Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – The Teeth in the Tide

So this book was a surprise in the best way!

Let me start by saying, I’m not a mermaid person. When I originally saw this book described as a gender-swapped Little Mermaid retelling, I thought, “Eh, not for me.”

Then… when I saw it pitched as “Attack on Titan with mermaids,” I thought… Okay… well THAT I’ve got to see. And this book so totally pulled it off! The dual-POV plot follows a girl struggling with her deep-seated anger with the infestation of cannibalistic mermaids around her small island that threatens to cut them off from the rest of the world, and a merman struggling to escape slavery from the twisted, abusive mermaid queens.

Kenney does NOT hold back with the viciousness of the mermaids as she so vividly paints their world. Perfectly paced, I totally loved the brisk, rich writing style and the intricate and barbaric culture of the mermaids. I liked all the characters from the quietly raging Kestra, to intelligent Mai, and the charismatic ship captain, and the dialogue between them was sharp and fun.

The only thing that didn’t quite work for me was the glimpses of the love triangle that I feel would be further explored in future books. Without getting into spoilers, the chemistry between two points of the love triangle didn’t quite gel for me, and I was a little bit anxious about who the MC would end up.

I felt like the ending tied up the strands perfectly though, closing out the story while leaving room for future tales. As for a content warnings: there is definitely some intense, bloody violence, but language is mild, and romance scenes are fade-to-black, so I’d say PG-13. I would recommend this book to any fans of fantasy with an edge… and extra bonus points if you’re into mermaids!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  

Beautiful writing, unique story, and it comps to Attack on Titan. What’s not to like!?!

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Deliver Me

Read and released back into the wild.

Told in third person omniscient and set roughly in the 19th century, Deliver Me by Reda Amirah follows Nour’s escape from her cruel fiancé in Egypt to her life in a friendly music troupe in England, and her relationship with the rakish Lord Thomas.

Told in short scenes in a narrative-driven style, this novella moves very quickly. While I’m not really a huge fan of third person omniscient in general, (I feel like the characters are often kept at arm’s length instead of the immersive feel of other POVs), I definitely found myself drawn into the story, and I thought the plot had a good flow.

I thought Nour was definitely a strong and likeable character, but Thomas wasn’t my favorite with his possessive playboy noble attitude. He and Nour have a stymied lust-at-first-sight relationship that I was pretty dubious of at first, but I did like seeing their relationship grow as the book went on.

I ended up reading this book in one evening, and I found the fast-paced story definitely kept me turning pages. There is mention of rape and scenes of physical abuse, but the steam level is on the lower side. If you’re a fan of narrative-driven romance, then I definitely think it’s worth the read!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

Recommended for fans of quick, narrative-driven romance.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – A Crocodile in the Family

Okay, so I thought this book was adorable. Of the six NetGalley picture books my 5yo and I read today, A Crocodile in the Family by Kitty Black was my favorite. The plot is simple: a family of birds adopt an egg they find in the jungle, and when an crocodile hatches out of it, all the other animals wonder why they keep him.

The illustrations are expressive and vibrant, the message is super sweet, and overall, the story is just light and fun. This is a story of belonging and love that doesn’t feel heavy handed, but still really hits those cute, wholesome beats. Totally recommend to anyone looking for solid cute picture book for ages 2-6.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

My 5yo says he liked it, especially when the crocodile hatched and grew up, but he ranked it #5 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

A thumbs up and a half from the two of us.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Read All About Dinosaurs

My 5yo LOVES dinosaurs… so we have read lots of dinosaurs books, and this one was an obvious pick for him. So of the six books we picked out and read today on NetGalley, it also wasn’t really a surprise that this was his favorite.

And there was a lot to like in this book! I really liked the colorful dinosaur renderings on each page, and the up-to-date information (like mentioning that T-Rex may have been covered in feathers and showing a picture of what that might look like.) It presented facts that were new to me and gets bonus point for mentioning coprolites (fossils of dinosaur poop) which naturally my 5yo found very interesting.

This book is set up in a simplistic format, with every chapter introduced by a paragraph or two, and then each page in the chapter basically has two dinosaur pictures and short facts about them. Although the facts seemed very loosely related to me, this did not bother my 5yo at all, and I was impressed by the number of dinosaurs shown. My only real nitpick is that I wished they included a pronunciation guide either in the back or on the pages, to help show you how to pronounce the dinosaur names, as we have found that very helpful in other dinosaur books.

Overall, I ranked this #3 out of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today, but I would definitely recommend to anyone with an avid dinosaur fan on their hands (ages 2-7). Because you can never really have too many dinosaur books.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC! 

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½ 

My 5yo said he liked learning about dinosaurs so he liked this book “a whole lot” (shocker) and he ranked it #1 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

😍

Two thumbs up. I mean, who doesn’t love dinosaurs? 😂

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Olive and Ginger

I think this book could be accurately renamed “Cat and Toad Muse About the World.” Olive and Ginger by Xenia Mesot really reminded me an advanced version of Frog and Toad. The humor was a little subtle/advanced for my 5yo, but I think he got it when I explained it to him. Overall I thought the stories were clever and we enjoyed the lovely illustrations, but I was a little surprised that Olive and Ginger never actually do a whole lot. Mostly, they just talk about smells, singing, and water from their very different perspectives. Which was cute, but I felt like it was just missing a little something. I ranked it, and I’d still recommend for anyone looking for a cute, clever story for ages 5-7. (especially cat-lovers.)

