The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey

Summary from Goodreads:

1833. After young Lord James Ellerby witnesses a near-fatal carriage accident on the outskirts of his estate, he doesn't think twice about bringing the young woman injured in the wreck to his family's manor to recuperate. But then she finally regains consciousness only to find that she has no memory of who she is or where she belongs.

Beth, as she takes to calling herself, is an enigma even to herself. She has the rough hands of a servant, but the bearing and apparent education of a lady. Her only clue to her identity is a gruesome recurring nightmare about a hummingbird dripping blood from its steel beak.

With the help of James and his sister, Caroline, Beth slowly begins to unravel the mystery behind her identity and the sinister circumstances that brought her to their door. But the dangerous secrets they discover in doing so could have deadly ramifications reaching the highest tiers of London society.

Reivew:

This was not my favorite Cindy Anstey book. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I enjoyed the characters, and the setting. But the story was very slow. The book felt too long, and it took me too long to read it all.

The beginning starts off with a carriage accident, deathly nightmares, and a girl with amnesia, so it had a promising start. But, then close to nothing happens for most of the book, as the girl’s rescuers try to figure out what happened and who the girl really is. Things pick up again toward the end, but I feel like a lot of things could have happened more quickly.

I get that there needed to be time for Beth and James to fall in love. This author likes her period romances. And I usually do too. But, besides this needing to happen, the middle of the book felt redundant and slow. And the romance felt almost too simple. There was nothing standing in the way of the romance except not knowing if Beth was engaged (pre-memory loss). And the other side characters had no romantic attachments at all. It felt like their soul purpose was to encourage Beth and James together…yet simultaneously, be weirdly more into the mystery of Beth than she even seemed to be…

I did like how dark things turned here. It was unexpectedly dark. And except for a few very obvious red herrings, I was surprised by the turn of events. Beth’s real family and background was fascinating for me. And I did not call it in advance. I also enjoyed the writing style Anstey knows how to write stories in this time period well. She knows her stuff. I just wish more things happened plot-wise to keep the story more interesting. I give this one a 7/10.

Bookish Boyfriends: The Boy Next Story by Tiffany Schmidt

Summary from Goodreads:

The second book in a series where your favorite literary characters come to life, inspired by the timeless classic, Little Women!

There’s no one better than the boy next door. At least not according to Aurora Campbell, fourteen, who has been in love with Tobias May since their very first sandbox kiss. The problem is, he’s in love with her older sister, Merrilee. And Merri is already dating one of his best friends.

Rory is learning all about pining as her class reads The Great Gatsby, a book she doesn’t find “great” at all. Also not great—her GPA, something she needs to fix, quickly, if she’d like to apply for the chance to spend a week studying art with her hero in New York City over winter break. But when Ms. Gregoire assigns her to read Little Women for extra credit, Rory discovers more than she expected—both about herself and Toby. Maybe she wasn’t in love with the boy next door. . . but the boy next story.

Love is complicated, and it’s all about to get even trickier for Rory at Reginald R. Hero Prep . . . where with the help of one quirky English teacher, students’ fantasies come true, often with surprising consequences.

Review:

I wasn’t expecting to love this one as much as I did, or I guess as much as I loved book 1. Book 1 was Pride and Prejudice (and also technically Romeo and Juliet), and Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorite books. This one was based off of Little Women, not my favorite book by a long shot. And then I learned it was also going to involve The Great Gatsby, one of my favorite books from high school. And I guess it’s not easy to see how one might combine Little Women and The Great Gatsby…

Weirdly though, this combo worked for me. I definitely found myself relating to Rory right away. She’s the awkward sister who always feels like a third, fourth, or fifth wheel. She feels left out, misunderstood, and alone. She’s also the artist of the family, and I loved all the scenes that involved her creating something. I also loved that this what connects her so strongly to her crush: their shared love of creativity. He’s into music (technically, the musical scores of movies), and she’s into painting. And I love that her longing isn’t just based off of looks and artificial things, but instead it stems from a real connection.

I also have to own up to the fact that I absolutely hated Amy in Little Women, and when I learned that Rory was the current day Amy…I was hesitant to read this. I’m so glad I read it any way. I actually feel like I have more empathy now for Amy…and sort of want to re-read the classic with new eyes. This Amy is stronger, more unique and definitely more caring. There’s a moment that compares to the moment when Amy burns a book in Little Women, but it was way tamer here, and I’m glad. Because, I’m not sure if I’d forgive Rory for what Amy did (if that makes sense).

I cried at parts of this story, both when her sisters left Rory behind in something important, and when she was bullied at school. I felt for her. And then when she almost gives up on her dream to help her parents? I lost it. There’s some definite similarities between the closeness of the family member in both books.

