In the quaint town of Simpleville, Samson is secretly in love with his best friend Millie. But when a charming traveler named Walter Melone arrives, Millie finds herself torn between two loves. One day, Walter suddenly disappears, and Millie embarks on a dangerous journey to find him, only to discover a shocking truth. Will Millie follow her heart or change the course of history? Dive into this thrilling story filled with love, passion, and smoothies that will leave you thirsty for more.
The Good
🍉Quarks of story – This story is weird and absurd after a while you have to realize it is not serious so much so in fact it is silly.
The people of Simpleton do not know what a car is…
🍉Reader is kept in suspense on who is going be chosen as love interest
🍉World is interesting – not only do you get to experience Simpleton but also a bit of world outside Simpleton.
🍉Plays with genre in way that is entertaining
The Bad
🍉Story can feel all over the place and disjointed at times
🍉Is there an editing issue? There are repeated parts in last chapter. In general, it can feel at times like when you let a robot read portions of document to you.
🍉Was enough time spent on love triangle or different conflicts?
The Meh
🍉Did the story copout on the ending?
Thoughts
🍉On one hand showcases why we very much need humans writing, editing, and generally behind the scenes in creation of books.
🍉Temper your expectations of technology
(image and synopsis from amazon.com)
I won this A Summer Fling to the X-treme from Smoothie King
Brielle Adebayo is fully content teaching at a New York City public school and taking annual summer vacations with her mother to Martha’s Vineyard. But everything changes when her mom drops the mother of all bombshells–Brielle is a princess in the kingdom of Ọlọrọ Ilé, Africa, and she must immediately assume her royal position, since the health of her grandfather, King Tiwa Jimoh Adebayo, is failing.
Distraught by her mother’s betrayal, Brielle is further left spinning when the Ọlọrọ Ilé Royal Council brings up an old edict that states she must marry before assuming the throne or the crown will be passed to another. Uncertain who to choose from the council’s list of bachelors, she struggles with the decision along with the weight of her new role in a new country. With her world totally shaken, she must take a chance on love and brave the perils a wrong decision may bring.
The Good
💍Faith and having relationship with God as a constant in the story was thought provoking – makes me realize how absent faith & religion is to many stories.
💍Lore of the world
💍Representation of God and Godly vision was interesting.
💍The different conflicts
💍Bachelorette-esque meeting of the romantic options was fun
The Bad
💍The story…
~Could have done more in terms of conflicts?
~Can feel low stakes at times
~Skips interesting events- kings death, wedding, romantic build up (we really do not get to see them bond & the love interest is eh)
~Does not sit with the characters enough – so villain(s) reveal could have been better.
The Meh
💍Does the story work better as a contemporary more than a romance?
Thoughts
💍Faith & romance – interesting reading this with the increase of open door/spicy romances
💍How does religion effect the story? The pace? The stakes? The romance?
💍Did religion/faith step in the way of fully sitting with conflicts? (This is not to put down the presence of faith in the story)
💍Trope of the American coming in fixing Africa with their advanced American ways can be messy
💍Does the story lowkey talk down the kingdom of Ọlọrọ? Is the king a good king if he cannot buy folks bibles?
(cover and synopsis are from goodreads)
my book club won this from Bethany House Publishers
When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another–both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.
“We didn’t call the police right away.” Those are the first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean-American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing.
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything–which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, race, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another.
The Good
A. Like many other reviewers have said this story is more about themes/messages than mystery which once you know what the story is doing, I think it is fine.
B. Messages: Heavy (in good way) conversations on ableism, racism, sibling issues, family issues, some philosophy of happiness, xenophobia, and more
The Bad
Does it feel like things happen just so there can be a conversation on topic?
Sometimes it can be #message aka heavy handed.
Was the story too long?
The Meh
A. The mystery
B. The mystery aka dad disappearance is more about being vehicle for messages than a straight up mystery.
C. The philosophical and message focus of story bogs down typical flow of a mystery? On the other hand, there is good things to be taken from this story.
Thoughts
A. Not to say the main character was not annoying but it is interesting having folks keep putting her down because of her personality to prop up others.
B. She be overthinking/pessimistic but she did have points that people easily dismissed at times.
New York Times Bestseller | Good Morning America Book Club Pick
What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?
After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.
But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast “Listen for the Lie,” and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.
The truth is out there, if we just listen.
