Category Archives: Book Review and Content

Review: Finding Refuge by Victorya Krouse

Book Review and Content, Memoir, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Finding Refuge by Victorya Rouse

Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People
Victorya Krouse
Zest Books
Published September 7, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Finding Refuge

What is a refugee? This anthology recounts the personal immigration experiences of teenage refugees from around the world, including where they came from, why they left, how they arrived in the United States, and what happened next. These writers know firsthand it means to leave a beloved but unsafe homeland for a distant place where everyone speaks another language.

English teacher Victorya Rouse has assembled a collection of real-world stories essential for our times, complete with maps, context, and background on the refugees’ home countries. As immigration has catapulted into the current discourse, this poignant collection emphasizes the USA’s rich tradition of welcoming people from all over the world.

My Review

I started reading this book the week that Russia invaded Ukraine. Listening as the number of refugees escaping the country continues to grow, watching reports of people trapped in their homes with little to no food or water due to constant warfare happening around them, has truly been heartbreaking.

This book is filled with stories, some very much like what we’ve seen and heard in the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These are stories of families who loved their cities and homes, forced to flee due to conflict or other life-threatening situations. Every story is moving.

I liked that the book is organized by continent or area of the world. The individual stories are preceded by a short list of facts about the country where the person is from and a little bit of historical information about that area and why people have left. I felt like that kind of helped me build a little more understanding of what was happening. It also gives a little bit of a sense of how the individual stories fit into the larger global history.

For some reason, I assumed all the stories would be from refugees who’ve entered the United States within the last ten years or so, but that isn’t the case. Some of the stories are about people who arrived in their teens as far back as 1975. Most are from the last 20 years, but several are from the 1990s. It depends on the conflict and the part of the world that caused someone to become a refugee.

On the whole, I feel like I learned a lot reading this book. It seems to be a collection of stories from refugees in their own words. The stories sometimes read like a high school assignment meant to answer a series of questions. I think I expected something more like brief memoirs written from interviews between the author and the refugees.

Reading FINDING REFUGE made me want to read WE ARE DISPLACED by Malala Yousafzai. I haven’t read it yet. It seems like it would be along similar lines, but written by a a refugee herself.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
FINDING REFUGE tells the stories of refugees from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and North America. All traveled to the United States to make new homes.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to getting married.

Spiritual Content
Some references to faith like Christianity or Islam.

Violent Content
References to war. A few brief mentions of a family member being killed. A couple mentions of human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Drug Content
A few mentions of drug trafficking.

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 FINDING REFUGE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

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

Daughter of the Pirate King
Tricia Levenseller
Feiwel & Friends
Published February 28th 2017

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Daughter of the Pirate King

There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

My Review

I really enjoyed a lot of things about this book. First, I loved Alosa. She’s fierce and smart and knows how to bide her time and wait for the right moments to do what she needs to do. I also loved Riden. He’s so conflicted, so caught between what he wants and protecting people he cares about and doing the right thing. But he’s also a pirate, so kind of unpredictable, definitely living by his own code of ethics. Once I understood how that code worked, I was a huge fan of him.

So… consent stuff. Alosa is a captive aboard a pirate ship. She arranges for herself to be captured and makes it clear (to the reader) that she can come and go from her cell pretty much at will. When she experiences a romantic advance from one of the other pirates, it’s not clear whether she wants him to behave like he does. I guess it’s clear she could stop him if she wanted to, but it felt a little weird to me. Maybe I’ve just come to appreciate the recent books where consent is made really clear.

There’s also some backstory referring to the way sirens treat their victims that isn’t ever really addressed in the story. At one point, a character comments on the sirens’ behavior (See below for details.) and Alosa kind of dismisses it like, yeah, but the pirates had harmful intentions, too. I don’t know. I wish the book addressed this in the story more clearly.

Conclusion

Aside from that, I liked a lot of other things– the adventure on a pirate ship, the enemies to lovers romance, the banter between characters, and the fierce heroine. I want to read the second book in this duology, DAUGHTER OF THE SIREN QUEEN. Some of the reviews on Goodreads indicate that this book better addresses consent issues.

Readers who enjoyed SIEGE AND STORM by Leigh Bardugo or IMPRISON THE SKY by A. C. Gaughen will like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content – Trigger Warning for Mentions of Rape
A pirate captain implies that he will let his crew rape Alosa. One of the crew members is a serial rapist. He stands guard over Alosa’s cell and continually leers at her. He reaches into the cell (she stands out of his reach but is unable to sleep while he’s there.). At one point he grabs her and licks her neck.

