Tag Archives: Family Drama

Review: The Reunion by Kit Frick

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
The Reunion by Kit Frick cover shows four people. A boy with a surfboard faces left with his back to the camera. Two figures stand in profile back to back with their arms crossed in the bottom center. A girl stands in profile, her face toward the right edge of the cover, her hands over her heart.

The Reunion
Kit Frick
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published August 29, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Reunion

From the author of I KILLED ZOE SPANOS comes a YA thriller in the vein of THE WHITE LOTUS and Karen M. McManus’s THE COUSINS following a doomed family reunion gone wrong at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder.

Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.

It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a suspect:
The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place.
The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences.
The romantic: Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.
The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control.

It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

My Review

I KILLED ZOE SPANOS was one of those books I really wanted to read but wasn’t able to get a review copy of and haven’t (thus far) managed to pull from my backlist. All that to say that I’ve been looking forward to reading a book by Kit Frick, and THE REUNION is the first one I’ve read.

One of the things I found really intriguing about this book is the amount of screen time the soon-to-be-dead person gets. I don’t read tons of thrillers, so I’m not sure how commonly this is done. I can’t think of another book that I’ve read that does this, though. In any case, I found the idea that I got so much information about the murder victim really cool.

The story is told from four points of view. The twins, Addison and Mason, each share their perspectives. Their cousin Natalia and their stepbrother-to-be Theo also tell the story from their viewpoints. As the outsider to the family, Theo has the least backstory drama, though he plays a pivotal role in some of the other characters’ conflicts. I think he was probably my favorite character. I loved Natalia, too.

Something about the book reminded me a little bit of BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE by Rebecca Barrow, which I really liked. Both books include really wealthy characters who are used to getting what they want and explosive secrets. I think fans of Karen McManus will enjoy this one, and I’m even more eager now to check out I KILLED ZOE SPANOS.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Natalia and her sister Mia are biracial: white and Puerto Rican. They have two moms. Theo is bisexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some references to being attracted to someone off-limits.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Addison and Mason’s dad is an alcoholic with anger issues who crashed his car while driving drunk, injuring his family members. References to a past accidental death. One scene very briefly tells about a boy beating up another boy. Some descriptions of a man losing his temper and accidentally or purposely injuring a restaurant worker. One scene briefly describes a person’s death.

Drug Content
Adults drink alcohol at the resort. One adult buys alcohol for a teenage boy and pressures another boy to drink with him.

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 REUNION in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert

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

Everyone Wants to Know
Kelly Loy Gilbert
Simon & Schuster
Published June 13, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Everyone Wants to Know

This ripped-from-the-tabloids young adult drama by the critically acclaimed author Kelly Loy Gilbert about a girl’s famous-for-being-famous family fracturing from within as their dirty laundry gets exposed.

The Lo family sticks together. That’s what Honor has been told her whole life while growing up in the glare of the public eye on Lo and Behold , the reality show about her, her four siblings, and their parents.

Their show may be off the air, but the Lo family members still live in the spotlight as influencers churning out podcasts, bestselling books, and brand partnerships. So when Honor’s father announces that he’s moving out of their northern California home to rent an apartment in Brooklyn, Honor’s personal upset becomes the internet’s trending B-list celebrity trainwreck—threatening the aspirational image the Los’ brand (and livelihood) depends on.

After one of her best friends leaks their private conversation to a gossip site, bruised and betrayed Honor pours all her energy into reuniting her family. With her parents 3,000 miles apart, her siblings torn into factions, and all of them under claustrophobic public scrutiny, this is easier said than done. Just when Honor feels at her lowest, a guarded yet vulnerable boy named Caden comes into her life and makes her want something beyond the tight Lo inner circle for the first time. But is it fair to open her heart to someone new when the people she loves are teetering on the edge of ruin?

As increasingly terrible secrets come to light about the people Honor thought she knew best in the world, she’s forced to choose between loyalty to her family and fighting for the life she wants.

