Serena’s Review: “Fiasco”

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Book: “Fiasco” by Constance Fay

Publishing Info: Bramble, June 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Cynbelline Khaw is a woman of many names. She’s Generosity, a cultist who never quite fit in. She’s Bella, the daughter who failed to save her cousin’s life. And then there’s Cyn, the notorious bounty hunter who spaced a ship of slavers.

She’s exhausted, lonely, and on her very last legs―but then a new client offers her a job she can’t refuse: a bounty on the kidnapper who killed her cousin. All Cyn has to do is partner with the crew of the Calamity, a scouting vessel she encountered when she was living under a previous alias. One tiny little issue, she’s been given an additional deliver the oh-so-compelling medic, Micah Arora, to the treacherous Pierce Family or all her identities will be revealed, putting her estranged family in danger.

Hunting a kidnapper doesn’t usually mean accidentally taking your sexy new target to dinner at your parent’s house, a local mystic predicting you’ll have an increasingly large number of children, or being accompanied by a small flying lizard with a penchant for eating metal, but, as they field investigative hurdles both dangerous and preposterous, Cyn and Micah grow ever closer. When a violent confrontation reveals that everything Cyn thought about her past is wrong, she realizes that she has the power to change her future. The first part of that is making sure that Micah Arora is around to be a part of it.

Previously Reviewed: “Calamity”

Review: I’m always so pleased when I come across a new author, especially one who is writing in a subgenre that you don’t see much of, in this case romantic science fiction! I’m even more pleased when I read a second book from the same author and can confirm that it was more than a “one hit wonder” situation! And such has been the case here; while I think I might still have preferred “Calamity” to this book, “Fiasco” is an excellent book in its own right!

I had a guess that these would be the two characters we followed in this book, based off which side characters were best set up in the first book. That said, from what we had there, I knew a lot more about the male love interest, Micah, the ship’s medic, than the mysterious woman who flits in and out of that story. That left this book with a lot of blank canvas to tell a fresh story about a character who was practically brand new to the readers. And Cyn turned out to be fantastic! In many ways, she is a much more tragic figure than our original leading lady. Carrying around not only a ton of family baggage, Cyn is also plagued by crippling PTSD from traumatic events in her past. Her life up to this point has been largely solitary, so much of her arch in this story is learning how to trust and depend on others, especially challenging perhaps with the force of personalities that make up the crew of the Calamity!

The plot revolves around a serial kidnapper, an individual Cyn has spent the majority of her life chasing down. There were a number of twists and turns here, and I enjoyed them all! I found a few things a bit predictable, but as so much of the story really depends on the reader caring about Cyn’s own growth and feelings, I think this worked fine. The last third of the book, in particular, was very action packed and there were a few moments that ratcheted up the emotional stakes so high as to be quite thrilling.

The story also delves a lot into family trauma and the way tragic events can re-shape an entire group of people. I really liked a lot of what we saw here between Cyn and her parents in particular and their mutual realizations that they didn’t truly understand one another. At the same time, much of the first half to three quarters of the book presents most of these family members in a pretty negative light, and even understanding their circumstances, Cyn was more forgiving than I was. I wish there had been a little bit more push back on some of the tactics they used and how unhealthy the way that they treated Cyn truly was.

As for the romance, it was sweet, but I think this was the area where the story took a clear second to the first book in the series. While I liked Micah as a romantic lead, I never felt like I really understood the connection built between him and Cyn. The reader isn’t given many reasons for why these two characters are drawn to one another, only that they are. This was all the more frustrating because in many ways Micah’s character is the sort that I particularly enjoy as a leading man in romance novels: quiet, but incredibly capable, with deeper wells of emotion buried deep. But, again, it felt like much of this wasn’t fully utilized as the love story progressed.

Overall, however, I very much enjoyed this book! Cyn’s arc was incredibly sympathetic, and the overall plot was action-packed and thrilling. The love story was also sweet, but if there was one area that I think could have used just a dash bit more…something…this was it. Either way, I’m fully on board with this series and can’t wait to see what comes next!

Rating 8: A great leading lady, a thrilling adventure, and a story jam-packed with family trauma, and that’s all before you even get to the swoon-worthy romance!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Fiasco” is on this Goodreads list: June 2024 Most Anticipated Romance Releases

Kate’s Review: “youthjuice”

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

Book: “youthjuice” by E.K. Sathue

Publishing Info: Soho Press, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada: outrageous body horror for the goop generation.

A 29-year-old copywriter realizes that beauty is possible—at a terrible cost—in this surreal, satirical send-up of NYC It-girl culture.

From Sophia Bannion’s first day on the Storytelling team at HEBE, a luxury skincare/wellness company based in New York’s trendy SoHo neighborhood, it’s clear something is deeply amiss. But Sophia, pushing thirty, has plenty of skeletons in her closet next to the designer knockoffs and doesn’t care. Though she leads an outwardly charmed life, she aches for a deeper meaning to her flat existence—and a cure for her brutal nail-biting habit. She finds it all and more at HEBE, and with Tree Whitestone, HEBE’s charismatic founder and CEO.

Soon, Sophia is addicted to her HEBE lifestyle—especially youthjuice, the fatty, soothing moisturizer Tree has asked Sophia to test. But when cracks in HEBE’s infrastructure start to worsen—and Sophia learns the gruesome secret ingredient at the heart of youthjuice—she has to decide how far she’s willing to go to stay beautiful forever.

