Tag Archives: disability

Review: Carving Shadows into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
Carving Shadows into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer

Carving Shadows into Gold (Forging Silver into Stars #2)
Brigid Kemmerer
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published January 28, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Carving Shadows into Gold

Dangerous magic. Fateful choices. Broken promises.

The King’s Courier Tycho has made a treacherous bargain. Now beholden to the magical scraver who saved King Gray’s life, one false move could end everything.

Jax escaped his life in Briarlock and traveled with Tycho to Emberfall. But life outside his small village brings unexpected challenges–and unlikely adversaries.

After years of hating the royal family and their magic, Callyn never expected to be at the Queen’s side, with magic on her fingertips. But at the royal court, she can’t trust anyone–including the man she thought she loved.

Cast apart, Tycho, Jax, and Callyn must learn to wield the magic that is dividing their kingdom. As the magical scravers attack from the north and the king’s rivals gain strength, time is running out.

War is looming. Love is tested. And magic could be the only answer. . .

My Review

The second book in the Cursebreakers series spinoff continues with the story of Tycho (King Grey’s courier), Jax (a blacksmith), and Callyn (one of Grey’s daughter’s ladies-in-waiting). I think it picks up pretty soon after Forging Silver Into Stars, the first book in the series, leaves off, with Tycho and Jax heading to Emberfall and Callyn settling into her new life as a lady’s maid.

I think all the characters are supposed to be eighteen or nineteen, so this reads more like a crossover book (adult fiction with crossover appeal to teen readers) than a young adult novel. All three characters have full-time work roles and are responsible for themselves as adults.

I like all three point-of-view characters, and I enjoy that this story is Cursebreakers adjacent, with scenes involving Grey, Lia Mara, Rhen, and Harper. Some of the events in the books have soured me a bit on Grey as a character, so at times, it was hard for me to feel the admiration that I thought I was supposed to feel for him.

The romance between Jax and Tycho develops more, and the plot leaves room for them to pine for one another. I like that the story allows Tycho to examine how he avoids connection with people and why he makes those choices. Callyn also experiences some romance. I appreciated how that part of the plot revealed that things aren’t always what they seem.

This book made me want to reread A Curse So Dark and Lonely. The structure of retelling a fairytale in that book felt so compelling when I read it. I think I want to revisit that feeling again– the fantasy landscape and romance with the added fairytale elements.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. A couple of scenes include explicit sexual contact.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. In certain circumstances, magic can be used to control others, which causes a lot of fear. Scravers are humanlike with wings, sharp claws, and long fangs. They have their own magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes in which people sustain serious or fatal injuries. Soldiers spar with one another. One higher-ranking soldier repeatedly injures someone who is trying to learn to defend herself. While a couple of characters appear shocked or dismayed by this behavior, nobody calls it out as abusive. For a while, the solution seems to be to magically heal the character’s wounds, and then she returns to get beat up the next day.

There are a couple of vague references to sexual assault that happened to one character long before the story began. If this is the only book you read, you might not even know what they were discussing because it’s pretty vague. If you remember conversations from earlier books about this character, you would know what they were referring to.

A character kisses someone without consent, and there’s a moment when the character worries that the kisser won’t stop. It doesn’t go further, and the person apologizes for misreading the situation and for not asking for consent before kissing.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol. Some get drunk and do regrettable things.

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: Joined at the Joints Marissa Eller

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

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

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Joined at the Joints

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

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

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

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

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

My Review

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

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

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

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

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

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

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

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

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

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

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

Review: Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, , , , , , , , , , ,

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space
Amanda Leduc
Coach House Books
Published March 3, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Disfigured

In fairy tales, happy endings are the norm—as long as you’re beautiful and walk on two legs. After all, the ogre never gets the princess. And since fairy tales are the foundational myths of our culture, how can a girl with a disability ever think she’ll have a happy ending?

