Friday, January 31, 2025

How Could You

How Could You
By Ren Strapp
Simon & Schuster, 2024. 221 pages. Graphic Novels.

College upperclassman Molly Song is set on getting over her ex this semester, but it's hard when she dumps you via email and posts all over social media about cozying up with her study-abroad roommate. After convincing her friend, Lou Kingston, that they should go to parties and find rebound girlfriends. Meanwhile, Molly and Lou’s exes, Yona and Olene, have left their pasts behind as they study abroad in France. Together they see springtime in Marseille, find new friendships, and uncover new personal truths. Will their whirlwind trip bloom into a whirlwind romance, or will their journeys to self-discovery put them on different paths entirely?


There's friend drama, and there's romantic drama, and in this graphic novel by Strapp those lines blur and crisscross repeatedly. The artwork is fun and bright and the emotions are big and messy as the characters learn big lessons about themselves through trial and error. Recommended for fans of queer romance and, of course, drama!


If you like How Could You, you might also like: 


Chef's Kiss

By Jarrett Melendez

Oni Press, 2022. 137 pages. Graphic Novels.


Now that college is over, English graduate Ben Cook is on the job hunt looking for something…anything…related to his passion for reading and writing. But interview after interview, hiring committee after hiring committee, Ben soon learns getting the dream job won’t be as easy as he thought. Proofreading? Journalism? Copywriting? Not enough experience. It turns out he doesn’t even have enough experience to be a garbage collector! But when Ben stumbles upon a “Now Hiring—No Experience Necessary” sign outside a restaurant, he jumps at the chance to land his first job. Plus, he can keep looking for a writing job in the meantime. He’s actually not so bad in the kitchen, but he will have to pass a series of cooking tests to prove he’s got the culinary skills to stay on full-time. But it’s only temporary…right? When Ben begins developing a crush on Liam, one of the other super dreamy chefs at the restaurant, and when he starts ditching his old college friends and his old writing job plans, his career path starts to become much less clear.


Matchmaker
By Cam Marshall
Silver Sprocket, 2023. 277 pages. Graphic Novels.

Best friends Mason and Kimmy live through their early twenties in the early '20s, navigating a global pandemic and terrifying job market alongside making friends, dating, and playing way too many video games. But when shy and nervous Mason can't find a boyfriend, it's up to Kimmy to play matchmaker! Who will it be? The cute boy down the hall with the Sailor Moon mask? A mysterious stranger from the dating profile that Kimmy masterminded? Or maybe the angsty barista from the neighborhood coffee shop?


RBL

Coming Back

Coming Back
By Jessi Zabarsky
Random House Graphic, 2021. 248 pages. YA Comics.

Preet is magic. Valissa is not. Everyone in their village has magic in their bones, and Preet is the strongest of them all. Without any power of her own, how can Valissa ever be worthy of Preet's love? When their home is attacked, Valissa has a chance to prove herself, but that means leaving Preet behind. On her own for the first time, Preet breaks the village's most sacred laws and is rejected from the only home she's ever known and sent into a new world. Divided by different paths, insecurities, and distance, will Valissa and Preet be able to find their way back to each other?


For me the appeal of graphic novels is the art and this one did not disappoint with its almost monochromatic color scheme and soft style. The author explored themes of found family, not living up to traditions, and having to wait a while for your happy ending.  If you want to travel slowly through beautiful pages while being a bit introspection I recommend this book.


If you like Coming Back, you might also like: 


By Trung Le Nguyen

Random House Graphic, 2020. 229 pages. YA Comics.


Tien and his mother may come from different cultures-she's an immigrant from Vietnam still struggling with English; he's been raised in America-but through the fairy tales he checks out from the local library, those differences are erased. But as much as Tien's mother's English continues to improve as he reads her tales of love, loss, and travel across distant shores, there's one conversation that still eludes him-how to come out to her and his father. Is there even a way to explain what he's going through in Vietnamese? And without a way to reveal his hidden self, how will his parents ever accept him? This beautifully illustrated graphic novel speaks to the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together even when we don't know the words.



The Girl From the Sea
By Molly Knox Ostertag
Graphix, 2021. 245 pages. YA Comics.

Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can't wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She's desperate to finish high school and escape her sad divorced mom, her volatile little brother, and worst of all, her great group of friends, who don't understand Morgan at all. Because really, Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about wanting to kiss another girl. Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn't seem so stifling anymore. But Keltie has some secrets of her own. And as the girls start to fall in love, everything they're each trying to hide will find its way to the surface, whether Morgan is ready or not.


By Melanie Gillman
Random House Graphic, 2022. 231 pages. YA Comics.

Once upon a time . . . happily ever after turned out differently than expected. In this new, feminist, queer fairy-tale collection, you'll find the princesses, mermaids, knights, barmaids, children, and wise old women who have been forced to sit on the sidelines in classic stories taking center stage. A gorgeous all-new collection in graphic novel format from a Stonewall Honor-winning author and artist. What if the giant who abducted you was actually thoughtful and kind? What if you didn't want to marry your handsome, popular, but cold-inside suitor? What if your one true love has all the responsibilities that come with running a kingdom?


KJ

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Indiginerds

Indiginerds
By Alina Pete (Editor)
Iron Circus Comics, 2024. 134 pages. Young Adult Comic

The full title of this delightful graphic novel for teens is Indiginerds: Tales from Modern Indigenous Life. "Featuring an all-Indigenous creative team, this is an exhilarating anthology collecting eleven comic stories about Indigenous people balancing traditional ways of knowing with modern pop culture." Some stories touch on difficult issues like alcohol/substance abuse, domestic abuse, and harmful stereotypes. Others focus on the fruits of fostering creativity, determination, resilience, and building community. I personally loved how the illustrations fit so well with each story; "primary Indigenous characters are of varying skin tones, while secondary and background characters appear in black and white. Queer representation is present in multiple stories, and body types of various shapes/sizes are presented without related commentary. Highly recommend." ~SLJ

If you like Indiginerds, you might also like: 

Little Moons
By Jen Storm
Highwater Press, 2024. 60 pages. Young Adult Comic

A moving exploration of how grief affects people, centering on an Ojibwe family. When 15-year-old Chelsea doesn't come home after school one day, her family deals with trying to find closure. A year passes, and the family members are coping with their trauma in different ways. Reanna hopes to feel closer to her sister through traditional dancing and wearing Chelsea's regalia. Their mother does everything to distance herself from her life on the reserve, however. She moves to the city, leaving Reanna and her little brother Theo with their father. The story handles the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People with dignity and authenticity. 

The Collectors: Stories
By A.S. King (Editor)
Dutton Books, 2023. 262 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Ten acclaimed YA authors explore the artistry and emotion behind the human instinct to collect. This anthology centers around the question: "Why do we collect things?" Each story features a different type of collection, from the tangible (glass bluebirds and fandom memorabilia) to the experiential (skateboarding in empty swimming pools) and the intangible (misery, doubts, dreams, and moments that you wish could last forever). The characters discover strengths and yearned-for connections to themselves and others through what they collect. 

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults
By Robin Wall Kimmerer
Zest Books, 2022. 303 pages. Young Adult Nonfiction

An Indigenous botanist offers powerful guidance and inspiration for a sustainable - and sustaining - future in this young readers' adaptation of her 2015 adult bestseller. Sweetgrass - its planting, tending, picking, braiding, and burning - forms the organizing structure for this work in which scientific discovery and traditional wisdom form a harmonious, interconnected whole. Rather than humans' presence inherently threatening nonhuman living beings, the Indigenous worldview persuasively and vividly offered is one in which we live by guiding principles of the Honorable Harvest, enumerated here as: never take first, ask permission, listen for the answer, take only what you need, minimize harm, use everything you take, share, be grateful, and reciprocate the gift.  

LKA

Thursday, January 23, 2025

By Any Other Name


By Any Other Name
by Jodi Picoult
New York: Ballantine Books, 2024. 525 pages. Fiction

Across centuries two women, Melina Green and Emilia Bassano, one a modern playwright and the other her Elizabethan ancestor, each fight societal expectations to have their voices heard on the stage in a world that silences female playwrights.

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult is a moving, character-driven, and deeply researched work of historical fiction that weaves parallel narratives with emotional depth. The story made me hope and wish it were true! In the author's note at the end, Picoult clarifies the facts behind her research, sharing how she incorporated them and what liberties she took. She highlights the gaps in history and speculates on the possibilities of what could have been. The book left me feeling both excited and inspired. It also prompted me to reflect on the complexity of women’s rights in the past, how far they’ve progressed, and how women might unintentionally limit themselves even today. Those drawn to thought-provoking characters and rich historical detail will find this book captivating and thought-provoking long after finishing it.

