Books and Sensibility

AudioFile Magazine’s Picks of the Best YA Audiobooks for Spring Listening

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Spring is finally here and you can always count on an audiobook as a great little getaway, and AudioFile Magazine is here to help with their Best YA Audiobooks for Spring Listening. For more audiobook reviews, recommendations and blog posts and check out AudioFile Magazine.com or follow @AudioFileMag

STAMPED Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi

Read by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi [Intro.] | Earphones Award Winner

Jason Reynolds wrote and narrates this vital and compelling young adult remix of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From The Beginning. Even with such an intense subject, Reynolds writes and speaks directly to younger listeners in an engaging and open style. His rich voice and strong pacing make him especially good at emphasizing key points and carrying listeners through difficult concepts. Reynolds compels listeners to be critical thinkers and to take action.

FURIOUS THING by Jenny Downham

Read by Jenny Downham | Earphones Award Winner

Some authors excel at narrating their own work. Jenny Downham can be counted among them. Her latest teen novel features Lexi, a 15-year-old whose anger issues are coming to a head as she struggles for perfection, hoping to be accepted by her mother's demanding fiancé. In this haunting story, Lexi's frustrations with her shortcomings are realistically portrayed, both by the words on the page and by Downham's performance. Beautifully performed, this audiobook is certain to evoke deep emotions.

NIGHT SPINNER by Addie Thorley

Read by Natalie Naudus | Earphones Award Winner

Narrator Natalie Naudus delivers an emotionally engrossing performance in this Hunchback retelling with a magical twist. After losing control of her night-spinning powers and murdering an entire caravan, Enebish, maimed, with her powers blocked, and overwhelmed by guilt, eagerly agrees to an opportunity to capture a war criminal and to be reinstated as a warrior. Naudus's precise pacing escalates the intensity, and listeners will be captivated from start to finish.

SHADOWSHAPER LEGACY Shadowshaper Cypher, Book 3 by Daniel José Older

Read by Anika Noni Rose | Earphones Award Winner

Anika Noni Rose narrates the glorious conclusion to the epic Shadowshaper Cypher trilogy. Sierra and her Shadowshaper crew face danger from all sides now that the existing and emerging Houses know that the Deck of Worlds is in play. Rose imbues all of the evils that Sierra and her crew face—whether supernatural or banally human—with menace and just the touch of scorn they deserve.

A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope by Patrice Caldwell [Ed.]

Read by York Whitaker | Earphones Award Winner

Here, one of the foremost #ownvoices authors creates strong black heroines in tales of "black culture, strength, beauty, bravery, resistance, magic, and hope." York Whitaker's fluid narrations showcase the versatility of stories with settings that range from contemporary America to the Caribbean and that feature diverse characters. This magnificent collection embraces a range of racial, gender, and cultural issues.

THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH by Candace Fleming

Read by Kirsten Potter |Earphones Award Winner

From its opening, which features a chilling description of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's speech at an America First rally, Kirsten Potter expertly narrates this nonfiction. Following Lindbergh's life from his birth in Detroit and his childhood in Minnesota and Washington, DC, through his travels and the controversies surrounding him in adulthood, Potter delivers a strong, lively performance. An engaging story, both in content and in production, this work will keep both young and adult listeners thoroughly engaged.

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 20:08:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★★ | 9 hours 58 min. | G.P. Putnam's Son | Adult Fiction | Release Date: 12/31/19
2020 has been kind of a meh reading year for me so I decided to switch it up with some upmarket book club-y fiction.

This is one of those books where it’s better to go in with as little information as possible. Such a Fun Age starts with 25-year-old Emira, a Black girl living in Philadelphia, being racially profiled while babysitting a white child. The book then follows Emira as she tries to figure out how to become a “real adult” and her boss, Alix Chamberlain, who starts noticing Emira in a new way after the incident.

This book started off kind of slow but it steadily builds into this addictive, complicated narrative about privilege, race and class with a few plot twists and turns along the way. Reid’s writing is so carefully observed and veers into the humorous and even absurd.

I can see why Reese Witherspoon picked this for her book club because it is so discussion-worthy. I’ve found myself thinking about character motives and intentions long after I'd finished it. It has a satisfying ending but leaves you with some interesting questions.

I highly recommend this on audiobook. Narrator Nicole Lewis’ has this remarkable ability to code-switch between the Black and white characters. Literally, every voice she did sounded like a different character. This is her only audiobook and I have no idea how she's not doing all the books.

Protect The Prince by Jennifer Estep (Crown of Shards #2)

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Sat, 14 Mar 2020 19:56:00 +0000

Rating: ★★.5 | 12 hrs. 40 min. | Adult Fantasy | Harper Voyage | Release Date: 07/2/2019

*Kill the Queen Spoilers*

Last year, I had some nitpicks with Kill The Queen but overall I enjoyed watching Princess Everleigh Blair's journey from a low ranking royal to a fierce gladiator. But I found this sequel completely lackluster and kind of dull. It didn’t work for me at all and I know this opinion makes me a total black sheep.

In Protect The Prince, Everleigh is now queen of Bellona. She travels to Andvari to work out a peace treaty as Mortans, the people behind her family’s assassination, keep popping out of the woodwork to kill her. That’s it. That’s the entire plot. People keep trying to kill her.

I was just bored with it. There was no tension or interesting stakes. The tension between the characters turns on Everleigh lying to her close friends and allies Because Of Reasons--which is my least favorite thing.

I’m also not feeling the relationship between Everleigh and Lucas Sullivan, a bastard prince of Andvari. This man does next to nothing most of the book except brood. Everleigh's emotional relationship with every other character except Sullivan is so specific and well done. The way Everleigh talks and thinks about Paloma, her gladiator rival turned captain of her guard, reads like a more authentic romance...I’m just sayin'.

The author constantly describes rage as smelling like “hot jalapeno.” The phrase "hot jalapeno rage" is used multiple times, it took me out of the book and I just could not take it seriously.

While I would still rec the first book, I think I'm out on this series.

The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 16:04:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★ | 9 hours 44 min. | Viking | YA Fantasy | Release Date: 10/30/18

In this Italian inspired fantasy, we travel to the mountains of Vinalia and meet Teodora “Teo” Di Sangro, the second daughter of a high ranking family. Teo has a secret. She's a strega who uses her magic to turn the men who have wronged her family into objects. You know...like a straight-up serial killer.

Stregas are supposed to be things of the past but when tragedy strikes her family, Teo joins up with Cielo-- a mysterious orphaned strega who can change genders-- to teach her how to become a boy and take over as the Di Sangro family son.

Capetta is clearly doing some interesting work with Italian mythos and gender identity but overall I never connected with the stakes of the book. This story moves pretty fast and I wish we’d lingered a little bit to develop the relationships between the characters. There were so many people towards the end and I had no idea who most of them were or what their purpose was supposed to be.

