books. diversity. really bad puns.
Title: We Are Not Free
Author: Traci Chee
Publication Date: September 1, 2020
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Range: YA/NA
Content warnings: some war and death, incarceration and violence
Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
Title: Against the Loveless World
Author: Susan Abulhawa
Publication Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Range: NA – Adult
Content Warning: sexual violence and rape, war/violence, miscarriage/abortion, death
Synopsis: As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation. Nahr’s subversive humor and moral ambiguity will resonate with fans of My Sister, The Serial Killer, and her dark, contemporary struggle places her as the perfect sister to Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties.
I wanted to leave and love and live something else.
This book was beautiful and haunting and raw, all at the same time. I could stop there, and I could write a whole essay on it, and there still wouldn’t be enough words, much less accurate ones that quite sum up what Against the Loveless World made me feel. The writing itself can make you hate the world, and fall in love with it, all in the same breath. Telling the story of Nahr as she relives her life through memories, Susan Abulhawa has easily become one of my favorites and I can’t wait to read her other stories.
Nahr goes back and forth from life in what she calls The Cube, and the many different lives of Nahr before The Cube. Following the history of Israeli occupation of Palestine, Nahr’s life is a combination of both individual and collective resistance against the multiple oppressive parties in her life; Israel and its military, the patriarchy, and colonialism being the main few. On the larger scale, I love this novel because of its storytelling and overall shock that came with the experience of reading it. From someone who will never quite understand this particular experience, and understanding that reading about it will never suffice, discomfort is a very small price to pay. Horrible people are everywhere. This is for the people who don’t read books they can’t relate to – you do not have to relate to it to understand and become a better person. I think reading this absolutely heightened my sense of empathy and the greater need for it, and for that reason, I highly recommend for the writing itself; Abulhawa’s genius lies in creating a world that resonates with a select few, but is still able to permeate the worlds around it because she understands the significance of interconnection.
Along with the larger, overall experience of the book, I was deeply taken by Nahr herself. Nahr refuses to be a victim of a world that tries to paint her otherwise. Between older Nahr in The Cube and the young Nahr from lifetimes ago, she is funny and clever and honest and I couldn’t help but love her. While her story follows the events that got her to The Cube in the first place, we also meet the people that added to her journey, both the good and the bad, and it becomes crystal clear that Nahr knows that life involves both, as well as the in between. She develops a complicated relationship with sex and intimacy, with dance and the country that her mom and grandma call home, and with the people who have played their parts in a system that hurt her. And with her wit and sharp tongue, Nahr bares it all. Israeli-occupied Palestine is a cruel place for her, even when she’s not physically in Palestine, and from what it sounds like at the end, I’d say that Nahr embraces it all. There’s something extremely contagious about the passion with which Nahr and her peers speak about the world; it’s not just about the big things, but little resistances, little victories, and little joys, too, no matter how they turn out.
When I first started reading, I didn’t know what I would call it. I was leaning towards calling it an historical fiction/nonfiction-inspired, but now as I’m looking back and writing this review, it becomes a love story, though a very twisted, cruel one at times. As the title suggests, Nahr is literally fighting against a loveless world, and as much as she has every right to recount only the loveless moments in her life, she doesn’t. She also tells stories of hope and the tiny slivers of love she does find – in her country, in her family, in her people, and the pain and complication that has always followed. Nahr understands what it means to love her country and its people, as well as to love others individually (including herself). Against the Loveless World is stunning. I’m not confident that this review does it justice at all, but I hope to read it again soon and further develop some of my own thoughts that I haven’t been able to phrase for you here.
If you wanna experience Against the Loveless World for yourself, you can find links here:
Goodreads | IndieBound | Book Depository | Amazon
With all the love I can muster in an occasionally loveless world,
Thank you to Kristina for sending me an ARC via twitter! All opinions expressed are my own.
Title: Now That I’ve Found You
Author: Kristina Forest
Publication Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Genre: Contemporary
Age Range: YA
Synopsis: Following in the footsteps of her überfamous grandma, eighteen-year-old Evie Jones is poised to be Hollywood’s next big star. That is until a close friend’s betrayal leads to her being blacklisted . . .
