Not Just Books: May 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

Movie: “Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3”

Hot take: Marvel has been struggling lately. You heard it first here. But I’ve still been diligently making my way to the theater in the hopes that things will turn a corner soon. And while this movie was perhaps not that corner, it was still a whole lot better than the several movies that came before it. Mostly because I imagine it would be really hard to make a truly bad movie with a cast that is this good and has this level of chemistry with one another. Though, I will say this movie continues the trend where everything has to be SO GRIM all of the time. Can we just get back to some happy storylines? Maybe some love stories that don’t end in tragedy?

Netflix Show: “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”

No, no we cannot. Because here we go with “Bridgerton,” another of my go-to feel good franchises, taking on a story that we all know is made up of one tragedy after another. And that’s not even adding in the marital horror that we got in this one that I wasn’t even expecting! But, again, the show was saved by fantastic casting and excellent writing. I really did enjoy this one, but man, I’m so sick of the bummer storylines. I can’t wait for season 3. If they make that one sad somehow, I might just riot.

TV Show: “The Great American Baking Show”

What do you look to when you see sadness all around? Baking reality tv, of course! I knew there was an American version of this show, but I never really looked into it. But here’s a win for Roku’s advertising on my TV! I saw the poster for this one pot up, I saw my two familiar judges, and I clicked right on through. I know Paul has been a judge for a few seasons on this show now, but I am happiest with my favorite two judges together. I also really liked the two new hosts. I also really liked that this was happy. I repeat, happiness was found here.

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “Star Trek: Picard”

Back in 2020 Serena and I both picked the first season of “Picard” for a Not Just Books post, as the revisiting of “Star Trek”‘s Captain Jean-Luc Picard in his later years was satisfying and pretty interesting. I did watch Season 2, and while it was fine, it didn’t make the cut when I watched it. But let me tell you, this third and final season was AMAZING, if ONLY because it has finally decided to give in to the fan service that Trekkies have been clamoring for since Season 1. Picard has gone back to his quiet life on the vineyard, but then he gets an SOS message from his former crew member/ former lover Beverly Crusher seeking his help. Picard enlists the help of Will Riker in hopes of helping Bev, and then reunites with more former crew members as they all have to face a new, but familiar, villain that threatens The Federation. I love “Next Generation” and all of its players so seeing so many of them come back (Bev! Geordi! WORF!) was so satisfying, but what is ALSO satisfying is that it harkens back to other “Trek” series like “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” as well. It just feels like a reunion of old friends that I’ve missed for a very long time.

Film: “Evil Dead Rise”

I’ve been an “Evil Dead” fan since high school, and “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn” is a top 3 horror movie for me. And while it’s true that Bruce Campbell has hung up the chainsaw, fear not, fans, because “Evil Dead Rise” is a FABULOUS new story for the “Evil Dead” canon, tapping into its scary and gory roots and creating a new iconic Deadite and a new iconic hero. Both of whom are women. Beth, facing a personal crisis, goes to visit her sister Ellie and her nieces and nephew in a shabby L.A. apartment building. When an earthquake hits, nephew Danny finds a strange book and recordings in a newly opened area. When he plays the records, an evil force possesses Ellie, turning her into a Deadite. Now Beth has to try and save herself and her niblings before Ellie takes their souls. This movie is a goddamn blast, with disgusting special effects, a rad successor to Ash Williams in Beth, and an assuredly legendary new horror villain in Deadite Ellie. And yes, there is a chainsaw. And a cheese grater. MAKE OF THAT WHAT YOU WILL. I loved this movie, I was clapping my hands in glee through the last third of it.

TV Show: “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars”

Well it’s true that Season 15 of “Drag Race” was a little bit of a mixed bag for me (top two notwithstanding, I love them both), but luckily “All Stars” Season 8 has started and it is off to a grand start! Last season was All Winners, and while it was nice seeing all of these queens showcased for the entire season, I missed the old format, and that format is BACK! A few of my previous faves have been selected to compete this All Stars cycle (Heidi N Closet! JESSICA WILD!!), and seeing them back with even bigger and better concepts and wardrobes and performances has been a treat. It’s also really cool seeing a few queens who were either from early seasons (again, JESSICA WILD!!), or were early outs on their season (like Jaymes Mansfield or Kahanna Montrese), being given another chance, and seeing their growth is a joy. I also love seeing who they are picking for the lip sync assassins this season, as they have been FIERCE thus far (Aja was PHENOMENAL!). I love having this show back and back to the levels I expect. In a moment where laws are being passed to oppress trans people and drag performers, it’s all the more important to find the joy and subversion in these artists and the art of drag!

Year of Sanderson: “The Hero of Ages”

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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 Hero of Ages” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tor Fantasy, October 2009

Where Did I Get this Book: own it

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

Book Description: Who is the Hero of Ages?

To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness—the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists—is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. Vin can’t even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans!

Previously Reviewed: “Mistborn” and “The Well of Ascension”

Review: Here we are, the last book in Sanderson’s first Mistborn trilogy! And this is very much where the proof was in the pudding as far as his future as a rock star fantasy author goes! It’s one thing to write a great started to a series. Another to not get caught up in the sophomore slump of the second novel. But it’s an entirely different beast to tackle an ending. And boy oh boy, what an ending it is!

Things are not looking up for Vin and Elend. Yes, Elend evaded death by becoming a Mistborn himself, but balancing his duties as leader with learning to master the powerful abilities now at his hands is more than most can accomplish. For her part, Vin is grappling with the world-changing results of her actions after she accidentally released Ruin, an almost all-powerful destructive force, back into the world. Now, with the very world around them turning against them, Vin and Elend must fight once again not just for the freedom of their people, but for their very survival.