The audiobook is narrated by Carlotta Brentan. She has a great voice for YA and her accent work was spot on. I demo-d a few other European inspired fantasy audiobooks and so many of the accents came off cartoonish. I was not all surprised to discover Brentan is from Italy Italian, it added a real authenticity to the narration.

Five Black Children’s Books For Young Bookworms

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 02:19:00 +0000

Jess and I bought our nephew his first book at two months old because you’re never too young to excited about books! We have a list of children books by Black authors that will make perfect additions to a burgeoning bookshelf.

King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

A kindergartener takes on his first day of school

Rocket Says Looks Up by Nathan Bryon, Illustrated by Dapo Adeola

A little astronaut-in-training just wants everyone to look up!

Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison

Illustrator Vashti Harrison’s newest book about Black men in history!

Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry Illustrated by Vashti Harrison

Based on the touching Academy Award-winning short film about a father doing his daughter’s natural hair for the first time.

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson Illustrated by Rafael López

a young girl builds relationships and expands her world

AudioFile Magazine’s Picks of the Best New YA Audiobooks For Winter Listening

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 20:57:00 +0000

We are teaming up with AudioFile Magazine, the place for audiobook reviews, narrator interviews and audiobookish content, to present AudioFile Magazine's Picks of the Best New YA Audiobooks for winter listening. This Earphones Award-winning list has fantasy, historical fiction, and long-awaited series finales.

CHILDREN OF VIRTUE AND VENGEANCE

by Tomi Adeyemi | Read by Bahni Turpin

Bahni Turpin exquisitely narrates the second book in this fantasy series, Legacy of Orïsha. Her steady pace and West African accent draw us into the story of Zélie, a Maji warrior, and Princess Amari-- both of whom fight against a monarchy that threatens to destroy the people of Orïsha. The listener is able to connect and sympathize with these two magical beings, even after they have made terrible decisions that produce violent consequences. They are relatable, overwhelmingly passionate, and humanly flawed. A riveting audiobook! Earphones Award Winner

ALL THE DAYS PAST, ALL THE DAYS TO COME

by Mildred D. Taylor | Read by Allyson Johnson

Both author Mildred Taylor and narrator Allyson Johnson fully meet expectations in concluding the Logan family saga, which began in 1975. Johnson warmly welcomes listeners as if inviting them to sit by the fire to hear this family story. The heroine of so many of the Logan books, Cassie, is 19 at the time of the Civil Rights movement. She leaves behind both her beloved land and the hateful prejudice of Mississippi when she moves north and then goes to California. But she discovers that prejudice exists everywhere. The drama of the plot and the depth of the characterizations ensure that this audiobook is unforgettable. Earphones Award Winner

FIREBORNE

by Rosaria Munda | Read by Christian Coulson, Candice Moll, Steve West

This dragon fantasy rife with political intrigue has three narrators. Christian Coulson portrays Leo, the last living member of the ousted ruling class, who is hiding in plain sight as Lee, a dragon rider who is competing for the coveted Firstrider position. Candice Moll voices Annie, another contender for Firstrider, whose family was murdered by Lee's father. Steve West's voice is stately and resonant as he delivers the flashback sequences that show Lee and Annie's shared childhood in an orphanage. Coulson's Lee and Moll's Annie are both very likable, and the narrators do an exceptional job expressing the characters' complex emotions as they begin to question the new meritocracy's harsh caste system. Earphones Award Winner.

DEATHLESS DIVIDE

by Justine Ireland | Read by Bahni Turpin, Jordan Cobb

Two narrators portray the dynamic relationship of the heroines in this compelling sequel to DREAD NATION. In an alternate history, zombies risen from Civil War battlefields are turning folks into undead across the country. Alternating chapters reveal the viewpoints of two African-American characters, both trained assassins who struggle to find their true identities. Themes of human experimentation and prejudice take a back seat to the tense action in this gripping audio. Earphones Award Winner

THE KING OF CROWS

by Libba Bray | Read by January LaVoy

Narrator January LaVoy returns for the final installment of Bray's Diviners series. The dead are rising, and only a band of supernaturally gifted people can stop them. There are more than 25 characters in this story, ranging from an African-American boy to an adult woman with a Russian accent, and the choice to leave it all to LaVoy was inspired as she needs no supporting cast. This is an audiobook one wishes would never end. Earphones Award Winner

Which audiobook are you excited for?

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 01:23:00 +0000

15 Hours 54 Minutes | Hachette Audio | YA Fantasy | 10/02/2018

There is just no way Laini Taylor brain works the way everyone else does. Her vibrant and expansive imagination allows her to dive into fantasy worlds that are beautiful, mystifying and devastating.

Muse of Nightmares seamlessly continues the story of Strange The Dreamer and unravels the horrifying truth behind the Godspawn and Mezarthum all while Lazlo and the people of Weep come face to face with the children who survived a horrific genocide. In a way, this book is also an origin story that spans worlds and decades.

I think this series worked well as a duology and I'm starting to really get behind wanting more. I mean there is a point where you could see where a third book could have easily been inserted because we are introduced to a new adversary whose sudden arrival instantly accelerated the story in kind of an awkward way but Taylor eventually evens it out

Like with the first book I found the references to genocide and rapes hard to read. This series and Daughter of Smoke and Bone exist. in the same universe and it feels like Taylor is still asking the same question about redemption and reconciliation after genocide and war. Also, both books feature mass rape and the commodification of children.

Taylor's story really crosses the divide between Young Adult and Adult fantasy. As a writer, she is invested in the lives and perspectives of her adult and teen characters alike.

Speaking of Smoke & Bone I liked the ending of this one a lot better if fit together and felt more…planned.

With all of that said I personally enjoyed how Taylor connects her worlds and hinted at future stories to come.

Where is the next book, please?

New Cover Who Dis 2020 : Illustrated Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 21:56:00 +0000

It's been a while since we've done one of these but we're in the age of illustrated covers and some of our faves are getting a whole new look

Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally

Old Cover New Cover

This cover changed before the release and it's a blink and you miss it type change. The playful models have been switched out for illustrated characters in similar poses. When the original cover was revealed the models were used in some of the marketing and honestly, the male model looked a bit too old for YA. I'm all for this new cover. Also, as Kat pointed out, the illustrated models change clothes showing the passage of time.

