This very Hallmark-esque book will warm your heart during the holidays.
I would love to thank Netgalley and the publisher for granting me access to an eARC of this story in exchange for a review.
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Overall:
Talk Santa to Me will make for a cute holiday read this year. It promised to give me that Hallmark movie feel, and I really feel like it delivered, especially on its heartfelt ending.
Teen angst and the holiday cheer entwined to make a cute short read. A girl searching for a redo on her first kiss and to help her family business embarks on a new task as Santa’s intern to help bring holiday cheer.
I felt transported to December while reading this in August. Linda Urban delivered Christmas right to my feet. It really cooled me down during these warm months, and it will be sure to warm your heart during winter.
Talk Santa to Me by Linda Urban will be released on September 27th of this year. It will be a perfect gift for the readers in your life, or for yourself! View more information about this book here.
Plot:
Hallmark should be calling this author for a movie deal. This story was told in their exact wispy camera shots and their dramatic emphasis on the importance of Christmas.
It delivered on its promise of a heartwarming and fulfilling story. I felt like I was transported to being ten watching the Hallmark channel the entire month of December again.
Characters:
One of the major critiques I have of this piece is the main characters were static and had no real growth. The main character Francie learns to cope with her trauma, but that is dealt with very behind the scenes, not really worked on through the words of the story.
The other main characters, like Alice and Hector, were also a bit static, but I do believe that blends well with the hallmark vibe.
Romance:
The romance of the book is my major complaint about this novel. As promised, “A teen girl gets the perfect second try at a first kiss in this hilarious, romp-filled young adult romantic comedy,” but, this is more of a side plot.
The real romance aspect didn’t arrive until 50% of the way through the story. I do prefer my romance to be a bit more spread out.
(Also sidenote to add at the very end here, I don’t know how I feel about a seemingly white author calling a group of Hispanic men in her story the “Lumberjuans,” but I can tell you I didn’t really like that aspect of the story.)
Published August 4th 2020 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Pages: 368
“Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.
Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.
As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.
With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?” –Goodreads
My Review:
This book is stunning.
To start this review, I want to say I am a middle-class, liberal, white female. Reading this book, as with all books I have read focusing on racism, was an eye-opening experience. I love to read about communities other than my own. However, I do have my privilege, and I may write something that does not come off how I intend. I fully support the rights of Black, Latino, LGBTQIA2S+, Asian, Women and Indigenous people across the globe (in no particular order). I am an advocate for social issues, so please please correct me or alert me if anything I say sounds wrong, especially in the next paragraph.
The book highlighted a really interesting perspective on America’s society. It was written from a “rich” Black girl’s POV. Personally, I have only read books from a “poor” Black person’s POV. This was unique to me. It also highlights an “I-dont-care” vibe about racial issues from a Black girl. I thought it was unique since most books I have read (and enjoyed) are about racial issues and the protagonist fights for equal rights.
I loved The Hate You Give and this book was in the same vein, with a different vibe.
This book deserves a large readership. Hammonds Reed wrote so uniquely.
The voice of the main character was so unique. The author mixes poetry into her view of the world, or at least that is how it read. The narrator of the audiobook also fits the character so well. She read it in the bored, drawling voice of a teenager.
The main character, Ashley, is so unlikeable too. She makes mistakes and hurts the people around her. I love reading a book about teenagers and how they mess up. It is really entertaining. Ashley does not follow the path that I thought she was going to go when this story started. It was irritating, to say the least. She does not grow into the character I thought she would have, but she does grow. A lot can be said about characters who irritate you.
The story is super character-driven, which is not my favorite kind of book. There is not a lot I can say about the plot, so this review is going to be short. It also was a historical fiction, which is really not my favorite.But, I enjoyed it a lot and I hope you can enjoy it too.
“In this breathless third installment to Victoria Aveyard’s bestselling Red Queen series, allegiances are tested on every side. And when the Lightning Girl’s spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?
Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother’s web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.
As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare’s heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.
When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.” –Goodreads
My Review:
*Contains minor spoilers to previous books soooooo dont read if you have not read the others*
AGH Victoria I want to love you so bad, but the beginnings of your books are soooo boring.
Red Queen was great. But the sequel and this book were oh so boring at the beginning.
Aveyard’s endings are awesome and action-packed, but it is taking me months to finish these books because of how much the books repeat the exact same thing. Glass Sword was not half as bad as this one.
But literally, nothing happened. Mare remains locked up for ages. The switch to the multiple POVs was cool, but not when it was Cameron’s point of view, only Evangeline’s. Cameron is supposed to show what’s going on while Mare isn’t there but honestly, her parts always made me put the book down cause she just doesn’t do anything.
