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Review: The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray by Christine Calella

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray by Christine Callela

The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray
Christine Calella
Page Street Press
Published April 9, 2024

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About The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray

Storms and pirates are nothing compared to the evil within men’s hearts.

After a lifetime of abuse at the hands of superstitious townsfolk, Ophelia Young, a bastard child of the notorious pirate queen, is tired of paying for the sins of her mother. Despite playing by the rules her whole life, she’s earned nothing but spite and suspicion. So when a naval officer saves her from the jeering crowd at her mother’s hanging, Ophelia hatches a new hope of enlisting in the navy to escape her mother’s legacy and redeem her own reputation for good. But Ophelia soon discovers that a life at sea isn’t as honorable as she hoped.

Betsy Young is as different as she could be from her half-sister Ophelia. She’s a nervous homebody who wants to keep her family safe and longs to be in love. So naturally, she’s devastated when the son of their family’s business partner rejects her hand in marriage and her sister joins the navy. But when her father contracts a life-threatening illness as well, Betsy has to bring Ophelia home to save the family business.

Unfortunately for the Young sisters, Betsy trying to get Ophelia recalled reveals that Ophelia enlisted fraudulently under Betsy’s name, a secret which Ophelia struggles to keep from crewmates who would kill her if they knew she was the pirate queen’s daughter. To save Ophelia from the naval authorities, Betsy will have to board a ship during hurricane season and brave all the dangers of the sea to get them both home safe.

My Review

Is it weird to say that I found it refreshing to read about pirates as the villains in this book? Ha. Actually, I liked a lot of things about this book. The relationship between Betsy and Ophelia, of course, drew me into the story. They are half-sisters nearly the same age but with very different personalities. Despite their differences, these two girls have each other’s back in everything but this: Betsy’s crippling anxiety keeps her mostly at home, and Ophelia longs for a life at sea in the Navy.

While I really appreciate that Betsy has anxiety, I felt like the representation in the story was uneven. At the beginning, Betsy’s anxiety pretty much runs her life. She has decided to stay home where she feels safe, and she can barely speak when someone outside her family tries to talk to her. When she faces boarding a ship and making the journey to find Ophelia, she doesn’t make that decision lightly or without her anxiety spiking. As the story progresses, though, her anxiety sort of evaporates? She experiences life-threatening situations and eloquently advocates for herself and others. She grieves and feels fear, but I felt like the symptoms the story used to define her anxiety faded away.

I don’t know. I guess it made me a little bit uncomfortable because it implied that all she needed to do to conquer her anxiety was get out there and be brave, and that’s not really how clinical anxiety works? Maybe this wasn’t supposed to be representative of clinical anxiety, though.

At any rate. I really appreciated the relationship between the sisters and the representation of the pirates in the story. It was nice to read something that didn’t totally romanticize piracy. The plot was pretty evenly paced, and I loved the twists and turns the story took.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Betsy has anxiety. Ophelia is asexual/aromantic. Minor characters are lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
In one scene, a boy kisses a girl without her consent. She breaks off the kiss and makes it clear it isn’t what she wants. He stops, but is unhappy. Later, a girl welcomes kisses from a boy. In another scene, a boy coerces a girl to kiss him, and she bites his mouth.

Spiritual Content
Betsy and her mother believe in some spiritual things, like bad vibes and curses. Ophelia wrestles with whether she believes in anything like that. The people of her town seem to believe her mother’s blood is cursed, and they treat her terribly because of it. Later, some inexplicable things happen, and Ophelia isn’t sure what to make of them. She seems to finally believe in some spiritual happenings, whether it’s her mother’s spirit guiding her from beyond or some other benevolent force.

Violent Content
Betsy and Ophelia attend a hanging. The person’s face is covered, but they watch until she dies. The crowd abuses Ophelia, pushing her, pulling her hair, and nearly trampling her. Ophelia makes it clear this kind of treatment from her neighbors is pretty common.

Sailors are whipped as punishment. They battle those on enemy ships.

Pirates attack a ship, shooting some on board and brutalizing others. Some graphic descriptions of violence, including brief torture and dismemberment. A sailor wraps chains around a girl’s neck to mimic a hanging. Sailors battle for control of a ship, stabbing and shooting each other as they can.

Drug Content
Characters have wine with dinner. A fellow sailor passes Ophelia a bottle of whisky, which she takes a small sip from. Three girls drink rum together. One drinks until very drunk.

