Contemporary – Page 20 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Katzenjammer

Title: Katzenjammer
Author: Francesca Zappia
Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Contemporary
Publisher: HCC Frenzy
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: June 28, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cat lives in her high school. She never leaves, and for a long time her school has provided her with everything she needs. But now things are changing. The hallways contract and expand along with the school’s breathing, and the showers in the bathroom run a bloody red. Cat’s best friend is slowly turning into cardboard, and instead of a face, Cat has a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh.
Cat doesn’t remember why she is trapped in her school or why half of them—Cat included—are slowly transforming. Escaping has always been the one impossibility in her school’s upside-down world. But to save herself from the eventual self-destruction all the students face, Cat must find the way out. And to do that, she’ll have to remember what put her there in the first place.

Review:

Cat lives in her high school along with a bunch of other students. None of them are able to leave. The school expands and contracts like it’s breathing, and the showers pour with blood. Cat wears a cat mask that she can’t remove, and her best friend, Jeffrey, is turning into cardboard. Many of them are transforming into animals or inanimate objects. The problem is that Cat doesn’t know why or how they got there. As she slowly regains her memories, she discovers the events that led them there.

This story was very good but also very unusual. It was inspired by the story Metamorphosis by Kafka, in which the main character wakes up to discover he has turned into an insect. This story was complex and disturbing. It’s one of those stories that I can’t say much about without spoiling it.

There were some disturbing scenes, but that’s expected with a horror. There was a lot of trauma experienced in the present story, along with bullying in Cat’s memories of the before time. The one thing that I didn’t like at the end was that there were a lot of questions left with open ended answers. I prefer it when everything is answered at the end, but that’s just my preference.

Katzenjammer is a suspenseful, high school horror story!

Thank you HCCFrenzy for sending me a copy of this book.

Review: Out of the Blue

Title: Out of the Blue
Author: Jason June
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 31, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Crest is not excited to be on their Journey: the monthlong sojourn on land all teen merfolk must undergo. The rules are simple: Help a human within one moon cycle and return to Pacifica to become an Elder–or fail and remain stuck on land forever. Crest is eager to get their Journey over and done with: after all, humans are disgusting. They’ve pollluted the planet so much that there’s a floating island of trash that’s literally the size of a country.
In Los Angeles with a human body and a new name, Crest meets Sean, a human lifeguard whose boyfriend has recently dumped him. Crest agrees to help Sean make his ex jealous and win him back. But as the two spend more time together and Crest’s pespective on humans begins to change, they’ll soon be torn between two worlds. And fake dating just might lead to real feelings…
This instant New York Times bestselling novel from Jason June dives into the many definitions of the world home and shows how love can help us find the truest versions of ourselves.

Review:

Crest is a mer, who lives in the Blue, and must go on the journey that all of the merfolk do, which is go on land and help a human. When Crest goes on land, they go by the name Ross, and meet Sean. Sean is a lifeguard, whose boyfriend has just dumped him for another swimmer. When Sean’s ex boyfriend sees him with Ross and looks jealous, Sean realizes he can use Ross to make his ex jealous and want to get back together. Ross agrees to it since that will fulfill their journey by helping Sean. As Sean and Ross fulfill all their tasks for their fake dating plan, they end up developing real feelings for each other, which makes them wonder what will happen when Ross’s journey is finished and it’s time to return to the Blue.

This story was set in contemporary Los Angeles, but it was a world where fantasy creatures exist. Mer can go on land, losing their tails and taking on a human appearance. There were other supernatural creatures mentioned, like vampires and elves, so hopefully more of this world will be described in other novels.

I enjoyed the gendered exploration in this novel. Mer were a gender neutral species, so Ross went by the pronoun “they.” It’s ironic, since we usually talk about “mermaids” as being female, and don’t usually mention a male equivalent. Making all mer gender neutral meant there were no mermaids or mermen. They were all mer.

Out of the Blue is a great original story!

