Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “The Language of Cherries” by Jen Marie Hawkins

Posted on by Sarah S.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. “The Language of Cherries” will be released February 11th, 2020. 

SUMMARY 

When Evie Perez is cut off from everything she loves and forced to move to Iceland for the summer, she takes her canvas and paintbrushes into the picturesque cherry orchard behind her guesthouse. She stains her lips with stolen cherries in the midnight sun and paints a boy she’s never met.

Oskar is startled to discover Evie in his family’s orchard, and even more surprised to see himself on her canvas. Too ashamed to reveal his stutter, he remains silent as Evie returns day after day to paint, spilling confessions she wouldn’t even tell her priest.

As Evie’s life back home unravels, Oskar wants to comfort her with words, but he knows he’s waited too long, so he uses music instead. But when it all comes to the surface, he knows that if Evie can’t forgive him for lying, he may never forgive himself for surviving.

Review 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, in an early scene, it’s mentioned that bookish protagonist Evie is reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Hundred Years of Solitude,” because I feel like the author was going for a sort of “Icelandic Garcia-Marquez” vibe. That was one thing I didn’t expect at all, especially because I put this book on my TBR (months ago…) before its full summary was out: “The Language of Cherries” is more magical realism than contemporary romance. (Hence the Garcia-Marquez connection – I can sorta see the influence of his work here with not only that, but the evocative power of the setting, the importance of Latin American culture to the story, and the lyrical prose.) I don’t want to spoil much, but there’s a lot more Gaelic druid magic than I expected in a book that seemed, to me, like a fish-out-of-water summer romance story. Usually, magical realism isn’t my cup of tea (I still get flashbacks to my 10th grade English class where we had to analyze Latin American magical realism ad nauseum), but it worked here, probably because I’d never seen it used in this setting. The only MR I’d ever read had been set in South America and used various South American traditions, mythologies, and cultures as its backbone, so this one was unique in that it completely removed the genre from the only setting I’d ever known it in. It used Gaelic mythology (the protagonist is half-Scottish) and Icelandic setting for a very interesting take. And speaking of the setting – gorgeous. Super atmospheric, and I want to go to Iceland now. That’s a testament to the quality of the writing, which was also excellent. I loved the use of Oskar’s song lyrics as vehicles to move the story forward.

The characters and plot didn’t enthuse me as much.

What I will give Hawkins is that Oskar and Evie are both very fleshed-out, flawed, and real. They seemed like actual people you might know. But as such, they’re both kinda…unlikable at times. That actually isn’t a bad thing; it takes a good writer to make you sympathize with a character that you also kinda can’t stand. They have reasons for being how they are. And I did love their wordless summer romance. But in the end…well, I kinda just didn’t like them. I appreciated Evie’s growth, though. The plot had a bit of the same: it seemed a little all-over-the-place, more patchy than linear. Yes, things happened along a linear timeline, but each chapter read a little more like an individual slice-of-life vignette than part of a larger story, at least to me. And certain plot points (…druid magic) weren’t really elaborated upon. They showed up, they were sort of just there, and that was that.

I feel like there’s more to this book than I can easily convey in this little review, so you’ll have to read it yourself if you want to get what I’m talking about. (It’s available for free, automatically, on NetGalley – I’d highly encourage all of you to check it out that way!) But, though I wasn’t absolutely in love with every part of the story, “The Language of Cherries” is a rich, evocative, and singularly unique novel that’s likely to be unlike anything else you read.

ENDNOTES

Favorite Scene: when Agnes (Oskar’s aunt), Evie, and Oskar attend an outdoor market. Super adorable romance-development scene that gives us one of the best looks at Icelandic culture that we get in the entire book.

What Made This Book Stand Out: its extremely unique setting and magical realism vibes.

One-Sentence Summary: this is most definitely not what it says on the tin.

Something that Bugged Me: early in the book, Evie is described as being the only Hispanic student at a Catholic high school in Miami. That had me raising my eyebrows because I go to a Catholic high school in another major U.S. city with a huge Hispanic population, similar to Miami’s, and my school’s student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic. I didn’t want to assume Florida had the same demographics as California, though, so I did some research on demographics…and sure enough, the majority of Catholic high schools in Miami proper have Hispanic majorities. I loved the Catholic school mention because, well, that’s my life, but as a Cuban-American, Evie would most likely be far from atypical at a south Florida Catholic school. (Obviously some such schools are exceptions to this, but the majority of them are not.)

Adult Content: a bit of vulgar language throughout; a fade-to-black implied sex scene + the subsequent fallout; Oskar is kind of a stoner at the beginning; Evie and Oskar’s entire relationship is based on a lie at first.

