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heykellyjensen's reviews
2579 reviews
A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan
A fun adventure cozy starring Morgan, a bookseller/cryptozoologist brought on to solve the mysterious murder of a pair of men who have the same strange marks on them. Is there a creature in Lake Michigan getting them?
It's a speedy read with a lot of fun details for Door County lovers. The characters are interesting and the mystery engaging. My one complaint is something I saw in another review here which is that for being in her early 30s, Morgan is the most Boomeresque character. She doesn't know how to do research on the internet? The believability of her age aside, I dug this start to finish and am glad it'll be more than a duology.
It's a speedy read with a lot of fun details for Door County lovers. The characters are interesting and the mystery engaging. My one complaint is something I saw in another review here which is that for being in her early 30s, Morgan is the most Boomeresque character. She doesn't know how to do research on the internet? The believability of her age aside, I dug this start to finish and am glad it'll be more than a duology.
A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai
Clara is an 18-year-old American and the only woman aboard The Resolute, an Antarctic expedition originating from Britain. When the ship is stuck on ice, she and the rest of the crew must survive and find their way to safety. To keep herself occupied in the long hours between attempts to find safety, food, and help, Clara begins to write a guidebook/diary to help guide any future female explorers of the great white continent.
There are some things that her fellow crew mates don't know, including that Clara is American. They believe her to be Canadian. It's 1914 and anti-American sentiments are high because of the burgeoning war. She's also a Pankhurst-trained suffragist. Throughout the story, it becomes clear this training will be what she needs to survive not just the environment, but the realities of being the only woman on the trip.
Though there is a lot of heavy stuff in this book, it's ultimately lighter in fare and full of humor from Clara. We get to know her backstory in pieces, including what her life as a young woman in Pennsylvania looked like and what drove her to seek out becoming a suffragist trained in the UK, as opposed to in her own country. Bits and pieces of that training and passion come out as part of the survival, and ultimately, Clara finds herself needing to decide which passion is dearer to her: this expedition or securing the vote for women.
A rock-solid survival story, this book is fun, engaging, and one that felt fresh. Clara is a well-drawn and complex character, even if some times her language or thought processes feel a little too modern for the historical setting–in some ways that actually makes sense, given her own background and experiences.
Note: there is an attempted rape scene in the story to know about, as well as the death of several animals (all of which are warranted/expected as a consequence of this being a survival tale).
There are some things that her fellow crew mates don't know, including that Clara is American. They believe her to be Canadian. It's 1914 and anti-American sentiments are high because of the burgeoning war. She's also a Pankhurst-trained suffragist. Throughout the story, it becomes clear this training will be what she needs to survive not just the environment, but the realities of being the only woman on the trip.
Though there is a lot of heavy stuff in this book, it's ultimately lighter in fare and full of humor from Clara. We get to know her backstory in pieces, including what her life as a young woman in Pennsylvania looked like and what drove her to seek out becoming a suffragist trained in the UK, as opposed to in her own country. Bits and pieces of that training and passion come out as part of the survival, and ultimately, Clara finds herself needing to decide which passion is dearer to her: this expedition or securing the vote for women.
A rock-solid survival story, this book is fun, engaging, and one that felt fresh. Clara is a well-drawn and complex character, even if some times her language or thought processes feel a little too modern for the historical setting–in some ways that actually makes sense, given her own background and experiences.
Note: there is an attempted rape scene in the story to know about, as well as the death of several animals (all of which are warranted/expected as a consequence of this being a survival tale).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Rouge by Mona Awad
Awad's books are dense and surreal while also biting and funny, and this one's no exception. It's a critique of the beauty industry and how it preys on women–particularly those who are looking to fill some kind of hole in their lives. For Belle, it's grief and loss. The story is a bit of a take on Persephone and Demeter, with Belle's mother playing a big role throughout the story, despite her death being its exposition.
I wish it had been a little tighter, as it felt a little excessive at times. I get why, but as a reader, it got a little too on the nose, if you will.
There have been SO many books exploring the beauty industry in the last few years, both fiction and non. This one is in an interesting conversation with NATURAL BEAUTY by Ling Ling Huang, particularly when it comes to the elements of race and identity.
