Tag: Young Adult

Book Club Review: “We Are Not Free”


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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Our current theme is “Book Bingo” where we drew reading challenges commonly found on book bingo cards from a hat and chose a book based on that.  For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “We Are Not Free” by Traci Chee

Publishing Info: HMH Books For Young Readers, September 2020

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Bingo Prompt: A book that takes place during a war.

Book Description: “All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the guard towers, the city, the country that hates us. We are not free. But we are not alone.” 

We Are Not Free, is the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.

Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco. Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted. Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps. In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.

Kate’s Thoughts

This was actually my Book Bingo prompt, and I wanted to think a little bit outside of the box when it came to picking a book that took place during a war. Partially because I’m not super interested in military themed fiction, and partially because I wanted to kind of wanted to stay away from pro-militaristic themes. It quickly occurred to me that I hadn’t yet read Traci Chee’s YA historical fiction “We Are Not Free”, a book about a number of Japanese-American teens who are incarcerated during World War II because of the United States Government’s despicable Executive Order 9066. I’ve reviewed a lot of recent novels about the Japanese American Incarceration on this blog, and found this to be the perfect opportunity. And boy, what a book, and what a great book club discussion.

Chee approaches this story through the eyes of numerous characters, each one getting their own chapter with different perspectives and sometimes writing styles, and each character engages with a different fact or theme of the Incarceration. At first I was a little daunted by the idea of so many characters, but Chee does a really good job of not only letting us get into their heads and get to know them, but also touches on so many aspects of the Incarceration this way. Instead of finding the characters to be maybe less complex due to the one chapter approach, I ended up really caring for all of them as they mention each other and as we get into their heads, allowing us to see how they are perceived by others, but also how they see themselves. They all feel very authentic in their voices, either in how they are reacting to their ordeal and their trauma, or even just in moments of them having very relatable teenage moments that go beyond the Incarceration, like teen love, or school issues, or moments of joy that can still be found in spite of everything.

But we also are able to explore a number of aspects of the Incarceration through these characters that may have been a bit overstuffed had it just been one or two. Chee skillfully tackles things like having to leave everything behind, the cultural divide between the non-Amercain (by force of the government) Issei vs their American Citizen children Nisei, the loyalty oath that was given as a choice to sign or not to sign (and why some may sign and others may not), and the experience of those who enlisted in the war to try and prove their loyalty to their country. And many more. The book doesn’t shy away from any of it, and finds the nuance and complexity in some things while being unflinchingly honest about others. It is such a valuable book in that way for anyone who wants to learn about the Incarceration, as it has relatable and enjoyable characters whom the reader will attach to, and will therein learn through. Our book club had some awesome conversations about this book, and I have no doubt that classrooms would as well.

I’m glad I finally read “We Are Not Free”, and glad that this cycle’s theme got me off my butt to finally do so. It’s highly recommended, and necessary, historical fiction.

Kate’s Review 9: Powerful, engrossing, enraging, and hopeful, “We Are Not Free” is a valuable tool to learn about the Japanese American Incarceration that is must read for those interested in the subject.

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of the structure of this novel? Did you like all the different perspectives? Why or why not?
  2. When did you first learn about the Incarceration? How was it approached when you did learn about it?
  3. Chee has an author’s note about the use of modern language sensibilities in this book? What were your thoughts on this choice?
  4. Did you have a chapter you liked best or that stood out from the others? What was it about that chapter that spoke to you?
  5. What were you thoughts on the way Chee portrayed the conflict between Nisei vs Issei in how they dealt with their ordeal?
  6. Do you think this would be a useful tool to teach the Incarceration to teenagers? Why or why not?

Reader’s Advisory

“We Are Not Free” is included on the Goodreads lists “Japanese American Internment in YA & Middle Grade Fiction”, and “Surviving in the Japanese Relocation Centers of WW2”.

Next Book Club Book: “The Ten Thousand Doors of January” by Alix E. Harrow

Kate’s Review: “Deadly Setup”

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Book: “Deadly Setup” by Lynn Slaughter

Publishing Info: Fire and Ice, July 2022

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

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon

Book Description: When her impulsive, romance-writing mom announces her engagement to a man whose last heiress wife died under suspicious circumstances, Sam tries to dissuade her mother. But her mom is convinced she’ll finally have the “Happily Ever After” she writes about.

And then Sam’s life implodes. Her mom’s fiancé turns up dead, and a mountain of circumstantial evidence points to Sam as the killer. On trial for murder, she fights to prove her innocence with the help of her boyfriend’s dad, an ex-homicide cop.

Moonbeam Children’s Book Award bronze medalist and Agatha Christie award nominee, Lynn Slaughter returns with a new YA thriller pushing the envelope on coming-of-age stories. Dark yet hopeful, Deadly Setup shows that wealth truly doesn’t buy happiness.

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

I remember being a teenager and watching “Law and Order” with my Dad on Wednesday nights once my homework was done (mostly…). I really enjoyed watching the detectives investigate a crime, and then watching the lawyers try the defendant, all for it to wrap up in about an hour’s time. As we’d watch my Dad, who was also a lawyer, would give me tips and tidbits on how the trial stuff worked as the story unfolded. It was solid bonding time. I kept thinking about this stuff as I read “Deadly Setup” by Lynn Slaughter, and how teenage me would have loved a book where a teenager was on trial for a crime she didn’t commit.

