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YA Mystery

Jess’ End of The Year Reviews

January 6, 2022      3 Comments

Wrapping up 2021 with my last few reviews

Feminist AF : A Guide To Crushing Girlhood

Every now and then I will categorize a YA book as ‘a book I wish I had in high school’. I would categorize this non-fiction guide to modern-day feminism as ‘a book I wish I had freshman year of college’. I had a hard time understanding the concept of feminism back then.

This guide is an outstanding introduction to intersectional feminism for young people. It provides a ton of framework and gives readers room to make their own choices on how they want to apply the concepts. This guide is also careful to be gender-inclusive. I think my biggest criticism is that this pointedly inclusive book is subtitled ‘A Guide to Crushing Girlhood. I’m sure it has something to do with marketing but I feel like this will alienate part of the intended audience.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

 Let me start by saying Joniece Abbott-Pratt deserves all the flowers for the way she nailed the singing in this book. I have NEVER heard a narrator give so much authentic energy and rhythm to verse and poetry while performing. I wonder if she and Ifueko worked it out together.

Raybearer is YA fantasy set in the expansive and diverse Aritsar empire. The vast empire is ruled by the Emperor, who rules with his council of 11—all of whom are connected by the magic of the Ray.

It’s time for the Emperor’s son, Dayo, to find his council of 11 and among them is Tarisai, a girl who knows nothing of her past but is doing everything to fight her destiny—killing Dayo. Ifukeo creates a vast world that is easy to fall into. There are so many intricate details to this story populated by a full cast of characters with their own motivations and secrets.  I’ve been following Ifueko on TikTok and I’m a little afraid of the second book because I can tell it’s going to be extremely emotional and she is going to put her characters through it. I don’t read a ton of YA fantasy, so I’m glad this was the one I picked up this year!

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

Tiffany Jackson masters horror and suspense in this terrifying twist on the haunting house tale. Mari’s newly blended family is ready for a fresh start in Cedarville, but the dilapidated community and looming prisons are a far cry from her alternative hippie West Coast lifestyle. Cedarville was a thriving Black neighborhood before until something dark worked its way in and now something wants Mari and her family out.  Jackson’s ability to work systemic Black oppression into a haunted house tale gave me serious Joran Peele vibes. Black horror is having a renaissance right now and I feel like teens who are into it will enjoy this book

 Mari is a California girl and audiobook narrator Marcella Cox truly embodied that vibe with her easy voice. Mari is one of those “unlikeable” and flawed characters– she’s had issues with anxiety and drugs, and often uses this as an excuse to make selfish decisions. I’m all for a flawed character. I did feel like the setting needed to be a bit more anchored. The history of Cedarville is pivotal to the plot but we don’t get enough of a timeline. I couldn’t tell what decade certain events happened in. This is my first Jackson book and I noticed the book ended abruptly leaving a few loose ends. Is this like a thing she does?  Either way I’m more than ready to read more of her books. Jackson dreams up some truly eerie and frightening imagery that was too scary for me!

For All Time by Shanna Miles

Tamar knows her illness is going to overtake her and end her newfound romance with the patient and charming Fayard. But their romance is far from over because Tamar and Fayard have fallen in love across multiple lives and universes.

And all those lives are about to collide.

This was one of those books with a strange but well-executed concept. I thought I knew where this book was going but it takes a hard left turn as we abandon the main plot and explore the couple’s previous lives from Pre-colonial Africa to the far reaches of outer space. I didn’t 100% understand the last few minutes but I liked how creative and experimental it was.

This is a book I think is being slept on because it defies categorization in a time when people seem to want that. This book gets marketed as timeless YA Romance, but I’d say don’t go in expecting a YA romance to take the forefront. Also, I’m sorry, but this is marketed as Outlander meets The Sun is Also A Star…I just don’t think that’s it.  I don’t know how Miles came up with this concept but I’m excited to see what else she has in store.

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

November 21, 2021      Leave a Comment

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

10 hours 15 minutes | Listening Library | 08/31/2021

The first half of this book felt like it was all aesthetic and no bite but wow did the last half of this book flip the script! This twisted story of two schoolgirls and a centuries-old murder becomes an absolute page-turner as the pair dive into a centuries-old tragedy.

…

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These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

April 15, 2021      Leave a Comment

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

  14 Hours 4 Mins | Margaret K. McElderry | Historical/Sci-Fi/Horror | 1/26/2021

These Violent Delights is a Historical (sci-fi ?. .horror ?) YA set in the dangerous and dazzling city of Shanghai during the roaring 20s Shanghai. The novel is an homage (read: Not a retelling. Not even a little bit) to Romeo and Juliet and follows rival gang heirs Juliette the cutthroat fierce heir to the Scarlett Gang and Roma the stalworth Russian heir to the White Flowers, as they hunt down the source of a maddening disease sweeping the city

Going in I didn’t know much about Shanghai’s history as an international (read colonized) port. It’s the perfect setting for this dark and mysterious mystery the main characters find themselves in. I’m curious to read more book set during this time period.

…

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Thieving Weasels by Billy Taylor

September 23, 2016      Leave a Comment

Cam “Skip” Smith is going to graduate from a prestigious prep school. Cam Smith is going to Princeton in the Fall. . . just as long as no one finds out Cam Smith is really Philips O’Rourke, the youngest member of a thieving, scheming family. Skip thought he left his family behind when he ran away at thirteen but they are pulling him in for one last job. This job could be the “big one”, but it could also be fatal.

…

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Audiobook Review: Fake ID by Lamar Giles

July 20, 2015      Leave a Comment

 

  • Release Date: January 21, 2014
  • Genre: Contemporary/Thriller/Mystery
  • Length: 7 hours 58 minutes
  • Publisher: Harper Audio

In Lamar Giles debut novel, new kid in town Nick Pearson finds himself mixed up in a murder with a side of corruption. As Nick searches for answers to a murder that could upend all his secrets he dodges bullies, crashes a party and tries to keep his parents together.  Move over Veronica Mars, Nick Pearson is on the case.

Lamar Giles writing is clever. He lays out tension, plot and conflict in front of you while still sneaking in a bit of misdirection. He has a great way of ending chapters on mini cliffhangers and you just HAVE to know what happens next.  I totally did not see the ending coming. I was like “what !?” This isn’t really a spoiler but. . .literally anyone can die. Which takes the tension up to eleven

…

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Love is The Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson

October 15, 2014      Leave a Comment

  • Release Date: September 30th 2014
  • Pages: 352 
  • Genre: Science Fiction
  • Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)

A few months ago I read Alaya Dawn Johnson’s The Summer Prince as my starting point to support the  We Need Diverse Books campaign and to start including more diverse books in our blog. The Summer Prince started out kind of rocky for me but morphed into an intricate, creative poignant dystopian tale. When I saw Johnson’s next book on NetGalley  I jumped at the chance to review it.

In the political, power-hungry world of Washington D.C. Our main character 18-year-old Emily Bird occupies a curious space as a black upper-class teen in D.C. society. Bird grits her teeth and bares it as her mother, who raised herself up from the lower-income Northeast DC neighborhood, pushes Bird to join the Ivy league crowd whether she wants to or not. But when  Emily loses hours of memories right before a pandemic flu turns D.C into a quarantine zone, she becomes a girl of her own making. With the help of Coffee, the son of a Brazilian diplomat and new friends, they will uncover her memories and who is trying to keep her from remembering….

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