A couple of the essays were a little boring, if I'm being honest. It didn't help that the print was very small. However, I loved getting to know more about how this wonderful work of art came to be. I also loved Lin Manuel Miranda's annotations. I loved learning about his process and seeing some of the things that changed or hit the cutting room for completely. There were a three or four times where I was literally crying while reading this, so it definitely did its job. I love this, and I love Hamilton.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read Stitching Snow, and this book was just as satisfying. I really enjoyed it.

Things I liked:

1. There are a lot of fairy tale re-tellings out there. A LOT. But I’ve never read one based off of the Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. To be honest, I wasn’t actually familiar with the source material before picking this book up. I wish we had more re-tellings of lesser-known tales, because this was wonderful.

2. I liked Liddi quite a bit. It was obvious she was intelligent, even as she felt inadequate when compared to her brothers. I love how she uses her smarts to achieve her goals.
The other characters were interesting too, even though they weren’t as fleshed out as Liddi. I liked Tiav and his attempts to help Liddi learn to communicate and save her brothers.

3. Plot. This was fairly strong, although there are a lot of ideas in this story. The author is able to craft them into a cohesive narrative.

4. World. I felt like the author did a decent job at creating two very different worlds/cultures with Sampati and Ferrine. I also liked that there were a few other cultures that were explored. I would’ve liked to know a bit more about all of the alien cultures on Ferrine.

Things I didn’t like:

1. I understand why she felt like she couldn’t let Tiav in on what was really going on, this did have a bit of that whole unnecessary miscommunication trope. I made the book slow down a bit in the middle when I wish she would’ve just told Tiav what was happening.

I really like these fairy tales retold as sci-fi stories. And I love the covers to both this book and Stitching Snow. I will definitely look for more by this author.

This is the fourth book I've read by Emery Lord, but I believe it is actually the first book she published. I have enjoyed her other books quite a bit. I like that they aren’t just the typical fluffy YA. There are some more complex situations and characters than you see in other YA contemporary books. Open Road Summer definitely has some angsty stuff going on, and for the most part, I liked it. Unfortunately, I had one very big issue that kept me from rating this book higher than 3 stars.

Things I liked:
1. Matt! He was such a good guy. While it's fun to read about bad boys, Matt is the kind of guy you would actually want to end up with in real life. He is sweet, caring, open, and funny. I count myself lucky that I already have my own version of Matt.
2. The interactions between Matt and Reagan were great. I loved their banter with each other, and I really liked that their relationship grew throughout the book. No insta-love here.
3. Friendships - I liked Dee and Reagan's friendship, and that either one of them would go above and beyond for the other. I also liked that Dee and Matt were shown as friends and it was never turned into any kind of triangle situation.
4. The Music - I really loved the songs written in this book. I actually would love to hear them turned into songs. I loved the passages talking about Matt and Dee writing together and their process and all that. Makes the music nerd in me really happy.
5. Pacing - even though this book deals with a few heavier topics, I read it very quickly and it didn't feel like it dragged.

THING I didn't like:
No, that is not a typo. I quite enjoyed the majority of this book. But there is one big thing that just rubbed me the wrong way to the point that I knocked off two stars. Rant incoming...

Reagan.

What a selfish, insecure, bordering on delusional character Reagan turned out to be. Now, I actually enjoyed the romance between her and Matt, up until about 70 pages from the end. I thought they had real conversations and really got to know each other, rather than just seeing each other and being like, "I've only known you five minutes but I'm in love!"

BUT...

Reagan is a Mean Girl. It's interesting, because we are told in the beginning of the book that she has been constantly tormented at school by bullies calling her a slut, bitch, etc. But then every chance she gets, she is putting down every woman she sees, aside from Dee. Some examples:

Pg 86: "I wish all these skanks would just sit down so I could see."

Pg 87: "The girls how like a bunch of starving street cats about to get table scraps. It's unseemly."

Pg 91: 'doting bimbos'

Pg 118: "She bats her mascara-thickened eyelashes at him, which is borderline tragic because she's at least in her mid-twenties--too old for this behavior. Also, she really needs to dye her roots."

