THIS TOWN IS ON FIRE By Pamela N. Harris

June 5, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THIS TOWN IS ON FIRE By Pamela N. HarrisThis Town Is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris
Published by Quill Tree Books on 6/20/23
Genres: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 445
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

A lot is up in the air in Naomi Henry’s life: her spot as a varsity cheer flier, her classmates’ reaction to the debut of her natural hair, and her crush on the guy who’s always been like a brother to her. With so much uncertainty, she feels lucky to have a best friend like Kylie to keep her grounded. After all, they’re practically sisters—Naomi’s mom took care of Kylie and her twin brother for years.

But then a video of Kylie calling the cops on two Black teens in a shopping store parking lot goes viral. Naomi is shaken, and her town is reeling from the publicity. While Naomi tries to reckon with Kylie, the other Black students in their high school are questioning their friendship, and her former friends are wondering where this new “woke” Naomi came from. Although Naomi wants to stand by her best friend, she now can’t help but see everything in a different light.

As tensions in her town escalate, Naomi finds herself engaging in protests that are on the cusp of being illegal. And then a bomb explodes, and someone is found dead. Will Naomi be caught in the center of the blast?

Short and Sweet Review

Naomi and Kylie have been friends since they were kids and now they’re going into their senior year of high school, they’re like sisters and Naomi looks to Kylie to keep her grounded. Naomis world is rocked when a video of Kylie calling the cops on two black teens is released and goes viral. The other black teens at their high school start to judge Naomi and Kylies friendship so much so that Naomi starts to question if she ever knew Kylie in the first place. Tensions start to escalate in town, including protests and there’s even a bomb that goes off and Naomi is caught in the crossfire.

Naomi and Kylie have always been friends but after the video comes out Naomi is confused and starts to distance herself from Kylie. I feel like Naomi is so used to doing what Kylie is doing and isn’t exactly comfortable hanging out with other black kids. So when Kylie is called out Naomi is caught between hanging out with a girl who’s being called a racist and trying to figure out her own identity as a black girl. Naomi is trying to balance this two parts of her life and is having trouble bringing them both together without cutting one out and losing a part of herself. We see the tension the video causes between Kylie and Naomi and when Naomi starts to distance herself she cuts cheerleading out her life and joins the dance team and during this time she also finds herself joining a group that enjoys protesting. Naomi also has a romance with Kylie’s twin brother Connor but that also turns sour when she sees he also has a questionable past when it comes to making fun of black people. The book goes back and forth between the present which talks about the explosion and the past which shows which led up to everything.

This Town Is on Fire, showed Naomi struggle between her friend and her identity as a black girl. I did enjoy seeing Naomi find herself throughout the book. This book was hard to put down and it’s interesting to think about what someone would do when their friend ends up being coined a “BBQ Becky”. I will say the ending was shocking, I wasn’t expecting it. This book was full of important messages and its very realistic, it was captivating. I would definitely recommend this book!

Filed Under: Reviews

WHERE ECHOES DIE By Courtney Gould

June 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WHERE ECHOES DIE By Courtney GouldWhere Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
Published by Wednesday Books on 6/20/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 346
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She can’t stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, longing for a time when things were more normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail that reads Come and find me, pointing to the small town at the center of her last investigation, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.

But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona, it’s clear that something’s off. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by a gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and when Beck digs deeper into the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery, she begins to suspect that they know more than they’re letting on.

As Beck and her sister search for answers about their mother, she and Avery are increasingly drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has fought to keep buried. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, but when she starts losing herself in Backravel—and its connection to her mother— she risks losing her way back out.

Short and Sweet Review

Ever since the death of her mother, Beck hasn’t been quite right, she’s always thinking about her mom and why she was obsessed with a town called Backravel. When Beck gets a note in the mail in her mothers handwriting saying Come and find me, Beck thinks this is her chance to go to Backravel and get some answers. In Backravel, Beck and her sister Riley quickly learn that things are off in this town. People have memory lapse and they always seem to turn to the town founder and his daughter Avery. Beck and Avery are drawn together and Beck seems to be slowly finding answers about her mother, but the longer she stays in Backravel the more she begins to lose herself.

