Being Mary Bennett - JC Peterson

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆

Plot/Writing Style: ☆

Overall: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzie Bennet.

A less acknowledged truth is that Mary Bennet might be a better fit.

For seventeen-year-old Marnie Barnes, who's convinced she is the long-suffering protagonist of her life, this revelation comes at the end of a series of self-induced disasters that force her to confront a devastating truth: Marnie has more in common with Mary Bennet - the utterly forgettable middle sister - than the effervescent Lizzie. 

Determined to reinvent herself, she enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens herself up to the world - leading lady style. And between new friends, a very cute boy, and a rescue pup named Sir Pat, Marnie realizes that being the main character doesn't mean rewriting your life entirely. It's about finding the right cast of characters, the love interest of your dreams, and, most important, embracing your story, flaws and all."

April Mystery Book review - Witchshadow by Susan Dennard

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

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm omitting the cover synopsis for this one, because Witchshadow is the fifth book in the Witchlands series, so I don't want to give spoilers from the jump to anyone who wants to read the series and hasn't yet. Instead, I'm including the synopsis from the cover of the first book, so anyone interested knows what the series is about, and then I'll talk a bit about the series as a whole.

From the cover of Truthwitch:

"Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs, as she is a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden, lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking, and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike, for some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch."

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So, the story centers around Safi and Iseult but involves a whole cast of characters, and the first book starts just as the Twenty Year Truce, which has kept several warring empires from destroying each other for nearly two decades, is about to end. Politically, tensions are high because this collapse of already tenuous peace is looming, and with the end drawing near anyway there's every chance that one of the signers will choose to violate the truce and end it early just to get a jump on the war that will inevitably come soon anyway. Personally, tensions are also high for Safi and Iseult because a Bloodwitch has discovered Safi's magic and begun to track them, so now they have to sneak out of Venaza City without being discovered, something made extra tricky because Iseult is Nomatsi and prejudices against the Nomatsi run high in the city, drawing her added attention. 

Of course, things immediately go wrong when they try to escape Venaza City, and things continue to go wrong from there, but along the way, we meet several fascinating characters, like Merik Nihar, his threadbrother Cullen, and Cullen's heart thread Ryber. We learn more about Aeduan, the Bloodwitch, and his complicated past, delve into the stories of Paladins and the Cahr Awen, and discover long-forgotten Cartorran history. Things get impossibly complicated, and I have to say, I wish I kept a notebook with me while I read to take notes. There's SO much backstory, and it's incredible, but it's a lot to keep track of! Fortunately, losing track of things just means getting rocked by huge reveals instead of seeing them coming. 

Just Ask Elsie - Ari Koontz

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

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Elsie Parker is having a totally normal fifth grade year. Fractions and conjunctions - check. Stressing about middle school - check. Body-positive puberty class at church that also covers feelings and identities - check.

Okay, maybe that last one isn't so normal. It's a little weird (and awkward) to spend her Sundays talking periods, B.O., and pimples. But Elsie's also learning a lot more than she's heard in her public-school health class - like the difference between sex and gender, and what consent is, and what it might mean that she can't stop blushing around a certain cute girl at her school.

When her puberty lessons become the school's latest gossip, Elsie's totally humiliated...until she finds an anonymous note in her locker from a classmate who wants to know more, and realizes that other kids might have embarrassing questions of their own.

Starting an underground advice board wasn't exactly in her plans, but Elsie won't pass up a chance to turn her reputation around - or to share words and labels that have not-so-accidentally been left off their curriculum. But when the principal tries to shut down the unauthorized puberty talk, Elsie has to decide what she's willing to risk to tell the truth to kids who really need to hear it."

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So Elsie is one of only a few students in her school who has access to real, helpful education about what to expect from puberty, and while at first it's embarrassing when people find out, she ultimately realizes that her classmates need the information she's learning as much as she does, and what's more she is passionate about trying to share it. Her principal doesn't like that she's sharing said information on a whiteboard on her locker (particularly information about what the letters in LGBTQ stand for), so she and her crush/new friend team up to put the information in a zine instead. The objection to her whiteboard was that it was too public, so younger students who weren't ready for puberty information might encounter it - a zine shared only with fifth graders solves that problem, right?