My Review

Typically I like books about intense family drama, but I will admit I struggled with this one. Maybe because the toxicity of some of the characters was so high? And the betrayals just kept mounting while people insisted their behavior was okay? I’m not sure.

I really liked Honor as a character, and thought in the context of this story about a family who framed every decision with “but what will this do to our image” kinds of inquiries, her name is pretty bold and appropriate. I loved that choice.

Her relationship with her twin brother Atticus is also a bright spot in the book for me. I like the way they balance each other, tease each other, and speak truth to one another.

It took a while for her relationship with Caden to really grow on me, but when it did, I found that I really liked him. I couldn’t tell for a bit whether he was truly emotionally closed off or whether he was keeping his distance because she asked for that kind of relationship. As the story progressed, though, and I got to know him a little better, I really liked him. He’s messy but smart. Aloof, but not cold.

Some of the secrets that came out about the family I did not see coming. I did see some things coming, though. Some of the things were dealt with in a way that felt complete and emotionally satisfying, but other things are kind of left without being fully resolved. That’s pretty true to real life, so I don’t mean that as a complaint. I sometimes struggle with stories that end with emotionally messy stuff still in an emotionally messy state.

Conclusion

I definitely feel like the author brought me directly into the center of all the Lo family drama, and I’m impressed by her ability to do that so consistently and believably, and yet, I’m also kind of exhausted. Ha! I enjoyed the book, though, especially Honor and her relationships with Atticus and Caden.

Fans of BOYS I KNOW by Anna Gracia will find a similar exploration of tension within family relationships and tenuous forays into romantic relationships.

Content Notes for Everyone Wants to Know

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Honor and her family are biracial– white and Chinese American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex and some brief/vague descriptions of hands touching and bodies pressed together.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some brief exploration of what toxic relationships and gaslighting look like.

Drug Content
One character’s mom is a recovering addict, so he and his friend group do not drink alcohol or use any drugs. In one scene (at a wedding), a bride holds a glass of champagne.

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 EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW in exchange for my honest review.


Review: Hunt for Eden’s Star by D. J. Williams

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

Hunt for Eden’s Star
D. J. Williams
Tyndale House
Published April 4, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

The Hunt for Eden’s Star

A coming-of-age teen is thrown into a world of ancient secrets when he discovers a supernatural compass that protects a weapon of mass destruction. With the help of a diverse group of friends, he embarks on a global adventure, seeking the truth about his sister’s death. He uncovers two clandestine, supernatural societies waging an epic, hidden war that threatens the future of civilization.

D. J. Williams’s suspenseful, page-turning style whisks readers into a wildly exciting, supernatural adventure that grabs hold of the imagination and never lets go. As Jack races to collect ancient artifacts critical to the survival of the world, readers are transported to incredible locales across Asia, including the lush jungles of the Philippines and the high-energy streets of Hong Kong. Themes of addiction, revenge, faith, and friendship emerge as Jack battles literal and psychological demons, and even his own friends and family members, on his quest to thwart the forces of evil.

My Review

This was a tough one for me. Suspense is always a bit of an iffy genre, so it could be that I’m generally less comfortable reading that type of story. I found myself struggling not only with some of the suspense elements, but also other elements of the story as well.

One of the things I wrestled with most was the portrayal of characters. I felt like a lot of the characters came across as kind of flat. Jack and his friends kind of acted a bit like frat boys, only interested in girls when they were attractive or could offer the boys a benefit of some kind (a key to an exclusive area, for example). Do high school boys act like that? Yeah, I’ve known some who did. But I found it to be an odd choice to cast those boys as the heroes of the story?

I also felt like Jack never really gained real forward momentum. There were a few scenes where he would make a grand statement about having a goal (one time this was about getting revenge for his sister’s death), and in the next scene, another character would basically tell him that was the wrong goal because reasons. And Jack would abandon his stated goal and kind of be back to trying to figure out his next move. I think I expected him to at some point become the character making things happen.

He does have moments where he accomplishes this. For example, he rescues a bunch of girls who are prisoners being trafficked by the bad guys. It’s a cool scene, but it didn’t really connect to the larger story other than to remind us that the bad guys are super bad.

