Author: thelibraryladiesmn

Kate’s Review: “We Don’t Swim Here”

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Book: “We Don’t Swim Here” by Vincent Tirado

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, May 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: She is the reason no one goes in the water. And she will make them pay. A chilling new novel for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Lamar Giles, and Ryan Douglass.

From the author of BURN DOWN, RISE UP comes a chilling novel told through alternating voices that follows two cousins as they unravel their town’s sinister past, their family’s complicated history, and the terrifying spirit that holds their future captive.

Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they’re all meant to make some final memories together. Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can’t even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.

Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn’t get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren’t the only ones who seek retribution when they’re wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn’t expect.

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I read “Burn Down, Rise Up” by Vincent Tirado last year, and then I had the pleasure of seeing them speak at ALA Annual last summer. Given that I liked “Burn Down, Rise Up” well enough and really enjoyed their talk on their panel, I was very happy when I was sent “We Don’t Swim Here”, Tirado’s newest YA horror novel that has a small town with secrets premise combined with a healthy fear of water due to a supernatural force. My love for urban legend horror knows no bounds, so I was very excited to read this one. After all, summer is right around the corner and I intend to spend a lot of time at the pool this year, so why not freak myself out about swimming in anticipation?

The most interesting aspect of this book to me was that way that Tirado explores the way that true tragedy can turn into community lore and mythos. Hillwoods is a small town that has what appear to be superstitions and rituals that are in place to appease a supernatural force, the biggest being that swimming isn’t allowed due to a vengeful spirit. But as Bronwyn explores this and pushes against this superstition as an ‘outsider’, the story starts to come to light of what actually happened and how actual historical fact can be twisted and inflated into something else. I don’t want to give anything away as I think that the reveals are worth concealing, but given that many urban legends and local lore probably have some basis in fact, I quite enjoyed the way that Tirado explores that in this book. I also liked the way that they addressed the realities of racism and oppression in a small town community, especially when there are few people of color living there, and how that has manifested over the years in American history.

In terms of the characters and the mystery itself, I thought that Bronwyn and Anais are pretty enjoyable perspectives to follow. They are fairly typical teenagers, and I liked the alternating chapters that shed insight into what it was like for an outsider as well as someone who had lived in the community all her life. That said, I didn’t think that either Bronwyn or Anais were super fleshed out or explored to the degree I would have liked, and their conflicts with each other felt a bit repetitive with Bronwyn seeking answers and Anais refusing to provide any, again and again. There were also a number of references to the various rituals and superstitions of the town that were mentioned in passing, but not really expanded upon. There just felt like there was a lot of potential that didn’t quite get met for me, and while the main thread was entertaining and interesting, there were multiple smaller threads that didn’t really wrap up in satisfying ways.

“We Don’t Swim Here” had enough connections to real life issues and metaphors that the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. I will be very curious to see if Tirado ever goes back to this story with the other rituals and superstitions that were left unanswered. Regardless, YA horror fans should probably check this out.

Rating 7: A horror tale about the crimes of the past and the way that tragedy can be passed down into lore, “We Don’t Swim Here” is entertaining young adult horror, though I would have liked a little more character exploration.

Reader’s Advisory:

“We Don’t Swim Here” is included on the Goodreads list “Latinx Books Releasing in 2023”.

Serena’s Review: “The Bone Shard Daughter”

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Book: “The Bone Shard Daughter”

Publishing Info: Orbit, September 2020

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.

Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.

Review: Per the usual for me it seems, sometimes what it takes to get me to finally pick up a trilogy…is for that trilogy to end! Such is the case with this fantasy series. I had seen this one floating around on readings lists for a year or two now, but when Orbit sent out there titles for this spring and I saw the final book the trilogy was due to drop, I figured now was the time! So, let’s see what all the fuss has been about!

Lin continues to work day and night to earn the approval of her father and her place as the heir to his kingdom. But she is hindered by the large blank that is her memory past the point of a few years ago. She may not remember what happened in her past, but she knows that her future hinges on her ability to learn the magic behind her father’s ability to use bone shards to build the powerful magical constructs to allow their vast empire to run. And in other parts of the world, a smuggler who has been on a years-long search for his missing wife, runs across the darker price this bone shard magic extracts from the populace.

There was a lot to like about this book! The first thing that struck me was the interesting world-building and magic system at the heart of the story. And much of this information is unfurled slowly to the reader as one goes along, so there’s a sense of exploration and wonder as new layers of this world are pealed back. Things like the fact that the large islands that make up this empire move through the ocean in a way that must be carefully navigated by all those who travel between them. Hints that there may be more to the constructs than straight-forward magical tools that they seem to be. The discovery of magical creatures that are unknown to even the characters of this world. It made the reading experience, in a simple term, fun.

I also really liked the characters of the story. The POVs switch between four different characters, but Lin and Jovis, the smuggler, are by far the more main characters of the group. I really liked both of them; they each had solid character arcs and voices that lent excitement and interest to their chapters. Lin’s story is very much the heart of this book (as evidenced by the title of the book), but I almost found myself enjoying Jovis’s story the most. For one thing, he’s the one that ends up with the adorable, magical animal companion. And I’m always going to gravitate towards and adorable, magical animal companion. But his story was also full of adventure and danger, leading his chapters to feel fast-moving and action-packed. For her part, Lin’s story is much more one of self-discovery and the slow pealing back of the truths at the heart of her father’s dynasty. Due to her own lack of memories, it’s only naturally that her story plays out a bit slower.

