A big thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this title. It was my second Netgalley review and I was not disappointed. The story is a set in the golden age of Hollywood and is a beautifully written noir type mystery. Kate, our main character, is intelligent, resourceful, and was extremely well written. I loved how she was just trying to find her place in the world while escaping the shadows of her grandfather’s fame and the traumatic kidnapping that happened to her. The boarders honestly made the book for me, especially in the first quarter. I loved the quirky humor and the characters’ dynamic; reminded me quite a bit of old 80’s sitcoms in parts. If there is one thing this author does amazing it is her characters. Only have a couple of negatives. The queer representation was lacking, but I suppose not every book needs everyone represented to still be a good story. I also really didn’t find myself invested in the romance. I loved the love interest to bits but I just didn’t care about if Kate ended up with him. The cover is also a bit unfortunate. It’s not really representative of the awesome story inside and almost turned me away from it. All in all a solid mystery and a nice little romp. 4/5
Radio Silence is a book I have been meaning to read for literal months. It has sat patiently waiting on my TBR since around April of 2019 and honestly I regret putting it off so long. It was just flat out amazing and I wish a million times over I had picked it up sooner.
Our story follows Frances Janvier, an intelligent and extremely witty high school student, as she tries to navigate her final year in high school and find her place in the world after. She is best described as an overachiever with an attitude and her dream was to study literature at Cambridge. That all changed when she met Aled, the creator of her favorite podcast. The two become fast friends and are nearly inseparable, working constantly on their labor of love Universe City. But no good thing goes unpunished…
~Pros~
♬ I identified so much with Frances. She reminded me so much of myself back in my junior and senior year of high school. She was so academically focused at the beginning of the book with her end goal being college and that resonated with me. I also threw everything I had into my grades and extra curriculars in the hopes I would get in to my dream school. But the real world is hard and I had to learn the hard way that the higher education system isn’t for everyone. It was fantastic to read a novel that doesn’t romanticize the college experience and encourages kids to follow their hearts instead of what is the norm.
♬ Also strongly identified with the School Frances/Home Frances duality. It was so accurate to how a lot of studious and overachieving student are. We dutifully wear our mask of perfection while in those walls, because we’ve been told quirks and oddities aren’t favored by the collegiate system. I was a huge gamer and an avid fanfiction writer back in high school but no one knew that. Fanfiction and Final Fantasy didn’t get you into Princeton. The only sliver of my personality that people at my school got to see was my love of books, because collegiate bound people are allowed to be obsessed with books. I spent most of this book wanting to give Frances a giant hug and tell her that she’s not alone.
♬ I loved the demi/ace representation in this book as well as the platonic friendship between Aled and Frances. It was great to read a story where the happy ending wasn’t dependent on dating. The struggle Aled was going through while trying to explain his position to Daniel was so beautifully written and felt so real. Again, just want to give these kids giant hugs.
♬ Lana is life. As a mom myself, I live for a well written and loving mother and Lana Janvier is that to a T. She is supportive of her daughter in whatever she wants to do with her life. She doesn’t push the collegiate path on her and instead encourages her daughter to be her own person. I also loved that she didn’t really get the whole Universe City thing, but she didn’t have to. It made her daughter happy and that was enough for her. Also loved how ready and willing she was to help Frances’s friends. She was just a good mom to every one she came in contact with.
♬ We stan a good villain in my house and boy was Carol Last a good villain. If Lana was the perfect representation of a good mom then Carol is the epitome on an abusive one. She is selfish, hateful, and resentful of her children. She drove her daughter away completely and couldn’t care less whether she is alive or dead while manipulating and emotionally destroying Aled. I spent the latter half of the book wanting to run this woman over with a truck. Watching this woman use her son as an emotional punching bag was utterly heartbreaking. She was so well written and really portrays how an abusive homelife can sabotage a kid’s chances of success.
~Cons~
♬ This book is heavy. It has a lot of weighted topics that some readers may have a hard time with. Sexuality, depression, abusive parental relationships, burnout, and the damage social media culture can cause are all covered in this book and that may not be everyone’s jam.
♬ I wasn’t super invested in the storyline between Frances and Carys Last. I understand that it was used as a way to get Frances involved in Aled’s homelife a little more deeply but it just felt unneeded. The passages about her wondering whether Carys ran away because she kissed her felt very childish, but then again these are teenagers and nativity is to be expected I suppose.
♬ I wish there was more to Raine. It felt like her character wasn’t really fleshed out and was only there to serve the purpose of connecting Frances’s home life to her school life. I also want to know more about Carys and Raine’s adventures because it seemed like they were really hitting it off.
♬ While I personally enjoyed the pop culture references and the use of Youtube culture and fan culture, it may not be everyone’s cup of vodka. The humor is very heavy handed and could be turn off for some folks.
To summarize, this book was so amazingly well written and really had me all in my feelings. Not many books have made me cry but the last 3 chapters of Radio Silence had me sobbing and yelling at the pages. It is 100% worth your time and you should read it immediately!
