This is a sequel, so I’ll keep this review short, but while a pleasant enough YA suspense, I didn’t think this one was as good as One of Us is Lying.
One of Us Is Next follows three kids from Bayview high that are loosely related to the kids from the first book. Basically, someone starts mass texting the whole school in a weird truth or dare game that gets out of hand, and the three POVs are scrambling to find out who.
This book hits all the usual notes of a YA mystery, but it felt a little slower paced than McManus’ other books I’ve read. Maybe I came into this book with expectations high after the first one, but the suspense wasn’t as intense as the first book, the reveal seemed a bit expected, and the characters/romances fell a little flat for me. I got the audiobook from the library, and I thought the male voice was a little annoying, which might have contributed to the problem.
I’d probably still recommend this one if you’re a McManus fan, but if there’s a third entry in the series, I’m not sure I’d read it.
The Dating Dare follows Seth and Tara, two people that have had bad luck with relationships in the past, but agree to a short term fling (the dating dare) before Seth leaves for Paris.
Full disclosure, I think this book is considered a stand-alone spin-off of book one, A Sweet Mess, but since I didn’t read book one, this was my first interaction with these characters, which felt a little awkward, and I think reading the first book probably would’ve given me some better context. (i.e. seeing people regard Seth as a playboy rather than just being told that most people think he is one.)
But anyways, let’s start with what I liked: Seth is fantastic. He seems all around just dreamy and wonderful, and the narrative was seamlessly split between his and Tara’s narratives. I really liked the premise, and I am all for characters promising not to fall in love with one another. And the side characters, though they don’t play a large role, were all fleshed out in a way that made me want to learn more about them, building a charming little small town world around the two leads.
That said though, I’m afraid I really didn’t like Tara. I felt like Seth did nearly all the romantic lifting throughout the book, and their banter felt a little forced or cheesy to me. But this may have been in part due to the fact that I thought her voice in the audiobook was a little annoying. Other than that, this book doesn’t pack a whole of lot of surprises. It’s a cute little romance that progresses exactly how you think it would, with a satisfying ending. For this one, I think I’d recommend picking up the first book for context, and then maybe sticking to the ebook instead of the audiobook.
Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!
Obsidio is the final book of a trilogy, so this review will be a little shorter. I *loved* the first two Illuminae books, so I was eager to dive into this one. Unfortunately, I do think this was the weakest of the trilogy. Asha and Rhys didn’t have a whole lot of chemistry to speak of, and I felt like Asha and her story just fell a little flat in general. I think the first half dragged a little, but the second half more than made up for it. I loved seeing the characters from the other books in action, and Aiden, to me, totally makes these books. For some reason, I can’t help but love our AI anti-hero.
In this book, we also find out who the analysts are that have been transcribing/narrating the videos… and weirdly it took me out of the story. I felt like the narrative of this book was less suited to the epistolary style. This book didn’t have the big mind-blowing twist of the other two, but it still made for a satisfying ending to the trilogy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tula giving the Illuminae series her full attention.
Just a quick review for this one since it’s a sequel. The Chase by Evanovich and Goldberg backs in more of the stuff I loved from the first book! All of our favorite characters are back, the action is even more fast-paced than before, and Nick and Kate’s relationship continues to evolve with all the snappy banter you could want. The audiobook narrator is excellent, and I’ll be definitely checking out book 3 from the library. Solid five star heist book. I guess my only quibble is that it wraps up REALLY quick there at the end. While it could work as a stand-alone, I would recommend reading book one for the full effect. Also, for the record, I recommend the first book to my husband, and he also really enjoyed it and plans to read the second one, which is quite the recommendation! But seriously though, someone make these movies already – I neeeed them!!!
So Thief of Spring by Katherine Macdonald follows a mortal (contemporary) girl who comes across a fae (who are actually interwoven with the legends of the greek gods) Samhain revel, and is spirited down to live in the underworld for 7 months with (fae) Hades.
Where to even begin. WHAT DID I NOT LIKE?! The writing style is clean and fresh and beautiful. The dialogue is snappy and keeps the plot moving. The author wove this huge, dark, tantalizing world seamlessly around the tale of Hades and Persephone, and it just totally blew me away. Then there were the characters! I am seriously attached to both Hades and Persephone.
Seriously, they are so cute it almost physically pains me. They’re both so lovely and hurt in their own way, and the gentle way they put each other back together in a slow-burn that you can just drink in is absolutely fabulous.
And then the ending! Okay, I knew something was up and stuff was about to go down… but it just all happened in this intense climax, that honestly just left my jaw hanging in the best way.
