Books and Sensibility

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Diverse Reads

Audiobook Review: The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

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Rating: 3 out of 5.

12 hours 12 minutes | Macmillian Audio | Fantasy | Release Date: 3/17/2020

I heard about this book on an episode of RomBkPod last year and ever since then I have seen it EVERYWHERE. Klune is prolific in the m/m indie romance space; his traditional publishing debut tells the story of Linus Baker, a middle-aged social worker for magical children who is given a special assignment at an unusual orphanage where he eventually falls for the orphanage’s master. This book has one of the highest Goodreads ratings I’ve ever seen and charmed both fantasy and romance readers alike. It’s ultimately a warm tale about acceptance, found family and finding home but…it didn’t work for me.

Harrow The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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512 pages | Tor | Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Release Date: 08/04/2020

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Harrow The Ninth dives back into the dark futuristic world of Gideon The Ninth as Harrow begins her journey to Lyctorhood. Not all is what it seems and Harrow learns some secrets refuse to die. Muir brings her signature blend of cerebral horror, fantasy, and gore with a side of (purposefully) obnoxious humor that will keep dedicated readers wondering …what’s going on? How? Who is that? Wait…what?

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Now That I’ve Found You by Kristina Forest

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Unrated| 336 pages | Roaring Brook Press| Contemporary | Release Date: 8/25/2020

Evie may come from  Hollywood royalty but she’s about to become a breakout star on her own…until an internet scandal costs her everything. Evie has one last shot to reclaim stardom–but to seal the deal she’ll need her legendry grandmother’s permission to star in a remake of her classic film. The only problem? Her grandmother has runaway from home. Now Eve has to traverse New York City with the help of Milo, an upstart viral internet musician, to bring her grandmother home.

This a YA novel I’ll have to file under books I know teen me would have enjoyed. Mostly because this is an easy book to recommend with one of my teen favorites This Lullaby. I mean who doesn’t want more books featuring a protagonist with a celebrity family who finds themselves tangled up with a group of lovable goofy aspiring musicians?

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5 Amazing Audiobooks for Latinx Heritage Month

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September 15th – October 15th is Latinx Heritage month. To celebrate Latinx voices we want to share five of our favorite audiobooks written by Latinx authors!

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Book Review: Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

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Unrated | 384 pages | Simon Pulse | Contemporary | Release Date: 2/18/2020

Of Curses and Kisses is an introspective slow cooker ( I saw this term on Twitter and I couldn’t wait to use it !) of a romance about Jaya,  a reserved modern-day princess at St. Rosetta’s International Academy. She’s on a mission to take down a rival family’s heir, Grey Emmerson, for a slight against her sister. It’s a lofty goal, but Jaya discovers instead of being a fierce rival, Grey Emerson is a broody, introverted outcast.

We follow Jaya as she is entrenched in Rosemont drama, this book is genre-savvy and Emerson sees through Jaya’s start-a-fake-relationship-and-dump-him plan so the initial premise of the book is dropped pretty quickly. The book is a lot of Jaya and Emerson working through their emotions and coming to terms with who they want to be versus who their families expect them to be.

Book Review: The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

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Rating: 3 out of 5.

 399 Pages | Knopf | AU Historical Fiction  | Release Date: 06/02/2020 

The Court of Miracles is a Les Miserables retelling that re-imagines discarded daughter Eponine “Nina” Thenadier as a thief in the underground Parisian criminal network known as The Miracle Court. When a powerful member of the Miracle Court threatens to enslave Nina’s sister Ettie (aka Cosette)  she makes moves to bring him down. All while the June Revolution is stirring. 

Am I the only one who thought this was a fantasy ? Because it isn’t and I’m trying not to let my review be clouded by what I expected to be.

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