What can I saw about this book that hasn’t been said a million times before and isn’t just me reduced to incoherent gushing?? I mean, simply put, it’s an excellent book and a fantastic finisher for the trilogy as a whole. It is the conclusion of large character arcs for both Vin and Elend which has seen each character grow from fairly simple beginnings to the very complex beings we see here. As the challenges they face have grown more complicated, so, too, do we see Elend and Vin grapple with decisions that seemingly have no “good” answer. Vin, in particular, a being who is almost all-powerful in her own way, must learn navigate the complicated fall-out of the decisions she made in the previous book. And, for his part, Elend, now granted the abilities that Vin wields so masterfully, must face where his strengths and Vin’s differ.

In many ways, this book has a much darker, more grim overall tone. The world is literally falling apart around our cast and crew, and, like I mentioned above, the decisions they are facing have no easy answers. That said, these dire circumstances are prime ground for more world-building and the exploration of this planet’s complicated history. There is one particular reveal that comes over the course of this trilogy that is truly impressive. In fact, there are so many reveals about how certain beings and magic systems work that come to light in this last book that it is proving fairly hard to review it! Suffice to say, one of the true joys of reading this book is seeing how it weaves together loose threads (and even things that the reader didn’t know was a threat at all!) from the previous two books.

I also think that Sanderson nails the end of this book. Almost all of the characters ended up in situations that were completely different than what I had expected going in. The stakes are high and the end result is appropriately bittersweet. This story is also fairly action packed from start to finish, as can only be expected in a plot focused on preventing the literal destruction of an entire people and world! In a similar vein as the “threads you didn’t know where threads” aspect of the first two books, this book lays out very subtle hints about Sanderson’s larger Cosmere universe as a whole that pay off nicely for fan who go on to read his other works.

Rating 9: An excellent conclusion to the trilogy and proof that Brandon Sanderson has all the goods, from start to finish!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Hero of Ages” is on these Goodreads lists: Most Interesting Magic System and Best Heroine in a Fantasy Book.

Kate’s Review: “The Quarry Girls”

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Book: “The Quarry Girls” by Jess Lourey

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, November 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games.

Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.

She also knows she’s next.

Review: I had to wait a LONG time to get “The Quarry Girls” by Jess Lourey from my library. I saw it in passing at some point but didn’t look too much into it, but once I realized that it takes place in Minnesota, that explained a few things. Local author, local interest, that always hypes up the library patron community. I had heard some good things, and jumped in expecting a fairly straight forward and run of the mill mystery, so imagine my surprise when it took me totally off guard and really, really got under my skin. This is the kind of thriller that doesn’t just have a good atmosphere and pace, it’s also the kind that feels super, super real in the most upsetting ways. But that’s what makes it stand out so much.

The mystery itself is haunting and suspenseful. Heather is a teenage girl living in St. Cloud, Minnesota in the late 1970s. A local waitress goes missing, her absence first dismissed as a case of a runaway or a flighty girl off on an adventure, and Heather tries not to worry. She runs with her friend group, best friends Maureen and Brenda by her side, and tries not to fret about the cool older man her guy friends have started hanging out with, lest they think she’s a baby. But then her friend Maureen goes missing too, and Heather is convinced that it has to do with something that she and Brenda saw one night shortly before. I loved the slow build up on this mystery, with Heather trying to find clues as to what happened to Maureen (a girl with a ‘reputation’ and therefore dismissed as another runaway, but we are going to get into all THAT in a bit) and has to break out of her anxious, shy self to try and help her friend. I loved watching her find various clues and insights, and how those clues and insights start to point to an even bigger, more encompassing, and more disturbing mystery at hand. As Heather starts to realize that things she thought were true are false, and that there are people she thought she could trust, but actually can’t, it makes for a slow burn and dread building mystery that kept me hooked and terrified for this literal teenager just trying to help her friend.

And that touches on the bigger themes of this book, specifically the fact that in greater society, sometimes women are victims and sometimes men are either enablers and abusers themselves, and we don’t necessarily REALLY know all sides of a person, even when we care about them or trust them. Heather has many men in her life, whether it is her District Attorney father who has been placing a lot of responsibility on Heather after her mother had a mental breakdown (which had devastating effects on Heather, but also has a hidden backstory), or the Sheriff in town who may be hiding his own corruption and culpability when it comes to Maureen, or childhood guy friends that Heather thought she knew, but have started becoming more aggressive, or demanding, or cruel. As Heather starts to learn things about Maureen, things that others deem ‘wild’ or ‘bad girl’, and tries to piece things together, she starts to learn things about all these boys and men, and it’s very hard to watch her have to learn some really difficult truths. That isn’t to say that there isn’t hope here. Because once Heather learns things she never wanted to know, she can start to learn how to fight back. But growing up too fast always has a cost.

And now I need to talk about the setting of this book because as a Minnesotan I am obligated to gush about a well done book that takes place in my home state. And man oh MAN does Lourey hit the nail on the head when it comes to Minnesota culture and location (which makes sense since she spent a good amount of time in St. Cloud and is currently living in Minneapolis). I’ve been to St. Cloud maybe three times in my life, but it’s a bit notorious to those Minnesotans who live outside of it for a number of negative reasons. The first is it has a reputation for being incredibly racist. The second is that various cogs in the Stearns County law enforcement machine have come under fire for corruption and incompetence (the Jacob Wetterling case is one of the most infamous examples. If you want a good resource on how badly Stearns County fucked this case up for twenty plus years, seek out the “In the Dark” Podcast, Season 1. Your blood will boil). When I started reading I wondered if Lourey was going to tap into some nostalgia about 1970s St. Cloud, but it became quite clear quite quickly that nope, this was going to dive head first into the toxicity of the community, and how misogyny of the 1970s (which still permeates today), of small town look away culture, and general ‘not my business’ sensibilities of Minnesota ‘nice’ combined to create a tragic story that felt very, very real. There are also fun moments of Minnesota in here, though, which didn’t make it all about the very true faults of Minnesota culture. Whether it was references to how we love festivals in summer due to long ass winters, or a trip to Valley Fair, or the weird quirk that a Minnesotan canNOT be the last person taking an item of food from a shared plate, these fun bits were VERY on point and very amusing.

