Tag Archives: Colorado

Review: Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

Of Curses and Kisses (St. Rosetta’s Academy #1)
Sandhya Menon
Simon Pulse
February 18, 2020

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About Of Curses and Kisses

The first novel in a series set at an elite international boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast.

Will the princess save the beast?

For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?

His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…

As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.

My Review

I think this is one of the books I bought during the early days of the pandemic, but it’s obviously taken me a while to finally read it. After I heard another blogger (can’t remember who it was) name OF CURSES AND KISSES as their favorite YA romance, I moved it up my TBR list. The next time I found myself needing a romance as a pick-me-up after a darker book, I reached for this one.

I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings, so I immediately loved the Beauty and the Beast storytelling in this book. I liked that there was a little bit of magic through the curse, but that it didn’t dominate the story. Another thing that I seem to generally be in favor of are grouchy boys, so I found Grey lovable right away. Despite his prickliness, I couldn’t wait to see the romance develop between him and Jaya. I think my favorite moment in the whole book, though, was when Jaya imagined telling Kiran off after receiving an email from him. I literally laughed so hard I had to put the book down.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading this book. I loved the swoony elements and the friend group around Jaya and Grey. I think readers who enjoyed BOOKISH AND THE BEAST by Ashley Poston will find similar fun and romance here.

Content Notes for Of Curses and Kisses

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Jaya and her sister are Indian royalty.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
The family lore says Jaya’s family cursed Grey’s family after his ancestor stole a ruby that belonged to the people of India and refused to return it.

Violent Content
A boy has a nightmare about falling off a mountain and a girl stomping on his hand as he tries to hold on.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at parties.

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

Review: Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Openly Straight
Bill Konigsberg
Arthur A. Levine Books
Published May 28, 2013

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Openly Straight

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He’s won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he’s gay. He’s been out since 8th grade, and he isn’t teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that’s important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret — not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate break down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben . . . who doesn’t even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate feeling different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.

My Review

This book has been on my reading list for a LONG time, but once I realized it’s by the same author as THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS, I really wanted to read it.

OPENLY STRAIGHT explores elements of identity not often explored in the YA I’ve read. It’s not just about coming out or how we sometimes distill a person’s identity down to one thing. The idea that sometimes parts of us that feel incongruent with other parts of ourselves resonated with me. Like we can’t be both those things in the same room with people in the same way at the same time.

For Rafe, mainly this had to do with how he felt other guys perceived him as an out gay kid. When he had an opportunity to connect with other boys without them knowing he was gay, he had a different experience, one that had value in a different way. I liked that as he explored that, he realized while there was a barrier between him and other guys if they knew he was gay, not telling them also created a barrier, too. Anyway, there were a lot of great ideas in and around that conflict that were definitely worth reading.

I also, of course, loved Rafe and Ben. I loved the way their friendship developed, and the fact that they had this beautiful emotional closeness. Rafe’s roommate and his best friend were lots of fun, too. I really enjoyed the banter between them.

Rafe is a messy character who’s learning a lot about himself. He has some selfish attitudes and doesn’t always do right by his friends, but the way things play out shows he’s beginning to turn a corner and pursue healthier ways to relate to people. And healthier ways to think about himself.

Conclusion

All in all, I liked this book. As I put together the links for this review, I realized that OPENLY STRAIGHT has a sequel! And it’s Ben’s point-of-view! So, I will absolutely be reading that book which is called HONESTLY BEN.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Rafe is gay and Jewish. One minor character is Black. Rafe’s best friend, Claire Olivia is Latina. Other minor characters are gay or possibly bisexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. References to sex. References to sexual touching.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to Rafe being Jewish.

Violent Content – Content warning for homophobia.
At a PFLAG dance, Rafe sees some boys who repeatedly use a homophobic slur. He witnesses another closeted gay boy being harassed and mocked.

