Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, Libro.fm, and MacMillan Audio for the complimentary advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog
TW : loss of a family member, cancer, grief/mourning, infadelity
This book was so much fun to listen to! Think of The Holiday, but a young woman switching places with her Grandmother. What could possibly go wrong? It turns out, nothing! It’s just a good time for everyone. The audiobook itself was immensely enjoyable, as well, since there were two lovely narrators – a young woman playing Leena and an age-appropriate woman playing her Grandmother Eileen. I loved this, because I always find it silly when there are twenty-something year old actors or voice-actors playing roles of grandparents, when there are so many lovely and age-appropriate men and women that could do the roles just as easily! Plus, you can’t go wrong with both actress’s adorable accents! Everyone loves an English accent, right? It’s not just me?
Getting into the characters, I really loved both of these women. The story is told in alternating chapters between each of their points of view, so we get to see the adventures that each of them go on during their swap, and I loved both of their storylines! Although, I have to say, listening to Eileen while she is on the hunt for a man, online dating, and having sordid sexual affairs, was really fun in my opinion. You don’t very often get to hear about women above about 40 falling in love at all, let alone having any sort of sexual relationship, so I thought it was very different and enjoyable as a story here. Both of these women are sassy, and stubborn, and have a matching quick tongue that they are not afraid to use! I must say, though, I think Eileen was my favorite of the characters. I want to be her when I grow up. Seriously, you go Eileen! Although, elderly and eccentric Letitia may be a close second for me!
I will also say that I really loved the more serious, almost underlying, storyline involving both of them as well as Leena’s mother/Eileen’s daughter Marian mourning the loss of Leena’s sister Carla. They all three of them feel the loss in very different ways, and deal with the grief in very different ways as well, and it was really sweet watching how their relationships with each other grew as they learned how they could slowly work through their grief together.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. And would really recommend the audiobook to those wanting to read it! I would say that this book is perfect for a relaxing Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a puzzle or a coloring book or something else that may seem equally silly but will be nice and relaxing while you listen!
Thanks so much to the author and to Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Central Avenue Publishing for the complimentary e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in this blog tour. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 (September 1, 2020, Central Avenue Publishing) is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline into connecting and thriving during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. All net profits will be donated to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc).
“I was looking for some way to make a dent in the overwhelming grief and devastation, and I hoped other authors would feel the same way,” says Jennifer Haupt, editor and curator of ALONE TOGETHER, who put out a call for submissions on Facebook a month after the quarantine began. “The book came together in astonishingly short amount of time—just two months. It was inspiring to see how it snowballed, with my publisher and the book distributor donating their services.”
The diverse roster of 76 bestselling and up-and-coming contributing authors (55 in the print book and another 21 in the digital edition) includes: Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, W. Ralph Eubanks, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Jane Hirshfield, Pam Houston, Major Jackson, Jean Kwok, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Lidia Yuknavitch.
This book is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don’t Stop. The overarching theme is finding grace and humanity in this devastating time. “Some might argue that the private sector is all about survival of the fittest, but I see booksellers as existing in this place between the public and private sector,” says Michelle Halket, publisher, Central Avenue Publishing. “Bookstores are akin to our libraries; collectors and curators of our culture, and the hubs our local communities. I’m proud to help bookstores survive the COVID19 economy, while bringing forth more of the prose and poetry we all need.” All authors, the publisher and book distributor are donating their time, talent, and expertise, so the contribution to Binc is expected to be significant.
Review: (4 Stars)
TW : COVID-19 pandemic, loss of loved ones, sickness
I will say, first and foremost, that if I wasn’t on the blog tour for this book I likely would not have picked it up or read it when I did. This virus, and the time we have been living in hasn’t been easy for anyone – there is so much fear in the world right now, and being basically locked into your houses for a full quarantine was really hard on a lot of people’s mental and emotional health, myself included. And so diving right into a book about the world seemingly falling apart while we are still very much in the middle of it was a bit strange for me.
That being said, I am so incredibly glad that I read it.
This book, and all of the poems, short stories, etc. that make it up, were so powerful. And not every story will speak to every reader, but I think every reader can find at least a handful of stories that really will speak to them, and will possibly stick with them after they’re done reading. More so than anything else, this book was amazing to show me that I am not alone while I’m locked in my house all day having conversations with my pets. To show me that all of my really big feelings that I’m feeling are not only valid, but I’m not the only one feeling or experiencing them.
