A workplace romance with BIPOC representation and female friendship.

Samiah Brooks is in her early 30s and she’s killing it. She’s got the car, the condo, and the job. Now according everyone, she needs the man. Unfortunately, after reading a thread of a young woman live Tweeting an awful date, Samiah realizes the man she’s dating is two-timing her. She goes to the restaurant to confront him just in time for another woman he was conning to show up. The three women chew him out which is being recorded on the other patrons’ phones. Samiah finds a kinship with the other two women: personal trainer and nutritionist, Taylor, and pediatric surgeon, London. However, the video of them goes viral much to their embarrassment. The women band together and say “screw society” and decide to devote the time they’ve wasted on dating on themselves before trying again. Samiah decides to devote her time to developing an app she’s been dreaming of for years. 

That’s until Monday, when new hire, Daniel Collins, shows up at Samiah’s job. She’s a badass, woman in STEM working for an extremely successful tech company and she’s rising to the top fast! She and Daniel hit it off and start a flirty work friendship. The problem is, Daniel is a government agent working for FinCEN in order to uncover a money laundering operation working out of Samiah’s job. What makes it even more difficult is Daniel is falling for Samiah, but is afraid to not only hurt her but compromise his job. 

Now this book has its moments. I think the buildup to Daniel and Samiah’s relationship was cute. Their office flirting was a whole vibe. But their actual relationship? I wasn’t feeling it at all. In fact, it was pretty boring. It was cute and fine, but it wasn’t plucking any heartstrings. And the sex scenes where just so…bleh? Like foreplay? Who is she? We don’t need her. There’s no buildup to the sex to get you excited for it. And the scenes themselves were just lack luster. And I’ve enjoyed clean romances and fade-to-black romances without issue. I almost wish this was clean or FTB. 

I liked the camaraderie between Samiah, London, and Taylor. I think the friendship started off fine and I could see the platonic chemistry there, but the book doesn’t devote much time to this blossoming friendship. Like I like the other women but I just barely care about them and the other two books are supposed to be about them! The book does devote A LOT of time to the work stuff. Which is fine, but it was A LOT. It’s more of a workplace drama in which a romance takes place. 

I don’t mind the “hidden identity” trope, but in this case, I really hated it. Samiah has HUGE trust issues and was literally JUST conned by a man lying about who he was and now the love interest is also lying about who he is? No thank you. Maybe if he’d confided in her and they actually worked together, her as maybe an informant, and she slowly forgave him after working to bring down the criminals, then MAYBE I could accept it. 

All this aside, I loved seeing a woman in STEM, especially a woman of color. I liked that Samiah talked about the difficulties of living up to her family’s expectations and what it’s like to be a WOMAN in STEM, especially the hardships that come with being a black woman in STEM and the pressure to be perfect to prevent messing up opportunities for the black women that come after her. Samiah’s experience working in a tech company is the experience of most women in STEM and most male-dominated fields, times 10 for women of color. So I think it’s really relatable and for non-POCs, it’s a good start at understanding even if it just scratches the surface. 

I will read the next book, because despite the shortcomings of this book, Taylor’s book is fake dating which I LOVE and London’s is enemies-to-lovers, so there potential there, too. 

A sapphic YA witchy coming-of-age drama that takes place in Salem during Halloween. 

This book contains homophobia/lesbophobia, marijuana use, anxiety/panic disorder, chronic illness, bullying, sexual assault, grief, and toxic relationship/friendship. 

I liked this book. I wasn’t aware it wasn’t about magical witches and not at all a fantasy until I started reading it. It is about real witches that practice Wicca/pagan-based witchcraft. 

Our story follows 17-year-old high school dropout but recent GED recipient and self-proclaimed most skeptical and cynical person in Salem, Eleanor Anderson. Eleanor skips out on her senior year after being marked as a crazed lesbian stalker of her ex-best friend and popular girl, Chloe, and an accident that occurred on Halloween night. Now Eleanor works full time at her mother’s friend, Susan’s, witchy shop to help pay for their bills. Her mom has Lyme’s disease that she contracted two years prior and what had them move to Salem to be closer to Susan so she can help take care of them. Eleanor’s family believes that her mom is faking her illness. 

Things change for Eleanor when she receives a hand written guide on tarot in the mail and meets Pix and Ofira on the same day. Pix and Ofira are cousins and Ofira is new to Salem. They also happen to be witches. They invite Eleanor to join their coven and she’s drawn in by curiosity and her interest in Pix. Eleanor slowly works through her tarot guide and process the trauma of the year prior. She and Pix grow closer together and start dating. 

We learn that she and Chloe secretly dated because Chloe, though out as bisexual to her parents, was ashamed of dating Eleanor. She ends up choosing to date resident popular douchebag, Harrison, to increase her own popularity, but the girls try to remain friends. Harrison manipulates Chloe and the student body into thinking that Eleanor is a predatory lesbian obsessed with Chloe and tries to erase Chloe’s bisexuality. This builds until it explodes resulting in an accident and Eleanor dropping out. 

