Author: - Emily

TBR Challenge | Reading Books I Already Own

TBR Challenge Image

I don’t know about you, but for me 2024 has been absolutely unhinged as far as collecting new books. This was the year of the preorder for me, and I’ve become addicted to getting book mail every.single.week.

I’ve read a lot of them (I give myself credit for that), but the rate at which I’ve been buying new books vs. the amount of them I’ve been reading is, frankly, unsustainable.

The problem is only exacerbated by the fact I started arc reading on netgalley this year, and I always have books cycling through the libby app (where you can check out books from your local library). Reading those free books only sets me back further from reading the ones I already have.

All of that is well and good, but I buy books because I’m so excited to read them! It makes me sad to see them sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to make time for them. I have this desperate burning feeling in my soul to get them read, to show them love, to add them to my reading journal. I want to have read them, and you can’t get there without turning pages!

And then there are those that I don’t see regularly, because they’re on digital shelves. I don’t even want to talk about how many ebooks and audiobooks I have purchased that are still unread (but I absolutely will in just a sec). There are so many great sales I have taken advantage of over the years, stuffing my shelves like a dragon hoarding gold.

It’s out of control.

But I have a plan to change that!

…uh, read them.

It’s really that simple, isn’t it? But it’s not as much fun as putting together a little challenge for myself.

So! The first thing I’ve done is write aaaall of them down. Here is where things stand right now (this includes all books I currently have preordered).

[As a disclaimer, please know that I’ve been a reader all my life and am in my mid-thirties. I’ve had lots of adult years to be collecting books. This situation did not happen overnight, nor are these only the books I’ve purchased this year. Some of these books have been on my shelves for a decade. Let’s keep this a judgment-free zone please!]

So, what’s the damage?

  • Physical Books:: 159 (+54 Classics)
  • Ebooks:: 85
  • Audiobooks:: 145

That’s a total of 443 books.

Now, a few notes of how I’ve counted them…there are some duplicates. Some, especially classics, I own multiple copies of. I’ve only counted them under the classics category once, but I might also own an ebook or audiobook of the title, which are counted in those categories. If I own a compilation, for example the complete works of Jane Austen, I would count it as one in audiobook format, but each story separately in physical format (this makes sense to me because I’m going to listen to an audiobook front to back, but will pick and choose in a physical book). Technically I’ve included a few books that I’ve read but it’s been a reeeeeally long time (having only a vague recollection of what they’re even about) and I want to read them again. There are probably less than 20 of those altogether.

Anyway, I’ve got quite the project ahead of me!

Beyond focusing on busting through the list, I’m not imposing any further rules on myself…yet. If I need to, I’m not opposed to getting strict with my buying habits and setting a rule something along the lines of ‘read 5 books from the list, buy 1 book’, or a book buying ban in general for awhile.

And I’m beginning NOW. Carpe Diem! There’s no day like today!

It’s always tempting to push off something like this to a ‘pretty’ date, like January 1st, or even October 1st, but to hell with that. I’m not going to put anything off for an arbitrary reason that matters to no one, least of all me.

So wish me luck! I know I’m not the only reader with far too many unread books on their shelves. Do you have a system to manage your TBRs? If so, share your secrets and wisdom with the rest of the class!

If you are doing (or what to do) a similar challenge yourself, please let me know! You can tag me on instagram or threads @thelitertarian, or leave comments here, of course! I’d also love to be your friend on goodreads, where I primarily track my books publicly. Here’s my profile:: Emily (The Litertarian) (emmaleighbug) (1,203 books) | Goodreads

Happy Reading!

Book Review:: Ruthless Vows | Rebecca Ross

Letters of Enchantment Book #2 (conclusion)

[Book One is Divine Rivals – skip this review if you haven’t read it yet! There will be rampant book one spoilers!]

