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."

📚📚📚

 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!

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."

📚📚📚 

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.

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.

Root Magic - Eden Royce

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

From the cover:

"It's 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won't stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven - and their uncle, Doc, tells them he's going to train them in rootwork.

Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of their family for generations - especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make for the people on their island. But Jez soon finds out that her family's true power goes far beyond small charms and elixirs...and not a moment too soon. Because when evil both natural and supernatural comes to show itself in town, it's going to take every bit of the magic she has inside her to see her through."

I knew when I picked it up that this book would be good, but I did not know HOW good. Wow, wow, wow. It's pretty clear from the synopsis, but in case you skipped that, know that this is not a light read. It tackles a lot - the impacts of the transatlantic slave trade and the ways it robbed some people of their traditions, racism, violence and lynching...and Eden Royce does not hold back. 

It doesn't focus solely on the bad, though. There's also joy, celebration, love. That's what makes it such an incredible story and something I think everyone should be reading. It showcases the full experience of Black families living in the 1960s, and the reader gets to share in their joy, their excitement, their challenges, and their fear. Following Jez as she skips a grade at school, tries to make a new friend, starts learning rootwork, and learns how to embrace her whole, authentic self even in the face of adversity brings the story to life and really helps the reader connect with the history being shared. 

Connecting to Jez's story and her family's experiences also made me reflect on how recently those experiences took place. People tend to talk about the Civil Rights era like it's long-past, ancient history, but my parents were alive in 1963. I'm one generation removed from the fight for civil rights. That is not long, and confronting that as you read about it helps highlight where we've made progress and where we still need to improve. This is a bit of a tangent, but it's something I thought about as I read.

Anyway, I don't really know what more to say about this book...the characters were beautifully crafted, the writing was excellent, the story is SO important. It's a beautiful book.

Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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

From the cover:

"Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly popular, highly controversial profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It's the return of the gladiators, and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death matches before packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, Thurwar considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games. But CAPE's corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo, and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar's path have devastating consequences.

Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors, to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means..."

I don't even know what to say about this book. It popped up on my radar and I ordered it, and then I kept seeing people talking about it, so I was like okay, need to read this right away. We decided to read it for our book club in July, I took it with me on vacation, and vacation basically became "how much time can I spend reading without garnering complaints" time until I finished it. At which point I traded reading time for thinking about what I just read time, because I can't get it out of my head. 

I read this shortly after Rust in the Root, and while they are totally different stories, both books blend fiction and reality in incredible and compelling ways. CAPE is fictional, but the underlying truths that led to its creation and acceptance in the book are very much a reality, and Adjei-Brenyah also includes footnotes throughout the book sharing facts about the prison industrial complex in the United States, which were very enlightening about the reality of our penal system. I also thought he did a brilliant job of humanizing the characters who were forced into the CAPE program and highlighting the way our "justice" system actively works to dehumanize people.

And speaking of humanizing the characters...THE CHARACTERS. They were so good. Love them or hate them, they were all so well-developed and realistic. I mean...Staxxx is officially on my list of favorite characters of all time. I read a lot of books, usually like nine or ten of them at a time, and there's always a new one waiting in the wings to rotate in after I finish something, so while it's not like I finish a book and then am like "deleted from my brain, I will never think of you again," it is pretty unusual for me to actively and regularly continue thinking about something for days after I read it. I'm a week out from finishing this one, and at least a couple of times a day I catch myself thinking about Staxxx's story and her ending or remembering key moments from the book and reflecting on them. There are still five months left in 2023, so I suppose something could come along and unseat it, but as of right now, this is the best book I've read this year. Incredible. Thought-provoking. Important. Go read it.

Rust in the Root - Justina Ireland

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

From the cover:

"It is 1937, and Laura Ann Langston lives in an America divided - between those who work the mystical arts and those who do not. Ever since the Great Rust, a catastrophic event that threw America into disarray, the country has been rebuilding for a better future. And everyone knows the future is industry and technology - otherwise known as Mechomancy - not the traditional mystical arts.