Glittering with ominous flashes of Sophia’s coming-of-rage story, former beauty editor E.K. Sathue’s horror debut is as incisive as it is stomach-churning in its portrayal of all-consuming female friendship and the beauty industry’s short attention span. youthjuice does to skincare influencers what Bret Easton Ellis did to yuppies. You’ll never moisturize the same way again.

Review: Thank you to Soho Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I am someone who has very little knowledge about skin care and beauty routines outside of knowing that I need to hide my pale pale body from the sun at all times. It probably doesn’t help that I absolutely cannot abide the feeling of any kinds of lotion on my skin, which makes skin care a little trickier. But even though I know very little about the beauty industry and anti-aging fads and techniques, I was still interested in giving “youthjuice” by E.K. Sathue a whirl. The cover itself is eye catching, with a pale pink background and a simple beauty jar with a bit of blood dripping from it. What’s not to love, really? After all, in a time when skincare and anti-aging beauty products have delved into the likes of bloodletting strategies like vampire facials (with some sometimes horrendous results), this kind of thing seems ripe for the picking in body horror, and Sathue rises to the occasion.

(source)

First let’s talk horror elements, because “youthjuice” has them in spades. Firstly, we have the obvious body horror stuff, as we follow Sophia Bannion as she begins a new job at the beauty company HEBE, and finds out that the new product she is testing ‘youthjuice’, may have some pretty macabre origins and ingredients. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but I’m sure that one can guess based on the book cover alone, that this new product contains some human derived ingredients, with some horrifying means to procure them. It’s still a pretty jarring trope, though it has a long and storied run not only in fiction (vampires living off of blood in their immortality), but also world history (Elizabeth Báthory, anyone?), and Sathue revives it here for a new generation, with a bit of an influencer and capitalistic twist. And it makes for some pretty gory and downright disgusting beats, with descriptions of blood of all types and conditions being thrown on the page. There were some bits that could have been expanded upon more in terms of cause and effect, though perhaps the ambiguity will work better for others reading it. The other horror aspect that I mostly enjoyed was Sophia herself, and how we come to find out she is an unreliable narrator of sorts, and why that is. We blend the modern day with a flashback to a time during her youth where she is learning about desire, power, and attraction, and how she comes to value these things in a way that turns her into the ambitious young woman in a new job that has some pretty dark secrets. It didn’t reinvent the wheel per se, but it worked for the story and I found it believable to the character and her arc.

And there are, of course, the satirical elements of this book that lampoon not only the beauty industry as a whole, but also the framing of a ‘mysterious girl boss’ leader who has captured the imaginations of her acolytes, her fans, and the industry as a whole. The CEO of HEBE is Tree Whitestone, an almost ethereal being of a woman whose is poised, articulate, charismatic, and ageless, who promises beauty and youth to her followers and consumers while exuding power and grace. Sathue paints the perfect picture of a dynamic engaging leader of a brand that feeds on a cult like devotion as well as a social media induced sense of FOMO, and how devotees with do just about anything, including getting into bathtubs full of actual blood, to have a chance to experience the newest miracle product that will surely solve their problems by restoring their youth. I couldn’t help but think about more recent online discourses about aging and beauty products/surgical options being used by younger and younger people because of this fear. Bathing in blood is pretty farfetched, but remember the vampire facials thing I mentioned above? It’s in the same general vicinity, I’d say.

“youthjuice” is an intriguing horror tale that parodies the beauty industry with some gross bits of body horror. It will be a fun pool read for the summer I would say.

Rating 7: An entertaining satire with some gnarly body horror moments, “youthjuice” is as enjoyable as it is, at times, disgusting.

Reader’s Advisory:

“youthjuice” is included in the Goodreads article/book list “From Time Travel to Tech Startups: Five Cross Genre Trends We’re Noticing”.

Highlights: June 2024

It’s official: Summer is here! Serena is planning to spend as much time outside as possible, as this season can feel all too short in Minnesota, and Kate is planning on also being outside, but shaded by an umbrella at the local pool. Oh, and the ALA Annual Conference is at the end of the month, and you know we will be there! But until then, we have some books that we are looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King” by Carissa Broadbent

Publication Date: June 4, 2024

Why I’m Interested: The first book in this duology, “The Serpent and the Wings of Night,” is probably my favorite purely romantasy book I’ve read in a while! It also ended with some big reveals and then dropped readers with a massive cliffhanger. That being the case, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this sequel for a while! While I’m expecting the late-game reveals in the first book to greatly affect the political stakes and lead to much in-fighting and shifting, I’ll be honest: I’m mostly here for the romance and I can’t wait to find out how Raihn and Oraya navigate this shift in their relationship. How do you rebuild trust in this situation? I’d typically be more concerned going in, but Broadbent wowed me with the first book, so I feel fairly confident that she’ll be able to bring it all together here in the end!

Book: “Foul Days” by Genoveva Dimova

Publication Date: June 25, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I’m always on the lookout for a new author and an original-sounding story! And this book promises both! The story follows a witch who has spent her life fighting the monsters that plague here walled city. And for the last several, this fight has included a constant state of flight from the most powerful of them all, the Zmey. So when she finds herself caught up in a murder investigation alongside a frustratingly dedicated policeman, she’s dismayed to find their investigation drawing them closer and closer to this terrifying being. I have incredibly high hopes for this ones!

