2023 Books Reviewed

The Forbidden Spell (Mark of a Caster #1) / Kaely Rose

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The Forbidden Spell (Mark of a Caster #1)
By: Kaely Rose
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Pages: 244
Published: October 9, 2022
Publisher: Self Published
Dates Read: June 15, 2023 - June 24, 2023
Format: eBook

Due to a curse put on him at birth, Senrind’s been forced to live stuck as a werewolf, unable to change into a human. With the help of his friend, Quinn, they go to a fortune teller who introduces them to a shapeshifting cat named Carithway.

Carithway can help him break the curse, but Senrind in return, must help Carithway out at his shop. Sentrind agrees and is thus thrown into a world of witches, spells, potions, and magic. As Sentrind tries to find answers to his past, he undercovers secrets from his father as well as something Carithway is hiding too. Was Senrind safer in his wolf form and now that he’s human – what can he do to help?

I’m not sure what it is with me stumbling upon cozy fantasies with found family tropes but I’m here for it and absolutely love it. The characters of this book are all so lovely and I’m a sucker for cats with magic, so Carithway could always make me smile.

With a lot of books, the main character gets everything bad thrown at them. But with this book, though there are trials and learning paths, Senrind seems to be doing well and it wasn’t filled with suspense and danger around every corner – hence why I’m calling it cozy fantasy. Sometimes that’s just what you need though.

There is a little romance in this book – but it’s just beginning, which I love because it seems very much more authentic and not rushed into in a few pages. This novel is marked as being #1 in the series, so I’m excited to see this relationship grow as well as the rest of the storyline continue.

This is a cozy read that would be perfect to snuggle up with in the fall – or honestly, you can be like me and read it right at the beginning of Summer and dream about the fall weather that’s mentioned in the book!

*Thank you Kaely Rose and The StoryGraph for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Order of Things / Kaija Langley

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The Order of Things
By: Kaija Langley
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel-In-Verse
Number of Pages: 288
Published: June 6, 2023
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Dates Read: June 13, 2023 - June 14, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

11-year-old April has been best friends with Zee since they were born only a month apart. They live across the hallway from each other in their apartment building and together, along with April’s mom, and Papa Zee – the four are a family. This school year though, things are changing. Zee has gotten into the new charter school specializing in music for his violin and April is staying behind at their old school.

But, when tragedy strikes and Zee passes away, April is forced to relearn what it means to continue after losing everything she once knew.

I went into this quite blindly. I’m a sucker for novel-in-verse books, especially middle grade because they seem all the more powerful to me for some reason. I saw this one on NetGalley and immediately requested to read it without much else. That being said, after reading it, I fully read the description and I do think it needs to be changed up – it gives away 95% of the book. When I recommend this, I’m going to try and suggest they not read the description to not give anything away.

Besides the description being too much, I’m still going to be recommending this book to many others. It was beautiful and full of representation. This story talks about ways people deal with the pain of losing someone and what it means to speak up at the right time. This is all done in a way that, though a bit simplified for middle grade, it will still require some tissues.

*Thank you Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Love Report / BéKa & Maya

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The Love Report
By: BéKa & Maya
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 192
Published: June 13, 2023
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Dates Read: June 12, 2023
Format: Paperback

BBFs Grace and Lola try to figure out the mystery of romance by observing those around them at their middle school.

This was cute. Was it the best story I’ve ever read? No. But, it’s middle grade kids figuring out what love means to them – it’s cute. Plus, the illustrations are vivid and adorable to look at.

The girls learn about all types of other female characters and their history. Even learning about their prejudgement of some simply based on rumors. The boys’ characters aren’t as flushed out, but since this is the first book of a series, I’m hoping to know more about them later on.

This book was originally written in French and set in France. Even though it was translated into English, I still thoroughly enjoyed the background, especially the lunch/park scenes as those are very French.

I’ll be looking out for the next book of this series to read for sure. It’s adorable and there is much room for the characters to grow.

*Thank you Astra Publishing House and Publishers Weekly for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Winter’s Reckoning / Adele Holmes

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Winter's Reckoning
By: Adele Holmes
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 336
Published: August 8, 2022
Publisher: She Writes Press
Dates Read: June 5, 2023 - June 11, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Maddie Fairbanks is her dying Southern Appalachian town’s skilled herbal healer, something that, along with the influence of her late husband, has allowed her to have socially progressive views; including taking on a Black apprentice, Ren Morgan. Members of the town may grumble about it, but they know they need them both.

