21. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert - Very sweet and adorable.

The Manifestor Prophecy - Angie Thomas

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

From the cover:

"It's not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool - like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much - like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.

All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she's never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed."

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Ooooh baby, first middle grade from Angie Thomas! I bought this shortly after it came out, and I'm FINALLY getting around to reading it, after way too long of a delay. SO GOOD. I loved the way the action kicked off, and while it seemed like a gargantuan task that Nic, J.D., and Alex were taking on, I thought information was revealed bit by bit in the perfect places. There was so much tension and sense of urgency, but also enough hope that it never got overwhelming or felt impossible. Also, really enjoyed the way small details from early on came back later, and I all around love, love, LOVE J.D. Such a sweet kid and amazing friend. This book flew by for me, and I loved every minute of it.

Second book when?!

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October 1st!

The Dream Runners - Shveta Thakrar

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

From the cover:

"Seven years ago, Tanvi was spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok, where she joined the ranks of the dream runners: human children freed of all memory and emotion, charged with harvesting mortal dreams for the consumption of the naga court.

Venkat knows a different side of Nagalok. As apprentice to the influential Lord Nayan, he shapes the dream runners' wares into the kingdom's most tantalizing commodity. And Nayan has larger plans for these mortal dreams: with a dreamsmith of Venkat's talent, he believes he can use them to end a war between nagas and their ancient foe, the garudas.

But when one of Tanvi's dream harvests goes awry, she begins to remember her life on Earth. Panicked and confused, she turns to the one mortal in Nagalok who can help: Venkat. And as they search for answers, a terrifying truth begins to take shape -  one that could turn the nagas' realm of dreams into a land of waking nightmare."

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This book is a study in contrasts and contradictions. For example, beautiful world building and imagery...but lacking character development. Tons of detail and focus on the mythology of the nagas and garudas...but not enough information for readers (or at least this reader) to really have a grasp on what's happening. I'm curious if someone reading who was more familiar with the naga/garuda stories would have enjoyed this book more having all that background understanding of what the story was inspired by, because the best way I can describe reading this book is that it was like being the person going to see a movie version of a book NOT having read the book. It might still be a decent story...but you're never going to distill all the minutia and little details of a several hundred page long book into a couple hours long movie.

I can't decide if it's better to talk about the things I liked or the things that I didn't first...compromise, alternate?

Thing I loved: All the rich descriptions of Nagalok. The dreamstones dream runners use to collect dreams, all the decor and nature of the realm, the luxurious food, the colorful, beautifully-made clothing...painted a gorgeous picture.

Thing I didn't love: For such a long book, very little actually happened. Like...the synopsis is basically the entire book. Tanvi freaking out because she's starting to remember things and Venkat vacillating between how he can best take care of the dream runners and wanting to be completely loyal to Nayan takes up probably eighty percent of the book, with very little progress actually being made, and there's really no clear "this is the lurking danger" or "here is what you should be concerned about as a reader. It's all very muddy.

Thing I liked: Asha. Very assertive and adventurous. She was super bold and by far the character whose actions and motivations made the most sense. I would be friends with Asha.

Things I didn't like: The other characters, even Tanvi and Venkat, felt so underdeveloped, and it made a lot of what was happening fall flat. I think part of the issue was too many characters, or maybe spending too much time on the same plot points, which meant less time for developing characters. We were introduced to several characters who seemed to be intended as an important part of the story but only showed up a couple times, and even with Tanvi and Venkat, they spent so little time together and their preexisting relationship was never established, so then all of a sudden it was like "oh, they're super into each other, and Venkat has always been enamored with Tanvi and how fiery she was before she went through Dream Runner initiation!" And I was like ....I have seen no evidence to support any of this. What?

So. Anyway. I don't know. Do I think this was a BAD book? No. But to be honest, both this and Shveta Thakrar's last book, Star Daughter, feel like they started with an incredible idea but no clear direction for how to execute that idea. Read it if you want to, but if you don't...you don't.