Book: “A Rivalry of Hearts” by Tessonja Odette

Publication Date: June 12, 2024

Why I’m Interested: This is another one coming out from an indie author whom I’ve never read before! But this book sounds so much like others I’ve enjoyed before (“Emily Wilde” and “Half a Soul” come to mind) that I knew I wanted to check it out the moment I saw it! The story follows an author who goes on a book tour in the land of Fae, a place she’s never been but where her romance books are incredibly popular. Only problem is that she must share the press with a rival author, a frustrating Fae himself. We can all see where this is going, right? I know I can, and I’m here for it!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay

Publication Date: June 11, 2024

Why I’m Interested: The most obvious reason is that it’s Paul Tremblay. But since I have to go into more detail than that, I will say that the idea of Paul Tremblay, one of my favorite horror authors, tackling a ‘cursed film’ story and no doubt bringing his own brand of creepy disturbing and pathos ridden terror to it is SO tantalizing. We meet a nameless man who had been the slasher in a hardcore art house horror film made on a shoe string budget with his friends, but it never saw the light of day due to on set tragedy. And then people involved in the film just kind of died over the years. When three scenes were posted online and the buzz and rumors of a cursed film made it go viral, Hollywood wants to make a reboot, and want him involved. And how can be do anything but accept? This is a most anticipated read of the year for me, and I’m sure it will destroy me.

Book: “Middle of the Night” by Riley Sager

Publication Date: June 18, 2024

Wby I’m Interested: One of the sure signs of summer is that Riley Sager has a new thriller coming out, which makes perfect sense because his thrillers are the PERFECT summer reads. So many twists, so many turns, so many messy protagonists! In this one we have a man still deeply haunted by the disappearance of his childhood friend when they were kids, living in a quiet community that was completely blindsided by the crime. When he returns to his childhood home decades later, he tries to keep it together. But in the middle of the night he hears strange noises outside, and sees a strange figure skulking around his yard. Could it be his friend? Or is something more sinister at work? I’m SO excited to find out!

Book: “Not In Love” by Ali Hazelwood

Publication Date: June 11, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I really love Ali Hazelwood’s romances, ever since I absolutely devoured “The Love Hypothesis”, so of course I’m excited for this book! I always enjoy her awkward and quirky (and potentially neurodivergent coded) protagonists, as well as the science-y themes even though I am not science minded in the least, and “Not In Love” sounds like it’s taking a forbidden romance trope and tossing some STEM on it! Rue is a biotech engineer for a promising startup run by a close friend and mentor. But when a corporate takeover by an outside group threatens her job, she is determined to stave it off as best she can…. the only problem is that one of the outsiders, Eli, is someone she knows and kind of connected with. And now they are sharing a heavy attraction to each other in spite of being on the opposite sides. I’m sure it will be spicy and humorous and charming.

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

Serena’s Review: “How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying”

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

Book: “How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying” by Django Wexler

Publishing Info: Orbit, May 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.

This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.

Review: This book had a lot of things going for it when I first picked it up. For one thing, I’ve really enjoyed all of the books I’ve read from Django Wexler in the past, including his most recent trilogy which just finished up a year or so ago. So he’s an author I’ve read recently and enjoyed. Secondly, I typically enjoy fantasy novels that take a comedic, tongue-in-cheek approach to storytelling. T. Kingfisher, for example, is one of my current favorite authors, and all of her books have a distinct humorous aspect to them. All of this to say, when I actually started reading this one, I had high hopes. But by the time I’d finished the last page (a feat unto itself, honestly), those hopes had thoroughly crashed and burned.

I can see the bones of a good story here, and I know that Wexler is a capable author, able to create unique worlds and people them with characters with whom readers can become invested. However, this book seemed to fall into one simple problem in almost every arena: excess. Take any single good idea, but then see that thing multiplied by a million. This applies to every area, but the first and most obvious has to do with the humor itself. It simply doesn’t let up! It’s joke after joke after joke in what quickly becomes an exhausting exercise of pure endurance. The reader is never given the necessary moments to really sit with the characters, to take any sort of breath and find a reason to actually care about the people and what they’re going through. Instead, it’s just a barrage of quips and takes.

One clear example is the use of footnotes. Now, I think this technique can be very successful if used well. But one of the key parts, in my opinion, is knowing exactly when and how to use a good footnote. Here, not only did these fall into the same category of used to excess, but the notes themselves were simply the same sorts of jokes found in the narrative. There was no rhyme or reason to why certain quips warranted a foot note and why another would simply be inserted into the body of the story.

Other than the sheer amount of humor that was packed into this book, much of it failed to land on its own merits. I don’t consider myself prudish by any means, but right off the bat, many of the jokes felt overly crude and crass. At many points, it felt like shock value was being prioritized over actual humor, and I found myself cringing more than anything through much of this.

As for the plot mechanics, I liked the overall idea of a “Groundhog’s Day”/video game scenario where whenever the main character dies she “respawns” at the same starting point and must make her way forward from there once again. But this quickly became tiresome, and in the beginning of the book, much of this history is simply presented to the reader, something our main character is already resigned to. Again, the reader has very few opportunities to truly become invested in her situation.