But I also have to say I really didn’t understand the inclusion of the other two characters. They have something like 4-5 chapters between them in the entire book! And the chapters they did have I found frustrating to read. Each, in their own way, seemed to operate in a world of black and whites, neither able to understand the nuances of the other’s position (this was the classic romantic tension of one member being from an upper class and the other a lower). Neither character felt like they were bringing anything unique to the table, either to this conversation about societal structures (which I’ve seen done better) or to this book overall. As this is a trilogy, there’s a possibility that these two will gain importance in future books. But I wish the author had just introduced them then, instead of shoe-horning them in here in a way that left them feeling out of place. I’m not sure why authors are so nervous about doing this, adding characters in as they go, but it’s definitely possible and can definitely enhance a reading experience if done right!

The writing was also solid and neatly laid out themes of power, family, and the lengths we will go to for those we love. The story also ended in such a way that definitely left me eager to check out the next book. I can definitely see why this trilogy got off to such a great start and I recommend it to any fantasy reader who enjoys multi-POV fantasy stories with a strong focus on world-building.

Rating 8: Full of exploration and adventure, this fantasy novel arrives on the scene with a bang and leaves the reader aching for more by the end.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Bone Shard Daughter” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Most unique, original, and interesting magical systems and Adult-targeted secondary-world fantasy with noteworthy heroines or female protagonists

Kate’s Review: “This Delicious Death”

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Book: “This Delicious Death” by Kayla Cottingham

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, April 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Jennifer’s Body fans will clamor for this new sapphic horror standalone from New York Times bestselling author Kayla Cottingham.

Three years ago, the melting of arctic permafrost released a pathogen of unknown origin into the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal, albeit with lasting fear and distrust for the people they’d pejoratively dubbed ghouls.

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are all ghouls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before their graduation they decided to attend a musical festival in the desert. They have a cooler filled with hard seltzers and SynFlesh and are ready to party.

But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral, and ends up killing and eating a boy. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is drugging ghouls and making them feral. And if they can’t figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is safe.

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I read Kayla Cottingham’s debut novel “My Dearest Darkest” last year and enjoyed it due to the tone and the characters. I was also lucky enough to be able to say hello during ALAAC 2022, and she was super awesome and gracious over my awkward fangirling. So when I was offered a copy of her newest horror novel “This Delicious Death”, I jumped at the chance. Partially because I really wanted to see what she followed her debut up with. But also because when I saw that it was about cannibal monster girls going to a music festival, I was fully invested and on board.

Another example of a book that teenage Kate would have been so into. (source)

This was just such a fun read from start to finish. I really liked all of the characters, especially the core friend group of Zoe, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria, and I liked the ‘zombie’ (if that’s even the right word) mythos that Cottingham has created for the story. In terms of the characters, our core four feel like a pretty realistic and typical group of teenage girls with the usual insecurities and ride or die friend dynamics, just with a bit of a flesh eating twist to round it all out. While I wasn’t super invested in the will they or won’t they dynamic of Zoe and Celeste, I did like them a lot as friends and really liked how all of these girls have seen some serious shit and are still processing, all while relying on each other. You get to see flashbacks to when all of them were first infected with the Hollowing illness that transformed them into ‘ghouls’ that now can only live on human flesh (synthetically produced now, however), and how they all dealt with that change, that trauma, and how they all came together as friends who are now close as close can be. I loved their banter and their humor, and I loved as they band together to help protect Valeria after she goes feral and kills someone, and how they want to solve what is happening. The gal pal flesh eating teenage gumshoe vibe REALLY worked for me, and you throw that into a conspiracy whodunnit with the backdrop of a Coachella-esque music festival and you have a really, REALLY unique and fun story that will appeal to teens and adults alike. And along with all that, I really really liked all of the representation this book had, with trans characters, lesbian and bisexual characters, characters from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

And now the horror. The references to “Jennifer’s Body” in the description of this book are pretty on point both in theme and tone, but I also felt like we got some “Left 4 Dead” elements with the descriptions of the way that the ‘ghouls’ look (to me, very much like The Witch in those games. If you know, you know!). I really liked how Cottingham thought out of how The Hollowing pandemic and fall out would have worked, from the way information would have spread to how the population would have reacted to how it would have adapted to try and contain it/cure those who were turned into ‘ghouls’. We get sprinkles here and there of outside perspectives beyond our main character flashbacks, and it fills in some of the blanks with a nice blend of genuinely unsettling bits as well as some fun tongue in cheek/cynical moments that would fit right in in a Verhoeven film. Cottingham doesn’t hold back on the gore and body horror elements either, with full on descriptions of gnarly transformations, some cannibalism, and moments so bloody you feel a bit like you’re in a literary splash zone a la “Evil Dead: The Musical”. It really is a blast.

“This Delicious Death” is the perfect horror read for the time of year we are in, with vacations and road trips abound. It makes it all the more perfect given that we are still trying to navigate a pandemic, albeit a potentially waning one, and the messiness that can come with the aftermath. Recommended reading to be sure.