Where Echoes Die, was an interesting read, Beck is on the hunt for answers about Backravel a town her mother was obsessed with. She brings her sister Riley along not necessarily being completely honest about what they’re doing there. Ever since her moms death Beck has been trying to find what drew her to Backravel, Beck has also been a shell of her former self. When Beck and Riley see how strange things are in this town, including the fact that they don’t have a church or any cemeteries they just brush it off, until they see how strange the townspeople act. Beck knows the only way to get answers is to talk to the town leader Ricky and the only way to get to him is through Avery. Avery has an air of mystery about her, but for some reason her and Beck click. There is a bit of romance between the two, I wasn’t really invested in this relationship mainly because of the thing that’s affecting everyone in town. It was interesting that everyone gets treatment by Ricky. I did like that Beck was getting some answers about her mom and what exactly kept bringing her back to this town. The ending was good and I didn’t want to put the book down, I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Where Echoes Die, has a great premise and it is an engaging read, especially when we learn about Becks mom and what it is about the town of Backravel that makes it different. I do wish that the pacing was better, otherwise this is an interesting read for people who like mysteries with a bit of sci-fi.

Filed Under: Reviews

KISMAT CONNECTION By Ananya Devarajan

May 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

KISMAT CONNECTION By Ananya DevarajanKismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan
Published by Inkyard Press on 6/13/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 275
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Is it possible to change your fate?

Madhuri Iyer is doomed. Doomed for her upcoming senior year to be a total failure, according to her astrology-obsessed mother, and doomed to a happily ever after with her first boyfriend, according to her family curse.

Determined to prove the existence of her free will, Madhuri devises an experimental relationship with the one boy she knows she’ll never fall for: her childhood best friend, Arjun Mehta. But Arjun’s feelings for her are a variable she didn’t account for.

As Madhuri starts to fall for her experimental boyfriend, she’ll have to decide if charting her own destiny is worth breaking Arjun’s heart—and her own.

Short and Sweet Review

According to Madhuri Iyer’s star chart, her senior year won’t go to plan and she’ll experience more disappointment than she’s used to. There’s also her family’s curse which says that her first boyfriend will be the one. Determined to prove the curse and her family wrong Madhuri asks her best friend Arjun to take part in her experimental relationship, what she doesn’t expect is to actually start falling for Arjun.

Kismat Connection is one of those romance stories where you fake date and then end up falling for the person. I personally just went through the motions with this book, I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and I think it was because there wasn’t much development. We get both Madhuri and Arjun’s POVs. Madhuri is an overachiever so even the smallest inkling of failure sends her over the end. Arjun on the hand gave me a go with the flow type of vibe. The main plot is this whole experiment and the two teens falling for each other but also remembering in the back of the minds that this is just an experiment. The subplots are Madhuri trying to avoid things that she used to enjoy from her Indian culture because of the mean girls at her school, and learning to accept that she doesn’t have to be perfect at everything. Arjun is dealing with his absent mother coming in and out of his life and deciding whether he still wants there to be a relationship between them. I wasn’t into the relationship, the whole experiment didn’t last long and I think Arjun liked Madhuri more than she liked him. The ending was weird because all of a sudden she was in love with him.

Overall, the best part of this book was learning about Indian culture and the star charts. I wish the romance played out better and we got to see more of a connection between the two. This book didn’t play out the way I thought it would but it is still a decent read.

Filed Under: Reviews

BORROW MY HEART By Kasie West

May 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

BORROW MY HEART By Kasie WestBorrow My Heart by Kasie West
Series: Borrow My Heart #1
Published by Delacorte Press on 6/13/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 275
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Wren is used to being called a control freak. She doesn’t care; sticking to the list of rules she created for herself helps her navigate life. But when a cute guy named Asher walks through the door of her neighborhood coffee shop, the rulebook goes out the window.

Asher is cute, charming . . . and being catfished by his online crush. So Wren makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision—she pretends to be the girl he's waiting for to save him from embarrassment. Suddenly she’s fake-dating a boy she knows nothing about. And it’s . . . amazing.

It's not long before Asher has her breaking even more of her own rules. But will he forgive her when he finds out she's not who she says she is? Wren's not so sure. . . . After all, rules exist for a reason.

