I’ve been especially eager to read this novel since the movie came out. While I’m still eager to see the movie, I’m not sure what to expect, because unfortunately, I found Dumplin’ incredibly average.

I don’t care that Willowdean was judgmental or that she makes questionable choices. That’s usually part of being a teen. What I do care about is the petty girl fights, the unnecessary love triangle, and the flat side characters. Will and Ellen’s fight was petty, and while I know we all have petty arguments with people we care about, I don’t see why it had to be so prevalent in the novel.

I didn’t like Bo. As early as 45 pages in, they’ve hung out and readers can tell that he likes Will. Pages later they kiss for the first time behind the dumpster of the fast food restaurant they work at, which, while not ideal, isn’t my problem. First, Bo doesn’t ask Will if she wants to kiss him or if he can kiss her. He simply kisses her, and while she doesn’t protest, I don’t think that’s right. Then he has her follow his car to an abandoned elementary school so they can hang out and chat at almost two a.m.; don’t get me started on that. These scenes aside, I just didn’t find myself attached to Bo in any way, and while I didn’t love Mitch either, I don’t think it was fair for Will to lead him on. If I had to choose between the two boys, I’d choose Mitch, and he basically got his heart broken and wasn’t really mentioned again.

I feel like Will was the only really developed character in the novel. Her fight with Ellen meant Ellen was only present in the beginning and the end. Callie was Ellen’s pageant friend, and Will dislikes her, though unless I missed something, I couldn’t tell you why. Hannah was cool — I always end up liking the lesbian characters — but she didn’t really open up until near the end and then I didn’t get much more of her. As for Millie and Amanda, it took almost the entire story and reading a couple of other reviews for me to even tell them apart. They blurred together as I read, even though I was at no point distracted. To me, that’s a sign of poor character development. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I can’t speak on the fat rep, as I’m not fat. The one thing I will say is that I know it’s valuable when a book has a fat protagonist whose story doesn’t revolve around weight loss, and though it crosses Will’s mind, that’s not the case here.

My two favorite things were sadly not major parts of the story. I liked Lucy’s character, but she died prior to the beginning of the novel. Only memories allowed any information about her. I also loved the drag show scene, and that the bouncer and one of the drag queens ended up becoming friends and mentors to Will, Millie, Amanda, and Hannah. Dale and Lee are the most underrated characters in the novel and you can’t convince me otherwise.

One last thing I want to say is that the pageant took up surprisingly little page time. This might be due to my own misunderstanding, but I thought it would be more relevant. Sure, the story was about the pageant, but it didn’t occur until the end and only lasted a few chapters. I’m also lowkey bitter that only the second place winner was announced.

I know I had a lot of criticisms, but I did like this novel. It was a very quick, easy read, and despite the issues I had, it wasn’t all bad. I’ll definitely see the movie, although I’m not sure if I’ll pick up Julie Murphy’s future work.

4.5 stars

Tw: sexual assault

This was a wonderful book. I loved Janna, her friends, and her family. I loved that choice was an ongoing theme; wearing a hijab or a niqab or nothing at all was each individual girl’s decision. The story was also very eye-opening. I learned a lot about Islam. I think this is the first book I’ve read with an actively religious Muslim protagonist.

Not quite a favorite, but still a very good book. I’m glad I picked it up.

CW: rape, violence, gore, torture

[ARC sent to me by the publisher. This doesn’t affect my opinions or the content of my review.]

Situations like this are why I’m wary of unsolicited ARCs. If I hadn’t reached out to be part of the blog tour, I would’ve DNFed this book; I’ve definitely learned my lesson. While I didn’t hate this novel, I honestly can’t say that it has any redeemable qualities.

I think the circumstances surrounding this novel are wonderful. The story was originally posted on Wattpad and now is traditionally published. That’s an accomplishment, and I’m happy for the author. But this book could’ve benefited from some more work.

First of all, it starts off on a confusing note. The protagonist, Janneke, states in the first chapter that she’s been in the Permafrost, the goblin realm, for a hundred years. That it’s been a hundred years since her village was raided, everyone else was killed, and she was taken captive. In my opinion, that’s an abrupt way to start a story. While exploring the entire hundred years would’ve undeniably been tedious, at least an overview might have allowed for better understanding of what readers are getting into and what happened in that considerable time gap.

