A 5-Star Book Debut from Mateo Askaripour

Do you want a book that absolutely wrecks your brain? Read Black Buck.

Book Review:

The entire time my mind kept screaming “What the fuck?!”

I am not lying. This book was seriously insane. I have not read a book that has taken me through such a crazy mind tunnel. Black Buck was a phenomenal book.

Book Plot:

Everything was a twist and a turn. We went through this absolutely insane racist workplace and this guy absolutely fucking up his life. Speaking too much about the plot can lead to huge spoilers so I am just going to say this book is seriously insane, and you should read it.

Book Characters:

Darren is the most unlikeable character I have ever met. Throughout the story, he becomes this absolutely tortuous character. I hated him for hundreds of pages. Yes, In the beginning, and the end he is a better person, but this man goes into the craziest head spaces. Did I hate him? So much so. Do I love him? YES

I don’t have much to say about the other characters. Soraya was great and seeing her life through little moments was upper interesting. Everyone else was good, bad, and ugly.

There were huge character-driven twists at the end of this. My friend, who read this book with me, and I were absolutely blown away by the character’s development.

Quality of Writing:

During my summer program, Mateo Askaripour, the author, came and spoke at our class. While speaking, he told us about how it took him three books to finally get Black Buck published. He sounded exactly like his book read. His writing was provocative, stunning, and addictive. I cannot wait for Mateo’s next book just so I can read his writing again.

What I Liked:

  • The absolute crazy shit that happened
  • Speaking about the themes of racism in the sales world
  • Beautiful writing
  • The author
  • The shock factors

What I Didn’t:

  • It was a bit much, but I think that is the point. The point was to be a lot.

Read This Book If You Love:

  • Diverse books
  • Starbucks
  • Death of a Salesman
  • Literary fiction

Star Rating: 5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Book:

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Black Buck book cover, pulled from Goodreads.com, Black hand holding a coffee cup, in a cartoon style
Black Buck cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: Black Buck

Author: Mateo Askaripour

Published January 5th, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Race

Pages: 388

There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.” –Goodreads

Need a Book To Read This Summer? Read This

I have been so excited to read this book! Guess what? It was great!

Book:

Every Summer After Book Cover pulled form Goodreads, painted picture of two people jumping off a dock
Every Summer After Book Cover

Title: Every Summer After

Author: Carley Fortune

Published May 10th 2022 by Berkley

Genre: Romance

Pages: 320

Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually, that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.”-Goodreads

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links, I may get a commission. Thank you!

Book Review:

Slow start but an amazing finish.

Fortune’s debut novel impressed me so much. I loved hearing the romance and the story unfold.

It did not have much more than the romance aspect of the story. The plot was pretty-much romance-focused. Therefore, I don’t have a lot to say about the story, but I did really enjoy it.

Romance:

I was trying to decide which categories to discuss in this post, but I really think the only one that matters is romance.

I love this found you later, childhood besties romance trope. This book was at first not super unique, but as we rolled along in the story it got deeper and the characters vibed with me even more. It got more and more interesting. But it felt so real. I love romances that feel like everyone’s day-to-day. I loved this romance so much. It was such a fresh, fun summer romance book.

What I Liked:

  • Lake
  • Summery romance
  • Girl screwing up the relationship
  • Canada

What I Didn’t:

  • Slow start
  • Less tension in the now parts that I thought

Read This Book If You Love:

  • Summer romance
  • Childhood friends to lovers
  • Breakups
  • Slow reveals of information overtime

Star: 3.8

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Short Mystery Book Generating a Cold Feeling

A quick review for a short quick book.

The Book:

Cold Book Cover by Mariko Tamaki
Cold Cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: Cold

Author: Mariko Tamaki

Published February 8th 2022 by Roaring Brook Press

Genre: Mystery, YA

Pages: 230

Who was Todd Mayer, and why don’t any of his fellow students at Albright Academy seem to know, or want to say, anything about him?

Todd Mayer is dead. Now a ghost, hovering over his body, recently discovered in a snow-covered park, naked and frozen. As detectives investigate Todd’s homicide, talking to the very people linked to the events leading to his death, Todd replays the choice that led him to his end.

Georgia didn’t know Todd. But ever since she heard about his death, she can’t stop thinking about him. Maybe because they’re both outcasts at their school, or because they’re both queer. Maybe because the story of Todd people keep telling feels like a lot of fake stories Georgia has heard people tell. Plus Georgia has a feeling she’s seen Todd somewhere before, somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.” –Goodreads

My Book Review:

I read this book within three hours.  Was it an easy read? Yes. Was it interesting enough to not just skim through? Not really.

