Book Review: "Almost Life" by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

I will admit that this book started slowly for me, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep reading. But I persevered a little longer and was richly rewarded by this beautiful, emotional love story.

Erica and Laure met in 1978, on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur in Paris. Laure is French, a graduate student at the Sorbonne. She’s very cerebral and lives her life the way she wants, no matter what. Erica is enjoying the summer before returning to England to start university.

Both women feel a spark the moment they met. While Laure has had relationships with women before, the awakening of this desire surprises Erica. They fall quickly, knowing they only have the summer. Yet once they part, the longing, the emotions, the hurt all continue.

“It is the condition of the heartbroken to believe no one has felt as they have, ever in the history of the world.”

The book spans more than 30 years. It sees Laure and Erica together and apart, trying to wring everything from each encounter. It traces the strength of their love despite other lovers, marriages, and changes both personal and political. In addition to being a love story, this is a reflection on the changing culture and politics toward equality.

This book was a very emotional one for me. I was surprised at just how much it took hold of my heart. I love books that take place in Paris, as I could see the city in my mind’s eye. Don’t be put off by the slow start, as the story is so worth it.

Book Review: "The Revelation of Dionne Daphne" by Mara Brock Akil

Speaking of revelations, this book was truly fantastic. Mara Brock Akil is the creator of television programs like Girlfriends and Being Mary Jane, but unbelievably, this is her debut novel. I’m so grateful to Storehouse Voices for the advance copy of this!

“It’s like this idea that if you heal yourself, you heal a bunch of generations behind you and in front of you. We’re all just glints in the dirt, waiting for someone to reveal us.”

It’s 1991. Dionne Daphne seems to have it all. She’s the associate beauty director at Essence magazine and she’s in the running to succeed her boss and mentor as director. She’s stunning and smart, and men want to be with her.

But her whole life changes with a late-night visitor. Her ex-boyfriend Darren shows up at her door around 5:00 am, desperate to talk to her. What he tells her threatens to upend everything she’s worked for and, perhaps more importantly, her life as she knows it.

The more she tries to reconcile this disclosure from Darren, the more she starts thinking about childhood trauma that she’s kept hidden all these years. But now, in the wake of all that might change for her, she needs to speak up. She decides to go visit her mother and stepfather in Kansas City and share the secrets she’s kept hidden. Will the release of this trauma help her find peace?

The book is told over a two-week period. It’s a heavy story that might be triggering for some, but it’s also powerful and insightful. Dionne is a character I’ll be thinking about for a long time!

Book Review: "American Fantasy" by Emma Straub

“So often, the word nostalgia felt coated in bile—a nostalgia act. Annie understood and she didn’t. Nostalgia was for the Smurfs, for erasers that smelled like strawberries. Maybe that was what the costumes were about, the goofy T-shirts, but inside her head, which is where she heard the music, it had touched some lever so deep that it couldn’t be reversed, as much as she’d chosen to ignore it. Maybe that was nostalgia after all, that the music was a direct vein to her own childhood, the least complicated part of her life.”

Annie remembered enjoying the 90s boy band Boy Talk when she was a teenager. It was a subject that bonded her and her younger sister together. All these years later, her sister is still a huge fan, while for Annie, Boy Talk is firmly in the past.

Yet here Annie is, about to board the cruise ship American Fantasy, for a four-day cruise with all 5 members of Boy Talk. And her sister isn’t even able to make it, so she’s going solo. But she quickly makes a friend in Maira, a veteran of these cruises, who takes Annie under her wing.

The cruise is unlike anything Annie has ever experienced. There are throngs of (mostly) middle-aged women, screaming and cheering for their favorite band member. Lots of alcohol is imbibed, there is so much clothing and merch with the band’s faces on it, and there are so many opportunities to interact with the band members. Some of them go after these events with gusto, while some can’t wait to go back home.

The cruise gives Annie the opportunity to reflect on what it’s like to be (and feel) middle-aged, and how it feels to relive a part of your younger years. She deals with divorce, career issues, and the uncertainty of what her life holds.

