Tag Archives: grief

Review: Glitter Gets Everywhere by Yvette Clark

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Glitter Gets Everywhere by Yvette Clark

Glitter Gets Everywhere
Yvette Clark
HarperCollins
Published May 4, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Glitter Gets Everywhere

Kitty’s mother died on an inappropriately sunny Tuesday. So much has changed in Kitty’s life over the last few months, and she needs the world to stop spinning around her. She needs things to return to normal — or as normal as they’ll ever be.

Normal definitely does not include her family moving from their home in a cozy corner of London all the way to New York City. Moving means leaving behind her friends and neighbors, her grandmother, and all the places and people that help Kitty keep her mother’s memory alive.

New York City is bright and bustling and completely different from everything Kitty has known. As she adjusts to her new school, explores her new city, and befriends a blue-haired boy, Kitty wonders if her memories of her mother don’t need to stay in one place — if there’s a way for them to be with Kitty every day, everywhere.

With her wry, poignant wit, Kitty tells a universal story about the grief of losing a beloved family member, the fears of starting over, and the challenges of how to remake a family in this powerful, heartfelt debut novel.

My Review

When I agreed to review this book, I had no idea what I’d be going through when it came out. Reading a book centered around grief while grieving has been an interesting journey. A lot of things Kitty experienced really resonated with me. I loved the way the story shows different characters responding to grief in different ways, too. It’s really Kitty’s story, but around the edges of her own experience, we get to see other people wrestling with grief in their own ways.

This book is packed with a fantastic cast of characters. There’s Kitty’s older and often antagonistic sister Imogen, who knows all the things the cool kids know. There’s Kitty’s dad, treading water, trying to keep the family afloat and both be available to his girls but also shelter them from some of his own grief and fears about the future. So relatable. I loved Kitty’s spunky grandmother, with her strong opinions and fierce insights. And the wacky Mrs. Allison, the British baking star with her lovable dog, mothering everyone and fussing over them all with cookies and cakes. Something about all those people in a room together made those scenes really sparkle.

Kitty’s grief is real and raw and very relatable. I found myself nodding along to some of her observations and taking comfort in her refuge of colors. I loved the relationship between her and Imogen, with its sparks of tension and tenderness underneath. GLITTER GETS EVERYWHERE is a therapy-positive story, but it’s also real about some of the struggles of therapy. Sometimes things don’t make sense the first time you hear them. Sometimes things a therapist says don’t connect with you at the time or ever. But other times, it provides a vehicle for you to say things you didn’t know you needed to say or to hear healthy things you didn’t know would challenge what you believe.

All in all, I’m so happy I read this book. I love its tenderness and sadness and its surprising joy. I think readers who enjoyed CHIRP by Kate Messner or CATERPILLAR SUMMER by Gillian McDunn will love this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Kitty and her family are white and British.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity appears a few times. Strong British profanity appears a few times.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss on the cheek between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Kitty wonders what happens after someone dies and talks about sometimes feeling her mom present with her really strongly.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
One of Kitty’s friends mentions that his mom has a drinking problem.

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

Review: Switching Fates by Stacie Ramey

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, Paranormal, , , , , , ,

Switching Fates
Stacie Ramey
Ally Press
Published February 12, 2021

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

About Switching Fates

One Lives. One dies. He chooses.

Bryan Rivers will do anything to save his dying girlfriend Courtney—even enlist supernatural help. His ex-girlfriend Rose is a practicing Wiccan, and Bryan pleads with her to use her powers to help. She reluctantly agrees, but like everything in Rose’s world, the remedy is complicated and comes with a serious warning: the kind of powerful magic that Bryan requires involves summoning mythological beings. Specifically, the Three Fates.

Once the Fates appear, their proposition sounds simple: play three rounds of their favorite game, Switching Fates, to win the chance to save Courtney. But it’s a game where Bryan must make the horrifying choice between two lives; which person lives and which person dies. And each round is more challenging and wicked than the last. With the realization that he’s in far over his head, Bryan must figure out how to beat the Fates at their own game.