You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

Hardcover Paperback

Having read this book I'm partial to the hardcover, I think it captures the free-spirited nature of the young country singer heroine who lands a place on tour with country music's favorite bad boy. Brightly light stock photos with the colorful font used to be the status quo for YA romance covers but illustrated cover reign now and this one...IDK. Something about the faces looks a little rushed and there is no "flow" to the artwork. I will say the scene does tell you more about the book than the original does...unless you think that's a school bus instead of a tour bus.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Old Cover New Cover

This was one of the first books we talked about on the blog and it takes me back to 2012. The cover of Cinder was unique and the red shoe was iconic, but it didn't quite capture the rompy space adventures in the book. I like that the new cover kept the signature font and the mood of the artwork but, and this my personal opinion, I'm not a fan of the artistic style. It's very gritty, sharp and stylized in a way that looks more grim and dystopian than I think the story is. I will say I really like this trend of YA books having stepbacks ! (I'm looking at you, paperback Grisha series)

Hungry Hearts

Hardcover Paperback

This YA Anthology's hardcover is light, warm and cozy. The new cover is a little bolder and the hands give it a more communal feel. Something about it seems more fun. I like the details on the hands like the nail polish and rings. This is a situation where I like both covers equally but the paperback cover is a nice upgrade.

Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 10:30:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★★ | Macmillan | Contemporary | Release Date: 05/21/2019

After Brooklyn teenager and aspiring rapper Steph is shot to death, his two best friends and sister hatch a plan to give Steph the legacy he always dreamed of. They use his recordings to turn him into Brooklyn’s hottest rapper and unexpectedly uncover secrets to solve Steph’s murder.

This book takes place in 1998 and normally I side-eye YA authors writing books that take place in the ’90s because it feels like it’s pandering to adult readers of YA but in this book, it just works. The '90s setting feels essential to the story and not just like a nostalgia trip because it was such a significant time in hip-hop and Black culture.

Gatekeeping in the music industry was different back then and our characters have to hustle to produce and publicize Steph’s music. If this took place in modern time they’d just have a GoFundMe, upload the recording to SoundCloud and be done.

Each of our three protagonists gets their own separate plots and it felt like there wasn't as much follow through on the individual storylines which was kind of disappointing. particularly with Steph's sister who falls in with militant Black Nationalists. We never fully get into what is going on with her and I feel like it could have been a book on its own.

This is a full-cast audiobook and all of the narrators were new to me. My favorite was Nile Bullock because he actually sounded like a teen. He doesn’t do voices, which was a little confusing, but he easily and naturally navigates the 90’s New York slang. By comparison, Korey Jackson and Adam Lazarre-White sounded significantly older. Our sole female narrator, Adenrele Ojo, has a teen voice that sounded a little whiny and like she was always on the verge of tears. There are a few moments of rapping and singing in this book and I really wish they’d brought in someone... those sections just felt awkward.

In the acknowledgments, Jackson says this is a personal story for her because she was a teenager in Brooklyn during this time and pieces of her are weaved into book. I think her experience brings a refreshing authenticity to this YA about grief, music and what it means to be seen.

This book is also the perfect read-along with 2019’s other hip hop YA On The Come Up by Angie Thomas, they both say interesting things about the legacy of hip-hop and Black youth.

I….I think this book may have taught me how to play Spades….

Books and Sensibility By The Numbers 2019 !

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 21:12:00 +0000

It's that time of year where we crunch the numbers from the books we've reviewed on this blog in 2019. We keep track using a review tracking spreadsheet in Google Sheets and turn it into an infographic on Canva. This isn't indicative of all our reading because the romance blog has its own stats and there are books we've read that haven't been reviewed.

Genre Breakdown

33.9% YA Fantasy

28% YA Contemporary
7.5% Adult Fantasy

5.6% YA Mystery

5.6% YA Sci-Fi

3.7% Adult Fiction

3.7% Mystery Adult

1.8% Adult Non-Fiction

1.8% YA Non-Fiction

1.8% Adult Sci-Fi

1.8%YA Anthology

1.8% Horror

1.8% Dystopian

Diversity / Demographics

28% books written by POC authors

~ 45% books narrated by POC narrators

7% books featured characters with disability

46 books written by female authors

7 books written by male authors

1 written by a nonbinary author

Jess
Overall the stats are exactly what I expected, although things are a little skewed because I read the first five books in the Grisha Series (just couldn't get to King of Scars) which is why Macmillian is showing up as a popular publisher. I also think it's interesting that Scribd and Audible are neck and neck because there was a point where I was done with Scribd after having technical issues and a low selection. I'm glad I gave the app a second chance.

Kat
I compared this year to last year and there aren't too many differences. The SFF number is significantly higher than last year's 29% but like Jess, I read the Grisha series and Crooked Kingdom so those got counted twice.Our number of LGBQA protagonists went up 18% and I think as more books are published LGBTQ characters that number will only go up.

*Includes The Bellewether which is Contemporary with Historical elements.

10th Annual End of Year Book Survey !

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 21:32:00 +0000

I can't believe the Perpetual Page-Turner has been doing this for a decade! You can find the questions on her blog here. For this I'm also including books from this blog and my romance blog, Romance and Sensibility.

2019 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 60, which is a real record for me ! 28 were non-romance and 32 were romance novels/novellas
Number of Re-Reads: Just one. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I wanted to read the rest of the series and needed a refresher.
Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary Adult Romance

1. Best Book You Read In 2019?

I'm going to break it down:

Backlist YA: Jack of Hearts by LC Rosen

Frontlist YA: On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

Backlist Romance: Buns by Alice Clayton

Frontlist Romance: Well Met by Jen Deluca

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Whole Package by Marie Harte. Harte wrote two of my favorite romances of all time,but this one disappointed me. I am giving Harte's newest book a change though...

Honorable mention: I listened to the book Fluffy by Julia Kent purely because I heard a snippet of it on the Sound Bites podcast that sounded funny. I ended up hating it.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest. I was anticipating this book for a while and I was surprised how much I liked it. I usually have a hard time with YA romances. This is probably the best one I've read in recent years.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The only person I really push to read books is Jess and I pushed her to read Six of Crows. Our older brother is also (suddenly becoming) a reader and I think I'll rec the series to him too.

5. Best series you started in 2019? Best Sequel of 2019? Best Series Ender of 2019?

Best series started: The Crown of Shard series by Jennifer Estep

Best sequel: I didn't read a sequel that I liked

Best series ender: I didn't read a series ender that I liked

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?

Lucy Lennox is a new to me author who wrote King Me, a sexy art heist romance.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

This year I read two adult SFF novellas and I think of the two I liked This Is How You Lose The Time War best.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Jack of Hearts by LC Rosen, I just wanted to know who the stalker was!

9. Book You Read In 2019 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
I don't typically re-read but I can see myself re-reading This is How You Lose The Time War because I feel like it's a book that makes more sense the second time around.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?
I absolutely hated this book, but it has one of my favorite covers. It just really stands out:

11. Most memorable character of 2019?

Natalie Grayson in Cream of The Crop by Alice Clayton

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2019?