That is until a new reverend blows into town in 1917 and begins to preach on both the importance of racial segregation and the dangers of the harmful “herbal witchcraft” Maddie and Ren partake in. These teachings respark the local KKK chapter and they begin to threaten Maddie and Ren’s family’s – stop what you’re doing and leave town, or there will be trouble.

Will Maddie follow their demands or will she stay and fight to keep the home she’s created in Jamesville.

This took me a little to get into it, but once I did, I got lost in it quite quickly. I’m always interested in herbal medicine and especially the history of it as well, which is why I was interested and picked this book up.

This novel is told in third person, but would focus alternatively between Maddie, Ren, Hannah (Maddie’s granddaughter), and Carol. I could not stand Carol – very narcissistic and it drove me nuts. Of course, once we found out more and more about him, it explained a lot but when we first started out I could tell something was off with him and would roll my eyes every time his section would come up in the reading. Adele Holmes did a fantastic job at writing a despising character.

Overall, I can see those who enjoyed historical fiction enjoying this intriguing story about a herbalist living in a small, southern Appalachian town in 1917. It’s a great insight into that life and the history of women who couldn’t yet be doctor’s, but could mix herbs to keep their loved ones and community going.

*Thank you She Writes Press and Publisher’s Weekly for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Chaos & Flame / Tessa Gratton & Justina Ireland

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Chaos & Flame
By: Tessa Gratton & Justina Ireland
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 336
Published: March 28, 2023
Publisher: Razorbill
Dates Read: May 29, 2023 - June 5, 2023
Format: Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Misgendering, genocide (off page, but discussed), poison, knife violence, blood & gore, graphic violence, war, death

Written in the alternating points of views of Darling Seabreak and Talon Goldhoard, Chaos & Flame tells the story of the two navigating House politics while also being caught up in the High Prince Regent’s unknown scheme as they tour around the kingdom to the other Houses.

This book took me a while to get into it – it’s slow to start, but by the end of it, I was invested in what was happening with the characters, so I will be picking up the second book in this duology. I’m very curious to see how the authors are planning on bringing out more with the boons and if those will change with what could be happening in the second book.

I was really interested in Caspian’s character and wish I knew more about what was going on in his head since everyone just marked him as “being mad” when in fact, he just had a whole other agenda.

I do wish we had more history of the world. The world building was fantastic but I felt like 100 years isn’t a whole lot to have passed since the last phoenix was alive and that even with that, there should still be people around who were alive back then – wouldn’t they know more and have maybe some insight? 

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the insta-love between Darling and Talon, but it is YA and that’s typical YA romance so I’m not complaining all too much to be honest with you.

Overall, it was a slow build up to a good read and that I’m excited to continue reading when the next book in the series comes out (please don’t be too long!).

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

The Wanderers / Anna Ziegler

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The Wanderers
By: Anna Ziegler
Genre: Drama/ Play
Number of Pages: 80
Published: February 23, 2023
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Dates Read: May 28, 2023
Format: Library Book / Paperback

Esther and Schmuli are Orthodox Jews embarking on an arranged marriage. Abe and Julia are celebrities embarking on a dangerously flirtatious correspondence, despite both being married to other people. Just looking, the two couples couldn’t be more different, but once you get to know them, you find a hidden connection.

I haven’t really read a play since high school – over a decade ago. But I found this title while doing a book list for Jewish Heritage Month and decided I wanted to give it a go.

That being said, this play was pretty simple. Mostly interactions between two characters. I liked that because I could easily “see” the characters in their scenes.

I’m going to be honest and didn’t see the connection until a lot later in the story than I probably should have. But overall, I still enjoyed reading the play.

Hurt You / Marie Mying-Ok Lee

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Hurt You
By: Marie Mying-Ok Lee
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Number of Pages: 254
Published: May 16, 2023
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Dates Read: March 23, 2023 - March 27, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: Racism, classism, disabled slurs and bullying

Georgia is a Korean-American high school junior who just moved to a new town in the suburbs so that her brother, Leo, who has significant developmental disabilities, can get better assistance. At her new school, she makes friends with members of the hagwon that runs in the back of the Korean barber shop. Her parents have a rough relationship due to the strain of raising Leo and Georgie does everything she can to help be a caretaker of her brother.

I slightly remember reading Of Mice and Men in high school – not every detail, but I remember the ending, so I was very curious to see how this book would go.