Pg 137: "I spot Matt on the dance floor, swinging around some leggy brunette in a thigh-grazing black dress. I surgery her appearance, which is so obvious--long hair in full curls, skintight dress, and stacked heels. The look is amateur, the one I'd resort to if I was feeling lazy."

Pg 157: "I can't deny that she's beautiful--but it's such an uninteresting beautiful. Medium height, slender, with no features that particularly stand out. Beautiful, but forgettable."
(So this isn't necessarily slut-shaming, but it's still her trying to bash another female to make herself seem better. She also says that the girl has 'the personality of a trash bag' because she sold the story of her breakup to a tabloid. Now, that is a judgy comment I would understand, because this girl's actions hurt someone Reagan cares about. But bringing her looks into Reagan's assessment of her is unnecessary and it makes Reagan look like an insecure mean girl with no self-esteem.)

Pg 157 (yes, the same page as the previous comment) "She's cute, but not in a threatening, Hollywood way. She's more like best-friend-in-a-rom-com cute."
She just can't bear to compliment another female aside from Dee without making it backhanded.

Pg 177: "She's compact and curvy, topped with round curls that must have taken some serious hot rollers. Her hair dye is probably called Goldenrod or Honeysuckle, but it's actually the color of aging butter or dry cornbread."

Pg 198: "There are a few girls in the front with shirts cut so low that they make my neckline look modest. Like, honestly--if Matt so much as glanced down, he could probably see all the way to their belly buttons. Some girls have no self-respect, and even though they can't see me, I make a face of disgust."
Wow. She is so hypocritical. I'm not sure if the author even realizes how unlikable Reagan is when she's judging other girls.

Pg 214: "She looks...wholesome. And friendly. Like a Muppet."

Pg 222: "I'd be pissed, too, if I was caught standing next to Alexis Henderson, who is a cheerleader but also a goody-goody." Why would that piss anyone off?

Pg 244: "she cares for him. She's good to him. But I think Brenda is too practical to love anything." Talking about her stepmom

Pg 267 "Yeah, poor girl, breakups are rough, boo-hoo."
She has zero self-esteem. Her best friend went through the same situation as the girl she's talking about, but whereas she has all the sympathy in the world for Dee, she has none for Corinne, and it comes completely from the fact that she feels threatened by Corrine and her place in Matt's life.

- After this point in the story Matt's best friend--who is a girl--shows up and Reagan is full of jealously and backhanded comments about her...I would pretty much have to copy the book verbatim to include all her sniping comments and thoughts.

Pg 279, in response to being asked if she's bothered by girls flocking around her boyfriend:
"Not really. I'm not insecure."
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! She is the DEFINITION of insecure.

Pg 318: "He doesn't deserve me; that became clear last week."
This girl is delusional. He deserves BETTER than her mean-girl ass.

My biggest problem is that this behavior continues through the entirety of the novel. On the last two or three pages we are supposed to believe that she has some kind of epiphany, but not about her low self-esteem or insecurities. I found it really difficult to root for her.

Every time I'd start liking her a little bit, she would get all judgy about another female and it just comes off as so catty. She literally cannot mention a girl (aside from Dee) without making some sort of comment about how the girl is below her somehow. Being that Reagan is the main character and the story is told first person through her eyes, you can imagine how difficult it was.

I also just want to throw out there that I'm not super sensitive when it comes to slut-shaming in books. I think it's actually pretty realistic (unfortunately) for teenage girls to have these insecure moments where they lash out at other girls to make themselves feel better...but this was freaking excessive.

As I stated at the beginning of this review, I've read and liked Emery Lord's later works, and there were aspects of this I did like quite a bit. But the unlikable aspects of Reagan's character made it difficult for me to fully invest.

3.5ish stars. I really liked this book. It was kind of a reverse Romeo and Juliet, where the families have been friends for generations, and would love for their kids to get together, but the progeny in question do not get along at all. I liked the setting of the South for this story. I don't know that we see many contemporary YA books set in the South that actually FEEL like they are set in the South.

The only real reason I didn't give this book a higher rating was because I felt like the different 'acts' in the story could've flown a little better. There are moments and characters introduced that don't get paid off in the story. I also felt like the ending was a little abrupt. I wish we'd gotten a little more there.