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal Eh-Mohtar

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2019?
I don't think I had one of those

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read?

The Grisha series. I had no idea how I've gone this long without getting spoiled.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?

I really like this passage from Suddenly One Summer between divorce lawyer Victoria Slade and her hero, journalist Ford Dixon because after the black moment the heroine does a "grovel" instead of the hero which is kind of subversive.

She lifted her chin. “Are you dating that woman who was with you in the elevator?”
Fuck that. All his frustration boiling to the surface, he took a step closer to her. She had no right to ask him that, not anymore. She had kicked him out of her life. “Would it make any difference if I was?” he asked sharply.
Victoria held her ground, peering up at him and taking a moment before answering. “No.”
His shoulders slumped.
Well. He’d asked.
“That’s what I thought,” he said tersely. He spun around and started walking toward his car.
“Because I’d fight for you anyway.”
He stopped.
His heart pounding, he turned around to face her.
She stepped toward him, speaking determinedly. “This was not supposed to happen. My whole adult life I have avoided exactly this happening. I had things all mapped out, I knew what I wanted, and I was set. But then you came along, and you messed up all of that, with your little quips, and your jaw that twitches when you get protective, and the way you somehow manage to always be so infuriatingly unfazed no matter what I throw at you. And now I’m stuck. I can’t get back to my old life and, even crazier, I don’t want my old life anymore.” She held his gaze. “Because that life doesn’t have you in it.”

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?

Shortest: A Tale of Two Cities by Alexandra Warren at 60 pages

Longest: It was a tie. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardguo and Mixtape: A Love Song anthology were both 536 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
I'm going to say Ruin and Rising. Because I read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom first I was sure I knew what was going to happen at the end of the books and I was wrong.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Dirk Falcon and King Wilde (I know, the names are peak romance hero names) in King Me by Lucy Lennox

Bonus: This is not canon but I totally ship Nena and Inej from Six of Crows

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
The friendship between all the couples in Alice Clayton's Hudson Valley series. I loved the scene when they were all running a marathon together.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Hmm... I read a lot of new to me authors this year. I did like both Alexandra Warren Tale of Two Cities novellas I read.

21. Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

Timekeeper by Tara Sim...I pretty much only read it because Eric Smith kept bringing it up on the Hey, YA. Podcast

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019?
Zavier Demons from Syncopation by Anna Zabo

23. Best 2019 debut you read?

Well Met by Jen Deluca

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
All of the timelines and worlds in This is How You Lose The Time War

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
The Hudson Valley series by Alice Clayton

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2019?
I didn't have one this year

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
I wouldn't necessarily call her a hidden gem but Alexandra Warren's Tale of Two Cities series is great for quick romance reads.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
I didn't really have one

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019?
This is How You Lose The Time War

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Queen of Nothing by Holly Black--mostly because it didn't go the way I wanted it to go.

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2019?

I got more into Booktube more this year. I just kind of leave it running in the background when I'm doing something. Some of my go to channels are:

Alexa Loves Books
Bookish Realm
Bree Hill

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2019?
My post about reading The Grisha series out of order

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2019:
I didn't really take too many photos

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)?
ApollyCon ! It was kind of overwhelming but I'm glad I went.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2019?
I don't have one, blogging has kind of taken a backseat for me so I'm just glad I can still do it.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
I think just the usual...feeling some burn out and going weeks without publishing anything.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
According to Blogger it is my Broken Things review ?

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
I don't have one.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
I've been using Libro.FM and it's a great way to support local indies and it has pretty much all the same features as Audible

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I always try to read more of the books I already have....I think I only got to two.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2019 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2020?
Midnight Beasties by Megan Shepherd...I wanted that book so badly last year and I never got to it!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2020 (non-debut)?
Now That I've Found You by Kristina Forest

3. 2020 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2020?
The Bride Bet by Tessa Dare

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2020?
I....I may try a booktube video or two

6. A 2020 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):
I haven't read any 2020 books

Our Top Five Books of The Year

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 06:01:00 +0000

Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

An action-packed space opera that follows a fugitive princess and an outlaw as they make daring escapes and planet hop while trying to end a dangerous trade war before it can begin.

Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

A heartbreaking romance that follows college grads Iris and August as they begin a journey that finds August shooting for his hoop dreams and Iris fighting for her life in an abusive relationship. Long Shot holds strongly to the spirit of a genre that guarantees an HEA even after the most tumultuous of storms.

The Beckoning Shadow by Katharyn Blair

Vesper, a former high school cheerleader with secret superhuman powers ditches her pom-poms for a pair of boxing gloves and the cage match of her life.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

Aspiring rapper Brianna "Bri" Jackson is ready to have her come up but injustice, poverty, and complicated family dynamics stand in her way. On The Come Up is an incisive contemporary take on teen issues and a love letter to the power of rap music.

Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts) by L.C. Rosen

In this modern and engaging take on the teen sex comedy, 17-year-old Jack Rothman starts a sex advice column for his school's website. He’s prepared for gossip and judgment but nothing prepares him for an anonymous stalker.

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:56:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★+.5 | 414 pages | Simon & Schuster | Historical Fiction| Release Date: 04/24/18

It's sort of fitting that I read this book at the end of the year because the end of this book was such a letdown.

Bellwether is a blend of historical and contemporary fiction revolving around the Wilde Family and their lasting legacy in small-town Millbank, NY

In present-day, Charley Van Hoek is the newest curator at the Wilde House Museum who discovers the Wilde house and the ghost within it have a story to tell about the forbidden love between daughter Lydia Wilde and Jean-Philippe--a captured French Candian Officer being held at the Wilde house during the Seven Years' War. The story goes that when the star-crossed lovers tried to escape together Jean-Philippe was shot and his lantern has been seen still lightning the way and looking for Lydia ever since.

We travel back in forth in time and the historical chapters reminded why I like historical fiction, I always find it fascinating how people lived off the land and worked in the "olden days." The Wildes are a close-knit and hardworking family-- this warmth draws Jean-Philippe to them even though he is a prisoner and there is a language barrier.

The present-day chapters were full of competency porn as Charley, her friends and colleagues use their skills to track down documents and artifacts to tell the story of Lydia and the Jean-Phillipe while turning Wilde House Museum into a community gathering place--which leads to some cozy small-town scenes.

I appreciate how Kearsley directly confronts slavery in the time period. It is discussed and debated multiple times and she even gives a voice to a slave family the Wilde's "saved" from an abusive relative. Although, I still feel like having “good” white character ignores that they are all complicit in the system.

This audiobook featured three narrators. Sarah Mollo-Christensen and Megan Tusing narrate Charley and Lydia's chapters sound very similar to one another. Tim Campbell narrates Jean-Philippe's chapters and he notably makes use of a very good French accent.

