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Review: What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tesch

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What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tasch

What Wakes the Bells
Elle Tesch
Feiwel & Friends
Published March 11, 2025

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About What Wakes the Bells

Inspired by an ominous Prague legend, What Wakes the Bells is a lavish gothic fantasy by debut author Elle Tesch that is perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace, Margaret Rogerson, and V.E. Schwab.

Built by long-gone Saints, the city of Vaiwyn lives and breathes and bleeds. As a Keeper, Mina knows better than most what her care of Vaiwyn’s bells means for the sentient city. It’s the Strauss family’s thousand-year legacy―prevent the Vespers from ringing, or they will awake a slumbering evil.

One afternoon, to Mina’s horror, her bell peals thirteen times, shattering the city’s tenuous peace. With so much of the city’s history and lore lost in a long-ago disaster, no one knows the danger that has been unleashed―until the city begins to fight back. As the sun sets, stone gargoyles and bronze statues tear away from their buildings and plinths to hunt people through the streets. Trapped in Mina’s bell, the soul of a twisted and power-hungry Saint festered. Now free of his prison, he hides behind the face of one of Vaiwyn’s citizens, corrupting the city and turning it on itself.

As the death toll rises, the only chance Mina has to stop the destruction and horrific killings is finding and destroying the Saint’s host. Everyone is a suspect, including Mina’s closest loved ones. She will have to decide how far she’ll go to save her city―and who she’s willing to kill to do it.

My Review

There are some really imaginative fantasy novels coming out in the YA market in the last few years, and I am absolutely loving it. The cover copy of the book reminded me a little bit of Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek, which I read last year and adored.

I think the writing is a little more straightforward than Poranek’s, but not in a bad way. Maybe it’s simply that this book focuses on descriptions of magical things that are more familiar to us– walls, doorways, etc.– rather than ancient enchanted forests.

I could see this book appealing to readers who enjoy Francesca Zappia. This one feels somewhere in the middle between Katzenjammer, Zappia’s weird, contemporary fantasy in which the school students find themselves trapped in is alive, and Greymist Fair, a fairytale-esque fantasy and murder mystery.

Though it’s not specified, the words Mina uses to describe her relationship with romance and sex led me to think of her as on the asexual spectrum, maybe demisexual? At one point, she has a conversation with another character who doesn’t feel romantic attraction to others, and they both ultimately feel less alone after comparing notes on their identities. That was a sweet moment. I appreciated that they didn’t have the language to label themselves and how that left them more isolated, but that they ultimately connected and felt seen anyway. It’s a minor note in the whole story, but beautiful nonetheless.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book. It’s a layered, complex story that delivers on its promises. I’m excited to see what Tesch writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty infrequently. A few F-bombs, but not many.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Mina has been in a romantic relationship for a while, but she hasn’t felt ready to do more than kiss. Her partner respects her boundaries and doesn’t push her for more contact than she’s comfortable with.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are immortal beings/deities with supernatural abilities. A curse trapped a powerful entity within the city’s bells, but Mina and other Keepers have to stop the bells from ringing twice a day. (The bell’s thirteenth chime would break the wards on the bells.) The city has some sentience. For example, if someone breaks a wall, the city can heal the hole and repair itself.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. Some threats of torture. Some fall victim to a deadly plague connected to evil. A couple of scenes show dead bodies and describe burial rituals.

Drug Content
One character is an alcoholic as a result of past trauma. Mina and a couple of other characters drink alcohol together.

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: Wishbone by Justine Pucella Winans

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Wishbone
Justine Pucella Winans
Publisher
Published September 17, 2024

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About Wishbone

Coraline meets Ghost Squad in this terrifying story about what happens when you aren’t careful what you wish for.

Ollie wishes things could be different. He wishes his parents would stop fighting. He wishes his sister Mia didn’t have to worry about paying for college. He wishes people would accept him for who he is. Most of all, he wishes he wasn’t so angry about all of this.

When he and Mia find a two-tailed cat they name Wishbone, Ollie takes comfort in telling him everything he wishes would change—then, it does. Everything Ollie and Mia wish for comes true, and it’s like all of their problems are solved. But magic comes at a price. Their wishes have consequences, and a mysterious shadow man called The Mage is after Wishbone. Darkness is overtaking their world, and worst of all, it threatens to take over Ollie, too. Can he let go of everything he’s ever wanted, or will he let evil win?