Sirens live in the ocean, but journey to the surface to capture men before dragging them to the bottom of the sea, raping, and killing them. The story states this more than once, but no graphic description.

Kissing between a boy and girl. It’s an enemies to lovers situation, and it’s not really clear if some of the kisses/touches are welcome or not. I had weird feelings about it.

Spiritual Content
Sirens are powerful beings whose song controls men.

Violent Content
Graphic battle violence. Some scenes include references to torture and some descriptions of it.

Drug Content
One pirate is clearly an alcoholic. There’s reference to others drinking alcohol, too.

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

Review: The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George

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

The Summer We Forgot
Caroline George
Thomas Nelson Publishing
Published March 8, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Summer We Forgot

Some memories are better left forgotten.

Darby and Morgan haven’t spoken for two years, and their friend group has splintered. But when the body of their former science teacher is found in the marsh where they attended camp that summer, they realize they have more questions than answers . . . and even fewer memories.

No one remembers—or no one is talking.

The group of reunited friends begins to suspect that a murderer is stalking the coastal highway 30A, and they must try to recover their memories as quickly as possible . . . before the history they can’t remember repeats itself.

Everyone has a secret.

As tensions rise and time runs out, Darby and Morgan begin to wonder if they can believe one another… or if they can even trust themselves.

Caroline George once again transports readers with lush, evocative prose, leading them to ask the question: what happens when we can’t even trust ourselves?

My Review

Going in, this book reminded me of something in the realm of R. L. Stine books. I liked the small beach town and all the descriptions of how things smelled and felt. That made me feel really present in the story.

The simmering romance between Darby and Morgan was also really well done. I liked that it drove the story forward, though a couple times I was like omg, figure this out already, guys! Haha. Looking back I feel like it was pretty well done, though.

I think one of my pet peeves with mystery/suspense books is when adults do all the heavy lifting and kids solve the mystery in conversations with them. There were a couple of moments in the book where I would have liked to see Darby and Morgan play a more active role in collecting clues and piecing things together. They did make some major moves, though, so all the solving didn’t happen in dialogue.

I also thought the cast of friends was kind of big. There were a couple characters that I kept getting confused, and I wonder if it would have been better to combine two of them?

On the whole, though, I felt like the dynamics between the members of the group felt pretty realistic. I enjoyed reading the banter between them and the goofy things they did together.

All in all, I think this book was enjoyable. I think fans of ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen McManus will enjoy the murder mystery and friend dynamics of the book.

Content Notes for The Summer We Forgot

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A teacher’s body is found in a march and police begin a murder investigation. Someone appears to be following Darby and her friends. Darby has a traumatic memory of her brother holding her underwater when she was ten years old. A masked person attacks two boys, beating them up. Another person throws a girl into the trunk of a car. Someone jumps from a moving vehicle, injuring themselves.

Drug Content
Teens consume alcohol at a party in several scenes. Reference to smoking pot.

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 SUMMER WE FORGOT in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Forward March by Skye Quinlan

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

Forward March
Skye Quinlan
Page Street Press
Published February 1, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Forward March

What’s worse? Someone using your face for catfishing or realizing you actually do have a crush on the catfished girl?

Harper “Band Geek” McKinley just wants to make it through her senior year of marching band—and her Republican father’s presidential campaign. That was a tall order to start, but everything was going well enough until someone made a fake gay dating profile posing as Harper. The real Harper can’t afford for anyone to find out about the Tinder profile for three very important reasons:

1. Her mom is the school dean and dating profiles for students are strictly forbidden.
2. Harper doesn’t even know if she likes anyone like that—let alone if she likes other girls.
3. If this secret gets out, her father could lose the election, one she’s not sure she even wants him to win.

But upon meeting Margot Blanchard, the drumline leader who swiped right, Harper thinks it might be worth the trouble to let Margot get to know the real her.

With her dad’s campaign on the line, Harper’s relationship with her family at stake, and no idea who made that fake dating profile, Harper has to decide what’s more important to her: living her truth or becoming the First Daughter of America.

My Review

I liked a lot of things about this story. It’s the second marching band story that I’ve read recently, and I really enjoyed dipping into that world again. I also thought that, for a story about a girl whose father is running for president, the politics stayed sidelined, except for where they impacted Harper personally. It kept the story about her instead of being about politics, which I think is great.

