Book Review: "All That's Left Unsaid" by Tracey Lien

This debut novel is a well-written family drama, as a young woman fights to find the truth about a family tragedy.

Ky was more than eager to leave her home of Cabramatta, a suburb of Sydney, to pursue a career as a journalist in Melbourne. Each time she returned home to visit her family, she became more depressed over the decline of Cabramatta, home to countless refugees from Vietnam and other countries, riddled by crime, drugs, and poverty.

Her parents summon her home with sad news: her studious brother Denny was apparently murdered at a restaurant after celebrating his high school graduation. The police don’t know what happened and don’t seem to care much about the fate of another refugee; amazingly, there were dozens of witnesses in the restaurant but no one apparently saw anything.

Wracked with guilt because she convinced her parents to let Denny go that night, and frustrated by their reticence to push for answers regarding his death, Ky is determined to uncover the truth. She sets out to track down the witnesses to Denny’s murder and find out what they know and why they won’t speak up.

In doing so, Ky uncovers a picture of a town under the vise of violence and anti-immigrant sentiment, where the police are ones to fear, not look to for protection. And at the same time, she learns more about her brother, and her family, than she ever knew.

This was sad and very insightful. It is told by Ky and a number of the witnesses, so the voice of the book changed often, and that kept taking me out of the story. But there was a lot to marvel over here for a debut novel.

Book Review: "Bookish People" by Susan Coll

Bookish People chronicles a wacky week in the life of a bookstore owner.

Boy, this one had such promise and some wonderful moments, but overall, it just didn’t work for me.

It’s the summer of 2017, and Sophie is in a bad place. Her husband has died, the increasing antisemitic and racist rhetoric in the country is upsetting her, and she’s finding it harder and harder to care about the bookstore she owns. To top it off, Jamal, her favorite manager, is leaving for law school. Should she just give in to the calls from the developer who’d like to buy the property?

As the world becomes increasingly unsteady, Sophie becomes more obsessed with going into hiding in a secret book in the back of her store.

But she also has multiple crises brewing around the store. A famous poet has just released a new collection but he’s dogged by rumors that he caused his wife’s suicide, so many bookstores have canceled his appearances. Sophie starts to fear that her customers might object, so she tasks an employee with canceling. And then hijinks ensue…

I’m a sucker for books about bookstores, booksellers, and libraries. I felt like this had some really great elements but as a whole it wasn’t sure what tone to take, which made it a muddle.

Book Review: "The Feeling of Falling in Love" by Mason Deaver

Nothing can ruin your life like an “I love you.”

Neil and Josh are longtime best friends and currently friends with benefits. They’ve promised each other no strings, no feelings, just fun. And it seems to be working, until Josh tells Neil he loves him. Why did he have to go and ruin everything?

Of course, this happens just at the start of spring break, when Neil has to fly home to California and spend a week with his horrible family for his brother’s wedding. Josh was supposed to be his date, his buffer, and now that can’t happen.

Enter Wyatt, Neil’s roommate and the bane of his existence. Why does he always have to be so NICE all the time? Somehow, despite the fact that Neil doesn’t treat Wyatt all that well, he convinces him to fly home with him and pretend that they’re dating. Hopefully this will convince Josh, who also will be at the wedding, that there’s no chance of anything happening between them.

As the week unfolds, Wyatt realizes that Neil’s family is just as bad as advertised, which explains why Neil acts the way he does. And the more time they spend together, the more they start having feelings for one another. But of course, the truth about them is bound to come out…

I’m a big fan of Mason Deaver’s books, and the characters they create. There are diverse sexualities and ethnicities and it never feels forced or cookie-cutter. I’ll admit that Neil was a bit of a spoiled jerk at first, but like Wyatt, I understood why he was the way he was the more I read.

Love makes me happy.

Book Review: "The Perfect Marriage" by Jeneva Rose

His mistress is dead. His wife is his only hope.

I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, as I’ve really enjoyed Rose’s other books. And wow, talk about twisty!!

“That’s the thing about relationships, you never really know what’s going on in them, unless you’re a part of them.”

Sarah is a successful criminal defense attorney, one of the best around. She’s a named partner at her law firm and she’s doing extraordinarily well.

Her husband Adam may be the total opposite. His writing career has never taken off the way he hoped, and he spends most of his time resenting Sarah for working so hard. So he embarks upon an affair with Kelly, a young waitress at the cafe near his and Sarah’s summer house.

