Dawn by Octavia Butler
This book is incredibly strange.
I can’t fathom how Butler conceived any of this. Butler is definitely joining my list of authors who must possess entire worlds inside their minds because this was a wildly imaginative ride.
…It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
It Ends With Us follows Lily Bloom as a chance encounter with Ryle, a successful neurosurgeon, leads to a whirlwind romance. At the same time, Lily finds herself revisiting her childhood journals and remembering her first love–a homeless boy named Atlas.
I thought this book was fine. I don’t really understand why people so vehemently dislike it but I also don’t understand why it is so beloved. I think Hoover genuinely wanted to show how quiet domestic violence can be and I think she accomplished that. I think it was an interesting move on Hoover’s part to write Ryle as this perfect swoony hero for most of the book– then have his violent side come out by accident. The domestic violence is surprisingly nuanced. Ryle isn’t made out to be a monster. He has real empathy and regret –but the book wants you to understand that doesn’t make him less of an abuser.
I didn’t love that Atlas, who unexpectedly shows back up in Lily’s life, is the main reason Lily decides to leave Ryle. We hardly know who he is as an adult (or as a character) yet he becomes this huge catalyst in Lily and Ryle’s relationship. Atlas being the reason she leaves takes away from her agency, in my opinion.
The book felt like a redux of those old Lifetime movies where the woman falls into a whirlwind relationship only for it to end badly. Those movies were very popular so perhaps that is why this CoHo book resonates with people ? I also have a theory this book’s popularity has to do with the cover. It’s super aesthetic. Just saying…
Side Note
Lily’s diary entries are written as letters to Ellen DeGeneres–which did not age well…
Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim
Spice Road is a well-constructed evenly-paced YA fantasy that feels ideal for teens just getting into YA fantasy. The story follows Imani, a fierce monster-slaying soldier, in the magical Arabian-inspired city Qalia.
The book jumps into the plot immediately as Imani is informed that her missing brother may be alive in Alqibah, a faraway city on the other side of a vast and dangerous desert. Imani sets across the desert with her rival and an untrustworthy charming Djinn.
I found myself getting more invested in the world as our characters enter Alqibahl and witnesses the political upheaval between the Alqibah people and the ruthless pale-faced colonizers
Spice Road features some YA fantasy classics; brooding boys, a love triangle plus a dash of enemies to lovers that is all the rage right now
The lore behind the world is kept simple and we learn just enough to understand the story’s stakes. This book moves at a fast pace– making this a fun quick read for newbies to YA fantasy
This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang
This Time It’s Real is a fun contemporary YA following Eliza Lin who writes an essay about her fake boyfriend—only for it to go viral. So she finds the perfect boy, C-Drama star Caz Song, to play the part.
I. Only. Want. To. Read. The. Fake. Dating. Trope. In. YA. I think it works best from this perspective because high school exists in its own little world where things like who you are dating can feel big and life-changing.
I love books that take place outside of the United States and it was fun exploring and learning more about Bejjing through Kaz and Eliza. I also liked that this book featured positive and supportive parents
Last year I read No Filters and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado which also featured a teen girl lying to the internet. It’s interesting seeing how each author depicts teenagers and their relationship to our social media-saturated world. This book is much lighter with the repercussions, which is odd because the stakes are so much higher in this book; Eliza gets writing and job opportunities based on this no-so-truthful essay and Caz is lying to his very diehard fans.
Overall, this is an easy recommendation if you want a YA romance that is also about finding your place and building better relationships.
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
The Measure exists in a world where adults 22 and older find a box on their doorstep that contains a string that shows the length of their life. The book follows a group of loosely interconnected people Gary Marshall style as they reckon with the new reality.
Me and Jenna Bush about to fight.
I love a good high-concept “book club” novel so I went into this book with high hopes, but found it ultimately disappointing.
The book started out strong for me as we see how the world reckons with the existential question of ‘What you would do if you could know how long you’d live ?’ Some choose to look at their strings while others throw them away. People with long strings suddenly no longer fear taking risks while short stringers form support groups based on how many years they have left.
Then the book slowly turns into a deeply uninteresting and mealy-mouthed metaphor for marginalization. People with short strings are seen as a threat and discrimination forms that mirror a lot of what happens to people of color, gay and/or disabled people IRL. But the thing is, there are characters of color and gay characters in the story and I don’t think Elrick had the range to contend with the intersections of existing prejudices and this new form of prejudice. This book acts like workplace discrimination and people protesting for their rights is a new thing ?
I think there is a certain segment that will find this book poignant and revealing about how quickly your identity can be criminalized but if you already understand that, the book ends up with nothing to say.
I’ve been DNFing a lot lately but I kept going with this book because Julia Whelan narrates. She truly is such a solid narrator but, lol, she keeps steering me wrong.