I liked Harper as a character, too. She’s timid, especially at first, but she grows a lot through the story. She learns a lot about taking ownership of what she wants and deciding what she will do about it.

The story also explores different kinds of toxic relationships, some more obliquely, and others much more up close. Apologies if this next part is confusing– I’m trying to avoid spoilers.

So. Toxic relationships. This is where my feelings about the book are really split. On the one hand, I thought the way the story explored Harper’s relationships with her parents (and her brother’s history with them) was great. Parent relationships are complicated, and Harper’s relationships with hers are no exception. She has to learn when to challenge, when to find outside support, and when to do what they say until she graduates. Those aren’t always easy decisions. I felt her conflict, anxiety, and hurt so much through the book in those scenes with her parents.

I kind of had a problem with some of the peer relationships in FORWARD MARCH, though. Harper, especially at the beginning of the story, is a really passive character who does a lot of dangerous things to self-sabotage. She doesn’t carry her Epipen or her inhaler, instead depending on others to anticipate her need for them. And she surrounds herself by people who do exactly that and more. One girl searches Harper’s lunch plate for rogue seafood (which Harper is allergic to). While Harper thinks it’s a bit much, she’s also touched at what she feels is this girl’s protectiveness.

Conclusion

As much as Harper grows through the story, I felt like this codependent/passive behavior on her part and the controlling or hypervigilant behavior on the part of the people around her doesn’t really get addressed. She has other conflicts with her friends which also end in an unsatisfying way for me. It felt like instead of really working through an issue, she avoids her friends for a while until she feels bad that they’re still sad and then decides to be friends again.

While I think that makes sense in a high school age character, I wish there had at least been an acknowledgement of the unhealthiness of some of Harper’s actions and relationships.

All in all, I both enjoyed and struggled with things in FORWARD MARCH. I’m kind of split on this one. Readers who enjoyed GET IT TOGETHER, DELILAH by Erin Gough may like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Harper is ace and a lesbian. Margot is a lesbian. Other LGBTQ+ minor characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. Reference to explicit text messages (the content of the messages isn’t revealed).

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some homophobic and transphobic comments and behavior. Harper worries that her parents will throw her out or force her to go to conversion therapy if they learn that she’s queer. The dean of the school does not acknowledge or respect a nonbinary student’s identity. Some mentions of self-harm.

Drug Content
Some students drink beer at a bonfire. Two people (one student, one not) talk about unhealthy parts of their lives in which they drank too much alcohol and needed to get help.

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 FORWARD MARCH in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Daughter by Kate McLaughlin

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

Daughter
Kate McLaughlin
Wednesday Books
Published March 8, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Daughter

Scarlet’s life is pretty average. Overly protective mom. Great friends. Cute boy she’s interested in. And a father she’s never known – until she does.

When the FBI show up at Scarlet’s door, she is shocked to learn her father is infamous serial killer Jeffrey Robert Lake. And now, he’s dying and will only give the names and locations of his remaining victims to the one person, the daughter he hasn’t seen since she was a baby.

Scarlet’s mother has tried to protect her from Lake’s horrifying legacy, but there’s no way they can escape the media firestorm that erupts when they come out of hiding. Or the people who blame Scarlet for her father’s choices. When trying to do the right thing puts her life in danger, Scarlet is faced with a choice – go back into hiding or make the world see her as more than a monster’s daughter.

Kate McLaughlin’s DAUGHTER is a novel about trying right deadly choices that were never yours to begin with.

My Review

The thing that appealed to me about this book is its core conflict: a girl discovers her dad is a serial killer, and she may be the only person who can get the names of some of his victims and therefore bring peace and closure to their families.

One of the things I liked is that the story explores what members of the public felt about Scarlet and her mom, and how difficult that was for them. People speculated whether her mom knew or was involved in Scarlet’s dad’s crimes. They judged her and sometimes treated her as an object of fascination for her closeness to a famous killer.

I also thought the character of Scarlet’s dad was complex and seemed on point with the little bit that I’ve seen or know about killers like Ted Bundy or Aileen Wuornos.

There are a couple things I deeply struggled with in reading this book, though.

Does the book deliver on its promise to honor murder victims?

First, while I really admire that the author approached the story wanting to bring attention to the girls not strictly as victims but as people in their own right. Scarlet herself goes on a journey of trying to figure out how to draw attention to the girls themselves rather than glorifying or focusing on their deaths. It reminded me of some of the things Courtney Summers said about writing her book SADIE.

