Strays - Gia Gordon

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Campbell Cole has a big heart for all living things, especially strays. It might be because her father, the director of the local animal control, is as aloof as they come, so Campbell knows what it's like to feel alone. 

When she spots an adorable dog being dumped on the street, the last thing Campbell can do is tell her dad. He might take the pup straight to the shelter, where new rescues have just three days to be adopted. The only person she can trust with the truth is her best friend, Luz.

The more time Campbell spends trying to catch the dog, the more he starts to trust her, which is both great and terrible because Campbell knows she can't keep him. But perhaps she doesn't have to. With the help of Luz's father, an army vet grappling with PTSD, she just may find a solution that benefits not only the dog, but everyone else, too."

📚📚📚 

Another ARC, already?! I must be on a roll...or it took me a really long time to finish my last one and then I read this one right after and finished it in a couple of days. Could be either, really.

Anyhow, as a card-carrying animal-obsessed person who works at a school full of kids who equally love animals and staff who regularly help rescue lost pups in the neighborhood (I keep an extra leash and harness in my bottom desk drawer just in case and so does our school secretary, that's how often we end up taking in wandering doggos to help track down their owners), I was sold on the idea immediately. 

The thing about it is, though, it is SO SAD, in such a hopeless-feeling way, for MOST of the book. I did end up enjoying it overall, and I'll still give it a shot for my school library, but I'm not sure students will stick with it for the entire almost 300 pages when the bulk of it is such a downer. Up until the last couple of chapters, I had to take periodic breaks to just sit there and feel sad, and my husband even asked me if I was okay a couple of times. That's how sad it was.

I enjoyed Campbell, Luz, and their friendship, and I loved the array of school staff we got to meet. It felt very true to life to have such a blend of staff, teaching styles, and attitudes, and I have to give a shout out to Gordon for having a NICE LIBRARIAN! She was lovely and the kind of librarian that I strive to be. I also enjoyed the dynamic of Luz's family, their interactions with each other and the different types of back-and-forth depending on who was there. Again, very true to life. I thought the characters were one of the highlights of the book. 

Where I struggled was that after creating all these gorgeous, lifelike characters, the plot developed too slowly. Everything that happens in the book is included in the synopsis, and that should not be the case. I think if Campbell had caught the abandoned puppy and come up with the plan for Luz's dad to help them earlier in the book, we could have seen more of what came next and the whole book would have felt more hopeful. Instead, we got like 260 pages of pure sadness and then a fast forward through a solution and next steps. As noted, overall I still think it's a decent read, but I thought it had so much more potential. 

Crown of Feathers - Nicki Pau Preto

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands."

Y'ALL. So full disclosure, this book is long, and I am not finished. I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and while I got impatient at first for the story to really get going, I think it is fabulous. I was hooked from the beginning, both by the premise (badass warriors who fight on the backs of Phoenixes, primarily female warriors? What's not to love!) and by the relationship between Veronyka and Val. Is Val really as unfeeling as she seems? Or does she actually love and care for Veronyka? Are the moments of vulnerability she shows, like when she cries during the phoenix hatching at the start of the book, sincere? Or for show? I MUST KNOW! Another thing I love about it is the snippets at the beginning of every chapter and the pages included at the end of some chapters revealing the story of  Avalkyra Ashfire and Pheronia bit by bit. Fantastic.

Nicki Pau Preto writes so beautifully and evocatively, you can't read it without seeing and feeling everything that the characters do. Take this gorgeous description of Veronyka's bond with her Phoenix, for instance:

"It wasn't love--such a small word couldn't begin to encompass the feelings of respect and devotion, of trust and codependence that existed between human and beast. The bond was a unity that was written in the stars, older than the empire and the valley and the mountains, older than the gods, a connection that not even death could shake. Endless, limitless, and somehow timeless, Veronyka's fate was tied to this creature, and they would always be together."

Chills. Just beautiful.

Do you need more? Let's talk about the rich world-building and character development. So many amazing details, like the custom among Veronyka's people of keeping their hair in braids and weaving into them tokens of like experiences, like a shell from the beach Veronyka swam to after she first learned how.  And the strong personalities of each character (Kade is my dude, from the first time he talks to Sev he had my heart). Even characters who (at this point, at least) are side characters have a fully formed, developed history. That so much detail is worked in about characters you only catch glimpses of blows my mind.

I would love to continue raving about this empowering, thrilling story, but I presented for the first time ever at a professional conference today, then drove several hours home, and it is now almost an hour past my bedtime, so if I want to sneak in a few chapters before I pass out, I need to sign off and head upstairs. Read this book, though, friends! Especially if you're a fan of strong female characters, because Veronyka will inspire you. Read it! And then comment and tell me what you think.

The Female of the Species - Mindy McGinnis

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"A contemporary YA novel that examines rape culture through alternating perspectives. 

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.

Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.

As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever."

Holy shit, you guys.

That description does not do this book justice, but I'm honestly not sure it's possible to write a description that nails it. This book is just...next level mind-blowing. Be warned, it is a pretty heavy read. But my god. It needs to be read.

After her sister is murdered, Alex secretly exacts revenge on her killer. She lives in a small town, but it isn't difficult for her to put up a wall between herself and her peers, not socializing with anyone at school and spending most of her free time at home or out running. She does pretty well at keeping herself isolated until her senior year, when she starts volunteering at the local animal shelter with Peekay and ends up on Jack's radar after he learns she is currently beating him in the race to valedictorian. Together, Jack and Peekay begin chipping away at Alex's hard exterior, and gradually Alex starts to realize that whatever she feels is wrong with her doesn't mean she can't let people in. Maybe she can have friends...have a boyfriend...be happy.

But there are other members of their community with darkness inside them, and not all of them fight against it the way Alex does. One of them, a local drug addict who graduated a few years ahead of Alex and Peekay, crosses their path at a party and puts himself on Alex's radar after attempting to roofie and rape Peekay. Another, the uncle of one of her friends, catches her attention later in the school year when Alex learns he molested Sarah's younger sister. What will happen to Alex, her friends, and her new boyfriend if she isn't able to push back against the darker parts of herself?

My favorite part about this book, aside from an ending that literally made me yell "holy shit!" as I pulled into the parking lot at work and listened to it unfold, was seeing Alex work at the shelter. She was so compassionate, patient, and kind to all the animals they took in, and it really hit me hard when she wondered how much kindness a person has to show to animals before it erases the terrible things they've done to some humans. Alex did horrible things to monsters like Comstock, her sister's killer, but there's also no question that she was a ray of hope for countless innocent animals in need. Seeing that duality in her, watching her treasure her friendship with Peekay and Sarah and gradually fall for Jack...do those things balance out the bad she's done? It's hard to answer that question.

My least favorite part of this book, far and away, was Jack. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to like him, I really did. But uuuuuuuuuuuugh. I can't. I hated his reactions to Branley and how helpless he acted when she came onto him, sent him dirty pics, etc. Like, really? Poor me, this super hot girl just woooon't stoooop trying to sleep with me! I'm powerless to stop this, and I'm only human! What's a poor boy to do? Shut up with that garbage. Alex deserved better. But my dislike of Jack aside, seriously? This book is amazing. Read it.