Rating 9: A fun and gory body horror meets girl’s road trip tale, “This Delicious Death” is a must read horror novel for all your summer vacation plans!

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Delicious Death” is included on the Goodreads lists “Queer Horror”, and “Cannibal Books”.

Highlights: May 2023

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Here’s hoping all those April (snow) showers are going to bring some May Flowers this month! We are getting up against the summer months, with promises of outdoor get togethers, sunnier weather, and hopefully some fun books coming up on the horizon. Books that maybe we can read outside in balmy, seasonable weather (now look at how we’ve probably jinxed this). Here are some of the ones we are looking forward to the most for May!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “A Crown of Ivy and Glass” by Claire Legrand

Publication Date: May 9, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I really enjoyed Legrand’s YA “Empirium” duology. It walked the line of adjusting YA fantasy tropes just enough to be both recognizable as a staple of the genre but also able to stand on its own strengths. And one of those strengths was the overall quality of writing, in general. That being the case, I’m very excited to see what Legrand has in store for readers with this, her first adult fantasy romance novel. It’s been compared to “Bridgerton” and, of course, “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” Love the former, hate the latter….so…we’ll see!

Book: “The Late Mrs. Willoughby” by Claudia Gray

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I was blown away by the first book in this series, “The Murder of Mr. Wickham.” There’s no over emphasizing the sheer feat of mastery that was handling almost the entire cast of Jane Austen’s romantic heroes and heroines and never seeming to miss a step. Add on top of that an excellent mystery and two original characters, and…yeah, truly amazing. Given that she was able to manage all of that, I barely have any concerns about a second book falling prey to “sequel syndrome.” Instead, I’m simply happily looking forward to yet another murder mystery to be solved by our beloved Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney!

Book: “Witch King” by Martha Wells

Publication Date: May 30, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I’ve been a big fan of Martha Wells’ for forever. And since I haven’t had a chance to review any of her books yet for the blog, when I saw this upcoming stand-alone novel coming out this spring, I knew this was my opportunity! The description also sounds right up my alley, with the story following an “over it” demon who wakes up after having his body killed off and must travel around gathering up his scattered group of friends and piecing together what exactly went so wrong as to leave him “dead” at the bottom of the ocean. Again, my familiarity with the reliability of this author allows me to happily sit back and anticipate what will surely be an awesome read!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “Warrior Girl Unearthed” by Angeline Boulley

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Why I’m Interested: “Firekeeper’s Daughter” was my favorite read of 2021. Like, hands down, no contest whatsoever. So when I saw that not only did Angeline Boulley have a new YA thriller coming out, but that it was bringing back some of the characters from her debut, “Warrior Girl Unearthed” officially became one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. Perry Firekeeper-Birch expected her summer to be pretty chill, but after she crashes her Aunt Daunis’s Jeep she has to work to pay off the damages. When she gets a job working at a local tribal museum, she starts to learn about Indigenous artifact repatriation, and makes it her mission to bring Ojibwe objects back to her tribe. When a promise to return artifacts is broken, Perry decides that the only way to bring her peoples’ history back is by other, more heist-like means. Not only am I excited to read a new story by Boulley, I’m also excited to see what Daunis has been up to…

Book: “We’ll Never Tell” by Wendy Heard

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Why I’m Interested: Soapy sudsy thrillers always pique my interest, and I have been waiting for Wendy Heard to have a new YA thriller since I devoured “She’s Too Pretty to Burn”. Because of these two factors, I am VERY stoked for “We’ll Never Tell”, which combines salacious Hollywood secrets, teenage gossip, and a murder house. WOOOOOOO, bring it on! The YouTube channel “We’ll Never Tell” is run by a group of teens who anonymously explore urban areas of L.A. that are generally off limits. With their senior year in full swing, the friends decide to take on a notorious location, a house that had a brutal murder/suicide in the 1970s. But after one of their own is attacked during the shoot, they have to figure out what happened, and if one of them is responsible. This one is going to be hard to put down.

Book: “The Salt Grows Heavy” by Cassandra Khaw

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Why I’m Interested: Cassandra Khaw’s previous novella “Nothing But Blackened Teeth” really set me on edge, so of course I wanted to read whatever they came out with next. And when I saw that “The Salt Grows Heavy” was coming out, and that it sounded like a gory retelling of “The Little Mermaid”, I couldn’t have been more excited. A mermaid and a plague doctor have fled the kingdom she had been the queen of, as her children destroyed the land and left it in ruin. But when the mermaid and the plague doctor stumble into a village with three mysterious surgeons with dark motives, they find themselves in danger once again. Khaw knows how to bring the body horror so this one has some serious potential to be super disturbing, which is great.

What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!

Year of Sanderson: “The Well of Ascension”

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“Year of Sanderson” is an on-going, monthly series that will post on the last Friday of each month in which I will cover various Brandon Sanderson-related things. This will largely be comprised of book reviews (some from his back catalog and some from the books being released this year), as well as assorted other topics like reviews of the items in the swag boxes that will be coming out as part of Sanderson’s Kickstarted campaign. Frankly, we’ll just have to see what we get from this series, very much like the Kickstarter itself!