I’m not huge into sequels, and I promised myself that I wouldn’t download anymore until I cleaned out current Kindle TBR. But apparently I lied, because I bought it and it’s on there now. So yeah. Basically, this book was a huge, wonderful surprise, and if you love YA fantasy or YA romance (or even better, both) you will totally fall in love with this book. The romance is standard YA heat (maybe a mild PG-13), the language is mildish, and there are some Harry Potter and other pop culture references in case you’re not into any of that.
But I loved it so five glittering stars to one of my favorite books of the year thus far, and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
These are my excited “I can’t wait to read the sequel” eyes!
So, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill feels like two books pushed into one. There’s the plot thread of found family, which is wonderfully cute and fantastic, and then there’s the romance thread… which I kind of wish would’ve just be cut out. Which is something I never thought would come out of my mouth! Cut the romance! Good lord no! 😲 But also, yes.
I really liked the clever, voicey narrative, but I think my main issue was that I found Nina a little inconsistent. Where she was extremely anxious and all-planned with the love interest, she seemed to be fine rolling with the obstacles her new, huge, dramatic family threw her way. And I think it was this inconsistency that made me not like her so her so much… or maybe feel like she just wasn’t that into the love interest? Either way, their chemistry really didn’t work for me.
There’s also another plot point that’s hard to describe without giving it away, but I honestly was a little surprised because it was something they worried about for most of the book (or more weirdly… didn’t worry about) and they ended up using the most obvious solution in the end. 😕
But I still loved listening to the witty narrative (the narrator was great in the audiobook), loved meeting her rich, drama-fest family, and there were many instances where, as a introverted bookworm, I got where Nina was coming from. I’d still recommend this to anyone just looking for a fun found-family type of book… but just probably not a romance.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½
Told from The Bookish Life of Hayley (minus a mysterious billionaire dad.)
We try to take our littles (ages 5 and 3) the library almost every Saturday to get a fresh armful of books to tide us over for the week. I was traveling for work last week, so I didn’t get to read each of these the usual 3-5 times. But I read most of them at least once!
The Last Firehawk #5 & 6 by Katrina Charman. We finished up book #4 last week, and my 5yo started cracking into book 5. The basic ongoing premise of kid-warrior owl, spunky squirrel friend, and quickly-growing baby firehawk vs evil vulture and co. continues (via collecting ember stone pieces). We’ve been somewhat sidetracked by the latest Dragon Master book, but hopefully we’ll finish these up this week in time to nab book #7 & #8. Since my 5yo reads these independently and can follow the story it gets a: 😍
Mouse and Mole by Wong Herbert Yee. Sadly we didn’t get around to this one this week (that I know of) so back to the library it goes. No rating.
Dragon Loves Tacos 2 The Sequel by Adam Rubin. Um. I hate to say it, but this wasn’t for me. There’s a taco shortage so they make a time machine to go back in time to get a taco, bring it the future and… plant a taco tree. Naturally dragons keep getting the spicy tacos which gives them flaming breath. The story, prose, and illustrations all fell pancake flat for me. The only reason I’ll give it three stars is because the littles made me read it three times. ⭐⭐⭐ from me. 😍 from the littles.
How to be a Pirate by Isaac Fitzgerald. The boys in the treehouse say she can’t be a pirate, so the little girl goes to her seaworthy-looking grandfather to show her how to be a real pirate through his tattoos. And spoiler alert, she takes over the treehouse as the best pirate ever, to the awe of the boys. This one was probably my favorite one we read! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
But my littles, alas, didn’t ask for a reread. 😕
Superbuns by Diane Kredensor. Little sister buns goes around being a super hero with the power of kindness, but her older sister doesn’t buy it until she gets her own chance to be nice. This was more of a meh for us. The superhero-kindness connection didn’t seem quite as strong as it could have been. The illustrations were bright and catchy. ⭐⭐⭐½ But there was no request for rereads. 😕
The Magic School Bus Sees Stars by Nancy White. My kids LOVE magic school bus, and it actually gets them asking questions about the world so these are always safe choices for us. I have read magic school bus books a million times and they have seen all the episodes (original and reboot) at least 3 times each. So yeah. Magic Schoolbus is always a solid choice. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😍
The Dragon Huntersby James Russell. A cute story with cute illustrations about two boys who go save their dog from a dragon. It reads well, but I guess it just didn’t seem to stand out to me, and apparently it didn’t stand up to my boys either because we only read it the once. I would still give the other books in the series a try though. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😕
I Can Read! Level 2: The Amazing Spiderman by Susan Hill (I think.) This is your pretty standard “this is Peter Parker aka Spider-man” early reader. I probably read this 3 times, and they picked it up multiple times themselves because, you know, superheroes. My only beef is at the end Peter says “I’m not a nerd! I’m Spider-man!” Which… c’mon, I mean honestly he’s both, and he’s obviously in some self denial here. Plus, at least in this house, we think fondly of nerds, so we were all confused by this comment. You can’t be a nerd and a superhero? I thought that was kind of the point. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😍
Mind your Manners by Nicola Edwards. This book was a pleasant surprise! I thought the author did a great job of illustrating why bad manners are gross and rude, and how being nice really helped straightened out the animals and make them all happier. I would totally recommend this one! My boys were also asking questions and seemed to get it to (although they didn’t pick it up by themselves or ask for a reread. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😍
The Last Firehawk saga continues! (And yes I am sitting in the doorjamb because that it just where my laptop and I happen to be right now. 😂)
Whew! And that’s it for now! Tune in next week for the review of our next library haul! Kid’s book recommendations and review requests welcome (as long as it’s find-able at our library).
