Dimensions, monsters, angels, forbidden love… and a drawn-out ending.
Genre: YA, Fantasy
No. of pages: 613
What power can bruise the sky?
Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera’s rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.
When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited—not in love, but in a tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves.
But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters?
The epic conclusion to the Daughter of Smoke an Bone alludes to an epic battle between supernatural races that will spell out the future existence of mankind. I was so excited to see where Laini Taylor was going to take us and what fate lies for star-crossed lovers Karou and Akiva.
This is over 600 pages felt looong! I really think ‘Dreams of Gods and Monsters’ could have achieved the same thing at half its length. I want to say there was a heavy undercurrent of lamenting that didn’t sit well with me as a reader. I’m trying to pull positives out – I loved the chimera and their personalities; I love Suzanna and Mik with their quirky humour. But Akiva felt a bit two dimensional – I wanted more to his story than love and war. The concept of this trilogy is really interesting, the mythology feels unique but it didn’t envelop me like I was expecting. There was a kind-of twist at the end, but it did not surprise me… I was already forming those ideas in my head from the first novel, so I didn’t get any surprises, no world-shuddering climax… it just ended long-winded and underwhelming.
This series has shifted from being a character driven story in first person in the debut, to a plot driven story in the sequels… and has removed me father and father away from the story. I repeatedly kept putting down books 2 and 3 due to disinterest. I really wanted to love this series, but I’m afraid it all went downhill for me after the first book in the series. There felt like there was a lot going on – so many new characters and plot elements introduced in this concluding novel that it was all over the place. From what started as such an intimate and treasured story, it turned into a discombobulated mess. But that is just my preference, I always find my interest wanning on plot driven tales. I need to make an emotional connection to the characters and stay with them a while to really enjoy a read. If the story is jumping from character to character, place to place, and continually introducing new aspects to the story when it’s meant to be wrapping things up… well to bogs down the pacing considerably and makes me care less about the characters. It breaks an already established writing style, and all the hard work the author has put in is undone.
I had a hard time actually working out Karou’s arc for this conclusion – There wasn’t much growth for her character – it seemed to have already reached its precipice. This book was all about acceptance – letting her feel like she was allowed to take what she wanted. And because that’s what we’ve been working towards for a long time it didn’t feel as cathartic as it should’ve been.
The writing is beautiful, Laini Taylor has a gorgeous way of phrasing things. However, I wanted a more epic conclusion to this trilogy… it felt a little underwhelming and after the culminating event the story continued for a few chapters to wrap everything up – which I usually appreciate, but this just felt waffly. I’ve lost my love for this franchise – the concept is great but I quickly became bored and not a trilogy I’m particularly inclined to recommend. This first book is great, but after that…
I’ve heard of lot of great things about this duology so bought them and prepared to go in blind! Have you ever bought books simply on a recommendation and ready for the story to surprise you?
It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.
Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.
Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?
Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.
I love my sci-fi, and given the success Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have had in other series, I was really excited to see what the Starbound Trilogy would deliver.
I do like a bit of military sci-fi, lots of action, high stakes, and explosions… and ‘These Broken Stars’ certainly delivered on that. Though his is more of a romance story than hard sci-fi. I enjoyed the change in pace, the questions and themes it explores, but I wasn’t completely sold on the story as a whole. I was satisfied, but not blown away upon completing the first book of this trilogy.
Though it doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger, ‘These Broken Stars’ does pose a lot of unanswered questions to continue sleuthing out in the remainder of the series. There is great character development from our two love-struck protagonists, with the narrative following dual perspectives in alternating chapters between Tarver and Lilac.
The mythology and class system seems to be the main obstacle between Lilac and Tarver. Lilac being an aristocrat, her father owning a large conglomerate of companies dominating the galaxy… but the possessiveness and adamancy of her not socialising with others was a little difficult to swallow without proper motivation. Isolating her character without provocation did not feel necessary or realistic. I was waiting for a twist reveal at the end which would justify her father’s behaviour, but just being painted as a baddie left me wanting more. So too was her stubbornness – I can understand some of it, but the extreme lengths she exhibited felt like overkill. Chants : *more diversity in character traits!*
Tarver was a more realistic character – out with something to prove. Compassionate, yet regimental. I found myself warming to his character very quickly. The Caste system made more sense with him coming from a poor sector and having to fight for his place in the military. The premise of Tarver and Lilac being media stars could have been executed better.
I really enjoyed the world building, pacing and character development. Kaufman and Spooner’s writing style is easy to read, direct, without too much embellishment to keep the story moving forward without losing the richness of the world and cast.