Short and Sweet Review

Wren has a list of rules when it comes to who she wants to date, but those go out the window when she overhears a guy get chastised by his friend for being catfished, So Wren takes it upon herself to pretend to be the online crush. Wren is a control freak and likes order, but for some reason being with Asher a boy she knows nothing about puts her at ease, until she realizes that at some point she’s going to have to break it to him that she isn’t the girl he thinks she is.

Borrow My Heart has a main plot which is Wren pretending to be Asher’s online crush, then we have two subplots, one that involves Wren’s absent mother and another in which a dog needs to adopted. It was interesting to see how Wren got herself in the situation, and how she had to adapt to all the things that Asher and his actual online crush messaged each other about. I did like seeing how Wren ended up liking Asher and they were very cute together and bounced off of each other well. I didn’t like that Asher’s friend Dale was around all the time he was one of the worst third wheels. The romance was cute but there’s always some bumps in paradise, and I won’t spoil it, but it was kind of surprising. The subplot with Wren’s mother was good because it showed us why Wren has trust issues, and Wren’s sister is still willing to make things work with their mom but Wren knows to keep her expectations low and that’s how she processes how her mom left them. Wren works at a dog shelter and there’s a dog named Bean who has been a resident at the shelter for a long time, and Wren and Asher team up to get Bean adopted.

Overall the book was cute, there were some points where serious topics were brought up. This whole scenario with Wren jumping in to save the day is very unlike her but Asher brings out a different side of her which is more fun. Asher and Wren were a cute pairing and sometimes you find your person when you least expect it. Also how can you not like someone who works at an animal shelter and is good with pets? This was a match made in heaven.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE NIGHT IN QUESTION By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE NIGHT IN QUESTION By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz LawsonThe Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow, Liz Lawson
Series: The Agathas #2
Published by Delacorte Press on 5/30/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 415
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Last October, Alice Ogilvie's ex-best friend, Brooke Donovan, was killed—and if it weren't for Alice's unlikely alliance with her tutor, Iris Adams, and her library of the complete works of Agatha Christie, the wrong person would almost certainly be sitting in prison for the crime. The Castle Cove police aren't exactly great at solving crimes. In fact, they're notorious for not solving crimes.

Which is why, on the night of Castle Cove High's annual Sadie Hawkins dance, Alice takes the opportunity to explore Levy Castle—the site of one of Castle Cove's most infamous deaths. Mona Moody—­the classic film star—died there almost a century ago, and Alice is pretty sure the police got that invest­igation wrong, too. But before she can even think about digging deeper, she walks right into the scene of a new crime. Rebecca Kennedy, on the ground in a pool of blood. And standing over Kennedy? Another one of Alice's ex-friends—Helen Park.

The Castle Cove Police Department thinks it's an open-and-shut case, but Alice and Iris are sure it can't be that simple. Park isn't a murderer—and the girls know all too well that in life, and in mysteries, things are rarely what they appear to be. To understand the present, sometimes you need to look to the past.

Castle Cove is full of secrets, and Alice and Iris are about to uncover one of its biggest—and most dangerous—secrets of all.

Short and Sweet Review

Alice and Iris are back to solve another mystery in The Night In Question. Castle Cove High School’s annual Sadie Hawkins dance is being held at Levy Castle, and Alice thinks this is the perfect time to do some exploring. Levy Castle is where the famous actress Mona Moody died almost a century ago, and knowing Castle Cove police Alice thinks that investigation wrong, but she doesn’t have much time to think about that because she just walked in on Kennedy laying on the ground in a pool of her own blood and Park standing over her. Castle Cove police believe this is an open and shut case, and Park is about to face some serious charges, but Alice and Iris believe they can help her. This case involves more than meets the eye and this time the girls are about to look into the past to help them in the present.

