3.5 Stars

Trigger warning: sexual assault

I get why some people wouldn’t like this book. But the fact that the average rating is barely above a 3.5 is truly surprising to me. I wasn’t expecting much from this book for that reason, but I am attempting to get through the 250+ unread books on my shelves (Yeah, I know. I’m not overwhelmed at all...)

Anyway, I ended up thoroughly enjoying most of this book. I loved the friendship between Emily and Ada. The mutual respect they had for one another was truly wonderful to read about.

I also liked the romance between Ada and Daniel. He was very sweet and caring and I just loved their dynamic.

The writing was quite beautiful. Lyrical and descriptive, I felt like the language used really added to the setting and atmosphere of the book and I appreciated that. Some of the passages were really lovely.

This book is not without its flaws, however.

I preferred Ada’s chapters to Emily’s. It may seem strange, since Emily Dickinson is an actual historical figure and Ada Concannon is entirely fictional, but I felt more connected to Ada and she seemed more real and fleshed out to me.

I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I don’t necessarily feel that Dickinson’s poetry added anything to the narrative.

Actually, I feel like my biggest issue with this book was that it includes real people from history but is highly fictionalized. The idea of a taboo relationship between Emily Dickinson and another woman is intriguing, but it felt like it was out of nowhere to me. Honestly, it felt like the author was trying to explain and justify Emily Dickinson’s known eccentricities by creating some sort of sensationalized fan fiction. This is going to sound ridiculous, I’m sure, but I think I would’ve preferred this story if it hadn’t been about Emily Dickinson. If she had just been a well-to-do young woman who wouldn’t leave her home and found herself connecting with a new maid.

Also, there are events near the end that felt very rushed. The book itself is very short, and I felt like the author could’ve expanded on the end without adding much to the page count.

All that being said, I’m still giving this a solid 3 stars. I actually went back and forth between 3 and 4, but settled on 3 in the end. I really loved Ada and Daniel and the writing was really beautiful, but I wish we could’ve left Emily Dickinson out of this.

3.75, rounded up because I think it’s underrated on this site at 3.46

Is this a perfect book? No.
Is this a profound, important book? No
Is this a super unique concept? No.

So what is this book? It’s light and quirky. It gave me 13 Going on 30 vibes and it was exactly what I needed after reading some really heavy books recently.

I will say that it does get a little preachy with it’s messaging. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Who people are in real life doesn’t always correlate to who they portray themselves to be on social media. Marriage is freaking hard. Be with someone who loves and accepts you for you...it’s definitely a little heavy-handed with the life lessons.

That being said, I liked it. I could see this as a movie. I’d be interested to read more by these authors.

***UPDATE***
While everything I’ve written below remains accurate, I will be unhauling both this book and the sequel because the second book is truly bad and I will not be rereading it in the future. ***

This book was a very quick read. I had very low expectations when I went into it, so I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

I really liked the concept, even though some of the scientific jargon went way over my head. I don’t know if it’s actually difficult to understand, but science isn’t my strong suit and I would find myself skimming those sections. I just kind of went along with it.

I liked Eevee and her friendship with Warren. I also liked the growth of her friendship with Danny, though I did think their romance was a little rushed. It wasn’t insta-love, but it still happens in a relatively short period of time.

As far as the writing goes, it is somewhat simplistic in its descriptions, aside from the scientific talk. If you’re looking for a thought-provoking character piece, this probably isn’t the right choice. But if you want a light, action-filled story about parallel universes, you may want to check this out.

The first book in this duology, Now That You’re Here, was actually quite surprising to me. It wasn’t the best written, most unique story I’d ever read, but my expectations were very low considering it’s ratings on GR.

Going into the second book I was actually excited. I thought it was clever to tell the story of the other Danny and Eevee. I wanted to see Danny’s redemption arc, since we know that one of the Dannys did some really mean, jerky things. I wanted to get to know the other Eevee. I wanted to learn about this dystopian society where people’s EMF signals are tracked in the name of public safety. I was really intrigued.

Unfortunately, this book was just plain bad. It was poorly-written, boring, and shallow.