I’ve never gone on a cruise, and Emma Straub’s imagery made me feel sunburned and claustrophobic, lol. The book alternates narration from Annie, Keith (one of the band members), and Sarah, an employee of the production company that organizes the cruise.

Book Review: "The Anniversary" by Alex Finlay

Given that Alex Finlay is one of my favorite thriller writers, I definitely was looking forward to reading his upcoming book, The Anniversary. Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy!

In the early 1990s, the Midwest was on edge because of the May Day Killer, a serial killer who abducts a woman on May 1 of each year. Sometimes the women are murdered and sometimes the killer lets them go, telling them they’re the lucky ones. He has eluded capture and doesn’t leave any clues behind.

May 1, 1992 seems like just another day. Beautiful and popular Jules is planning to go to a concert with her friends. Her shy classmate, Quinn, is usually the butt of people’s jokes, but something about him intrigues her. That night, Jules is attacked by the May Day Killer but her life is spared. Quinn breaks up a fight and winds up injuring someone, so he gets sent to juvenile detention.

The next year, Quinn is released from juvenile detention on May 1, only to find that his mother was brutally murdered. Meanwhile, Jules is wracked with fear that the killer will come back for her, and also feels guilty that she survived.

Each year on May 1, Jules and Quinn interact with one another. Both are traumatized by events in their lives, and nothing seems to get easier. Neither will rest until the May Day Killer is caught and Quinn’s mother’s murder is solved. But they’ll have to shoulder many burdens if those things will happen.

Don’t go into this book expecting a straightforward thriller. It’s definitely thrilling in places, but at the same time, the book is an exploration of how we bear trauma, pain, guilt, and loss, and how little we know about those around us. I thought this was great!!

The book will publish 5/12.

Book Review: "Wait for Me" by Amy Jo Burns

Amy Jo Burns’ last book, Mercury, was one of my favorite books of 2024. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this and I’m grateful to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t work as well for me as Mercury did, but it was an intriguing story. Marijohn is 18 years old in 1991, spending the summer working at her father’s gas station and writing songs she plays on her broken mandolin. Her best friend Lazarus is her cowriter, duet partner, and overall sidekick.

Marijohn’s father swears that he was the last person to see country music phenomenon Elle Harlow before she disappeared in 1973. He’s obsessed with keeping Elle’s legacy alive, and there’s a distinct possibility she could be Marijohn’s mother. She longs to know the truth.

The last night before Lazarus leaves for college, Marijohn is determined to tell him she loves him. But when a meteor strikes their town that night, it changes the course of everything, and brings secrets long hidden to the surface.

The book shifts to Elle’s story for a bit. We see her apprenticing to a healer, craving a musical career, and feeling unloved and unsupported. Her story shows that talent can flourish anywhere.

I felt like a lot of the dialogue in the book, particularly where Marijohn and Elle were concerned, was almost stream of consciousness. There’s a lot of miscommunication here, which is my least favorite trope to read about. But the central themes of loss, longing, and love really resonated with me.

Book Review: "Lake Effect" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

It’s 1977 in suburban Rochester, NY. A woman who has scandalized her neighborhood by getting divorced decides to buy her friends a copy of The Joy of Sex. What she views as a bit of a prank sets off some serious ripples.

Nina is married to Sam and they have two teenage daughters, Clara and Bridie. When Nina gets a copy of the book and hears her friends sharing details about their sex lives, she realizes how empty her own is. At that moment she decides she wants to have an affair, and when she lands on her neighbor, Finn, he’s all too willing to partake.

But the ramifications of an affair in their claustrophobic neighborhood quickly cause Nina to put the brakes on. Yet Finn, who is deeply dissatisfied in his own marriage, can’t imagine a life without Nina. To the surprise of everyone, Nina and Finn leave their families, get quickie divorces and marry each other, and head back to town.

The family members left behind each feel a different sense of betrayal. But her mother’s actions hit Clara in a different way: she was just falling in love with Finn’s son Dune, who now wants nothing to do with her.

The book spans from the 1970s to the 1990s, and traces the many ways the actions of Finn and Nina continue to cause issues for their families years later. There is a lot that occurs in this book and there’s definitely some weighty content, but it never felt forced or false.