I really loved “The Quarry Girls”. It broke my heart many times but also gave me a little hope beyond the darkness. I need to go back and read more stuff by Jess Lourey, this was just great.

Rating 9: A searing, heartbreaking thriller about small town secrets, violent misogyny, and having to grow up too fast under horrible circumstances while trying to persevere, “The Quarry Girls” is emotional, raw, and yet somehow hopeful.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Quarry Girls” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Modern Mystery, Crime Fiction”.

Serena’s Review: “Witch King”

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Book: “Witch King” by Martha Wells

Publishing Info: Tor, May 2023

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

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

Book Description: “I didn’t know you were a… demon.”
“You idiot. I’m the demon.”
Kai’s having a long day in Martha Wells’ Witch King….

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

Review: While I’m not up-to-date with Martha Well’s current, very popular “Murderbot” series, I am a big fan of her in general. I read all of her “Books of Raksura” series a decade or so ago, for example. As with many SFF authors, it can become quite intimating to start up on a long-running series, regardless of how much one likes the author in general. So when I saw that she was releasing a stand-alone fantasy novel, I jumped on the opportunity to get back to reading her work. Let’s dive in!

After awakening from his own murder, Kai is fairly disturbed. As a demon, changing bodies is not pleasant, but it is manageable. What’s more worrying is the loss of time and the changing political movements of the world at large. With generations of lives making up his own long life-span, Kai is dependent on the few allies he has who have also experienced both his past and his present. But now they, too, are missing, and Kai is desperate not only to find them but to uphold a promise made long ago.

Brandon Sanderson is indisputably the current master of fantasy world-building. But I think what is not acknowledged is Martha Wells’ dynasty as a master of original character work. Not only are all of her characters enfolded in complex, layered arcs in each of their books, but she also has a real skill at writing non-human protagonists that, none the less, reflect very human challenges, joys, and sorrows but through very unique angles. The “Murderbot” series is an obvious example, but the series I read about a decade ago also featured an entire world “peopled” by alien creatures without a humanoid in sight (that I remember at least). And here, in this book, Wells is back at it, presenting us not only with Kai, a demon, but with an entire society built up around various peoples, many humanoid but not quite human either.

But, of course, Kai is our main character. And while some of the typical lore around demons is touched on, it is clear early on that Kai is not the sort of demon we are familiar with. Instead, his kind have formed a symbiotic pact with a group of human people where both societies benefit from the intermingling of their kind. But, through a series of flashbacks seen throughout the book, a powerful and ruthless new group of magic users began a marching conquest of the known world that resulted in the decimation not only of demon kind but also of the many peoples who make up this world.

The use of these flashbacks was incredibly effective, though I will say they highlight another crucial aspect of Wells’ writing style. She’s definitely of those high fantasy authors who creates incredibly complex and nuanced worlds and just plops her readers down right in the middle of the action. You basically have to be comfortably not understanding everything you’re currently reading on the page. Instead, the joy is found in trusting that understanding will come, and it will come in a very specifically constructed and directed manner laid out by the author. In this book, as the story is about a being who has lived for generations, these flashbacks do a lot of work to really set up the stakes of the current situation. Not only the history behind the current political upheaval, but also the relationships Kai has formed with his small band of allies, all of whom we slowly meet throughout the story.

The writing and plotting is also incredibly tight. There were moments when I was laughing out loud at the dialogue and Kai’s distinctly unhuman manner of looking at the world. But then there would be heart-wrenching scenes that perfectly highlighted that while not all of these characters are human, they still experience the same sense of love and betrayal, hope and despair. The pace was steady and even throughout the story, and I enjoyed the themes of found family, trust, and the struggle of individual cultures and peoples when facing a powerful enemy. Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough to SFF readers. It’s definitely not an “entry level” story, but if you’re a fantasy fan who enjoys slowly building an understanding of a world and story, than this is the perfect book for you!

Rating 10: A sprawling world and history to explore alongside the best grumpy, snark demon I can imagine!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Witch King” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Books of 2023

Kate’s Review: “The Salt Grows Heavy”

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Book: “The Salt Grows Heavy” by Cassandra Khaw

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, May 2023

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

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

Book Description: From USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.

You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three ‘saints’ who control them.

The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.

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

I know that my Dad took my preschool self to see Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” in the theater, and while it’s not a top tier Disney film for me, I enjoy it enough (fun fact: it’s my Dad’s favorite Disney movie). I never sought out the original Hans Christian Andersen story, but I am kind of familiar with the general concept and how different and how much bleaker it is than the more palatable for children Disney version. I never really thought about what it would be like to make it even bleaker, but author Cassandra Khaw apparently did, because “The Salt Grows Heavy” takes “The Little Mermaid” and turns it into a full on balls to the wall body horror novella. Like, FULL ON BODY HORROR GORE AND VISCERA. WORK, ARIEL.