Fortunately, Evie knows just the thing to save her floundering career: a public appearance with America’s most beloved actress—her grandma Gigi, aka the Evelyn Conaway. The only problem? Gigi is a recluse who’s been out of the limelight for almost twenty years. Days before Evie plans to present her grandma with an honorary award in front of Hollywood’s elite, Gigi does the unthinkable: she disappears.
With time running out and her comeback on the line, Evie reluctantly enlists the help of the last person to see Gigi before she vanished: Milo Williams, a cute musician Evie isn’t sure she can trust. As Evie and Milo conduct a wild manhunt across New York City, romance and adventure abound while Evie makes some surprising discoveries about her grandma—and herself.
I first heard about Kristina through my cousin, who absolutely loved Kristina’s first novel, I Wanna Be Where You Are. Needless to say, when I saw that Kristina was doing a giveaway of Now That I’ve Found You through Twitter, I was super excited to receive this ARC and definitely wasn’t disappointed!
At first glance, Evie is exactly what she seems to be: a successful young actress who books beauty campaigns and movie roles for the biggest names in the business. Her life seems perfect and scripted. At that point, I felt a little meh just because I couldn’t find anything to relate to at all (which is fair considering I am, in fact, not a famous teen actress), but I was determined to stick it out because I just had that feeling that things were gonna get better. And once everything went down hill, I found what I was looking for: Evie’s journey in finding something bigger than herself.
While Now That I’ve Found You is definitely a cutesy contemporary novel, it’s also about how Evie finds things that keep her grounded, something that she lost when she found fame. I don’t know if it’s my earth rising or my general disposition in life, but I love all the small things that remind MC’s who they are/were before some huge thing. There’s something so freakin’ beautifully ironic about finding things that keep you grounded and that being growth. *Ahem* sorry for that rant, but as you can see, we’re very passionate about character development here at Love Yo Shelf. While the larger events of the novel surround Evie and Milo, which automatically primed me for contemporary teenage romance, it was so much more than that!!! The reason she initially doesn’t trust him isn’t because of some past experience with a romantic interest, but because of her personal knowledge on how friendship with famous people doesn’t always go the way you want it to. Evie finds a friend in him after a heartbreaking betrayal with another friend, and in doing so, finds herself learning what friendship looks like by watching Milo with his own close friends, who are nothing but welcoming to her in every way she isn’t used to.
On top of Evie finding a family in Milo and his world, she reconnects with her own. Evie’s relationship with her also-famous grandmother holds its own despite the fact that GiGi is absent for a good chunk of the novel. Evie faces this inner conflict of wanting to live up to GiGi’s name, as well as making her proud off-screen, but as of right now, it seems like one comes at the cost of the other. Watching Evie search for her changing relationship with her grandmother, albeit through some unprecedented sources like Milo, resulted in not only Evie finding what it’s like to be a teenager, but also reclaiming who she wants to become both on and off-screen. I mean, come on! Navigating changing relationships with the adults in our lives is never easy, much less navigating a new relationship with ourselves, and Now That I’ve Found You highlights the messy, fulfilling beauty of both.
Overall, I think the time that I read this was very relevant to how much I liked it; being a recent college grad during quarantine in my multi-generational home definitely gave me a lot to consider while I was reading. While it wasn’t originally on my reading radar, I’m grateful to have found Now That I’ve Found You.
If you’d like a cute contemporary story that makes you wanna go hug your grandma, you can find Now That I’ve Found You at the links below!
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If I suddenly go MIA, check the lost and found. As always,
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
Title: Where Dreams Descend
Author: Janella Angeles
Publication Date: August 25th, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: Fantasy
Age Range: YA
Content warnings: emotional abuse, manipulation
Synopsis: In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.
As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.
The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost
The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told
The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide
Well folks, you can’t win ’em all. As much as I wanted to love Where Dreams Descend and as much as I did enjoy various elements of the book, I was inevitably left wanting more, and no one is more disappointed by this than me.
