A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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.

Frenemies With Benefits by Lydia Sharp

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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.

Missing Dead Girls by Sara Walters

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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 Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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!

You Won’t Believe Me by Cyn Balog

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Interesting ending!
17yo Willow wakes up chained to a bed in a house she doesn’t recognize. She doesn’t understand her circumstances or surroundings but her memories come back a little at a time. Her captor tells her the pandemic has gotten worse and created zombies and the only way they can stay safe is to stay away from the rest of civilization, if there’s anyone else alive. Willow goes along with it all until things don’t seem to be adding up. When Willow makes a few discoveries of her own, she becomes determined and desperate to escape.
Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the details about the Everglades. This is a quick read book. The storyline is interesting, especially the ending.
Language: R for 62 swears and 1 f-word.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for abduction, gaslighting, catfishing, bloody deaths, electric shock.

Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban

Posted on by lynndellwatson

A mystery that is fun to untangle!

20yo Jade is taking a cruise across eleven countries in four months with the Campus on Board college program. Her ex-best friend Lainey and ex-boyfriend Silas are joining the cruise too and they’re treating Jade like she’s a toxic, horrible person. Jade can’t figure out why or what they think she’s done to be treated that way. When a blood trail is found leading from Lainey’s room to overboard the railing of the ship, many passengers believe Jade is guilty. Jade jumps into action to find evidence that will find the killer and prove her innocence.

Likes/dislikes: The mystery was fun to untangle. Jade is kind and has true, sincere compassion for others. I enjoyed the college on board a cruise setting.
Language: R for 134 swears and no f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex (no details), passionate kissing, underage drinking, and drug use
Violence: PG-13 for bloody mess in room and bloody trail to ship railing, possible suicide by hanging.
Ethnicity: predominantly white, Divya and Navya, who are twins and Jade’s cabin mates, have golden brown skin.

We’ll Never Tell by Wendy Heard

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Mystery Explorers!

Eddie and Jacob, both 18, and Zoe and Casey, 17, have created a popular show about Los Angeles buildings that are sealed off or partly sealed off to the public. The show is called “We’ll Never Tell” and the teenagers keep their true identities secret as they investigate, search and record what they discover. One of these places is known as the Murder House where a couple died fifty years ago. After they’ve broken into the Murder House and are searching, Jacob is stabbed. The other three freak out and the mystery pulls the police into a twisted investigation that will change everything.

Likes/dislikes: The mystery is interesting. I enjoyed the variety of character personalities. I like how the mystery was revealed.
Language: R for 61 swears and 1 f-word.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex with no details, detailed kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody stabbing, breaking and entering, bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Jacob is white, Eddie is Chinese American, Zoe is Philippine American and Casey is white.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Posted on by lynndellwatson

The best twist I didn’t see coming!

Alicia (painter) loves her husband but stops herself from thinking too deeply about how far she would go to be one with him. Next, she’s accused of murdering him after being found in their home with her wrists cut and her husband chained to a chair dead from a shooting to his face.
Then Theo, a psychotherapist, is introduced and he’s hired for a job at Grove, the hospital where Alicia now resides.
Theo breaks through Alicia’s silence and she gives him her diary. This gives Theo insight into Alicia’s trauma and evidence of the murder.
I don’t want to say more because it may spoil it for future readers, but this is an encompassing book full of intelligent twists! I highly recommend reading this intense murder mystery!