All that said, I really did think this was a cute book, and would recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining contemporary read.

1.5 Star
So here’s the deal. I got the book. I understand what it was trying to do, trying to say. I even appreciated some of its messages regarding history and memory and all that. And the beginning had me intrigued because I realized right off the bat that we were dealing with an unreliable narrator.

But at the end of the day, I just didn’t enjoy it. I was so incredibly bored and prose that seemed insightful at the beginning of the book became overdone and pretentious in the middle and then insufferable at the end. Thank goodness this book was only 163 pages, because there’s no way I would’ve finished it otherwise.

Also, just because a character is self-deprecating and self-aware does not make them interesting, and just because an author takes every opportunity to wink at the camera doesn’t mean he’s clever.

I know I’m in the minority in my low opinion of this book. After all, it won the Man Booker Prize in 2011, so it’s obvious that it’s well-regarded. However, as far as I’m concerned, this book wasn’t worth the $0.50 I paid for it at my local library’s book sale.

P.S.
Psst! Hey Veronica! If you’re mad because the selfish idiot you dated over 40 years ago doesn’t ‘get it’...maybe spell it out for him! Not that you should expect him to be able to figure out why you’re so pissy anyway. It’s not as though it’s the likeliest of answers! 🙄
It was like the author just wanted her to be a fickle ‘if you don’t know what’s wrong, I’m CERTAINLY not going to tell you!’ type of woman.

I can see why some people wouldn’t enjoy this book as much as I did. It begins slowly, as the author sets up the world and also the characters of Mina and Lynet. And even when the action picks up in the second half of the book, the story stays mostly focused on the characters and their relationships than it does plot and action. For me, this book checked off several boxes and I ended up really enjoying it.

What I liked:

1. Fairy tale retelling. Snow White has never been my favorite fairy tale, but I still enjoy it. I love the spin this book takes on the source material. It hits all the major beats of the story without being a carbon copy. It brings something new to the table when it shows us the Evil Queen’s origins and the internal conflict she feels.

2. The characters. I preferred Mina to Lynet, especially in the beginning. Lynet didn’t have much agency. But this was obviously intentional in order to show her growth throughout the course of the story. By the end of the book I found her much more palatable as a strong character. I loved learning about Mina’s past and understanding how she could’ve become so dark. Both of these ladies have insecurities that have been instilled in them by their fathers, which was a really interesting addition to the Snow White story, where the men (including Prince Charming) are mostly absent. Mina’s father has told her that she is incapable of love and being loved, and Lynet’s has tried to force his daughter into the mold of a mother she never met. Consequently, both fathers did their daughters a disservice which had a devastating emotional impact on both of them, which the author then explores through the lens of the Snow White fairy tale.
This story is completely driven by its characters. They feel authentic to themselves and attributes the possess (like Lynet’s curiosity and penchant for snooping) are given foundation in the beginning of the story and come back later to service the narrative, so it doesn’t feel like a convenient plot device later on. That being said, this book isn’t devoid of convenient moments...see item one under ‘things I didn’t like.’

3. World-building. I liked that the author was able to create a whole world to explore complete with magic, custom, history, and mythology. It took the source material and expanded it in a really satisfying way.

4. Writing style. I really enjoyed this writing. It’s lyrical and evocative without being overly descriptive and flowery. The author is able to use metaphor that has substance, rather than flowery writing for the sake of flowery writing. It was really beautiful.

What I didn’t like:

1. There is one moment where a character is being threatened with death by another character and instead of killing that person when they get the upper hand, they momentarily incapacitate them and run away, knowing full well that person will come after them and not give up. It was the one major moment in the story where I was like, “Why would that character do that? That’s just idiotic!” There are a few other minor WTF moments where characters (mostly Lynet) make bad decisions, but a lot of times these decisions don’t seem out of character.

2. The romance. I actually found the relationship between Mina and Felix interesting, but it didn’t really affect me in any deep way. I was more interested in the idea that this thing she’d created began to make his own decisions and develop his own personality and moral code.
The romance between Lynet and Nadia was totally flat for me. I appreciate that the author was trying to write a f/f romance, but I didn’t really care about Nadia. I didn’t feel like I knew her very well, and I didn’t see the connection between her and Lynet. I also had a problem because I felt like Nadia read quite a bit older than Lynet. I get that we are told that they are really close in age, but Nadia is a surgeon and Lynet is a sheltered girl who is barely 16 years old. It just felt off to me. Consequently, their relationship didn’t work for me.

