REVIEW: A Plague of Mercies by Adam Pelzman
Five Stars
I cannot recall ever reading a book like this one. I’ll admit, the free verse was unusual and certainly a choice the author made, but it was so strange that it took only pages to get pulled into it and “forget” that this wasn’t a standard fiction novel.
As I read, I kept remembering some things I’ve just accepted about the COVID-19 pandemic–I remember seeing publisher, agents, and even reviewers online speaking out against the idea of pandemic-related fiction. I can see their point, that maybe it’s “too soon” for some of us. I think this book did a really good job of simply making that awful time a part of the setting without focusing on it in any way. This book isn’t about death and disease… it’s about struggling to survive and stay sane when you seemingly have only yourself for company.
While it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I’m sure, I think it’s definitely something people should at least try. While it could certainly broaden people’s tastes in fiction writing styles, I think a lot of readers are going to find some long-awaited peace from what all of us just went through in some way.
This book will be published on Amazon on June 7th.
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REVIEW: Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis
Five Stars Loved it! I really enjoy intriguing stories that "could" have happened (and who knows, maybe they did?) but are also so enjoyable that we don't have to bother ourselves with whether or not this is real. (Plus, I talked to my friend over Facebook Messenger for THREE DAYS while she was stranded in a freak blizzard... in ALABAMA, of all places!) I identified with the "what if" factor of the story as it played out, too.
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REVIEW: Everwish: The Primati Witches Book One
Five Stars
This book was absolutely incredible! It has literally everything… ancient legends, curses, terrifying creatures, love…
The greatest feature is the author’s stellar (see what I did there?) writing. She is masterful at description without it being forced, even when portraying creatures that the reader can only imagine. Moreover, her “voice” is very real and distinct for each character. No “angsty teenager speak” or ridiculous attempts at dumb, dated slang. The characters felt believable, even when they obviously aren’t.
From the description:
Centuries ago, there was a beauty who did not live happily ever after. She fled her vampire Ottoman Prince, who now rules the Primati supernatural on earth with his half-brother Alaric, the terrifying Enforcer. The runaway beauty’s only living descendant, seventeen-year-old Stella Avery, is juggling the care of her ailing grandfather with the discovery that life is not what it seems in Portland, Oregon.
Stella’s Romany family shadow her every move and she discovers that an ancient enemy wants her dead. Her best friend, Amanda, reveals herself to be an actual witch and Stella must uncover the truth about the curse that has killed every woman in her family before their twenty- first birthday—or suffer the same fate.
For Alaric, his role as Primati Enforcer means utter loyalty to his brother. Half-angel, half-demon, he has no place in his heart for a mortal. Feared in his own right, Alaric finds himself torn between the law he has protected for hundreds of years and a young girl who cannot be loved without bringing about her own death.
Link: Everwish by Amelia Oz
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Minus Me by Mameve Medwed
Her life turned upside down by a grim diagnosis, a small-town Maine woman sets about writing a “How To” life manual for her handsome yet hapless husband in a novel Elinor Lipman (Good Riddance, On Turpentine Lane) calls “smart, funny-quirky, and so very satisfying.”
Annie and her devoted but comically incompetent childhood sweetheart Sam are the owners and operators of Annie’s, a gourmet sandwich shop, home to the legendary Paul Bunyan Special Sandwich–their “nutritionally challenged continual source of income and marital harmony and local fame.”
But into their mostly charmed marriage comes the scary medical diagnosis for Annie–and the overwhelming challenge of finding a way to help Sam go on without her. Annie decides to leave Sam step-by-step instructions for a future without her, and considers her own replacement in his heart and their bed.Her best-laid plans grind to a halt with the unexpected appearance of Ursula, Annie’s Manhattan diva of a mother, who brings her own brand of chaos and disruption into their lives.
Minus Me is a poignant and hilarious novel about the bonds of marriage, the burdens of maternal love, and the courage to face mortality, “with an ending readers will cherish (Caroline Leavitt, Pictures of You).”
“Medwed’s lovely novel of marriage, motherhood, love and loss is so real that at times it feels like non-fiction. It’s a timely reminder that in the worst of times, we sometimes rediscover the very best of ourselves.” –Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light.
Available now in print and ebook.
