howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

update feb 11, 2018:
There is nothing I can say to take back the fact that I stood up for this author, that I went to bat for her endlessly and took her side of the story over other sides I was presented with. I can't take any of that back. All I can do is say that, if I ever made you feel like it wasn't safe to tell me what she had done, or how her actions made you feel, I am so, so genuinely sorry. My heart is breaking today for anyone she has hurt, and I will certainly not be supporting her work in the future. I'm taking down my review because anything positive I had to say about her supposed attempts at diversity and activism have been refuted by her actions.

"Ain't it interesting," he goes on, "how when the Law fails people, they always turn to the outlaws."

In the companion novel to Vengeance Road, ten years have passed and Reece Murphy - AKA "The Rose Kid" - has been roped into traveling with Luther Rose, brother of the infamous late Waylan: the very same man Kate Thompson killed with the help of Jesse Colton. Reece has been told he'll never be free of Luther's grasp until he can lead Rose to the gunslinger who killed Waylan, but all Reece wants is to start a new life, free of the killing and thieving.

→ reece & charlotte ←
So much for things always looking better with a smile. Perhaps what Mother meant is, men like women best when they smile.

I somehow managed to avoid the knowledge that this was a companion novel, and not necessarily a sequel, so you can imagine my surprise when I was introduced to this new pair of characters, with chapters alternating between each of their narratives.

I really love Kate as a narrator, and unfortunately, neither Reece nor Charlotte lived up to my expectations. Reece was decent enough, but Charlotte was so incredibly self-absorbed throughout most of the story that her perspectives were grating, at best. There was a solid 10-15% of the story in which I skimmed her chapters because they were superfluous and boring.

You can gather from the very beginning that there's going to be a blossoming romance, but it feels so forced and I never found myself rooting for it to go anywhere.

→ what i liked ←
"He best hope he can run faster than his demons."

As you can gather from the synopsis, Reece is hunting down Kate herself, so I won't consider it a spoiler to tell you that she's present for part of this story, and I loved spending more time with her. She was such an enjoyable, tough young woman, and she's even better as an adult. She's only burrowed further into her feminism and her values, though time has taught her how to look for the good in people.

As was the case with Vengeance Road, the shootout scenes are fun and easy to follow, and you feel transported right onto the set of a western film every time.

→ what i disliked ←
"Is that all it takes? One misfortune in your life, one act done out of desperation, and suddenly you're a criminal?"

I could easily devote this entire section to Charlotte's character. She's pretentious, haughty, self-absorbed, and completely incapable of looking past her own privileges. Even when she's called out, she finds a way to turn herself into the biggest victim in any given scenario. She wasn't the worst character ever by any means, but man, does she warrant a lot of eye-rolling.

My only other complaints were: 1) Jesse felt like a background character that we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with, and 2) I had the same problem as I did with Vengeance Road in that it was so tough to genuinely connect with any of the characters or to care about any of them.

→ final thoughts ←
That devil could crawl from the deepest pits of Hell itself.

If you've already read Vengeance Road and are dying for more of the universe, pick this one up, but if you're like me and are hoping for a sequel and to spend more time with Kate and Jesse, I'd recommend just trying to find yourself a copy of the Kate & Jesse novella and leaving it at that.

Content warnings: violence, death, implied rape, abuse

All quotes are taken from an unfinished ARC copy and may differ from the final publication. Thank you so much to HMHTeen for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

It’s too bad that one Event is enough to wipe out years of accumulated Good Kid credit.

I went into this book expecting a story about a Survivor/Big Brother-style game show, but what I got was a story about growing up, mental health, healing, forgiving yourself, and learning to live with the consequences of your actions.

Perhaps if I spent more time in my childhood socializing with secular children instead of praying when I felt uncomfortable, I’d be better equipped to handle this situation.

→ Jane Sinner ←
Despite being tremendously flawed – or, perhaps, because of her flaws – Jane Sinner is one of the most unique narrators I’ve seen in the YA contemporary genre in a really long time. Let me say, despite the topics of much of this book being incredibly heavy, Jane’s sense of self-deprecating, nihilistic humor makes it hilarious. I mean, between how much it made me laugh, and how much I related to, well… Jane’s entire outlook on life, basically – I would be friends with Jane Sinner in a heartbeat, if she were a real person and in my own life. (Plus, honestly, I would never get tired of her ridiculously misused idioms.)

