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Review: A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

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A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

A Fragile Enchantment
Allison Saft
Wednesday Books
Published January 30, 2024

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About A Fragile Enchantment

In this romantic fantasy of manners from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft, a magical dressmaker commissioned for a royal wedding finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom.

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

My Review

I’ve been a fan of Allison Saft’s books since her debut, DOWN COMES THE NIGHT. She is so good at delivering intricate story worlds and complicated characters navigating some kind of mysterious circumstances. In A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT, a tailor who can imbue the clothes she makes with magic and a younger prince fight their growing attraction to one another as an entire kingdom seems ready to crumble around them.

It’s got a bit of a grumpy vs. sunshine vibe, which I really enjoyed. The story also explores chronic illness and addiction pretty openly. Neither of those is often explored in fantasy novels, so that was nice to see.

The romantic arc absolutely hooked me. I read this book in two sessions because I really could not stop thinking about it and needed to know how it would end. I loved the directions the story took, especially the ones I hadn’t anticipated. There were a couple of times that things took me by surprise. That was fun.

All in all, I had a fabulous time reading this book, and I’m as big an Allison Saft fan as ever. I’m already excited about whatever story she has coming up next. I think fans of Kiera Cass would like this book a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Regency-England inspired. Some people groups seem to be inspired by Spanish or Irish people. The main character had a past relationship with a girl. Some characters are interested in same-sex relationships, but it’s stigmatized in their society. One character is an alcoholic in recovery. Another is chronically ill.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls. One scene contains explicit sexual content.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. This is passed down in families from the old days when the Fair Ones walked among people.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One character can control plants and threatens violence through them. Another can control lightning and tries to kill someone.

Drug Content
One character is a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for a year. In several scenes, people around him drink alcohol. Sometimes, people make disparaging remarks about his drinking or assume he is drunk again.

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 FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

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The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman
Gennifer Choldenko
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published June 11, 2024

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About The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman

Readers will be rooting for a happy ending for Hank in Newbery-Honor-winner Gennifer Choldenko’s gripping story of a boy struggling to hold his family together when his mom doesn’t come home.

When eleven-year-old Hank’s mom doesn’t come home, he takes care of his toddler sister, Boo, like he always does. But it’s been a week now. They are out of food and mom has never stayed away this long… Hank knows he needs help, so he and Boo seek out the stranger listed as their emergency contact.

But asking for help has consequences. It means social workers, and a new school, and having to answer questions about his mom that he’s been trying to keep secret. And if they can’t find his mom soon, Hank and Boo may end up in different foster homes–he could lose everything.

Gennifer Choldenko has written a heart-wrenching, healing, and ultimately hopeful story about how complicated family can be. About how you can love someone, even when you can’t rely on them. And about the transformative power of second chances.

My Review

This book is as good as everyone says it is. Every review I’ve seen has raved about how full of heart and unbelievably fabulous this book is.

Well. It really is! Oh my gosh. Hank’s relationship with his little sister Boo is the absolute sweetest. He takes care of her so attentively. They have these little rhymes or songs they do together, rituals that he uses to comfort her or help her settle.

After he takes Boo to a family friend’s house to wait for his mom to return, the story really kicks into high gear. Hank has a challenging relationship with his new caregiver, who keeps referring to him (age eleven) as a teenager in a way that leaves no doubt she’s got some baggage or past trauma somewhere in there. Their relationship makes so much sense, though. Sometimes Hank does kid things, and she reacts as if he’s deliberately trying to be hurtful. It’s not all bad, though. She is an excellent caregiver for Boo and helps Hank regear their relationship into one more appropriate to siblings rather than child and caregiver.

Hank is awesome, too. He draws pictures, plays basketball, and skateboards. I could see him being a really relatable character at a lot of levels.

I thought the story did a great job showing some of the big feelings that kids experience in a family in crisis and some of the layers to those feelings. Hank shuts people out, not wanting to connect since he doesn’t know how long he’ll be with his caregiver. He holds his anger close. Because his ability to trust adults (starting with his mom) has been broken, he has a really hard time trusting the other adults in his life. His behavior felt pretty realistic.

