All posts by Kasey

About Kasey

Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.

Review: The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin

Book Review and Content, Fantasy
The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin

The Sins on Their Bones
Laura R. Samotin
Publisher
Published May 7, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Sins on Their Bones

Dimitri Alexeyev used to be the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo. Now, he is merely a broken man, languishing in exile after losing a devastating civil war instigated by his estranged husband, Alexey Balakin. In hiding with what remains of his court, Dimitri and his spymaster, Vasily Sokolov, engineer a dangerous ruse. Vasily will sneak into Alexey’s court under a false identity to gather information, paving the way for the usurper’s downfall, while Dimitri finds a way to kill him for good.

But stopping Alexey is not so easy as plotting to kill an ordinary man. Through a perversion of the Ludayzim religion that he terms the Holy Science, Alexey has died and resurrected himself in an immortal, indestructible body—and now claims he is guided by the voice of God Himself. Able to summon forth creatures from the realm of demons, he seeks to build an army, turning Novo-Svitsevo into the greatest empire that history has ever seen.

Dimitri is determined not to let Alexey corrupt his country, but saving Novo-Svitsevo and its people will mean forfeiting the soul of the husband he can’t bring himself to forsake—or the spymaster he’s come to love.

My Review

I agreed to review this book before realizing that it was an adult novel, but it’s endorsed by several of the YA authors that I love, so I wondered if it would be a good crossover.

The main characters are in their early twenties, so they’re solidly adults. Their emotional maturity made them seem young to me, but at least in Dimitri’s case, that’s really part of his character and how sheltered he has been.

Exploration of Abuse and Trauma

Each chapter follows Dimitri, Alexey, or Vasily’s perspective. All three think about sex a lot. Sometimes at what seemed to me to be weird moments. At one point, Dimitri sits on a rooftop, thinking he may end his life, and a few minutes later, he wishes he could cheer someone else up with sexual favors. I think that in that scene in particular, it’s supposed to show that Dimitri’s past abusive relationship has sort of programmed him to “fix” things through sex, so maybe that’s not a great example. The sexual tension did feel pretty constant, though, which I think was just too much for me personally. I kind of found it wearying.

While the central plot of the story is about taking down the man who removed Dimitri from power through dark spiritual means, many scenes focus on the abusiveness of the relationship between Alexey and Dimitri. Despite the fact that Dimitri has literally just lost a war with Alexey, he longs for him and craves the companionship they share, even though it is pretty toxic.

While hard to read, that longing does make sense in terms of my (limited) understanding of how a trauma bond can work. Even Dimitri’s need to have someone reenact the abuse cycle does make a certain kind of sense. It’s just really dark and hard to read. It also made it difficult for me to really connect with Vasily’s character since he’s the one helping with the reenactments.

Faith, Folklore, and History

The characters have Russian names, and some other Russian words are used for titles and other elements. The primary faith of the people of Novo-Svitsevo appears to be Judaism. Characters celebrate the Sabbath and spiritual leaders are called rebbe, a term for a Jewish spiritual leader.

Characters encounter angels and demons in different rituals. I don’t know enough about Jewish beliefs to know whether all of the names and references are made up or what’s drawn from faith or folklore.

The only thing that confused me about the spiritual part of the book was that sometimes it seemed that, in the morality of the story, it was a bad thing to involve demons or angels in your life in exchange for favors. At other times, characters seemed to make those choices more casually or with the understanding that the end justifies the means. It seemed a little weird that they would so quickly jump to playing with the same fire that was burning down the whole kingdom under Alexey’s rule.

Conclusion

I liked the elements of the story that connected to Jewish faith and folklore and the Russian history-inspired elements. I don’t think I’ll personally continue with the series, but I think readers who enjoy dark fantasy with spicy romance will enjoy it.

Content Notes for The Sins on Their Bones

Recommended for Ages 18 up.

Representation
Dimitri, Alexey, and Vasily are gay. Another character is nonbinary.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Several scenes depict explicit sex between two men. Some show abuse or reenactment of abuse. Characters also think about sex pretty frequently.

References to a man sexually abusing a child.