One night he and Kelly make love and then Adam heads home to Sarah. The next morning Kelly is found murdered in Adam and Sarah’s bed in the summer house. And Adam is arrested for murder. There’s a lot of evidence pointing toward his conviction. So who is his best bet to defend him? Sarah, of course. Could he have murdered Kelly? Does she want to know if he did?

This was a wild ride. Some of it was a little unbelievable and I called a few of the twists, but I couldn’t put this book down. It definitely turned the cheating husband/scorned wife thing on its ear!!

Book Review: "Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story" by Lauren Myracle, illustrated by Isaac Goodhart

Victor lives a solitary existence, wracked with guilt about the death of his older brother Otto, and closing himself off to the world. The only bright spot is his job as a scientist, where he hopes to make significant contributions.⁣

Nora believes in living every day to the fullest. But that’s not just a mantra: she has a terminal illness that will rob her of everything—movement, speech, memory. She’s determined not to let that get her down until it’s time, and she has a plan.⁣

⁣ Victor and Nora have a not-quite meet-cute in the cemetery where his brother and her mother are buried. Little by little, Nora’s devil-may-care attitude thaws Victor’s frozen heart. But when he discovers the secret Nora’s been hiding, he’s determined to use science to save her—but what will the consequences be?⁣

⁣ This graphic novel, beautifully drawn and full of emotion, is essentially the origin story of Mr. Freeze, who resurfaces in Batman comics (and a movie). There’s no hint of his ultimate supervillain future here, but obviously there’s a tinge of sadness along with hopefulness.⁣

⁣ I’m a fan of graphic novels, especially ones with some emotional heft to them. I really enjoyed this.⁣

Book Review: "Pizza Girl" by Jean Kyoung Frazier

Pizza Girl is quirky and entertaining, but with surprising emotional heft.

Our main character is 18 and pregnant, and works as a delivery girl for a local pizza place. She has a strong support system in her mother and her boyfriend, but the love they both give her seems smothering at times. She is also grieving the death of her father, but she doesn’t want to acknowledge that he was an alcoholic—and maybe she drinks more than she should.

One day she takes a call from Jenny, a mother who calls with a strange order—a pizza with pepperoni and pickles. If she doesn’t get the pizza, her son won’t eat, as his way of expressing displeasure that they moved to Los Angeles from North Dakota. While the pizza place doesn’t offer pickles as a topping, she can sense Jenny’s desperation, so she buys a jar of pickles to top the pizza with.

It’s not long before she’s delivering a pepperoni-and-pickles pizza to Jenny’s house once a week, and the two strike up a strange friendship. She sees motherhood through Jenny’s eyes and becomes slightly obsessed with her.

This was a very interesting story that made me wonder where it would go. I kept worrying it might veer into creepy territory but thankfully it didn’t. The story is a mixture of the mundane and the unusual, and was surprisingly emotional at times, as the narrator struggles with grief and uncertainty about the direction her life is taking before she’s sure she’s ready.

I’ve seen very mixed reviews for this but I loved the complexity of the main character. This is a strange but utterly fascinating story.

Book Review: "Destination Unknown" by Bill Konigsberg

Two teenage boys, one openly gay and one closeted, navigate friendship, love, and fear in late-1980s New York City.

"Destination Unknown is for everyone who has ever been made to feel ashamed of their identity, anyone who has ever been told that their lives are less meaningful because of who they are.”

It’s been amazing to see the number of books being written over the last few years about coming to terms with your sexuality in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. Each of these books has touched me in many ways, but few have spoken to me the way that Bill Konigsberg did with Destination Unknown.

It’s 1987. Micah is gay but only his best friend Deena knows. One night they’re at a dance club and Micah spots a beautiful young man wearing a plexiglass bra. He is C.J., and Micah is both attracted to him and envies him for the freedom he has in being himself, everyone else be damned.

That moment launches them into a friendship, one that is at times flirtatious and at times protective. Micah is trying to find the courage to come out of the closet, but more than that, he’s deathly afraid of getting AIDS. He’s not even sure how you can get it. At the same time, he realizes the confidence and bravado C.J. walks through life with isn’t always genuine, and covers up fear, hurt, and loneliness.

This is such a beautifully written, emotional, evocative book. I remember being so much like Micah in so many ways, desperate to be “the real me” but so afraid of what that might entail. Konigsberg captures this time period so well, I almost felt my collar popping and smelled the excessive amount of cologne I used to wear.

I absolutely loved and was moved by this. Thanks to Pride Book Tours and Scholastic for inviting me on the tour for this book, and providing a complimentary copy.