I’m not sure that I think this book succeeds in that goal, though. There are news clippings that only mention the girls in terms of how they encountered the man who murdered them. Lots of scenes reference a movie made about the killer’s life and trial. There are lots of conversations that center around what he did and why he did it. What he got out of it. How he saw the women he victimized.

I liked the idea of the news clippings being included, but I think it would have supported the author’s goal more if they focused on the girls themselves or maybe were pieces written by their families or maybe things from the girls themselves? I don’t know. It seemed more like the moral of the story was that the girls deserve to be treated differently, but the story itself didn’t really model that because so much of the story is devoted to learning about what Scarlet’s dad did and why.

Why I Reviewed the Book

If you’re familiar with my blog, you might already be surprised to see that I reviewed this book at all. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of SADIE by Courtney Summers or THE ROW by J. R. Johansson. This book really pushed my limits as far as explicit violence and sexual trauma go. I almost never quit a book, but I came very close to quitting this one.

On the whole, I think this book really wasn’t for me. If you like stories that go up close to really dark topics, like serial killers and assault, then you may really enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Scarlet’s best friend is Korean American. A couple minor characters are lesbians.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. A couple of scenes explicitly depicting sex between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content – Trigger/Content warning for sexual violence.
Multiple mentions of assault, rape, murder, and necrophilia. Some details of those events.

Drug Content
Multiple scenes show Scarlet and her friends smoking pot and drinking alcohol.

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 DAUGHTER in exchange for my honest review.

Review: A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

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

A Far Wilder Magic
Allison Saft
Wednesday Books
Published March 8, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Far Wilder Magic

When Margaret Welty spots the legendary hala, the last living mythical creature, she knows the Halfmoon Hunt will soon follow. Whoever is able to kill the hala will earn fame and riches, and unlock an ancient magical secret. If Margaret wins the hunt, it may finally bring her mother home. While Margaret is the best sharpshooter in town, only teams of two can register, and she needs an alchemist.

Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist–yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he’s landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it’s like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt – if they survive that long.

In A FAR WILDER MAGIC, Allison Saft has written an achingly tender love story set against a deadly hunt in an atmospheric, rich fantasy world that will sweep you away.



My Review

I really, really liked Allison Saft’s debut, DOWN COMES THE NIGHT, so my expectations for A FAR WILDER MAGIC were set pretty high. For the most part, I think the book delivered on my hopes. The setting feels raw and strange and a bit like a fantasy version of a tiny seaside English town.

Margaret’s character is tragic and closed, but so full. She is a closet full of emotions. Wes is awkward and charming and sometimes a bit doofy, but in a lost puppy kind of way that I found endearing. I loved his sisters, especially Mad and Colleen.

Probably the thing that I struggled with most– which is totally a me issue– is that the book is written in third person, present tense. I don’t know why I tripped over that so much, but I know it slowed me down in my reading because I kept translating it to past tense in my head and then confusing myself. It took a long time for my brain to get with the program on that one, unfortunately.

Other than that, I was pretty easily swept away by the story and characters. I liked the mythical, magical hunt, though I think I kept waiting for something else to happen with the hala, for it to turn out to be not what they expected. And I guess in some ways it wasn’t, but not in the ways I thought it might.

I thought the way the author set up different religious groups/cultures and the animosity between them was really interesting, too. It took me a long time to interpret some of the representation, but some of the clues are pretty obvious. I like the way this reviewer explains it on her Goodreads review.

On the whole, though, I really enjoyed reading it, especially for the moments of banter between characters and some of the sweet, awkward exchanges between Wes and pretty much anyone else. Ha.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up

Representation
Margaret is a Jewish-coded character, called Yu’adir in the book. Wes and his family are Banvish immigrants (kind of a fantasy version of Irish Catholic). Both experience racism and prejudice.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief reference to two men being married. One of Wes’s sisters dates girls. Kissing between a boy and girl. References to oral sex. One scene includes nudity and sex.

Spiritual Content
Margaret remembers Shabbos dinners and celebrations with her father, and longs to learn more about her heritage. Wes has been raised to believe that the hala are holy, created by God and containing part of God’s divinity, so that they should not be killed. Both their belief systems are at odds with the majority culture and religion.

Violent Content
Violence against animals and animal death. Situations of peril. Some reference to racist slurs. Two boys get into a fight more than once. Some animals are injured and killed by a magical creature. A boy is also pretty severely injured by the creature.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol socially.

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 FAR WILDER MAGIC in exchange for my honest review.