Review: Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun (Onyeka #1)

Title: Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun
Author: Tọlá Okogwu
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Fantasy
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: June 14, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Black Panther meets X-Men in this action-packed and empowering middle grade adventure about a British Nigerian girl who learns that her Afro hair has psychokinetic powers—perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, The Marvellers, and Rick Riordan!
Onyeka has a lot of hair—the kind that makes strangers stop in the street and her peers whisper behind her back. At least she has Cheyenne, her best friend, who couldn’t care less what other people think. Still, Onyeka has always felt insecure about her vibrant curls…until the day Cheyenne almost drowns and Onyeka’s hair takes on a life of its own, inexplicably pulling Cheyenne from the water.
At home, Onyeka’s mother tells her the shocking truth: Onyeka’s psycho-kinetic powers make her a Solari, one of a secret group of people with super powers unique to Nigeria. Her mother quickly whisks her off to the Academy of the Sun, a school in Nigeria where Solari are trained. But Onyeka and her new friends at the academy soon have to put their powers to the test as they find themselves embroiled in a momentous battle between truth and lies…

Review:

Onyeka has a lot of hair that is out of control most of the time. One day, when her friend begins to drown, Onyeka swims after her, and her hair somehow pulls them both out. Onyeka’s mother tells her that she’s inherited these special powers from her father, who was a Solari. The Solari are a group of people with super powers in Nigeria. Her mother brings her to Nigeria to find her father and get answers on how to control her newfound power at the Academy of the Sun.

This book is described as Black Panther meets X-Men and that’s the perfect comparison! Most of the story was set in Nigeria, in an advanced school filled with kids who have various super powers. The school was divided in four groups, by the type of power students had. The groups had to compete against each other and all the students had to compete against one another with grades and challenges.

I loved the message that something that was perceived as a weakness is actually strength. Onyeka’s mom had strict rules for how she had to treat her hair. It was often a mess and going in every direction, until she learned how to control it. What she thought was her weakness ended up being the source of her super power.

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is a great start to a middle school adventure series.

Thank you Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book.

Review: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (Her Majesty’s Royal Coven #1)

Title: Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (Her Majesty’s Royal Coven #1)
Author: Juno Dawson
Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: May 31, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Discovery of Witches meets The Craft in this the first installment of this epic fantasy trilogy about a group of childhood friends who are also witches.
If you look hard enough at old photographs, we’re there in the background: healers in the trenches; Suffragettes; Bletchley Park oracles; land girls and resistance fighters. Why is it we help in times of crisis? We have a gift. We are stronger than Mundanes, plain and simple.

At the dawn of their adolescence, on the eve of the summer solstice, four young girls–Helena, Leonie, Niamh and Elle–took the oath to join Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, established by Queen Elizabeth I as a covert government department. Now, decades later, the witch community is still reeling from a civil war and Helena is now the reigning High Priestess of the organization. Yet Helena is the only one of her friend group still enmeshed in the stale bureaucracy of HMRC. Elle is trying to pretend she’s a normal housewife, and Niamh has become a country vet, using her powers to heal sick animals. In what Helena perceives as the deepest betrayal, Leonie has defected to start her own more inclusive and intersectional coven, Diaspora. And now Helena has a bigger problem. A young warlock of extraordinary capabilities has been captured by authorities and seems to threaten the very existence of HMRC. With conflicting beliefs over the best course of action, the four friends must decide where their loyalties lie: with preserving tradition, or doing what is right.
Juno Dawson explores gender and the corrupting nature of power in a delightful and provocative story of magic and matriarchy, friendship and feminism. Dealing with all the aspects of contemporary womanhood, as well as being phenomenally powerful witches, Niamh, Helena, Leonie and Elle may have grown apart but they will always be bound by the sisterhood of the coven.

Review:

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven was established by Queen Elizabeth I to protect her. Now, centuries later, Helena is the High Priestess, leader of the coven. Her friends are: Niamh, a vet who uses her powers to heal animals, Elle, a housewife leading a secret life as a witch, and Leona, who left to create her own intersectional coven. After Helena discovers a young warlock with extraordinary powers they’ve never seen before, she brings him to be trained and examined by Niamh. However, the warlock holds a lot of secrets which threaten to turn the coven upside down.

As soon as I saw this title I knew I needed to read this book, but I went into the story without knowing what it was about. It was a fantastic witchy story that we need right now.

This story explores gender and gender stereotypes. This witch world was divided into female witches and male warlocks with nothing in between. However, when a transgender character entered the novel, it threw some of them off. There was a lot of transphobia which was disturbing to read, but that’s the point. The real world and fictional fantasy worlds have not been nice to transgender people, especially in recent years. This intersectional look at witches was such an important and powerful read.

