Always and Forever Lara Jean / March Movie Madness

⇒“I’m a person who saves things. I’ll hold on forever.” -Always and Forever Lara Jean by Jenny Han ⇐

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Author: Jenny Han

(4.10 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / YA / Contemporary Romance

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: May 2, 2017, by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Pages: 325 (Hardcover)

#ToAllTheBoysIveLovedBefore #AlwaysAndForeverLaraJean #JennyHan #MarchMovieMadness

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I guess that’s part of growing up, too–saying goodbye to the things you used to love.

This month just keeps marching on (get it?) which makes me wish that I was a faster reader! My next March Movie Madness book-to-screen review is for the final book in Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series, Always and Forever Lara Jean. The screen adaptation, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, released this past February to much fanfare on Netflix. Although it’s a bittersweet ending, it was great to see some of our favorite characters come to life again. Let’s check out the book blurb…

Lara Jean is having the best senior year. And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends. Life couldn’t be more perfect! At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks . . . until she gets some unexpected news. Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

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She always picked love; she always picked adventure. To her they were one and the same.

I love this series. Lara Jean’s character resonates so much with my younger self – it makes me nostalgic for high school days when the most serious thing I had to worry about was that week’s Algebra II test. It’s always such a pleasure to be able to read a book that can take you back into a happy past like that. Reading the last book in the series makes you feel a tiny loss, and watching the last movie in that same series seems to put a pin in it that feels a little more final. My Goodreads review for Always and Forever… represents my desperation and remorse at its ending. Here it is:

“Why oh why is Jenny Han so adamant about this being her last Lara Jean book?! “Always…” is a great bookend for the trilogy, but doesn’t she know that there’s still so much I want to know about what happens with LJ and Peter Kavinsky?
What about college? What about Margot and Ravi? What about Dan and Trina? What about Kitty? WHAT HAPPENS WITH THIS FAMILY? If she doesn’t write about them anymore, how will we ever know what happens?!
Ugh, I think I’m devastated.“

Being vulnerable, letting people in, getting hurt… it’s all part of being in love.

The week of the movie release, Bookstagram exploded with all the anticipation. And even now, the show is still featured in the Most Popular/Trending category. Although I prefer the first movie, this third release held its own, represented the book well, and was the most watched title in its debut week (Wikipedia). If you enjoy young adult romances with touches of drama and comedy, then the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series may be just the thing for you. I would definitely suggest reading the books and then watching the movies afterwards. This is how I did it, and I loved seeing my interpretation of these memorable characters come to life.

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Here is the official Netflix trailer (courtesy YouTube):

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Jenny Han

JENNY HAN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series. She is an executive producer on all three Netflix films– To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, and To All the Boys: Always and Forever. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling Summer I Turned Pretty series. Her books have been published in more than thirty languages. A former librarian, Jenny earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. –bio and pic from https://www.jennyhan.com/

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Orphan Monster Spy

⇒“My last act will be to destroy all that is within my power to destroy, kill all those it is within my power to kill, and, finding myself in hell, deliver you to the devil myself.” —Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen⇐

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Author: Matt Killeen

(3.85 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Format: Hardcover

Publication Date: March 20, 2018, by Viking / Penguin Random House

423 Pages (Hardcover)

Triggers: antisemitism, assault, attempted sexual assault, vomit, alcoholism, violent death

#OrphanMonsterSpy #MattKilleen

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…if your kingdom is being threated by another … you need to … find out who threatens them.”

Spies. Is there any other job more intriguing than that? OK, maybe superheroes – but while Marvel and DC monopolize the rights to blue tights and super-speed, spies live will in the realm of reality. If I’m honest, I can’t say I was running to the shelves to find a dark YA historical fiction novel. It sort of found me… on the shelf at my local Goodwill store (pre-Covid) with a blue sticker, which just happened to be the sales color of the day. Sold!

