Category: Books

Magic in Manhattan series by Allie Therin

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Title: Magic in Manhattan series: Spellbound, Starcrossed, and Wonderstruck
Author: Allie Therin
Format: ebook
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance, Historical
Rating: ★★★★☆

This series took my favorite fiction genres and wrapped them up in a fast-paced, entertaining, touching story with a diverse cast of characters who are dealing with magical conundrums in New York. Although many interesting characters play a role, the books are definitely centered on Rory — a feisty young man who’s scraping by and trying to stay under the radar to hide his magic — and Arthur — a slightly older, rich congressman’s son who is mundane but wrapped up in the magical world — as they try to address the challenges both between them and around them.

There are so many things to enjoy in these books: witty dialogue, but not to the point of being outlandish; some characters who defy categorization as heroes or villains; many instances of people facing and working through issues of class, race, language, nationality, gender, and sexuality; the way prohibition, World War I, and other historical notes play a role in the plot; and a story that blends action and romance. It does have flaws here and there (like some pretty heavy exposition to get some of the backstory in the first book, a bit of a quick transition in the romance, and the use of some very fiendish, one-dimensional villains) but they didn’t get in the way of me gleefully devouring the series. It may not be the most sophisticated story I’ve read this year, but it was great fun!

The Forgotten Promise by Paula Greenlees

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Title: The Forgotten Promise
Author: Paula Greenlees
Format: ebook (ARC)
Genre(s): Historical
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I was very drawn in by the premise of this book: Best friends Ella and Noor make a promise to always be close, but as they grow up they are separated by class and then further by World War II arriving to Malaysia (then British Malaya), as Ella flees with her son to England while her husband puts their daughter into Noor’s care. Sadly, just as Ella and Noor had trouble keeping their promise to each other, I felt that the story had trouble delivering on the promises it made to me.

It felt like almost everyone in the story was, to some extent, just a sketch or a stand-in for anyone who might find themselves in that particular situation, defined primarily by their backgrounds, hobbies, or jobs rather than unique character traits. I was thoroughly captivated by the history, and Greenlees made me care and even do further research about the people and events in Malaysia before, during, and after the war— if you are primarily interested in seeing depictions of what it may have been like for people and especially women at the time, this book really delivers. It also kept me curious about what would happen, but as it wrapped up, I was disappointed by how little Noor appeared on the page and how little I felt about how Ella’s story ended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cornerstone (Penguin Random House) for providing an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The Forgotten Promise comes out on December 29, 2022.

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

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Title: Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble
Author: Alexis Hall
Format: ebook
Genre(s): Romance, Comedy
Rating: ★★★★☆

I was lucky enough to nab this book — the second in a series about a fictional baking competition — from the library almost immediately after it came out, and then (as I do with Alexis Hall’s novels) zipped right through it, cackling all the way.

Although ostensibly a rom-com about two of the competitors, Paris and Tariq, a huge part of the story is about Paris’s anxiety and his journey as he recognizes it, accepts it, and learns how to deal with it. So it’s not all fun and baked goods: I felt sucked into Paris’s anxiety and frustrated by the repetitive, negative cycles he went through, especially in moments where he lacked empathy for the people around him and sabotaged his relationships. But that meant his growth also felt fairly realistic, and it was well balanced with genuinely cute moments and lots of laughing about the competition.

If you like Hall’s style of humor, miss the early seasons of GBBO, don’t mind the open-endedness of an HFN ending (which is more about the main character’s ability to be in a relationship than about this particular relationship, per se), and enjoy when your romances come with a strong helping of Serious Issues, you might find this story as lovely as I did.

Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch

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Title: Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
Author: Gretchen McCulloch
Format: Audiobook
Genre(s): Non-fiction
Rating: ★★★☆☆

As someone who loves language and once considered doing research among online communities, I was prepared to thoroughly enjoy this book but perhaps didn’t consider that I might be too familiar with the subject to be its target audience. I’d recommend this book if you’re curious about how the internet is influencing the English language and don’t know much about internet history or linguistics.

It was interesting to hear about things like the origins of acronyms like LOL and how their meaning has evolved over time or comparisons between punctuation online versus on postcards. But I found myself drifting off during the lengthy explanations about different online generations, and I was genuinely shocked when McCulloch mentioned that she had been entirely ignorant of the study of gesture. All in all, it was a fun book but definitely (as McCulloch herself describes it) pop linguistics — something that will leave you with interesting anecdotes about emoji and memes but doesn’t delve much deeper than that.

About the Audiobook

It may seem a bit odd to listen to a book about written language, and I’ll admit that yes, it sort of was. But McCulloch also has a popular podcast, Lingthusiasm, which made me more confident in her narration skills. She definitely didn’t let me down there; she was engaging and she adapted parts of the book for audio. That said, the chapters were a bit long for the audiobook format and I do wish I’d had the book so I could more easily skim the bits I didn’t need to hear about and more clearly remember the interesting parts.

The Upper World by Femi Fadugba

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Title: The Upper World
Author: Femi Fadugba
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is a unique piece of young adult science fiction, melding real physics, time travel, and two main characters from southeast London. It tells the story of Esso, a high school boy who has an accident that gives him a glimpse of a place out of time, and Rhia, a girl who grew up in foster care and is searching for more of her history.