I wish it had been a little tighter, as it felt a little excessive at times. I get why, but as a reader, it got a little too on the nose, if you will.
There have been SO many books exploring the beauty industry in the last few years, both fiction and non. This one is in an interesting conversation with NATURAL BEAUTY by Ling Ling Huang, particularly when it comes to the elements of race and identity.
Phoebe's Diary by Phoebe Wahl
For readers looking for a slightly more mature book to scratch the itch of coming of age, romance, and humor a la Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, this is it. Phoebe is a fat, Jewish girl coming of age outside Seattle and learning who she is, who she loves, and what romance may or may not mean to her. This is a book about first-time sex and desire, about the confusing feelings before and after The Moment, as well as a book about friendship, theater, and being comfortable in your own skin.
Basil and Oregano by Melissa Capriglione
A cute, queer magical boarding school for future cooks, exploring magic, romance, and class. This is a nice one to pair with Sweeney Boo's Over My Dead Body.
The Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert
A slower paced, immersive story of the Blackwood family, a legacy of Black performers in Hollywood. Told through three voices–two contemporary teen cousins and the historical perspective of their recently-deceased great-grandmother–showcases how much and how little has changed in the world of Black celebrity and performance over nearly a century. This story has a little bit of everything, including romance, grief, and explorations of privilege, and it wrestles with big questions about the price and responsibility of fame itself. Both Ardith and Hollis, the two contemporary teens, become victims of the tabloids while grieving the loss of their great-grandmother Blossom and learning the truth of their grandfather's father. It also gives a powerful exploration of substance use and its impact.
Colbert's signature strong writing shines.
Don't go into this one for juicy stuff. It's a character-driven family story and excels at just that. I'd pair this one with two different books: Kristina Forest's Now That I've Found You and Nic Stone's Chaos Theory.
Colbert's signature strong writing shines.
Don't go into this one for juicy stuff. It's a character-driven family story and excels at just that. I'd pair this one with two different books: Kristina Forest's Now That I've Found You and Nic Stone's Chaos Theory.
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
An absolutely gripping story of grief, family, and what might happen if you were to be accidentally sucked inside the mouth of a sperm whale.
Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy by Colin Dickey
If you thought conspiracy theories lived in a bubble–really, why wouldn't you?–then this is the book for you. It's a story of how conspiracy theories take hold and why they have been part and parcel of America's history since it was colonized. How do these conspiracy theories form and why do they retain the power that they do on every level? Well, it's baked right in, and none of the new theories which take hold differ much from those which came before. It's time and forgetting that provide the fuel. You'll go from the Molly Macguires to the Illuminati and Freemasons to today's iterations in Q-Anon. The piece I found most fascinating and chilling was how the onset of the Satanic Panic in children's daycares mirrors so much of today's moral panic over "indoctrination" and "grooming" by educators in public schools. Not only do these conspiracy theorists not get creative, but folks who push back have not learned that they need to not give it time or energy but instead, keep pushing for progress. The goal is to stop forward movement, as opposed to making specific changes, and the succeed over and over.
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater
What does justice mean and how do we decide who has served it and when it has done what it is meant to do? These are the core questions in Slater's absorbing, timely, and powerful new YA nonfiction book. Albany High School has a reputation for being a great place for kids to attend school. But in 2017, a boy at the school created a private Instagram account filled with racist memes he created. When word gets out about the account, he and the followers find themselves being punished by the school–but how does one determine what the appropriate punishment is for the creator vs. those who followed and did not interact vs. those who followed and interacted? And where and how did the creator decide this was an okay thing to do?
This book asks more questions than it answers, but this is purposeful. We get to know ALL of the players here, including the Black girls who found themselves at the center of many of these racist memes. Can any punishment be enough to make them feel safe or as if justice has been served? As victims, how do they determine what is a "normal" amount of anger or grief or fear and when it seems like it might be too much? Can simply seeing one of those associated with the account trigger a trauma response?
At times, I felt myself wanting to make a decision one way or the other. Punish the boys harder is where I fall on one page, then immediately think the boys are truly trying to do better and yet aren't given the opportunity to show that. This sitting with the belief *both* things can be true is the core of this book. Slater does not choose sides nor tell this in such a way you're to believe one is better or more right than the other. Instead, this is as complex as a nesting doll: once you begin to believe one thing, another opens up and begs you to look closer and closer.