By the time I finished this book, all that remained was sheer exhaustion. I know that Wexler can write good fantasy; I even know that he can write humorously, as most of his novels included good, quippy characters who made me laugh. I’m not sure what went wrong here. It’s almost like he set out with the goal to right a comedic book and got so carried away with this one feature that he left out all of the rest. I honestly can’t recommend this one to most readers. Perhaps if you read the first page or so and the style of humor is working for you? But for most readers, I think this is a severe departure from the quality of Wexler’s previous books.

Rating 5: The jokes didn’t land and there were too many of them; a very disappointing read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying” can be found on this Goodreads list: Best Outside-the-box Speculative Fiction (maybe not “best” though).

Serena’s Review: “Heavenbreaker”

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

Book: “Heavenbreaker” by Sara Wolf

Publishing Info: Entangled: Red Tower Books, May 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Bravery isn’t what you do. It’s what you endure.

The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back. He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother—on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish.

Now there’s nothing left. Just icy-white rage and a need to make House Hauteclare pay. Every damn one of them. Even if it means riding Heavenbreaker—one of the few enormous machines left over from the War—and jousting against the fiercest nobles in the system.

Each win means another one of my enemies dies. And here, in the cold terror of space, the machine and I move as one, intent on destroying each adversary—even if it’s someone I care about. Even if it’s someone I’m falling for.

Only I’m not alone. Not anymore. Because there’s something in the machine with me. Something horrifying. Something…more. And it won’t be stopped.

Review: I’ve been waiting and waiting for the romantasy buzz to shift to include more science fiction as well. We’ve had a few examples (“Calamity” and the upcoming sequel come to mind), but there still isn’t much out there. But I’ve had my eyes on this one for a few months, as it seems to promise to be just what I’ve been looking for! True, the romance seems secondary in the blurb, but it’s coming out from Red Tower, which is Entangled’s SFF imprint, so one imagines a love story will be prominent somehow. All of this to say, I was incredibly excited when I was approached to review this title, and here we are!

Let’s get two things out of the way from the start: 1.) the blurb is accurate as far as the balance between the romance and the rest of the story goes (which is to say, the romance is quite light) and 2.) man, I loved this book and have zero complaints about any of point #1! I’ll talk more about the romance a bit later, but this is one of those strange situations where I’m worried that this book might be missed by several readers who would love it simply because it’s coming from an imprint that is known to focus heavily (almost exclusively!) on steamy romance stories! And while I think those readers will still enjoy this one (though there really is no spice involved), this is also the kind of science fiction story that I think would appeal to many fans of the larger genre, particularly readers who enjoyed “Red Rising” or “The Will of the Many!” Rather than romance comparisons, these are the true read-alikes for this book and I so hope that it makes its way out into the broader SF reading crowd!

Like those two books, this one is heavy on action, full of blockbuster moments, features nobles and their political maneuverings, all told from the perspective of a hero who seeks to tear it all down, and uncovers even deeper truths while she’s at it! Seriously, the twists and turns, the reveals and surprises just kept coming from the start all the way to the end! There were perhaps a few things that I could guess, but the way that it all worked together was so well-thought out and interesting. The history and culture of the space station all perfectly align to create the systems that our heroes are trapped within, with recognizable power dynamics with regards to wealth and status, but new twists with regards to the history of humankind and a dangerous enemy that was fought centuries ago. Other than book read-alikes, this one was an intriguing combination of “Pacific Rim” and “A Knight’s Tale,” as well, two things I don’t think I’d ever have put together in my head, but somehow, here, it works!

I also really loved all of the characters we followed in this book. Yes, plural. But this is one of those examples that I always point to when I think of multiple POVs done right. There is still one, distinct leading character who is driving the story, whose personal arc is the foundation of the book, and who receives the vast majority of the page time. The other characters are all peppered in between, offering unique glimpses into other aspects of this world, brief windows into the mindsets of love interests, rivals, and unknown forces. All of this works together to broaden the perspective of the reader, while also allowing us to focus deeply on the main character arc at its heart.

I also think this approach worked well for the romance. As I said, the love story is definitely secondary to the main plot following Synali’s quest for revenge, her travails in the jousting competition, and her discovery of the truth of the station’s history and its technology. Even just listing it off there, it’s easy to see how the book had more than enough plot to go around without adding in a complicated romance. Instead, we have a fairly simple, reserved love story that is very much still at its beginning stages. Synali’s focus is largely elsewhere, but we feel the draw between these two characters. And, while we didn’t have many chapters from Jax’s perspective, what we did have was very important to more fully flesh out a character who could have come off as a bit of a himbo/playboy. Even with only a few chapters, we see the pain of his childhood and begin to understand the unique draw he feels towards Synali, helping to save the love story from feeling a bit like an “instalove” situation on his part.

As you can probably tell by now, I really loved this book! It was so fast-paced and fun, I stayed up way to late reading it several nights in a row! The only downside is that it ends on a fairly major cliffhanger (and there are still some questions, at least in my mind, about exactly what is going on and the choices of some characters from the past). But, at the same time, these are effective hooks to get me amped up to pick up the second book as soon as possible! If you’re here for just the romance, you might be disappointed. But on the other hand, I think this is an excellent book for a much broader group of science fiction readers, especially those who enjoy action-packed reads like “Red Rising!”

