Lumara by Melissa Landers

 Lynnie

young adult, fantasy, audiobook

Talia and her boyfriend, Nate, are students at a boarding school. Talia has a genetic heart condition and Nate is a popular student who also happens to be a secret mystic - a member of the magical community. His particular magical community is secretive and lives on an island, only among themselves. When Talia is invited to Nate's island for a cousin's wedding, she is eager to go despite her life-long hatred of mystics.

Lumara was a quick, easy and sometimes interesting book. 

Melissa Landers created an interesting world, where magical and non-magical people coexist, to an extent. Obviously there is deep distrust, and sometimes fear about the unknown, but Talia and Nate have to figure out how to break a generational curse to save the day.

As the leaves get pulled back to reveal the situation Talia finds herself in, she learns that the world may not be what she has been led to believe and that reality is often what you make of it. The cover art gives some sense of what's going to happen. Some of the big reveals in the plot were incredibly obvious, but it was still fun to read.

I did not love Nate the boyfriend - he was too perfect and, frankly, kind of dull in the way that rule-followers often are. This was a world that called for thinking outside the box and I never felt that he was up to the task. His sister Olive is a great character but she and her disability were treated poorly by the family; there were some real moments there that made me cringe.

The best character in the book was the island itself, Lumara. I would have liked to read more about the island and its abilities, frankly. I think it was a plot device that sparked my imagination but was never really fulfilled.

I read the book & listened to the audiobook version as well. Marni Penning was the narrator and it took me about an hour to figure out what was bothering me about her. If you've ever seen the musical or listened to the soundtrack for Legally Blond, Laura Bell Bundy has a particular sound that Penning reminded me of. Oddly, I liked her male voices better than her female voices. It wasn't off-putting enough not to listen to the audiobook, but I definitely enjoyed the reading experience more on this one. I will say though, Penning did an excellent job of making Talia's voice sound young.

 

This book reads young. Middle school students and maybe high school students will probably get the most from it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Amy  

classic, fantasy

Basil is an artist who has befriended an exceptionally attractive 20-year old Dorian, his new model and muse. Basil introduces Dorian to his old school friend, Lord Henry, who proceeds to make an experiment of Dorian through corruption of thought. As Basil completes his finest work—a perfect painting of Dorian—Lord Henry implores Dorian to appreciate his youth while he has it. He tells him to live life to the fullest now while the world is open to him. Taking this message to heart, Dorian makes a wish for this amazing painting to age and grow ugly in Dorian’s place so that he may keep his youthful, pure appearance.

Dorian is naïve and pampered. He lacks worldly experience and is ripe for Lord Henry to plant thoughts and ideas into his head. Due to his good looks, life has always been easy for him as people have bent to his every wish to gain his favor. His appearance has gotten him anything—favors, the benefit of the doubt, material items, and acts of service. Henry pushes Dorian to live life not just through experiences but to really feel everything deep in his soul. Henry doesn’t care how his suggested philosophies affect Dorian or others.

These three privileged young men all hate women and are uncaring for anyone other than themselves--this is typical of their time and station. Basil’s honesty and talent are commendable but I’m not sure the other two have any truly good qualities. Dorian ends up becoming rude, paranoid, materialistic, predatory, unremorseful, and even more selfish.

There was a truly tedious section in The Picture of Dorian Gray describing all the various things Dorian experienced in his philosophical, hedonistic journey. It was basically a chapter’s long, never-ending list. For example, it wasn’t enough for Oscar Wilde to explain that shiny things captured Dorian’s attention for a few years—he literally inventoried all of the items and stories Dorian collected about gemstones. UGH. I thought it would never end!

In the end, the novel ends the only way it can—with tragedy. No one is better off or enlightened. I suppose the moral is that if you become ashamed of the way you live your life, it is no life. As is the case with almost every novel that was written before I was born, I really didn’t love it. I do appreciate that this novel was somewhat autobiographical for Wilde and that he faced real scrutiny and unfair treatment as a gay man. But I also just didn't really enjoy the book.

