It’s time for my first half of July book review! I’m posting it about a week later than normal, but I will only be covering the books I read in the first half of the month. As usual, I’m saving my 5 star books reviews for my Favorite Books post, which will come next week. 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 The Magic of Found Objects, which I reviewed separately.
Title: Only When It’s Us
Author: Chloe Liese
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Tantor Audio, 11/10/20
Source: Library Audio App (Hoopla)
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 4 Stars
This is the first book in a steamy romance series about a group of 5 brothers and 2 sisters. The characters in this first book are in college. Willa, a soccer player, meets Ryder, a former soccer player who can no longer play and is partially deaf after an illness. With help from a matchmaking professor (Ryder’s brother-in-law), the two go from an enemies to lovers relationship.
“Only When It’s Us is a frenemies-to-lovers, college sports romance about a women’s soccer star and her surly lumberjack lookalike classmate, complete with a matchmaking professor, juvenile pranks, and a smoking slow burn. This standalone is the first in a series of new novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.”
I found the characters in this book to fall into the typical male/female roles. Ryder was the big and strong lumberjack type while Willa was the sweet and sunshiney woman. It was enjoyable enough, though I’m not sure whether I will continue the series or not.
Title: They’ll Never Catch Us
Author: Jessica Goodman
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Razorbill, 7/27/21
Source: Publisher via Net Galley
Why I Read It: Buddy Read / Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
About a year ago, I read and loved Jessica Goodman’s previous book, They Wish They Were Us. Most of the people I discussed this one with liked it more than the previous. I liked this one, but not as much as that one.
“Stella and Ellie Steckler are only a year apart, but their different personalities make their relationship complicated. Stella is single-minded, driven, and she keeps to herself. Cross-country running is her life and she won’t let anything get in the way of being the best. Her sister Ellie is a talented runner too, but she also lets herself have fun. She has friends. She goes to parties. She has a life off the course. The sisters do have one thing in common, though: the new girl, Mila Keene. Both Stecklers’ lives are upended when Mila comes to town. At first, Ellie and Stella view the new star athlete as a threat. But soon Ellie can’t help but be drawn to her warm, charming personality. After her best friend moved away and her first boyfriend betrayed her, Ellie’s been looking for a friend to share her secrets. Stella finds herself noticing the ways she and Mila are similar. Mila is smart and strong–she’s someone Stella can finally connect with. As the two get closer, Stella becomes something she vowed she’d never be: distracted. With regionals approaching and college scouts taking notice, the pressure is on. Each girl has their future on the line and they won’t let friendships get in their way. But then, suddenly, Mila goes out on a training run and never returns. No one knows what happened, but all eyes are on the Steckler sisters.”
The sisters are super competitive and have a lot going on. One thing that I didn’t love about this book is that the person who was ultimately guilty seemed to come out of nowhere. I tend to prefer where there is some indication of guilt before the reveal!
Title: The Road Trip
Author: Beth O’Leary
Genre: Not Sure / Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 6/1/21
Source: Publisher via Net Galley
Why I Read It: Buddy Read / Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
I started this book in April. I’m normally a very quick reader, but this book was way too strange for me! I may have DNF’d many times, but I finished it up for a buddy read discussion. Very few people in my group liked the book either.
“What if the end of the road is just the beginning? Four years ago, Dylan and Addie fell in love under the Provence sun. Wealthy Oxford student Dylan was staying at his friend Cherry’s enormous French villa; wild child Addie was spending her summer as the on-site caretaker. Two years ago, their relationship officially ended. They haven’t spoken since. Today, Dylan’s and Addie’s lives collide again. It’s the day before Cherry’s wedding, and Addie and Dylan crash cars at the start of the journey there. The car Dylan was driving is wrecked, and the wedding is in rural Scotland—he’ll never get there on time by public transport. So, along with Dylan’s best friend, Addie’s sister, and a random guy on Facebook who needed a ride, they squeeze into a space-challenged Mini and set off across Britain. Cramped into the same space, Dylan and Addie are forced to confront the choices they made that tore them apart—and ask themselves whether that final decision was the right one after all.”
The past timeline told of the insta-love story of Dylan and Addie four years ago. The current timeline told of a road trip full of random disasters. A few of them were funny. Some were just random. The one thing I wanted to find out was what happened in the past to break up Dylan and Addie and this was eventually revealed. Dylan’s friend Marcus plays a part in both story lines and he is a strange character indeed. There are many content warnings for this book including alcoholism and assault.
Title: Where It All Lands
Author: Jennie Wexler
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Wednesday Books, 7/6/21
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
When I posted about Jewish books on my radar for the first half of the year, Jennie Wexler reached out to me about her own voices Jewish YA novel that came out this month. I am excited I got to read it! In Where It All Lands by Jennie Wexler, two boys flip a coin to choose who should ask out the new girl and what follows are two alternate time lines showing what might happen depending on who won the toss.
