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Review: A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife by Kendall Kulper

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A Starlet's Secret to a Sensational Afterlife by Kendall Kulpepper cover shows a woman in a dress facing forward, her gaze looking sideways. A theater entrance fills the background and a man in a suit stands by the entrance.

A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife
Kendall Kulper
Holiday House
Published May 23, 2023

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About A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife

A budding starlet and her handsome-but-moody co-star go from bitter enemies to reluctant partners when they get tangled up in the disappearance of a beautiful young actress in 1930s Hollywood.

Eighteen-year-old Henrietta arrives in Los Angeles in 1934 with dreams of trading her boring life for stardom.

She’s determined to make it as an actress, despite her family’s doubts and rumors of would-be starlets gone missing. And by the skin of her teeth, she pulls it off! A serendipitous job offer arrives and Henrietta finds herself on a whirlwind publicity tour for a major film role—with a vexingly unpleasant actor tapped by the studio to be her fake boyfriend.

But fierce Henrietta has more in common with brooding Declan than she realizes. They both have gifts that they are hiding, for fear of being labeled strange: he is immune to injury and she can speak to ghosts. Together, they might be the only people in Hollywood who can do something about these poor missing girls. And in doing so . . . they might just fall in love for real.

This whip smart, seductive caper by the author of MURDER FOR THE MODERN GIRL has the perfect combination of romance, vengeance, and a hint of the supernatural, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hand to fans of THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS and MY LADY JANE.

My Review

I loved the 1930s Hollywood setting of this book. It was so much fun to read something set in that time period that really captured the excitement of the time period. One scene in particular, when Henny first comes to Hollywood had me thinking of a moment in the moving SINGING IN THE RAIN, when the main character tells an edited version of his arrival in “sunny California”.

I loved both Declan and Henny’s characters. Her sarcasm and quick wit were so perfect. She was independent and smart, and hard-working. I loved all of that. And Declan– his unbreakable exterior and tender heart were absolutely the best. There was a line early on after he meets Henny where he says something about being the unbreakable boy and realizing this girl could totally break him. I loved it.

This book definitely captured the magic of the early film industry while delivering a powerful Me Too message in which women who were victimized seek the chance to create their own justice. If you’re looking for an upbeat historical mystery/romance, grab this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Both Henny and Declan are white. Declan’s best friend is Latine. Minor characters are queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Henny witnesses an attempted sexual assault and interrupts, helping the girl escape the man attacking her. A man expects Henny to make out with or sleep with him, but she refuses. He doesn’t accept her refusal, but she’s able to escape.

Spiritual Content
Henny sees the ghosts of women who were murdered in Hollywood.

Violent Content
Declan works as a stunt man, taking on several stunt performances which should have left him grievously injured or dead.

Henny sees ghosts of women who were murdered, sometimes with evidence of what happened to them on their bodies (blood, water, etc.). She learns bits and pieces of what happened to some of the women.

A man tries to run Henny and Declan off the road. Two men fall from a bridge.

Drug Content
A famed Hollywood actor shows up for rehearsal very drunk after rumors that production has been delayed several times due to his binge drinking. A man claims that some women died due to drug overdoses.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of A STARLET’S SECRET TO A SENSATIONAL AFTERLIFE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Something Close to Magic by Emma Mills

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Something Close to Magic
Emma Mills
Atheneum
Published June 13, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Something Close to Magic

A baker’s apprentice reluctantly embarks on an adventure full of magic, new friendships, and a prince in distress in this deliciously romantic young adult fantasy that’s perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Gail Carson Levine.

It’s not all sugar and spice at Basil’s Bakery, where seventeen-year-old Aurelie is an overworked, underappreciated apprentice. Still, the job offers stability, which no-nonsense Aurelie values highly, so she keeps her head down and doesn’t dare to dream big—until a stranger walks in and hands her a set of Seeking stones. In a country where Seeking was old-fashioned even before magic went out of style, it’s a rare skill, but Aurelie has it.

The stranger, who turns out to be a remarkably bothersome bounty hunter named Iliana, asks for Aurelie’s help rescuing someone from the dangerous Underwood—which sounds suspiciously like an adventure. When the someone turns out to be Prince Hapless, the charming-but-aptly-named prince, Aurelie’s careful life is upended. Suddenly, she finds herself on a quest filled with magic portals, a troll older than many trees (and a few rocks), and dangerous palace intrigue.