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: Drawing Deena by Hena Khan

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Drawing Deena
Hena Khan
Salaam Reads
Published February 6, 2024

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About Drawing Deena

From the award-winning author of AMINA’S VOICE and AMINA’S SONG comes a tenderhearted middle grade novel about a young Pakistani American artist determined to manage her anxiety and forge her own creative path.

Deena’s never given a name to the familiar knot in her stomach that appears when her parents argue about money, when it’s time to go to school, or when she struggles to find the right words. She manages to make it through each day with the help of her friends and the art she loves to make.

While her parents’ money troubles cause more and more stress, Deena wonders if she can use her artistic talents to ease their burden. She creates a logo and social media account to promote her mom’s home-based business selling clothes from Pakistan to the local community. With her cousin and friends modeling the outfits and lending their social media know-how, business picks up.

But the success and attention make Deena’s cousin and best friend, Parisa, start to act funny. Suddenly Deena’s latest creative outlet becomes another thing that makes her feel nauseated and unsure of herself. After Deena reaches a breaking point, both she and her mother learn the importance of asking for help and that, with the right support, Deena can create something truly beautiful.

My Review

One of the things I remember most from AMINA’S VOICE and AMINA’S SONG is the way that the author creates these rich family connections and still keeps the story centered on its kid characters. Deena has complex relationships with both her parents, where sometimes she feels like they don’t see or hear her, yet it’s clear they love her, and she loves them, and they have a good relationship in other ways.

In this book, Deena explores both her artistic style and talent, learning about other artists, especially Vincent Van Gogh, whose work she feels a connection with. She also wrestles with feelings of anxiety that build to a panic attack. Like lots of people, she can’t tell at first what’s happening to her body. She only knows she feels nauseated and tense. At first, she doesn’t even connect those feelings to any particular fears or worries.

I liked the way that process played out and the way people in Deena’s life responded to her once they understood what was going on. That part felt really realistic, and I couldn’t help celebrating with Deena as she finds her voice and speaks up for what she needs.

I also really enjoyed the descriptions of artwork in the story. It made me want to visit a museum– and especially to look up the names of the artists mentioned in the book.

Fans of Hena Khan’s earlier books will love this one, and readers who enjoy books about artists will also find lots to love here.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Deena and her family are Pakistani American. Deena has anxiety.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer and Muslim celebrations.

Violent Content
Descriptions of a panic attack.

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 this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays. Check out other blogs posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

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

Dungeons and Drama
Kristy Boyce
Delacorte Press
Published January 9, 2023

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About Dungeons and Drama

When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role-playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…

My Review

Okay, I stayed up way too late reading this book, so if this review sounds a bit wacky, can we agree to blame Kristy Boyce for writing such a great book? Ha. Honestly, though, I had such a great time reading this book.

At the very beginning, I wasn’t sold. Riley has just gotten in trouble for taking her mom’s car without permission (and without having a driver’s license) and driving hours away to see a touring company perform a musical. Her parents are shocked, and she’s in big trouble, but Riley doesn’t seem to get why it’s that big a problem. I worried that she was going to be a shallow character that would be hard for me to connect with.

Instead, as I turned pages from one chapter to the next, I couldn’t help connecting with Riley. I laughed along with her as she jumped into the Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I loved her passion for bringing back her high school musical program. Even in her fake relationship with Nathan, Riley couldn’t help thinking about how her behavior would affect Nathan and his goal to get the other girl’s attention.

If you’re a fan of the fake dating trope, I definitely think you’d enjoy this book. It’s got plenty of silliness, loads of theater moments, and so many sweet, swoony exchanges as Riley’s feelings for Nathan start to change.

As a D&D girl myself, I love seeing the game on the page, and I loved the way that players with different approaches to the game made an appearance in the book. Seriously, this book was such a fun read. Fans of Serena Kaylor or Eric Smith will enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Riley’s best friend is Japanese American. One of the boys in her D&D group is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None..

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

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 DUNGEONS AND DRAMA in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Flip Turns by Catherine Arguelles

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Flip Turns
Catherine Arguelles
Jolly Fish Press
Published September 13, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Flip Turns

Thirteen-year-old Maddie just wants her classmate, Lucas, to leave her alone. He keeps asking her out—as if she hasn’t already said no a thousand times! Focusing on her competitive swim team, the Electric Eels, Maddie tries to ignore him, hoping he’ll go away.

