Katrina Leno has written YA magic, literally, with Sometime in Summer. Anna has just turned 14 and the previous year was a doozy- her seemingly happy parents separated and the divorce will be final soon. Just as summer begins, her mom delivers devastating news. They are closing the family book store and spending the summer on the East Coast. 

Anna is sad to go, but she soon makes friends one night and then the summer flies by. The magical realism in this book is such a delight, but to say anything about it would ruin the plot. 

This is a perfect coming of age novel bridging the gap between middle grades and YA. There’s no drug use, no sex, and the MC is focused on herself- not a relationship. I flew through this book absolutely in love with all of the characters. It’s a story of loving what was even when you need to grieve that it’s over. What a wonderful lesson for every age, this book is a new favorite. 

The Scheme by Sheldon Whitehouse is a concise, easy to digest explanation of how dark money and lack of campaign finance reform has allowed our Supreme Court to be taken over by the influence of large corporations. Sheldon Whitehouse is a long time senator who gained notoriety for his daily climate change presentations to the Senate. 

While the subject matter of this book is incredibly heavy and infuriating, Whitehouse does an excellent job keeping the narrative moving versus getting stuck in the mire. That said, this book left me feeling angry and with a sense of existential dread. There’s simply no escaping that this is a huge issue for the United States going forward.

This is clearly a partisan and political issue, but he also does an excellent job explaining the shift in the Republican party as well as placing necessary blame on the Democratic Party for not being more vocal when this dark money power shift began to occur. Sheldon Whitehouse and the book with a call for bipartisanship and suggestions for how we can move forward. If you care about this issue, I would encourage you to contact your representatives in Congress and ask for a code of ethics to be applied to the Supreme Court as it is to other justices. This would be a significant step towards accountability for SCOTUS. 

Overall, I think this is a highly important read. It is not light but it is an issue that anyone who cares about justice and democracy should be abreast of. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for my honest review. 

I’ve put off writing this review hoping my words would come to me. They haven’t. Ashley Winstead has done something incredible with this dark and disturbing thriller. 

Shea escaped an abusive sex cult in college, but the death of a friend from that time draws her back to New York and the circle associated with that time in her life. As she investigates Laurel’s death, we learn about the cruelty the girls experienced at the hands of a truly sadistic man. 

She’s discovers that the sadism, patriarchal structures, and concealment are so much deeper than she thought possible. This book shook me to my core and kept me reading desperate for resolution. 

This is a disturbing read to consider with caution, but oh my does it tell an incredible story and make important statements about the vulnerability of women in our society. 

Does this book even need another review? I’ll keep this short- Razorblade Tears is the moving suspense novel that you’ve heard about. Two fathers with lots of heartache and regret seek vengeance for the murders of their sons, who were recently married and left behind a little girl. 

Buddy Lee and Ike are fathers, but for much of their lives they focused on other things. Now they come together despite racial differences and grief, and the result is nothing short of raw. Raw emotions, violence, honesty. This book delivered a story about fathers of a past generation making good for their mistakes. If you can handle the gore and sad, sometimes hateful content, this is an excellent read. And kudos to the narrator for the fantastic accents, truly making this immersive and enjoyable. 

A beautiful family drama about a sibling dying and another sibling’s quest for answers. Set in Australia, this focuses on a refugee family from Vietnam. The characters are beautiful, flawed, and dynamic. I can’t say enough good things about this debut novel. 

As a fan of Alice Feeney, I was excited to read Daisy Darker. I’m very glad I waited for my library hold as it ended up being my least favorite by the author. 

Alice Feeney is a talented author and this book is immensely readable. However, I still found it’s slow pace quite boring (it occurs all on one night). When the twist was revealed, I should have seen it coming miles away- and many readers have complained that they did. It is a twist I first experienced in fourth grade in a Goosebumps book. And honestly, this novel could have been Goosebumps length and that might have made it more fun. As an aside, with such a slow paced novel I wanted more about certain characters instead of the same backstory over and over. 

The writing here was enjoyable but the excruciatingly slow and boring plot was not. I will read Alice Feeney in the future, but this is not one I will recommend. 

The humor in Lamb has not aged well and it is at least one hundred pages too long. 

Akin is the third book I have read from Emma Donoghue. I am familiar with her slow, character driven writing style and long chapters. This book was a bit different with chapters that were 30-50 pages versus 75-80. 

Set in NYC and on a trip to Nice, this book tells the story of 79 year old Noah and 11 year old Michael. Noah is Michael's great uncle and  the only suitable kinship foster placement for Michael when his grandmother dies. They have not seen each other in years. We slowly learn the backstory that has brought them together as they struggle to form a connection. 

Noah has long been planning a trip to his childhood home of Nice for his 80th birthday. Suddenly accompanied by a cranky adolescent, Noah investigates the mysterious past of his late mother. Was she a Nazi collaborator? What do the pictures from her past mean? The parallels between Noah’s past and Michael’s childhood are beautifully drawn. 

If you love a character driven novel with unlikely characters coming together, this book will be a great fit for you. The connection and tension between Noah and Michael pulls the heartstrings in such a genuine way. Emma Donoghue shows not only her great writing skills but also tender insight into what it means to be young and old and alive.  

Cultish by Amanda Montell appealed to me, and her opinion in the book suggests “why wouldn’t it?”  Montell argues that elements of cults appeal to all of us, it is not simply lonely and gullible people who find themselves wrapped up in “cultish”  groups. 

Unfortunately, I feel 90% of this book presented common knowledge in a rather dull way. It was not until the final chapters that I felt Montell was adding to the conversation rather than restating information that is relatively well known. I was especially disappointed in the MLM section. I see this as a major issue, especially for the women targeted. I think she came close to the heart of this issue but could have driven the point better with more personal examples of damage from MLMs. 

This just wasn’t the riveting or insightful read I was hoping for. 

A fun, lighthearted vampire story perfect for middle grades readers and the spooky season. This one won’t leave you scared, but it will definitely leave you entertained. A great example of a crush storyline that is focused on personality not appearance and building friendship over “dating.”