My Review

I don’t often read books in the New Adult genre, but I like Stacie Ramey’s writing, so when she offered me a copy of her newest book, I couldn’t resist. I’ve been in a little bit of a reading slump lately, where I just haven’t enjoyed reading as much as I usually do, and that’s very odd for me. I think partly because of that, I had a lot of fun reading this book.

One of the reasons I tend not to read a lot of New Adult fiction is that it often contains more graphic sexual content than I’m comfortable reading, but I felt like SWITCHING FATES had a lot of sexual tension without being overly explicit, which I liked.

I also got pretty hooked into the suspense of waiting to see what Bryan would do and whether he would be able to save both Rose and Courtney. I definitely wanted to know what would happen and whether he would find a way through in time, or whether he’d have to make the ultimate terrible choice.

Reading this book felt really indulgent and fun. It was like sitting down to eat a whole box of chocolates. I really enjoyed it even though it’s not my usual go-to genre. It reminded me a little of Amanda Hocking’s Watersong series, so I think fans of those books would really like SWITCHING FATES.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 18 up.

Representation
The major characters are white. Rose is a practicing Wiccan.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Some groping over clothes. In one scene a boy takes a girl’s pants off. In another, he reaches under a girl’s shirt. There’s a brief description of sex and some references to it.

Spiritual Content
Rose is a practicing Wiccan who performs a spell meant to save Bryan’s girlfriend from death. Instead, she summons the Fates, three powerful, immortal women who have the ability to control who lives or dies.

Violent Content – Trigger Warning
One scene shows a girl dying after she jumps off a roof and hits her head. Some scenes show characters bound and gagged. Someone beats them with a stick or switch.

There are also some references to a suicide attempt in the past. Bryan discovered the survivor immediately after she’d made the attempt, so there’s some description of what he saw and some references to scars left from that incident.

Drug Content
Bryan attends a party and drinks alcohol with his friends. He sees at least a couple people taking Ecstasy. There are a couple other references to hard drug use and smoking pot.

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

Review: Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

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Amelia Unabridged
Ashley Schumacher
Wednesday Books
Published February 16, 2021

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

About Amelia Unabridged

Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded. So when Amelia and Jenna get the opportunity to attend a book festival with Endsley in attendance, Amelia is ecstatic. It’s the perfect way to start off their last summer before college.

In a heartbeat, everything goes horribly wrong. When Jenna gets a chance to meet the author and Amelia doesn’t, the two have a blowout fight like they’ve never experienced. And before Amelia has a chance to mend things, Jenna is killed in a freak car accident. Grief-stricken, and without her best friend to guide her, Amelia questions everything she had planned for the future.

When a mysterious, rare edition of the Orman Chronicles arrives, Amelia is convinced that it somehow came from Jenna. Tracking the book to an obscure but enchanting bookstore in Michigan, Amelia is shocked to find herself face-to-face with the enigmatic and handsome N. E. Endsley himself, the reason for Amelia’s and Jenna’s fight and perhaps the clue to what Jenna wanted to tell her all along.

Ashley Schumacher’s devastating and beautiful debut, Amelia Unabridged, is about finding hope and strength within yourself, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love while you do it.

My Review

Oh. My. Gosh.

Okay, you know those stories that you get so invested in that you’re almost scared to read the last few chapters? You don’t want the book to end, but more than that, you really NEED things to go a certain way, and you’re afraid of the crushing awful possibility that they won’t?

That was completely how I felt reading this book. I loved it. Loved Jenna and Amelia’s relationship and the way Jenna’s family adopted her right in. I loved the friendship between Alex and Nolan, too, and the way their crew interacted with Amelia.

I loved the stuff about the book by N. E. Endsley and his created world of Orman and the sisters in the book. I loved the small lakeside town in Michigan with its stormy weather and town bazaar and quirky bookstore. And the whales!!! I love the whales.