Read Harder: Return of the Updates

Guess who's back on track, babyyyyyy? I've been on a tear of great books: Parable of the Sower, so intense and incredible; Not "A Nation of Immigrants," holy shit, the amount of history we are not taught; Nikhil Out Loud, simply adorable; A Fate Worse Than Death, thought-provoking as hell; Abyss, couldn't put it down; Indian No More, also couldn't put it down (I should have reviewed it and didn't, but shout out for telling a great story in less than 250 pages); The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family, an excellent middlegrade story about figuring out who you are and how to be true to yourself in the face of other people's expectations and while navigating ableist assholes. Home run after home run.

I finished the above books early enough that I also started on the books I chose for July: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe for challenge thirteen, read a comic that has been banned; Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth for challenge fifteen, read a YA nonfiction book. I'm skipping challenge fourteen for now, read a book by an author with an upcoming event and then attend the event, because I couldn't find any upcoming virtual events and don't want to go to an in-person one. We'll see if I go back to it or not, but either way, challenges thirteen and fifteen are in the bag. I finished Gender Queer in a day - such an excellent read - and I'm about halfway through Apple: Skin to the Core, also very, very good. I guess I should look further ahead and pick new books for July...

Hmmm. Challenge sixteen is pick a book based solely on the title, so I went through my TBR list on The Storygraph (superior to Goodreads in basically every way, if you're still using that Goodreads bullshit) and landed on The Bennett Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi. What's the twist? I don't know! But I'll take any Pride and Prejudice content. Gotta read 'em all. And challenge seventeen is read a book about media literacy, so I picked Can You Believe It by Joyce Grant, which I hopefully will be able to add to my school library after I read it! Oh boy, taking the full summer break off may have meant not getting paid for two months, but it has been a huge boon for my reading.

Dragonboy - Megan Reyes

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

From the cover:

"Blue, River, Wren, and Shenli grew up on different sides of a war they didn't start. Their land has been torn apart over centuries of conflict, with humans taught to fear all things magical, dragons driven to near extinction, and magic under attack. But an ancient prophecy has put the four of them on a collision course with destiny - and with each other - in a mission to heal the fractured realm once known as Haven.

All of them must follow the threads of Fate, leaving behind the lives and homes they know to discover the truth about the seemingly endless war - and the truth about themselves. As the barriers between them begin to crumble, can they unravel the lies they've been taught to believe in order to restore the balance between humans, dragons, and magic before it's too late?"

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It's MGMASFMRS time! I was really hoping to keep up more of a regular rhythm with these posts, but this one took me a long time to read, and I don't think it was just the slump. This is the first book in the Heroes of Havensong series, so I expected it to be heavier on the world building than a standalone, but it went so far beyond what I had anticipated. It's 416 pages (that's too long for middle grade!), and the majority of it felt like setup for the actual story, rather than story itself. I like the premise, and I really wanted to enjoy the book, but it was too much. A lot of repetition of things introduced early, granular detail about some things and then almost no information about others, tons of exposition while light on the action...it needed more balance. 

I would say this book's greatest strength was its character development. Blue is a hugely sympathetic character, and I immediately felt a connection to him. Wren, River, and Shenli are also great, and I loved their relationships with their family members. I think if we had gotten the prophecy referencing all of them working together to save the world and then hit the action earlier in the book, this would be a much different review. Instead, we get reference after reference to the prophecy, we inch toward their paths connecting, we get a couple pages of action, and then...the book is over. I finished it, but it took me almost two months to do so. I don't see any of my students putting that much effort into getting to the end of the story, and even if they did I don't think they would be motivated enough to pick up the next book, even though it ends on a pretty big cliffhanger. 

The second book came out in January, and the completionist part of me wants to get it and find out what happens next, but the part of me that spent so long slogging through this one doesn't think it'll be worth it. If this was a duology I might be willing to give it a shot, but I looked it up and there's going to be at least three books. That's too much commitment after a lackluster first book.