Here’s the blurb…

Germany, 1939. After her mother is shot at a checkpoint, fifteen-year-old Sarah finds herself on the run from a government that wants to see her, along with every other Jew, dead. Then she meets a mysterious man who needs Sarah to pull off a spy mission he can’t attempt on his own: infiltrate a boarding school attended by the daughters of Nazi top brass, befriend the girl whose father is a high-ranking scientist, and find the blueprints to a bomb that could destroy the cities of Western Europe. With years of training from her actress mother in the art of impersonation, Sarah thinks she’s ready. But nothing prepares her for her cutthroat schoolmates, and soon she’s embroiled in a battle for survival unlike any she’d ever imagined – and fighting to hold onto her true self.

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Don’t creep on to the stage. Let everyone see you, no matter how small your part.

WWII is not my go-to for reading entertainment. Although many of my books are filled with wars – tribal, fairy, hobbit, etc. – I don’t usually find irl lives entertaining. So, with that in mind, I tiptoed into this book with one eye on the Exit sign, ready to DNF it at any given point. But that point never came. Sure, I was disgusted, irate, horrified, and tense while reading it; nevertheless, Matt Killeen’s portrayal of Nazi Germany and those who sought to defy it was ultimately heartening even amidst all the monstrous undertakings.

OK, so this is a spy story, but don’t think James Bond. Think, instead, a blonde Annie, hungry and alone, but resourceful and full of street smarts and determination. The book opens with Sarah Goldstein already in a battle for survival under unforgiving circumstances. And when she meets the Captain, neither knows that both their survival will depend on the other. But they learn that quickly enough.

The story progresses along pretty reasonable lines. That is, until Sarah is enrolled in the private boarding school where we then discover that Sarah, er… Ursula, may have a bit of the superhero in her yet. I’ve seen other reviewers comment on Sarah’s ability to continually escape from threats and overcome societal shortcomings as being “convenient”. I would agree with that assessment. Her above-average physical and artistic skills and instincts seem a bit impractical for a poor Jewish girl with no present father and an alcoholic mother. But isn’t that why we love leading ladies? They’re clever and resilient even in the face of the worst of humanity, including evil Nazis and horrifically wicked classmates.

‘O, it is excellent to have a giant’s strength,’ thought Sarah in English, ‘But it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.’

One thing that stuck out to me is that, throughout the book, Killeen allows Sarah to retain her true identity with us as the reader, even though she has become Ursula to everyone else. Her dialogue is always attributed to Sarah herself, not Ursula, her character. This is meaningful in the sense that this young girl has lost everything else in her life, and she has to lie constantly to live as someone else completely in order to survive, but she never loses her innate self.

I appreciate this book for that, and for reminding us all that a fighting spirit can overcome even the greatest atrocities. If you do read Orphan Monster Spy, be sure not to skip the historical note at the back of the book. It grounds all the fiction in historical fact and reminds us that there are real heroes attached to those dark days in history. The epilogue also sets the story up nicely for the sequel that was released in 2020, Devil Darling Spy. Happy reading!

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Matt Killeen

MATT KILLEEN was born in Birmingham, in the UK, back when trousers were wide and everything was brown… He now writes for the world’s best loved toy company, as it wasn’t possible to be an X-wing pilot. Married to his Nuyorican soul mate, he is parent to both an unfeasibly clever teenager and a toddler who is challenging his father’s antiestablishment credentials by repeatedly writing on the walls. He accidentally moved to the countryside in 2016. Follow him @by_Matt_Killeen. -from cover

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What Can I Read to Understand More About Black Lives Matter?

⇒ “Race and racism is a reality that so many of us grow up learning to just deal with. But if we ever hope to move past it, it can’t just be on people of colour to deal with it. It’s up to all of us – Black, white, everyone – no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out.” – Michelle Obama ⇐

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You’ve seen the protests, you’ve heard the news, and you’ve formed your own opinions. But there’s always room for you (and me) to learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement, how America got to this point, and where we expect to head in the future. The following books can help us broaden our perspectives and enlighten our communities. There is SO much more material available, but these five are a great starting place…

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Author: Ijeoma Oluo

(4.52 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Nonfiction / Race / Social Justice / Politics

Publication Date: January 16, 2018, by Seal Press

An honest conversations about race and racism including how to have tough but constructive conversations about everything from police brutality to racist jokes. Ijeoma Oluo is a Seattle-based author whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Elle, The Guardian, and more.