I. Loved. This. Book. I feel like AMELIA UNABRIDGED is the book that I wanted so many other books to be. It punched me straight in the face with its grief and bewitched me with its found family. Honestly, I loved it so much that I’m scared to start another book until this one fades a little bit.

It’s so so good. If you like deep, messy contemporary stories with fabulous friendships and banter, then you seriously need to read this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
I think all the major characters are white. One character has panic attacks and anxiety.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some brief discussion about where the people we love are after they die.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
List.

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

Review: A Summer Taken by Jason Milgram

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

A Summer Taken
Jason Milgram
Published July 4, 2020

Amazon | Goodreads

About A Summer Taken

“The old green sign with painted yellow letters confirmed it–I was back. And like it or not, this was happening.”

14-year-old Julia is back at Lake Bradford for a very different reason than last time. Two years ago, she and her cousin Lizzie got to experience Camp Auctus, a leadership camp for gifted girls rooted in tradition, a place where even their mothers and grandmothers attended as girls. Campfires, fireflies, talent shows, races by the lake, friendships, and a mysterious Writer’s Hut nestled in the woods were just a few of the things that made Camp Auctus special.

But after a tragedy takes her cousin away, the best summer of Julia’s life becomes her worst. And now, she’s back, tasked with writing a tribute to the cousin she loved so deeply. Except…Julia isn’t sure she can do it. How can she put into words what she still has not been able to understand? Lizzie wasn’t just her best friend–she was her inspiration for change in the world.

A book series about multi-generational family and friendship, loss and grief, gun violence, the growth of divisive anger and hate we have allowed in our country, and a story of love and hope.

My Review

I love that this book takes a hard look at gun violence and the devastating impact it can have on a family and community, especially in a divisive political climate. I thought the setting of a summer camp to empower girls was a cool idea as well.

One thing I struggled with, though, was Julia’s character. She complains a lot, and I want to give her a pass for the parts of the story where she’s brittle and angry because she’s grieving her cousin’s death. But even when we flash back to a time before that, her character felt pretty much the same to me then. Kind of resentful and complaining.

I wanted to see more relationships develop between Julia and the other camp girls, who it seemed at been close to her cousin, and so would be grieving for her loss as well. Instead, the people Julia responded to the most were the adults in the story, like her camp counselor and her aunt. Those were neat scenes, and I loved seeing good mentors represented, but sometimes it felt like they handed Julia the answers she needed rather than her fighting to discover answers for herself.

On the whole, I liked the message of the story and the positive examples of mentors and role models, but I feel like Julia’s character lacked agency, and I wish there had been more relationship building or problem-solving or grieving together with the other campers.

Fans of summer camp stories or readers looking for stories with a strong message may want to look into this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Main character and her family are white. Julia battled an eating disorder in the past. I’m not sure about the quality of the representation there, but mostly the timeline of the story doesn’t focus on it.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Julia attends a funeral service for her cousin at a church.

Violent Content
Julia learns that her cousin was shot by a gunman at a political rally. She also overhears strangers laughing about her cousin’s death because they oppose her aunt’s political values.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest

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The Summer We Found the Baby
Amy Hest
Candlewick Press
Published August 4, 2020

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

About The Summer We Found the Baby

On the morning of the dedication of the new children’s library in Belle Beach, Long Island, eleven-year-old Julie Sweet and her six-year-old sister, Martha, find a baby in a basket on the library steps. At the same time, twelve-year-old Bruno Ben-Eli is on his way to the train station to catch the 9:15 train into New York City. He is on an important errand for his brother, who is a soldier overseas in World War II. But when Bruno spies Julie, the same Julie who hasn’t spoken to him for sixteen days, heading away from the library with a baby in her arms, he has to follow her. Holy everything, he thinks. Julie Sweet is a kidnapper.

