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Review: Joined at the Joints Marissa Eller

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Joined at the Joints by Marissa Eller

Joined at the Joints
Marissa Eller
Holiday House
Published July 2, 2024

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About Joined at the Joints

When baking-obsessed Ivy meets a super-hot boy who shares her rare diagnosis, sparks fly outside of the kitchen for the first time in her life!

Chronically ill seventeen-year-old Ivy has stayed in watching the Food Network all summer—pies are better than people, and they don’t trigger her social anxiety. So when her (also) chronically ill mom and sister cook up a plan to get Ivy out of the house and into a support group, Ivy doesn’t expect to say more than a few words.

And she certainly doesn’t expect Grant. Grant is CUTE: class-clown cute, perfectly-messy-hair cute, will-always-text-you-back cute. There’s an instant connection between them. He has the same diagnosis as her–juvenille rheumatoid arthritis–and he actually understands Ivy’s world.

But just because he understands Ivy’s pain doesn’t mean he can take it away. And she wishes he could—because it’s getting worse. Ivy has always tried her best to appear pain-free, but between treatment plans, symptom management, and struggling with medical self-advocacy, being sick feels more and more difficult. Will Ivy’s delicious new romance pan out? Can she keep up the façade, for him and for the world… or should she be brave and let it go?

Marissa Eller serves up a sweet, satisfying romcom that tackles the realities of chronic illness—and coming-of-age milestones from friend breakups to first kisses—with wry humor, tons of heart, and a huge helping of honesty. Nuanced, poignant, and deeply enjoyable, readers will fall for Eller’s voice in this compelling debut that offers all the right ingredients.

My Review

This is such a sweet book. I loved that because both characters understand rheumatoid arthritis, there’s not a lot of one character educating the other. Both Ivy and Grant have some similarities and differences in their experiences, and they share enough common ground to offer support to one another when it’s needed.

Ivy is a great character. I love stories about baking or cooking, so the scenes in which she prepares food were great. When a character’s love language is food, I find it easy to connect with them. I also liked her relationship with her sister, Caroline. They look out for one another but give each other space and autonomy, too. They have a great balance. The descriptions of their younger brother, Ethan, made me laugh, too. He felt like such an energetic character, even when he was just in the periphery of a scene.

The relationship between Grant and Ivy is great, too. They like each other from the start, but it didn’t feel too insta-love-y to me. Maybe because Ivy is so shy and takes so long to admit that she likes him and that he seems to like her, too. I liked the progression of the relationship and how they leaned on one another.

In terms of a summer romance, Joined at the Joints hits all the right notes. It’s sweet, thoughtful, and full of fun. Definitely a good one for a weekend read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ivy and Grant have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis). Ivy also has social anxiety. Ivy’s sister, Caroline, has celiac disease. Her mom has lupus. Caroline and Ivy join a support group for teens with chronic illnesses.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
F-bombs used infrequently. Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A baseball strikes a character, leaving an ugly bruise. Ivy experiences growing pain in her joints that becomes increasingly debilitating. Some references to ableist comments.

Drug Content
Just the drugs prescribed by Ivy’s doctor.

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: Mind Over Monsters by Betsy Uhrig

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Paranormal, , , , , , , ,

Mind Over Monsters
Betsy Uhrig
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published July 16, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Mind Over Monsters

Gordon Korman meets Scooby-Doo when anxiety-prone middle schoolers try a mindfulness app that has them face their fears all-too-literally in this spooky and humorous middle grade adventure.

FACE YOUR FEARS! That’s what the meditation app with the cheesy name De-stress-o-rama is telling Lena to do. She’s one of seven always-worried middle schoolers trying out this new app to see if it can help students handle stress. But something is going wrong—very, very wrong.

The group’s fears are becoming all too real, first lurking and dangling, then chasing them around and threatening to swallow them whole. From a stubborn inky blob that is fear of the dark, to the queasy giant in sweaty underpants that is fear of public speaking, monsters are invading Cranberry Bog Middle School! Can Lena’s group of worriers figure out how to conquer their fears before the whole school is swarmed?

My Review

This was a really fun book with some really cool moments. I liked that the story featured meditation as a helpful practice for people with anxiety. Of course, if your meditation app created real creatures based on your fears, it wouldn’t be very helpful. I still liked that meditation is shown in the book, and many kids found it helpful (sans monsters).

Another thing I liked a lot was Lena’s relationship with her mom. There was a moment in the book where I thought I knew what was going on, and I remember thinking I was going to be mad if the book left this thing unaddressed. And Betsy Uhrig proved yet again that my trust in her is well-placed because I loved how she handled the issue between Lena and her mom.

The monsters that emerged from the app made sense but also weren’t meant to be super terrifying. It made sense that the kids in the book would be scared, since the creatures were tailored to the kids’ specific fears, but they didn’t make the book overly scary. I think the story is really accessible to kids with big fears. I love that, too.

