My Sweet Girl is the debut novel by Amanda Jayatissa. You may have heard of or read You’re Invited which was a BOTM pick in Summer of 2022. There are similarities between these books, but by far I enjoyed My Sweet Girl the most. 

Paloma is an unemployed, mentally unwell thirty year old woman living in the Bay Area. She was adopted from Sri Lanka by white philanthropist parents. We read chapters from her point of view now and from her days in the orphanage. Jayatissa paces this book exceptionally well; I was sucked in from the beginning and never felt a lull. 

I did guess the main plot twist, but that made it no less satisfying or disturbing. This book has darkness- abuse, sexually uncomfortable content, alcoholism, and dead bodies to name a few. Jayatissa creates a vivid scene of life in the orphanage that fits so well with Paloma’s descending mental health in the current day. 

Does this book leak on an unreliable narrator? YES. If that’s a turn off for you, go pick a different book. If that works for you, this novel also speaks to the questionable ethics of both sides of the orphanage and foreign adoption. The Sri Lankan culture is also a shining star in this book, creating a believable culture clash between the Bay Area characters. 

So that’s enough rambling from me, I highly recommend this book. 

Ireland is a sprawling, glacial paced novel about an Irish storyteller and a young boy named Ronan. The story alternates between a long, rambling tales by the storyteller to chapters set in the modern era about the storyteller and the people he visits. 

One thing that I found frustrating was the fact that the stories are not connected to what is going on in between with Ronan. I also felt that the chapters about the storyteller and Ronan were short enough in relation to the storytelling that there was not the character development that I would expect in a 600+ page book. 

I did enjoy some of the stories, specifically at the beginning about the formation of Ireland by multiple ice ages and the stories near the end about colonialism and the conflicts of recent centuries. There is a twist in the novel related to Ronan‘s family, but I feel that it did not get the time on page that it deserved. 

Overall, I think this is the right book for a very specific reader. Are you interested in the history of Ireland? Do you have a meandering novel? Do you enjoy the art and tradition of oral storytelling? Do you enter a book for the experience rather than for specific characters and plot? If you answer yes to most of these, this might be a book to pick up. 

Lessons in Chemistry is marketed as romance but perhaps is better categorized as contemporary/historical fiction. Driven by the misogyny of the era, this is the story of a determined woman who faces traumas and comes out the other side. 

Set in the 1950s and 60s, our MC is a woman fighting against terrible odds and discrimination to be a successful scientist. The novel begins in the sixties and then flashes back to the early fifties, gradually moving forward in time to explain the current situation. There is an emotional romance storyline, but this book brings so much more to the table. It’s a well rounded story of a woman defining success for herself in a time when women weren’t even allowed to define themselves. 

I have seen glowing and ho hum reviews. I am landing on the former. I personally enjoyed the perspective of the dog- but I can see how that’s a bridge too far for some readers. I’d also suggest that maybe this isn’t the tidy HEA many readers want, but I was satisfied with the ending. 

I’ve hardly touched on many of the endearing details of this story, but trust me- it has them in spades. Even if romance isn’t your genre of choice, I think this is well worth a try. 

Any Man is a genre defying novel about men being sexually assaulted and mutilated. If those descriptions will disturb you, that’s the mission of the book. I would suggest entering this book with care, but I can assure you Tamblyn handled this topic with great creativity and reverence. 

Presented in various forms of prose from traditional chapters to radio broadcasts to tweets, we hear from numerous men who are grappling with the trauma of rape. The way that the story progresses from character to character shows how trauma impacts people differently. 

My criticism of this book is that I wanted more from the perspective of the female aggressor. This short book packs punches so hard and straight to the core of the injustice sexual assault victims face every day. If you’re open to a uniquely presented novel on this topic, it is a worthy read. 

Hysterical: A Memoir is part memoir and part history book, much in the style of Why Fish Don’t Exist. Elissa Bassist weaves her personal stories of unsolved medical issues and sexual trauma into a detailed factual account of how our patriarchal society has created and perpetuated the issues she has experienced. 

Read by the author, this audiobook captures something very special. Her emotions are as clear as her strong writing. I anticipated reading this book gradually due to the subject matter, but I devoured it in a little over one day. 

The points about the history of hysteria and women’s role in society are well executed and expected. What surprised me, pleasantly and with outrage, was Bassist’s dive into the discrimination against women in media- specifically in what media is presented to us. 

My main critique is that at times in the first half, the messaging felt repetitive. As the topics broadened, I didn’t feel that way. I also felt the time addressing the unique BIWOC experience was short, but this isn’t Bassist’s life or place to write extensively on. I really think this is a must read. 

Just One Look is a great character driven, slow paced thriller. Cassie Woodson is struggling and listless after losing her high powered attorney position. 

She takes a temporary position doing mindless data sorting at a law firm, where she is befriended by another temp. Soon Cassie becomes obsessed with Forest Watts, reading his emails in the data search. 

Her obsession builds, and what follows is twisty and dangerous and truly unexpected. I loved the propulsive writing, diving into Cassie’s madness and then seeing her claw her way to justice. This book is a gem in a genre with many options. 

A fun, easy romance with magic. In between heavy and slow reads, this was a great listen. 

Moderately good character development, vanilla but fine spicy scenes, fun witch and curse plot. 

The Winners in the long awaited final book in the Beartown series. I was eager to rejoin our beloved character and travel to the small forest towns. 

This book starts with a dramatic hook, and then is excruciatingly slow until over 60%. Soon after that we have dialogue but the pace doesn’t really pick up until the final quarter of the novel. At 688 pages, this slow pace felt tedious. I craved more of the experience from the first two books. 

The final chunk of the book delivers us drama and conclusion. I couldn’t skip this book, but it is by far my least favorite of the series.