Of course, the truth is much more complicated than the children know in this heartwarming and beautifully textured family story by award-winning author Amy Hest. Told in three distinct voices, each with a different take on events, the novel captures the moments and emotions of a life-changing summer — a summer in which a baby gives a family hope and brings a community together.

Set during World War II, this poignant, briskly paced historical novel relays the events of one extraordinary summer from three engaging points of view.

My Review

THE SUMMER WE FOUND THE BABY is one of those books where what’s not said on the page is as important as what is. A girl and her sister find a baby. A boy follows them. How they’re connected and why the girls feel drawn to the baby changes tells a moving story that I know I won’t soon forget.

One point-of-view is from Martha Sweet, the younger sister of Julie, who first finds the baby. Martha is sweet, enthusiastic, and energetic. She doesn’t always understand what’s going on around her, but she loves the people in her little community.

Julie also tells part of the story, and in her sections, we see a girl trying to be so much more than she is, and determined to do it perfectly. She cares for her little sister while their dad works, possibly interviewing soldiers at a local military base. And then there’s Bruno, a boy whose older brother has gone to war, leaving him behind.

The story begins with the three finding the baby and loops backward, to tell us how they came to be on the steps of the library that morning and why the baby was there.

It’s such a sweet, heartfelt story. I love that what’s on the page hints at so many things that aren’t there, things that the narrators probably wouldn’t have pieced together. It’s a really quick read, too– I think I read it in a little over an hour.

I think fans of STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND THEN LEAVE by John Boynton or PAX by Sarah Pennypacker will enjoy this book– though it’s a bit less dark than those stories.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Bruno’s family is Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Hints at a romance between Bruno’s older brother and a girl.

Spiritual Content
At one point, Bruno’s parents touch the place where they believe his brother’s battalion to be on a map and say, “God bless.”

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of THE SUMMER WE FOUND THE BABY 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.

Review: Believe by Julie Mathison

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Believe
Julie Mathison
Starr Creek Press
Published August 4, 2020

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

About Believe

Full of humor and wonder, BELIEVE explores the power and limits of the imagination – and how love both breaks and heals our hearts.

Eleven-year-old Melanie knows she’s special. She’s never been bored. She understands the secret language of old houses and makes jewels out of broken glass. Her imagination can do anything — except make friends. It’s 1980, and life as a fifth grader at Buckminster Experimental School is lonely at best, when she’s not dodging Karen, the school bully. Then, Melanie meets Sabrina, who looks like a TV star and acts like a spy, and who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. She teaches Melanie how to believe in herself, and soon Melanie starts living her dreams. She even lands the lead in Peter Pan!

If only she could share it all with Mom. Missing her mom is like trying to breathe with one lung. It’s bad. Sabrina thinks they can track her down, and Melanie wants to believe, but sometimes it’s easier to pretend. Her new life feels like a house of cards, until one day it all comes crashing down and she finds herself with no choice but to face the truth… and let go.

This quirky, heartfelt middle-grade novel about grief and the resilience of the human spirit will keep you guessing until the end.

My Review

Melanie is an incredibly loveable character. I felt immediately invested in her story. Her imagination is wild and lovely. The way she explains relationships and intentions is really clever and moving, too.

Melanie’s imagination lands her the lead role in the school’s performance of PETER PAN. It helps her deal with the bullying of a fellow classmate and find the courage to make a new friend.

She describes and observes a lot of relationships in BELIEVE, too. From watching her dad interact with his friends, to navigating her own complicated relationship with her grandmother, she relates those exchanges with flair.

Fans of THE OTHER BETTER ME by Antony Jon or NOT IF I CAN HELP IT by Carolyn Mackler will definitely want this book in their libraries.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Most characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A girl in Melanie’s class bullies her– saying unkind things and making fun of her.

Drug Content
Adults drink alcohol in one scene.

Note: I received a free copy of BELIEVE 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.