I am very behind on reviews.
Seriously. I haven’t written a review in 10 books – 20 if you count the Kasie West books that I binge-read for the rankings masterpost. But I’ve read a lot of recent releases that I loved, as well as some less-recent (“Under a Painted Sky” was one of my favorite reads this year, and I also read and enjoyed “Field Notes on Love”). So…I’m lumping all of those July reads into a masterpost. Enjoy!
1. “Maybe This Time” by Kasie West
Summary:
One year. Nine events. Nine chances to . . . fall in love?
Weddings. Funerals. Barbecues. New Year’s Eve parties. Name the occasion, and Sophie Evans will be there. Well, she has to be there. Sophie works for the local florist, so she can be found at every big event in her small hometown, arranging bouquets and managing family dramas.
Enter Andrew Hart. The son of the fancy new chef in town, Andrew is suddenly required to attend all the same events as Sophie. Entitled, arrogant, preppy Andrew. Sophie just wants to get her job done and finish up her sketches so she can apply to design school. But every time she turns around, there is Andrew, getting in her way and making her life more complicated. Until one day she wonders if maybe complicated isn’t so bad after all . . .
Told over the course of one year and following Sophie from event to event, this delightful novel from master of romantic comedy Kasie West shows how love can blossom in unexpected places.
What I Liked: first off, the format. I like books that are broken into smaller, narratively separate chunks that form a whole story, so I really enjoyed the “nine events” setup (each event gets a section). Secondly, the enemies-to-lovers romance (ANGER KISSES! I’ve never seen one in a Kasie West novel before and there’s one here!) was a lot of fun. The small-town Southern setting was new, as well, and I liked the atmosphere it created. I have no idea why, as I’m not artistic, but fashion design books always appeal to me, and Sophie’s love of design was a key plot point, so I really liked that. The florist job aspect of the book made me want to work in a flower shop and I loved the contrast in tone and setting created by each of the events – all of them were very unique.
What I Didn’t Like: the characters were a little hard to warm up to, and, as in most Kasie West books, “Maybe This Time” threw in a heaping dose of friendship drama that felt wholly unnecessary. I feel like this story would be much stronger if it incorporated conflict from a source other than friendship drama and family dysfunction. There are a LOT of other things that typical teenagers struggle with that could easily be used to create conflict in a contemporary novel and that don’t make me want to scream as much as the classic “my friend group is fighting over something that could easily be resolved if someone saw reason” scenario does.
Rating: 4.5/5
2. “Spin the Dawn” by Elizabeth Lim
Summary:
Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.
And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.
What I Liked: almost everything, honestly. “Spin the Dawn” completely blew me out of the water: its worldbuilding was rich and reminiscent of our world circa-1200ish (the country where it’s set, A’alandi, reminds me of Yuan Dynasty-era China minus the Pax Mongolica bc everyone’s at war; the Spice Road gives me major Silk Road vibes, while Samarand is very reminiscent of the early Ottoman Empire, and the western countries they mentioned reminded me of Venice circa 1300ish, etc. – sorry guys, history nerd in the house) while also being wholly unique; Maia was a lovable and interesting protagonist; Edan and Maia’s star-crossed(ish) romance was surprisingly sweet; and the DESIGN CONTEST. IT’S LIKE YUAN DYNASTY PROJECT RUNWAY. Lim’s descriptions of the clothes each contestant designed made my mouth water (metaphorically). I absolutely loved this. All of it. READ THIS, GUYS.
What I Disliked: the cliffhanger. >:/
Rating: 5/5
3. “Symptoms of a Heartbreak” by Sona Charaipotra
Summary:
Fresh from med school, sixteen-year-old medical prodigy Saira arrives for her first day at her new job: treating children with cancer. She’s always had to balance family and friendships with her celebrity as the Girl Genius―but she’s never had to prove herself to skeptical adult co-workers while adjusting to real life-and-death stakes. And working in the same hospital as her mother certainly isn’t making things any easier.
But life gets complicated when Saira finds herself falling in love with a patient: a cute teen boy who’s been diagnosed with cancer. And when she risks her brand new career to try to improve his chances, it could cost her everything.
It turns out “heartbreak” is the one thing she still doesn’t know how to treat.
What I Liked: the premise – I love child prodigy books. Saira shines most when she’s bonding with her patients, and I really loved her relationship with Alina, an adorable 12-year-old with cancer who becomes one of her first patients. Her huge extended family also injects a lot of heart and humor into the story, and her grandmother in particular was great.
What I Disliked: Saira herself. She has her moments, but for most of the book, she is absolutely obnoxious. I get why – very talented people tend to be that way – but that understanding made it no less annoying when she mouthed off to her superiors and was just generally an extremely rude human being whenever someone challenged her. I was mystified as to why everyone was so upset that Dr. Davis, one of her bosses, didn’t like Saira when Saira literally took every possible opportunity to flip her the metaphorical bird. Also, her relationship with Lincoln struck me as a little sketchy – yes, it’s a nice idea, and it could easily happen, but a) it begins with a lie, and b) doctor-patient relationships will always come with a degree of sketchiness even if they are the same age. There’s something that feels a little off about Saira, who, even though she is a teenager, is in a position of power, falling for someone in such a vulnerable one.
Rating: 3/5
Next up: two ARC reviews, and possibly a few other things. What have you guys been reading this summer?
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