Jo & Laurie - Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"After the publication of her first novel, Jo March is shocked to discover her book of scribbles has become a bestseller, and her publisher and fans demand a sequel. While pressured into coming up with a story, she goes to New York with her dear friend Laurie for a week of inspiration - museums, operas, and even a once-in-a-lifetime reading by Charles Dickens himself!

But Laurie has romance on his mind, and despite her growing feelings, Jo's desire to remain independent leads her to turn down his heartfelt marriage proposal, and she sends the poor boy off to college heartbroken. When Laurie returns to Concord with a sophisticated new girlfriend, will Jo finally communicate her true heart's desire or lose the love of her life forever?"

Buckle up, this is going to be the shortest review ever.

If someone had told younger me that one day I would be reading published Little Women fanfiction, I never would have believed it, but here we are, and I fuckin LOVE it. There are heavy moments, but overall, the description says it all. It's straightforward, light, and delightful. What more could one ask for? It's a perfect holiday read.

True or False - Cindy L. Otis

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Discovering the truth has never been easy...from ancient Egypt to the French Revolution to today, fake news has always been around. And in today's world, with our unprecedented access to information, the phenomenon is more powerful and present than ever. But finding the truth is still possible.

In True or False, former CIA analyst Cindy L. Otis guides readers through the impact of fake news over the centuries and empowers them to fight back by sharing lessons learned in over a decade working in intelligence. With this comprehensive guide, you too can learn to find the truth and fight back against fake news!"

I was going to put together a list of books, including this one, that will make you mad (in a good way!), but I decided on an individual review instead. So here goes! 

Part I of True or False reviews the long, illustrious history of fake news in fucking up the world (😐), which, although super interesting, may leave you feeling a little (a lot?) frustrated and hopeless. Fortunately, Part II gets into how to combat said fake news, which is super important, since as the Thucydides quote that kicks off Part II reminds us, "most people, in fact, will not take trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear." 

So...how do we combat fake news? The tl;dr version is by focusing on facts, recognizing biases in ourselves and others, and doing research before sharing things. But Otis includes not only more detail, but also exercises to practice doing those things, so don't rely on my tl;dr - read the book and learn more. And please, for the love of all that is holy, don't share obviously false shit on social media because you're "saving it to read later" or for friends to debunk for you.

Alex, Approximately - Jenn Bennett

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Classic movie fan Bailey "Mink" Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush. Faced with doubts (what if he's a creep in real life - or worse?), Baily doesn't tell Alex she's moved to his hometown. Or that she's landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she's being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth - a.k.a.  her new arch nemesis. 

But life is a whole lot messier than in the movies, especially when Bailey discovers those tricky fine lines dividing hate, love, and whatever it is she's starting to feel for Porter. And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex...Approximately."

Our story starts off with an online exchange between Alex and Mink where Alex invites Mink to fly out to California over the summer and join him for his town's annual film festival. Mink brushes it off and jokes about considering, but all the while, in the wake of her mom's bitter divorce from her stepdad, she is actually moving to that very town to live with her dad, a sci-fi loving accountant who I could not possibly adore more. As noted in the summary, Mink, better known by most as Bailey, is reluctant to tell Alex that she is coming because regardless of how well they get along, she has no way of knowing whether he is who he says he is, and after a bad experience several years ago, she is cautious about who she trusts and what information she shares with strangers. (Good call, Mink! Always better to be safe than sorry.)

So...Bailey arrives in sunny Coronado Cove and promptly begins her search for Alex, relying on the few clues she has to where she might find him. Her search time, unfortunately, is limited by her summer job at The Cavern Palace, a museum better known by locals as "The Cave." Her first day comes with highs and lows - high, she meets gregarious, foul-mouthed Grace Achebe, and the two become fast friends; low, she has her second run-in with Porter Roth, grandson of local surfing legend Pennywise Roth, and as far as Bailey can tell, a complete and utter douchebag. The two butt heads immediately, and Bailey is certain working with him will make her time at The Cave unbearable. But the more time they spend together, the more Bailey realizes that there's an odd sort of compatibility to their bickering. And that she might actually look forward to their regular sparring sessions.

