Tag: romance

3.5 star, YA

Review: You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day.

Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out–he’s been working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up…. again.

So when Cal pulls into campus late for class and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They’ll ditch and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say…

Until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school–and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse.

It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common. They all have a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something.

Now they’re all wondering–could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?

From the author of One of Us Is Lying comes a brand-new pulse-pounding thriller. It’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with murder when three old friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly–and fatally–wrong.

I have been a fan of Karen McManus since her debut novel came out. She’s the reigning queen of YA mysteries for a reason, but in that way, I expect a lot from her writing. While You’ll Be the Death of Me is not bad by any means, it also wasn’t the best that I’ve come to expect.

Our 3 protagonists were friends in middle school that had once played hooky together and cemented their friendship, but due to some circumstances, they split up prior to high school. But on this day, all 3 come together by coincidence and decide to play hooky once again – maybe to recreate that amazing day they had.

While the story takes over the course of a literal day, the suspenseful aspect didn’t really hit me. The mystery takes a little while to get to because it takes place after the 3 friends are already together and skipped school. In all honesty, this piece felt more focused on the characters than only the mystery, which is still standard McManus writing but usually I find there’s more of a balance.

Okay, so this character-focused story may feature other secondary characters but it truly follows just the protagonists as we go around Boston with them. Of the 3 main characters, I empathized with Ivy the most, and not simply because she’s the only girl of the trio. I understood the immense pressure she put on herself to be the best, especially when she had an extraordinary genius for a younger brother. But I will say I enjoyed Cal’s POV a lot since he was someone that felt different from other characters I usually read from. He struggled with fitting in but not in the sense that he was bullied or anything. He just slipped between groups so easily that his presence was invisible at times. Mateo was probably the character I associated least with, but only because his perspective felt more reactionary to things Cal or Ivy said or did.

I liked that none of them were perfect. Each of them had their own secrets that slowly came to light over the day, and oddly enough had something to do with the murder victim in some way. This is some good storytelling for a mystery while highlighting the humanity of each teen. They’re not just props for a horrible crime but real people with their own problems that had unintended consequences.

As always, there’s a little bit of romance present too, but Mateo and Ivy’s rekindled feelings felt lacking in some way. The focus wasn’t on them, but it also didn’t add as much to the overall mystery or story in the same vein as other romances worked in Karen’s previous works.

That said, I wasn’t really sure where this story was going for the crime. It wasn’t suspenseful but it also wasn’t super predictable. I normally guessed the culprit (or at least some of the twists) in Karen’s other books, but I honestly wasn’t sure what to think here. That should be a great thing, but it lacked a bit of that wow factor I sometimes look for. The ending made sense when wrapped up all together like that, but I’m still left feeling like it overall missed something that would make it outstanding.

And that little final twist at the end? McManus-style final twists I normally find unsettling, but this one just made me upset. Like there’s this huge piece that was unresolved and we won’t ever get to see what comes of it. Maybe that works for some, but not for me apparently.

All of this to say in short, You’ll Be the Death of Me is a good mystery even with my nitpicky comments. If it came from any other author, I’d probably would’ve loved it. I still gobbled this story up in a day, but it was missing the extra Karen McManus magic I’ve come to love.

Overall Recommendation:

Karen McManus’ latest mystery You’ll Be the Death of Me is a Ferris Bueller-based story featuring a trio of previous friends that literally have the worst day ever when they land themselves with a horrible crime. Lacking in a suspense even with the shortened time period, this story felt more focused on the 3 protagonists than the mystery at hand, an imbalance I don’t normally feel from McManus’ books. However, I did enjoy the POVs of the trio and each of their unique voices as they rushed to solve the mystery (and hopefully not implicate themselves further). There’s nothing largely wrong with this story, but perhaps my expectations for the queen of YA mystery were somewhat let down by this one. If you enjoy mysteries in general and come into it with more of an open mind, it’s an interesting premise with twists I didn’t see coming.

2 star, NA

Review: Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Blood and Ash #2

A Betrayal…

Everything Poppy has ever believed in is a lie, including the man she was falling in love with. Thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. But what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as him. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that’s one order she’s more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her.

A Choice…

Casteel Da’Neer is known by many names and many faces. His lies are as seductive as his touch. His truths as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive, healthy, and whole to achieve his goals. But he’s the only way for her to get what she wants—to find her brother Ian and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. Working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she’s ever wanted. Casteel has plans for her. Ones that could expose her to unimaginable pleasure and unfathomable pain. Plans that will force her to look beyond everything she thought she knew about herself—about him. Plans that could bind their lives together in unexpected ways that neither kingdom is prepared for. And she’s far too reckless, too hungry, to resist the temptation.

A Secret…

But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince. Whispers of war have become stronger, and Poppy is at the very heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message. The Descenters want her dead. The wolven are growing more unpredictable. And as her abilities to feel pain and emotion begin to grow and strengthen, the Atlantians start to fear her. Dark secrets are at play, ones steeped in the blood-drenched sins of two kingdoms that would do anything to keep the truth hidden. But when the earth begins to shake, and the skies start to bleed, it may already be too late.

I don’t understand why everyone loves this series, but Kingdom of Flesh and Fire was even harder to get through than its predecessor.

For such a long book, it’s entirely focused on Poppy’s feelings for Hawke, aka The Dark One aka Casteel, the enemy she was told about all her sheltered life. I get it, she’s been betrayed and she’s literally given him everything about herself. Of course there’s ramifications to deal with in the aftermath of what happened. BUT, this book spends TOO much time on this compared to growing the new lore of the Atlantians.

