debbilynn42's Reviews (654)

This was a classic yet cozy mystery filled with both the current murder investigation and also the events from sixty years ago. I found the integration of Frances' journal entries a nice format for discovering the village's past, but Annie recalling them yet again throughout her investigation chapters was too much. I guess I like my clues to stay subtly woven throughout the book instead of explicitly re-stated by the characters. 

The first half of this book reads much like the movie Rear Window -- Casey Fletcher is stuck at her family's lakehouse and spends her days drinking and observing the couple across the lake through binoculars. The second half of the book takes some surprising twists as Casey seeks to find the now missing Katherine Royce.

The first half of the book really dragged and I was quickly over the constant mention of Casey filling up another glass of bourbon or taking another swig from the bottle. I get it, she's drowning her past memories in alcohol. The second half finally picked up in pace, but with some unexpected twists that didn't fit the genre. I see why this book is either a love it or hate it, I think mostly depending on whether the reader is okay with the type of twist that happened. For me this fell in the middle. By the midpoint I was hooked wanting to see what happens, but also just laughed at the ridiculousness of the twist. I would have preferred a more traditional narrative and I think the mystery of the missing girls could have been resolved without the bizarre twist coming into play. (trying to avoid spoilers!) 

If you're a fan of believable thrillers, this isn't the book for you. If you're a bit openminded for some stretches and creativity, maybe give it a try. 

Mina Descanso pulled some strings so that her seventeen year-old daughter Macy could attend Penovation, a prestigious writing retreat. Now it's time for Macy to find her own voices through the written word. The challenge: to write a love story in four weeks. Macy's assigned critique partner is Caleb who also has writer parents, though they vow not to talk about their families as there's an unspoken tension between their two families. As the weeks unfold, Macy and Caleb challenge one another to face their fears and to craft their own writing path from the legacy their parents started. 

Love on Paper is a lighthearted YA romance that also touches on grief, coming of age, and family expectations. There are several storylines, but none of them fully filled out for me. I was left wanting more character development for Macy and Caleb, as well as a reason to root for their relationship. I also wished for more plot structure surrounding the mysterious manuscript clues. The book utilizes several non-traditional ways to tell the story (voice memos, emails, texts, writing excerpts) and these different mediums did not integrate well with the rest of the book for me. I did like Fern and their experience-it-all attitude for the retreat, and I appreciated the scene of them challenging Macy to take the writing retreat seriously. 

Overall, a meh book for me without anything that's making it stand out afterwards. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Joy Revolution for providing me with an early ARC for my review.

3.25/5 stars

Band Nerd follows seventh grader Lucy Carver as she navigates her first year at an Arts school alongside the tensions that are happening in her home life. Lucy copes by hyper focusing on getting to First Chair Flute like she was at her old school in hopes that it would help return the rest of her life to balance. 

This book covered some very real and difficult topics, like alcoholism and divorce. The dad's drinking problems were much more on-page than I had anticipated from the description. I was glad to see Lucy have supportive teachers bringing her together at the end with her parents in counseling to talk through what was happening, and her parents taking accountability for the areas they should have supported Lucy along the way. My heart broke for the weight Lucy was carrying both at home and at school in trying to fit in. The story also touched on ways her peers were also trying to please their caregivers by choosing certain paths and interests.

I did find the artwork a bit inconsistent in detail level throughout the book. I couldn't tell a pattern on whether it was going in-and-out of focus alongside the emotional swings of Lucy's experience, but it did distract from the story page-over-page. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for providing an ARC for my review.