Even more dangerous are the feelings she’s starting to have for Hapless. The more time Aurelie spends with him, the less she can stand the thought of going back to her solitary but dependable life at the bakery. Must she choose between losing her apprenticeship—or her heart?

My Review

I’ve read a couple of books (FIRST & THEN and THIS ADVENTURE ENDS) by Emma Mills, and I loved them both. They’re both contemporary stories, so I was really excited to see how this author writes fantasy.

I loved this. It’s got all the things I love about her contemporary stories (complex, likable characters, great dialogue), plus palace intrigue and an interesting magic system.

There’s a writing device in which the story’s main character starts out believing a lie. The plot of the story forces the character to challenge that lie. SOMETHING CLOSE TO MAGIC might be the best example I’ve ever seen of that particular storytelling method.

Prince Hapless has been told so many times that he’s silly and basically useless that he believes it and doesn’t stand up for himself when people continue to put him down or ignore his ideas/needs because they assume he’s being ridiculous. And Aurelie works for a domineering (and abusive) woman who takes every opportunity to remind her that she’s valueless, especially without the apprenticeship in the bakery. Aurelie knows her boss isn’t a good person, but she does believe those words about her value and about how people will treat her based on that lie.

The story is packed with snappy dialogue. I loved that so much. It’s got an upbeat feel to it mostly, but I definitely cried in the scenes where Hapless and Aurelie are confronted by the lies they believe in all their ugliness. Those scenes were really heartbreaking.

I loved the four central characters: Hapless, Aurelie, Iliana (the bounty hunter) and Quad (the troll). Quad is awesome. Every time something frustrates me or is annoying, I want to dismiss it with, “Mortal invention,” the way she does. Ha!

Conclusion

All in all, this book was such a breath of fresh air. I’ve loved the last two books I read, but I needed the lightness of this one. I’m so glad I read it, and I can’t wait for Emma Mills to write more, whether it’s contemporary or fantasy!

Content Notes for Something Close to Magic

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Iliana is in love with a woman. It’s unclear whether Hapless has some kind of learning disability. It’s never specified, but kind of hinted at?

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few instances of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. A couple characters are not human.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. The prince’s carriage is ambushed, but no one is harmed. Someone forces people to perform magic far beyond their capabilities, causing them harm. A man stabs someone in the chest.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol. Hapless tells a story about his brother getting drunk at a party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of SOMETHING CLOSE TO MAGIC in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Greenwild: The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson

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Greenwild: The World Behind the Door
Pari Thomson
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Published June 6, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Greenwild: The World Behind the Door

Open the door to a spellbinding world where the wilderness is alive and a deep magic rises from the earth itself . . .

Eleven-year-old Daisy Thistledown is on the run. Her mother has been keeping big, glittering secrets, and now she has vanished. Daisy knows it’s up to her to find Ma―but someone is hunting her across London. Someone determined to stop her from discovering the truth.

So when Daisy flees to safety through a mysterious hidden doorway, she can barely believe her eyes―she has stepped out of the city and into another world.

This is the Greenwild. Bursting with magic and full of amazing natural wonders, it seems too astonishing to be true. But not only is this land of green magic real, it holds the key to finding Daisy’s mother.

And someone wants to destroy it.

Daisy must band together with a botanical genius, a boy who can talk with animals, and a cat with an attitude to uncover the truth about who she really is. Only then can she channel the power that will change her whole world . . . and save the Greenwild itself.

My Review

One of my favorite middle grade series is the Storm Keeper series by Catherine Doyle. Since I read that series, I’ve been hoping to find something new that hits some of the same notes that I loved about those books. A magical adventure, really cool friendships, an urgent quest, and optional time travel/interesting use of a timeline. GREENWILD definitely hit those notes for me.

To start with, I immediately liked Daisy as a character. She’s in awe of her mom but also recognizes that she has some flaws. She’s determined, and loyal.

Also, this book has a cat! Napoleon, a cat who shows up very early in the book, becomes a constant companion/protector for Daisy, pointing her down the right path when she gets lost or taking on the bad guys when she’s in trouble. It’s so sweet. I loved that so much.

