Book Review: "Big Summer" by Jennifer Weiner

Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner's newest novel, is a thought-provoking, poignant exploration of friendship, self-esteem, body image, social media, and whether people truly are capable of change.

If she’s not completely happy, Daphne is at least content with her life. She’s starting to gain momentum as a social media influencer for the plus-size community, she likes her job and her apartment, and she’s even starting to feel a bit better about how she looks.

When her childhood best friend Drue shows up after they haven’t spoken in six years, Daphne is thrown for a loop. Drue is set to marry a reality show star on Cape Cod, and she wants Daphne to be in her wedding. Drue says she’s changed since the night of their big fight, and although that night changed Daphne in many ways, she’s willing to give Drue the benefit of the doubt, despite the numerous times Drue made her feel bad about herself.

I’ll stop with any synopsis here because this is a book that surprises, and the less you know about it going in, the better. Weiner creates believable, complex characters, and she pulls you into this story completely.

I struggled a little at the beginning because the narration of the book kept shifting from Daphne’s childhood memories to present-day, but after a little bit of time that leveled off and I was totally hooked. There are a lot of powerful themes Weiner touches on in the book but she’s never heavy-handed in her messaging.

Atria Books and Ariele Stewart provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you for making it available!!

This book publishes May 5.

Book Review: "The Astonishing Life of August March" by Aaron Jackson

Aaron Jackson's The Astonishing Life of August March is utterly charming and delightful.

August March took his first breaths in a New York City theater prior to World War II. Born to an actress during the intermission of her play, she abandoned him amidst her soiled costumes. He was found by an elderly laundress, who becomes his de-facto mother, but knowing that she wasn't truly the maternal type, she nurtures him when she's at work, but leaves him to spend his nights in the theater.

August is a wild but intelligent child, one who speaks in Shakespearean monologues and is prone to dramatic declarations because he grows up watching every theatrical production. At one point he even befriends an English actor who played King Lear. He knows what makes a good production and what makes a disastrous one, and he's more than happy to share his opinions.

But August knows nothing of the outside world and doesn’t know how to interact with people, and when his time in the theater comes to an end in the days after WWII, he must make his way in the world. His life is a continued adventure, from pickpocket to prep school student, drunkard to high-stakes con artist. But while he may have companions, he always feels alone.

Yet despite the adventures, the highs and lows he experiences through his life, August longs for some sense of normalcy, for people to care for him. He thinks he may have found that with Penny, but is it for real or is she going for the ultimate con herself?

I thought this was such a fun, enjoyable book, and the characters are truly memorable. This was a special story which would make a fun movie, because August was so fascinating.

The Astonishing Life of August March is one of those books that sticks with you. I definitely wished it were longer.

Book Review: "Eight Perfect Murders" by Peter Swanson

Is there really such a thing as a “perfect murder”?

Malcolm Kershaw leads a fairly quiet life. He co-owns a mystery bookstore in Boston, and apart from his employees and the occasional friend, he mostly spends his evenings alone, listening to music and reading, ever since his wife died a few years ago.

One snowy day he gets a visit from an FBI agent about a series of murders which seem to replicate those committed in Agatha Christie’s A.B.C. Murders, as well as one that might be patterned after James M. Cain's Double Indemnity.

It’s not that the FBI agent (necessarily) thinks Mal had anything to do with the murders, but years ago he wrote a post for the store’s blog called “Eight Perfect Murders,” in which he chose eight books in which the seemingly perfect crime had been committed. It appears someone is killing people using Mal’s list as a guide. But not just that, it appears the killer wants Mal to know what they’re doing...and this killer may know some of Mal’s secrets, too!

I tore through this book in one sitting. While it had a few quirks, I thought this was a great mystery which kept me on my toes, and I loved the concept of the plot. I really wasn’t sure whom to suspect at one point, and I suspect everyone when I read mysteries!!

It’s been a while since I’ve read one of Peter Swanson’s books, and I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy the way he writes. (I loved The Kind Worth Killing.) If you like mysteries that make you think, here’s one for you!

Book Review: "Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones" by Ngozi Ukazu

Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones gave me all the freaking feels, y’all!!

This graphic novel series was amazing! It was full of fun, emotion, hockey, friendship, love, and baking, plus the struggles of self-acceptance and worrying what others think of you.

Eric “Bitty” Bittle is now a junior at Samwell University and a key player on its hockey team. He’s come a long way since freshman year, when he used to faint if someone rushed to check him!

He’s one of the rulers of the hockey haus now, keeping everyone in line and keeping them full with all of his baking. But he’s also been really distracted, because he and his former teammate, Jack Zimmermann, who is now playing professional hockey in the NHL, have been secretly dating. It’s a challenge to keep their relationship a secret when they’re both so happy, which is making them—particularly Bitty—sad. Should they throw caution to the wind? How will their friends, family, the NHL react?

In addition to that dilemma, Bitty has to help the new players get acclimated, deal with the departure of more of his friends, and when he goes into his senior year, prepare for life after Samwell. What's that going to look like? What is he going to do?

This is such a beautifully drawn, immensely thought-out series. I've been really enjoying the graphic novels I've read in the last year or so, and am so impressed with the complexity of emotions these books evoke. I can’t believe this series is over now, and I hope maybe someday Ngozi Ukazu will give us another glimpse of these characters.