I would say that at this moment in time this book might not be a healthy read for every single person, and that maybe some people would do better to wait and read it once it feels like we have, as a country, come out on the other side of all of this. But I do think that more people should read it, either now or then. As I said, it felt wonderful to read some of the stories that were so similar to my own – so if that is something that you have been craving, that connected, togetherness with other people, then I really think you need to read this book. And if you can’t intake media right now because we are still too close to the situation, maybe consider buying the book to read later on. You’ll be supporting the book-ish community with your purchase, and then if nothing else 10 years from now you will have this very real, very raw look back at this crazy time in history that we will have all lived through.
About the Author (from Goodreads):
Jennifer Haupt is the editor of ALONE TOGETHER: Stories of Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19. Her essays and articles have been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, Parenting, The Rumpus, Spirituality & Health, The Sun and many other publications. Her debut novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills was awarded the Foreword Reviews Bronze Indie Award for Historical Fiction. Her second novel, Come as You Are, a contemporary family drama, will be published in July 2021.
Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog
Book Description from Goodreads:
After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.
The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.
Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?
Review: (5 Stars)
TW: Rape, sexual abuse, discussion of murder, violence, gaslighting
You guys. This book. When I first received this book, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from it. I was automatically really interested because of the synopsis, but I remember feeling that way about Goldin’s The Escape Room as well, and being slightly disappointed in the ending. So I was really nervous that, even if I loved the rest of the book, that that might be the case again. Let me tell you, It. Was. Not. I really loved this book. This was a book that I didn’t want to read before bed, but also couldn’t seem to put it down. I just needed to know what was going to happen next, and I definitely was not disappointed. I think that this might be one of my favorite thrillers that I’ve read in a while.
I thought that the idea of having the main character in a suspense/thriller be a true crime podcaster was really fascinating. This book was told through different points of view as well as through different platforms, and even almost two different timelines through flashbacks. There are chapters from Rachel’s point of view, as well as chapters that are episodes of her podcast, chapters of Hannah telling stories of she and her sister Jenny as kids, it was all over the place but in a really interesting and engaging way. It felt like the book was part true crime podcast/blog, part courtroom drama, part cold case files. All of that sounds really difficult to follow, but I didn’t have any issues at all. The way the chapters were separated and distinguished between was really simple in my opinion, and I never had any issues with figuring out who was talking or what platform the story was being told through.
The characters were also really interesting in this story, in the sense that you got to see some different sides to almost everyone. I love really well thought out characters and giving them room to be dynamic and imperfect, and this book definitely did that. Weirdly enough, the only character that I would have loved just the tiniest bit more of a peak into was our lead Rachel. We see her as the podcaster and investigator who is very capable and overall very smart, but I wish we could have gotten just a little bit further of a view into her mind. Maybe why she is so drawn to true crime, or what made her into such a good investigator. Things like that. Everyone else shows you different sides of themselves, and I would have liked just one more visible side to Rachel.
Along with the trigger warning above, I would like to say again that this book deals very heavily in rape and sexual assault, and sometimes uses graphic language/descriptors in telling those stories, to the point that this might be really difficult for some to read. If those things will be triggering for you, please don’t read this book. But if you will be able to get through those scenes, I would recommend this book as a really engaging example of a suspenseful mystery, courtroom drama, and thriller all rolled into one with a really modern twist as a nice little bow on top. This book is perfect with a glass of wine next to a roaring fire, letting yourself live all of your Poirot fantasies. You will not want to put this one down.
Thanks so much to the author, Netgalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, and blog tour participation. All opinions are entirely my own. { Partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads.
Book Description:
The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.
It’s 1987 and unfortunately it’s not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy’s constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem’s own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren’t like everyone else.
But when May’s stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem’s questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good.
But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.
From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.
Author’s Letter to the Reader:
Dear Reader,
Like Mayhem, I experienced a period of time when my life was extremely unstable. I can still remember what it was like to be shaken so hard I thought my head would come off, to watch the room vibrate, to feel unsafe in my own home, to never know what was coming around the next corner. I wanted to run. I always wanted to run.
I ran to friends, but also movies and books, and although girls were more passively portrayed in movies like The Lost Boys back then, that feeling of teenagers prowling the night, taking out bad people, being unbeatable . . . that got me through it.
