Review of Totally Psychic by Brigid Martin

 

 

I loved this book!  I devoured this book in one sitting.  I don't know what it is about middle grade ghost stories that I find to be completely entertaining.  

Paloma is psychic along with her entire family, who all live together in a multi-generational household in Miami.  Her abuela is a famous psychic and Paloma hopes to one day be famous as well.  Shortly after coming into her abilities, her parents move them to California in the hopes that she will focus less on ghosts and more on making new friends.

However, Paloma has other plans including building a name for herself as a psychic by hosting seances and live-streaming them on Instagram at her new school.  This ends up landing her in a tough situation with one of her new friends and has to figure out how to get through it.

This is a wonderfully heartwarming story about family and friendship that will leave you wanting more.  I highly recommend this book.
       

Review of The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

 

 

I ended up loving The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clyaton but I found the beginning 25% of the book to be really slow to the point of not finishing, however that would have been a huge mistake! Once I got past that point, I couldn't stop reading. That is why for me this is a 4 star read rather than a 5 star read. I love the friend group that was formed with Ella, Brigit, and Jason, they are all very different and unlikely friends but they brought out the best in each other. They are definitely the underdogs in this story and have to work hard to prove that they belong in this magical world.

This would be a good book for anyone that is a fan of Nevermoor or Harry Potter. The world is enchanting and so well developed that you really don't have a hard time believing that all of these wondrous things can really happen.

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via Bookish first in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review of Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn

 

 

Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn

          Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book by Penguin Teen via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:
When Amandla wakes up on her fifteenth birthday she knows it's going to be one of her mother's difficult days. Her mother has had another vision. If Amandla wears a blue sheet her mother has loosely stitched as a dress and styles her normally braided hair in a halo around her head, Amandla's father will come home. Amandla's mother, Annalisa, always speaks of her father as if he was the prince of a fairytale, but in truth he's been gone since before Amandla was born and even Annalisa's memory of him is hazy. In fact many of Annalisa's memories from before Amandla was born are hazy. It's just one of the many reasons people in Sugar Town give Annalisa and Amandla strange looks--that and the fact her mother is white and Amandla is brown.

My Thoughts:
I found this book very hard to put down.  It was powerful, sad, and empowering.  I really did love this book, though I felt like it needed perhaps another 100 pages because the last quarter of the book seemed very rushed.  This is one of those books that is very hard to describe without going into spoilers.  With that said, I think that this is an amazing book and highly recommend it!

        Rating: 4/5 stars

Why I Find Book Hauls on YouTube to Be Harmful

 

I know that I'm not the only person that gets irritated by all of the book haul videos on YouTube where Booktubers show off all the books that they have bought or been sent by publishers or viewers.  Many of them know that the more books that they show off in a haul the more views that they will get, so there is an incentive for them to film massive book hauls that would be hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of books.  It's not the fact that many of the books that get shown weren't actually purchased by the Booktuber but the build up of hype around books that many of the people wouldn't normally purchase immediately.  The level of FOMO (fear of missing out) that is unnecessarily created by showing off the books that have just been released often puts a financial strain on those watching these videos.

 I have personally fallen into the trap of buying these brand new releases because of Booktube when I know that I am not going to be reading them immediately.  Often if I wait a month or two after it has been released, I can find it through my library.  There are some books that I know I will want to own a copy of because perhaps I want to annotate it or will want to read again but many books I read I don't need to have on my shelf after I have read it.

I don't find the book hauls that are books that came from used book stores or libraries to be harmful because it isn't promoting a level of hyper-consumerism that all new books do.  

There is also the pressure that many people feel to have aesthetically pleasing bookshelves filled with hardcover copies of all their books.  This creates another level of unnecessary consumerism.  Many people actually prefer to read the smaller paperback copies of books because they are easier on their wrists.

 I personally love to buy my books used if I can because I am the kind of person that will regularly get rid of the books that I have read and know I won't read again.  I used to just donate them to my local library for the used book sale (which is where many of them came from in the first place) but I haven't been able to do that for the last year and a half.  Now I have been selling my used books (and sometime not used/unread) on Depop.  That has actually been very successful because I am able to get some of the money back I spent of these books in the first place.  

The harm that comes from book hauls is a psychological harm that can come from the belief that those watching must buy the books that are being shown because they are what is popular, whether or not the person buying the book may actually like it or not.  Also, a level of harm from a consumer/financial aspect, since there may be people putting themselves into debt in order to get more views or likes on their videos. 

 

Review of Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes

 

Expected publication: October 12th 2021

From the publisher:
Food anthropologist Miriam Quiñones-Smith's move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, puts her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son. Adding to her funk is an opinionated mother-in-law and a husband rekindling a friendship with his ex. Gracias to her best friend, Alma, she gets a short-term job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women's Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.