I can easily see why so many people love this book. I felt like I flew through the pages and could not stop reading. If you enjoyed Kyra Just for Today by Sara Zarr, definitely check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Hank enters the foster care system shortly after the book begins. His mom is an alcoholic. He has a diverse group of school friends and is close to a Latine family.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to someone getting a divorce in the past. References to Hank’s mom’s past boyfriends.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone has gotten in a car accident (off scene), and the car shows the damage still. A toddler sits in the back seat of a car without a car seat. A drunk person attempts to operate a vehicle with children inside it. A caregiver abandons children at a store.

Drug Content
Hank sees his mom drink alcohol. In one scene, she’s very drunk. At one point, he tries to reconcile her behavior and her statements about it. He rationalizes that every adult drinks sometimes. It doesn’t mean his mom has a problem. It sounds like he’s regurgitating things that his mom has said about her drinking. He can’t escape the knowledge that when she drinks, she doesn’t take care of him or Boo very well.

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 Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

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

The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky
Josh Galarza
Henry Holt & Co.
Published July 23, 2024

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About The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky

Perfect for fans of Mark Oshiro and Adam Silvera comes a fiercely funny and hopeful story of one boy’s attempts to keep everything under control while life has other plans.

Ever since cancer invaded his adoptive mother’s life, Brett feels like he’s losing everything, most of all control. To cope, Brett fuels all of his anxieties into epic fantasies, including his intergalactic Kid Condor comic book series, which features food constellations and characters not unlike those in his own life.

But lately Brett’s grip on reality has started to lose its hold. The fictions he’s been telling himself – about his unattractive body, the feeling that he’s a burden to his best friend, that he’s too messed up to be loved – have consumed him completely, and Brett will do anything to forget about the cosmic-sized hole in his chest, even if it’s unhealthy.

But when Brett’s journal and deepest insecurities are posted online for the whole school to see, Brett realizes he can no longer avoid the painful truths of his real-life narrative. As his eating disorder escalates, Brett must be honest with the people closest to him, including his new and fierce friend Mallory who seems to know more about Brett’s issues than he does. With their support, he just might find the courage to face the toughest reality of all.

My Review

This is an uncomfortable read. I don’t say that as a bad thing. One of the most important things literature can do is give us safe spaces to experience discomfort. By safe, I don’t mean that reading can’t be triggering– I know it can. Reading a book about physical danger is very different from experiencing that physical danger. (See content warnings below for possible triggers. Take care where needed.)

The story begins with Brett’s drunk-n-drive-thru routine. He’s been drinking the vodka he stashed in his room at his old house, and an Uber driver takes him through several drive-thru lines before dropping him off at one of his favorite scenic overlooks.

As the story progresses, we learn that Brett’s adoptive mom was diagnosed with cancer. He’s moved to his best friend’s house, and his best friend’s dad is now his guardian. Brett seems to be in a freefall. He’s trying to understand why he eats so much, but he’s so consumed with shame about it that he almost can’t even go there at all. It’s heartbreaking.

About halfway through the book, he becomes friends with a girl he’s heard people make fun of for years. She’s further ahead on her self-acceptance journey and takes him under her wing. There’s a little bit of a manic-pixie-dream-girl feel to her character, though the story subverts some parts of the stereotype. She’s a sort of all-knowing, wiser, chaotic artist who pulls Brett along and shows him a different way to think about his body.

Of course, things get much worse before they get better, and we go to those dark places with Brett, feeling his deep hurts and the weight of his shame. This is a really emotional book, but there’s so much heart on every page. It’s hard to believe this is a debut.

Older fans of Jarrett Lerner’s A Work in Progress or books that explore trauma, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, will find this a gripping read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Brett is Mexican American (the just right word he uses is mestizo). Another character is queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Lots of profanity. References to racist comments. Fatphobic comments.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brett ogles a girl and draws a sexy cartoon character based on her body. (He realizes this is wrong.) A girl undresses in front of Brett while doing an art project involving making prints of her body.

Spiritual Content
The mythic stories in Brett’s life that most impact him are the ones he wrote himself about a superhero and constellations in the sky. The constellation that represents his hero is called the Great Cool Ranch Dorito.

