Lauren

I read Out of the Silent Planet for my masters course on YA literature. While this is considered a YA classic, I would argue it’s really more current day New Adult/Adult. There is nothing wrong with the content for YA readers, but YA books are typically about characters learning their place in the world as well as feature characters in the YA age range, and this book really isn’t about either of those (the first idea could be argued, but I will get to that). Again, I do think it is totally appropriate for YA audiences, but due to the writing style, I think it’s best suited for 16 plus (upper YA - Adult). There’s been some debate over this being a YA book, and I can see why since it can be a little dense at times. At the same time, the messaging is more or less handed to you with little to interpret.

All that’s to be said, if you’re someone who got into Project Hail Mary and you’re looking for a similar story, this is it. This book was written by C.S. Lewis (author of the Chronicles of Narnia amongst other famous works) in the 1930s (and while it’s not the worst from this era, do be warned that sexism, racism, and ableism do exist in this novel - regardless of era written, this does factor greatly into my rating).

The beginning starts off pretty dark, it ends up being a story about communication, misunderstanding, and (ironically) humanity. While Ransom surely does learn about his place and role in the world, the scope of this story is much larger.

Like much of his works seem to have, there are themes of religion (especially around Christianity), but while I have not read his Narnia series it does not sound as though it is as distracting or blatant as that series. I think the book can be explored with or without an interest in religion. He also seems to have quite a lot to say about humanity. I do believe that ties in with the religion piece, but if you ignore that, I actually think there can be a really interesting discussion around what makes people of earth “twisted.” (That is not to say religion must be removed from the discussion, but rather I am arguing that it needn’t be a key part for a discussion to take place, depending on the beliefs of those involved).

I do think it is interesting that it is book 1 in a trilogy because I really cannot see where else it would go. I’m unsure if I will continue. The writing was good and the story interesting, but I’m happy where things were left.

The Bone Door is one of those books that you enter knowing nothing, much of it seems odd and nonsensical, yet somehow it all comes together at the end. I will be honest, during the first 2-4 chapters I thought it was likely I would DNF. The writing style was good, but since I don’t read synopsis often, I did not realize the story is told through the lends of children, and I do not typically like that sort of story. However, I am so glad I continued to read this book.

As I said, while the story is intentionally confusing and you begin with no information (as does the MC) it is not hard to follow. White does a nice job dropping small hints and world building as you go, and each character slowly earns their own backstory. At the start of this book I did not think I would feel so connected to the characters, but Hop won me over. I also did not expect to cry (it’s been many books since one tugged at my heart enough to produce strong enough of an emotion) but towards the end it got me.

I suggest this book for people who are willing to give it a few chapters to get into it, people who enjoy slow world building, and those who can simply be along for the ride until reveals are made.

I look forward to reading more of White’s works.

I do think it is imperative to look at trigger warnings for this book, especially if you have any around children. I’ll list a few of these majors ones I noticed below, but since I do not experience any of these, it is likely I’ve missed many.

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Trigger warnings:

- Spiders/bugs

- Death

- Child neglect

- Child abuse

- Child mutilation

- Violence

- Grief

- Confinement

- Emotional Isolation

- Sexual assault (NOT on page, but mentioned & alluded to)

- Abortion (alluded to)

Note: I Read this for Masters Program

Forever is about a coming of age whirlwind romance between high school seniors Michael and Katherine. It follows the pair as they explore many of the ups and downs of a first relationship. This entire review will have spoilers.

I think it’s important to note this book was published in the 70s, so things are very different today. That being said, I do think there are some good messages in the book. Sex is not seen as a bad thing in the book, though it also does not shy away from the fact it can lead to pregnancy or STDs. I really liked how open Katherine and her mom and grandma were about sex. I also appreciated the discussions around options for contraceptives with doctors, though it was very surface level and I do wish it was more through.

I know sex scenes are pretty common today, but considering this is a book marketed for YA readers, I was pretty surprised at the multiple explicit scenes. I personally believe there is nothing wrong with sex scenes in YA novels as many YA readers are at the age where they are exploring such things, but I had not expected it from this book.