Pretend that the water is blood and guts and you aren’t even halfway there. (source)

Now this all sounds super promising, and between that and the cover (I LOVE THE COVER) I had high hopes for this novella. Unfortunately it was a bit of a mixed bag.

But first, what I liked! WHAT AN OUT THERE AND FREAKY CONCEPT! I love the way that Khaw has taken the story of “The Little Mermaid” and twisted it into something so visceral, so splatterpunk, so disturbing and gory. Our protagonist mermaid has fled the kingdom she married into with a mysterious Plague Doctor after her children with the prince have destroyed the city and all who live there. The original tale makes a victimized mermaid a lovelorn waif, while Khaw makes her into a vengeful, held against her will and now broken free with much blood behind her heroine. This story is one of the goriest I have ever read, so graphic that when I was reading it in a public place I had to set it down a few times just to swallow back disgust. In a good way! Body horror gets under my skin, and sometimes it puts me off, but even though this was so gross and nasty and relentless, it really worked well for me.

But what didn’t work as well was how flowery and overwrought the language felt at times. It’s a creative choice and I have to respect it, and I do admit that sometimes there were moments where I really did love the beauty of the language and descriptors that were used. But I have always had a very difficult time with very flowery and complex and ornate language in the stories I read for whatever reason. It makes it easier for me to get lost, and easier for me to find my eyes glazing over. I also think that we jumped in at a point that felt a bit more like the middle of a story versus a clear beginning, and because it’s a novella we had to speed through the place where we were at to resolve everything, which meant that there could have been more world building and more detail. And I do wish that we had spent some time with the mermaid and the horrible prince, to really see a full subversion of “The Little Mermaid” instead of a subversion of what felt more like a sequel to the tale that we know.

So while I was a bit disappointed in “The Salt Grows Heavy”, I had a fun time being absolutely disgusted with some of the body horror stuff in this book. If you don’t have the same hang ups with flowery writing styles that I do and love body horror, this book would probably be a good fit!

Rating 6: I loved the concept, and I really liked some of the creative aspects of twisting “The Little Mermaid” into a body horror gore fest. But the purple prose is a bit much, which is, admittedly, more reflective of my personal preferences.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Salt Grows Heavy” is included on the Goodreads lists “Queer Horror”, and “Horror to Look Forward To In 2023”.

Beach Reads: Summer 2023

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Back for 2023, here is a list of some more favorite beach reads! Perhaps a little early, but Memorial Day is the traditional kick off to Summer, after all, and that’s just a week away. “Beach read” is a very fast and loose term for books people read over the beautiful summer months when we really should be outside “doing things” but are instead reading…maybe outside. Some people see these months as an opportunity to slog through long classics (we’re looking at you “Moby Dick”) before the busy-ness of the fall starts up, but for the sake of this list, we’re limiting our choices to fast paced, mostly feel good books (though there’s some obvious leeway here for Kate’s horror tastes!) that could be easily brought along on vacations. So, still a very loose definition, but hey, we had to start somewhere! We will select one title for each of the genres we most read.

Serena’s Picks

Fantasy Title: “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faieries”

I actually had a really hard time narrowing down my choice for the fantasy genre on this list. I guess I was really in the mood for “cozy fantasy” last year, as there were several that popped up as good options for this one. But, ultimately, I landed on this one. It just hits all of the right vibes for what I look for in a beach read style fantasy novel. The titular character, Emily Wilde, has a great narrative voice. There are quirky side character galore. And there’s a love slow burn romance at the heart. It’s also a refreshing take on fairytales and Fae fantasy stories. It uses a lot of familiar concepts and plots, but the way everything is woven together works perfectly. It’s also a nice, stand-alone story in a genre that’s full of series (though, to be fair, there is a second book coming out this winter, but that in no way undercuts the fact that this is already a stand-alone story on its own).

Science Fiction Title: “Eversion” by Alistair Reynolds

Science fiction is often the genre where I’m most likely to run into the same problem Kate does for many of her books: the genre doesn’t necessarily lend itself well to the “coziness” of what we usually think of when we talk about beach reads. Space is scary in its vastness and its unknowns. So, while I can’t say that “Eversion” doesn’t have its legitimately creepy aspects, I can say that they don’t rise beyond what you often find in science fiction. It’s also just a super fun and interesting read. The story is woven together with a series of jumps forward and backward in time where both the reader and the main character is left trying to piece together what exactly is real and what is happening altogether. Every time I thought I had it figured out, another layer would be pulled back, and I’d have to start all over again! But that was the fun of it all! My husband also really liked this one, so consider this a double recommendation!

Mystery Title: “A Study in Charlotte”

I haven’t reviewed this one on the blog, but Kate gave it to me for Christmas several years ago, and I really enjoyed it. As you can probably guess from the title, this is yet another Sherlock Holmes retelling with the famous detective being reimagined as a young woman named Charlotte. Is it confusing now having this series and the “Charlotte Holmes” series by Sherry Thomas? Yes, yes it is. This one, however, is a YA story, the Charlotte we have here is actually a many-generations-down relative of the original Sherlock, and the story is set in contemporary times. It’s a really fun version of the story, and definitely a fun little mystery to enjoy while relaxing this summer.

History Title: “The Monsters We Defy”

I always struggle with this category. I always want to recommends books for this list that I have personally read and enjoyed. And the reality it, as far as historical fiction goes, I read very little straight “historical fiction.” It’s always a combined with other genres I enjoy, often mysteries. But I also read a lot of historical fantasy fiction, so that’s what I went with here. Yes, there are fantastical elements to this book, but I do think the historical setting and commentary is by far the predominant feature. The story takes place during the Jazz Age of 1925 in Washington, D.C. The story follows a young woman who puts together a ragtag group to pull off a heist. And yes, one the members is a jazz musician who uses their abilities to hypnotize everyone who uses the music.