So, the ending. *spoiler alert* it’s revealed the story of Jean-Philippe and Lydia being star-crossed lovers and Jean-Philippe dying was fake news. An old French woman shows up and explains that the ghost story wasn’t true at all. Jean-Philippe was released under a technicality and then he and Lydia just...lived HEA. It felt like both timelines were hurtling towards the tragic event we are told about in present-day and then it's like...no. The story just fizzles out.

I mean there was this thread throughout the book about how one of the Wilde brothers with PTSD was left out of the family history and he was supposed to be the one who killed Jean-Phillipe...but no. IT JUST DIDN’T HAPPEN. It was a red herring and the ghost turns out not to be Jean-Philippe but Lydia’s mother who died before the book started??? Even the prologue alluded to his death but I guess this was supposed to be when he died of natural causes?

I'm intrigued by Kearsley's format enough to want to pick up another one, but I'm not sure I will if all of her books feature red herrings like this.

Serpent & Dove Shelby Mahurin

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 04:32:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★ | HarperTeen | Fantasy | Release Date: 09/03/2019

Okay, is it just me or is this one of those books in the YA book world that people either really love or really don't like? I feel like the other books series that fall into this category are Daughter of Smoke and Bone and The Raven Cycle. I like a polarizing book so I had to check this one out.

I started this having no idea what it was about, I just knew it was a YA fantasy and was stirring up some controversy. As I was reading (listening on audio) my interested was piqued as we enter Cesarine, an opulent city forged in a land once ruled by witches---who have been ruthlessly conquered by the religious and devout Le Blanc royal family.

For generations, witches have been forced into hiding or face death at the hands of the Chasseurs, witch executioners. So for Lou, a foul-mouthed impulsive young witch on the run, Cesarine is the last place she should be. When a public misstep forces her to marry Captian Reid Diggory a Chasseur officer, soon the man she fears the most becomes the only one she can trust

What I like is this is one of the books where we jump into the action at the start, then quickly watch Lou and Reid navigate their forced marriage of convenience. I never knew what to expect and liked that it didn't feel formulaic and wasn't just about a rebellion. Lou and Reed had individual journeys and goals they wanted to accomplish.

I am strictly middle of the road with this book. I'm not a big fan of forced marriage or enemies to lovers tropes. I can see how the taboo nature of their relationship might be appealing to some readers but not so much for me. I mean because Reid is a Chasseur, he has killed tons of women and girls because of his religious creed as Chasseur and this is something Lou has to accept about him? Not an appealing dynamic.

Now with that said I feel like there is a bit of a controversy with this book as it features a rather steamy sex scene for YA while they are two consenting people having a positive experience, I can see how younger teens may not want to read this.

I'm just actually really curious why this YA? The perspective felt like it could have been an adult fantasy novel. The characters are 18 but read much older, they are established in who they are and what they want. And I know when you are young a teenager a few years makes a big difference but they treated a 16-year-old character like he was much younger than them.

Readers looking for a darker YA romance with anti-heroes, snarky female characters, magic, and some witch related female-rage will enjoy the start to this unpredictable YA duology.

The Wicked King and Queen of Nothing Holly Black

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 21:27:00 +0000

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR BOTH BOOKS

In 2019 I swam back into the YA fantasy audiobooks waters and I’ve had a great time. When I listen to a good fantasy audiobook I just get transported into the author’s imagination and no series has done that more for me more than Holly Black’s Folk of The Air series.

That said, I wasn’t entirely on board with the direction this series took and that mostly came down to me not shipping Jude and Cardan as much as Black wanted me to.

In Wicked King, Jude has control of the crown but she’s working against time and once again finds herself in the middle of deadly power games, deceptions, and burgeoning war. Except for this time, there is some Undersea thrown in!

Much like with The Cruel Prince I was sucked in by Black’s prose and Caitlin Kelly’s lively performance on the audiobook. Black loves faeries (seriously...she even had her ears modified to points) and her enthusiasm shows in her writing. She lingers on descriptions of food, clothes and appearances and pulls every detail out of the scene.

But this book had some serious sophomore book syndrome. I was surprised when I was 58% into it and nothing had really happened. After reading Queen of Nothing, it’s clear to me Black was using this book to set up the plot twist at the end and the events of the next book.

This book also...turns up the heat a little bit.

I’m glad I waited to read Wicked King because after that cliffhanger I hoped right into Queen of Nothing. To steal a saying from NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour Podcast; this thing is on rails from page one. It reminded me of the last few seasons of the ABC show Once Upon A Time as the stakes and loyalties kept changing. Black’s plotting felt very episodic and at times...a little disjointed. While the snake thing was interesting it felt like it came out of nowhere.

I also wasn’t wild about Taryn’s plotline. It seemed like we had to go through the whole drawn-out marriage plotline just as a vehicle so they could switch places in book 3. I will say I really liked the portrayal of how Taryn fit herself into Jude’s new life. Taryn’s enjoyment of things like clothes and needlepoint weren’t treated as useless and she used those things to help Jude.

My problem with the end of this series is that Cardan’s HEA felt undeserved. I think Black tries to show in little ways that he had evolved beyond the cruel prince but it never came full circle. Especially after Jude had to give up so much to fight for her place. Black made us feel bad for him instead of showing him on an active journey to be better. This tweet sums up my thoughts about his redemption:

redemption arcs that end with the character committing one single heroic act to show they've changed aren't satisfying, they're reductive. the long & painful journey to morality has to be evidenced to outweigh the damage they've caused & even then they aren't owed forgiveness
— dov. (@dykeromanov) December 19, 2019

When Jess gets around to reading this book she’s going to be doing the I told you so dance because I was convinced Black was doing the Protagonist Journey to Villian thing with Jude and not writing a love story. I just don’t like them as a couple. I was definitely 2.5x the love scene because I wasn’t into it.

Also, my last nitpick, at the very end when they go to the mortal world the tone of the book just felt so different. I almost felt like I was reading fanfiction. I do still kind of like the series but overall it left me feeling kind of bitter.

Why is it that in every YA fantasy after you have sex you either die or something bad happens to you? This happens every time.

Also, when Cardan breaks the crown literally all I could think about was this

Tarnished Are The Stars by Rosiee Thor

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 28 Dec 2019 22:47:00 +0000

Tarnished Are The Stars is one of those rare standalone fantasy young adult novels--something I am always here for. In this futuristic Sci-fi tale three teens on opposite sides of the political spectrum of Earth Adjacent; a new Luddite Victorianesque planet settled after technology destroyed Earth. The queen rules from above in a space station where Eliza serves as the queen's personal spy, down below on Earth Adjacent the commissioner rules with one iron rule. No tech. a decree that stands even-while though his son Nathaniel's life depends on his illegal clockwork heart. Living on the outside is Anna Thatcher known as "The Mechanic" a young mechanic and tech smuggler living in a secret village where everyone needs a clockwork hearts to survive. Anna is an outlaw and when Nathaniel decides to prove himself to his father by capturing her Nathaniel finds himself mixed up in a rebellion that will reveal deep family secrets.