Eleanor slowly starts to come to terms with the events of her junior year and learns to heal from it and to trust again. 

The setting in Salem and time period being Halloween is all pretty much background things to give a reason why Eleanor is hanging out with Pix and the coven and learning to heal. But it is a nice vibe to the story. There isn’t too much development in most of the coven and even Ofira and Gillian are pretty underdeveloped side characters. 

I wasn’t a huge fan of Eleanor becoming the “predatory lesbian” stereotype. Or even just the stereotype of being a crazy obsessed girl in the scenario that Chloe was a boy, this would’ve been problematic. But I also know that people that manipulate our feelings and hurt us and gaslight us do eventually make us feel and act somewhat “crazy”, and when you’re a teenager it’s a million times worse because you have no voice telling you to think it through. Regardless, the book could’ve done without this stereotype. I get the idea of Eleanor being bullied and experiencing lesbophobia, but we didn’t need this to accomplish that.  

The excessive use of marijuana is an unhealthy coping mechanism, especially since she’s underage, but at the same time it’s better than abusing Xanax or the like, and she eventually stops using marijuana to manage her anxiety and find other non-substance ways to cope. 

But I was happy to read about a different kind of grief (the loss of friendship/relationship), and a grief that occurs regardless of whether or not it was toxic (it was). And I do think the use of marijuana to cope and how Eleanor started using it less as she found herself surrounded by friends and support was done well. 

Pix and Eleanor don’t really have chemistry, but I thought they’re very cute together. I’m not sure about the accuracy of the portrayal of Wicca or paganism, but the bit I do know makes me appreciate the book as an introduction to this religion. Even thought it all very surface level, it’s done in a way I think will encourage readers to look information up themselves. 

Overall cute, albeit, a little boring story. 

I LOVE this book. 10 outta 10 would recommend! 

A cute sapphic coming-of-age YA dramedy that will have you laughing out loud (literally) and a little misty eyed. 

This book, as funny as it is, handles some serious themes like anxiety, alcoholism, emotional manipulation, neglect, food and financial insecurity, toxic relationship/friendship, and a child parenting their parent. 

Not My Problem is narrated by 16-year-old transition student, Aideen. Aideen isn’t the best student and she finds it hard to care about her education when she’s busy trying to keep social services from investigating her mom. Her mother is a recovering alcoholic and Aideen has made it her responsibly to ensure her mom stays sober so she can work and keep their flat and food in the house. Aideen attends a nice school that her father pays for (though it’s all he helps with), as a form of guilt or to ensure neither Aideen or her mother won’t out him to his wife and kids (yes, he cheated on his wife, mother of his 4 other children, and has a secret baby and sometimes mistress). Whenever her father comes back into their lives, Aideen is ready for the fallout when he leaves and her mother goes on a bender. 

Aideen only has one friend, Holly, who’s been her friend since primary school. Though Holly is much higher up in the school social ladder than Aideen (like much higher). People avoid Aideen, and she was outed before it was “cool” to be queer. Now, plenty of students, including popular ones, are out and proud. One day, top-of-their-class perfectionist, Meabh, is in desperate need of reprieve from her academic and extracurricular commitments. She’s afraid to quit something and look like a disappointment to her parents. So she convinces Aideen to push her down a flight of stairs so she’ll break her ankle and get out of sports and PE. Aideen does this reluctantly but is, unknowingly, witnessed by fellow student, Kavi. 

With Kavi’s “help” he finds other students for Aideen to help in return for favors. Eventually she’s helped half a dozen kids, while getting closer to Kavi and Meabh. She now had people who talk to her in school and save her seats. She’s realizing she’s helping other people with their problems, because she can’t solve her own. She also starts standing up for herself with Holly who doesn’t treat her well. And she realizes she’s developing feelings for Meabh, Holly’s academic rival. 

She carries on granting favors for favors until her father returns just to leave her mother broken hearted again. After missing more school and falling further behind to keep her mom from spiraling, and nearly losing her new friends, Aideen realizes she can’t keep doing everything on her own. 

Aideen is absolutely hilarious. I was getting a little bit of Derry Girls vibes while reading. I think the dynamic between her and Meabh is great and they balance each other out. The book does a great job of highlighting this concept of living inside you’re own bubble. I think as a kid you have this assumption that everyone lives similarly to the way you live. And of course, for some kids, this bubble bursts a little sooner than others. 

Kavi is so lovable. And there’s a few moments that he makes a comment on what it’s like for him as the only Irish-Indian student in school and Meabh had even brought up the lack of socioeconomic and ethnic diversity in their school and community, and services that would actually benefit these groups’ specific needs. Meabh even has to check her privilege a few times when Aideen points some things out for her. If I were to critique anything, it would’ve been a little more highlight on the issue of race for Kavi since he’s Aideen’s other new best friend and so many other problems of anxiety, depression, and strict-to-the-point-of-being-problematic parents are highlighted for the other characters. Especially since he was pretty much the only student with a healthy relationship with his parents and it seemed that being different was the one thing that bothered him. In general, the side characters were defined really well considering some only got a little time in the limelight. 