One of my favorite things about her sense of humor was actually something I usually don’t like in books: her pop culture references. While a lot of books overuse and over-explain references, or use references that don’t even fit the character’s lifespan’s time frame, Oelke peppers them in seldom enough to keep them fresh, and each one actually seemed like a reference that an older teen today could use (like The Hunger Games, or The Big Lebowski).

It took me a few days to realize what that meant. I didn’t believe in God. Everything I knew about who I was and what was true became irrelevant. It felt like I was on a roller coaster, sitting at the peak and waiting to drop.

→ religion ←
We get to see a lot of Jane’s frustrations and confusion that came along with the realization that, despite being raised in church by a religious family, she no longer believed in God. I am fully supportive of anyone’s views and lifestyles, so long as they aren’t harming another individual, but I was raised in church, too, and just like Jane, I woke up one day as a teen and realized that church wasn’t the place for me anymore – and I couldn’t keep serving a deity I didn’t believe in.

I went through the same anxiety-inducing struggles of coming to terms with my new lack of a belief system. When you’re raised in an incredibly religious home, it becomes part of your identity – and leaving it behind can feel like losing a big piece of yourself, for better or for worse. I was stunned by how well Jane explained it, without ever insulting religion or faith itself. Instead, we see that Jane regrets her own religion-inspired decisions of her past, such as a delayed acceptance of her best friend’s bisexuality because of a belief that it’s immoral. I can relate to that, too, and I loved seeing this side of the debate presented in a story.

There is no divine plan, no destiny, no life after death, and no compensation for what you lose. There is only here and now. There is only what you’ve done and what you are going to do.

→ depression ←
Continuing on with the theme of how downright relatable Jane is, she suffers from depression, and is still mentally healing from attempting suicide several months prior. If discussions of suicidal ideation trigger you, please proceed with caution while reading both this review and the book, because Jane’s take on it feels so authentic and real. There is even a moment taken to discuss how, sometimes, suicidal ideation isn’t wanting to die, it’s just wanting to cease existing – to rest, for a while. There’s also a little bit of discussion on mental health medications, as well as the ever common self-analyzation habit that so many individuals suffering from mental illness have. Jane’s introspection is a reminder that it’s easy to know what we need to do for self-care, while still not having the energy or willpower to do it.

I don’t need to know God loves me. I just need to know that she does.

→ friends & family; rep ←
This aspect of the book was a mixed bag for me: mostly positive, but a little negative in some aspects, too. My favorite aspect of Jane’s friends and family was her little sister, Carol, who is so sweet and genuine. I loved their interactions, and how much she meant to Jane. While Jane’s parents were distant and a bit callous, her sister was fully supportive of her, and my only frustrations with Jane’s character came from how she held Carol so distant at times (though, we do see major character development in this space!).

We also had a bit of diverse representation in two of Jane’s friends: Bonnie, her best friend, is bisexual and proud, but sadly a little stunted in development. She never felt like a particularly complex character to me, and I would have liked to have spent a little more time with her, as well as seeing more consistent behavior from her. The other major diversity represented came in the form of Robbie, Jane’s housemate, friend, and minor love interest: he’s Indian, and while we don’t get to see much of that explored, we do learn quite a bit about the fact that he is terrified of germs and dirt, and is trying desperately to overcome it. His character felt a little bit questionable to me at times, but I appreciated a lot of what he brought to the story, as well as the fact that the romantic aspect was very under-played and almost nonexistent.

Her faith was a conscious decision, a hard-earned achievement … I wore my own faith like the shirt I fell asleep in because I was too lazy to change.

→ final thoughts ←
All in all, I thought Nice Try, Jane Sinner was a really fun, quick read. I loved the journal entry formatting of the story, and I enjoyed Jane’s narrative tremendously. I thought it shined a light on a lot of things that people don’t like to talk about in YA, like suicide and attempts, depression, and the effects (negative or positive) that Christianity can have on a child or teen. All in all, I would highly recommend this book, and will definitely be picking up Lianne’s next release!