Laura disagrees. A talented young queer mage from Pennsylvania, Laura hopped a portal to New York City on her seventeenth birthday with hopes of earning her mage's license. Laura applies for a job with the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, a branch of the US government dedicated to repairing the damage caused by the Great Rust, and meets the Skylark, a powerful mage with a mysterious past who reluctantly takes Laura on as an apprentice. But as they're sent off on their first mission together, they discover evidence of mystical workings not encountered since the darkest period in America's past, when Black mages were killed for their power - secrets that could threaten their lives and everything they've worked for."

AHHHHHH WOW. I picked this book kind of on a whim for my YA book club, not sure how it would go, and I am so glad it ended up on my radar because it is incredible. I literally just finished it and am still reeling a bit from my journey, so I'm going to give myself a moment to process and then come back and try to review it properly.

Okay, I've taken some time, and I'm here to tell you that I'm still thinking about this book, almost a week after I finished it. The way Justina Ireland weaves magic and fantasy elements into history is masterful, and the subterfuge and plot twists had me on the edge of my seat the entire book. Peregrine and Skylark had me rooting for them right away, and while I had a hard time letting my guard down about anyone else, I couldn't help but love Grimalken, Crystal, etc. The characters, the worldbuilding, the storytelling...out of this world. 

Also, the number of just...MASTERFUL lines in this book. Have you ever read a book and been constantly torn between "This is so gripping, I cannot stop reading" and "holy shit, I need to write this line down NOW because it is amazing"? Read this book and you will have. It felt like every page or two there was a sentence that had me reaching for a pen. I already said that the weaving of reality and fantasy was A+, but seriously, the way Ireland used the tension between the Possibilities and Mechomancy as commentary on real-world conflicts...chef's kiss.

Please read this book. It's so good.

Grown - Tiffany D. Jackson

Initial draw: ✰✰✰✰✰

Character development: ✰✰✰✰

Plot/Writing style: ✰✰✰✰✰
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Content warning: Abuse, sexual violence, references to suicide

From the cover:

"When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one - the police and Korey's fans included - has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn't how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted's ticket to stardom.

Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight-knit family's recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as one of the few black girls in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition, and suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.

Enchanted is dazzled by Korey's luxurious life, but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey's charm and star power lurks a dark side, one that wants to control her every move with rage and consequences. Except now he's dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields? All signs point to Enchanted."

Enchanted Jones' story starts off in the eye of the storm, a hotel room splashed with beet juice - or is that blood? - and the unresponsive body of superstar Korey Fields lying in their bed. Then it backs up, taking you to where everything started and, if you're anything like me, filling you with dread knowing what's in store. Enchanted is single-minded, focused so intently on her goal of making it as a singer that she can't hear the warnings from her friends and family or see the red flags that are waving in front of her. All she knows is that recording an album could be life-changing for her family and that working with Korey provides her with an obvious path to success. Then, of course, there's the added bonus that he - a multi-platinum artist - seems to be falling in love with her. When the opportunity to tour with him (and date him in secret) comes up, how could her parents possibly expect her to pass that up?

But of course, we know from the first page that all that glitters is not gold, and it isn't long into their tour before Enchanted is confronted head-on with the darkness within Korey that until then she had only caught glimpses of. Trapped in his world, all she can do is cower and try her best to follow his rules while he cuts her off from her family, restricts her freedom, and brings her fully under his control. Before she can even fully grasp what is happening, the tour she had so looked forward to goes from a dream to a nightmare, and Enchanted is swept along, at the mercy of Korey's whims and rages. At first she blames herself for making mistakes, not being able to make him happy. Eventually she realizes that this isn't the life she wants...but would she really have murdered him to get away? 