My Review

I read The Otherwoods by the same author in 2023, and I enjoyed the spine-tingly elements of the story and how they ultimately played out. I’ve been meaning to read more by Winans, but it has taken me too long to get back to another of their books.

One of the things I knew I’d love about Wishbone is that it has a cat-who-is-not-a-cat character. Wishbone is a cat with two tails that has the inexplicable magical ability to grant wishes. He is feisty and prone to biting people, which makes sense, considering the trauma that he’s been through. I like the unpredictable nature of him as a character. For a long time, I wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to be good or bad. Eventually, he makes his alliances known and says pretty loyal to his people.

The book has a nicely inclusive cast. Ollie is a trans boy, but the book isn’t at all about him explaining his identity or existence. We enter his story past all of that, and he simply is who he is. He has other LGBTQIA+ friends and allies, too. The story touches on the impact of bullying and anger issues, and takes readers through a Twilight Zone kind of experience.

If you like scary stories like The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs, definitely check out Wishbone.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a crush between Ollie and another character.

Spiritual Content
Another place/dimension Ollie calls The Backward Place contains magic and curses, including the ability to grant conditional wishes.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some characters try to kill other characters while under the influence of a curse. In one instance, a parent character tries to kill a child because of the curse. References to and a brief scene showing animal cruelty in an apparent science experiment.

Drug Content
None.

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: They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

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They Bloom at Night
Trang Thanh Tran
Bloomsbury
Published March 4, 2025

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About They Bloom at Night

The author of the New York Times bestselling horror phenomenon She Is a Haunting is back with a novel about the monsters that swim beneath us . . . and live within us.

Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she’s focused on survival, Noon doesn’t have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin.

Mercy has never been a safe place, but it’s getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that’s been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what’s haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters . . .

My Review

I heard so many incredible things about Tran’s debut that I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading their books. I still need to read She is a Haunting, but after reading They Bloom at Night, I seriously cannot wait. Just wow.

The balance between the elements of this book– its characters, the setting, and the tension in the horrific elements is absolutely perfect. The mostly abandoned town of Mercy feels incredibly real. It was so easy to picture where things happened and feel completely immersed in the landscape of this story. Noon is also a fabulous main character. Her relationships with others are so layered. She loves her mom but feels trapped by their life and grief over her brother and dad’s deaths. She reconnects with an estranged friend and has mixed feelings about that, too. When circumstances force her into a reluctant alliance with a girl, Noon is surprised by the relationship the two forge.

I loved the themes in this book about identity, specifically about being more than one thing that happened to you. I loved the message about having a found family or community to protect you and help you face uncomfortable truths. One line in particular says it well: “Sometimes we need people to hunt the things inside of us that need to die but that we aren’t ready to kill.”

They Bloom at Night is a tightly plotted story that doesn’t waste a single word. This would be a perfect (or terrifying) book to read during a hurricane or big storm. Fans of The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade or Don’t Let the Forest In by C. G. Drews will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
There are some supernatural/paranormal elements to the story, including characters with an ability to communicate nonverbally and change form.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to sexual assault (not shown on the page). Some homophobic comments. At one point, several people perform surgery on another person (with consent) and try to remove something from their body. Noon finds a dead body. She also encounters others who seem to be transforming and for whom it’s unclear if they’re alive.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol (not shown on the page).

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: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
Random House
Published April 21, 2009 (Orig. 1969)

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About I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
 
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
 
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.”—James Baldwin

Thoughts About Reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

As I read this book, I thought back through my English literature education. Other than at least one poem by Langston Hughes in seventh grade, I can’t remember specifically reading any Black authors. It’s possible we read poetry by Maya Angelou. I especially do not remember ever reading about life in segregated America from a Black perspective, which seems like a huge thing when I think about it.

It is honestly a little bit alarming to me that I’m this old and just now reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for the first time. I’ve read a pathetically small amount of classic literature by Black authors and/or authors of color in general. This is a problem I’m working to fix.

My Review

I love the way the author describes things. Some of the descriptions are pure poetry. Others vividly recount a moment or experience with such specificity that I felt like I was there witnessing the scene.

I listened to the audiobook version, read by the author, which I deeply enjoyed. She sings the hymns written in the text. She reads in a way that shows off the beauty of the poetic descriptions in the text while inviting the reader into each moment.