If you liked By Any Other Name, you might also like: 


Hamnet: a novel  of the plague
by Maggie O’Farrell
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. 305 pages. Fiction

A thrilling departure: a short, piercing, deeply moving novel about the death of Shakespeare's 11 year old son Hamnet--a name interchangeable with Hamlet in 15th century Britain--and the years leading up to the production of his great play. England, 1580. A young Latin tutor--penniless, bullied by a violent father--falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman--a wild creature who walks her family's estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer. Agnes understands plants and potions better than she does people, but once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose gifts as a writer are just beginning to awaken when his beloved young son succumbs to bubonic plague. A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, and impossible to put down.

 


The Glassmaker
by Tracy Chevalier
New York: Viking, 2024. 402 pages. Fiction

In 1486, Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, Italy. As a woman, she is not meant to blow glass--but when her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, and her work becomes the cornerstone of the Rosso family fortunes. Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague rearing its head over Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.


BWW

What Happened to Nina?

What Happened to Nina?
by Dervla McTiernan
William Morrow, 2024. 322 pages. Fiction

Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun, and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family's cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home. Simon's explanation about what happened in their last hours together doesn't add up. Nina's parents push the police for answers, and Simon's parents rush to protect him. They hire expensive lawyers and a PR firm that quickly ramps up a vicious, nothing-is-off-limits media campaign. Soon, facts are lost in a swirl of accusation and counter-accusation. Everyone chooses a side, and the story goes viral, fueled by armchair investigators and wild conspiracy theories and illustrated with pretty pictures taken from Nina's social media accounts. Journalists descend on their small Vermont town, followed by a few obsessive "fans." Out-gunned by Simon's wealthy, powerful family, Nina's parents recognize that if playing by the rules won't get them anywhere, it's time to break them.

This interesting twist on a suspense novel kept me hooked with its similarities to the Gabby Petito case. While all of the characters question, "What happened to Nina?" the driving focus of the story is the experience of the family members left with unanswered questions, debating how far they'll go in order to find closure. The book shifts perspective between a number of characters, giving the reader insight into what each character knows, what their motivations are, and how their actions affect others. I found this novel to be both fascinating and heartbreaking. Fans of missing persons stories will appreciate the nuances portrayed here.

If you like What Happened to Nina? you might also like:

Finding Sophie
by Imran Mahmood
Bantam Books, 2024. 339 pages. Fiction

For the last seventeen years, everything Harry and Zara King have done has been for their only daughter, Sophie. When she goes missing, Harry and Zara will stop at nothing to find her. Someone knows what happened. The police have no leads, and as the weeks pass there's little news. Harry and Zara's suspicion of a neighbor and his involvement in Sophie's disappearance quickly becomes an obsession—and they'll do anything to get the answers to their questions. When the neighbor is found dead in his apartment, Harry and Zara are arrested and charged with murder. They deny everything. Meanwhile, their precious daughter is still missing.

Playing Nice
by J.P. Delaney
Ballantine Books, 2020. 402 pages. Fiction

Pete Riley answers the door one morning and lets in a parent's worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, a stranger who breaks the devastating news that Pete's son, Theo, isn't actually his son; he is the Lamberts', switched at birth by an understaffed hospital, while their real son was sent home with Miles and his wife Lucy. For Pete and his family, life will never be the same again. The two families, reeling from the shock, take comfort in shared good intentions, eagerly entwining their very different lives in the hope of becoming one unconventional modern family. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an official investigation that unearths some disturbing questions. How much can they trust the other parents or even each other? Stretched to the breaking point, Pete and Maddie discover they will each stop at nothing to keep their family safe. They are done playing nice.

MB

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Toda Mi Vida Hecha Nudos

Toda Mi Vida Hecha Nudos
Por Beth Moore
Tyndale House Publishers, 2023. 319 páginas. Autobiografía

Un vistazo increíblemente considerado, intensamente vulnerable y con humor desarmante de la vida y el ministerio de una mujer reconocida por muchos pero conocida por pocos... Es un retrato hermoso de resiliencia y sobrevivencia, un conmovedor recordatorio de la fidelidad duradera de Dios y evidencia concreta de que si en verdad nos tomáramos el tiempo para escuchar las historias enteras de las personas... siempre andaríamos boquiabiertos.