Holly and Aideen’s mom are the two most problematic relationships in Aideen’s life. Aideen constantly makes excuses or gives them the benefit of the doubt, even if they’ve proven time and time again that they’re unreliable and emotional manipulative, for fear of appearing to be needy or dramatic or a burden. I recognize that addiction is a disease but when children are parenting you and forfeiting their education and social life on top of it? Absolutely not. 

I really appreciated Ms. Devlin. She was funny and genuinely cared about Aideen. She even believes in Aideen. Though I hate the open-ended ending, I love that Aideen finally asks for help, and given how much the reader knows Ms. Devlin, there’s no doubt that she’ll go above and beyond to help Aideen. 

I related to both to Meabh and Aideen despite how different they are. I was the perfectionist, if-I-don’t-get-an-A-I’m-a-failure kind of student and I grew up in very low middle class. Picking the mold off bread still gives me nightmares. And I definitely got not wanting to be a burden to anyone and going so far as to letting people walk over me or making excuses for them. I think in a way you can relate to the characters in someway. 

I enjoy how subtle the romance was until the end. It wasn’t even a subplot or anything, but it was just nice and felt natural. I’m not a huge fan of the fact that the seriousness of Meabh hurting herself because of the pressure she’s under wasn’t really addressed. But overall, I think this book is great older teens. And anyone who needs validation and a good laugh. 

CHECK YOUR TRIGGER WARNINGS

The big ones: misogyny and religious trauma

This is a YA horror sci-fi fantasy that’s witchy and sapphic, and extremely traumatizing and it’s got ghosts!

TLDR: Bunch of white guys are murdered in this very Salem circa 1600s village where women are treated like trash and a young girl finds out she’s a witch. She thinks  she can fight the Devil but eventually she wants to join him, because men have taken the sins of the world out on women for far too long. Give it a read. It’s got some Handmaid’s Tale and The Giver vibes to it.

Extasia follows 16-year-old Amity (we don’t know her given name from birth) who lives in a walled community, Haven, in a time period after a Great War caused by devious women has destroyed the world centuries before. Haven is God’s chosen people. Amity has completed a serious of traumatizing and torturous trials to become a saint of Haven. There are 4 saints and they’re all teenaged girls who haven’t started their menstrual cycles yet (because now women have them much later due to poison in the air from the war). Her father is an Elder and her mother was killed for adultery when she was 11.

When she is anointed, she is given the name Amity. Alongside saints Mercy, Silence, and Temperance, the girls take on the sins of the women of the past and the sins of their fellow citizens in the form of beatings (people literally line up and beat the crap out of these girls to get “out their sins”) so that they will not hit each other or their spouses (though plenty of men beat their wives and children in this town). Amity’s adornment is supposed to stop the disturbing and mysterious murders of the town’s men (I think it’s 10 have been murdered at this point).

Everything is going as expected until a boy is killed on the day she’s anointed. Hours before, Amity catches Temperance and Mercy in the woods, kissing and speaking of dark things and a woman named Malice. As the killings continue, Amity decides she must collect relics to summon the Devil and either sell her soul to save Haven or defeat the Devil to do it. Later, Amity demands Temperance and Mercy take her to meet Malice. They take her to a magical forest called Avazel where Amity learns of witches and a power called extasia. Temperance and Mercy introduce Amity to their coven leader, Malice, who says that extasia has been calling for Amity and she promises to help her learn to wield the power. Amity also learns that Haven is not the only human settlement. The other witches are from other towns and cities.

Spoilers ahead at this point on. I’d say read it if you love a good feminine rage book.

It isn’t long before Amity discovers that the coven is responsible for the murders as they’re ritualistic killings to summon the Devil. They kill men who have harmed them. Amity bargains with the coven, asking to give her time to look for the relics so she can summon the Devil without anymore men dying. She’s given a week to complete her mission or they will continue the killings. At this point, Temperance has been burned by the people of Haven, and she’s enlisted her sister, Blessing, and Silence into the coven. The four change their names, Amity becomes Rage, Mercy becomes Vengeance, Blessing becomes Hunger, and Silence becomes Sorrow.

Rage has also enlisted the help of her best friend and betrothed, Samuel, to help in her quest to defeat the Devil. He also has to come to terms with how wrong things are in Haven. Women are subservient and taught to be meek, and they’re not taught to read or wield a weapon. They’re meant to only be wives and mothers. Rage’s father imprisons her after another Elder is killed and the townspeople blame her yet again for the evil in their town. Vengeance and Sorrow eventually rescue her, and just in time, as her father has Hunger tied to an altar, naked, and ready to sacrifice her in front of the other Elders (some are looking too happy). The girls save Hunger with Samuel’s help and they escape to Avazel.