Kate’s Picks

Horror Title: “The Whispering Dead” by Darcy Coates

I figure that perhaps a person going to the beach for a relaxing day or a full vacation may not be super into something incredibly scary or disturbing, so “The Whispering Dead” by Darcy Coates is probably a good choice. Keira comes to in a strange town with no memories of who she is, but with the distinct impression that she is being hunted. When she takes refuge and hides in an abandoned cemetary groundskeeper’s home, she realizes that she can see ghosts, and that they want her help in passing on. It has entertaining characters, whether it’s amnesiac medium Keira, or quirky Zoe, the earnest but kind of paranoid barista who becomes her best friend, “The Whispering Dead” has some creepy ghostly moments and an engaging supernatural mystery, but never full goes into terrifying material that may waylay an enjoyable day in the surf!

Thriller Title: “The Wife Who Knew Too Much” by Michele Campbell

When it comes to breakneck thrillers that have a lot of soap and suds (which is my favorite kind to take on vacation), Michele Campbell is an author who usually delivers and makes for a fun read, and “The Wife Who Knew Too Much” is making the list this year. It has everything: lost loves, the cold elites, a dead wife, and a mistress who is pulled in perhaps because her lover isn’t being fully honest with her. Tabitha, a working class girl who worked at a country club one summer, fell in love with wealthy golden boy Connor, but it ended in heartbreak. When they meet up again later in life he is married but claims it’s pretty much over and that his wife is a manipulative and vicious person. But when his wife ends up dead, and she leaves a note that implicates Connor, as well as a mysterious and damning ‘her’, Tabitha realizes she may be in far too deep. Drama and danger, this is absolutely a page turner for a relaxing vacation.

Graphic Novel Title: “Cryptid Club” by Sarah Andersen

I know that with my distractibility and antsiness, especially on a trip, I may need a book that I can put down and pick up easily, and “Cryptid Club” by Sarah Andersen not only fits that bill, but also has one of my special interests at its heart: CRYPTIDS!! This collection of comics about cryptids like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and my very favorite cryptid Mothman, is both a fun set of stories about urban legends that have captured weirdoes imaginations, while also letting them explore the social anxieties of these beings and how they are so much like us with very human problems. Andersen is charming and hilarious, and I love seeing where she takes these legends and makes them so, so funny and also relatable. And since it’s comic strip form, it’s easy to take a break to jump in the water for awhile.

Non-Fiction Title: “Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood” by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova

I’ve been watching “Drag Race” for 10+ years, and while every season has successful and popular queens, Season 7 gave us the comedic duo of Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova, whose banter, chemistry, and humor launched them into the pop culture stratosphere with web shows and traveling shows. And now books! Their first book, “Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood” is a parody on women’s centered self help books, but also has essays and conversations about their friendship, their experiences in drag and their other artful pursuits, and the importance of self love and self fulfillment. And it’s also, of course, incredibly funny as they ruminate, satirize, and go off on tangent after tangent. I found this book funny and quick, and given that there are so many attacks on drag and LGBTQIA+ culture it’s all the more important to lift up these voices and experiences. It’s just a bonus that this one is such a laugh riot.

Serena’s Review: “Atalanta”

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Book: “Atalanta” by Jennifer Saint

Publishing Info: May 2023, Flatiron Books

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

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

Book Description: Princess, Warrior, Lover, Hero

When Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing.

Although she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure. When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen, Atalanta seizes it. The Argonauts’ quest for the Golden Fleece is filled with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the men she fights alongside. As she is swept into a passionate affair, in defiance of Artemis’s warning, she begins to question the goddess’s true intentions. Can Atalanta carve out her own legendary place in a world of men, while staying true to her heart?

Full of joy, passion, and adventure, Atalanta is the story of a woman who refuses to be contained. Jennifer Saint places Atalanta in the pantheon of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, where she belongs.

Review: While nothing has quite reached the high that was “Circe” when we read that for bookclub last year, I’m still feeling fairly positive about Greek retellings as a whole. There are just so many great female characters in that pantheon and collection of stories that are only mentioned briefly but who hint at fascinating, untold histories. Such is the case with Atalanta, a character who is only briefly mentioned as a member of the Argonauts and then has some brief adventures as a runner until, predictably, she’s tricked by a man into marriage and they both suffer tragedy at the hands of the gods. So…there’s a lot of small mentions, but not much of an overall arch. All of this to say, I was incredibly excited to see that Jennifer Saint was giving this powerful woman a story all of her own!

Left for dead on the side of a mountain as an infant, Atalanta’s life seemed destined to be short and cruel. But instead, the goddess Artemis takes her under her wing, raising her to become a powerful huntress. As a grown woman, Atalanta begins to long to test her skills in a human world that she has only ever seen from a distance. So when Artemis tasks her to join the heroic quest of Jason and his Argonauts, Atalanta is eager to join the adventure and bring glory to her goddess. As she journeys, she begins to understand that what makes a hero may be very different than what she had previously suspected. And that, as women, she and the other women she meets bring their own form of power in a world that often sees them shunted to the side.

So, I won’t skate around the main point: I loved this book! As I said, it’s been fairly hit and miss for me with these retellings from the perspectives of lesser known female characters from various pantheons. And when we read “The Witch’s Heart” for bookclub, it began to highlight one of the things I was starting to struggle with. While “Circe” was a powerful look at womanhood and motherhood, after reading a few other similar titles, I began to feel like they were all telling similar versions of these women’s experiences. And, yes, these are important insights into the challenges, joys, and sorrows of the life of these women. But, as with any good thing, too much of one version of any character can begin to feel reductive. So, into this landscape, Atalanta arrived like a breath of fresh air.