I will say this pair of authors managed to deliver a few surprises along the way which were a delight, but the plot could have been a little more intricate, but that is hard when most of the story only has two characters in it.
In December 2013 Eric Balfour and some others optioned this for a television series, but there has been no news since this announcement – it is in production limbo. I’m uncertain if it has been shelved, dropped, or put on hold. But I can see the potential of the Starbound trilogy as a tv series and think with the right treatment this story could be easily elevated for the small screen. I think the biggest hurdle in the current economic climate is that this series would have to rely heavily on special effects making it an expensive show to produce. I’ll keep my ear to the ground for any upadates.
A fun easy read, but not one that I would shout from the rooftops. I think the thing that drew me to the series other than name recognition of the authors was the gorgeous cover art of couples floating in space – I’m a sucker for that type of thing. This book is perfect for the young adult market not necessarily into hard science fiction.
There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure—he’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in his small rural Washington town. While all this friends can’t stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience—his Gay Agenda.
Then, against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly belongs, where he can flirt with Very Sexy Boys and search for love. But as Jay begins crossing items off his list, he’ll soon be torn between his heart and his hormones, his old friends and his new ones…because after all, life and love don’t always go according to plan.
This is cute and adorable, I liked the frank representation of sex and some of the spectrum of the LGBTQIA+ community. But for an #ownvoices author to write a story about a gay character where his entire story was about being gay in a sea of community members screaming that gay characters are more than the sexuality, that there is nuance, other motivations… and it was addressed in this novel, but it just left me with a big, disappointed sigh. If you removed all the talk about sex, or the actual chapters of sexual activity, this novel would be lucky to be 50 pages long. It just felt like it took up too much of the plot and left me somewhat bored.
Our protagonist Jay has a decent character arc, but from thinking him cute in the first few chapters to completely disliking him by the end of the novel is some achievement. I question a lot of Jay’s actions and decisions… and to be frank, there are some issues about sexual responsibility, trust, and honesty that are glazed over for the sake of making this a light fluffy romance.
I felt like we could have gotten more development on all of the characters – I don’t feel like I really got to know them properly.
This story was very predictable, and for me, not in a good way. I would have preferred a different ending.
Jason June’s writing style is pleasant and I really enjoyed their flow and humour… I just felt like the story needed a bit more dimension, some subtext, and not such a prominent role of sex in the storyline – it removed some realism for me.
Also it felt like the author wrote themselves into the story in the form of Max, and once I saw it, I couldn’t shake it. I don’t know if I appreciated the representation, or found it cheesy.
I have noticed that Jason June has put up that a sequel in coming on Goodreads. I’m not sure how eager I am to continue with this series – we’ll have to see what kind of story they intend to tell. If it is more of a redemption arc for Jay, I may give this author a second try.
‘Jay’s Gay Agenda‘ was cute. Don’t necessarily agree with some of the messages it was sending. I don’t think I would recommend this one.
Some days I wonder if its all worth it? What’s the point? But I always feel better later. I think if you just hold on there are better times just over the horizon.
When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.
For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study … as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don’t loot everything first.
Mia and Jules’ different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance. In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race’s secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race …
A family-friendly sci-fi adventure where teens have to sleuth out puzzles and booby traps to save the planet with alien technology… this has everything I want in a novel.
I think the biggest thing for me is that I guessed the series plot twist in the first two chapters of the debut novel… so ‘Undying’ didn’t feel so ground breaking for me.
When Mia and Jules aren’t under the pressure of a countdown, or the threat of death, I found their characters to be a little plain. And I mentioned in the first novel of this series that the pacing felt a little slow because there are so many little unnecessary scenes bogging up the road. This happened even ore in ‘Undying,’ I found myself putting the book down frequently because I was frustrated with the narrative. Sometimes you just want the characters to get on with things if you know what I mean. I don’t need to hear about their lamenting, or remembering things from the past that have little bearing on the plot, or their repeated thoughts of what is really going on. Maybe this wouldn’t have been such an issue for me if I hadn’t worked out the duologies plot so early on. It kind of left me with no surprises, other than some of the characters actions.
I enjoyed the concept of the technology, but still found parts of this story (overall) to be on shaky ground. It was a little implausible in my opinion. Even the characters in ‘Undying’ say so. It does feel a bit silly or unnecessary.
I did have a fun time reading – the adventure side of this series is amazing. Kaufman and Spooner can really craft tension and pacing in the action scenes – it was all the other stuff that was a bit of a dog’s breakfast.
