Book Reviews

Check & Mate is a great YA novel that has a lot to like. Despite her works usually being classified as contemporary romance or chick lit, Check & Mate felt like it skewed more towards a coming of age (coming of adult age that is) contemporary fiction story rather than romance. It’s certainly there and shapes a lot of the plot’s overall narrative, but the majority of the book is focused on Mallory’s internal dilemmas and confrontations with her past guilt and perceived responsibilities. Despite finding it well done and solid across the board, as a grown man probably twice the age of the intended readers, unfortunately this was not a very enjoyable read for me (romance was nice, all of Mallory’s drama, not so nice). However this is very much a “it’s not the book, it’s me” scenario. What I found to appreciate in Check & Mate is how well-written and developed the FMC Mallory is, and how relatable she likely can be. I was actually recommended this book to read from a friend who Mallory reminded me quite a lot of, minus some of her questionable emotional thought-processes. The way she thinks and acts, including character flaws that…

Easily one of the most creative and whimsical novels I’ve read in many years. Simon Stephenson’s Set My Heart to Five is a thoughtful (and occasionally edgy) commentary on human behavior and societal culture wrapped up in a seemingly light-hearted, meandering AI bot adventure. Despite being compared to Vonnegut’s ideologies and writing, the book’s content reminded me a lot of Daniel Keye’s Flowers for Algernon (which is one of my all-time favorite novels) in which both stories feature an innocuous narrator who does not understand the complexities of human behavior and terrible people around them. Set My Heart to Five’s premise of an AI bot developing feelings admittedly isn’t new territory, but the style of delivery and humorously dry character voice puts it in an entirely new area. First and foremost, Set My Heart to Five is not going to be for everyone, nor does Stephenson make an attempt to be mass-appealing. Jared’s character voice is somehow both frank and dry, yet also entirely comical in a witty, dark humor kind of way; you know that one friend who always talks about the unspoken elephant in the room that’s not socially acceptable, yeah that’s Jared. Full of fun wordplays and…

Charming, cozy, and exceedingly clever, I thoroughly enjoyed Ashley Poston’s A Novel Love Story that delivers on its creative premise. Beyond Eloraton’s warm vibe, this book is filled to the brim with numerous book references and has a lot going on beyond the focal romance plot thread. I generally liked The Dead Romantics and thought The Seven Year Slip was great, however A Novel Love Story is easily my favorite and has solidified Ashley Poston’s work for me. Well-written and lovingly crafted, this is an easy recommendation for anyone who like romance (particularly high-concept ones), cozy/easy reads, or even light touches of magical realism (a genre I typically do not care for). When this book was announced, I automatically added it to my reading list purely based on the premise which is one of my favorite tropes if done well. From the start, the story reminded me a lot of the BBC’s miniseries Lost in Austen which also features the main character being transported into their favorite literary world, in that case being Pride and Prejudice. A Novel Love Story doesn’t have the luxury of working off a popular established piece and has to work a lot harder with its…

Described as an urban fantasy (or rather urban supernatural?) novel with a polyamorous setup between the main characters, I spent the entire first half of the novel baffled at what I was reading and what the book was trying to accomplish. Despite an intriguing synopsis detailing a plot with a demon contract, the occult, and a secret society, all of these seemingly interesting plot elements felt sidelined for character relationships and drama. I had to ask a friend who also read this to see if this would be considered romantasy or rather, romance-supernatural since it kept making bizarre relationship-focused choices that sacrificed time that could’ve been spent on the main plot. That’s fine if a book commits and does a deep dive into that, after all the romance crossover genres are thriving. However, despite spending almost all of its time on its poly relationships, Evocation unfortunately fails to make that focus interesting to read or care about. I will be the first to admit that I am not well-read in the dynamics or structure of polyamorous relationships (watching a few Anthony Padilla interview videos on the matter probably isn’t enough to count). However, my problems and disinterest with the content…

The House in the Cerulean Sea has a plot, genre and tone that ordinarily isn’t quite my taste, but T.J. Klune’s execution and lowkey sarcastic humor kept me going. Hopefully optimistic, sweet, and a very comfortable easy read, this is not my typical read but it’s still a novel I don’t regret picking up. The plot is predictable and some extended metaphors and social commentary are a bit on the nose (this has a tone and approach better suited for YA, apart from a few rare adult-natured jokes), but it’s unapologetically warm and has so much mass-appeal. Other reviews describing The House in the Cerulean Sea as a modern fairy tale are quite appropriate. The style of narration told from the perspective of the main character Linus Baker evokes that nostalgic fairy tale feel that’s felt through Klune’s descriptive visuals and dialogue (the house for example screams fantasy fairy tale aesthetic, including the gorgeous interpretation on the cover). While reading this, I could instantly see this being adapted as either an animated or live-action miniseries. Linus Baker is a refreshing, atypical main character aged 40, overweight, uptight, queer, no frills government worker who serves as the perfect foil to the…