I didn’t dislike Janneke. She’s a strong character that has survived many traumatic events and would greatly benefit from a hug and a plate of cookies. Kara said — I think it was in an interview — that Janneke’s struggles and recovery are a reflection of her own. I in no way want to take away from that. However, Janneke’s inner monologue about staying human, not becoming a goblin, and whether or not she’s a monster became repetitive and slightly annoying. With the exception of a few scenes, mainly flashbacks, I didn’t really care about her. My favorite characters were Soren, Skadi, and the three wolves, but even they couldn’t boost my opinion of the novel.

Additionally, the plot was slow. Not much happened in the entirety of the roughly 350 page novel. I was bored leading up to the hunt and hoped that once it began, the story would pick up, but it didn’t. There was a lot of fighting and gore, but not a lot of substance. I pushed through, hoping something would happen, my interest would be piqued, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Getting through the second half of the book, short as it was, was a struggle.

A side note, related to the aforementioned gore: the fact that some characters lived after the injuries they received is a minor miracle.

As for the world-building, I found it lackluster and confusing. It was mentioned early on that Janneke could evolve, could become a part human, part goblin creature. I’m not sure how that would work. I thought only Pokémon evolved.

A seemingly important concept in the beginning is that goblins raid villages and kidnap humans, because humans can create but goblins can’t. The goblin becomes the human’s master. This concept was not fleshed out, even though Janneke herself was in this situation.

Another world-related issue is the lack of detail regarding the goblin…culture, I suppose? There are goblin lords, but I couldn’t tell you where they lived or what purpose they served. At one point during the hunt, there’s mention of the different regions of the Permafrost, where various types of goblins and other creatures reside. A couple of short paragraphs gave a very basic rundown of everything, but it wasn’t mentioned again. In general, the world-building could’ve used some development and polishing.

The slow-burn romance didn’t work for me either. While I do like the love interest, how can I be invested if I don’t care much for the main character?

I wanted to like this novel, but there were simply too many questions unanswered and factors working against that outcome. I hope I didn’t come across as cruel in my criticisms, as that truly wasn’t my intention. I didn’t hate this book, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I think Kara has potential as an author and I wish her well; however, I won’t be reading her future novels.

Recommended to those who liked the goblins of Wintersong, the character dynamics of The Cruel Prince, and/or the moral ambiguity of This Savage Song.

CW: attempted rape, rape (off-page), violence, blood, pedophilia, death of a loved one, death, grief

I’ve heard nothing but endless praise for this novel, to the point where I was a bit nervous going in, but it deserves every word. Girls of Paper and Fire is absolutely freaking amazing.

I thought of giving this 4 stars, or 4.5 stars. There were minor flaws: the beginning did drag a little, and for the first half of the story I think Lei lacked any real desire or motivation. In general, it was a slower-paced novel until the last hundred or so pages, before surprising readers with a thrilling climax and an unexpected cliffhanger. I decided to raise my rating to 5 stars because, despite everything, the story was gripping and emotional.

I loved Lei and the other Paper Girls. Even Mariko and Blue, as terrible as they were, were dynamic characters. Every character had a personality and a reason to be liked or disliked. Wren is a badass with a big heart. Aoki and Lill are both so sweet and I want to hug and protect them. Chenna, Zhen, Zhin, Kenzo, Baba, Bao, Tien…I cared about all of them. The Demon King is such a good villain, too, cunning and powerful and absolutely horrible. I liked hating him.

The best part of the story, hands down, was Lei and Wren’s slow-burn romance. The two of them made my lesbian heart so happy. They fit together so well, complement each other, and the scenes with the two of them alone were some of the most enjoyable to read. I won’t lie, though, the fear of them getting caught gave me a n x i e t y.

The world is so immersive, with the different castes and cultures, tension and history. There’s so much to it, so many layers, but at no point did I feel overwhelmed by the information. It was given as the story progressed, at just the right moments, building intrigue and curiosity.

Another one of my favorite things is the writing. It’s simple but lovely, allowing me to imagine what was taking place without overpowering other aspects. I could imagine the demons of the upper castes. I could picture the food, the dresses, the court. I could feel Lei’s anger, her hope, her fear. In my opinion, this is indicative of a truly talented author.

There isn’t any information on the sequel, here or anywhere else, at least not to my knowledge. But I’ll be eagerly awaiting any tidbit. Girls of Paper and Fire isn’t one of my all time favorite novels, as I did have some small problems with it and would’ve liked more from the final chapters. However, less than two weeks into the new year, I know this novel is one of my favorites of 2019.