This is more for the younger end of the YA demographic. Like a science fiction version of the ‘Goonies.’
Uncovering Karou’s past with an angel may just bring about a war with monsters.
Genre: YA, Fantasy
No. of pages: 510
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.
This is not that world.
Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.
While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.
But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?
After falling in love with this franchise I’m excited to jump back into the dark academic world of Karou and her art college and cafe. Uncover more of the mythology of Angels and Chimera. And follow more of the forbidden love between Karou and Akiva… oh and see if she and stop a supernatural war.
I really hate admitting this, especially after loving ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ so much, but ‘Days of Blood and Starlight,’ for the most part, was, well… boring. The pacing was slow, there was so much tedious content that didn’t drive the plot forward. I could summarize the entire book in a few pages and you wouldn’t feel like you missed anything. Granted the ending was pretty epic – a nice few plot twists; but the entire book leading up to those last few chapters was soul-suckingly dry. In fact I put this book aside a number of times to read other novels.
Where ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ was told in first person from the perspective of Karou, we get multiple perspectives, and moments of omnipresence departing from the intimacy of the first person narrative in ‘Days of Blood and Starlight.’ It was fun at first, but then it became more and more scattered. Jumping backward and forward in moments in time solely for plot devices and reveals. I got a little discombobulated. Disorientated. It completely pulled me from the narrative and it was very hard to get lost in the world of Angels and Chimera in very short chapters jumping all over the place – not to mention that not a lot happened. Some posturing from the White Wolf and Karou whining about events that ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ ended on… now she was basically in a holding pattern.
I felt like Karou had lost her mojo. She was being manoeuvred. Controlled. All of her independence, adventurous spirit, inquisitiveness was gone. It didn’t make for thrilling reading. All the things I loved about ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone:’ the first person POV, the urban fantasy genre, the dynamics of Karou’s found family, and unravelling a mystery – this sequel delivered a scattered narrative geared more towards high fantasy, a bunch of new characters that did not interact with each other much, and those that did, was precursory. The one shining light was Zuzanna popping back into Karou’s life. And that was pretty much it. Karou and Akiva’s relationship felt like some whingy complicated thing that tried to be angsty. I lost all investment I had for them.
I wanted to fall in love with this book so badly, but it just didn’t happen. I perused over some reviews on Goodreads, just to check that I wasn’t having a brain embolism, and was gratified to find that there are others who share my opinion, so now I don’t feel so bad about my dislike for this middle book.
I’ve invested a lot of time in this series already, and with only the final book to go, ‘Dreams of Gods and Monsters,’ and that cliff-hanger – so I’ll definitely continue going on with the franchise. But I think I will have to reserve judgment on my recommendation until the completing the last of the trilogy, because the first two books are practically polar opposites. The conclusion will be the tie breaker….
Riley McCullough thought her best friend getting ‘dragged’ off to Puerto Vallarta for the first two weeks of summer vacation was the end of the world―at least until the bombs fell. Life in suburban New Jersey with her mother is comfortable, not to mention boring, to an introverted fourteen-year-old. As if her friend’s surprise trip didn’t suck enough, her ‘best summer ever’ falls to pieces when she’s sent across the country to stay with a father she hasn’t seen in six years. Adjusting to a tiny, desert town where everyone stares at her like she doesn’t belong proves difficult, and leaves her feeling more isolated than ever. To make matters worse, her secretive father won’t tell the truth about why he left—or what he’s hiding. Her luck takes a turn for the better when she meets a boy who shares her interest in video games and contempt for small town boredom. Alas, her happiness is short lived. To escape nuclear Armageddon, she shelters with her dad in a bunker he’d spent years preparing. After fourteen days without sun, Riley must overcome the sorrow of losing everything to save the family she still has.
Told from Riley’s perspective, with the death of her mother and having to live with her estranged father, who has a cabin in an isolated spot in New Mexico. Her life is turned upside down. To top it off she survives what is perceived as a nuclear strike as her and her father take shelter in a bunker… life has changed forever and Riley has to find the strength to deal with her new circumstances.
I felt our protagonist Riley was written well and had depth and complexity. All of the reveals, and Riley’s reactions to them felt plausible and realistic; though – would have liked her to question more. But being a fish out of water and dealing with grief would distract her from critical thinking.
This had one of the most realistic death and mourning scenes I’ve read in a while. It so closely mirrored my own experiences – a sudden death, being there at the hospital when they’re gone, being with the body, having a small funeral and how grief comes in waves afterwards.