Two Can Keep a Secret follows Ellery and her twin brother as they move in with their grandma in the small town their mother grew up in. Death threats start popping up at their school, which has Ellery, a true crime addict, digging into past murders in the town and trying to fit the pieces together.
This is really just a solid YA mystery. Not as clever or as neat as “One of Us is Lying” perhaps, but still filled with plenty of false leads and lots of intertwining threads. I did not guess who the murderer was, but they were in my top two, so I wasn’t completely surprised. Ellery and Malcolm are both likeable, and I enjoyed their little side romance. The writing is snappy, and the ending is satisfying. I would totally recommend to all looking for a clean YA mystery, and I will definitely be reading more from McManus in the future.
My only minor issue is that I listened to the audiobook (courtesy of the library), and I found the male narrator for Malcolm to be slightly annoying/grating. It’s probably just a personal preference though!
So, The Guilt Trip starts off with a dead body. Then, backtracking, we follow three couples as they travel to a destination wedding, and stay together in a scenic villa in Portugal. We follow Rachel, a 40yo mother, as pieces of old and new secrets are uncovered, ratcheting the tension ever higher as they get closer to the wedding.
This book was kind of like watching a train wreck in motion, you just can’t look away as these characters start to unravel before your eyes. The tension was excellent, and tightly strung the whole way through. We live heavily inside Rachel’s unreliable, over-imaginative and highly paranoid mind as she struggles to keep her secrets hidden, while also desperately trying to pry open everyone else’s. I think this book did an excellent job of keeping us guessing on what was true and what was a lie as everyone became more and more unstable. And I will give it to this book, I did not know how it was going to end, and it definitely gave me that, “I have to know” feel.
But, Rachel was not my favorite…. I wouldn’t say I actively hated her… but there was definite dislike. She’s highly hypocritical, constantly beating around the bush, quite repetitive in her justifications and worries (maybe trying to convince herself of certain things perhaps, but still a little wearisome), and honestly just overall hard to connect to. I didn’t really get why the other characters liked her… and I definitely didn’t get the connection between her and Jack at all. I guess my one biggest beef was that this book hinges on a past mistake she made that I still just *Really* don’t understand, and it makes her really unlikeable. I actually had to stop and look at my husband and ask if her actions made sense in any way. Answer: Um. No.
But, despite that issue, I still enjoyed the listen. I thought the narrator did a wonderful job with the voices and the tension, and even though I didn’t like Rachel, I blew through this twisty story, and was mostly satisfied with the ending. If you’re into dramatic relationship-based thrillers, I would totally recommend this. (3.75/5)
⭐⭐⭐¾
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC!
Me trying to remember any horrible life-altering decisions I made 20 years ago. In fairness, fourth grade was tough.😂
We try to take our littles (ages 5 and 3) the library almost every Saturday to get a fresh armful of books to tide us over for the week. Last week, since my 5yo and his friend have been telling us about the local summer camp bully, we decided to try to pick out a few with a bullying message. Unfortunately, I forgot to get them to officially weigh in on which they liked… so I’ve included other indicators of their interest (which I honestly think work better).
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill. The bullying recess queen runs the schoolyard, until a new girl (who doesn’t know any better) breaks all the queen’s rules and then (gasp) asks the queen to play. Now that she has a friend, the queen is no longer a bully.
Vibrant illustrations and a quick, fun style… but I’m not going to lie, I have a little trouble with the whole “just be the bully’s friend” message. It’s a nice idea, but honestly I’ve never actually seen that work, and there’s no way I would tell my 5yo to go try to be friends with the 7yo that keeps pushing and hitting the smaller kids. ⭐⭐⭐½
We read this book once, no requests for a reread, and they didn’t pick it up themselves. 😕
Chrysantheum by Kevin Henkes. This was a super cute story about a mouse with a long unusual name. She loves her name until the other kids at school start to make fun of her for it. Her parents continue to boost her up, and eventually the cool teacher weighs in to say she has her own unique name that she loves, and everyone changes their tune.