The monsters emerging into real life in this book made me think of The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs. I think readers who enjoyed that series will like this one. I recommend it for middle grade readers struggling with fears, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Lena is white, but her group of friends, the Worriers, is pretty diverse.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Lena’s best friend seems to have a crush on a boy who likes her.

Spiritual Content
Fears begin appearing in the form of three-dimensional beings.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Descriptions of fears.

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: The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

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

The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
T. Kingfisher
Argyll Productions
Published July 21, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…

My Review

I heard about this book from Mara at BooksLikeWhoa on YouTube. I can’t remember which video in which she talks about this book, but she doesn’t often review middle grade, and she liked this one, so I knew I needed to try it. I’ve also really wanted to read something by T. Kingfisher since I hear so many positive things about her books. I think this was a great place for me to start, since I had a great time with this book.

There’s something really special about fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously and kind of makes fun of some of the fantasy tropes. In this case, this story is about a girl who has a magical affinity for bread. She can make gingerbread men dance. She can convince the baguette of her enemies to be so stale it’s a brick. And she’s somehow the only person who can stop a serial killer.

I loved the goofiness of some of the moments in the book. Mona is fourteen, and still feels young and awkward. She sometimes makes analogies and then says funny things that acknowledge the hyperbole of her analogy. It’s a really playful book. I also loved the way that Mona grows throughout the story. She finds courage and confidence in her abilities, and she builds relationships with other characters.

WIZARD’S GUIDE TO DEFENSIVE BAKING is a quirky, fun read that will appeal to fantasy lovers looking for a laugh. I could see fans of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON by Cressida Cowell enjoying this a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
I don’t remember character descriptions that included race details.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to use magic. One character can reanimate dead horses and their bones.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. In the opening scene, Mona finds a girl on the floor of the bakery who has been murdered. Mona’s sourdough starter, Bob, has become carnivorous, or so the rat skeletons she found in the basement seem to indicate. Someone attacks Mona more than once. Brief descriptions of a people group who burn villages to the ground before moving on to a new place to burn. A few scenes describe a battle.

Drug Content
Mona mentions that once, as a child, she and a boy stole a bottle of sacrificial wine and drank it. This made them both really sick.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

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

Of Jade and Dragons (Fall of the Dragons #1)
Amber Chen
Viking Books for Young Readers
Published June 18, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Of Jade and Dragons

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a brilliant engineer just like her beloved father – but her life is torn apart when she arrives a moment too late to stop his murder, and worse, lets the killer slip out of reach. Left with only a journal containing his greatest engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, Ying vows to take revenge into her own hands.

Disguised as her brother, Ying heads to the capital city, and discovers that the answer to finding who killed her father lies behind the walls of the prestigious Engineers Guild – the home of a past her father never wanted to talk about. With the help of an unlikely ally – Aogiya Ye-yang, a taciturn (but very handsome) young prince – Ying must navigate a world fraught with rules, challenges and politics she can barely grasp, let alone understand.

But to survive, she must fight to stay one step ahead of everyone. And when faced with the choice between doing what’s right and what’s necessary, Ying will have to decide if her revenge is truly worthwhile, if it means going against everything her father stood for . . .

My Review

This book definitely has some Mulan vibes. It reminded me a bit of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, especially in the first quarter. (Girl goes to a big city and attempts to enter an elite, male-only guild.) I liked the relationships Ying cultivates with the other guild hopefuls, especially a younger one who becomes a close ally. (I hope book two includes this character.)

When I first saw this book, for some reason, I thought it was a middle grade book. It’s not. It’s clearly intended for a young adult audience. Sometimes, the writing and the way the characters related to one another felt more in line with a middle grade story. That isn’t to say anything is wrong with the writing or character relationships. It’s possible I felt that way because I had the other age group stuck in my head already.

There is a romantic subplot in the story, too. I love that the author doesn’t follow every expectation readers might have with a romance story. Ying is a strong character and has a deep commitment to her mission. She doesn’t want anything to distract her from finding out who had her father killed. She wants entry into the engineers’ guild to finish his work.

I love that this book includes so much about engineering as a field of study. A lot of the lessons and tests shown in the story involve defensive or offensive vehicles and weaponry, but some characters mention other kinds of engineering. I would have enjoyed seeing more of a spectrum of engineering projects, but I can see why those focuses would fit better in the story because of the push toward war.

On the whole, I enjoyed this one. It looks like the start of a series, so I’m curious to see where the story goes from here.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are Chinese-coded.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Characters pray to and mention Abka Han, the god of the skies and guardian of Ying’s homeland. When a good or bad thing happens, it’s taken as an omen from Abka Han.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Characters face assassins and armed enemies in several scenes. References to and reports of warfare. In one scene, an assailant stabs an unarmed man after ransacking a room.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol at social events.