Wrong. When a copy is found in a restroom and shared with the principal, Elsie finds herself in hot water with a week of detention. With her future at Pathways, a specialized middle school that would allow her to focus on her passion for art, at risk, Elsie has to consider whether to drop her quest for improved puberty education for her fellow classmates or keep pushing. Dropping it would be the safer path, but with a little encouragement from her friends, Elsie knows she can't just let this go. Together, they hatch a plan to show their principal why actual puberty education is important...but will their message get across? Or will Elsie find herself suspended and, worse, lose her spot at Pathways?

I liked this book (the first two thirds got me through my iron infusion this week), so I'm going to get my gripes out of the way first so then we can focus on the good stuff. I've only got two, but let's say one and a half because one isn't exclusive to this book, it's more of a general peeve. So, gripe the first: all the Pathways stuff. Elsie has two parents and a DNA donor who have the means and capacity to advocate for inclusive policies and positive change in public schools, so OF COURSE they're going to send their kid to a specialized school instead of continuing with the public school system! Why try to make public schools better for everyone when you could just use your means to make sure your kid is taken care of? Like I said, this isn't specifically a complaint with this book, but it's something that really irks my nerves. If we want public schools to be better, then the families like Elsie's need to support the public school system. That's all I'll say about that.

Gripe the second: the lack of dimension with the principal. Are there teachers and admin out there like this principal, complete tools who clearly became teachers to exert control over kids in attempt to feel powerful and in control? FOR SURE. But in my experience, admin who mean well but are quick to crumple to perceived possible pressure from narrowminded parents at the expense of student well-being are much more common, and it would have been more satisfying to see this type of more nuanced take, instead of just having it be "principal bad guy, must take him down!"

Anyhow, all that said, overall I thought this was a very strong story, and I appreciated that Elsie found ways to push back where needed in a way that felt true to life and not contrived. I loved the character development and how well multiple different students were brought in without it feeling overwhelming or like people were being shoehorned in. I really appreciated Mara and Elsie's friendship, and I especially loved that while they did get in a big fight, the way it was resolved demonstrated healthy communication in a very realistic way. I also loved Elsie's relationship with her parents, and I thought her dad's interactions with her were so sweet and understanding. Finally, I thought the development of Elsie's crush was a great way to showcase a little bit of romance without it feeling unrealistic or too mature for her age. The characters were the strongest part of this book, and I loved them all.

March Mystery Book review - Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

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

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to her, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt - enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus's livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb's Gauntlet.

Melinoe is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs -  the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she's had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melinoe, this is a game she can't afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there's more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she's capable of more than killing. And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love."

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Ohhhh, I hate Inesa's mom so much. She straight up sucks so bad, there's no nuance to it at all. Beyond my hatred for her, my feelings about this book are thoroughly middle of the road. The idea behind the world is intriguing, but from the jump I had questions - like, people can rack up a bunch of debt and then nominate seemingly anyone to take their place in a gauntlet? Unless I missed something, it seemed like that was the case, although maybe it's just people you're related to. Either way, though, it seems a little too free-for-all to be like yeah, you get into huge debt and then you can just pick a name to nominate. I know this premise is so that Inesa will end up in the Gauntlet, but it just doesn't feel justified. Give me like...her mom somehow tricked her and got her to cosign as an account holder or something, you know?

Beyond that, everything just feels one-dimensional. They drip information about the creation of the Angels program, but I don't think it's enough. Inesa, Luka, their mom, and the few people we're introduced to in town all fall flat and, in Inesa's case, it didn't seem like she was fully developed and things about her sort of flip flop depending on what the scene calls for. I'm a little more forgiving of the inconsistencies with Melinoe, since part of her whole thing is that Caerus wipes the Angels' memories and does all kinds of shit to them, but with her as well it was like...the Angels are augmented super killing machines, but then Luka hits her with a glancing shot and she has to stop for hours to regroup, and then she takes a stimulant, gets hit in the head, and is completely destroyed after. Unstoppable killing machine, unless she's in a Gauntlet for more than an hour, I guess, or she gets bonked on the head extra hard.