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Author: Patrisse Khan-Cullors & Asha Bandele

(4.51 Stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Nonfiction / Memoir / Race / Social Justice

Publication Date: January 16, 2018, by St. Martin’s Press

NY Times bestseller Khan-Cullors’ memoir about being raised as a black woman in America who eventually also becomes the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement along with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi. Patrisse Khan-Cullors is an artist, public speaker, Fulbright scholar, and a freedom-fighter from L.A.

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Author: Robin Diangelo

(4.51 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Nonfiction / Race / Social Justice / Politics

Publication Date: June 26, 2018, by Beacon Press

An exploration of the phenomenon of white fragility characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, guilt that result in defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, and how those moves can prevent meaningful dialogue across the races. Diangelo is an author, lecturer, and trainer on issues of racial and social justice.

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Author: Angie Thomas

(4.51 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / Young Adult / Social Justice / Contemporary

Publication Date: February 28, 2017, by Balzer + Bray

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter strikes an uneasy balance between her own poor neighborhood and the fancy prep school where she attends school. When her childhood best friend is shot and killed by police, his death becomes a national headline, divides a community, and could put Starr personally in danger. Angie Thomas is a bestselling, award-winning author, former teen rapper, and creative writer who was born and raised in Mississippi.

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Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates

(4.38 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Nonfiction / Race / Memoir

Publication Date: July 14, 2015 by Spiegel & Grau

In an extended letter to his fifteen-year-old, Coates puts readers inside a dad’s honest and heartfelt conversation with his son about racism’s direct affect on people who look like them. Coates explores the past, confronts the present, and offers a vision for the future. Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and is an award-winning author living in New York City.

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The Sun is Also A Star

⇒“The universe stops and waits for us.” -The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon ⇐

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Author: Nicola Yoon

(4.08 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / YA / Romance

Format: Hardcover

Publication Date: November 1, 2016, by Delacorte Press (Hardcover)

Pages: 384 (Hardcover)

#TheSunIsAlsoAStar #NicolaYoon

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Maybe part of falling in love with someone else is also falling in love with yourself.

Romance. Yuck! OK, now that I got that out of my system, I LOVED this book. How is that even possible? How is it that a sardonic old cynic like myself can go gaga over a book that is entirely about two kids falling head over heels in love with each other? The answer is simpler than you think, but let’s read the book blurb together first…

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store – for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

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No obstacles in the way, please. No one needs to get bruised up falling in love. I just want to fall the way everybody else gets to.

The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon is a book that I originally included in my March Movie Madness challenge. I wanted to read the book then watch the movie and compare the two.

Then, in only a matter of days, the world changed.

With all the upheaval from jobs and schools, I was more than a little distracted. Instead of having more reading time, I actually find that I now have less. Instead, I am spending most of my time entertaining an 11 year old girl who is substituting me for all of her very talkative friends.

OK, so I didn’t finish this book during my March challenge, but I still really wanted to read it and watch the movie (the movie is still pending). I really surprised myself with how much I actually liked to read about these two people finding each other in such a random – or not? – way.

We’re meant to walk through this world together. I see it in her eyes. We are meant to be.

So how did Nicola Yoon manage to tug at my heart strings with this entirely cute book? Like I said before, the answer is easy: she included a character with whom I identify. Natasha isn’t a starry-eyed romantic. She believes in science and rules and facts. She doesn’t have a use for love or romance and, amazingly, she finds both. Yes, Natasha is a fictional character, but doggone it, I like to think that if her heart can be turned from the “darkside”, then there is hope for the rest of us!

The poetic heart is not to be trusted with long-term decision-making.

Give me a book like this any day – short chapters that let you travel through the story at breakneck speed or as leisurely as you’d like. And each chapter another insight into who these people are that we’re following all over NYC. I loved getting to know their families, those other motivations for the people that want to have some influence over them. Those other opinions and actions definitely make a difference to our main character and to the outcome of their stories.

In the end, this is more than a love story. It’s a story about fate and circumstance, about timing and how the decisions that others make have lasting effects on our own lives, time and time again. There is probability, there is chance, and there is a certain science behind the chemistry between two people and the possibility that they will be together forever. One can always hope.