By examining the ways that fairy tales have shaped our expectations of disability, DISFIGURED will point the way toward a new world where disability is no longer a punishment or impediment but operates, instead, as a way of centering a protagonist and helping them to cement their own place in a story, and from there, the world. Through the book, Leduc ruminates on the connections we make between fairy tale archetypes—the beautiful princess, the glass slipper, the maiden with long hair lost in the tower—and tries to make sense of them through a twenty-first-century disablist lens.

From examinations of disability in tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen through to modern interpretations ranging from Disney to Angela Carter, and the fight for disabled representation in today’s media, Leduc connects the fight for disability justice to the growth of modern, magical stories, and argues for increased awareness and acceptance of that which is other—helping us to see and celebrate the magic inherent in different bodies.

My Review

I heard about this book years ago from booktuber Jesse on YouTube, who read and recommended it. Sadly, it took me a long time to actually read the book myself, but I finally have! And I’m so glad I did.

This book explores fairytales through the lens of what it’s like to read them as a person with disabilities. The author not only shares her own experience as a girl with cerebral palsy, but she also quotes and shares stories of other writers and activists with disabilities as they share their own experiences as well.

One of the things I found the most impactful about DISFIGURED was seeing different fairytale characters and stories from this perspective. There were many things I hadn’t considered or was unaware of. It helped to break things down into tropes and themes and look at what those ideas say about the value or morality of those characters and through the characters the people represented.

For example, the author talks about how often in fairytales, characters with disabilities fall into two categories. Either they are noble characters whose disabilities become reversed because they were pure of heart or brave or noble. Or the disability is supposed to be evidence of an internal evil that remains a static part of the character’s nature.

There’s also some commentary about the differences in the roles of women versus men in fairytales, too. I enjoyed that a lot.

All in all, DISFIGURED is a really thoughtful book that explores familiar fairytales, where they came from, and what they teach us about who we are and what society should be. And asks whether we agree with those lessons and, if not, what we will do about it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The author has Cerebral Palsy. She quotes other disabled writers and activists.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very infrequent extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to fairytale romance/weddings. Leduc recounts an early version of what became the Sleeping Beauty fairytale in which a maiden pricks her finger on a flax seed and falls into a magical sleep. A traveling king sees her and is so overcome with lust that he rapes her (not described in any detail). The author points out that the story never addresses the king’s behavior as problematic, wrong, or illegal.

The author references an essay written by a man with disabilities who openly talks about hiring sex workers to meet his personal needs. (No details beyond this.)

Spiritual Content
Discusses the origins of the fairy godmother/fairies in fairytales. Examines the Christian (Calvinist, in the case of the Grimm Brothers) roots or edits to many fairytales in subsequent editions. Mentions of magic in stories.

In one tale, the devil tricks a man into promising his daughter to him. The girl thwarts the bargain several times.

Violent Content
References to some gory elements of especially early fairytales. Cinderella’s stepsisters mutilate their feet to fit into her shoe. The evil queen in Snow White is forced to dance in red-hot metal shoes until she dies at the tale’s end. See romantic content.

The author also discusses the changeling myths and how people would leave their babies or young children in the snow to die of exposure if they believed the baby was a changeling. She briefly tells a story about a man who burned his wife to death. He claimed she’d been replaced by a changeling after an illness.

Drug Content
Mentions of magical potions or poisoned fruit.

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

Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Gathering Blue (The Giver Quartet #2)
Lois Lowry
HMH Books for Young Readers
Published September 25, 2000

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Gathering Blue

Lois Lowry’s Gathering Blue continues the quartet beginning with the quintessential dystopian novel, The Giver, followed by Messenger and Son.

Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a task that no other community member can do. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world and see what places exist beyond.

My Review

I thought that I’d read this book before, but either I did and have zero memory of it, or I’m mixing this one up with a different book. At any rate, I decided after listening to THE GIVER on audiobook that I would try to read the whole series this year. GATHERING BLUE is the second book in that series, though it doesn’t appear to connect to THE GIVER in any obvious way.