Next, let's talk about the romance. It was forced, and that's an understatement. Inesa is on the run from the Angel that she knows murdered a CHILD in her village. This Angel is actively trying to murder her. Yet in her first encounter with Melinoe she's so frozen by her gaze that she wonders if she was hypnotized and then when she and Luka are regrouping afterward she's reflecting on how she just doesn't have it in her to hate the Angel. It doesn't take long for her to be thinking about how beautiful she is. Same with Melinoe - her whole existence as she knows it depends on her murdering this stranger, it's her job, she's not only been conditioned to think this is okay, she knows that if she fails she's going to be turned into a mindless sex slave for some rich asshole, and yet the entire chase she's like "wow, she's so pretty." Just...really doesn't work for me, man. It's a steep mountain to climb already, but there was just zero effort to even try to make it plausible.

And finally, the Gauntlet itself...so little actually happens, and there's a bunch of stuff with the cameras that is so weird and, again, unearned and contrived, and it doesn't make sense. I'm really trying to not post open spoilers, but it's like fake out after fake out after nonsense fakeout, and then at the end of the book I was like wow, there is ZERO payoff to any of this. Deeply unsatisfying. I gave the book three stars because a. I didn't DNF and b. I did find the first probably third or so of it okay enough, but overall it was a frustrating reading experience.

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."

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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. 

One of the Good Ones - Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

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

From the cover: 

"When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic.

One of the good ones.

Even the phrase rings wrong in her mind - why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed? Happy and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there's a twist to Kezi's story that no one could've ever expected - one that will change everything all over again."

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Well, already talked a tiny bit about this, since it's my June mystery read, but now I've read it, so I'm going to talk about it some more. As predicted, it was very emotional. Heartbreaking, frustrating, and intense. It clocks in at 330 pages, and there is so much packed into each of those pages that I wanted more. I thought it was excellent, but with such nuanced content (and so many details to get into), while it was handled well, I think it would have been even better with more time to develop everything.

My one gripe, possibly born out of the fact that I finished the last half of this in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep and was therefore very scared reading it alone in the darkness, is how the last few chapters played out. I don't want to spoil anything, but there were opportunities seeded that never came to fruition, and I thought doing more with those opportunities would have built toward a more satisfying conclusion than the abrupt ending we got. Other than that (and even with this gripe, the ending was mind-blowing), incredible writing. I can't do half stars...maybe I could figure it out, but I haven't...but this would be a solid 4.5, maybe a 4.75, from me.

MapMaker - Lisa Moore Ramee

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

From the cover:

"When Walt and his family relocate to Blackbird Bay, Walt thinks it's the most boring place on earth. While his twin sister, Van, likes to spend her time skateboarding, Walt prefers to hide out in his room and work on his beloved map world, Djaruba. But shortly after their arrival, Walt discovers something extraordinary: He has the ability to make maps come to life.

Suddenly his new hometown doesn't seem so boring after all. And when a magical heirloom leaves Walt, his new friend Dylan, and Van stranded in t he fantastical world that Walt created, he'll need to harness his new power to get them home.

But things are changing. People have gone missing, and it's clear that a malevolent rival to the kingdom - a fellow mapmaker - has nefarious plans for Walt. If he's not stopped soon, Djaruba could become nothing but a shadow of itself or, worse, gone forever. And if a mapmaker can destroy one world, could Earth be next?"