Content warnings: suicide, suicidal thoughts, depression

Thank you to HMH Teen for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All quotes are taken from an unfinished ARC and may not match the final publication.

I would rather the first boy who makes my heart beat like this, who makes my senses come alive, be a normal, human one, but I shouldn't be surprised. "Normal" hasn't exactly defined much of my life.

I loved the paranormal romance genre as a teen, but hadn't picked it up in a while, so when I was offered a copy of this book, I jumped at the chance - and I'm so glad that I did!

Angie is a really likable narrator; she's been through a lot of hell in her eighteen years, and she portrays it believably with her anxiety and insecurities. She's just trying to keep her head down and survive high school when she meets Reece, and while she's instantly attracted to him, she's not willing to rush into anything until he explains a few things to her: like why he's frequently surrounded by the new murder of crows surrounding her town, or why a man with an ever-changing face seems to be unreasonably concerned with not only Reece, but now Angie as well.

I appreciated it wasn't super insta-lovey (though towards the middle it feels a little rushed, but it's explained later and is pretty adorable), and I really loved the banter and tension between Angie and Reece. It feels a little cheesy at times, but in that really fun, dramatic style that I fully expect from the PNR genre.

I hold my breath and watch the crow glide away. It melts into the blackness, silent as a ghost. Lonely as the night. Dark as a boy's eyes.

A few loose ends were left untied by the end, and I wouldn't have minded another 50-100 pages to dive into the magical world's history a bit more. There's some potential for really cool magical world-building, but the opportunity wasn't seized. I especially wanted more information on the Strawmen, a mythical creature who is a very powerful entity, but we never get to see more than a brief glimpse of.

Altogether, this was a captivating romance and had some very tender moments. I had so much fun reading it, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves YA paranormal romance stories.

Entangled was kind enough to send me a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes, but in no way did it affect my opinions!

You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!

Review note: I received a copy of the ARC from the publishers after the sexual content was removed, and the rushed "fade to black" scenes made much of the writing feel very blocky and awkward; however, as I've been told this was cleaned up substantially for the final release, I didn't count off for that problem.

That was what she hated most about this spell, sometimes. The goblins had taken her love of the forest and tainted it, bound it up with their magic.

Goblins starts off so strong; the goblins right from the beginning are reminiscent of actual folklore, being creepy, horrible little critters. They're greedy, grotesque, carnal, and violent. Reading their treatment of Skye is downright painful, as every move they make is laced with cruelty. Unfortunately, though, the book goes downhill fairly quickly beyond that point, and by the end, I think I was just ready for it to be over as quickly as possible.

→ what i liked ←

"That's why the locals called them weeds." Livy sounded glum. "They actually are an invasive species."

This book is so incredibly atmospheric. The settings are described so beautifully that you find yourself feeling as though you actually are in a damp, dark forest at night, surrounded by mushrooms and critters. I've never even visited the PNW, yet even the daytime scenes had me feeling as though I could blink and find myself transported into a beautiful, wet, misty land of greenery and coziness. Not to mention, the descriptions of the goblins themselves are so creepy and perturbing!

Mental illness is handled beautifully in this book; Skye's silence is mistaken for a deep depression, and her sister is so loving and concerned. The Sylvain boys, despite hardly knowing Skye before the events of the story, are nothing but understanding and caring - especially Grady, which leads me to my next point.

This story has hardcore insta-lust, and I would say, even insta-love, but it's actually for a reason. The curse placed upon Skye has made it so whomever she chooses as her mate must want her back, so you're never left thinking, "How do two grown adults fall for each other so quickly?" The two of them even frequently consider the aspect that it's abnormal for them to be so attached. Oh, and did I mention that the men are younger than the woman in both 'ships? Yeah, that happens, and I never see that, so I couldn't help but love it.

→ what i didn't like ←

"You sure? You want me here?" "Want you," she whispered. The way she said it, gazing at him, choosing those words to echo - an erotic thrill shivered through him.