I loved how this showed the back and forth about how Chrysantheum felt about her name both when she was at school with the mean kids, and when she as at home with her loving parents. I thought the positive influence of the teacher rang true, and enjoyed this cute little story. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
We read this book once, no requests for a reread, and they didn’t pick it up themselves. 😕
No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo. A little girl is sent to time-out for being too loud in the library, and then a T Rex jumps out of a book and begins its own wild rampage through a slew of other story books, while the little girl tries to get him to behave as he should in a library.
Not a whole lot to say about this one. Cute, picture book fun with vibrant images. I don’t think mine totally understood that the girl was trying to get the dinosaur to behave in the library until I explained it to them, but neither did they really care. If there’s a dinosaur involved. That’s a thumbs up from them. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I read this one twice, and my 3yo picked it up several times by himself (because, you know, dinosaurs). 😊
Little Boy Detective Blue by Steve Metzger. Detective Blue tries to solve the case of the missing Little Miss Muffett with a slew of clever nursery rhyme twists and vibrant, comic-book like illustratations.
This one went about a mile over my 5yo and 3yo’s head. They’re not super familiar with the old nursery rhymes, and even if they were, I don’t think they would’ve gotten the clever twists. I thought it was a cute book, but maybe a better fit or an older kid (7 or 8) that knows their nursery rhymes. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
We read this book once, no requests for a reread, and they didn’t pick it up themselves. 😕
Dinosailors by Deb Lund. A pack of dinosaurs decide they want to be pirates! And then it’s harder than it looks.
Bright, fun illustrations, and short punchy writing, plus I definitely got a laugh out of the scene of the seasick dinosaurs puking into the sky. I think this would be a hit with any picture book reader and I highly recommend. It would also make a great gift for someone with a picture book reader. I will definitely be looking for the sequel, All Aboard the Dino Train next time we’re at the library. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was asked to read this book at least three times, my 3yo and 5yo both picked it up multiple times, with my 3yo also narrating to me what happens. 😍
I Walk with Vanessaby Kerascoët. There are no words in this book, but the illustrations are very clear. My 3yo and 5yo still needed the plot explained the first time but then got it right away. (New girl gets bullied, and then someone decides to walk with her to school and everything turns around.)
Simple but very clear illustrations, there’s not a whole lot to be said about this book. I do like the silent message of being kind to those that could use a friend, and how friends can help disempower a bully. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½
Both the 3yo and the 5yo got this book right away, and picked it up at least once by themselves. No requests for rereads… but since there are no words, who needs one! 😊
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. Jeremy has a neighborhood “enemy” so his Dad suggests that they make him Enemy Pie. But first, Jeremy has to go spend the day with his enemy, and they become friends.
Solid writing and illustrations, but once again, this is that same message I’m not sure about—where the misunderstood bully magically turns into a friend. Honestly, if anyone has an anecdote where this worked out for them, I would love to hear it. But if there’s a bully in the office, you can be sure, I will steer clear of them. Who needs that kind of negativity in their life? ⭐⭐⭐½
We read this book once, no requests for a reread, and they didn’t pick it up themselves. 😕
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell. LOVED THIS BOOK. Seriously, I’m considering buying it for our shelf. It is perfection. Molly Lou Melon is different, but her grandmother gives her all sorts of fantastic advice about how to embrace her own awesome and live life to the fullest. This comes in handy when she moves to a new town and someone tries to bully her for being different. Unbothered, she brings the Full On Awesome, we’re all rightfully impressed, and basically the bully just can’t even deal.
I’m so on board, and if you’re looking to buy a picture book in the next 5 years, I would put this on your list. Six glowing stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
We read this book twice, but I didn’t see them pick it up for themselves. 😊
The Kid from Planet Z by Nancy Krulik. I picked up this early chapter book for my 5yo to read, but he/we didn’t get around to it. No rating, but we might check it out again in the future.
Batman: Catwoman’s Halloween Heist by Eric Fein. This is an early chapter book that follows batgirl and robin as they go to a Halloween costume party and Catwoman shows up to steal a diamond. It also has a few comic book like illustrations. I only read a couple chapters so it doesn’t get a rating from me, but my 5yo was seen with it quite often. I’m not sure sure if he read the whole thing, but for his level of interest it gets a 😍 (super heroes are a pretty easy win from him.)
The Last Firehawk #4: Lullaby Lake by Katrina Charman. Another early chapter book with illustrations, my 5yo devoured the first three of these books, but he’s still working through this one. I think the basic ongoing premise is kid-warrior owl, spunky squirrel friend, and quickly-growing baby firehawk are trying to thwart evil vulture and co., but I’ve only read a few chapters with him. I don’t think he likes them quite as much as the Dragon Master books (I think Firehawk is a little scarier), but they’re still the first thing he pages through every time we check out books, so I’m also giving this one 😍 .
Library regular right here.
Whew! And that’s it for now! Tune in next week for the review of our next library haul!
