ARC Review | Scared Little Rabbits

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Scared Little Rabbits

Author: A.V. Geiger

Format: eBooks (NetGalley)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: December 3, 2019

Categories: Technology, Augmented Reality, Romance, Young Adult, Suspense

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

We stand in a tight cluster, high above the lake. One-by-one, we made our way up the narrow trail from the edge of campus. Now, we wait shoulder to shoulder behind the police tape. Nineteen summer students.

All but one.

When Nora gets accepted into her dream summer program at the prestigious Winthrop Academy, she jumps at the chance to put her coding skills to use. But then a fellow student goes missing—and the tech trail for the crime leads back to Nora. With no one else to trust, Nora must race to uncover the truth and clear her name…or she might be the next to disappear.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Nora is a sixteen year old, coder who is accepted to a three weeks long summer program at Winthrop Academy. She’s a bit awkward in social situations and has trouble making friends. Nora has downloaded an app called InstaLove which is supposed to hook her up with someone special. Right away she runs into a fellow InstaLove player, Maddox, at Winthrop that she categorizes him as an InstaCrush in the game. But all is not what it seems at Winthrop and she doesn’t know who she can trust. Is Maddox really into her? Or is he still with his ex-girlfriend Eleanor who basically rules the school (but I mean, her parents own it)? Is Nora just a Scared Little Rabbit?

The story starts off with a mysterious incident which gives it a slightly dark vibe. We get a dual perspective from Nora and Maddox but also journal entries from Eleanor (Maddox’s ex). I was mistrustful of Maddox, and everyone else that Nora encountered at Winthrop Academy. I definitely enjoyed the suspense. The reveal in the end included lots of action, so that was my favorite part of the book.
The coding and technology information in this book is pretty legit. I think it’s fascinating that the story revolved around a dating app that uses augmented reality. As a mild gamer (like SO mild, my son and hubby are the gamers), and one who tried Pokemon Go (not my thing), having a dating app like that kind of scares me but can I see that being a reality for my kids, in their future? Oh for sure! My son’s VR games make me dizzy, so I don’t think I’d be someone who would want to wear a visor all the time to check out some potential hookup haha. But I can see the appeal for future generations I suppose. It’s obvious the author knows her coding and tech knowledge. 👏🏼
I liked seeing these characters, a lot of them girls 🙌🏼, so adept and confident at their coding skills. These girls at this summer program are smart, techy, innovative, okay most of them were mean girls or just weren’t nice to Nora (which sucked) but I do like that these girls were good at what they do. Maddox also was good looking AND smart, so that was good.

I guess it was obvious in the first chapters that this was going to be an insta-love story when it introduced Nora playing a game called InstaLove! 😂 So…if you aren’t into books with insta-love, this book is clearly one to stay clear of. It’s a three week summer program but Nora falls fast and hard for Maddox so fast. I felt bad for her at times, because clearly his situation was “complicated” with his ex-girlfriend who was Queen Bee on campus. That being said, I thought okay…it’s a crush, she’s sixteen, but…she was in LOVE and telling her parents that she needed to BE with Maddox and he was coming to visit her by the end of the story. 😳
Speaking of the ending…I thought it was abrupt. We barely get to know anyone’s parents in this book, but all of a sudden there is Nora and her mom having a scene at the end! It felt awkward.
Nora’s nickname given by the girls in the summer program got of my nerves. I understand it’s a “mean girls” type of story, but seriously, having them call her Lowercase, including Maddox, like really? That’s the guy who falling hard for? No. 🙄

Overall, I thought the story was fairly enjoyable especially when it came to the suspense and mystery aspect but it fell short for me in the romance department since I didn’t feel like Nora and Maddox’s connection was that deep. If you like a suspense story about technology and don’t mind some insta-love, then you might enjoy this one.

ARC Review | The Wickerlight

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Wickerlight (The Wren Hunt, #2)

Author: Mary Watson

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: November 26, 2019

Categories: Dark Urban Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Druids

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

It’s been two months since Zara’s sister Laila was found lifeless on the village green of the small Irish town Kilshamble, not a mark on her. Vicious rumors circle that she died of an overdose or committed suicide–but an autopsy finds no evidence.

