Ages 18+
In August 1975, Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her summer camp in the Adirondacks. This was fourteen years after her older brother Bear, had gone missing from the same camp, never to be found again. The premise seems intriguing and I was excited to read this one, but I was bored with it about halfway through. Unfortunately this book didn’t work for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book.
Ages 18+
Technically the fourth in the Meant To Be series, this book can be read as a stand alone. It is a retelling of Disney’s Tangled. A bit saccharine, it was a cute story about Ren, a book-smart girl who is sheltered by her parents. She then goes away to college and meets bad-boy Fitz, who is assigned to show her around campus. They end up on a road-trip together and the story goes from there. It dragged a bit in the middle, but ultimately was a triumph in the end.
Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book.
Ages 18+
Amber. Daphne. Daisy Ann. And of course, Jackson. They’re back, and what are they up to now? Jackson and Daphne are divorced and he has just gotten out of jail for tax evasion, and Amber is living her best life as a prominent socialite. However, Daphne’s daughter runs away from home to be with her father, and Daphne reluctantly agrees to return to Bishops Harbor to let him have supervised visits. This highly awaited second book was twisty, propulsive. Highly recommend!
Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book.
Ages 18+
Scriiiiiitch. Ethan Marsh keeps hearing the sound of the tent being ripped as he was sleeping in as a ten-year-old boy in his supposedly safe backyard with his best friend Billy in his dreams as a now forty-year-old man. This dream haunts him every night. He does everything he does to quell them: therapy, journaling, you name it. But he can’t get that sound out of his head. Follow Ethan as Sager takes us on this journey back and forth from 1994 to present day as Ethan tries to figure out what happened to his best friend Billy thirty years ago. This book was thrilling and a definite page-turner that you don’t want to miss!
Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book.
Ages 18+
This was an unputdownable book! Although a touch long and reminded me a bit of “The Series of Unfortunate Events,” this book was propulsive and I couldn’t stop reading it! I have been a long-time fan of Harding’s work, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint!
Camryn Lane is a debut author who has written her first novel, but there is an online troll who has written many one-star reviews about her work. Not only that, but it seems they have escalated and want to ruin her real-life relationships as well. Camryn becomes as obsessed to fight the troll, but at what cost will she go to stop them?
Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book.
Grades 9-12
Fun fact: I loved this book! As a lover of music and all things YA, I adored Darcy and Russell’s story.
Darcy has just attended a music festival and her bus broke down, so she’s stuck at the bus station and what’s more, her phone is dead. She needs to find a charger fast. She connects with Russell, whose charger she asks to borrow, but whose phone also happens to be dead.
The two hit it off, though, and Darcy, believing in love at first sight, begins to wonder if Russell is the one, but can she really fall in love in less than a day?
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for a review copy of this book.
Ages 18+
Alexei Lebedev and Ben Caravalho meet by chance on the Pacific Crest Trail when Ben saves Lex from a snake, and from that first meeting, there’s no turning back. The two men keep meeting along the trail, and when they decide to spend more and more time together, things start to heat up. What will happen when they reach the end of the trail?
Grades 9 – 12
Delilah is quiet and hides behind a persona, and would rather sit in the audience than be up on stage, singing in her friend’s band. Reggie is a self-proclaimed nerd who loves Dungeons and Dragons. Reggie and Delilah meet for the first time on New Year’s Eve, and keep meeting on holidays throughout the year. Though the two have almost nothing in common, it seems as if a force is pushing them together for a reason. Soon they start to fall for each other, but what will happen when they realize the other has presented as a different version of themselves?
Ages 18+
Slocumb’s sophomore novel is a page-turning historical thriller that musicians and non-musicians alike will devour! Told in a dual timeline, the novel follows musical prodigy Josephine Reed who begins to work with Fredrick Delaney in the jazz age. In the present day, music professor Bern and his friend Eboni in the present, a powerhouse duo determined to dredge up the secrets of the past and bring justice to those who deserve it.
Grades 9 – 12
Piper Gray starts a podcast for her high school senior project. Her goal is to find out as much information as she can about a case about a teen her age, Layla Trello who was murdered seventeen years ago. The story follows Piper as she interviews police, Layla’s family, and even a teacher who went to school with Layla. Will Piper solve the case or just make a mess of everything all over again?
Michelle’s Bookish Life 