The first few chapters have some intensity to them. Kira has just come from a grief ritual honoring her mother, who has died. Upon her return to her village, she learns a powerful woman named Vandara intends to have Kira put to death so she and the other village women can have the land where Kira and her mother lived. Kira expertly navigates a conflict with Vandara, turning what could have become a violent confrontation into a visit to the elders for counsel.

I liked Kira’s character. In addition to being smart, she’s artistic and kind. Her mind whirs with patterns and ideas for embroidery. She takes care of a young boy named Matt and his little dog. I enjoyed the scenes getting to know her.

The Series So Far

The only issue I have with the book is kind of the same issue I had with THE GIVER. There’s a point in the story in which a minor character reveals something super important to Kira. She’s a passive observer. I wish that she uncovered that knowledge herself somehow, instead of waiting quietly and wondering.

The book kind of ends in a weird place, too. It’s unclear what Kira will do with her new knowledge. The third book in the series, THE MESSENGER, tells the story of the boy Kira cared for, though he is older at the start of that story. I’m hoping that book will address some of my unanswered questions.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Kira was born with a twisted leg and walks with a limp. She has chronic pain from her leg. Disability in Kidlit posted a review about how the story handles her disability..

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kira carries a small scrap of fabric that she has embroidered in her pocket. The scrap seems to have a kind of magic to it– warning her before something bad happens or reassuring her when things will work out okay.

Violent Content
A group of women surround Kira, several holding stones, in a tense confrontation that teeters on the edge of violence. Kira worries about the woods and field where beasts prowl. Her mother and a village elder told Kira her father was killed by beasts on a hunt with the other men.

Drug Content
Kira wonders if someone was poisoned.

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

Review: Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle

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

Conditions of a Heart
Bethany Mangle
Margaret K. Mc Elderry Books
Published February 20, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Conditions of a Heart

For fans of Talia Hibbert and Lynn Painter comes a funny and unflinchingly honest story about a teen who must come to terms with her disability and what it means for her identity, her love life, and her future.

Brynn Kwan is desperate for her high school persona to be real. That Brynn is head of the yearbook committee, the favorite for prom queen, and definitely not crumbling from a secret disability that’s rapidly wearing her down. If no one knows the truth about her condition, Brynn doesn’t have to worry about the pitying looks or accusations of being a faker that already destroyed her childhood friendships. She’s even willing to let go of her four-year relationship with her first love, Oliver, rather than reveal that a necessary surgery was the reason she ignored his existence for the entire summer.

But after Brynn tries to break up a fight at a pep rally and winds up barred from all her clubs and senior prom, she has nothing left to prop up her illusion of being just like everyone else. During a week-long suspension from school, she realizes that she doesn’t quite recognize the face in the mirror—and it’s not because of her black eye from the fight. With a healthy sister who simply doesn’t understand and a confused ex-boyfriend who won’t just take a hint and go away like a normal human being, Brynn begins to wonder if it’s possible to reinvent her world by being the person she thought no one herself.

My Review

One of the things that this book does so expertly is beginning in the middle. Brynn and Oliver have broken up. Brynn has crafted an entire pretend identity in which she isn’t disabled because she had some terrible experiences when the people around her knew about her health issues. We walk immediately into Brynn’s careful house-of-cards life with just enough time to understand what’s happening and why before the whole castle crumbles around her.

Another thing that I thought was really cool is Brynn’s relationship with her dad. He has the same condition she does, so he’s able to understand and empathize with her in a way that her mom and sister can’t, even though they want to help her.

Brynn has a really interesting character growth arc, too. At the beginning of the book, she’s convinced that keeping her medical diagnosis a secret will make her relationships with her peers less complicated and more stable. As the story progresses, though, she begins to see how many doors she closes by choosing to keep her disability secret (a choice that several characters are careful to point out is hers to make). It takes a lot for her to begin to imagine what a different life could look like, but once she does imagine it, she pushes up her sleeves and starts the work of trying to make that life happen.