I have to say that despite not totally loving the plot or pacing in Where Dreams Descend, I really did love all of the characters. Our star Kallia is everything I love in a protagonist. I love her boldness, her confidence, her ambition. I love that she knows that she is capable of greatness and won’t let anyone or anything prevent her from being recognized as the fantastically talented and powerful magician she is. While the other magicians competing in Spectaculore struggle to put together awe-inspiring acts, Kallia has a natural flare that she can easily back up with the raw power afforded to her as a born magician. As much as other people might try to bring her down, Kallia always manages to keep her chin up and show them exactly what she can do to prove that they are wrong about her. Indomitable as she might be, though, Kallia also has moments of vulnerability and immense loneliness as she comes to terms with the trauma and abuse she escaped from, and that balance is what makes her human.
The Master, Jack, is one of the characters that I personally found the most fascinating. You can tell that Jack genuinely cares about Kallia and does what he thinks is his best by her, but he’s not past using manipulative tricks in order to keep her by his side. There’s an air of mystery surrounding Jack, which he wholeheartedly encourages and maintains however he can. I ended up with far more questions about Jack than I had answers, and I’m looking forward to learning more about just who he is and what his background is in the sequel.
From the start, there’s an unmistakable connection between Kallia and Daron Demarco, one of the judges in Spectaculore. A former stage magician himself, Demarco has more to teach Kallia than either of them initially realize. Aside from her assistant Aaros, Demarco is the first person to give Kallia a chance once she gets to Glorian, and try as they might to resist the lure they feel towards each other, Kallia and Demarco find themselves brought together by fate more than once. There’s an irresistible push and pull between them, but there’s a shared stubbornness that made me go oh my god, just make out already! every time one of them was being particularly obtuse.
Unfortunately, I did not love the plot as much as I loved the characters. Normally this isn’t much of an issue for me, as I tend to enjoy character-driven books over plot-driven ones, but the issues I had with the plot seeped into the personalities of the characters and their interactions enough that I couldn’t overlook them.
The bulk of the book centers around Spectaculore, the competition between magicians to determine who will be the next headliner of the Conquering Circus. The competition takes place in the mysterious town of Glorian, which has inspired multiple conspiracy theories and rumors throughout the years. I think I would have enjoyed Where Dreams Descend more if either of these aspects had been explored further. Much like Jack, who is undeniably our Phantom in this book, I was left without answers about Glorian and the other peculiar forces that interfere with Spectaculore.
Multiple mysteries take place simultaneously throughout the book, but none of them are fully or even halfway answered, which I think is where the problem lies. The plot picks up pretty early on in the book as Kallia embarks on her journey to Glorian, but her time there passes somewhat slowly and uneventfully, with the intrigue coming from the looming dangers rather than the competition itself. The majority of the book is spent on developing the relationships between the characters while hinting at their individual motivations and desires, which is normally something I love and actively look for in books. However, there are so many different plot points that are initially fleshed out that I felt like some of that time should have been spent on world-building instead. Reminiscent of Kallia’s acts for the competition, Where Dreams Descend is spectacular from the audience, but drains a lot of its own energy in dazzling the senses.
Much like an actual stage production, the supporting characters are just as important to the success of the show as the stars themselves. The members of the Conquering Circus are a family through and through, and they readily claim Kallia as one of their own. They show up for her time and time again and keep her grounded and motivated. Kallia’s assistant, Aaros, is also essential in helping Kallia understand that she does not have to get through the competition alone. Lighthearted on the surface, Aaros demonstrates a deep understanding of what Kallia is feeling and going through, even if the two don’t actually talk about it on page. He believes in her and defends her when no one else will, and they form an unlikely friendship that surpasses the bounds of their on-stage partnership.
And then, of course, there’s Kallia herself. There is no ignoring the blatant sexism and misogyny that Kallia faces once she gets to Glorian, and she quickly learns that hers is not an isolated case. And although Kallia has allies and friends who are willing to help fight her battles with her, Kallia refuses to back down and make herself small in order to fit these men’s standards. She fights her own battles because that’s just who she is, not because she is alone in her fight, and that’s something I absolutely loved. Kallia finds a unique sense of camaraderie with the women in the Conquering Circus because they know exactly what it is like to be a female magician in a male-dominated world, and rather than envying Kallia’s opportunity to compete in Spectaculore, these other magicians readily cheer her on and come to her side during her times of need.