Book: “The Well of Ascension” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tor Fantasy, August 2007

Where Did I Get this Book: own it!

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler—the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years—has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.

As Kelsier’s protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin’s Mistborn skills sharp, but it’s the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn’t run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier’s crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won’t get easier with three armies – one of them composed of ferocious giants – now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler’s hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

Previously Reviewed: “Mistborn”

Review: I have a very vivid memory of picking up this second book in the Mistborn trilogy. It was the second book I read by Brandon Sanderson, so I went into it with concerns that it would fall into the usual “second book syndrome” trap that so many books in series like these do. Of course, now, years (decades…oof) later, Sanderson has proven himself to be one of those few authors who really doesn’t often suffer from this sort of pacing problem over a long-running series. But at the time I didn’t know that.

While they have accomplished what many said was impossible, beating the Lord Ruler, Vin and her crew of rebels are discovering that running a city is an entirely different beast than organizing a revolution. So, too, while Elend has read about the ins ands outs of politics and religion, he suddenly feels out of his depth when asked to put these policies into play. What’s more, many others are seeing this time of instability as rife for their own accumulation of power. But Vin’s eyes are on something even more worrisome: the Mists are behaving strangely and powerful secrets are pointing towards a dark fate that she barely understands.

One thing I remember clearly about reading this trilogy the first time was just how out of my depth I felt with every additional book. In particular, I remember finishing up the second and then the third book and each time looking at the one that came before and thinking “Oh how quaint and simple that story was!” Indeed, each book built on the other in ways that are hard to describe. The first book really is a fairly straight forward adventure fantasy story. You have the big bad. You have the rebellion leader. You have the magical protégé. And yes, while there are several surprises in store (the death of said rebel leader), things play out in a fairly straightforward manner.

But then comes this book and with it a much more complicated tale. Not only do you have the realities of the aftereffects of a successful rebellion, but the world, history, and even biology itself are suddenly being given depths you’d never has expected from the first book. I really liked the former in particular, the exploration of the challenges that face those trying to rebuild government and society after the removal of a leader who had ruled for such a long time that the world itself seemed to turn around them. Sanderson grapples with the fact that often the very traits that would lead certain people to success with heading up this sort of revolution would not necessarily translate to the very different type of person needed to rebuild a world. Vin’s struggles with her changing role are very relatable, and the way that she uses the Mist and her abilities to both run away from these challenges but also explore mysteries that others don’t see were all intriguing. I also liked Elend’s story and how, even though he has his own struggles, without him Vin and her crew would have been really up a creek when dealing with this restructuring.

But beyond this, Sanderson goes into all of the increased world-building around the state of the world, the Mist, and the role the Lord Ruler played in it all. Like I said, the first book was very straightforward with how it presented all of this. But this book begins to peal back those layers and really dig into how society had come to be what it was. Not only the history of the the world itself, but how certain creatures, religions, and aspects of society were all built around these shifting norms. The last one hundred pages or so are really impressive with the sheer number of reveals and twists and turns.

I will say that the pacing is the one area where this book can feel a bit as if it’s brushing up against the dreaded “second book syndrome” thing. The first half, especially, really takes its time establishing where all are characters currently are, mentally, emotionally, and even physically, and then needs to spend a decent amount of page time getting them to where they need to be by the final climax of the story.

Rating 8: This book takes the promises given in the first book and then turns them on their head and inside out. And then ends with such a bang that it’s hard to imagine how I managed to survive the wait between book two and three way back when I read them originally!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Well of Ascension” is on these Goodreads lists: New Speculative Fiction Stars and SF/F Assassins!

Kate’s Review: “Hungry Ghost”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Hungry Ghost” by Victoria Ying

Publishing Info: First Second, April 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a finished copy from First Second.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A beautiful and heart-wrenching young adult graphic novel takes a look at eating disorders, family dynamics, and ultimately, a journey to self-love.

Valerie Chu is quiet, studious, and above all, thin. No one, not even her best friend Jordan, knows that she has been binging and purging for years. But when tragedy strikes, Val finds herself taking a good, hard look at her priorities, her choices, and her own body. The path to happiness may lead her away from her hometown and her mother’s toxic projections—but first she will have to find the strength to seek help.

Review: Thank you to First Second for sending me a finished copy of this graphic novel!

I had been eying “Hungry Ghost” by Victoria Ying for awhile, and even had it on my NetGalley shelf ready to go, when I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to receive a print copy and to review it for the blog. The cover caught my eye from the jump, and then reading into the backstory and summary I was even more interested. Disordered eating is something that is a difficult and charged topic, but an important one to talk about. So I sat down and began my read, and found it to be a very emotional experience.

This is a very personal and unflinching story about Valerie Chu, a teenage Asian-American girl who has been pressured by her mother to stay thin since she was a girl, so much so that she has started making herself throw up in her teenage years and obsessively counting calories whenever she eats. It’s a really difficult read at times, but I liked how candid and straight forward Ying was with what Valerie was going through, and how complicated the various factors feeding into it could be. I really found Valerie’s inner turmoil to be compelling and upsetting, and I liked how Ying explores the familial pressure from her mother, the self pressure from Valerie herself due to seeing thinness everywhere as an ideal, and the pressures to be a perfect person and to have control, and how once control is gone how much it can make things spiral. For Valerie it’s the sudden tragic death of her father that sends her off, due to her grief, and the perceived need to be there for her devastated mother whose insistence on Valerie’s thin physique has been a pall over Valerie since childhood. There were so many moments in here that made me tear up, and I liked how Ying was sensitive but also very honest about these issues and how toxic all of this is for Valerie.