The thing that really stood out in a positive way in this novel is that the main focus of the conflict is in a fairly unique setting. In so many YA thrillers I’ve read (and adult thrillers too, thinking about it) the center of the action is in the investigation of a murder or crime. Usually the main character is an outside player, or they are a potential suspect and are using the limited time they have to clear their name. In “Deadly Setup”, we get into a full on courtroom drama that reminds me of some of Jodi Picoult’s earlier works. As someone who devoured a lot of Picoult’s older books specifically because of the courtroom aspects, and who, as mentioned above, really liked the original “Law and Order” specifically to watch Jack McCoy go through the courtroom motions, this really clicked with me. Slaughter takes on a lot of ins and outs and mechanics of how a murder trial would work, from witnesses to various functions of the lawyers to strategies either side would implement, and I think it’s so cool that she did this in a YA novel. It’s a really good way to show the audience that trials themselves can be completely nutty and that a lot of thriller dramatics can be found in a courtroom. I NEED MORE COURTROOM DRAMAS IN MY READING STACK!

(source)

The flip side of all of this is that outside of Sam, a lot of the characters are pretty two dimensional. I thought that Sam herself was an enjoyable character, and I really felt the stress and tension and loneliness of her situation. And as our protagonist it’s good that I liked her and was invested in her journey and fate. But almost everyone else was pretty standard for the tropes that they were filling, most of which being her mother Meryl. Meryl is a cookie cutter bad mother, as she’s narcissistic, verbally cruel, willing to believe her sleazy boyfriend of a couple months over her own daughter, and more than happy to play the victim and center herself. I have no doubt that there are mothers out there like this. Hell, I have FRIENDS who have mothers like this. But I think that the problem was that her dialogue and actions were very over the top villainous. This is also seen in the victim, Meryl’s fiancé, who is clearly a dangerous gold digging predator from the jump, and while I am a okay with him being an obvious lout, it’s laid on pretty thick here. Most of the antagonists are, really. When you throw that in with some clunky dialogue here and there and a mystery solution that is a little too hinted at a little too early, the building blocks of the story feel a little shaky. Not in a way that damages the concept overall, mind you, as I did enjoy it as I was reading. But it has awkward beats because of all these things.

But I do enjoy a courtroom drama, and “Deadly Setup” has that and how! I think that the audience this is catered to will have a really unique reading experience with this one given the crux of the drama! Jack McCoy would probably approve.

Rating 7: A good concept and some really good time spent in a courtroom drama setting, though the characters were a bit two dimensional and some of the writing was a bit stilted.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Deadly Setup” is included on the Goodreads lists “Legal Thrillers”, and “Best Books for Teens by Indie Authors“.

Serena’s Review: “The Darkening”

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Book: “The Darkening” by Sunya Mara

Publishing Info: Clarion Books, July 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: In this thrilling and epic YA fantasy debut the only hope for a city trapped in the eye of a cursed storm lies with the daughter of failed revolutionaries and a prince terrified of his throne.

Vesper Vale is the daughter of revolutionaries. Failed revolutionaries. When her mother was caught by the queen’s soldiers, they gave her a choice: death by the hangman’s axe, or death by the Storm that surrounds the city and curses anyone it touches. She chose the Storm. And when the queen’s soldiers—led by a paranoid prince—catch up to Vesper’s father after twelve years on the run, Vesper will do whatever it takes to save him from sharing that fate.

Even arm herself with her father’s book of dangerous experimental magic.

Even infiltrate the prince’s elite squad of soldier-sorcerers.

Even cheat her way into his cold heart.

But when Vesper learns that there’s more to the story of her mother’s death, she’ll have to make a choice if she wants to save her city: trust the devious prince with her family’s secrets, or follow her mother’s footsteps into the Storm.

Review: This was last minute request for me when I was looking around for another July book to fill out my reading list for this month. I’ve been a bit hesitant with YA fantasy for a while, because I feel like more and more I’m struggling to connect to this genre, and I don’t want this blog to just be me repeating myself about something I should be more selective about in the first place. That said, this was a good reminder why I haven’t given up on the genre as a whole since I really enjoyed it!

Living on the very edge of the city, Vesper is constantly aware of the storm at their door, quite literally. The massive storm, full of powerful, raging beasts has slowly been inching inwards for decades, eating the up the remaining land livable for the isolated city. When her revolutionary father’s past catches up with him, Vesper will do anything to save him. As she uncovers more of the threat that is the storm and the powerful magic that is all that holds it back, she realizes that there is more to save than just her father. But to even try means trusting the very people who arrested her father, determined prince and his team of magical warriors.

There was a lot to like about this book, even though much of it will read as very familiar to YA fantasy fans. Mostly, this goes to prove that even well-worn stories and tropes can still come alive if given a solid main character and straight-forward writing. The world itself was very interesting. For one thing, it’s tiny, composed of an ever-shrinking city where, over the decades, rings of neighborhoods have been eaten up by a vicious storm. All that holds the storm back from sweeping through the entire populace is the barely understood magic wielded by the ruler. However, the book explores how even in the midst of an existential crisis that will ultimately be everyone’s problems, people have a persistent ability to not think much about a problem if it’s not affecting them directly.