Zara believes somebody must know what happened, and she throws herself headfirst into an investigation. But retracing her sister’s footsteps takes her to David, a member of an ancient magical faction called the judges. The judges are in the midst of an ancient feud with another faction called the augurs, and Zara quickly finds herself embroiled in a dangerous, twisted game. And if she isn’t careful on the path she’s treading, she could end up with the same fate as Laila.

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

FYI: I did not read The Wren Hunt and I should have. Luckily, The Wickerlight is so good as a standalone I didn’t get totally lost. I wasn’t sure what to expect and when I first started the book, I admit I put it down for a few weeks because I had to let it permeate in my head. I picked it up again recently and I finished it in one night. That was totally unexpected.

In The Wickerlight, we get to know this Irish town of Kilshamble, and wow, it is dark, mystery, mystical and magical but not in a happy glittery way. This story is told in dual POV. We meet Zara who’s sister Laila is dead and Zara wants to know how and why. Then there is David, who is a judge (no not the kind with a gavel), he is part of this magical world where augurs and judges are enemies, and there is a silent war between them. I missed a big chunk of David’s background by not reading The Wren Hunt, so read that first. Zara doesn’t know what she’s stumbled into when she digs for clues about Laila’s death, but soon it’s too late to turn back. Zara is learning that maybe Laila was right about magic.

I loved learning about the druids and Irish folklore in this story. We learn about the Augurs and Judges who basically hate each other – they have a complicated history.
This story is set in a modern world but the magic is so subtle that it fits so well, I love how it came together seamlessly. We are Zara, learning about the secrets of this town. Most of the magic is not as powerful as it was long ago but it works in the modern day world of this story. It’s nature, earth magic. Also the folklore stories about monsters in the forest – gives us a creepy background for this setting. 😳 I enjoyed the dark, eerie tone in this story!
The mystery of Laila’s death really kept me in this story. We stumble into this strange magical world that exists in Kilshamble. I love how Zara peels a layer slowly to find out something else about Laila. Laila’s words at the beginning of each chapter adds to the mystery as well! I wanted to find out what happened to Laila for Zara and her family’s sake. Their grief is palatable and this family has crumbled, it wasn’t tight to begin with but Laila’s death has basically broken their family apart. I felt for Zara and her mother. 🥺
Zara and Laila’s stories of the Horribles. I freaking loved it because it was their thing together and the stories made it perfectly okay to not be good and perfect all the time as long as you are not cruel, mean or hurtful. The Horribles were their shadow family and a coping mechanism I think because of their family situation.
David and Zara. David sounds like he was a jerk in The Wren Hunt and in The Wickerlight his character is fleshed out. He’s not a saint, his life is about pain, and feeling pressure from his dad. As for Zara she feels out of place in this new town, her family life wasn’t perfect to begin with and she carries guilt from Laila’s death. Her choice in the end was unexpected! And I really like their slow burn romance.

Obviously if you didn’t read The Wren Hunt like me…I was a little lost in the beginning and thank goodness for the glossary in the back of the book. I had to learn about the Augurs and Judges and once I did get settled in, it was smooth sailing from there.
There is a scene where David gets tortured – so trigger warnings: cutting. It’s not a trigger for me but even I got squeamish at the visuals of the scene. But this book IS dark, the judges do not mess around when it comes to discipline. 👀 The augurs have their own form of torture, but it didn’t involve cutting, just mind bending/mind control.
The business about hoarding words to make a law (like a spell) at times confused me, especially when it is introduced into the story. I think the idea is so poetic and the story is so lyrical that it went over my head at first. But then the practice grew on me, the way words are precious and how different words call to a person. I especially loved when David was hoarding words, haha, I mean that boy felt it!

The Wickerlight is an intriguing, lyrical, deliciously, darkly magical, unique story. It starts with grief and pulls you into the mystery of a death and this world of old magic. Definitely read The Wren Hunt first and then come lose yourself in The Wickerlight like I did.

Goodreads Monday } 11/18/19

This is a weekly meme that was started by Lauren’s Page Turners so check out her blog for more bookish content!

All you have to do is choose a title on your Goodreads Want To Read category and say why you want to read it.

Goodreads Book Blurb:

An epic tale of revenge and redemption in a world where a memory thief must fight against terrifying monarchs bent on the destruction of her people.