After solving Brooke Donovan’s case, Alice and Iris have learned that the Castle Cove Police aren’t always reliable or competent when it comes to these matters so they decide to offer their new found expertise to try to prove Park’s innocence. Alice and Iris find themselves in dangerous situations that always put me on edge because they’re usually on the right trail but some people don’t want them to be and they end up in more trouble just for thwarting the police. I love how Alice still uses what she has learned from Agatha Christie novels and applies it to solve mysteries. I will say that I do love the friendship between Iris and Alice, they’re an unlikely pair and I think they still have a lot to learn about each other. They do get on each others nerves and still may say things to trigger or set the other one off but they do genuinely care for each other, and we see their friendship grow and evolve. We also get to see our other friends who help with the mystery solving: Raf, Neil, Spike, Zora, and Angelik. All of the characters add something to this book that truly makes it special. I will say this mystery is pretty complex and it not only involves what happened to Kennedy but also Mona Moody. I love the direction that this book took and we see Iris and Alice become better detectives but also learn that this is a dangerous job especially when others don’t want you to succeed. We also get to see a bit more of Alice’s parents in this book and see their relationship and how much their absence has actually affected Alice.

Everything about this book was amazing to me. I did end up figuring out who the culprit was but that didn’t ruin anything for me mainly because trying to figure out what their motive was and learning about it was crazy. I love this series, it’s actually one of my favorites and I just can’t get enough of Alice and Iris and their crew of mystery solvers. I’m excited to see what book 3 has in store!

Filed Under: Reviews

ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN By Kyrie McCauley

May 15, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN By Kyrie McCauleyAll the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 5/16/23
Genres: Gothic, Horror & Ghost Stories, LGBT, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 363
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace—an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate.

Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behavior and ethereal grace.

But as Marin settles in, she can’t escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin’s room. The children’s pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her.

Short and Sweet Review

After the passing of her mother, Marin is now alone in the world. When Marin gets a surprise invitation from Alice Lovelace, an old friend of her mother’s to come and nanny for her over the summer she accepts. Thea and Wren are a bit strange, Thea likes to bury her dolls and hold funerals for them and Wren just goes out of her way to try to make Marin leave. Evie the girls older sister comes back unexpectedly and that when things really start to get weird at Lovelace house. Marin has to figure out what’s going on before she’s taken down too.

The atmosphere in All the Dead Lie Down is what really makes the book amazing. Marin needs to be at Lovelace house because she doesn’t really have any where else to go. Alice Lovelace is an author and she shuts herself in a room most of the time, so Marin mainly interacts with Thea and Wren. The girls play some practical jokes on Marin, but she has nowhere else to go so she tries to brush it off and try to get the girls to accept her as their nanny. When Evie the oldest sister comes back home, Marin starts to see strange creatures in the woods that leave other animals mutilated. Marin ends up having to tutor Evie and there’s some romance there but I wasn’t really feeling it mainly because they tended to have their romantic moments during times when a lot was going on around them. It was interesting to learn the secrets that the girls were hiding and the final thing we learned really made my jaw drop.

All the Dead Lie Down, is a captivating book and I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the creepy atmosphere and learning about the girls and the history of Lovelace. Marin is a lot braver than me because I would have been out of there! If you want a chilling book that’s full of surprises to read this summer than this is the book for you!

Filed Under: Reviews

JULIETA AND THE ROMEOS By Maria E. Andreu

May 10, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

JULIETA AND THE ROMEOS By Maria E. AndreuJulieta and the Romeos by Maria E. Andreu
Published by Balzer + Bray on 5/16/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Julieta isn’t looking for her Romeo—but she is writing about love. When her summer writing teacher encourages the class to publish their work online, the last thing she’s expecting is to get a notification that her rom-com has a mysterious new contributor, Happily Ever Drafter. Julieta knows that happily ever afters aren’t real. (Case in point: her parents’ imploding marriage.) But then again, could this be her very own meet-cute?

As things start to heat up in her fiction, Julieta can’t help but notice three boys in her real life: her best friend’s brother (aka her nemesis), the boy next door (well, to her abuela), and her oldest friend (who is suddenly looking . . . hot?). Could one of them be her mysterious collaborator? But even if Julieta finds her Romeo, she’ll have to remember that life is full of plot twists. . . .

Short and Sweet Review

Julieta isn’t looking for anyone but she does enjoy writing romantic stories. Julieta is enrolled in a summer writing program and her teacher encourages them to publish their stories online so Julieta does and someone named Happily Ever Drafter decides to collaborate on the story. Julieta doesn’t know who this Happily Ever Drafter is but she begins to think it may be one of the three boys in her life, Lucas, Calvin, or Ryan. Julieta tries to figure out who the mystery writer is but she also remembers that life is full of twists and turns.