Our main character, Vesper (YA name alert!), lives on the outer ring where poverty and the ever-present threat of the storm is a very real hazard. Not only that, she comes from a family who were failed revolutionaries, leaving her and her father as wanted criminals. When her father is captured and Vesper travels to the inner ring of the city to save him, she is confronted with the harsh reality of just how out of touch the inner rings are. However, when she meets the prince, she must also confront the idea that in a world such as this, with a threat as large as the storm, sacrifice for the good of all at the expense of some is a very harsh, but very necessary, truth. It was nice to see Vesper have to adjust her own opinions of the world and how the storm is being fought; all too often, heroines such as this end up feeling like sparkly star people who, just by the nature of the story, are the all righteous beginning and ending. And while she brings to attention the plight of the poor, it’s nice to see that she, too, by the nature of her limited world, does not have a full picture of everything going on.

The romance itself was fine. I liked the interactions we had between Vesper and the prince, and the story took a definite turn in the final quarter that I hadn’t seen coming, so that was refreshing. However, I was glad of the other supporting characters who all formed their own unique relationships with Vesper, each helping her fully realize herself and her goals in different ways.

As I said, while there was a lot to like here, YA fantasy fans may find much of it familiar. For example, some of the reveals about the history of the world and the storm were fairly easy to predict (if not in all the details). The romance, too, felt like something I’ve read before, with both Vesper and the prince filling fairly familiar roles. That said, the writing was solid and I read this book quite quickly in only a few sit-downs. It’s always nice to see that there is new YA fantasy coming out that, while familiar, can still draw me in to appreciating the genre. YA fantasy fans should definitely check this one out; mileage may vary depending on how familiar one is with these tropes and themes.

Rating 8: Familiar but in a good way, exploring interesting themes of responsibility, self, and the fight for the betterment of people, both on the macro and micro level.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Darkening” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet but it should be on “Weather Magic.”

Serena’s Review: “Relic and Ruin”

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Book: “Relic and Ruin” by Wendii McIver

Publishing Info: Wattpad Books, June 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: The Banshee and the Wraith. They have the power to save the world―or destroy it.

In a place unlike any other, two brothers set off an ancient, epic, and never-ending battle. This world is controlled by the Necromancers and Reapers―one side pulls people back up through the earth, and the other cuts them down again. One ancient family, the Laheys, have been tasked again and again with keeping the balance between the worlds. And Nyx Lahey, born a Necromancer, but raised a Reaper, is on the front lines. Lately, though, Nyx is wrestling with her identity as she’s thrown into an adventure filled with prophecies and the kind of danger you can cut down with a giant scythe.

While chasing a creature that’s killing young girls, Nyx runs headlong―and gun drawn―into Erebus Salem. A hunter who has the ability to turn into a raven to escape danger, Erebus also harbors a secret: he’s not alive. He lives in Dewmort, a world in-between, where the souls of the dead reside, and where memory is all but erased. With no memory of who he is, his only connection to the past is a locket which ends up in Nyx’s hands. Determined to get it back, Erebus and his friends set watch on the Laheys, but they aren’t the only ones.

Other beings are lurking in the shadows. They know the truth about Erebus and Nyx. They know that the pair are the Relics, the only two powerful beings in the world capable of taking down the greatest evils known to any kind. Soon, Nyx and Erebus become the hunted, and must try and escape the evil plans of the war lord, Bellum.

Bellum wants the Relics for his own purposes. He needs them to raise his father, the original Necromancer, Neco. With his father by his side, Bellum believes he can rule the world―all of them―and destroy the Reapers once and for all.

Can Nyx and Erebus master their new found powers, and even if they do, can they survive?

Review: So, this was a bit of an impulse request on my part. On one hand, the idea of two groups, Reapers and Necromancers, battling across the centuries is very interesting. On the other hand, the main character’s name is Nyx… Which sounds much too close to the specific type of YA leading lady that I don’t enjoy. Yes, I will stereotype based only on a name! But never say that I am ruled by those stereotypes, since here I am reading and reviewing this book.

Though born a Necromancer, Nyx and her family has a long history of working with the Reapers to contain the undead horrors the Necromancers bring into the world. On what seems like a routine job, Nyx stumbles across the gruesome murder of a young girl and what looks like the beginning of the spree of a madman. At the same time, she runs across Erebus, a young man with more mysteries than she can imagine. But what seems as random chance becomes much more when the two discover they are what is known as Relics, powerful magical beings.

I’m always happy to be proven wrong in my more shallow initial assessments. However, I can’t say that this is one of those times. Indeed, this book mostly lived up to almost every YA stereotype I associate with the type of teen fantasy story that features a main character named “Nyx.” But, while I didn’t enjoy this book, there are some bare bones here that I want to praise, since there will definitely be readers who can enjoy this book.

First off, I still think the concept of the Reapers and Necromancers is an interesting starting platform. The book starts out really well, in fact, with a history of the two brothers whose fight lead to this ages-old war. The plot and writing is also quick and fast-paced so readers who do find themselves getting sucked in will likely breeze through this book quickly. It also is a dark (ish) YA fantasy, which will surely appeal to YA fantasy readers who are tired of dragons and swords.