Just an FYI. I will be making a lot of comparisons between the first and second book. They take place concurrently, and follow different versions of the same character, so I feel like the comparison is justified.

What I didn’t like:

1. Insta-love. The romance in the first book happens quickly. The characters know each other for only two weeks and are in love. However, the Danny and Eevee in this book make the other pair look like a slow-burn romance. It’s ridiculous. There is no real foundation for their relationship.

2. I never felt bad for this Danny. It doesn’t make much sense when you think about it. This Danny is the one who lost his parents. He’s the one in the abusive foster home. But while I felt empathy for the Danny in the first book, I didn’t here. I think my biggest problem is that we are told in the first book that the two Dannys are so different. One of them is a total creep who bullies people and gets high all day. But aside from a couple off-handed comments about not remembering why he shoved Warren in a locker and how he wished he had a cigarette, there wasn’t really much difference between them, at least in the second book. He had none of the edge I was expecting. He basically saw Eevee and became a lovesick fool.

3. Serious lack of world building. In the first book, Danny explains that the society is the way it is because of the Cold War. Ehhh, I just didn’t buy that. I accepted the explanation in book one, expecting it to be expounded upon in this book, but it really wasn’t. The government in this book was the epitome of moustache-twirly and one-dimensional. I didn’t understand how the society actually functioned. In the first book there was talk about curfews and people of different classes not allowed in certain areas, but the characters in this book seemed to have no such restrictions.

4. The ending.
It was so abrupt and anti-climactic. There was no closure for the Eevee and Danny from the first book, and not much for the pair from this book either. The society is pretty much still corrupt and the characters are still in danger. And what happened to the Mac from Book one?! It just felt like there were a lot of loose threads left hanging. Not to mention the fact that the Danny from Book one was cool with never seeing his parents again because ‘twu wuv’ and I’m like...YOU’RE 15!!!

I was not expecting to rate this a one star after enjoying the first book like I did. Unfortunately, while it was a very quick read, I felt like it wasn’t worth it.

DNF at 50%

I have so many issues with this book. I went as long as I could but I got to the point where I wasn’t even having any fun hate-reading it anymore.

As someone who grew up in Southeast Alaska (on the same island this resort is supposedly located) I find it difficult to believe that this author had even been to Alaska at the time this book was written. He has absolutely no sense of the space and distance of these towns he’s referring to. He says that the resort is near Klawock. Btw, I grew up in a town 7 miles from Klawock, Alaska. Then he also says, over and over again, that the resort is close to Wrangell, AK. This makes no sense. Prince of Wales Island is the third largest island in the United States. Klawock is on the western coast of the island. Wrangell Island, where Wrangell is located, is to the east of prince of Wales island. It just can’t be close to both. Especially when you consider that when this book was written, most of the roads around Prince of Wales were logging roads, especially in the Northern part of the island, which would be the closest to Wrangell Island. It would take a fair chunk of time to get there from Klawock. It may seem very nitpicky to some, but as someone who literally grew up there, it seemed very obvious that he didn’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge of the geography.

Also, there were several instances of stereotyping in this book with reference to the Tlingit people. It’s really a shame, especially since the author himself touts his ‘verified blood quantum’, seemingly as an excuse to make stuff up. First, there is a character who is a shaman, and is brought in to cleanse the resort of spirits. I’ve never once met a Tlingit shaman in my life.
In doing a little research, I learned that while shamanism was a prevalent part of Tlingit religious history, it is just that: history. When Christian missionaries converted the Tlingit to Christianity in the late nineteenth century, shamanism dwindled until it pretty much disappeared by the 1930s. I got my information from a Duke University article titled: Shamanism and Christianity: modern-day Tlingit elders look to the past.
Now I’m not saying that an author isn’t allowed to take a little bit of artistic license, but in this case I feel like people reading this who know nothing of the Tlingit culture may end up with an inaccurate impression of it.
Some other stereotypes include:
-Every native character described in this book (as far as I read) was described as having waist-length, straight black hair.
-Most natives are described as having leathery faces.
-Everyone is obsessed with the Kushtaka. I, along with most of the Southeast AK population, know the story of the Kushtaka. I had friends whose parents used it in almost the same way the boogeyman is used for the rest of us- as a cautionary tale to get children to behave. But it wasn’t something that was talked about ad nauseum. I get that this is supposed to be kind of a horror book with the Kushtaka as its villain, but the number of conversations revolving around this creature became boring and repetitive.

