A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

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Beautiful prose!

18yo Effy loves literature and desperately wants to attend the literature college but has settled for the architectural college where she’s the only female student. Her advisor has taken advantage of her and holds it over her head and now she’s shunned by the other students. She applies for the chance to draw plans for her favorite author’s new home, partly to escape the stigma surrounding her at school and mostly to get the opportunity to meet the late author’s family and see his home where he wrote her favorite works. She’s surprised but thrilled when she’s chosen. When Effy arrives at the manor, she’s shocked at its dilapidated state and the darkness that seems to surround it. She meets Preston, a literature student writing his thesis on the same author, and Ianto, the enigmatic son who runs the manor and wants Effy to quickly draw the blueprints for the updated manor. The mysterious surroundings pull Effy and Preston into dangerous territory and they have to fight for everything they believe in if they’re going to survive.

Likes/dislikes: An absolutely perfect example of magic realism. Effy is a strong character struggling with the lack of rights for women. Preston is a gentleman through and through.
Mature Content: PG-13 for sex with minimal detail
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for sexual harrasment and bullying by classmates.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is predominantly white. Preston has fawn-colored skin.

The Lotus Flower Champion by Pintip Dunn

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Thailand folklore retelling!

17yo Alaia struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder and she’s taking a trip to Thailand with her parents to give her terminally ill mother a last trip of peace. Before they reach land, there’s an explosion on the yacht and her family is separated. Alaia and her mother wake up stranded on an island with ten others from the yacht. Things just get weirder and more dangerous as they discover they are on an island where Thai folklore comes to life. They soon find out that they are the main characters in the legends and they’re going to have to fight for their lives.

Likes/dislikes: I appreciate the folktales of Thailand resources the author shares at the end of the book. I enjoyed the premise of folktales coming to life. This book is a quick and easy read.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 38 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody fight.
Ethnicity: Asian American is dominant. The yacht captain is white. Preston is white. Lola and Rae have warm brown skin. Elizabeth is white. Sylvie is Filipina.

Haunted Mansion: Storm & Shade by Claudia Gray

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Spooky fun!
Audrey Perez, her brother and their parents are moving to New Orleans and she will be attending a girls only private high school. Audrey doesn’t want to leave her old house or her boyfriend Chase behind but her family is hoping that the move will help her anxiety.
Audrey accidentally finds a haunted mansion and thinks she hears her boyfriend’s voice calling to her from inside, so she goes in. Once she enters, she’s enthralled by the atmosphere and the library. Audrey gets possessed by three spirits, one at a time, a guitarist, a ship captain, a jazz loving evil man and each spirit helps her find a key. Once she starts collecting the keys, she sees and feels an ominous fog coming for her.

Likes/dislikes: I like the spookiness level of the book. I found the possessive spirits interesting because they were each unique. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the story.
Language: PG-13 for 10 swears, no f-words.
Mature Content: G for holding hands.
Violence: PG for danger.
Ethnicity: Audrey Perez is of Spanish descent. Tatum Stewart is Scottish. Iris Boone is African American.

Dream to Me by Megan Paasch

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Unique plot!

17yo Eva has moved to Madrona with her older sister Rhonda after their father died from a gunshot wound. Their father’s Aunt Miriam left Eva the Sylvan family house in her will and now that’s the place they head to get a new start. The minute the two sisters arrive in town, they’re met with rude comments and glares from some of the townspeople when they’re recognized as a relative of Miriam and part of the Sylvan family. The next day, the gas attendant that told them to leave is found in a coma and soon more people fall into comas and Eva is accused of causing it. She has no idea what’s going on and when Rhonda falls into a coma, Eva does everything she can to discover her family’s secrets and wake everyone from their comatose state.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the unique plot. The mystery became more interesting as the story progressed. The creepiness and the uncertainty were interesting.
Language: R for 90 swears and 11 f-words.
Mature Content: G for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody assault and death.
Ethnicity: Bethany is Vietnamese. Falls to white.

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

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Extremely interesting read based on a victim in Seattle and the victims in Tallahassee, Florida of a serial killer during the 1970’s. I applaud the author for getting into the headspace of the survivors and the era.

Deep, food for thought, and justice for the bright young women who died at the hands of a serial killer.