Rating 9: What a crowed-pleaser! Another blockbuster in the making, perfect for fans of “Red Rising” and “The Will of the Many.”

Reader’s Advisory:

“Heavenbreaker” can be found on this Goodreads list: Upcoming Romantasy Releases 2024

Kate’s Review: “Miracle in the Andes”

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

Book: “Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and my Long Trek Home” by Nando Parrado

Publishing Info: Broadway Books, May 2007

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence.

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those who remained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help. They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches, and then the devastating news that the search for them had been called off.

As time passed and Nando’s thoughts turned increasingly to his father, who he knew must be consumed with grief, Nando resolved that he must get home or die trying. He would challenge the Andes, even though he was certain the effort would kill him, telling himself that even if he failed he would die that much closer to his father. It was a desperate decision, but it was also his only chance. So Nando, an ordinary young man with no disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of a snow-capped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to find help.

Thirty years after the disaster Nando tells his story with remarkable candor and depth of feeling. Miracle in the Andes—a first person account of the crash and its aftermath—is more than a riveting tale of true-life adventure: it is a revealing look at life at the edge of death and a meditation on the limitless redemptive power of love.

Review: This past winter a friend and I kind of became momentarily obsessed with the story of the Old Christians Rugby Team from Uruguay whose plane crashed in the Andes. It started when “Last Podcast on the Left” covered it and we were texting back and forth, then we both watched “Society of the Snow” separately, and THEN we got together to watch the 1992 film “Alive”, the first movie adaptation about the amazing survival story, which stars Ethan Hawke. Hawke plays Nando Parrado, one of the rugby players who eventually trekked down the mountain to find help. Mind you he did this with his companion Roberto Canessa after being on this mountain for two months, in the cold, and becoming weaker and weaker and more and more malnourished (yes yes we will talk about that in a bit). I decided that the next obvious step in my hyperfixation was to read about it, and I got Parrado’s memoir “Miracle in the Andes:72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home”. Because Nando Parrado is such a badass, and I wanted to read it from his perspective. So this Spring I finally got around to reading it, and yep. Badass.

Nando Parrado tells an immersive and intense story, jumping right in from when he awakens for a multi-day coma and finds that the airplane that was carrying his rugby team, as well as some fans and family members, has crashed in the peaks of the Andes during a flight from Uruguay to Chile. If you’ve seen “Alive” or “Society of the Snow” or have ready any of the other books about this crash, you know that for those who didn’t die on impact it was a grueling ordeal to survive, and in order to do so the remaining survivors had to resort to anthropophagy, or the consumption of the dead (it’s not cannibalism; that implies killing specifically for the food or with some ritualistic purpose). Parrado talks about the time on the mountain, his memories of his experience being brought to vivid life through his descriptions and his ruminations, reading like a Krakauer book (and I mean, the new edition has a cover that looks a LOT like the style you see on Krakauer’s books, AND it quotes him, so I’m not far off at all). I felt like I was seeing everything he was talking about, and while I was familiar with the story due to my hyperfocus on it this past winter I still found him recalling details that I wasn’t aware of, and having his insight added a whole other layer to it. Especially since he was so insistent on going by foot to find rescue almost from the jump, and was almost always one of the ones to be honest and pragmatic even in the most horrifying of situations. Parrado doesn’t mince words when it comes to how he lobbied to eat the flesh of the dead passengers because he knew that it was the only way to survive in the long term while developing a plan, and I really enjoyed how matter of fact he was about his experiences and the huge role that he played without seeming like a blowhard. Because if anything he has earned the right to be a blow hard, as their ultimate rescue was due in large part to him and his tenacity and bravery, marching down that mountain with Roberto Canessa after two months of being stranded in the middle of nowhere while their environment did everything it could to kill them. It is such an amazing story, and from his POV it’s all the more amazing.

But what struck me most about this memoir was Parrado’s candor about the way his survival experience reshaped the way that he thought about faith and God, and how he redefined (or the very least reexamined) his own faith and views of fate, destiny, and what a miracle is. While many of his teammates seemed to lean more into their faith after they were rescued, Parrado had a different circumstance than many of the people on the plane, in that he was traveling with his mother and sister, and they both died. So while many of those survivors were thinking that their survival was an act of God, Paraddo felt differently. To him, he couldn’t wrap his head around a miracle of survival not including everyone on the plane, and decided that it wasn’t going to be God to save everyone, and it had to be themselves. Parrado had the inner strength and drive to get off that mountain, and he and Canessa surely achieved a miraculous feat by traveling for MILES in the state their bodies were in, with no climbing experience, in treacherous environmental conditions, and getting a rescue mission started with their journey down, but he is very honest with being basically unable to credit a higher power with the survival. That isn’t to say that he’s a full on cynic; on the contrary, he does believe in the miracle of a human’s ability to love and how that can drive a person to do amazing things, and finding the miraculous within that. His love for his father and other sister really kept him going, as he wanted to be able to come back so that their grief, while still monumental, wouldn’t have included grieving over him along with his mother and sister. It struck me as a different conclusion than so many survival stories come with, and while those experiences aren’t bad by any means (experience is, after all, subjective), it was just fascinating seeing a different perspective that felt almost humanist at its heart, especially when so many of his compatriots feel like something divine was at work. All of this being presented in his own words makes it all the more fascinating, and his writing style is so easy to follow that I felt like I had no problem getting into his head as I was reading.