I guess that’s what I tried to do here. I wanted girls who feel powerless to be able to imagine themselves invincible. And yes, I used a rape as the seed for that fierce lineage, not without thought. For me, there is nothing worse, and I like to think great power can rise up as a result of a devastating trespass.
Please know I took none of this lightly. Writing this now, my heart is beating hard and my throat is dry. This is the first time I not only really looked at my own past, the pain of loss, the pain of the loss of trust that comes when someone puts hands on you without permission, the pain of people dying, the shock of suicide, and put all of it to paper in a way that made me feel victorious, strong, and warrior-like. It is also terrifying. I know I’m not the only one who had a scary childhood, and
I know I’m not the only one who clings to stories as salve to smooth over burnt skin. I am so sick of girls and women being hurt. This was my way of taking my own vengeance and trying to access forgiveness.
Thank you for reading and for those of you who can relate, I see you and you are not alone.
Estelle Laure
Q&A with the Author:
Why did you choose Santa Maria as the setting? What drew you/your story to that location?
When I was young growing up in the Bay Area, we used to go to Santa Cruz sometimes on weekends, go to the boardwalk, go on rides, so I was familiar with it. It’s also the place where The Lost Boys was filmed and it’s the thing I most directly took from that movie. I didn’t want to have to be true to Santa Cruz though, so I created Santa Maria so I could take more liberties in terms of the layout and businesses, etc.
Is there a plan for this to be released on audio? If so, were you a part of the casting process for the narrator?
Yes!, I believe it’s released the same day as Mayhem comes out in hardcover. I love listening to books, so I’m delighted that’s an option. As far as casting, I was sent a sample of the person who was eventually cast and absolutely loved her. She’s perfect so there was no question they picked the right person. I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t had that reaction, but I’m glad I didn’t have to find out. I haven’t heard it yet but I feel sure she’s done an incredible job.
According to your author profile you have a Theatre Arts degree – how do you think that influences your writing? And any influences to this story in particular?
Wow, I’ve never had this question before and I think it’s a great one! I was trained to understand the psychology of a character fully in order to embody it, so I think that plays a part in every keystroke for me. I want everyone to feel fully realized and I reach into my actor toolbox a lot in order to get to the bottom of the emotional story. One thing I learned in theatre is that no one is ever saying what they’re saying, so when I write dialogue I try to always have an unspoken element and a subtext happening. I also think in terms of tone, silhouette, movement, blocking…it’s all there all the time. I’m so glad I have that training to lean on because I use it in every story, not just this one.
What drew you to the 1980s as the setting for this story?
I was twelve in 1987 which was the year The Lost Boys came out. That summer felt a little spooky and too hot and since I was actually in California where the story happens, it’s a time and place I remember very well. I wanted to explore it for my own nostalgic purposes but also because it was RAD! Also, this story couldn’t work with technology as it is today, so it had to be sometime pre-cell. Why not the age of rampant serial killers and total chaos, as well a big hair?
The description of this book talks about exploring “the price of vigilante justice.” How do you explore the idea of what justice means to each of your characters, and the topic of possible consequences while trying to seek it?
I’m really in conversation with myself in this respect. The truth is I think if someone hurt one of my kids I would want them hurt in equal measure and would have a very hard time being patient with the judicial process. BUT I also realize we can’t have a justice system that metes out physical punishment because it’s a fallible system. The question here is what if your own internal system was capable of accurately determining someone’s potential for violence or history with it? Should you then be the deliverer of vengeance? Should you be an angel of death? That’s really what Mayhem and all the characters who share this potential power are grappling with. They all fall somewhere along the spectrum of what they’re willing to pay in exchange for that power and where they fall in terms of its ethics. One thing is sure: nothing comes for free, especially not the taking of a life.
Review:
[ Due to unforeseen difficulties in my life, I have not yet finished this book. Unfortunately, life happens! My full review will be added here as soon as I have finished reading the book. Thank you so much for your patience! ]
About the Author:
Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.
Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and One More Chapter for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my full reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog
TW : loss of a family member
This story was a very fun and saucy! It had a ton of the romance stereotypes that draws people in – workplace romance, broody bad boy and glass-half-full optimist, love triangles, opposites attract – it’s got it all! I love the story of the sexy one night stand turned office fling, and I really enjoyed seeing how Sam, the female lead, balanced that with what she saw as her responsibilities as the CEO.