The middle of this book did feel slow – not a lot happened, but it matched the isolated tone of a small town in New Mexico.
There is a great plot twist, but it didn’t come as a surprise, I’d sleuthed it out very early on. The clues are subtle, but if you’re paying attention they are glaringly obvious.
The storyline was fairly simple, but the plot did not feel lacking. The story was compelling and I read it in 2 sittings. Though I’m not really wanting to explore other titles from Matthew S. Cox. I was initially interested but upon discovering nearly all his titles have a tween protagonist, the target demographic felt a little young, and something about an older man continually writing from this point of view left me uncomfortable. Plus, I’d wanted a bit more variety in writing style.
I’d definitely recommend this for younger readers, it’s perfect for its intended market. I definitely enjoyed my time with this book.
When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.
For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study … as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don’t loot everything first.
Mia and Jules’ different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance. In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race’s secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race …
Space archaeology and scavenging for alien technology – sounds like a fantastic adventure to me! That’s exactly what ‘Unearthed’ is, an action packed quest with highly motivated teen protagonists.
There is so much to love about ‘Unearthed,’ it delighted the child inside me, and reads like any movie sci-fi adventure. The action picks up in the first chapter and does not let up until the last word. With alternating chapters between our protagonists; Jules, daring to travel to an alien planet and prove his father’s life’s work is not the makings of a crazy zealot… and in the process save all life on Earth; and then there’s the witty Mia, a scavver (scavenger) who’s grown up in the slums and had to fight and work hard for everything she’s got. And she’s snuck her way onto the alien planet in hopes to strike it rich with finding some alien technology to sell and rescue her (illegal) sister from a nefarious work contract. They both are compelling characters and clash repeatedly bringing joy and interest to me as a reader. In the first chapter Mia saves Jules from other scavvers with her sassy attitude and street smarts, and it just gets better from there.
The pacing is steady all the way through, and I did not want to put the book down, but I do feel the pacing could have been a touch faster – especially for YA sci-fi – because we get a lot of detail, some flashbacks that could have been more succinct to really drive the plot forward at a cracking pace. But that is just me being a nit-picker, ‘Unearthed’ was such a compelling read.
The plot felt predictable, I guessed the twist at the end in chapter two. I think there were too many obvious conversations between Jules and Mia that gave it away far too early on. Besides that, the pair are always scrambling, running, desperate to get out of danger… which had me investing in their plight, because they were not always entirely successful.
I loved the writing style of Kaufman and Spooner. It’s embellished enough to create tone and ambience without being pretentious or moving ‘Unearthed’ away from its target demographic. Reading this book was effortless. But that is no surprise to those who have followed my reviews – I’ve felt the same from any other novels I’ve read penned by these authors.
This is a great family-friendly space adventure with high stakes that I would happily recommend to those searching for a light-hearted romp on an alien planet. Hardcore sci-fi fans may find this a little simplistic, but this is YA, so you need to take ‘Unearthed’ in the context in which it is written. For me this is a winner!
I waded through over a whopping 200 new releases for June to find the top picks I’m interested in. This list is dominated by mystery/thrillers and romance. There’s definitely three titles I’m looking to add to my shopping list… the rest I’m still undecided about. I wonder what will tip my opinion either way?
The Only One Left – Riley Sager (Thriller/Mystery)
At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.
The Silent Bride – Shalini Boland (Thriller)
It’s the wedding day of Alice’s dreams. Until it becomes a nightmare…
Alice and Seth are a perfect love story: the handsome doctor and his beautiful fiancée. They’re wealthy, well liked and made for each other—the envy of all their friends. Alice can’t wait for the day of their dream wedding. But when she arrives at the altar, she doesn’t recognise the man waiting to marry her.
When this stranger insists he’s Seth, her husband-to-be, the entire congregation seems to agree. Even her parents try to persuade Alice to go through with the wedding.
As panic sets in, Alice’s world comes apart. Where is the real Seth, and why have all traces of him disappeared from her life? Fearing she’s losing her mind, she sets out to uncover the truth and escape the nightmare she’s living in. But with everyone around her convinced by the fake Seth, how can she ever hope to find the man she loves?
Borrow My Heart – Kasie West (YA, Contemporary, Romance)
When a girl overhears a guy getting verbally destroyed by his friends for being catfished, she jumps in to save the day—and pretends to be his online crush. A young adult romance from the critically acclaimed author of Places We’ve Never Been.
Wren is used to being called a control freak. She doesn’t care; sticking to the list of rules she created for herself helps her navigate life. But when a cute guy named Asher walks through the door of her neighborhood coffee shop, the rulebook goes out the window.
