Fiction Review: Firekeeper's Daughter

For Christmas this year, instead of asking for specific books, I gave my family a list of authors I've never read and about whom I've heard great things. One of those was Angeline Boulley, and I was thrilled that my husband gave me The Firekeeper's Daughter as a gift. I finally see what all the fuss was about! While published as a YA novel, this story has so many layers and such complex themes that it will be loved by any adult, too. It's a mystery/thriller with great emotional depth, set against a fascinating cultural background.

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has always had a foot in two worlds, though she often feels as if she doesn't fully belong in either. She lives in Sault (pronounced Soo) Ste. Marie, Michigan, near the Canadian border, with her mother. Her mother's parents were French and Italian, and her father, who died, was a part of the local Ojibwe tribe, though her parents were never married. Her closest ties to the tribe are her half-brother, Levi, her beloved Aunt Teddie, and her best friend Lily. Levi is a part of the renowned Sault Ste. Marie Superiors hockey team, and as the novel begins, he introduces Daunis to a new member of the team who just moved to town. Jamie is gorgeous, polite, and charming to everyone he meets, including Teddie's twin six-year-old girls. Daunis soon starts to fall for him, though she senses he's hiding something. 

Daunis' town, where the tribe seems integrated into the larger community and hockey is king, includes a dark secret. The scourge of meth has reached their community, with tragedy seemingly around every corner now. Lily's ex-boyfriend, Travis, was a straight-A student in all of Daunis' AP classes until he got into drugs, discovered meth, and started dealing. He keeps begging Lily to take him back--and to try meth. Daunis' own Uncle David, her mother's brother, died recently of an overdose, stunning his family since he'd been clean for 15 years. Amid this community in crisis, Daunis discovers an FBI investigation is ongoing and is asked to go undercover as a part of it. She wants to help her community and find out who the source of the meth is and where it's coming from, but she doesn't necessarily agree with the FBI's approach. Her conflicted feelings increase, as does the danger, as she gets closer to answers.

While this is a mystery/thriller at heart, with plenty of suspense, action, and a twisty plot, there is so much more to it. We see the complex grieving process of Daunis and her family, her closeness to both sides of her family, and a burgeoning love in the midst of tragedy. In addition, this novel provides an in-depth look at the modern Native American experience, and Daunis' own particular challenges of living in two different worlds (though, to some extent, all members of the tribe live that way). The details of traditional ceremonies, healing, and customs, and the closeness of the tribal community, are beautiful and fascinating. These details are authentic because the author herself is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe. I loved getting to know Daunis and her family, felt fully immersed in their world, and was rooting for the whole community to get to the bottom of the drug problems and begin to heal.

NOTES: 

The author says this novel is being developed into a TV series (which would be amazing!), but it doesn't show up in IMDb yet. 

The setting was described so beautifully that I wanted to visit and included stop in Sault Ste. Marie on our summer vacation to Michigan! Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to my illness, but I can't wait to see it in person next summer.

494 pages, Henry Holt and Company

Macmillan Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Alphabet Soup Challenge - F

Diversity Reading Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Michigan
 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. The sample gives you an idea of both the suspense and the cultural setting.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Teen/YA Review: I Am Not Alone

I'm a longtime fan of Francisco X. Stork, who wrote (my reviews at the links) Irises, Marcello in the Real World, The Memory of Light, Disappeared, and its sequel, Illegal. Like The Memory of Light, his latest novel,  I Am Not Alone, provides a realistic, enlightening picture of what it feels like to struggle with mental illness. I was engrossed by this excellent audio book.

Alberto is an undocumented older teen, living with his sister, Lupe, and her baby in Brooklyn. They live with Lupe's abusive boyfriend, Wayne. Alberto wants her to leave Wayne, but they rely on him and live in his apartment. Alberto works hard for Wayne, doing maintenance and repair work on the apartments he manages, and sends most of the money he earns back home to Mexico, to help support their family, including a sick sister. His real talent--and love--is for pottery. Lately, though, Alberto has begun to hear a man's voice talking to him, and it's saying disturbing things. It's not like thoughts in his head, but like a voice outside of him that no one else can hear. Even more strange is that it talks to him in English, while he still thinks mostly in Spanish. One day, Wayne sends Alberto to do a job in a nice apartment in another building, and he meets Grace. She is about his age but seems to have a perfect life. She's an excellent student, on track to be valedictorian and attend Princeton pre-med, and she has a wealthy, perfect-seeming boyfriend. Beneath the surface, though, Grace has been struggling ever since her parents' divorce. She's no longer sure about anything in her life or even if she's on the right path. Alberto and Grace meet that day and become friends, each confiding their fears to the other, as Alberto's voice gets more urgent, trying to force him to do terrible things, and harder to ignore.