Overall Rating: 4/5 Confused Llamas

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “Open Fire” by Amber Lough

Posted on by Sarah S.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. “Open Fire” will be released on March 3rd, 2020. 

I really must be on a war novel kick right now: the last three books I read (this, “My Long List of Impossible Things,” and “The Fountains of Silence” – review of that forthcoming) were all either about a war, or dealt with the aftermath of one. Sadly, “Open Fire” was probably my least favorite of that trilogy – but it still had a lot to offer.

Summary 

In 1917, Russia is losing the war with Germany, soldiers are deserting in droves, and food shortages on the home front are pushing people to the brink of revolution. Seventeen-year-old Katya is politically conflicted, but she wants Russia to win the war. Working at a munitions factory seems like the most she can do to serve her country—until the government begins recruiting an all-female army battalion. Inspired, Katya enlists. Training with other brave women, she finds camaraderie and a deep sense of purpose. But when the women’s battalion heads to the front, Katya has to confront the horrifying realities of war. Faced with heartbreak and disillusionment, she must reevaluate her commitment and decide where she stands.

Review

I have a thing for Russian history that I honestly cannot explain. Since Russian Revolution YA novels are rare birds indeed, I jumped at the chance to read this – and I was surprised to find, after not reading the description very carefully (I saw the word “Russia” and hit download on the spot), that it covered an aspect of the Revolution that I had no knowledge of. It was fascinating to read about the incredible grit that the women of the battalion around which the story centered displayed at a time when they were not given many chances to. I loved that it shone a light on a forgotten part of Russia’s recent past, and it was a very educational portrait of the time. But…

I kinda didn’t feel anything.

Though I learned a lot, I never really felt much of an emotional connection to Katya or her comrades-in-arms. There was a sort of flatness to the story and characters that made it hard to feel for them, and though I wish I could say I had, I never really felt drawn into their world. That made it a little hard to “get into,” and though I blew through it in a few hours, it wasn’t really out of desire to know what happens next to beloved characters. I truly wish I could say otherwise because it’s such an interesting story and sheds light on a historical episode that so few people know about, but ultimately it felt a little bit flat to me. Unfortunately, my final verdict: educational, but bland.

Rating: 3/5 Befuddled Emu

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “My Long List of Impossible Things” by Michelle Barker

Posted on by Sarah S.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. “My Long List of Impossible Things” will be released on March 10th, 2020. 

Summary

The arrival of the Soviet army in Germany at the end of World War II sends sixteen-year-old Katja and her family into turmoil. The fighting has stopped, but German society is in collapse, resulting in tremendous hardship. With their father gone and few resources available to them, Katja and her sister are forced to flee their home, reassured by their mother that if they can just reach a distant friend in a town far away, things will get better. But their harrowing journey brings danger and violence, and Katja needs to summon all her strength to build a new life, just as she’s questioning everything she thought she knew about her country.

Katja’s bravery and defiance help her deal with the emotional and societal upheaval.  But how can she stay true to herself and protect the people she loves when each decision has such far-reaching consequences?

Acclaimed writer Michelle Barker’s second novel explores the chaos and destruction of the Second World War from a perspective rarely examined in YA fiction—the implications of the Soviet occupation on a German population grappling with the horrors of Nazism and its aftermath.

Review

I will admit, I requested this book solely on the basis of “it has a girl playing a piano on the cover, and I’m always looking for YA about music [b/c I’m a violinist and I constantly look out for books about teenagers who are classical musicians like myself],” and somewhat because I enjoy historical fiction. I don’t usually love war stories, though, so I was a little apprehensive. As it happened, this was anything but a typical war story; it had a very fresh angle on the reality of civilian life in wartime that I really appreciated.

