Month: September 2023

Freaking Romance: Volume One / Snailords

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Freaking Romance: Volume One
By: Snailords
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 288
Published: September 26, 2023
Publisher: WEBTOON Unscrolled
Dates Read: September 26, 2023 - September 27, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

What does one do when the cheapest, most affordable apartment you find also comes with a disclaimer it’s haunted? You move in and face your fears – just as Zylith does. But what happens when it’s “haunted” by a handsome stranger from another dimension who, if you touch him, disappears? Oh – not every relationship can be perfect…

I did think this was going to be more of a manga than a comic when I first picked it up. The drawing style did give that vibe off but with full color – at least on the cover, but then I began to read it and saw the difference (which I absolutely loved). The color palette especially grabbed my attention which is muted pastel. 

This story has such an interesting premise and not something I’ve really seen or read before. As this is only the first volume, we don’t know quite how or why the couple are able to see each other the way that they are.

I will say the last bit of the volume fell a little flat for me, as it was repeating the same bit of story, but with different POV, some of that I wished we may have received quickly after it originally happened so we weren’t jumping back and forth at the end. It didn’t stop me from still reading it though!

Overall, this is a cute romance graphic novel with beautiful artwork throughout. I can see a lot of readers who enjoy those genres devouring this story as well.

*Thank you WEBTOON Unscrolled and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Hush Harbor / Anise Vance

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Hush Harbor
By: Anise Vance
Genre: Fiction
Number of Pages: 288
Published: September 5, 2023
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Dates Read: September 22, 2023 - September 26, 2023
Format: ARC / Paperback

After a young, black, unarmed teen is shot and killed by police, a revolution is formed in an abandoned housing project called Hush Harbor, in honor of the secret spaces their enslaved ancestors would gather. Jeremiah Prince and his sister, Nova, are the leaders, but their ideological differences regarding how the movement should proceed differ. When a new mayor with ties to white supremacists threatens the group and locks the city down, they collectively must come up with a plan of survival.

As much as I thought this novel would be about the revolution and protests and marching – this was mostly about an already established, what felt more like a commune, movement. This also focused on the personal experience of the members, especially Malik, who, at the beginning of the novel, was getting recruited right in the middle of it all.

The story was still good and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t what I was expecting going into it. Of course the issues with racism and white supremacy are the main focus of this book and the author did a wonderful job at writing those. I think I may have struggled with the writing style a bit. It would go from super formalic and dense to a whole page full of dialogue with no movement indication. It didn’t catch my emotions and though I was interested in the story, I didn’t care too much for the characters, minus Jeremiah’s story.

Overall, this was still a good story and an important one at that. The debut writings of this author still intrigue me to read more of his when the next release comes.

*Thank you Hanover Square Press and NetGalley for a digital advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Mala’s Cat / Mala Kacenberg, Kristin Atherton (Narrator)

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My first full audiobook!! 😀

Mala’s Cat
By: Mala Kacenberg, Kristin Atherton (Narrator)
Genre: Memoir, Nonfiction
Number of Pages: 288
Published: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Dates Read: September 19, 2023 - September 21, 2023
Format: Audiobook, Library Book, Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Holocaust, war, genocide 

Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogród, Mala Szorer’s and her large family was poor – but they had each other and that was enough. But, at the age of twelve, the German invasion began and her village became a ghetto and her family and their neighbors were reduced to starvation. Mala wouldn’t let her family go hungry, so she would take her yellow star off and sneak into the surrounding villages to barter for food.

On her way back home one day, she sees her family rounded up for deportation and receives a smuggled letter from her sister, warning her to stay away. Even though she wants nothing more than to be with her family, Mala retreats back into the forest, not only hiding from the Nazi, but also hostile villagers. A stray cat joins her side, who ends up saving her time and time again – Mala names her Malach, Hebrew for ‘angel’.

Malach becomes Mala’s family and closest friend as she fights against the loneliness of being completely on her own as she fights to survive through the Hitler Regime. 