But let me say the thing Aveyard does right is the TENSION. I have tried not to say anything like this because people will think I am crazy, but Maven and Mare could still be together in my opinion. I love Mare and Cal, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I feel like I am going to get a plot twist about Maven and Mare.
The ending of the book was so worth it though.
It had action, climax, fighting, all the good stuff! When I finished this book I almost immediately jumped to the next book. I had to leave for my program a week later and I knew I wasn’t going to finish it. I will start it when I get back.
I hope the next book is not boring in the beginning because it is super long, and I am super nervous. I have to read Realm Breaker and Blade Breaker when I get back too. So I have a lot of Aveyard coming up. Stay tuned for that.
As always, thanks for reading,
A Bookie
Star Rating: 3.5
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
(I also just found out you can do half stars on this!!!)
“In a novel-in-verse, that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…
In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.
And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.” -Goodreads
My Review:
This book was good! I thought the two characters were pleasant. I thought their situations and duality were interesting.
Like with my last review, The Black Kids, I said I don’t like character-driven stories. I still don’t, but why do I keep reading them? I have no idea.
But, I did like that one just like I liked this one. Again, more plot would have made the story amazing, but I think there is a big place for character-driven stories (otherwise they wouldn’t do so well in the market).
This book had such a unique premise. I instantly was thrown into the heartbreak of these two girls after they both lost a father in a plane crash.
That was kind of the only real plot point that I can talk about without it being a spoiler. The book was also very predictable, except the ending was interesting and a little unexpected.
The two main characters had a lot of focus (obviously) but the side characters we did not see very much. I did not like that. The side characters made decisions or said things that I did not fully understand because I didn’t get enough focus on them to feel like they were authentic. They just were there.
The writing was amazing. This book was literally poetry. The words wove this world for me so well. I felt like I was literally there with the main characters experiencing their pain. I love poetry and this book blends both, poetry and narrative, together really well.
This book was so well written and I loved it. I don’t like character-driven stories, but this one was pretty good!
Published September 19th 2017 by Little, Brown & Company
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, YA, Romance
“Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine… and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.
But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.
In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco’s haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer…or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?” –Goodreads
My Review:
Just like the first book, I loved this!
This one was almost more complex than the last one. The ending we never saw coming. The vampire lore that the story brought in was so cool.
I love how Maniscalco does so much research to make her books feel so real. I love everything about her writing so far. She spins real facts into this hauntingly beautiful story.
The library app I am listening to these books from is not giving them to me fast enough. I wait for a week for this book and I finished it within the day…again.
The story becomes even more intense. The stakes are so much higher. It is so enchanting how Maniscalco weaves death into a story about a girl making her way in the world of science.
A lot of people seem to dislike Aubrey in the first book and love her in this book. I would have to agree to an extent. I loved her last book, but she was kind of annoying with the whole “I am different” vibe. As I said in the last review, I hate that. I hate women putting down other women. In this one though, we get to see a more progressive side of her mind. She doesn’t shame the other women around her for liking the things they like.
That difference in the female portrayal also has a lot to do with how many more powerful and strong women are presented in this book. The last book, there weren’t a lot of females, and the ones there were not fully developed characters and their lives revolved around societal standards. In this book, Maniscalco provides a few women all with different personalities. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. It is important for fantasy novels to provide well-rounded portrayals of multiple people.
The book becomes so much more intense in this round. The protagonist is a lot closer to the murders. She also suffers from PTSD after the affairs of the last book. It adds more to that mythical “dead rising” that goes along with the story of Dracula.
I love this book series and cannot wait to start on the next one.
“A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.
The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever…
Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.“
My Review:
When jumping into this book, I was a little nervous. I really wanted more about Scarlett and Julian.
But, this book is set in Tella’s POV.
From the first book, I was not really happy with her actions. Yes, she saved her and her sister but she had done it in a way that caused her sister so much pain.
This book I think she kind of redeemed herself. You actually see her side of the story. You see why she does the things she does. Sometimes I do not like her. Her relenting mission to hate love is really annoying, but you know, people change.
I think the two love interests in this book were…HOT. Dante and Jacks are great. (Yes, Jacks is a love interest dont at me). Dante is my ultimate choice for Tella but there are some factors that make him iffy. Same with Jacks though.
I really cannot talk much about the two boys because there are a lot of spoilers for each of them.
Pros:
DANTE
Tella’s character development
JACKS
Dante’s tattoos
More development of the government
World-building
Interesting new story about the Fates
Cons:
Weird addition of the Stars (you’ll know when you read it)
Complete abandonment of certain plot lines in the first book
No more Scarlett and Julian (sorta)
Very indecisive writing
Felt like more of a brainstorm than a complete set plot
I think the pros and cons weighed against each other well. I think it was a good book. I felt as though some elements of the plot were not fully developed. I feel like it was really good. I think the focus on only one place to have to world build helped us gain more knowledge about the world. The last book was a little difficult and was not as developed. This one is way better for that reason.