The writing is quick and easy, but things are just too convenient and predictable, especially towards the end of the book. There is one small twist, and while it's a fun one, I definitely didn't find it even remotely surprising (you kind of guess it right at the beginning). Speaking of odd writing, there are a lot of mentions to sex, and most of them feel unnatural and a little bit forced. The discussions and scenes don't often feel natural to the story. (Speaking of the sex, if you're turned off by the fact that many reviewers are calling this book erotica, I wouldn't be too concerned - everything is only implied or done in a "fade to black" style.) EDIT: I've been informed that many people received an ARC that was much more explicit than mine was, for some reason? So YMMV.

Mostly, the ending was just such a disappointment; while the rest of the book hadn't been remarkable, I'd have given it 4 stars for fun's sake, but the ending is so rushed and predictable that it immediately lowered my rating to 3. I felt like there was this obvious desperation to tie up all of the loose ends, while so much of the book had been spent on descriptions of unimportant aspects, such as Grady's cooking, or Kit's frustrations over how nobody believed in the goblins' existence.

→ final thoughts ←

All in all, The Goblins of Bellwater is a quick, fun read, and given the fact that you can nab an ebook of it on the Kindle store for $3 or less right now, if you're interested in a new adult romance with fantasy and lore thrown in, I'd tell you to go for it. That said, I wouldn't expect anything overly intense or captivating.

CONTENT WARNINGS: trauma, physical assault, mentions of sexual assault, PTSD, depression.

All quotes are taken from an unfinished review copy and may differ from the final release. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"i held hands
with my sadness,
sang it songs in the shower,
fed it lunch,
got it drunk
& put it to bed early."

I was delighted to receive an ARC of this book, because I've seen Sabrina's infamous poetry recitals floating around facebook and youtube, and love her rawness and authenticity. Unfortunately, her collection doesn't quite live up to expectations; I found that her best works were the ones I'd already heard and read, and a bit of the rest of the book is repetitive. That said, she's still an incredible poet and I'd recommend checking her work out if you enjoy sad, anxious words about unrequited love and mental health struggles.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Spoiler-free review!

I wasn't sure which was worse - to know you were a liar, or to believe your own bullshit.

I have never needed half-star ratings so badly for any book review in my life. 3.5 stars is really the perfect rating for this story, but for the sake of Goodreads' rating system, down it goes to 3 stars.

In a nutshell, The Hanging Girl is about Skye, a fake psychic who gets desperate for cash and assists in a kidnapping plot in order to load her bank account with a bit of ransom money. Things don't work out the way she expected - do they ever in these stories? - and she finds herself in deep trouble, risking her own safety and freedom.

Her voice was bitter. "He'll be believed because people like him always get the benefit of the doubt. But us? We're expected to be losers."

My single biggest problem with this book was how "rich vs. poor" trope-heavy it was. I think the author was trying to convey some serious social commentary on the state of things in the US specifically - she even threw a few jabs at Republicans throughout the book, so it was pretty obvious - and that would have been fine, if Paige, the kidnapping victim, hadn't been such a quintessential "mean girl". She's rich, beautiful, thin, gets everything she wants, totally cruel, and just an awful character.

Naturally, our MC, Skye, is none of these things, and it led to so much girl-on-girl hate. The entire book was actually rife with girls tearing down other girls, and it was just a tough pill to swallow because I've grown so weary of this cliche. Support other women, ladies!

Maybe being brave is what happens when you don't have a choice.

There were aspects to this book that I enjoyed, of course, and Skye was (for the most part) one of them. Skye has serious anxiety, and that rep felt very authentic to me as someone who also suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. We learn early on that Skye also has a history of making up stories to make herself popular, and this aspect of her backstory made her an unreliable narrator of sorts, which was really enjoyable.

Unfortunately, there's a twist in the end of the book that more or less ruined her character for me, as she condones some really terrible business and essentially learns nothing from her trials. By the end, I couldn't root for Skye, either, sadly.

My dad tried to make it up to me. He made plans for us - talked about how we could both move forward. But I'd been making some plans of my own. And I wasn't done yet.