All in all, I found this book to be a thoughtful, funny, and endearing story. I loved the romance elements, and the way the family and friend relationships impacted the story and grew through its telling. I think fans of EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY by Abigail Johnson would really enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Brynn has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She’s biracial– white and Asian American. Her best friend is a lesbian and Latine.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy hits another boy and a girl. Some bullying and ableist comments.

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 CONDITIONS OF A HEART in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Fall 2023 Backlist Check-in

Lists, News and Fun, , , , , , ,

Welcome to my second seasonal back-list reading check-in! So far, I love this format to talk about my backlist reading. I started this post right after I published the last one, and as I finished reading a backlist title, I added it to the list.

Like last time, my list is pretty eclectic. I read a parenting book, the diary of Anne Frank, and a novel about an Argentinian soccer player, among others. Most of these I listened to as audiobooks, usually while driving. That has been a great way to work through some backlist titles I’ve been really itching to read. About half of these books came out during the pandemic, which could be part of why I missed them. I know ELATSOE and FURIA were both on my reading lists the year they came out.

I’m still working out the details of my backlist reading strategy. It has helped me to have reading challenges and goals to motivate me, but I’m still looking for ideas. If you have any tips or ideas for getting to those backlist titles more quickly, please let me know!

Other than that, let’s get straight to why we’re here. These are the nine titles I read for my fall 2023 backlist reading.

Fall 2023 Backlist Reading

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Great strategies and solutions for parents looking to raise helpful kids or combat entitlement. I’m loving the changes I see in my family from what I learned in this book.

Published: March 2, 2021 | Review to Come

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Amy Boyd Rioux

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Rioux gives a brief account of Louisa May Alcott’s life and the parts from which she drew inspiration for LITTLE WOMEN. She also explores conversations through the decades about why the book resonates with different generations, the various movies and stage adaptations, and who’s reading the book today.

Published: August 21, 2018 | Review to Come

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A spy and an assassin go undercover as a married couple to expose a terror cell murdering civilians in 1931 Shanghai. A companion to the THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS duology. Twisty and engrossing. I read this because I agreed to review the sequel and wanted to be ready to jump into it.

Published: September 27, 2022 | Review to Come

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Diary entries written by a young Jewish girl in the Netherlands who went into hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the country. I thought I’d read this in school, but it turns out I read a play instead. I wanted to read this before reading a graphic novel adaptation that’s been banned near me.

Published: May 15, 2022 (orig. 1947) | Review to Come

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman, and Illustrated by David Polonsky

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A graphic adaptation of the diary kept by Anne Frank as a teenager as she lived in hiding during the Nazi occupation of her homeland in World War II. Banned for a scene in which Anne expresses attraction for a female friend. This is the only graphic adaptation approved by the Anne Frank Foundation.

Published: October 7, 2017 | Review to Come

The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern #1) by Shannon Hale

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The story of a young princess who can speak to birds and her journey to a new country to be queen. Based on a fairytale recorded by the Grimm Brothers.

Published: December 1, 2008 | Review to Come

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A deconstruction/discussion of some fairytales and their history from the perspective of a writer with Cerebral Palsy. Looks at what popular fairytales teach about personal value, morality, and disability.

Published: February 11, 2020 | Review to Come

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Fabulous and unforgettable. A multiracial young soccer player in Argentina faces prejudice, injury, the pull of romance, and threats as she seeks to win a tournament that could change her life.

Published: September 15, 2020 | Review to Come

Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: When her cousin dies under mysterious circumstances, Ellie faces monsters and dark magic with friends and her ghost dog at her side. This one has been on my list for SO long! I loved it and can’t wait to read more by Darcy Little Badger.

Published: August 25, 2020 | Review to Come

What’s on your fall 2023 backlist reading list?

Did you read anything published before this year from your To Be Read pile? If not, what’s the next backlist title you hope to crack open?

Let me know if you read any of the books from my list. I’d love to know what you thought about them!