Highly recommended to all who can handle its content, as this is honestly a spectacular read.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be.

To start, this was a really entertaining read. I found myself speeding through it, wanting to know more. It had the proper intensity of a murder mystery, but a slower pace that I think was more realistic regarding a police investigation.

I loved all of the main characters. I’m excluding Simon from this, because he was dead in the first chapter and also he was a huge jerk. But otherwise, I loved everyone. Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper were all fierce, smart, kind-hearted, and facing their own challenges. I was cheering them on, and I felt their setbacks on a personal level. I liked the side characters (well, most of them) and how they were developed, rather than left on the sidelines just to move the story along.

Alongside the mystery, there were a lot of relationships I found myself attached to: Bronwyn and her sister, Addy and her sister, Bronwyn and her boyfriend (they’re the cutest™!), and the murder squad’s* friendship.

*the name given to Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper. I find it very amusing.

Even though I wasn’t a fan of any parental figures in this book, I appreciated that each character had parents present in some form, to some degree. Siblings were also included, and Bronwyn and Addy had real connections to their respective sisters, which I really liked.

I had two big issues with this book. The first one was prominent throughout most of the story; Addy and Jake were dating, but Jake was an extremely controlling boyfriend. I took note of several examples, all of them around or before the halfway point. Jake wanted Addy to change into a cuter outfit. He made sure she had “fancy” lingerie before they had sex for the first time. (This happened off-page, prior to the story.) After Addy’s confession, he says he “treated her like a queen,” and she doesn’t object. He was so dominant that she didn’t know what to do with herself after he broke up with her, and for a significant while believed she was nothing. I was so proud of Addy when she started to stand up for herself and decided she didn’t need another boyfriend, despite her mother’s arguments.

And on that note, after their break up, Jake does nothing to stop Addy’s former friends from shutting her out completely, and slut-shaming her. I know she made a mistake, but girls shaming other girls gets really old, really fast.

The second thing relates to Cooper being gay. His sexuality doesn’t bother me at all. What does bother me was the extent of his father’s horrible homomisia, before and after Cooper came out. The other bad thing is that, during their investigations, the police outed Cooper to the entire school, and outside of the murder squad, only three or four people supported him. So if you’re queer and you want to read this, just be careful.

I thought the mystery aspect of this book was intriguing, and I kept changing my theory on who the killer was. I think I suspected everyone at some point, no matter how brief, except the actual killer. The reveal took me completely by surprise, though it wasn’t what I’d hoped for. It made for an exciting ride, but a bit of a disappointing end.

Speaking of disappointing ends, I wish the epilogue had been a bit more detailed. I liked where all the characters ended up, but I wish I had more. I want more. *insert The Little Mermaid gif*

All in all, I enjoyed this book, despite the problems I had with it. If you’re on the fence about reading this, I recommend giving it a try! 😊

[E-ARC provided by Netgalley. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.]

This novel was absolutely not what I expected. It wasn’t bad, and at times it was even entertaining. But issues added up, and I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would, based on the synopsis.

The pacing was perhaps my biggest problem. Clara, the protagonist, isn’t transported to the nutcracker’s world until nearly 25% through, and has an idea of how to solve the problem before the halfway point. Then, around the 60% mark, they had a plan and were prepared to put it in motion. Many chapters felt like filler, and at multiple points I wondered what would happen in the remainder of the novel, why there was still x% left when the situation was in the protagonists’ favor.

Something else that bothered me as I read was the writing style. Wallwork frequently uses italics and parentheses; the former emphasizes words that don’t need it, rendering the technique useless, while the latter merely annoyed me. I’m sure it’s widely known that emphasizing more means you don’t really emphasize anything (although maybe I’m being petty). If it pained you to read that as much as it pained me to write it, imagine this writing style used throughout a novel. I’m sorry, but no. Just no.

Now that my complaints are out of the way, I must say that many other elements in the novel felt flat. I didn’t connect or even really care about Clara, and it took most of the novel for Nikolai to grow on me even a little bit. Clara was ridiculously sappy; I don’t mind romantic characters. I’m a romantic myself. But she was dead set on marrying a man she’d barely spoken to, simply because she admired him as a pianist.