I hear frequently that people aren’t into graphic novels but this series could make you change your mind. I truly loved it!!

Book Review: "Crave" by Tracy Wolff

Does the world need another brooding vampire love story? Yes.

Grace’s parents were killed in an accident, so she has to move from San Diego to Alaska, where her uncle is the head of a fancy prep school in a remote town. And while Alaska itself is a total shock to her system, she’s not expecting school to be in an actual castle, nor is she expecting everyone to take an immediate dislike to her.

When she catches the eye of Jaxon Vega, the hottest guy she’s ever seen, surrounded by a group of brooding, handsome guys, she is mesmerized. But he quickly breaks the spell by telling her she’s in danger and should never have come to the school.

But there’s something about Jaxon that she can’t shake, and despite his veil of disdain, she knows he feels it, too. After a series of near-death experiences have him rescuing her every time, she starts to discover that maybe Jaxon is right, and she is a pawn in a battle she has no idea about.

As their relationship intensifies, Grace must make a choice: go back to San Diego, where she will be safe, or possibly sacrifice everything for Jaxon—including her life. She doesn’t know much about the world of vampires, dragons, werewolves, witches, and shapeshifters, but she’s in the middle of all of it.

Of course, Crave immediately reminded me of Twilight, and even its cover design is similar. But while both share brooding, passionate stories of dangerous love, Crave really set up a tantalizing world of humans being torn apart by events some don’t even understand.

This was an angsty yet romantic book, but it took a long, long time to hit its stride. There were far too many times where things happened and people clammed up rather than tell Grace the truth about what was going on. But once she figured it all out, it was like a roller coaster, speeding toward a cliffhanger conclusion for which we’ll have to wait until the next book!

There are no sparkling vampires, no earnest werewolves, but there are plenty of characters to swoon over. And that’s just fine with me.

Book Review: "The Sweeney Sisters" by Lian Dolan

A novel full of family dysfunction and drama? Sign me up, please!

Bill Sweeney was one of the most formative writers of his time; decades after his books were written they continue to be taught in schools, discussed, and revered. Fifteen years ago his poet wife, Maeve, died, leaving him to raise their three daughters in their small seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. Bill did the best he could, although the sisters took care of themselves and became even more inseparable.

One morning, the sisters get the call from their long-time housekeeper that Bill has died. It’s a shock, as they felt somehow he might live forever, but the three—Liza, Maggie, and Tricia—return to their childhood home to make sense of it all.

It turns out that Bill was hiding a few shocking secrets from the girls, which knock them for a loop. As they try to ready the house for sale, they’re desperately searching for Bill’s missing memoir, and in light of their discoveries, wonder what everything will mean for his literary legacy and their lives. How will it affect their own memories of their father, too?

On top of dealing with their father’s death, each woman has their own challenges to deal with. It’s an emotional time, fraught with roadblocks and crises which test their relationships and force them to reexamine their pasts and their futures.

I love a book full of good family drama, and The Sweeney Sisters certainly doesn’t disappoint. Lian Dolan did a great job with her story, and I couldn’t get enough of these characters. Sure, it’s predictable in places, but I love the fact that Dolan didn’t veer too far into melodrama, because there definitely were places the plot could have gone into that territory, and that might have derailed the story.

How well do we know those we love? How much can we depend on family in our time of need? How do others see us? Should late-in-life discoveries change how we've viewed a person for our entire life? These were fascinating questions this book tries to answer, and does so well.

I received an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks to William Morrow Books, Lian Dolan, and Wunderkind PR for making it available!

The book publishes 4/28.

Book Review: "The Roxy Letters" by Mary Pauline Lowry

The Roxy Letters is a cute, quirky, epistolary novel.

Roxy’s life has hit a rough patch. Her financial situation is bleak, her love life is nonexistent, her job as a “deli maid” at Whole Foods (the original) is dissatisfying and often in jeopardy, and as an artist, she has no motivation to create. It’s gotten so bad that she’s allowed her ex-boyfriend Everett to move in with her, so she can get some extra income she needs to get out of debt.

The thing is, Everett isn’t that good with paying rent on time, or observing boundaries, so Roxy starts writing him letters, to remind him of his obligations and set some rules for their cohabitation (don’t come into her bedroom if the door is closed, don’t eat her food). And he also isn't around all that much, which defeats some of the purpose of why Roxy wanted him there in the first place.

But little by little, these letters become less about the rent and more Roxy’s way of reflecting her feelings—envy of one of her best friends, whose career is taking off while hers is stagnating; worry that she won’t find romance (or even sex); and frustration that her beloved city of Austin is becoming more commercial. (The biggest slap in her face is when a Lululemon opens where an old video store used to be.)

While she continues to write letters to Everett, they become more of a de-facto diary than actual correspondence. And as her life changes, the tone of the letters change as well, reflecting Roxy’s search for romance, better employment, artistic inspiration, and ultimate fulfillment.

This is a cute, light, wacky book. It would definitely be a good change of pace between heavier reads.

I liked this but didn’t love it. Sometimes the epistolary structure works (try Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members) and sometimes it doesn’t work as effectively. I felt like I would’ve liked to have gotten to know Roxy a little better and the letters kept her at a bit of a distance, but her voice is certainly unique!

Still, despite my issues, this was a fun, quick read.