thereadingraccoon's reviews
1485 reviews

PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly

emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

P.S. I Hate You is a contemporary romance about two people with a complicated past, tasked with scattering the ashes of someone they loved at landmarks across the U.S.

Maddie Sanderson had her heart broken years ago by her brother Josh’s best friend, Dominic, when he proposed to another woman the morning after being intimate with Maddie. Devastated, she fled to the opposite coast to start a new life and successfully avoided him for seven years. However, after her beloved brother passes away from cancer, Maddie discovers at the funeral that Josh has requested she and Dominic take a series of trips together with his ashes. Despite her lingering anger toward Dominic, Maddie reluctantly agrees, hoping to feel closer to Josh’s memory. But as the trips unfold, Maddie begins to see glimpses of the Dominic she fell for all those years ago.

This book offers plenty of emotional and romantic moments designed to tug on the heartstrings. For readers who have experienced the loss of a sibling, Maddie’s desire to honor Josh’s memory might feel particularly poignant. However, I struggled with Maddie’s character, whose personality often swung wildly between pitiful, whiny, and a grating try-hard. Her sarcasm and attempts at humorous quips or insults felt more cringeworthy than amusing, and her claims of being a neglected introvert didn’t align with the fact that everyone she interacted with seemed inexplicably invested in her life—including two boys she babysat for one summer when they were thirteen.

Dominic, meanwhile, was reduced to a one-dimensional “growly” and “responsible” archetype. The intimate scenes felt misplaced and overly detailed, clashing with the more poignant themes of grief explored in the story. Maddie’s family—her mother, grandmother, and father—came across as cartoonishly toxic, which detracted from what could have been a nuanced portrayal of a dysfunctional family.

While the premise had the potential to deliver a heartfelt exploration of grief and second-chance romance, the execution fell short due to an irritating protagonist, an overemphasis on love scenes, and unrealistic characterizations.

Darkly by Marisha Pessl

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Darkly is a young adult mystery and thriller about a group of teens recruited as interns at the company of a long-deceased game designer.

Dia Gannon is a teenager who helps run her mother’s antique store, dresses like she’s going to a sock hop, and counts her octogenarian coworkers as her best friends. On a whim, she sends off an application to join other young people from around the world as summer interns for Darkly, a board game design company renowned for its immersive, dark-themed games created by the enigmatic late Louisiana Veda. But when Dia is selected and meets the other applicants in England, they discover the job has much higher stakes than they ever imagined. They’ll be expected to uncover the origins of the legendary game master herself—and play to win.

Marisha Pessl has an incredible way with words and a knack for writing unique teen voices that somehow still feel authentic. This was a fun, twisty novel with excellent pacing and memorable characters. I really enjoyed Dia and would love to see more of her in the future.

Rating: 4.5 stars 

Disclosure: an advanced copy was provided by Delacorte Press for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

The Shutouts by Gabrielle Korn

dark hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Shutouts is the follow-up to the 2023 climate fiction novel Yours for the Taking.

This novel explores small groups of survivors living in a rapidly changing North America after global warming has rendered conditions nearly uninhabitable. Through different POVs, readers follow as these survivors attempt to reconnect with friends and family from whom they’ve been separated, establish camps, search for provisions, and seek safety. The book also delves into the origins of Orchid through letters her mother wrote in 2041.

Like its predecessor, The Shutouts highlights the devastating consequences of global warming and the dangers of allowing powerful corporations and corrupt politicians to exploit humanity’s near-destruction. Despite its bleak moments, the story carries a thread of hope, showing how humans can adapt and flourish by working together and building strong communities.

🎧 Audiobook Notes:

Yours for the Taking is narrated by Gail Shalan, who delivers an excellent performance, capturing the distinct perspectives of the various characters.

Disclosure: An advanced copy was provided by the publisher for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Cute and fun 

Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Is She Really Going Out With Him is a contemporary romance novel about a thirty-eight-year-old mom who is fresh off a divorce and trying to hold it all together.

Anna is a journalist for a local magazine and is co-parenting with her ex-husband. She’s been enjoying a workplace rivalry with her hot, younger co-worker, Will, who always has something to say about the typos in her articles. But the tension heats up further after their magazine is sold to a larger conglomerate and jobs are on the line. Needing a fresh angle for the dating column her new boss assigns her, Anna enlists her kids to take turns picking her dates. Hilarity ensues as the kids choose a series of men for their mother to go out with.

This is a novel about finding love—and yourself—in the most unexpected places. Anna has to take on parenting with an ex-husband who’s moving on, navigate the tricky world of raising a tween, find fulfillment in her work in a constantly evolving economy, and discover what truly makes her happy. I really enjoyed following Anna as a character and could relate to her on many levels. There is a lot of humor and smart dialogue, and I look forward to reading more from Sophie Cousens.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Narrator notes: The audio of Is She Really Going Out With Him was narrated by Kerry Gilbert. She does an excellent job, and her voice matched my idea of Anna perfectly.

Disclosure: An advanced listening copy was provided by Penguin Random House Audio for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

More Than This by Krystal Marquis

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Book Review: More Than This by Krystal Marquis

More Than This is the second book in The Davenports series, following a group of young Black society women in 1910 Chicago.

Olivia, Ruby, Amy-Rose, and Helen are back, each trying to live life on her own terms, pursue dreams, and find love.

Olivia continues her work in social justice by supporting local causes and writing anonymously for the newspaper. Her romance with Washington DeWight has been on hiatus since he left for Washington, D.C., to continue his civil rights work. His absence, however, has led to a new friendship with lawyer Everett Stone, opening new possibilities.