That aside, the attempts at humor scattered throughout dialogue were cheesy and rarely succeeded in making me even smile. I lost count of how many times I rolled my eyes.

I did like how focused on music the story was. Although I don’t know enough about music to be familiar with all of the terms, it’s an integral part in this story and the magic, and I found that fascinating. I was lowkey tempted to make an instrumental playlist to match the described songs.

I also found the end a bit unsatisfying. After everything is said and done, Clara and Nikolai talk. That’s it. I would’ve liked more of a physical resolution, rather than a verbal one. I would’ve liked if they followed through with the plans they made. I think that would’ve made it more enjoyable, and admittedly, more worth my time trudging through the middle. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn’t hate or love this novel. To be honest, I’m just glad to be done with it. I recommend it to those who like music, magic, and more lighthearted, nonsensical stories, though I do recommend it with a grain of salt.

4.5 stars

[E-ARC provided by Netgalley. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.]

”I think of all my classmates, bent over textbooks, shoulders strained under heavy backpacks, eyes hooded from lack of sleep. We’re all in it together, whether we want to be or not.”

[Quote from the e-ARC.]

After reading and enjoying Girl Out of Water in 2017, I had high hopes for this novel. I’m happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

At its core, You Asked For Perfect is the deeply relatable story of Ariel, a high school senior striving to be valedictorian and to get accepted into Harvard. Even as someone who took only one AP class, I could really relate to Ariel’s struggles and the descriptions of the burdens the school system placed in students’ shoulders.

The novel also features a close-knit Jewish family, a diverse cast of side characters, adorable dogs, an aspiring band, supportive friends, Harry Potter references, and an m/m romance — Ariel is bisexual, though I don’t think Amir’s identity is stated. Regardless, I loved it all.

One of my favorite aspects of the novel was that the characters were clearly flawed. By that I mean that many characters made mistakes and spent time having to make up for them. The best way to describe it, in my opinion, is unapologetically teenager, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. We tend to think with our hearts and make impulsive decisions without thinking of how it might affect those around us, only to feel guilty later. I could relate to this.

Ariel and Amir are such a cute, completely dorky couple, and I ship them so much. It was a bit of a slow-burn, hinted at in early chapters, and that first kiss! *chef kiss* Amazing.

Other things I like include the friendship between Ariel and Amir’s families, Ariel’s relationship with his little sister Rachel, Ariel’s quirky AP English teacher Mrs. Rainer, and the thoughtful conversations Ariel has with Rabbi Solomon.

You Asked For Perfect is the second novel by Silverman that I enjoyed, and she’s quickly moving toward a spot on my favorite authors list. I look forward to seeing what she does next!

3.5 stars

CW: pedophilia, sexual abuse, substance abuse, violence, death/murder

[ARC provided by the publisher. This does not affect my opinion or the content of my review.]

”I can’t take another dead girl.”

[Quote from the ARC.]

I think nearly everyone on Twitter has read this novel and raved about how amazing it is. I was really excited to read it, but unfortunately, I didn’t love it.

Don’t get me wrong; Sadie is a dark, intriguing thriller, and I enjoyed it. But I think I let the hype get to my head, because it just…wasn’t anything special.

I didn’t have a chance to listen to the audiobook, but the method of story-telling was interesting and unlike anything I’ve read before. The story is told half in first person, by Sadie, and half by West, a journalist in his twenties who’s following clues, trying to piece together Sadie’s story for a new podcast. It was strangely fascinating to switch between Sadie’s journey and West piecing everything together after the fact; it was written in a way that blended both together so well. The podcast chapters hinted at details upcoming in the following Sadie chapter. It was brilliant, to be honest.

I’m not in a position to talk about the gritty details of Sadie’s situation, but it was another interesting layer in this twisted story. Sadie’s mom is an addict, which ruins their relationship and leaves Sadie to care for her younger sister Mattie. Mattie loves their mom and the feeling is mutual, further complicating things. They grew up poor, in a trailer park, with Sadie dedicating herself so fully to Mattie’s care that she loses herself upon Mattie’s horrible death. The dynamics were so interesting to explore as the story progressed. I also liked that May Beth, an older woman that I believe owned the trailer park, stepped in as a mother/grandmother figure as much as she could. She was a sweet but protective character, even though she was a side character.

