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Review: The Marvelous by Claire Kann

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The Marvelous by Claire Kann

The Marvelous
Claire Kann
Swoon Reads
Published June 8, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Marvelous

Everyone thinks they know Jewel Van Hanen. Heiress turned actress turned social media darling who created the massively popular video-sharing app, Golden Rule.

After mysteriously disappearing for a year, Jewel makes her dramatic return with an announcement: she has chosen a few lucky Golden Rule users to spend an unforgettable weekend at her private estate. But once they arrive, Jewel ingeniously flips the script: the guests are now players in an elaborate estate-wide game. And she’s tailored every challenge and obstacle to test whether they have what it takes to win–at any cost.

Told from the perspective of three dazzling players–Nicole: the new queen of Golden Rule; Luna: Jewel’s biggest fan; and Stella: a brilliant outsider–this novel will charm its way into your heart and keep you guessing how it all ends because money isn’t the only thing at stake.

My Review

The concept of this book had pretty much already hooked me before I ever opened the first page. And then, the writing hit me. Wowza. I am a huge fan of Kann’s style in this book. It’s smart, a little bit sharp, and just never stops delivering great moments.

I’ve read some solve-the-riddle type stories before that, when I got to the finish of the riddle, left me feeling like, wait that was it? THE MARVELOUS absolutely delivered on an ending as fabulous as its setup.

So that’s the plot in all it’s amazing, twisty, high-stakes glory. I need to talk about the characters. At first I think I had a tendency to mix up Luna and Nicole. Maybe because of the similarity in them both not living with parents? I’m not sure. Once I was a few chapters in and knew them both better, I was mystified at myself for ever having confused them.

I loved Luna’s exuberance and her easy friendship with Alex. Nicole’s more self-contained nature and her compassion totally won me over. And then there’s Stella At All Times. At first I wasn’t sure what to make of her. Once she found her feet in the game and once I felt like I really got into her head, I couldn’t wait for the chapters from her point-of-view.

THE MARVELOUS is one of those books that I thought I’d enjoy but not rave about, and I was so wrong. There’s SO MUCH about this book that I loved. If you like twisty, mystery-slash-riddle stories with strong characters, you have to check this one out. I think fans of ONE OF US IS LYING will love THE MARVELOUS.

Check Out Twinkl’s 2021 TBR List

My review of THE MARVELOUS is featured on a book resource site called Twinkl in their 2021 TBR List! You can see it and a whole bunch of other great reading recommendations in that list. It’s totally worth checking out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are Black. A couple characters are LGBT+

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to attraction, some hand holding. A girl falls asleep with a boy.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some dangerous situations. No blood and gore.

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 Marvelous in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Velvet by Temple West

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

Velvet
Temple West
Swoon Reads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After Caitlyn’s mom dies, she moves in with her aunt and uncle to a rural mountainside far from home. Discouraged and alone, Caitlyn wanders in the woods. Then a supernatural tornado-like thing nearly swallows her up. The boy who saves her turns out to be much more than the dark and swoony neighbor all the local girls wish they could get to know better.

But Adrian knows he’s placed Caitlyn in mortal danger. He is a vampire and his father, a demon (no, seriously,) wants to kill her. So the only way to protect her is to pretty much be with her constantly and, well, pose as her boyfriend, of course. Soon Caitlyn is the envy of every girl in school. But being Adrian’s pseudo-girlfriend comes with a high price. And the last thing she should do is fall in love with him.

When I picked up this book, I worried it would be sort of like a weird Twilight retelling. It is in the sense that he’s a vampire, she’s just a girl, and their star-crossed love would be frowned on by all if the truth came out. But West takes a different spin on vampire lore. Rather than vampires being created by bites from other vampires, they are the children of demons and human women. Yeah, it’s dark.

While I liked the twist on the vampire parts, other parts of the story were really a stretch to me, especially where it came to the romance. Things happened more than once that seemed contrived or almost silly rather than romantic. For the most part, I liked Adrian’s character. I felt like Caitlyn was a little tough to get into. She’s angry and distant in the wake of her mom’s death, but it was hard to really see past those feelings into the hurt and loneliness that would have made her easier to connect with.

The ending also felt like it went beyond setting a hook for the next story into introducing several ideas that didn’t connect with the current tale. I like having something to look forward to, but it felt like a lot of things just got thrown in there at the end that could have maybe been foreshadowed earlier in the story or just left out until book two.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately.

Sexual Content
Caitlin’s girl friends tease her about whether or not she’s having sex with her boyfriend. They conspire to purchase lingerie for her as a Christmas present. Caitlin is embarrassed and conflicted about whether or not to show off her gift to her man. She and Adrian begin spending nights together after her nightmares grow worse. In pajamas, they nestle together in her tiny single bed. In one scene they strip to underwear and shower together. Afterward, they kiss and tumble around in his bed together (still in shower-soaked underpants) before falling asleep.

Adrian worries that his father may try to kill or impregnate Caitlyn and warns her to be on the lookout for strange men who may harm or attempt to seduce her. She gets in a dangerous situation with one man who tries to seduce her, but he doesn’t succeed.

Spiritual Content
Adrian is a vampire. Unlike other traditional tales of vampires, in this story, vampires are created when a demon and a human woman have a child together. The woman is killed at the birth of the child. The demon may try to take the child back to Hell or the vampire culture, who oppose demons, may try to raise the child among their numbers. There’s some hint that Caitlin may have some larger role to play in the battle between demons and vampires.

Violence
Caitlin suffers from violent nightmares. They get pretty gory. Adrian fights a demon in a battle that gets pretty intense. Caitlyn and Adrian also discuss how vampires keep “fed” using bags of human blood.

Drug Content
Caitlyn and her friends go to a party at which they drink alcohol.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.