Now that I’ve got my technical gripes out of the way, the story itself just isn’t good. Jenna is the worst. This is not a real woman. This is the author’s fantasy of a woman. When we first meet her she’s dancing around her husband naked trying to seduce him while they are supposed to be getting ready for a party. Later, after she runs off with her husband’s vehicle and is pulled over for speeding, she gets turned on by the cop...who pulled a freaking gun on her when she tried to step out of the vehicle instead of rolling the window down and staying put like any normal person. She actually tries to flirt with him while thinking that all women love a man in uniform and ‘good porn movies start out this way.’
...HE HAD A GUN PULLED ON HER AND ALL SHE CAN THINK ABOUT IS HOW FUN IT WOULD BE TO HAVE SEX WITH A COP.
Later she gets all twitterpated for Eddie after knowing him for about five minutes. Seriously, less than half a day and she’s talking about how she knows they both want it and blah, blah, blah. Then she tries to make her husband feel bad to justify her cheating behavior. I hated this main character. So, so much. I was rooting for the Kushtaka.

Even though I could go on and on about the things I hated about this book, I’m just going to talk about one more thing, and that is how this book was marketed. Now, I don’t know about the original version. I’m only talking about the reprint that was done a few years back. From the cover and the synopsis, this is presented as a literary fiction/ chick lit type of book. I was very surprised to learn that it is turned into basically a fantasy-horror novel. I didn’t like that. Now that has more to do with the publishers than the author, but still. It added to my dislike.

If you want to read a great book about Alaska, pick up The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Also The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock. And if you’re truly interested in Tlingit culture and storytelling, I suggest you pick up a mythology book or a non-fiction title. They will be a hell of a lot more accurate than this mess.

I received this book in a subscription box and I was so excited. I hadn’t heard anything about it prior to receiving it, but Ann Aguirre has written several books that I’ve enjoyed in the past, and I’ve been in the mood for sci-fi recently. Also, the idea of a sentient ship was really intriguing. I’ve read some reviews refer to them as ‘space whales’ and that actually seems relatively accurate, especially taking into account their relationship to music and the fact that they communicate using song.

I was also excited about the idea of a street-smart, badass lady protagonist, especially when I realized that she is a woman of color.

I was so prepared to fall in love with this book, which is what makes it all the more disappointing that I was so incredibly bored listening to this.

I did attempt to read the physical copy but my mind would wander and I would realize that I’d read pages without actually processing the words I was reading. So I switched to the audiobook, thinking that if I still found my mind wandering, at least I was accomplishing something else at the same time (I will do chores or other things while I listen to audiobooks.

Things I liked:

1. The concept. I am loving sci-fi stories with non-human characters right now. Usually that means AI characters, but I was really intrigued by the Leviathans. I also felt like the authors set up what could have been an interesting mystery as to why honors wouldn’t want to be chosen for a mission and what exactly is entailed in a mission. There was also a slightly dystopian feel to this society which was intriguing.

2. Zara and Beatriz’s friendship. I wish this had been detailed more because the scenes we had with the two of them were pretty good.

3. Beatriz. She was my favorite character in this book. I loved that she started out as someone who seemed weak to Zara but as the story goes we see her strengths and her sass and wit.

What I didn’t like:

1. The pacing. This book is boring. That is my biggest issue. All of the promise that it showed with the concept just dies with the slow pace of the plot. And I am not someone who needs a super fast-paced, action-filled plot. I appreciate character-driven stories even when there is little to no plot. But the character of Zara wasn’t interesting enough to me to carry this book. The set up of her life as a thief and getting sent to rehab and then competing for a spot as an honor was so boring and slow. That being said, the whole ‘competition’ aspect of the book isn’t very long, pagewise. But it isn’t interesting either. It felt like a lot of telling, not showing. I pushed through, hoping that once she started her mission the action would pick up. It didn’t. Even in the climactic parts of the book I just found myself wishing I could set the player to higher than 2X speed.