Barker primarily built up that unique voice by telling the story of a recovering nation through the eyes of a young woman who’s largely been (up until now) somewhat sheltered from the horrors of the war raging around her. Katja has, obviously, suffered through the loss of family members, heavy rationing, and general decline in standards of living along with the rest of Germany, but as to the political and human rights sides of the story, she might as well have been living under a rock. Her life hasn’t really been interrupted in a huge way by the war – times are leaner, but her town hasn’t been bombed, she’s unaware why her friends and neighbors have begun disappearing, and when she hears talk of death camps, she has no reason to believe them. We, the readers, who are presumably aware of some of the history of WWII Germany, are in the unique position of knowing far more about what happened during the war than Katja does; her ignorance stands out much more in light of that. She’s living in a world where unspeakable horrors are taking place all around her, but for the most part, Katja is still just a teenage girl with teenage-girl concerns (albeit a lot more hyperfocused on finding a piano to practice on than the average teen – I sympathized with that). For that, the story is very human. The war doesn’t make a hero of Katja or anyone she knows. They’re all ordinary people doing the best they can to stay afloat in hard times, few of them aware just how dark their times are. Their suffering has been immense, but few realize how much worse it could be. Telling a war story – something countless authors have done – in the voice of an uninformed civilian, was a smart move. It raises ethical questions about the nature of war and complicity, and it makes a time period most of us today can’t even imagine seem incredibly real. [Note: “My Long List of Impossible Things” is NOT a commentary on Nazism, nor does it seem like it was intended to be; instead, it’s about how war affects civilians. I say that just as a warning, since those expecting the book to have a lot to say about the evils of the Nazi Party will probably be disappointed that that topic isn’t really addressed much.]

Other than the deep stuff covered in that ridiculously long-winded paragraph, this was an intriguing little novel. Katja’s intentional ignorant voice came off as obnoxious at times (probably on purpose), and I definitely wanted to throttle her on several occasions – probably because I knew I would’ve been equally stupid if I were in her shoes. War stories either tend to paint their characters as either heroes or tragic figures; that Katja is neither – she’s a teenage girl, and as petty, idealistic, and unthinking as any other – makes it easy to insert oneself into the time period and examine how one might react in the same situations. And, on a much shallower note, I loved the recurring theme of the importance of music to Katja. As a classical musician, I got that on a spiritual level (not really but you know what I mean), and I *loved* Katja’s annoyingly incessant quirky-composer-facts. It wasn’t all that much of the book, but it was one of my favorite parts. Even the romance (SPOILER: doesn’t work out too well – I actually loved how Katja handled that, showed a lot of growth) was well-done; Katja and Arkady’s bonding over music was *heart eyes.* (Reminds me of myself and my current crush, a pianist who I sometimes play duets with, and who 99% probably doesn’t like me back, but still. Irrelevant.)

Though the voice was occasionally juvenile, I think it was intended to be as such; thus, I’m not going to count that as a knock against the writing. On the whole, I greatly enjoyed “My Long List of Impossible Things,” and found that it had a lot to say about what it means to be a human being in a time and a place where human life doesn’t seem to have much value anymore.

ENDNOTES

Short Summary: a story we all know, told by an eyewitness who doesn’t.

Recommended For: fans of historical fiction or anyone with a particular interest in WWII, especially the civilian side.

Objectionable Content: the story is far removed from the actual battlefield, but the brutality of the occupying Soviet forces isn’t sugarcoated, and some of the events described are quite disturbing. In addition, characters frequently curse in German; Hilde, Katja’s older sister, makes lewd comments twice to shock her sister.

Rating: 4.5/5 Befuddled Emu

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “Meet Me at Midnight” by Jessica Pennington

Posted on by Sarah S.

Thanks to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the ARC. “Meet Me at Midnight” will be released on April 7th, 2020. (I’ll be a legal adult when this goes live…scary.) 

Summary: 

Sidney and Asher should have clicked. Two star swimmers forced to spend their summers on a lake together sounds like the perfect match. But it’s the same every year—in between cookouts and boat rides and family-imposed bonfires, Sidney and Asher spend the dog days of summer finding the ultimate ways to prank each other. And now, after their senior year, they’re determined to make it the most epic summer yet.

But their plans are thrown in sudden jeopardy when their feud causes their families to be kicked out of their beloved lake houses. Once in their new accommodations, Sidney expects the prank war to continue as usual. But then she gets a note—Meet me at midnight. And Asher has a proposition for her: join forces for one last summer of epic pranks, against a shared enemy—the woman who kicked them out.

Their truce should make things simpler, but six years of tormenting one another isn’t so easy to ignore. Kind of like the undeniable attraction growing between them.

Review

This was kind of an impulse-request. I thought it sounded like it could be fun, but for whatever reason, the summary didn’t seem to click with me – it wasn’t an “I must have this book in my hands NOW” read. So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed “Meet Me at Midnight.” The premise, yes, is pretty unrealistic, but it’s fun, and heartfelt, and kept me guessing. Sidney and Asher’s rivalry is exactly the enemies-to-lovers goodness I was hoping this book would pile on, their chemistry is convincing, and I had a lot of fun with it. I loved tagging along on their adventures and partaking in their shenanigans re: the much-maligned landlord; there was never a dull moment. It was a really fun, escapist, Summer-adventures-you-always-wanted-but-never-had read, and the writing was of high quality as well.