All that to be said, there are some major red flags this book does not discuss. First and foremost, Michael was the worst. He kind of reminded me of one of my exs, so relatable, I guess, but we weren’t supposed to hate him. Yet he tried to pressure Katherine into sex multiple times and got moody the few times she didn’t want to do anything. Then, when things end, he immediately accuses her of cheating and throws in her face that he had been cheating on her the whole time they were apart for their summer jobs (it is never confirmed or denied if he did or if he was just trying to hurt her, but gross behavior either way). Katherine’s infatuation with Theo and the implication she might start seeing him at the end also left me feeling icky.

Also, despite some praise for her mom, I didn’t love everything about Katherine’s parents. Her dad gave weird vibes, and I didn’t love them forcing her into a job. I understand why, but it still was kind of awful. And then calling her to tell her that her grandpa died but she couldn’t come home??? Unhinged behavior. Either tell her and let her home, or don’t tell her until camp is over. Pick one.

The plot line with the friend’s suicide attempt was abrupt and unnecessary as was the other friend (friend’s cousin??) having a baby. Not to mention the weird fatphobia throughout the book for no reason??

Honestly, I don’t have much to say on this one. I was not in love with the series after book 1, but I got the first 3 books as a gift so I wanted to try at least that many. Book 1 was okay, but by no the FMC has had little to not character growth, I don’t even want to count how many times the word “perv” was used, and both MMCs are walking red flags from day 1. The writing did not age particularly well, and while the attempts at diversity is a plus, this series reads extraordinary juvenile, yet plays on the boarder of explicit scenes (it’s closed door, but there are several mentions of getting undressed for sexual reasons). Even when I was in high school this would have been written too young. I’m really not sure why the target audience is.

This is a story that I’ve felt the need to sit and reflect on. Upon first glance it reads like a horror/thriller, but thinking on the events, it can be difficult to discern what exactly happened. I love an unreliable narrator when done well, and this does fit that well.

I enjoyed the themes of grief, identity, heritage, and social perception. In such a short page count, it did tackle all of those things well.

However, at the same time my main compliant about this book is I wish it was longer. I could have used another 25-50 pages getting the rhythm of this book. The ending felt abrupt. I do love an open-ended ending, but because of how quickly it ended, I feel like I don’t have enough to really theory craft off of, which is what I enjoy from ambiguous endings.

If someone told me that I would pick up a Veronica Roth novella in 2024 and love it, I wouldn’t have believed it. I most certainly would not have believed it if someone told me I was going to excitedly fall into a new duology written by her. This is no shade to Roth, but even at its height, I didn’t love Divergent (though I was still a fan). Roth is evidence that it is important to give author’s second chances.

Focusing now on Seek the Traitor’s Son, I was admit it was not perfect. However, I had fun with it (as much fun as you can have with this sort of story). It felt nostalgic (and boy am I glad it is a true dystopia with a subplot of romance…well, more than a subplot but it certainly is not the main plot). I had not expected to have more POVs outside of the MFC and MMC, but I’m so glad for it because the added POV did bring something to the story.

The most notable strength of this story are the characters. Even the unlikable ones and the ones that made choices I did not agree with, they felt real and I could clearly see their motivations. I know I praised Roth’s growth, but if you like some of her typical plot points, they will be found here (I.e. a tormented man dealing with trauma & a strong FMC overcoming personal and societal hurtles)

Although this book certainly can be classified as sci-fi, don’t let that intimidate you if you’re not typically a sci-fi reader. It is low sci-fi. Yes, there are ships and such, but you don’t need to follow any hard science.

**I was also pleasantly surprised with the bi representation**

All that to be said, it isn’t a five star because I was waiting for more from the world. This is a duology, so I’m fully expecting to get what I was looking for in book two. We were given bits and pieces of world building and some hints as to what is to come, so I am hopeful book 2 will be that five star. The other reason I have not rated it higher is because of the romance. I actually really loved both the MMC and FMC, but the romance seemed to develop very quickly. I understand there are oaths and prophecies at play, but it doesn’t seem like those things would force feelings to catch particularly quickly, so I would have liked a few more scenes to really see them falling for each other.