That being said, I didn’t find that this book was perfect for me. There were just some parts that I didn’t feel as invested or drawn in as I did in the beginning.
Let’s start with the characters. I really loved the character of Sam. I also really loved that the author decided to turn the office romance on it’s head a bit and have the female lead be the bad ass CEO, and the male lead be the one working with and for her. I found Sam pretty realistically written and fairly likable from the very beginning, and I had no trouble feeling myself stay invested in her and her story. She was just a character that I wanted to succeed, you know? I wanted to watch her app turn out incredibly successful, and I wanted to watch her give her jerk ex a piece of her mind, and I wanted to see her be able to Ryan and start to really feel all of that love. She just turned out to be the very type of character that I found I was wanting to read about, just so that I could root for her.
Now to Ryan, our troubled and brooding introvert of a male lead. I really did like his character – I love a flawed character that has plenty of space to grow and change throughout the course of the story. That’s what makes characters fun! When you get to see someone become a better or more rounded person, it just really makes the reading experience for me. And Ryan definitely had all of that in spades. One thing that I will say is, while I loved his backstory and still wanted to be able to watch him succeed, there were just a few times that his gruff exterior towards Sam was just a bit harsher than I would have loved to see. It was definitely a part of who he was as a character, and like I said, that gave him the opportunity to really show some great character development by the end. But there were just a couple of times when, in my opinion, it crossed the line from “brooding bad boy employee/fling being protective of her and being a strong alpha” to “jerk that she has feelings for belittling her and basically telling her to f*** off on multiple occassions.” And those were the moments that made it just a bit more difficult for me to keep myself fully invested in the story, particularly the romance. There were just one or two times when if I was her best friend I maybe would have told her that this guy may not be the best news for her right now. Although overall he did follow through on that previously mentioned character development, and by the time I got to the last page I was back on his side. Mostly.
Over all I definitely enjoyed this read, and would recommend it to friends who are looking for a sassy and slightly steamy workplace romance or opposites attract story. It has a few pretty steamy moments, but most only go so far as a movie scene fading to black, and it never got too much worse than PG-13. And from my experience, it is definitely best enjoyed with a glass of wine and a bubble bath!
Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads { #partner }
I love all of Amanda Lovelace’s work that I have read, which is most of it. Particularly her Women Are Some Kind of Magic series is very dear to my heart. I read the first in that series, The Princess Saves Herself In This One, when I was recently out of (and recovering from) a very toxic situation, and after entering into a relationship with the amazing man that I would marry. It was a perfect time to read it, and it taught me so much about myself, and helped me work through things emotionally that even then I was ignoring.
So when I heard that she was coming out with another collection of her feminist, therapeutic poetry, and this time themed around a classic fairy tale like Cinderella, I knew that I was going to read it the second that I got my hands on it. And I did, and I loved it just as much as I was sure that I would. She turns the fairy tale details on their head – my favorite being that the Fairy Godmother is a personification of the voice we all hope for in our lives that counteracts the harmful voice in our heads, with positive, healthy, and affirming self talk.
All of this being said, and as much as I love Lovelace’s work, you definitely need to know exactly what you are getting into when you pick up one of these collections. As I noted earlier, these poetry collections deal with matters related to some very serious trigger warnings. So if this is something that would be harmful to you after reading, then please make note of that. And as she states at the beginning of each of her collections – “Remember to practice self care before, during, & after reading.”
Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All of my reviews can be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on Goodreads. { partner }
What is there even to say about Catana Comics? These sweet comics have been in my life and bringing me immense joy since I first saw them around two years ago, or so. And they are not only adorable, but so relatable. Sometimes I feel almost attacked with how much my fiance and I relate them to our own relationship. Socially awkward? Wants all of the pizza? Nothing but cuddles and no pants? Attacks their partner with all of the kisses and weird reactions? I feel you, girl. Especially during the year and a half that my fiance and I were long distance – we sent these back and forth to each other daily, and they always made us feel closer together, and definitely helped us get through that time. So I knew going in that I was going to love this.
This is a very quick read, as each comic is only a few panels on a page, so I just read through them all in about 25 minutes. I would highly, highly recommend this to absolutely anyone. It is funny, and sickly sweet, and I guarantee that every single person will find at least one (likely way more) that will make them smile!
Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. All of my full, honest reviews can be found on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog and on Instagram @TacklingTBR { partner }
If you had spent your entire life feeling sick, and fragile, and literally blue, what would be one of the first things that you would want to do with the start of your new life post-heart transplant? As someone who was fortunate enough to have been born healthy, and who has stayed at least relatively healthy throughout my lifetime, these aren’t questions that I’ve ever had to think about answers for. But our heroine Ailsa Rae has thought of little else while waiting for the heart transplant that would save her life, and this is where the book begins.
This book was a pretty slow read for me, only because of the formatting of the book itself. There aren’t necessarily chapters, the book is separated into ten parts instead that, for me, were about an average of about an hour and a half to two hours per part. The story is told through blog posts, online news articles, flashbacks, and more typical in the moment story portions. It was really interesting getting information from all of these different POVs, and I really enjoyed this form of storytelling. My only issue with this was the very long parts in lieu of chapters, since it made it a bit slow seeming while reading it.
I will also say that I wish we got to see more of the character of Lennox. As stated above, bits of the book are looking back at before Ailsa’s transplant. Only one or two of these flashbacks include Lennox as an active character, most of them are still after his death. While I love understanding how she was dealing with his loss, and how she was able to come to terms with that, I wish that we had just a little bit more time with him as well. I was really wanting just a little bit more time to truly fall in love with him the way that she had.
All of that being said and out of the way, I really enjoyed this book. I fell in love with all of the characters, but especially with our lead Ailsa. While she was a sweet and young character, who had had a pretty difficult time throughout her life, at no point was she presented as a perfect character. If you know me, you know that I love a flawed character. But, while I have never been in the situations that Ailsa is in during this story, I still found myself relating to her quite a bit, and therefore loved getting to watch her journey. She has a blog that outlines her transplant experience and on the blog she often posts polls for her followers to help her decide what to do in any given situation (whether or not to travel to London, where to go for an outing, etc.) I know that there were some other people that disliked this part of her character, I really did enjoy it because indecisiveness is a flaw that I daily struggle with as well. This morning I asked my Instagram followers to help me pick my next read, and last night I literally gave my fiance four options of activities and asked him how I should spend my evening. Not something that I am always proud of, but I loved seeing this in a character and watching her work through it with the help of the people who love her.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book, and as long as you have time to devote to a little bit of a slower read (more character driven than story driven) then I would absolutely recommend it.
Blog Tour Stop : Kate Rock Book Tours courtesy of Kensington Books
Thanks so much to the author, Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Kensington Books for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for honest thoughts, and participation in this book tour. { partner }
BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS :
RISK EVERYTHING … Holly has taken herself out of the dating game since breaking up with her cheating, thieving ex. She barely notices Marc, who comes into the game store every week, hoping to get her attention. Her friends insist it’s time to take on a new role, to leave Quiet Holly behind and embrace her inner flirt. And on paper, Marc’s great: cute, funny, and a hardcore gamer just like Holly is.
Then there’s Nathan. He’s everything twenty-eight-year-old Holly wants…except he’s also her friend’s father. Absolutely off-limits. But as she and Nathan playtest a new legacy game together, they’re growing closer.
The game is complex and intriguing, and there’s no wat to know how choices will pan out. What seems like a good idea could lead to disaster…or sweet victory. But in gaming, as in love, sometimes you have to roll the dice to take your chance . . .
MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW (4 STARS) :
Once again I am writing a review on a second book in a series without having read the first book. Come on, Jennifer, get it together. Right? Right. But, like with my last tour book, the description comes along and it just sounds too fun to pass up, even if I did miss the first part of the story! And once again, I was not disappointed.
Holly is an incredibly fun character, and I really enjoyed getting to spend this time with her. She is nerdy and game-minded, yes, but she is also really smart, and strong-willed, feisty, and she has a fierce love for the people around her. When we first meet her she is in the last few months of reclaiming her life from issues caused by and related to her ex, who is in trouble with the law due to his part in their new business was revealed to be less than upstanding. She’s been having a hard time while trying to get back on her feet, working at her local game shop and having weekly game nights with her friends, and is inspired to start putting herself out there more in the world of dating.