Conclusion

HUNT FOR EDEN’S STAR has a lot of interesting elements in it. For example, Jack and his friends attend a coed, elite boarding school with four houses. Each house is identified with a particular set of virtues. Students are assigned to a house by a sort of magical process. Very reminiscent of a certain wizarding school. It was cool, and maybe the various houses are more involved in later books in the series, but I didn’t really catch much connection to the story in this first book.

Lots of the story takes place in Hong Kong, so I enjoyed the connection to history and politics/current events happening there. I kind of wish the story had featured that more in connection to the plot.

So, there were some really cool elements. I don’t know if the author just wanted to include all the things that will be relevant to later books to kind of garner reader interest for those things and set up some elements for later? It made the book kind of a long one for YA, especially for YA suspense, at almost 500 pages.

On the whole, I think this series really isn’t for me. Parts of it reminded me of the TIME ECHOES series by Bryan Davis which also has kind of a secret society, murder mystery thing going on. If you liked that one, then HUNT FOR EDEN’S STAR might be a good fit, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Jack is white. Some minor characters are BIPOC.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some comments by boys about girls being attractive. A man brings a girl who is bound and blindfolded to Jack’s room and hints that Jack is to have sex with the girl.

Spiritual Content
Some characters worship Elyon. It seems like this might be supposed to be a representation of Christianity. (The book is published by a Christian publisher.) The religion is pretty transactional. Characters earn supernatural gifts by fully committing to the faith. Jack must pass tests where he must master his fear and instead have faith. If a servant of Elyon goes to a forbidden place, they lose their supernatural abilities and eventually die. Jack’s sister made a kind of contract with Elyon– her life for his– and this means Jack must be the one to complete a mission she left unfinished.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some battle scenes involving gunfire. Jack witnesses a political protestor murdered by police in the street. Jack discovers a group of girls who are victims of human trafficking. All are bound and blindfolded.

Drug Content
Jack and his friends visit a club and drink alcohol. Jack takes a pill that a stranger hands him in passing. He reflects on his past as an addict and credits his sister with saving him.

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 HUNT FOR EDEN’S STAR in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

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

WE WERE LIARS
E. Lockhart
Delacorte Press
Published May 13, 2014

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About We Were Liars

Since she was a little girl, Cadence has been spending summers with her Sinclaire cousins and family friend on a private island. In the infamous, wealthy Sinclaire family, emotions must be kept in check. Addictions and criminal behavior are not allowed.

But the summer after Cadence’s grandmother passes away, her perfect family falls into turmoil, and Cadence leaves the island with a mysterious head injury she can’t remember receiving.

When Cadence begs to return to the island to be with her family again, her mother relents. Still no one will discuss Cadence’s injury with her, and she is forced to uncover the truth on her own.

My Review

Okay, so… full disclosure. I started reading this book one morning while I was waiting for my then-boyfriend to wake up and be ready to meet up for lunch. The chapters are short, and the story is so intense that I may have left him waiting for me for over an hour while I scrambled to read one more chapter after just one more chapter.

I couldn’t get enough. I had to know what would happen. The writing is beautiful and sort of haunting, and it’s the kind of story that gets inside you and won’t let go.

WE WERE LIARS is packed full of stark, beautiful prose and gut-wrenching emotion. Cadence experiences the fullness of love and loss, and through Lockhart’s phenomenal storytelling, readers can’t help but share in those moments. The relationships between family members feel so real and sometimes so toxic. Every chapter uncovers new questions. And the ending left me completely breathless.

Needless to say, I read this book in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down at all. It’s been one of the books I talk about over and over, and certainly one that stayed with me since I’ve read it.

Content Notes

Language Content
Extreme word choice, moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Cadence’s cousin claims to have had lots of “sexual intercourse” with a boyfriend back home. She promises details, but shares nothing graphic or specific.

Spiritual Content
Cadence and Gat briefly discuss whether or not they believe in God.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
The cousins sneak wine from their parents and drink it.

Disclaimer
I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

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