“When I signed up for this honeymoon, I had no idea it would involve so much nudity…” ― Christina Lauren, The Unhoneymooners
I am going to sing this book’s praises to the heavens. It was my book club’s Book of the Month, otherwise I would have never touched it. I went into it with such low expectations and was pleasantly surprised at how amazing it was. The story follows the exploits of Olive and Ethan, two people who can’t stand to even look at one another, as they try to navigate through a 10 day fake honeymoon without killing each other. Not a premise I ever thought I would enjoy, but here we are. This book was witty, hilarious, and chock full of dorky pop culture references. It had so many cute moments that really made me root for them. The last few chapters DESTROYED ME but the wrap up made it all worth it. I will absolutely be reading more from Christina Lauren very soon!
“Lesser, greater, middling, it’s all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I’m not a pious hermit, I haven’t done only good in my life. But if I’m to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.” ― Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish
I’m going to preface this review by saying that I may be slightly biased in my judgement of this book. I’m 80 hours into the Witcher 3 and have binged the show twice now. But I’m going to be as fair as I possibly can be while still being a Dandelion fangirl.
The Last Wish is widely accepted as the first book in The Witcher series, despite a name that might suggest otherwise. It is a collection of short stories that follows our protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, on his adventures throughout the Northern Kingdoms. Geralt is a Witcher, which is essentially a monster hunter who has mutated themselves to better survive in their line of work. He travels all over helping people solve their struggles- as long as coin is involved. Each story focuses on a different event in Geralt’s adventures and introducing the friends and allies he has met along the way. I think it is a fantastic way to introduce the series and give the reader a feel for this world without overloading them with an info dump.
~Pros~
☠ The characters are beautifully written and full of life. All of the main characters just leapt off the page for me, especially Dandelion. His charm and wit made some of the slower bits a lot more bearable.
☠ Most of the stories are twisted retellings of famous fairy tales and folklore. Usually I can nitpick the hell out of a retelling but I absolutely adored these. They were well written and kept just enough of the elements from the original story to make them recognizable. I think the author is an awesome job of working these famous stories into the world and magic system that he created.
☠ The author really makes you feel for the decisions that Geralt has to make. The world sees him as just an emotionless warrior who’s only goal in life is gathering coin, but the readers see how hard he is struggling to maintain his morality. The Renfri story is a wonderful representation of how actions he sees as moral can have dire consequences.
~Cons~
☠ The language the Sylvans and Elves spoke with drove me up a wall. I should be used to odd word placement and dialects being a fan of Fae books but I just found this one hard to read.
☠ I’m not sure it says anywhere on the book that it is a collection of short stories. That could be a problem for some readers who are going in blind.
☠ The world and magic systems could have been fleshed out just a little more. I had no problems having been introduced to the series in other ways but for a someone coming in with no knowledge of the series, it may get a little confusing. Like, in one passage in passing it mentions that Geralt is sterile but then it is never brought up again or explained. This is me just nitpicking small things though.
All in all, this was a fantastic entry to the world of The Witcher and I cant wait to start the second book of shorts.
** spoiler alert ** This was a delightful little romp. I’m a big Descendants fan so when I saw this on Netgalley I jumped on it. The novels were a bit of a bust for me so I was a little worried going in but it was definitely worth the read.
This manga follows Dizzy, the grand daughter of Lady Tremaine, in the time between Descendants 2 and 3. Dizzy has gotten her acceptance letter from King Ben inviting her to Auradon and is impatiently awaiting the day the second wave of VK’s get to leave the Isle. In the few days she has left it seems like everyone is trying to bring the little fashionista down. From Celia Facilier to Harry Hook and his band of miscreants, every body just wants to get their claws into the girl with the golden ticket.
*SPOILERS*
~Pros~
I loved the subtle nod to the Harry/Gil bromance. Gil has always seemed like a genuinely good hearted character who is just always on the wrong side because of who he drew alliances with. He’s devoted to Harry on deep level and values their adventures together above everything else. The scene with him was a nice little reprieve from all the peer pressure being put on Dizzy.
Dizzy is as adorable as ever! I loved seeing her in a more somber mood, as she is always so energetic in the films. The morals that the manga is pushing are great ones for young teens who are just figure life out. It teaches that you should never let someone dictate who you are going to be and that you hold the keys to your own future. The Celia arc also teaches to not let people take advantage of your kindness and walk all over you. That it’s ok to stand up for yourself. Great messages for a younger audience.
The art is absolutely beautiful! All the characters looked like they do in the films except for Harry, but I’ll put that in the cons section. Celia’s art was exceptionally well done. I loved the Oracle card details and the little panels of her being a sneak.
~Cons~
Harry Hook doesn’t look much like his character in the films. There was a significant lack of eyeliner. He looked almost like Killian from Once Upon a Time instead of his counterpart from Descendants 2 or 3. It’s a small nit pick.
The recap in the letter to Evie at the end felt a little pointless. I just read 100 pages of story. Why do I need it condensed back into 4 pages of refresher? I think even the artwork was recycled for those panels. Just seemed a little lazy.