The book was interesting, but it didn’t have what I went into it for. I picked it up because it seemed like it was going to be a murder mystery. I thought that it was going to have a bit of a creepy aspect to it. It didn’t have any of that.

I thought there was supposed to be an investigation of Todd’s death done by Georgia, but she really doesn’t do any Nancy Drew-style investigating as I thought.

Plot:

The premise was good and so was the plot. It just did not play out well. It was all cut and dry. There were no intense moments there was not suspense. The ending had a bit more suspense. Learning the ending was relieving, but it was predictable.

Characters:

The two main characters, Georgia and Todd, were awesome. They were almost like the one redeeming quality of this book. Georgia puts together all these little facts. Todd’s point of view was interesting because he was dead, so we are seeing his thoughts as a ghost and some of his old memories.

Ease of Reading:

The reading was super easy. It was a 300-page book, but I read it in under three hours. It definitely is a YA novel and would be a good read for younger audiences.

What I Liked:

  • Todd POV
  • Death
  • Cover
  • LGBTQIA+ characters
  • Good premise

What I Didn’t:

  • Too easy
  • Predictable
  • Everything was told not shown

Read This Book If You Love:

  • YA
  • Murder mysteries
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Easy writing

Star: 3

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Book Places I Would Love To Visit

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring book friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:  

Books Set In a Place I’d Love to Visit (real places or fictional)

I remixed this one a bit and made it places I wanted to visit. I am only doing this because I totally messed up the theme haha.

This theme isn’t totally new; here is a link to another TTT where we did book places I want to live. A lot of these answers in this last post are still true, but I wanted to change it up a bit. As you can see, some are similar and some aren’t.

empire state building new york, a famous spot for many book locations
Photo by Lukas Kloeppel on Pexels.com
  • New York- That is always in my top ten list with this subject. I was just there and of course, I want to go back.
  • Doon from the Doon series– I have always wanted to visit Scotland and a mystical kingdom that comes only once in a while? Uh yes!
  • Hogwarts- While the author is crap, the world of Harry Potter has always held a special place in my heart and I have dreamed of getting my letter since I was a kid.
  • London- I mean who doesn’t want to visit London.
  • Austermeer– A place where books are magic? I love that. I want to go there.
  • Mount Olympus-whether the one from Lore Olympus or Percy Jackson I just want to go there.
  • Erilea- Again author might be problematic but her character Aelin showed me what being a strong unapologetic female really was. I want to meet her.
  • Gail Carriger’s Universe– I would love to be in London with vampires and werewolves running amuck of the place.
  • The Midnight Library– While yes I know that means I will be dead, it would be cool to see the other versions of my life I could have gone with
assorted books on shelf
Photo by Ivo Rainha on Pexels.com

Read This Book Series: The Plated Prisoner

I didn’t have high hopes for this book series. Boy oh boy was I surprised.

The Book(s):

Gild Book cover by Raven Kennedy

Title(s): Gild, Glint, Gleam

Author: Raven Kennedy

Series: Plated Prisoner Series 1-3

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fae, New Adult

Glint Book cover by Raven Kennedy

Pages: 402, 441, 613

Gild Synopsis-“

The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule.

Gold.

Gleam Book cover by Raven Kennedy

Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.

Even me.

King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe.

Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.

Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left.”-Goodreads

My Review:

Why was this series so good?

I got this recommendation from a friend in my summer program. They begged me to read this series, so I gave it a shot.

And OMG I loved this series.

I am combining these three books into one review because, honestly, I cannot differentiate them because I read these three a month before writing this.

Book Plot:

The plot is sometimes iffy, but also sometimes epic. There are crazy cool things that happen.

We go from trapped prisoners in a gilded cage to– Oh well I probably cannot say much because you should learn for yourself.  

Characters:

Auren is splendid. She is literally gold. She has crazy character development throughout the series. Learning more and more about her character and seeing her growth is beautiful.

The main love interest (which I won’t spoil who it is) is startling. The love interest honestly has to be in one of my top ten fantasy men. He wows me.

Book Setting:

This new world that Kennedy built impresses. The names like “Sixth Kingdom” aren’t super impressive. But the magic system, cities, and territories that Kennedy describes are pretty awesome.

Romance:

AGHHHH

Sadly, That is all I have to say without spoiling anything!

Quality of Writing:

I have a major complaint with a lot of writing in fantasy books. Most of the time their writing is lackluster. It doesn’t have a poetic quality to it. It is purely to entertain. But this book had a really good writing style.