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney has a real knack for capturing the dynamics and dysfunctions of families. I was swept into the story of the Larkins and the Finnegans, and was amused, moved, and affected by them.

Book Review: "Limelight" by Andrew Keenan-Bolger

OMG, I had such a smile on my face after reading this! The blurb described this as Fame meets Rent, so I jumped on it immediately. (It’s more the former than the latter for sure.) Thanks so much to Penguin Workshop and NetGalley for the advance copy!!

Danny has always tried to do the right thing, but sometimes it’s just not easy. But he knows he has to go after his dreams. Inspired by his late, musical-loving uncle, he cuts school in Staten Island and heads to NYC for the very first time in his 15 years. His destination: auditions for the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts.

It’s 1996, and Danny’s father is an abusive cop. A performing arts school is no place for a boy like him. But somehow he’s able to convince his mother to let him attend. LaGuardia is everything he dreamed of and more, so much more. He’s utterly overwhelmed, but thanks to a group of new friends and an empathetic teacher, he starts to get his bearings.

There’s so much he doesn’t know—about musical theater, NYC, the club scene, performance art, drag, etc. But his friends, especially aspiring drag queen Christian, make sure he’s learning more than just what he is taught at school.

More and more, Danny starts struggling with belonging and figuring out who he is. And as he and Christian start to draw closer, Danny’s parents threaten to send him back to Catholic school, and Danny doesn’t know which way to turn.

This is such a warm, bighearted book. I was a theater kid and I watched the TV show Fame religiously, so it felt so familiar to me. It’s a YA book, and it definitely skews that way, but it really was like a big hug.

The book publishes 2/24.

Book Review: "In Bloom" by Liz Allan

“It doesn’t matter anymore. We are trouble. We have always been trouble. Our mothers have been telling us this for years.“

At first glance, this book appears to be fairly simple and straightforward. But it’s only as you come to the end that you realize what quiet power Liz Allan’s debut novel really possesses.

It’s 1994 in Vincent, a small coastal town in Australia. Four high school girls, longtime friends, have a band called The Bastards, because none of them has a father present. They’re obsessed with Nirvana, with loud, angry music, and believe the band is their ticket out of their horrible little hole of a town.

These girls live by a self-fulfilling prophecy. They’re almost a group of ruffians—poor, rowdy, disdainful, and not particularly smart—so no one expects much from them. But they don’t care—they’re just biding their time. And an upcoming Battle of the Bands competition is the key to freedom.

Trouble strikes when their lead singer, Lily, drops out of the band. Shortly thereafter, she accuses the girls’ beloved music teacher (and perhaps their only champion), Mr. P, of sexual assault. The other three girls know he’s innocent and don’t understand why Lily would accuse him of such a horrible act. They’re determined to discover the truth, and nothing—or no one—will get in their way.

Most of the book is narrated by the three remaining Bastards in a collective voice. This was an interesting and very effective choice. You really feel for these girls, who just want to be viewed in a positive light by their peers and their families. The book really made an impression on me!

Book Review: "A Good Animal" by Sara Maurer

Funnily enough, this is the second consecutive book I’ve read in which sheep farming is involved. What are the chances? Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy of this beautifully written coming-of-age novel!

For many young people, growing up in a small rural town can be confining, making them feel stuck in place. They dream about getting away, living a whole different life. But not Everett. He has grown up on a sheep farm outside Sault St. Marie, Michigan. It’s the only life he’s ever known and it’s the only one he wants.

Everett is biding his time, waiting to finish high school so he can get a job as well as raise and breed sheep. He dreams of one day buying the family farm from his parents and making good money from his animals.

Then he meets Mary. Mary has just moved to town with her father, who is in the Coast Guard. She’s moved around a lot and done what’s expected of her. But all she dreams of is getting away, going to art school in California, doing what she wants to do and being totally free to live her life her way.

The two fall for each other, even though Mary is clear that she doesn’t want to stay in Michigan. But for the first time, she feels seen for who she is. When they come to a crossroads, Everett wants a life with Mary in his hometown; she wants so much more. What decisions can they make for their future?

