It’s time for my first half of May book review! Like last month, I’m saving my 5 star books reviews for my Favorite Books post, which will come later in the month. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments! I also read Take Me Home Tonight, which I reviewed separately, and Taking Up Space, which I shared yesterday. I did add a review into that post!
Title: Saltwater Secrets
Author: Cindy Callaghan
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
Publisher: Aladdin, 4/28/20
Source: Book Forwards Friends PR
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Cozy Middle Grade mystery set at the Jersey shore? Yes, please!
I thought I was reading this book for its pub day, but it turns out it came out last year, not this year! I’m happy I picked it up anyway!
“Stella and Josie live for their summers at the boardwalk—each one a carbon copy of the last. Josie lives in Australia most of the year; her half-sister, Stella, lives in New Jersey. But every year, they come together for a beach vacation with their dad, and to make more memories. The real excitement for them is their secret special place under the boardwalk, where they hide their sister scrapbook, adding memories from each summer. But this summer feels different. Josie isn’t the same—she’s turned into one of the popular girls that Stella can’t stand. Despite the rocky start to their vacation, they still go to their secret, special place under the boardwalk, adding memories to their sister scrapbook once again. That is, until their place is discovered by the owners of the newest store—the Smoothie Factory, which replaced Josie’s favorite sweet spot. Not only have the owners of the Smoothie Factory discovered the cove, they are exploiting the natural habitat, and endangering marine life and everyone at the beach! It’s up to Josie and Stella to figure out how to stop their beloved boardwalk from disappearing for good.”
I loved how the book addressed environmental issues and although the characters are young, it didn’t seem far fetched for them to be researching what was happening. There is a fun cast of characters including an eccentric older man and a young magician as well! Also, the setting brought me back to my childhood family trips to the Jersey Shore. This is a great summer read for our young friends or those who enjoy middle grade reading!
Title: The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes
Author: Xio Axelrod
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Sourcebooks Cassablanca, 5/4/21
Source: Let’s Talk Books Promo / Publisher via NetGalley
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
Quick story – the author of this book and I used to be a part of the same TV show fandom and I read two of her earlier books that came out of that fandom. The Girl With Stars in Her Eyes was quite different from those! It is the story of Toni, who joins the band @thelillysrock. It turns out that the manager of the band is the one that got away from their teenage years – Seb.
“Growing up in dive bars up and down the East Coast, Toni Bennette’s guitar was her only companion…until she met Sebastian Quick. Seb was a little older, a lot wiser, and before long he was Toni’s way out, promising they’d escape their stifling small town together. Then Seb turned eighteen and split without looking back. Now, Toni’s all grown up and making a name for herself in Philadelphia’s indie scene. When a friend suggests she try out for a hot new up-and-coming band, Toni decides to take a chance. Strong, feminist, and fierce as fire, Toni B. and the Lillys are the perfect match…except Seb’s now moonlighting as their manager. Whatever. Toni can handle it. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be if Seb didn’t still hold a piece of her heart…not to mention the key to her future.”
While the previous books I read by Xio were swoon worthy romances, this one was much more focused on the music and Toni’s journey to be a part of The Lillys. This is an own voices story of a Black woman making it in the music industry so if you like stories about bands and music, you should definitely check this one out.
Title: Kisses and Croissants
Author: Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Genre: YA Romance
Publisher: Delacorte, 4/6/21
Source: Book Sparks
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I enjoyed this book about a girl’s trip to Paris to dance and ends up being distracted by a family mystery and a cute French love interest!
“Mia Jenrow has always known she’s destined to be a professional ballerina. In fact, it’s in her blood—according to family legend, her too-many-greats-to-count-grandmother once danced for the Paris Opera and was painted by Degas himself! Her parents say it’s just a fantasy, but to Mia it’s so much more than that. It’s her fate. Mia is planning to spend a magical summer in France pursuing her dream, but as she pirouettes into Paris, she soon realizes it may be a bit more complicated than she hoped. For starters, there’s her rival, Audrey, who will stop at nothing to show her up. There’s her ballet instructor, whose impossibly high standards push her to the breaking point. And then . . . there’s Louis. Devastatingly, distractingly charming Louis. He’s eager to show Mia his city—and Mia is more than happy to hop on his Vespa and wrap her arms around him as they pass the gleaming lights of the Eiffel Tower. Mia’s summer was supposed to be about ballet—but there’s a reason Paris is called the City of Love. . . .”
As many YA love stories are, this contained some insta-love, which I am not a huge fan of! However, overall this was a cute read. I enjoyed the friendships and the ballet!
Title: We Begin At The End
Author: Chris Whitaker
Genre: Literary
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 3/2/21
Source: Audio Publisher
Why I Read It: Heard it was good
My Rating: 4 Stars
I have heard many raves about this book and its characters and I decided to request the audio to listen to. It was good, though I did find that I zoned out some of the time while listening. George Newbern is an excellent narrator!
“Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids. Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he’s in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother. Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return.”
The characters in this book were definitely well developed and I enjoyed learning about all of them. I will say that it is sad and it contains multiple deaths. I can’t say much without giving away some of the plot, but I did predict part of what happens! If you like character driven mysteries, you will probably enjoy this one.