The last pages of Divine Rivals left me SO nervous. I was terrified it was going to be similar to a Hunger-Games-Peeta situation, but it was clear pretty early that was not going to be the case. Maybe that’s a spoiler, but it held me back from picking this book up for a few weeks, because my heart couldn’t take that! So for anyone else in the same boat, know it’s okay. This book isn’t going to run your heart through a shredder in that same agonizing, irreparable way.

Ruthless Vows Rebecca Ross Book Cover

The war between gods continues with fervor. Dacre moves relentlessly toward the city of Oath and his estranged god-wife Enva. Corruption in the city has left it unprepared for the invasion Dacre is planning. Iris is back in town, working at the newspaper with Attie and they’re striving, as ever, for the truth. Meanwhile, Roman wakes up among Dacre’s ranks with no memory of who he is, or how he came to be there. He is tasked with writing articles for Dacre, from his side of the war, in direct opposition of Iris and friends. But he’s still using the Aluette typewriter, and Iris is determined to save him.

This is a book about war. War is violent and messy and maims or destroys everything it touches. Rebecca Ross did a great job keeping that front of mind. There was no character unscathed by their experiences in this story, but in the end, there was hope. There was always hope, and that’s the key to a story with so much darkness.

If you loved the romance of Divine Rivals, rejoice! This book is still very romantic. Iris and Roman’s romance is plagued by distance and danger, but there are other sparks kindling, too. I loved the subtlety of Attie’s love story told in lingering looks, concern, and quiet conversation. I loved that Forest was able to find someone to share himself with, too. Within the darkness, there is always light.

The focus, of course, is not the romance, but the whole saving-the-world-as-we-know-it thing. Rest assured, there is plenty of action in the relentlessly paced plot. So much is at stake, and success isn’t guaranteed. The tension is strung tight, but there are little moments of respite sprinkled in too that offer great balance.

This book had to accomplish so much. It is the conclusion of the series, and from where Divine Rivals ended, there was a lot of ground left to cover. This book was far more heavy on the magic and fantasy, but since book one eased us in, I still think it’s a great entry-level fantasy book those unused to the subject could easily devour.

There is nothing in this duology I would change. It’s wonderful. No notes! If it were up to me, it would be required reading! I know I will personally be rereading these beautiful books many many times, and the hardcovers look gorgeous on their well-earned place on my bookshelf.

Details

Title:: Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)
Author:: Rebecca Ross
Genre:: Historical Fantasy
Publisher:: Wednesday Books
Length:: 432 pages
Audio Length:: 14h 6m
Audiobook Narrator:: Alex Wingfield & Rebecca Norfolk
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: December 26th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Divine Rivals | Rebecca Ross

Book Review:: Divine Rivals | Rebecca Ross

Letters of Enchantment Book #1

Holy hell, I was not prepared for this book. I like to go into new stories blind, especially the hyped ones, and this one has earned its reputation. In fact, I’m not sure it’s popular enough! Y’all have to read this.

Divine Rivals Rebecca Ross Book Cover

Iris E. Winnow has taken a job as an obituary writer at a local newspaper after her brother went off to war, fighting for a god, leaving her alone with her alcoholic mother to care for. She is in direct competition with fellow newspaper cleric Roman C. Kit for a columnist job. For Roman, it’s supposed to be the start of a respectable career, pressured heavily by his father – for Iris, it could change her and her mother’s entire lives. In the evenings, Iris types out long letters to her brother, but each and every one of them are unanswered. He’s disappeared. Then one day, a reply shows up…in her wardrobe. She and the mystery correspondent who wrote to her strike up an unlikely friendship through the pair of magically connected typewriters, and she resolves, eventually, to do anything she can to find her brother and bring him back home.

That’s all I’ll say without revealing too much. But Magical typewriters? Rivals to…more? FMC with a hero complex (in a good way)? Genuine friendships with good people? What is there not to love?

When I was young, I read a WWI YA romance – a random choice at the library (all the best ones are – aren’t they?). I can’t remember what it was for the life of me, but this book has me back in those same feels. It harks of a time where words wooed, expectations of ‘the right path’ were high, and love was quick and all-consuming in a different sort of way. When you find something you love in a war-torn world – you hold on tight and make each moment count, because anything might happen next.