The Good
A. Different perspectives were interesting.
B. How everything went down with who killed Savvy – enjoyed.
The Bad
A. I do not like any of the characters.
B. Did not connect with the humor.
C. Lucy was annoying (corny?) with her, I want folks’ uncomfortable bit.
D. Felt like we were getting the run around at times.
The Meh
Is this book too long?
Thoughts
We are supposed to find rude behavior admirable in women that we do not like in men.
Is every thriller gonna be men = bad?
Story is not structured around who would want to kill Savvy.
(cover and synopsis from Celadon Books website)
I received Listen for the Lie from Celadon Books for review
Drawn from the author’s own childhood like New Kid , this contemporary graphic novel paints a picture of an aspiring young artist on a mission to prove that the arts are worth fighting for.
Dale Donavan has heard the same lecture over and over Art will get you nowhere in life. A kid with a creative streak, Dale wants nothing more than to doodle, play video games, and create comics forever—maybe even as a full-time job one day. But between his grandfather pushing him to focus on his studies and a school with zero interest in funding arts programs, Dale feels like his future has already been decided for him.
That is, until he comes up with the perfect What if he starts an after-school art club, gathers a team of creative students like himself, and proves all the naysayers—his stubborn vice principal in particular—wrong?
This might just work, but if the club isn’t financially successful by the end of the semester, the school with shut them down. This may be Dale’s only chance to show the adults in his life that a career as an artist is not just a dream but a possibility!
The Good
I. Art (it is not finalized so subject to change):
Fits the target audience
Colorfulness
Some of the moments that stood out to me was the facial expressions and movements of characters- it felt fun. Also, I liked the shimmer of when they were in FFZ Online.
II. Art Conversation
A. Art vs Career: Does your art need to be at all financially beneficial for you? How are you going to make it monetarily beneficial if that is what you want is dealt with in the story. There are specific moments talking about keeping clients and your personal vision for a project.
B. Artistic process: Talks about different aspects of art, asks what type of art is for you, deals with different art forms, refining art (its process just like other forms of work), and more.
C. There were so many thoughts I had while reading this book (I talk about it in thoughts section) that makes me think this will be good read across age ranges (specifically adults in schools, parents, its target audience, artists, those considering artistic field).
III. Characters
Successfully managing different backstories, personalities, and character arcs of multiple characters.
There were a lot of really good moments but the “Not all of us are cut out to be scientists or engineers”(qoute subject to change because this is an arc) stood probably was my favorite.
Overall, I think the things tackled by the book was done in a way that I felt fit the target audience.
Thoughts
A. I wonder how millennial and younger generations are going to be as parents/grandparents. What knowledge are they going to pass down to generations behind them?
B. Art questions/thoughts: Is art and creativity put to the backburner? What does that mean for children seeing/being told it’s frivolous? Everything has to be financially viable, or it’s not worth doing/learning? What does that mean for the advancement/future of the arts? Do people come into the arts seeing it as easy and not needing work that other careers need?
C. Miscellaneous: Did the vice principal have his dream killed- it felt personal? To be fair to him preparing children for future is his job.
-I wonder about the adults who were apart of the art club that got disbanded by vice principal. What are their lives like now?
Obsession. Intrigue. Revenge. Whose secrets are you keeping? And why?
A woman falls to her death from a London bank’s twenty-fifth-floor roof terrace.
You’re arrested for her murder.
You tell the police that you had only met the victim the previous night at your office party. She was threatening to jump from the roof, but you had talked her down.
You’ve got nothing to do with this tragedy.You’re clearly being framed.
So why do the police keep picking holes in your story? Even your lawyer doesn’t seem to believe you.
It soon becomes obvious that you’re keeping secrets.
But who are you trying to protect? And why?
Obsession. Intrigue. Revenge.
The Good
Incredible job with the mystery
A. Set up/build up of mystery
B. Perception is played with well
C. Kept me as a reader guessing and on my toes
D. Pacing on point -knowing when to introduce things and keep up the suspense.
E. Presence of the lawyer added to story
F. I felt the authors legal expertise in areas of the story.
The Bad/Meh
The we got the motive portion was not as fun (no spoilers but of course it would not be) as the build up.
Overall, I did not have a lot to say but the biggest compliment is seeing post it notes throughout the entire book- of me guessing or just simply being into the story. I would definitely check out other mysteries from this author.
Graphic novel superstars Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham join forces in this heartwarming rom-com about fate, family, and falling in love.
Val is ready to give up on love. It’s led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she’s pretty sure she’s cursed—no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love.