Drug Content
Rafe and his friends drink alcohol. Rafe mentions having been high on pot once.

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

Review: These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

These Vengeful Hearts
Katherine Laurin
Inkyard Press
Published September 8, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About These Vengeful Hearts

Anyone can ask the Red Court for a favor…but every request comes at a cost. And once the deed is done, you’re forever in their debt.

Whenever something scandalous happens at Heller High, the Red Court is the name on everyone’s lips. Its members–the most elite female students in the school–deal out social ruin and favors in equal measure, their true identities a secret known only to their ruthless leader: the Queen of Hearts.

Sixteen-year-old Ember Williams has seen firsthand the damage the Red Court can do. Two years ago, they caused the accident that left her older sister paralyzed. Now, Ember is determined to hold them accountable…by taking the Red Court down from the inside.

But crossing enemy lines will mean crossing moral boundaries, too–ones Ember may never be able to come back from. She always knew taking on the Red Court would come at a price, but will the cost of revenge be more than she’s willing to sacrifice?

My Review

It took me a few chapters to get into this book. Revenge stories aren’t really something I typically enjoy, but this seemed like it might be more of a reckoning type situation rather than revenge, so I really wanted to give it a chance. Something about it reminded me of PANIC by Lauren Oliver, which I really liked.

Once I was a few chapters in, I started to get really into the story. I love the sisterly devotion between Ember and April. They respect each other’s autonomy, but they love each other and desperately want to protect each other, even when it hurts them.

I also found myself really drawn to Ember’s friendship (which I guess I use loosely?) with Haley. I liked that they have this transactional thing on the surface, but I totally sensed Haley’s loneliness and the potential for Ember and Haley to really bond over normal stuff.

As Ember gets in deeper and deeper with the Red Court, she faces some ugly truths about herself. I liked that she struggled with those parts of herself and even felt disturbed by some of the things that excited her.

On the whole, I felt like this was a pretty engrossing story– I read it in less than 24 hours– and though it explored some darker territory in terms of power and revenge, I didn’t feel like it glorified revenge.

I think fans of PANIC by Lauren Oliver or SOME GIRLS ARE by Courtney Summers should definitely put this one on their reading lists.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ember’s best friend, Gideon, is Korean and gay. Ember’s sister is paraplegic.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two adults having an affair.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Ember’s sister was injured in an accident which caused a broken femur and a broken spine and left her unable to walk. The story includes some brief descriptions of that accident.

Drug Content
Ember and a friend swipe glasses of wine at an art gala. Ember takes a sip of beer at a house party where other teens are drinking.

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

About Katherine Laurin

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Katherine Laurin lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, and tiny dog. When she’s not writing, Katherine enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, and listening to true crime podcasts. These Vengeful Hearts is her first young adult novel.

Review: Hope is a Dangerous Place by Jim Baton

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , , , , ,

Hope is a Dangerous Place
Jim Baton
Published February 5, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Hope is a Dangerous Place

Seventy-five years ago, fifteen-year-old Hope McCormick disappeared. To remember her, the newly incorporated town was named “Hope.” When high school friends Kelsey and Harmonie begin looking into this unsolved mystery, they discover that someone will do anything to make sure the town’s secrets never come to light. Which neighbors are allies, and which face masks a violent enemy? And what will it take for their struggling town to fulfill its original destiny of hope?

My Review

The thing that drew me to HOPE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE was the idea that the town is named Hope and the whole mystery of her disappearance and its affect on the town so many years later. I think I was looking for a kind of ON THE JELLICOE ROAD-slash-THE HUNDRED LIES OF LIZZIE LOVETT kind of story? Or maybe, on the spiritual side, something reminiscent of Frank Peretti’s THIS PRESENT DARKNESS?

I liked that the story has multiple narrators that tell some of the things happening behind the scenes. Lots of the narrators are adults, though, and many times those characters take the actions that cause major events in the story to happen. The teen characters– Kelsey and Harmonie– often stay interested but passive players in the story that’s unfolding around them.