The audiobook narrator was Paul Lincoln. He did a really good job with his decent vocal repertoire and excellent vocal acting. He even made the never-ending description list not seem stale. I’ll give him an A.

Book People by Jackie Ashenden

Lynnie

contemporary fiction, romance

 

I requested Jackie Ashenden's Book People from NetGalley because of it's super cute cover and because I am an absolute sucker for books that take place in bookshops or with book people as the characters. In fact, I think this is my tenth book this year that was about people in the book or book selling industry!

There are parts of this story that I loved- the community, the bookshops (both of them), and, at times, the characters. They had wonderfully witty banter and sometimes their relationship was cute. Kate, as the books states, is sunshine in human form; friendly, outgoing, and a joy to be around. Sebastian was the exact opposite; reserved, introverted, downright grumpy, and off-putting. I was most put off by his unending emotional constipation as he would swing wildly from loving and supporting to unable to communicate any sort of feelings to freakishly obsessive and angry. I kept waiting for him to say, "you won't like me when I'm angry" & grow into a giant green Hulk.

There is a mysterious box of love letters for the two of them to unravel together (the answer was stunningly obvious in my opinion, but still one of the sweeter parts of the novel), a festival to plan and, of course, a decision about whether or not they will figure themselves out enough to have any sort of relationship.

This was a fun, quick read but if you're turned off by obsessive love, maybe skip it.

Thanks to Headline Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy. Book People will be published on January 28, 2025. 

 

 

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Amy  

mystery

After a young teen thwarts the attack of a classmate, he is abducted in her place. His best friend won’t rest or relent in her search to find him.

As usual, I didn’t read the book summary before beginning All the Colors of the Dark for my book club. However, not far into this highly rated novel, I feared I would be  abandoning it. I truly cannot enjoy child abduction stories. It’s too awful for me to contemplate. But I persevered because of all the rave reviews and for the sake of book club discussion.

Truly, it was a heartbreaking novel. So much sadness, disadvantage, poor choice-making, and desperation. Did it hold my attention? Absolutely, although I often kept listening while filled with dread and wanting to stop. Were there sections and characters that held hope and positivity? Definitely. But this book was still an unpleasant, sorrowful experience for me until about the 2/3 mark. The main characters were so flawed and/or damaged. Some were obsessed. Some were misguided. Some were neglected. But they all suffered. Sure, I like a story where characters have both light and dark sides. But this one was lopsided with so much heartache.

The last third of the novel is the best part. The last quarter was unputdownable which, I suspect, is the reason so many people think this is a stellar novel. I’m still not sure I’m glad I read this novel but the ending made it worthwhile. All the Colors of the Dark is going to haunt me for a very long time.

The best parts of the story involved the coincidences. Like the other Chris Whitaker novel I’ve read, We Begin at the End, the story included a policeman full of heart in a small town, children in crisis, inept parental figures, a broken justice system, hard knocks, characters with the capacity for love but the incapacity to show it. It was a tale both tragic and heartwarming.

Edoardo Ballerini narrated the audiobook and he is one of my favorites. He did his usual great job with voice acting and vocal repertoire. I’ll give him an A.

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

 

Lynnie

contemporary fiction

 
Clover has had a long relationship with death - she watched her Kindergarten teacher die in the middle of class. Not much later, both of her parents died, leaving Clover in the custody of her beloved grandfather in New York City. Always feeling like an outsider among her peers, Clover has grown up to be a death doula, helping people who are dying put their affairs in order and then bringing them comfort as their lives end.

Clover's job is the excuse she uses to justify the lack of relationships in her life. She spends time with her elderly neighbor who has known her for most of her life, and at the bookstore she used to visit with her grandfather, going through the motions of life without actually living it. Her hobby is going to "death cafes" around town where people go to discuss and demystify death.

It's at one of these death cafes that she meets her next client - or rather, her client's grandson who hires her to help his grandmother, Claudia. Claudia is fierce, feisty, and sees Clover for who is. As a new neighbor moves into Clover's apartment building, and Clover helps Claudia prepare for her death, Clover is forced out of her comfort zone in ways that will change her forever.