Violent Content
Some scenes explicitly show Brett experiencing symptoms of disordered eating, such as binging and purging. Other characters confess to anorexia and bulimia. Two boys break into school after hours to distribute copies of an anonymous comic book. Two boys fight each other. A boy is injured when a trampoline spring breaks.

Drug Content
Brett drinks vodka, which he keeps hidden in his room in his old house.

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: Constellations by Kate Glasheen

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Constellations
Kate Glasheen
Holiday House
Published May 23, 2023

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About Constellations

A debut graphic novel about a queer teen living in the margins who is determined to find their way ahead.

Are you supposed to be a boy or a girl?

It’s a question that follows Claire everywhere. Inescapable on the street, in school, and even at home. A black hole forever trying to pull them in. But as long as they have ride-or-die best friend Greg at their side and a drink in their hand, everything will be okay. Right?

Except, Claire can never have just one drink. And when harassment at school reaches a fever pitch, Claire begins a spiral that ends in court-ordered rehab. Feeling completely lost, Claire is soon surrounded by a group of new friends and, with the help of a patient counselor, finds a space to unpack all the bad they’ve experienced. But as Claire’s release gets closer so does the Can Claire stay sober and true in a world seemingly never made for them?

Set in 1980s Troy, New York, Constellations is a portrait of a queer teen living in the margins but determined to find their way ahead. Done in watercolor and ink, debut author-artist Kate Glasheen has created a world where strong lines meet soft color, and raw emotions meet deep thought in this story of hope, humor, and survival.

“A unique journey that doesn’t turn away from hard truths; courageously honest and vulnerable.”—Iasmin Omar Ata, the Ignatz Award winning creator of Mis(h)adra.

My Review

What a moving story. At the beginning, we meet Claire and get a view of the town, which has kind of shrunk in on itself following factory closures. There are people Claire once felt connected to that aren’t here anymore. I love the those people and missing things are drawing as though they’re on a piece of notebook paper that’s been torn out of a notebook. Like pages ripped out of a journal– perhaps the one we see Claire sketching in from time to time. I thought that whole idea was really clever.

A lot of the story takes place while Claire is in rehab. I liked the way those chapters were presented, too. It felt like going on the journey with Claire and peeling back layers of why this happened. Why alcohol? Why is it so hard to stop? What are you running from? I felt like the way the story unfolded really drew me into those questions and made me feel Claire wrestling with the answers.

Overall, I think CONSTELLATIONS contains some powerful visual storytelling, and I’m really excited that I got to read it. I hope this author writes a lot more.

Content Notes

Brief depiction of sexual assault and references to abuse. Alcoholism and addiction.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Claire has questions about gender identity. Neither of the labels “boy” or “girl” are a good fit. Claire is also an alcoholic. Other characters have addictions to drugs and alcohol and are attending rehab.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A couple of girls kiss Claire.

At one point, a group of boys begin taunting Claire and one grabs Claire’s groin.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy in the rehab program talks about how his father beats him. Others describe emotional abuse or neglect. These are brief descriptions. Panels show teens fighting a couple of times.

Claire remembers an instance in which a nun forced Claire to stand outside in front of others with no pants on.

Drug Content
At the start of the story, Claire drinks alcohol at every opportunity. Claire shares the number of family members who are also alcoholic. At rehab, others share their addictions. Some of the rehab participants return to using drugs or alcohol after they leave the program.

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 CONSTELLATIONS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Last One to Fall by Gabriella Lepore

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

Last One to Fall
Gabriella Lepore
Inkyard Press
Published May 9, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Last One to Fall

Six friends. Five suspects. One murder.

Savana Caruso and Jesse Melo have known each other since they were kids, so when Jesse texts Savana in the middle of the night and asks her to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse, she doesn’t hesitate. But before Savana can find Jesse, she bears witness to a horrifying murder, standing helpless on the ground as a mysterious figure is pushed out of the fourth floor of the warehouse. 

Six teens were there that night, and five of them are now potential suspects. With the police circling, Savana knows what will happen if the wrong person is charged, particularly once she starts getting threatening anonymous text messages.

As she attempts to uncover the truth, Savana learns that everyone is keeping secrets—and someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep those secrets from coming to light.