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On the one hand, this book is shorter than many of the middle grade books I've considered adding to my library, which is refreshing - stop writing 400-500 page books for kids, y'all, tighten that shit up. On the other, I wish there had been a little more development of certain things? That's not to say the book needed to be LONGER, necessarily, but I think perhaps some of the "Blackbird Bay isn't my HOME, having a twin sister who's taller than me SUCKS, my parents don't UNDERSTAND ME" angst could have been trimmed to allow space for other things. I am assuming there will be a second book at some point, so perhaps there will be more world building in book two.

Still, it's an interesting concept for a story, and I really enjoyed the characters. Solid story for map kids everywhere.

Lore - Alexandra Bracken

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

From the cover:

"Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals. They are hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory after her family was murdered by a rival line. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man - now a god - responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek her out: Castor, a childhood friend Lore believed to be dead, and Athena, one of the last of the original gods, now gravely wounded.

The goddess offers Lore an alliance against their mutual enemy and a way to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to rejoin the hunt, binding her fate to Athena's, will come at a deadly cost - and it may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees."

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 Dude...the plot twists in this book. I knew it would be good, and I'll tell you what, it did not disappoint. It isn't often that a twist throws me for a loop, but Lore left me reeling MULTIPLE times. It helps that there's like...deep deep lore (ha...pun not intended) that the reader is learning as they progress through the story, so sometimes it felt like I was just barely keeping my head above water with all of that, but MAN. Truly got me so good, in the most satisfying ways. Truly, reading this felt like swinging along a series of ropes or something, trying not to drop, and as soon as you thought you were in a rhythm and had a grasp on things, it was like NOPE! So masterfully done.

I want to talk details, but I don't know how to without potentially spoiling things, so I'll just say the characters - top notch. The plot develops at a great pace, with more detail revealed at intervals where you're juuuuuust starting to get frustrated, and then ope, here's another little kernel for you, my desperate reader, I hope you enjoy! 

I think my one wish after finishing this is that there had been a little more actual God lore included, not just the house lore, but honestly, this book was SO long, I truly don't know if that would have been feasible. And I think if it came down to more details about the pantheon and maybe making this a duology or less and keeping it a standalone book, I would come down on the side of standalone book. There are so few standalone fantasy books with solidly developed worlds, I really loved that. Plus even though we didn't get a lot of pantheon lore, what we got...was good. So hey, maybe I have no wishes. This was a great book!

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.

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.

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.

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?'"

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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?"

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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.

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?!

😱😱😱😱

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.

Reboot Rereads - To All the Boys I've Loved Before

I've never written an individual review for this book/series, but BOY OH BOY have I included it in an excessive number of book lists! I mentioned it in one (as a case for polyamory over love triangles), and I've featured it in at least four, including my top ten favorite series, books to read if you like Animal Crossing, easy to read books (hello, reboot rereads!), and books that feel like a hug. This series is so cozy and comforting, and I continue to adore it. (Also the movies, although I don't know why, but it endlessly bothers me that they decided in the movie series to change the setting to the Pacific Northwest instead of Virginia. Just, why? And I wish they had left it being Peter that got the video taken down.)

Lara Jean, so sweet, so firm in her standards. Kitty, possibly the best character ever written. Margot, eh. But everyone else...wonderful. It's low stakes that feel high stakes, because who amongst us doesn't remember when minor teen dramas ruled our lives? Lovely series to revisit, and I recommend it to anyone looking for something low-stakes and comforting to get into.

Reboot Rereads - Alex, Approximately

I reviewed this book way back when, in 2020, and gave it five stars. I also mention in the review that reading it back then got me out of a reading slump, so what a coincidence that I chose it this time around for the same reason! I still love it - there are serious moments, but you know when things get rocky that it will all turn out okay, so it's such a comfort read. My appreciation for Grace grows every time I read this, and I really love her dad and how supportive and encouraging he is, as well as Porter's parents, who are both so wonderful. In my first review, I gave bonus points for modeling consent in a very natural way, which I still greatly appreciate, and I also give bonus points for the inclusion of roller derby, even if Jenn Bennet does refer to it as "the derby," which in all my years of roller derby participation I have never heard it referred to as.🤣

Anyway, if you're looking for a light, feel-good read, stop sleeping on Jenn Bennett. Her writing is delightful. Three rereads down, baby! And I've been making fairly steady progress on Not "A Nation of Immigrants," so it seems like the reboot is working!