Doll Bones is a Middle Grade horror novel following a trio of friends as they enter an adventure to put “the queen” to rest and, hopefully, save their friendship.

For anyone who is unaware, Middle Grade novels typically involve a protagonist realizing the world is much larger than they may have initially realized. This book does that well through a character named Zach, who learns that family is complicated, friendship takes effort, and maybe adventure is needed regardless of the judgment of others.

Personally, I thought it was a great balance of spooky atmosphere without being scary. As with all Middle Grade, I do think the maturity of the reader will impact the experience. The kids in this story make some decisions that are not bad, but not ones that any parents would want their children to take. A more mature reader will go into the story and understand this, but a less mature middle schooler may not.

I thought Zach was an overall relatable and sweet kid, and between the three friends I think most readers will be able to see themselves. One of the kids has a complicated relationship with their father, one lives with her grandma after losing her parents, and the other was a strong willed “weird girl” that needs the approval of no one except her friends.

On the surface, Yesteryear is a debut novel about Natalie, a woman who partakes in the tradwife persona online while having a team behind the curtains making her social media boom possible, and what it may be like to truly live during the time she tries to encapsulate online. This story is also about womanhood, media perception, real vs fake identity, religious trauma, and more. I can’t say this was a fun time, but I can say I will be thinking about this for a long while. While it was not perfect (the pacing in the middle was pretty slow for how fast it wrapped up), I’m very impressed that this is a debut novel and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for anything else Burke decides to write (and perhaps I’ll need to check out her podcast). This story features a full cast of unlikable characters (literally no one) and the perspective of one of the most unreliable characters I’ve read in a long time. Truly, I’m still thinking through some of the things I’ve read and I’m trying to decide what occurred (this was an intention choice and it does make me want to reread it. Personally, I love an unreliable narrator, but I can see some people not enjoying this book because of that. I also appreciated that the writing style was both readable and very intentional. There were very few things I did not like about this book. The pacing was a bit of a hurdle for me. This book is not any longer than what I typically read, but it took me significantly longer to get through it due to the off pacing. While I love characterization, I felt we were given a few too many scenes to help the reader understand how a character (partially Natalie) behaves or thinks. I wish some of it was pared down because it resulted in a lot of nothing happening for a while. I also wanted more time in the past timeline. While we needed the present timeline, we spent too much time there for me.

Before I get into my more spoilery thoughts, I think think book requires a few specific trigger warnings: (I’m sure I missed some) Misogyny (external and internalized) Slut shaming Sexual assault Physical assault Depression childbirth Child loss Miscarriage Abuse (physical, emotional, child) Neglect Religious bigotry Homophobia Animal death infidelity

Spoiler Section Below . . . . . . . . . . Honestly, I felt kind of dumb I didnt figure out what was happening. The clues were all there, but I somehow missed it. I really like how Burke left the language in the “1800s” modern. While reading it I found it a little jolting, but now knowing that they were not in the past, it felt like a well developed clue. I also thought it was so interesting that everyone around Natalie said she was awful and and mean (and she was internally), but then towards the end she says her mean thoughts out loud, but it’s still in italics and not quotes, so I’m curious how much of that stuff was said out loud. Her old roommate and her mom called her out for being mean, so I’m guessing at least some of it?? I do wish we know what happened with Caleb, her husband. In this way, the ending fell a little flat. I don’t need things to be tied up with a bow, but I do find him to be even worse than her. I don’t think Natalie was ever a good person, but she certainly was suffering from postpartum depression and never received the proper support or treatment and was very unwell. Meanwhile her husband is happy to do nothing, drug her, was consciously and willfully neglecting their children, and did not provide his wife proper medical treatment when her foot became mangled. I’m not giving Natalie a pass, but the story does nothing to either tell us he was held accountable for his part in the abuse, nor does it give any kind of messaging about how men are rarely held accountable for the same crimes as women (the story touches on the latter once, but not in regards to what happens with Caleb). I also don’t know what to think of the story line with Shannon. In one breath she says Caleb is smarter than he seems and in the next she says she would be too smart to have his kids, so which is it? I also don’t know what to think about the sexual assault claims because it didn’t seem that way from the book, but Natalie is not exactly reliable. Still, I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of Natalie acting out this way in some kind of suppressed desire (it’s kind of a harmful concept and I don’t think that’s was this author’s intentions considering how the rest of the book was written), so I’m choosing to believe Shannon is also unreliable as well.