Thoughts:
I absolutely loved this debut cozy mystery! I liked how there was Spanish mixed into the dialogue of the book and there is enough surrounding context to figure out what is being said with having to directly translate. I really liked the character dynamics and relationships. This is a wonderfully written debut, I highly recommend this book!

Disclaimer: I was given an eARC by Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review of The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Disclaimer: I was given an eARC of this book by Celadon Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:
Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

Thoughts:

I found the beginning to be a bit slow but after the first few chapters the story really picked up. Jake is definitely not a likable main character in my opinion but in a thriller, that doesn't bother me in a thriller. I liked how throughout the book there were a couple of pages from Crib that helped to push the unraveling of the mystery forward. I did guess the main plot twist when the plot twist of the Crib was revealed but it didn't take anything away from the rest of the story. I totally didn't see the ending coming!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes not your typical thriller. 

Rating: 4/5

Review of What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo

 

 

 This book is about Eleanor, who has spent many years away at boarding school, and bloodthirsty family. She must figure out how to fit back into her family and control the darkness within her in order to save her family from distruction.

I found the premise of this book to be very interesting and something I haven't really read before and I was very excited to read this, however I had a hard time actually getting through the book once I got about 40% of the way through. The story, while good, just moved a bit too slow and made it feel as though it was dragging. I did find that the last 50 or so pages were really good. I think that for what the premise of this story is, there just was not enough action throughout the book. The last chapter and epilogue did make it so that I was glad that I did stick with the book and finish it but I would have liked it to have moved at a bit of a quicker pace.

Review of Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

 

          Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley is a thriller about Daunis Fontaine who gets convinced to help the FBI investigate the meth trade that has started coming from the nearby Ojibwe reservation when she witnesses her friend's murder.  She is able to use her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicines to help track down the source of the new lethal meth.

I found this book to be completely riveting and was completely drawn in and once I got about a quarter of the way in, I could not put this down!  The descriptions of places in Michigan's Upper Peninsula had me homesick, especially Tahquamenon Falls.  The way in which the struggles of identity and the reality of violence against women (especially indigenous women) are interwoven into the larger story makes everything feel so much more real and high stakes.  When the plot twist and reveals happened, I couldn't believe how amazingly it all came together!

Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and BookishFirst for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
       

Review of A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

 

Disclaimer: I was given an eARC by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:
When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.

If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.

If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.

For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.

But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.

Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It was a really cute Romeo and Juliet retelling. I would suggest that unless you can speak Vietnamese to listen to this as an audiobook because there are lots of parts that are in Vietnamese and can be difficult to get through otherwise.

If you enjoy YA romance, this is a good quick read. 

 

Rating: 4/5

Review of Revenge of the Sluts by Natalie Walton

Disclaimer: I was given an eARC of this book by Wattpad Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 3.5/5

This book covers cyber-bullying, internet privacy debates, and censorship issues. It starts with an email sent out to the entire school with nude pictures of seven female students. When Eden covers the story for the school paper, censorship comes from the school administration. Eden is determined to get to the bottom of who sent the email and why not matter the cost. 

This book tackles a lot of issues that are prevalent in schools today. Though I thought that this book has a good premise and plot, there were parts that didn't feel completely fleshed out or felt rushed. I didn't think this was bad but I didn't find it to be amazing either.

Review of Pretending by Holly Bourne

 

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book from Mira and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This book does have some heavy conversations about abusive relationships and rape.

This book did take me a while to get through because I had to take a break from it after reading the first third due to the heaviness of the beginning. Once I picked it back up, I was able to finish it in an afternoon.

April is an advisor for a sex and relationship charity and was raped by an ex-boyfriend which has caused her to believe that she hates men. However, she hasn't completely sworn off men so she creates Gretel as an alter-ego so she can date without the emotional baggage that April has. Once she meets Joshua and begins to really fall for him, things get complicated.

I would recommend this book but if you find conversations about abusive relationships and rape triggering, you may want to skip this book.

Review of The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

 

 

The Deep is an interesting take on mermaid mythology, where mermaids came from pregnant women who were thrown overboard slave ships.  In their society, a historian stores all the memories of their people and shares them with everyone once a year and then takes them back.  This is so that everyone can live without the weight of the memories.

I did enjoy this story but at times felt lost and many aspects of it could have been expanded for a more full story.  The part that I enjoyed the most was Yetu's time on the surface when you got to see the character development.  I wish there had been more character development throughout the rest of the story because it gave the general impression to me that this story was complete and still needed to be fleshed out.

I did enjoy this and would recommend it to someone that is interested in unusual mermaid stories.
       