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REVIEW: Impossible Odds by Jill Ramsower
4 Stars
It was a little difficult for me to get into this book, but man am I glad I did! I’ll admit that I was a little put off by the dark subject matter (I’m more of a “misunderstood biker bad boy who’s never really done anything wrong” kind of fan). To know that everyone in this book either killed people or profited from those deaths made it a little hard to find endearing, but then it hit me: this isn’t a typical romance! Not only is this a family saga and romantic story, it’s a mystery/crime drama to boot.
This modern-day Romeo and Juliet story follows a cartel kingpin’s second-in-command when he sets out to enact a key part of a crucial plan. He didn’t count on falling in love with his rival’s daughter along the way. For her part, Giada knows what her dad does and where their wealth comes from, but is happy to stay out of it until her world collides with that of one of her father’s latest enemies.
Once getting into the murder-for-hire/organized crime mindset, this book was a real delight. Yes, it had some smoldering romantic scenes–honestly fewer than I expected since that wasn’t the only crux of the book–but also so much intrigue, backstabbing, and fierce protectiveness from both the male and female characters. No more wilting wallflowers, today’s romance heroines are here to kick butt and be just as protective as their families.
Be aware, there were a few typos, but I’m sure this review contains just as many! 🙂
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REVIEW: The Love Study by Kris Ripper
4 Stars
It’s hard to say that this book was fun (even though it was) because the main character, Declan, carries so much pain, self-doubt, and at times even self-loathing that I wanted more for them. This is one of those really great books that proves (gasp! horrors! what has the world come to?!) that gay people are literally human beings and experience exactly the same emotions and rollercoaster rides in romance that cis hetero people do (sorry haters).
The premise is something straight out of any mainstream (re: book that the traditional publishing industry has been pushing since the dawn of time) fiction: an up-and-coming video-documentarian asks Declan to be their interview subject on a series of dates. It’s meant to be a glimpse into the modern dating world, even though Declan has his doubts. After all, he’s left someone at the altar and still hasn’t forgiven himself for it, even though his love-victim has and is still close friends with him.
The book was endearing in all the right ways and shone a spotlight on a number of issues. Apart from the aforementioned “omg they’re just like us and by us I mean stereotypical status quo,” the author seamlessly uses correct pronouns without batting an eye. It’s a beautiful example of how this whole thing works when people put a microscopic smidgen of effort into it.
Fun, insightful, heart-wrenching at times, and yes, you want to cheer for the good guys! (Make that, good people!)
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Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer
3 Stars
I wanted to love this book because the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation is hilarious. This is one of those dark, twisted, “campy” comedies that has such a gruesome subject matter (death of nearly an entire senior class) but is done in such an impossible way that it’s okay to laugh.
Kids are blowing up.
That’s it. That’s the whole premise. Students at this school are spontaneously combusting at the most inopportune times, yet somehow, main character Mara manages to solidify her years-long best friendship, find love, do a fair amount of drugs, and just exist.
But this book is also a really insightful look at the responses to tragedy. It portrays how other students feel, how the school addresses it, how parents handle it, and even how the community and world as a whole tackle their comprehension of what’s taking place at Covington High.
The absolute best part of the book is the humorous voice the author manages to instill in the main character/narrator. His bio says he lives with his wife and two daughters and I can totally picture it. This is a man who is vastly outnumbered and has nailed the voice of the angsty, smart-ass, female main character. There were a lot of hidden truths in it that bust open the stereotypes (I specifically remember Mara getting her driver’s license because her mom made her do it, then refusing to drive ever again… my own offspring shall remain nameless, but I had to force her to get both a permit and then a driver’s license, and she was already in her second year of college when I did.)
But now for the worst part of the book… the first half is some of the funniest writing I’ve read in a while, but about halfway through, this stops being funny. Now, I’d expect a book in which almost the entire senior class dies to stop being funny at some point. However, this book took a turn for the existential and morphed into a “what is the meaning of it all” diatribe, then never resolved.
I mean, ever.
We don’t know why the students were combusting, who was behind it, what will happen to them down the road, nothing. There was an FBI agent involved, and we never figure out what her actual role was. There was talk of secret experimenting at the Pentagon, and then it fizzled. There’s possibly a missing persons case, but that went nowhere as well.
All in all, it was so, so promising, then left us feeling like the author got bored and quit. Worse, having been around the publishing industry for over a decade, it felt like the author HAD written a great ending and by the time the editors got through with it (probably for political reasons, since there are definite political nuances in it), it became a stinkpile of disappointment at the end. Editors are like that sometimes.