Where Dreams Descend might not be the book I was expecting, but it is undeniably beautiful and intriguing. I’m extremely curious about what will happen next, and how the subsequent acts will follow what we see in the first show. There is some truly gorgeous prose, and there’s no denying that Janella Angeles is a performer and artist in her own right. I would honestly love to see a film adaptation of Where Dreams Descend, because I really do believe it would be a sight to behold.
Links for Where Dreams Descend
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BooksaMillion | Book Depository | Indie Bound
Have you read Where Dreams Descend yet? Will you be picking up a copy?
I’d love to know your thoughts!
Special thank you to Shealea and Caffeine Book Tours for organizing this blog tour and providing me an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Title: Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop
Author: Roselle Lim
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Romance, contemporary
Age Range: Adult
Content warnings: Near death experience, (predictions of) death, gambling addiction, mentions of illness
Synopsis: Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tea leaves.
Ever since she can remember, Vanessa Yu has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.
After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric aunt, Evelyn, shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to America and bonjour to Paris. While working at Evelyn’s tea stall at a Parisian antique market, Vanessa performs some matchmaking of her own, attempting to help reconnect her aunt with a lost love. As she learns more about herself and the root of her gifts, she realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is.
Where can I find an Aunt Evelyn to whisk me away to Paris, fund my new wardrobe, and guide me in the art of fortune-telling? Asking for a friend, obviously…
My family’s legacy is our former restaurants and continued dedication to finding/making/eating (mostly eating) really good food, so the Yu family shared trait of being foodies was something I enjoyed immensely. Roselle Lim’s writing is incredibly lush and descriptive, with a dedicated focus on taste that had my mouth watering the whole time I was reading. I definitely recommend having lots of snacks handy if you pick up Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop, because you’re going to need them!
One of my favorite things about Vanessa Yu is how connected our main character is with her family. While the book is marketed as a romance, the real love that’s explored is that between Vanessa and all of her relatives. They are knee-deep in each other’s lives, and the Yus are a constant in Vanessa’s life even as she travels from Palo Alto to Paris. As much as her meddling, matchmaking aunties might embarrass or hassle Vanessa and the rest of her cousins, you can tell that it’s from a deep sense of caring and community. If I’m being honest, I was reminded of my mom’s side of the family multiple times while reading, which only made me love the book that much more.
Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is undeniably and beautifully whimsical, and was the perfect pick-me-up as I was coming off some pretty angsty books (Unravel the Dusk and These Violent Delights, I’m lookin’ at you…). The book is a great mix of lighthearted banter and teasing between family, and the emotional, mental, and even physical burdens that Vanessa faces along with her gift of predicting the future. There was no shortage of tense moments between Vanessa and her Aunt Evelyn as the two clashed on their philosophies about what their lives as clairvoyants could entail, and I loved that extra layer of complicated family dynamics, where two people can be so similar and so different simultaneously, but underneath the fraught emotions and angry words, you know there’s a steady foundation of unconditional love supporting their relationship.
When it comes to fate, it’s easy to get swept up in the idea that our destinies are not ours to shape. Even as Evelyn guides Vanessa in fortune-telling and is quick to correct Vanessa’s victimizing view of herself and her gift, Vanessa teaches Evelyn lessons in return. Gifts like theirs can be lonely, and while Evelyn has long since accepted the rules and limitations that come along with clairvoyance, Vanessa refuses to settle. I loved the fact that throughout the book, Vanessa is determined to live life on her own terms, and chases the happy ending she knows she deserves, but she’s not exempt from making mistakes and hurting those around her because of her ideals.
Despite the fact that I lack any sort of magical ability and am unfortunately not eating my way through a beautiful city like Paris, I found something so relatable in the way that Vanessa had to stop and consider why she’s able to have such strong ideals that starkly contrast those of her aunt’s, and then reconcile the ways in which her family’s sacrifices are what have given her the opportunities to develop her beliefs. Overall, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop was a cute, wanderlust-inspiring read that had me wondering what I should eat next!
And if you’re in baking mode right now and want to make some snacks of your own to devour while you read this book, here’s the link to one of my favorite scone recipes!
Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.
She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother’s) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.
An artist by nature, she considers writing as “painting with words.”
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Links for Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop
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Add it on Goodreads!
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the tour!