Iris is not only pulling herself up by her bootstraps and earning every inch of what she has, she is constantly in search of more she can do, ways she can be of service. Listening to the accounts of soldiers in the divine wars, helping with evacuations…Iris is a symbol of many real-life heroes that existed in a war-torn Britian once upon a time.

It’s not often you read a book with a perfect title. The kind that actually reflects the content, not only on one level, but several. The kind where you reach for your book as you’re nearing the end, catch the title out of the corner of your eye, and realize what it means. Deeper than the surface level. On all the levels. Both Divine Rivals & Ruthless Vows (the sequel) have this epic energy.

Readers of historical fiction, especially of the early twentieth century/WWI&II era, will eat this up. It’s nostalgic of wartime British Isles, with a fantastical twist. It’s perfect for those looking to dip their toes into fantasy. The fantasy elements are certainly present, but they’re not overwhelming or difficult to understand. It’s really a scintillating wartime love story all readers can enjoy. Consider Divine Rivals a gateway drug, and prepare yourself to crave more!

Details

Title:: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1)
Author:: Rebecca Ross
Genre:: Historical Fantasy
Publisher:: Wednesday Books
Length:: 357 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Alex Wingfield & Rebecca Norfolk
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: April 4th, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Ruthless Vows | Rebecca Ross

Book Review:: Once Upon A Boyband | Jenny Proctor

A book for all the fangirls out there who ever fanaticized about meeting their girlhood pop star crushes, catching their eye, and falling in head-over-heels MFEO love with them. This one’s for you.

Once Upon A Boyband Jenny Proctor Book Cover

It’s just another workday for Laney at her father’s veterinary practice, when she and the hunky dog-rescue guy find themselves in a flirty back-and-forth neither one of them expected. When he gets locked out of his car with a full litter of puppies, Laney gives him a ride and they hit it off. Things are going well when she finds out Adam Deacon Driscoll is actually Deke Driscoll, the mega-boyband-popstar she was infatuated with in high school. He’s been running away from fame since the band broke up when he was 18, but there’s a charity concert coming up, and the guys want to do a reunion gig. Everything in Adam’s body is telling him not to do it, except his heart, which still has a soft spot for music.

Okay, it’s a little cheesy with a title like Once Upon a Boyband, but this book is actually so good! I really liked the two lead characters – Adam/Deke is very well developed, and Laney is endearing, but really, she’s kind of a stand-in for…every girl. You can put yourself in her shoes and live vicariously in the romance – and ooo, what a romance it is.

I’m a sucker for soulmate level attraction. When the connection happens, there’s just no going backwards. I’m not talking insta-love, I’m talking meaningful, magnetic, electric energy between two people that is mutual and all consuming. This book has it. The side characters, too, had spirit, and I loved that about them.

It was a really fun story with so many moments of sweet tenderness and care. The conflicts are very realistic and the solutions don’t come easy. It’s cute, it’s nostalgic, it’s relatable…it’s everything you want in a sweet escape.

Thank you to Jenny Proctor and netgalley for choosing me as an arc reader for this title. It was a pleasure to read!

Details

Title:: Once Upon A Boyband
Author:: Jenny Proctor
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Jenny Proctor Creative
Length:: 358 pages
Published:: September 1st, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Spice Rating:: 1 (kisses and snuggles)

Linky Links!!

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Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook]

If you liked this book, check out…

Hate Mail | Donna Marchetti
The Tourist Attraction | Sarah Morgenthaler

Book Review:: Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

It started with a feeling. Deja vu? Something like it? A bad feeling. The calm before the storm type of feeling. Like in the next instant, the world will change. Irreparably.