The Sun is Also a Star Book Playlist:

• Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit (1st trip to USCIS bldg / Natasha)
• Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the Wind (Daniel at home)
• Bob Marley – No Woman, No Cry (Natasha at home)
• Temple of the Dog – Hunger Strike (Record Store)
• Pearl Jam – Yellow Ledbetter (Coffee shop)
• Abba – Take a Chance on Me (Norebang karaoke / Daniel)
• Soundgarden – Fell on Black Days (Norebang karaoke / Natasha)

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Ready Player One Movie Trailer

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Nicola Yoon

Nicola Yoon grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn and lives in Los Angeles with her family. She’s also a hopeless romantic who firmly believes that you van fall in love in an instant and that it can last forever. -Bio adapted from book cover

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Ready Player One

⇒“In the OASIS, you could become whomever and whatever you wanted to be, without ever revealing your true identity, because your anonymity was guaranteed.” -Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ⇐

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Author: Ernest Cline

(4.27 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / YA / Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: August 16, 2011, by Crown Publishers (Hardcover)

Pages: 374 (Paperback)

#ReadyPlayerOne #ErnestCline

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You were born at a pretty crappy time in history. And it looks like things are only gonna get worse from here on out.

I remember the 80s fondly. Banana clips and plastic sandals (“jellies”) made up my everyday existence, as did Cabbage Patch Kids, Chic jeans, and neon. Hey, don’t knock it – those were great times! We could actually go outside and play, we didn’t have to wear seat belts in the car, and we still had Michael Jackson – the Beat It version (love ya, Mike!).

Ernest Cline kicks us back to the 80s – my beloved era – by way of the year 2044. I know that doesn’t sound right, but it’ll all make sense in a sec…

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape. 

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If I was feeling depressed or frustrated about my lot in life, all I had to do was tap the Player One button, and my worries would instantly slip away…

My March Movie Madness series continues this week with Ready Player One, which seems kind of perfect in that it’s about gaming, and one of my favorite Nintendo games got a reboot that released this past Friday. Shout out to all the Animal Crossing: New Horizons players! But I am about as far from a true “gamer” as one can get; however, I do recognize the breed.

When Ready Player One hit theaters, I wasn’t initially aware of all the intense controversy surrounding it. Book purists were incensed by the departures and liberties taken for the sake of big screen audiences. I can relate to that for the most part. I know what it’s like to love a story and then to be disappointed when it’s depicted differently on screen than you imagined. Taking a book from page to screen is always bound to disappoint somebody.

These three words were always the last thing an OASIS user saw before leaving the real world and entering the virtual one: READY PLAYER ONE.

Things I appreciated about the book have mostly to do with the nostalgia it made me feel. As we discussed, the book is set in a dystopian future, but tech genius, James Halliday, was a child of the 80s and completely obsessed with that era. Therefore, we’ve got 80s pop culture references to beat the band all throughout this story. Catch them all, if you can.

Even though people of a certain age – me included – will easily recognize and translate these references in Cline’s book, sometimes pop culture references actually work better on screen for a wider audience. Who can deny that describing a Delorean decked out with a Flux Capacitor is way clunkier than just putting a shiny one on the screen in the middle of an amazing race scene?!

But, in the end, both mediums persevere because they carry through the primary themes of tenacity, cooperation, and connection while incorporating a challenging quest, zealous bad guys, and an enigmatic love interest. So let the book purists rage, and let the gaming-geeks complain, but there is true adventure in Ready Player One, and I don’t think it should be missed no matter how you choose to take it in.

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Ready Player One Movie Trailer

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Ernest Cline

Ernest Christy Cline is an American novelist, slam poet, and screenwriter. He is known for his novels Ready Player One and Armada; he also co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg. -Bio from Google

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Book Mood | P.S. I Still Love You

This is what P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han feels like…

Teen angst, mean girls, all-the-best intentions, family matters, penpal paramors.

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P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, # 2)

⇒“They were just pretending. Until they weren’t.” -P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han ⇐

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Author: Jenny Han

(4.13 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / YA / Romance

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: January 31, 2017, by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Pages: 337 (Paperback)

#PSIStillLoveYou #JennyHan #ToAllTheBoysIveLovedBefore

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Lara Jean, I think you half-fall in love with every person you meet. It’s part of your charm. You’re in love with love.

