WELL GUYS, what more On Brand way would there be to welcome myself back besides shoving a bunch of reviews that I didn’t get to in time into one post, PLUS not put it up on the correct day? That’s me though, and I sure am glad you’re here to watch the pugs and I bumbling along together again!

The Music of What Happens, by Bill Konigsberg
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Release Date: February 26, 2019
Length: 320 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: * * * * *

Mini Review: The more I think about this book, the more I like it. It is completely full of hard and beautiful stuff, handled so perfectly. The question of what it means to be gay but still “manly”, the crushing pressure when you’re forced to parent your mother, how different two single mothers raising teenage sons can look.
The author lists a trigger warning for rape with this one, and it was handled really thoughtfully. Male rape is still really confusing in this country (is it like this all over the world? I’m honestly not sure), and I was glad to see the author bringing up complexities that are so often glossed over when it is discussed–if you were bigger than him, how could he rape you? If you were aroused at any point, was it really rape? (Sidenote: I’m happy to talk about this privately if anyone wants to. I have much to say about rape of men or women, as well as crisis line training).
I could definitely have done a full review post about this one, but I’ll end here by saying the food truck and cooking scenes were A++++. Although as much as the book was about the food truck, it wasn’t. It was about Jordan and Max and all their people, their summer, and the way they learn to change. It could have happened anywhere. But the food truck was an excellent choice.

“I never thought of Max as even possibly being a victim. And I have questions. Like how does a person freeze up in a situation like that? But thinking that just makes me feel bad because I know it’s a real thing. I just haven’t experienced it.”

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: February 26, 2019
Length: 336 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: * * .75 

Mini Review: I don’t have a lot to say on this one. I didn’t quite understand what was Viking or Norse-inspired, I didn’t find the characters super compelling, I felt like the driving force getting our main character on her own had been done before, and done in the same way, and there was So. Much. Battle. Talk about battling, planning for battling, actually battling. All to wrap up a little too easily in the end.
This was close to a DNF for me, but I skimmed the last 1/3 instead. It has GREAT reviews though and I’m definitely in the minority, so don’t let me stop you from trying it.

“It’s a relief to get the words out, but it is shortly replaced by vulnerability. When people know your secrets, they can use them to hurt you.”

 

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, by Jeff Zentner
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 26, 2019
Length: 400 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: * * * .5

Mini Review: These two are true friendship goals. Excellent banter, amazingly supportive of each other, even after a new boyfriend enters the picture. They hit a rough patch over something unrelated to the boyfriend, and it’s hard for awhile. But they move past it because they are REAL FRIENDS who want the best for each other, even if their bests don’t line up at the moment.
The boyfriend–Lawson, Lawson, Lawson. I love you like you love pancakes. He is so good to Josie, giving her all the time she needs to grow into the idea of boyfriend and a relationship. And later, when they are together and a smarmy old TV producer starts to get shitty with her, she wants to handle it herself and Lawson doesn’t interfere. But he’s still watching, ready to jump in whenever she says the word.
Here’s my only hangup–I couldn’t really tell the girls apart. Like, was it really Josie that dates Lawson? Couldn’t tell ya. That’s just what my notes say. Their voices are very similar, and I had a hard time telling who’s chapters I was in. Also, why was one girl’s movie name annoyingly similar to her real name (Delia/Delilah), and the other so different (Josie/Rayne)? Did I match those up right? Read and see! (No really cuz I have no idea).

“There’s nothing in this world worse than a phone notification that’s not for the thing you need.”

 

An Affair of Poisons , by Addie Thornley
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: February 26, 2019
Length: 400 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: * * *

 

Mini Review: This one took awhile to get my attention. I almost DNF’d, waiting for things to get interesting. Once our main characters meet up, things take off a little bit.
The main problem I had though lies in the fact that I so badly wanted this to be about Catherine de Medici, and it’s totally not. It’s based on real history and real people, but Catherine de Medici isn’t one of them and she isn’t supposed to be. She’s just who I think of when you say France, poison, real long time ago. So that’s on me.
Guys, it’s a standalone fantasy! SO RARE! You will almost NEVER catch me saying this, but I didn’t think we needed a romance between Mirabelle and Josse. There just isn’t enough time to really get something plausible going between them.
If you go into this book NOT assuming it will be about incorrect historical figures just because you think it should be, it’s probably really good.

“Some claim she’s a witch. Others a Saint. I see no difference; the people of Paris worship her either way.”

 

And finally, here’s the review I wrote for Four Dead Queens back in November.