LOTS of good ones are out this week, and I’m excited to share some mini-reviews with you for 3 of them! Spoiler: all of them are worth a read. 

The Virtue of Sin, by Shannon Schuren 
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher:  Philomel Books
Release Date:June 25, 2019
Length: 432 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 4/5

Mini Review: Miriam has been in a cult her whole life, and she doesn’t even know what the word cult means. Her growth throughout this novel is incredible, as she comes to slowly learn that everything she’s ever known and taught to be true was all lies. We see her come to trust a few choice people–I won’t say who, but they’re deserving of it. She even begins to trust herself, to learn that women can have a voice, can make decisions, can have some authority over themselves. 

“They like to put a lot of emphasis on sex. Like that is the ultimate sin. Personally, I don’t think God is any more interested in what you do with your reproductive organs than he is with your elbow. I think he just wants us to be kind.” —Motion for every religious person to have to read this statement ten times a day until it sinks in–

“‘Because you’re a man?’ She shakes her head. ‘This must be hard for you. You hold all the power. I can understand that even the idea of giving any of that up is frightening.'”

Better Than the Best Plan, by Lauren Morrill
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Length: 336 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 3.25/5 

Mini Review: A bit of a slow start for me, but once Maritza is placed in foster care with Kris on a glitzy island on the coast of Florida, things picked up. I adore her foster parents, though it’s a complete best case scenario of foster care. Ritzy briefly acknowledges this, but for the most part seems mostly annoyed that her foster parents care about her well-being, or do things like buy her a new phone because her old one was turned off after her mom stopped paying the bills. She gets pissy when she has a curfew or when her foster mom suggests that it’s not optional to arrive home at her curfew. She is not entirely likeable–BUT, who ever said that female characters have to be likeable? We applaud boy characters for it all the time. And it’s understandable, anyway. She’s spent 17 years taking care of herself, so it stings a little when someone comes in and tells her that all of a sudden she’s got to answer to someone that she barely knows. 

Anyway. If you’re in it for the romance, there’s one of those too. And Spencer is great. He’s not perfect–he messes up a lot. But he’s real. 

“I take a deep breath and sigh out all the happiness this night has filled me with, blowing it out onto the breeze like I’m releasing it back into the world, just hoping it will come back to me.”

Technically, You Started It, by Lana Wood Johnson
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Length: 384 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 4/5

Mini Review:
There is absolutely no reason for Haley to realize that she’s talking to one Martin instead of the other. When he texts her out of nowhere and she asks, his response is “The good one.” So really, it’s both of their faults that things start out so unclear. But it was never supposed to turn into anything more than one conversation, so it didn’t really matter. Only one conversation turned into two, then three, which turned into days, and then weeks, and all of a sudden it’s been over a month. Haley still doesn’t know which Martin she’s talking to, but we do. And Martin knows that Haley doesn’t know. But when Haley talks so openly about hating the other Martin (who is actually this Martin), can you really blame a guy for not saying anything? 

“Pot.
Kettle is on the phone.
It would like to discuss color options with you.”

AND, I posted another review for one by Brigid Kemmerer that’s out today, Call It What You Want. I put it up last Friday night which is apparently not the ideal time to post new book reviews, WHO KNEW, so you might not have seen it. Long story short, it was most excellent. 

Have you guys gotten to read any of these yet? What at the top of your TBR these days?