But then, when someone starts sabotaging Maddie’s family-owned pool—glass on the deck, ketchup in the pool, followed by a “code brown”—Maddie worries it’s her “admirer” trying to get even. After Maddie’s parents rule the problems at the pool just harmless pranks, Maddie and her best friend Ez decide to investigate on their own. Could it be Lucas? And how can Maddie get him to leave her alone once and for all? The future of the Electric Eels and Maddie’s family legacy are on the line.

My Review

I’ve been hearing about this book a lot on Twitter, so I was really excited to check it out. Plus the characters being on a swim team and the main character dealing with unwanted romantic attention both caught my eye– I wanted to see how those played out in a middle grade book.

I’ve never been part of a swim team or anything like that, but I loved the opportunity to read about a team. The story hit just the right balance between describing meets, races, and different strokes and making everything very accessible to readers who aren’t familiar with the sport.

I found Maddie’s character so relatable, especially as she deals with Lucas, the boy who won’t stop asking her to go out with him. She tries to be chill and calm, but inside, she’s really uncomfortable. She worries that whatever she does will just escalate his behavior. When the pranks start happening at the pool, she worries that’s exactly what is happening.

Maddie’s best friend Ez is also great. She’s a high-achieving, outspoken girl who helps Maddie face her fears and energizes her to do things that Maddie feels anxious about. She’s not pushy or over-the-top. I felt like those two were a great pair.

I also liked the way the story juxtaposes Lucas, who does not respect Maddie’s space or boundaries, with Nico, who does. While Nico isn’t perfect, he offers Maddie space when she needs it and takes responsibility when he’s wrong. I thought putting those two very different experiences with boys side by side helped create a bigger picture of relationships and how to navigate them in a healthy way.

Conclusion

All in all, I really liked FLIP TURNS. It has a little bit of intensity, but not too much for the target audience. It gently but clearly introduces ideas about boundaries and respect in relationships, which is a great message for middle school readers. And it’s all wrapped up in a fun, mysterious story.

I think fans of CHIRP by Kate Messner or THE QUEEN BEE AND ME by Gillian McDunn will really enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Maddie has anxiety. Nico is half-Latino. Maddie’s older sister is dating a girl. Two of the girls on her swim team are dating. Maddie’s best friend has alopecia.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Someone puts poop in the pool.

Romance/Sexual Content
A boy is making unwanted advances at Maddie. She’s told him no multiple times, but he continues pursuing her romantically. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Maddie’s parents’ pool business receives a series of pranks, some obnoxious, others dangerous. Maddie finds glass next to the pool. A girl collapses after inhaling chlorine fumes.

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 FLIP TURNS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Belittled Women by Amanda Sellet

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

Belittled Women
Amanda Sellet
Clarion Books
Published November 29, 2022

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About Belittled Women

Sharp and subversive, this delightfully messy YA rom-com offers a sly wink to the classic LITTLE WOMEN, as teenage Jo Porter rebels against living in the shadow of her literary namesake.

Lit’s about to hit the fan. Jo Porter has had enough LITTLE WOMEN to last a lifetime. As if being named after the sappiest family in literature wasn’t sufficiently humiliating, Jo’s mom, ahem Marmee, leveled up her Alcott obsession by turning their rambling old house into a sad-sack tourist attraction.

Now Jo, along with her siblings, Meg and Bethamy (yes, that’s two March sisters in one), spends all summer acting out sentimental moments at Little Women Live!, where she can feel her soul slowly dying.

So when a famed photojournalist arrives to document the show, Jo seizes on the glimpse of another life: artsy, worldly, and fast-paced. It doesn’t hurt that the reporter’s teenage son is also eager to get up close and personal with Jo–to the annoyance of her best friend, aka the boy next door (who is definitely not called Laurie). All Jo wants is for someone to see the person behind the prickliness and pinafores.

But when she gets a little too real about her frustration with the family biz, Jo will have to make peace with kitsch and kin before their livelihood suffers a fate worse than Beth.

My Review

It seems like there’s been more focus lately on LITTLE WOMEN. At least, BELITTLED WOMEN is the second story inspired by the classic that I’ve read this year. Which is pretty cool. I enjoy seeing how authors reinterpret familiar tales. (The other one is GREAT OR NOTHING.)

My favorite part about this book is the banter. It pretty much never stops. Jo and Amy. Jo and Hudson. And my favorite, Jo and David. So much back and forth and hilarity. I laughed aloud more than once.