Ahhh, high school. I remember it well. All the teen angst and uncertainty. Does he like me? Do I like him? Does he like her more than me? Do we have a pop quiz in Algebra today? All of these were very scary prospects in 11th grade. Lara Jean Covey can definitely relate to teen angst. Let’s check out the blurb…

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. They were just pretending. Until they weren’t. And now Lara Jean has to learn what it’s like to be in a real relationship and not just a make-believe one. But when another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him suddenly return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once? … Lara Jean is about to find out that falling in love is the easy part.

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But the act of writing a letter, … it’s far more deliberate. … A letter is something to keep.

Since I’m highlighting stories this month that went from page to screen, P.S. I Still Love You is the perfect book to review today – especially since its highly anticipated Netflix premier was all the rage this past February.

I read the sequel to Lara Jean’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before story and I loved it almost as much as the original. But would I like the movie just as much as the book? Is that always and forever going to be the thing with page-to-screen? Are we always doomed to compare the two and proclaim which one is better? Can we ever just… love them both? <gasp!>

All I can say is, if that boy was my boyfriend, I’d never let him go.

So, the short answer is, yes. Just as I would advise Lara Jean that it is entirely possible to love two guys at the same time, we can definitely love both the book and the movie adaptation the same way. While I absolutely prefer the way the book handles this story, the movie has its own charm which I also really appreciate.

Jenny Han captures the heart of her characters so well. Readers get totally wrapped up in the lives of these teenagers – their loves, their disappointments, and their ability to bounce back from all kinds of craziness. I remember those days! And, just like I felt with To All the Boys…, the final chapter came much too quickly.

I loved this romantic YA novel and – dare I say it? – I’m really looking forward to Always and Forever, Lara Jean… the book AND the movie!

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P.S. I Still Love You Movie Trailer

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Jenny Han

Jenny Han is the author of bestselling books that have been published in more than thirty languages. A former librarian, Jenny earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. -Bio from http://dearjennyhan.com/

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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, #1)

=> “When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he’ll never read it. Because he never will.” –To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before<=

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Author: Jenny Han

(4.16 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / Romance / Young Adult

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: April 15, 2014, Simon & Schuster / BFYR

Pages: 355

#ToAllTheBoysIveLovedBefore #ToAllTheBoys

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…it’s a lot of responsibility to hold a person’s heart in your hands.

When I was in school, people still wrote letters to each other (I know, I know…the Dark Ages). We would pass notes under our desks and would hand off coded sheets full of gossip to each other in the hallways. But the best letters of all, of course, were the love letters. Granted, in high school they were a little more advanced than “Do you like me, check yes or no.”

I had one boyfriend in college that kept a regular written correspondence with me after I graduated and he had one more year to go. Those were some of the most meaningful letters I ever got – and I have them still today (Yep, I held on to them even through my marriage to a totally different man! Shhhhh….!)

Love letters are magical because they are so revealing, so honest, and so open. You have to really know how you’re feeling to write a good one, and the commitment of putting it all down on paper takes bravery. In To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lara Jean Covey opens her heart up to the loves of her life, but it was all supposed to be private…

Here’s the blurb: “Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved — five in all. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the thing she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.”

My letters are for when I don’t want to be in love anymore. They’re for good-bye. Because after I write in my letter, I’m not longer consumed by my all-consuming love…My letters set me free. Or at least they’re supposed to.

So, Lara Jean is in high school and she’s got some real challenges going on, not the least of which is the fact that someone mailed all of her love letters to former loves of her life. If someone did that to me I would think that it might be time to relocate to a different country! But LJ takes it all in stride – just like any teenager would – SHE FREAKS THE HECK out!!!! Totally understandable.

Although I am, sadly, far from high school these days, I still feel like I can relate to this adorable, romantic story. I remember those days when I felt like my heart couldn’t contain everything I was feeling for a guy, and that writing it all down was the only way I could manage to get through my day without exploding. That’s what reading this book made me remember – the days of being totally dominated by overwhelming emotions and living in that heady feeling every day.

I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I want to be brave. I want… life to start happening. I want to fall in love and I want a boy to fall in love with me back.