Ruby is planning her wedding to Harrison Barton, but the stress of her father’s mayoral campaign, along with the financial strain it’s placed on her family, is weighing on her. She also faces town gossip, but the loss of her family’s fortune propels her to chase her own ambitions.

Amy-Rose’s salon and beauty business is flourishing under her mentor Mrs. Davis, and her future is looking bright. However, her relationship with John Davenport remains complicated after his father made it clear that he doesn’t think the “daughter of a slave-owner” is suitable for his son. 

Helen is reluctantly preparing for her debut, but her true passion lies in the family carriage business and her dream of creating an automobile. She hopes that the publicity from recruiting race car driver Ransom Swift to showcase their prototype will convince her father and his board to take her seriously.

More Than This is a historical young adult novel with drama, romance, and a vivid depiction of early 20th-century Chicago. My favorite character is Amy-Rose, who is hardworking, kind, and true to herself. While the stakes aren’t particularly high and the romances are sweet and chaste, it’s a comforting read for those who want to revisit characters they love.

Rating: 3.75 stars

Disclosure: An advanced reader’s copy was provided by the publisher for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

The Lake of Lost Girls is a thriller about a series of college co-ed disappearances in 1998 that remain unsolved—until a popular true crime podcast reignites interest in the case.

Lindsey Fadley was six years old when her older sister, Jessica, disappeared from in front of their family home. Jessica was the fourth female college student from “Southern State University” to go missing, yet the police never investigate obvious suspects, like the married professor and frat boy connected to all the women. Lindsey begins to question the few details she’s been told over the past twenty-four years and uncovers the truth about her sister and the other missing girls.

This book is primarily told through alternating first-person POVs between Jessica and Lindsey, along with transcripts from the podcast. Unfortunately, neither Jessica nor Lindsey comes across as a smart, relatable, or enjoyable character to follow. They make terrible decisions regarding the men in their lives, and every single male character is awful. Lindsey has no friends, and the last twenty-four years of her life are entirely absent from the page. We know nothing about her except that she lives with her parents and works at a hotel—she’s a complete blank slate. Jessica, on the other hand, is a mess, lacking any backbone until she becomes petulant and bratty, only to revert to being a miserable sap again. The rest of the characters feel like cardboard cutouts, existing just to fill space and cast suspicion on various suspects. The dialogue is unnatural, and there is no atmosphere or world-building around this small North Carolina college town.

Overall, this was an unsatisfying thriller. The clues about the “whodunnit” weren’t breadcrumbs but giant loaves, and I figured it out right away.

Disclaimer: an advanced copy of The Lake of Lost Girls was provided by the publisher for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Perfect Girl is a young adult thriller about a teenage girl’s slumber party that turns dangerous over the course of one evening.

Jessa is a good girl who tries to always do the right thing. But when her parents leave her on her own overnight—while teenage girls have been going missing in the area—she asks if her best friends can come over to keep her company. However, as a storm rages outside, tensions between the friends rise, and danger lurks nearby. Jessa will have to stop playing by the rules and being the “perfect girl” if she wants to save her friends.

This book combines elements of the slasher, supernatural, and psychological thriller genres, with a “good girl” main character who must toss aside her scruples to survive the night. Jessa can sometimes be a frustrating character to follow (she’s a little toogood to be true), and there’s a fair amount of over-the-top drama and villains. But overall, it’s entertaining and well-paced.

🎧 audiobook notes: Perfect Girl is narrated by Angie Kane who does an excellent job with the youthful voice of Jessa and the tension in the plot. 

Disclaimer: an advanced listening copy was provided by Libro.fm for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Let It Glow by Joanne Levy, Marissa Meyer

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Let it Glow is a heartwarming middle-grade contemporary novel about two identical girls who decide to swap places to experience each other’s holiday traditions.

When twelve-year-old strangers Aviva and Holly unexpectedly meet at a local retirement home, they’re stunned to find they look nearly identical and even share the same birthday. Both girls know they were adopted, but neither had any idea they might have a twin. Instantly excited at the prospect of a new sister, they decide to swap lives for a few hectic days, fully immersing themselves in each other’s worlds—culminating in a performance in a holiday recital.

This charming holiday story captures the magic of the season as the girls find each other. It was wonderful to see Judaism and Hanukkah represented in a middle-grade novel, adding to its inclusivity. Though we never find out if the girls are truly sisters (and it’s hard to imagine an adoption agency or birth parent separating twins), that part of the story remains a mystery.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Blood Over Bright Haven is a fantasy novel about the first female highmage, who uses her intellect and an unlikely ally to uncover the dark side of her city’s magic. 

 

Sciona is the first woman in her protected, domed city to achieve the title of highmage. When her adversaries within the elite “boys’ club” of mages assign her a Kwen janitor, Thomil, as an assistant, she’s forced to confront her own religious prejudices against the refugee group used as cheap labor. Under the pressure of a looming deadline, Sciona grows closer to Thomil and learns about his tribe, who endured a deadly “blight” that ravaged their bodies as they sought refuge in the protected city of Tiran. With Thomil’s help, Sciona uncovers the source of Tiran’s prosperity, a truth that could tear apart both the mage community and the city itself. 

 

This is a dark, twisted fantasy about what greed and power can drive people to do. Themes of misogyny, prejudice against outsiders, and religious intolerance parallel issues we face in today’s world, making the story even more relatable. Sciona is desperate to make a name for herself, but despite her lifelong ambitions, she cannot ignore the monstrous behavior of mages past and present. Blood Over Bright Haven features a flawed yet authentic main character, along with a unique magic system and world-building. I found it smart and compelling, and I recommend it to fantasy readers looking for a darker standalone novel with a bold and unconventional main character.