3. The audiobook. I listened to about 100 pages of this on audiobook before switching over to my physical copy. The narrator just didn’t impress me at all. Her male voices were not distinguishable from the female voices, Gregory being the only real exception. He was actually the only character she read with any real personality to his voice. This could’ve been so much more enjoyable with a different voice actor. As I’m writing this I’m realizing that as soon as I switched to the physical copy my enjoyment of the story shot way up. I don’t hold this against the book in any way, other than to say that if you are thinking of listening to this on audio, I would recommend the physical instead.

This is not a perfect book, but I still really enjoyed it and want to check out more from this author in the future.

Wow. This book gutted me. I am not okay, but I mean that in the best possible way.
I am not a big crier when it comes to books. But this one packed a serious punch. I ended up tears-eyed 10 times and full-on crying another 4 times. This book is beautiful and powerful.

I don’t have any personal experience with adoption, but something about this story just grabbed me and wouldn’t let go, and I didn’t want it to. I read it in one sitting and I have no regrets, except I wish the book had just kept going.

What I liked:

1. The characters. This book is all about these characters. And they are far from perfect. We are talking seriously flawed individuals who were in turns humorous and heartbreaking, uplifting and devastating. I loved them all, even when they did things that drove me crazy. They are so real, so authentic and layered and complex. I just can’t properly express my love for them. My heart ached when they were in pain. It must be the mother in me but I just wanted to fight all their battles and wrap them up and protect them. These characters are so well-written.
Also, I loved the adult characters, from the parents to the therapists. Even when they aren’t perfect, you know that they all want what is best for these young people and you never doubt their love, even when the kids do.

2. The story. It’s simple and straightforward, yet beautiful. It’s not a plot-heavy book. It just deals with family, both the family we choose and the family we’re born with. It’s about the secrets we keep and finding the courage to face them. It’s about being honest with yourself as well as the people who love you, and trusting that love enough to not always be perfect.

3. The sibling dynamic. I love Grace, Maya, and Joaquin. I love how they support each other, and stick together. It reminds me of my relationship with my siblings. It’s real. It can be messy, but it’s true.
When Joaquin reveals his secrets to his sisters and they accept him and stand by him, ugh. It’s everything.

4. Love interests. I liked the fact that this book is NOT a romance. That being said, each of our protagonists have romantic relationships they are attempting to navigate, some with more success than others. I think my personal favorite is Rafe. I loved his character, and I’m so glad that his relationship with Grace was secondary to the rest of the book. I love that they start out as friends and really stay that way through the majority of the book.

I could probably gush for another thousand words about this book, but I won’t. I will just say that after reading Emmy and Oliver and now this book, Robin Benway is an auto-read author for me. I love the care and thought that she puts into crafting beautiful stories with flawed characters dealing with real issues. It’s only January, but I guarantee this will be one of my favorite books of the year.

I’m still not sure what the heck I just read. I did not like this book. I loved the concept, but the execution was so incredibly poor that I don’t even understand exactly what was going on.

Five teens are kidnapped by aliens and put into this elaborate zoo-like environment...to procreate? It’s totally bizarre.

Things I liked.

The concept. I read the synopsis and the idea was really intriguing.



Things I didn’t like:

Characters. They were poorly written. Cora, who is essentially the main character, gets this idea that they are going to find a way out and escape. How on Earth (pun intended) would that even work?! They have been taken to a planet who knows how far from Earth, and have zero knowledge of how to get back. Even if they were to somehow steal a ship, are we supposed to believe that they’d be able to pilot it? Ridiculous. The other characters are no better.

Plot. There’s really no plot to speak of. Not much actually happens in this book. I still don’t understand what the aliens in this book were trying to accomplish. Yes, it was somewhat explained, but it wasn’t a satisfying explanation. At all.