What I Liked:

  • ROMANCE
  • Writing style
  • Completely engulfed me in the story
  • Characters that kept giving
  • Fae
  • New stuff around every turn

What I Didn’t:

  • Slow start
  • First book was not as good as the others

Read This If You Love:

  • Fantasy
  • Fae
  • Magic
  • Spicy books

Star: 4.8

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Put We Deserve Monuments On Your TBR Now: ARC Review

I received an ARC of We Deserve Monuments from sweepstakes on Net Galley. I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher.

The Book:

We Deserve Monuments cover, A girl looks at the camera wiht her curly hair covering her face, sunflowers in fronts of her
We Deserve Monuments cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: We Deserve Monuments

Author: Jas Hammonds

Expected publication: November 29th, 2022 by Roaring Brook Press

Genre: YA, LGBTQIA+, Romance

Pages: 257

“What’s more important? Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?

Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she’s uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.

While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family—whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.

As the three girls grow closer—Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance—the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty’s health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she’s built in Bardell—or if some things are better left buried.” –Goodreads

My Review:

We Deserve Monuments is an epic book. It was fun, emotional, and very complex. I had my e-reader on me at all moments of the day trying to devour this book.  

Plot:

This was a more character-driven story, but the plot was not horrible. We got to see some different conflicts take place. The character development was actually very good in this story.

This story is very sad though. I mean I was tearing up in front of my roommates as I read this book. So many happy and sad tears. This book had me so emotional.

Characters:

Avery encapsulates the meaning of awesome. She is temperamental but has a real love for the people around her. She is not afraid to stand up to the people around her who are trying to belittle her. I envy her and her lip ring she has, but I could never get one because I am too chicken.

Simone, the love interest, creates a safe place for Avery. There is not toxicity in their relationship that I noticed which is such a nice thing I have been trending more towards reading. Simone is the sunflower girl and now whenever I see a sunflower I think of this amazing book!

Jade was a little annoying. I understand some of her hurt, but her response shouldn’t have been so dramatic.

Mama Letty was the real star of the entire novel. I loved hearing her slowly start to love her granddaughter and slowly open up to her family.

Setting:

This book takes place in some boondock Georgia called Bardell. It was a little confusing how a small town could have an extraordinarily fancy hotel when there didn’t seem to be any tourist attractions nearby. I don’t think Avery did a lot of looking around the town though, so I could be wrong.

There is also a restaurant in the middle of nowhere that I wish was real. It is a safe haven from the world outside for multiple characters in this book. I want to be able to visit this place and dance the night away.

Romance:

There is quite a cute little romance between Simone and Avery. They were too cute to handle at times. There was some tension about Simone’s sexuality in the first half. It is so interesting to read about these things that happen to everyday people.

Quality of Writing:

As this was an ARC, this was not the final draft. It will need some last-minute edits on commas and some spelling. But other than the writing was so good. I loved the symbolism that persisted. This author really can suck you in and make you feel so connected to the events and characters in the book.

What I Liked:

  • LGBTQIA+ representation
  • Happy couple stuff
  • Focus on the familial relationships and less on romance
  • The COVER

What I Didn’t:

  • Some questions weren’t answered at the end, but I won’t fault it for that too much

Read This If You Love:

  • LGBTQIA+
  • Black perspectives
  • Beautiful writing
  • Non-toxic relationships
  • YA Books
  • White Jeeps

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star: 4.5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Is Wings of Olympus Book 1 Worth the Read?

Wings of Olympus would be a great read if I were in middle school. This had everything I would have wanted: Greek mythology, horses, and bits of adventure.

The Book:

Cover of Wings of Olympus, forest background and a girl in white dress petting a white pegasus with black tipped wings, White scripty font saying Wings of Olympus
Wings of Olympus cover pulled from Goodreads.com

Title: Wings of Olympus

Author: Kallie George

Series: Wings of Olympus #1

Genre: Middle-grade, Fantasy, Mythology

Pages: 240

“High on the slopes of mighty Mount Olympus, among the sun-splashed meadows and sparkling waters, glide the winged horses of the ancient gods. Here up high is normally no place for a lost, parentless girl like Pippa. But once every hundred years, the gods and goddesses descend to the mortal realm to choose jockeys for their winged horse race—and Pippa is one of the lucky children chosen to ride.

With her undersized, impetuous winged steed, Zephyr, by her side, Pippa has to confront the greatest challenge of her life: achieving victory in a race across the sky.

No one expects Pippa and Zephyr to win, or even finish, this death-defying race. A poor orphan who’s spent her life working in stables, Pippa doesn’t seem to belong in the world of the gods. And while she loves Zephyr with all her heart, he’s smaller than the other winged horses racing. But if Pippa and Zephyr don’t find a way to win, the gods will separate them—forever.