Spiritual Content
Inspired by Jewish faith and folklore. Some characters celebrate the Sabbath. A few contact demons and angels for aid. Several characters pray to God and converse in prayer.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to battle violence. References to torture. Some scenes include body horror. Several scenes show abuse between domestic partners.

Drug Content
Characters smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. In a couple of scenes, characters use cocaine.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , ,

Code Name Kingfisher
Liz Kessler
Aladdin Books
Published May 7, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Code Name Kingfisher

When Liv finds a secret box from her grandmother’s childhood she uncovers an extraordinary war-time story of bravery, betrayal and daring defiance. A story that will change Liv and her family forever…
 
Holland, 1942. The world is at war and as the Nazis’ power grows, Jewish families are in terrible danger. Twelve-year-old Mila and her older sister Hannie are sent to live with a family in another city with new identities and the strict instruction not to tell anyone that they are Jewish.
 
Hannie, determined to fight back, is swept into the Dutch resistance as an undercover agent Code Name Kingfisher.  And though Mila does her best to make friends and keep out of trouble, there is danger at every turn and the sisters are soon left questioning who they can trust…

My Review

I can’t remember if I had this book on my radar for May earlier this year, but when I received a copy from the publisher, I was pretty excited about it. I love the bright colors of the cover and the way it incorporates a kingfisher bird into the image. It also shows the personality of both Mila and Hannie, the sisters at the center of the story.

The book follows four different points of view. It begins with Liv, a girl living in modern-day England who discovers the person she considered her best friend isn’t such a great friend. We also meet Mila, a Jewish girl forced into hiding by the Nazi occupation of Holland. We meet her sister Hannie through the letters she writes to her family about her work with the Dutch resistance movement. Mila’s friend Willem narrates a handful of chapters at some critical moments in the story.

As Liv struggles to deal with the shift in social connections and bullying at school, she discovers some papers in her grandmother’s attic that hint at her grandmother’s past, which she has refused to talk about to anyone. To Liv’s surprise, her grandmother begins to open up to her.

I love the sweet relationship between Liv and her grandmother and the surprising way that it unfolds. I also love the alternating viewpoints and the way Hannie’s, Mila’s, and Willem’s chapters reveal information from the past.

Code Name Kingfisher is perfect for historical fiction fans, especially those looking for more stories about World War II. The contemporary sections will appeal to those readers, too, and I think there’s enough story taking place in the present to keep contemporary readers engaged.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Mila and Hannie are Jewish. Liv is Jewish on her dad’s side of the family.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A teenage girl has a crush on a teen boy. It’s pretty peripheral to the story.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to oppressive laws passed against Jews by the Nazis. References to arrests and deportations to work camps. Hannie believes her parents are probably dead. Characters experiences heightened fear when faced with Nazi soldiers, but salute and greet them as part of undercover identities.

In one scene late in the book, a boy hears a soldier shoot someone. He sees the person’s body afterward.

Drug Content
Characters, including teenagers, smoke cigarettes.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Not If You Break Up With Me First by G. F. Miller

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, Romance, , , , , , , , ,

Not If You Break Up With Me First
G. F. Miller
Aladdin
Published June 4, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Not If You Break Up With Me First

Two friends who have unhappily found themselves in an accidental relationship try to drive the other one to call things off in this tongue-in-cheek middle grade romance.

Childhood friends Eve and Andrew are destined to be together— everyone says so, especially their friends and classmates who are all suddenly crush-obsessed. So when Eve and Andrew’s first eighth grade school dance rolls around and Eve, feeling the pressure, awkwardly asks Andrew to go with her, everyone assumes they are Officially Dating and Practically in Love. Overwhelmed, Eve and Andrew just…go with it.

And it’s weird. Neither of them wants this dating thing to mess up their friendship, and they don’t really see each other that way. But they also don’t want to be the one to call things off, the one to make things super awkward. So they both—separately—pledge to be the worst boyfriend or girlfriend ever, leaving it to the other person to break up with them. It would be genius…if the other person weren’t doing the exact same thing.

My Review

This is kind of How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, but make it middle grade and where they’re both trying to get the other person to break up with them.

What really makes this great is the writing. Some scenes are hilariously awkward. Others nailed middle school so perfectly, I felt like I had time-traveled. It’s silly, sometimes gross (fart jokes, etc), but it doesn’t skimp on heart.