One of my first problems with the book, however, is that while the initial fantasy concept and world-building is interesting, there’s never enough information given to make it actually understandable to the reader. Unless you are caught up in the fast pace of the story, when you stop to actually think about what’s going on, all you find are more questions. There are such a thing as “in-betweeners” mentioned early in the book. But I could never really figure out what these were or how they they fit in with all the various creatures that we run into along the way. In this way, the fast pace of the story began to make the book feel rushed and unclear more than anything else.

I also couldn’t get on board with our main characters. Nyx comes from a ginormous family, all of who have various different abilities which are listed off for the reader in an exhausting fashion. But with this large cast of characters, it was hard to latch on to any actual arch on Nyx’s part. And then Erebus falls into that increasingly unappealing zone (for me at least) of the love interest who is centuries old but still falls in a love with a teenager. Obviously this is completely subjective, but I find myself way less annoyed by the age difference trope in romances if the centuries-old being is at least falling in love with a full adult. I just can’t buy it, otherwise. Not to say that Erebus doesn’t seem like a teenager himself, but that’s its own problem (or just problem for me, since seeming like a teenager is probably, largely, a win for a YA book!). So, because of this, I struggled to become invested in either of them individually or the romance in general.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. I enjoyed the first few chapters, but once the story actually settled into what it was going to be about, I found myself getting bored and skimming ahead. I’m sure some YA fantasy readers will enjoy this, but it might be more of a struggle for adult readers of YA fantasy.

Rating 6: Some clumsy world-building and flat main characters made this book a bit of a chore for me.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Relic and Ruin” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Indie YA Paranormal Romance.

Serena’s Review: “Wind Daughter”

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Book: “Wind Daughter” by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Publishing Info: Page Street Publishing Co., January 2022

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

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

Book Description: In the dark, cold reaches of the north lives a storyteller and his daughter. He told his daughter, Satu, many stories–romances like the girl who loved a star and changed herself into a nightingale so she could always see him shining–but the most important story he told her was his own. This storyteller was once the formidable North Wind, but he lost his power by trading it away in exchange for mortality–he loved her mother too much to live without her. The loss of his magic impacted more than just their family, however, and now the world is unraveling in the wake of this imbalance.

To save the North, Satu embarks on a perilous journey to reclaim her father’s magic, but she isn’t the only one searching for it. In the snow-laden mountains, she finds herself in a deadly race with the Winter Lord who wants the North Wind’s destructive powers for himself.

Satu has the chance to be the heroine of her own fairy tale, only this one has an ending she never could have imagined.

Review: I knew there was a companion novel to “Echo North” when it came out. I admitted in my review for that book that it was this knowledge (importantly that this second book was coming out so soon!) that sparked me to finally pick up that book. It’s always the best when things work out so well. That you read one book hoping that it will lead to another. And then you love that first book and that other book’s publication date is right around the corner! No grueling, months-long wait. No niggling concerns that the author’s not up for the job. Just pure, unworried anticipation. And here we are!

Satu has always worried that something must be wrong with her. She simply feels too much, easily overwhelmed by the emotions of others and the proximity of larger crowds. But growing up with her parents on a lonely mountain, she has found her peace in the wildness of the snow and cliffs. But her father is no ordinary man. No, he was once the North Wind who gave up his magic for the love of a woman. But that magic didn’t simply disappear into the void, and now, without a person to wield it, that power is beginning to erode the world. So Satu must set out on a mission to quite literally save everyone and everything she knows. Along the way, she must evade the deadly Winter Lord who also wants her father’s magic for purposes of his own.

I was really excited to see that this was going to be Satu’s story. For one thing, I’m glad that it wasn’t a direct sequel of Echo’s story, as that seemed to end in a satisfying way and sequels to stories like that so often go wrong. Indeed, I was pleased to see Echo and her husband only briefly in this book. We got a quick look into their lives and how they ended up, but then we immediately moved on with Satu’s own story. Just now a previous main character should be treated in a companion novel like this. Beyond that, I was very intrigued by the version of the North Wind that we saw in the first book, so picking up his story as a driving force for this book was an excellent decision.

Satu was also a very distinct character from Echo. I will say, it took me a bit to warm up to her and to fully understand her character. As a person who has been called “sensitive” in a…less than complimentary….way before, I was easily able to see the type of character the author was going for. But on the other hand, Satu’s sensitivities are almost prohibitive for her leading a life alongside other people. She struggles to go to school or find work. In this way, I would say that her struggles are more than simply being sensitive and, instead, the author was also exploring the struggles of anxiety. As the story continued, I more fully understood Satu’s understanding of herself, her insecurities, and the very real role that her magical father’s influence has on her actual being. I loved how Satu is never “fixed,” but that she does go through a journey of self-realization and self-acceptance. And through this journey, she discovers the strengths that can be found in her own sensitivity.

I also really liked the magical elements and how it was both unique from the first book but also tied back to aspects of that story in important ways. There were a few moments when I worried that that first book might leak its way into this one in a manner that would undervalue the individual story that was being written here, but the author quickly side-stepped that concern. There was also, once again, a fairly major twist in the final fourth of the book that really turned the entire book on its head. It’s impressive for an author to catch me off guard in one book; truly amazing to pull it off twice!