A Forbidden Alchemy takes place in a world in which Idium is everything. Without those with power risk losing it, and those without it need access or risk remaining in the same disenfranchised lives they and their family lines have suffered for generations. It attempts to ask, what happens when a girl from a poor mining town gets accepted into the elite’s lifestyle? I would say the first 60% of this book is honestly a fun, stereotypical romantasy. It is odd calling people fighting for their rights fun, but it is what it is. You get the brooding guy, the strong woman, the lovable cast of characters. If you are someone who typically loves any romantasy you pick up, this is probably going to be a great book for you. For me, however, it fell flat. I am pretty particular about my romantasy, and I have learned I prefer romantic fantasy over romantasy, but there are a few that break that rule, so I have this one a try. Like I said, I didn’t take it too seriously, but I have having fun for the first 60% (I’m guesstimating). There is a twist around that point, however, that completely broke my trust in the author. I will not say who the twist involves, but there are two POVs in this book, and one of the POVs has a pretty significant reveal at this point, and it didn’t feel good. I love an unreliable narrators, but this was not that. Instead, this character had a huge secret they were keeping, but not once before the reveal did they think about this secret or worry someone might find out or worry that if anyone did know if they may reveal it. It is potentially a life or death level secret. Personally, I do not believe a character would not be internally stressed about this situation, and when authors write twists this way, it breaks my trust because now I feel as though there is no point in following the story, because twists can come out of nowhere for no reason at all other than plot convenience. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Another complaint I have is some of their reactions seem a little off. I understand being blinded by duty, or love, or whatever value you hold highest, but there were moments that should have been met with larger reactions instead of instant forgiveness considering the types of people this book follows. I was also pretty disappointed by the synopsis. I almost with this was book 2. The synopsis promises a story about a girl who is accepted to an important school and see a montage of her time there. I would have loved to see her grow up there. See her become immersed in this new and unfamiliar culture. I would have loved to live in it for a while and get a solid grasp on the magic system. Then book 2 could have been this book. There was nothing egregiously wrong with this book. Nothing glaring offensive or bad. It had some interesting things to say about political and social power that I would have liked to be explored more. It was truly a typical romantasy that I had fine with for the most part, but every now and then found this that I did not like. I am curious where book 2 will go, so I’m likely to continue.

Note: I did not consider this in my review, but the narrator for Nina was a little tough to listen to. She would be totally normal and would be doing a good performance, but then she would make her voice kind of whining sounding when trying to show desperation? I have a pretty low audiobook ick tolerance, so this may not bother anyone, but I thought it was worth noting.

Lady Tremaine is the infamous “evil stepmother” Etheldreda’s side of the Cinderella fairy tale. That is all I knew going into this book. It is worth noting this is not a fairytale in itself, as is not magical or full of whimsy. It is a historical fiction placing this tale in the real world.

This is somehow the fourth book I’ve read this year about motherhood, and I know I have one more on my physical TBR. It is odd considering I actually really do not enjoy books about motherhood, but here we are. And I did enjoy this one.

I’ve seen people complain that the protagonist of this book is not evil, and while I agree, I also push back on the notion that she is good. In fact, she herself also pushes back on this idea. I will not provide specific examples to avoid spoilers, but there are many times I wondered if I was suppose to feel sympathy towards her or dislike, and that is the point. She loves her daughters deeply and wants to right all the wrongs she had faced through them, for better or worse. This causes her to act selfishly, to be cruel, to hurt people. This causes her to even harm her daughters in a way, turning them into copies of herself. And the cause of this all stems back to womanhood and motherhood. I will say it again: That is the point.

