Pam

A love letter to the books and libraries that have allowed us a safe place to escape to.

4.75 rounded to 5

I want to thank Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Lady X. All opinions presented here are my own.

Lady X was a book I added to my TBR because of its subject matter. What do I mean by that? Simply put, it’s about women fighting for what’s right and showing the world that women are important.

The story is told through two timelines, 1977 and 2024. Each chapter tells you at the beginning which year and which character we are with — Ginger or Margot. At the same time, the story is told in third-person POV.

Margot is a woman I can relate to, as she wonders what’s next in her life now that the kids have all grown and she’ll soon have an empty nest. She’s struggling because she’s set aside her hopes and dreams, even friendships, to be there for her family 100%.

Ginger is a woman trying to make it in New York City. But she finds that the men around her see her only as an object, not a person. If she doesn’t give them what they want, they won’t give her what she wants. After a friend is attacked, Ginger has had enough and starts letting the world know what’s going on.

Both women grow and develop the more we get to know them. Ginger goes from being a bubbly pageant queen who lets things happen to a strong woman willing to stand up for what is right. Margot stops caring about everyone else’s feelings except her own. I know that may sound harsh, but she is so worried about rocking the boat that, in many ways, she lets people walk over her.

Overall, I feel that Lady X is a book that everyone should read. Given the current state of affairs in the world, and how women are still treated, I feel that Lady X is a timely read. It’s a perfect mix of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and mystery.

I decided to read Something More after reading You Started It in 2025. I am so grateful that I finally read Khalilieh’s debut novel. A bonus for me is that it is set in the Toronto area, which I love.

Khalilieh has a way of writing realistic characters, based on her own life experiences. Jessie’s parents are Palestinian, making Jessie a first-generation Palestinian-Canadian. With that, Jessie is trying to balance her parents’ wishes and desires for her and her siblings with what is happening in school.

I found Something More relatable, even though my high school years are far behind me. In many ways, I saw myself in Jessie, though I never had the desire to be in a school play. Jessie’s relationships with those around her were ones I heard about from my two girls as they navigated the life that is high school. There’s making friends, losing friends, crushes, dating, breaking up, and the heartache of it all is described perfectly in this book.

Something More is classified as a young-adult romance. But to me, it is much more than that. To me, this is a contemporary slice of life that is so relatable.

My biggest issue with the book was the ages of the main characters. Jessie turned 15 before we ever met her, and she’s excited to start high school in grade 9. Levi just turned 16, and he’s in grade 10. Maybe it’s just me, and the fact that my birthday was later in the year, but those ages feel off for the Canadian education system. My youngest daughter turned 15 in the middle of grade 9, as her birthday is in January. Also, at one point in the novel, Levi is driving alone at age 16. If you don’t live in Ontario, Canada, you may not see that as a flaw. But in Ontario, you don’t get to drive alone until you’ve been driving for at least a year, and you can’t start driving until you turn 16. As I said, this is an issue I have because I know the details aren’t quite right. And in other places, these ages and actions may be correct.

Overall, Something More has plenty of fun and drama! There’s character growth, messy families, and lots of fun. If you enjoy Lynn Painter’s YA books, I honestly feel you would enjoy Something More.

DNF around page 100. While not a bad story, it's told in a way that makes it hard to follow the revolving cast of characters. Bouncing from modern times back to WWII, then to postwar Russia, and back to the war makes it hard to keep track of what's happening and to whom.