There were, however, a couple of other twists that I could see coming a mile away and had a hard time not wanting to shake Satu over. But even these came with small twists and turns that allowed the eventual reveal to still feel satisfying when they came. I also enjoyed the romance. It doesn’t play out in the expected manner, but, again, through some of these twists and turns, the author managed to write a story that was both heart-filled and heart-wrenching.

While I think that I preferred Echo to Satu as a leading lady, I’ll say that the romance in this story left me on a happier note than the one if the first book. Either way, both stories were refreshing new fairytale fantasies, and fans of this subgenre are sure to enjoy each of them!

Rating 8: A lovely companion novel to “Echo North,” this book expands on the world introduced in that story and adds its own strong heroine to the mix!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Wind Daughter” is on this Goodreads list: YA Releases May 2022

Serena’s Review: “Blood and Moonlight”

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Book: “Blood and Moonlight” by Erin Beaty

Publishing Info: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: Rising above the city of Collis is the holy Sanctum. And watching over its spires is Catrin, an orphan girl with unique skills—for she alone can spot the building’s flaws in construction before they turn deadly.

But when Catrin witnesses a murderer escaping the scene of his crime, she’s pulled into the web of a dangerous man who will definitely strike again. Assigned to capture the culprit is the mysterious, brilliant, and enigmatic Simon, whose insights into the mind of a killer are frighteningly accurate.

As the grisly crimes continue, Catrin finds herself caught between murderer and detective while hiding her own secret—a supernatural sight granted by the moon, destined to make her an outcast, and the only thing that might save her and those she loves from becoming the next victims…

Review: This was definitely a cover lust request for me. I mean, that’s a lovely cover and will easily drive people to pick it up off the shelves. Reading the description, the story also sounded like an intriguing mix of YA fantasy and a murder mystery. All of the right elements were there but, alas, this book ultimately wasn’t for me. By that I mean, my dislike of it could really have come down to the fact that I wasn’t the target audience for this book. Some YA can read up to adult readers, but others are definitely written for a specific age group. So reviewers like me have to be careful when evaluating outside of the target audience. All that to say, take my rating and review with a grain of salt.

Growing up an orphan, Catrin has struggled to understand her place in the world or to find a family to replace the one lost to her. She does have a gift, however, the ability to see flaws in construction before they become dangerous. Through this gift, she sees a path forward for herself. But that straight track is interrupted when she witnesses a criminal fleeing the scene of a grisly murder. Now, alongside the mysterious Simon, a detective, Catrin finds herself caught up in a spree of crime, trying to catch a killer before he surely strikes again.

So, like I said at the start, this book wasn’t for me. I honestly struggled to read the entire thing and ended up skimming a decent portion of the last half. But before getting into the problems I had, I want to address the good things. I thought the magic system was interesting, with the moon playing a role in how people’s abilities worked. After being exposed to direct moonlight, for example, certain characters abilities were enhanced. This was an interesting concept and something I hadn’t run across before (other than the obvious werewolves, of course!).

Given the strength of the fantasy elements, I kind of wish the author had just stopped there (though that would have resulted in a totally different book, I guess). The mystery itself I felt was incredibly predictable. The moment the villain makes their way on to the page, it was clear they were behind it all. This made it all the more frustrating to see Catrin and the supposedly clever detective, Simon, struggle to put together the very, very obvious pieces of the puzzle. But, here, I may have been reading this mystery through the lens of an adult mystery reader. YA audiences may be totally satisfied with this aspect of the story.

I also struggled with the writing and characterization. The writing was very simplistic, and I struggled to fully immerse myself in the story. And Catrin was everything you’ve ever read a million times from YA fantasy protagonists. If anything, she was even a bit higher on the cringe level. I also never bought the romance; Simon seemed like he could do better, honestly. And I really don’t care for this type of angsty romance where the primary emotion it pulls from me is frustrating, wanting to just bang these two’s heads together (and not in a cute, kissing way.)

As I said, I struggled to even finish this book. After I realized that I had already solved the mystery and all that was left was the developing relationship between Simon and Catrin, I knew this wasn’t going to be for me. However, the simpler style of writing, this type of protagonist, and even the mystery itself may be completely satisfying for the target audience. It just wasn’t for me.

Rating 6: A miss all around with an unlikeable heroine and a mystery that revealed itself far too early in the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Blood and Moonlight” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Releases June 2022

Serena’s Review: “Blade of Secrets”

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

Book: “Blade of Secrets” by Tricia Levenseller

Publishing Info: Square Fish, June 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: Bookish First!

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

Book Description: Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power.

Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

Joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world’s known magics, Ziva and her sister set out on a quest to keep the sword safe until they can find a worthy wielder or a way to destroy it entirely.

Review: I don’t have great luck with the BookishFirst giveaways; I swear, I enter so many of them and rarely win! But I was happy when I was selected to receive this book, as the description sounds right up my alley. I never got around to reading the author’s other popular duology, starting with “Daughter of the Pirate Queen,” so I thought this would be a great opportunity to check out her work and see if it was a good fit.

With people, Ziva finds she can barely manage to get a few words out. But with metal, ah, there Ziva is in her element, creating masterpieces of workmanship, each weapon imbibed with a magical trait. With her sister running the front of her stop, Ziva sees a simple life ahead of her, saving up her money until she and her sister can retire in peace, far from the bustle of the city. But when Ziva creates a weapon that forces the truth from those it makes bleed, she finds herself privy to dangerous knowledge that forces her on the run, hoping to find safe hands for such a powerful weapon.