Throughout history women have been pitted against each other and given little to no rights in most parts of the world. It is really only in recent decades women have gained independence from their husbands, and even then women do not have the same rights as many of their male counterparts. This story explores this idea by showing us how different women (particularly one trying to fake her way to a better life and one living in wealth) approach life, each other, and the lengths they are willing to go to for their children.

So no, Etheldrea is not cartoonishly evil like she is in the source material, but she is deeply flawed and complicated. She is sometimes a character you root for and other times completely unlikable. Her daughters and the the Cinderella character are similar in this way too. None of them are perfect. None of them are “good” or “evil.” They are all simply women trying to survive.

review coming soon

You Did Nothing Wrong is C.G. Drew’s adult debut. It is about Elodie’s and Jude’s experience living in an old house as Elodie’s new husband renovates it. Jude hates the house, saying he can hear things in the walls and the renovations cause the house pain. At first Elodie assures her son he’s only nervous about living in a new place, but quickly starts to wonder if maybe he’s right.

I think people are going to love or hate this book. Although it’s far less connected to the earth and botany, the writing is still very much like C.G. Drews other works.

Personally I had a great time with this book. Even the ending - which I am sure some people will absolutely hate - made complete sense to me for this story. I’ve come to accept I will always have questions leaving Drew’s books. It’s actually something I’ve learned to enjoy about them. It never feels like plot holes or laziness, but as a real part of the story telling. My only criticism (if it can be called that) is this didn’t really feel like a horror. While I suppose get why it was placed in the genre, I would say it’s more domestic and psychological thriller than horror (and I get the publisher has more say over this than the author). As someone who gets scared easily, I never felt scared. Instead, I spent a lot of time trying to decide what I thought was happening, who was playing what role, and what the catalyst was. Those topics were pretty obvious from early on, but there’s still plenty I didn’t figure out (and some things I’m still trying to understand).

Elodie is a tough pill to swallow. Sometimes I felt bad for her, sometimes I was frustrated by her, and sometimes I hated her, which made the reading experience interesting, but admittedly a little exhausting at times. I know that all sounds like a negative, but it was clearly intentional and I enjoyed the experience.

I really liked Jude as a character. I was worried we were going to go the typical “creep kid” route with this, but this book didn’t feel stereotypical at all. Drew’s also has shared that they are autistic, and though Jude is never formally diagnosed, it’s very clear from the writing that he is autistic and I have to imagine some of Drew’s experience was placed into Jude. For better or worse, it felt very real, from how he reacted to things and untold the world around him to how people reacted to him.

Overall I really liked this book, but it certainly isn’t for everyone and I’m curious to see what people think of the ending.

The Beauty of Darkness is the third and final book in the Remnant Chronicles. As such, I really can’t say anything more on the synopsis without spoiling the prior books.

What I can say is, I’m not sure if it’s me or the book. I’ve been feeling very indifferent to every book I’ve read recently. I know this is YA and I’m certainly no longer the target audience, but I see adults gushing over it all the time and I do love a YA fantasy. That’s not to say I didn’t like the book. I did. It was technically fine in every way, and I think if I read this at 16 I would have been obsessed. At 29, however, I struggled to care. It felt very predictable, and if I’m honest, though I could see the ending coming, I still felt lied to. (I know prophecies are never straight forward, but still).

To be fair, I didn’t love book 1, so maybe I should have just given up there. I just wanted to live it because it sounded like something I should.

I do think this series will work for so many people, and I think it’s a great book for the intended audience, just not me.

I can’t say I’ve ever had an interest in Moby Dick not putting the tale in space, but I have really enjoyed Alexis Hall’s work in the past, so I was anticipating this book. Unfortunately, it fell flat.

I will say the writing itself was fine and there were a few moments that I found humorous (not funny per se, but funny adjacent). I also mostly read this via audiobook, and the narrator did a good a job at making it clear who was speaking. I also generally enjoy stories where the narrator keeps things from the audience in the way this did (not as plot conscience, but this book is written like a memoir, and the narrators tells you they’re keeping information from you).