To stay with Zephyr, Pippa will have to work harder, train longer, and dare more bravely than her competition. In a race filled with petty, jealous gods and goddesses and a host of ruthless riders, Pippa must prove that love is greater than might.” –Goodreads

My Review:

I wish this book had just a bit more stuff to it. It was a bit underwhelming. A common wish in this review is that I wish there had been more stuff. I wish I had had more plot, more character building, more worldbuilding, etc.

Plot:

The plot for Wings of Olympus was neither exciting nor boring. It was so-so. I didn’t have anything super crazy that I liked about it. It was a good premise. I think there could have been more “challenges” but from a 240-page book what more could I ask for?

The fates made an appearance, but they didn’t really aid to the story. I thought that there would be more about them since they were like the introduction to the story, but they existed in a half a chapter.

Characters:

The main character, Pippa, was so sweet. She, like me, has a love for horses. Pippa seems to have a strong sense of not feeling like she belongs, and I feel as though many middle-grade readers can find themselves in this character.

The side characters were unmemorable, except for one boy character (who I do not remember the name of and don’t really want to search to find) who helps Pippa out.

I love how all the Gods came off exactly how I expected them too. Ares was arrogant and Aphrodite didn’t really seem to care about her competitor. Hades attempted to cheat. It all worked.

Setting:

This takes place in Olympus and honestly, I wish there was more worldbuilding. The whole thing is a mountain (duh), but what kind of mountain was it? I don’t know. Was it rocky? Was it snowy? Was it full of luscious green grass? I have no clue.

Quality of Writing:

The quality was middle grade. I do think the audiobook made the story more fun. Middle grade books sound less middle grade when they are read aloud, in my opinion.

What I Liked:

  • Horses!
  • Winged horse races!
  • Lovable child character

What I Didn’t:

  • Needed more worldbuilding
  • Short
  • I wish I could have gotten to know the characters better

For a middle-grade book, it was great. As someone who reads more complex novels daily, it was so-so. I wish we had gotten more, but there is a second book. I am just waiting for it to get to my online library.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Read This If You Love:

  • Horses
  • Greek mythology
  • Middle-grade
  • Non-romance books
  • Pet bonding

Adequate Review of Heartless by Gail Carriger

Heartless is my first Gail Carriger book review that is not 100% percent positive.

The Book:

Heartless by Gail Carriger Cover, Gray building in the background in a gothic architecture way, A woman with a small top hat and a pink dress looks into the camera, Heartless and Gail Carriger are written in pink and purple,
Heartless cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: Heartless

Author: Gail Carriger

Series: Parasol Protectorate

Published July 1st, 2011 by Orbit

Genre: Steampunk, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 400

Synopsis: “Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband’s past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux’s latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf’s clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama’s second best closet?” –Goodreads

My Heartless Review:

I hate to say it, but this is probably my least favorite Gail Carriger novel I have read. I love her still so dearly, but Heartless felt like a filler novel, something to pass the time between the next two novels.

Also, I am trying a new book review blog format. Let me know what you think about this in the comments below. I have been needing to change up how I do reviews since they are all getting a little hard to manage.

Heartless Plot: I hate to say anything necessarily negative in a review about Carriger, but the plots are all kind of blending together. Nothing substantial really came out of the plot of Heartless. Everything blurred together until the end. The ending was good, but it wasn’t phenomenal.

Heartless Characters: As usual, Alexia is witty and talented, but she is becoming quite a bit predictable. Does that mean I don’t love her? No. I still love the character, I just wish we got a bit more from her sometimes.

I wish Lord Maccon had a bigger role in the books. Sometimes he is there and sometimes he isn’t. I wish there was more of my favorite Scotsman.

All the other background characters make me laugh and they are oh-so-charming. I love them all. Madame Lefoux plays an interesting role in this book. We don’t see much of her, again I wish we had seen more.

Book’s Setting: I don’t think we leave London at all in this book. We don’t get introduced to many new places, so I do not have much to say about this.

Review of Romance: As I said in my review of Blameless, the romance is really dying out in this series. I think this one has less than Blameless. I don’t even want to label this as romance anymore.

Carriger’s Quality of Writing: Gail Carriger always writes well. Her writing style is so unique! She makes me laugh. She finds the best names, the best puns, and the best phrases.  