In Atalanta, we find a powerful woman who never questions her own value, even when faced with the doubters of the world. She remains confident in her abilities and is determined to gain glory for her goddess, not to just prove men wrong, but because it is simple what she desires to do. Atalanta joins a crew of men and sets out to live a life just as unrestrained as those around her, unwilling to be limited by false chains that others would place upon her based on her sex. I loved the fact that the author forego the tendency to force her powerful female character to suffer an onslaught of self-doubt in the face of ugliness from the world.

Not only was she an excellent character in all of these ways, but as the story progresses and the adventures take us through the lives of other Greek female characters, Atalanta provides a running commentary on the way these women’s lives are shaped by the men around them. And while poignant, the book never feels preachy about any of these points.

I also really appreciated the way this book dealt with the romance and motherhood aspects of Atalanta’s story. Here, the book really makes a name for itself as different than the other books in this genre that I have read. There are two romances in this story, and I very much appreciated the different ways that Atalanta experienced these relationships. They both do important work to further highlight Atalanta’s story as a human’s story, not just a woman’s. She, too, like the men around her, can enjoy a romance without wishing to tie her life to another. But then her experiences of pregnancy do focus in on the way that the biological reality of women is very different. However, again, I enjoyed this different experience of motherhood. Here we have a woman who never wished to have a child, who is not swept away by a magical sense of attachment when her baby arrives. Instead, she feels responsibility and duty to do best by this child, but recognizes that the best life for both her son and herself may be one apart from one another. I really liked this different approach, and it felt true to the character we had been reading about up to this point.

The last part of the book is devoted to the famous race that Atalanta takes part in. Here, too, I liked the subtle changes the author made to not reduce Atalanta’s agency in her own story. I also really liked the way the end of the story was dealt with, providing a unique, and, again, true-feeling conclusion to this heroic woman’s tale. I will say, however, that the last quarter of the story did feel a bit rushed. Overall, if I had one qualm about the book, it would be the pacing. In some ways, the story feels very much like it is ticking away at the bullet point references to Atalanta that we have from the original stories. But, again, I enjoyed this character and the highlighted experiences of the various women included too much to have many complaints about pacing and a rushed ending. This is a must-read for any fans of fantasy stories like “Circe” that feature strong, female characters.

Rating 9: Powerful and sure-handed, Jennifer Saint brings to life a new hero, a woman who knows her value and will not let any man shunt her to the side.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Atalanta” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Feminist Retellings Of Greek Myths and Historical Fiction – Greece.

Kate’s Review: “The Only Survivors”

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Book: “The Only Survivors” by Megan Miranda

Publishing Info: Scribner, 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: Seven hours in the past. Seven days in the present. Seven survivors remaining. Who would you save?

A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine—a tragedy that claimed the lives of multiple classmates and teachers. The nine students who managed to escape the river that night were irrevocably changed. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night.

To keep one another safe. To hold one another accountable. Or both.

Their annual meeting place, a house on the Outer Banks, has long been a refuge. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has worked to distance herself from the tragedy, and from the other survivors. She’s changed her mobile number. She’s blocked the others’ email addresses. This year, she is determined to finally break ties once and for all. But on the day of the reunion, she receives a text with an obituary attached: another survivor is gone. Now they are seven—and Cassidy finds herself hurling back toward the group, wild with grief—and suspicion.

Almost immediately, something feels off this year. Cassidy is the first to notice when Amaya, annual organizer, slips away, overwhelmed. This wouldn’t raise alarm except for the impending storm. Suddenly, they’re facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters…again. Then Amaya stops responding to her phone. After all they’ve been through, she wouldn’t willfully make them worry. Would she?

And—as they promised long ago—each survivor will do whatever he or she can do to save one another. Won’t they?

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

It’s mid May, with Summer hurtling towards us ever faster, and I, for one, am looking forward to a couple travel moments coming up with the season and the reading opportunities that generally come with a vacation. I’m not sure I’ll be making it to a beach before Fall sets in (Lake Superior in Fall really is just the best), but I can at least dream of beach houses with friends and relaxation and maybe get my act together to make it happen. I was thinking about the joys of a beach house getaway as I read “The Only Survivors”, Megan Miranda’s newest thriller. While it’s true that a beach house vacation like this one, what with an uneasy group of people who trauma bonded after a terrible accident in high school, and who go to a beach house every year to commemorate the anniversary, isn’t ideal, the house did sound nice. And admittedly, a slow building thriller on a precarious beach in a familiar but uncomfortable house is a GREAT set up for a mystery. I’m also happy to revisit Megan Miranda, because she’s usually doing interesting things with her thrillers.

“The Only Survivors” has a pretty solid cast of characters, most notably Cassidy, our protagonist who has forced herself to attend the annual reunion of fellow high school tragedy survivors at a beach house on the Outer Banks. The reunion is always tense and tenuous, with the friends vis a vis a horrible traumatic event not totally willing to trust each other but also unable to blow it off completely. Cassidy is the one we get to know the best, as it is from her POV for the most part (outside of the flashback moments where each survivor gets a snippet perspective of what happened the night of the accident), and I did like getting into her head and slowly understanding her turmoil. The other characters were a bit of a mixed bag. I was genuinely intrigued by Grace, a therapist who is very serious and a bit removed, and Hollis, a wellness influencer who just seems put together on the outside, but there were others who were kind of broadly brushed. I was invested enough in all of them to be really curious as to what they are being to cagey about, and I thought that when we did get moments of their personas in the flashbacks that we got to see a bit more depth. Characters play such an important role in this kind of thriller that it’s important to make them engaging, and most of them were engaging enough.