As with all of Stork's novels, this one fully immerses the reader/listener in the characters' lives, here showing what it feels like to deal with the disturbing voices Alberto hears (which an author's note explains might be schizophrenia or any of several other mental illnesses). The topic is handled here with compassion, as are Grace's problems. Alberto's undocumented status is simply a fact here, that complicates his getting the help he needs, rather than a main subject. The two new friends find comfort and support in each other during difficult times for both of them. There is also plenty of suspense here, as Alberto starts to have memory black-outs and ends up running from the police who suspect him of a horrific crime. All of that tension, though, comes to a satisfying conclusion for both main characters. The audio production was excellent, with two narrators reading Alberto's and Grace's chapters. I was fully engaged in this moving, suspenseful story, and I learned a lot about mental illness.

(Another outstanding YA novel about this kind of mental illness is Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman (my review at the link), based in part on the author's son's own experiences with schizoaffective disorder and accompanied by drawings from his son that show his declining mental health.)

320 pages, Scholastic

Scholastic Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - I

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - New York

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/ordownload it from Audible. The sample is from the start of the novel and gives a great introduction to Alberto's life.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (same audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  
  

Two Great Teen/YA Graphic Memoirs

I took advantage of Nonfiction November to  catch up on some graphic memoirs, and I read two of them that are perfect for teens and young adults (though I enjoyed them as an adult, too!).

Pénélope Bagieu has written and illustrated several graphic novels and graphic nonfiction books, including the award-winning Brazen, though her coming-of-age graphic memoir, Layers, was the first of her books I've read. I'm so glad I did! In it, she tells sixteen different stories about her life in France, covering the period from childhood to young adulthood, with warmth, emotional depth, and humor. Each of these is a separate vignette, not in chronological order, on a different topic, but together they paint a full picture of her early life and process of growing into an adult. Her first story is titled, Why Don't You Have a Cat?, and it tells the story of the kittens she and her sister got for Christmas when she was very young. But she had her cat for almost twenty years, and she tells stories of her relationship with her cat throughout those years, so we see every stage of her life through that lens, from small child to young adult. Some vignettes are very short and funny, like A Story About My Seduction Abilities, or short and dark, like the one-page story about noticing signs that a friend in school was being abused. Sometimes she digs a bit deeper into some serious topics, as in Deja Vu, where she compares, side-by-side, two instances of unwanted sexual attention, one as a child sleeping over at a friend's and another as a young adult. That one, like many of them, uses very creative story-telling techniques and makes maximum use of her drawing talents. These aren't illustrated stories but truly a graphic memoir, where the pictures tell the story. Often funny, sometimes thought-provoking, and always intimate, Layers is a truly unique, though very relatable, memoir that uses the graphic form perfectly.

144 pages, First Second

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction November - Published in 2023

Travel the World in Books - France

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Dreamer: Growing Up Black in the World of Hockey by Akim Aliu (co-written by Greg Anderson Elysee and illustrated by Karen de la Vega) is another coming-of-age graphic memoir with an international flavor but quite different. Akim was a professional hockey player in the NHL who here tells the story of the terrible racism he faced, from youth hockey all the way up to the pros. Akim's mother is Ukrainian and his father is Nigerian, and when he and his brother were children, they lived in both countries. As a biracial couple, his parents found prejudice and racism in both places--even from family members--so they moved the family to Canada, hoping to provide a better life for their sons. Life was generally better in Canada, but Akim and his brother were still often the only Black kids in their school or neighborhood. Akim fell in love with hockey from the first moment he saw it, and when his parents got him some used skates at a yard sale, they discovered he was a natural. He loved the sport and was very good at it. So good, in fact, that he qualified for an elite teen league in Canada. At age sixteen, he moved to a town four hours away from his family to live with a host family and play hockey. He eventually went pro and joined the NHL, but Akim encountered horrific, often violent racism at every step of his journey--from teammates, spectators, and most alarmingly, sometimes his own coaches. As dark as this story is, there's a happy ending because Akim started a foundation, the Hockey Diversity Alliance, and has dedicated his life to making hockey, the sport he loves, more inclusive and to stamping out racism on the ice and off. The way that he turned his pain around to help other kids is truly inspiring.

120 pages, Graphix (Scholastic)

If you want to know more, as I did, here's a short interview with Akim Aliu about his experiences and his important work.