This book is an easy comp to the Cinder by Marissa Meyer because as the three teens are brought together by circumstance, they have an easy banter and humorous back and forth like the Lunar Chronicles, all while they lead a rebellion against space-dwelling overlords.

This book packs a lot and while I admire Thor's ability to tell a complete story and the representation of queer characters just having adventures; I feel like there wasn't time to get immersed in this world, plus the instalove (I know there was a whole conversation about this was on Book Twitter) was so instant it gave me whiplash. The books gets off to a solid start and while I was invested in the characters and their separate stories but it was once they converged that the pace suddenly took off. I'm just..not sure I 100% understood the ending and it felt like the story was working backward trying to explain the world.

I found Nathaniel to be a standout male protagonist I've read in a while. So many times in fantasy the male characters are these bastons to strength and decisiveness but he really had to go through it to come into his own, a role that is oftentimes delegated to female characters. Because this is a standaloneI'm excited to see what Thor does next.

Jackpot by Nic Stone

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 28 Dec 2019 00:11:00 +0000

I forgot to write a book review for this book and I read it so long ago; so please check out the audiobook review I wrote for AudioFile magazine! This was narrated by Nic Stone and I was blown away by her performance.

Listeners will find winning humor in this audiobook as narrator and author Nic Stone provides a flawless, upbeat performance. She gives voice to Rico and Zan--teenagers on a mission to find an unclaimed winning lottery ticket that could help Rico's struggling family. Stone taps into Rico's perseverance and strength as she tries to keep her family financially afloat. To track down the winning ticket, she reluctantly ropes in Zan, whose breezy laid-back tone reflects his privileged upbringing--opposites quickly attract! Listeners get the bonus of hearing the flirtatious back-and-forth between the teens, including Zan's capricious way of mispronouncing Rico's surname. Stone also brings a delightfully over-the-top performance to the inanimate objects that act as a Greek chorus.

Psst. Don't forget to check out AudioFile Magazine's website and podcast for more audiobook content.

In Search of Us by Ava Dellaria

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 22:44:00 +0000

Rating: Unrated | 384 Pages| Contemporary YA | | Release Date: 2/26/2019

Angie's family has always been her and her mother Marilyn. Their bond is unbreakable but when Angie finds evidence that there might be more to the death of the father she never knew; she sets off on a road trip to L.A with her estranged ex-boyfriend to where the story of her past began. Which is where Marilyn's story starts in 1998 Los Angeles.

One of the things that intrigued me about this book was the idea of telling a story of teenagers in two different decades. Angie's story focuses on her complicated relationship with her ex-boyfriend and her fear of love and commitment but the parts that stand out about her story are the ones that tied to her mother's. Marilyn's story had more weight to it as she and her mother find themselves relying on the charity of an alcoholic uncle after Marilyn's burgeoning acting/modeling career hits a standstill. Dellaria really digs into life as a teen in L.A with not much money, time to spare and big dreams. Marilyn has ambitions outside fame and finds a kindred spirit in James her Black teenage neighbor. It's illuminating going back and forth and watching how Marilyn's dreams and hopes for the future inform Angie's present.

With that said there is a reveal about Angie's father towards the end that *slight spoiler* has to do with Marilyn's racist uncle and police brutality that I wish could have been explored more. The trauma felt so focused on Marilyn and not on the Black family that was torn apart.

In Search of Us is a tidy short YA-novel with a unique structure but the ultimate tragedy in this book didn't quite get its full due.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 21:50:00 +0000

Rating: ★★.5 | 9 hours 54 minutes| Fantasy YA | Henry Holt & Co| Release Date: 09/27/2016

If Six of Crows was like a Victorian heist movie then Crooked Kingdom reads like the follow-up television series. Apart from coming off as more episodic, the characters get kind of flanderized, the plot is a little bloated leaving this big finale with some hits and misses.

After narrowly escaping the ice court this band of thieves has to pull one last heist---well it's actually a handful more cons and then a heist to set things right. Crooked Kingdom keeps its signature sardonic wit and rhythmic humor that makes the characters enduring while also taking a level in badass when necessary.

I've come down on being pretty "meh" on this book. I feel like the things that made Six of Crows unique weighed down this 500 plus page book, namely the flashbacks. The flashbacks in Six of Crows were a wonderful way of introducing readers to the characters by showing not telling (except for Wylan and Jesper who get their stories told in this book for some reason ? I felt like this should have been in the first book so we understood their motivations) but here it just felt like padding.

Again, I sort of feel like the magical system in this book is still not there for me. I've read five Grisha books and if you told me the abilities a Grisha had I would not be able to tell you which Grisha order they were in. Someone, please tell me what is the difference between a Healer and Heartrender?

I'm going to get really 2019 here and say I didn't love some of the race stuff in this book. For one the fact that Wylan spends more than half the book as Kuwei felt like magical brownface to me. It was hardly central to the plot and I think if you're going to have a privileged white character become a highly othered minority then maybe focus more on the impact of that. There were a few throwaway lines but overall it wasn't even that central to the plot *Spoiler* especially considering he gets put back in the end. Also, I got real tired of Kaz reminding Jesper and Wylan (as Kuwie) that they would stick out in certain places. I mean JESPER knows. He doesn't need you to tell him.

I feel like we were introduced to several villains and antagonists, so much so that not one of them really shined. Inej was giving a pretty compelling adversary who I wished would have shown up earlier in the books. I'm pretty sure some of this was to set up for King of Scars.

Overall, I thought the book was okay, a must-read for fans of the characters but I found myself missing the solid focus and plotting of Six of Crows.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 13:19:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★+.5 | 201 pages | Saga Press | Adult Science Fiction | 7/16/2019

In recent years I’ve been picking up more adult sci-fi. I’ve seen This Is How You Lose The Time War all over the bookternet. The idea of two soldiers on opposite sides of war falling in love intrigued me and when I saw this on the shelf at my library I picked it up.

I’m going to steal the character descriptions from the book jacket because it’s kind of hard for me to describe them. Our two soldiers are Red, who belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia; and Blue who belongs to Garden, a vast consciousness embedded in all organic material.

The two soldiers exist in the far future and travel up and down the braid of time to sway past events to win the war. They’ve only caught glimpses of each other over the long years of the war, but when Blue leaves a message for Red they start a relationship that could put them both in danger.