I also liked the depictions of how complicated Valerie’s relationships were with her loved ones. The most obvious one is her mother, whose domineering insistence on Valerie being thin has set up her disordered eating and mental health issues. It is made very clear that her mother is very wrong for putting this kind of pressure on Valerie (from the jump you see her denying Valerie a piece of her own birthday cake when she is in grade school, which is just… wow), but Ying is also very careful to not make her into a two dimensional villain. At first I was very ‘um maybe we should be calling this out a bit more?’, but thinking about it it started working for me a bit more because 1) this is her mother, and family dynamics can be so hard to disentangle, 2) it’s clear that it’s not just her Mom that has this hang up, as we also see some of her extended family voicing similar opinions, and 3) the death of Valerie’s Dad makes her mother’s emotional state all the more fragile and complex. Ying doesn’t excuse it, but also shows that sometimes people have to stand up for themselves or set boundaries in other ways. There is also the relationship between Valerie and her best friend Jordan, who is fat and is completely comfortable within her body and herself. Valerie adores Jordan, but it’s clear that her own standards of her body are constantly nagging at her (especially since her mother is always commenting on how fat Jordan is), and as things unravel more and more it starts to have an effect on their friendship. It is a really complex web, and I really appreciated that.

And finally I really loved the artwork. Ying is a very talented artist and animator whose work has been seen in various Disney ventures like “Moana”, “Big Hero 6”, and “Frozen” (among others!), as well as other books and graphic novels. And I really liked her style for this story, as it feels very accessible and engaging, while also hitting the emotional moments and beats.

Source: First Second

I really, really enjoyed “Hungry Ghost”. It’s poignant and powerful, and I am pleased that Ying has brought these various difficult and entangled issues to a moving graphic novel.

Rating 9: A gorgeous, emotional, and very personal story about grief, disordered eating, and complex family relationships, “Hungry Ghost” is a must read graphic novel.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Hungry Ghost” is included on the Goodreads lists “2023 YA/MG Books with POC Leads”, and “Great Graphic Novels (Released in 2023)”.

Serena’s Review: “Happy Place”

Book: “Happy Place” by Emily Henry

Publishing Info: Berkley, April 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

Book Description: Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Review: Like many authors I’ve grown to love, I was first introduced to Emily Henry when we read “Beach Read” for bookclub a year or so ago. It was part of a romance theme we were doing at the time and was a great motivator to read a book and author I probably would never have picked up on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good romance, but I tend to stick pretty strictly the historical romance lane ala “Bridgerton” and the like. What can I say, Jane Austen really ruined me for other genres of romance. In particular, I’m not often a reader of contemporary stories in any genre, so contemporary romance was waaaaay down there. But boy, yet again am I thankful for bookclub because here I am, the biggest Emily Henry fan you’ll find!

Harriet’s happy place has long been established as not only a location (her friend’s rich dad’s New England beach home) but as the group of friends who have travelled alongside her through the past decade of her life. And part of that group has always been her longtime boyfriend, Wyn. But now, broken up for the past six months, Harriet is unsure whether she can find that happy place again. How can this close group of friends survive the sundering of one of its longest-running romances? Things are made more challenging when Harriet realizes that this will be the last year before their beloved gathering place is sold. Not wanting to ruining what may be the last time they’re all together for a long while, Harriet and Wyn decided to not break the news of their break up until after the trip is over. But keeping up this ruse may prove more difficult than either has expected.

There are a lot of things to love about Henry’s approach to contemporary romance. But I think one of the things I appreciate most is how deftly she manages to use very common, some might say worn to death, romance tropes and breathes new life into them. Here she tackles two tropes in one, fake dating and a second chance love story. In a lot of ways, I think this combination works better than either one does on their own, especially fake dating. I’ve always been a bit of a hard sell on fake dating. The scenarios used to make it a necessary thing always seem very contrived and unbelievable. And then the success of two people, often near strangers, successfully tricking people into believing they are a couple always seemed incredibly unlikely. Not only do these strangers need to fake their way through the awkwardness of physical interactions, but they have to somehow orchestrate the easy comradery and chemistry of a true couple. But, like I say, Henry wisely sidesteps this entire issue by combining it with a second chance love story.

Harriet and Wyn were not only a couple before, they were in a long-term, on the verge of marriage, serious relationship. Add in some unresolved feelings, and it’s easy to see how they could simply flip a switch into faking they’re still together. On top of that, the use of a very close friends group makes a compelling reason for why they would fake their relationship. Not only would a break up upend the boat of a small group of mutual friends, but a few of the friends have expressed reliance on Harriet and Wyn’s solid relationship as proof that long-term love is possible! It’s a perfect storm of circumstances that I think nicely lays the entire table for both of these romance tropes.

