Tag Archives: Romance

Review: The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

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The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

The Marrow Thieves
Cherie Dimaline
Dancing Cat Books
Published May 22, 2017

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About The Marrow Thieves

In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America’s Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world.

But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a fifteen-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones and take refuge from the “recruiters” who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing “factories.”

My Review of The Marrow Thieves

I picked up this book without reading the back cover copy, so I was not prepared for the story at all. In a way, I think that was really good because it allowed me to feel the full force of my shock as I took in what was happening in those opening scenes. THE MARROW THIEVES isn’t an easy read, and it’s not supposed to be.

The writing is really beautiful though, if that makes sense. It’s not overly poetic or lyrical necessarily, though it does drift that direction especially in its descriptions of nature and the natural world. It’s raw and gripping and there’s a desperateness about it that made me feel like I needed to keep reading.

The characters are really well-crafted. I felt like I knew them and could picture them, and sometimes even predict what they were going to do. I loved Miig so much. And Rose, Wab, and Minerva! Such great characters.

I think the only thing that felt weird to me was how little French thinks about his brother, who’d been captured. At first he thinks of him a lot, but then not so much for the rest of the story. I didn’t expect that, especially with how much the story focused on family and those left behind.

Besides that, though, this book totally gripped me. It’s dark and a bit grim, but also threaded with hope and strength and courage. I think readers who liked THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy or maybe THE FEVER KING by Victoria Lee would definitely enjoy this one.

Content Notes for The Marrow Thieves

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
All central characters are Indigenous.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. One scene shows some intimate touching. References to sex. Kissing between two men. Two men in the story are married.

Spiritual Content
Shows some beliefs and traditions of Indigenous people.

Violent Content – Trigger warning for gun violence and violence against women and children.
Situations of peril. Multiple scenes showing violent capture or fighting. More than one woman shares her story which involves brutality against her. A child is murdered. Those who’ve escaped the schools or recruiters often have horrible scars.

Drug Content
A couple characters smoke tobacco. One character gets high on some kind of pills.

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

Review: You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith

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

You Can Go Your Own Way
Eric Smith
Inkyard Press
Published November 2, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About You Can Go Your Own Way

Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.

Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. She lost all her friends. Her boyfriend dumped her. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.

But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops?

My Review

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is the nostalgic feel of Adam’s chapters. It’s a contemporary novel, set in the present day (minus covid), but Adam has a lot of love for bands his dad loved and for the vintage pinball machines his dad was obsessed with before he died. I haven’t played a lot of pinball in my life, but I felt like the descriptions of the game play and the machines made perfect sense and was really engaging. I also couldn’t help connecting with Adam and his complex, unresolved grief with all his nerdy amazingness.

Whitney is super different than Adam is. She’s sleek, cool, and incredibly driven, and yet I felt an instant connection with her, too. I really appreciated her wit and tenacity. She is definitely one of those characters who acts tough and has a soft heart underneath, and I love those!

In addition to all of that, there are some very fun social media situations and conversations, plus a community of indie business owners who all show up for each other. If you know me, you know community is another thing that I tend to adore in the books I read. It just feels so real, and makes the characters feel like part of a real world, you know?

YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY is the first book by Eric Smith that I’ve read, though I’m pretty sure I own his others! Reading this made me really want to read everything he’s written. I felt like the relationships were super real and the characters were really easy to connect with. I think readers who enjoy contemporary romance will have a lot to love in this book.

I suppose my only complaint is the ear worm that constantly happens to me every time I read the title. Every. Time. I guess I can live with a little music in my head. Ha!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Adam’s dad is Sicilian and his mom is Palestinian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.

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

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Adam tries to clean up glass from a broken pinball game and cuts his hand. A storm breaks some windows, causing some damage.

Drug Content
Whitney attends a party at her boyfriend’s house where kids are drinking alcohol.

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 YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Where We Go From Here by Luca Rocha

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

Where We Go From Here
Lucas Rocha
Translated by Larissa Helena
Push
Published June 2, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Where We Go From Here

Ian has just been diagnosed with HIV.

Victor, to his great relief, has tested negative.

Henrique has been living with HIV for the past three years.

When Victor finds himself getting tested for HIV for the first time, he can’t help but question his entire relationship with Henrique, the guy he has-had-been dating. See, Henrique didn’t disclose his positive HIV status to Victor until after they had sex, and even though Henrique insisted on using every possible precaution, Victor is livid.