I enjoyed getting to know Toby more. He wasn’t really a main character in the first book. And I enjoyed seeing other characters from Rory’s point of view. It was very different from book 1. The crushing/longing/slow burn romance was insane in this book. So if the wait is hard for you, stay away. The wait kept me into the story more. I kept waiting/needing/wanting Rory and Toby to get together. Watching their friendship grow though was kind of magical too.

If you can’t tell, I loved this. I like it more than book 1 (which is crazy because Little Women isn’t even on the same scale as Pride and Prejudice for me). I loved the characters, particularly Rory. I loved the slow burn romance. I love the friendships. I love the art and creativity. I love the family relationships. I give this a 10/10.

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

Summary from Goodreads:

Revisiting once again the world of Raymie Nightingale, two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo turns her focus to the tough-talking, inescapably tenderhearted Beverly.

Beverly put her foot down on the gas. They went faster still.
This was what Beverly wanted — what she always wanted. To get away. To get away as fast as she could. To stay away.

Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it’s not running away. It’s leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mom, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn’t want to depend on anyone, and she definitely doesn’t want anyone to depend on her. But despite her best efforts, she can’t help forming connections with the people around her — and gradually, she learns to see herself through their eyes. In a touching, funny, and fearless conclusion to her sequence of novels about the beloved Three Rancheros, #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo tells the story of a character who will break your heart and put it back together again.

Review:

Kate DiCamillo is just the best. Reading her books feels like staying up late to finish a book, under the covers, with a flashlight. Her ability to understand how a young brain works is just nuts. Her characters are living, breathing people who I feel like I know. And I can’t stop thinking about her words, long after finishing reading them.

Raymie Nightingale was a masterpiece. And Louisiana’s Way Home was magical. I wasn’t sure where the author was going to take Beverly, by far the least interesting of the Three Rancheros. But, I should have known better than to think Beverly was not interesting. I loved getting to see the world as she sees it. She feels things so strongly. She sees a line of poetry written in a phone booth and can’t escape the words. She sees a mom being snotty to her child, and saves the day for the child. She builds sand castles to be nice. She hears stories of bullying and feels so intensely what her new friend was feeling.

In other words, I love Beverly. I feel things strongly too. And she felt like a soul sister, who was lost and so desperately needed love. I loved her relationship with Iola, a woman who also so badly needed love. I love all the people who meet Beverly and who understand her. They also feel so strongly about things like a certain shade of blue, or the line of a childhood poem, or a cat who decides to like you.

The writing style is magical. It reads almost like a fairytale with the heroine going on a journey. But, it’s also realistic. Beverly has a terrible mother. And her dog (her only loving family member) died. I couldn’t help but care about her and want her to do well.

This is a book about making your own family. It’s about finding people who understand and love you for who you are. And it’s about growing up and realizing that it’s okay to rely on other people sometimes, and you don’t have to always do everything alone. I smiled, laughed, cried, and eventually clutched this book in a hug. I loved it. I give it a 10/10.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Summary from Goodreads:

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

Review:

So, I usually don’t write bad reviews. Basically, if I’m really not feeling a book, I’ll stop reading it and then I feel like I can’t honestly review it, without having read the whole thing. Unfortunately, I finished this book. I kept telling myself it would get better. I love these authors. I loved Illuminae, and this just sounded so good.

Unfortunately, this fell flat. What worked for me in Illuminae with all the characters and differeing points of view, just did not work here. Too many of the characters sounded the same. I had the problem of forgetting whose point of view I was in and needing to go back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself. Too many of them had the same voice! They all had the same weird reactions to bad situations and to being attracted to people. Like Aurora (who’s been frozen and asleep for 200 years) should not speak and react the same way to everyone else…including alien species. She should sound like me.

I also kept comparing this to Twilight and to Throne of Glass, and not in a good way. There was an equivalent here to Maas’s “mating” and Meyer’s “imprinting.” And, well, gag me. That basically destroyed my love of Throne of Glass. Why is it here? Why? And why is each character perfectly paired up too (in a very straight/heterosexual manner, I must add). So much of this book was about crushes and romance, and normally I’m all for that. But, here, it just felt like over-the-top mush.