However, that’s where my enjoyment ended. The book was so casually sex focused that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else (note: this is not erotica and does not read as it. For example, the unnamed narrator will casually mention they’re having some sort of sex while something else is happening). In fact, I’m shocked anyone has time to do anything else with how often it seems like they are all thinking about sex. Other words are used to imply that content (railed was used twice, but I think there were others), but the words sex and sexy appear in the book 53 times. The fact that the MC was having sex with multiple people (consensually and with everyone’s knowledge - a plus) does NOTHING for the story.

There were the bones of a message in this book. It seemed like there was an attempt to have some commentary on the perception of lost histories and history discovers solely through artifacts and science (a really interesting concept that got lost in the story - I wanted MORE), as well as maybe how going out and having experiences first hand is valuable and necessary.

Lastly, I think it’s a little unfair to compare this to Gideon the Ninth. I can see where the comparison comes from, but hike Gideon uses an unreliable character who is chaotic and sometimes discusses her “dirty magazines,” that book is layered and the characters are well constructed. This book had potential, but the MC really needed to be reigned in and the book’s messaging needed to be focused better in my opinion.

The Firekeeper’s Daughter was a book that was completely outside of my typical genres. While I still read some YA, I don’t really read mysteries and I’m not a big contemporary reader outside of romance. I also think it’s worth noting that while this is YA, I would say it is best suited to upper YA (15-16+). This story follows Daunis, a girl who finds herself longing for acceptance within her tribe (she is half indigenous). Despite her limitations within the her tribe, she is still close with her brother - a full member - her family, and her friends. She is strong willed and a little naïve at the start of the book. While the story’s synopsis seems to promise a romance, that is not truly the heart of this story. It’s really about grief, self identity, and family and community. While there were moments that were entirely unrealistic (I will avoid mentioning them, but involvement in the situation at all is high amongst the list), there were also moments that were painfully real particularly around the treatment of women and the justice systems in place today. I also really appreciated how tradition and Daunis’ culture were woven into the story. For people who are not part of indigenous culture in the Northern Americas, the author did a great job showing pieces of it without ever making it feel like it was being explained outright while also ensuring it made sense. I also liked how much time we got with our different characters. They all felt real because of the time we were given. And that ending was both healing and heartbreaking. Honestly beautiful work by the author and I intend to pick up the second book sometimes this year.

TWs: mentions of drugs and drug abuse, violence, sexual assault

Not Another Love Song started off strong but got lost along the way. The story follows two musicians, Gwen and Xander/Alex, as they navigate career choices, what they want, and their growing chemistry.

To begin with the things I liked, I thought Gwen was likable. A little blind, but in a way that made sense for her. Without spoiling anything, she had good reasons to desire stability and consistency in her life. I also liked the writing overall. It was clear and flowed nicely. The third act conflict also felt logical to me.

However, there were many things I didn’t like. For starters, I understand why he is the way he is, but Xander/Alex not knowing who she is despite working with her is crazy. As are his rude comments early on. I simply do not forgive him.

Additionally, I felt like once the smut started, it became consistent. I don’t mind a little smut when it furthers the plot, but by the time we got the final time they slept together I found myself skipping forward. I think there were 3-5 scenes, and I really didn’t need that many. The book just ain’t long enough for that (for me).

Lastly, I really didn’t like most of the side characters either. Gwen’s friends felt more like caricatures than real people, and the other influences on her life kind of sucked and hardly apologized.

The book wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t satisfied. I would try another of her books again.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. The characters were compelling, their motivations and actions believable, and the setting was well crafted. In theory, this book should be rated higher, and yet there was something that kept me disconnected from the story as a whole.

I admit, I did solely read this via audio, and I usually don’t only read a book by audio, so it’s possible that was part of the problem for me. The narrator wasn’t bad, but her narration definitely didn’t enhance the book.

The other thing that may have contributed to my disconnect was the differing POVs. I actually love a multi-POV book, but some stories are served better by only have one, maybe two, and I do think this may have been one of them.

Lastly, this is a stressful time of year (I’m a teacher and April is when we’re dying to get unengaged students to reengage and try to keep the other motivated - it’s a tough time), so I also may have been a little distracted as I read.

