Jill's Book Blog

Review: The Maple Murders (Riverdale #3)

Title: The Maple Murders (Riverdale #3)
Author: Micol Ostow
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 15, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Riverdale is clamoring with excitement over news that an old town tradition is suddenly being revived: the Riverdale Revels.
The festival supposedly has a long history, dating back to the town’s settlers’ first successful maple tapping. But there’s no record of the Revels anywhere. Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead think there must be more to the story. And when a skeleton is uncovered in a 75-year-old time capsule on the first night of the festival, they know they’re right.
But a dead body in a maple barrel isn’t the only drama surrounding the Revels. The Royal Maple pageant (open to all Riverdale teens) is in full swing, but “accidents” keep befalling the contestants, including the gang’s friends.
Someone is clearly trying to put an end to the Revels once and for all — but who? And more importantly, why? Can Archie and his friends put a stop to the sabotage before someone puts a stop to them?
This original novel features a story not seen on the show!

Review:

The mayor of Riverdale, Hermione Lodge, has decided to hold the Riverdale Revels. That is an old festival that dates back to before the town was founded. Since they didn’t get to open the town’s time capsule on its 75th anniversary, they decide to open it to start the celebrations. However, when they open the Blossom Maple barrel that served as the time capsule, they find human remains. Jughead, Betty, Archie, and Veronica have to investigate where this mysterious body came from and why it was put into the Riverdale time capsule.

This is a great story set in the world of Riverdale. The characters sounded just like the actors on the TV show. I could practically hear them speaking the lines on the page. The story also showed the wide variety of characters, from the main characters of Archie and Betty to the minor characters of Kevin and Josie.

There were a couple of extended flashbacks that weren’t necessary to the plot. I didn’t even realize they were flashback scenes until the narrative returned to the present. Though these scenes were set off with a different typeface, they distracted from the main plot since they didn’t have to do with the present story.

I enjoyed this Riverdale mystery.

Other books in the series:

The Day Before
Get Out of Town
Death of a Cheerleader

Have you read The Maple Murders? What did you think of it?

Top 5 Saturday – Recommended Reads

This is a weekly meme hosted Devouring Books. This week’s prompt is Recommended Reads. Here’s my list:

1. Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon

2. The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

3. Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

4. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

5. Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

(All book covers from Goodreads)

If you’d like to do this list too, consider yourself tagged!

Did you make a Top 5 Saturday list?

Review: Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From

Title: Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From
Author: Jennifer De Leon
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 4, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand.
Fifteen-year-old Liliana is fine, thank you very much. It’s fine that her best friend, Jade, is all caught up in her new boyfriend lately. It’s fine that her inner-city high school is disorganized and underfunded. It’s fine that her father took off again—okay, maybe that isn’t fine, but what is Liliana supposed to do? She’s fifteen! Being left with her increasingly crazy mom? Fine. Her heathen little brothers? Fine, fine, fine. But it turns out Dad did leave one thing behind besides her crazy family. Before he left, he signed Liliana up for a school desegregation program called METCO. And she’s been accepted.
Being accepted into METCO, however, isn’t the same as being accepted at her new school. In her old school, Liliana—half-Guatemalan and half-Salvadorian—was part of the majority where almost everyone was a person of color. But now at Westburg, where almost everyone is white, the struggles of being a minority are unavoidable. It becomes clear that the only way to survive is to lighten up—whiten up. And if Dad signed her up for this program, he wouldn’t have just wanted Liliana to survive, he would have wanted her to thrive. So what if Liliana is now going by Lili? So what if she’s acting like she thinks she’s better than her old friends? It’s not a big deal. It’s fine.
But then she discovers the gutting truth about her father: He’s not on one of his side trips. And it isn’t that he doesn’t want to come home…he can’t. He’s undocumented and he’s been deported back to Guatemala. Soon, nothing is fine, and Lili has to make a choice: She’s done trying to make her white classmates and teachers feel more comfortable. Done changing who she is, denying her culture and where she came from. They want to know where she’s from, what she’s about? Liliana is ready to tell them.