My main issues with this book, however, came with unresolved plot threads. There were several subplots – the one that comes to mind first is Asher’s conflict with his father over career prospects – that were introduced, and mentioned in passing a few times, but never really got satisfying closure. That was less a result of a lack of resolution, and more of a result of the fact that they weren’t even developed enough to have much emotional weight in the first place. I think the story would probably have been stronger if it stuck to the one central conflict. (Also, there were a few typos, but it’s an ARC, so that’s largely irrelevant.)

Ultimately, “Meet Me at Midnight” was a fun, frothy summer rom-com with a surprising amount of emotional heft, but not much of that came from the many distracting side-plots. I enjoyed this read and would definitely recommend picking up a copy when it’s released next April.

ENDNOTES

Very, Very Brief Summary: teens’ annual Summer prank war complicated by the introduction of pesky feelings.

Recommended For: honestly? People who need to get their minds off of things for a while. It’s the perfect book for getting away from your troubles for a few hours.

Possible Objectionable Content: a few smatterings of strong language and some slightly intense kissing that always fades to black.

Rating: 4/5 Befuddled Giraffes

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “Every Reason We Shouldn’t” by Sara Fujimura

Posted on by Sarah S.

Special thanks to Tor Teen, NetGalley, and the author for the advance copy. “Every Reason We Shouldn’t” will be released March 3rd, 2020. 

Summary:

Fifteen-year-old, biracial figure skater Olivia Kennedy’s Olympic dreams have ended. She’s bitter, but enjoying life as a regular teenager instead of an athlete… until Jonah Choi starts training at her family’s struggling rink. Jonah’s driven, talented, going for the Olympics in speed skating, completely annoying… and totally gorgeous. Between teasing Jonah, helping her best friend try out for roller derby, figuring out life as a normal teen and keeping the family business running, Olivia’s got her hands full. But will rivalry bring her closer to Jonah, or drive them apart?

WHAT I THOUGHT:

I’m pretty sure this book marks only the second time I’ve been THIS excited to get an ARC. (Like, seriously, the last and only other time was when a publisher granted my NetGalley wish to read “Tweet Cute”. Worth it.) “Every Reason We Shouldn’t” went on my TBR the moment I stumbled across it on GoodReads – at the time, it was so far out it didn’t even have a cover yet – so when I saw that it was available on NetGalley, you better believe I smashed that “request” button. And I got it! Why was I so excited?

Simply put, there just aren’t enough YA novels about figure skating. I should know – I’ve been searching for them since my early teens, when I started reading YA. At the time, I was a serious figure skater, and I was absolutely obsessed with my sport, so it always made me sad that the majority of books available about skating were either middle grade (I actually have read a very good, very accurate MG skating book that I’d recommend, though) or…kinda crappy, TBH. To my knowledge, the only high-profile YA skating book released before this one was “Being Sloane Jacobs,” which I read and was very meh on, mostly because, as a former skater, it drove me crazy that the skating parts of the book were so friggin’ inaccurate. So when I saw that this was a thing, and my request got approved? Heart eyes. I read the entire book within a day of getting the ARC. There were a few considerations that were going to impact my opinion of this book, so let’s see how it stacked up to my lofty expectations.

1. First and foremost: how accurate was the portrayal of figure skating? 

Honestly? For a skating book written by a non-skater (as it appeared from the author’s note, et. al.), it was excellent. The protagonist, Olivia, is a pairs skater, and I was in singles, so I can’t speak to that. But the elements (moves, basically) that were name-dropped were all actual things, and most of them were used correctly. The program they were doing, technically, was pretty on-par with the majority of “just moved up and getting our butts kicked” senior-level pairs programs that you’d see among the lower-ranked pairs at the U.S. Nationals. The only thing I have to point out here is that Olivia apparently has a triple axel, which…highly unlikely. There are only four or five singles ladies at the junior and senior levels (keep in mind that singles skaters usually have to do much harder jumps and spins than pairs skaters) who can land a triple axel with any sort of consistency in competition right now, let alone female pairs skaters. It’s kind of insane that a mid-tier pairs skater would have such a difficult jump in her arsenal when it isn’t expected of female skaters, let alone women in pairs, at all. Otherwise, the portrayal of skating was on-point, even in the non-technical aspects.

Oh, and the “your body goes rogue once you stop skating and you look like a normal person again” thing?

PAINFULLY accurate.

(No, really. I was sixteen when I quit, so I was almost in the same boat as Olivia is here, and the second I stepped off that ice for the last time…poof! Went from looking 12 to looking 25 overnight. So yeah, I felt that.)