As I mentioned above, I think this is the first book I’ve read that shows segregated life in America from a Black perspective. (The more I think about it, the more I think that should absolutely be a requirement for high school literature. Wow.) I’m not sure I will ever forget the scene in which Maya and her brother hide her uncle in a vegetable bin and pile onions and potatoes on top of him because they’ve been warned that the Klan will be riding through their town looking for someone to harm.

The author describes the people in her life really well, too. As I read, I could sense both her admiration and her frustration with her mother and grandmother. These were both strong women with different values. They protected her and wounded her, sometimes knowingly, and sometimes without meaning to do so.

Conclusion

I’m so glad I read this book. It’s haunting and beautiful. There are some scenes that are hard to read (see content warnings below), but I really believe books like this are important. I am looking forward to reading more of Maya Angelou’s work.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple uses of the N-word as Maya heard it used. In one scene, she lists other derogatory terms she heard used.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man abuses Maya (a child) multiple times, the last time being the most violent. Descriptions are brief. It’s hard to read, but it does show the trauma and the complicated feelings and conclusions she drew from the experience as a child.

Maya worries about her body’s development. She reads about lesbianism and intersex conditions at the library and then speaks with her mom, who helps her understand that what’s happening to her body is normal development. There’s a little bit of biological description here.

One scene briefly relates Maya’s first (consensual) sexual experience. It’s not very specific except to relate how functional rather than romantic it was.

Spiritual Content
References to attending church and singing hymns. Maya’s grandmother, Mama, believes that if you’re good, God will love you.

Violent Content
Brief mentions of harm to children. Maya’s uncle threatens to burn her on the stove if she can’t answer his questions. She believes, looking back, that he never would have harmed her. Reference to a woman hitting a child’s legs with a switch if they didn’t wash properly or teachers striking the palms of students with rulers if they disobeyed.

Maya’s grandmother hits her as punishment for using the term “by the way,” which her grandmother considers swearing.

Drug Content
Several scenes reference adults smoking cigarettes.

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

Review: Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology by Vania Stoyanova and Rosiee Thor

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Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology
Edited by Vania Stoyanova and Rosiee Thor
Page Street YA
Published February 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology

With stories from NYT bestselling and debut authors, Why on Earth uses an accidental alien invasion to explore love and identity.

What starts as a simple rescue mission for a crew of teen aliens to recover one of their own soon becomes an interstellar encounter no one will forget.

Captain Iona is organizing an impromptu retrieval for her brother, an undercover alien posing as a movie star. But her efforts go awry when a technical malfunction turns her heroic rescue into an unintentional invasion. With tales of disguised extraterrestrials stuck in theme parks, starship engineers hitchhiking to get home, and myth-inspired intergalactic sibling reunions, each story in this multi-author anthology explores the universal desire to be loved and understood, no matter where you come from. After all…aliens are just like us.

“This anthology twinkles with an adventurous spirit, quirky personalities, hope, and a sense of belonging. Stellar.”
―Kirkus Reviews

“Out of this world!”
―Scott Reintgen, New York Times bestselling author of A Door in the Dark

“Epic fun exploring themes of acceptance and the desire to connect, regardless of species, Why on Earth is an absolute blast!”
―Alechia Dow, author of The Sound of Stars

“A delightful collection of offbeat, otherworldly stories filled with heartwarming moments and loads of entertaining, imaginative writing.”
―Kimberly Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight

“An all-star lineup of brilliant authors with stories that make you laugh, feel, and cheer.”
―Danielle Paige, New York Times bestselling author of Wish of the Wicked

“Whether it’s a story to build the world we’re beaming into, misguided crushes in the middle of an alien invasion, or the most charmingly awkward teen alien this side of the Milky Way, there will be plenty for readers to enjoy in this anthology!”
―Preeti Chhibber, author of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot

My Review

This might be the most fun anthology that I’ve read to this point. I loved how the individual stories connected together. Each one, as the cover copy infers, explores love and identity. Some follow romantic relationships or hopes, while others explore a character’s dreams and what makes them feel they belong.

The opening story tells about an alien captain and her crew on a rescue mission to earth to retrieve a family member the captain fears is being held captive. Each story that follows connects to the stories that came before it in some way. Some of them include the same characters. Others witness the alien ship crash or lift off.