I had a great time learning more about the physics woven into the story and ended up having numerous conversations about the theory of relativity as a result. The point where the physics meets the time travel was (understandably) a bit vague and hand-wavy, and there’s a simplicity to the story that I associate with young adult fiction — neither of which are necessarily a problem, if that’s your cup of tea. The book does a fantastic job jumping between Esso and Rhia’s storylines, building up the conflict and drama to an exciting climax and satisfying conclusion.

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

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Title: Writers & Lovers
Author: Lily King
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Literary fiction
Rating: ★★★★★

After reading Five Tuesdays in Winter I vowed to read more of Lily King’s works, starting with Writers & Lovers — a novel narrated by Casey Peabody, who is struggling to get by as a waitress while she writes her first novel. The story begins with Casey grieving the loss of her mother and continues as she tries to sort out her writing, her job, and her relationships.

I devoured this book and loved following along with Casey’s journey, including the very real moments of uncertainty and the painful moments that validated my own experiences (casual misogyny, anyone?). The ending felt a little too good to be true, but Casey’s voice swept me up and carried me through it. This is a beautifully written story portraying the internal conflicts that hit us at that time in our lives when we feel like we should have it all figured out but we’re still just muddling through.

Intimacies by Lucy Caldwell

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Title: Intimacies
Author: Lucy Caldwell
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Short stories, Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★

Intimacies is a collection of fiction short stories about young women, mostly young mothers, unveiling the many layers of the women’s experiences as they go about more or less mundane parts of life. Despite not relating personally to many of the women’s lives (I’m childless by choice) I was captivated by their stories.

I love how Caldwell often uses settings or moments that seem relatively unremarkable — driving on the motorway, sitting on a plane, getting a drink with a coworker, sitting on the terrace in the evening — to reveal more significant aspects of the women’s lives or the human experience. For example, “All the People Were Mean and Bad” tells the story of a mother connecting with her neighbor on a plane, but it left me thinking about whether people are inherently good or bad, the impact of small acts of kindness on strangers, and how we decide which relationships to nurture and which to let go of. It’s no wonder that story won the BBC National Short Story Award, or that I enjoyed almost all the other stories in the collection — each of them felt easy to read and yet full of ideas that I pondered well after I closed the book.

Embassytown by China Miéville

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Title: Embassytown
Author: China Miéville
Format: Audiobook & eBook
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆

This book took my love of linguistics, anthropology, and science fiction and wound them together into an intricate story about the inhabitants of a colonized world where the native Language can only convey truth.

I have never experienced a book that did quite what Miéville did here: not only make semiotics a central part of a novel but also drop you into it in a way that’s almost like participant-observation in a new country, with a definite sense that something is going on around you but you have no clue what. I loved the slow unraveling of the story as it picked apart and made sense of the people, the history, the culture, and the place (and its technologies), although there are some points — including details about Language and its restrictions — that remained fairly handwavy.

This is not an easy or light read, as it touches on topics like colonialism, oppression, war, indoctrination, cultural contact, authenticity, and relationships. But if you’re willing to wade through the heavy moments and sit with the confusion, it’s a fascinating exploration.

The Visitors by Caroline Scott

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Title: The Visitors
Author: Caroline Scott
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Historical, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

This was a gorgeous post-World War I story about Esme Nicholls, a war widow and housekeeper who visits Cornwall with her employer for the summer and discovers a beautiful landscape, an eclectic group of veterans, and a possible future for herself.

I was initially drawn to the story by the immersive descriptions of the Cornish landscape, flora, and fauna — all things that blew me away when I did a walk along the coastal path from St. Ives to Penzance, the area where this book takes place. As the chapters went on I became fascinated with the characters and their stories, especially Esme’s struggle between her past and her future and Rory’s reflections on his time in the war.

There’s a twist that comes about halfway through the story, and even though I saw it coming I still felt the impact. This is definitely a character-driven story (where Cornwall feels like another member of the cast of characters) full of self-discovery and the journeys we take to overcome grief and embrace life.

The Physician’s Daughter by Martha Conway

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Title: The Physician’s Daughter
Author: Martha Conway
Format: eBook
Genre(s): Historical, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆

This was primarily historical fiction — the story of Vita, a young woman after the U.S. Civil War who dreams of becoming a doctor — with a bit of romance that develops as Vita grapples with the expectation that she should set aside her career ambitions and become a wife and mother.

My interest in historical fiction began with books like this: books with intelligent, strong young women in different tumultuous periods of U.S. history trying to discover themselves while also dealing with what was happening in the world around them. I loved all of details that arose from the research that Conway clearly put into this book, and both Vita’s and Jacob’s experiences felt real and compelling (my only research-related criticism being the epigraphs, which repeatedly pulled me out of the story by including texts published after the time when the story took place and even a fake publication).

I was a bit put off by the moments where the perspective shifted mid-scene (maybe just personal preference), and I felt the balance of the story was maybe heavier on the self-doubt than it needed to be, with a lot of time spent on Vita’s worrying and not as much time as I’d have liked on her growing confidence (and the challenges faced) after she fully committed to her path. That said, I loved the way the story slowly layered on scene after scene of struggle to help me empathize with Vita and Jacob’s journeys, from their doubts and fears to the sense of hope and triumph at the end.