I liked the overall idea for the story. I like the running from what they know element. I liked that the characters happened upon this crazy knowledge that they can’t un-know. And I liked the action/suspense of it all. I guess that’s what prevented me from putting this book down for good. That and wanting to know what on earth was happening. It took me 3 weeks to read though…

All in all, the action was good. The characters were terrible. They all sounded the same. The romance was borderline terrible. And the points of view switches were confusing at best. I give this a very disappointed 4/10.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

Summary from Goodreads:

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley's dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There's just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy's best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it's really Laura Dean that's the problem. Maybe it's Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Review:

This was the first book I’ve read in a long time that I just loved. I loved the art of this graphic novel. It was very feminine and pretty. Something about the black and white panels with a splash of pink, just super appealed to me. The facial reactions and emotions that come across the artwork was just spectacular; it felt like I was watching a movie.

I also think the story is so important. It deals with something I’ve gone through, and that I think, unfortunately, a lot of girls go through: dating whoever you can get to like you and settling for a bad relationship because you don’t think you can get any better. Laura Dean is a terrible girlfriend. She cheats, she neglects, she abandons, and she fights with Freddy. And Freddy keeps going back to her. Part of me kept yelling at her to stop doing it, but part of me super related. I think as a teen, when you’re so self conscious and afraid, it’s easy to fall into this trap. And it’s easy to neglect your friends for “love.”

I’ve never seen this point made so clearly and well. It was good that we got to see how this toxic relationship affected those around Freddy (like her best friend who really needed her). And it was also so nice to see Freddy finally start to realize things, to realize she deserved more than this and her friends did too.

I also like that this was a relationship between two women. It’s important to know that these kinds of things happen to all kinds of relationships and not just straight ones. I think this is a topic all humans can understand. We all need to value ourselves more than we do, and it’s such an important lesson for Freddy to learn.

All in all, this book impressed me. The art was stunning. The story/plot was on point. And the characters were definitely flawed, but also loveable. I give it a 10/10.

I see London, I see France by Sarah Mlynowski

Summary from Goodreads:

Nineteen-year-old Sydney has the perfect summer mapped out. She’s spending the next four and half weeks traveling through Europe with her childhood best friend, Leela. Their plans include Eiffel-Tower selfies, eating cocco gelato, and making out with très hot strangers. Her plans do not include Leela’s cheating ex-boyfriend showing up on the flight to London, falling for the cheating ex-boyfriend’s très hot friend, monitoring her mother’s spiraling mental health via texts, or feeling like the rope in a friendship tug-of-war.

As Sydney zigzags through Amsterdam, Switzerland, Italy, and France, she must learn when to hold on, when to keep moving, and when to jump into the Riviera…wearing only her polka-dot underpants.

Review:

This was the medicine I needed: something light, fluffy, romantic, and full of traveling adventures. It’s a great summer/beach read to take with on vacation. And it was the perfect book to take me away from summer craziness at work.  Books that take place in other countries, and coming of age summer books are two of my favorite things, so…this book checked a lot of boxes for me.

That being said Sydney wasn’t my favorite character. I felt for her, but I never seriously loved her or related too much to her. I also never loved her best friend. Sydney was too set in her ways, and it was hard for me to love her. Her best friend was just so whiny and annoying. I loved the friend they met up with in Paris, but she wasn’t in most of the story. And considering that much of this book was about friendship, I really wanted to like the two main friends more.

However, I loved the traveling to new places with no plans element to the story. I loved the sense of adventure. And I just adored the romance. The train rides, the beaches, the scenery, the travel friends they made, and the quick sight-seeing of amazing places really created a remarkable setting.  I definitely took away that youth hostels are not for me. And I’m definitely going to continue to book hotels and air b and b’s…But, the living on a budget thing definitely added another layer to fluffy story.

I’m getting married in September, and going to Paris right after. So, this definitely put me in the right mindset for that. And it reminded me of a not so long ago trip to London with Nick. This book is definitely for fellow travel lovers. I give it an 8/10.

A Good Week in Books (207)

I’ve had such a crazy, busy, hectic summer. But, I’m here now. I have some serious blogging to catch up on. I’ve read 4 books since my last post (one YA romance, one YA graphic novel, one YA sci-fi, and one Middle Grade) Reviews will happen pronto. I’ve also been doing some serious tv binging. Nick and I finished all of Supernatural, Good Omens, and Stranger Things. We are now on to New Girl. We needed something lighter. And I’ve been seriously obsessed with the show, Empire...Summer is my crazy time at work, and tv has been my go-to when I get home. I’ve received 7 new books for review. Thank you, Henry Holt, Swoon Reads, Feiwel and Friends, and First Second.

The new books:

Vow of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
Within Ash and Stardust by Chani Lynn Feener
Before I Disappear by Danielle Stinson
Grimoire Noir by Vera Greentea and Yana Bogatch
How the Light Gets in by Katy Upperman
Remember Me by Chelsea Bobulski