2. How much of the rom-com goodness promised by the summary was actually there? 

A good amount, as it turns out.

To start on a positive note: Olivia and Jonah are a lot younger than most YA characters (usually they’re 17-18 and juniors or seniors in high school, while in this book the characters are 15-year-old sophomores), and the development of their relationship really mirrors that. “Every Reason We Shouldn’t” has one of the most realistic portrayals of high school romance I’ve seen in a while, despite being between two characters who aren’t anything like typical high school kids. It isn’t instalove (which annoys me), nor is it enemies-to-lovers (which, though it is an awesome trope, pretty much never happens in high school, to my knowledge), or any other unrealistic romance trope – they start off as friends, and their crushes on each other develop along with the friendship. There’s no fanfare or grand gestures, just shared interests, time spent together, and awkward situation after awkward situation slowly pushing them towards each other. It was…nice. I loved that, as well as how skating – something that matters so much to both of them – is a large part of what brings them together. But once they actually become a thing, that sorta derails. I felt as if they became a little…old-married-couple-ish after they started dating, in a way that no 15-year-olds I’ve ever met have. But mostly, solid rom-com goodness.

3. Were any loose ends left untied? 

Sorta.

The epilogue wrapped up almost everything quite nicely, but the *spoilers* conflict between Olivia and her a-hole of an ex-pairs partner, Stuart “Egg” Trout, doesn’t really get resolved, and I was curious to see how that would work. Never found out – not a huge deal, but still, disappointing.

So, was it worth the wait? 

…It’s a skating rom-com! It may not have been a perfect book, but I’m never going to say “no” and y’all know it.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

One-Sentence Summary: he was a sk8er boy, she said…wait, no, she didn’t, that doesn’t work.

Recommended For: figure skaters, fans of the sport, anyone who likes sports novels (especially of the rom-com variety).

Objectionable Content: scattered cursing, and a LOT of implicit making-out that could be something a little steamier but is left so ambiguous that one can never know.

Overall Rating: 4/5 Golden Grasshoppers

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “Butterfly Yellow” by Thanhha Lai

Posted on by Sarah S.

SPECS

Title: Butterfly Yellow

Author: Thanhha Lai

Page Count: 284

Summary:

In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms—and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country.

Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texas as a refugee. She doesn’t know how she will find the little brother who was taken from her until she meets LeeRoy, a city boy with big rodeo dreams, who decides to help her.

Hằng is overjoyed when she reunites with Linh. But when she realizes he doesn’t remember her, their family, or Việt Nam, her heart is crushed. Though the distance between them feels greater than ever, Hằng has come so far that she will do anything to bridge the gap.

REVIEW

Suffice to say it I’ve never read a novel quite like “Butterfly Yellow.” What makes it so unusual (and so effective)? There are several factors.

The first is, obviously, the premise itself. I’ve never seen a YA novel about the Vietnam War or the refugee crisis it created; even books about Vietnamese culture or characters in general, though I’ve seen a few, are rare. Hằng’s story was powerful largely because not a lot of people talk about the experience of the Vietnamese who came to the United States in the 1970s – it’s an experience not many of us know about, and something I’ve never seen covered in a YA novel. And “Butterfly Yellow” did it remarkably well while devoting very little page time to Hằng’s past, and saying very little concretely about it.

The next was its writing style: it’s not meant to be a novel in verse, but the detached use of the third-person omniscient made it read almost like free-verse poetry. It sometimes made it a touch confusing to read, especially as perspective will shift without warning, but it was ultimately effective in conveying the ambiguity with which everyone views each other: no one in this novel actually knows much about anyone else, so that sense of vagueness helps to convey that. In that sense, it makes the unlikely bond that forms between Hằng and LeeRoy much more effective (we get the sense that they are total strangers, which indeed they are for much of the book).

Sometimes the prose was confusing, yes, and oftentimes I wanted to know more than I was told (especially about Hằng’s experiences – we kept hearing about one particularly traumatic memory but it was never especially clear to me what was going on, or how they got to that point) – that’s why I didn’t rank this as a five-star read. But “Butterfly Yellow” tells of an important and oft-ignored historical event that shaped, broke, and took many lives, in a singularly effective voice, and for that I applaud it.

CLOSING

Six-Word Summary: unlikely friendship aids girl’s healing process.

Recommended For: fans of historical fiction, Vietnamese rep, and novels in verse (it isn’t exactly in verse, but the writing style is very prosaic).

Possibly-Objectionable Content: a small handful of strong language and vague references to the extreme brutality that Hằng experienced as a child. (All of these allusions are done tastefully and none of it reads as gratuitous but the implications are inherently disturbing, if that bother you.)