I have nothing against romance but this long book can be summarized with travel from Poppy’s home in Masadonia out east wherever the Atlantians are taking her, and her conflicting feelings for Casteel. Travel + romantic angst for 500+ pages is NOT a fantasy book. I don’t mind either, but it just was not interesting!

There were little tidbits signalling more about Poppy’s “Chosen One” status. While I don’t usually have a big problem with this trope, it’s just emphasized so much how she’s this precious gem that both sides of the conflict want that it starts getting tiresome. Why is she so important? We don’t get any answers here, and only until the very end of the book does it get interesting with this element of the story.

I’m keeping this review short because I honestly don’t have much more to say. It felt like a filler story wherein Poppy and Casteel deal with their “feelings” and Casteel’s people do not like her because they didn’t expect these feelings to be real. Poppy develops more powers – because of course a Chosen One has to be powerful in ways that is like no other – and we don’t get any answers so hold onto your hats for book 3! Just…I’m tired, friends. Yet I will probably still read the next one just to finally get some answers for my own morbid curiosity.

Overall Recommendation:

Apparently I’m a sucker for punishment because Kingdom of Flesh and Fire was barely a fantasy story with hardly much action or lore being added in a valuable manner. It could’ve been way shorter for the amount of non-action happening. The focus is on the romantic angst and conflict between Poppy and her dark prince, Casteel. If that’s what you’re looking for, then by all means, go ahead. Otherwise, this completely suffers from Middle Book Syndrome and I would recommend almost skipping most of it until the last 10 chapters or so before it actually gets somewhere. Will I be present for book 3? Didn’t I mention I’m a sucker for punishment already?

4.5 star, YA

Review: You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail.

And Sam picks up the phone.

In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.

Bring out all those tissues, because I was completely right and You’ve Reached Sam jerked those tear ducts. HARD.

I have absolutely no words to use to describe this beautiful story. It made me cry (during work of all places!) and my heart ache for Sam and Julie.

This is a story about grief. But it is so much more than just what that word may imply. When Sam died tragically, Julie was left with a world that was devoid of the one person she was literally planning her future with. On the brink of high school graduation, what does one do?

In a series of flashbacks that presented as Julie’s dreams mixed with memories, we get to see Sam and Julie’s story from the first moment they met and all the little moments that made up their relationship. I loved this part because it made us understand who they each were, but also how they were together. And of course, it made me fall in love with Sam and their relationship even more.

Julie’s first reaction to handling grief was to cut everything out of her life that brought memories of Sam. That meant his clothes, his presents for her, everything. Some of it may have come with feelings of guilt for how Sam ended up dying, but it definitely was different from how the others in Sam’s circle were dealing with his death.

And that is ultimately a big thing explored here: everyone handles their grief differently. But that doesn’t mean they each have to be isolated in finding their way back to some semblance of living.

I love how it explored Sam’s closest relationships and how their relationship with one another changed and evolved after such a tragedy. And a tragedy this sure was because he was so young, he had barely lived out his dreams yet.

But back to the heart of the story. This is about Julie’s connection with Sam. And in some magical way, they were able to connect from the beyond and be able to still talk to each other. This is what made the story special, and also super heartbreaking. Because we all know it – this can’t possibly last forever. Julie will have to learn to let him go at some point.

The prose was beautiful. I loved Sam and Julie’s conversations so much. I loved seeing how she struggled with doing things in her life that felt like moving on in some miniscule way but only to fall away from it because of her still-present connection with Sam. Their relationship wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows, as it wouldn’t realistically be, but these were two people who loved one another deeply and made my cynical heart believe could’ve survived a high school romance into adulthood.

We were two parts of a song – he was the music and I was the words.

The ending almost broke me, in the best of ways, I suppose. I had to listen to this as an audiobook – I was so afraid I’d be crying so hard I wouldn’t be able to see the words. I needed to be able to get through the ending faster that would inevitably have me in a puddle of my own tears.

I won’t ruin the beauty of the conversations and the growth in Julie and those closest to Sam. I would want you to experience that firsthand yourself if this review has piqued your interest. I normally avoid books that I know will break my heart, but there was just something about this book that drew me in from the start.

I wondered why someone would want to intentionally experience [something that’d make you cry in a way you’ve never cried before]. I think I figured it out.

You want to feel something. Something meaningful and intense. You want to feel that thing in your heart and stomach. You want to be moved, to care about something or fall in love, you know….It makes you feel alive.

Dustin Thao, you’re a genius and your gut-wrenching story deservedly launched to #2 on the NYT bestseller list. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Overall Recommendation:

You’ve Reached Sam is a heartbreaking story of loss and grief in a young life tragically gone too soon. Dealing with the aftermath of her boyfriend’s death, Julie struggles to move on when a magical connection through their phones allows them to communicate with each other, even from the beyond. Mixed with flashback dreams of their relationship and the present day haze of grief, this story will unlock those tear ducts as Julie inevitably needs to learn to let him go. Explorations of the different ways people handle grief, especially among those who were all near to the same loved one, was one of the highlights of this novel. But ultimately, Julie’s journey navigating life after Sam is one that was written with the most beautiful prose fitting for her story. I am overjoyed I found my way to this book, and you should definitely find your way here too.