Jenny Han has written a special little love story here; one that shines on paper and on the little screen (yes, I watched the Netflix movie too). And I know I talked a lot about the romantic aspects of this book, but it’s also about family, managing big life changes, and tackling school politics.

If you haven’t already read this book, and you decide to pick up To All the Boys, I hope you will see Lara Jean as I did – not a love struck teenager, but as a young lady who’s trying to figure out her life, just like all the rest of us. This is one I wouldn’t mind reading again for the nostalgia of the feelings of first love and the comfort of a well-written book that fits like a cozy sweater.

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Jenny Han

Jenny Han is also the author of the New York Times bestselling Summer I Turned Pretty series. Her books have been published in more than thirty languages. A former librarian, Jenny earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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The Furies

⇒”Once summoned, the Furies cannot be sent back, only leave of their own accord.” –The Furies by Katie Lowe ⇐

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the opportunity to read a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Author: Katie Lowe

(3.25 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / YA / Thriller

Format: Kindle

U.S. Publication Date: October 8, 2019, by St. Martin’s Press

Pages: 352 (Kindle version)

#TheFuries

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‘They will be your conduit, your intention made flesh; they will destroy the corrupt and murder the wicked, oh goddesses, if you will give to them your gifts.’

If you’ve been to school – almost any kind – you know about cliques. You seem them clustered in groups in the cafeteria or in the quad, or huddled together in the hallways or the library. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the science geeks, and, yes, even the mean girls. And if you were ever “the new kid” you had to quickly figure out where you fit in the grand scheme of the social hierarchy.

This was the dilemma Violet faced as she entered Elm Hollow Academy looking for a fresh start. Here’s the blurb:

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on her boarding school’s property, dressed in white and posed on a swing, with no known cause of death. What happened to her? And what do her friends know? To find out, it is necessary to go back to the beginning. The school is Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl’s boarding school located in a sleepy coastal town, with a long-buried grim history of 17th century witch trials. A new student, Violet, joins the school, and soon finds herself invited to become the fourth member of an advanced study group, led by the alluring and mysterious art teacher Annabel. Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this addictive new world. But when she comes to learn about the disappearance of a former member of the society, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled in her newfound friendships. Was it suicide, or a foul play more sinister? How far will these young girls go to protect one another…or to destroy one another?

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Women are not to be left alone, together, or tragedy will surely follow.

If the thing that draws you in is gorgeous, poetic prose, then this debut novel will give you what you need. Lowe’s poetic prose touches all of your senses at once. You’ll not only “see” the action, but you’ll smell it, hear it, and taste it too. She leaves very little out of her scenic descriptions, which really draw you into the action in every chapter.

However, if you’re more interested in a witchy thriller, you might find The Furies a little lacking. Sure there are spells and what passes as a conjuring, but most of the dark stuff is entirely man-made. I would call it a coming-of-age story; however, instead of character development, the main character experiences more of a moral deterioration and decay. We are witnesses to a clever, intelligent, studious girl being transformed into something much less than that.

…that crush of love and hate, the cruel and rotten bliss of friendship.

Throughout the book, every really interesting thing happens just outside of our field of vision. We’re present for the buildup and then again for the hazy, hungover aftermath. Even when our main character is in the midst of the action, we aren’t privy to the exact details and she is utterly clueless to most of what is going on. Yes, this is a technique to draw readers deeper into the story and preserve some of the mystery, but I also feel alienated by it, as if I can’t be trusted with the truth.

And that just gives me another reason to feel distrustful of the MC, whose point of view is the only side of the story we receive. She comes off as naive, gullible, and just desperate enough to do anything to be accepted. While her tragic history may excuse some of her neediness, she is clearly aware that her associations aren’t healthy – yet, she persists. Can we chalk that up merely to teenage angst and rebellion? Or has her own will become the plaything of the girls she calls her friends?

Let’s just say that a book club could have a field day with this one!

She is the specter that haunts the very image of masculinity, the one who took a bloody blade to the patriarchy itself.

Although I was intrigued through the first half of the book, I soon became disappointed at the direction of the action and the MC’s lack of backbone. And while I should have been focused on enjoying the roller coaster ride through some pretty dark corners of college life, I found myself feeling like I was watching a train wreck that I couldn’t turn away from.