Title: Don’t Make Me Turn This Life Around
Author: Camille Pagán
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union, 5/11/21
Source: PR for author
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book continues Libby’s story which was first told in the book Life and Other Near Death Experiences (Pagán’s books have the best titles!). I did not read that one and didn’t feel that I needed to have read it to get the most out of this one (though I would probably not go back to that one now as I now know what happened in it!).
“It’s been thirteen years since doctors declared Libby Ross-Velasquez a goner. Yet here she is―cancer free. So why doesn’t she feel more alive? Sure, Libby’s husband, Shiloh, has been distant. One of their daughters has a serious health condition. And her father’s death hovers over Libby like a rain cloud. Still, this eternal optimist knows she’s the winner of the existential lottery. But when her forced cheer isn’t enough to keep her family from catching her blahs, she decides to fly them all to Vieques. The Puerto Rican island is where she and Shiloh fell in love―and where she decided to fight for her life after her cancer diagnosis. Where better to put their problems into perspective? Then a tropical storm strikes. Libby pretends everything’s fine, even as she fears she’s doomed her family. What she can’t see is that the worst disaster they’ve faced may be the best thing that ever happened to them. But first, they have to get through it.”
Libby is found to be cancer free but she feels lost in her life. She and her husband decide to take their twin girls (one of whom has diabetes) to Puerto Rico, where basically everything goes wrong. However, the family is able to get closer while getting past everything that happens. Hurricane Maria is mentioned with regards to all the destruction on the island and it was certainly hard to read about but important to know. I also loved the side characters, including Libby’s lovely friend Milagros and a one eyed dog.
Title: That Way Madness Lies
Author: Dalia Adler (ed)
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction / Short Stories
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 3/16/21
Source: Audio Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book is a short story collection including 15 Shakespeare retellings. I am not so familiar with most of Shakespeare’s works, so the only one that stood out for me with regards to how it retold the story was the Romeo + Juliet one. However, I appreciated many of the stories and the way gender, race, religion, and more were reimagined and taken back from the original stories.
“West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings! Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), A. R. Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).”
The stories are sometimes in non-traditional formats like text messages, oral histories, and play scripts. Some of my favorites were I Bleed, Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow, and The Tragedy of Cory Lanez.
Title: The Truth and Other Hidden Things
Author: Lea Geller
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union, 4/6/21
Source: Suzy Approved Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I could relate to Bells, who in this book starts a blog about being a wife and mother – but also shares all the gossip about her new town of Pigkill, NY. Her quick rise to anonymous fame almost made me wish I had more gossip to write about on my blog! But the issues she caused for her family weren’t something I would hope for.
“On the same day Bells Walker learns that her IUD has failed, her husband, Harry, is denied tenure at his Manhattan university. So Bells, Harry, their two adolescent children, and her baby bump move to New York’s Hudson Valley, where Harry has landed a job at Dutchess College in the town of Pigkill. When the farm-to-table utopia Bells envisioned is anything but, she turns to the blogosphere. Under the pen name the County Dutchess, she anonymously dishes about life in Pigkill, detailing the activities of hypercompetitive parents and kombucha-drinking hipsters. Suddenly, Bells has a place to say all the things she’s been secretly thinking about being a wife and mother. As Bells turns the focus of her blog on her new neighbors, her readership continues to grow, but her scandalous posts hit closer to home: she puts Harry’s new job in jeopardy, derails her children’s lives, and risks the one real friendship she’s built. When Bells uncovers scandals right under her nose, the Dutchess goes viral, and soon everyone is asking, Who is the County Dutchess? Now Bells has to ask herself if it’s worth losing the people closest to her to finally feel noticed by everyone else.”
Bells was really a great mom to two teenagers and with a surprise pregnancy, she had to once again be a mom to a baby. I felt a connection with Bells, as we are the same age, and I liked reading about her relationships with her kids, her husband, her mom, and her mother in law.
Title: Indivisble
Author: Daniel Aleman
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 5/4/21
Source: Storygram Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Indivisible by Daniel Aleman sheds a light on the horrific issue of deportation and family separation.
“Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they’re hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family’s worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents’ fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he’s forced to question what it means to be an American.”
This book makes you wonder what you would do in a situation like this. Mateo is only 17 and his younger sister is 7. They both are forced to grow up quickly when their parents are taken into custody. At the same time, Mateo is coming to terms with being gay. The story was touching and Mateo was a great character. This is an own voices novel by a Mexican immigrant to America.
Title: The Plot
Author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Celadon, 5/11/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
The Plot is a slow burn thriller that picks up after about 100 pages. It is a book within a book and the book inside is supposed to have an amazing plot twist. It wasn’t the most amazing twist ever in my opinion, but the way the two stories intertwined was entertaining.
“Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written―let alone published―anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot. Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that―a story that absolutely needs to be told. In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says. As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?”
I did predict the main story’s twist pretty early on. Overall I enjoyed the book.
There you have it – 9 of the books I read this month. Of these books, 6 were print, 2 were audio books, and 1 was an e-book. 3 were YA, 1 was middle grade, and the rest were adult. They were mostly contemporary fiction.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?