Insight into the tragic events, the ridiculousness of the Defendant’s lawyer tactics, and life’s consequences, struggles and inspirations.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

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Retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death!
18yo Seraphina lives trapped in Eldridge Hall with the Royal Family, servants and courtiers since the plague began three years ago. Seraphina masquerades as Princess Imogen after the real princess died four years ago. The Royal sisters were terrified of how the king would react if he discovered Imogen’s death so the sisters found a look alike Jewish girl, Seraphina, and took her away from her family. She’s been Imogen ever since. 19yo Nico goes to Eldridge Hall to see if there are any survivors. He soon discovers that the man who saved him from the mori roja plague years ago, and who claims to be helping plague survivors, is really a monster. Now Nico is compelled to save everyone he can in and around Eldridge Hall.

Likes/dislikes: I love retellings and this is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death with added supernatural and historical elements. The author shares her background and reasoning for creating this story and I’m impressed with her forethought and hindsight. Wonderful characters bring the book to life.
Mature Content: PG for kissing
Language: R for 43 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for deaths.
Ethnicity: Royal family falls to white. Jewish descendants Seraphina and Dalia have olive skin. Lord Greymont has bronze skin. Elisabeth has olive skin. A dark skinned man is mentioned. Colin has brown skin.

Swimming in a Sea of Stars by Julie Wright

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Realistic YA fiction at its best!
Addison tried to end her life and now she’s heading back to high school. This is giving her anxiety about how she’ll be received at school and how she’s going to make it through the day. When she arrives at school, she sees another student dealing with family problems. This helps Addison see outside herself and realizes she is in a position to help someone else. Hopefully the rest of her day will help Addison heal and regain hope.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the writing because of the emotional intelligence, wisdom and humor. The author connected the characters’ lives smoothly. The story and characters are inspiring.
Mature content: PG for mention of suicide.
Language: G for 0 swears and 0 f-words.
Violence: PG for mention of abuse.
Ethnicity: mixed.

What Happened on Hicks Road by Hannah Jayne

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Creepy read!

A group of friends drives to Hicks Road one dark night for some spooky fun. When 17yo Lennox sees a blonde girl dart in front of her car and she feels the thump of a hit, she stops the car to look for the girl. Her friends reassure her that it must have been a deer and that they didn’t see anything. Lennox is worried that she’s becoming schizophrenic like her mother and starting to hallucinate. Being new in town, Lennox doesn’t know her friends well at all and when they tell her over and over that she didn’t hit a person, she believes them.

Likes/dislikes: I like how the author created the uncertainty of whether or not the main character is reliable. The setting is wonderfully spooky. The unstable family life of the main character is an interesting part of the story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied drug use; kissing.
Language: R for 27 swears and 2 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for hit and run.
Ethnicity: Allison has tanned skin. Falls to white.

Frenemies With Benefits by Lydia Sharp

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Will they keep up the charade or fall in love?
18yo Jessica is graduating from high school in Pittsburgh and she’s shy and innocent but wants to break through her inhibitions and insecurities. When Ben jokingly offers to help her, she shrugs him off but eventually reconsiders. They’ve been sort of enemies within the same friend group for the past year and Jessica isn’t sure why Ben wants to help her. When they fake date, she sees the side of Ben that he’s kept hidden from her – smart, kind and gentlemanly. Can they continue with this charade without falling for each other?

Likes/dislikes: I like that the publisher states where to check for content warnings/elements of concern before the reader starts the book. The banter between Jessica and Ben is funny and clever. I enjoyed the cute romance parts.
Mature Content: R for detailed sex.
Language: R for 261 swears and 104 f-words.
Violence: none.
Ethnicity: Andrew is Brazilian. Rayna has olive toned skin. Jeremy has dark brown skin. Jessica has porcelain skin.

The Legacies by Jessica Goodman

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Intensity and deception!
The Legacies are selected from six different high schools each choosing six senior students. Bernie is hiding that her mom is possibly missing. Skyler, Bernie’s boyfriend, and Isobel are keeping a mutual secret and he’s also providing her with prescription drugs. Lee is Isobel’s boyfriend and is fairly laid back. Kendall Kirk, their classmate, is the fifth senior chosen and Tori Tasso, at Excelsior on scholarship, is the sixth. The Legacy competition is overwhelmingly intense and when someone dies, everyone becomes a suspect.

Likes/dislikes: I like the alternating timelines between before and after the Legacy Ball. The characters are complex and represented realistically. I enjoyed the mystery.
Language: R for 89 swears and 51 f-words.
Mature Content: R for drug use, mention of masturbating with pillow in seventh grade, no details. Kissing, underage drinking, sex (“bare a.. pumping wildly into someone”).
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Isobel has dark hair and a tan complexion. Tori’s friend Joss is Japanese. A Black woman is a member of the alumni. Lee has dark skin and brown eyes. Bernie has red hair and pale skin.