Romance: 🤢
Can you say ‘Stockholm Syndrome’? Because this book has a big heaping pile of it, and it’s not okay. I do not understand people falling all over themselves because of Cassian. He’s got no depth, and he’s a freaking KIDNAPPER and ENSLAVER. He also justifies his actions throughout the book by saying that it could be worse. WTAF?!

Unanswered questions. I get that first books of series have to leave things for later books, but I felt like that is all this book was. There were so many things left hanging that just did not get addressed.

The structure. This book is written in third person, and most of the characters are given chapters from their perspective. However, I felt like this was completely unnecessary to do. It was probably 90% Cora chapters, and the others didn’t add anything to the table.

I literally almost DNF’d this book at the 95% mark because I did not care in the slightest what happened. I will not be continuing with the series. I looked at reviews for the next two books and don’t see anything that would compel me to pick them up.

2.5 stars
The concept of this book is really interesting. Scientists have discovered a gene that indicates homicidal tendencies, so of course that knowledge is used to round up and oppress anyone who has this gene, regardless of their actual actions. It’s disturbing because it doesn’t seem all that unrealistic. It reminded me of a mix between Minority Report and Unwind. Unfortunately, there were issues with the execution of this for me.

What I liked:

1. The concept. Like I said, this does not seem all that far-fetched to me. It’s scary to think about what would happen in our society if something like this came to light.

2. Quick read. I went between reading this in physical form and listening to the audiobook and read it in just a few hours. I was able to speed through this.

What I didn’t like:

1. Lack of world-building. This is set in near-future United States, so I’m not exactly talking about creating a new world from scratch. I’m talking more about society. We are told that cities are now unsafe because there are just all these murderers running around. That even before this gene was discovered, homicides had been increasing at an alarming rate. Why? I don’t understand why all of a sudden all these people started going out and murdering each other. Was there another recession/depression that left people impoverished? Was there a war? Famine caused by global warming? What happened in our society that caused such a change before this gene was discovered?
Also, there is a mention in the chapter intros of a disease running through some of these detention camps they have carriers rounded up in, but we never really find out any details.

2. So many loose ends. I get that this is a duology. But there are certain things that don’t seem like they will be revisited in a follow up book, as our characters are so far removed from them now.

3. Inauthentic side characters. This specifically applies to Tori, the supposed best friend of Davy. Literally the second she learns that Davy has tested positive for this gene, she turns on her completely. She flat-out lies about an incident involving Davy and her ex, claiming that she thought Davy was going to turn her violence on her, when it was obvious that what had happened was a result of her ex being an asshole. It just didn’t feel real. I’m just saying, I would never treat a friend the way she treated Davy, especially having known her since they were young. She was very one-dimensional. Other side characters (Sabine, Coco, Mitchell, Addy, Jackson, Tully, etc.) just weren’t well-developed.

4. Repetitive phrases. As fast as this book went, I did notice that there were some phrases that were repeated over and over again. One I kept noticing was Davy, upset at something she was FORCED TO DO under threat of violence, thinking she was exactly what they’d said she was. She kept using the phrase ‘what I am, what I’ve done’ and variations of that. It got to the point where it felt very self-pitying. And I get it, to an extent. If I’d gone through what she did I’d probably have some serious PTSD. But that’s not being explored here. It’s just her, lamenting the fact that her life will never be the same again.

5. The romance. I don’t have a problem with romance. Actually, I like a well-written romance. But this one feels very tenuous. I don’t really know anything about Sean. He’s a foster kid who has known he’s a carrier since he was a kid, he has a problem with punctuality, he has a Knight-in-shining-armor complex, and I’m out. Literally their entire relationship is this:

A. Broody Boy is broody.

B. Spoiled Girl assumes he’s a violent murderer, even though she knows that good people are getting rounded up in this big mess.

C. Spoiled Girl is trapped by creepy guy wanting to hurt her.

D. Broody Boy comes to the rescue, saving her, just to rebuff her and tell her not to trust him or rely on him because he’ll never save her again.

E. Repeat 3-5 times or until Broody Boy and Spoiled Girl fall madly in love.

Seriously, the number of times Davy had to be saved by Nick was nauseating. Very, very repetitive.

