Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a Books with Colours in the Title. Here’s my list:
1. Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
2. Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
3. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
4. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
5. The Grey Sisters by Jo Treggiari
6. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
7. The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes
8. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
9. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
10. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
(All photos taken from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
Title: Loathe at First Sight Author: Suzanne Park Genre: Romance, Contemporary Publisher: Avon Source: Publisher via Edelweiss Format: Ebook Release Date: August 18, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Melody Joo is thrilled to land her dream job as a video game producer, but her new position comes with its share of challenges. Namely, an insufferable CEO and a team that consists of mostly male co-workers who make the term “misogyny” pale in comparison to their obnoxious comments. Then there’s the infuriating—yet distractingly handsome—MBA intern Nolan MacKenzie, a.k.a. “the guy who got hired because his uncle is the boss”.
Just when Melody thinks she’s made the worst career move of her life, her luck changes on a dime. While joking with a friend, she creates a mobile game that has male strippers fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Suddenly, Melody’s “joke” is her studio’s most high-profile project—and Melody’s running the show.
When Nolan is appointed a key member of her team, Melody’s sure he’ll be useless. But as they grow closer, she sees he’s smart and sexy, which makes Melody want to forget he’s her intern. As their attraction deepens, she knows it’s time to pump the brakes even with her Korean parents breathing down her neck to hurry up and find a man. But she’s here to work—and nothing more. All she has to do is resist the wild thoughts coursing through her mind whenever Nolan is near. Easy . . . or so she thinks.
With her pet project about to launch, Melody suddenly faces a slew of complications, including a social media trolling scandal that could end her career. She suspects one of her co-workers is behind the sabotage and is determined to find out who betrayed her. Could the man she’s falling hard for help her play the game to win—in work and love?
Review:
Melody Joo has her dream job as a video game producer. She has to deal with disrespectful and insulting remarks from men just because she is an Asian woman. When Melody and another female producer joke about making a game for women featuring male strippers, the CEO of the company decides to create the game to appeal to more female gamers. Melody is given the lead role for the game creation, with an almost impossible release date in six months. Melody has to work with the annoying intern, Nolan, who got the job because his uncle is the CEO. The details of the game are leaked from someone in the company, leading to Melody being harassed online and even getting death threats. Nolan becomes an unlikely ally for Melody throughout the development of the game.
This story explores sexual harassment of women who work in technology. I was shocked at some of the things that were said to Melody in this story. They were often said to her face by her coworkers. There was even a scene where they attempted to have a sexual conduct meeting, which failed miserably with the men calling Melody names. These scenes were quite disturbing, but unfortunately they were realistic.
The only parts of this book that could be changed are the title and cover. From the title and cover, I couldn’t tell that it was about video game production. I also didn’t realize that the main character was Korean. Her Korean heritage was mentioned a lot in the story with her hilarious parents calling her all the time. She was also recognized as a minority at her office, which the men thought was a great way to diversify the office, though most of the workers were white men. A different title and cover that shows the importance of video games in the story would give a hint to what the story is about.
This is a great story!
Thank you HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway
The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park
Have you read Loathe at First Sight? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Melody Joo is thrilled to land her dream job as a video game producer, but her new position comes with its share of challenges. Namely, an insufferable CEO and a team that consists of mostly male co-workers who make the term “misogyny” pale in comparison to their obnoxious comments. Then there’s the infuriating—yet distractingly handsome—MBA intern Nolan MacKenzie, a.k.a. “the guy who got hired because his uncle is the boss”.
Just when Melody thinks she’s made the worst career move of her life, her luck changes on a dime. While joking with a friend, she creates a mobile game that has male strippers fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Suddenly, Melody’s “joke” is her studio’s most high-profile project—and Melody’s running the show.
When Nolan is appointed a key member of her team, Melody’s sure he’ll be useless. But as they grow closer, she sees he’s smart and sexy, which makes Melody want to forget he’s her intern. As their attraction deepens, she knows it’s time to pump the brakes even with her Korean parents breathing down her neck to hurry up and find a man. But she’s here to work—and nothing more. All she has to do is resist the wild thoughts coursing through her mind whenever Nolan is near. Easy . . . or so she thinks.
With her pet project about to launch, Melody suddenly faces a slew of complications, including a social media trolling scandal that could end her career. She suspects one of her co-workers is behind the sabotage and is determined to find out who betrayed her. Could the man she’s falling hard for help her play the game to win—in work and love?
Title: The Mall Author: Megan McCafferty Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Wednesday Books Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: July 28, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty returns to her roots with this YA coming of age story set in a New Jersey mall.
The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. Megan McCafferty, beloved New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, takes readers on an epic trip back in time to The Mall.
Review:
The year is 1991. After recovering from a six week long illness of mono, Cassie is ready to start her summer job at a cookie store in the mall before she heads to college in NYC. She arrives for her first day of work with her boyfriend, Troy, only to find him kissing another girl. Her life is flipped upside down, after she loses her job and her life plans with her boyfriend. However, Cassie doesn’t want to tell her parents that she doesn’t have a job anymore. She finds another job at a clothing store with her ex-best friend, Drea. Drea decides to solve a mystery at the mall with Cassie. Cassie and Drea follow clues of Cabbage Patch Kids throughout the mall to find a hidden treasure.
This story was a lot of fun. I loved that it all took place at the mall. I relived so many of my memories of going to malls as a kid in the 90s while reading this book. For kids who don’t know what that atmosphere was like, think of the mall in the third season of Stranger Things. Though there were some devastating parts, like when Cassie discovered her boyfriend cheating on her, there were also some lighter scenes. The absurd treasure hunt using Cabbage Patch Kids was clever and funny at the same time.
One problem with this book is that I don’t think a young adult audience in 2020 will understand all of the references to things from the 80s and 90s. Some of these references include Cabbage Patch Kids, the show 90210, and cassette tapes. I asked my teenage cousin if she was familiar with these things and she had only heard of Cabbage Patch Kids. I didn’t understand the jokes about 90210, even though I was born in the 90s. Though these references aren’t necessarily important to understanding the plot, it could be frustrating and create distance for the young adult reader if they don’t understand the atmosphere of the story.
I really enjoyed this story!
Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Say Yes Summer by Lindsey Roth Culli
More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn
About the author:
Megan McCafferty writes fiction for tweens, teens and teens-at-heart of all ages. The author of several novels, she’s best known for Sloppy Firsts and several more books in the New York Times bestselling Jessica Darling series. Described in her first review as “Judy Blume meets Dorothy Parker” (Wall Street Journal), she’s been trying to live up to that high standard ever since.