«Toda Mi Vida Hecha Nudos» es una autobiografía escrita por Beth Moore, una reconocida autora y maestra de la Biblia. El libro ofrece un relato íntimo y vulnerable de la vida y el ministerio de Moore. Moore comparte detalles de su vida personal y su trayectoria en el ministerio, ofreciendo a los lectores una mirada sin filtros a sus experiencias. El libro sirve como un testimonio de cómo la fe puede ayudar a superar adversidades y desafíos personales. La autobiografía no solo narra la historia de Moore, sino que también busca inspirar a los lectores, mostrando cómo las dificultades de la vida pueden ser superadas con fe y perseverancia.

Si le gusta «Toda Mi Vida Hecha Nudos» le recomendamos:

Cómo Fabricar a una Feminista
Por Sara Huff
HarperEnfoque, 2023. 230 páginas. Autobiografía

Al aportar profundos antecedentes históricos e investigaciones sobre el feminismo, así como su trágica experiencia de primera mano, Sara Huff analiza a profundidad los problemas propuestos por las principales exponentes feministas, la solución que sugirieron, y las devastadoras consecuencias que han causado a las mujeres.

Este libro es una exposición de las obras del feminismo actual, el cual ha corompido y atenuado el valor y el papel de la mujer de la sociedad y le ha vendido una falsa libertad. Es una guía de supervivencia para las mujeres que quieran evitar caer en las garras del verdadero feminismo y su trágica conclusión, así como una herramienta útil para las personas que quieran ayudar a las que han caído presas del movimiento.

«Cómo Fabricar a una Feminista» es un libro escrito por Sara Huff, una exlíder feminista que ahora critica el movimiento. En esta obra, Huff examina el feminismo desde una perspectiva crítica, argumentando que el "verdadero feminismo" tiene consecuencias negativas para las mujeres y la sociedad. Huff presenta su obra como una advertencia sobre los peligros del feminismo, cuestionando si realmente ofrece libertad a las mujeres o si es un "ejercicio en vano."

Por Heidi S. Swinton
Deseret Book, 2012. 639 páginas. Biografía

La experiencia ma s dulce de la vida mortal es saber que nuestro Padre Celestial ha obrado por medio de nosotros , declara el presidente Thomas S. Monson, decimosexto Presidente de La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los U ltimos Di as. El presidente Monson ha viajado por el mundo para bendecir a un nu mero incalculable de vidas, pero tal vez se le reconozca ma s por el amor que demuestra hacia la gente en forma individual y por ir donde el Espi ritu lo gui a.

«Al Rescate» describe la vida y el ministerio de este extraordinario lider. El lector sera transportado a su infancia, se familiarizara con sus pasatiempos, su servicio en la marina y su noviazgo con Frances Johnson. Observara n un servicio que se extendio por ma s de seis de cadas, supervisando la obra de la Iglesia en Alemania Oriental durante ma s de veinte an os y desempen ando funciones clave en programas vitales de la Iglesia, desde correlacio n hasta bienestar y la publicacio n de ediciones SUD de las Escrituras. En medio de todo ello, ministro entre los necesitados siempre de un modo personal.


MEB

Labels: Español, MEB, Autobiografía, Biografía, Memoria, Religioso

One Perfect Couple

One Perfect Couple
By Ruth Ware
Scout Press, 2024. 383 pages. Fiction

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she's pretty sure they won't extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren't going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples--Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana--in order to win a cash prize. But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. 

A modern twist to the Ten Little Murder Victims trope from And Then There Were None, One Perfect Couple is also a murderous representation of the adage “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Lyla, as a virologist, is the perfect fish-out-of-water character to anchor this story. Surrounded by influencers and aspiring model/actors, she struggles to adapt to the foreign world of faking reality. Ware gives us a behind-the-scenes peak into the filming of these shows and how certain personalities either strive or fail. I was most intrigued by how parasocial relationships played out in this life-or-death scenario. Can you really trust someone just because you like their YouTube channel? Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, One Perfect Couple was the perfect amount of commentary on social media, reality tv, and toxic masculinity embedded in a truly enjoyable thriller.

