Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid / ★★★★★

Movie star Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the story of her life, of her rise to fame and fortune, and of her seven marriages. She chooses unknown journalist Monique Grant to do the job, and no one is more surprised than Monique herself. As Evelyn’s story unravels, however, the connection between them begins to unravel, in a story of tragedy and love.

Movie stars are movie stars are movie stars. Sure, we all fade after a while. We are human, full of flaws like anyone else. But we are the chosen ones because we are extraordinary.

Book Review: The Absolutist by John Boyne

The Absolutist by John Boyne / ★★★★★

Summary: Tristan Sadler personally delivers a package of letters to the sister of the deceased Will Bancroft, a man he fought alongside during World War I. But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan’s visit. As Tristan recounts the past, the true nature of his relationship with Will and the burden he has kept hidden surrounding Will’s death is reluctantly revealed.

And if I don’t see him, I will convince myself that he has been picked off in the last few hours and I will throw myself over anyway, an easy potshot for the snipers, for what is the purpose of continuing if he does not?

Book Review: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan

The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) / ★★★★★

Summary: Magnus, his best friends Samirah and Alex, and the rest of his crew, must sale across the Atlantic to prevent Loki from sailing his own ship and setting the end of the world into motion.

No matter how magical Kvasir’s Mead was, how could it possible help me beat Loki at his own game?

No pressure, of course. If I lost I’d just be reduced to a shadow of myself and imprisoned in Helheim while all my friends died and Ragnorok destroyed the Nine Worlds. 

Book Review: The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne / ★★★★★

Summary: In 1945, pregnant sixteen year old Catherine Goggin is thrown out of her tiny Irish town and goes to Dublin, where she gives up her baby. Her son, Cyril, is adopted by the Averys, who constantly remind that he’s “not a real Avery,” and he falls in love with his childhood best friend Julian, a love that goes on to pervade his life, which is full of coincidence, tragedy, wonder, and fate.

It was a difficult time to be Irish, a difficult time to be twenty-one years of age and a difficult time to be a man who was attracted to other men. To be all three simultaneously required a level of subterfuge and guile that felt contrary to my nature.

Book Review: A Fugitive in Grass Valley by I.M. Flippy

A Fugitive in Grass Valley by I.M. Flippy / ★★★★☆

Summary: Lev lives a vaguely content life in Grass Valley, working as a barista and part-time art teacher and getting over a bad break up. Ernie shows up with a shady military past and a memory full of tragedies.

He pointed at the angry gray and red stuff. “So…emotional state during an average day. That’s most of the time.” Then he point at the upper left: the brighter colors, the sense of calm in the dabs of light blues, cut by bursts of happier yellows. It looked sort of like a peaceful rain with sun shining though it. 

“That’s when I’m…”

“When you’re what?” I was a bit on the edge of my seat. 

“That’s when I’m near you.” 

Book Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Geekerella by Ashley Poston / ★★★★☆

Summary: Elle loves Starfield, a sci-fi TV show with a huge following and the strongest connection she has to her dead father, who founded the biggest Starfield convention, ExcelsiCon. When heartthrob Darien Freeman is chosen to play the lead role in the reboot film, she’s less than pleased. However, when Darien acquires her number in an attempt to get in touch with the convention, in which he’s scheduled to make an appearance, an unlikely relationship begins to form.

I am half of my father. Half of my hero. And I am half of my mother. Half soft sighs and half sharp edges. And if they can be Carmindor and Amara – then somewhere in my blood and bones I can be too.

Book Review: Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Timekeeper by Tara Sim (Timekeeper #1) / ★★☆☆☆

Summary: 17 year old Danny Hart is the youngest clock mechanic in Victorian London, in a world in which clocks are living entities and control the passage of time. When he falls for the spirit of a clock he’s been assigned to, the mystery of his father – trapped in a town in which time has stopped – begins to unravel.

There comes a moment when time seems to slip faster, running long then short, shadows shrinking as the sun climbs. It’s the moment, he decided, when you’re no longer a child. When the concept of time and the need for more of it come together and make you powerless. Make you yearn for the longer days, the lazy days, before you knew what time passing actually meant.

Book Review: Proxy by Alex London

Proxy by Alex London (Proxy #1) / ★★☆☆☆

Summary: As a proxy, Syd must pay for someone else’s crimes, so when his patron, Knox, crashes a car and kills someone, Syd is sentenced to pay a terrible price. Faced with no other choice but to attempt to beat the system, Syd flees – but not without Knox’s help.

He was not unredeemable and he was not a terrorist and he was not just a body they could discard and replace to teach some patron a lesson. 

Book Review: Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine / ★★★ 1/2

One sentence summary: A Romeo and Juliet retelling in which Benvolio Montague is the Prince of Shadows, thieving by night as his best friend Mercutio hopelessly loves a boy, his cousin Romeo falls helplessly in love with Juliet Capulet, and Benvolio feels the pull of her cousin Rosaline as a dark curse unravels them all.

It was more than infatuation, more than love.

It was something darker than that, and with a darker end.

Book Review: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz / ★★★★☆

One sentence summary: Sal, adopted at age three by a gay father, is part of a loving Mexian-American family, but begins to question himself and his identity when he starts getting into fights and suddenly finds himself surrounded by grief.

I knew that my father would say that hurting another human being just because he hurt you is no way to live your life. And maybe he was right. But that thought didn’t live inside me.