Wrong Place Wrong Time Gillian McAllister Book Cover

Jen knows something is wrong as she’s waiting up for her teenaged son to come home late on an October evening. Propelled by this supernatural feeling, she goes to the window and witnesses her son stab a stranger, killing him. The next hours are a nightmare as she and her husband Kelly grasp for answers about what happened and why. Somehow, they make it home to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. When she wakes, it is to the previous morning, before the crime. Her son is there, safe and happy. The next morning, it’s another day earlier. Somehow, she’s stuck in a backwards time loop, moving further and further back through time. Every day, she notices something new – signs she missed that led to that moment with her son holding a knife. She’s convinced it’s an opportunity for her to change things – to prevent that dark day from ever happening. But the more she discovers about the past, the more impossible it seems to untangle her family from the web of events that led them there.

We’re all familiar with the groundhog-day trope – living the same day again and again until things set themselves right – but this one does it different. Jen continues traveling back in time, weeks, months, years – gathering information she will need to unravel the mystery of that night and the truth everyone around her has been hiding.

There are twists and turns and each piece of the puzzle built the suspense and had my mind engaged the entire time. The pacing was just right; not so quick that you missed things because the details were too quick or subtle, and not so slow that any part of it was boring.

I don’t read this genre often because I have a soft heart that can’t take much evil, and though there are dark things in this book, for me, it was the perfect amount of darkness to still be able to enjoy it. I especially hate when books get darker at the end, taking a gruesome turn that haunts you. This one does not.

I’ve been reading a lot of books this year with protagonists who are mothers. I’m devouring them. There are certain things that are universal, and a mother’s love and falling into the trap of not paying enough attention to the every-day things are two of them. This is the suspense/thriller side of the same coin as Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major, one of my favorite books of the year. I highly recommend both!

Details

Title:: Wrong Place Wrong Time
Author:: Gillian McAllister
Genre:: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: William Morrow
Length:: 416 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 7m
Audiobook Narrator:: Lesley Sharp
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: August 2nd, 2022
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley
Amazing Grace Adams | Fran Littlewood

Book Review:: The Cheesemaker’s Daughter | Kristin Vukovic

Sometimes when it feels like life is falling apart, it’s really the opportunity for a new beginning.

The Cheesemaker's Daughter Kristin Vukovic Book Cover

That’s the case for Marina, when she is disillusioned by her life in America, and travels home to the island of Pag in Croatia. Her family’s ancestral cheese factory, Sirana, is in trouble. Her marriage is in trouble. She’s suffering intense trauma from losing a baby in her second trimester. She’s at rock bottom and wants to feel more settled. She wants to feel like she’s home. But when her father sent her away during a terrible war as a refugee to New York when she was a young woman, her life was split in two. Now she doesn’t feel whole in her old life or her new one, and she’s struggling to decide if the best path is the one she left behind, or one that is still waiting to be uncovered ahead of her.

I learned so much in this book: lots of history about Croatia, so much detail about cheesemaking and the whole World of Cheese. It was a delight to read. And compelling! I came in with almost zero context for both, and it rapt my attention all the way through. I guess you could consider me a ‘typical middle American’. We eat cheddar, mozzarella, colby jack/pepper jack, provolone, parmesan, maybe an occasional gouda. Cow’s milk cheeses. Marina and her family make cheese from sheep’s milk, which has a distinct flavor due to the amount of herbs that grow on the island. It sounds fascinating. I’d like to branch out and try more types of cheese, especially old world cheeses. It’s a whole thing. This book did that to me.

Marina’s story is difficult to swallow sometimes. If you’re in the middle of fertility struggles, this one might be a hard read for you, but it may also be healing to read of someone else in a similar position. She has to come to terms with a reality she never thought she’d experience.

I appreciate that this is not a romance. This is the story of a woman coming into her own. There are men in this book. There are relationships to navigate. But this is about The Cheesemaker’s Daughter. I have to say, I grew tired of novels being named The ___ Daughter in the 2000s when everything had a similar title, but this one fits so well. She is the daughter of Nicola, the famed cheesemaker of Pag, and she embraces that.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to listen to this book. I had planned to buy the paperback upon release, but then I was chosen for an advanced listening copy from netgalley and the publisher – Sophie Amoss, the narrator, did such a great job with the foreign words and so many accents to juggle. Croatian, French, English, and even different dialects. If you’re able to, I recommend listening to this one!

If you like books that are a little somber in tone with a message ultimately of hope, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

Details

Title:: The Cheesemaker’s Daughter
Author:: Kristin Vukovic
Genre:: Women’s Fiction
Publisher:: Regalo Press
Length:: 272 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 7m
Audiobook Narrator:: Sophie Amoss
Audiobook Publisher:: RB Media
Published:: August 6th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Thank You for Listening | Julia Whelan
My (Not So) Perfect Life | Sophie Kinsella

Book Review:: Double Exposure | Elissa R. Sloan

Double Exposure is a mostly melancholy story about two L.A. hopefuls-turned-celebrities who have a deep connection, but never quite get the timing right.

Double Exposure Elissa R. Sloan Book Cover

Adrian came to Hollywood from Florida to be a movie star. Maiko is a struggling model. They meet on page one in an abortion clinic. This sets a very specific and accurate tone for the novel. Later, they are cast in small roles together, and eventually they go out on a date. They hit it off and fall in love as both of them rise in the business, earning themselves the celebrity couple moniker of Maidrian. But they’re young, and stardom and the power that comes with it is not easy to navigate. They end up breaking up not long after. Still, the novel follows them for years afterward as the Hollywood machine continues paring the two of them up.

I found myself craving more out of this story. I suppose it is about how timing isn’t always right, with a side of redemption thrown in? But to me it was mostly just sad. There are layers of grief the characters have to wade through, but through most of the book it seemed to me that neither one of them liked themselves enough to make decisions that were actually good for them. The tone was really bleak and I didn’t feel like it dug itself completely out of that hole.

There’s a lot of tough stuff going on in this one. There are themes of addiction, infertility, loss of a parent, exploring one’s sexuality, the morality of abortion, equality of pay, marital abuse…it’s pretty rough.

For me, the narrative read fairly detached from the characters. I felt a certain level of separation from what was actually happening in a way that made me not care incredibly deeply about it. In some ways I’m actually glad for that, considering the paragraph above. In some ways it compares to Sally Rooney’s Normal People, but it was missing the depth of emotion and true connection I felt in that book. Normal People wrecked me. This one just leaves me with a lingering feeling of depression. ha.

In the end, both main characters seemed to achieve some level of growth, which was good to see. I’m glad of the very last scene – for me, that alone earned it an extra star. Obviously I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will leave it at that!

If you are someone who enjoys a darker tone in their stories, this one might be a hit for you. I tend to enjoy uplifting books that feel good at least 90% of the time spent reading it. This one is more like 20% good feelings, 80% hopelessness. That sounds harsh when I write it out, but it’s how it made me feel.

This is a netgalley arc review, and my honest opinions.

Details

Title:: Double Exposure
Author:: Elissa R. Sloan
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: William Morrow
Length:: 368 pages
Audio Length:: 7h 58m
Audiobook Narrator:: Natalie Naudus
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: September 10th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
Spice Rating:: 3 (infrequent, but explicit)

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly
This Summer Will Be Different | Carley Fortune

Book Review:: Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder | Asako Yuzuki (Translated by Polly Barton)

Butter is a Japanese literary fiction novel hinged upon the premise of a journalist investigating the story of a renowned serial killer – a woman accused of murdering a string of lovers by preparing them tainted food. As the investigation unfolds, the journalist, Rika, begins to notice and analyze the world around her with apt attention and nuance and discovers as much about herself in the process as she does about the woman she’s investigating.

Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder Asako Yuzuki Book Cover

In the beginning, Rika is having trouble getting Kajii, the accused, to grant her an interview. A friend suggests asking Kajii for a recipe, knowing women tend to share more than necessary when such a question is asked. It works, and Rika finds herself sitting with Kajii discussing her favorite recipes – how to prepare them, and how to enjoy them. Since Kajii is unable to enjoy whatever food she likes in her detainment, she lives vicariously through Rika’s experiences of her favorite dishes. One recipe at a time, Rika carefully pieces together Kajii’s story in hopes of writing an exclusive story that will propel her career to new heights.