So, while I liked the general concept of the book, it ultimately didn’t quite work for me. First off, I found the writing incredibly simplistic. This style of writing can work for some stories (and for some YA audiences, alas I no longer fit in that category), but I think it’s a particularly hard style of writing to pair with fantasy. In fantasy books, there’s often some heavy lifting needed in the world-building and the fantastical elements, all things that require skillful, descriptive writing. Here, I couldn’t describe practically anything about the setting, magic, or much at all. Without being able to form a picture in my head of what world I was meant to be inhabiting, it was very challenging to feel connected to the book at all. It was also just boring to read, with a very repetitive “noun verb pronoun” pattern to every sentence.

I also found myself feeling let down on the character front. Ziva had a lot going for her, and heaven knows I always like a sister story, too! But right off the bat I began to struggle with this representation of a character living with social anxiety. Some of her panic attacks felt as if they were described point by point from a medical definition. Beyond that, instead of Ziva feeling like a fully realized character who happens to deal with social anxiety, it instead began to feel like her social anxiety was the entire point of her character. As if her social anxiety was all that made up her entire personality and being. I applaud what the author was trying to do, but I just don’t think it worked. It doesn’t help that I have also recently read another book, “Wind Daughter,” that features a character who struggles with anxiety, and I liked that depiction much better (review to come in July!)

I also didn’t find myself caring much about any of the relationships Ziva had formed. I usually love sisters stories, but this one felt overly familiar and didn’t seem to have much new to offer. The romance was also incredibly predictable. And, again, Ziva often mentioned in her inner dialogue that she struggles to say the right thing at the right moment, and yet, at all the important (or arguably, not even that important), she’s quick to sling out the perfect verbal quip.

So yeah, this was a very disappointing read for me. Really, nothing about it worked for me. Some of this, however, is definitely because I’m not in the right audience for this, as the shorter, more simple writing style is likely to appeal to a lot of actual YA readers. But I also don’t think it was a great example of a character living with social anxiety either. Fans of this author will probably like this, but other readers can probably find better reads with similar themes.

Rating 6: A bit of a disappointment, with lackluster worldbuilding and a rather flat main character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Blade of Secrets” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be Blacksmith/Mason/Builder Heroes.

Kate’s Review: “Never Coming Home”

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Book: “Never Coming Home” by Kate Williams

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, June 2022

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

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

Book Description: The beach read you have been dying for! When ten of America’s hottest teenage influencers are invited to an exclusive island resort, things are sure to get wild. But murder isn’t what anyone expected. Will anyone survive?

Everyone knows Unknown Island—it’s the world’s most exclusive destination. Think white sand beaches, turquoise seas, and luxury accommodations. Plus, it’s invite only, no one over twenty-one allowed, and it’s absolutely free. Who wouldn’t want to go?

After launching with a showstopping viral marketing campaign, the whole world is watching as the mysterious resort opens its doors to the First Ten, the ten elite influencers specifically chosen to be the first to experience everything Unknown Island has to offer. You know them. There’s the gamer, the beauty blogger, the rich girl, the superstar, the junior politician, the environmentalist, the DJ, the CEO, the chef, and the athlete.

What they don’t know is that they weren’t invited to Unknown Island for their following—they were invited for their secrets. Everyone is hiding a deadly one, and it looks like someone’s decided it’s payback time. Unknown Island isn’t a vacation, it’s a trap. And it’s beginning to look like the First Ten—no matter how influential—are never coming home.

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

I have various weaknesses in my entertainment, and one of those weaknesses is how I love to revel in schadenfreude of people who are kind of assholes. Especially if said assholes have influence and power and could stand to be knocked down a few pegs. I absolutely devoured both Fyre Festival documentaries and thoroughly enjoyed watching start up scam dramas like “The Dropout” and “WeCrashed”. So when I read about “Never Coming Home” by Kate Williams, and how it was taking a number of influencers, luring them to a remote island with a promise of luxury and a status resort, and then picking them off one by one because of their secrets, I was so interested. But once I started reading it, I realized that this wasn’t going to be what I wanted it to be. Which was super disappointing.

I’ll start with the positives. Namely, as someone who appreciates a good slasher movie with some creativity under its belt, “Never Coming Home” has some really gnarly kills. Why limit oneself to mere poisonings and moments that could be accidents when you could use bees (VERY “Sleepaway Camp”), or full on mutilation, or explosive bodily fluids out of various orifices (admittedly, I did not care for this one as it was way gross)? Williams clearly had a fun time thinking of nasty deaths for the various nasty players, and that I can and will tip my hat off to. And there is so much potential here. The whole concept of Influencers being taken to a Fyre Festival-esque hoax that is really a trap to pick each of them off is just SO tantalizing!