As Bailey and Porter start spending more time together, her search for Alex shifts to the back burner. At first she feels guilty, but he's pretty much ghosted her right back, so does it even matter that she never told him she was coming to California? After all, she and Alex got along online, sure, but an anonymous internet friendship can't compete with what she feels for Porter in real life. Can't get too comfortable, though, because of course things can't stay perfect for long...

Ultimately, this is one of those books where you know from the first page that things are going to end up all right and you're totally fine with that. It's a light read, a happy ending, and the type of feel-good story that many of us need right now. Bonus, it's super quick, so if you've been in a reading slump (like I may have been this week), it's a good one to dive into and shake the reading doldrums off. Read and be happy, my friends. (Also, bonus points for excellent modeling of what consent should look like!)

The Accident Season - Moira Fowley-Doyle

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear. But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?"

As I'm sure is the case with many people, I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything but election results at the moment, but since I didn't post last week (😬sorry, I ended up working 6 days last week, my brain was very tired), I didn't want to miss this Friday too. I was thinking about what book I could review and lamenting to myself that I had already reviewed The Accident Season, because I just finished reading it again and it was fresh in my mind. Then I thought, "wait a second, have I reviewed The Accident Season?" And...I haven't. Which. How did that happen?

Anyway...here we are, and at long last, I'm reviewing it. I first discovered this book in October of 2016, perfect timing to read it during the accident season. I read it, fell in love, and I've read it every October since then. I highly, highly recommend listening to the audiobook, because while I enjoy both, there's something about the audio that just makes it that much better. 

No matter how many times I listen to The Accident Season, it never fails to give me chills. From the changelings and the wolves to the mystery surrounding Elsie being in all of Cara's pictures to the accident season itself...whew. It all gets me. I love Cara and Bea and their witchy ways, everything about Sam, Alice in all her exasperated practicality. And the story has the perfect amount of unexplained supernatural weirdness tied in with realistic fiction. I know I said I read it every October, but why wait? Give it a listen now!

Memento - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"AIDAN is the AI you'll love to hate. The advanced AI system was supposed to protect a fleet of survivors who'd escaped the deadly attack on Kerenza IV. AIDAN was supposed to be infallible. But in the chaotic weeks and months that followed, it became clear that something was terribly, terribly wrong with AIDAN..."

I have been waiting to read this novella for SO. LONG. I'm still a little in disbelief that it actually happened. Some background: this is a prequel of sorts to Illuminae, and it was initially offered as an incentive to preorder the first book in Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's newest series, which, heartbreak of heartbreaks, I was unaware of. Consequently, while I knew it existed, I couldn't find it ANYWHERE. 

At long last, though, it was released for everyone to enjoy, and I couldn't be happier. It came at the perfect time, too, because I've been rereading the series, so I was able to listen to Memento and then return to Gemina with new knowledge of AIDAN's journey. And what a journey it has been! As if AIDAN's character weren't chilling enough, some of the background you get on what goes down immediately after the attack on Kerenza IV, WHEW! Just...incredible writing. I can't even handle my love of this series or these authors, how are they so good?

Honestly, need I even tell you to read this? Do it. And if you haven't read the Illuminae trilogy, get on it. Fantastic.

One to Watch - Kate Stayman-London

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers - and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: The hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition - under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That's it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She's in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men - and herself - for a chance to live happily ever after."

I was pretty eager to read this one, but it fell flat for me. Spoilers ahead, so beware.

Things get off to a rocky start when toward the beginning of the story, Bea sleeps with her "best friend" WHO IS ENGAGED, and then proceeds to moon over him and whine about how he disappeared after that went down. Uhh yeah, he's very clearly a garbage person, and I officially have zero sympathy for you now that you've somehow managed to convince yourself that you're the wronged party here. Following this, the entire book centers around Bea talking about how closed off she's kept herself because of all the bad things that have happened to her, but literally nothing has happened to her that she didn't do to herself! It was really hard to feel any kind of sympathy for her. 