Overall Rating: 4/5 Befuddled Emu

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “American Royals” by Katharine McGee

Posted on by Sarah S.

SPECS

Title: American Royals

Author: Katharine McGee

Page Count: 437

Summary: 

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

The power. The drama. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded–and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.

REVIEW

I’ve been looking forward to “American Royals” for I-can’t-even-remember-how-many-months. It’s had a prominent place on my TBR since at least March. Could I tell you why? To be totally honest, not really. I’m not a celebrity devotee, I have no unusual level of interest in real-life royalty, and I’ve never been into soap opera-type drama. But for whatever reason, “American Royals” piqued my interest. So, several months later, when I finally picked up a copy, I was excited to see how it would measure up to my lofty expectations.

Conclusion: it did…sorta?

First, the positives. Not surprisingly, Beatrice was my favorite character. I love characters who feel torn between duty and propriety and their personal desires because I FEEL THAT. So Beatrice’s struggles, even though they were…well, literal princess problems…were relatable to me, and it seemed as if she had a genuinely good heart and a sharp mind. She’s the kind of character I can see myself befriending IRL. And her romance with her head of security, Connor, was THE ACTUAL SWEETEST THING EVER. Of the 3.5-ish love stories in this book, Bee and Connor’s was by far my favorite. There was some level of soap-opera dramatics to it, yes, but nowhere near those of the other two couples. It was sweet and earnest and *heart eyes* and I loved it. The others, though…not as much.

Nina was…okay. (It did bug me that everyone kept acting as if she was poor – I get that she was a commoner in a royal court and all, but HER PARENTS ARE HIGH RANKING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, STOP ACTING LIKE SHE’S LIVING ON THE STREETS. Anyway.) She was a nice enough character who had very little personality and even less backbone. Jeff was also pretty generic. Their romance was an extremely eventful one that somehow felt uneventful, which is ironic. I wasn’t feeling that – or that weird Samantha/Teddy thing. WHAT THE HECK. HE’S ENGAGED TO YOUR SISTER, SAM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. Not a fan.

Aside from that weird Teddy thing, Samantha was delightful, but I felt like, at times, she was sort of a footnote. Her scenes with Beatrice were some of the best in the entire book (they reminded me of my brother and I, so of course I liked them), but on her own, Sam didn’t get to do much. That was sad; I hope McGee does a little more with her in book two because she has a lot of unrealized potential.

And DAPHNE FREAKING DEIGHTON. This is a case of a character whose name is as snotty as she is. I know she was the villain, and I was supposed to hate her, but it made me angry just how easy it was to do that. In the immortal words of Leopold Fitz, she is “the absolute worst!” She’s ruthless, she’s unceasingly selfish, she’s a good enough actress to be almost universally beloved in spite of all of that, and the girl’s ambition makes Julius Caesar, who was literally stabbed to death for being too ambitious, look like an underachiever. Yeah, I really hope Daphne has a parachuting accident or something in the next book.

As to the plot…it’s not “Hamlet” (ha! That’s TWO Shakespeare references in one review! @my AP Lit teacher: extra credit?), but it’s addictive, I’ll give it that. So…was this as wildly expectations-exceeding as I anticipated? No. But is it still a great read? Absolutely.

CLOSING: 

Six-Word Summary: different government system, same endless drama.

Recommended For: people who obsessively stalk every bit of coverage on every royal wedding that occurs; fans of general celebrity gossip will probably love this one, too. It has a tabloid-y feel.

Possibly Objectionable Content: surprisingly little. There’s no strong language (“hell” is used once and that’s it) and nothing graphically suggestive. However, characters get [legally] drunk, it’s definitely made clear that people are sleeping with each other (never shown, but unsubtly implied), and Daphne is an absolutely reprehensible human who makes absolutely reprehensible decisions. (*SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS* She drugs her best friend’s drink so she won’t rat on her for sleeping with her boyfriend’s bestie…YUP. IT’S THAT BAD.)

Overall Rating: 4/5 Befuddled Giraffes

 

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “Since You’ve Been Gone” by Morgan Matson

Posted on by Sarah S.

I made no secret, in a review posted a few months ago, how much I hated the ending of Morgan Matson’s most recent novel, “Save the Date.” I would probably have loved it if not for that, and when I found “Since You’ve Been Gone” at the Goodwill, I was eager to try to redeem my opinion of Matson’s work. I wasn’t disappointed.

SPECS

Title: Since You’ve Been Gone

Author: Morgan Matson

Page Count: 449

SUMMARY

It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list.