Special thank you to Shealea and Caffeine Book Tours for organizing this blog tour and providing me an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed are my own.
While this review is spoiler-free for Unravel the Dusk, it will contain spoilers for Spin the Dawn.
Title: Unravel the Dusk
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Publication Date: July 7th, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy
Age Range: YA
Trigger warnings: violence, death
Synopsis: Maia Tamarin’s journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone, and she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor’s bride-to-be to keep the peace.
But the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red, losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It’s only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.
A personal rule of mine that if a book is able to make me cry, it’s an automatic five-star read. This was DEFINITELY a five-star read.
It’s difficult to articulate my thoughts about Unravel the Dusk because honestly, I’m still reeling. I’m pretty sure I was grieving for the majority of the book, and when it was finally over, I didn’t even know how to process all of my emotions – and God, were there a lot of emotions. It’s no secret that Spin the Dawn was my FAVORITE read of 2019, and that Maia is one of my favorite protagonists of all time, so I dove into this book with no small amount of trepidation for what was in store. I was definitely expecting angst and darker themes because of how Spin the Dawn ended, and Elizabeth Lim pulled no punches.
I loved Spin the Dawn so much, I wasn’t sure how Elizabeth Lim was going to top herself. But while Unravel the Dusk is different from Spin the Dawn in almost every conceivable way, I think it had to be. The beauty of Spin the Dawn is the whimsical adventure that takes place, and it’s so unique that to try and write Unravel the Dusk in a similar way would be a disservice to both books.
From start to finish, Unravel the Dusk is action-packed and fast-paced. Elizabeth Lim doesn’t give you a second to catch your breath, and at no point did I even have the chance to stop and think, wow, I’m kind of bored. There was no room for that thanks to the sheer ANGST. Whereas Spin the Dawn is more of what I consider a coming-of-age, fantastical adventure, Unravel the Dusk still manages to retain the magic as it shifts to focus on Maia’s descent into darkness as she gets closer and closer to becoming a demon.
While Spin the Dawn is obviously a love story, whether you consider it Maia and Edan’s or Maia learning to love herself, so is Unravel the Dusk. Despite the fact that Maia’s relationship with Edan is not the focal point of the sequel, it is still very much a love story, but this time, it is Maia’s love for her country and her family that takes center stage. There are still extremely sweet and tender moments between Maia and Edan that made me fall in love with them all over again, but at its core, Unravel the Dusk is about Maia’s quest to save her country and not lose herself in the process. Maia is quite literally dealing with her own demons, and that proves to be just as much of a struggle as defeating the shansen and saving A’landi. She has to rely on her internal strength, but she can’t fight all of her battles alone. One of the things I truly loved about Unravel the Dusk is that Maia finally learns how to ask for help, and sometimes, she finds it in the most unexpected of places.
This is Maia’s story, through and through, but everyone needs a little help from their friends every now and then. Unravel the Dusk, as much as it is about Maia, also allows other characters we know and love to shine. Like Maia, I had a grudging respect for Lady Sarnai in Spin the Dawn, and I was thrilled that I got to learn more about her in the sequel, including her motivations and values. Ammi was also a favorite of mine, and the only reprieve I got from the emotional torment Elizabeth Lim was inflicting on me was through the female friendships in the story, which were beautifully supportive and heartwarming.
In case you couldn’t tell, I LOVED Unravel the Dusk. In such a high stakes novel, I wasn’t sure how a satisfactory ending would be achieved – but while there are hints scattered throughout the book foreshadowing what Maia’s ultimate fate will be, the last few chapters still had me sobbing into my pillow, and later through text to my friend while she oh so helpfully plied me with some of her favorite quotes from the book (which just made me start crying all over again). I’m going to need more time to fully process everything that happened and recover from what Unravel the Dusk put me through, but as Maia and Edan’s story comes to an end, I can rest easy knowing that Elizabeth Lim will make me suffer yet again, with her upcoming book set in the same universe as Spin the Dawn.
If you’ve read Unravel the Dusk, leave a comment below, because I’d love to cry with you about it!!
Elizabeth Lim grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, “Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that’s kinda cool!” But after one of her teachers told her she had “too much voice” in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English.
Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel — for kicks, at first, then things became serious — and she hasn’t looked back since.