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Katie Lowe

Katie is a writer living in Worcester, UK. A graduate of the University of Birmingham, Katie has a BA(Hons) in English and an MPhil in Literature & Modernity. She returned to Birmingham in 2019 to complete a PhD in English Literature, with her thesis on female rage in literary modernism and the #MeToo era.

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Caraval (Caraval, #1)

=> Shelf-Discipline September continues! I’m clearing my bookshelves one book at a time, and this extremely popular YA novel got drawn next out of my title jar. It appears I got an invitation to Caraval! <=

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Author: Stephanie Garber

(3.95 stars – Goodreads rating)

Genre: Fiction / Fantasy / Mystery / YA

Format: Hardcover

Publication Date: January 31, 2017, Flatiron Books

Pages: 407 (Hardcover)

#Caraval

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Whatever you’ve heard about Caraval, it doesn’t compare to the reality. It’s more than just a game or a performance. It’s the closest you’ll ever find to magic in this world.

Annalise – Caraval

I’m OK with admitting it when I make mistakes. I wish I could say that it doesn’t happen often, so I don’t have to bother with many admissions; however, that is not the case! Early on in my reading “career”, I made a vow not to compare books with other books, but to judge them on their own merit. So, you’ll rarely see me stating, “Oh, I liked this book, ABC, but it wasn’t nearly as good as XYZ.” I don’t think that’s fair and if I wrote books, it would annoy me immensely. So I try my hardest not to do it.

So before I admit to my transgression, let’s talk about what Caraval was all about. Here’s the blurb:

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over. But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner. Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic.

Some things are worth pursuit regardless of the cost.

Aiko, Caraval

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So there’s an exclusive performance, a pretty young woman who’s wishing on a star, and some pretty devious guys pulling more than a few magical strings to manipulate one totally unsuspecting person. The secrets have secrets in this one, folks.

Caraval started off with a promise of some pretty scandalous acts taking place in order to rescue a helpless young woman. Which one? Pick one, because they both needed saving in more than one way. Their dad is a nightmare, they live on a conquered island (doesn’t sound like white beaches and mojitos to me), and their only escape is to be bartered off like cattle to men from other lands. Not my idea of a good time.

Enter Caraval. The ladies get invited, they go (one more willingly than the other), and they embark on an adventure that proves to be mysterious… and deadly. So, what doesn’t sound intriguing and exciting about all that. Nothing! So, why did I rate it only 3 stars? Here’s where we circle back around to my confession…

Once people leave this isle, the things they’ve done here don’t just unhappen, no matter how much they might wish them undone.

Legend, Caraval

I compared this book with another. <Gasp!> I know, I know. I shouldn’t do it, I told myself I wouldn’t do it, but the stars aligned such that I drew Caraval’s title out of my title jar for Shelf-Discipline month right after I read The Night Circus. What can I say? Fate is sloppy.

If you follow me, then you may have already read last week’s blog where I gushed about how much I loved The Night Circus and how captivating it is, yada yada. And, now, reading another book with a similar setting – a magical carnival-like performance for the public – well, a comparison between the two just can’t be denied. And The Night Circus came out on top; it’s as simple as that.

Now let me clean this up a bit: Caraval is the first book of a trilogy and it has its die-hard fans. Not adding me to that list will not hurt sales for this book one little bit. Is it a bad book? No, it is not. It has a very strong YA feel (well, duh) and readers who aren’t put off by a few classic tropes (insta-love, hate-becomes-love, and conservative spirit vs free-spirit) may enjoy the character dynamics and the valiant attempts at plot-twistery. (It’s a word!)

So, if you love the idea of trying to solve a mystery in the setting of a color-changing carnival where literally everyone is lying and there’s a god-awful lot of tunnels and top hats, then this just might be the best book you’ve read all year. Just do yourself a favor and don’t compare it to other better books as you read!

Stephanie Garber

When she’s not writing, she teaches creative writing at a private college in Northern California, where she’s been known to turn assignments into games and take students on field trips that involve book signings. Now that her dream of becoming a published author has come true, her new dream is to visit Club 33 at Disneyland. –http://stephaniegarberauthor.com

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