Review of Starfish by Lisa Fipps

 

Starfish by Lisa Fipps is about Ellie who has been bullied about her weight since her fifth birthday party, and ever since then she has lived by the "Fat Girl Rules" which are meant to help her not stand out.  Ellie does have a small network of people who support her in a sea of bullies.  

I absolutely loved this book!  I read this book in a single sitting, once I started I couldn't put it down.  I wish that this book had been around when I was in middle school.  A book about body positivity is unfortunately few and far between.  I had tears going down my face for most of the book.  There were some really heartbreaking parts of this, like when her mom keeps putting weight loss articles on the fridge for Ellie to see and ending a lot of things she says to Ellie with "if only you lost weight".  This book really points out how much more hurtful people's words are especially when they come from the people in our own families.

As I was reading this, I kept thinking about all the people that I want to give this book to and I will definitely be recommending this to just about everyone!
       

Pretending by Holly Bourne

 

Pretending : A Novel 

Holly Bourne

On Sale Date: November 17, 2020

9780778331506, 0778331504

Trade Paperback

$17.99 USD

416 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In this hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel perfect for fans of Fleabag, a woman struggling to 

move on after a traumatic relationship pretends to be “the perfect girl” in an act of vengeance that 

goes awry when she finds herself emotionally compromised.

He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman 

who isn't real'.

April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time 

she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. 

And angry. Until she realizes that what men are really looking for is Gretel.

Gretel is perfect - beautiful but low maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not a slut. 

She's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems.

When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she 

reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own 

feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Holly Bourne is a bestselling UK-based YA and Adult Fiction author and is an Ambassador for 

Women’s Aid. In 2019, she was an Author of the Day at the London Book Fair, and was named by 

Elle Magazine’s weekly podcast as one of “Six Female Authors Changing the Conversation in 2019”. 

 Pretending is her US debut.

BUY LINKS:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Apple Books

Kobo

Google Books

Bookshop.org

SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://hollybourne.co.uk/

Twitter: @holly_bourneYA

Instagram: @hollybourneya

Facebook: @Holly.BourneYA

 

 

I hate men.

There, I’ve said it. I know you’re not supposed to say it. We all pretend we don’t hate them; we all tell 

ourselves we don’t hate them. But I’m calling it. I’m standing here on this soapbox, and I’m saying it.

I. Hate. Men.

I mean, think about it. They’re just awful. I hate how selfish they are. How they take up so much space, 

assuming it’s always theirs to take. How they spread out their legs on public transport, like their balls 

need regular airing to stop them developing damp. I hate how they basically scent mark anywhere they 

enter to make it work for them. Putting on the music they want to listen to the moment they arrive at any 

house party, and always taking the nicest chair. How they touch your stuff instead of just looking; even 

tweak the furniture arrangement to make it most comfortable for them. All without asking first—never asking first.

I hate how they think their interests are more important than yours—even though twice a week all most 

of them do is watch a bunch of strangers kick a circle around a piece of lawn and sulk if the circle doesn’t 

go in the right place. And how bored they look if you ever try to introduce them to a film, a band, or even 

a freaking YouTube clip, before you’ve even pressed Play.

I hate their endless arrogance. I hate how they interrupt you and then apologize for it but carry on talking 

anyway. How they ask you a question but then check your answer afterward. I hate how they can never 

do one piece of housework without telling you about it. I hate how they literally cannot handle being 

driven in a car by a woman, even if they’re terrible drivers themselves. I hate how they all think they’re 

fucking incredible at grilling meat on barbecues. The sun comes out and man must light fire and not let 

woman anywhere near the meat. Dumping blackened bits of chicken onto our plates along with the whiff 

of a burp from their beer breath, acting all caveman, like we’re supposed to find it cute that we may now 

get salmonella and that we’re going to have to do all the washing up.

I hate how I’m quite scared of them. I hate the collective noise of them when they’re in a big group. The 

tribal wahey-ing, like they all swap their IQs for extra testosterone when they swarm together. How, if 

you’re sitting alone on an empty train, they always come and deliberately sit next to you en masse, and 

talk extra loudly about macho nonsense, apparently to impress you. I hate the way they look at you 

when you walk past—automatically judging your screwability the moment they see you. Telling you to 

smile if you dare look anything other than delighted about living with stuff like this constantly fucking 

happening to you. 

I hate how hard they are to love. How many of them actually, truly, think the way to your heart is sending 

you a selfie of them tugging themselves, hairy ball sack very much still in shot. I hate how they have sex. 

How they shove their fingers into you, thinking it’s going to achieve anything. Jabbing their unwashed 

hands into your dry vagina, prodding about like they’re checking for prostate cancer, then wondering 

why you now have BV and you still haven’t come. Have none of them read a sex manual? Seriously? 

