Books and Sensibility

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Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

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CW (via author’s website) : inferred (and highly condemned) pedophilia.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Prim and proper Enne arrives in the sinful city of New Reynes to find for her missing mother, but the city has other plans. Enne is quickly pulled in by Levi Glaysier, an alluring young street lord who helps her navigate the city and uncover its darkest secrets.

It was okay.

New Reynes seems to be an homage to early 20th century Monaco. Amanda Foody infuses this setting with what started off as a pretty basic magical system and history that becomes harder to follow as more layers are added.

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

17 Hours | Mamillian Audio| Adult Fantasy| Release Date: 10/06/21

This book is one of a long list of books I read because of TikTok. My interest in this book was initially peaked when I heard Schwab’s interview on Wicked Wallflowers, but seeing it so much on TikTok is what made me sit down and listen to this 17-hour audiobook.

300 years ago, Addie LeRue made a Faustian deal with a dark god to live forever but he also cursed her with the inability to be remembered.  Until now.

This book has a unique premise and of the three and 1/2 (still need to finish A Conjuring of Light) Schwab books I’ve read this one was my favorite. Schwab really leads readers through the intricacies of the curse and I’d liked seeing how Addie worked within the confines of her curse and travels from rural 18th century France to modern-day New York City. I think a book that moves through time just works for me.

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I Think I Love You by Auriane Desombre

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Underlined | Contemporary | Release Date: 03/02/21

This YA Romance is from a new imprint called Underlined, a genre-focused collaboration between Delacorte and the Underlined teen writing community. The books are described as “highly-commercial and compulsively-readable” which is why I think this book hits the ground running. Within the first few pages, we are quickly introduced to all our characters, their backstories and then we dive into the plot as this group of New York City teens enter a short film competition.

Fifteen-year-old Emma has big ideas for the group’s short film, she loves romance and wants to make the queer rom-com of her dreams. That is until Sophia, her anti-romance frenemy objects, so they decide to split up their friend group and make two opposing films. Cue enemies-to-lovers.

I thought this was a great book for the younger YA set if they can handle the language. It’s very plotty and earnest but allows the teens to talk and act like actual teenagers. Desombre is a teacher and I feel like she narrowed in on what is important to teenagers. The romance between Emma and Sophia felt natural and they both have to put the work in for their HEA.

This cover confounds me because this book clearly takes place in an idealized New York City so why are there palm trees on the cover? Yes, the prize for winning is a trip to California but that is the only California reference.

Bookish and The Beast by Ashley Poston

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

7 hours 21 minutes | Quirk Books | Contemporary YA | 8/4/2020

This was such a clever retelling of Beauty in the Beast.

Bookish high school senior Rosie Thorne inherited her love of the Starfield franchise from her mother. Little does she know Vance Reigns–the bad-boy star of the Starfield movie– has been banished to her backwoods North Carolina town until his 18th birthday.

When Rosie accidentally ruins a book in the library she agrees to catalog the house’s massive science fiction library. Vance brings the expected grumpy broodiness from the Beast archetype but he’s also just kind of full of regret -much like the Beast in the Disney movie. 

This is is the third book in the Once Upon A Con series but each book takes place a year apart so, while there are some cameos and references, I think it can be read as a standalone.

I did a lot of this on audio. Narrator Caitlin Kelly is one of my favorites and the main reason I picked this up. She has such a great YA voice and range of characters. This was my first time hearing Curry Whitmire–he does a great British teenager even though I think he’s American. However, I found it so odd that they pronounced Vance Reigns’ last name with a hard “G”. I have never heard of this pronunciation.

Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore

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Rating: Unrated | 320 pages | Harper Teen | Contemporary/Magican Realism | 09/22/2020 |

I’ve been wanting to specifically read A-M forever. From what I’ve heard their novels are a blend of fantasy and contemporary which is a genre mash-up that has always been right up my alley, so when I had a chance to review the audio for Miss Meteor, jointly written by Tehlor Kay Mejia, I jumped at the chance.

In Miss Metoer a small-town beauty pageant brings together estranged best friends, Chicky a loner and outcast who doesn’t quite fit in with her three larger-than-life big sisters; and Lita, en eccentric girl born from the stardust of the meteor that gave their small New Mexico town its name. Yes, there is a magical realism element to this story that the authors quietly weave in that I think adds a layer of actual alien to the alienation the girls already feel being brown girls in a town that often rewards blonde-haired white girls.

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Book Review: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

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Unrated | 358 pages |  Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)| YA Fantasy | Release Date: 03/03/20 

Years ago I read Marie Rutkoski’s much-buzzed-about The Winner’s Curse. I mean this book was the ARC to have in 2013. When the book debuted in 2014 I actually purchased a copy from Books-A-Million because of all the buzz … and it just didn’t live up to the hype for me. 

However, I 100% believe that just because one book in the authors’ backlist doesn’t work for me, that doesn’t automatically cross the author off my list. I mean I didn’t love the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo but I enjoyed Six of Crows and while Holly Black’s Cruel Prince was a no for me I’ve always been a fan of her Curse Workers series.

How did Midnight Lie hold up ?

Well, I liked it better The Winner’s Curse. I think I enjoyed it more after I had a few days to sit with it.