Sadie is a novel of moral ambiguity — it literally follows a girl on a journey to kill a man, in order to avenge her younger sister. But at its core, it’s very relevant and could even be classified as good. It’s a story of sisters, of family, and most of all, of a girl seeking to take back what a man took from her. Sadie herself is slowly declining mentally and morally as the story goes on, and her stutter becomes more prominent, but I believe everything is ultimately for a good reason, if not a bit lopsided.

I think my biggest issue with this book, interesting as it was, is that I was never truly invested. In my experience, thrillers are supposed to hook you, make you desperate to read more, know more. In this case, I was interested, but I continued because of curiosity rather than an intense need, if that makes sense. I put the book down throughout the day to do other things and I wasn’t itching to pick it back up again.

One thing Sadie has in its favor is that it’s definitely the most starkly written thriller I think I’ve ever read. I might not have enjoyed it as much as everyone made me believe, or as much as I hoped to, but it wasn’t a bad book. At the moment, though, I’m not sure that I’m interested in Summers’ other novels.

2.5 stars

CW: blood, violence, murder

[E-ARC provided by Netgalley. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.]

I thought I would like this novel. I hoped I would. But unfortunately, The Vampire of Maple Town wasn’t a good book. I can’t even justify giving it three stars.

My biggest issue was the writing. Throughout the novel, there were many instances of redundant phrasing, run-on sentences, typos, and otherwise awkward writing. I’m aware that this is an early copy and it likely went through more edits prior to publication, but if I’m being honest, it read like it needed another round of revisions.

Another formidable issue is that I didn’t like any of the characters. I wish I was kidding, but alas, I’m not. Even Charlie, the protagonist, was rather plain; I didn’t care about him. The only one I liked was Aria, an enchanted paper bird that never speaks. While I understand the author’s intentions surround Vincent, I found him to be a cold-hearted, stubborn father figure, hiding behind his grief. The side characters, Sally, Alice, and Skat — yes, there’s a character named Skat, of all things — were nothing special, as much as it pains me to say that. There were many times that I found their actions appalling, and others where I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes.

And if I’m being completely honest, I wasn’t really enthralled by the story either. Not much happened for the first half of the novel, and I was able to predict all but two or three twists in the second half. I think the author attempted to put too much into the last few chapters; something entirely new came into play 11% before the end. It would’ve been better to either make the story a bit longer or cut out that element.

Something else that lowkey irked me is that in the end, the author tried to redeem Vincent. What happened to him sucks, but that doesn’t justify his behavior throughout the novel, not to me at least. He yelled at Charlie, tried to keep him locked away in the mansion, couldn’t bring himself to comfort Charlie when he needed it most, made a deal to help Charlie without actually asking him first…oh, and let’s not forget the one time he held Charlie by the neck out a broken window. I’m not saying he was a completely bad character, as there were some decent parts to him, but I think the bad outweighed the good. And while what he did in the end was good, I don’t think it’s worth complete redemption. Maybe I’m just too hard to please nowadays.

Despite the many issues I had with it, The Vampire of Maple Town wasn’t a horrible book. I didn’t hate it. I thought of giving it two stars but increased my rating by a half star because it’s a unique idea and I liked Aria; the downfall was in the execution. And I do think other people will enjoy this novel, but it’s not for everyone. It’s not for me, either.

I wouldn’t have picked this up if not for the Year of Epic Reads challenge to read a graphic novel. If this is a comic, please don’t yell at me. That’s not my area of expertise and honestly, I’m not sure what the difference is between the two.

I chose this because I’ve seen online friends say good things, and it was available as an ebook from my library on short notice.

First of all, it feels odd to rate and review something that’s only 28 pages. I almost feel like I shouldn’t, but I did finish it, so I will.

Since there’s only 28 pages, there isn’t much to talk about. I don’t know much about art, but it looked cool. I think the biggest issue here is that 28 pages isn’t long enough to do much of anything, at least outside of academic papers — in which case I’d say it’s too long. I know one main character’s name is Ripley, and the girls’ cabin leader is Jen. I think the woman they talked to is Rosie. I don’t know any other names.

Even though I read this in approximately ten minutes, it’s short enough that I should be able to retain most of the details. But that’s not the case. All I came away from this with is that there are weird three-eyed foxes and the summer camp the girls are attending is unusual in some way.

I don’t know if I’ll continue this series or not. I’m confused but I’m also curious. We’ll see what happens, I suppose.