The chapters alternate between Eve and Andrew’s points of view, so readers are in on each person’s plan to drive the other to dump them and why it seems like a good idea. Writing both viewpoints also shows us how much Eve and Andrew miss their friendship, what they value about one another, and their hurt feelings and loneliness.

The short chapters make this one an easy, quick read. This would work well for readers who aren’t quite sure they’re interested in romance books yet or readers looking for books about changing relationships in middle school or friend drama.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Eve and Andrew are white. Also of interest: Andrew plays quads on his school’s drum line. Eve loves science, specifically space, and compares lots of things to space phenomena. Eve’s parents separate during the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief crude humor.

Romance/Sexual Content
A boy and girl hold hands. Some mentions of kissing between other couples, but not on scene. At one point, someone asks a girl what her sexual identity is, and she responds that she doesn’t want to think about that yet, can’t she just be thirteen for now? A nice nod to kids who aren’t sure and resent the pressure of being asked as a way to explain why they aren’t dating or reject someone who asks them out.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A prank war escalates, causing some hurt feelings and consequences when shool property is damaged.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Where Was Goodbye?
Janice Lynn Mather
Simon & Schuster
Published April 30, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Where Was Goodbye

A teen girl searches for closure after her brother dies by suicide in this breathtaking novel from the author of Learning to Breathe and Facing the Sun.

Karmen is about to start her last year of high school, but it’s only been six weeks since her brother, Julian, died by suicide. How is she supposed to focus on school when huge questions Why is Julian gone? How could she have missed seeing his pain? Could she have helped him?

When a blowup at school gets Karmen sent home for a few weeks, life gets more things between her parents are tenser than ever, her best friend’s acting like a stranger, and her search to understand why Julian died keeps coming up empty.

New friend Pru both baffles and comforts Karmen, and there might finally be something happening with her crush, Isaiah, but does she have time for either, or are they just more distractions? Will she ever understand Julian’s struggle and tragedy? If not, can she love—and live—again?

My Review

If you know me, you probably know why this book would be difficult for me to read and review. I also think it’s a really important topic and one I want to see young adult literature cover and cover well, so I wanted to read it anyway.

Karmen’s quiet life at home in the Bahamas turned upside down the night her family learned about her brother’s death by suicide. As Karmen tries to piece together what happened and why, she hunts down people who knew Julian and the places he visited, including the cliffs where he ended his life.

At its core, Where Was Goodbye is a grief journey. It’s Karmen wrestling with unanswered questions. Her anger. Sadness. The emptiness around the dining room table. The growing distance between her parents.

People around Karmen react differently to grief as well. Her parents handle it in different ways, some causing additional harm to other relationships. Karmen’s best friend wants desperately to help, but doesn’t seem to understand what she’s going through. Instead, she reduces it to a clinical process.

I like that the author set the story in the Bahamas. I can’t think of anything else I’ve read off the top of my head that’s been set there. The setting is significant in a couple of places in the story, but many other scenes include quiet cues about Bahamian food and culture.

In the story, Karmen also learns to skateboard. She primarily uses the board for transportation and to connect with others.

Identifying with Karmen’s grief and her questions in the wake of her brother’s death felt easy. Her parents’ grief felt raw and real, as did Karmen’s. I like that the author was careful to avoid language and statements that stigmatize depression and suicide, though the story does include a few people harassing Karmen about her brother’s death.

This is definitely a book to approach with care, but it may be helpful for anyone who knows someone who has thought about suicide or experienced depression.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Karmen’s brother has died by suicide. Karmen and her family are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Karmen and her friend attend youth group at their church. Karmen ends up ducking out for the service.

Violent Content
References to her brother’s death and specifically how he died. A boy at school says something cruel to Karmen, referencing her brother’s death. Later, a tabloid reporter tries to pressure Karmen into talking about her family’s loss. One scene includes suicidal ideation and a description of a moment when someone nearly attempts to end their life.

