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
đź’ŤFaith 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.
đź’ŤLore of the world
đź’ŤRepresentation of God and Godly vision was interesting.
đź’ŤThe different conflicts
đź’ŤBachelorette-esque meeting of the romantic options was fun
The Bad
đź’ŤThe 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
đź’ŤDoes the story work better as a contemporary more than a romance?
Thoughts
đź’ŤFaith & romance – interesting reading this with the increase of open door/spicy romances
đź’ŤHow does religion effect the story? The pace? The stakes? The romance?
đź’ŤDid religion/faith step in the way of fully sitting with conflicts? (This is not to put down the presence of faith in the story)
đź’ŤTrope 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.
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.
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.
III. Inclusion of recipes -they showed Daphne feelings as a character and were good recipes in themselves.
The Bad
I. Underwhelmed by execution & messages – we could have gotten more.
II. Dominic = Bad guy – The beginning of the story left me with the impression that it was going to be equal in critiquing the individuals in the marriage. At a certain point it felt like the story intended/was structured to make Dominic the bad guy while making Daphne the good person. There was a depth lost by creating this dynamic because where is the introspection/interrogation in that.
III. Does the female empowerment feel heavy handed?
Thoughts
I. Communication goes a long way instead of dealing with their issues with each other they deal with it with others.
II. Dominic is…
…not the only one at fault with the problems of the marriage.
….an idiot.
III. Would it actually be more interesting seeing a man have introspection, learn from his mistakes, and grow as person?
Would it been more interesting to see the relationship take a different direction?
(cover and synopsis are from goodreads)
I won this from Random House Book Club via goodreads
This is not how soccer-star Zack Martin thought his summer would go. When the captain’s prank means trouble for the whole squad, Zack’s left with no choice but to take one for the team and cover for him.
Now he’s trading parties and beach days for community service at a seaside conservation center—fair enough. But thanks to his new reputation, the cute intern, Chip, won’t even give him a shot. Still, Zack finds himself falling for Chip between dolphin encounters and shark costume disasters, which means he suddenly has way more on the line than he ever expected.
Zack may be good at winning on the field, but can he keep up the lie without losing himself?
The Good
A. Low stakes/lightness of story- I have felt that many romances lean more on the realistic contemporary side and come off heavy so having an actually soft/light romance is rare (and positive).
B. Romcom moments- it had a few situations of high jinks and hilarity.
The Meh
Was I sold on the romance?
The Bad
A. Low stakes – it felt like we were floating from moment to moment at times.
B. There were many conflicts robbed of their big blow up (maybe the big blow up is considered toxic, I don’t know).
C. Disconnect from characters because they would appear then not appear for chapters, so it seemed like we really did not get the chance to know these characters.
Thoughts
I. Punishment & what people deserve then for them to not be guilty
II. Is the story too light for me? Am I too much of a realistic contemporary drama mess reader?
II. Just comments
A. I was sick of everyone thinking the worst of Zack.
B. Where are all the adults? Where is the coach he appeared for five minutes then yelled about them (the players) stopping him from vacation (dude you been on vacation for majority of this book).
C. Do you think Zack was selfish? Do you think he needed to apologize as much as he did?
All it took was one night and one bad decision for fifteen-year-old Violetta Chen-Samuels’ life to go off the rails. After driving drunk and causing the accident that kills her little sister, Violetta is incarcerated. As a juvenile offender, her fate is in the hands of those she’s wronged—her family. With their forgiveness, she could go home. But without it? Well…
Denied their forgiveness, Violetta is now left with two options, neither good—remain in juvenile detention for an uncertain sentence or participate in the Trials, potentially regaining her freedom and what she wants most of all, her family’s love. But the Trials are no easy feat and in the quest to prove her remorse, Violetta is forced to confront not only her family’s pain, but her own—and the question of whether their forgiveness is more important than forgiving herself.
The Good
+Has a lot of discussions that usually do not happen: incarceration, forgiveness, family, grief, addiction, and more.
+Showing the flaws with the system that we have now while also showing the flaws with The Trials (which seems like something someone has/will propose).
+Everyone from family, adults, teens, those incarcerated and etc is given humanity.
+Readers got this specific conversation about judicial system and incarceration that we usually are not able to have.
+Violetta is the one that is incarcerated because we rarely get to see Black girls or girls in general in the juvenile justice system in young adult lit.
+Vincent point of view chapters added to the story.
-it definitely added the viewpoint of family members of those incarcerated
– perspective on addiction
The Bad
The ending did not wrap everything up as well as it could have.
Thoughts
I. Forgive Me Not title inspiration.
A. Play on words Forgive Me Not = Forget Me Not
B. Is it inspired by the single Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushen?
II. What happens when Black people make mistakes or do wrong? So much is about wrongful convictions.
III. Punishment
A. Obsession with punishment & jail as only form of punishment.
-Need for eye for an eye punishment & vindictive quality to incarceration and punishment.
-Should forgiveness necessarily be about punishment?
-Is punishment more for victims or perpetrators?
-Can punishment work for victim, person who did crime, and as a preventive measure for others?
-There is such an attachment to shame/shaming in terms of prevention and aftermath of crime.
-Does everything have to be jail or prison or need to involve the state?
-How do you make amends for murder?
IV. Black Young Adult Dystopia & Contemporary Trend
A. Is there a trend of Black people writing contemporary dystopia-esque stories to talk about systems that harm Black and brown people? This is my second book, Promise Boys being the first, that I got a dystopia vibe from.
B. Also, I felt that like Promise Boys adults would benefit from reading this book.
V. Teen Anguish
A. Is anyone hearing the teen anguish coming from many of these stories?
B. Romanticizing teen drug use & teens drug addiction pipeline. Introducing teens to drugs and alcohol is causing them not to learn how to cope with things.
VI. Miscellaneous
Violetta point of view allowed the story to focus on judicial system while I think Vincents would have been more about privilege and racism.
A fast-paced, hilarious road trip rom-com about a woman with amnesia who discovers she’s the identical twin sister of a rogue spy… and must team up with a rugged, grumpy operative to stay alive.
It’s the middle of the night in the middle of Paris and a woman just woke up with no memory.
She only knows three things for certain:
She has a splitting headache.
The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run.
And oh yeah…
People keep trying to kill her.
She doesn’t know who. Or why. But when she sees footage of herself fighting off a dozen men there’s only one explanation: obviously. . . she’s a spy!
Except, according to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s not. She’s a spy’s identical twin sister.
Too bad the only person who knows she’s not the woman they’re looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear.
That’s easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they’re lying their way across Europe–dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister’s name.
But with every secret they uncover, the truth shifts, until she no longer knows who to trust: the twin she can’t remember or the mysterious man she can’t let herself forget…
Recommend to…
if you like stories that are heavily romance/the couple
if you like grumpy man and sunshine woman
The Good
I. The conflict of Sawyer being spy and having a relationship
II. Twists- did not see them coming
III. Hit on elements that usually don’t get hit on with amnesia
The Meh
I. It is heavily romance like 95% and 5% espionage
II. Zoe is kind of annoying and felt childish at times
III. Not connecting with the jokes and overall vibe at times
The Bad
I. Did they build the romance? I ask this when this story was again 95% romance.
II. This feels very cardboard cutout/tropey in terms of characters they came off flat at times
III. I honestly think the execution of the story was not for me. I kept wishing for more espionage/mystery to balance out the story.
Thoughts
A. Blond Identity is a play on The Bourne Identity
B. This would be better as a movie or show?
C. Spent half of this book trying to pinpoint what movie this book is like
themollyweather 