This book is gripping and intense, and it's difficult to read because I'm pretty sure we can all name more than a few people who have had experiences similar to Enchanted's. As hard as it is, though, it confronts so many important issues. Key among those issues, of course, is the importance of believing victims and not giving predators a pass. I want to stop reading stories like this and seeing real people in the struggles of the main character, but that's impossible while, like in Korey's case, there are no consequences for powerful people who prey on others. Thank you, Tiffany Jackson, for reminding us to stop giving abusers and predators a platform. I don't care how much we like their art, their music, their whatever...our enjoyment of the things they produce doesn't matter more than the well-being of their victims.

Guest Review - The Grace Year

This week I've got a special guest here to share her thoughts on The Grace Year by Kim Liggett. Just in case my review was not enough to convince you to give it a shot, my sister Molly Whoremon (friends call her Whore) dropped by to provide a second opinion.

From the cover (for anyone who needs a refresher):

"No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between."

💬    💬    💬

I honestly do not know how to even begin to review this book. I don't read synopses for books so I never really know what to expect, but as I made my way through this book it felt like a totally different experience than other books.

It's such a chilling tale of oppression, heartbreak, misunderstanding, love, fear, realization, and so many other emotions. I don't think I've ever been so moved and truly connected to a story before. I felt every emotion of the main character, Tierney, as she did and was briefly a part of her journey through this book.

I know this really doesn't explain what the book was about at all. I don't think I could ever do it justice. I will say though that nothing is ever what it truly seems. 🖤

10/10 would recommend.

The Grace Year - Kim Liggett

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That's why they're banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage.

But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life -  a society that doesn't pit friend against friend or woman against woman - but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it's not just the brutal elements they must fear. It's not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp gritty prose, The Grace Year is a story of survival and freedom, about fighting for what's right, no matter the cost, and finding home in the darkest of circumstances."

This book would be a great book to take camping, because it is intense.

Bahahahaha in tents. Get it?

Getting started, I got major Hunger Games/Handmaid's Tale vibes. Like if books could reproduce, this would be their baby. I loved both those books, so in my opinion that's a good thing. But if you hated either/both of them...consider yourself warned.

It takes a bit to establish the world, but before I could really even wrap my head around everything, it was off to the races. There were so many gut-punch moments, and just as many times where I got my hopes up only to have them smashed again. As the mystery of what happens during the grace year unfolded, I found myself reading on the edge of my seat, struggling to close the book anytime I needed to step away from reading and deal with real life. 

"In the county, everything they take away from us is a tiny death. But not here...the grace year is ours. This is the one place we can be free."

It is a mark of how terrible life in the county is that in spite of threat to life and limb, the grace year is still viewed as an opportunity for freedom. I mean sure, you literally might die, but at least there are no men to boss you around, treat you like shit, and abuse you. I think that realization was all the more powerful for me because of how often I saw my world in the pages of this book. It's dystopia...but it's real. The best (worst?) dystopias are, right?

This book was a roller coaster, equal parts inspirational and heartbreaking. You'll be thinking about it long after you read the last page.

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight - Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the Cover:

"Lena and Campbell aren't friends.

Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school.

When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.

They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night."

💭💭💭

This book clocks in at 272 of some of the fastest pages I have ever read. It alternates between two voices. Campbell is new to McPherson High School, doesn't know anyone, and still isn't sure what she's doing here or how she got roped into helping run the concession stand at this weekend's football game. Lena, stylish and assertive, grew up here and knows how to handle herself when shit goes down...or at least, she thinks she does. Neither are expecting to find themselves in the middle of the fight that breaks out at halftime, but the riot that ensues forces them to band together to escape the school unscathed, and escaping the school is only the beginning. Their night is about to take a turn from bad to much, much worse. These two young women may live in the same city, but it's clear from their first interaction that they come from different worlds. With only each other to rely on, will they be able to work together and keep the silent promise they've made each other? 

The pace of this book pulls the reader in from the first chapter, taking you along as Lena and Campbell escape the concession stand, trying to find their way home, and it will have you on the edge of your seat until the last pages. The characters all felt like people I could have gone to school with in high school, and the emotions Lena and Campbell experience leap off the page. The differences in Lena and Campbell's experiences also provide a frank look at racism in the United States. This book is a conversation starter, and it's a conversation that needs to be had.