God DAMMIT I wanted this to rock SO BADLY! (source)

But now let’s talk about the negatives. Firstly, the characters. I know that there are definitely limitations on how much attention you can pay to each character in a “And Then There Were None” kind of story, since you have a big victim pool and only so many pages unless you want to go “War and Peace” in terms of length. But in “Never Coming Home”, I didn’t feel like I got to know anyone very well, and what we did see were very two dimensional and tropey characterizations for almost everyone. You had the cartoon villainy of a scheming CEO to the poor little princess rich girl to the superstar with more depth than people realize, and with maybe one or two exceptions, none of them stretched beyond their archetypes. No one was very likable or even fun to hate, and since they all get picked off one by one it felt like a slasher movie cast but without the suspense. Even a good slasher movie will give you something in SOME of the characters so that you have investment in them while others are just there to be meat sacks. This book didn’t give us much of that. I know that I’m absolutely not the target audience, but I would like to give teen readers a little more credit than this.

I also had a hard time suspending a lot of my disbelief when it came to some of these characters and their influencer, well, influence. They’re all under twenty but are wunderkinds in one way or another in ways that feel half baked. Be it the woman-centric email start up to the character who was listed as being a former Minneapolis City Council member on the ‘cast of characters’ reference page (and he’s under twenty?! IN WHAT WARD I ASK YOU? There’s been a LOT about the Minneapolis City Council and its dynamics and members in the news here in the Metro as of late and I just don’t believe this kid pulled a Ben Wyatt in MINNEAPOLIS), I couldn’t swallow it. I just couldn’t. Perhaps had they been aged up a bit it would have rang more true, but then it wouldn’t fit as a YA novel, I suppose.

And finally, I hate it when a book feels a need to just write the entire solution out instead of showing us the way. And “Never Coming Home” has an entire last section that does exactly that. It just spells out who the killer is, how they got away with it, and what their motivation was. I’m not saying that I needed a villain monologue or anything like that, but this is the second “And Then There Were None” retelling that did this. Given that I haven’t read “And Then There Were None” I could be missing something. Is that how the solution comes through in “And Then There Were None”? That could be more forgivable if so, but the problem is that it still feels like a great big info dump that brings the story’s pacing to a screeching halt.

“Never Coming Home” was a big ol’ let down. Again, I’m not the target audience so I very well may be missing the mark here, and it may go over better with others. But I was just disappointed by this one.

Rating 4: This just didn’t work for me. Between the underdeveloped characters and the overdone premise it failed to capture my interest.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Never Coming Home” isn’t on many Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “‘And Then There Were None’ Trope Novels”.

Kate’s Review: “Burn Down, Rise Up”


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Book: “Burn Down, Rise Up” by Vincent Tirado

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, May 2022

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

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

Book Description: Stranger Things meets Get Out in this Sapphic Horror debut from nonbinary, Afro-Latine author Vincent Tirado.

Mysterious disappearances.
An urban legend rumored to be responsible.
And one group of teens determined to save their city at any cost.

For over a year, the Bronx has been plagued by sudden disappearances that no one can explain. Sixteen-year-old Raquel does her best to ignore it. After all, the police only look for the white kids. But when her crush Charlize’s cousin goes missing, Raquel starts to pay attention—especially when her own mom comes down with a mysterious illness that seems linked to the disappearances.

Raquel and Charlize team up to investigate, but they soon discover that everything is tied to a terrifying urban legend called the Echo Game. The game is rumored to trap people in a sinister world underneath the city, and the rules are based on a particularly dark chapter in New York’s past. And if the friends want to save their home and everyone they love, they will have to play the game and destroy the evil at its heart—or die trying.

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

If I had a dollar for every moment I saw firsthand someone kvetch about the horror genre ‘becoming woke’ or other such nonsense, I don’t think I’d have a LOT of money, but it would be enough to buy me a nice dinner downtown. I do know that people have been complaining about how more and more horror stories seem to be bringing social issues into plots, but that’s just a dumb frustration because horror has always had its political and sociological angles, for better or for worse. I haven’t heard any such beef with Vicent Tirado’s new teen horror novel “Burn Down, Rise Up”, though I wouldn’t be shocked if it was out there. But the political and sociological possibilities in the horror genre are things that I am always on the look out for, so when read the description for this book I was VERY intrigued. This country has a lot to reckon with when it comes to racist policies and ideals, and putting some of those issues within The Bronx at the forefront WHILE mixing in a deadly Internet game horror story was too interesting to miss. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with a solid history lesson for readers of any age. “Burn Down, Rise Up” has that to be sure.

Given that I am a huge fan of Internet Creepypastas that have these urban legend game factors (such as The Elevator Game or Hide and Seek Alone), there was a lot to like about “Burn Down, Rise Up”. I thought that Tirado did their due diligence when it came to inventing an Internet urban legend game, with nods to real life inspirations while still feeling fairly unique and fresh. I liked the rules, I liked the eerie creepiness of the game itself, and I liked how Tirado worked history of racist policy, violence, and destruction of the Bronx into the game. It’s the history of the Bronx and the violence directed towards Black and Latine people that has the most horrors here, as the beings in this Echo are victims of the fires that plagued the Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s and were the result of redlining, inadequate infrastructure, slumlords, and other systemic oppression that made for a dangerous situation in which many buildings burned and many Black and brown people were displaced. Some of the creatures and ghouls that Raquel and her friends meet in The Echo are very clear representations of this, with many burned entities wandering around to a Slumlord antagonist to black mold-esque infections ravaging people beyond the Echo into our world. In terms of actual action and mythos of the Echo, I thought that those points were a bit underdeveloped, with the metaphors being really strong and interesting but the actual supernatural parts being undercooked. I also would have loved a bit more exploration into Raquel’s father’s connections and devotions to Santeria, and more exploration of her own psychic abilities.

