_lia_reads_'s Reviews (757)

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this companion novel to The Giver and may have even enjoyed it better than the original.

Kira is physically disabled, with a gift for weaving and embroidery. Her gift is recognized by the elders of her village, a village where everyone is valued for the skills that they bring to their community. After her mother mysteriously dies, she is selected to live in special quarters and given the task of repairing and completing the robe that The Singer wears each year. The Singer is the keeper of the community's memories and the robe a physical manifestation of that task, so this is an important role for Kira to play. However, as with the Giver, things are not always as they seem and Kira's world starts to unravel as she begins to learn more of the truth.

I really liked Kira's strength in the face of adversity (being singled out as an outsider in a community that values only able-bodied people). She was an interesting character, a bit naive at times, but overall someone that I felt myself cheering for. I also found it fascinating that skilled crafts like woodworking and embroidery were treated almost like magic in the community; it left me wondering if Kira and others really were magic, in a fantastical sense, or if they were just treated as such because of the skills they possessed.

This book will not give you too many clues as to what happens to Jonah at the end of The Giver. But I have heard that the next books give more answers and I am eager to continue the quartet.

4 stars

TW: violence; abelismt

I struggled with this one a lot more than I thought I would. I love Paris, and lived the city for a few years, so I’m always eager to read books set there. But this one fell short for me, particularly in its reliance on clichés of the city.

The Paris Hours takes place over the course of one day in 1927 (with flashbacks sprinkles in). It follows four different characters from different walks of life: a maid, an artist, a journalist, and a puppeteer. All of them came to Paris from elsewhere—both around France and in one case Armenia—to make a new life in the city. Throughout this day, you see the city through their eyes as they each try to solve a different problem that they have. This alone would have sold me on the book.

However, each chapter comes with the name-dropping of the famous people living in Paris in 1927: Picasso, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Maurice Ravel, Marcel Proust...the list goes on. Alex George states in his author’s note that he wanted to focus on the lives of real people in the city, not those of the celebrities that lived at the same time. So then why are these characters such prominent secondary characters?! Why couldn’t we just have a novel about the lives of these four main people without all the celebrity sprinkled in? The book would have been a lot more powerful that way. Instead, it read as yet another stereotypical novel written by a foreigner about France.

I think many might appreciate this way of storytelling, but for me it fell short with its heavy-handedness.

2.5 stars, rounded up

TW: death of a family member; death of a child; relatively graphic scene of a death

This was a heartbreakingly beautiful book. Alvarez's first book in over a decade did not disappoint and I am sincerely surprised I have not heard more about this one.

Antonia Vega is mourning the loss of her husband Sam, her rock, the Good Cop to her Bad Cop. As she learns to cope with being a widow, her life is suddenly turned upside down as she helps an undocumented worker bring his girlfriend to Vermont and her older, unstable sister disappears. Antonia is torn between helping this undocumented immigrant girl, her sister, and retreating within herself to cope with her loss.

I enjoyed the ways in which this book touched on mental illness, undocumented immigrants, and grief, sometimes all within the same chapter. It is a lot to take on in a short book, but Alvarez did it skillfully and with moments of humor. This humor was especially important, bringing the reader (and Antonia herself) out of the depths of despair. Throughout, Alvarez through the character of Antonia questions how much of yourself to give to others and how much to keep to yourself for protection. Antonia's reliance on literary references as support was particularly poignant.

4.5 stars, rounded up

Thanks to Algonquin Books and Libro.Fm for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Came for the Bachelor gossip, left feeling pretty scummy about Colton.
I'm surprised that Colton comes off as arrogant as he does here, given that this is his own book. There are a lot of small moments I could point to that made me lose respect for him (the brush-off of the #MeToo movement is one that jumps to mind). But where I really lost him was in his discussions of Cassie during The Bachelor filming. It felt like he was blaming her for everything that went down in the season with their relationship, when it seemed like a lot of her insecurities etc came from her past relationships and the process of being on The Bachelor itself...

Anyway, it's a quick, light read if you're into The Bachelor and want to learn slightly more than we already know about Colton and the franchise. But it's by no means groundbreaking.

Thanks Gallery Books and Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for an honest review.

When a 14-year-old girl is raped in the Texas town of Odessa during an oil boom, it sets off a ripple effect felt by women of all different walks of life in the town. Wetmore's work is a portrait of several of these women, from the more old-fashioned to the more progressive, with the event and its aftermath revealing a lot about their own beliefs, struggles, and insecurities. Wetmore's writing is beautiful and she paints a picture of what it is like to be a white woman in Texas in the 1970s. I was in awe of these women and the things that they have overcome in the story. The alternation between the different POVs lent an almost short-story feel to the book (in fact, two of the chapters were based on previously-published short stories). The changes in narrative style, especially with Karla's chapter, were particularly poignant as well, suited to the story being told in each chapter.

However, I found myself feeling a bit uncomfortable with the character of Gloria/Glory, the 14-year-old Mexican-American girl whose rape was the catalyst for all the novel's events. On the one hand, having her be of Mexican descent allowed Wetmore to explore the racial politics of Odessa through the way in which different people reacted to her assault. It was an interesting foil to today, where many might still believe that a girl was 'asking for it' just because she was of a certain heritage. At the same time, I wanted Glory to be more of a voice throughout the book and I was uncomfortable with the fact that she only appears a couple of times as a main character, while also being used as a catalyst for exploring all of these other (white) women's problems. I'm still struggling to fully articulate this discomfort, so for now I'm just leaving it out there. I wanted more from Glory's voice and about her reactions to what happened to her and less other people's reactions to what happened.

So for now, my rating stands as 3.5ish stars. Beautifully written book but left me with a bit of an off feeling all the same.