When the royal family of Puerto Leones sets out to destroy magic through a grand and terrible inquisition, spy and memory-thief Renata seeks to kill the prince, leader of the King’s Justice, who plans to use a terrible new weapon to wipe out the magic of the Moria…

For fans who enjoyed the ferocity of Ember in the Ashes, INCENDIARY explores the double-edged sword of memory and the triumph of hope and love in the midst of fear and oppression.

Why Do I Want To Read This?

I’ve read Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova and really enjoyed it!
Look at this cover, I’m in love. 😍
It had me at “revenge”. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This one comes out in April 2020, so I have a ways to go before I read it, unless NetGalley approves me for the eARC. ☺️

BLOG TOUR } Day Zero by. Kelly deVos

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Day Zero

Author: Kelly deVos

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: November 12, 2019

Category: Dystopian, Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Don’t miss the exhilarating new novel from the author of Fat Girl on a Plane, featuring a fierce, bold heroine who will fight for her family and do whatever it takes to survive. Fans of Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life As We Knew It series and Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave series will cheer for this fast-paced, near-future thrill ride.

If you’re going through hell…keep going.

Seventeen-year-old coder Jinx Marshall grew up spending weekends drilling with her paranoid dad for a doomsday she’s sure will never come. She’s an expert on self-heating meal rations, Krav Maga and extracting water from a barrel cactus. Now that her parents are divorced, she’s ready to relax. Her big plans include making it to level 99 in her favorite MMORPG and spending the weekend with her new hunky stepbrother, Toby.

But all that disaster training comes in handy when an explosion traps her in a burning building. Stuck leading her headstrong stepsister, MacKenna, and her precocious little brother, Charles, to safety, Jinx gets them out alive only to discover the explosion is part of a pattern of violence erupting all over the country. Even worse, Jinx’s dad stands accused of triggering the chaos.

In a desperate attempt to evade paramilitary forces and vigilantes, Jinx and her siblings find Toby and make a break for Mexico. With seemingly the whole world working against them, they’ve got to get along and search for the truth about the attacks—and about each other. But if they can survive, will there be anything left worth surviving for?

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC and inviting me to participate in this blog tour.

Jinx is living during the New Depression. An election recently took place and The Opposition leader, Ammon Carver, won the vote for president. It doesn’t seem like many people in Jinx’s life and in society approved of this choice, most were vying for the leader of The Spark, David Rosenthal, and there are rumors that the election was rigged – does that sound strangely familiar? 🤔 But not only that, they say Jinx’s dad is a major part of the chaos taking place. Jinx’s dad is Dr. Doomsday, a computer science professor and hacker who at one time created a worm that took down servers around the world. Her dad is also known for writing a survival guide book, which people laughed it, but maybe he knew something was coming.

When that “something coming” actually happens, and Jinx’s step-dad is accused of being the person behind it she and her family have to use Dr. Doomsday’s Guide to Ultimate Survival to actually survive life on the run. Will they succeed?

Everything I liked in this book was mostly in the beginning and the end. I liked the build-up of the story. We get a history lesson about this war brewing between The Opposition and The Spark, which sounds way too familiar to our current events right now. The tension between these two sides is very believable. A bombing event occurs and Jinx’s step-dad is the main suspect so Jinx and her family go on the run.
Jinx as a character really interesting. She’s a coder and loves video games and that’s all she really wants to do is play her video games. Her family is a bit broken. She has step-siblings, and she’s never on the same page with her step-sister. Jinx’s mother seems…cold. And her dad is nowhere around or not easily found So she is the main caretaker of her diabetic younger brother Charles. She has to do things in this story to keep her whole family alive by using the drills her father made her do from his survival guide. Jinx is a tough, smart girl and she is pushed to do things in this story to survive.
If you like dystopian stories, you will definitely like this one. It involves technology and coding. Jinx’s dad, Dr. Marshall, is well known for his computer theories, but he was very mysterious and elusive in this book. Jinx is trying to find him and I was like, what is with this guy? Help your kids! But of course, there’s more to it than that. There are some twists in this story that was really good and kept me on my toes.
The world building was good because it’s so close to our own, it’s something I can see happening with the collapse of banks, or how there is a sugar sale permit waiting list…that scares me. 😂 I was like, oh no, how would I get my sugary coffee drink if that happened?! But the whole world hasn’t collapse yet, there are still stores, it was supposed to be a booming town until the New Depression hit, so this world seems like something that could happen to us in the near future! 😱

I don’t know why but I lost interest in the middle of the story. Maybe it was moving too fast for me? It was definitely my mood though – it was a tiring week for me, so it was just a personal mood of mine and not anything against the story.
There is a relationship growing between Jinx and Navarro (the guy who was sent by Jinx’s dad to keep an eye on her) but I don’t know if it was needed. It’s not something I would miss if it wasn’t in the story.
Triggers: violence, bombing

If you like a fast-paced survival, dystopian story, you will like this one! It has lots of action, adventure, a family on the run, and twists that will surprise you.