On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?

Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough.

Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not?

Kiss a stranger? Um…

Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane’s list. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go skinny-dipping? Wait…what?

REVIEW

At first glance, SYBG didn’t seem like the kind of book I’d love. I love contemporaries, but didn’t think I’d be overly fond of this one, given its premise and my previous mixed feelings about Matson’s work. I’m happy to report that I was wrong.

From the get-go, Sloane’s list is the driving force behind the entire plot. It’s full of inside jokes between Sloane and Emily, and most of its contents promise an interesting story – that’s what made me keep reading. In the process, it brings Emily out of the shell she’s backed into since meeting Sloane; she has to learn to redefine herself without the spunky, adventurous best friend she’s relied on the past few years. That was my favorite aspect of the story: seeing Emily grow from an overshadowed lackey to someone with true confidence and individuality, interesting in her own right. She was very real from beginning to end and her transformation rang very true. Though she changed significantly, she didn’t do it in a cliché blaze of glory, some sort of 1980s-teen-movie makeover – it happened over time as a result of the new experiences she gained, and the friendships she was able to make when she climbed out of the shadow of the person who’d dominated her entire life. And the supporting cast was fantastic (well, I wasn’t super into Collins, but his lack of likability was understandable), especially Frank. I loved Frank, and I want to date one.

But the one thing I oddly did not enjoy about this book?

Sloane herself.

I know we were supposed to sympathize with her, but I could not STAND her character. She was supposed to be Emily’s best friend but it seemed to me like, if anything, she was subjugating her. Her reasons are explained at the end of the book when the two reunite, but I didn’t feel like they justified the way she completely changed Emily – and made her think it was a good thing. A large chunk of the book is dedicated to Emily’s quest to regain her individuality after losing it to that friendship, after all. I don’t think we’re meant to see Sloane as a toxic friend, and I don’t think she necessarily meant to be one, but that is how she came off to me. Not my favorite.

Overall, “Since You’ve Been Gone” was fun, fresh, and the perfect Labor Day weekend read. It had its issues but ultimately I thought its upsides overshadowed them, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun YA contemporary.

CLOSING

Six-Word Summary: sometimes one’s loss is one’s gain.

Recommended For: a hot, boring Summer day when you’re longing for an adventure you can’t have.

Possibly-Objectionable Content: almost none. There is one intense makeout scene as Emily follows Sloane’s instructions to “kiss a stranger,” and a little underage drinking; in addition, Sloane instructs her in another item from the list to use a fake ID to sneak into a bar (she doesn’t drink there but is there illegally). Not a single instance of strong language, though.

Rating: 5/5 Befuddled Emu

 

Posted in Uncategorized

REVIEW: “Tweet Cute” by Emma Lordship

Posted on by Sarah S.

Earlier this week, I had the incredible luck of being randomly selected to receive a wish-copy of “Tweet Cute,” one of my most anticipated reads of 2020, on NetGalley. suffice to say that it did not disappoint.

SUMMARY

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

REVIEW

WOW. I had high expectations for this one – the premise alone is squee material – but they were absolutely smashed. Let me explain why.

1. Jack and Pepper are pure smols and their relationship was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Pepper reminds me of myself to no end and Jack is a total sweetheart and both of them are fleshed-out and have depth and heart and real motivations and their chemistry is so !!! that I’m typing in extensive run-on sentences just to convey HOW FREAKING AWESOME THEY WERE. The high dive scene? Per-freaking-fection.

2. The Twitter war and their subsequent internet fame was not only sheer perfection but something I could totally see happening irl. It’s a little bit out there but Twitter is consistently a platform for ridiculous drama and I can 100% see a showdown between rival restaurants going down on Twitter. Plus, the Hub Seed articles and the Pepperjack fandom were so perfectly in tune with the sheer insanity of today’s internet culture – and so delightful – that I couldn’t not love them.

3. The whole book is very Gen Z. Contemporary novels that reference a specific era in painstaking detail often don’t have a lot of staying power, but as a Gen Z teen, the fact that “Tweet Cute” goes there completely works. The author clearly knows what it’s like to be a teenager today – the meme and fandom culture and the slang and the intense competition for college admissions and the utter dominance of social media – and I felt heard for it. I left the book feeling as if Lord knew exactly what it was like growing up in the environment that I did. (Sadly, though, no Vine references. It would have been absolutely WONDERFUL if Girl Cheesing had put out a “Fr esh Avo Ca Do” grilled cheese or if someone had fired off a “WHAT WAS THE REASON?!?” GIF during the twitter battle.)