Elizabeth loves classic film scores, books with a good romance, food (she currently has a soft spot for arepas and Ethiopian food), the color turquoise, overcast skies, English muffins, cycling, and baking. She lives in New York City with her husband.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
Title: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Author: Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Publication Date: May 5th, 2020
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Genre: Fantasy, LGBT+
Age Range: YA
Trigger warnings: death, torture, substance abuse, mentioned sexual assault
Synopsis: Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.
Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself.
These characters are my children now. I am their mother.
The story mostly alternates between the perspectives of Evelyn and Flora, who is also known as Florian, a gender-fluid black pirate who is just trying to keep her and her brother Alfie alive long enough to get off the Dove. Flora has had to make herself invisible in order to survive, but she dreams of a day when she doesn’t have to change who she is in order to blend in. Clever and courageous, Flora has an enormous heart, whether she acknowledges it or not. She struggles with her desire to break free of the things tying her down, including Alfie, and has to reconcile her love for her brother with the objective fact that he’s only made her life all the more difficult since they were children. After she meets the witch Xenobia, Flora quickly learns that her past, that her story, does not define her, and that all that matters is her truth. Instead of seeing Florian as a mask she has to don in order to stay safe, Flora eventually realizes that she is as much Florian as she is Flora.
Lady Evelyn Hasegawa has led a life that is the exact opposite of Flora’s. On the Dove, Florian is assigned to guard Evelyn from the rest of the crew. Lonely and aching for a friend, Evelyn tries to get to know Florian by teaching him how to read. There’s nothing Evelyn loves more than a good story, and she wants to share that feeling with Florian. During their lessons, it doesn’t take long for Evelyn to be confronted with her privilege and turn her perspective around, and honestly? That’s just so refreshing. Not only does Evelyn’s perspective change, but she actively works to do better as well. Ally-ship requires action, and Evelyn actually delivers.
Aboard the Dove, Rake is as close to a father as Florian is going to get and is another one of our points of view. It was actually Rake’s idea for Flora to assume Florian’s identity, in an effort to protect her from the crew by having everyone recognize her as a boy. Rake is such a fascinating character for me because you can obviously tell that he genuinely cares about Florian, but he stays silent in the wake of both Florian’s and Alfie’s suffering – which he does get called out on later! But still, it’s something that can’t be ignored.
The Sea itself is given a voice, which I adore. I’m trash for anything sea related, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall definitely delivers. The Sea is an all-powerful, all-encompassing force capable of creating tsunamis and sinking ships, but that is also capable of mourning and compassion. Each mermaid is a daughter of the Sea, entrusted with one of the Sea’s memories to keep, and I love the fact that we learn about mermaid lore from the Sea herself.
Names are funny things, because they can feel like lies but tell our truths.
Imaginative and immersive, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is masterfully written and absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. This book calls out misogyny, colonization, and imperialism, and there are mermaids involved?? It’s no surprise that it is now one of my faves.
Privilege, ignorance, and unlearning a lifetime of imperialist propaganda are recurring themes throughout the book. Sometimes, when a romance features two characters from different classes, there’s a focus on the equality between them, an emphasis that they are on equal standing. I appreciate that, and I think that is necessary (relationships with a huge gap in power dynamic are NOT it folks), but what I loved about The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is that it is painfully obvious that Evelyn and Flora are not equal, at least not regarding their stories. Even though Evelyn is the one who teaches Florian how to read, her upbringing and innocence result in gaps in knowledge that don’t bode well for her survival on the Dove. Still, Evelyn has the bearings of a lady, and the ability to command attention when she so desires. My favorite part about Evelyn and Flora’s relationship is that Evelyn frequently makes mistakes and has to adjust accordingly. She consciously makes an effort to bridge the gap in power that’s between them and you can’t help but root for their relationship. They both grow so much throughout the course of the book, separately and together, and that’s just so crucial to me.
While the romance is adorable and riveting, I loved the mystery surrounding the Pirate Supreme and the detours Evelyn and Flora take away from the Dove. I won’t spoil anything, but the culmination of everything that happens in the novel is so satisfying, and despite the fact that there’s been no talk about a sequel, I am itching for a continuation of this story.