“Stevie Rosenstein has never made a true friend. Never fallen in love. Moved from city to city by her father’s unrelenting job, it’s too hard to care for someone. Trust in anything. The pain of leaving always hurts too much. But she’ll soon learn to trust, to love. Twice. Drew and Shane have been best friends through everything. The painful death of Shane’s dad. The bitter separation of Drew’s parents. Through sleepaway camps and family heartache, basketball games and immeasurable loss, they’ve always been there for each other. When Stevie meets Drew and Shane, life should go on as normal. But a simple coin toss alters the course of their year in profound and unexpected ways.”
In my mind, both timelines would lead to the same result in the end, but there were definitely differences in what occurred. It seemed that one scenario definitely worked out better than the other as far as the end result! I enjoyed reading this and I liked the NJ location and the Jewish representation!
Title: The Fiancée
Author: Kate White
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks, 6/29/21
Source: Biblio Lifestyle
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I enjoy this type of mystery in which you have a select group of people who may be guilty and you are kept guessing as to who it is as you read.
“Summer’s looking forward to a break from hustling for acting work in Manhattan when she, her husband Gabe, and Gabe’s nine-year-old son arrive at the annual family get-together at her in-laws’ sprawling estate. On the agenda are leisurely gourmet meals, tennis matches, and plenty of relaxation by the pool. But this year, Gabe’s brother Nick has invited his new flame Hannah, whom Summer immediately recognizes from a few years before. Oddly, her brother-in-law’s girlfriend claims not to know her. Yet she charms the other family members, and after Nick announces that he’s proposed to Hannah, Summer doesn’t have much choice but to grin and bear it. Then the reunion is rocked by tragedy when a family member is found dead. Though the doctors attribute the loss to natural causes, a grieving Summer fears that the too-good-to-be-true Hannah is involved, even as Gabe dismisses her suspicions. How far will Summer go to expose the truth? As she investigates just what Nick’s fiancée might have done to keep her perfect image intact, she begins to fear that the first death might only be the beginning . .”
The character whose viewpoint the story is told through is Summer, who along with her husband Gabe and Gabe’s son is attending a family get together with Gabe’s family. He has three brothers, two of whom are married and the third, Nick, has brought his new girlfriend, Hannah. When a family member is found dead, Summer immediately suspects Hannah. With plenty of red herrings and twists, this was a page turner that kept me guessing. Summer was an interesting point of view character, though it might have been fun to hear from other family members as well.
Title: Not My Problem
Author: Ciara Smyth
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Harper Audio, 5/25/21
Source: Library Audio App
Why I Read It: Buddy Read
My Rating: 4 Stars
Not My Problem tells the story of Aideen, a teen in Ireland who gets involved with helping other people with their problems while conveniently denying her own.
“Aideen has plenty of problems she can’t solve. But when she stumbles upon overachiever Meabh Kowalska having a full-blown meltdown, she sees one that she can actually fix. Meabh is desperate to escape her crushing pile of extracurriculars. Aideen volunteers to help—by pushing her down the stairs. Problem? Solved. Meabh’s sprained ankle is the perfect excuse to ditch her overwhelming schedule. But when one of their classmates learns about their little scheme, more ‘clients’ start asking for Aideen’s ‘help’—kicking off a semester of traded favors, ill-advised hijinks, and even an unexpected chance at love. Fixing other people’s problems won’t fix her own. But it might be the push Aideen needs to start.”
This is a queer own voices story in which Aideen finds a wonderful group of friends. I liked how she asked for repayment in the form of favors and used her owed favors to help others. Aideen is dealing with living in poverty with a mom who drinks and often leaves her to fend for herself. While she doesn’t want to ask for help, she does often forge notes to get herself out of gym class – they kept me laughing as each got more unique! I also appreciated the supportive teacher figure in this book.
Title: Under The Whispering Door
Author: TJ Klune
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tor, 9/21/21
Source: Publisher (Giveaway?)
Why I Read It: TBR / Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Ok, The House In The Cerulean Sea was my favorite book of 2020, so TJ Klune’s follow up was high on my TBR. I will say…it’s not The House In The Cerulean Sea. Although it has some similar themes such as found family, it is much darker and not very appropriate for children, as Cerulean Sea was. The world building in this book was done well, in an understandable fashion, and as far as fantasy books, this is the kind that I prefer.
“When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead. But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days. Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.”
I think this book would be good for someone dealing with grief or questioning what may happen after death. It sets up a lovely world in which crossing from life to death is shown in a beautiful way. However, I found the book slow at points and sometimes strange. The representation is of course done well, with Black and Asian characters, as well as queer characters. The tea shop is a cozy place and I could see this being a nice fall read. It asks “what will you do with the time you have left,” which is always an important thing to consider as well.
There you have it – 7 of the books I read this month. Of these books, 3 were print, 2 were e-books, and 2 were audio books. 4 were adult and 3 were YA. Genres included thriller, romance, fantasy, and contemporary.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?