Review:

Liliana is a Latinx high school student in Boston. Her father has disappeared, but he has left before, though not for as long. Lili is accepted to a program called METCO, which is meant to desegregate schools. She starts going to a predominantly white school in a wealthy neighbourhood. The problem with the program is that Lili is still treated as an “other.” The METCO students are separated in social situations from the other students in the school, which further segregates them. Things get out of hand when Lili and the other students face racism from students and teachers. Lili has to figure out a way to fight back and show the world who they are.

This is a painfully honest story. Lili and the other students had to deal with some horrible racist situations from both students and teachers. It was really disturbing to see the teachers also making inappropriate comments. Lili also had a hard time at home because her father was gone. There were undocumented immigrants in her family, and it seemed like a problem that would be impossible to solve.

Even though METCO was a program created to bring students of different backgrounds to the school, it actually segregated the students more. Instead of being part of their whole school, the small group of students stayed together. The point of the program was to give them more opportunities in schooling, yet they were not guaranteed these opportunities even if they worked hard. These kinds of programs may be created with good intentions, but they need to fully integrate the students in the school, rather than separating them in their own group.

This is a must read book! I loved it!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Friday 56 – Waiting for Tom Hanks

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda’s Voice.

The Rules are:

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grabs you.
Post it. And share your link.
It’s that simple.

I chose Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey.

Here is my line from page 56 in my copy:

“‘You write about unclogging toilets?’
‘Freshening diaper pails,’ I say, pointing my fork at him.”

Did you make a post for the Friday 56?

Review: The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1)

Title: The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Owlcrate
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: November 5, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.
There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

Review:

Princess Guinevere has arrived in Camelot to marry King Arthur. However, she isn’t the real Guinevere. She is a changeling that took the princess’s place at Merlin’s request. Guinevere has been sent to Camelot to protect Arthur from an unknown magical threat. As Guinevere learns more about the kingdom and tries to figure out the mysterious threat to Arthur, she realizes she doesn’t know much about herself and the world around her. Guinevere has to learn more about herself to get to the truth of Camelot.

I read stories about King Arthur when I was a kid, but I had forgotten the details before reading this story. I googled the story when I started it, so I did get some minor spoilers for the story. There were some twists from the original tale that modernized it and made it original.

This is a great introduction to the series. There were many hints of things to come. Guinevere’s past is a mystery, which I’m hoping will be explored in the next book. I had a lot of questions at the end, but these made me interested in the next book.

I really enjoyed this story!

TBR Thursday – August 13

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England’s finest novelists. Now it’s home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen’s legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen’s home and her legacy. These people—a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review: Waiting for Tom Hanks (Waiting for Tom Hanks #1)

Title: Waiting for Tom Hanks (Waiting for Tom Hanks #1)
Author: Kerry Winfrey
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 11, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can a romcom-obssessed romantic finally experience the meet-cute she always dreamed of or will reality never compare to fiction, in this charming debut adult novel from Kerry Winfrey.
Annie Cassidy dreams of being the next Nora Ephron. She spends her days writing screenplays, rewatching Sleepless in Seattle, and waiting for her movie-perfect meet-cute. If she could just find her own Tom Hanks—a man who’s sweet, sensitive, and possibly owns a houseboat—her problems would disappear and her life would be perfect. But Tom Hanks is nowhere in sight.
When a movie starts filming in her neighborhood and Annie gets a job on set, it seems like a sign. Then Annie meets the lead actor, Drew Danforth, a cocky prankster who couldn’t be less like Tom Hanks if he tried. Their meet-cute is more of a meet-fail, but soon Annie finds herself sharing some classic rom-com moments with Drew. Her Tom Hanks can’t be an actor who’s leaving town in a matter of days…can he?