Exceptionally timely, I appreciated, too, the legal elements of this case and how the lawyers who got involved argued. I did not agree with much of it from the boys' side, and I struggled alongside Andrea in wondering if seeking restitution would be worthwhile so long after the event took place (in legal time, that is). I found the end of the book to be what I needed as a reader, with a simple snapshot of where each of the major players in the story were now. Slater masterfully weaves in other meaty themes and topics into this book, including shame and humiliation, the differences between justice and restorative justice, and where and how systems which should be prepared for interpersonal challenges are so often not ready for them. The adults in this book–every single one of them–is messy and complicated, unsure of the right answer to anything. I do think the administration was Not Great At All and simultaneously think they did what they could with the information they had at hand at the time. Would it look different now, with experience to pull from? I'd like to think so.
The book is lengthy and it earns every page. My only slight quibble is in formatting. It seems like Slater was afraid to commit to a straightforward narrative. There are, at times, poetic expressions of the facts that don't move seamlessly or add much to the story itself. I wish she'd picked one or the other, instead of trying to do more than one thing. The story (and her telling of it!) offered enough opportunity for that.
This book asks more questions than it answers, but this is purposeful. We get to know ALL of the players here, including the Black girls who found themselves at the center of many of these racist memes. Can any punishment be enough to make them feel safe or as if justice has been served? As victims, how do they determine what is a "normal" amount of anger or grief or fear and when it seems like it might be too much? Can simply seeing one of those associated with the account trigger a trauma response?
At times, I felt myself wanting to make a decision one way or the other. Punish the boys harder is where I fall on one page, then immediately think the boys are truly trying to do better and yet aren't given the opportunity to show that. This sitting with the belief *both* things can be true is the core of this book. Slater does not choose sides nor tell this in such a way you're to believe one is better or more right than the other. Instead, this is as complex as a nesting doll: once you begin to believe one thing, another opens up and begs you to look closer and closer.
Exceptionally timely, I appreciated, too, the legal elements of this case and how the lawyers who got involved argued. I did not agree with much of it from the boys' side, and I struggled alongside Andrea in wondering if seeking restitution would be worthwhile so long after the event took place (in legal time, that is). I found the end of the book to be what I needed as a reader, with a simple snapshot of where each of the major players in the story were now. Slater masterfully weaves in other meaty themes and topics into this book, including shame and humiliation, the differences between justice and restorative justice, and where and how systems which should be prepared for interpersonal challenges are so often not ready for them. The adults in this book–every single one of them–is messy and complicated, unsure of the right answer to anything. I do think the administration was Not Great At All and simultaneously think they did what they could with the information they had at hand at the time. Would it look different now, with experience to pull from? I'd like to think so.
The book is lengthy and it earns every page. My only slight quibble is in formatting. It seems like Slater was afraid to commit to a straightforward narrative. There are, at times, poetic expressions of the facts that don't move seamlessly or add much to the story itself. I wish she'd picked one or the other, instead of trying to do more than one thing. The story (and her telling of it!) offered enough opportunity for that.
Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmermann
Drew's mother is the queen of asking her to do just one thing for her. So when the thing is watching her younger brother and sister while she flies to Mexico to see Justin Timberlake, Drew is not happy. And yet she knows she doesn't have a choice, either. What unravels over the course of the week, though, is nothing Drew nor her siblings could have ever expected. Their lives begin to fall apart thanks to a social security scam, a college rejection, and perhaps the worst thing of all: learning that mom never made it to Mexico at all.
This is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, at times laugh-out-loud. The book is set in rural Wisconsin and perfectly captures the setting while rendering multidimensional and extremely complex characters. Recommended for readers who like contemporary realistic YA; voice-y, character driven stories; and stories of lower class families working hard to make it while relying on one another in good and not-so-good ways.
This is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, at times laugh-out-loud. The book is set in rural Wisconsin and perfectly captures the setting while rendering multidimensional and extremely complex characters. Recommended for readers who like contemporary realistic YA; voice-y, character driven stories; and stories of lower class families working hard to make it while relying on one another in good and not-so-good ways.