When Rage’s time is up and the coven’s ritual is complete, the Devil still hasn’t come. Malice asks Rage to use her relics which leads them to the dark mountain where Haven believes is the home of the Devil. Only Rage, Vengeance , Sorrow, and Hunger are given passage into the mountain. The rest of the coven and Samuel hang back to fight the Haven men coming to kill the women. The girls learn there’s no Devil under the mountain, there’s a whole city of people. A girl Rage’s age, Jaime, tells her that 150 years ago, when the war destroyed much of the earth, their ancestors built this place. But Rage’s ancestors didn’t want to live under the mountain, so they broke off to “live out their lily-white, neo-Puritan, misogynistic fantasies” (p. 406), and her father was the only one left who knew the truth. The people under the mountain, other than those in charge, are unaware there are people living on the surface. Jaime’s mother, a governor, attempts to kill the girls to keep this secret but they escape.

Rage confronts her father, and kills him when he attempts to kill her and Hunger. She tells the Elders and the townspeople the truth and that things will be different. They work to heal and rebuild. Rage learns that extasia comes from the pain and deaths of the women before her, especially the women killed in Haven. Jaime and her friends are also able to seize control of their city.

The magic system/origins was a little weak, but I appreciated the symbolism. The irony of calling Haven “haven” and Azavel being created to actually be a safe haven for women through the deaths of women. It is a super white book, which is explained in one sentence towards the end (the ancestors of Haven were racist as well as misogynistic). Every other chapter was just trauma. Child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor, and just watching the women cast their gazes downwards, take their beatings, and Rage struggling to read was all really painful. Not to mention, it’s pretty gruesome and gory.

The fact that Hunger was 14 and Adam was 18 was driving me up the wall. And I know everything in this is supposed to be upsetting and 14 year olds are naïve and sexually curious, but I could’ve just gone without the pedophilia considering everything else going on the book. But I get the need for a righteous kill without feeling bad the guy was a child so we barely made him into an adult. Trust, there’s plenty of evil hearted 15 year olds in the world, I’d have been fine if they killed a minor aged Adam.

In my opinion, Rage seems to switch to the witches’ side a little quickly, not in their vendetta and mission to kill 16 men from Haven, but accepting she’s a witch and she will be this dark being forever. Also, her relationship with Sorrow kind of came out of nowhere. I mean there were subtle moments when she wanted to touch Sorrow’s cheek or her hair, but other than that they didn’t really talk or have more obvious signs of attraction towards her. It felt forced, no chemistry, and like there was no build up considering Rage hadn’t felt desire before or given into desire like Hunger had before. And what was wrong with her being bisexual and just not loving Samuel anymore after all that had happened?

I did very much like this book. It’s really dark for a YA but so is The Hunger Games, The Giver, and Night. In a lot of ways it’s a cautionary tale for where we’re heading if we keep up our crap, which is like “great, don’t remind me” and no one who needs to actually learn this will pick up with book. I’ll say it was very much giving The Village vibes right from the start for me, and I was expecting a reveal of other people with technology, and despite this expectation, it’s very difficult to reveal this in a way that doesn’t have you rolling your eyes. I think the reveal was fine but it still felt cringe. I like the righteous rage and the line between vengeance and becoming a monster yourself. When people are oppressed and backed up in such a tight corner, they lash out in whatever way they can and that can be difficult to reel it in.

Just overall a good book that was entertaining and interesting. I liked that the monster wasn’t like in The Village where it was to further suppress and control the townspeople but rather killing men that had harmed women. 

Cute mid-ish YA historical high fantasy romance that’s queeeer and nautical-ly (?). 

I was looking for a cute gay pirate story and this book popped up, and though pirates aren’t the subject of the book, I still enjoyed it. It’s definitely YA and could’ve spent a little more time on world building considering politics was a major plot point in this book. 

It’s a little cheesy and absolutely adorable. I loved how natural it was to have queer characters and women in power in a historical setting. Too often I hear “oh well it’s not realistic to of POC/queer/women in [insert role that isn’t oppressed]” (it’s literally a fantasy), and I’ve definitely seen books where it felt like the author was trying to hard to fit these characters in the narrative (but maybe that’s just cause they’re not used to incorporating minority characters??). Anyway, I loved this book. It made my heart all gooey over Tal and Athlen. It was just so nice to see a queer teenage love story where there wasn’t any animosity over the queerness. It made me sad for those who couldn’t have it, but also happy because more and more teens are able to experience young love like everyone else. 

The story follows fourth child, Prince Tal, going on his coming-of-age tour with his older brother Garrett. Tal is the last mage but his magic is a secret because his ancestor laid waste to the continent and they’re still rebuilding international relationships. Tal and Garrett come upon a burning ship where they find a teen boy, Athlen, chained below deck. Before they’re able to get answers from him, he jobs off their ship and is presumed dead. Days later, Tal runs into Athlen in a market and is shocked to see him alive. 