Julieta is a promising writer and she loves coming up with stories, so this writing program that she’s enrolled in is a chance of a lifetime. When Julieta post her first story she’s surprised that someone wants to collaborate with her and the story gets a bit spicy which makes Julieta think that this may be someones attempt at trying to date her. Julieta believes this could be her very own meet-cute. There’s Ryan, Julieta’s best friend Ivy’s brother, who is usually her nemesis but since being in the writing program together she’s seeing him in a different light. Lucas is one of Julieta’s oldest friends and he suddenly looks good, but he’s also the safe option. Calvin lives next door to Julieta’s grandma and he makes her feel like she should be more adventurous. We basically have a love square? I didn’t really like any of the romance mainly because Julieta spent so much time bouncing around the three guys trying to figure out if they were Happily Ever Drafter. We see why Julieta would think each guy could potentially be the mystery writer but the amount of time she spends with each of them is pretty minimal that there isn’t much of a connection. I will say I was rooting for one guy more than the others and although it didn’t happen, I was okay with the guy she did end up picking. We have a few subplots about Julieta trying to figure out if she’s a good enough writing, her parents marriage, and their struggling restaurant, and not spending enough time with her friend Ivy. The ending was a little surprising to me, I wasn’t expecting Happily Ever Drafter to be who it was, but I understand why they did what they did.

Overall, the premise was good and I did like Julieta I just wish maybe it was only two love interest instead of three. I also liked seeing snippets of Julietas writing and her ideas for stories. This was a cute romance novel and I enjoyed the little mystery aspect of it.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE LAST ONE TO FALL By Gabriella Lepore

May 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE LAST ONE TO FALL By Gabriella LeporeThe Last One to Fall by Gabriella Lepore
Published by Inkyard Press on 5/9/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 316
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Six friends. Five suspects. One murder.

Savana Caruso and Jesse Melo have known each other since they were kids, so when Jesse texts Savana in the middle of the night and asks her to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse, she doesn’t hesitate. But before Savana can find Jesse, she bears witness to a horrifying murder, standing helpless on the ground as a mysterious figure is pushed out of the fourth floor of the warehouse.

Six teens were there that night, and five of them are now potential suspects. With the police circling, Savana knows what will happen if the wrong person is charged, particularly once she starts getting threatening anonymous text messages.

As she attempts to uncover the truth, Savana learns that everyone is keeping secrets—and someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep those secrets from coming to light.

Short and Sweet Review

Savana and Jesse have been friends since they were kids, so when he texts her late at night asking her to come to Cray’s warehouse she doesn’t question it. When Savana arrives she sees someone falling from one of the windows, turns out it was murder. Now Jesse, Savana, and three others (Tara, Owen, and Freddie) are being looked at for murder. Everyone has their secrets and Savana has been getting anonymous text messages about what will happen if the wrong person is implicated.

The Last One to Fall, starts off in a timeline before the murder and we see everything that leads up to what happens. I liked this because we got to see the dynamic between the group of friends. Raf is the teen who gets murdered and he has a pretty manipulative personality and to be honest I’m not surprised one of his friends finally had enough. We alternate between Jesse and Savana’s POV. Jesse has more of a hard home life and Savana is there for him, so when it looks like Jesse is the main suspect Savana tries to help prove his innocence. Savana wasn’t in the warehouse like the others so she isn’t really looked at that closely but she does start to try to unravel everyones stories. It’s not hard to tell that Savana is on Jesses side and she won’t let him go down for something he didn’t do. This book held my attention with all of the secrets and twists. Savana and Jesse were characters you could relate to. I did enjoy seeing the snippets of news articles and the police interviews. When we did get to the timeline after the murder it was interesting to see how everyone started turning on each other. Even after death Raf was still very influential in this group of friends.

The Last One to Fall, held my attention until the very end and the mystery was told very well. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, and this one is full of shocking revelations and twists and turns to keep you guessing!

Filed Under: Reviews

LYING IN THE DEEP By Diana Urban

April 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

LYING IN THE DEEP By Diana UrbanLying in the Deep by Diana Urban
Published by Razorbill on 5/2/23
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Romance, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 382
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn't be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship—and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart.

But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder. And as their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they're trapped at sea with....before anyone else winds up in body bags.