Added to that, for a book that is about body positivity, it's uh...a little rough. Bea spends a significant portion of the book basically being like "I know my body isn't attractive, but I've accepted that and I'm happy." Which...what? She also spends the bulk of her time on Main Squeeze griping about how the guys they chose for the show are people who would never date someone like her, because they're hella attractive and she's *gaaaaasp* fat. Obviously attractive guys don't date women in larger bodies! Bea, you need to watch some fucking Shrill. You're the one with the fat ass and the big titties, so you get to decide what y'all do.

While we're talking about the fatphobia included in a book supposedly celebrating larger bodies, let's talk about the choice to include several excerpts of the truly repugnant shit being said about Bea online. I understand the thought process behind it, but honestly, all women are familiar with the vitriol directed at women by gross men online, and larger-bodied women in particular are intimately acquainted with the awful things some people say to them behind the shield of keyboard anonymity. Do we really need multiple scenes featuring such vile comments? Yuck.

Next up, there were some weird, jarring stereotypes included (in addition to the many, many stereotypes about fat people, which...ugh). For starters, it felt like the author was trying to shoehorn in "diversity," which not only fell very flat but also resulted in shitty generalizations for several of the characters, including three of the four main love interests, her best friend, and the son of one of the love interests. Representation is great when it's good, but this was not it. There was also a lot of reinforcing traditional gender roles, like when her family gets together and the men gather to watch football while the ladies drink wine, because obvi women no likey the sports ball. 

Finally, and this is petty, but I have to get it off my chest. Toward the end of the book, Chris Evans makes an appearance. When one of Bea's love interests sees him, he comments that he looks vaguely familiar, but he doesn't know who he is. Perhaps by then I was just thoroughly over this book, but that irritated the shit out of me. He's CHRIS FUCKING EVANS. Even if you aren't a fan, how do you not know who Captain America is? Get out of here with that shit.

Bottom line, if you're looking for a book celebrating bodies of all sizes with a main character who owns her hotness and doesn't let diet culture dupe her into thinking she is somehow less than because she lives in a larger body, look elsewhere. This one isn't going to do it for you.

Star Daughter - Shveta Thakrar

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"If the night sky holds many secrets, it holds Sheetal Mistry's secret the closest. A secret that explains why her hair is the silver of starlight, or why some nights the stars call Sheetal by name. Stars like her mother, who returned to her place in the constellation Pushya years ago. Since that day, Sheetal has been forced to hide.

But as her seventeenth birthday draws near, the pull from the sky is growing stronger. So strong that Sheetal loses control, and a flare of starfire burns her human father - an injury only a full star's blood can heal. Sheetal has no choice but to answer the starsong and ascend to the sky. But her celestial family has summoned her for a reason: to act as their human champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens. 

Desperate to save her father, Sheetal agrees. But nothing could have prepared Sheetal to face the stars' dark history - or the forces that are working to shut the gate between the realms for good."

Try to resist diving into this book after taking in the beautiful cover. I couldn't do it. We all know I'm a sucker for a gorgeous cover.

The story is also different from a lot of what I've read before, so I was really intrigued getting into it. A teenager who is half mortal, half star...what does that even mean? As it transpires, one of the things it means is that she has out-of-this-world glowing silver hair, which, I'll be honest, I am very jealous of. Something else that it means is that Sheetal has star fire, which, as the description indicates, gets her into some hot water after she accidentally uses it on her dad.

Things get a little strange after Sheetal's father is injured. Journeying to the star world and learning about what it means to be a star was pretty fascinating, but I wish there was a little more action, particularly in the second half of the book. The world-building and descriptions were vivid, but the bulk of the book takes place over the course of two days while Sheetal trains for a contest, and it got a little thin after a while. Still, though, at the end of the day it was a worthwhile read, and I enjoyed it.