I enjoyed every single story. The individual stories feature an inclusive cast of characters. The authors captured a sense of humanity, wonder, and what it means to be alive and connected to others. This is a great anthology for this moment in time. It’s filled with hope and humor. Definitely worth a read!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few stories have some limited profanity. I think a couple have the F-bomb.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two characters. The alien characters refer to this human experience as “a meeting of the lips,” which I found absolutely charming.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. People react to the news of the alien ship crashlanding on earth by worrying that an invasion is imminent. Some panic. Police and other officials yell and try to clear the street to enforce a shelter-in-place order.

A few stories contain brief homophobic or transphobic comments. Some characters are misgendered or rejected for their identities. One character has been kicked out of their home because they came out to their family.

Drug Content
None.

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: After Life by Gayle Forman

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After Life
Gayle Forman
Quill Tree Books
Published January 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About After Life

“After Life is a masterful tale about a family coping with loss, showing the way grief affects us and people we don’t even know in ways we don’t see. Once I met Amber and her family, I didn’t want to let them go.” -—Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of Carving Shadows into Stone

“Forman is a master at making her readers fall in love—with a girl whose life is over, with a community of people in a small town who are barely surviving her loss, and with the incredible, surprising way everyone’s stories knit together into a heartbreaking and hopeful whole.” —E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud

One spring afternoon after school, Amber arrives home on her bike. It’s just another perfectly normal day. But when Amber’s mom sees her, she screams.

Because Amber died seven years ago, hit by a car while on the very same bicycle she’s inexplicably riding now.

This return doesn’t only impact Amber. Her sister, Melissa, now seven years older, must be a new kind of sibling to Amber. Amber’s estranged parents are battling over her. And the changes ripple farther and farther Amber’s friends, boyfriend, and even people she met only once have been deeply affected by her life and death. In the midst of everyone’s turmoil, Amber is struggling with herself. What kind of person was she? How and why was she given this second chance?

This magnificent tour de force by acclaimed author Gayle Forman brilliantly explores the porous veil between life and death, examines the impact that one person can have on the world, and celebrates life in all its beautiful complexity.

My Review

The first novel by Gayle Forman I ever read was If I Stay. (Which, apparently, I never reviewed! Hmm.) My first thought about After Life was that it has a similar ethereal vibe to If I Stay.

In After Life, Amber returns, but there’s a veil between her and her past life, seven years ago. Some things about her life are fresh in her mind and still feel present to her, but to everyone else, she’s been gone seven years. Her return isn’t just miraculous; it’s jarring.

The story jumps around a lot from past to present and different perspectives. I kept everything straight easily, maybe because the chapters were so short. Maybe because the characters are all so different from one another. The story felt pretty straightforward like everything contributed to a whole.

Only one scene struck me as super weird. In it, the romance escalates quickly and suddenly halts. I thought that considering the history of the characters, it seemed strange that the scene played out that way. I just didn’t find it believable, especially as I continued reading.

The rest of the book had some hard-hitting emotional scenes. The town where Amber’s family lives has an It’s a Wonderful Life feel. Threads connect characters in sometimes surprising ways. One character’s actions have a ripple effect, impacting other people in the story. The way the narrative jumps around allows readers to focus on those threads and see how the characters are connected.

At the core of the story is a relationship between two sisters. Melissa and Amber had a complicated relationship before Amber’s death. Amber wants to make up for lost time and for the harm she has caused. The tenderness and acceptance between those two is my favorite part of the story.

The book also explores our different responses to grief. Forman wrote an insightful afterward that explains why she wrote the story and her thoughts on how we grieve. I loved the book before I read her note, but I loved it even more after reading it.

Conclusion

All in all, this is a good one, especially if you like books that break convention to explore a spiritual or relational idea. It’s also less than 300 pages, so a pretty quick read. I highly recommend it.

The cast of the story is pretty inclusive. It includes a person with severe allergies, several queer people, and people of color.

Content Notes for After Life

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some profanity used.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to sex and cheating on a partner. Some scenes describe nudity and, briefly, sex.

Spiritual Content
References to Christian faith and atheism. (One of Amber’s parents was an atheist before her death and appears to have a change of heart when she reappears. Her other parent kept faith as a core part of life, which Amber’s death appears to have challenged.) The family (minus Amber) attends church (off-scene) and speaks to their pastor about miracles.

Violent Content
A boy grabs a girl by the shoulders and shakes her. A man punches someone (several scenes reference this). References to an accident in which a car struck a girl on a bike, killing her. Her injuries are briefly described.

Drug Content
More than one character (adults) drinks too much alcohol or appears to be an alcoholic. A teen drinks alcohol. References to drug use or selling/buying drugs.

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.