This is a very quiet, character-driven novel. It’s as much a love story about farming and raising animals as it is a romantic love story. There are a few graphic scenes in which nature and predators have an impact, but you can easily skim over those. This is a memorable debut novel, one that could have easily turned to melodrama, but I’m thankful it didn’t.

The book will publish 2/24/2026.

Book Review: "Kate & Frida" by Kim Fay

“…books aren’t anchored in one place like a building which means you can read a book that holds your memories anywhere. And food. If you can get your hands on the right ingredients, you can eat a dish that holds your memories anywhere too. If memories are inherent to our sense of identity, does that mean it’s possible to reassemble parts of your identity no matter where you are in the world?”

This was such a heartwarming and thought-provoking epistolary novel. I found myself smiling and tearing up while reading it.

In 1991, Frida is an aspiring war correspondent living in Paris. She is ready to take on the conflicts of the world and share the stories people don’t see. One day she writes to a bookstore in Seattle to request a book. Her letter is received by Kate, one of the store’s booksellers, who is also an aspiring writer.

Kate is immediately drawn to Frida’s letter, and loves having the opportunity to help a customer. Her reply to Frida sets off a correspondence that builds into one of the most important relationships either young woman has ever had. They recount their days, share their dreams and fears, and talk about books, food, family, and their romantic relationships.

Frida goes to Bosnia to cover the war there and is shaken by all she sees. She searches within herself to find her story. Kate is a highly emotional person who loves her job as a bookseller and loves her family, but so desperately wants to leave her mark on the world.

Epistolary novels are such a terrific change of pace, and I felt the difference between both characters. Kim Fay said in her Author’s Note that this book was inspired by the advice she wanted to give her younger self. This really was a beautiful and memorable book.

Book Review: "I'll Come to You" by Rebecca Kauffman

This book is one of those slice-of-life novels that is more character-driven than plot-driven. And much like everyday life, it is made up more of quiet moments than overly dramatic ones.

Spanning the course of one year (1995), I’ll Come to You is the story of a family, connected by blood and marriage. Ellen is recently divorced and doesn’t really understand why her marriage ended. She gets set up on a date—which convinces her she’s not ready for another relationship—but it does spark a friendship.

Meanwhile, Ellen’s son Paul and his wife Corrine are expecting a baby, after a long period of trying to get pregnant. They are understandably nervous about what’s to come and how their lives will change.

Corrine’s mother, Janet, is one of those women who is always finding something to complain about, some instance in which she gets less than others. Her husband Bruce is facing a health crisis that she’s been less than forthcoming about with her children.

Corinne’s brother Rob is a car salesman who is navigating a divorce and watching his twin sons grow up differently than he would have raised them. Rob’s penchant for lying, a habit he’s had since childhood, has eroded his relationships with his family, and one person in particular.

I think Kauffman’s storytelling is excellent. She created a web around which all of these characters revolve, and there’s enough nuance to keep it all interesting. I thought this book had an Anne Tyler-esque feel to it, in that Tyler specializes in creating irascible characters who wind up somewhat endearing.

Book Review: "A Reason to See You Again" by Jami Attenberg

Post-Thanksgiving and pre-holidays, here’s a healthy dollop of family dysfunction in book form!

Rudy was a Holocaust survivor who traveled the country speaking to groups about what life was like in the camps. His traveling secretary, Frieda, becomes his wife, and together they raise two daughters, Nancy and Shelly. Rudy is the peacemaker, the one who smooths Frieda’s rough edges, as she becomes increasingly critical of her daughters. (It intensifies more when she drinks, which is becoming a nightly activity.)

When Rudy dies, the three women are adrift without a buffer. Frieda’s drinking becomes more of a problem, Nancy leaves for college, and Shelly throws herself into her schoolwork in the hopes she can get as far away as possible. But Frieda’s abuse takes its toll on the self-esteem of both her daughters.