The final few chapters of this book were completely shocking and unpredictable. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

Thank you Penguin Books for sending me a copy of this book.

Review: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

Title: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet
Author: Jen Ferguson
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Heartdrum
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this complex and emotionally resonant novel, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person—and the sweetness that can still live alongside the bitterest truth.
Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She’ll be working in her family’s ice cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend—whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort—and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word.
But when she gets a letter from her biological father—a man she hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life—Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him, no matter how much he insists.
While King’s friendship makes Lou feel safer and warmer than she would have thought possible, when her family’s business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can’t ignore her father forever.

Review:

Lou is spending her last summer before starting university working at her uncles’ ice cream shack on the prairies. Her best friend Florence is working with her, as well as her newly ex-boyfriend Wyatt, who she wasn’t physically attracted to, and her old friend King Nathan, who is visiting from Toronto. One day, she receives a threatening letter from her biological father, who is supposed to be in prison for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, her mother is away for the summer, and she doesn’t want to share her troubles with her uncles who are struggling to pay the bills. Lou finds comfort in reviving her friendship with King, while trying to figure out how to stop her father from destroying her and her family.

This was a very emotional read. Lou had a lot of trauma in her past, from what happened to her mother and generational trauma as a Native woman in Canada. I appreciated that the author had a note at the beginning that warned of some potential triggers that are in the book, and she said it was okay if you couldn’t read it at this time. I tend to avoid emotional reads but after reading that author’s note, I felt like I was in safe hands with this book.

This book dealt with serious issues, such as racism, rape, and sexual assault, but it was written in a beautiful way. Lou was half white and half Métis, so she could pass for white, which she did when she was in school. That was compared to her friend King Nathan, who was Black, and couldn’t pass for white. Lou’s biological father threatened to take her family’s land from them, which reflected the way the land was stolen from the Indigenous peoples in Canada. Though these were serious topics, this story was beautifully crafted.

Most of this book was difficult to read because of the trauma that Lou and her friends faced, and if it’s difficult to read on a page, I can’t imagine what it would feel like to experience these things. At the same time, I’m very glad that this story has been written for a younger generation, and I’m glad that I read it.

Blog Tour Review: Slip

Title: Slip
Author: Marika McCoola, Aatmaja Pandya
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, LGBTQ, Contemporary
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 7, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From Eisner-Award nominated writer Marika McCoola and debut artist Aatmaja Pandya, an emotional coming-of-age graphic novel for fans of Bloom and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me.
Right before Jade is about to leave for a summer art intensive, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. How is Jade supposed to focus on herself right now?
But at the Art Farm, Jade has artistic opportunities she’s been waiting for her whole life. And as she gets to know her classmates, she begins to fall for whimsical, upbeat, comfortable-in-her-own-skin Mary. Jade pours herself into making ceramic monsters that vent her stress and insecurities, but when she puts her creatures in the kiln, something unreal happens: they come to life. And they’re taking a stand: if Jade won’t confront her problems, her problems are going to confront her, including the scariest of them all—if Jade grows, prospers, and even falls in love this summer, is she leaving Phoebe behind?

Review:

Jade is a young artist who has the opportunity to go to an art camp and possibly get a scholarship to an art school. However, right before she leaves, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. Jade is reluctant to leave her, but Phoebe needs to go into treatment. Jade finds it hard to stop worrying about Phoebe and blaming herself for what happened, but when she reaches deep down for those strong emotions, she can make her best art yet.

Jade’s art form that she created was pottery. I took pottery classes for years, so I loved seeing all of the familiar tools. One tricky thing about pottery is that the creation is partly out of your control when it’s put in the kiln. Jade had to deal with one of her pieces ruining the work of another artist. It’s a tricky art form but can be beautiful.

I appreciated the portrayal of mental health in this graphic novel. Though it doesn’t show the perspective of the person who attempted suicide, we can see the way it affected people around her. Jade blamed herself for not being there for Phoebe and she didn’t want to enjoy her time at the art camp because of it. In this way, Phoebe’s mental health struggles were reflected in Jade.

Slip is a beautiful graphic novel with an important message.

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for providing a digital copy of this book.