First Lines Fridays | 11/15/19

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

My Little Friday Update First:

I can’t believe we are almost done with November! I’m so ready to decorate my house for Christmas and yes this year I will be doing it before Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving comes late in the month this year. Once I’m done dog-sitting Maya, the rambunctious husky 😅, I’ll be able to put up ornaments. If I did it now, I’m pretty sure Maya would pull the round ornament off the tree. This dog loves ball toys. She is OBSESSED with them. She even whines/sings when she hears them squeak. It cracks me up.

So here we go with the lines – –

“On a drowsy Sunday afternoon, a man in a long dark coat hesitated in front of a house on a tree-lined street.”

👑

Yes, I’m doing a reread of The Cruel Prince and mind you I’ve read this book a few times already when it first published, then before Wicked King was published and finally, finally we will get The Queen of Nothing on Tuesday! Actually I may have to wait a bit longer for my items to ship. I bought the box set and also I think I got the special box from OwlCrate, I forget. 🤦🏻‍♀️ But I’m so ready to read the final book of this series!

Book Review | I Love You So Mochi

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: I Love You So Mochi

Author: Sarah Juhn

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 308

Categories: Coming of Age, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Kimi Nakamura loves a good fashion statement. She’s obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her and her friends feel brave, fabulous, and like the Ultimate versions of themselves. But her mother sees this as a distraction from working on her portfolio paintings for the prestigious fine art academy where she’s been accepted for college. So when a surprise letter comes in the mail from Kimi’s estranged grandparents, inviting her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to get away from the disaster of her life.

When she arrives in Japan, she loses herself in Kyoto’s outdoor markets, art installations, and cherry blossom festival–and meets Akira, a cute med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot. What begins as a trip to escape her problems quickly becomes a way for Kimi to learn more about the mother she left behind, and to figure out where her own heart lies.

First things first, I’m in love with the book cover because of the cherry blossoms and just the overall color palette. I’m in a ballet pink mode, maybe because of my daughter. But yes, this cover is super cute.

I Love You So Mochi is as sweet as the cover portrays. It’s about a teenager named Kimi, who is a talented artist following in her mother’s footsteps but is it what she really wants? She finds herself wondering what makes her happy, what does she want to pursue after high school and is art still the thing that she is meant to do? Her grandparents invite her to Japan for Spring Break right when she has an argument with her mother and Kimi takes this time to go on the trip and find out what she wants.

The setting of Kyoto, Japan is fantastic. So many people I know love visiting Japan and this book gives the reader a tour of amazing places in Kyoto. I enjoyed seeing it through Kimi’s artistic eyes.
It’s a quick and easy read, the whole vibe of the book is light and happy. Kimi herself is a happy girl who giggles a lot and even when she has some family problems she doesn’t seem to let it get her totally down.
I like seeing Kimi bonding with her grandparents, that was sweet. Kimi meeting her grandparents brought up the issue of parents trying to control the direction of their children’s lives and the consequences that could arise from that. Being asian myself, I understand the family obligation thing, but it was nice to see Kimi bridge that gap and helping mend broken family ties.
Kimi has awesome, supportive best friends – that’s always a plus!