The Collected Regrets of Clover was a lovely book despite its focus on death. Thoughtful, compassionate, and ultimately hopeful, Mikki Brammer has created an interesting cast of characters and highlighted the negative effects that loneliness can have on a life while reminding us that it's never too late to start over and find your people.

I read the book and listened to the audiobook. Jennifer Pickens narrated and, while I think she was spot on with the tone, she read so slowly that I found myself getting tired when I would listen to her. Because of that, I generally preferred the print version over the audio version - which doesn't happen very often.

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xóchitl González

Amy  

fiction, fantasy

Anita de Monte Laughs Last is told alternatingly from three viewpoints: Cuban American artist Anita in the 1970s and 1980s, her famous artist husband, Jack, and a Puerto Rican college student in the 1990s named Raquel who is studying Jack as the subject of her college thesis. Anita and Jack had a very passionate, rocky relationship in which neither treated the other one particularly well. Jack was cruel to his wife by continuing to have affairs and belittling her art. She had grown up with nothing and been charmed by his ability to take care of her financially and, hopefully, professionally. However, neither of them seemed to actually put their relationship first and, on one night of high emotion, tragedy strikes. Raquel, similar to Anita, grew up at a financial disadvantage and was drawn to the beautiful, wealthy Nick, an artist on campus who seemed to be on a rising trajectory for stardom. She was smart enough to see some flaws in him but she was also inexperienced in romantic relationships and blinded by love.

This novel sucked me right in from the first chapter. The drama! The angst! The art! The women were so flawed yet hopeful. Their honesty drew me in, their dreams kept me wanting to know how life would pan out for them, and their mistakes kept me rivetted to find out how much harm those mistakes would bring in the future. Would Jack's spin job keep Anita out of the public consciousness?

I was so infuriated on behalf of Anita and Raquel at times. True, neither were perfect and Anita seemed like she should have known better much of the time. But both women had goals and dreams and were working hard to meet them. They had paths before them.

For Anita, full of fire and energy, her lack of stable, loving parents created a hole that she did not know how to fill and she made some poor choices. Raquel, climbing her way to success through hard work and guts is still too young and inexperienced to realize that the boy she loves is only really in love with the idea of her. And Jack is simply a prick—a white man who feels the world revolves around him and takes no responsibility for anything.

The reader can see what these characters cannot—that they’re all heading for trouble. But we can’t miss out on witnessing the train wrecks. The title also kept me motivated to find out exactly how Anita laughed last and had me hoping Raquel would make key discoveries while also discovering herself. Little did I know that there was fantasy included in the latter part of the story which was as satisfying as it was unexpected.

I hadn’t realized until I finished that I’ve read another book by Xóchitl González which I had also enjoyed--Olga Dies Dreaming. González builds lovable, complicated characters and compelling storylines. I’ll look forward to reading her next one.

The audiobook narrators are all fabulous voice actors! In fact, I’m quite sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed this novel as much without their amazing acting. Jessica Pimentel voiced Anita, Jonathan Gregg voiced Jack, and Stacy Gonzalez was Raquel. Even though none of them had particularly large vocal repertoires, their acting was some of the best I’ve heard. I’ll give them a solid A for doing a wonderful job with this material.

TEN YEARS of Ubbi Dubbi Book Reviews!

 

WOW!  It's so hard to believe but this is the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of our book blog!

Ten years ago we wouldn't have believed that we'd keep this project going this long but it's been a joy for us to have something to work on together. And it really hasn't been a chore because we love sharing books with each other and anyone else who cares what we think.  😏 

In honor of this momentous occasion, we've tallied some stats and lists!

STATS OF THE DECADE

BOOKS THAT HAVE STUCK WITH US

We've looked through our favorite books of the past ten years and have each compiled the five books that have stuck with us. You can click on the titles to read our reviews. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Amy's List 

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Lynnie's List 

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Many thanks to those of you who read our reviews! We also love connecting with you over books so keep those comments coming!

Happy New Year!!!