4. The family dynamics. They’re not the focus of the story, but both Pepper and Jack’s families have a lot of baggage that is gradually worked through as the story unfolds. The fact that those dynamics were explored at all, even if not in intense detail, added a lot of depth.

5. THE FOOD. It made me hungry, okay?

Bottom line? Book very good. Buy book. Buy multiple copies of book so is profitable and get sequel.

(I know, I know, but…pleeeeease?)

Rating: 5/5 Befuddled Giraffes

Tweet Cute will be released on January 21, 2020.

Posted in Reviews

REVIEW: “Wardens of Eternity” by Courtney Moulton

Posted on by Sarah S.

NOTE: thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. “Wardens of Eternity” will be released on January 21, 2020.

SUMMARY

Ziva Ellison has one memory of her parents, made the day they abandoned her on the streets of New York City when she was three years old. They left her with only a memory and a promise that she had a great and terrible destiny.

Fifteen years later, Ziva discovers that destiny includes powers that she doesn’t understand and can barely control. Her magic attracts vicious, otherworldly monsters, and eventually compatriots to help her fight them. Sayer and Nasira know the secrets Ziva doesn’t; that Ziva is descended from Egyptian royalty and in possession of ancient magic passed down from the time of the gods. They promise to teach Ziva to control her magic and to give her the family she’s always yearned for.

But trouble is brewing in the world around them; darkness is descending on Hitler’s Germany, threatening World War II. As the last heir of a revered Egyptian queen, Ziva is the only one with the power to prevent another costly global conflict. As Ziva navigates her newfound abilities and makes a connection with Anubis and other Egyptian gods, the Nazis are hunting for the ultimate weapon, and Ziva has caught their interest.

THE POSITIVES: an on-page trip to the cinema

I don’t read much action-adventure, nor do I read a lot of books that deal with magic and mythology; “Wardens of Eternity” was a bit of an outside-of-the-box read for me. I love action-adventure movies, so I’m not surprised, but the degree to which I enjoyed this was unprecedented.

The premise of “Wardens” – teenage girl with magical powers finds out she’s the descendant of a powerful Egyptian queen and is swept into a world where mythological deities and creatures meddle in mortals’ affairs – is wholly unique, but it’s got a vibe that feels familiar. It’s like The Mummy meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Percy Jackson,  with a plenty of its own unique flavor to spare. The action kept me on my toes, the settings were evocatively painted, and the characters were easy to love. Another thing I loved about “Wardens” was its cinematic feel. This novel would make a fantastic film – I felt like I was reading an action movie, if that makes any sense. The way action scenes and settings are described capture the feeling of seeing, visually, the story as it plays out. It’s hard to capture that very visual feeling in a completely verbal medium, but Moulton does it quite nicely. Oh, and that TWIST ENDING – I did not see it coming at all and there had better be a sequel to this, because there’s way too much that we still don’t know to end Ziva’s story here!

Lastly, as the author explains in a note sent to reviewers, this book was a very personal exploration of what it’s like to be a person of Mediterranean heritage in the United States. I could tell, while reading, that Ziva’s struggles were very much the author’s own, and I appreciated the heart and honesty with which she tackled issues that clearly hit close to home. And we don’t see a lot of Mediterranean POC characters of any nationality  in YA, so Ziva’s Egyptian heritage adds a bit of diversity to the book world in an area not many people are talking about.

THE CONS: a little lacking in polish 

The main issue I had with this book was its writing style. The dialogue came off as very stilted at times; many of the characters seemed to speak in grand, scripted proclamations rather than casually conversing with each other as most people do. This was especially evident because of the fact that most of the story’s social commentary was done through dialogue. There were some very good points about imperialism to be made, but the fact that characters spoke in such an unrealistically lofty manner made it sound a liiiittle heavy-handed and ultimately dampened its power. It was like no one could talk about anything without making a speech. And some parts of the writing seemed like they could have been less clunky. However, the strength of the story was more than enough to make me overlook that.

Also, this isn’t necessarily a knock on the story, but the summary made it sound like “Wardens” would focus much more on Ziva and the Medjai’s attempts to stop the Nazis than it ever did. That plot seemed like it was no more than a brief footnote at the very end of the book. It took at least half the book for Ziva and co. to even leave New York, so most of it was actually focused on Ziva’s training and attempts to discover who she is through her Medjai heritage.

CLOSING

Six-Word Summary: ancient Egypt meets 1930s – chaos ensues.

Recommended For: fans of mythology, Egyptology, or action-adventure stories helmed by Interesting and Capable Females.

Possibly-Objectionable Content: a few heated kisses.

Overall Rating: 4/5