This is my first audio book I listened to mostly all the way through (except the last 50 pages, I read in my library book because I wanted to finish it but it was bedtime and I would fall asleep if I only listened). I would listen to it while doing some work and there were a few times I couldn’t help but comment out loud – especially when Malach would warn Mala of danger (again) and she would be surprised.

Since this was told through the eyes of the author as a teenager, it reads a little simpler than some memoirs. It also allowed the reader to watch as Mala ages and grows and begins to understand more and more about the war around her. Malach isn’t always mentioned, as sometimes she’s not always there – but this story is about the author’s survival, with the help of her guardian angel cat.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants to read about the survival of a young girl in the forest during the Holocaust.

The Marvellers / Dhonielle Clayton

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The Marvellers
By: Dhonielle Clayton, Khadijah Khatib (Illustrator)
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 432
Published: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Square Fish
Dates Read: September 15, 2023 - September 18, 2023
Format: Audiobook, Paperback

Ella Durand is the first (and right now only) Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors – a magical school up in the clouds where Marvellers from all around the world come to practice and learn their craft. 

Despite her eagerness to both learn and make friends, Ella soon finds out it’s not going to be easy. A lot of Marvellers mistrust her Conjuroring – they say it’s “bad and unnatural” and some aren’t in support of the new student entry into their school. But soon, Ella makes friends; a boy named Jason, a boy with a fondness for magical animals, Brigit, her new roommate who wants nothing to do with this world, and her mentor, Masterji Thakur.

When a dangerous criminal escapes prison, rumored with the help of a Conjuror, tensions grow extra tight in the Marvellian world and Ella gets a lot of extra attention. Worse, Masterji Thaku mysteriously disappears and Ella’s teachers are lying about it. With the help of her friends and the powers growing every day, Ella must find a way to clear her family’s name and save her teacher before it’s too late.

I had such a fun time listening and reading this novel this past weekend. I can definitely see this being a new favorite in Middle Grade (and even YA when it gets up there as the kids get older) readers who love reading about adventures in a magical school.

I love that it took us so long to find out which house the students get sorted into – it gives us so much to look forward to in the second book. I’m pretty stoked about the fact that by the time I read this, it’s right before the second book comes out. And you can bet I’m going to be going out and getting the second one on publication day

*Thank you Square Fish and BookishFirst for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Enemies in the Orchard / Dana VanderLugt

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Enemies in the Orchard
By: Dana VanderLugt
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel in Verse
Number of Pages: 288
Published: September 12, 2023
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Dates Read: September 14, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

It’s October 1944 and Claire’s dad needs help with the orchard – especially since Danny’s off to fight in World War II. With no one responding to the help wanted ad in the paper, he hires a group of German POWs to help with the apple harvest. Claire wants absolutely nothing to do with the enemies, afterall, it’s men like them that are currently shooting at Danny’s overseas. But then she meets Karl, a soft-spoken, hardworking POW and her mind begins to change.

Meanwhile, Karl battles with the role he ended up playing within the lies of Hitler’s regime. After he begins working with Claire, it gives him hope that he can change and become a person he wants to be – not the one that’s been forced on him.

It still surprises me a bit when I read another novel set during WWII that showcases something I wasn’t aware had happened during that time. This one being that the United States had POW work camps on their own soil, and that the POWs would be “lent out” to local farmers.

Besides having a focus on WWII and the POWs in the United States, this also focuses a lot on Claire and her journey and fight for going against the norms for females during that time. Claire wants to continue school past an eighth grade education and her single room schoolhouse that she goes to and go on to become a nurse. Her father is very supportive of this plan, but not everyone else.

Though this book is aimed at Middle Grade readers, I can see everyone enjoying it. The writing provides readers with a compelling and easy to follow format that, even with the word count being low from it being a novel in verse, it still provides beautiful descriptions. I, myself, am going to be keeping an eye out for my own physical copy to purchase. 

