Book Review: "The Hearing Test" by Eliza Barry Callahan

Sometimes I’m so taken by the synopsis of a book that I read a few pages and then buy it without looking at any reviews. At times this experiment is successful and I find a gem I might not have otherwise known about.

Other times, however, it’s like only walking around the store once when you try on a pair of shoes—you don’t experience the discomfort until you’ve done a little more walking. And in this case, the book’s quirks weren’t evident until I got about 20 pages in, and I had already bought the shoes, umm, book.

In The Hearing Test, a young artist awakes one morning with “a deep drone in my right ear accompanied by a sound I can best compare to a large piece of sheet metal being rocked, a perpetually rolling thunder.” At first she thinks she might have water in her ear after a swim. But the doctors quickly diagnose her with Sudden Deafness, as she had lost low-end hearing.

This news throws her for a loop. The doctors don’t believe she’ll regain her hearing, and in fact, this could be a sign of a larger problem which might ultimately result in profound deafness. But while this is certainly worrying, she is determined not to let herself obsess over what might happen.

The book is essentially a record of her year—the interesting and the mundane things that occur. Many times it’s her recounting conversations she had with random people, conversations with so many extraneous details it’s like talking to a friend who is prone to veer off topic and onto other paths. It’s also a reflection on her happinesses and disappointments, her fears and triumphs.

Most of the book is told in a stream-of-consciousness style, without context for what the author shares. (Also, conversations are reflected with no quotation marks.) I think this was beautifully written—the language was so evocative—but it was mostly over my head. Ah, well…

Book Review: "The Breakup Lists" by Adib Khorram

“Even though I’m the Theatre Kid, my sister is the dramatic one.”

Jackson is proud to be a “techie”—he’s the stage manager for his high school’s theater department. He doesn’t mind being behind the scenes instead, because he knows he’s the glue keeping the shows running, keeping his teacher on track, and helping wherever he can.

He’s also a cynic when it comes to romance, having had his heart broken once and watching his parents get divorced. But his sister Jasmine is constantly crushing on someone, dating them, and then the relationship ends. So Jackson helps Jasmine by creating “breakup lists” for each of her exes, which list all of their faults, both serious and superficial.

When Liam, a handsome swimmer, decides to audition for the musical, he and Jackson become very good friends. Jackson definitely is attracted to Liam, and sometimes he thinks Liam is flirting with him, but Liam is straight, right? So when Jasmine starts crushing on Liam, he encourages Liam to start dating Jasmine. Which, of course, fills him with jealousy.

This is a sweet story of friendship, love, family drama, and fighting to be seen and heard and valued. It’s predictable, sure, but Adib Khorram gives the story extra depth because it also deals with disability, specifically hearing impairment and deafness, and the struggles—and beautiful moments—that people living with those disabilities face.

I’ve loved everything Khorram has written, and this was no exception.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the advance copy!!

Book Review: "Only When It's Us" by Chloe Liese

Loved it, loved it, loved it!

A few months ago I fell completely in love with Everything for You, technically the 5th book in Chloe Liese’s Bergman Brothers series. I’ve been meaning to get back to the start of the series, and now that I’ve read the first book, I’m utterly hooked.

Willa is an amazing soccer player who hopes to turn pro after college. She’s fiercely competitive and has a tremendously short fuse; she’s definitely the type to get angry first and ask questions later.

Ryder is handsome, brooding, and dresses in flannel every day like a lumberjack. He’s not sure what he did to become the target of Willa’s wrath, but they start to enjoy needling each other in class. And then Willa makes a startling discovery: she thinks Ryder is just an egotistical idiot who’s ignoring her, but he’s actually deaf.

Thrown together by their professor, their connection is immediate and intense. But both are hiding secrets, vulnerabilities, and fears, and every time they get close to giving into their feelings, something happens. Can they trust another enough to let their guards down? Can they both give each other what they need and want, or will fear and stubbornness keep them away?

What I love about Chloe Liese is that her books combine humor, chemistry, banter, serious steam, and also serious emotion. All of the supporting characters—from Ryder’s family to his and Willa’s friends, even the manipulative professor who threw them together—are fantastic, too. I just got hooked on this world and can’t wait to go back!!

Book Review: "Have We Met?" by Camille Baker

Can a dating app really find your soulmate? That's the question at the core of Camille Baker's debut rom-com, Have We Met?

Do you believe there’s one person out there for everyone? Corinne doesn’t have time or energy to think about that—she’s just moved back to Chicago after the death of her best friend; she needs to find a job and figure out her life.

But when a dating app called Met mysteriously appears on her phone and tells her she’ll reconnect with four people from her past and one of them will turn out to be her soulmate, after some healthy eye-rolling she realizes she can’t resist the opportunity. And when she meets two people she hasn’t seen in some time, she thinks the app might be speaking the truth.

As Corinne tries to navigate her demanding mother, come to terms with her grief over the loss of her friend, and find the perfect job (if she can figure out what that is), she’s also been spending time with a guy she met outside the app. But if he’s not her soulmate, should she bother?

I thought Have We Met? was a cute, quirky, creative rom-com. I liked the chemistry between Corinne and her love interest. But what I liked best was the diversity of the characters—there were characters of different races and ethnicities, and a character with a disability, as well as lesbian, bisexual, and non-binary characters. And it never felt like this diversity was there for diversity’s sake.

Of course, the whole app thing seemed a little contrived to me and it never quite was explained exactly how it even wound up on her phone, but I didn’t dwell on the small details! This was a fun story that also touched on the challenges of moving on when you’re grieving.

Thanks so much to Amazon Publishing and Blankenship Public Relations for providing me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!