Stars and Smoke (Stars and Smoke #1) by Marie Lu

Lynnie

young adult fiction 

 

Marie Lu's books have been hit or miss with me since I read Legend (which I loved). Stars and Smoke is the first Lu book I've read in a long time that had the same energy of Legend, so I enjoyed it more than many of her other books. All that said, it's on the young end of the YA spectrum. Still, it's a fun adventure.

Pop star Winter Young - annoyingly beautiful and good at everything - is recruited by a secret spy agency to help them infiltrate a crime organization. He's their spy agency's "in" but the real spy is young Sydney Cossette, a teenage spy with a sad background who will work as Winter's bodyguard during the mission. As you can imagine, shenanigans ensue. Young readers will love everything about this book, but as an adult reader there were dangling questions left frustratingly unanswered.  Winter and Sydney were both interesting and sympathetic characters and I found myself interested in them in spite of my old jaded heart.

Truth be told, I am likely to read the next one in this series at some point because it was an easy, fun book and a fun adventure. Can't ask for more than that. 

 

 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Amy   

fiction

Damon Fields was born to an 18yo unwed mother who lived alone in a trailer park in rural Virginia.  As a child, he was given the nickname Demon Copperhead (due to the wordplay on his first name and the color of his hair). This novel is his childhood survival story. He faced neglect, poverty, grief, fostering, and drug addiction.

Demon’s life was described so clearly and completely by Barbara Kingsolver that I could vividly picture it all.  He was a fantastic character who had a whole lot of rotten luck.  He did have a few key good people in his life. But some sections were tough to read. Despite his unfortunate situations, he was compassionate and patient with people who had disadvantages of their own. It was depressing to see how the Department of Social Services could so easily fail to serve kids in need and heartbreaking to watch the light fade out of Demon’s eyes when he wasn’t getting the necessary amount of care or food.

The difficulties Demon and his friends faced were numerous and serious: injury, theft, drug abuse, malpractice, physical abuse, rape, and teenage pregnancy.  There were several times where I just wanted to shout out loud, “Who is looking out for these people?” For some, their lives ended tragically. But, somehow, Demon managed to survive thanks to his natural abilities, common sense, and a few relationships that made a difference.

This book made me feel a lot. I’d find myself thinking about Demon when I wasn’t reading the book.

The narrator, Charlie Thurston, did a terrific job.  Most of the novel was told from Demon’s observations and descriptions but, occasionally, there was dialogue with other characters and Thurston did have a vocal repertoire.  The accent he used for Demon throughout the entire novel was wholeheartedly believable and his other voices were distinct and appropriate too. I give him an A.

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon

 

Lynnie

young adult, science fiction

 

See You Yesterday is a cute book. It's "Groundhog Day" for the YA set including several mentions of the movie from which is took its plot cues; at least Rachel Lynn Solomon took time to address that elephant in the room.

The adorably named Barrett Bloom finds herself repeating her first day of college classes. Obviously confused, Barrett is astonished to learn she is not the only captive of September 21. Fellow freshman Miles - a physics nerd - is also stuck in this time loop, but he has been stuck for months and is thrilled to finally have company. Barrett goes through all the emotions you would expect someone to go through when discovering they are trapped in time and space, and then through the emotions you would expect two teenagers to go through when they learn they are trapped in time and space together and their actions don't seem to have any consequences. It's all quite predictable, but Barrett, and particularly Miles, are delightful.

Sure, there are plenty of times I rolled my eyes so hard I could see my own brain, but you just have to go with it if you're going to enjoy the story. Solomon tries to tackle lots of subjects here- bullying, substance abuse, accepting yourself, slut-shaming... that last one is the one I understood the least. Solomon really never lets Barrett move past it. Oddly, the one thing that made me laugh each time was these 18-year-olds renting cars. I kept thinking no rental car company would ever rent to them, and then remembered it was a book about time loops, so reality didn't really matter- ha!

Anyway, it's a cute, fast read and a fun take on the Groundhog Day theme. I suspect it will make a great Netflix movie one day.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Amy   

fiction, family drama

Hello Beautiful is the story of William Waters and the family he marries into. The novel is told from several family members’ points of view over the course of a few decades. William had grown up in a home without love, feeling like he did not belong. At college, he meets Julia who comes from a close-knit family with four daughters.  When family drama (questionable decisions and tragedies) strikes, the family’s world is shaken.