The book occasionally shifts into Paige's perspective, and gives a bit of backstory on why her life isn't all it's cracked up to be. She's been through some tough times, but I never really connected with those incidents enough to feel like they "explained" her behaviors; if anything, it seemed like they were just kind of thrown in as plot devices. It was one of many problems that led me to feel as though the book was just one long red herring after another, with one excuse after another, - but none of the characters even became fleshed out enough for me to "buy" any of it.

All in all, was this a quick, fun mystery read? Sure! It wasn't horror by any stretch, so while it may not be the perfect addition to your Halloween TBR, it would be a good mystery to cozy up with. Can I 100% recommend this book? Not with the constant girl-on-girl bashing and some of the problems I'll list below. Will I pick up more books from Eileen Cook in the future? That's yet to be determined.

Content warnings: this book contains implied rape, on-page violence, mental health stigmas/ableism, victim blaming, verbal/emotional manipulation and bullying, and unchallenged slut-shaming.

All quotes come from an unedited advance reading copy and may not match the quotes in the finished release.

Thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You can read my review and more on my blog!

NOTE: As a white woman, I am incapable of fully understanding the issues that plague black individuals today. I recognize my privilege and try to learn something new every single day, and I am so grateful for authors like Nic Stone who can teach me new ways of seeing society. That said, my opinion on this book is honestly so much less important than own-voice reviewers' words. If you or someone you know is an own-voice reviewer of this book and would like your review to be featured in my blog post, please message me here on Goodreads or DM me on twitter because I would love to share your words.

First and foremost, let me tell you that this is one of the most important stories that I have ever had the mixed pleasure and heartache of reading. Justyce's story is one of societal racism, police brutality, toxic masculinity, and privilege. His letters to Martin Luther King, Jr. beautifully depict the pain and difficulty that comes with being a black individual in the United States today.

It is so incredibly intersectional and finds a way to address so many talking points that many of my peers - of all ages - could benefit from seeing through this book's lens. No matter your political stance, I would highly encourage every single person to pick up a copy of Dear Martin and go into it with your eyes and mind as wide open as possible.

"How do I work against this, Martin? Getting real with you, I feel a little defeated. Knowing there are people who don't want me to succeed is depressing. Especially coming from two directions."

Something exceptionally interesting to me about Nic Stone's writing in this book is her decision to address not only racism, but also the mindset that some individuals in the black community have regarding themselves and other POC. There is a lot of explanation given for how, in a nutshell, once a group of people have been put down over and over for so long, in such painful ways, and have been shown that no amount of effort they can put forth will be recognized as equal, it can be easy to feel defeated and hopeless - sometimes to the point of giving up.

Justyce's reaction to his unlawful arrest, and the ways that his privileged, wealthy white classmates treat him, broke my heart. He becomes so hopeless at times. Despite being incredibly brilliant and hard-working, Jus questions his own worth at points, asking, "Am I ever going to get anywhere? Is this battle worth fighting?"

"Do I just take what they dish out, try to stop being "so sensitive"? What do I do when my very identity is being mocked by people who refuse to admit there's a problem?"

What may have been the most painful aspect of reading Dear Martin for me, was watching the way his so-called "friends" treated him. The microaggressions escalated steadily to blatant cruelty, and so much of it looked so familiar to things I saw and heard people say firsthand, growing up in the Atlanta metro. I'm so ashamed to say this, but there were even comments that I remembered making similar assumptions to as a young teen, and seeing it on paper like that brutally reminded me of how many people I have hurt with my carelessness in years past.

"My dudes... they're like family to me. They've got my back as long as I have theirs."

One of many topics Nic Stone handled beautifully was the portrayal of gangs, and the reasoning for why so many teens get sucked into them: at the root of many gangs lies a family, something to hold on to and to protect yourself with. In a society that has ceaselessly attacked the individuals it deems "other", is it any surprise that individuals like Justyce's childhood friend would seek solace in gangs?

The entire gang discussion in Dear Martin also highlights some serious struggles with toxic masculinity and the way it can effect young people in particular, leading young men to believe that proving their worth means violence, aggression, etc. While it's not a topic that is focused on very clearly in this book, it's worth mentioning.