All in all, not a bad read. But I’ll be interested to see if the film sticks to the book or if it gives us the satisfaction of an actual ending.
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When You Look Like Us by Pamela Harris
5 STARS
OMG this was an awesome book! It’s absolutely rare that I ever think, “I wish there were more than five stars!” but this one fits that bill. As someone who reviews constantly, edits frequently, and is also a published author with constant deadlines, it’s also rare that I get caught up at 11 o’clock at night finishing a book, but this one did that too.
What set this book apart for me–as someone who was an English teacher for 24 years and taught in juvenile corrections, so knows her way around diverse voices in YA–was the fact that this was not just another “my terrible life in the ghetto” book. This story accurately portrayed the greater reality, that man students who would be considered at-risk and who may live in less-than-ideal conditions also attend schools with affluent students. Too many people think of “black schools” and “white schools” instead of schools filled with students of every race and color, as well as every income level and need.
Aside from that aspect which first made me fall in love with this book, the author seamlessly weaves a story of a typical teenager who happens to face tremendous obstacles. Yes, his father is absent, but it’s due to cancer (not the stereotype). Yes, his mother is in prison, but it’s due to alcoholism caused by grief that led to a DUI (again, not the stereotype). Yes, the protagonist is a young black male, but as even he points out, his pants don’t sag and he’s being hounded throughout the book to accept the position of co-editor of his high school’s lit mag. No stereotypes there either, just a normal, semi-adjusted student.
His problems arise early when his sister disappears. This is where the stereotypes hit hard, though. Jay turns to the police, who dismiss him outright. A local news channel picks up the story to do a public plea, then turns it into a scandal piece and paints his sister as a drug-using dropout who’s dating a drug dealer. Suffice to say, the “bad guys” in the book turn out to be heroes, the “good guys” are the worst of the worst.
It was great to see a book that was so intricately woven, so well-written, and so engaging that also manages to blow apart the stereotypes. Highly recommend this read!!!
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Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
5 Stars
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
It is so refreshing to read a really original plot–even one that is based entirely around one of the oldest and most beloved fairy tales–that I cannot say enough incredible things about this story. At the same time, it is so out-of-the-ordinary and handles uncommon plot threads in a seamless, no-big-thing kind of way.
In this fictional kingdom, the Cinderella fairy tale is practically their religion. Blind allegiance to the king is required, the subjugation of women is even more prevalent. Every household must own and memorize the Bible, of sort–a pristine, palace-approved version of Cinderella. Worse, every household must send its daughter at age 16 to the ball to be selected by the men of the kingdom.
Failure to do so means death.
So what is a 16-year-old girl to do if she has no interest in marriage–and if her girlfriend refuses to run away with her?
What makes this story so intriguing is not the LGBTQ elements, the women’s rights issues, or even the fact that men’s clothing has pockets and women’s clothing does not (I’ll admit, I laughed out loud when a character explains her preference for men’s clothing simply by stating, “It has pockets.”), but that we see an entirely different telling of Cinderella. What if everything we know about the original story is a lie that was put forth by the palace to control the subjects? And what if the only one who can help the main character is a fairy godmother who’s done terrible things, and who should have died 200 years ago?
This is one of those rare treats that actually does make you stay up all night to see what happens. It dealt with “sensitive” subjects and offered incredible opportunities for much-needed representation. It was just a winner all the way around!
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Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
5 Stars
This was an absolutely riveting book, one whose writing was truly incredible. I cannot recall the last time an author’s distinct voice was so compelling–important, since it is told from three separate perspectives–coupled with a really fun, eerie premise. The total effect is just mesmerizing.
One of the most intriguing aspects to the book is the fantastical element of “saint’s hands,” a unique genetic ability that the first main character possesses. The explanation of saint’s hands is slow in coming out, yet somehow, the way the author throws in mentions and tiny yet sufficient descriptions, the reader feels like they’ve known about this phenomenon all along.
Of course, the idealized setting is perfect for this three-part story. The Harlem Renaissance has reached its contemporary peak and the US is on the brink of entering World War II. The racial injustice that serves as a skeleton holding up the meat of the book is an understated fact of life for the characters, cropping up from time to time as if it’s a character all on its own (as in, the argument in the hospital lobby over permitting one of the characters to receive emergency treatment there). The events of the world are a great backdrop for the more important events on the page.
The book is an unputdownable read with a flowing, distinctive style that was simply magic.
Trouble The Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Readioactive Books 