Tal meets Athlen’s friend, Dara, and Tal’s given a rude awakening on the struggles of his people. He enlists his brother to help give out supplies and medicine to the people in town. When Tal meets Athlen again, he demands answers. Athlen takes him to a secret cove where he lives and reveals he’s a merman. Tal is in awe that there’s another magical being, who happens to be the last of his kind, just like him. 

Tal is then kidnapped and tortured by pirates which reveals a politically motivated assassination plot. Then Tal is rescued and nursed back to health by Athlen and Dara. Together Athlen and Tal must overcome a sea witch’s bargain, betrayal, war, and assassination attempts all while falling in love. 

As I’ve said, world building could’ve been given more attention and a little more development of characters like Dara and the siblings and even Shay would’ve been nice. I do like the familial bones between Tal and his siblings. And I love the relationship between Tal and Athlen despite it developing rather fast. 

Overall, I think it’s a good book. I was thoroughly entertained. And yeah, it’s definitely more for 13-16 year old probably, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hold its own. 

YA literary drama that takes place over an evening of riots in Atlanta. The book follows two POVs: Lena and Campbell. Lena is a black senior that grew up in Atlanta and Campbell is a white girl who is new to the area. Both have their own biases against one another but they have to work together to survive a night of chaos. 

Campbell has moved from PA to Atlanta after her mom gets a job in Venezuela and she leaves her with her dad to do her last year of high school. She’s cornered by a teacher at her new school into helping at the concession stand at the football game that night. Campbell’s dad drops her off at the game and leaves for the weekend. Her dad stopped paying child support years before resulting in her mother losing their house, thus her desperation for this Venezuelan job when her current job laid her off. 

Then we have Lena who is self assured, independent, and has a big personality. Next to timid and shy Campbell, she’s the sun. But she’s dating this 20 year old man nicknamed Black who is really just trash. He ignores her calls and texts. Her friend, cousin, and grandfather all tell her she’s too good for this man and she is. She and her friend, LaShunda are attending the game. LaShunda leaves and Lena goes to the concession stand to kill time before meeting with Black. That’s when she notices Campbell is working the stand alone when there’s a crowd of people pushing in and rushing her. They’re all rude to her, even Lena at first, but then a fight breaks out when a white fan from the visiting school calls a student from the home school a racial slur. Then everyone in the crowd starts fighting. 

Lena enters the stand to get away and clean up when the cops show up. The fight escalates further. Then there’s gun fire. Lena and Campbell drop to the floor and realize they need to get out of there. They fight through the crowd and Lena’s phone is dead so she uses Campbell’s to call Black to pick them up. He comes up with an excuse and says if they meet him across town he’ll drive them home. Campbell has no one to call and Lena refuses to call her grandfather or cousin to avoid drama or getting into trouble. Now the girls have to go through the dangerous part of town to get to essentially the Main Street where the restaurants are open. They run into a few obstacles, but they get to Seventh Avenue where protesters have gathered peacefully until a white man hits a black woman with his car by accident and it incites an already on edge crowd. A few white men wearing confederate flags join the fight and an all out riot blooms. 

The girls find that Black and his friends have left and Campbell’s dad’s store has been looted. Campbell is angry and upset at the loss of her family’s livelihood that was barely keeping them afloat. The cops show up in riot gear and Lena’s cousin gets beaten by police. Black finally shows up and acts all worried for Lena. Then they get to a car with his friends and take Campbell home. It’s revealed that Black’s friends looted Campbell’s family store and Black confronts them about it because he has morals now. And Lena and Campbell start taking the stuff when one of Black pulls a gun. They fight and eventually the friends leave. Campbell’s dad returns and Black takes Lena home. 

In the bonus chapters we see that Marcus (Lena’s cousin) has been injured and charged which violates his probation. He’s struggling to come up with a plan to avoid jail time. Campbell is unable to leave for college in PA like she wants and applies to Georgia State. It’s clear she’s suffering from some PTSD. And Lena graduates as valedictorian with a scholarship to make her dreams of attending a fashion program at the local art institute a reality. 

Okay, there’s a bit to unpack. To start, Black is a whole ass adult dating a child. Which is disturbing alone, but then the authors tried to give him some kind of moral code in the end? Suddenly he’s worried about his “queen” and sticks up for her and Campbell to his friends, and is morally opposed to theft? Do not try to redeem this 20 year old man when he is “dating” this 16/17 year old child. And at first glance it seems odd that such a powerhouse like Lena is caught up with a pedophile who is neglectful, emotionally manipulative and gaslights the hell out of her. But I’ve seen many strong, independent women get caught up with some abusive guy like this. I hate they tried to redeem him. The age difference alone was unacceptable. But one with the toxic relationship, it’s definitely realistic. 