Review: Book of Night

Title: Book of Night
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary
Publisher: Tor Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Holly Black makes her adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies.
In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.
Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

Review:

In this world, shadows can be altered and can sometimes take on a life of their own. Charlie Hall is a con artist with a bartending day job, with a sister who is obsessed with shadows. When Charlie is approached for a new job, she reluctantly takes it. This job thrusts her into the world of shadows, which is closer to her than she imagined.

I’m sorry to say this book was disappointing for me. I went into the story blind, and I had no idea what was going on for quite a while. The first third of it was slow paced, then there was a surprising twist that made it pick up the pace but then the momentum slowed when the story became too complicated.

I think this story should have been longer, with more descriptive characters or shorter with a simpler plot. By the end, I had most of the male characters mixed up, especially when they were in the same room. The characters were also so similar that I couldn’t differentiate between them.

I really wanted to love this book, but it didn’t work for me.

Review: Four Aunties and a Wedding

Title: Four Aunties and a Wedding (Aunties #2)
Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 29, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now the day has arrived, and she can’t wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests. As a compromise, they find the perfect wedding vendors: a Chinese-Indonesian family-run company just like theirs. Meddy is hesitant at first, but she hits it off right away with the wedding photographer, Staphanie, who reminds Meddy of herself, down to the unfortunately misspelled name.
Meddy realizes that is where their similarities end, however, when she overhears Staphanie talking about taking out a target. Horrified, Meddy can’t believe Staphanie and her family aren’t just like her own, they are The Family–actual mafia, and they’re using Meddy’s wedding as a chance to conduct shady business. Her aunties and mother won’t let Meddy’s wedding ceremony become a murder scene–over their dead bodies–and will do whatever it takes to save her special day, even if it means taking on the mafia.
The aunties are back, fiercer than ever and ready to handle any catastrophe–even the mafia–in this delightful and hilarious sequel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties.

Review:

Meddy Chen has worked at countless weddings, but it’s finally time for her own. Her mother and aunties find a Chinese-Indonesian family-run wedding company for Meddy’s wedding. The family is a mirror image of Meddy’s, including Staphanie, their wedding photographer, who can relate to Meddy’s problems with her family. However, the night before the wedding, Meddy overhears Staphanie talk about taking out a target at the wedding. Staphanie’s family isn’t a wedding vendor. They’re actually mafia, using Meddy’s wedding to murder someone. Meddy’s aunties and mother have to help her figure out who the target is and stop the mafia family before they ruin Meddy’s wedding.

This story was a funny sequel, though not as funny as the first one. A lot of the humour from the first book came from the unexpected things that the aunties did to cover up the murder. I was expecting them to be outrageous in this story. However, there were some laugh out loud moments.

I also found this story much more intense than the first one. A lot of the antics that they did to try to figure out who the target was were more serious than funny. I couldn’t see how they were going to get out of this mess. In the end, the explanation made sense to me so I was pleased with what happened. I hope there will be another book in this series because these are such fun characters!

Four Aunties and a Wedding is a great rom com sequel to Dial A for Aunties!

Thank you Berkley Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Other books in the series:

Dial A for Aunties

Have you read Four Aunties and a Wedding? What did you think of it?

Review: Harvey Takes the Lead (Harvey #3)

Title: Harvey Takes the Lead (Harvey #3)
Author: Colleen Nelson, Tara Anderson (illustrator)
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Publisher: Pajama Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 17, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The award-winning Harvey Stories are back with a new story of acceptance, understanding, and the loving comfort of everyone’s favourite Westie.
There’s nothing quite like the loving companionship of a loyal dog. When Harvey’s status as Brayside’s comfort dog comes into question, the elderly residents are quick to stand up for him.
Mr. Kowalski, a longstanding Brayside resident, is struggling with his wife’s recent hospitalization. As Harvey watches over him, Mr. Kowalski shares stories of his youth during World War II—tales which fascinates Harvey’s friend Austin. At the same time, the newly appointed Assistant Director Hilary Appleby, the person who wants to get rid of Harvey, also creates unreasonable rules which make the residents of Brayside miserable.
The new school season for Austin and Harvey’s owner Maggie proves to be harder than expected. Maggie’s audition for the school play of Annie doesn’t go as planned, with the role she wanted going to Ndidi, who rarely comes out to rehearsals. Austin, for his part, is battling shame around not being able to afford a school trip.
Award-winning author Colleen Nelson and illustrator Tara Anderson team up once again to deliver another engaging story where Harvey’s exceptional nose leads Maggie and Austin to find resolution to the many challenges they face.
Themes of acceptance, understanding, and intergenerational friendships are the strengths of this middle-grade novel.