That’s when Victor meets Ian, a guy who’s also getting tested for HIV. But Ian’s test comes back positive, and his world is about to change forever. Though Victor is loath to think about Henrique, he offers to put the two of them in touch, hoping that perhaps Henrique can help Ian navigate his new life. In the process, the lives of Ian, Victor, and Henrique will become intertwined in a story of friendship, love, and stigma-a story about hitting what you think is rock bottom, but finding the courage and support to keep moving forward.

Set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this utterly engrossing debut by Brazilian author Lucas Rocha calls back to Alex Sanchez’s Rainbow Boys series, bringing attention to how far we’ve come with HIV, while shining a harsh light on just how far we have yet to go.

An absorbing debut novel about three gay young adults in Brazil whose lives become intertwined in the face of HIV, perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Bill Konigsberg.

My Review

I think it’s really hard to write an issue-driven story and have it read really authentically with facts and information presented in a natural way. This book does a pretty great job of that, though.

The premise had me intrigued already– the author wrote WHERE WE GO FROM HERE in part to address some misinformation and prejudices about HIV and AIDS. So judgments and myths do come up in the story as the characters face either their own diagnoses or their prejudices about people who’ve been diagnosed as HIV positive.

Splitting the story into three points of view, three characters all having different experiences or at different places in their experience helped the conversations feel organic. It allowed people to be in different places in terms of what they knew or understood. It allowed them to be in different places in their emotional journey, too.

Ian might have been my favorite character, but I loved Henrique, too. Both had a vulnerability that drew me into their stories. I thought the relationships they had– in particular Henrique and Eric’s relationship– were great. I liked that each relationship was different and handled things in different ways, but all of them showed love and support.

One of the issues the story explored was about the right to privacy versus the openness that comes with intimacy. Victor is really upset that he learned about Henrique being HIV positive after having sex with him. He has to wrestle a LOT with that issue. At first he doesn’t feel that Henrique has a right to privacy at all, even if he took precautions to protect Victor. I think in particular the way the story explored that issue, showing both sides and the broad range of emotions the situation triggered, made this a deep read.

Conclusion

The only thing that kind of tripped me up a bit was that some of the dialogue was a little stilted and awkward, probably just from being translated. (Which has to be an incredibly challenging job!) Other than that, I enjoyed reading the book, and it really made me think.

The cover copy above says readers who enjoy Bill Konigsberg or Adam Silvera should check this book out. I agree. I think it would appeal to those readers for sure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
All characters are Brazilian. The three main characters are gay men. One has a roommate who is a drag queen.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. References to sex and oral sex.

Spiritual Content
A couple characters examine whether they believe that being HIV+ is God’s judgment against them for being gay. They decide it isn’t.

Violent Content – Trigger warning for homophobia.
A couple characters have been cast off by their families because of who they love. There are some brief recollections of the hurtful things they’ve said. One character is outed by someone online and receives awful messages on social media and via spray paint on his building.

Drug Content
Several scenes show characters drinking alcohol. All the characters are of legal drinking age (at least 18) in Brazil.

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 WHERE WE GO FROM HERE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

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

Defy the Night
Brigid Kemmerer
Bloomsbury
Published September 14, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Defy the Night

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.

King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.

Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most–but it’s still not enough.

As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King’s Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.

A fantasy series about a kingdom divided by corruption, the prince desperately holding it together, and the girl who will risk everything to bring it crashing down.

My Review

I was super excited when I opened the package that had an ARC of DEFY THE NIGHT in it. I didn’t think I’d be on the list of bloggers who would get a copy (THANKS, BLOOMSBURY!), so I wasn’t even on the lookout for it. And yet! Yay!!!

So when I started reading, I was nervous. If you know me, you’re probably rolling your eyes. I’m always nervous when I start a book. If I liked the author already, I worry that the book won’t live up to my expectations based on how I felt about previous books. If it’s a new-to-me author, I worry that the book won’t be a good fit for me, and I’ll struggle to read it. So. Yeah. Apparently I’m just a nervous reader.

I think the first time I sat down to read, I read like 70 pages. When I quit, I wanted to read more, but I was really tired. I was into the story, had some ideas about where it was headed. (Yeah, okay, I peeked ahead. Did you forget already that I’m a nervous reader?! Ha.)

The second time I sat down to read, I read over 100 pages. The third time, I finished the book. (Something around 250 pages.)

I loved Tessa’s character– and I feel like Kemmerer always does this to me. She always gives us these bright, strong heroines with layers and grief and depth, and I love them from the first pages. I wasn’t sure I’d like Corrick. I mean, I suspected there was more to him than the brutal exterior, because hello, he’s the hero, but, I just wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into.