“Miracle in the Andes” is a nail biting and inspirational memoir about survival in a nearly hopeless situation, told by a man who not only lived it, but also led the way to salvation. I cannot recommend it enough to people who love survival tales.

Rating 8: An immersive and awe-inspiring (and at times devastating) tale of survival against the odds and the triumph of the human spirit, “Miracle in the Andes” is a heart pulsing memoir with lots of honestly, introspection, and hope.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Miracle in the Andes” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best True Survival Stories”, and “Non-Fiction Disaster Books”.

Serena’s Review: “The Brides of High Hill”

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Book: “The Brides of High Hill” by Nghi Vo

Publishing Info: Tordotcom, May 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to an aging lord at a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. But they’re forgetting things they ought to remember, and the lord’s mad young son wanders the grounds at night like a hanged ghost.

The Singing Hills Cycle has been shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, the Locus Award, the Ignyte Award, and has won the Hugo Award and the Crawford Award.

Review: I haven’t read the other books in this series, but I’ve heard a lot about them! And being the lazy reader that I am sometimes, after dutifully checking through the previous books, I decided I was more than capable of just jumping right in on the fourth book! It helps that these are all stand-alone stories that feature the same lead character, so this wasn’t really much of a feat on my part at all. And, while it may have taken a while, I’m glad that I’m finally aboard this hype train!

Other than a passing review of the other books’ plots, I wasn’t exactly sure what sort of fantasy novel I’d be getting here. This being the case, I also can’t speak to how well this one follows in tone to the previous books. But whether it is diverging from a norm or typical of the series, this is exactly the sort of fantasy story I like! I’ve made no effort to hide my glee that gothic fantasy has been having a moment in the sun recently, and I was incredibly excited to realize that what we were getting in this book. It also might not surprise the savvy fantasy reader that this is a loose retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairytale. Gothic fantasy plus fairytale-retelling: just my cup of tea!

I very much enjoyed the balance of fantasy and horror elements in this story. For such a short book, it was very successful at building a sense of suspense and dread. There was an almost claustrophobic feel to the entire story, which I think works perfectly for gothic stories which often take place in confined spaces. Our main character also seemed to struggle to find their footing in this situation, having the goal to protect the bride not being unclear about what was going on or how to move forward. This precarious-feeling narration only increaed the disturbing mood of the story as a whole.

I also very much enjoyed the final quarter or so of the book. There were a lot of twists and turns, as well as a rather open-ended nature to the conclusion. That being the case, it’s hard to really write much of a review about the plot itself as many of my thoughts would quickly veer into the territory of spoilers.

I also liked the main character. Now, this is probably where I missed the most, jumping in on the fourth book in the series. I simply was not as familiar with this protagonist to know what was new to them in this book versus what was drawing on information that readers should have picked up from the previous books. That said, I don’t feel as if I missed out too overly much, but if you have the time, reading the first few books would likely add to the experience of this one.

Overall, I really liked this book and can understand why the series has received the acclaim it has! I’m going to add the previous books to my TBR for sure (though given the ridiculous length of that list, I make no promises!)!

Rating 8: Mixing gothic fantasy/horror with a fairytale retelling leads to an excellent, creepy, thrill of a ride!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Brides of High Hill” can be found on these Goodreads lists: East Asian Fantasy and Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2024

Kate’s Review: “Together in a Broken World”

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Book: “Together in a Broken World” by Paul Michael Winters

Publishing Info: Ninestar Press, L.L.C., May 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher vis a vis Pacific and Court.

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Two boys fall in love in a deadly world, but it’s the secrets they keep that might kill them.

Seventeen-year-old Zach was visiting his uncle in a small Montana town when a mysterious illness ripped through the world. Most died, but those who survived the Infection became mindless killers, spreading the disease with a single scratch. Now, a year later, civilization lies in ruins, and Zach is the town’s sole survivor. Desperately lonely, he longs to return to his family in Seattle, but his fears hold him captive.

Eighteen-year-old Aiden is on a critical mission for the covert Scientific Collective, delivering vials whose contents could cure the Infection. Tortured by his boyfriend’s death, he welcomes the risks of the perilous journey. When a militia attacks Aiden, he flees to Zach’s town.

The boys escape together and soon form a bond as they comfort each other in this desolate and broken world. The farther they travel, the more their affection grows, as do the forces pulling them apart. But their greatest threats are the secrets they keep. Zach hides details of his uncle’s death, and Aiden conceals the vials’ sinister origins. In order to survive, they’ll have to confront the truths that could tear their love apart.

Review: Thank you to Pacific & Court for sending me an ARC of this novel!

It’s been a bit since I’ve covered a straight up post-apocalyptic story here on the blog, and now that we are finally past the more acute stages of the waning pandemic I’m feeling less of an anxiety spike when I read these kinds of stories as of late. So when “Together in a Broken World” by Paul Michael Winters ended up in my hands, I was eager to give it a go! You already had me at a post-apocalyptic setting, but then you add in a romance between two flawed but good hearted characters struggling to survive, and I am even more on board! And “Together in a Broken World” really met my expectations!

