Desperate Deadly Widows is a wild, fun ride with four women who lost their partners in a plane crash about two years ago. I didn't notice that this ARC was a sequel until I started reading, so I quickly grabbed book one on Libby. And I think it's a testament to the writing collaboration of these four authors that I flew through book one and then straight into book two. Rarely do I do so with any series, and I had so much fun. 

So first, please go read Young Rich Widows to meet the incredible and incredibly different women who must come together after unexpected loss to face personal and professional challenges and dangers they had no idea were lurking at their doors. 

Then return, and read this one. I loved the character growth in this second book and equally enjoyed the rich Rhode Island 1980s setting. 

A very good time when you're in the mood for a popcorn kind of book with writing that is both easy and intelligent. 

The House No One Sees is a young adult novel told in prose and in verse. It took me some time to feel situated with the main character, a teenager named Penny whose mother is struggling with opioid addiction. 

Once I settled in to the writing style, I found I liked the poetry much more than the prose that was used to tie it together. And while I did enjoy the poetry, it did lean on some common elements that feel overplayed to me. A few poems towards the end stand out as among the best. 

Overall, I found this to be a very middle of the road YA book in verse that does not top my list for this writing style. I hoped for more.  

Holler is an inspirational and informative graphic memoir-esque story of six people who have been at the frontline of meaningful resistance in Appalachia. Denali Sai Nalamalapu found out about the Mountain Valley Pipeline and felt drawn to both resist its construction and write about others who have done so. 

Told in short chapters, this book is very accessible and will appeal to young readers with its approachable text complexity. I found the art style well suited to the story. 

I learned from this book and I feel its lessons are especially timely as resistance is critical, but surely looks different for each of us.