Asher is cute, charming . . . and being catfished by his online crush. So Wren makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision—she pretends to be the girl he’s waiting for to save him from embarrassment. Suddenly she’s fake-dating a boy she knows nothing about. And it’s . . . amazing.
It’s not long before Asher has her breaking even more of her own rules. But will he forgive her when he finds out she’s not who she says she is? Wren’s not so sure. . . . After all, rules exist for a reason.
…and the following 5 novels I’m still undecided about:
From New York Times bestselling author J.C. Cervantes comes a sparkling, unforgettable YA romance, perfect for fans of You’ve Reached Sam.
Best friends and soul mates since they were kids, Hart Augusto and Ruby Armenta were poised to take on senior year together when Hart tragically drowns in a boating accident. Absolutely shattered, Ruby struggles to move on from the person she knows was her forever love.
Hart can’t let go of Ruby either…. Due to some divine intervention, he’s offered a second chance. Only it won’t be as simple as bringing him back to life–instead, Hart’s soul is transferred to the body of local bad boy.
When Hart returns to town as Jameson, he realizes that winning Ruby back will be more challenging than he’d imagined. For one, he’s forbidden from telling Ruby the truth. And with each day he spends as Jameson, memories of his life as Hart begin to fade away.
Though Ruby still mourns Hart, she can’t deny that something is drawing her to Jameson. As much as she doesn’t understand the sudden pull, it can’t be ignored. And why does he remind her so much of Hart? Desperate to see if the connection she feels is real, Ruby begins to open her heart to Jameson–but will their love be enough to bridge the distance between them?
The Seven Year Slip – Ashley Poston (Contemporary, Romance, Magical Realism)
An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.
And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.
Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.
Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.
After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.
Zero Days – Ruth Ware (Mystery/Thriller)
The New York Times bestselling “new Agatha Christie” (Air Mail) Ruth Ware returns with this adrenaline-fueled thriller that combines Mr. and Mrs. Smith with The Fugitive about a woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband’s murderer.
Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.
Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery from an author whose “propulsive prose keeps readers on the hook and refuses to let anyone off until all has been revealed” (Shelf Awareness).
Have You Seen Her – Catherine McKenzie (Mystery/Thriller)
A thrilling and timely novel about three women with dark secrets whose lives intersect in the picturesque and perilous Yosemite National Park from the USA TODAY bestselling author of Please Join Us.
Equipped with a burner phone and a new job, Cassie Peters has left her hectic and secretive life in New York City for the refuge of her hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California. There, she begins working again with Yosemite Search and Rescue, where a case she worked a decade ago continues to haunt her.
She quickly falls into old patterns, joining a group of fellow seasonal workers and young adventurers who have made Yosemite their home during the summer. There, she meets Petal, a young woman living in a trailer with her much older wife, keeping a detailed diary of the goings on of the park, and Jada, a recent college graduate on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, documenting their journey on Instagram.
When these three women cross paths, Cassie’s past catches up with her, and the shocking consequences ripple out far beyond what any could have imagined in this unputdownable thriller.
We Could Be So Good – Cat Sebastian (Historical Fiction, Romance, Queer)
Colleen Hoover meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this mid-century romdram about a scrappy reporter and a newspaper mogul’s son–perfect for Newsies shippers.
Nick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to a reporting job at one of the city’s biggest newspapers. But the late 1950s are a hostile time for gay men, and Nick knows that he can’t let anyone into his life. He just never counted on meeting someone as impossible to say no to as Andy.
Andy Fleming’s newspaper-tycoon father wants him to take over the family business. Andy, though, has no intention of running the paper. He’s barely able to run his life–he’s never paid a bill on time, routinely gets lost on the way to work, and would rather gouge out his own eyes than deal with office politics. Andy agrees to work for a year in the newsroom, knowing he’ll make an ass of himself and hate every second of it.
Except, Nick Russo keeps rescuing Andy: showing him the ropes, tracking down his keys, freeing his tie when it gets stuck in the ancient filing cabinets. Their unlikely friendship soon sharpens into feelings they can’t deny. But what feels possible in secret–this fragile, tender thing between them–seems doomed in the light of day. Now Nick and Andy have to decide if, for the first time, they’re willing to fight.
There were some other titles that could have made this list, but I was trying to be brutal because the number of books that piqued my interest was enormous – and I’m trying to limit my book buying. Any titles that you think should be on this list let me know in the comments.
Casey Carlisle 