Drug Content
Karmen goes to a bar with friends. She sips a drink they give her and realizes it’s alcoholic. One of her friends gets very drunk. Another person offers to drive the group a short distance. Karmen gets out of the car when it becomes obvious the driver is drunk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Ghost Writers: The Haunting of Lake Lucy by Sandy Deutscher Green

Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Ghost Writers: The Haunting of Lake Lucy
Sandy Deutscher Green
Monarch Educational Services
Published May 14, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ghost Writers: The Haunting of Lake Lucy

Your new pen pal has a grave secret.

A lakeside summer vacation is just what 13-year-old Jayce needs…except he’s convinced the ghost from his nightmares lives in the creepy house next door. But when he decides to team up with his twin sister to write a letter to the phantom neighbor, he’s shocked when THE GHOST WRITES HIM BACK! Now Jayce must uncover the dark secret of a cursed lake-or remain haunted forever.

Green’s Horror-In-Verse is sure to spook! You’ll be second-guessing the next time you check your mailbox.

My Review

I enjoyed the pairing of suspense and novel-in-verse. The spare verses supported and increased the intensity of the scenes. It added to the eerie feeling of the setting, too.

At different points in the book, a scene might be written in a different format, such as a haiku. I liked that the writing was playful like that and wondered if it might make this an interesting book to use in an upper elementary English Language Arts classroom because it contains examples of different kinds of poetry used within one longer project.

Jayce and his twin sister have an interesting relationship. The shadow of their closeness, probably from when they were younger, still lingers over them, but you sense that they’re growing into separate interests. The story captured that really well.

I enjoyed reading this and definitely think it would make a great addition to a seasonal reading list for fall or Halloween, so you’ll probably see me talking about it again in a few months.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white, fraternal twins.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Jayce encounters what he believes is a ghost haunting a house on Lake Lucy. Strange, inexplicable, and sometimes sinister things happen around the house and lake.

Violent Content
Some brief instances of bullying. Situations of peril. Someone nearly drowns.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Burning Crowns (Twin Crowns #3)
Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber
Balzer + Bray
Published April 25, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Burning Crowns

Twin queens Rose & Wren survived the Battle for Anadawn and brought back magic to their kingdom. But danger lurks in Eana’s shadows.

Wren is troubled. Ever since she performed the blood spell on Prince Ansel, her magic has become unruly. Worse, the spell created a link between Wren and the very man she’s trying to forget: Icy King Alarik of Gevra. A curse is eating away at both of them. To fix it they must journey to the northern mountains—under the watchful guard of Captain Tor Iversen—to consult with the Healer on High.

Rose is haunted. Waking one night to find her undead ancestor Oonagh Starcrest by her bed, she receives a warning: surrender the throne—or face a war that will destroy Eana. With nowhere to turn and desperate to find a weapon to defeat Oonagh, Rose seeks help from Shen-Lo in the Sunkissed Kingdom, but what she finds there may break her heart.

As Oonagh threatens all Rose and Wren hold dear, it will take everything they have to save Eana–including a sacrifice they may not be prepared to make.

My Review

I’ve followed this trilogy since the beginning, so I’m really excited to have had a chance to read the conclusion. What a wild ride it was!

Wren and Rose share a connection, but they’re really different as people. I liked the way they related to one another but yet had their own values and approaches to ruling Anadawn. Each sister has her own romance underway from previous books, and those progress here, too. I’m not gonna lie, I kind of hoped one sister would make a different choice than she did, but I felt like the ending was satisfying nonetheless.

The romantic plot contains some of the most mature elements of the story. It does fade to black before characters go further than undressing, but the characters definitely have some lusty thoughts and desires. The rest of the story feels solidly young adult. Rose and Wren are both still figuring out how to step into their adult roles as queens. They’re falling in love for the first time. I felt like those components really anchored the story as a young adult fantasy.

Wren and Rose and their relationship stands at the center of the story. In this particular book, they face a threat from their shared ancestry, one they can only vanquish together.

All in all, I enjoyed the series, and I’m glad I read all the way to the end. I think readers who are just outgrowing Disney fairytales would like the Twin Crowns series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Minor characters with brown skin. Two minor female characters are in a romantic relationship.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In two scenes, characters undress one another, and the scene fades to black.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have magic. Wren and Alarik performed forbidden blood magic in an earlier book, which bound them together under a curse. A cruel past queen raises humans and animals from the dead, creating an undead army.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. References to torture. Descriptions of desecrated graves.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.