Short and Sweet Review

Jade recently got dumped by her boyfriend who just so happened to leave her for her ex best friend, Lainey. So now Jade is ready to embark on a campus on board cruise visiting 11 countries in 4 months. What Jade wasn’t expecting was to see that Lainey and Silas have also come along. Jade becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why those two basically did her dirty and soon enough someone on board gets murdered and Jade and her crush Felix try to solve the mystery before one of them is next.

This was a good mystery I wasn’t sure what was going on until the end and then it just all made sense. I will say Jade is not my favorite character, she was too impulsive and just made bad decisions. I will say seeing Jade constantly obsess over Silas and Jade was exhausting. Jade used to date Silas and be friends with Lainey so when she sees that their also on this trip she tries to talk to them and even when they try to avoid her she still doesn’t get it. There was a bit of a romance between Jade and Felix, mainly because Jade was trying to use Felix to make Silas jealous but I guess somewhere in there they ended up liking each other. The first murder doesn’t happen until maybe 100-150 pages in but that’s when things start to get interesting. There’s a boat full of people and Jade is mainly hanging out with the college kids and somehow most of them have ties back to Lainey whether they know it or not. Jade looks guilty mainly because she doesn’t know how to let things go so she looks like a vengeful manic to some of the other people on the boat. I will say the first murder really surprised me but the other two kind of seemed unnecessary.

I liked that the mystery took place on a cruise ship, because there’s really no place for the suspect to run. There were some twists which were interesting, the ending was a little lackluster. I will say overall this was a good mystery but some things could have been better especially our main character Jade.

Filed Under: Reviews

NIGERIA JONES By Ibi Zoboi

April 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

NIGERIA JONES By Ibi ZoboiNigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
Published by Balzer + Bray on 5/9/23
Genres: Contemporary, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 379
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Warrior Princess. That’s what Nigeria Jones’s father calls her. He has raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals to connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother—the perfect matriarch of their Movement—disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want.

Nigeria’s mother had secrets. She wished for a different life for her children, which includes sending her daughter to a private Quaker school outside of their strict group. Despite her father’s disapproval, Nigeria attends the school with her cousin, Kamau, and Sage, who used to be a friend. ­There, she begins to flourish and expand her universe.

As Nigeria searches for her mother, she starts to uncover a shocking truth. One that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about her life and her family.

Short and Sweet Review

Nigeria has been raised by her father who is a social justice warrior. He has a Movement that is a black separatist group in Philadelphia. Nigeria runs the youth group for her dad and leads rituals that connect group members to their ancestors. The only thing missing in Nigerias life is her mom, who she’s sure is coming back. When Nigeria learns that her mom wanted a different life for her she starts to question everything she’s learned. Nigeria also learns that her mom wanted to enroll her in a private Quaker school so Nigeria goes to honor her mothers wishes. Everything changes when Nigeria gets to experience a little freedom and wonders if everything she’s learned in the movement is right.

I have very conflicting feelings about this book. Nigeria was raised in a household where their beliefs are taken very seriously, so to see her go to this new school and interact with people who weren’t black was painful. She also holds out hope that her mom is coming back so there was a little mystery about where her mom was and why she would have left the movement in the first place. Nigeria goes to school with an old friend Sage and her cousin Kamau. Nigeria’s dad doesn’t want her going to school, she’s been homeschooled her whole life, but Nigeria knows she needs to go because this is what her mom wanted. There was a lot of layers to this book and I found myself frustrated at some points because they take the movement so seriously and I understand I’m all about making changes but it got too intense and it was crazy. Whenever they talked about the movement, I felt like I was at a black panther meeting, it was almost like Judas and the Black Messiah. Anyway Nigeria and her dad find themselves most of the book and I just felt myself rooting for her to get out from under him and just make a way for herself and experience the world for herself so she can make decisions instead of having them made for her.

The ending makes up for the rest of the book and I was glad to see Nigeria kind of become her own woman. The whole thing with her mom was pretty shocking and I wasn’t ready for it. This book made me really stop and think about my own experiences being black and a woman and I get how Nigeria was raised but I’m glad that I was able to know my history and not having that experience be so restrictive. I enjoyed following Nigeria during her journey even though at some points it was hard but in the end it was rewarding.

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