There is a romance in this book and it is insta-love because Kimi is only in Japan for spring break. She makes a connection with Akira right away and I thought their friendship to be believable, but I don’t know about falling in love so fast. Haha, but that’s just me.
This is a quick and light read, so light I felt like these wasn’t much of a conflict to resolve. Basically Kimi needed to find out if painting was what she still loved and she came to the conclusion of what she wanted to do pretty quick, she just had to accept it and realize it was a direction she could go. Even the family drama didn’t seem so bad? But maybe that’s just me reading heavy topic books lately haha. I should say it’s too light for me! 🤷🏻‍♀️

I Love You Mochi is sweet like the mochi dessert it features in the book. If you like some light reading, and insta-love, you will definitely love this book. It may also make you hungry for mochi. You know what is awesome? Green tea mochi ice cream, YUM. 😋

BLOG TOUR } The Princess Plan by. Julia London

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Princess Plan

Author: Julia London

Format: eBook (NetGalley/Harlequin)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: November 19, 2019

Categories: Historical Romance, Adult Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from HQN Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Nothing gets the tongues of London’s high society wagging like a good scandal. And when the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia is found murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about, including Eliza Tricklebank. Her unapologetic gossip gazette has benefited from an anonymous tip about the crime, prompting Sebastian to take an interest in playing detective—and an even greater interest in Eliza.

With a trade deal on the line and mounting pressure to secure a noble bride, there’s nothing more salacious than a prince dallying with a commoner. Sebastian finds Eliza’s contrary manner as frustrating as it is seductive, but they’ll have to work together if they’re going to catch the culprit. And when things heat up behind closed doors, it’s the prince who’ll have to decide what comes first—his country or his heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and to HQN Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC and inviting me to join this blog tour!

The Princess Plan is not quite the Cinderella story. A spinster named Eliza Tricklebank meets Prince Sebastian of Alucia and things happen. And when I say things, I mean…murder and well, falling in love while investigating the murder.

Eliza is a fun character who says what’s on her mind. She’s smart, capable and wishes society didn’t put her on the shelf just because of a scandal (barely a scandal) a long time ago. There is no future of a husband for her now, but she’s come to accept her fate as her father’s caretaker.

Prince Sebastian of Alucia is a typical royal who is used to people doing his bidding, women falling into bed with him and is under the constant pressures of being a future king. He is in England to arrange a trade agreement and find a wife but someone murders one of the people he trust the most, his personal secretary. Sebastian intends to find out who has done it, and enlists the help of Eliza, which is very unconventional.

What I love most about this story is the female friendships between Eliza, her sister Hollis, their best friend Caro and even the maid, Poppy. The girls have a grand time finding content (gossip) for Holli’s women’s gazette. Eliza, Hollis and Caro are the best of friends, and the warmth between them comes through in this story. I also adored the eccentric life of Judge Trickleback’s home. He is blind and Eliza is his main caretaker but I loved the descriptions of the home they live it with the book piles, rope tied from room to room, the scratched table – everything is lived in and cozy, much like their family.

The murder mystery in the story did sometimes make me lose interest because it was a bit predictable. Also I felt like the trade agreement didn’t seem very important to Prince Sebastian because of the murder mystery and him falling for Eliza. Sebastian seems like a man who is strictly bound to duty and the way he chooses Eliza to be his wife seemed a bit easy and a little far-fetched, but by then I was just ready to ready the happily ever after.

The banter between Eliza and Sebastian was fun mostly because Eliza is so quirky and doesn’t fawn over the Prince like everyone else. Sebastian is practiced at controlling his emotions and giving practiced answers. I don’t know that I felt the urgency of their love like I hoped I would and at one point I thought, okay, he’s definitely going to marry a high ranking debutant instead of Eliza because he’d never break the rules. Maybe I wanted him to say to hell with everything and break the rules for her. At least the two of them do share a few steamy scenes together!

Overall, I mostly enjoyed Eliza and her friendship bonds, and seeing her and the Prince fall for one another.

Purchase Links: Harlequin * Amazon * Apple Books *Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Google Play * IndieBound * Kobo

AUTHOR BIO:

Julia London is a NYT, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of historical and contemporary romance. She is a six-time finalist for the RITA Award of excellence in romantic fiction, and the recipient of RT Bookclub’s Best Historical Novel.

www.julialondon.com/newsletter

www.facebook.com/julialondon

www.twitter.com/juliaflondon

www.instagram.com/julia_f_london

Top 5 Tuesday – 11/12/19

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. Check out her blog for more Top 5 Tuesday topics and other bookish content. Here is this week’s topic:

Book Review | The Downstairs Girl

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Downstairs Girl

Author: Stacey Lee

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 374

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Racial Themes, American Southern History, Suffragists

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender.

While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light.