As the years pass, Nancy marries young and has a daughter, but isn’t really sure that this is the life she wants. Shelly moves to the West Coast and becomes a driving force in the rapidly growing field of mobile phone technology. The sisters don’t see other much, and when they do, their interactions are affected by uncertainty, envy, and resentment.

Meanwhile, Frieda has moved to Miami, and continues her self-destructive ways. She also has some guilt about how she treated her daughters when they were growing up, and she mourns the life she had before her husband died. But at some point, all three women realize that you can only blame others for your misery for so long before you need to take responsibility for your own life.

The story spans four decades, beginning in the early 1970s, and is narrated by all three women and Rudy. I felt the story had promise early but lost its way; there’s only so long you can read about people unhappy and not interested in changing things.

Book Review: "The Lake of Lost Girls" by Katherine Greene

“It’s hard to escape the memory of someone who has become perfect through the very act of remembering them.”

In 1998, Jessica was a freshman at Southern State University in North Carolina. Like many new college students, she was struggling academically and emotionally, and partying a little too much.

The university was rocked by the disappearance of three female students. One evening, when Jessica was home (she lived in the same town as the university) for her younger sister’s 6th birthday, she went out to get the cake from her car, and disappeared. No trace was ever found.

Now, 24 years later, a new true crime podcast starts looking into Jessica’s disappearance as well as those of the three other students. Her sister Lindsey, whose life was forever changed the night her sister went missing, is hoping the new attention to the mystery might finally lead to answers.

When bodies are found at a local lake, Lindsey hopes they may find Jessica’s remains. But the discoveries highlight the ineptitude of the initial investigation, as well as some secrets that might have been better left submerged.

The book is told in dual timelines: by Lindsey in the present day and Jessica in 1998. The pacing was a bit slower than I would’ve liked, although there were some good twists. But I think it’s time to put the true crime podcast story angle to bed for a while. I’ve read at least four mystery/thrillers this year with this gimmick, and IMHO, that’s three too many.

Book Review: "This Motherless Land" by Nikki May

How much are our lives defined by the choices our families make? Are we doomed to follow the same paths or can we forge our own? These are questions that came to mind for me when reading This Motherless Land.

Funke is growing up in Nigeria, the daughter of an English mother and an African father. She loves her life, even loves school, and tolerates her annoying brother, although she doesn’t love that because he is a boy he’s considered more important.

When tragedy strikes, Funke is sent to England to live with her mother’s estranged family. Everything is much different than she imagined from the stories her mother told, and her aunt is often rude and condescending to her. But the one bright spot in her life is her cousin Liv, who appoints herself Funke’s protector.

The two cousins become the closest of friends, and that friendship continues into their adulthood. But when another tragedy strikes, the ramifications of the decisions made by Funke’s mother and aunt impact her and Liv. Accusations are thrown and actions are taken which shatter their relationship, leaving them both without their closest friend.

The story takes place from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s, and shifts between Funke and Liv, as well as between Nigeria and England. It’s a story of family, both blood and chosen, and how breaking free of expectations can actually enhance your life.

I enjoyed May’s storytelling, and I also enjoyed her debut novel, Wahala. The book is referred to as a decolonial retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, but my understanding is it’s a VERY loose retelling. I found certain characters very difficult and their behaviors irritated me, but I really enjoyed Funke and Liv.

Book Review: "A Lovely Lie" by Jaime Lynn Hendricks

I used to read more thrillers and crime novels than any other genre. But I grew disillusioned because so many thrillers seemed fairly similar, with common themes and tropes. However, since so many of my Bookstagram buddies love thrillers, I’ve waded back in this year. While they all haven’t been great, I’ve found some fantastic thrillers so far in 2024, and Jaime Lynn Hendricks’ new book is on that list! (This is also the fourth thriller I've loved that has "Lie" in the title.)

Pepper and Scarlett were best friends in high school. Pepper was the star, the leader, and Scarlett was her follower. In 1999, the two were involved in a car accident that killed two of their classmates. They coordinated their alibis and lied to the police, and the next morning, Pepper disappeared, never to be heard from again.