But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever?
The Pros
🐉This reads like a young adult novel – so there is crossover appeal for readers to get into ya from comics.
🐉Art- smooth, visuals, use of color in background (my favorite designs were probably St. Valentine and the dragons in motion)
🐉Twists (that first one A++)
🐉Fantasy/mythology of world
🐉Messages that did not feel heavy handed- love, forgiveness, trauma, optimism and the transition to cynicism from kid to teen, and etc
🐉Family representation- there were many different families present in the story.
🐉Asian community
🐉Characters- their different personalities and histories.
🐉Actually let blowouts happen
Thoughts
This would be perfect to read for Valentines Day since it is about love and centers St. Valentine.
I did not expect this to physically big as it is (almost 400 pgs) that might have crossover appeal to readers not used to larger books
On the verge of summer before his senior year, Jay is a soft soul in a world of concrete. While his older brother is everything people expect a man to be–tough, athletic, and in charge–Jay simply blends into the background to everyone, except when it comes to Leroy.
Unsure of what he could have possibly done to catch the eye of the boy who could easily have anyone he wants, Jay isn’t about to ignore the surprising but welcome attention. But as everything in his world begins to heat up, especially with Leroy, whispered rumors over the murder of a young Black journalist and long-brewing territory tensions hang like a dark cloud over his neighborhood. And when Jay and Leroy find themselves caught in the crossfire, Leroy isn’t willing to be the reason Jay’s life is at risk.
Dragged into the world of the Black Diamonds–whose work to protect the Black neighborhoods of Savannah began with his father and now falls to his older brother–Leroy knows that finding out who attacked his brother is not only the key to protecting everyone he loves but also the only way he can ever be with Jay. Wading through a murky history of family trauma and regret, Leroy soon dis-covers that there’s no keeping Jay safe when Jay’s own family is in just as deep and fighting the undertow of danger just as hard.
Now Jay and Leroy must puzzle through secrets hiding in plain sight and scramble to uncover who is determined to eliminate the Black Diamonds before someone else gets hurt–even if the cost might be their own electric connection.
The Good
I. Black queerness is front and center.
II. Love is a major theme in the story.
There is a representation of Black love across the board: community, family, between Black men (platonic and romantic), Black men loving and being loved/desired, and more.
III. Merging of spheres that are usually made to seem at odds with each other – Black queerness & gangs and certain representations of Black masculinity.
IV. Variety in Black guys
This is the most Black guys I have seen represented in a ya book in a long time.
V. Story is a space that centers Blackness.
The Bad
I. So much plot and characters with little build up.
II. A lot of telling not enough showing.
-Who are any of these characters? We are told who they are, but we are not shown who they are.
III. Story jumps around.
IV. Could this have been tighter and shorter story?
V. Heavily romance to point everything feels like a background to the romance/love. At a certain point I was tired of talking about love in a way that I felt lacked depth or umph.
Thoughts
I. Comparison to Angie Thomas and Jason Reynolds
Looking at the comps helped me to understand the story on its own.
In what way does this story compare to Angie Thomas or Jason Reynolds? Is it in tone, subject matter, or in another way? The tone/voice of Pritty does not give either Angie Thomas or Jason Reynolds to me.
II. Is the story for a mature audience?
Constantly thinking about what has been said about the place young readers (teens) are at it makes me assess if books fit the age range they are for.
A. It has longer chapters. The Hate U Give has long chapters too.
B. The tone is more mature because of how it is written?
Does use of AAVE make this story more accessible to young readers?
III. Is there an emerging trend of these angsty or dramatic type of romances?
IV. Language & N-word.
When is the last young adult (or adult) book I read that has characters using the n-word? Is there representation being lost when there are not many books with Black characters using it? Then again how do you edit and review (use of n-word & AAVE) when majority of editors/agents/people in publishing are not Black?
V. This coulda been…:
A. Fantasy or horror or speculative – At a certain point in story one of the characters said something that made me think about story possibly shifting into fantasy. It would have been interesting with the gangs & magic.
B. Comic – Saw a bit of the Pritty Kickstarter and if this was a comic, I think so much would have gone down better.
Yellowjackets meets She Is a Haunting in this spine-tingling sapphic thriller that follows a disgraced teen idol who comes face-to-face with the demons of her past in a glittering, cutthroat K-pop competition.