Review:

Annie Cassidy is a young screenwriter who is obsessed with rom-coms. She wants to live her own romantic comedy and find her Tom Hanks, the man who is meant to be with her. Annie gets a job on a movie set, which stars the hunk Drew Danforth. He definitely isn’t her Tom Hanks, but Annie soon finds herself living her own rom-com with Drew.

This is an adorable romantic comedy. I loved the references to different romantic movies. Those movies had a special meaning to Annie because she used to watch them with her mom before she died when Annie was a teenager. Annie referenced these movies, though she was oblivious to the fact that she was also living in her own rom-com with Drew.

This story was quite fast paced. It wasn’t too steamy, like some other contemporary romances. It had the atmosphere of a 90s rom-com: sweet, quirky, and romantic.

I really enjoyed this story! I’m excited to read the sequel, Not Like the Movies, which is about Annie’s best friend Chloe.

Other books in the series:

Not Like the Movies

Have you read Waiting for Tom Hanks? What did you think of it?

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – August 12

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is A Rogue of One’s Own (A League of Extraordinary Women #2) by Evie Dunmore. The expected publication date is September 1, 2020.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A lady must have money and an army of her own if she is to win a revolution – but first, she must pit her wits against the wiles of an irresistible rogue bent on wrecking her plans…and her heart.
Lady Lucie is fuming. She and her band of Oxford suffragists have finally scraped together enough capital to control one of London’s major publishing houses, with one purpose: to use it in a coup against Parliament. But who could have predicted that the one person standing between her and success is her old nemesis, Lord Ballentine? Or that he would be willing to hand over the reins for an outrageous price—a night in her bed.
Lucie tempts Tristan like no other woman, burning him up with her fierceness and determination every time they clash. But as their battle of wills and words fans the flames of long-smouldering devotion, the silver-tongued seducer runs the risk of becoming caught in his own snare.
As Lucie tries to out-manoeuvre Tristan in the boardroom and the bedchamber, she soon discovers there’s truth in what the poets say: all is fair in love and war…

What books are you waiting on this week?

Review: The End of Her

Title: The End of Her
Author: Shari Lapena
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 28, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The new domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door and Someone We Know
In upstate New York, Stephanie and Patrick are adjusting to life with their colicky twin babies. The girls are a handful, but Stephanie doesn’t mind being a stay-at-home mom, taking care of them while Patrick does the nine to five to pay the bills.
When a woman from Patrick’s past drops in on them unexpectedly, raising questions about his late first wife, Stephanie supports her husband wholeheartedly. She knows the car accident all those many years ago was just that–an accident. But Erica is persistent, and now she’s threatening to go to the police.
Patrick is afraid his job–and his reputation–will be at risk if he doesn’t put an end to Erica’s questioning immediately. And when the police start digging, Stephanie’s trust in her husband begins to falter and Patrick is primed to lose everything he loves. As their marriage crumbles, Stephanie feels herself coming unglued, and soon she isn’t sure what–or who–to believe. Now the most important thing is to protect her girls, but at what cost?

Review:

Stephanie and Patrick are new parents to twin girls. They are both severely sleep deprived, which is making Stephanie forgetful. One day, a woman enters their life with a shocking accusation that Patrick murdered his first wife when she was pregnant. Stephanie knew that Patrick’s first wife died in an accident, but when she hears the details, she can’t help but wonder if Patrick is guilty.

This is another great thriller from Shari Lapena. Her books are so fast paced and difficult to put down. I had to stop reading it one evening because I knew if I continued, I wouldn’t be able to put it down to go to sleep. The short chapters with cliffhanger endings make the pages fly by.

There were a lot of characters introduced in the first couple of chapters. It was a little confusing to keep straight at first because there were so many different people. I actually thought I had the story figured out right away. However, there were some shocking twists that kept me surprised right until the last page.

I really enjoyed this fast paced thriller!

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

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Loved But Never Reviewed

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 I Loved But Never Reviewed. These are books I read before I started reviewing, but hopefully I’ll be able to review them one day. Here’s my list: