ARC Review: What You Wish For By Katherine Center

Samantha Casey loves everything about her job as an elementary school librarian on the sunny, historic island of Galveston, Texas—the goofy kids, the stately Victorian building, the butterfly garden. But when the school suddenly loses its beloved principal, it turns out his replacement will be none other than Duncan Carpenter—a former, unrequited crush of Sam’s from many years before. When Duncan shows up as her new boss, though, he’s nothing like the sweet teacher she once swooned over. He’s become stiff, and humorless, and obsessed with school safety. Now, with Duncan determined to destroy everything Sam loves about her school in the name of security—and turn it into nothing short of a prison—Sam has to stand up for everyone she cares about before the school that’s become her home is gone for good.

This is the second book I have read by Katherine Center and I have absolutely loved both of them. She may be my new favorite author. The characters in this book were so well developed and so lovable. Sam is a librarian who adores her school and her students and her books (naturally). But she has an illness she tried to hide from and a childhood that makes it hard to trust others to not leave and she has decided to fight for joy every single day. I loved the whimsy of her library and her bright pink bangs and all the bright colored socks that she wore to school. I admired her and her determination to be joyful on every single page. Now I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about Duncan because he was so straight laced and the complete opposite of Sam in EVERY way. Not only that, but he seemed pretty obsessed with school safety (maybe a little too much, but also understandable in today's climate) and the changes that he wanted to make were just so outrageous. I became just as frustrated and upset as Sam, but when his history was explained, I felt so much empathy for him and I just wanted to hug him and give him back his joy. This book was both funny and sad at times and the romance and chemistry between Sam and Duncan were an incredible slow burn, which I LOVE. Even though Sam had a huge crush on Duncan in the past, I really liked that the author didn't try to make this an insta love kind of thing. I loved that these two characters actually got to know each other and that they learned to trust each other. This was such an emotional and delightful read. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

ARC Group Review: Burning Our Bodies Down, Saving Ruby King, One to Watch, and Voting Booth

This is a review of some of the ARCs that I have read lately. I am so grateful that NetGalley has given me these ARCs to review. I have read a lot of great ones lately!

Burning Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along. But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for. Margot’s mother left for a reason. But was it to hide her past? Or was it to protect Margot from what’s still there?

This book was . . . interesting, to say the least and I am still not sure how I feel about it. The writing was pretty phenomenal. It made me want to keep reading to see if what was going to happen. The problem was that it took so long to get to the interesting parts. The pace was very slow and it was also tough to connect to the main character, Margot. I did feel her desperation and frustration, but I didn’t really know much about her and there was a disconnect between the reader and her that made the story tough to enjoy. The ending was twisted, but it was also bizarre, and I am not really sure I understand it. This was just an okay read for me.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West

When Ruby King’s mother is found murdered in their home in Chicago’s South Side, the police dismiss it as another act of violence in a black neighborhood. But for Ruby, it means she’ll be living alone with her violent father. The only person who understands the gravity of her situation is Ruby’s best friend, Layla. Their closeness is tested when Layla’s father, the pastor of their church, demands that Layla stay away. But what are his true motives? And what is the price for turning a blind eye?

This book was such an incredible surprise. I requested this book on a whim. I kept hearing about it and the I loved the sound of the premise. This book is about a black community in the South side of Chicago, dealing with family secrets, police brutality, racism, and domestic violence. There were a number of characters and I thought the author did an incredible job of developing each of them and giving them rich backstories. I think my favorite point of view was that of the Calvary Church itself. Since the church was such an important part of the fabric of the community, I loved that added touch. Those chapters gave a more nuanced look at some of the happenings with the other characters of the book. The author’s writing was incredibly detailed and vivid and she did a wonderful job of drawing me into the story. I loved the mystery of the characters and the secrets and the author built up an incredible conclusion that was both shocking and satisfying. I definitely recommend this one.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers--and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze.But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition--under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That's it. But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men--and herself--for a chance to live happily ever after.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was just such a delight. Bea is a woman who (for the most part) is happy with who she is and she tries not to let the trolls of the world make her miserable. And she is fed up with the fact that the TV show Main Squeeze (a bachelor/bachelorette type show) only has thin women on the show, so of course she can’t help but say yes when she is asked to be the latest contestant. I think Bea handled herself very well with a lot of the fatphobic people who ended up on the show. I did enjoy the romance part of it, but honestly the best part was seeing her growth throughout the story. Yes, Bea is comfortable in her own skin, but it soon becomes apparent that she has a problem believing that she is worthy of love. And that she still thinks she has to settle. But the story and the ending had such an awesome message and I was so satisfied with how everything was resolved. Fantastic read!! 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke Crenshaw is do done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can't vote. When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that's how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva's missing cat), it's clear that there's more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy. 

I thought this was such a great read and so timely with the fact that today’s youth are becoming more and more vocal and politically active. Marva is so passionate about politics and is incredibly excited to vote in her very first election. Duke’s mom is more excited about him voting than he is and he seems somewhat apathetic about the process, though he does want to vote. But there are issues and Marva becomes involved and they spend a whole day together, trying to make sure he can vote and I loved that. The book deals with activism and racial injustice and gun violence and yet there are lighter moments in the book too. I like that Duke tried to teach Marva to live in the moment a little. The only thing I didn’t care for was Alec, Marva’s boyfriend. She is pissed at him because he doesn’t want to vote. While I can understand her frustration at his lack of caring, she kept talking about it as though he should vote because he told her he would and not because it’s the right thing to do. That irked me a little, but I began to understand where she was coming from, especially because of the fact that he was white and privileged, which meant he could afford to not care about certain things, but she couldn’t. Great book by this author. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

REVIEW: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all–and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

There were a lot of things to love about this book. I absolutely loved the twist on the original Cinderella story and the fact that every single aspect of the well known fairy tale was dissected and torn apart. I loved the fact that this fairy tale was not what it appeared to be, which is the case with most fairytales, I am sure. I thought Sophia was a fantastic character. She was headstrong and stubborn and completely determined to be able to make her own choices about who to marry and who to love. She is in love with her best friend, Erin, and would rather spend her life with her than be forced into marriage with some man she hardly knows and who will most likely treat her like she is a piece of his property.

So there were a few issues I had with the story, which is why I am giving it three stars instead of four. One issue I had was the insta-love that Sophia felt towards Constance. At the beginning of the story. Sophia is SO in love with Erin, but then it seems as though those feelings are completely forgotten when she meets Constance. I do understand Sophia's reasons for why she felt that Erin wasn't good for her, but it felt like her relationship with Constance happened way too quickly and it felt forced to me. I also felt that the world building was a little lacking. I didn't fully understand why Prince Charming did the things he did and why he created the laws that he did. His motives didn't make sense at all and he just wasn't a well developed villain. The whole patriarchy society also started to become a little too much. It felt weird that there wasn't a single decent man in the entire kingdom. Why would the King's rules make it so that EVERY man in the kingdom felt the need to treat women like crap? That part also felt a little forced to me.

I did think the book was pretty good and worth a read. I just wish certain things had been done better. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

REVIEW: Chosen Ones (The Chosen Ones #1) by Veronica Roth

Synopsis: A decade ago near Chicago, five teenagers defeated the otherworldly enemy known as the Dark One, whose reign of terror brought widespread destruction and death. The seemingly un-extraordinary teens—Sloane, Matt, Ines, Albie, and Esther—had been brought together by a clandestine government agency because one of them was fated to be the “Chosen One,” prophesized to save the world. With the goal achieved, humankind celebrated the victors and began to mourn their lost loved ones.

Ten years later, though the champions remain celebrities, the world has moved forward and a whole, younger generation doesn’t seem to recall the days of endless fear. But Sloane remembers. It’s impossible for her to forget when the paparazzi haunt her every step just as the Dark One still haunts her dreams. Unlike everyone else, she hasn’t moved on; she’s adrift—no direction, no goals, no purpose. On the eve of the Ten Year Celebration of Peace, a new trauma hits the Chosen: the death of one of their own. And when they gather for the funeral at the enshrined site of their triumph, they discover to their horror that the Dark One’s reign never really ended.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for this book!

I was torn about my rating for this one. I think that maybe it deserves 3.5 stars. I loved the premise for this one. Someone else compared it to a book about what happens after superheroes do what they are supposed to do and save the world and I think that about sums it up. Sloane, Matt, Esther, Ines and Albie were the Chosen Ones and they were able to fight the Dark One and win. Now they have to do with the aftereffects and some are having a harder time than others. I loved Sloane, the main character. She is a bad ass who portrays this image of being someone who doesn't care, but she does care . . . a lot. She is also suffering from PTSD from what she went through and it doesn't help that Matt (also her boyfriend) is acting as though she should be over it by now. I also loved the character of Albie and I liked his relationship with Sloane. Matt and Esther though just seemed . . . meh.

