Tag Archives: friendship

Wishes Are Free by Diana Mercedes Howell cover shows a girl holding a dandelion, standing in front of a white picket fence with a cluster of buildings in the distance.

Review: Wishes Are Free by Diana Mercedes Howell

Book Review and Content, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,
Wishes Are Free by Diana Mercedes Howell cover shows a girl holding a dandelion, standing in front of a white picket fence with a cluster of buildings in the distance.

Wishes Are Free
Diana Mercedes Howell
Published September 15, 2022

Amazon | Goodreads

About Wishes Are Free

Friends are everywhere if you have a big heart and know where to look.

California, 1959. Spunky ten-year-old Rose O’Reilly feels abandoned when her best friend from birth moves two thousand miles away. Determined to find a new best friend, she turns to Grandpa, whose wife – his own best friend – has recently died. They hold chat cafes in the kitchen on Sundays and with Grandpa’s help, Rose discovers friends can be found in unexpected places, from a lost dog to a boy with cerebral palsy.

But there is still an achy hole in her heart. She asks Venus, the Evening Star, for a new best friend, for Grandpa to come to live with them, and for a dog of her own. She has nothing to lose because wishes are free.

My Review

Rose is a precocious ten-year-old navigating a new school year without her best friend. Adrift and unsure, she looks to her grandfather for advice and a listening ear. I liked that the story doesn’t revolve around her grandfather’s advice. He doesn’t solve any problems for her; he really just offers her more ideas to think about or a new way to look at something. It’s up to Rose what she does with his counsel.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Rose and her brother, Jeremy. They bicker but share some tender moments, too. Rose also explores a new friendship with Anthony, a boy with Cerebral Palsy who owns a dog she likes. I wish Anthony had been included in scenes other than those in his house. Restricting Rose’s time with him to his own house made it seem like he was shut in or unwelcome in
other parts of her life.

In a couple of scenes, Rose confronts a neighborhood bully, and some of the language used to describe him is a little bit off-putting. He seems to be the only plus-sized character in the book and is always shown eating something as well as being mean to her. It came off as a negative stereotype to me, though
it was probably unconsciously done.

In one part, Rose gets in trouble at school, and her dad feels really disappointed. Her grandfather points out that her dad may feel the pressure of old stereotypes as an Irish man. Not long ago, the Irish faced discrimination and negative stereotypes. That understanding carries forward in the way Rose’s family empathizes with other immigrant workers in their community and values and appreciates them.

On the whole, I thought this was a sweet historical novel about friendship, family, and childhood discovery.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Rose’s friend has Cerebral Palsy.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Rose catches a boy and girl kissing in a movie theater.

Spiritual Content
Rose begins making wishes on Venus, the Evening Star. Rose attends a Catholic school. A boy makes a joke that if frogs got married, they couldn’t get divorced if they were Catholic.

Violent Content
Rose worries about a classmate whose father is rumored to have beaten him and his family.

Drug Content
Adults drink beer at a party.

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

Review: Champion of Fate by Kendare Blake

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

Champion of Fate (Heromaker #1)
Kendare Blake
Quill Tree Books
Published September 19, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Champion of Fate

Behind every great hero is an Aristene.

Aristene are mythical female warriors, part of a legendary order. Though heroes might be immortalized in stories, it’s the Aristene who guide them to victory. They are the Heromakers.

Ever since she was an orphan taken in by the order, Reed has wanted to be an Aristene. Now, as an initiate, just one challenge stands in her way: she must shepherd her first hero to glory on the battlefield. Succeed, and Reed will take her place beside her sisters. Fail, and she’ll be cast from the only home she’s ever known.

Nothing is going to stop Reed–until she meets her hero. Hestion is fiery and infuriating, but what begins as an alliance becomes more, and as secrets of the order come to light Reed begins to understand what becoming an Aristene may truly cost. Battle looming, she must choose: the order and the life she had planned, or Hestion, and the one she never expected.

My Review

I haven’t read anything by Kendare Blake in a really long time, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. I loved the concept. It hints at star-crossed lovers and magic and secrets, all things I love in a book.

And, boy, did it deliver those things. I loved the pacing of the romance between Reed and Hestion. I constantly wanted more for them, but loved every minute of their scenes together. The minor characters are amazing, from Reed’s often-absent mentor to her mentor’s lover and former Aristene to Reed’s fellow initiate. I liked that the order was made up of so many different kinds of women and that made for lots of different kinds of relationships between them. That was pretty cool.

The stakes heightened pretty quickly in the second half of the book especially. I felt like I flew through that last quarter with my breath held, wondering how things were going to turn out.

At the end of it all, I find the only thing I’m disappointed about is having to wait until the next book is released to know what happens next!

I think readers who enjoy epic hero stories– maybe things in the vein of Greek myth retellings or stories about paladins or spiritual warriors– will really enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Reed has tanned skin. Other characters are described as having darker skin. Two women are in a romantic relationship.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

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

Spiritual Content
Reed and the other members of the Aristenes serve the goddess of glory. Other nations serve other gods. A prophet of all gods was recently murdered. One scene shows a man praying at the temple of the prophet. Reed participates in several rituals as part of her initiation into the Aristenes. One involves drinking blood to receive magic. Another involves drinking water from a well that reveals her path.