Whatever the cause, the book was good, but something about it just made it “not for me.” I’ll still read this author’s works releasing this year, however, because I know the magic she can write.

I’ve been reading the STEMinist books out of order, so after reading Stuck with You last year, I decided to go back to book one. Under One Roof is about a house left to two different people in a will, Mara and Liam.

I think this book had a lot of potential. I actually hated Liam when we first met him, and quite quickly began to like him. I think what hurt this book was the fact that it was a novella. Things went from 0 to 100 between the main characters. When they got together, I actually thought it was a dream sequence for the first half of the scene because of how sudden it was. It felt so out of place.

Hazlewood also tried to give this book convincing side characters, but there just weren’t enough pages to care about them. I wish it would have been a full length novel.

It wasn’t bad, but it was far from her best work.

To be completely honest, I had no idea what this book was about past that I took place in space and followed a man who had no memory as to how he ended up in space alone. I think that’s really as much as you want to know going into this book, because knowing more kind of gives away the plot.

In the spirit of keeping this review as vague as possible in this first part, I like this book overall. It is non-liner but very easy to follow. Half of the chapters follow Ryland in space, and the other half shows the events leading up to that event. While this is a sci-fi and the science is important, it’s explained plainly enough that even if you don’t fully understand the science, it all makes sense enough for the story to progress. I found Ryland to be a really interesting character. The reason for the subtraction of .5 stars is due to one event I cannot mention here for spoiler reasons, and there was a small section of chapter that kind of dragged (maybe 4-5; I didn’t keep count).

My more spoiler-y thoughts are below

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I’m obsessed with Rocky. I think I would do anything for him, which is saying something because I am terrified of spiders. I never would have been brave enough to befriend him, but I adore him and he really made the book. I don’t think this book would be half as enjoyable without him.

Unfortunately, names don’t stick with me in books, and I had to return this book to the library before I got around to writing my review, but o was really disappointed with how everything went down with the main scientist lady that recruited Ryland. Don’t get me wrong, I actually do believe she would keep him on standby and at the ready in case he was needed, but not only were her actions heinous (I know Ryland said he was a loner but surely there had to be SOMEONE panicking about his absence and lack of good-bye), but Ryland was nearly angry enough about it. He was lied to, drugged, and denied any last conversations with those he cared about (including those on the mission). He was forced to sacrifice his life DESPITE SAYING NO. Yes, yes, “for the greater good,” but that never pans out. Instead his rights and consent were violated, and the angriest he got was wanting to show up and make her face her actions. I just think that warrants a bigger reaction. I was horrified and disgusted, and Ryland moved on so fast (again, I know, dire situation, but you can try to save humanity, maybe yourself, and be pissed at the same time.)

The Great Mann is essentially The Great Gatsby, but told from the perspective of people of color. As someone who loved Gatsby in high school, I really enjoyed this take on it. It wasn’t modernized much (1940s instead of 20s) so perhaps it could be argued that it’s redundant, but the issues surrounding race added a layer of depth to the story.

I believe this is also Laurie’s debut novel. I look forward to seeing what else she writes. The writing style itself was simple, but in a way that made the story feel accessible and let the characters be the focus. Each character felt like their own person, and while he is flawed, I did like Charlie’s perspective.

The story beats are all the more or less the same as Gatsby, so readers who didn’t like the classic probably won’t enjoy this one. That being said, you do not need to be familiar with the source material to enjoy the book.

If you’re more interested in trigger warnings, my review ends here. Trigger warnings are listed below:

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It is worth noting that this book does deal with topics such as classism, racism, mentions of violence, mentions of war, mentions of the KKK, and infidelity.

I’ve been digging into Hazlewood’s backlog as I’ve read most (if not all) of her current work. Her work is very formulaic, which I enjoy. I pick up her books when I need the silly, goofy, romcom vibe to break up my heavier reads, and typically they hit just right. This was one of two now that didn’t work for me (Problematic Summer Romance being the other). Her writing has clearly gotten better in her more recent books (which I expect), but that wasn’t really the issue. I felt like Olive had no spine. After the event that causes our third-act problem (as all romances have), I just wanted to yell at her to stand up. What happened to her is real and serious, but her reaction to it, I just wanted more from her.