Another thing I think GREENWILD does really well is the way that it uses events that happen seemingly just in passing to help Daisy piece together the solutions she needs to confront the bad guys.

I mentioned already that there’s a way in which the book plays with its timeline, and I don’t want to spoil anything where that’s concerned other than to say that it was one of my favorite parts. I absolutely bawled when it’s revealed how that part connects to the larger story.

So, yep. I think this is gonna be one of my favorites for this year. If you love portal fantasies or magical adventures with a timeline/time travel subplot, definitely check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Daisy’s mother was born in Iran. Her dad is white. A minor character has two dads.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform green magic– magic involving plants.

Violent Content
Daisy overhears a couple of adults saying harsh/cruel things to children. Situations of peril. A man kills a parrot by slamming his fist down on it. Some characters die in a battle scene. (No graphic descriptions of injuries.)

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of GREENWILD: THE WORLD BEHIND THE DOOR in exchange for my honest review.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays

Check out other blogs posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story by Sarah Myer

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Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story
Sarah Myer
First Second
Published June 27, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Monstrous

A poignant young adult graphic memoir about a Korean-American girl who uses fandom and art-making to overcome racist bullying. Perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Almost American Girl!

Sarah has always struggled to fit in. Born in South Korea and adopted at birth by a white couple, she grows up in a rural community with few Asian neighbors. People whisper in the supermarket. Classmates bully her. She has trouble containing her anger in these moments―but through it all, she has her art. She’s always been a compulsive drawer, and when she discovers anime, her hobby becomes an obsession.

Though drawing and cosplay offer her an escape, she still struggles to connect with others. And in high school, the bullies are louder and meaner. Sarah’s bubbling rage is threatening to burst.

My Review

I loved this memoir, though parts of it were heartbreaking to read. No one should be treated the way the author was. The descriptions of early childhood and particularly the difficulty of telling the difference between anxiety and having a wild imagination made so much sense to me. I think back in the 80s and 90s in particular, we didn’t talk about fear and worry in terms of mental health. It was viewed more as personal quirkiness maybe? I definitely grew up thinking that a lot of my own struggles with anxiety were simply my overactive imagination. So reading about Sarah’s experience with that was both sad and very validating.

I think what’s truly brilliant about this book is the way that Myer uses concrete visual storytelling to tell the story of a really abstract idea. Because ultimately what the book is about is the journey Sarah takes to learn self-love and peace. I love that art is such a huge part of that story– the fact that the artist is telling their own story through art adds a whole extra layer to the message, too. Because not only has Sarah learned self-love through art, they’ve also found a way to use art to share their story and welcome others into an exploration of self-love, too.

I also love the relationships in the book and the way that each character in Sarah’s family isn’t perfect, but it’s clear that there’s love between them.

This is a great book for anyone struggling with anger, anxiety, or bullying.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Sarah and her sister are Korean American, adopted by white parents.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently. Racial and homophobic slurs used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Infrequent use of homophobic slurs. Sarah wonders about a couple of past friendships and whether those were also crushes.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some scenes include racist comments and stereotypes. Others bully Sarah. She sometimes reacts by name-calling or hitting them.

Drug Content
References to teens drinking beer.

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

Review: The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade

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The Shadow Sister
Lily Meade
Sourcebooks Fire
Published June 27, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Shadow Sister

Sutton going missing is the worst thing to happen to Casey, to their family. She’s trying to help find her sister, but Casey is furious. And she can’t tell anyone about their argument before Sutton disappeared. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with an entourage of friends, a doting boyfriend, and a limitless future. But Sutton manipulated everyone around her, even stole an heirloom bracelet from Casey. People don’t look for missing Black girls–or half-Black girls–without believing there is an angel to be saved.

When Sutton reappears, Casey knows she should be relieved. Except Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life, including how she made Casey miserable. There’s something unsettling about the way she wants to spend time with Casey, the way she hums and watches her goldfish swim for hours.

What happened to Sutton? The more Casey starts uncovering her sister’s secrets, the more questions she has. Did she really know her sister? Why is no one talking about the other girls who have gone missing in their area? And what will it take to uncover the truth?

My Review

I love sister stories. I also love being part of the readership who discover a fantastic debut novel by an author who is sure to become a new favorite. It’s even better when those two things appear in the very same book.