*Thank you Zonderkidz and NetGalley for a digital advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls / Cherie Dimaline

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Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
By: Cherie Dimaline
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 280
Published: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Tundra Books
Dates Read: September 11, 2023 - September 14, 2023
Format: Hardcover

Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works for the crematorium, all her life. She loves to spend her time wandering around the graveyard, but because she does this at all hours of the day and night, a rumor has started that Winterson Cemetery is haunted. It’s great news, because Winifred’s dad is on the verge of having his job outsourced. Now, Winifred needs to keep the ruse of a haunted cemetery up with the help of her con-artist cousin. But, when Phil, an actual ghost of a teenage girl starts showing up, it makes Winifred question everything.

I had a hard time caring about the characters in this one. I understood that Winifred was a loner and didn’t have many friends, but then she had a falling out with a guy who didn’t really seem to be her friend anyway, made it hard for me to care that it happened? And then the random sex talks would throw me off…

The nonlinear writing would get me mixed up as well. I wasn’t sure if it was something happening in the past or the present because scenes were never clearly ended, they would just blend into one another.

Overall, I still liked the story for the family element of it, but it wasn’t something I absolutely loved. It was a coming of age, slow burn (if that makes sense).

*Thank you Tundra Books and LibraryThing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Meadows / Stephanie Oakes

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The Meadows
By: Stephanie Oakes
Genre: YA
Number of Pages: 448
Published: September 12, 2023
Publisher: Dial Books
Dates Read: September 5, 2023 - September 10, 2023
Format: ARC / Paperback

Trigger Warnings: conversion therapy, homophobia 

Every youth hopes to get a letter to attend one of the places where only the best and brightest go to be even better and brighter: the Estuary, the Glades, the Meadows…

When Eleanor is accepted to go to the Meadows, it means her escape from the Cove and a hard life by the sea. But, though the Meadows is filled with beautiful and wonderful things, it hoards dark secrets: its purpose is to reform its students from their attractions, to show them that the way of life is only possible through their way. Maybe Eleanor starts to believe, but then she meets Rose, and everything changes.

A year after leaving the Meadows, Eleanor and her friends are on the outside, living back in society – but not everything is as they hoped. Eleanor is an adjudicator, someone who makes sure former students haven’t strayed from the lives they were trained to live. But the past isn’t letting go of Eleanor and as secrets unravel, Eleanor must fight against everything she has been taught to be, especially if she can find the girl that she lost.

I originally was interested in this title when I saw it on BookishFirst because it was being marketed as “a queer, YA Handmaid’s Tale meets Never Let Me Go” and I was all about that. I also love a good dystopian novel so this was really right up my alley.

That being said, I absolutely loved and devoured this novel over the course of the weekend when I didn’t have the interruption of work. The world building is intriguing and the “perfect” society is everything but (aren’t they all). The characters were also complex and engrossing – even the ones I wasn’t the biggest fans of, I still wanted them to succeed.

I absolutely recommend this book to those not only those who love dystopian novels, but those who want a page turning science fiction with queer characters.

*Thank you Dial Books and BookishFirst for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Hopeless in Hope / Wanda John-Kehewin

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Hopeless in Hope
By: Wanda John-Kehewin
Genre: YA
Number of Pages: 216
Published: September 5, 2023
Publisher: HighWater Press
Dates Read: September 4, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: child neglect, mention of residential schools and the treatment of children, alcoholism

14-year-old Eva lives in a hopeless old house in the oldest part of Hope, Canada with her younger brother, Marcus, their Nohkum, and their mother, Shirley – when she’s not out drinking. It would be pretty miserable, if it weren’t for her cat, Toofie, and her writing. But everything gets ripped away after Nohkum is hospitalized and Shirley struggles to keep things together. One afternoon, Marcus is found on the streets trying to go to the zoo all on his own; he’s sent to live with a foster family and Eva is sent to live in a group home. Eva’s furious with Shirley and finds a hard time in finding hope in being reunited. To help understand her better, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley’s journal during a hospital visit with the hope the pages within will help Eva learn to find forgiveness for her mom.