The story centers around a pandemic in a time of unrest and violence. Brief violent descriptions of death or torture or assassination attempts kind of pepper the whole book. I wasn’t expecting that for some reason, so the darkness of it kind of took me by surprise. They’re almost always brief descriptions, but there are a lot of them. I’m super sensitive to violence, so I kept worrying that it would add up to be too much for me, but I think because it’s usually so brief, I was okay reading it.

I completely bought into the premise and the characters, so I feel like I can’t even evaluate whether they made perfect sense– because I was committed to the story from pretty early on. The danger felt so real. The stakes kept getting higher. And the relationships twisted and turned and revealed new layers again and again.

I also liked that it didn’t end on a cliff’s edge. It had what I’d call a comfortable resolution (??) where, like, things felt completed without at the last minute introducing a new thread to tease us about the next book. So I really appreciated that! We have enough stress and anticipation right now. Haha. I’m excited about the fact that it’s a series, though, because I would definitely read more of this story world. I’m wondering, since it didn’t have a cliffhanger end, if the next book centers on different characters??? I am really excited to find out about that.

At any rate, I think readers who enjoyed A HEART SO FIERCE AND BROKEN will find the same great storytelling and complicated characters here. I might have liked this one better than AHSFAB? I’m not sure. It might be my favorite of Kemmerer’s so far, but I’m a pretty devoted fan of LETTERS TO THE LOST, so that one is tough to beat. Either way, I loved it and recommend checking it out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
I don’t recall any. Maybe mild profanity? If so it’s pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between girl and boy. In one scene, the characters kiss pretty intensely.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Lots of brief violence. Assassination attempts or successes. References to torture. Descriptions of executions. Descriptions of battle or a group beating up one person. Explosions. Most of these things are brief, but there are a lot of them.

Drug Content
None.

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 DEFY THE NIGHT in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Cazadora by Romina Garber

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

Cazadora (Wolves of No World #2)
Romina Garber
Wednesday Books
Published August 17, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Cazadora

In Cazadora, Romina Garber weaves together Argentine folklore and what it means to be illegal in a timely, intimate, and emotionally powerful narrative.

Werewolves. Witches. Romance. Resistance.

Enter a world straight out of Argentine folklore…

Following the events of Lobizona, Manu and her friends cross the mystical border into Kerana–a cursed realm in Argentina–searching for allies and a hiding place. As they chase down leads about the Coven–a mythical resistance manada that might not even exist–the Cazadores chase down leads about Manu, setting up traps to capture and arrest her.

Just as it seems the Cazadores have Manu and her friends cornered, the Coven answers their call for help. As Manu catches her breath among these non-conforming Septimus, she discovers they need a revolution as much as she does.

But is she the right one to lead them? After all, hybrids aren’t just outlawed. They’re feared and reviled. What happens when the Coven learns of Manu’s dual heritage? Will they still protect her? Or will they betray her?

And after running this far, for this long–how much farther can Manu go before her feet get tired, and she stops to take a stand?

“In this effervescent sequel full of magic and beautiful imagery, Manu learns to reclaim her own narrative and, together with her lovable found family… stake out a place in the world where she belongs…An inspiring, powerful tale of belonging.” ―Kirkus, starred review

Must-Read 2021 YA Fantasy ―Book Riot

Must-Read Books by Latinx Authors Out in 2021 ―Hip Latina

My Review

CAZADORA picks up pretty much where LOBIZONA leaves off. Manu and her crew are on the run being pursued by Cazadores, a law enforcement group for the Septimus, which includes the Lobizones (werewolves) and Brujas (witches). I know that’s a lot to digest. This is one of those books you shouldn’t read unless you’ve read the first book already.

The story keeps up that fast pace with Manu fleeing, finding allies, enemies closing in, stakes mounting, all the way to the last page. There are some pauses for romance and for Manu to explore her connections with her parents. CAZADORA has a big cast, so it doesn’t go deeply into many of the relationships between characters, though.

One of the things that does get explored a lot is the issue of gender identity in what is a very binary culture. In the Septimus world, boys are Lobizones. Girls are Brujas. A person’s whole identity within the community is based on those facts. So what does that mean for someone who doesn’t fit those binary definitions?

Manu being a girl with werewolf powers, a Lobizona, at first feels to her like a personal fight for recognition of her identity. But as she pursues a place in her community, she meets others who are in hiding or on the run because of who they are. One Lobizone lost his ability to transform after an attack by a monster. Another is transgender.