It’s very one par for teenagers, or anyone in an actively traumatic event, to worry about things that don’t matter. Lena with her clothes and being afraid of getting into trouble, and Campbell getting over the top upset about her father’s store. I’m angry that given their life or death situation, Lena should’ve called for help. Campbell literally had no one to call. And Lena shouldn’t have chosen Black over her cousin. Campbell shouldn’t have said some problematic things to Lena either. But Lena’s decisions could’ve gotten them both killed. Campbell’s blinders over the store could’ve gotten them killed too. 
 
Now let’s talk about Campbell’s parents. Her mom couldn’t get any OTHER job? She worked for the government and the only job available was on another continent? And Campbell’s right, there would’ve been an international school for her to attend, so her mom’s arguments on her not coming were flimsy and selfish. Now to her dad: What kind of parent just leaves his kid in the care of some stranger? Regardless if they’re a teacher. After hearing how he views the people of the community, it seems he was willing to risk it to get the weekend to fish. 

There wasn’t a lot of character development and personality with the characters. Like I was so emotionally detached from everyone in this book. And there’s no real evidence that a lesson was learned. 

This book is supposed to take place in like 2019ish time, yet Campbell is this ignorant and dense about the world around her? She’s never heard of Black Lives Matter or seen protests and riots on the news? It’s so unbelievable. I get being white and not understanding the plights of POC, but to be this ignorant of what’s going on?? It just irritated the hell out of me. And Lena is right about people being pushed to a breaking point so they do whatever they can to get some sense of power, but she was just immediately rude to Campbell, and yeah they both had their assumptions based on stereotypes about one another, but that’s not an excuse to be mean right from the jump. Also, why assume Campbell is rich when she goes to your school and lives in the same neighborhood? 

I think it does start a conversation, but it’s not developed enough and I’m not sure enough happened for Lena and Campbell to bond and put aside their differences. And they shouldn’t be putting them aside, it should a discussion. 

The YA mystery thriller series has come to an end. 

An interesting conclusion to the AGGGTM trilogy. I have to say it had its ups and downs. It was my least favorite of the three books but it was still good and entertaining. 

While it still is on the “unbelievable, this is definitely fiction” side of things, it does deal with a lot of serious, really dark issues of mental illness, PTSD, and self-medicating. 

Pip is reeling from witnessing Stanley’s murder from the previous books. She’s experiencing severe PTSD and can’t sleep. Her anxiety is on a whole other level. When he doctor stops prescribing her Xanax so she can learn to cope without them, she begins buying them off of Luke. The first third of the book does lean into this darkness Pip is stuck in and it’s also when she begins to notice strange things around the house. She’s noticed dead pigeons and strange chalk drawings in front of her house. Then she gets another creepy message from what she believed was a troll at first, but now it seems like this troll is connected to the dead birds and drawings, which means she has a stalker. 

She attempts to bring this to the attention of the police but classic Detective Hawkins let’s us down again. So Pip takes it into her own hands to investigate with Ravi by her side. And god I love Ravi so much. Too good for this world that kid. On a whim she finds a very flimsy connection to a case 6 years prior. It’s a serial killer case about the DT Killer, who everyone believes is behind bars now. But in a offhand comment made by one of victim’s family members, Pip made a connection to the birds and drawings. Then the prank calls started. Just like the victim’s sister mentioned. 

As Pip looks into the DT case, she sees how the police coerced a false confession out of a man, Billy, who is now imprisoned for these murders. She then starts drawing connections between the DT killings and Andie Bell (the murder that started it all). Andie reached out to one of the victim’s sisters using a secret email, one that Pip gained access to and saw that Andie knew who the DT Killer was and that she was doing everything she could to get her and her sister, Becca, out of Fairview. This sheds a new light on Andie (though I thought it was fine having a victim not be perfect or likable but I digress). Pip recognizes that Billy and Daniel de Silva worked for Jason Bell’s company. Pip begins to believe that Daniel is the real DT Killer. And it’s clear, the DT Killer is the one stalking her. 

She keeps everything from her family and friends, only Ravi knows everything that’s going on. She’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and at any moment it seems like she’ll crack under the pressure. 

And this is when the spoilers come in, so read the book first and come back. 

Pip is abducted by DT and it’s revealed that Jason is the killer (just as I predicted back when his company was first mentioned). He takes her to a warehouse, does his whole “villain revealing his plans and past crimes” thing, and he duct tapes her arms, feet, and wraps her head with tape. Then he leaves her there for some good ol’ psychological torture. I’ll admit I was freaking out from the moment she called his number and until she was trapped in this warehouse. Even with 200 pages left in the book, I just assumed she’d be get free and deal with Max Hastings. And I wasn’t wrong. After crying through Pip being utterly terrified, she frees herself, arms herself with a hammer, and escapes. Then she hears Jason return and in a split decision she doubles back. She keeps thinking how the police won’t believe her, Jason is a prominent member of society, a pillar of the community if you will, and they believe the DT Killer is in prison. They’ve never believed Pip before so why would they now? And Pip kills Jason with the hammer. It’s oddly satisfying. 

