May 2024 – Page 2 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Marina in the Middle (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #2)

Title: Marina in the Middle (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #2)
Author: Nicole Melleby
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary, LGBTQ
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 9, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The second book in Nicole Melleby’s Sunrise Lagoon series follows Marina, the middle child, in a beautiful, heartfelt exploration of what it means to be brave and how a big family means you never need to be lonely.

If you want to get to know Marina Ali-O’Connor, you need to know three things:

One, despite her name, Marina is secretly afraid of the ocean.

Two, she wanted to be one of the Oldest Siblings, but is stuck smack dab in the middle.

Three, she’s pretty certain she’s the Extra Ali-O’Connor kid, the forgotten one.

When Boom, a budding filmmaker exactly Marina’s age, moves in across the lagoon, she decides that Marina’s quest to become someone’s favorite Ali-O’Connor would make a perfect documentary. So they get to work, coming up with ways to calm Marina’s anxiety. But when each plan goes a little bit wrong, Marina begins to wonder if she’ll ever feel like she belongs or if she’ll always be lost in the middle.

Review:

Marina is the middle child in the Ali-O’Conner family. She’s suddenly become scared of the water and boats, which is a problem since her family lives on Sunrise Lagoon and her mom has a boat repair business. Marina feels like the forgotten sibling. Her two older sisters look like her mom and they like boats just like her too. Her mama gave birth to her two younger sisters, which bonded them together. Marina wants to be someone’s favourite person in the family. Her new friend Boom suggests that Marina spend time with each family member to see if they would pick Marina as their favourite. Marina tests each of her family members, but she ends up in some dangerous situations.

This was a great story in the House on Sunrise Lagoon series. Like the first book, this one was about one of the sisters who doesn’t feel like she belongs in the family. They have some complex dynamics, since two of the girls are adopted and three are biological daughters of their moms. I love the well developed characters in this series. The third book, which is about Harbor, the oldest sister in the family, was just published this week!

Marina in the Middle is a great middle grade summer story!

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

Sam Makes a Splash (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #1)
Halfway to Harbor (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #3)

Have you read Marina in the Middle? What did you think of it?

Happy Pub Day – May 7

Happy Pub Day to these authors!

The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon

The Things We Miss by Leah Stecher

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau

Queens of Themiscyra by Hannah Lynn

Halfway to Harbor by Nicole Melleby

Love at First Knight by Megan Clawson

Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

Thank you Candlewick, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Simon and Schuster Canada, Tor Publishing Group, Atria, Sourcebooks Landmark, Algonquin Young Readers, HarperCollins Canada, and Minotaur Books for providing copies of these books!

What books are you most excited for this week?

Review: Red Kingdom (Fairy Tale Retellings #2)

Title: Red Kingdom (Fairy Tale Retellings #2)
Author: Rachel L. Demeter
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Self Published
Source: Author
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 10, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Little Red Riding Hood reimagined with a dark and realistic twist.

Princess Blanchette’s world shatters when the Black Wolf tears apart her castle and everything she holds dear. All she clings to is the vow she made to her grandmother on her deathbed.

Hailed as the people’s champion, Sir Rowan Dietrich liberates the capital in a quest for vengeance. He takes Winslowe Castle with an army at his back and his wolf, Smoke, at his side.

United by a shared cause and powerful attraction, Rowan and Blanchette embark on a journey of self-discovery and redemption—a path filled with loss, transformation, and ultimately, the healing power of love.

Can Norland’s resplendent princess, with her captivating beauty and spirit, tame the fabled Black Wolf?

Inspired by the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Red Kingdom is a passionate, slow-burn historical romance about the enduring quest for love and the longing for a world at harmony.

Review:

When the Black Wolf of Norland invades the palace and kills most of the royal family, Princess Blanchette thinks it will be the end of her life too. Her parents, brother, and grandmother were brutally murdered by the Black Wolf’s soldiers. Rowan Dietrich, the soldier known as the Black Wolf, never intended to torture Blanchette with the deaths of her family members. He wanted revenge on the King, who he used to work for before he turned on Rowan. Rowan and Blanchette discover they share a lot of the same trauma in their pasts, with losing the people they loved most. This brings them together in a slow burn romance with unexpected twists along the way.

Red Kingdom is a dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Though it isn’t exactly like the fairytale, there were some references to the story, such as the red cape that Blanchette wore that her grandmother made for her. This story was quite dark and bloody with unexpected twists. I couldn’t help but gasp at some of the reveals in the story. It was so hard to put down this book, despite many heartbreaking scenes.

Red Kingdom is a cleverly plotted dark romance!

Thank you Rachel L. Demeter and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign.

Content warnings: death, parental death, child death, suicide, murder, blood, rape, animal death

Other books in the series:

Beauty of the Beast

Have you read Red Kingdom? What did you think of it?

Review: Sam Makes a Splash (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #1)

Title: Sam Makes a Splash (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #1)
Author: Nicole Melleby
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 9, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From acclaimed author Nicole Melleby comes a cheerful, uplifting story of family and belonging, the first in new series perfect for fans of the Vanderbeekers and the Penderwicks.

If you want to get to know eleven-year-old Samantha Ali-O’Connor, you need to know three things:

One, she isn’t the only one of her siblings who is adopted, but she is the only one whose name isn’t inspired by the ocean.

Two, she and Harbor always compete with each other to be the best Oldest Sibling—and just about everything else.

And three, she is determined to prove she’s a real Ali-O’Connor by taking over the family business, repairing and chartering boats.

Except there’s a Capital-P Problem: Her mothers have been Serious Whispering about selling the business before summer’s end! Sam needs to come up with a plan, quick, before Harbor finds out. And before Sam loses her chance to inherit the business and be an Ali-O’Connor forever.

Review:

Eleven-year-old Samantha Ali-O’Conner doesn’t feel like she belongs in her family. She’s one of two adopted siblings, but all of the other kids have names that are related to the ocean. She’s always competing with her sister Harbor, who is four months older than her and also has one of her mom’s boats named after her. Samantha thinks that the one way she could really belong in the family is to take over her mom’s boat repair business when she’s older. However, that may not be possible when she overhears her moms talking about closing the business. Samantha needs to come up with a plan to save her family’s legacy so she can finally belong.

This was such a great middle grade novel. I loved the character development. There were eight members of the Ali-O’Conner family, as well as many neighbours in the story, but they all felt like distinct, real people. Samantha’s story was relatable. Every child feels like they don’t belong somewhere at some point in their life, just like Samantha felt in her family.

Samantha Makes a Splash is a great middle grade story!

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

Marina in the Middle (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #2)
Halfway to Harbor (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #3)

Have you read Sam Makes a Splash? What did you think of it?