THEN:
Sunny Lee is on the top of the world. She’s one third of Sweet Cadence, the hottest up-and-coming teen pop group, alongside her new BFFs, Candie and Mina. The three are inseparable as they ride their way to the top of the charts, even as Candie and Sunny fight to resist the growing spark between them. But when a shocking scandal breaks, the group is suddenly torn apart. Then the unthinkable – Mina dies tragically right before Sunny and Candie’s eyes. And Sunny suspects the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping may have had something to do with it . . .
NOW:
For the past two years, Sunny has spent her days longing for her former life and her nights wondering just what caused Mina’s death. So when she discovers that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop right in her hometown, Sunny has no choice but to follow her there. Candie might be chasing stardom again, but Sunny is only after one thing: answers.
At the workshop, the lines between nightmare and reality start to blur as Sunny is haunted by ghostly visions and her competitors’ bodies turn up bizarrely maimed and mutilated. To survive the twisted carnage, Sunny will have to expose the ugly truth behind the workshop’s spotlights and the sinister forces swirling around Candie. Stitched with cutting commentary on the ugly side of stardom and impossible beauty standards, Linda Cheng’s mind-bending thriller will have readers screaming and swooning for more.
The Good
I. The horror: what is at the heart of the horror is good.
II. Overall good: Explains and wraps up everything while leaving space for more.
III. There are many good things sprinkled throughout the story but my favorite part of story is last 100 or so pages when we get to heart of story. There is a book that is similar to this that I came out this year. I feel like by reading that story so close to this one I am able to appreciate what this did. Also, it showed me the ways that story failed.
IV. Good setting and premise for a horror.
The Bad
I. Story drags a bit
II. I felt emotionally detached in ways.
III. Did the romance(s) take over the story at times?
IV. Could they have moved some things around so as to create a tighter darker story?
V. Was there enough time with the competition or characters?
Thoughts
I. Mismarketing vs My Lofty Expectations
A. Do I have elaborate expectations for books? Yes.
Do these synopses and marketing not fully represent these stories? Yes.
B. Possibilities (from reading up to chapter 2): Since this is horror we could get a darker k-pop story than that has been done in ya. The line between homophobia and queer baiting the industry/fans do.
Assumptions: I assumed it was going to be more focused on realistic contemporary horrors of Asian music industry.
C. How do you comp stories when some of the true comparisons are spoilers?
D. I don’t agree with the Yellowjackets comp. What way does it compare to Yellowjackets?
II. There needs to be more of: Asian entertainment industry + (insert genre).
Adult + horror = could really go darker than this.
A. Celestial maiden is explained & feels like a competent entity unlike Acheron who got beat up and people killed left and right. Celestial Maiden did get trapped and mutilated by humans but killed a bunch in end of story, so it levels out.
B. Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is more organized structurally.
C. You could study these stories next to each other.
(image and synopsis are from bookishfirst)
won from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group via bookishfirst
Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew.
Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.
Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is―the biological father he never knew.
Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, Susan Azim Boyer’s The Search for Us beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.
The Good
I. Family is the center of the story – parents, siblings, different type of families (stepping in take care of grandchildren or nieces/nephews).
B. Different point of views enhanced the story
C. Family messiness but also humanization
D. Fact that the story let there be actual family fallout and reconciliation.
E. Represented overachieving, intergenerational trauma, alcoholism, and more
F. Wrap up of overall story
Thoughts
I. Cover
Has the illustrated cover been associated with romance so much that seeing this cover makes you think they are romantic partners instead of siblings? Is the centering of romance detrimental to ya age category in some ways? Does centering romance make it easier to erase family and adults from stories?
II. Intergeneration trauma
A. Getting vibe that people want to hold the trauma that their ancestors experienced against them like it is a sin or their ancestors’ fault.
B. Teens/kids & trauma: It is interesting that many dismiss ya when so much of the trauma manifesting in adulthood is from childhood/teenage phase of life. There is probably something about the push to erase adults/family from stories when so much of trauma is family related.
C. Adults are humans with trauma and flaws which is forgotten when this discussion comes up.
D. Trauma is sad.
III. Miscellaneous
A. Overachieving- being the responsible one does something to people. It can become a toxic trait making one think that everyone is incompetent. Also, it can make you mean and bossy. None of that negates the fact that you should not be taking care of everything while everyone else does nothing/little.
B. Henry uncle/dad got off easy. He was on a bigot arc but I am happy the story did not focus on that because it would have taken precedence over everything else in the story.
themollyweather 