Another thing Henry does so well is ground her stories in other struggles and growth for her characters. As the story unfolds, we begin to see what went wrong in Harriet and Wyn’s seemingly perfect relationship. Through a series of flashbacks, we begin to learn that neither has ever been perfectly honest with the other about what they want from life. What’s worse, neither has been honest with themselves. Both are incredibly likable but flawed individuals, and we see how each has been swatting away the necessary work that would have lead them to healthier lives and a healthier relationship. Harriet’s struggles as a people pleaser and Wyn’s inability to place value in himself as he is were all incredibly powerful and well depicted.

And, of course, the romance is lovely. Henry also tends to write romances that read a bit bitter sweet. They end well, because that’s almost required of the genre. But given the way this book is structured, with the flashbacks slowly working their way towards the present, it’s difficult to watch Wyn and Harriet spiral towards the inevitable break-up. Between their own struggles and the challenges we see from some of the other members of this friends group, I wouldn’t necessarily call this a happy book. And yet, it also wasn’t sad. It simply felt very real and honest about the way even the closest relationships, romances and friendships, can be built on unhealthy habits and interactions. The ending was particularly cathartic after all of the build-up. I was also very happy with a few particular turns of events at the end where I think Henry improved on some of her previous character work in conclusions of other books I’ve read by her where I’ve been more frustrated. If you’re a fan of contemporary romance or of Emily Henry, this is definitely a must read!

Rating 9: Heartfelt and poignant, this story tackles not only the lies we tell others but, more importantly, the lies we tell ourselves.

Reader’s Advisory: “Happy Place” is on these Goodreads lists: That One Really Popular Modern Romance Novel Cover Style and 2023 Contemporary Romance Releases.

Kate’s Review: “For You and Only You”

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Book: “For You and Only You” by Caroline Kepnes

Publishing Info: Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books, April 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Joe Goldberg is ready for a change. Instead of selling books, he’s writing them. And he’s off to a good start. Glenn Shoddy, an acclaimed literary author, recognizes Joe’s genius and invites him to join a tight-knit writing fellowship at Harvard. Finally, Joe will be in a place where talent matters more than pedigree, where intellect is the great equalizer and anything is possible–even happy endings. Or so he thinks, until he meets his already-published, already-distinguished peers, who all seem to be cut from the same privileged cloth.

Thankfully, Wonder enters the picture. They have so much in common. No college degrees, no pretensions, no stories from prep school or grad school. Just a love for literature. If only Wonder could commit herself to the writing life they could be those rare literary soulmates who never fall prey to their demons. There is so much they’re up against, but Joe has faith in Wonder. He will sacrifice his art for hers. And if he has to, he will kill her darlings for her.

With her trademark satirical, biting wit, Caroline Kepnes explores why vulnerable people bring out the worst in others as Joe sets out to make this small, elite world a fairer place. And if a little crimson runs in the streets of Cambridge who can blame him? Love doesn’t conquer all. Often, it needs a little push.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

I am fully aware that I have been obsessed with Caroline Kepnes’s “You” Series since I read “You” and “Hidden Bodies” in 2016, to the point where all of the “You” audiobooks have become insomnia fighters for long nights of anxiety driven sleeplessness. Yes, I do indeed put in my ear buds and listen to Santino Fontana talk about super creep and obsessive psychopath Joe Goldberg as he stalks women and inserts himself into their lives while slowly destroying them. Apparently this is relaxing listening to me.

I am fully aware this probably means I’m deeply traumatized, it’s fine. (source)

So quite obviously I was waiting on pins and needles for the fourth book in the series, “For You And Only You”. And I was so, so lucky to get a copy from NetGalley, and there was much rejoicing. I had so many questions and theories about what was going to happen in this book, as when we left Joe in “You Love Me” he was about to be widowed and was running his own book bar in Florida, ready to fall in love again. So when I read that this one was going to take place in Boston? WHAT? But I fully trusted Kepnes to bring me there and to convince me, and what do you know? She did.

I think that what continues to impress me about Kepnes and her “You” books is that even though there is a very clear set of expectations of formula for each of these books, she still manages to make it feel fresh, interesting, and unpredictable. You can be certain of the following things in these books: Joe is going to be a loner, he’s going to start to obsess over a woman who is emotionally unavailable for whatever reason, and people in the way of his obsession are probably going to start dropping like flies at his hand (granted, in “You Love Me” he wasn’t the direct cause of the deaths in that book, he was just a domino effect). I was worried that this was going to feel repetitive by book four in the series, and yet I still was fully on board and I was still completely hooked by the story, the characters, the plot twists, and the overall twisted cynicism and dark humor of it all. These books probably aren’t for everyone, but I feel that Kepnes always knows how to pull the satire out of some pretty unnerving subject matter and themes, by finding the hypocritical undersides of supposedly enviable lives (be it being young and single in New York, to uber wealthy in L.A., to small town cozy on Bainbridge Island). This time the target is the hallowed halls of Harvard and the academic life of ever ambitious literary authors. I’ll admit that I WAS disappointed that we didn’t stick to Florida, as there were so many things that I feel like could have been SO satisfying with that as a backdrop (especially since 1) Joe’s old boss Mr. Mooney retired there and I love that horrible old man, and 2) Florida right now has so many issues I would have loved to see Joe just lose his mind there), but hey. I’m fine with lambasting elitist Harvard culture as it exists within Boston’s many backgrounds, and Kepnes really nails it. Joe clearly is desperate to fit in, as while he has always had a chip on his shoulder about those more privileged then himself, he thinks that the is just as good as them and needs them to acknowledge it. This time it’s because of a book he wrote that he thinks is genius, and he needs their validation. You just know that’s going to go poorly.