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Nonfiction November - Sport

Diversity Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Canada (several different provinces)

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  
  

Teen/YA Review: Dangerous Lies

During the R.I.P. Challenge in October, I enjoyed a unique YA thriller about the Witness Protection Program, Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Stella Gordon is starting over in the tiny, remote town of Thunder Basin, Nebraska. Her name isn't even really Stella, but that's the name she's been given by the Witness Protection Program (WITSEC), after witnessing a shooting in her own home involving a dangerous drug cartel. Now, a U.S. Marshal has dropped her off at a farmhouse that feels like the middle of nowhere to Stella. An ex-cop named Carmina is pretending to be Stella's foster mother, as part of her cover story. Nothing in Thunder Basin feels familiar, and Stella misses her old neighborhood in Philadelphia, her best friend, and especially, her boyfriend, Reed, who is also in WITSEC now. The only thing Stella doesn't miss is her addict mother, who also witnessed the murder but was put into a treatment program. Stella's been the only responsible one in her household for as long as she can remember, and at least it's a relief not to be worried about her mom for now. She tries to settle into Thunder Basin, and to pass the endless boring hours, she gets a job and joins a local softball team. The first friend she makes is a guy that lives down the road from Carmina, Chet, who wears a cowboy hat and mows her lawn for her. Over the summer, Stella and Chet get closer, and Stella wants so badly to tell him who she really is, but the danger of being found is always there, plus unexpected dangers right in town.

I'm fascinated by WITSEC (if you are, too, check out the TV show, In Plain Sight), so I was hooked right from page one of this fast-paced novel. Stella is prickly and defensive, but she grows on you, as you see the hurt and vulnerabilities beneath. The author has created interesting, real-feeling characters and a story that pulled me right in. Suspense and tension come from multiple places in the plot, as Stella encounters problems in town, as well as the ever-present danger of being found and the stress of pretending to be someone else. There were plenty of surprising twists that kept me turning the pages. This is more than just an action-packed thriller, though. It's also the tender, warm story of a young girl finding a home and learning to feel safe and loved.

384 pages, Simon & Schuster

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge (extra points for being on my shelf for 8 years?)

R.I.P. Challenge
 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

Teen/YA Review: Crash and Bang (Visions trilogy)

Pulling books off my shelves for my large "pile of possibilities" for the R.I.P. Challenge and Series September last month, I noticed a forgotten YA novel: Bang by Lisa McMann, book two in her Visions trilogy. Lisa McMann is an old favorite author of mine (I loved her YA series Wake, standalone Cryer's Cross, and middle-grade series The Unwanteds, links to my reviews), so I requested book one of this newer trilogy, Crash, from my library and read both of them in September. They lived up to my high expectations, and I read these gripping paranormal thrillers in record time!

Jules is sixteen and lives in Chicago but doesn't have a typical teen life. She spends her free time helping out in her family's Italian restaurant, and her best friends (only friends?) are her older brother and younger sister. They're the only ones who really understand what it's like to live with their father's severe depression and hoarding. But Jules is managing OK until she starts to see frightening visions whenever she looks at screens. In her repeated vision, she sees a snowplow jump the curb and hit a restaurant full of people, followed by a huge explosion. Her vision ends with nine body bags in the snow, and she can see a face in the last one, of her old friend and current crush, Sawyer. As her visions increase in intensity and frequency, showing up in mirrors, windows, signs, and more, she searches them for clues and figures out that it's Sawyer's family's Italian restaurant that she's seeing exploding violently. The problem? She and her siblings have been forbidden from even speaking to Sawyer and his family because of some age-old feud among the adults in the families. How can she pinpoint the exact time of the impending disaster and warm Sawyer and his family in time? Or will the increasingly violent visions make her go crazy first? What if her dad's mental illness runs in the family?

No spoilers of Crash's ending, but in book two, Bang, Jules' visions have ended, but someone close to her begins to see different--but similarly horrifying-- visions of another impending disaster. Together, they are trying to figure out what is being seen so they can stop it from happening.

As always, McMann has created a bizarre but believable paranormal premise in the midst of a very realistic situation. The tension here ramps up higher and higher as Jules' visions worsen, while she tries to navigate high school, working in her parents' restaurant, and dealing with her dad's issues. She's a fully-developed character, with wonderfully close relationships with her siblings as the three of them band together to keep their family's secrets. There is even a sense of humor in these novels; did I mention that Jules has to drive a food truck with giant meatballs on top to school? That humor is on display in the audio sample below, as Jules lists "5 Reasons Why I'm Shunned." I love the way this novel is a thriller, with great suspense, while it also has so much emotional complexity, dealing with issues like mental illness. Lisa McMann has done it again, with an original premise and engrossing page-turner, and I can't wait to read book three in the trilogy, Gasp.