So Manu begins to see the restrictive rules of the community as not only impacting herself, but also harming others. In some ways it’s an echo of the fight she’s had her whole life as an undocumented immigrant. So she has to decide whether she’s going to keep running, whether she’s just fighting for herself or for everyone who’s different.

I liked the way those conversations and themes were woven into the story. It felt like those ideas emerged naturally and organically, so it didn’t feel forced to me. I also loved the way the Manu grew as a character through the story. At first, she was just running and surviving. Watching her reach a place where she took control of her story and made her own hard decisions was really moving.

And, of course, like any good second book in a series, this one ends with a new adventure already in its sights. I’m already excited about a third book, and I will definitely be reading it!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are Latinx. Two female characters are in a romantic relationship. A minor character has a disability. Another minor character is transgender.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some scenes showing kissing between couples. A couple scenes show making out and one leads up to sex but fades out at that point.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to transform into werewolves. Others have magical abilities, like the ability to freeze things or create fire. These are thought to be gifts from a goddess.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some battle violence.

Drug Content
None.

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 Cazadora in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Song of the Forever Rains by E. J. Mellow

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

Song of the Forever Rains (Mousai #1)
E. J. Mellow
Montlake
Published July 1, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Song of the Forever Rains

The Thief Kingdom is a place hidden within the world of Aadlior. Many whisper of its existence, but few have found this place, where magic and pleasure abound. There, the mysterious Thief King reigns supreme with the help of the Mousai, a trio of revered and feared sorceresses.

Larkyra Bassette may be the youngest of the Mousai, but when she sings her voice has the power to slay monsters. When it’s discovered the Duke of Lachlan is siphoning a poisonous drug from the Thief Kingdom and using it to abuse his tenants, Larkyra is offered her first solo mission to stop the duke. Eager to prove herself, Larkyra accepts by posing as the duke’s potential bride. But her plans grow complicated when she finds herself drawn to Lord Darius Mekenna, Lachlan’s rightful heir. Soon she suspects Darius has his own motivations for ridding Lachlan of the corrupt duke. Larkyra and Darius must learn to trust each other if there is to be any hope of saving the people of Lachlan—and themselves.

Welcome to the world of Aadilor, where lords and ladies can be murderers and thieves, and the most alluring notes are often the deadliest. Dare to listen?

From the award-winning author of the Dreamland series comes a new dark romantic fantasy about a young woman finding hope in her powers of destruction.

My Review

I liked a lot of things about SONG OF THE FOREVER RAINS. One is the way both central characters wrestled with guilt over a parent’s death. The other is how things happened to challenge what they believed to be true about their own role in those deaths. I found those emotional journeys pretty compelling.

Another thing I liked was the constant banter between characters– especially Larkyra and her sisters, but also between Larkyra and Darius, too. I thought the dialog as a whole was really sharp and well-crafted.

It took me a little while to get into the story, though, and I’m still not totally sure why. The prologue is interesting, but doesn’t intersect the story for a while. So, maybe I was distracted trying to figure out how things pieced together? I didn’t expect the story to be told from the youngest sister’s perspective based on the prologue. The prologue was in an omniscient viewpoint, so maybe it just took me time to adjust to that.

Darius is a strong character and so determined to do what’s right, which I really liked. I think I would have liked his character more if he’d had some kind of flaw, though. Sometimes I had a hard time really believing in him because he just seemed so perfect.

Once I hit about the 25% mark, though, I was really invested in the story. I read the rest of the book probably more quickly than I read that first 100 pages. I liked the first part, but once I got into the story, I definitely invested a lot more time and energy into reading all the way through to the end. When I had to stop and take breaks, I kept thinking about it in between.

I think readers who enjoyed DOWN COMES THE NIGHT by Allison Saft or THE WAKING LAND by Callie Bates will want to check this one out for sure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Some minor characters are described as having black or brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between man and woman. One extended explicit sex scene and several references to it afterward.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to use magic.

Violent Content – Trigger warning for self-harm and torture/abuse.
A character uses magic to control the actions of another person, including using them to harm the person. Some scenes show or reference graphic self-harm.

Drug Content
People without magic sometimes become addicted to a substance which gives them false magic for a short time. Even the good characters in the story, while acknowledging how destructive the addiction becomes, ignore the issue as long as using the false magic only happens under certain controlled circumstances.

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 SONG OF THE FOREVER RAINS in exchange for my honest review.