In terms of the mystery itself, I thought that it had some well done elements and some elements we’ve seen before. Or at least I have, as I’ve been reading thrillers for so long I am sometimes more likely to be privy to the ins and outs of various reveals and twists. I really liked the slow burn reveal of what exactly it is these survivors are hiding, and what brings them all together each year over everything else in their lives, including significant life changes (it’s mentioned one character almost missed the birth of his child for this reunion one year, and the way I would have dumped his ass so hard, but I digress). I also liked that we slowly get the clues to what Cassidy and the others had to go through in the immediate aftermath of the accident, and how their situation went from dire to more dire to something that needed to be kept close to the vest, through flashbacks to the accident itself. On the other hand, I also was able to find myself a few steps ahead of a couple of the reveals and twists, and there was once again a last moments twist that I felt was a little ‘eh’, but I CAN say that it wasn’t the kind that felt unearned or out of nowhere. So in the end the mystery itself was pretty serviceable and altogether entertaining.

“The Only Survivors” is the kind of thriller that would be the perfect read for the beach this summer. I just hope that it’s the kind of beach vacation that is not with a group of people that you trauma bonded with, but with those that aren’t potentially going to spill some dark secrets.

Rating 7: Entertaining, suspenseful, “The Only Survivors” is a serviceable thriller that’s the perfect read for the beach.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Only Survivors” is included on the Goodreads list “Mystery & Thriller 2023”.

Blog Tour: “The Late Mrs. Willoughby”

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Book: “The Late Mrs. Willoughby” b y Claudia Gray

Publishing Info: Vintage, May 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: from the marketer!

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

Book Description: Catherine and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are not entirely pleased to be sending their eligible young daughter Juliet out into the world again: the last house party she attended, at the home of the Knightleys, involved a murder—which Juliet helped solve. Particularly concerning is that she intends to visit her new friend Marianne Brandon, who’s returned home to Devonshire shrouded in fresh scandal—made more potent by the news that her former suitor, the rakish Mr. Willoughby, intends to take up residence at his local estate with his new bride.

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley are thrilled that their eldest son, Jonathan—who, like his father, has not always been the most socially adept—has been invited to stay with his former schoolmate, John Willoughby. Jonathan himself is decidedly less taken with the notion of having to spend extended time under the roof of his old bully, but that all changes when he finds himself reunited with his fellow amateur sleuth, the radiant Miss Tilney. And when shortly thereafter, Willoughby’s new wife—whom he married for her fortune—dies horribly at the party meant to welcome her to town.

With rumors flying and Marianne—known to be both unstable and previously jilted by the dead woman’s newly made widower—under increased suspicion, Jonathan and Juliet must team up once more to uncover the murderer. But as they collect clues and close in on suspects, eerie incidents suggest that the killer may strike again, and that the pair are in far graver danger than they or their families could imagine.

Previously Reviewed: “The Murder of Mr. Wickham”

Review: I really loved “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” when I read it last year. So much so that it became my preferred present for the many readers in my family. Not only was it an excellent mystery, but the author managed to do the near-impossible and accurately depict not one, not two, but a huge cast of Jane Austen’s most popular characters. And on top of that, she created two new characters who were able to hold their own in this very competitive cast. All of this to say, I was incredibly pleased to see that there was a sequel coming out this year!

When Juliet Tilney sets out on another social visit, she’s confident in assuring her parents that there is no possibility of murder this go around. Oh, how wrong she will be. For, when visiting the still-struggling Marianna Brandon, Juliet Tilney is introduced to the Willoughbys, and during one note-worthy dinner party, what should happen but that Mrs. Willoughby drops dead of poison. Now, with the help of her friend Jonathan Darcy, Juliet once again sets out to get to the bottom of the mystery.

I was really excited to see what this book had in store. While I was very impressed with the first book, it was also very much a product of the specific circumstances that made up the plot. Jonathan and Juliet were excellent new characters, but the work of carrying the plot and the interest of the reader, was largely hefted by the sprawling cast of popular Jane Austen heroes and heroines. This book is a much more tightly focused story with a much more limited cast of characters. In this way, Jonathan and Juliet had more work to do to carry the book largely on their own. And I think they were more than capable of the job!

I really liked the continued exploration of Jonathan’s low level autism and how his life has been shaped by the reactions of others and their ability or inability to accept or understand him. Here, we get an insight into Jonathan’s past as a victim of bullying at the hands of none other than Mr. Willoughby himself. We also see Jonathan struggle to understand his changing feelings for Juliet and realizing that he, and not only others, has been placing limitations on himself. It was an interesting and subtle exploration that I thought worked very well. For her part, Juliet’s story is much more straight-forward. But I particularly enjoyed the small commentary that ran through the book that acknowledges the limited choices that young women like Juliet faced. A social visit such as this, where Juliet travels to live with her friends the Brandons for several weeks, would not just be a trip of leisure. No, a large chunk of the expectations and motivation would be that a young woman would gain access to new society and new opportunities for marriage. Juliet reflects several times on the challenges between balancing the very practical concerns of a woman such as herself, one with only limited financial support from her family, with her own romantic preferences.

I also really enjoyed the mystery in this one. I was able to predict a few of the secondary aspects of the mystery, but the author did a great job of laying out believable red herrings and misdirecting the reader effectively from the larger truth behind what had happened and why. The motivation, in particular, was interesting and played into a plotline that I had been thinking of as a completely separate thing up until the end.