None of them? And I hate how they hate you a little just after they’ve finished. How even the nice ones 

lie there with cold eyes, pretending to cuddle, but clearly desperate to get as far away from you as 

possible.

I hate how it’s never equal. How they expect you to do all the emotional labor and then get upset when 

you’re the more stressed-out one. I hate how they never understand you, no matter how hard they try, 

although, let’s be honest here, they never actually try that hard. And I hate how you’re always exhausting 

yourself trying to explain even the most basic of your rational emotional responses to their bored face.

I hate how every single last one of them has issues with their father.

And do you know what I hate most of all?

That despite this, despite all this disdain, I still fancy men. And I still want them to fancy me, to want me, 

to love me. I hate myself for how much I want them. Why do I still fancy men so much? What’s wrong 

with me? Why are they all so broken? Am I broken for still wanting to be with one, even after everything? 

I should be alone. That’s the only healthy way to be. BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE. I hate men, 

that’s the problem. GOD I HATE THEM SO MUCH—they’re so entitled and broken and lazy and wrong 

and…and…

Hang on…

My phone.

HE MESSAGED BACK!!!

WITH A KISS ON THE END!

Never mind.

Forget I said anything. It’s all good.

Excerpted from Pretending by Holly Bourne, Copyright © 2020 by Holly Bourne. Published by MIRA Books. 

Slay by Brittney Morris

 

    Kiera Johnson is an honor student and one of only 4 Black students at her school, but when she goes home she joins thousands of Black gamers worldwide as Nubian personas in the game Slay.  No one knows that Kiera is the game developer.  Then when a Kansas teen is killed over a dispute within the game, the mainstream media labels it as a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals.  When a troll infiltrates the game, Kiera must do whatever she can to protect what she has created.

     This book was excellent!  It covered topics that are very relevant and not covered enough in popular literature.  I highly recommend this book!

 Rating: 4/5 stars

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

 

    Aiden Bishop has to figure out who killed Evelyn Hardcastle and she will continue to die every day until he can break the cycle.  The catch is that Aiden wakes up each day in the body of a different guest and he only has a week to do it.

    I really enjoyed all the twists and turns this book took, switching from each day's perspective to make a fairly linear timeline of a day out of a replaying of each day in a different person's body.  With the pacing of the story and all the twists, the ending did feel rather abrupt.

    I would recommend this book to someone that enjoys mysteries and /or thrillers.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review of The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

 

 

     The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is about Linus Baker who is a case worker for the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth and he is sent on a month long review of the Marsyas Island Orphanage where he must investigate the six children that are living there along with the master of the orphanage, Arthur Parnassus.  Throughout Linus' investigation, he comes to realize that the way in which the orphanages have been thought of and set up does not really reflect what they are really meant to be.

    I absolutely loved this book!  A story of found family, self-discovery, and love, you really couldn't ask for more.  The story is so beautifully written that you don't want it to ever end but when it does you realize that it couldn't really end any differently.  This is definitely the best book I have read this year and perhaps in many years.  It is one of my all time favorite books and I look forward to reading more by TJ Klune in the future!

    I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys fantasy and even those who don't normally read fantasy.

 Rating: 5/5 stars

Review of Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry

 

          

 

    This book is about Veronica, who is an outsider who sees ghost and has a brain tumor, and Sawyer, who is the golden boy who is an adrenaline junkie.  They are forced to work together on an English project and their romance sparks from there.

    I really wanted to like this book, I liked the premise and generally enjoy books with a bit of a supernatural twist.  However, this book really fell short in that I had a very hard time getting into the story which in part was due to the multiple perspectives.  I kept putting this book down for long periods of time and would have to force myself to come back to it.  I found the writing to be good and the story line has the potential to be great but for me it just felt forced.

    I don't think that I can really recommend this book to anyone but if you really want to give it a try, perhaps check it out from the library.  It definitely wasn't for me.

        

Rating: 2/5 stars

Review of Sparrow by Mary Cecilia Jackson

          Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book from TOR/Forge Books via Bookish First in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book after reading the first excerpt but I just couldn't get into this book, it was overly dramatic without a break.  It felt choppy and didn't flow in a way that made it enjoyable to read.  It could be that I am too far from my teen years to really be able to engage with this book but I feel that even if I had read this book when I was a teen I still wouldn't have been able to engage with it.

There definitely need to be trigger warnings at the beginning of the book because too many girls experience this type of abuse.

I don't think that I can recommend this book to anyone in good conscience.
       
 

Review of Proof of Murder by Lauren Elliott

Disclaimer: I was given an eARC of this book from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the fourth book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series. It does have a bit of a different tone than the previous books but it was just as good as the previous books. This installment does seem to have more at stake for Addie personally which did give me more of an investment in the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys cozy mysteries.