So, all in all, I think this book was really great. I liked it a lot. There were some down falls but they might be made up for in the last and final book, Finale.
“Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.”-Goodreads
Review:
Well…
I hate giving in to reading hyped up books. They always ket me down somewhat.
Now the book was good, the romance was cute, but it just seemed to stereotypical. The romance was too rushed and the endless talking about musicals was insane.
Now, I love a good musical. I do not think they are represented enough in books. I listen to the Hamilton soundtrack every time I make the 2 hour drive from college to my home.
But I felt like Hamilton refrences were being shoved down my throat the ENTIRE book.
And it is cute to have a thing. I like when books have a thing so you can remind yourself of these books. Sometimes I think books dont show the romance’s “thing” enough.
BUT GODD*MN I have never been more annoyed in my life.
That being said this book was good. Lots of people enjoy it and I also enjoyed it. It just was too much sometimes.
I loved that the romance was relatable. Like it modelled a modern day romance (in the middle). It showed how people are flawed. I liked that it showed both sides of the story, but the end and the beginning just seemed too much. Like okay, I am going to try and say this in a way that does not spoil anything. The beginning goes WAY too fast. Like the authors could have played around with this a bit more. Led the chase on a bit longer than it did. And the end, wasn’t unrealistic enough for me to like it. And it wasn’t realistic enough for me to like it. If you have read it and want to know what I mean, go o my contact page. But seriously, the end was like a moderate ending. I did not like it. Part of why we like books is because they are unrealistic. They are our fantasies. And this did not play out that fantasy, But, it did not play out how real-life would have taken the relationship (if they were any normal 16-year-old couple). So I did not like that aspect.
Saying that I did not like the romance of a romance novel pretty much means the book was bad. But it wasmt. I liked it a lot. But it just was inconsistent.
I loved the characters though. Arthur and Ben were amazing. I loved Dylan. Ethan and Jessie were too predictable but it was a cute trope that they had going on.
Anyways I do not want to talk about this book anymore. I am glad I finished one more book of my shelf.
“My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster” –Goodreads
Review:
Well, let me just say that THIS BOOK WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. NICOLA YOON HAS KILLED ME AGAIN.
Okay, okay I am done freaking out…maybe.
But seriously this book started well proceeded well and ended well and when I say well I mean OUTSTANDING with capital O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G (you know just in case you didn’t notice that the first outstanding was in all caps already I just had to spell it out for you again ugh). I mean how does she do it. I read The Sun Is Also A Star and that book was the book to end all books. Now, this is a book to end all books. I realize that I say this about a lot of books in my reviews but I tend to only read really good books because of other people’s review (don’t let me lie to you I am a shallow book lover and most of these books I have read based on the cover and people’s awesome IG pictures). Anyways, this books was great.
For a debut novel, I believe it was the best one anyone could have (other than but close to Harry P) and rightly so. I mean I saw this book everywhere, all over IG, all over Youtube, and it seemed like everyone was reading it. I bought the book back in January after I read Yoon’s second novel which left me as dumbfounded as this book did. I didn’t read it right then even though it was short and easy and fun. I had other priority’s and other books I needed to finish which I didn’t until this month but that is beside the point (#eternalshame). Then one marvelous day this month I was scrolling through Twitter when the trailer for this movie comes up. when I started watching it I didn’t know what movie it was but it seemed familiar and the at the end BAM the title popped up. I was so in love with the trailer it motivated me to read this book which if I just would have picked up the book I wouldn’t have needed the motivation from an outside source. So that is the story of why I decided to pick this book up today.
I opened this book up this morning after just coming off of another book which that blog post will come after this one because I thought I could make this a quick and easy blog post but of course I am ranting about this book but that is a good thing because I only have a lot to say about a book when I really like a book. Anyways you may be thinking what she only opened up the book today. No, that isn’t right, she procrastinates too much to read this in one day which is SOOO true but no I read this book in one day. If you are familiar with Yoon’s writing then you would see that a lot of her books are white space. She has lots f pages but a fifth of then are one lined or short little fragments of writing. This book even has drawings and pictures and diagrams and such. So it was a really quick and sweet read.
The plot of the novel is what makes this story the most amazing. A girl sick and can’t leave her house falls in love with a boy on the outside world. I mean it would be a pretty generic love story if she wasn’t sick but adding her disease into the story brings this whole new rebellious and dangerous vibe to the story. And then the ending of the story just left me in shock. I was dumbfounded by the events that occurred and couldn’t believe what happened. It was similar to the heartbroken but hopeful feelings I had at the end of The Sun Is Also A Star. Everything that occurs in this story makes you feel every type of emotion. I wanted to cry, laugh, dance, and love with these people in the story because of how amazing their story is.