As for the characters, I liked Raquel a lot, as she is trying to navigate a sick mother, a despondent friend/crush, and the conflict between her and her best friend Aaron as they both have a crush on Charlize (though he doesn’t know of her feelings). A lot of the obstacles and conflicts she faces of being a teenager, especially an Afro-Latine teenager at that, felt pretty well thought out. Whether it’s anxiety about her feelings for Charlize and whether they are reciprocated or the understandable skittishness of dealing with the NYPD as they investigate Charlize’s cousin Cisco’s disappearance, I knew Raquel as a character and understood her motivations and feelings in the moments of the plot. I was also very interested in one of the entities in the Echo that has been connecting with Raquel referred to as a Man in Corduroy, as while he is creepy and mysterious there is an intriguing essence to him through his dialogue and actions, a morally grey feel that I really liked. Everyone else was serviceable, though perhaps not as well rounded.

All in all, “Burn Down, Rise Up” had some good mythos and some well thought out connections to some dark and racist social history in the Bronx. I liked how Tirado examined this while showing how vibrant and close knit her characters, and the Bronx itself, are. A fun horror that I will definitely be recommending to teens.

Rating 7: A fun horror tale that takes Internet urban legends into politically conscious territory, though some of the supernatural elements are a bit underdeveloped.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Burn Down, Rise Up” is included on the Goodreads lists “YA Black Lives Matter”, and “Horror/Thriller Books by Black Authors”.

Serena’s Review: “Echo North”

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Book: “Echo North” by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Publishing Info: Page Street Publishing Co., January 2019

Where Did I Get this Book: from the library!

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

Book Description: Echo Alkaev’s safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf—the same creature who attacked her as a child. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: If she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realizes.

In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door. When centuries-old secrets unfold, Echo discovers a magical library full of books-turned-mirrors, and a young man named Hal who is trapped inside of them. As the year ticks by, the rooms begin to disappear, and Echo must solve the mystery of the wolf’s enchantment before her time is up, otherwise Echo, the wolf, and Hal will be lost forever.

Review: I’ve always loved the fairytale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” but for some reason, it’s one of those stories that has proven difficult to adapt and reimagine. I’ve read quite a few re-tellings over the years but have never found one that really clicked for me. But hope springs eternal, so I’ve had my eyes on this one for a bit. When I saw that there was a companion book coming out in May, I knew now was the time so that I’d have a chance to read that one, too, if I ended up liking it. Well, I have my ARC in hand for book two, so there’s your spoiler for what I thought of this book ultimately!

Echo believes her father is lost forever when he leaves home and doesn’t return for six months. So she is shocked to discover him one day in the woods, near death. More surprising still, he is guarded by a talking wolf who promises to save her father if Echo comes and lives with him for a year. She agrees and so starts a year filled with magical wonders and horrors, all found in a mysterious house within a hill. There, Echo grows closer and closer to the wolf and a mysterious man found in the magical library. But she strains against some of the magical rules of this realm, and when she breaks one near the end of her time, she begins an entirely new adventure.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve read a decent number of adaptations of this fairytale. One of the particular challenges of this story, I think, is the turn it takes about halfway through the tale. The heroine is instructed to never look at the face of the man who sleeps beside her every night. And then, of course, she does, and this is what sets off the second act of the story where she must travel north to battle the troll queen to save her love. So it’s a bit challenging to write a heroine who is doomed to make what seems like a really silly mistake. Of all the magical challenges that you see heroes/heroines tasked with in fairytales, simply not looking at someone at night is about as easy as it gets. And the reasoning for these heroines making this mistake is often weak and hard to recover from. But that’s one of the best things this book did!

Echo’s story is different than the classic tale in a few ways, and I don’t want to spoil them all here. But I do think the author did a much better job than her contemporaries have for providing Echo with a reason for making this mistake. It’s both understandable and doesn’t harm our perception of her going forward. Instead, it’s easy to understand making the exact same decision she does, given the circumstances of her year in the magical house and her connection with the wolf and mysterious man she meets in the library regularly.

The story also took a very surprising twist in the final third of the book. I don’t want to spoil it, so I can’t say much about it. But it was an aspect of the story that I didn’t see coming at all, and one that also managed to tie up a few loose ends that I had been wondering about previously. There was, however, another revelation that came about in this twist that I thought impacted the romance in a pretty negative way. The book works through Echo’s thoughts and feelings pretty well, but as a reader, I was less forgiving of the fall-out of this twist than she seemed to be. It left a kind of sour note in my mouth, all the more disappointing because it came right at the end as the story seemed to be ready to end on a super high note.

Overall, despite this last second reveal that I disliked, the book was an excellent retelling of this fairytale. Definitely the best one I’ve read so far (I’ll just scrub my mind of that last little bit). That being the case, I’m very excited to read the second book! We briefly meet the protagonist of that story here, and her situation seems just as compelling. Fans of fairytale retellings should definitely check this one out!

Rating 8: Despite a misstep at the end (a very subjective one, at that), the best “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” story I’ve read so far!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Echo North” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Polar Fantasy and East of the Sun and West of the Moon.