The town is interesting– it definitely has that closed-circle, small-town feel that reminded me of Ashton in THIS PRESENT DARKNESS. I thought the pursuit of the missing girl helped to keep the story moving forward, but sometimes things unfolded in a weird way. At one point a character discovers a death in her family while taking a walk past a relative’s house– I guess that could happen, it just seemed weird the way it played out. Sometimes deeply sad things would happen and it didn’t seem like they really had a lasting effect on the characters, which made them feel shallow to me.

The cast is fairly diverse, which was really nice to see. I don’t really have any expertise on representation being good or bad, but something felt weird to me in some moments. Like there are a couple moments where the black characters kind of stop everything and have this big gratitude response to the white characters. I don’t know. Something about it just felt… icky… to me.

Like, one girl discovers that in the town’s past, a white man broke up a lynch mob gathering to murder a black man, and then the black community starts gifting food to the grandson of the guy and talking about how they owe him a debt of gratitude. Breaking up a lynch mob definitely sounds like a brave thing to do, but it’s also the right thing? The response of the people seemed a little over the top. I don’t know. Again, I’m no expert on representation, but it felt weird to me.

I don’t think the author meant to create disparity between the white and black or white and Latino communities in the story, but I felt like there were some unequal relationships and situations. It made me wonder if the author had had black or Latino sensitivity readers? Maybe so, and maybe I’m off in my perceptions. I can only speak to how it affected me.

I wouldn’t really say that HOPE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE is young adult fiction, even though there are a couple of teen narrators. I think this is really adult lit. It’s got a lot of Christian content but some swearing and drinking, so I imagine it’s hard to put it solidly into one genre or another.

On the whole, there were some things I enjoyed about the story and some things I found problematic.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Harmonie is black. Kelsey and Harmonie’s teacher is Latina. Other minor characters are Latino and black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a man who solicits a woman thinking she’s a prostitute.

Spiritual Content
Characters attend church and prayer services. Those scenes often relate the sermon being preached. Some discussions about the presence of angels and demons. One minor character offers to contact a dead spirit and comments on a girl’s aura.

Violent Content
Some references to abuse by a parent and by a law officer. An unknown person makes a creepy threat to the girls using a doll. Someone starts a fire in a building the girls are in. References to a lynch mob and a police officer who shot a man after claiming he tried to escape custody.

Drug Content
More than one adult in the story drinks a lot of alcohol. One character is a recovered alcoholic.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of HOPE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Eye of Ra by Ben Gartner

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

The Eye of Ra
Ben Gartner
Crescent Vista Press
Published February 1, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About The Eye of Ra

Exploring a mysterious cave in the mountains behind their house, John and his sister Sarah are shocked to discover they’ve time traveled to ancient Egypt!

Now they must work together to find a way back home from an ancient civilization of golden desert sand and a towering new pyramid, without parents to save them. The adventures abound—cobras, scorpions, a tomb robber, and more! The two kids have to trust each other, make friends who can help, and survive the challenges thrown at them . . . or be stuck in ancient Egypt forever.

For readers graduating from the Magic Treehouse series and ready for intense action, dive into this middle grade novel rich with meticulous historical detail.

My Review

I feel like books about time travel to ancient civilizations are really nostalgic for me because I used to really love a movie like that when I was little, so I was excited to read THE EYE OF RA for that reason.

It’s a cute story– brother and sister with really different personalities find themselves tossed into life in ancient Egypt and trying to figure out how to get home. I liked that Sarah is the adventurous one and John is the more structured, introverted one. I feel like lots of stories would have had those personalities reversed, so I thought it was kind of fun to see it this way.

Disclaimer: I know very little about ancient Egypt and the construction of the pyramids, so I can’t really speak to the historical accuracy there. I did find it a little odd that the characters from ancient Egypt still spoke in a modern way and the relationship between the husband and wife as well as between the parents and children was very modern. That part of it felt a little more like a Fred Flintstone version of ancient life, if that makes sense?