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½

My 5yo says he liked it, especially when they were thinking through ideas, and he ranked it #4 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

A thumbs up and a half from the two of us.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep while you Sleep


My 5yo is a big fan of animals, so we picked up Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep while You Sleep by Rebecca E. Hirsch to read together. Though this is a very short book, it details the sorts of animals, and the sights and sounds you might see camping in your backyard. I thought it had a peaceful vibe and I thought the illustrations were detailed and lovely—really capturing the night’s essence. My only nitpick would be that there isn’t a whole lot of narrative content in this short picture book (except for the informational details at the end), so it might be more suited to the 2-4yo crowd. Of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today, this one ranked #4/6 for me, but I would still recommend this book to young children learning about the wildlife in their own backyard.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½ 

In the end, my 5yo said he didn’t really like it because he doesn’t like night creatures except bats (uhh… okay. 🤨) So take that however you will, but he ranked this #6/6 NetGalley picture books we picked out today. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC! 

Five-year-old rating:

😕

I guess we’re agreeing to disagree on this one. 😂

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Meow is Not a Cat


Meow is Not a Cat by Tara Kelly is a about a little kid that doesn’t quite fit in, and is totally rocking it. My 5yo and I picked this one for its cute premise, and we really enjoyed the beginning. I loved the vivid, almost comic book like illustrations, and I especially loved the cat’s dry commentary on Meow’s antics. The cat’s expressions are just fantastic. However, the end didn’t totally work for me. I actually had to go back because I thought I had somehow missed a page or two.

Basically Meow ends up stealing bananas from a bunch of monkeys, the monkeys & other kids get angry, and then Meow sadly wonders if they should be like everyone else… then we immediately hit the last page where Meow is just like NOPE! And everyone is happy all the sudden. (I actually just went and read it again to make sure this is accurate.) I still feel like I’m missing something, so I ranked this one #6 out of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

My 5yo says he liked it, especially the dancing at the end, and he ranked it #3 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

Our side thumbs unite!

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Super Animals: The Largest

Super Animals: The Largest by Olliver Reina and Claes Karel is an illustrated nonfiction kid’s book about some of the biggest animals on earth.

My 5yo and I picked this one out because, of course, who doesn’t want to read about the largest animals! The illustrations were lovely, and each page, though filled with information, was pleasant to the eye. It had quite a bit of statistical information that my 5yo doesn’t comprehend yet (how long things are, how tall, how much they weigh etc), but I liked how the book still showed a graphical depiction of the animal’s size, where it lives, what it eats, and what eats it. (The stuff my 5yo really cares about.) It had some facts that were new to me and also included the komodo dragon and the colossal squid, two animals I feel we don’t usually see in these kinds of nonfiction kids books. Of the six NetGalley picture books we picked out today, this ranked #2/6 for me, and I would recommend to anyone with little kids wanting to learn about really big animals in our world!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Overall, my 5yo said he liked it, and his favorite part was the colossal squid. Of the six NetGalley picture books we read today, this also ranked #2/6 for him. (I think this was the only ranking we agreed on. 😂) Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC! 

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

A thumbs up and a half from the two of us.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – From Blood and Ash

Okay… so, I started out thinking I wouldn’t finish this book… but it won me over.

I put this book on hold from the library months ago after seeing it recommended on Twitter, and to be honest, I spent the first 40% wondering what on earth all the fuss was about. So, keep in mind, I like snappy, fast-paced books as a rule, but I’m not going to lie, this beginning is S.l.o.w. Although the MC is likeable, we are beset with world-building and an overdose of internal monologue (which stretches throughout the book.)

HOWEVER. I was glad I hung in there, because around 50% this book finally came alive. I really liked both Poppy and Hawke, their chemistry pops of the page, the steam is well done, and honestly, their relationship is one of the few I think I can honestly classify as “complicated.” I loved the idea of the ghastly Craven, although I wished we would’ve spent just a little more time with how horrifying this would be, and I really liked the gritty action scenes. With the ample foreshadowing, none of the plot twists were particularly surprising, but I enjoyed them none the less. The Maiden concept seems a bit contrived and cringey (by design) and Poppy’s emotions gave me a little whiplash at the end, but it didn’t seem terribly out of place considering what she goes through.

So, although I’m not exactly dying to read it, I’m definitely still interested to see how she and Hawke’s doomed romance turns out, and I have put it on hold from the library (#15 on 1 copy 😂) . A few caveats: Hawke definitely has the player badboy with a past thing going on, so if you don’t like that, this isn’t for you. There’s also a few F-bombs sprinkled in, so if you don’t like that—also not for you. That said, I’d totally recommend to anyone else looking for a steamy high fantasy that takes its time.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½ 

A thumbs up for that last 50% which almost made me forget about that first 50%.😂

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Forget Me Not


I was browsing the library audiobooks and picked this one up on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. What a beautiful little middle grade story. The plot follows a 12yo girl with Tourette Syndrome who struggles to deal with a new school, her not-so-understanding and constantly moving mom, and the popular boy next door who seems to like her… except when he’s in front of his friends.

This book was told so cleanly and beautifully with so much feeling, and I felt like it really nailed that awkward, unsure feeling of being in middle school, without talking down to the reader in any way or underestimating the MCs. Both Calli and Jinsong’s perspectives ring true as they deal with the crush of peer pressure and difficulties of navigating friendships, bullies, and self-acceptance. I especially love how differently their narratives are delivered: verse for Calli and prose for Jinsong.

Honestly, this lovely book reminds me why I still like to read middle grade, and I whole-heartedly recommend to readers of all ages looking for a lyrical and moving story of two kids stumbling through the growing pains of finding and standing up for yourself.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Tula and I give it a thumb’s up

Thanks for reading!