TW: Sexual assault; domestic violence; mentions of miscarriage; racial slurs

I honestly enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. The writing is sharp, witty at times. The characters, at least those of January and Gus, felt layered and detailed. Emily Henry does an excellent job of balancing the darker storylines with humor, making sure you don't get dragged too deep into each character's despair. On a more personal level, I loved that the story was set 'Up North' in Michigan, right on lake Michigan. It reminded me of childhood, and more recent, vacations there.

The story certainly includes a lot of tropes that you would expect to find in a Rom-Com, leading to a pretty predictable plot line. But it was still fun to see it develop, sort of like watching a Rom-Com movie you've seen a dozen times.

There were a few minor aspects of the book that bugged me. Even though January constantly states she has her own problems going on, it still felt as though she was trying to 'fix' Gus in some way. This is a pet peeve of mine with female characters. Also her instance on calling herself 'Dumb bunny' throughout was just...really weird. And reminded me way too much of Zootopia.. So there's that.

But overall, a lighthearted rom-com, touching on darker topics too, perfect for a relaxing day at the beach (or on your couch during Quarantine).

3.5 stars, rounded up

TW: infidelity, cancer, death of a family member, divorce

Thanks to Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Before joining bookstagram, I would hesitate to pick up graphic novels, assuming they lacked the depth and substance that I usually like in my reads. But after hearing all the praise for Good Talk, I decided to grab it from the library right before quarantine started and boy was I not disappointed!

Good Talk is a memoir, but it also transcends Mira Jacob’s own story to comment on what it is like to be a POC in modern America. It alternates between the time leading up to 9/11, when Mira is a young writer making her way in the world, and the present period around the 2016 election. She tells the readers about the micro aggressions and outright aggressions she has experienced in her life.
Particularly poignant and heartbreaking were the scenes where she has to try to explain Trump to her young son, who doesn’t understand what is happening in their country. I also really appreciated the scenes with her white husband, who is her ally but also doesn’t quite understand what she is going through because of his own background and skin color.

This felt like a timely memoir to read, given the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Though Jacob is of Indian descent, she reveals the prejudices and hatred that exist in this country and enable gruesome murders of innocent people.

TW: racism; sexism

What would happen to the world if death was no longer a concern and people were able to live forever? This is the premise of Scythe. In this future version of the world, all causes of death have been fixed or eliminated, leaving people immortal. Scythes are assigned to end lives, following certain quota to control the population size. Teenagers Citra and Rowan are brought into this world unwillingly, learning the ways of the Scythes through an apprenticeship and deadly competition.

Scythe was an addictive read that I didn't want to put down. The book alternates between Citra and Rowan's POVs, so you get both of their opinions on the Scythe and their apprenticeship. You are thrown into the world of the Scythe, but Shusterman does an excellent job of building the world and explaining as we go along. The world that he creates includes enough realism to feel like something that could easily happen in our own future, which is scary. Plot-wise, things start to go a little crazy halfway through the book, leaving you with an ending that will make you want to pick the next one up immediately!

I did want a little bit more in character development, but I hope that as the series goes on I will learn more of the dimensions of the characters. Additionally, while this book is geared towards young teens (the back of the book markets it as 12+), I felt that some of the gore and content would be a bit disturbing for those ages, depending on the maturity of the teen.

Overall, I felt that the story was intriguing and unique, and I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

TW: death; killing (with some graphic detail)

This is a book that I regret putting off for so long! Set in a fantastical world, loosely-based on Bolivian history and politics, Ximena has spent most of her life as the decoy for the real Condesa of the exiled Illustrian royal family. She is sent to La Ciudad in the place of the Condesa as the Usurper's bride-to-be, but at the same time is on a secret mission to seize his relic and take back the city.

The two main things I loved about this one were the magical elements and the mythical world that has been created. Ximena magical ability includes weaving strands of moonlight (hence the book's title) into the tapestries that she makes, producing otherworldly creations. But other characters have other magical abilities, which I found equally fascinating. I loved how Ibañez incorporated her own heritage into the story as well, making a world that was unique from what I usually read in fantasy but still rooted in a folklore.

The book is geared at a YA audience, and I often find with YA stories there isn't as much depth as I might otherwise want in the plot and characters, in the interest of moving the story along. This is not a problem with the book itself, because it is still a rich reading experience, but something I noticed as I read. Things come together a little too conveniently at times.

Overall, I really did love this one and I can't wait to read the companion novel! I hope that the magical sloth makes another appearance in that one, because s/he very clearly stole the show in this one! <3

TW: Warfare; death

As an infrequent thriller reader, I find myself drawn to ones that are more like whodunnit mysteries than creepy horror movies. And Lucy Foley's newest release definitely fits into that former category.

Set on a remote Irish island, a group of people have convened for a posh wedding. They all seem to have one thing in common: a great injustice has been done to themselves or someone they love and they want revenge. You alternate between different members of the wedding party and the guest, slowly learning different pieces of the story as it all comes together in a gruesome murder at the end. Who is murdered? Does this murder give the guests the revenge that they are seeking? These are the questions you will ask yourself throughout your read of this book.

I listened to this one as an Audiobook and was pleased by the full cast performance of the story. For me, this enriched the experience of the book and probably made it more enjoyable for me. One of my problems with thrillers is when things work a little too conveniently, which is the case with this one (but that's all I can say without spoilers). However, I still found the mystery fun and even extended a run I was on just so I could listen to the rest of the book.

A fun and kind of creepy Whodunnit that should satisfy both thriller and mystery lovers.

TW: Death; suicide; sexual assault; disordered eating

4 stars

Thanks to William Morrow and Libro.Fm for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!