I found the story and concept captivating and imaginative. This is a majority epistolatory novel(lla?) and all the ways El-Mohtar and Gladstone create for Red and Blue to send secret letters are so inventive. But I’ll be honest, I had a tough time reading this book. The language is very literary in a way I’m not used to so I was constantly re-reading paragraphs to unlock the meanings. I think this is book that definitely holds up to re-reads and examination

I did part of it on audio and the narrators Cynthia Ferrell and Emily Woo Zeller sounded so similar that I couldn’t always tell whose “voice” was reading the letters and it kept throwing me off. I didn’t feel like they brought anything to the performances and I almost think this works better not on audio.

El-Mohtar and Gladstone have cooked up a fascinating, creative story about love, war, and fate.

In some ways, this book felt like a much more modern send-up of Good Omens, another book penned by a SFF writing duo about two beings on opposite sides of war to control the future. Except in this book the same gendered characters get a romantic relationship.

Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chein (A Noodle Shop Mystery #1)

noreply@blogger.com (Kat C @ Books and Sensibility) — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:26:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★ | 328 pages | St. Martin's Press | Cozy Mystery | 3/27/2018

I really don’t know how to review a cozy mystery. I picked this book up because I was in the mood for something different and I like seeing authors of color in spaces that have been traditionally very homogeneous.

Death by Dumpling felt very much like an origin story as we are introduced to Asia Village--a quaint Asian shopping center in Ohio---and Lana Lee, our 27- year-old half-English half-Tawainese protagonist. Lana is working at her family’s restaurant in Asia Village after quitting her corporate job and when she delivers the dumpling that kills the owner of Asia Village, she reluctantly joins the case to find the true murderer.

I found Chien’s breezy first-person writing enjoyable as we met the residents of Asia Village and Detective Trudeau--who I think plays a significant role in other books. The book fell a little flat for me but I’m curious to read the next book.

Crier's War by Nina Vareela

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 02:58:00 +0000

Automae are alchemically created "Made" humans designed to serve as humanoid companions and servants. They were not supposed to rise up, they were not supposed to conquer humanity...but they did. It's been nearly fifty years and The Age of Automae is still on the rise, but a human rebellion is on the horizon.

The world created in Nin Vareela's Crier's War is a twist on the uncanny valley and robot apocalypse. The highly detailed world-building and the mythology was one of the best parts of the book, but this book hinges so hard on what felt like a lukewarm forbidden romance between Crier, an Automae noble and Ayla a vengeful human girl working in secret for the resistance and motivated only by her need to kill Crier.

Crier's War has a promising start as Ayla and Crier have an accidental run-in where Ayla witnesses Crier...cry, something Automae are not supposed to do. As Crier finds herself experiencing new emotions she decides to keep Ayla close by making her her handmaid. But the more time Crier spends with Ayla the more she begins to feel the one thing Automae aren't supposed to have; passion.

This could have been so compelling, but in a book that is about forbidden emotions ALL of the emotions felt a little muted.

There is a lot of telling not showing, I feel like the characters don't get a chance to really form a relationship There are a handful of moments where we as the reader are shown the two getting closer but it felt sequestered to just those moments. I think I wanted more of the day-to-day watching how Ayla takes on the trusted and intimate role of Crier's handmaiden when she wants to kill her.

We don't get to see them discover and face obstacles together and whenever conflict arises, instead of showing them dealing with it together, the plot quickly separates them. For example, there is a scene where Crier discovers that a forbidden Made (read: magical) object Ayla wears holds memories that are important to the history of Automae. When Crier discovers this, instead of seeing the characters deal with this revelation together; Ayla is quickly hauled away and the fact that MAJOR WORLD BUILDING SECRETS are contained in the necklace gets put in the background until later?

I really liked the potential of Crier, she is a political-minded character but there wasn't much focus on that part. Instead, a big part of Crier's character development is that she doesn't understand how relationships work (Automae don't have emotional relationships) but she wants to make Ayla happy so she gives her special treatment not realizing this would alienate her from the other human staff. But considering Crier is like a genius political prodigy wouldn't she realize that wasn't a good idea? I mean wouldn't politicking prepare you for that?

There are also a lot of folk tales in the book. The characters use fables or stories to help illustrate points and I feel like these could have been taken out so we could focus more on the relationship.

I think one of the disconnects in the book and what a Fantasy needs is a good adversary and I honestly couldn't tell if the villain was the villain because it was done so subtly. Crier is engaged to Scyre Kinok, an ambitious Automae who wants Automae to create a culture outside of humanity. He is a very passive villain. All of the characters literally just sort of allude to the shady activities Scyre has been up to, but the whole time I sort of thought it was setting up that he wasn't the villain . . . but I guess he was ?

I really wanted to like this one. It has such good world-building and a great premise but I felt like the characters weren't put together in a compelling way. I liked that this was a story full of female characters in the forefront. This book was comped a lot fo The Winner's Curse which gave me the same unfulfilled vibes.

Spoiler

We are lead to believe that Crier has a fifth pillar of passion and that's why she is able to cry and why she is falling for Ayla. But then at the end, it's revealed that it was a lie. And I get it if it's like Crier's could love "all along" but then WHY COULD SHE CRY?

And like her name is Crier so I thought perhaps when her father Made named her Crier because of this but no, she's not special at all. Also, there is a mad Queen who comes to visit and it's revealed that she is in love with Ayla's brother (who she thought had died) and Crier is aware of this so it seems like Autome falling in love isn't that rare?

End of The Year Mini Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Picture Us In The Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Picture Us in the Light is a quiet contemporary YA that explores the microscopic world of first-generation American Danny Cheng and his idyllic Cupertino suburb. Danny is an aspiring artist and with his supportive best friends and parents he is ready to take on senior year and head to RISD. It should all be perfect but his life begins to fall apart around him when he discovers his parents and the life they built for him aren't what they seem.

This book slowly reveals all it's secrets--some which are more predictable than others--as Danny goes searching for the secrets and sacrifices his parents made to give him a future. I liked how in this book Danny and his classmates truly care and support each other. As a reader, you are instantly transported into the enclosed world of Cupertino that Danny is now struggling to hold on to. - Jess

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I read this very early this year and forgot to write a review! Celeste Ng's sophomore novel takes readers inside the fishbowl of the upper-middle-class town of Shaker Heights, Ohio where the presence of a single mother and nomadic artist Mia Warren and her teenage daughter sets the seemingly perfect Richardson family on edge. The Richardson teens are enthralled by the non-traditional Warren family and I personally like books that are not YA, but are about younger characters. I feel like the perspective is more reflective and there is less of a need for the characters to be earnest.