6. Not-like-other-girls trope. Not only do we get this kind of nonsense in the romance (Sean calls her perfect after talking to her like...twice) but she herself tells us that she is like, super talented musically. She also gloats when recalling that her best friend, along with the entire female population of her school, wanted her boyfriend, but she was the only one who could get him. 🤢

Other odds and ends:

1. In the beginning of the book, we hear Davy’s parents talking about how ‘before’ they simply wrote a check and that was that. Are they saying that her brother also has the gene and they were able to buy his freedom, or just referring to him being a troublemaker and paying the school to not expel him? That confused me a bit.

2. I actually think the second half of the book is a very intriguing concept that could’ve been a book all its own. People with homicidal tendencies getting trained to control those urges while performing tasks for the government or whoever it is who wants their services. But this isn’t actually executed well either, because the things that go on in Mount Haven won’t accomplish that goal. It’s just some sadistic little program that will end up turning these people against one another.

I’m interested enough (just barely) to see what happens in unleashed, and since I own it I will probably just jump in and read it next. However, I’m not really confident that I’m going to like it, as I’ve read other series by her before and really disliked the second book. I guess we shall see.

3.75 stars Tim and Alice were my two favorite characters in My Life Next Door, so I was happy this second book was their story. I ended up enjoying this quite a bit, especially when compared to the first book, which had an ending I detested.

What I liked:

1. Tim and Alice. The author did a great job giving unique voice to these two characters. They felt complex and deep. I liked their banter.

2. Depiction of addiction. As someone who has loved ones who struggle with addiction, this felt very authentic to me. I liked the fact that the author wasn’t afraid to tackle it and show that just because someone looks okay to the outside world (like Tim’s dad) it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem at home.

3. The audiobook. I listened to this on audio and I have to say, both of the voice actors did a phenomenal job not only with the lead characters, but also all of the side characters, specifically the younger kids. I thought it was great.


What I didn’t like:

1. Side characters. Just like in the first book, I feel like many of the side characters are very flat. Even Jase and Samantha, who I already know because of the first book, felt a little thin to me in this book.

2. Side stories/subplots. There are so many characters in this book with their own stories happening. However, the main story was Tim working toward getting his shit together and his relationship with Alice. These side stories aren’t developed enough to create a more complex narrative. I think the fact that there are so many characters and the author is trying to give them all purpose actually hurts this story by creating a lack of focus.

3. Samantha’s mom. Grace is a very one-dimensional villain. She has no depth, and has shown zero growth from the first book. Some may disagree and say that she is just trying to do what’s best for her daughter. Those people are wrong. Sorry, not sorry. And again, just like with the first book, they Way she acts and things she says just aren’t very realistic. She knows that her daughter won’t put up with what she’s doing, and yet she tries to do it anyway. Just felt a little lazy to me.

Other odds and ends:

*SPOILERS AHEAD*
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- Girl who gets pregnant out of wedlock is named Hester? Liiiiiike...Hester Prynne? Real subtle...

- Why on Earth did Hester not give Cal up when he was born? That’s never explained to my satisfaction.

- What the hell was Tim’s problem with the name Calvin?! I don’t get it. I mean, people have their preferences, but he was intense in his hatred of the name.

- ****Soapbox moment****
I was glad that Alice’s father let her know that they don’t expect her to be a second mom to the kids and have to take care of everything, but actions speak louder than words. Now I understand that in this book, her father was in a hospital almost the entire book and her mom was struggling with morning sickness, but the first book had all of the older kids pretty much taking care of the younger and it wasn’t treated like a rare thing. It was one thing that really bothered me about the first book, which took a definite stance on big families and people being judgmental about people with big families. Yes, it is absolutely rude as hell to walk up to someone and make comments about how many kids they have. But at the same time, I think it’s also rude to put your older kids in a position where they are essentially parenting your younger children instead of being teenagers and young adults themselves. I was the oldest of four kids, and while I babysat my siblings, my mom wouldn’t have expected me to be the stand-in parent because she was sick. I know this is a sensitive issue and I’m not trying to anger anyone with my opinion, but it was something that kept running through my mind during these two books.

***carefully stepping off soapbox***

All in all, I enjoyed this book and reading from Tim’s and Alice’s perspectives. I just wish there had been a bit more depth to make this story feel a little more complex.