We don’t just read to imagine better lives. We read to be introduced to all kinds of lives. Any kind. Not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us. To understand others better. It’s escape, and it’s also a way to become more connected to everyone around you. There’s power in that, you know. In understanding. It’s like magic.”
The mermaid lore is another one of my favorite things about this book. It’s unique and absolutely fascinating, and so is the magic system that Maggie Tokuda-Hall sets up. Imperialists would like to believe that witches are extinct, but their narrative is not the only one in existence. For witches, magic always comes with a price. It’s the way that they perform magic, though, that makes them so unique. Witches perform magic by listening to stories and telling them in return, and I love the way Evelyn’s love of books translates directly into magic, even if she’s not necessarily the one casting spells.
Without spoilers, the ending is beautifully done. Everything is just…beautifully done. Maggie Tokuda-Hall doesn’t shy away from complex morality and emotions, and that’s really what makes the characters and plot shine. None of the characters are what people would consider intrinsically “good,” but that makes them all the more realistic in a world of magic and mermaids.
I’ve gotten to the point where if I’m reading a book and it’s chock-full of cishet characters, I’m just like…really? You think that’s realistic? Nah fam. Luckily for me (and you!), there are multiple characters who don’t adhere to the gender binary as we know it – pronouns aren’t assumed throughout the book! When Flora and Evelyn first encounter Xenobia, Xenobia is careful not to use any specific pronouns for Flora until Flora can tell her what her preferred pronouns are. The Pirate Supreme uses they/them pronouns, the crew quickly adjusts to calling Flora Florian, and the fact that Evelyn is queer is made obvious from the very beginning. While Evelyn does encounter blatant homophobia in other Imperials, Flora’s world is one of normalized queerness, and I absolutely love it. We really do have to stan writers who not only normalize queerness in their books, but who aren’t afraid to use the words “black” or “brown.” Thank the Sea for Maggie Tokuda-Hall.
Links for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Barnes and Noble | BooksaMillion | Book Depository | Indie Bound
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Check out the bookmarks I made for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea here!
Do y’all ever scroll through NetGalley and go oh, this looks interesting! So does this! Wow, I can’t wait to read this! and all of a sudden, you’ve requested 2837 ARCs? Sure, the odds of getting approved for even 50% of them are slim at best but hoo boy, when you DO get approved, it’s in batches of 3, with the same publication date for every book! At least, that’s what seems to be happening to me, because I am apparently simultaneously blessed and cursed? I guess?
I was struggling to figure out how to give these books the attention they deserve – on one hand, I just don’t have the time or the space on the blog schedule to post separate, full length reviews, but on the other hand, I’m still working on the guilt that comes with not posting a review for a book I specifically requested an ARC for. As it is, this is a compromise that I”m proud of and that might be a recurring format on the blog. So, without further ado, I give you April Debuts & Mini Reviews!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the respective publishers for providing me ARCs of these books All opinions expressed are my own.
Title: The Perfect Escape
Author: Suzanne Park
Publication Date: April 7, 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Contemporary, romance
Age Range: YA
Cute and ~quirky~, The Perfect Escape is one of those reads that you finish in one sitting and go wait, is it already 2 AM? The book follows Nate Kim and Kate Anderson, who are polar opposites. Nate is a highly driven, overly qualified scholarship student at a renowned prep school while Kate is looking for a way to pursue the theater that she loves under the strict watch of her emotionally distant and controlling father. They both need the money they could win from this zombie survival competition for vastly different reasons, but the common theme is the need to escape.
The Perfect Escape has a bunch of coined “mom jokes” that made me snort unexpectedly – my favorite had to be the Pokemom one. I should’ve expected some cheesy-in-the-best-way jokes from this, especially since the title is a pun itself. Despite their differences, Nate and Kate make a great team, in the competition and outside of it, but what made The Perfect Escape really shine was the exploration of money and how it affects families. I’d recommend this one to anyone who’s a fan of zombies, puns, and a little healthy competition.