This book sort of got me out of my reading slump, so hooray! Maybe it’s because I just needed a break from YA Fantasy. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The Downstairs Girl packs a lot into 374 pages. It is a story about a Chinese girl named Jo Kuan, who was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. The story takes place somewhere during the late 1800’s so there is a lot going on and for a city that is divided between the color lines of black or white, Jo being Chinese, always falls somewhere in the middle. We get a little education about the Chinese that were brought in to the plantations in the South after the Civil War. There is also mention of the Suffragist movement, the growing popularity of safeties (bicycles), racial divide between blacks and whites in Atlanta, Jo’s search for her biological parents, horse-racing and a Miss Sweetie advice column in a newspaper that added humor to this story.

I love Jo who isn’t timid in her thoughts and opinions. Actually her opinions gets her in trouble with a job she’s really good at. Jo is talented with her hands and her words. She goes from being a milliner, then a maid, and she rides a horse with skill. She is also the anonymous Miss Sweetie in the newspaper the Focus. What can’t she do? But her life isn’t perfect – she was raised by Old Gin, an older Chinese man who said he found her on his doorstep. She doesn’t know her real parents, they live as secret squatters and if found out could be kicked out or worse. Because they are Chinese, they experience prejudices and work menial jobs where they can find it and try to stay “out of the way” but with more change coming in Atlanta, it’s hard to just stand by, especially for Jo who was a lot to say.
I love the writing and wonder why I’ve never read a book by this author before! I really enjoyed the focus on the power and love of words, with the newspaper and the Miss Sweetie column. Jo is so witty and funny as Miss Sweetie giving her advice to subscribers of the Focus. But I also loved the Chinese parables that Old Gin uses to teach Jo about life lessons. It’s so beautiful and there were so many things I wanted to highlight in this book but I couldn’t because it’s a library copy.
I did not know about the history of the Chinese in the American South. So this book opened my eyes to a lot of things, including race relations in Atlanta around the 1890’s, which I knew of through history class but not about the Chinese that immigrated there. The author added in the Suffragist movement as well, and she showed how even in that movement, racism played a big part. There is a hierarchy in who’s cause took precedence and freedom for blacks always took last place, most notably, black women’s issues was last place. 😔
The horse race in the end, well who would’ve thought it could be so exciting to read! And I almost cried at the end, I just felt so pumped up for Jo, I was cheering her on!
There is a revelation in this book near the end and it was heart wrenching mostly because of the relationships between Jo and Old Gin (her caretaker). And then her usually tense relationship with Caroline her employer, changes in a way unexpected that just made me want to cry.
I enjoyed the other characters in this book like Old Gin who is so wise, and Noemi and Roddy who are her friends. I’m glad Jo had a little support group even though it was so small.

There was a little romance in this story. But I think this book would have been good without it. It didn’t make me like the book less though because I always love a little romance. It’s a very slow burn though.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was immersed in Jo’s thoughts, her wit, worries, dreams and strong opinions. I love how the author gave us a glimpse of what it was like in Atlanta, Georgia for a Chinese girl in a time when tension was brewing between race and gender. I will definitely be reading more of her work. So many events are taking place in Jo’s life but I think her story ends victoriously. ☺️ Jo handles her search for her true self with courage and later with appreciation for the people who helped her realize her true voice. It touched my heart in ways unexpected.

Top 5 Saturday: Books with a Survival Theme

This prompt is hosted byMandy at Devouring Books so check out her blog for bookish content. 😊

Rules!

Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
Tag the original post (This one!)
Tag 5 people

Day Zero is a book I’m actually trying to finish this NetGalley arc right now. It takes place in the era of a New Recession and so far there are characters on the run after some doomsday events take place. This book comes out on November 12, 2019.

The Bear is also a NetGalley arc I reviewed a month or so ago and it is a story of two people surviving on Earth after some apocalyptic event. This title will be released on February 11, 2020.

The Nightingale is an amazing story by Kristin Hannah about two sisters in France who survive Nazi occupation in different ways.

I mean talk about a survival story, try surviving a grace year in The Grace Year! 😫

And then of course I can’t forget to put this on the list. Surviving The Hunger Games, let’s be honest I’d have been out in the first round.

And that’s all I got for today! I’m trying to catch up on reading because I have been slacking on my posts. 😩 So here’s to a great reading weekend! Happy reading everyone!