2. The characters, specifically Zara and Nadim and their ‘relationship’. As earlier stated, I can forgive a slow beginning and a weak plot if I love the characters. Unfortunately, I didn’t. While
I really liked Beatriz, she ended up being the third wheel in one of the strangest and most awkward love stories I’ve ever read. You read that right. Zara and Nadim (the space whale) are ‘connected’ to each other because of some Leviathan DNA that was put into Zara’s brain to stop her brutal headaches when she was younger. I felt slightly nauseated reading the passages where they ‘become we’ and they touch/caress each other. It’s strange. And it’s not just me reading into something that is supposed to be benign. It is clearly stated as being seductive, and Zara is afraid that Nadim will be upset when he learns that she ‘bonded’ with another ship who was trying to harm them. The word sexy is also used at points when talking about their bond.

And I just...no. I don’t know if the authors are trying to make some sort of comment about sexual preference or gender norms, but it could’ve been done in a more effective way, in my opinion. First of all, if you want to get technical, this is really insta-lovey. They are immediately drawn to one another. Secondly, they both cross lines when they connect to the other without asking permission, so there could also be a discussion about consent issues between these two characters. Also, it got incredibly intense in a very short period of time. I just wasn’t comfortable with their relationship at all. If I had a friend who became involved with another person with the same speed and intensity I would be incredibly cautious and concerned. I’m just saying.

Also, this creates a very strange dynamic with the two of them and Beatriz, who almost becomes a cheerleader for their relationship. It almost felt like she existed only to prop up their relationship as being something okay.

3. Racial stereotypes.
I was happy to learn that two of the main characters in this book were women of color. Specifically, Zara is black and Beatriz is Brazilian. However, as I read this book, I felt like the authors fell into stereotypes that could offend some readers. Zara, the black character, is from a rundown area in a rundown city. She’s a thief who takes drugs, runs around with a bad crowd, doesn’t trust authorities, and gets sent to rehab. I just felt like this perpetuates false stereotypes and the fact that the two authors are white women merits some concern.

I don’t think I’ll continue with this series. From the ratings I’ve seen so far I am definitely in the minority when it comes to this book, so while I don’t personally recommend it I know that there are many others who will.

3.5
This wasn’t a perfect book by any means. It is actually my least favorite of the Kristin Hannah books I’ve read, though admittedly that number is low at just 3 so far. However, there is something about Kristin Hannah’s writing, stories, and characters that just gets to me.

This is set in the Seattle area. As a PNW girl, born and raised, I appreciated a setting that I was really familiar with.

The story itself is probably the weakest element. I really liked the dynamic between the sisters. Estranged but trying to be in each other’s lives. I also liked the story with Joe. However, I do feel like there were elements to this story that were portrayed in a very melodramatic manner. At times it felt like I was reading a soap opera script.

There is also a serious case of insta-love that really bothered me. They end up being a really sweet couple, but I can’t imagine being a single mom and agreeing to marry a dude I met at a bar a week before. That’s not responsible parenting. Sorry, not sorry.

I wish the relationship between Joe and Meghann had been a little stronger. They have a one-night stand and immediately can’t stop thinking about each other. They never have just a regular conversation throughout the course of the entire book that doesn’t revolve around sex or the fact that they are damaged people. Again, I liked both of their characters, and I feel like they could’ve been a great couple. But it was just a little too quick.

I guess my main critique of this book is that I felt like it lacked focus. There were just too many things going on from the sisters’ relationship to their romantic relationships to their complicated past with their mother to Meghann’s feelings of inadequacy concerning Claire’s father to Meghann’s disillusionment with her job...it’s a lot.

That being said, the last 25% definitely got to me. I wasn’t expecting it to go in the direction it did, and it hurt.

I previously DNF’d this book because the main character was annoying the hell out of me. I actually put it in a big pile of books I was going to unhaul, but then I saw so many rave reviews from people I trust, so I decided to give it another chance, and I have to say that I’m glad I did.