Reboot Rereads - Foolish Hearts

It's been six and a half years since I first read and reviewed Foolish Hearts, and I'm happy to report that it holds up, and I still adore it. For anyone who doesn't want to go back to 2017 to find the original review, here's the summary from the cover:

"The day of the last party of the summer, Claudia overhears a conversation she wasn't supposed to. Now on the wrong side of one of the meanest girls in school, Claudia doesn't know what to expect when the two are paired up to write a paper—let alone when they're both forced to try out for the school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

But mandatory participation has its upsides—namely, an unexpected friendship, a boy band obsession, and a guy with the best dimpled smile Claudia's ever seen. As Claudia's world starts to expand, she finds that maybe there are some things worth sticking her neck out for."

This book has everything. Pining over a new crush, online roleplaying games, rock climbing even?! What more could you ask for from a book, jokes that make you laugh out loud, maybe? Because it has those too - I read this out loud to Joel a while back, and there were at least two exchanges that I was laughing too hard to get through. And I laughed just as hard reading those exchanges this time around.

Also, Gideon continues to be a perfect love interest and one of the sweetest characters that has ever been created. I'll never stop loving him. And it isn't just him! It's everyone! Claudia is excellent, her whole family is so good, Zoe is amazing, don't even get me STARTED on Noah...Emma Mills knows how to create a lovable character, it's possibly one of her greatest strengths. Definitely what I love the most about her books.

So, anyway, two rereads done! The brain reboot is working!

Reboot Rereads - Emergency Contact

Hahaaaaaaa, I checked to see if I had reviewed this before and was like "whoa, I haven't?!" And then I read the blurb that I wrote when I included it on a book list:

"I double checked whether I had reviewed this book on the blog before, and at first I was a little surprised that I hadn't. Then I realized that of course I haven't reviewed it here, because I don't know what to say. This book is hard to describe, but perfect to read. It's Penny's first year of college, and...that's what it's about. Navigating somewhere new. Learning how to live with roommates, making new friends. Managing your anxiety. It's a book about real life. If you read this one and don't like it, I'm begging you, please don't tell me, because it is probably in my top three favorite books of all time, and I love it so much that it makes me nervous even recommending it."

It's great that after 38 years together, I continue to surprise myself. Anyway, yes, I have not written an actual review of Emergency Contact before, but I have included it on not one but two recommendation lists, so there's that. As quoted above, it's a great story about new experiences, figuring out how to handle anxiety (and depression), and navigating life. While I will note that it came out in 2018 and consequently suffers from an overuse of ableist terms that many of us have since learned are words you shouldn't use, overall the book is still solid and I still greatly enjoyed the story. Do what I do and substitute a different word in your head, and then it totally holds up.

While there's a lot that I adore about this book, one thing that jumped out at me more upon this read than it did in prior reads is the way that our perception of ourselves differs from the way others see us. Sam, for example, hates his body and has a ton of self talk about how ugly he is. Meanwhile, both Penny and Mallory are falling over themselves at how hot he is. Penny tells herself how weird and boring she is, that she's short and her thighs are too big, et cetera. But Sam finds her quick-witted, funny, and beautiful, and a classmate is also into her and asks her out, so clearly her perception of herself isn't true. Watching that all play out is a great reminder that we often are our own harshest critics. It can be easy in a world where we're being inundated with messages about not being good enough to pick ourselves apart, compare ourselves to others, and constantly look for things that are "wrong" with us...but damn, wouldn't it be more fun and a lot less burdensome to try to see the amazing things in ourselves that other people see in us?

Anyway, just something the book made me think about. For the record, if you're reading this, know that I think you're incredible.