More than 20 years later, Scarlett lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with her husband Vince and their teenage son. She is shocked when Zoey, Pepper’s daughter, shows up, telling Scarlett that Pepper is dead. Zoey knows that Scarlett kept Pepper’s secrets; she demands to know who her father is and what happened the night of the senior picnic, as she found a letter Pepper wrote to Scarlett mentioning an accident.

Zoey’s arrival turns Scarlett’s life upside down. She is determined to keep digging into what happened that night 22 years ago, to find out who her father is and what secrets and lies have been kept hidden. But even Scarlett doesn’t know what she thinks she does…

This was an excellent thriller that definitely surprised me. Hendricks threw in lots of twists and turns, and I didn’t know which characters to trust and which to despise. The book shifts back and forth between 1999 and the present, and is narrated by several of the characters.

This was my first book by Hendricks; it will absolutely not be my last!!

Book Review: "Anita de Monte Laughs Last" by Xochitl Gonzalez

A dual-timeline book that examines the art world as well as the sexual, racial, and power dynamics it stirs up, Anita de Monte Laughs Last was a very thought-provoking read. I really loved Xochitl Gonzalez’s debut, Olga Dies Dreaming, so I was really looking forward to this.

In 1985, a rising young artist, Anita de Monte, died under mysterious circumstances. Anita was married to famed artist (and womanizer) Jack Martin, but as her raw talent started gaining notoriety, it provoked Jack’s envy and his anger. While Anita’s death proved to be a scandal, the buzz was short-lived, and it wasn’t long before Anita’s talent was forgotten and Jack's career continued to flourish.

In 1998, Raquel Toro is an art history student at Brown University. Being one of only a few minority students, she felt ostracized, like she needed to work three times as hard to get the breaks her fellow students got. When she starts a relationship with Nick, an older, wealthy art student, she does reap the advantages—but at the expense of her pride, her independence, and her self-respect.

She plans to write her final thesis about Jack Martin, but while interning at a museum over the summer, she is introduced to the life and work of Anita de Monte. She realizes this artist, her talent as well as her tragic end and the influences she had over those in her cycle, is the real story that needs to be told.

The parallel narrative is an interesting one, shifting back and forth through Anita’s short career and her death, alternating with Raquel’s struggles and her discovery of Anita’s work. It’s fascinating and sad how both women felt the need to compromise themselves in order to make the men in their lives happy, and how their minority status often made them “exotic.”

While the pacing felt a little slow at times, I really liked this book. I’d imagine the struggles Anita and Raquel dealt with were very realistic, not just within the art world.

Book Review: "Mercury" by Amy Jo Burns

This was so good! As I've said numerous times before, I love stories about family relationships and dynamics, and Mercury definitely fit the bill.

Marley and her mother, Ruth, came to the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania in 1990. Marley was 17, used to spending lots of time by herself while her mother works as a nurse, and it's always been the two of them against the world. But she's wanted to belong, wanted to be a part of something bigger.

Not long after her arrival in town, Marley encounters brothers Baylor and Waylon Joseph, when they get into a fight at the end of a baseball game. The young men are the sons of Mick, the blustering, egotistical owner of Joseph & Sons Roofing, and both are expected to follow in their father's footsteps, as is their younger brother, Shay. It's not long before Marley is drawn into their orbit, chosen by one brother but longed for by another.

Things change rapidly, and it's not long before she is a young wife and mother. But as the boys' own mother slowly starts to disappear from their lives, Marley steps up, taking charge of the family and helping with the business, even becoming somewhat of a surrogate mother to Shay. And at the same time, she becomes privvy to a set of secrets that could shake not only the Josephs, but the entire town of Mercury.

Years later, when the church attic is found to be home to a gruesome discovery, all of the Josephs get drawn into the web that exposes old wounds and threatens to destroy the entire family. Each must decide whether their relationships, the business, and the family itself are worth fighting for, and what the future holds.

While this is definitely a slow-burn story, I was hooked from the very start. Amy Jo Burns created layered characters that were so much more complex than I initially believed, and I really enjoyed her storytelling ability. There was a richness to this story that definitely will keep it in my mind for some time.