Given that Pride month starts in a few days, I will first talk about what a lovely queer romance it is as the beating heart of this story. Zach and Aiden are two strangers trying to survive in a world that has been ravaged by an infection that turns people into, essentially, zombies, and have been left adrift in different ways. For Zach it’s being the last person left in the small town he had been visiting right before things went to hell. For Aiden it’s working as a courier for a group that is trying to find a cure, which has made him a target of those who are in direct conflict with that for whatever reason that may be. It makes their lives very lonely, so seeing them meet and forge a connection with each other makes for a great set up for a really sweet romance. I love a slow burn, and this one is definitely that given that they are both understandably standoffish at first. But I really enjoyed watching them get to know each other, and to connect after they have been so alone and so haunted by their loneliness and regrets and fears. It feels like “Heartstopper” meets the episode “Long, Long Time” from “The Last of Us”, and Winters really captures the soaring love as well as the deep heartache and sadness of their circumstances, and the traumas they have faced which can lead to some bad decision making. I was rooting for them from the jump.

And since this is a post-apocalyptic tale, it’s only natural to talk about the world building on how the world has gotten to this point of the collapse of civilization. Winters has a pretty well thought out end of the world scenario, that combines natural disaster with fast spreading novel pathogen to create a wasteland of infected people and those who are uninfected, but left to total chaos and a “Mad Max” like reality of nomadic and isolated lives trying to hide from violent opportunists. Any good zombie story will make it clear that it’s actually the humans who are the true threat, and I thought that “Together in a Broken World” achieved that with a unique and suspenseful premise, particularly as Aiden is trying to bring a potential cure through hundreds of miles of dangerous wasteland with threats from all sides. I especially enjoyed the tidbits about Aiden running from an extremist militia that doesn’t trust the Scientific Collective, the group that is trying to find a cure, and wants to hinder him at all costs because of their conspiracy theorist nonsense and delusions, as it adds a whole other layer to an already fraught survival tale. It fits right in with other end of the world thrillers, and as an aficionado of the genre I was a fan.

I definitely recommend “Together in a Broken World” for not only young adults who enjoy end of days thrillers, but anyone who likes the sub genre. And hey, as I said, Pride Month is right around the corner, so if you are looking for LGBTQIA+ rep in your reading, add it to the list!

Rating 8: A suspenseful thriller and also a lovely romance, “Together in a Broken World” is about queer joy in the face of great adversity, as well as some pretty cool end of the world mythos.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Together in a Broken World” is included on the Goodreads list “2024 Queer YA Books”.

Not Just Books: May 2024

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

Netflix Show: “Beef”

This one has been on my watch list for a while, but I was never quite in the mood for what promised to be a show about kind of bad people doing distinctly bad things. And it turned out to be great (no surprise, I feel like it’s been widely praised already!). It was such an odd combination of quirky, horrific, comedic, and, at times, deeply poignant, addressing complicated subjects regarding depression and mental health. What could have been a ridiculous concept (indeed, it is!), ended up with some truly heart-wrenching scenes. And also plenty of scenes where you were just banging your head against the wall at the choices of these people!

Apple TV+ Show: “Sugar”

My husband and I started watching this on a whim really knowing nothing about it. And now we’re several episodes in and…still mostly know nothing about it. Stylistically, it’s definitely doing some interesting things calling back to noir private investigator films. But story wise? Let’s just say I came in hot with some wild predictions that, even more wildly, don’t seem that crazy as the show continues. It’s clear that it’s building towards some sort of twist, and my husband and I have dueling theories at this point, so we’ll just have to wait and see who’s right in the end!

Netflix Show: “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA”

And, to round out this month’s weirdly-all-quirky picks, I’ve also watched a few episodes of this very strange talk show. Now, I’m missing the most important aspect of the show, which is the fact that Netflix is filming and streaming it live, so I feel like I’m perhaps missing a bit of its charm. It’s also incredibly local to LA with many of its jokes and references, so, again, much of that goes over my head. But Mulaney is simply a charming, funny guy and that’s honestly probably what’s driven most of the traffic to this show, myself included.

Kate’s Picks

Film: “Late Night with the Devil”

I’ve said it many many times on the blog, but I will say it again: I’m not super into demonic possession stories, unless said story has an interesting hook that goes beyond ‘devil bad, let God save you’. But reading about “Late Night with the Devil” really grabbed my attention, because TALK ABOUT AN INTERESTING HOOK!! This quasi-found footage horror film takes demonic possession and puts not only a retro twist on it, but also an examination of success and fame at any cost. Jack Delroy is the host of the second most popular late night talk show in the 1970s, but with his ratings slipping and his fears of cancellation overtaking him, on Halloween Night in 1977 he brought on a very special guest: a parapsychologist and her patient, a teenage girl named Lilly who is supposedly possessed by a demon. What should have been a ratings grab and TV gold turns into a devilish nightmare. I love the aesthetic, I love the way it’s mostly a talk show episode (with some glimpses behind the scenes), and I REALLY loved David Dastmalchian as Jack. Oh, and Lilly is a wicked hoot.