Fight + Flight - Jules Machias

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

From the cover:

"Avery Hart lives for the thrill and speed of her dirt bike and the pounding thump of her drum kit. But after she's diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disease that affects her joints, Avery splits her time between endless physical therapy and worrying that her fun and independence are over for good.

Sarah Bell is familiar with worry, too. For months, she's been having intense panic attacks. No matter how much she pours her anxiety into making art, she can't seem to get a grip on it, and she's starting to wonder if she'll be this way forever.

Just as both girls are reaching peak fear about what their futures hold, their present takes a terrifying turn when their school is seemingly attacked by gunmen. Though they later learn it was an active shooter drill, the traumatic experience bonds the girls together in a friendship that will change the way they view their perceived weaknesses - and help them find strength, and more, in each other."

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The five-star MGMASFMRS review streak continues! (It's two reviews. Counts as a streak. Don't @ me.) I bought Fight + Flight in January of last year, along with Both Can Be True by the same author, which I chose for a Read Harder Challenge and which was also a five-star review. Guess Jules Machias is a pretty good author! This book in particular hit close to home for me in a multitude of ways. For starters, that active shooter drill. I pretty frequently skip synopses, which yields mixed results at times, and for this one, that drill fucking got me. 

I mean...I work at a school. I've seen firsthand the anxiety and fear some kids go through during lockdown drills, I've had conversations with students about how I'll do everything I can to keep them safe if anything bad happens. It's some real shit, and if my school district instituted drills like this, I would be flooding the governing board members' inboxes with emails. Even just reading about it, I was SO. MAD. Like, I had to take a break from reading. I messaged my best friends to rant about it. I was furious for these kids. I know they're made-up characters, so maybe I shouldn't be so upset, but real kids deal with that shit, and I fucking hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

Gahhhh just writing about it is making me mad all over again.

Moving on to other things that resonated strongly with me. First, Avery's worry about losing control after being diagnosed with hEDS and dealing with progressing issues. Disclaimer, I have not been diagnosed with EDS and don't plan on seeking a diagnosis, but my cousin has it and, in talking and reading about it with her, I'm fairly sure I have it too. If I do, I'm very fortunate that mine is much more mild than either my cousin's or Avery's, but it still really sucks, and it's incredibly frustrating dealing with seemingly random digestive issues, pretty constant injuries, etc. So, yeah, I felt for Avery and her worries about basically being perma-injured and unable to do the things she loves.

Then there's Sarah, her anxiety, and in particular her parents' insistence that she needed to lean on God to fix it. I mean, if that wasn't ripped straight from my lived experience with my parents...oof. I just wanted to hug her and sneak her to talk to a therapist about how she was feeling. Also, Sarah's brother and his struggles with his anger and clashes with their parents...my sweet, darling children, you deserve parents who give you what you need and don't just pressure you to fall in line and believe a certain way in order to feel the way you're "supposed" to feel.

Deep breaths.

Look...in fairness to Sarah's parents, I feel like toward the end of the book they got slightly more nuanced, but even so, they were my least favorite characters, and I think they kind of suck as people. Their presence and attitudes lent some additional realism to the book, I suppose, since there are people like that, who suck just as much as Sarah's parents, and who need a serious reality check. Avery's moms were infinitely better characters and people, though. Much prefer them, just like I much prefer people like them in real life.

Anyhow, this review is getting pretty off the rails. As you can probably tell, this book made me feel a lot of emotions. Some of them were bad, but many of them were good, and I really loved how the characters grew as the book carried on. Not just Avery and Sarah, but Mason, Avery's best friend, and Sarah's brother. Honestly, it was not a main storyline, and I haven't gotten into it because I really don't want to get too deep into story details and spoil anything, but Mason's arc was probably one of my favorite parts of the story, and he and Avery's moms were my three favorite characters. Only semi-story related, I also enjoyed how Sarah's art was incorporated into the book. I thought it was very unique and really helped to develop her character. 

So...yeah. This book is very good, and you should read it. Go ahead and do that.