That’s what happens, but that’s not what this book is about. This book is an exploration of societal expectations, especially on women, and how those expectations inform the thinking and actions of those women, and in turn, everyone around them – and society itself.

Japanese women are required to be self-denying, hard-working and ascetic, and in the same breath to be feminine, soft and caring towards men.

It’s about judgment and comparison in all the major categories – weight & body, gender roles in relationships & the home, careers or the sacrifice of career in favor of family – and little ones too. Food is used as metaphor again and again as Rika explores new dishes and makes observations of herself and those around her. Simple ingredients, tedious preparations, presentation. Enjoying food in the first place as opposed to simply consuming it as a means to an end.

Speaking of the food: I have never read descriptions of food and eating it as I have in this book. I mean, pornographic levels of description. It’s incredible. I feel like I’ve been eating wrong my whole life after reading about how these characters care about food. I think that alone is enough to recommend this book. It is poetry, truly.

“I feel like I understand better now that I’ve started cooking myself. Cleaning and cooking are much more rock and roll than I thought. What you need above all is strength. A fighting spirit that can withstand the tedium of everyday life without being blunted by it.”

This novel is carefully crafted to take Rika on a journey of self-actualization, learning lessons that are important for us all through her strange relationship with a disturbed woman. What is real? What are her biases? Can she be trusted?

I really enjoyed the experience of reading this novel. With translated works it can be difficult to tell if the cadence comes from the author, the one translating, or both, but whatever the case, Butter is as decadent in its style as it is in its descriptions of food. It flows well and doesn’t feel detached or stilted the way some translated works can. It was a pleasure to read, and easy to get lost in.

I found myself craving a stronger sense of suspense and tension as I read. With a serial killer premise, I did hope for some kind of thriller vibe, but if it was there, it was quite subtle. However, I cannot fault the tagline either. This novel is about food and murder.

I would recommend this book for feminists and foodies alike. Also, this is apparently based on the true story of “The Konkatsu Killer”. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I think I’m going to have to do some googling…

Details

Title:: Butter: A Novel of Food & Murder
Author:: Asako Yuzuki
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Ecco
Length:: 464 pages
Audio Length:: 17h 12m
Audiobook Narrator:: Hanako Footman
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: April 16, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley
The Last Love Note | Emma Grey

Book Review:: Wished | Sarah Ready

Do you believe in love at first sight? Anna does. She felt it the moment she laid eyes on her stupidly rich client, Max Barone. She is one of the cleaners for the jewelry magnate’s mega-mansion and might as well be invisible for as much as he notices her. But she notices him, and for three years she pines after him from afar.

Wished by Sarah Ready Book Cover

One day while cleaning, she finds a necklace with a note – it makes wishes come true. So she closes her eyes and whispers her most secret wish – that the two of them would be married. Realizing how silly that is, she takes it back, but before she can put the necklace back, he catches her with it, and fires her. Not exactly the way she was hoping to be noticed by him. But when she wakes up the next morning…she finds her dream came true.

Though there is plenty of humor and silly rom-com antics sprinkled throughout, this book is much deeper than the high-concept plot might appear. I found myself contemplating much bigger philosophical questions as I listened to the advanced listening copy I was provided access to by netgalley & the publisher (the narration was great, by the way). Questions of free will, honesty, self-sacrifice, what love is (or what it can be), and how we hold ourselves back because of mistakes we’ve seen modeled for us as we grow.

Max is lonely in that big ol’ mansion, and adamant that he will not repeat the mistakes of his father. Anna sees him in the way he keeps his house: the books he reads, the food he eats, the glimpses she gets of him when he works from home. Her life in a small Geneva apartment she shares with her mother and young sister is difficult, and dreaming of Max helps her cope. But will she feel the same when she gets to know him face to face?