After the first 50 pages or so, June becomes far less grating, and I was able to appreciate the friendship between her and Oliver. I thought the growth of their relationship was authentic. This takes place over months, so it’s definitely not insta-love. I also appreciated that there was a lot of girl-on-girl hate, especially between June and Oliver’s girlfriend. I was expecting far more cattiness and was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the case. There was a little antagonism, but it made sense in the context of the story.

I also like that this book doesn’t have our two main characters cheating on their significant others with each other. I was nervous that we were going to go down that path, but I’m happy it didn’t.

The last third of this book is a little messy in terms of pacing and the character’s actions. There was a lot of manufactured drama that seemed unnecessary, such as the old ‘misunderstanding for the sake of creating tension and separation’ trope...one of my biggest pet peeves in books.

That being said, this book was sweet and fun and fast and I needed something light and fluffy and this delivered.

It’s fine. Nothing special, if I’m being honest. I have a pretty edition of this, which is probably my favorite part of it. I’d like to see a real Snow Queen adaptation done at some point.

I am a sucker for a book about first loves reuniting after years apart. I place the blame for that firmly on Persuasion, my favorite book by Jane Austen.

When I learned that this book surrounds around this very trope, I knew I wanted it.

That being said, I wasn’t going into this book with dramatically high expectations. I don’t read a ton of women’s fiction that I actually enjoy, although I am attempting to broaden my horizons in that aspect.

Thankfully, this book definitely surpassed my expectations. While it isn’t perfect, I found it an engaging and quick read.

What I liked:

1. Reunited first loves trope. I know that trope is a dirty word for many people, but there’s a reason they exist. People have certain things that they enjoy in literature and other media, and for me, this is one of my favorites.

2. Macy and Elliot’s relationship. Even though there is a lot of messiness in the beginning of the present day sections, I still found myself smiling and rooting for this couple. I loved getting to see their friendship develop over the course of years. As someone who has been happily married to her high school sweetheart for nearly 17 years, I connected with the young Macy and Elliot. I really appreciated that these two felt so comfortable with each other that it wouldn’t even occur to Macy to be embarrassed about discussing her period with her friend who happens to be a male.

3. Macy’s relationship with her dad. I loved their dynamic. I loved that her mother made her father a list before she passed away to help him deal with raising a daughter all on his own.

What I didn’t like:

1. Manufactured drama. At the beginning of the book Macy is engaged to a man it is obvious she doesn’t actually love. She’s only with him because it’s easy. She literally chooses him because she knows that he can never break her heart the way Elliot did. After she reconnects with Elliot and becomes increasingly aware of the fact that she doesn’t actually love her fiancé, she refuses to really deal with it. She doesn’t break up with him until page 257. I just kept thinking that if I knew Macy in real life I would’ve thumped her upside the head and told her to put on her big-girl panties and tend to her shit!
And then the fact that she lies (by omission) to Elliot about the status of her relationship. She had some vague excuse as to why she didn’t want to tell him, but for me it just all felt like one big plot device because the authors didn’t know how to create conflict between Macy and Elliot after repeatedly asserting that they were each other’s person.

2. Side characters. There are many characters in this book. Only a couple of them are actually fleshed out. Sabrina and Duncan are probably the best side characters here. So many others — Desmond, Rachel, Nicki, Danny, as well as Elliot’s entire family and high school friends— are painted with very broad strokes. Most appear in only one scene in the book, and then are never heard from again. Sean is interesting in some ways, but his behavior was too inconsistent for me. And then half way through the book he and his daughter disappear from the book altogether.

Other odds and ends:

*This reminded me a lot of Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson, if those characters didn’t reconnect until adulthood. The main character in both books flee whenever the going gets tough and push down their feelings instead of dealing with them. They both spend their vacations away from home and fall in love with sweet boys who are locals in their vacation towns. These books both also deal with grief, although I will say that SCS gutted me emotionally in a way that this just didn’t.

*The big reveal felt a little melodramatic. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but it definitely didn’t have the emotional punch I was hoping to read.

*I’m so glad this book didn’t have Macy and Elliot cheating with each other. That would’ve really bothered me quite a bit.

This is my first Christina Lauren book and it definitely won’t be my last.