probablyjenna's reviews
351 reviews

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

fast-paced

3.5

Ji-won is not having a good time. 

Her mother is spiraling after her father abruptly abandons the family. She does not get into her dream college, but all of her closest friends do - resulting in some manipulative actions on Ji-Won’s part caused by jealousy, and ending in a rift between her and those friends. She struggles deeply her first semester of college, and worries a lot about her 15-year-old sister.

This is all bad enough - but then, just a few months after the separation, her mother starts dating a racist, misogynistic piece or garbage named George. And George has the most mesmerizing blue eyes…and so begins the slow unraveling of Ji-Won.

The book opens with a fascinating scene where Ji-Won’s mother tells her daughters about a Korean custom of eating fish eyes for good luck. As you can imagine from the title, eyes are a very key motif throughout this book. Starting with this opening scene was such a smart choice, priming readers for what’s to come.

For me, this book has two issues. First, the pacing was far too slow. It was about halfway through before we really stepped into the horror elements; we spend a lot of time in Ji-Won’s head, yet it still felt a bit abrupt when things started picking up. Something about the pacing and character development didn’t match up entirely. My second issue was with the amount of dream sequences. I almost always skim dream sequences in books because they are so rarely needed (in my opinion.) I feel like they cheapen the actual plot a bit, and that there are more effective ways to show a character is losing it.

Those critiques aside, though, I really did like this book. Once the horror starts, the visceral descriptions are ones that will surely stick with you! I felt truly disturbed, and I really liked how the story was grounded in feeling as if your family is falling apart.

I will definitely read more from Monika Kim!

Real Americans by Rachel Khong

3.0

Okay, this book really wasn’t for me and I am I am going to attempt to explain why in a fair, cohesive way.

1. I felt like the characters were extremely underdeveloped, and a book that is meant to be a multigenerational family story needs fully developed characters. I would be hard pressed to describe any of the main characters beyond a few superficial observations. I felt as if I was kept an arms length away from them, as if they were hiding something from me.
2. This is told in three parts, in three different perspectives, and each part felt like a different genre…which COULD be cool, but these just felt disjointed. It felt as if the author didn’t want to fully commit to anything, resulting in the book feeling all over the place. I also didn’t like that each POV section ended right as something big happened - that ties back into character development. We never see the development because the section ends right when it might happen.
3. There is a really misplaced, underdeveloped aspect of magical realism that really took me out of the story.
4. Lots of telling. Very little showing, very little feeling. Some lovely sentences & observations! But ultimately, I just felt bored and uninvested. 

So yeah, this one was just not a good match for me. That’s not to say it’s a bad book, just not one that worked for me. 

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

4.25

Tommy Orange is an incredibly gifted storyteller, and we should all be wildly grateful to be alive at a time in the world where he was writing books.

I liked Wandering Stars even more than There, There (Orange’s previous novel, which has some overlapping characters and plot lines.) Wandering Stars, to me, felt more cohesive; we follow a family’s bloodline, essentially, and see the lasting effects of generational trauma and pain. Orange balances moments of lightheartedness with the heavier moments of confronting the darker sides of humanity. I felt fully enmeshed in the story right from the beginning, despite it spanning generations.

I highly recommend picking this up and giving it your full attention.

Thank you to the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi

3.0

While We Were Burning has a great premise, but unfortunately missed the mark for me in quite a few ways. 

1. Melodrama: We dip into Lifetime movie territory, and that’s just not for me…especially when dealing with serious topics like race and privilege. The silliness of some of the relationships just detracted from the overall point, in my opinion. This is maybe a me problem and might not bother all readers. 
2. Stilted dialogue: The way characters speak to each other felt really unnatural and uncomfortable most of the time. People were also calling each other by name like every other sentence, which just…felt weird. 
3. Unlikable characters without clear purpose: Nobody in this was an enjoyable character, and while that sometimes works, in this case it just felt draining. The two main characters were so over the top that I found it grating to be in their respective POVs. 

I think this could be a good fit for people who enjoy popcorn domestic thrillers; as long as you take it at face value and don’t expect more than a quick & engaging read, you’ll probably like it! Due to the comparison to Such a Fun Age - a book I found really thoughtfully well done - I think my expectations were just not quite right. As this is a debut, I will likely pick up whatever this author writes next and see how things to from there. 

Thanks to the publisher for a free eARC I’m exchange for an honest review! 

Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona

3.0

The gorgeous horror movie inspired cover of Midnight on Beacon Street might be part of its issue - while references to classic horror movies abound throughout the book, this hardly fits into the genre of thriller or horror. 