I thought it was cool that John and Sarah meet someone in ancient Egypt who face one of the same difficulties they face (moving far away) and that it made them consider elements of the move that they hadn’t considered before.

The ending seemed a little abrupt to me. I would have liked the kids to have been more actively involved in solving the mystery. At the start, they’re very much taking ownership of locating the thief and solving the crime, and I liked that– I wanted that energy to continue through the end of the book.

Overall, I thought it was a fun read that would be enjoyable for middle elementary school readers, like maybe third to fifth grade.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 10.

Representation
Sarah and John are white and the other kids are Egyptian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Reference to a kiss between Sarah and a boy.

Spiritual Content
References to Egyptian mythology – the god Ra and others.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: When Mountains Move by Julie Cantrell

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Historical, New Adult 18up, , , , , , , ,

When Mountains Move
Julie Cantrell
David C. Cook / Thomas Nelson

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Millie and Bump set off for Colorado and a new life together. Leaving Mississippi is all Millie ever wanted, but it seems the dark memories she thought to escape have followed her. With the memory of what Bill Miller did still hanging over her, Millie isn’t sure she can ever accept her husband’s love, and she’s not sure the past will stay buried long enough for her to try.

As Millie’s new life begins to unravel, her Choctaw grandmother arrives. She anchors Millie with the roots of family and tradition and teaches her the healing power of forgiveness.

Just like Cantrell’s debut, Into the Free, this novel bursts with beautiful narrative. Millie’s experiences are achingly real and deeply moving. Her grandmother, Oka, stands as my favorite character. As I’d hoped after reading Into the Free, the story revisits a part of the earlier tale that happened too fast to be satisfying to me. Millie’s able to get some closure and to explain more of what was in her head in those tumultuous moments.

Additionally, though, there’s a plot element that unfolds that didn’t feel so well resolved. I don’t want to spoil the story, but it felt like one of those “just trust me” sorts of resolutions, and I think I expected more from the story which had so many other intricate conflicts. I did enjoy the ending and I’m glad I read more of Millie’s tale. The Colorado setting felt incredible realistic in all its rugged, frontier power. I loved Cantrell’s descriptions of Millie’s relationship with her horse, too.

See below for the content breakdown. This is a new adult story, exploring the first few years of a troubled marriage and Millie’s healing after a sexual assault.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content – and Trigger Warnings
Millie has flashbacks to the afternoon she was raped. There are snippets of sharp detail, things like her remembering the way her dress tore, or him tearing into her. Millie experiences triggers in her relationship with Bump and has to navigate those moments. We know after they are married that they are intimate. The descriptions are vague, usually hinting at coming intimacy with things like him unbuttoning her nightgown and then leaving off to begin a new scene. Millie’s struggle to connect with her husband is a significant part of the story, though. While graphic sex isn’t described, her relationship to this part of her life is one of the biggest conflicts in the story.

Spiritual Content
Millie and Bump share their faith about God being able to move mountains. Millie remembers scriptures shared with her by her mother. She prays often, especially in times of peril and need.

Oka, Millie’s Choctaw grandmother visits her and shares some traditions with Millie. She cleanses the house, for example. Millie respects the significance of this ritual.

There’s a brief mention of Millie’s conversation with Babushka, an elderly palm reader she knew in Mississippi. Millie never had her palm read, but the woman seemed to see into her soul and tell Millie things she needed to hear.

Violent Content
Rumors spread about a traveling man and his connection to two murders. When the man begins working for Bump, Millie fears for their safety. Millie learns about the night her grandmother was violently attacked and her grandfather killed. Two men get into a fist fight. A man is killed by a mountain lion. Millie witnesses the attack and others come with her to recover the man’s remains.

Drug Content
Millie remembers how damaging morphine use was to her mother.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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