If you liked One Perfect Couple, you might also like:

By Riley Sager
Dutton, 2024. 365 pages. Fiction

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul-de-sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul-de-sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle? The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed ghosts roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate. The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.
By Lucy Foley
William Morrow, 2024. 354 pages. Fiction

It's the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests' healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the "Manor Mule" cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen. And yet, just outside the Manor's immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. The local community resents what they see as the Manor's intrusion into the local woods and attempts to privatize the beach, and small skirmishes have erupted on the edges of the property between locals and the staff. And the whispers keep coming, about an old piece of pagan folklore -- it must be folklore? -- the Night Birds, an avenging force that can be called upon to make right wrongs that elude the law. Though surely everything at the Manor has been done above board. On the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. There's been a fire. A body's been discovered. Something's not right with the guests. What happened on the grounds of the Manor the past 36 hours? And who -- or what -- is the cause?

BW

Friday, January 10, 2025

Your Not Forever Home

Your Not Forever Home 
By Katherine Ormerod 
Quadrille, 2024. 224 pages. Nonfiction. 

In Your Not Forever Home, Katherine Ormerod has curated a range of projects for every room in a rented house or flat, guiding you through techniques and invaluable insights that will help create spaces tailored to your taste. Katherine addresses why many of us are renting now for much longer, and provides reassuring guidance on how to approach alterations with your landlord - and, if you are new to DIY, Your Not Forever Home offers projects for a range of skillsets, from entry-level to the more experienced, with Katherine sharing her own experiences along the way. 

This was a fun interior design book with a lot of fun but very simple DIYs you can do to elevate a temporary living situation! As someone who moves around more often than I would like, these easy pops of personality in a temporary space can be so beneficial. I will say that some of the DIYs are very simplistic, and I wish there were some more complicated or advanced DIYs that would make more of an impact on your home. All in all, a good beginner's guide to decorating a temporary space. 

If you like Your Not Forever Home, you might also like: 

By Nicole Sforza 
Simon & Schuster, 2016. 272 pages. Nonfiction.
 
The editors of "domino" magazine present a guide to discovering a personal style and creating loved personal spaces, sharing tips on everything from textiles and art to lighting and accessories. 
By Deborah Needleman 
Clarkson Potter, 2011. 255 pages. Nonfiction. 

Describes eighty items that are what the author identifies as all one needs to live comfortably, practically, and stylishly, from essential furnishings to aesthetic accents.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

The House of My Mother

The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom 
By Shari Franke 
Gallery Books, 2025. 320 pages. Memoir 

Shari Franke's childhood was marked by a constant struggle for survival under her mother's strict and oppressive rule. Ruby Franke, who cultivated a perfect family image on their popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, hid a much darker, tyrannical parenting style behind the scenes. As the family's fame grew, Ruby's delusions of righteousness intensified, leading her to adopt even harsher disciplinary tactics. Influenced by relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, Ruby and Jodi implemented a cruel and unforgiving regime on Shari and her siblings. 

Wow. Listening to this audiobook, read by the author, was gut-wrenching. I came across the 8 Passengers channel years ago and fell for the sham. I assumed (wrongly) that the family were all happy and willing participants in Ruby’s vlogs, and now learning the extent of what was happening behind the camera makes me sick. Shari’s raw honesty not just about her family’s actions and inactions, but also the greater psychological impact that had on her, is devastating. Despite the mental and emotional scars that mar her life, Shari’s story is one of strength, resilience, and hope for a brighter future. The short chapters and fast-pace of events makes this hard to put down. Highly recommended. 

If you liked The House of My Mother, you might also like: 

By Jill Duggar 
Gallery Books, 2023. 271 pages. Memoir 

For the first time, discover the unedited truth about the Duggars, the traditional Christian family that captivated the nation on TLC's hit show 19 Kids and Counting, as they share their story, revealing the secrets, manipulation, and intimidation behind the show that remained hidden from their fans. 

By Jennette McCurdy 
Simon & Schuster, 2022. 320 pages. Memoir 

The iCarly and Sam & Cat star, after her controlling mother dies, gets the help she needs to overcome eating disorders, addiction and unhealthy relationships--and finally decides what she really wants for the first time in her life. 

