It’s time for my first half of April book review post! I am sharing what I read in April so far, although I am skipping my 5 star reads to share 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!
Title: Royal Scandal
Author: Aimée Carr
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Delacorte, 3/26/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review / sequel
My Rating: 4 Stars
I loved the book Royal Blood and this is its sequel. In this one, someone is trying to kill Evan, the American girl who discovered she is the King’s illegitimate daughter. There is non stop action as multiple dangerous situations occur.
“American girl turned monarchy nightmare, Evan Bright, has gotten used to the press about her but the media attention has only seemed to get worse. From desperate clickbait articles about her and the President’s son to Royal Record headlines pitting her against Princess Maisie, it seems everyone is dying for Evan to return back to America for good. Meanwhile Evan is receiving mysterious threats about her real story being revealed in a tell-all biography. When more information is leaked about Evan, she fears she will always be Britain’s media villain. But the threats escalate when there is an attempted assassination with no suspects…and Evan believes the person is in the palace’s walls. They say what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger…but what if it’s the royal family who wants you dead?”
This was a fun follow up to Royal Blood, but it did end with a cliffhanger! I will look forward to finding out who the possible mole in the castle is! I enjoyed the multimedia sections of the book which include articles and gossip type pieces.
Title: Kill For Me, Kill For You
Author: Steve Cavanagh
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Atria Books, 3/19/24
Source: Book of the Month
Why I Read It: Sounded good
My Rating: 4 Stars
My March Book of the Month pick was Kill For Me , Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh. It is about Amanda, who lost her daughter and husband and wants revenge. She meets Wendy at a grief group and they come up with a plan in which they will swap murders and help each other get revenge for their respective losses. In alternate chapters, we meet Ruth, who is attacked in her apartment and traumatized.
“One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, especially loneliness and an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: if you kill for me, I’ll kill for you. In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?”
I did have a guess as to how the two story lines were connected, but I second guessed myself. This was a fun thriller! I did find the ending a bit frustrating with the way an unlikely character is made a hero.
Title: The Prospects
Author: KT Hoffman
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Dial Press, 4/9/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Former teammates Gene and Luis stopped talking when Luis was signed to the MLB out of college. Gene is trans and convinced that he’ll be in the minor league for the long term. When Luis is traded on to Gene’s team, they must learn to play together again.
“Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life. Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis inspires.”
I enjoyed this hopeful look at the possibility of queer and trans people having a place in professional sports. I also enjoyed watching the baseball team grow and improve over the season depicted in this story. I did find the book slow at times. It includes ADHD and panic attacks, lots of LGBTQ rep, and a brief mention of the main character being Jewish.
Title: The Power Foods Diet
Author: Neal D. Barnard, MD
Genre: Non Fiction
Publisher: Balance, 3/26/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I wasn’t planning to read this yet but I was getting desperate with my consistent weight gain and exhaustion! The Power Foods Diet is a guide to foods that help with weight loss. It includes recipe ideas and meal plans. It focuses on eating foods that reduce your appetite and help burn calories, while avoiding fatty foods. It is a vegan diet plan.
“Weight loss is one of our top health concerns, so much so that we keep looking for good ways to lose weight, preferably a way that is easy, effective, and permanent. It turns out that, when properly chosen, certain foods cause weight loss, with no need for the deprivation and planning that most weight-loss regimens require. In his next book, leading nutrition researcher and author Dr. Neal Barnard reveals three breakthroughs that are supported by research, revealing that certain foods:
1. can reduce the appetite
2. trap calories so they are flushed away and cannot be absorbed, and,
3. increase the body’s ability to burn calories for about three hours after each meal.
These breakthroughs make weight loss incredibly easy, without calorie counting or deprivation. This diet encourages people to eat, not to stop eating. Dr. Barnard also reveals that some of the foods we think are good for us can actually be harmful, like salmon, goat cheese, and coconut oil, all of which pass easily into body fat…and often overstay their welcome. To make it easy, Dr. Barnard will include a simple to follow meal plan that includes delicious, and even indulgent recipes which include foods we have often been told to avoid, like potatoes and pasta, so you can eat real food, and still lose real weight.”
I found the book easy to understand and it did inspire me to try the diet. While I won’t become totally vegan, I have started by greatly reducing the amount of eggs and cheese I eat. I have been feeling much better exhaustion wise at least!
Title: All The Things We Never Knew
Author: Liara Tamani
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 6/9/20
Source: Library Audio / Print on shelf
Why I Read It: Backlist books challenge
My Rating: 3 Stars
Another book off my Backlist challenge list was All The Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani. I received this book for a tour in 2020 and didn’t get around to reading it. I did the audio version this month. This book is about two Black high school students, Rex and Carli. It is about an extreme insta love situation, which is definitely not a favorite for me!
“A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn’t come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools’ respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.”
I found their individual family situations more interesting than the love story, which was pretty unbelievable! Plus, I didn’t think Rex treated Carli well as he was quite self centered.
Title: The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Author: Holly Jackson
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 4/2/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
As a fan of the first two books in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series I am waiting for Holly Jackson to write new stories like those, and The Reappearance of Rachel Price was close. It is about Bel, whose mother went missing 16 years ago. Bel’s family is filming a true crime documentary about the unsolved case when Rachel reappears.
“Eighteen-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on. But the case is dredged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again. Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And—could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .”
I found the pace a bit slow at times and I prefer my thrillers faster moving! It did have some good twists around Bel’s family that surprised me and kept me reading. The pace towards the ending picked up and I enjoyed it a lot!
This post includes 6 of the books I read this month. 5 were print books and 1 was on audio. 3 were adult books and 3 were YA. Genres included contemporary, thriller, rom com, and non fiction.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?