Among other less-discussed topics in the book, there's time taken to dive into sexism (like Justyce's frequent remarks to Manny that he is "such a girl", which is later challenged), misogynoir and internalized racism (as Justyce's best friend, Manny, admits that he struggles to find black women attractive, and goes on to categorize them stereotypically and unfairly), and discrimination and how it can impact both sides (Justyce has a crush on his best friend - a Jewish girl named SJ - but refuses to pursue it due to his mother's insistence that no black son of hers should have anything to do with a white girl).

There's also a heavy line of discussion about police brutality, which we get to see somewhat from both sides: Justyce wonders if one cop's racism is influenced by having seen his partner shot by a black teen months prior - blame is never 100% placed on either side, and nobody's actions are justified. As a result of police brutality, Justyce's best friend's father joins a protest group (seemingly similar to Black Lives Matter), and is forced to resign from his management position as a result of being seen with "those people". I know that BLM and police brutality is a hot topic of controversy here in the states lately, and I thought Nic Stone made her points flawlessly.

"In that moment, when I thought I was dying, it hit me: despite how good of a dude Martin was, they still killed him, man."

This quote in particular was what finally broke me in Dear Martin. I have grown so weary of individuals claiming that marginalized groups - particularly black individuals - don't protest "the right way". If they stand silent, it's wrong. If they kneel, it's wrong. If they wear t-shirts and hold signs, it's wrong. This is so incredibly relevant to the turmoil facing our nation today, and at a certain point, you have to wake up and realize: it isn't about the protests - it never was. It's about the skin color of the protesters.

I feel like there's so much more that I could say about Dear Martin. I'm sitting here with tears streaking down my cheeks, and all I want to do is say any combination of the right words to convince you to pick this book up, to lose yourself in this story the way I did. To go into it with open eyes and to learn something from Nic Stone's experiences. If there could ever be a contemporary title that I could convince you to get a copy of, let it be Dear Martin.

Content warnings: racism, police brutality, violence, death, misogyny/misogynoir.

All quotes are taken from an ARC. Thank you so much to PRH/CROWN for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You can find this review and more on my blog!

Spoiler-free review!

"The funny thing about paranoia is it depends on the truth, right? I mean, it's only paranoia if I'm wrong."

Life has always been different for Lauren, who has an unexplained medical condition that forces her to believe every word she's told. When a treatment is offered that can make her "normal", she jumps at the chance, but the results brings on sudden, overwhelming paranoia.

This story reads as a non-fiction work compiled by Lauren's sister, who switches between young Lauren's journal entries and the therapy notes she was able to retrieve. The alternating timelines let us sample a bit at a time of each phase in Lauren's life: pre-surgery and immediately post-surgery (as she is forming her suspicions), and a few months post-surgery (when she has committed herself to a psych ward and is neck deep in full-blown paranoia).

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but understanding other people is sort of terrible sometimes."

The thought of not recognizing sarcasm or lies is baffling to me, but it was really interesting to watch Lauren change. Even her manner of speaking in her journal entries reflects the changes in her, as she starts off sounding incredibly young and innocent, and gradually grows to sound jaded and wronged. The depictions of her concerns will feel familiar to a lot of individuals who have struggled with anxiety and paranoia, as they feel super authentic and really suck you in to the drama.

You spend the bulk of the story getting down to the truth: is Lauren really suffering from delusions, or is the government out to get her? I won't tell you that; you'll have to pick this one up and find out for yourself!

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I flew through it. The formatting makes for a very quick read, and while I never fully attached to the characters enough to 5-star this one, I am delighted to have read it and would be very interested in reading more from Ari B. Goelman. I believe that this is a standalone, and it ties up the loose ends well enough by the final chapter, but if it is extended into a series, I would be more than happy to continue it!

Content warnings: ableism, fat-shaming, violence, attempted sexual assault.

All quotes come from an unedited advance reading copy and may not match the quotes in the finished release.

Thank you to Roaring Brook Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You can read my review and more on my blog!

I keep trying to like this one, but it just isn't happening, so I'm finally going to have to DNF it. I'm sorry. I am so tremendously grateful to the author for sending me a finished copy for reviewing, but the writing needs work, and the characters are wholly unlikable.