I really liked the way Ann Napolitano presented the idea of people with questions vs. people with answers.  I found it an effective way to differentiate between decision-makers/goal-hunters vs. people who are less self-directive/live mainly in the present. And then, later in the novel, the main character who used to have the answers is now only able to create questions while the other one has the answers. Napolitano’s writing was clear and her story was appealing in a way that made me curious to find out what would happen with these characters.

This story is about individual growth and family dynamics but especially love, loyalty, and communication. The bulk of the story deals with the consequences of parental absence. I couldn’t help but notice the story’s patterns of parents choosing to leave (or not be present) and took heart from the nearly magical trend in the Padavano family where one family member leaves on the same day another suddenly appears. And, as a wife and parent to very tall people, I really appreciated the aspects of this story about tall people and I felt those observations were spot on.

This is a story with a great ending that lifted my opinion of this novel higher than it would have otherwise been.

Maura Tierney, the audiobook narrator, was satisfactory. While I liked her voice quality, I didn’t like her speaking rhythm. She would take unusual pauses in the middle of sentences at times. Other times, her inflections and emphasis on words were incorrect or missing altogether. She didn’t have a wide repertoire of voices and she sometimes sounded like she was distracted while reading the book. Being an actor does not ensure one will be a great voice actor. I’ll give her a B.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Amy  
Lynnie

 

fiction

Told from several characters’ points of view, each person either randomly finds the The Reading List or is involved with those who have discovered it. The book list, handwritten on a Harrow Street Library slip, is titled “In case you need it”:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Rebecca
The Kite Runner
Life of Pi
Pride and Prejudice
Little Women
Beloved
A Suitable Boy

Amy's Review

In fact, all of the people who find the list do need it. The main characters in this debut novel by Sara Nisha Adams are grieving and/or caring for others who need assistance. They are having trouble inhabiting their own lives. The books on the list become a safe haven in which to escape, an avenue for interacting with other people, and an opportunity to evaluate their own and others’ lives. The minor characters who are touched by the list, too, are all improved by it in some way. 

In this book about books, I really appreciated the library love and the way the joy of reading was imparted. Reading these listed books allowed the characters to remember forgotten memories, apply aspects of storylines to their own lives for reconsideration, consider the book characters as their own friends, and imagine what those characters would be doing in certain situations.  People started to think differently about their own struggles which allowed them to forge connections with other people.

While some of the individual sections were slow at times, I really liked the messages the author delivered in this novel. I’ve read all but three of the listed novels. Two of them have been on my list forever but I know they’re sad/depressing and I haven’t mustered the strength to read them yet. The third was new to me and likely a personal favorite of Adams' that is not as widely popular as the others. I’m sure I’m not the only reader planning to read books from this list.

Three narrators read the audiobook. Tara Divina read all the women’s points of view sections and she was the best narrator of the three.  She had a pretty good vocal repertoire and her voice acting was effective. I’ll give her an A-.  Sagar Arya read Mukesh’s sections and was a wonderful voice actor. However, he had no vocal repertoire to speak of.  I’ll give him a B+.  Paul Panting read the other men’s sections of which there were not many.  Honestly, I can’t remember anything specific about his reading so it must not have been offensive in any way but there wasn’t enough of it to really form an impression.  I’ll give him a B+ but it might’ve gotten higher if I could remember anything about it.

As a side note, Divina and Arya pronounced a few of the characters’ names differently and that was frustrating and shows poor audiobook production/direction.

Lynnie's Review

A mysterious person leaves a reading list in the library and other patrons find and share the list with others. Everyone who finds the list needs it, which is handy as it is titled, "In case you need it." It's a list that crosses genres and generations but all of the books have messages that the readers in the books (and readers in general) can take with them - strength, perseverance, compassion, connection and other messages that related to their lives.

The library connects the members of the community, as local libraries so often do. There, the characters find support, acceptance, and a found family. There were times that the book dragged on a little too long, but generally I found the characters charming and I enjoyed getting to know them as they found themselves and each other.