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: Goblin 2: The Wolf and the Well by Eric Grissom and Will Perkins

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , ,

Goblin 2: The Wolf and the Well (Goblin #2)
Eric Grissom
Illustrated by Will Perkins
Dark Horse Books
Published July 16, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Goblin 2: The Wolf and the Well

What would you give up to protect the one you loved? Uncover the mystery in the thrilling sequel to the fantasy adventure graphic novel Goblin.

One dark and stormy night, Rikt meets a mysterious fortune teller in the woods. Looking into his future, she foresees that his best friend and only companion, a wolf named Fish-breath, is in mortal danger. Overcome with the fear of losing his four-legged friend, Rikt trades the freedom of the wild for the protection of Underwood—a boarding school for monster children and a sanctuary for wolves. Was his bargain worth the price? And what terrible fate awaits the children who live there?

After losing his parents, Rikt struggles with a fear of being alone. The anxiety becomes unbearable when he receives three prophecies from a mysterious witch, one of which foretells a terrible fate for his best friend, a wolf named Fish-breath. After the first two prophecies prove true, Rikt meets Ms. Evelyn, a friendly human who offers them protection at Underwood, her boarding school for monstrous creatures and wayward wolves. Rikt soon learns things at Underwood are not what they seem and suspects the other children are in danger. With the help of a servant troll girl and a neurotic faun, Rikt must uncover the mystery of Underwood before he learns first-hand what horrors await at the bottom of an ancient well.

The Wolf and the Well is perfect for fans of fantasy adventure graphic novels like Amulet, Lightfall, and City of Dragons.

My Review

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite graphic novel series. I’d never heard of these books until the author approached me to ask if I’d be interested in reviewing the book. I’m so glad he reached out!

My favorite part of the series so far is the relationship between Rikt and Fish Breath, the white wolf. In the first book, Rikt forms a grudging attachment to the wolf. By the end, though, it’s clear she’s really important to him. I love that this second book in the series centers a little more around their relationship and the connection between them. It also introduces a lot of new characters and a sinister magical threat.

This book is one of those where the sum is greater than its parts. The dialog is great and shows a lot of emotion and depth. The illustrations add even more, creating the sense of a woodsy magical world with the browns and greens of the color palette. They show rich character expressions and settings, too.

I’m excited to see where the series goes next. I think readers who enjoyed Estranged by Ethan Aldridge will love this one.

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Main character is a goblin named Rikt. Other characters of other fictitious races face prejudice for their identities.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Rikt has met the Goddess he grew up worshipping. He meets another deity on his journey, and a woman offers to tell his future through a tarot card reading. A strange liquid appears to transform creatures into powerful, deadly beings.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battle sequences. Rikt witnesses what appears to be the murder of children.

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: Andy and the Summer of Something by Jessica Foster

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

Andy and the Summer of Something (Andy and the Extroverts #2)
Jessica Foster
Winding Road Stories
Published July 16, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Andy and the Summer of Something

It’s been a year since Andy Stevens attended leadership camp and changed her whole perspective. Now, she’s back at camp Follow the Leader as a counselor with the optimistic goal of helping campers just like she was: timid, withdrawn, and in need of a confidence injection. She’s even brought along her new
boyfriend Eric.

But when she arrives to find Lucas from last summer in a matching counselor vest, her plans go up in campfire smoke. Lucas helps her to lead her wild pack of extroverted campers, but he has an ulterior motive: to rekindle their romance and win Andy back.

Now she’s torn between the boy who stole her heart and the boy who is trying to fix it.

My Review

There is nothing like a fabulous summer camp book to really make me feel like I’m living the best parts of summer. I loved getting to go back to Camp Follow the Leader with Andy and see all the ways she’s grown and changed since the first book.

I like that the girls in Andy’s cabin aren’t all the quiet, meek girls she expected to have. Instead, she winds up with assertive girls who talk over one another and barely stop to listen to her. This means she has to figure out how to lead in a way they respect and understand while challenging them to listen to one another.

I kept forgetting that some of the girls in Andy’s cabin were only a year younger than she was. For some reason, I kept picturing middle school kids and being surprised that they were high schoolers. I don’t know why I kept making that mistake– possibly I just expected an age gap. Andy was a camper the year before this book takes place, so it does make sense that the kids would be only one year younger.

Andy has some fun moments in which she is hilariously not self-aware. In one scene, she mentally pats herself on the back for being a great listener and immediately tunes out what the camp director is saying. As she navigates her feelings for Eric and Lucas, she runs into more than one moment in which others seem to recognize her feelings before Andy herself.

In the first book, I found Andy’s anxiety and introversion incredibly relatable. This time around, her difficulty understanding her own wants and feelings and her awkward leadership faux pas had me remembering feeling those exact same emotions and making very similar choices and mistakes.

This was a fun summer book. I loved getting to revisit the camp and getting to see Andy figure out where her heart would lead her.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most major characters are white. One is Asian American. One character is Black. One minor character has panic attacks.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. One scene leads up to characters having sex, but doesn’t show it.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Andy slaps a boy in the chest.

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.