They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.

Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day."

Mateo and Rufus are going to die today. They both received a call from Death-Cast, and Death-Cast is never wrong. 

Mateo, plagued by anxiety and paranoia, wants to spend his last hours on earth saying goodbye to his best friend and her baby, visiting the hospital where his father is in a coma, and leaving some kind of mark on the world. He wants to...but instead he finds himself still locked away in his apartment three hours after receiving the call, afraid to venture into the outside world.

Rufus, who received the call in the middle of pummeling his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, narrowly avoids being arrested for the assault during an impromptu funeral with his foster parents and best friends. Now, alone in the world with less than 24 hours left to live and unable to go home, he isn't sure what to do.

Enter the Last Friend app. After several depressing, sketchy, and disappointing interactions, both Mateo and Rufus are ready to give up on the app. Mateo gives it one last shot, though, contacting Rufus who, with understandable reluctance, agrees to pick Mateo up at his apartment so the pair can begin living their last day to its fullest. But what begins as a partnership of convenience between two dying teenagers quickly blossoms into something more. Mateo inspires Rufus with his kindness and gentle spirit, and Rufus pushes Mateo to take risks, put himself out there, and do the things that he has always been too afraid to try. 

This book is both heartbreaking and beautiful. The relationship that blossoms between Mateo and Rufus warmed my heart, and the way their lives intertwined with the many side characters introduced throughout the story was both fascinating and inspiring. Given less than 24 hours to live, most of us would think, understandably, that this is far from enough time to leave our marks on the world. What this book shows us, however, is that what we see as tiny actions can have a huge ripple effect. They Both Die at the End reminds us that simple acts can have a vast impact. 

Obsidio - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? 

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. 

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken."

So everyone has made it this far, surviving the Phobos victims, escaping the Lincoln in the battered and almost broken Hypatia, avoiding being liquidated or shaken apart in a crazy gemina field at the Heimdall station...but where will they go from here? Without access to a wormhole or jump gate, the refugees aboard the Mao and the Hypatia are stranded in space, condemned to dying aboard those ships. Their only option is the mobile jump gate BeiTech used to attack Kerenza, so it looks like Kady and Ezra are headed home, to what they don't know. Combining the refugees from Kerenza with those from Heimdall isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though...will conflict between crews put an end to their journey before the pair can find out?

Asha, presumed dead after the refugees aboard the Copernicus, the Hypatia, and the Alexander escaped Kerenza, is alive and...not well, but surviving. It's only a matter of time before BeiTech manages to repair their jump drive, liquidates the Kerenza survivors, and makes their escape. Asha and her friends are fighting back, but when BeiTech supplies start to go missing, none of the resistance seems to know what's going on. Are their plans unraveling? Or will Asha survive to be reunited with her cousin?

I've waited for this book for so long, and it did not disappoint. Action packed, breathtaking, intense...the trilogy is complete, and it remains one of my favorite stories ever. There were gasps, there were tears, at one point I broke down sobbing...read this book. READ IT.

The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. "

Everyone should read this book. It might as well be non-fiction...it sure as hell felt like non-fiction. I don't live in Starr's world, and THUG is such an eye-opening glimpse into how differently kids in her situation grow up compared to how I did. I get nervous when there's a cop behind me in traffic because getting a ticket would be inconvenient. Kids like Starr grow up being taught how to behave with police officers to hopefully, fingers crossed, if everything goes well, not end up beaten or dead. 

Let that sink in, man.

Kids in Starr's situation are growing up legitimately afraid for their lives. Jesus Christ. 

Read this book. Then give it to a friend and get them to read it.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be."

I've been meaning to read this forever, and now I finally have. Worth the wait! Such a beautiful book, and as an added bonus, the audiobook is read by Lin Manuel Miranda, who is incredible. Loved every minute of it. I don't know if such a thing actually exists, but if it does...this might be the perfect book. The last sentence legitimately gives me chills every time I read it.