Joe is still Joe, and I will spare you all from going on and on about why he entertains the hell out of me once again, so let’s focus on our other characters. While the cast of characters don’t really outdo the assholery of previous characters (who could be worse that Peach Salinger? I’ve yet to see it), there are plenty of cutting bites at snooty authors and those who aspire to that. Part of the appeal of these books is that everyone sucks so when Joe starts going HAM on them it feels over the top enough that it’s not distasteful, and the nastiness of just about everyone is pretty well done here. I found Wonder, Joe’s love interest, to be especially grating, probably my least favorite of Joe’s love interests (yes, worse than Beck), but I did think that the due diligence is done to make her the way she is. But most everyone else was grating in a fun way so that you are really enjoying the ups and downs as Joe plots against them but is also annoyed by them. A major stand out for me was Sarah Beth, a fellow member of the fellowship who wrote a thriller novel before the workshop, whose interest in a true crime podcast about a body found on Bainbridge Island (oh Joe, did you REALLY think you could get away with all your bullshit? I love that we are starting to see some of these things start to catch up to him) puts a serious thorn in Joe’s side. She is weird and probing, and she also caught me by surprise a few times as she and Joe start a cat and mouse game between themselves while having to work together in their writing group. Perhaps it treads to farfetched territory at times, but I really found it fun.

“For You and Only You” continues Joe’s reign of terror through the lives of unsuspecting victims and the jerks that surround them. I hope that there are more Joe stories in store. I shall be adding this one to the middle of the night insomnia treatments, and I couldn’t be more pleased.

Rating 9: Joe is back and I’m still fully on board. This series still catches me off guard and keeps me enthralled and engaged, and I’m still all about following Joe as he rips lives asunder all in the name of love.

Reader’s Advisory:

“For You and Only You” is included on the Goodreads list “Books Written By Scorpios Will Be The Death of Me” (it was too funny to pass up).

Not Just Books: April 2023

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

TV Show: “Succession”

I’ve resisted watching this show for quite awhile. I don’t love shows where it’s hard to find a character to like. My husband only got me to watch “Breaking Bad” after convincing me that Jesse was a character you could like throughout the show. But, while I have struggled to outright like any of the characters in this show, there’s no denying the quality. The writing, the acting, the ongoing tension. All top notch. I also was happy to wait to start watching until the final season was already showing so that I wouldn’t have to wait long for the inevitably horribly tragic conclusion. I never would have guessed from the beginning, but at this point…I’m kind of rooting for Roman??

Netflix Movie: “The Gray Man”

In an opposite situation, I had to convince my husband to watch this movie with me due to his ridiculous dislike of Ryan Gosling. I know, right? He’s crazy. But I was able to sucker him in with a preview that contained a sufficiently campy villain in Chris Evans. I really liked this movie, though. It was action-packed, funny at times, and surprisingly heart-warming at others. You can tell that both lead actors are just enjoying the heck out of their roles, especially Evans. If you enjoy fairly straight-forward action movies, this is definitely one to check out!

Movie: “Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”

I was fairly skeptical about this movie when I first heard about it. Obviously, the premise is a hard sell after the abysmal attempt at making a D&D movie several years ago. But then a few things began to work in its favor: Chris Pines is always awesome, the trailer looked genuinely hilarious, and a favorite reviewer of mine highly recommended it. And, yep, he was right! This was a blast of a movie! In many ways, it’s everything that the Marvel movies seem to have lost. It doesn’t take itself seriously, it commits to its premise, and it made wise use of its excellent casting. In many ways, I think it’s similar to “Pirates of the Caribbean” where many viewers are initially skeptical due to the weak source material. But like that movie, this one is well worth the watch, especially for fans of fantasy who enjoy a great mix of action and comedy!

Kate’s Picks

Film: “Smile”

This was a much delayed watch, as I wasn’t totally comfortable going to see it in the theater when it came out, and then Terror Tuesday wanted to wait for the entire group to be present to watch it as we heard it was wild. And when we finally sat down to watch “Smile”, we all lost our collective minds in the group chat. Wild is an understatement. Rose is a mental health therapist assigned to an emergency clinic, and one day sees a patient named Laura. Laura witnessed a professor kill himself in a horrible way, and says she is being stalked by an otherworldly being that follows her around and smiles at her, and then she has a complete breakdown and kills herself in the room in front of Rose. While smiling in a grotesque manner. Then Rose starts to see things, including people she knows smiling at her and driving her into emotional turmoil. Rose has to try and solve what happened to her, before she falls victim to the same fate. THIS MOVIE IS BONKERS. COMPLETELY BONKERS. There were so many moments where I was laughing hysterically because it was so fucked up, and we all decided that it was the most fucked up but fun movie we had all watched together (“Barbarian” was close, but I didn’t enjoy “Barbarian” and I REALLY enjoyed this one).