While none of the first few dates go very far, some not even making it through the salad course, I had a really good time getting to read about the dates, especially the really cringe-worthy ones whom she had met online. It felt a little bit like gossiping and sharing bad dating stories with your girlfriends, and let me just say that I was all about it. And while we are on the topic, I loved her whole group of friends at the game nights. They are such a tight knit group, and all getting to share in a mutual love of the game and the competition. Also the game that they are playing throughout the whole story sounds really cool. I am not always a huge gamer myself (I had older brothers, so I can play sometimes, but I grew up mostly watching the games instead), but I wanted to try and join in the game too. Take out? Check. Good friends? Check. Awesome sounding board game? Check. All I’m saying is that I’m upset I don’t get to have game nights anymore.
And yes, we couldn’t talk about this book without talking about the love story. Throughout the story Holly has two main love interests that she focuses on – Marc, who stops by the game shop during her shifts, and sweetly plans dream dates to try and woo our lead; and Nathan, who she has had a crush on for years and gives her enough butterflies to fill her stomach twice over every time they brush hands. He seems perfect (hey, they even already live together) except that he is the father of one of her best friends. Yikes. Her whole internal debate between the two men revolves around how her friend, Gwen, would react if she chose Nathan, worrying she’s breaking some girl-code and that her friend may never forgive her. While I’ve never been in this particular situation I think we’ve all had moments where we worried we might hurt or even lose a friend depending on a choice that we made, and so I found that part of the story really easy to follow and found that I could fairly easily relate to the character. And plus, there’s something about a forbidden romance that just makes it that much more fun to read, right?
Overall this book was really enjoyable, and I wanted to jump right into the middle of this friend group. None of the characters were perfect, which I always think makes for a better and more enjoyable reading experience. And while, yes, the central gaming theme may not be for everybody, I found it different and new and thoroughly entertaining. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series, Make Your Move, which publishes in December and follows another member of this same group.
This book is publishing tomorrow, October 15, 2019!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner }
The premise and lead character definitely (and quickly) drew me to this book when I first read the pre-publication synopsis – I love a character driven novel, and when it’s being lead by a strong female character I tend to love it all the more. What can I say? I have a type. So a story about a strong, independent, and badass female firefighter finding love and reuniting with her mother sounded like it would be right up my alley. And for the most part I really enjoyed this book, but it was a near miss from “love” for me.
One of the things that bugged me the most was the thing that I usually eat right up in a book like this – the romance. The love story. Don’t get me wrong, I had quite a few swooning moments with the Rookie. But let’s start there – it is very difficult to fully invest in a romantic connection between two characters where one is almost exclusive referred to as “the Rookie,” even by the person that he is in said relationship with. I’m all for nicknames or pet-names galore, but the fact that he had this joking and mocking nickname before they were even fully acquainted, and she continues to use it after falling in love and even up until (spoiler) the wedding. And that was just a little bit difficult for me to fully buy into.
And then the other part of the relationship that was a bit tough for me was how instantly Cassie fell for the Rookie. While I do prefer stories about the relationships that start slowly (either as friends or rivals) and build over time, I don’t have anything against a “love at first sight” type of love. And in all honesty I don’t have any issues character-wise with the Rookie falling for Cassie at first sight. But everything that we know about Cassie would mean that she shouldn’t have that kind of reaction. She has spent her entire adult and young adult life building up these walls around herself emotionally, and while yes I believe that finding herself falling in love with someone would break those walls down, seeing a man that she finds attractive should not immediately affect her as strongly as it does. The man walks into the room on their first day of work and her heartrate immediately quickens, and she all but goes weak in the knees and swoons. Again, I don’t have an issue with love at first sight, but it doesn’t make sense with who we are meant to believe that this woman is. It just didn’t fit for me.
However, now that I’ve been a bit of a downer, overall I did enjoy this book. I liked the character of Cassie and her drive, and I really enjoyed her relationship with her mom (once she let herself have one). While it was really difficult to read about the people in her life letting her ignore her past, when according to her they “just know,” rather than encouraging her to face it, it was really nice getting to see her get to the point of talking about it and therefore being able to come to terms with it.
Even with the issues that I did have, I enjoyed this book and I’m glad that I got to read it. I would recommend it, but it certainly won’t be one of my favorite books of the year. What it did do was make me laugh at times, make me unwilling to put it down at others, and make me want to call my mom.
Tackling TBR 