ACS

Friday, January 3, 2025

My Best Friend's Exorcism

My Best Friend’s Exorcism 
By Grady Hendrix 
Quirk Books, 2017. 332 pages. Fiction. 

1988. Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act--different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries--and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? 

I would recommend this to anyone who loves 80s horror! It is campy, nostalgic, and horrific. Grady Hendrix is great at writing both gruesome, gory horror paired with social horror. I find some of the most disturbing parts of the story are seeing how people treat each other, possessed by the devil or not. I would warn anyone who is interested in this book to be aware that there are some very gruesome scenes à la The Exorcist. 

If you like My Best Friend’s Exorcism, you might also like: 

By Mona Awad 
Viking, 2019. 305 pages. Fiction. 

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and are often found entangled in a group hug so tight they become one. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, a caustic art school dropout, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the sinister yet saccharine world of the Bunny cult and starts to take part in their ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they magically conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur, and her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies are brought into deadly collision. 

By Stephen Graham Jones 
Saga Press, 2024. 372 pages. Fiction. 

1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton-and a place where everyone knows everyone else's business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.

Thursday, January 2, 2025

I Must Betray You

 
I Must Betray You
By Ruta Sepetys
New York: Philomel Books, 2023. 319 pages. Young Adult

Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren't free to dream; they are bound by rules and force. Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He's left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves--or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe. Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom?

"I Must Betray You" pulls you right into a cold, dark moment in history. I could feel the tension and fear coming off the pages. Even though the story is heavy at times, there’s this sense of hope that keeps you going. Cristian’s journey is so real and emotional—it really makes you think about trust and betrayal. The book is well-researched and tells such a powerful story. If you’re looking for something thought-provoking and unforgettable, I think you’ll love this one.

If you liked I Must Betray You, you might also like: 


Artifice
By Sharon Cameron
Scholastic Press, 2023. 387 pages. Young Adult

Isa de Smit grew up in her parents' art gallery in Amsterdam, but in the middle of the war she survives by selling fake paintings to the Nazis while trying to help her friend, Truus, smuggle Jewish babies to safety--but in 1943 it is hard to know who to trust.





The Blood Years
By Elana Arnold
Balzer + Bray, 2023. 390 pages. Young Adult

From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold comes the harrowing story of a young girl's struggle to survive the Holocaust in Romania. Based on the true experiences of her grandmother's childhood in Holocaust-era Romania, award-winning author Elana K. Arnold weaves an unforgettable tale of love and loss in the darkest days of the twentieth century-and one young woman's will to survive them.


BWW

I Shall Never Fall in Love

I Shall Never Fall in Love
By Hari Conner
HarperAlley, 2024. 288 pages. Young Adult Comic.

George has major problems: They’ve just inherited the failing family estate, and the feelings for their best friend, Eleanor, have become more complicated than ever. Not to mention, if anyone found out they were secretly dressing in men’s clothes, George is sure it would be ruination for the family name. Eleanor has always wanted to do everything "right," including falling in love—but she’s never met a boy she was interested in. She’d much rather spend time with her best friend, George, and beloved cousin Charlotte. However, when a new suitor comes to town, she finds her closest friendships threatened, forcing her to rethink what "right" means and confront feelings she never knew she had.
Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman and Ngozi Ukazu, I Shall Never Fall in Love shines a light on what it means to be true to yourself and rewrites the rules for what makes a happily ever after.

I Shall Never Fall in Love is a search for identity and coming-of-age story, told Jane Austen style!  Set in the Georgian era and most similar to the Austen's Emma, this full-color graphic novel explores what it meant to be queer in that time period.  Full of adventure and romantic mishaps, this graphic novel is a sweet read and I'd recommend it to lovers of historical romances!
 
If you liked I Shall Never Fall in Love, you may also like:

The Prince and the Dressmaker
By Jen Wang
First Second, 2018. 276 pages. Young Adult Comic.
 
Paris, at the dawn of the modern age: Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride--or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia—the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion! Sebastian's secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances—one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone's secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend?

Heartstopper
By Alice Oseman
Graphix, 2020. 263 pages. Young Adult Comic.
 
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance. But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works. 

ERB