The only thing I knew for sure in this book is that it features a custody battle between a mother who abandoned her baby and the wealthy family trying to adopt her, but that's really just one of the many weaving plots in this atmospheric book. ★★★★ - Jess

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Told in a mix of first-person narration and podcast transcripts, Sadie is the story of the titular 19-year-old Sadie Hunter as she sets out on a journey to avenge her 13-year-old sister’s brutal murder. Summers crafts a propulsive and heartbreaking narrative that interrogates the narratives we have about missing girls. The perspective of an NPR-like podcast following in Sadie’s footsteps was a unique addition and the full cast audiobook adds a radio play quality to the audiobook.

Unpopular opinion: While I think this book is good, I think it’s an example of a book that is marketed as YA but doesn’t feel at all like YA. It’s not so much the subject matter but the perspective feels like this could have easily been an adult novel. In fact the cover blurb is by adult thriller author AJ Finn (who...has his own stranger than fiction story) ★★★★- Kat

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine is a book that defies categorization as Alaine, an aspiring journalist and daughter of one of the biggest Black women in broadcasting, (read: Joy-Ann Ried or Melissa Harris-Perry ) begins a project to follow the history of her Haitian family. Told in diary entries, e-mails, letters and text this book takes some deeply emotional turns and dives into the complications of mother-daughter relationships and unspoken family history--with a touch of magical realism.

Right out of the gate Alaine is an extroverted over-confident character with a story to tell, I always enjoy seeing extroverted female characters in YA, her confidence is somewhat well earned as she is the daughter of a psychologist and famous talk show host--who hails from Haitian royalty. When a tragic diagnosis puts her mother's career in jeopardy she and Alaine head down to Haiti, where Alaine becomes wrapped up in the possibility of setting her family free from a curse that has followed them for centuries.

We get to follow Alaine as she meets her extended family, learns about her parent's roots while also working for her aunt's start-up where she has a slight romance that I kind of could have done without, it felt like it had been placed in last minute.

This book actually strikes a pretty sweeping emotional turn and I was sort of surprised by the dark and somber turn this book took as we learn about secrets of Alaine's mother's past and how it all comes back to the present. It is interesting seeing Alaine, who is used to being decisive and loud, have to listen and really consider his actions as she starts looking into the curse.

This debut novel is a surprising look at how deep roots of a family tree are and the ever change tides of mother-daughter relationships.

Because of the bright colors on the cover and Alaine's spunky attitude, I thought this was going to be a bright, funny summer read. I mean hate to complain but I truly feel like this book does not have an appropriate cover. I liked this cover but it looks a lot like Terry McMillian's last book cover. I think it's something about the shades and lipstick that looks very...adult.

20 Books We Can't Wait To Read In 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 21:28:00 +0000

It's that time of the year again! Jess and I have scoured lists and publishing announcements to give you 20 of the books we can't wait to read in 2020. You can add them to your to-read shelf from our Goodreads list

1. Displaced by Alyssa Cole
Beloved romance author Alyssa Cole is dipping her ink into the thriller genre! There isn't much out about this book out except that it is Rear Window meets Get Out. - Kat

2. Well Played by Jen DeLuca
Well Met was one of my favorite romances of 2019 and I can't wait to see what DeLuca has in store for Willow Creek's other tavern wench! - Kat

JANUARY

3. A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison 1/7/2020

Wealthy golden girl Nandy Smith fights her attraction to the boy from the wrong side of the tracks when he moves in with her family. 2020 will be a banner year for Black teen romances! - Kat

4. Then, Now, Always by Mona Shroff 1/28/2020

This second chance romance features an estranged hero and heroine coming together to help their teenage daughter. - Jess

FEBRUARY

5. Of Curses and Kisses Of Curses and Kisses Sandhya Menon 2/18/2020
I enjoyed Menon's debut and Of Curses and Kisses is a Beauty and The Beast retelling where teens from two opposing families attend the same boarding school. - Jess

6. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel 2/15/2020

Station Eleven was one of my favorite reads when it first came out and I can't wait to read her latest. - Kat

7. The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves 2/11/2020
Aceves debut was so nuanced and quiet that I didn't think we'd hear from him again, but I'm glad to see he has another book out this one tackling steroid abuse and male body image disorders. - Jess

MARCH

8. The Kingdom Of Back by Marie Lu 3/3/2020
I haven't read the blurb for this but we are big Lu fans around here so we are up for whatever she does next. - Jess

9. Only Black Girls In Town By Brandy Colbert 3/24/2020
Brandy Colbert's YA books are a favorite on this blog! She writes the kinds of books I would have loved as a teen and I'm excited to see what she does with her debut middle grade. Also shout out to her other 2020 book, The Voting Booth - Kat

10. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Mass 3/5/2020
I haven't gotten around to reading Mass' YA series but I'm really curious to see what her adult fiction will be like - Jess

11. The City We Became by N.K Jemisin 3/24/2020
In this new series from Hugo Award-winning author N.K Jemison, 5 strangers come together to defend New York City. I'm still working through her high fantasy series but I have a feeling her urban fantasy may be more up my sleeve. - Jess

APRIL

12. Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova 4/28 2020
In this Spanish Inquisition inspired fantasy a girl who can steal memories becomes wrapped up in royal politics. - Kat

MAY

13. Running by Natalia Sylvester 5/5/2020
There's been a spotlight on political activism and advocacy these past few years and I'm curious the perspective of this book about a teenage girl watching her Cuban-American father run for president. - Jess

14. Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha 5/12/2020
Indie authors Kit Rocha make their jump to traditional publishing with this trilogy about mercenary librarians and super soldiers in a post-apocalyptic America. As you do. - Kat

15. Camp - LC Rosen 5/26/2020
Rosen's debut contemporary Jack of Hearts was such a groundbreaking portrayal of teens and sexuality and I can't wait to see what he does in this comedy about teens at a queer summer camp and toxic masculinity. - Kat

JUNE
16. You Should See Me in A Crown by Leah Johnson 6/2/2020
In Leah Johnson's debut novel a girl who never felt like she belonged in the spotlight runs for prom queen to win a scholarship...and falls for the competition. -Kat

17. Now That I've Found You by Kristina Forest 6/2/2020
I loved Forest's debut and her sophomore novel about a disgraced starlet and delivery boy on an adventure through New York City sounds great. - Kat

JULY

18. A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee 7/14/2020
A Korean-American baker falls for a jaded food critic who gave her a bad review. Also, lol this cover just tickles me! - Kat

19. Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda 7/28/2020
I really want to read more under the radar YA Fantasy and this re-telling of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai sounds fun. - Kat

AUGUST

20. The Bride Bet by Tessa Dare 8/15/2020
This is pretty much the only historical romance series I'm keeping up with and as long as there are books in this series they will be on this list. I feel like we haven't gotten much about Nicola and I can't wait to see what Dare has in store for her. - Kat