Links for The Perfect Escape
Barnes and Noble | BooksaMillion | Book Depository | Indie Bound
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Title: The Lucky Ones
Author: Liz Lawson
Publication Date: April 7, 2020
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: Contemporary, fiction
Age Range: YA
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of gun violence, PTSD, substance/alcohol abuse, death, depression, panic attacks
Powerful and raw, The Lucky Ones depicts the reality that so many teens face today, where they are either honored during assemblies that also act as memorials, or they are now known as the ones lucky enough to survive a school shooting. May McGintee is one of the latter, and she can’t figure out why. Out of everyone in the band room that day, including her twin brother Jordan, she’s the only one that made it out alive, and eleven months later, she’s still not sure how to keep on living. Meanwhile, Zach Teller has been suffering in silence since his mother decided to defend the shooter that killed May’s brother. Everyone at school shuns him, and every day Zach’s resentment towards his mother grows. Conor is the only friend that Zach has left, and he gets dragged to band practice the same day that May’s friend Lucy manages to convince her to accompany her as she auditions for a band. Zach and May meet, and it’s the catalyst they both need to wonder if just surviving is good enough.
This book tore me to pieces and stitched me back up in that I read it in one sitting and cried my way through the last 60 pages. I remember what it was like in high school, to do active shooter drills, and the one time we thought that it wasn’t a drill. The Lucky Ones handles grief and survivor’s guilt in a way that makes you wonder how people can possibly be desensitized to school shootings. It’s a specific kind of validation and reassurance and support that teenagers shouldn’t need in an ideal world, but that they do need in the world we live in. At the same time, The Lucky Ones holds nothing back when it comes to the all-consuming, devastating grief that comes in the wake of a school shooting in a way that I think everyone needs to confront. It’s extremely apparent that Liz Lawson wrote this with the utmost case and respect, and she delivers a poignant, gut-wrenching book that is in a league of its own. Due to the subject matter, I understand that there are definitely people who simply can’t read this book for the sake of their well-being, but I highly encourage everyone else to pick up a copy, because we need to be talking about this.
Links for The Lucky Ones
Barnes and Noble | BooksaMillion | Book Depository | Indie Bound
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Title: What I Like About You
Author: Marisa Kanter
Publication Date: April 7, 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary, romance
Age Range: YA
What I Like About You follows Halle as she moves to Middleton, Connecticut to live with her widower grandpa and younger brother while her parents shoot a movie in a different country. Online, she’s sweet and sassy baker/YA book blogger Kels Roth, who just so happens to be online BFFs with fellow blogger and aspiring artist Nash Stevens. IRL? She’s Halle Levitt, awkward and anxious granddaughter of legendary editor Miriam Levitt. And Halle just so happens to meet Nash in the YA section of the library as soon as she gets to Middleton. She recognizes him immediately, but he doesn’t connect her with Kels. Panicking as her worlds collide, Halle misses her chance to tell him the truth – and keeps on finding reasons not to.
I did appreciate a lot of aspects of the book, but I could not get over the multiple times Halle has the perfect opportunity to reveal her identity to Nash and…doesn’t. Listen. On some levels, I get it. I get the anxiety that comes along with the pressure to live up to the wit and self-assuredness that often comes easier online than it does offline. But on the other hand, I think there comes a point when you have to think about the very real people that your actions are affecting. Luckily for Halle, her younger brother Ollie is constantly there to give her a good dose of reality, but without him…well, I don’t know. While Halle is a complex and and layered and likable protagonist, her actions and her rationale make my feelings about her as complicated as the situation she creates for herself.
I do, however, think that Halle and What I Like About You represent the YA book blogging community in a way that I personally haven’t read before. I was rooting for her despite myself. What I Like About You is messy, but maybe that’s the beauty of it, and I think that it has the potential to resonate deeply with the right kind of reader – that reader just isn’t me.
Links for What I Like About You
Barnes and Noble | BooksaMillion | Book Depository | Indie Bound
Add it on Goodreads!
April 7th is going to have some amazing company in terms of debuts, if you ask me – especially with The Lucky Ones in the midst. Whatever my rating, these books were what I needed to end March and start April with. Books have always been, and will continue to be, the only things that can get me completely out of my own head, if only for a few hours, whether they’re lighthearted contemporaries or richly woven fantasies. These debuts were the right mix for me with everything that’s been going on, and I hope that we can help you find the right mix through the blog.
Remember to take care of and love yourselves the way you love your shelves.