I think the problem I had with this story was that it was so incredibly slow. And maybe that's due to the world building. but there was just not a lot happening for a large part of the book. When they were taken to another dimension, I thought the story might pick up again and it did for a while. But then there was just a lot of training and a lot of standing around, not doing anything. But close to the end, it picked up again and I absolutely loved the cliffhanger at the end. So even though there were many slow parts, I thought this was a worthwhile start to the series and I am looking forward to the next installment.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2 

REVIEW: The Book of Rosy: A Mother's Story of Separation at the Border

Synopsis: When Rosayra Pablo Cruz made the wrenching decision to seek asylum in the United States with two of her children, five-year-old Fernando and fifteen-year-old Yordy, she knew the journey would be incredibly difficult, dangerous, and potentially deadly. But violence had made life in Guatemala untenable; Rosy knew her family’s only chance to survive was to go north. After a perilous journey that left them dehydrated, starved, and exhausted, Rosy, Fernando, and Yordy crossed into Arizona. Almost immediately, they were forcibly separated by government officials under the Department of Homeland Security’s “zero tolerance” policy. In The Book of Rosy, Rosy and Julie Schwietert Collazo, founder of Immigrant Families Together, the grassroots organization founded to reunite mothers with their children, tell Rosy’s story. They expose the cruel conditions of the detention facilities, the unbearable anxiety of having her children ripped away, and the faith and love that helped her through the darkest time.

First of all, thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC! 

This is such a timely book. Full disclosure: since we are in the middle of race riots and police brutality issues, this was an even harder book for me to read. I had a very hard time keeping my attention on this story at times, just because my mind kept drifting to everything else that was going on right now. I am frustrated and tired at what is happening in our world. For that reason, and that reason alone, I had a hard time focusing on this book. But I was so touched by Rosy's story of being separated from her kids at the border. She was applying for asylum, which is NOT A CRIME. It is so awful that these mothers were separated from their children, not knowing where they are or when they would be reunited. I thought Rosy did a really good job of explaining life in Guatemala and why she made the choices she had made. She explained that she had no way of knowing what the new Trump policies were, but she also explained that even if she had known, she most likely would have still made the choices she did because of what her life was like and because of the danger surrounding her kids. And man, the journey from Guatemala to the US was no joke and it is obvious that people who do it feel like they have no choice. After Rosy arrived in US, the reader is introduced to an entire network of people who are dedicated to reuniting mothers when they can and helping them adapt to life in the States. This is such a moving story that is definitely worth the read. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

REVIEW: Things You Say In A Fire by Katherine Center

Synopsis: Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's excellent at dealing with other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it's an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because she doesn't fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don't date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she's worked so hard to be taken seriously?

I thought this was a wonderful story that was even more emotional than I could have imagined. Cassie is a female firefighter and is a total badass. But she is also a bit emotionally disconnected because of events from her childhood. I could really relate to Cassie. She had so much anger from events in her childhood and she was determined to hold a grudge against her mother. Been there, done that. Yes, she theoretically knows that the she needed to learn to forgive and let things go, but naturally, that is so much easier said than done. I love that this story was about forgiveness and love and I loved to see Cassie's growth throughout the story. I did think the romance part was a little much for me, just because it happened so fast. By the end of it, I was as in love with Owen as Cassie was; I just didn't feel it as quickly as she did. I will definitely be reading more by this author,

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review: Now A Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy

Synopsis: Iris Thorne wants to blaze her own path. That's easier said than done when you're the granddaughter of M. E. Thorne, famous author of the Elementia series, hailed as the feminist response to J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. And with a major motion picture adaptation of her grandmother's books in the works, Iris can say goodbye to her dream of making her own way in the music industry. So when Iris and her brother get invited to the film set in Ireland, she's pretty sure the trip will be a nightmare. Except Iris can't deny the rugged beauty of the Irish countryside. And brushing shoulders with the hot, young cast isn't awful, especially the infuriatingly charming lead, Eamon O'Brien. Iris even finds the impassioned female director inspiring. But when the filming falls into jeopardy, everything Iris thought she knew about Elementia—and herself—is in question. Will making a film for the big screen help Iris to see the big picture?

This was a beautifully written book. I absolutely loved the setting of Ireland -- the author did a great job of making me want to visit that incredible country. I think one of the reasons this wasn’t a five star read for me was that Iris was a hard character to like. Don’t get me wrong, I understood why she was so angry and afraid. But all the negativity was just a bit much to take at times. Her brother, Ryder, was so incredibly adorable and I hated that she took her anger out at him sometimes and blamed him for things that weren't his fault. I did think she really grew as a character and I loved that she started to realize she had to follow her dreams and not those of her dad. I love character growth and the author did a great job with that. Her dad seemed like a real jerk, since he hated Fantasy books and tried to make his children hate them and since he pretty much left the raising of his son to his daughter. But surprisingly, he grew a bit as well. This book as a whole did grow on me. I loved the relationships and the making of the movie.

This was a four star read for me! I will definitely be reading more from this author.