Their story could have only been made amazing by Nicola Yoon. She has a really unique writing style that I find the most intriguing and why I can eat up her books in minutes. She keeps it clean and simple but still vividly detailed and always interesting. She also leave you begging for more at the end of her books which I think really gives her a greater appeal because when the books end all I know is that I want more but I know that her books are standalone books and there will never be more but that makes us desire more which I think give the greater appeal aforementioned. That may have made no sense but I am going to leave it there because this is my blog and I do what I want. Anyways, Yoon just engulfs you into the story and I don’t remember one moment today that I wasn’t begging for more.
Now to talk about what I hate talking about the most: the characters. I never really know what to say cause I always think characters are awesome even the bad ones because I don’t hate. I always end up just saying that the characters are amazing which in this book they were. I have four characters I am going to talk about because they to me are the main characters.
To start, we got Madeline a.k.a Maddy. Maddy is the girl that is sick and has lived her entire life in her house. The sickness is all she knows until Olly shows up. Olly flips her world upside down and makes a rebel of an angel child. Maddy is amazing. She is this strong girl but she is trapped in a cage. I feel sorry for her because she missed out on so much in her life because of this sickness. I thought her actions throughout the book are exactly what I would have done. I thought her to be a really good actual earthly character. Lots of characters are always doing things and making decisions I wouldn’t think I would do if I was stuck in the situation and I assume that I am a pretty normal girl that I am an average person like most of the authors portray their character to be. Anyways Maddy is a great character and I love her a lot.
Now to talk about the hunk of the bunch, Olly. Oh, Olly. I think I have a new fictional boyfriend. He was what every girl would dream of. he cared for Maddy, he wanted to be with Maddy, and he was so sweet with her. I wish I was Maddy. He treated her so right and genuinely cared about her sickness. His background was sad and I was fighting for him the whole time because I was afraid of what Yoon might do to him. Olly was just a perfect guy and you don’t meet many of those in books anymore.
The next two on the chopping block are Carla, Maddy’s nurse, and Maddy’s mom. I don’t have much to say about them because one Carla is only in the novel off and on for a short time and secondly because I don’t like her mom that much. Carla was probably what you hope a nurse to be, a best friend, especially when she has to watch her 8 hours a day every day. I feel like she was a real rock for Maddy when she is going through so many drastic changes and she is really there for her. Get yourself a best friend like Carla. Maddy’s mom to me was just kind of over bearing. I mean I get that all she wants to do is protect her daughter but sometimes I feel she could have been a little (or a lot) lenient on the rules and allowed some things and maybe her daughter wouldn’t have been so rebellious but hey I don’t have kids so I am not an expert on how to rule your teenager but I feel like I am an expert on being a teenager so… Also, I felt that she was just so crazy about her staying inside I don’t think she even thought about Maddy’s life and how what she was doing the wasnt living.
Love is the big motivation for this whole book. I mean love fuels all the action. Maddy, Olly, Mom, and even Carla are all motivated by love. But the love I am focusing on is the biggest one, Maddy and Olly’s. Okay, so most people on their reviews say they hate the instalove thing which is why I think this story is perfect for them. I don’t think it is instalove since they haven’t talked and then haven’t even met when they first see each other. It is only the fascination of a young girl who probably hasn’t seen many boys in real life before for a long time. I just wanted to say that before anyone knocks this before the try it due to their hatred of instalove which in my opinion is great and I love a little cheesiness now and then or all the time. Olly and Maddy have a love so rare it is amazing. Like you can chalk it up to hormones and such but I really do think they are in love because you can’t have such an epic journey together without love forming. At the beginning, they remind me of Romeo and Juliet ut don’t worry it doesn’t end the same. I am not going to talk about it anymore because you need to read it for yourself if you haven’t already.
Okay, I think that is it for today. I don’t have much else to say about this book except that it is AMAZINGLY AWESOME. I hope you all read this book or have read it. I really like this book and I highly recommend it to anyone. So this is the end of my post. I hope you enjoyed the post and I hope you have a swell day/evening/afternoon or whatever you may call the time your reading this. Thank you for reading!
Star Rating: 5
Have you read this book before? If so what was your favorite part (no spoilers)? Why haven’t you read it if you answered no? Will you read it now that I have written an amazing review on it? Please comment your answers below.
“Set at a boys boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.” –Goodreads
I had 5 books in my TBR this month but I just started school again which was hard to balance my time with all my activities. I hope this month will be different and I will be able to finish all the books on my TBR list for October.
October TBR:
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Magaret Stohl
Destined for Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon
Shadows of Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon
That is all for this blog. I am excited to read these books and I hope that I finish all of them.
Author: Nicola Yoon
Author: John Knowles