This is such a heartbreaking and hopeful story about family and forgiveness. Eva’s bitterness towards her mom is completely understandable, especially for someone her age who doesn’t fully understand the things those before her have gone through. 

“You wanna know why so many of our people drink or use drugs? Because they take our children away after they’ve destroyed us. Once you take the kids… there’s nothing left.”

This quote really hit me when Nohkum said it because that’s really true. What’s the best way to erase a culture than to take the youth away? I’ve known about the residential schools and the horrors the children had to go through, and how some of them didn’t make it back, but I didn’t really think of the effects afterwards.

I absolutely loved the voice of Eva in this novel and her family’s story. It wasn’t perfect; life is messy, but in the end, I still had so much hope for their family.

I would recommend this to both YA and adult readers – even though the voice is younger, you are able to dive deeper into the subjects of both Indigenous generational trauma and their treatment – both past and present in this novel. You also get a look at the complexity of the foster care system as well.

*Thank you HighWater Press and Edelweiss+ for a digital advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

Mascot / Charles Waters & Traci Sorell

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Mascot
By: Charles Waters & Traci Sorell
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel in Verse
Number of Pages: 256
Published: September 5, 2023
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Dates Read: September 3, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

When an eighth grade honors English teacher assigns her students a debate about their school’s mascot, they must decide if it should stay, or go. When some of the students end up getting really involved, the issue turns the DC suburb upside as everyone chooses sides.

This is a wonderful novel in verse that really showcases a diverse group of six students’ backgrounds and beliefs as they talk about the subject of their school’s mascot. With each student, we see them change and grow as they think about the mascot and what it means to them. Some change their opinion about it, while others keep what they thought in the beginning.

A lot of the reasoning why one of the kids didn’t want to change it had a lot to do with generational stuff (their parents also went to the same school and were also the mascot) and I think, as a kid, that’s all the reasoning you need to not change something. There’s more to it, of course, but I enjoyed that the novel did show so many different perspectives.

The changing of the names of sports teams and mascots have been in the news for many years. It is nice to see it written out in a way that middle schoolers would be able to understand it.

Though this aimed at middle grade, I believe those who are older would also get something out of it as well.

A Multitude of Dreams / Mara Rutherford

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A Multitude of Dreams
By: Mara Rutherford
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 384
Published: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Dates Read: August 29, 2023 - September 2, 2023
Format: Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: plague, death, blood, racism, murder, self harm, genocide, survivors guilt

A Multitude of Dreams is a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death. Four years ago, King Stuart gathered his royals, noblemen, and daughters and locked them into the safety of the castle walls. Every window was boarded up and every door sealed shut – all to protect those within of the horrible mori roja plague ravaging the land outside.

Told in third person, this novel follows Seraphina, a Jewish girl, who is also the (fake) Princess Imogene, and Nico, who once lived a comfortable life but now works for Lord Crane, the man who saved his life after he lost everything. When Lord Crane sends Nico and two others on the search for survivors, Nico meets a princess who wants out. But both are living in giant webs of lies and deception that they must unravel if they’re going to survive. 

I wanted this title because I read The Poison Season and I really enjoyed it. So, when I saw Mara Rutherford had another YA novel coming out, I immediately put it on my TBR list. It’s also listed as Fantasy Gothic and 

I was all about it and also the cover – like, I love it!

There were a few twists in here I didn’t quite see right away, which was nice. And, even some of the ones that I did see coming, I still enjoyed Rutherford’s storytelling and it kept me interested. And yes, there is some romance in this, but it wasn’t the main focus of the story – surviving and getting out of the castle was.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who’s in need of a good gothic fantasy with a hidden identity, Jewish representation, a masquerade, and the fight of survival.

*Thank you Inkyard Press and BookishFirst for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review