Violent Content
Lots of battle scenes and descriptions of battle. A man holds onto the decomposing head of a corpse, using it as a weapon.

Drug Content
Several scenes show celebratory drinking. A few characters get drunk and say or do things they regret later.

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 CHAMPION OF FATE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie

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

The Forest Grimm
Kathryn Purdie
Wednesday Books
Published September 19, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Forest Grimm

Where fairy tales come to life with dark, deadly twists…

“Tell me again, Grandmère, the story of how I die.”

The Midnight Forest. The Fanged Creature. Two fortune-telling cards that spell an untimely death for 17-year-old Clara. Despite the ever-present warning from her fortune-teller grandmother, Clara embarks on a dangerous journey into the deadly Forest Grimm to procure a magical book – Sortes Fortunae, the Book of Fortunes – with the power to reverse the curse on her village and save her mother.

Years ago, when the villagers whispered their deepest desires to the book, its pages revealed how to obtain them. All was well until someone used the book for an evil purpose―to kill another person. Afterward, the branches of the Forest Grimm snatched the book away, the well water in Grimm’s Hollow turned rancid, and the crops died from disease. The villagers tried to make amends with the forest, but every time someone crossed its border, they never returned.

Now, left with no alternative, Clara and her close friend, Axel―who is fated never to be with her―have set their minds to defying fate and daring to accomplish what no one else has been able to before. But the forest―alive with dark, deadly twists on some of our most well-known fairy tales―has a mind of its own.

My Review

One of the things that most intrigued me about this story was the idea of a magical forest filled with twisted versions of well-known fairy tales. I was just talking with someone the other day about how many of the versions we’re most familiar with are very different from the darker original versions. I liked the idea of including references to those darker stories in a new tale.

And that’s one of the elements I enjoyed most about reading this book. I really liked the forest, too. It felt old and dark and filled with deadly magic. The story centers around Clara and her developing relationship with Axel, a plotline that I also followed with interest. I think I would have enjoyed a little bit more focus on Henni’s relationship with Clara. The way the story ends left me hopeful that Henni would be a critical character in a follow-up tale. All I can say to that is, yes, please!

On the whole, I think readers who enjoy reimagined fairy tales or books like THE GREYMIST FAIR by Francesca Zappia will definitely want to give this one a read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Clara describes a back problem as having an S-curve that makes her hips uneven. She wears a special insert in her shoe to help her walk more comfortably.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Clara’s Grandmère uses cards to predict someone’s future. A curse descends on Clara’s town, changing the forest into a dangerous place, isolating the village, and drawing certain villagers into it. In the forest, Clara encounters magic in the form of dark fairytales. She sees a ghost and monsters.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some battle situations between Clara and her allies and residents of the forest.

Drug Content
Hallucinogenic mushrooms cause Clara and her friends to see strange things. (They were tricked into eating them.)

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 FOREST GRIMM in exchange for my honest review.

Review: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin Craig

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

House of Salt and Sorrows (Sisters of the Salt #1)
Erin Craig
Delacorte Press
Published August 6, 2019

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About House of Salt and Sorrows

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

My Review

I’ve had this book for years. I think I ordered a copy the year it was published, but I only just got around to reading it now that there’s a sequel. Truthfully, I’m glad I waited so long to read it because I would not have been prepared for how creepy/horror-adjacent it is. I think I expected more of a Marissa Meyer fairy tale retelling vibe, and it definitely read as darker than that.

The setting really pulled me in. Annaleigh’s family celebrates holidays and burial traditions anchored to her culture and their worship of Pontus, the god of the sea. The sea itself, the lighthouse, and Annaleigh’s family home all felt very real.

I also liked the mystery element of the story. Annaleigh worries that someone has murdered her sister and chases down every lead she can find searching for the culprit. The sisterly love and the unexpected discoveries that the mystery led her to definitely kept me engaged in the story. I also enjoyed the romance between her and Cassius.

The pacing of the story felt a little uneven to me. Like, a LOT happened in the last fifty pages of the book. Annaleigh learns a lot of new information and faces some pretty intense stuff. Those late chapters also have one of the most intense psychological horror scenes of the whole book.

I found myself wishing a little more of that information had been revealed or at least hinted at earlier on, rather than rushed through at the end. I think the way things played out also muddled some elements of the plot, such as which deaths had unnatural causes versus which didn’t.

All in all, I am glad I finally read it, and there were things about the story I enjoyed. If you enjoy dark fairy tales with a horror element to them, HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS will definitely scratch that itch.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Annaleigh and one of her sisters see ghosts and encounter some haunting experiences. Annaleigh and her family worship the god of the sea, Pontus. Other people from other places worship different gods or goddesses.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Tentacled arms grab a girl in the water. Sketches show girls who’ve died, including details alluding to the manner of their deaths (an obviously broken neck, for example). Several scenes include someone finding people who’ve died. One scene shows a nightmarish party with really gross food and drink served. That scene and another include situations and descriptions that would qualify as psychological horror.