The dialogue was also extra cringy. The millennial vibes were overly strong in this one.

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as the books that came after it.

I remember when Great Big Beautiful Life came out, there was something debate over if it was a romance, and honestly, I’m not sure I see where that debate comes from. We primarily follow Alice and Hayden as they compete to write the biography of a famous woman who had seemingly disappeared. While the book didn’t only show the two of them interacting (they needed time to work), most of the book is about them. I actually thought they were pretty sweet together. Now, it isn’t a romcom, but it is a romance.

I would have liked more time to understand who Hayden is more, but I liked them together. I also thought understand the hesitancy they held (primarily Hayden) over getting together. I can see how it could feel messy.

I also thought Margret’s life was interesting and tragic. While some of her choices were frustrating, I understood where they came from.

The only reason I didn’t rate it higher was totally vibes based. There was some spark that was missing for me

fell in love with Tana French’s story telling in book 2 of this series, having read it before book 1 due to it being required reading for one of my Master’s courses. While I liked this one well enough, it was hard going from that to this, because that book was so strong.

The things that remained strong in this book were by far her characters. All of her characters are unique and have distinct personalities. (I also liked seeing Cassie get to where she was before The Likeness - there were definitely things hinted in that book that I didn’t catch on to & my guesses for the missed drama was way off).

While o saw some reviews mentioning they didn’t like the ending, I thought it was fine. It wasn’t spectacular, but not all endings have the blow us out of the water. I think it wrapped things up decently, while also staying true to the characters and their experiences.

Unfortunately, I really hated Rob. It was just hard being in his mind because I didn’t particularly like how he viewed people. I do think that was partially intentional and partially a product of when the book was written, and I actually don’t mind reading about characters I don’t like, but there was just something about being in his head that took me out of it a little. Maybe I’m just ruined and wanted more Cassie.

I do think I will continue the series as I’m sure I’ll like the future books even more. I think this one mostly suffered from my points above and my only other experience with her works being a 5 star read.

I can see why people like Rebecca Ross’s books. They’re accessible while also having relatively complex storylines and really wonderful world building. I think the magic system in this was my favorite part. It was really unique and interesting.

Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s for me. I read the Divine Rivals duology and didn’t love it, but I am a strict believer authors generally deserve a second chance. While I love the premise of her books and the worlds in which they take place, I really struggle with her dialogue. I can’t exactly explain why, but there is something about it that feels strange. I also can’t say I love her romances. I just never believe the characters love each other. I never feel the chemistry (and I don’t even necessarily think they should be together).

I really do think a lot of people would (and clearly do) love this book. Ross just isn’t the author for me, unfortunately.

I never was able to get into the first trilogy in the Shadow Hunter’s series. I tried reading City of Bones even at the time that I was the target audience and it just never really got into it. I wanted to, but while I didn’t have the vocabulary for it at the time and now too many years have passed for me to remember the why, I know I felt some kind of disconnect. Awhile back I watched CariCanRead’s series recap on the main trilogy and this month decided I wanted to give this portion of the world a try (Cari recommended starting here if the original trilogy didn’t call to you). While I know there is overlap on the series, her overview gave me enough understanding to jump into this world, and I’m glad I did.

Cassandra Clare’s characters are fantastic. I really enjoyed Sword Catcher and the Ragpicker King, so I knew this going in, but I was still pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed Tessa and her growth over the book. I like how Clare explored the role of women in society. I also enjoyed that Tessa wasn’t the typical FMC in books that are released today. Sometimes she’s strong and incredible, but other times she’s just a girl who needs help and is worried about her brother.

I know Will is going through shit and clearly has much bigger problems than romance (alas, YA characters - and even adult ones - rarely know how to avoid falling for the brooding man), and I am excited to see how he changes over the series, but man am I mad at him for that final part we saw him in. iFYKYK.

Overall it was a fun time and while I could see some of the twists coming, they were well done. Although I never got into the series, it felt oddly nostalgic.