Book Review: "The Most Likely Club" by Elyssa Friedland

It’s never too late to achieve your high school dreams.

In 1997, four best friends—Melissa, Suki, Priya, and Tara—were determined to set the world on fire after high school. Their classmates thought so, too, voting them Most Likely to Win the White House, Join the Forbes 400, Cure Cancer, and Open a Michelin-Starred Restaurant, respectively.

But as their 25th reunion approaches, while Suki has built a business empire and Priya is a doctor, no one is quite satisfied with the trajectory their lives took. Rather than let that get them down, they decide—with the support and help of each other—to finally achieve the superlatives they received in high school, or at least some success that truly brings them satisfaction.

They call themselves The Most Likely Club. But they’ll find that the path they most want to take might not be the easiest or the best, and it may take coming to terms with truths they’ve kept hidden. At least they’ll do it together.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the nostalgic feel of looking back on your life since high school and seeing how different it is from what you thought it might be. I’m a fan of Elyssa Friedland’s books and the warmth and humor she brings to her stories—not to mention a touch of zaniness.

Thanks to Get Red PR for sending me a copy! I already have Friedland’s next book on my TBR for when it’s published!

Book Review: "The Rewind" by Allison Winn Scotch

The Rewind is a cute second-chance rom-com about what happens when old college friends reunite for a wedding.

The last thing Frankie wanted was to be a bridesmaid at her college roommate’s wedding. And having to wear some horrible dress isn’t even the worst part—it’s that she will probably see Ezra, her college boyfriend. They had an angry breakup 10 years ago and haven’t spoken since.

Ezra is a little anxious about seeing Frankie, too, but he has a plan, anyway: his girlfriend Mimi is coming to the wedding and he intends to propose to her right after, as the clock strikes midnight and 1999 turns to 2000.

And yet the morning before the wedding Ezra and Frankie wake up in bed together in their freshman dorm. They both have pounding headaches, Frankie is wearing the engagement ring Ezra intended for Mimi, and he’s also wearing a wedding ring.

Of course, neither of them have any idea how they got there or what happened the night before. Did they get married? Why does Frankie's head hurt if she doesn't drink? As they try to figure out the events of the previous night, both are also reminded of everything that went wrong—and what was right—with their relationship in college. Have they changed enough to want a second chance with one another, or is there too much baggage from the past?

This was a fun, sweet book, infused with late-90s nostalgia. I felt like the “figuring out what happened” piece took longer than anything else, but I’m definitely a fan of second-chance love stories!

Book Review: "When You Call My Name" by Tucker Shaw

Gorgeous and emotional, When You Call My Name evoked such memories for me.

It’s 1990 in New York City. Adam is 17 and has just been asked out on a date by Callum, an aspiring conductor. Adam quickly falls for Callum, who is a few years older than him, but something seems to be holding Callum back.

Ben left his upstate New York home after his mother discovered his secret stash of gay magazines, and he heads to NYC to live with his brother, who is a doctor. Fashion-obsessed Ben gets a glimpse into the world he wants to be a part of, and he falls in love with the city and its possibilities, even if his brother doesn’t quite get him.

When Callum disappears, Adam desperately searches for him, until he finds that he’s in the hospital, slowly declining from AIDS. Adam devoted himself to caring for Callum until he reaches the end, and the toll that AIDS has taken on the gay community overwhelms him.

One night, when Adam is at his most vulnerable, he meets Ben near Callum’s hospital. Ben realizes that Adam is in pain and needs help, and although their connection is brief, they begin seeing each other at random times. Sometimes their encounters are meaningful, sometimes they say the wrong things, but both start to depend on one another more than they’re prepared to admit.

This is such a beautiful book, one that so accurately captures the mood of 1990, the sadness, defiance, anger, and fear that pervaded the LGBTQ community at that time. It’s a book about the power of friendship, love, chosen and blood family, and finally finding yourself. This reminded me a little of The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels (a favorite of mine from a few years ago) in the emotions and nostalgia it evoked.

Thanks so much to Fierce Reads, Storygram Tours, and Tucker Shaw for inviting me on the tour for this book and providing a complimentary advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.