Then she calls Ravi (which the entire time I’m like okay your DNA is all in the warehouse, duct tape, and the trunk of his car even if they don’t believe he’s DT the evidence that he kidnapped you is pretty damning) and together they come up with a plan to erase Pip’s existence from the crime scene. And at this point I’m like “Pip, what are you doing? The cops need a killer regardless. What are you gonna do? Frame Max? Lol.” And a few pages later, Pip chooses Max to frame for the murder. 

The rest of the book is pretty much Pip and Ravi manipulating the crime scene to make it appear that Jason died much later, gathering evidence to frame Max (with a vindicating moment where Max gets roofied), and then establishing ironclad alibis. And yes, she recruited her friends to help without telling them anything they didn’t need to know. Then it’s just stress the rest of the book. To be honest, the whole thing was stressful. Waiting with Pip to hear news of the murder and the police investigating Max. There was an “oh shit” moment when it seemed like Pip was about to get caught, but it worked out. Pip decided to cut off her friends, family, and Ravi to protect them until Max if found guilty, on the chance he’s freed again and police continue their investigation that will point to Pip. With Jason’s DNA and fingerprints, as well as trophies he took from his victims, Billy was exonerated, and now people know Jason was the DT Killer. 

Pip had her moments, where the decisions she was making seemed wrong and impulsive to the point she second guesses whether there was a better way. Either she’s maturing or learning from her past mistakes or both. Regardless, Pip is only 18, still a kid, and making bad decisions comes with the territory. It makes sense for both her and Ravi to distrust the system and take matters into their own hands. 

It’s all quite dramatic and unrealistic in a lot of ways. I know these books are inspired by actually crimes, but it does seem so out there to have the DT Killer be the catalyst for Andie’s death, Sal’s murder, Max raping Becca, Howie going to jail, Stanley being outed and murdered, just to come full circle and end with the DT Killer being murdered himself. A lot of shit happens to Pip, and yeah she inserts herself into these investigations, and at least with this one, it came to her, but can this much coincidental, bad shit happen to one person? Also, very dumb on Jason’s part though. After being careful for years, he chooses a victim he knows, has motive to kill, and is close to home? I mean he could’ve just been spiraling which is what it seemed like when he was talking to Pip, but come on man. 

It was the most predictable of the three books, which is unfortunate because I like to be surprised like I was in the first two books, but maybe I just remember too much from the other two books to be taken by surprise? And while I like that we don’t know what happens to Pip and her mental health, her and Ravi, Becca, or Charlie Green, I’m still a little peeved I don’t have the answers. I’m spoiled I guess. 

I think the book did well showing what it’s like to be a woman trying to report stalking or sexual assault, especially when the assailant is a rich white man. It gives a little highlight on how privileged white men have an advantage over everyone when it comes to the criminal justice system. Whereas of Jason or Max were POC, it’s likely the white victims would’ve been believed almost immediately. 

And just the conversation of false confessions was really important. Reading that transcript was just so hard cause I’ve heard it so many times in real cases where a false confession was coerced out of poor people, minorities, and those with mental/intellectual disabilities. Honestly, as someone that studied criminology in undergrad, I could see this book getting a lot of young people interested in criminal justice reform, maybe inspire some to pursue a career in changing it. 

I also think it did a good job explaining how trauma can affect even the strongest of people. However, I did not like that Pip was yet another female character that is so anti-therapy after an extreme trauma. I just don’t think, especially as a YA, that this trope should continue. 

While all the books stand on their own, you definitely can’t read them out of order, and really there are bread crumbs in each one to lead to the next book that I think it’d hard not to be curious. If YA mysteries are your thing, give this series a read. I wish I had it when I was in high school to read! 

I think this is an excellent story for children. It introduces them to not only a form of art but also a piece of history not normally taught in schools. It opens a conversation about prejudice against Jewish people, immigrants, impoverished people, and other marginalized groups. This is the first time I’ve heard of Ben Shahn and I thought it was because his art style wasn’t my cup of tea, but now I hate that I hadn’t heard about him before or social realism in art! It’s seems way too important to not be taught in schools and I hope teachers find this book and discuss it in their classes! It does seem to be a little heavy and long winded to be taught to 6 year olds, but I think it’s perfect for 3rd graders. 

I think this is great tool to start a conversation about race with children. But it does have a little problem with maybe presenting the idea that race should be ignored, and we’re far from living in a society where it can be without being harmful. It’s also a little terrifying about taking off your skin, I know it’s figuratively, but I’m an adult, and children take things literally and I can see this either being seen as silly or disturbing to a child. Otherwise, I do think as long as it’s used right, it’s a decent start to a larger conversation. 