This is a short, slow book where not much happens besides deep character development. There is a major lack of suspense - I’m not sure there is any at all, to be honest, despite having the perfect setup for some serious creepiness.

The book also has a nonlinear timeline, which is a trope I usually enjoy in thrillers because it helps add nuance to aspects of the story and typically builds suspense. These time jumps, though, more so fractured any possible tension in the story and instead felt really random. You could probably take out all of the flashbacks to the main character’s childhood & not miss anything. More than anything, this style made the story feel disjointed and kept me from experiencing any sort of suspense.

Lastly, the big reveal at the end just did not work for me. It made such little sense, and there was no real effort to flesh out the motives. It felt way too random for me (WHY would this character do this?), while at the same time being extremely predictable.

Those are my gripes, but there are certainly positives as well. I enjoyed Amy as a main character; she fit the bill for an 80s horror movie protagonist. I liked the attempt at bringing mental illness and trauma into the storyline; I think it was a bit underdeveloped, but this is also a debut so I can allow some grace. And the author is legitimately good at the craft of writing! It’s hard to avoid cheesiness when doing an homage to classic horror, but she had all the right elements…they just didn’t mix together quote right.

Overall, I didn’t love this one but I am intrigued by the author and will likely read whatever she writes next.

The Getaway List by Emma Lord

fast-paced

3.5

Reading an Emma Lord book means slipping into a world where everybody is hot, quick witted, and unbelievably wholesome. The world’s whimsy dial has been cranked all the way up, and around every corner is some inventive bakery with desserts that transcend normal human understanding. Her books are warm, predictable, and a soft place to land when life feels a little hard.

The Getaway List is another prime example of everything I just described. The book centers on 18-year-old Riley and her desire to take some control over her life. She spontaneously goes to visit her somewhat estranged best friend, Tom, in NYC on the day of her high school graduation. What follows is a real slow burn romance, peppered with the found family trope along the way.

I’ve read quite a few Emma Lord books, and this basically met my expectations…BUT there were a few things I found less successful than in her previous books.

First, the parents in this book are kind of awful yet things magically resolve at the end. Sometimes it feels like Lord wants to build conflict, but is too afraid to actually let her characters suffer a little. Riley’s mom in particular really bothered me, and I feel like her behavior was excused entirely too easily.

Second, Tom - the main male character - did not make a ton of sense to me. He also did some things involving Riley that I didn’t really like, yet we’re treated almost as nice things. I wanted his background to make a bit more sense.

And lastly, sometimes there is a level of TOO much wholesomeness. Riley’s found family is a ragtag group of seemingly asexual, perfectly well-behaved teenagers living entirely unsupervised in NYC. As someone who has worked with teens for the past 10 years, even the BEST kids are likely to do normal teenage risk taking if the situation allows for it. I just found the wholesomeness of the entire group a little too unbelievable.

Those gripes were not enough to make me unhappy with the book, though! I love Emma Lord’s style of writing and enjoy picking up her books when I need a lighter read. If you enjoy YA romance & found family, this should be a win for you!

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya

5.0

Clemantine is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. She shares her story of fleeing violence, living in African refugee camps for years, and processing the trauma of her childhood. It is beautifully written and so deeply vulnerable; it’s impossible to not become entirely engrossed in her journey. It also feels very painfully timely when you consider the violence currently upending lives in Palestine.

Here After by Amy Lin

5.0

This is all at once a beautiful love story and a hauntingly accurate exploration of grief. In her early thirties, Amy’s husband dies suddenly and without warning. This memoir is a poetic tribute to their love & how her world broke apart in so many different ways following his death. I was openly weeping while reading this; Lin’s particular style of writing is perfect at relaying the pain of sudden loss.

Stay True by Hua Hsu

5.0

Hua completely transported me back to my early twenties. His musings about film and music were so relatable, and I loved how he captured the early days of the internet as well. The frame of this memoir is processing grief; toward the end of college, one of his closest friends was murdered in a car jacking. Hua is looking back on his college experiences, reminiscing about his friend.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

5.0

Safiya grew up in a strict Rastafarian family in Jamaica; she writes about it with love, grace, and deep pain. A poet by trade, and her writings absolutely sings. Safiya masterfully balances teaching readers about Rastafarian beliefs & sharing her internal struggles with its embedded misogyny. She also writes honestly about having a challenging, violent parent. 

It’s an absolutely beautiful book and one I’d consider a must read 🙌🏻