This story is another instance of the age-old lesson: be careful what you wish for. Do valuable things have value if you don’t have to work hard to get them? And when she realizes the consequences of her mistakes, can Anna undo the phenomenon she set into motion?

I can tell how much thought and craft went into this novel, and I’m intrigued to read more from this series by Sarah Ready. If you’re a fan of magical realism, you’re really going to enjoy this novel!

Details

Title:: Wished (Ghosted #4)
Author:: Sarah Ready
Genre:: Romance
Publisher:: Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC
Length:: 313 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 36m
Audiobook Narrator:: Amanda Ronconi & Will Watt
Audiobook Publisher:: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members’ Audiobooks
Published:: October 1st, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 4.5-Stars
Spice Rating:: 3.5

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook]

If you liked this book, check out…

Haunted Ever After | Jen DeLuca
Hello Stranger | Katherine Center

Book Review:: Malibu Rising | Taylor Jenkins Reid

Family is the most complex thing there is. The history. The responsibility. The everyday choices and the ones that come once in a lifetime. The mirrored features and gestures. The shared experience, or absence from them. All of these things cumulate into how we experience family. What are the expectations of being a parent, or a sibling, and what happens when those expectations aren’t met? Are blood ties enough to support relationships, no matter what? And what of marriage vows? Trust, betrayal, forgiveness? What do we owe those we’ve made promises to, and who created us?

I’m probably taking things too far here for an introduction, but Malibu Rising is a phenomenal work of literary fiction that had these very questions running through my head. It is an exploration of family in many forms, and an intriguing family saga that hooked me from page one and still hasn’t let go.

Malibu Rising Taylor Jenkins Reid Book Cover

The Riva family has been through a lot. Four siblings, bonded by love through hardship, are now on their way into adulthood. They have two things in common – their famous deadbeat father, and their deep love of surfing. Jay is a professional surfer, Hudson is the photographer who captures all his best shots, Nina is the older sister who got famous modeling on her surfboard, and Kit, the baby, might just be better than any of them at the sport. Every year they throw a party to close out the summer. Anyone who finds out about it can come. Celebrities of all shapes and flavors don’t dare miss it. It’s the talk of the town. But this year the party will leave the siblings changed forever.

Life is messy. In great novels, the mess happens all at the same time in a slow but relentless crescendo that keeps us riveted until the cacophonous finale. Each of the Riva siblings is at a crisis point in their lives, and we’re taken through their family origin story to help us understand how they got to this moment, and why they might be making the choices they make. One sibling is deeply in love with someone he’s not supposed to be, one is falling out of love, one thinks he’s found the one after a single night, and one is having doubts she has the capacity for romantic love at all. Their parents, Mick and June, had an explosive type of love that led to heartbreak when they were both unable to break the patterns of the families before them, leaving wounds and wreckage in a blazing trail behind them.

Taylor Jenkins Reid continues to astound me with her capacity for storytelling. I mean, the details she includes are just incredible. Her omniscient tendency allows her to showcase happenstance from all the interesting angles and explore human nature in all its nonsensical and sometimes beautiful inevitabilities.

I think I loved every single aspect of this story. The experience of reading was a pleasure in itself. Every sentence was interesting. Every facet of each character the author chose to showcase…so interesting. As in, it literally captured my interest. It kind of reminds me of the character of Vida Winter in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, the disillusioned storyteller who isn’t interested in anything that doesn’t serve a story. Like the storyteller in Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. Crafting story is simple. Just make it interesting. This is how I imagine Taylor Jenkins Reid as she’s sifting through ideas for her stories. She’s on a higher plane of storytelling. She’s a weaver. She’s a curator. She’s a master.

This is the kind of story that begs to be appreciated. It’s not one thing that makes it stand out. It’s all of it together as one thing. One awesome, specific, thing. I hope you read it. But if you don’t like it, don’t tell me. I don’t think I could take it.

Details

Title:: Malibu Rising
Author:: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Ballantine Books
Length:: 369 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 5m
Audiobook Narrator:: Julia Whelan
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: June 1st, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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