First, let me say that the characters in this book are rich and layered. What they believe to be true isn’t always objectively true (happens to us all). I feel like writing a character who both comes across as genuine and genuinely wrong is really challenging, and Lily Meade makes it look absolutely effortless.

The rich themes of family, history, and reclaiming personal power are expertly threaded through the narrative of this book. I loved the way the characters explored family history and relationships. I also loved the elements of magical realism– again, something that I think is not easy to write in a way that feels believable and anchored in the real world. Yet it’s brilliantly done here.

I also really appreciated the author’s note and the care she takes in explaining her connection to some parts of the story. That only deepened my appreciation of the book, and I think added even more to the conversation within the text about intergenerational trauma and reclaiming power.

I’ve been super choosy about which books I’m adding to my shelves lately (my bookshelf runneth over!), but I will definitely be adding this one. I absolutely recommend this story for readers who, like me, love sister books or stories about family and the transformative power of love.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Casey and Sutton are biracial sisters. One minor character is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used very sparingly.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Casey and Sutton’s family attends a local church that preaches, as one of the girls puts it, a “condescending prosperity gospel”.

Violent Content
Characters discover the decaying body of a murdered girl. A person admits to murdering someone and attempts to murder someone else.

Drug Content
Police suggest a recently missing girl was using drugs, even though her tests repeatedly show no drug use. An unconscious girl may have been drugged; it’s unclear.

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

Review: Ode to My First Car by Robin Gow

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Ode to My First Car
Robin Gow
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Published June 20, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ode to My First Car

By the critically praised author of A Million Quiet Revolutions , this YA contemporary sapphic romance told in verse is about a bisexual teen girl who falls in and out of love over the course of one fateful summer.

It’s a few months before senior year and Claire Kemp, a closeted bisexual, is finally starting to admit she might be falling in love with her best friend, Sophia, who she’s known since they were four.

Trying to pay off the fine from the crash that totals Lars, her beloved car, Claire takes a job at the local nursing home up the street from her house. There she meets Lena, an eighty-eight-year-old lesbian woman who tells her stories about what it was like growing up gay in the 1950s and ’60s.

As Claire spends more time with Lena and grows more confident of her identity, another girl, Pen, comes into the picture, and Claire is caught between two loves–one familiar and well-worn, the other new and untested.

My Review

Last year I read A MILLION QUIET REVOLUTIONS, which is also a novel in verse by Robin Gow. I really enjoyed the epistolary format in which the story is written. ODE TO MY FIRST CAR also has an epistolary feel to it since every poem is addressed to Claire’s first car, which she wrecks just before the story begins.

It felt really easy to understand Claire’s feelings and needs. Even though I didn’t always agree with her, I still totally understood where she was coming from and what led her to conclude certain things. I also really liked her brother and the relationship that develops between them.

Her relationship with Lena was really great, too. I feel like I have seen a lot more stories featuring mentorship lately, whether that comes in the form of a teen having a mentoring relationship with an adult, or a teen having a mentor relationship with an older teen. It’s a cool element to see in books, and those are often some of my favorite relationships. I liked that Lena isn’t a grouchy old lady (though I love the stories about those, too!). She’s a little bit closed up, and obviously has some wounds in her past, but I loved the gentleness in her approach to Claire and in the way Claire kept showing up for her, even though Lena didn’t want to intrude into her life.

All in all, I think I might like this one even better than A MILLION QUIET REVOLUTIONS, but I think they’re both really well done.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Claire is bisexual, but her family doesn’t know. Her best friend Sophie is transgender. Other characters are queer as well.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. Two girls talk about wanting to have sex and challenge each other to have sex that summer. In one scene, two girls make out in the car, and Claire reports they also have sex (off-scene).

Spiritual Content
Claire is supposed to go to Mass with her family but hasn’t been going. After her car is wrecked, she has to ride with them to church, but she doesn’t enjoy it or feel connected to it in any spiritual way.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of a car accident. References to homophobic or biphobic comments. One peripheral relationship has a lot of flags for toxic/abusive behavior. Claire doesn’t witness any of that happening, but she hears about it and is worried/unsure of what to do.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of ODE TO MY FIRST CAR in exchange for my honest review.