A high fantasy YA that mixes Harry Potter with The Hunger Games and maybe a little of The Maze Runner (based on the movies, didn’t read them). But it’s kind of like Percy Jackson since the point of Camp Half-Blood is to protect them from evil beings too. 

A Deadly Education follows El, a young witch/sorceress in her junior year at the Scholomance. The Scholomance is an automated school (that’s basically sentient) of magic. Each year, magical children that reach the age of 14, are teleported into their freshman dorm rooms and will spend the next 4 years honing their magic so they can survive graduation and the outside world. 

Their magic begins to rapidly grow with puberty and basically become beacons for mal (different types of magical monsters that eat magical humans), because they’re young and their magic is new, they are defenseless. Before the school, 60% of magical children would die because the mal would eat them. Some children are more protected than others. There are enclaves (or covens) around the world that are able to store magic and protect one another from mal (though they’re hardly appealing once they’re old and able to fend for themselves). 

The Scholomance  carries the politics of the outside world since not everyone is invited into an enclave. This is how El and her mother (Gwen) lived before she went to school. They live with mundanes (non-magical humans) instead, because Gwen doesn’t care for the politics and selfishness of the enclaves. El’s father died during his and Gwen’s graduation when he sacrificed himself to save Gwen and their unborn child. Graduation is when the school forces out the seniors through the only exit, which has hundreds of mal lying in wait for an annual feast. There’s, of course, a machine that’s supposed to kill the mal just before graduation, but that’s been broken for over a century. 

The school also has multiple breaches, and the students aren’t safe from mal even behind the school walls. So many children die before they even have a chance to fight through graduation. 

El is a loner, which is a deadly choice since there’s safety in numbers. But she spent her life not being liked by other people, even mundanes, simply because of her vibe. People have even left her for dead as a child rather than help protect her. When Gwen was able to track down El’s paternal family in India, they were at first happy to welcome Gwen and El, until her great-grandmother had a premonition that El would be the cause of great destruction. Gwen flees with El to Wales where she raises her in a mundane commune. 

At the Scholomance, last quarter of her junior year, El is (annoyingly) being saved by enclave heir and golden boy, Orion Lake. His affinity is combat magic and he’s made it his mission to kill as many mal and save as many students as possible. El is constantly rude to Orion, who suspects she’s evil and steals the magic from others (thus killing them). When he figures out he’s wrong, he still sticks around and takes El’s rudeness since she’s the only one that treats him like a normal kid. The whole school things Orion is dating her and the enclaves get restless. Eventually El makes friends. And they all decide to try to fix the machine in the graduation room. They have no way of knowing if their plan worked until they graduate next year. 

El is extremely powerful and the school often tries to give her dark spells of death and destruction rather than giving her a simple spell she asked for (like asking for a cleaning spell and instead getting one that would enslave another into doing her bidding). But her affinity isn’t ever revealed and she keeps her head down. She doesn’t mention that her mother is a famous healer that knows nearly everyone, to avoid any attention. But of course, Orion befriending her changes everything for her. 

Okay, so this book was mainly just info dumping. Like just 85% information and 15% of an actual plan of action. We meet El and see her day-to-day while witnessing her change in status and how she handles it. We also see how truly gifted and powerful she is. And we learn about mana (magic) and mal, and how wizard politics works and plays into the dynamics in the school. It isn’t until 15% left of the book they decide to fix the machine in the graduation room, come up with a plan, and then execute it. 

That’s not to say the book was boring. El was attacked every other page or being confronted by enclavers or making cool magical items and spells. But it just feels a little pointless and doesn’t really hype up the rest of the series. 

There is some BIPOC representation in this book. El is half-Indian and her two friends are Middle Eastern and East Asian. The school takes magical children from around the world so there are children and characters from minority backgrounds. This book does display issues with classism and elitism, and there’s the symbolism of El being much darker than the people she eventually befriends and Orion who is white, and she’s the one who is outcasted (even though he friend was using malia [dark magic]). 

There are a few things that could be problematic or an oversight on Novik’s part. Though there are many students that aren’t able to shower regularly if they’re outcasts (since there’s no one to guard their stall from mal), thus there’s a few smelly kids in this school, El talks about having a bad smell several times in the book, and it’s a huge stereotype against South Asian kids. Again, it could be an oversight (best case scenario), but still, think before you write. And there was that comment about a language worksheet having a cartoon man mowing down people in a car and it having to be an Arabic worksheet based off of that. Yeah. That was pretty on the nose. 

But yeah no plot at all with a few problematic statements. I’m hoping they’re mistakes, but who knows.  And for all the info dumping, there’s a lot about the magical system and world building I don’t understand or was just not explained well. The concept is very interesting (the whole graduate or die thing) and the little bit of commentary on classism was decent. Could be more in-depth all the way around. 

Unsure if I will read the rest of the series. Luckily I didn’t buy it. Thank god for libraries.