Drug Content
Social drinking, such as champagne at a party. At one party, several men get drunk and say cruel or inappropriate things to women there.

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

Review: Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

Beneath the Swirling Sky
Carolyn Leiloglou
Waterbrook
Published September 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Beneath the Swirling Sky

A house full of paintings, a missing sister, and a family secret send a boy and his cousin into a world where art is the key in this fantasy adventure perfect for fans of The Wingfeather Saga and Pages & Co.

After an experience he’d rather forget, Vincent is determined to be done with art. So when he and his little sister, Lili, spend spring break with their art conservator great-uncle, Vincent’s plan is to stay glued to his phone.

That is, until Lili disappears into one of the world’s most famous paintings and Vincent learns his parents have been hiding something from Their family is the last of The Restorationists, a secret society with the power to travel through paintings—and a duty to protect them from evil forces.

With Lili’s safety on the line, leaving art behind is no longer an option. Vincent must team up with his know-it-all second cousin Georgia, wrestle with why his parents lied to him, and confront both his past and a future he never wanted. Young readers are invited into a captivating universe where paintings become a portal—and adventure and danger lurk beyond every canvas.

My Review

This was a really fun story! I loved the descriptions of the different paintings and the way the characters could travel in and through them. Vincent struggles with self-doubt as an artist, so at first, he resists interacting with the paintings at his uncle’s house. But as he continues to feel a pull toward the art, he gradually recognizes that as part of his unique gifts.

I liked the relationship between Georgia and Vincent, too. She was bold and open, and they made a great team together.

The author’s note at the end of the book makes it pretty clear the author did a LOT of research for this story. I loved the attention to detail that she put into this. The paintings that appear in a private home are all privately owned. Those that appear at museums are museum-owned, though she says museums do trade their paintings around sometimes. I wouldn’t have stopped to really think about it, but I liked knowing that the author did consider where the real originals of those paintings actually are and made it part of the story.

All in all, I liked this one a lot. It sounds like a series opener, so I hope there are future stories about Vincent and his family to come.

Content Notes for Beneath the Swirling Sky

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Vincent’s sister, Lili, is Chinese American and adopted by his family. Vincent’s cousin Georgia is biracial: Mexican-American and white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Vincent walks through a painting that features nude people. He feels uncomfortable and doesn’t look at them. His cousin tells him that there can be a lot of nudity in art and that he doesn’t have to look if he feels uncomfortable. An author’s note affirms this and encourages readers to ask adults for help before searching for art online.

Spiritual Content
Several paintings that Vincent and his cousin encounter are from bible stories. In one, they canoe on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus and his disciples are in a boat during a storm. Vincent learns that art is inspired by God and that he gives gifts for people to use to help others. He hears the story of a lesser-known painter who became a missionary to Africa because she felt called to help people.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Vincent and Georgia discover a group that appears to be kidnapping children. Vincent is forced to spar with another boy. At one point, a guard hits Vincent with a stun gun to subdue him.

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 BENEATH THE SWIRLING SKY in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Name Drop by Susan Lee

Blogger's Favorites, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Name Drop
Susan Lee
Inkyard Press
Published September 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Name Drop

From the author of SEOULMATES comes a story of mistaken identities, the summer of a lifetime, and a love to risk everything for.

When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.

When Jessica Lee arrives in New York City, she’s eager to make the most of her internship at Haneul Corporation, even if she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But she’s shocked to be introduced as the new executive-in-training intern with a gorgeous brownstone all to herself.

It doesn’t take long for Elijah and Jessica to discover the source of the they share the same Korean name. But they decide to stay switched—so Elijah can have a relaxing summer away from his controlling dad while Jessica can make the connections she desperately needs for college recommendations.

As Elijah and Jessica work together to keep up the charade, a spark develops between them. Can they avoid discovery—and total disaster—with their feelings and futures on the line?

My Review

This book came along at exactly the right time for me. I’ve been battling a sinus infection, so I really needed a sweet, fun story, and THE NAME DROP totally delivered. It’s got some tension, for sure, as it explores the pressure of expectations from both Elijah and Jessica’s families. But on the whole, it’s got a starry-eyed feel to it. Jessica gets to live her dream as an executive intern, living in a luxurious apartment and running a team of interns. Elijah gets to explore New York City with people his own age who have no idea who he is. He has control of his time and actually gets to make friends.

I loved the pacing of the relationship between Elijah and Jessica, too. It felt like they hit all the right moments, from initial distrust to grudging partnership to friends to more. And their connection felt really genuine to me.

Overall, I think this was a really sweet, fun romance featuring a summer internship and teens figuring out their life plans beyond high school.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most characters are Korean American. Elijah Lee is Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
In one scene, a man raises a hand as though he will strike someone. Another character grabs his arm and stops him from hitting anyone.

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 THE NAME DROP in exchange for my honest review.