Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

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Mad Prince Caspian is a great character!

The prophetic High Prince Regent Caspian has drawn and painted pictures of a girl that he sees needs saving. His mother dies and then his aunt Aurora keeps his abilities hidden so the kingdom won’t thinks he’s unstable. 17yo Darling is the girl in Caspian’s artwork and she’s now a young woman trying to liberate her father so she plays the part Caspian wants her to play. At the ball, Caspian announces a tour of the kingdom that he’ll be taking and he plans on his brother Talon and Darling accompanying him. As they travel, their eyes are opened to the true state of their country and citizens and discover plots to take them down.

Likes/dislikes: I like the alternating viewpoints of Darling, Talon and Caspian. The world building is done well. I enjoyed the friction between Talon and Darling and also Caspian’s personality and humor.
Mature Content: PG for kissing and implied sex with no details.
Language: PG-13 for 11 swears and no f-words.
Ethnicity: Darling has deep brown skin. Alvin has an olive complexion. Talon has tan skin. Finn is pale skinned.

Invisible Son by Kim Johnson

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Accused of a crime he didn’t commit!

17yo Andre returns to his home in Portland, Oregon feeling angry, confused and disgruntled after serving two months in a juvenile detention center for something he didn’t do. He also has to adjust to pandemic life because everything seems to have changed. Andre was framed for robberies when someone placed a backpack of stolen items in his locker and that’s the evidence that sent him away. He has an idea of who did it and he wants to know the truth. When his friend Eric goes missing, the danger builds and secrets are revealed as Andre tries to find his friend and get justice.

Likes/dislikes: The chapter titles are fun since they’re named after songs. The history of our country’s turmoil during the pandemic is represented well. I enjoyed the book and read it straight through. The story reminds me a bit of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, because of the harsh reality brought to life, but with less swearing.
Language: R for 45 swears and 4 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for underage smoking and the mention of underage drinking.
Violence: PG-13 for mention of attempted murder suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is predominantly white with the Black main characters of Andre, Sierra and Eric. Luis is Mexican American.

House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig

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Sequel to House of Salt and Sorrows!

Verity is tired of staying home at the Highmoor estate and when she receives an invitation to paint portraits for a family in Bloem, she’s absolutely thrilled. Her older sister and caregiver adamantly denies Verity any hope of leaving. This suffocates Verity and when she asks Camille why she’s denying her any hope of freedom and adventure, Camille confides that Verity talks to ghosts everywhere they go, no one else can see them and this makes her and the family look crazy. Verity denies this accusation until proven wrong when told her nanny has been dead for twelve years and Verity had no idea because she talks to her and receives help from her every day. When Verity sneaks away in the night, she feels truly alone for the first time in her life and what awaits her is beyond anything she can imagine.

Likes/dislikes: I love the author’s writing style. The character development was fun to read. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the family in Bloem.
Language: PG-13 for 12 swears, no f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for a passionate kiss and implied sex.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity is mixed with copper skin; red hair, white skin and freckles; golden brown skin; chestnut skin and a white older man.

Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris

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Fun read for supernatural fans!
18yo Raven is on a band trip with her Atlanta high school band and she’s surrounded by friends. When something attacks the bus out of the blue, the passengers have no idea what’s happening. Raven is the lone survivor and is taken to a hotel where she can recover. She discovers that her rescuer, who she calls Pretty Boy, wants to erase her memories from the attack. Raven avoids losing her memories and discovers that her rescuer is the 23yo vampire Prince Khamari and he’s taking her to the Slayer Academy to teach her about the skills that she never knew existed.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the humor. The mystery surrounding the attack and the Slayer/vampire society was interesting. I like Prince Khamari’s character because he’s the most complex character in the book.
Language: R for 227 swears and 20 f-words.
Mature content: R for sex with some details.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Raven is Black. Deidra is white. The chosen one is a white man. Khamari has mahogany skin.

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 Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis

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Intense mystery with fictional Holocaust ties!
Deception and suspicion fill this mystery. Friends are invited to the place where they gathered as young adults, years ago, The Chateau. Darcy is now 42 and her grandmother owns the Chateau and has invited Darcy and her friends for a gathering. I can’t say much without spoilers, but I enjoyed reading The Chateau and seeing the mystery unravel. I like how the history of each character intertwines within the story to make intense personal connections. I appreciate how the author tied the history of the Holocaust into the past, present and future. I enjoyed the artistic ties and the interesting information, fact and fiction, about Vincent Van Gogh.

Language: R for 78 swears and 41 f-words.
Mature content: implied sex and affair
Violence: fatal stabbing, two non fatal shootings
Ethnicity: Olive skin, caramel skin, white.

The Legacies by Jessica Goodman

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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.

Missing Dead Girls by Sara Walters

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Twisted mean girl behavior turns into deadly deception!
The book opens with a text accusation and a photo of a dead body that states, “Tillie Gray killed Madison Frank”. Time moves back to when 17yo Tillie moves to Willow Creek and she’s trying to find her place in this new town. For some reason that Tillie can’t comprehend, Madison befriends her and they become more than friends. Both girls have secrets that they’re keeping that could destroy their lives. Little by little, the secrets are revealed and they’ll need to decide how far they will go to keep their secrets hidden.

Likes/dislikes: A very ominous ending left me with a feeling of mean girls to the core in this book. The premise is creepy and disturbing. I like the author’s notes that state how important each of us are, and our experiences are valid, and we’re all deserving of respect and love.
Mature Content: R for detailed sex (violates Utah legislation HB-374), underage drinking, drug use.
Language: R for 77 swears and 79 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death and murder suicide.
Ethnicity: Sienna has brown skin , Emma is white, Madison is white, Gigi is Korean American.

The Chaperone by M. Hendrix

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Will her plan implode?
Stella is a 17yo teenager living in New America with her mother, father, sister Shea, and 60 year old Sister Helen, the family chaperone. When Sister Helen collapses and dies, after giving Stella a pendant and saying the word Angel, Stella is distraught. Stella knows that she needs to stay pure so she’ll be eligible to marry soon, since girls don’t have many options besides becoming a wife and having children. She searches for reasons to continue to live at home but doesn’t find much that keeps her happy. When Stella discovers a way to get out of her situation, can she trust it or will her plan implode and make her life worse?
Likes/dislikes: The author repeats the concept of having to be pure for marriage as though readers won’t understand the first few times it’s mentioned. Dystopian novel that didn’t really pull my interest. Violates Utah HB374 legislation.
Language: R for 50 swears and 4 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for underage drinking, implied gang rape, drug use, implied rape/assault, violation of Utah Legislation HB-374: touching genitalia.
Violence: PG-13 for homemade bomb description, missing girls, death by poisoning.
Ethnicity: Bonita is Black, Mateo is Latino and Stella is white.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

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Another great book with a twist!
Mariana reminisces about her late husband and their memories as she tries to hang onto him a little longer. She’s a group therapist and has one patient she and the group struggle with, Henry. Henry has anger issues and was overcoming the extreme childhood abuse inflicted by his father until he began college. Then college overwhelmed him. Marina has a niece, Zoe, who’s attending Cambridge and calls Mariana when her friend Tara goes missing. As Mariana is traveling on a train to meet Zoe, she encounters Fred, a young man who kindly insists that they will meet again. After Mariana arrives at the college, she’s pulled into a belief that a professor is a murderer and she wants to prove it and goes to great lengths to do so as young women are murdered. The story alternates with the background of an abused victim and eventually the reader learns who it is. Another great book with a twist from Alex Michaelides, 5 stars!