Xenophobia, stereotypes of Arab people. 

Murder Road is another solid, ghosty thriller from Simone St. James. This author is a favorite of so many for good reason! While Murder Road isn't topping my SSJ ranking list, I wholeheartedly recommend this one especially if you are feeling tired of dual timeline thrillers. Told entirely by one narrator on her honeymoon gone wrong in 1995, this offers SSJ's writing style in a different storytelling format. 

April and Eddie are on their way to a short, cheap honeymoon after a quick engagement. But they find themselves on the Atticus Line and see a woman hitchhiking who they pick up. When the woman dies, April and Eddie find themselves as suspects and are stuck in this small town of Coldlake Falls. Atticus Line has been the site of numerous murders over the last nineteen years, and they seem connected but police have never solved them. 

I absolutely loved all of the characters in this cast. Officer Kal Syed and Rose, the B&B owner, really shine. It was so refreshing to read a really enthralling thriller with likeable characters! If you want books with characters that feel real and you can root for, this is one to try. 

This Spells Love is a book that I both enjoyed and felt turned off by at the same time. Let's just do this with a pro and con list style review. 

Pros:
-Cute magical realism 
-Dax, the MMC was adorable and sweet
-Lessons learned by Gemma about taking chances and knowing her worth

Neutral:
-The spicy scenes overall (see below*), not cringe worthy but I've read way better

Cons:
-Omg, the constant binge drinking and it's never questioned. PROBLEMATIC.
-*Female pleasure in the spicy scenes is unrealistic. 
-Gemma doesn't experience enough that challenges her to grow as a person/character, IMO. 
-The drinking again! Throughout! I know unhealthy relationships with alcohol are common and I just don't like this book normalizing it. 

A really moving novel in verse about a young indigenous girl's experience during bush fires in Australia. 

On the Surface is a mystery about Dani Fox and Sawyer Stone, an unlikely couple that have chosen the cruiser life in the Bahamas. Dani is trying to get their YouTube channel to monetization levels and Sawyer is working hard to keep their beat up boat seaworthy. The couple is somewhat ostracized from their local cruiser community; they aren't boomers, they don't bring booze to share at parties, and really it seems like Dani's physical appearance is why people put up with them. 

So when Dani disappears after a raging party, everyone suspects Sawyer. He swears to his innocence, but he has secrets too. This plot slowly unravels alternating between perspectives from the couple and an investigator in the Royal Bahamas Police Force. I really enjoyed the relatively short chapters and the slow and steady unraveling of Dani and Sawyer's pasts. 

I think you'll enjoy this one if you like beach settings, a steady drip of reveals, and stories that examine social media influencer culture. This would make a great spring break or summer vacation read. 

Ableism, offensive portrayal of autism, dangerous misinformation. 

Lunar New Year Love Story is a beautifully illustrated and emotional YA graphic novel. Valentina lost her mother many years ago and lives alone with her father who has never remarried, or even dated. Valentina's favorite holiday has always been Valentine's Day, but now in high school that seems cheesy and she's afraid that she will be prey to the family curse of being unlucky in love just like her family before her. 

So Valentina makes a deal with a dark spirit, if she doesn't find true love in the next year she will give up her heart so that it will never be broken. Unfortunately that also means she will never find love. And you know the tropes of a romance book, so what comes next is a meet cute worthy of these incredible illustrations, lion dancing, and of course internal and external tension. 

Lunar New Year Love Story really packs it all in and does it all justice- first loves, high school dating, family dynamics and secrets, grief, and repairing relationships. This is going on my top graphic novels of all time list and I hope you'll read it as well. 

Like Happiness is a great fit for readers who enjoy stories about young women navigating undefined relationships and their own self discovery and identity. Set in 2015, Tatum Vega is living in Chile with her partner and feeling a sense of peace and ease- finally. When a reporter calls, Tatum is taken down memory lane to ten tenuous years she spent in NYC in a close but complicated relationship with a famous author named M. Domínguez. 

The novel is told alternating between Tatum's present in Chile answering the reporter's questions and letters she addresses to M. I was instantly fully immersed in this story and the incredible audiobook narration. Tatum and M develop a quick rapport and she is sucked into his orbit. Tatum and M both identify as Latinx, but they differ in age, class, celebrity, gender, and ultimately in power. 

I really don't want to dive into the specifics of Tatum and M's relationship because I just want you to dive into this book. I loved their ambiguous time together on Cape Cod, and it's easy to see how M manipulated and twisted Tatum's existence for his own use and enjoyment. The dynamic back and forth of his abuse of power and ultimately grooming is vividly real as Villarreal-Moura writes it. The writing and narrative style make Tatum's current and past feelings towards M both feel equally real. 

I could keep waxing on about this book while trying not to spoil anything, but I won't do it justice. This book had me in tears and is lingering in my mind days later. I absolutely loved it. We need these stories. You need to read this. 

So basically name a content warning and it's in this dark, tense thriller from Alice Feeney. It's entirely different from her more recent books in my opinion, much more disturbing and more tension throughout. I had a great time reading this one and it reminded me of His & Hers in some ways. 

However, the ending was very yucky and there was enough fat phobia in this one that I had to bump it down from the 5 star read that it otherwise was. 

In Utero proves that abandoned shopping malls are creepy in any country, even Australia. For reasons unknown, an unused mall is the location for drop off childcare during the school holidays. Hailey is twelve and feels too old for these settings, but is dropped off hastily by her mom anyway. And then the horrors start. 

That's really all you should know. This book is equal parts horrifying and satirically hilarious. Oh, and there's also an endearing friendship and a battle between good and bad (not quite evil?). Very fun, highly recommend.