References to the Writing of Little Women

One thing I’ll say, though is I wish the author had chosen to include an author’s note in the book clarifying some of the story’s assertions about Louisa May Alcott’s life and the writing of LITTLE WOMEN. I poked around the internet for maybe half an hour, and stumbled onto an article in the ATLANTIC about LITTLE WOMEN and the evolving interpretation of it as we learn more about the author’s life. This article on Mental Floss might also be helpful if you aren’t familiar with the story. I also read the sample pages of the book MEG, JO, BETH, AND AMY: THE STORY OF LITTLE WOMEN AND WHY IT STILL MATTERS by Anne Boyd Rioux.

Admittedly, that’s a pretty scant amount of research on my part. It did help clarify some of the things said in the book. The characters in BELITTLED WOMEN mention some information about Louisa May Alcott’s life and her other writing. One character states that Alcott referred to LITTLE WOMEN as “The Pathetic Family” but doesn’t clarify that is the nickname by which Alcott referred to her own family or really explore the context. It’s kind of meant to show her disdain for the story, and it’s stated by a character who has some ulterior motives, so it makes sense that she would avoid context.

Anyway. I found the story itself wildly entertaining and packed with fun. The Porter family dynamics reminded me a lot of the dynamics in the family of the movie LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. It’s lots of fun and also has a sweet romantic subplot to boot. I think fans of Emma Mills or Emma Lord will enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. One minor character is Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In one scene, a girl discovers a boy has purchased condoms in hopeful anticipation of them having sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Jo and her sister get into a fight during one scene of their show.

Drug Content
Teens drink beer at a party. One boy gets pretty drunk.

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 BELITTLED WOMEN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Prince of Steel Pier by Stacy Nockowitz

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The Prince of Steel Pier
Stacy Nockowitz
Kar-Ben Publishing
Published September 1, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Prince of Steel Pier

A young teen falls in with the Mob and learns a lesson about what kind of person he wants to be.

In THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER, Joey Goodman is spending the summer at his grandparents’ struggling hotel in Atlantic City, a tourist destination on the decline. Nobody in Joey’s big Jewish family takes him seriously, so when Joey’s Skee-Ball skills land him an unusual job offer from a local mobster, he’s thrilled to be treated like “one of the guys,” and develops a major crush on an older girl in the process.

Eventually disillusioned by the mob’s bravado, and ashamed of his own dishonesty, he recalls words of wisdom from his grandfather that finally resonate. Joey realizes where he really belongs: with his family, who drive him crazy, but where no one fights a battle alone. All it takes to get by is one’s wits…and a little help from one’s brothers.

My Review

I feel like every time I read historical fiction, I find myself thinking I should read more of it, and THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER definitely made me think that again. I really enjoyed the setting and time period. At one point, Joey talks about going to see the diving horses, and that made me want to watch WILD HEARTS CAN’T BE BROKEN again, which I haven’t seen in years.

I loved the scenes that showed Joey’s big Jewish family. His relationships with his brothers felt so real. Sometimes I couldn’t help laughing at the banter between them. At other times it was sad to see them growing apart.

Joey’s character totally drew me in. He chafed against the opinion he thought his family had of him as a weak or oversensitive person. But as he struck out on his own and tried to build a new reputation with Artie and his gang, Joey found that while they treated him like an independent person, they also expected things of him that he wasn’t sure he could give or even should give.

I thought the story balanced Joey’s character growth with the fast-paced plot pretty well. I felt like there was always just enough time to pause and explore Joey’s feelings before something new before the next conflict emerged.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book. Joey is a layered character who expertly guides us through his journey in a fascinating 1970s Atlantic City landscape.

Content Notes

Content warning for Antisemitic comments.

Recommended for Ages 9 to 13.

Representation
Joey and his family are Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Joey encounters people who make Antisemitic comments about him and his family.

Romance/Sexual Content
Joey has a crush on a girl.

Spiritual Content
Joey worries about his faith. He doesn’t believe in God and worries that his family would be disappointed in him.

Violent Content
Joey witnesses some men trying to intimidate another man. Joey overhears some implied threats, too. In one scene, two men pull out knives, threatening another man.

Drug Content
A man at a bar drinks liquor. Joey talks about a time someone in his family gave him a shot of whiskey.

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 PRINCE OF STEEL PIER in exchange for my honest review.