Jess
Surprisingly, I loved this. It's a bit of a slow burn and at first seems to fall prey to some trope-y stereotypes, but then it really morphs into something completely unexpected. I loved getting to know the characters, and I thought it was a lovely exploration of what it means to age and what it means to be a person after society no longer deems you valuable.
Recommended for:
- Fans of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series. A bit different in tone and vibe, but has that human element that works so well.
- Readers who want something a bit more gentle than a breakneck thriller or gory murder. I read a lot of this right before bed or in bed, and none of it kept me up at night.
This was a phenomenal wrap-up to the Wayfarers series, and seeing it come full circle back to Pei and her character amidst others in this universe was perfect.
I did receive both a gifted digital ARC via NetGalley and a complimentary physical copy of this book from Harper Voyager, but this in no way influences my review. I've been a long time fan of Chambers' books!
It's finally here!! I really liked it and I'll still give it 5 stars because I polished the whole thing off in about a day, but I had my hunch about the twist (which was entertaining though thoroughly implausible).
I also thought the book did a great job of bringing beloved characters back together and addressing real concerns in trying to solve a mystery where people involved in the incident are still alive, as well as a touch of imposter syndrome.
However the book lacked the depth that we get from the full 3 book arc for Ellingham, so I hope something will bring us back to that. (Plus, a sweaty, humid summer setting just does not feel as pleasantly atmospheric
Thanks Soft Skull Press for sending this finished copy! Rounding up to 4 stars. I enjoyed this book but also found its frenetic energy overwhelming at times. This futuristic social thriller reminded me at times of Labyrinth Lost, Black Buck, Juliet Takes a Breath, and Ready Player One. I loved the unapologetically trans cast of characters!
As a huge fan of McKeown's first book Essentialism (which I reread periodically), I had really high expectations for this. But unfortunately it lacked strength and felt too obvious. Many aspects of this book can be found in Gretchen Rubin's much more detailed book Better than Before, such as the Strategy of Pairing.
YA mystery is one of my favorite subgenres, and I thought Boulley's debut novel hit the mark of a good thriller while also having consistent character development and a strong sense of place. You can tell that the author spent years writing and refining this story and I felt fully immersed in Daunis' world, half in and half out of Ojibwe culture. The twists and turns had me reading this book late into the night.
Most of us know Lalami for her Pulitzer finalist THE MOOR'S ACCOUNT or her 2020 essay collection CONDITIONAL CITIZENS. This is her debut novel, originally published in 2005. This slice of life novel follows the lives of four Moroccans in pursuit of a better future in Spain. In just under 200 pages, we get a glimpse at their lives before and after they cross the Strait of Gibraltar. While this book lacks the polish and depth of THE MOOR'S ACCOUNT, I was nonetheless captivated by these storylines and how they show the many possible reasons and outcomes for taking such risk.
Thanks Soft Skull for the finished copy in exchange for an honest review! If you like books that are have elements of surrealism, philosophy, and a small cast of characters set in remote places – such as RED PILL by Hari Kunzru or A SEPARATION by Katie Kitamura, I'd check this out. This one had me feeling unmoored and overheated. I'm not sold on how this book was executed but hopefully it will work better for others.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC. My thoughts and opinions of this book are mine and are not influenced by having received a complimentary copy.
I had a great time reading this book and if you're a fan of Love, Actually and He's Just Not That Into You (the movie), I think you'd enjoy this. It's got a big ensemble so there's a little bit of getting up to speed with each of them. (For that reason, I probably wouldn't take big breaks in reading this because you might have a hard time following the plot threads.) Perfect for cozy weather season and it would make a great gift for a friend.
Thank you to the author Jen Trinh for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I plowed through this in a single evening, and I loved it.
You might guess from the title and the cover that TAKE ME is a love story. And it is. But what makes this book stand out is how love doesn't exist in a vacuum. It ebbs and flows, and many feelings can exist at once. The two main characters, Cassie and Tom, have to overcome work stress, living on different coasts, and perhaps the biggest unknown – Cassie's marriage, to another person.
What I love about Jen's characters (throughout all of her books) is that they're often going through personal growth in addition to their romantic journeys. They have emotional depth and range that make them, at times, infuriating, hilarious, willful, passive-aggressive, and obtuse. (In sum, human!) TAKE ME is more of a slow burn, but the steamy scenes are worth the wait
PREPPED is an intense book that stuck with me long after I turned the last page. Thank you to Books Forward PR and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
If you're looking for a fast-paced contemporary YA book that has you on the edge of your seat, I'd highly recommend this. It's also a satisfying and unexpected book with moral dilemmas within.
Our main character Becca Aldridge has grown up in a doomsday prepper community. She attends your average suburban high school, but by night (and by weekend) she has to do drills and ensure her family's bunker is ready for anything. On top of it all, she's already betrothed to neighbor Roy Kang and expected to marry upon graduating. Little does he - or anyone else - know that she's plotting her grand escape to the outside world. And then something unimaginable happens that rocks Becca and her family in every way.
PREPPED had me flying through the pages and gasping at times. I loved how emotionally vulnerable Becca was in her decision-making, even despite the odds.
It was incredibly refreshing to see the casual Korean American rep, and it's so great to see fellow adoptees like Mangle writing books that aren't necessarily about adoption.
A side note: when I first received this book in the mail and shared it to my Instagram Stories, I had a few people mention that they didn't know this was by a Korean American author, which points to the complex nature of erasure mixed with assimilation that adoptees experience. Also the privilege, though it doesn't often feel like it, of “neutral” (aka white) names
I flew through THE LOST SHTETL in two days, which is my favorite kind of reading experience – when you're walking around the house about to trip on something because you NEED to keep reading.
This inventive debut novel poses the question: what if there was a Jewish village in Poland that survived the Holocaust and the Cold War, in complete seclusion without the trappings of modern convenience and innovation?
Welcome to Kreskol. Its residents live in relative seclusion until one day, a nasty divorce and two runaway ex-spouses prompt the village to send Yankel Lewinkopf into the forest and beyond. What results is Kreskol's exposure and re-discovery.
This humorous, complex book is a story of Jewish resilience despite rumor, media conjecture, and mutual incomprehensibility (between Kreskolites and the Polish, and among the Kreskolites) of how to live. Woven into the several characters' perspectives and journeys, we get a peek at how assimilation, anti-Semitism, and inflation might play out. What is the first institution we would build or establish in a previously-unknown town? How might we explain the unfathomable horror of the Holocaust to a Jewish community who never heard of it? It also looks at how we grapple with multiculturalism and assimilation as it relates to ethnicity and religion.
This book features a lot of footnotes, offering context for Jewish, Yiddish, and Polish terminology that come up throughout the plot. While I'm by no means versed in Yiddish or Hebrew, I found some of the footnotes a bit unnecessary (“schmaltz,” “bubbe,” “yenta,” and “challah” were some) especially since there's a glossary of terms at the end.
The reviews for THE LOST SHTETL have been uneven, and the ending seems to be hit or miss. For me it was a hit!
⚠️ Content warnings: anti-Semitism, sex work