What I Liked:

  • The Wit
  • The Unwavering Love between Alexia and Lord Maccon

What I Didn’t:

  • That this plot is pretty much indistinguishable from the rest
  • We never left London
  • No real questions were answered about the stuff we learned from the last book

Rating:

Plot: 2

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Characters: 4

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Setting: 3

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Quality of Writing: 5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Ease of Reading: 5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I hoped you like this review of Heartless by Gail Carriger. Let me know what you think of the format.

Read This If You Love/Need:

  • Steampunk
  • Werewolves/Vampires
  • Victorian age
  • Ridiculously easy-to-follow humor
  • Something easy to follow along to
  • Gail Carriger

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Weather Girl Book Review: A Romantic Seattle Story

Oh, weather girl! Here is the review where I gush about the book, Weather Girl.

The Book:

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon cover, A blue background with a rain foreground, an umbrella hides two figures behind it, the only thing of the figures we can see is the feet and legs, one is wearing blue jeans and brown boots, the other is in a red dress and yellow boots with clouds, the title and author are written in blue
Weather Girl cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: Weather Girl

Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon

Published January 11th, 2022 by Berkley

Genre: Romance, Fiction, Adult

Pages: 330

“Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.

In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.

Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?” -Goodreads

Weather Girl Review:

This is one of my favorite books of 2022 thus far! It will be the easiest review I have written in a while because I have LOVED IT!

Weather Girl has everything I love: Washington, rain, spice, drama, and a scheme to get their bosses together!

I was born and raised in Washington state, so I was excited to pick this book up at The Strand, especially since I was so far from home. My least favorite thing is when books or movies have location plot holes, such as it takes X amount of hours to get somewhere when it really only takes X, or the two places the person lives and works are on literally the opposite end of the state. This book represented Washington so well! I even heard a mention of this itty bitty town called Darrington. A few friends from college live there and so I rushed to text them about their town being in a book.

Photo by A Bookie’s Books

The writing was so beautiful and stunning in the Weather Girl book. Romance book with this simple style of writing has been hard to come by that didn’t make me feel stupid in a month or two, like Heartstopper.

I loved the number of weather puns that Solomon sprinkled in. Sometimes I didn’t notice them, and then my brain had a “Hold on, what did that say?” moment and it was a good laugh. Some of them were glaringly corny but in the best way.

I devoured Weather Girl in a few days. This is largely related to the two main characters because they were so fun.

The protagonist, Ari, has depression, and she struggles with hiding that from her love interests and friends. She is frustrating at times, but in the end, she makes the right decisions. It was fun falling in love with her. I also went through a similar experience to her, a breakup, so when I opened the book we were at the same place in life.

Russel was amazing! He is one of my top love interests for the year. He is a “fat hero,” as I saw in many reviews. He is sexy and knows exactly what to say. He never does anything toxic or weird. He cares for his family and for Ari in ways I wish a man would care for me.

I love to see representation and this book served it. Both Ari, Russel, and many side characters, are Jewish. There is also talk about body image, stretch marks, and other things not normally mentioned in books. It is not all lean, mean bodies in this book.

I love everything about Weather Girl. The romance was exciting and fun. I have a new love for the rain. It was nice to see my home through this book while I was gone. This book should be read by anyone from Washington or looking for a cute, sweet romance. I hope you all liked my review of the book Weather Girl.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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All My Love to This Book: All My Rage

The Book:

Tan background with purple and red writing saying All my rage and Sabaa Tahir
To filled in semi-circles overlap each other
All My Rage Cover pulled from Goodreads.com

Title: All My Rage

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Published March 1st 2022 by Razorbill

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Pages: 384

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.” –Goodreads

My Review:

I am loving the books that are showing incarceration as sometimes just a mistake. I like seeing “criminals” through a more positive lens. With books like Reminders of Him and Heart Bones, All My Rage joins these books showing sympathetic characters who made a bad decision and got arrested. It is positive for incarcerated people. It helps spread that perspective around.

Meeting these characters was an emotional ride. Noor had this mystique while being introduced as someone scorned by her best friend and her circumstances. Sal gave us little bits of his soul as we followed his journey after his mother’s death.

Each of these characters was flawed in the best way. Seeing these characters grow and change was awesome.

The story was mostly character-driven so there wasn’t a lot of plot points to cover. Usually, I see character-driven stories as kind of dull and boring, but maybe I haven’t been reading the right ones. This one was so good.

Tahir wove this intricate story about three people. I love the multiple POVs, especially one POV from Misbah who is not in the present timeline. Her story blended well with the story about her son and Noor.

I got love, loss, grief, pain, and most of all hope. It was amazing! It definitely was not Top Ten books other, but I still loved it.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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