This book definitely deals with a lot that I honestly wasn’t expecting. Georgia takes on a lot of responsibilities in the caretaking for Leo and I was always forgetting he was the older brother – even though she talks about how he’s a big, strong young man. I’m glad her parents were aware of the situation though and had brought it up to her a few times in the novel because it does take a toll on her for sure.

I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. I was rooting for Georgia and Leo and even though in the back of my mind, I kind of knew what would happen, I was still shocked at how the ending played out. It did come a little quickly for me, but I still liked the open-ending of it too.

This won’t be a book for everyone, but I still think it’s an important book that covers a lot of topics you don’t read about often.

*Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for a digital advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Paper Planes / Jennie Wood

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Paper Planes
By: Jennie Wood, Dozerdraws (Illustrator)
Genre: Graphic Novel, YA
Number of Pages: 216
Published: May 16, 2023
Publisher: Maverick
Dates Read: May 22, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Former best friends Dylan and Leighton are stuck in summer camp for troubled youth after a life altering incident happened. If they don’t get a good evaluation at camp, they’ll get sent away to an alternative high school. While participating in activities and chores at camp, both teens reexamine what led them to their current situation.

This was a good read and a good story, but the storytelling was a little difficult to follow at times; it wasn’t always told there was a time jump and you had to distinguish between the color scheme of the pages. 

I wasn’t ever the biggest fan of Leighton to be honest. I know she was going through stuff and that she was hiding things from Dylan (they both were hiding things from each other), but I don’t know – I never felt like they were the best of friends like they were supposed to have been. I was also disappointed in the ending of it as I didn’t feel like there were conclusions to parts of the storyline.

I was still a fan of the graphic novel though and will for sure be recommending it to others. I really enjoyed the art and will be suggesting it to some for that reason. The representation and the storyline that some of the characters went through are important to share and I can see others enjoying it.

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

In the Lives of Puppets / T.J. Klune

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In the Lives of Puppets
By: T.J. Klune
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Pages: 420
Published: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: May 10, 2023 - May 21, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook / Library Book / Hardcover

Three robots – fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine named Nurse Ratched, and a small anxiety-filled vacuum named Rambo live with human Victor Lawson in the houses they’ve built into the branches of the trees in a forest – hidden and safe.

When Victor, Nurse Ratched, and Rambo find and repair an android with the label “HAP”, they learn of the dark past Gio and their new friend share. After getting back online, Hap unwittingly alerts robots from their past life to their current whereabouts and they capture and take Gio back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams.

Together, the makeshift family must journey across the country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Another amazing, beautiful, and touching found family novel from TJ Klune. I wrote down so many quotes from this novel (mostly from Nurse Ratched). I read over 100+ books a year and rarely do they make me actually cry – this one succeeded and therefore, it received 5 stars from me. And, like every year a new TJ Klune book comes out, this will be hard to beat for my choice of book of the year.

This is another book that, though it’s listed as SciFi/Fantasy, I can see so many people enjoying this. It does deal with Victor being the last human on Earth and the complications of loving those with an extremely complicated past, but it’s still a soft, found family read for me.

In the Lives of Puppets has an unforgettable cast of characters and the writing of Klune will make you care about an assembled group of robots and their human companion in a way I didn’t think would be possible.

I love this book and will be so highly recommending this to any and all for years to come.

*Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Hungry Ghost / Victoria Ying

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Hungry Ghost
By: Victoria Ying
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 208
Published: April 25, 2023
Publisher: First Second
Dates Read: May 10, 2023
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Disorder eating (bulimia), fatphobia, body-shaming, depictions of vomiting, purging, loss of parent, grief, verbally abusive parent

Hungry Ghost follows Valerie Chu while she deals with disordered eating in her senior year of high school when tragedy strikes her family.

I’m in love with the color palette of this entire novel – which, along with muted pastels and adorable, expressive lines makes the story all the more heartbreaking when it’s about a young woman struggling with her relationship with food and with her mother.

It was also interesting to me to be able to see the dynamics of a culture where there’s always good food, and also over-emphasize women being thin.

This is a painful read. The author did an amazing job at both showing and describing the struggles that Val is going through with her illness. People will feel seen after reading this. And those who aren’t dealing with the same struggles, will hopefully be able to have a deeper understanding after finishing this book.

I’ll be recommending this book for sure, but it will come with the Trigger Warnings attached. Take care of yourself.