TV Show: “Interview with the Vampire”

When “Drag Race” ended, my friend David and I needed one more bit of queer media to watch on our waning Sunday get togethers before he went back into the archaeological field for the summer. I suggested that we give the new “Interview with the Vampire” series a try, because 1) we both liked Jacob Anderson (who plays Louis) on “Game of Thrones”, and 2) I had heard that it’s a bit more, shall we say, OVERT with the queer subtext of the original novels. And BOY WAS IT, in all the best ways. This is indeed the story of Louis and Lestat, but it has had some tweaks, all of which I loved. The first is that it updates the time period to the early 20th Century. The second is that it ups Claudia’s age to a teenager. And the third is that it tackles not only the Otherness of being queer, but also race in the United States, as Louis is a Black man living in New Orleans when he runs afoul his maker and lover Lestat de Lioncourt. What a messy romance it is. Oh, and LESTAT. WHAT A PERFECT CATTY BITCHY LESTAT SAM REID IS. We loved it. It’s the “Vampire Chronicles” I’ve been waiting for.

TV Show: “Conan O’Brien Must Go”

I have been a huge Conan O’Brien fan since I was in high school (as an elder millennial this probably surprises no one), and have been following him here and there for most of my life. I always greatly enjoyed his episodes where he would travel to different countries and cultures, and now his show “Conan O’Brien Must Go” takes that very premise and runs with it. Each episode has Conan going to a new country and immersing himself in various activities, cuisine, and exploration, with the usual Conan antics and a unique intro narrated by Werner Herzog (yep, not even joking) for each. What I love about Conan and HAVE loved about Conan is that he is not only a fantastic entertainer, he is also filled with so much earnest heart that he never comes off as cloying, pretentious, or mocking. I love seeing him steep himself into the cultures of Norway, Argentina, Thailand, and Ireland. And not only is the comedy there, but there are SO many gorgeous shots of the landscapes and city scapes of each country. Give this man limitless episodes of this show!!

Serena’s Review: “Everything We Never Said”

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

Book: “Everything We Never Said” by Sloan Harrow

Publishing Info: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, may 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: It’s been months since the accident that killed Ella’s best friend, Hayley, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now Ella is back at school, and everywhere she looks are reminders of her best friend—including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Little by little, they grow closer, until Ella realizes something horrifying . . .

She’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend.

Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, hoping she’ll find something in the pages that will make her feel better about what’s happening. Instead, she discovers that Sawyer has secrets of his own and that his relationship with Hayley wasn’t as picture-perfect as it seemed.

Ella knows she should stay away but finds herself inextricably drawn to him—and scared of everything she never knew about him. Perhaps it’s his grief. Or maybe his desires, cut short by tragedy. Or could it be something twisted only Hayley knew about?

Review: Every once in a while I do try to stray outside of my preferred genres to see how the rest of y’all are living. So when the publisher reached out about coverage for this YA thriller, I thought “why the heck not!” I was also drawn in by the promise of an interesting romance between two characters who both lost their close friend/girlfriend. So, let’s dive right in!

The challenging thing about reading outside of my typical genres it that I’m less familiar with the conventions and tropes of this type of book, and thus a bit more unsure when trying to distinguish between my own preferences and opinions and what is simply true to the genre, but not something that I’m as familiar with. That said, there were several things that worked for me unequivocally. The first thing is the sheer “readability” of this book. Even when I was coming across things that left questions in my mind, I still felt a draw to continue reading, swept up in the fast-moving plot and approachable style of storytelling.

On top of that, both Ella and Sawyer were very sympathetic characters, and I enjoyed spending time in both of their heads. Of course, much of the story revolves around their complicated feelings for their deceased friend and their own budding romance, but there were a lot of smaller looks at the different relationships they each have with their parents. Both their experiences with their families and with the various social groups at school were of the sort that I think will greatly appeal to many YA readers.

And, of course, the love story was very sweet. Now, it also walked right up to the line of “instalove,” so that’s something to keep in mind. But, again, the readability of the book carried me through this aspect of the storytelling pretty effectively. Stepping back, I think this love story will appeal to many readers, especially teenagers themselves. As an adult, I will say that I did struggle to believe that a teenage boy was quite as, um, romantically adept as Sawyer was presented, but this is one of those cases where no one really wants a true-to-life portrayal of the awkwardness of the teenage years.

As for the mystery of Haley’s death and the thriller aspects of the book, I did struggle a bit more. There were several “believability” issues that began to pile up as the story continued. For one thing, right off the bat, we are told that Haley died in a car crash when Ella was driving, after being seen drinking at a party. It strains every plausible explanation that Ella walked away from this situation with no consequences. Beyond that, she has many people reassuring her that Haley’s death wasn’t her fault. But…wasn’t it kind of, with this version of events?

I also found some of the late game reveals to be a bit predictable, but this is definitely a “mileage will vary” situation from reader to reader. There were several red herrings presented and their success as such will depend on readers’ familiarity with conventions, likely. There were also chapters from Haley’s old diary interspersed throughout the story, and I really struggled with these. They were written in a way that belied belief, with Haley seeming to be able to recount entire scenes verbatim in these entries. I get the purpose these entries were serving, but the style of writing was so removed from anything that resembled an actual diary entry that I found myself often skimming through these sections.

All of that said, I still had a mostly fun time with this book! It was a fast read, and my interest in Ella and Sawyer’s stories was enough to carry me through some of the other aspects that I struggled with. YA readers who enjoy thrillers and romances will likely enjoy this one!

Rating 7: Some parts of the the mystery were a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the fast-paced storytelling and the sweet romance at its heart.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Everything We Never Said” is on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024