All in all a short and solid read if you are a fan of the Descendants series. Would love to read more of these manga and will definitely pick this on up in print.
This book was so good. I did not go in to this series expecting to fall in love. I thought it would be another mediocre fantasy that I would DNF. But I gave it a chance and I’m very glad I did. It was fantastic. It was so easy to picture the characters and to really get attached to them.
Lazarus is my everything. I love him to pieces. I kept picturing him as Geralt of Rivia for some reason but that’s neither here nor there. Kelsea was also brilliantly written. I just can’t say enough good things about this book. I cant wait to read the second.
Get your scooter leg ready because this book is a trip!
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek is the debut novel by the Youtuber’s Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal and boy, was it a way start. Out of the 10 novels I have already finished this year, Lost Causes has by far been my favorite! The story takes place back in 1992 in a tiny, highly religious, southern town called Bleak Creek. Its the kind of place where everyone knows each other and has for generations. The kind of place where the biggest scandal the town has ever had was when the 2nd Baptist Church opened. But every small town has their dark side and Bleak Creek’s comes in the form of the Whitewood Reform School; a place where kids either come back obedient and a shell of their former selves or they don’t come back at all.
Rex, Leif, and Alicia are 3 normal teenagers just trying to have some fun in their little podunk town. This fun comes in the way of filming a handy cam horror film called “Polterdog”. But when a scene goes horribly wrong in front of the entire town and Mr. Whitewood himself gets injured, the trio finds themselves of a terrifying adventure that will change their lives forever. Alicia is sent away to be reformed of her troublemaking ways and it’s up to Rex and Leif to save her, exposing the town’s dark underbelly along the way.
Alright, Im going to try to keep this as spoiler free as possible but be warned that I may slip up a bit.
I was skeptical going in to this book. I’ve read a few other books written by popular Youtubers and internet personalities and was sorely disappointed in the majority of them. I absolutely was not expecting the twisted and dark story that I got, especially not knowing the kind of content that the authors make normally.
People always tell you to write what you know, and Rhett and Link definitely took that to heart. If you are familiar with them, it’s very clear that the two main male leads are caricatures of themselves as children. I had no problem with this and really enjoyed Rex and Leif, but I know that might be a turn off for readers so I figured I’d mention it.
~Pros~
The characters are all super interesting and have personalities that really made me care about them. Rex and Leif were both portrayed as awkward, dorky teens that are still getting the hang of puberty and it’s done extremely well. From Rex forgetting deodorant and having mini mental meltdown because he can smell himself to the budding feelings for Alicia that both boys develop, the cast is just very realistic. It’s been a while since I’ve been that young but that is absolutely the kinds of things that I remember going through and thinking about.
Jeanine and Donna’s relationship was huge highlight for me. It really showcased how quickly familial bonds can dissolve and how hard it is to watch someone you love change for the worse. I felt so connected with Jeanine as she watched her cousin change and pull away from her for seemingly no reason and having no idea how to repair the damage.
There was no girl hate! I despise when two female characters hate each other and get catty for seemingly no reason and this book had none of that. Actually, all of the female leads were likable, lifelike, and good representations of strong independent young women. Alicia was an exceptionally intelligent and witty girl that relied on her friends but also did everything in her power to save herself. Jeanine was a struggling new adult trying to pick up the pieces and find her place in the world after giving everything to a guy who just abandoned her. Even Donna is a positive example of growth and finding your own strength.
I definitely did not see the twist coming! Anyone who is familiar with my reading habits and reviews knows I hate figuring out the twist early in the book. It ruins the entire novel for me. This one, though. Oh no! Couldn’t have spotted that twist a mile away with a telescope. By the end of the book I honestly felt bad for Whitewood. I can’t go into it much but learning his reasoning and backstory really helped cement him as more than just a chaotic evil man who hates unruly children.
~Cons~
There has to be a bit of suspension of disbelief. The way the kids are taken to the school is extremely unrealistic and makes the parent’s seem abusive and uncaring. That is fixed later in the book and explained to point, but he way Alicia’s parents reacted when she was being taken away turned me off. The guy who owned the restaurant was also a big negative for me. He was honestly well written but I hated the character more than the actual antagonist and I don’t think that was the intention.
The ending isn’t exactly what I was expecting and things didn’t exactly get resolved. Hoping there is a sequel to finish tying up the loose ends.
Hornhat was such an odd character. He was only really there to be the reject kid trope. Because there has to be someone in school weirder and more annoying than the protags I guess? I don’t know. I just didn’t understand why he was even needed. He had a vital part at the end but even that sort of came out of nowhere. It also felt like the only identity the kid had was his New Kids on the Block obsession. In a book full of highly in depth characters, he just fell really flat.
All in all, I think this is a fantastic debut novel and deserves far more love than its getting. It had its flaws as every book does but I think it stands on its own as a great spooky paranormal mystery.
Lee's Literary Loves and Losses 