Review:

When Brayside retirement home gets a new assistant director, she decides to make new rules. These include, Harvey, the Westie, needing special permission to visit and having restrictions while there. Mr. Kowalski’s wife ends up hospitalized, so Harvey would be a great comfort to him. Maggie and Austin sneak Harvey in when they can, but they also have a lot of other issues to deal with. Maggie has auditioned to play Annie in her school play, but she’s given the understudy role and is disappointed. Austin wants to go on a special class trip, but he knows his mom can’t afford the expense. Maggie and Austin have to try to save the welcoming place they know Brayside can be, while also solving their problems along the way.

These Harvey books are so adorable. They get better with each book. Though they’re fairly short, there is a lot of information packed inside them. There is also incredible character development, so it feels like I’m reading about real people.

The issues at the retirement home were an important part of this story. The new assistant director thought she was doing the right thing by restricting Harvey’s visits and banning activities for the residents. However, these were things that they looked forward to, so it actually hurt their quality of life. I saw first hand at my grandmother’s nursing home how music and dogs can brighten up the residents. There were even non-verbal residents who would speak when they saw dogs or heard certain songs. I’m glad this was part of a children’s book, so they can learn about life in a retirement home.

Harvey Takes the Lead is another wonderful Harvey story!

Thank you Pajama Press for providing a copy of this book.

Other books in the series:

Have you read Harvey Takes the Lead? What did you think of it?

Review: Read Between the Lines (Ms. Right #1)

Title: Read Between the Lines
Author: Rachel Lacey
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, LGBTQ
Publisher: Montlake
Source: Thomas Allen and Son
Format: Paperback
Release Date: December 1, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From award-winning author Rachel Lacey comes a playful romance about a Manhattan bookstore owner and a reclusive author who love to hate—and hate to love—each other.
Books are Rosie Taft’s life. And ever since she took over her mother’s beloved Manhattan bookstore, they’ve become her home too. The only thing missing is her own real-life romance like the ones she loves to read about, and Rosie has an idea of who she might like to sweep her off her feet. She’s struck up a flirty online friendship with lesbian romance author Brie, and what could be more romantic than falling in love with her favorite author?
Jane Breslin works hard to keep her professional and personal lives neatly separated. By day, she works for the family property development business. By night, she puts her steamier side on paper under her pen name: Brie. Jane hasn’t had much luck with her own love life, but her online connection with a loyal reader makes Jane wonder if she could be the one.
When Rosie learns that her bookstore’s lease has been terminated by Jane’s company, romance moves to the back burner. Even though they’re at odds, there’s no denying the sparks that fly every time they’re together. When their online identities are revealed, will Jane be able to write her way to a happy ending, or is Rosie’s heart a closed book?

Review:

Rosie Taft runs the Between the Pages bookstore in the Upper East Side. She loves romance novels, and she’s started an online friendship with her favourite author Brie. However, Brie is a pen name, so Rosie doesn’t know who she is. One day, Rosie gets a letter that she’s being evicted from the store because the building will be torn down. Jane Breslin works for the company who owns the building, and she’s the one who sent the letter to Rosie. But Jane’s secret is that she’s a romance author who uses the pen name Brie. When Jane and Rosie meet, Rosie only sees her as the woman who’s tearing away her store. Their secret online relationship is undeniable, so they have to decide if they can put aside their differences to have their happy ending.

Enemies to lovers is quickly becoming one of my favourite romance tropes. The tension in their “enemy” relationship didn’t last long in the story though, so most of it was a cute romance. It was so adorable to see how their relationship started with a love of books online and then moved to the real world.

I liked the progression of their relationship in this story. There was a lot of tension, with Jane’s secret identity as an author and the fact that Jane’s company had destroyed Rosie’s store, so it was bound to explode at some point. I was really happy with the way it ended though.

Read Between the Lines is an adorable queer romance! I can’t wait to read the next book!

Thank you Thomas Allen and Son for providing a copy of this book.

Other books in the series:

No Rings Attached

Have you read Read Between the Lines? What did you think of it?

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