I will say, however, that this one did suffer a bit by the loss of the other Jane Austen characters. While I enjoyed Juliet and Jonathan immensely, my own preferences for Austen’s characters would not have me picking a focus on “Sense and Sensibility” and all of the secondary characters that make up this book’s cast. As these characters connect to the first book, I understand why this choice was made, and I also think that, as a whole, they were all done very well. I really liked getting to see Eleanor and Edward, in particular. But Brandon and Marianne just aren’t top choices for me, personally, so I couldn’t help being a bit less interested in their dynamics.

This was a very solid follow-up to the first book! In many ways, Claudia Gray made more a statement with this book than with the first: that wasn’t just a happy chance! No, she’s just that legitimately talented. Fans of the first book will definitely enjoy this, and I recommend both of these books to any fans of historical mysteries or Jane Austen.

Rating 8: With the first book, Gray made a splash as one of the best authors tackling Jane Austen re-imaginings today. With this one, she cements her place in the genre.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Late Mrs. Willoughby” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Jane Austen Re-tellings.

Kate’s Review: “We’ll Never Tell”

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

Publishing Info: Little, Brown/Ottaviano, May 2023

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

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

Book Description: An ambitious and juicy whodunit doused in Hollywood lore, perfect for readers of sexy summer thrillers like The Twin by Natasha Preston and The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson.

No one at Hollywood High knows who’s behind We’ll Never Tell—a viral YouTube channel where the anonymous creators trespass behind the scenes of LA’s most intriguing locales. The team includes CASEY, quiet researcher and trivia champ; JACOB, voice narrator and video editor, who is secretly dating EDDIE, aspiring filmmaker; and ZOE, coder and breaking-and-entering extraordinaire.

Now senior year is winding down, and with their lives heading in different directions, the YouTubers vow to go out with a bang. Their last episode will be filmed at the infamous Valentini “murder house,” which has been left abandoned, bloodstained, and untouched since a shocking murder/suicide in 1972. When the teens break in, they capture epic footage. But someone trips an alarm, and it’s a mad dash to get out before the police arrive—at which point they realize only three of them escaped instead of four. Jacob is still inside, slain and bleeding out. Is his attack connected to the historic murder, or is one of their crew responsible?

A week of suspicions and cover-ups unfolds as Casey and her remaining friends try to stay alive long enough to solve murder mysteries past and present. If they do, their friendship may not survive. If they don’t, the house will claim more victims.

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

I had been waiting for a bit (it wasn’t really that long, but anticipation can make things feel long) for a new Wendy Heard book. I had enjoyed “She’s Too Pretty To Burn” so much for it’s weirdness, it’s sapphic love story, and the satire of art as ethos and the ramifications of that. When I read that she had a new YA thriller coming out called “We’ll Never Tell” I was excited, and when I read that the premise involved an abandoned notorious crime scene and four teens caught up in something far more dangerous than they realized, I was practically vibrating with glee. And while there are a lot of great ideas with this book, and while it was a quick read that kept me going, the anticipation leading up to it kind of slammed the breaks with what we got.

But first the good. Wendy Heard is an author I have really enjoyed in the past, and I think that part of it is that she really knows how to bring seedy and shiny aspects of Los Angeles to life. There is so much potential in this story, and I loved seeing four teens with a YouTube channel focus in on what is clearly an homage to the Los Feliz Murder Mansion, a piece of Los Angeles true crime lore as the basis for a book. I also liked that we could get a few different ways to tell the story. These include protagonist Casey, some flashbacks from Jacob leading up to the night he is attacked, and some epistolary pieces of newspaper articles involving the Valentini murder, the fallout, and some other things that involve the family and the victims. I am a huge sucker for books that use newspaper articles or other found footage or information devices. And mystery wise, I did like the twists and turns of the story, as well as the mystery of who attacked Jacob in the house. Heard does a pretty okay job of laying out clues and bringing in various potential motives and means. It’s ultimately a pretty straight forward thriller, and while I didn’t totally guess what was going on, I wasn’t totally blown away by various solutions as the puzzle pieces all started falling into place.

However, I think that one of the things that didn’t quite connect for me was our protagonist, Casey. To me it felt like there were so many things about her that weren’t quite fully explored or elaborated upon. We have her as the cynical, sullen girl with the tragic past, given that her mother was murdered and it went unsolved, and she has been living with her grandmother and they have been barely holding on financially. She has a chip on her shoulder about some of her friends (mostly Zoe; Zoe is wealthy and, while well meaning, is sometimes clueless about her financial situation versus Casey’s), she really hates ‘true crime’, and she doesn’t always feel like she totally fits in with her peer group. It tended to creep a bit towards ‘not like other girls’, as there were a lot of first person perspective reminders about how no one else GETS it. I wasn’t super invested in her as a character, nor was I interested in the potential relationship she has with Dallas, a descendent of the Valentini family whose mother is owner of the Murder House property. I also didn’t quite understand what the purpose of her tragic background was, as it’s there to make her tragic but doesn’t really apply to the plot as a whole. It felt a lot like backstory was trying to do a lot of character development heavy lifting, and that just doesn’t quite work in this book.

I had higher hopes for “We’ll Never Tell”. The set up was pretty great, but the execution didn’t really reinvent any wheels. Certainly not something I regret reading, but I wanted more.

Rating 6: Lots of potential and a great set up, but ultimately it’s pretty run of the mill with a bland main character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“We’ll Never Tell” is included on the Goodreads list “Most Anticipated May 2023 Young Adult Releases”.