My Review

I liked a lot of things about this book. First, I liked that the murder doesn’t happen until later in the story. This creates a lot of time for the reader to get to know the person who’s killed, and to get to see the dynamics in the friend group in action. I can’t remember if I’ve read another murder mystery like that before. I can really only think of stories in which the person is murdered either before the story begins or very near to the beginning. So I thought that was a cool, different way to tell this particular story.

The friend group also had some interesting dynamics. I guess the downside of telling a friend group story like this is that it makes for a large cast to introduce all at the beginning. Once I grasped the relationships between the characters, though, I felt like I was able to follow things pretty quickly.

In terms of the mystery– I can honestly say I kept thinking I had it figured out, and I definitely didn’t. I liked that there were clues I could look back at and recognize after I knew what to look for. So that was nicely done, I thought.

I liked the romantic moments, too. It made sense why the characters kind of danced around each other for so long, and I think it also added to my anticipation of seeing them finally work things out between them.

On the whole, I think fans of Diana Urban or Karen McManus will find a fast-paced mystery with a splash of romance in LAST ONE TO FALL.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Jesse’s friend Freddie is Black. Jesse’s dad is an alcoholic.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Brief sexual assault in one scene when a boy forces himself on a girl, kissing her against her will.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A girl witnesses a person’s fatal fall from a fourth story window. Boys get into a fist fight. In one scene, two boys attack another boy, beating him up. A boy and girl fight, and his behavior certainly has some red flags for abuse. He’s controlling, jealous, and grabs her arm at one point.

Drug Content
School officials find steroids in the locker of one of Jesse’s friends and expel him. Teens drink alcohol 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 LAST ONE TO FALL in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

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Once Was Lost
Sara Zarr
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published on October 1, 2009

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Once Was Lost
Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. But her mother is in rehab, and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. And when a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, her already-worn thread of faith begins to unravel.

Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor’s kid, it’s hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam’s personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel.

In her third novel, acclaimed author Sara Zarr examines the coexistence of affliction and hope, and what happens when everything you thought you believed—about God, about your family, about yourself—is transformed.

My Review
Once Was Lost has been on my reading list for years. I kind of have no excuse for taking so long to get to it, because it’s not a long book, and it’s exactly the kind of story I love—someone in a difficult place desperately trying to do the right thing anyway. I loved that about Sam. She makes some choices that get her into trouble, but I never doubted that her heart was good and never wavered in wanting to know how her story ended.

Perhaps it’s a little unexpected to find a book in mainstream literature with such strong spiritual themes. I loved the way Zarr handled the descriptions of the small town and the church people. She made them real and gave them real problems without vilifying them. I also loved the way she let us into Sam’s struggles about her faith and her disappointment about what youth group was like. Sam expected this joyous, close-knit community, and instead, she felt distant from the other participants. That war between appearances and genuine connection totally resonated with me thinking back to my own youth group days. It felt so very right on.

All in all, I loved this book. I think it’s a great read for Christian kids who may be facing the same kinds of struggles Sam is but also for kids who don’t share Sam’s upbringing or faith. It’s a great window into what church life can be like with its ups and downs. And ultimately, this story is about self-discovery and personal growth and healing. You don’t need to have faith for those messages to matter. I highly recommend this one.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white. The story takes place in a small California town.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One instance of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
As pastor’s daughter, Sam and her family feel a lot of pressure to behave in certain ways. Sam feels like she can’t be honest about doubts she’s having, and when others have significant spiritual experiences, they expect her to be as thrilled about them as they are. Sam wrestles with her faith in a genuine, sensitive way. The church is depicted as a group of well-meaning, even if sometimes hurtful, people. While Sam’s faith isn’t the focal point of the story, her wrestling with doubts does have a meaningful resolution.

Violent Content
While Jody is missing, people speculate about what may have happened to her. The story doesn’t give any details about what goes on during her captivity, but it obviously traumatized her.

Drug Content
Sam’s mom spends much of the book in a rehab program for alcoholics. Sam remembers different events where her mom’s alcoholism interfered with family life or caused other problems. Sam knows her two best friends have gone out with other kids to have a beer at a party, but she’s never invited along, and they don’t tell her about it directly.