City: Duluth, Minnesota

If someone were to ask me what my favorite places to visit were, Duluth, Minnesota would almost certainly be top five. I love this port city on the shore of Lake Superior, and I love that it’s only about two and a half hours away from where I live, as it makes it very easy to get there with minimal fuss. And this April I was able to visit my happy place not just once, but twice. The first was a girls trip with some college friends, and the second was a solo vacation for emotional recharging after a long winter. I love being on the lake, I love the local breweries and restaurants, I love the unique attractions, and I love that I can drive up the North Shore and see a lot of gorgeous landscapes and nature scenes, whether it’s the lake or forests or rivers and waterfalls. And the waterfalls and rivers were especially breathtaking this month given the insane amount of snow the state got this winter. Very few places can center me like Duluth can, and I really loved my time there this April, whether with friends or on my own.

Web Show: “The Pit Stop”

So perhaps you noticed that “RuPaul’s Drag Race” didn’t make my Not Just Books picks this year. It’s not that I didn’t like it. Well, I liked the winner and the runner up, both quite a bit. But there were some weird production things going on this season that made it a frustrating watch, so even though I was happy with how it shook out in the end with my two faves coming in first and second, I did spend a lot of time frustrated. But never fear, for I do have some drag content, and it is “Drag Race” adjacent! “The Pit Stop” is a web show that recaps episodes of “Drag Race” and “Drag Race All Stars”, with commentary from a consistent host and a guest drag queen (and Nicole Byer on occasion). I’ve been mainly watching seasons that are hosted by Trixie Mattel and Bob the Drag Queen, as they are the funniest hosts, and they have great banter and chemistry with basically all of their guests. It’s also a great way to revisit past seasons that I didn’t really care for (cough season 13) and to breathe new energy into them. It was especially funny watching Violet Chachki and Trixie tear the Bag Ball episode apart. So many bad looks on the runway.

Serena’s Review: “Divine Rivals”

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Book: “Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, April 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Review: I really enjoyed Ross’s “Elements of Cadence” duology. It was lyrical, full of adventure, and centered a lovely romance at its heart. So it was a no brainer to place a request for her next novel when I saw it was due to arrive this spring. And while I don’t think this first book necessarily reaches the highs of that previous series, I did enjoy it a lot and I have high hopes for the next book in the series!

Several months ago, Iris’s life fell apart. Her brother felt compelled to join in a god’s war hundreds of miles away. Her mother fell into depression and alcoholism. And Iris was forced to drop out of school to support her family. Now, she works towards one goal: becoming a reporter for one of the most prestigious newspapers in the city. But she’s not the only one pursuing the position. Unknowing to her, her rival, a young man who is unfortunately as skilled a writer as he is frustrating, also happens to be the mysterious pen pal she found only by chance. But as the war becomes more and more real for Iris, she begins to realize that the world is much greater than she ever imagined, and her pan pal may be the only one who really understands her.

There was a lot to like about this book, but I think the book summary really buries the lead on the true strengths of this book. Yes, it starts out as a fairly standard work rivalry story alongside a sweet pen pal subplot. But about a quarter of the way in, things quickly shift and Iris travels to the front lines of the war. Here, the story really comes alive as it explores the experience of trench warfare and the experiences of those whose lives have been upended while living through a war that is taking place right outside their own front door. I really loved all that Ross had to offer in this part of the book.

This was all obviously a parallel to WWI, with similar tactics used, like trenches and the terrible use of vicous gases. But, of course, this is a fantasy novel, so the constant terror and threat of air raids were replaced by fantastical creatures that could target any town at any moment. I can honestly say that I can’t remember reading a fantasy novel that read anything like this one, and that was incredibly refreshing.

I also really liked Iris as a character. She was brave, but not foolish. Compassionate but also struggling with her conflicting emotions about a war that stole her brother away from her family. I also liked Roman Kitt, and, for the most part, the romance between the two. I think the title of this book does mislead a bit as far as the romance goes, however. The “rivalry” between these two barely warrants the term. Not only do we see very little of it, but it is quickly shunted to the side in favor of a completely cordial friendship building quickly towards romance. Indeed, an entire romantic arch from start to finish takes place within a fairly short period of the middle and end of the book. While I liked the love story, I kind of wish that it had been drawn out between this first book and the one to come. As it was, the romance just barely sidestepped becoming an instalove situation. It’s spared from this category only by the fact that, while quickly established, it does spend a good deal of time building up this relationship.

I also liked the idea of the feuding gods in this story, and the fact that the humans caught up in the war don’t have a full understanding of the history between these characters. But that also gets to my main issue with this book: in many ways it feels like an extended prequel. A very interesting and romantic prequel, but still. It was only towards the last quarter of the book that it really felt like the story got started. I still enjoyed my read overall, but I think the pacing was questionable, and perhaps, depending on how the next book goes, there might have been some better decisions to make with how this story was broken up. The one thing I can say for sure, the fact that the story really picks up towards the end of the book really leaves the reader primed for the second book. Despite a few quibbles here and there, I’ll definitely be right there in line to read the second one as soon as it’s available!

Rating 8: Lyrical and atmospheric, this book uses the fantastical to illustrate the horrors of war and the bravery of those who risk it all to save those they love.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Divine Rivals” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Working Women in Fantasy and Female fantasy authors – Children’s, YA and adult.