Crash, 256 pages, Simon & Schuster

Bang, 272 pages, Simon & Schuster

These books fit in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge (Bang)

Diversity Reading Challenge (both)

Literary Escapes Challenge - Illinois (both)

R.I.P. Challenge (both)

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. This sample highlights the humor in the novel as well as some background about Jules and her siblings.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (there's also an audio sample here, a different one, about the visions).

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  
 

 

Teen/YA Review: Scythe

My husband, son, and I are big fans of Neal Schusterman, author of dozens of outstanding middle-grade and YA novels. Two of our favorites are the middle-grade Skinjacker trilogy (starting with Everlost), an imaginative look at the afterlife, and the YA dystopian series that starts with Unwind, which is still a family favorite, many years later. Schusterman doesn't just write fantasy and science fiction, either. Bruiser is a mostly realistic YA novel about abuse, with a bit of a supernatural twist, and Challenger Deep is a creative, powerful YA novel about mental illness, based on the author's own son's experiences with schizophrenia. So, I wanted to read Scythe even before I heard all the rave reviews. I don't know why it took me so long! It was just as good as I expected.

Scythe takes place in a far-off future, where technology has evolved to the point where there is no more suffering. The Thunderhead (which began with the present-day "cloud") has evolved into intelligent AI that oversees every aspect of life, so there is no more need for government or politics. Disease has been eradicated, and nanites in each person's bloodstream automatically heal injuries, treat pain, and even control mood to prevent anger or despair. Even middle seats on airplanes have been abolished! Sounds like a pretty great way to live, right? The only problem is that with no natural death and humans now essentially immortal, the world needed a way to control population so it wouldn't outstrip the world's resources (which are carefully apportioned by the Thunderhead so everyone gets what they need). The answer to that problem was to designate certain humans as Scythes who are tasked with gleaning (i.e. killing) a certain number of people each year to keep the world in perfect balance. Ideally, these Scythes operate under a strict moral code and are revered for their role in society, but as is always the case where humans are involved, not all Scythes follow the rules and aspire to ethical behavior.

In this world, two ordinary teens, Citra and Rowan, have recently been selected by Scythe Faraday (each Scythe chooses a historic name) to train as Scythes. Neither of them wants to dedicate their life to gleaning, but that--along with evidence of honesty and compassion--is precisely why Scythe Faraday chose them to be his apprentices. He's one of the good guys and begins to train Citra and Rowan rigorously in killing techniques, as well as old world history and philosophy and the moral code of the Scythes. Their training is interrupted, though, as some of the Scythes with more selfish motives intervene.

As in all of Schusterman's dystopian novels, he has created a thoroughly unique and fascinating future world, where you can easily see the chilling links back to our own world. His novels are always gripping and suspenseful, yet thought-provoking, and Scythe is no exception. The reader quickly comes to like Citra and Rowan--and Scythe Faraday, too--and all of the characters are interesting and three-dimensional. It's an action-packed story, full of surprising twists, that kept me turning the pages. Schusterman has done it again, with another thoughtful, high-stakes dystopian thriller. I can't wait to read book two, and I've already moved Scythe onto my husband's to-be-read pile, because I know he'll love it, too.

435 pages, Simon & Schuster

Audible Studios

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge

Big Book Summer Challenge

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

    (as an Audible production, it seems the audio is only available through Audible)

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

YA Nonfiction Review: The 57 Bus

A good friend of mine from high school who now teaches high school English recommended I read The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater when it was first released in 2017. Now I realize why she was so enthusiastic about this unique, eye-opening book. It details the true story of how the lives of two teens intersected for a few minutes on a city bus that changed both of their lives.

Sasha is an agender white teen living in Oakland, CA. They attend a small, private school that is very supportive of teens like them who don't fit it into the neat boxes society tends to place people in. Sasha's parents are also very supportive of their choices, having watched their development from a child to an older teen and seen how thoughtfully those choices were made, based on deep feelings. Sasha has plenty of friends who are self-described nerds, and their school fosters creativity, like the silly card game they've invented together. Sasha has a unique sense of style, often wearing a vest and bow tie with a ballerina skirt to school. She rides the 57 bus home.

Richard also rides the 57 bus home from his large public school in Oakland. Richard is Black with a single mother. He and his mom are close, and Richard is generally a good kid, with the kind of humor and goofiness present in many teen boys. Given where he lives and goes to school, though, he's been exposed to a lot more violence and drug use and other societal issues than Sasha, though he generally stays out of trouble. One day on the bus, spurred on by other acquaintances nearby, Richard flicks a lighter someone handed him to Sasha's skirt. To his surprise, it quickly goes up in flames, and Sasha is severely injured. Sasha spends months in the hospital recovering, while Richard heads to juvie and begins his journey through the judicial system. Because the police who interview him for hours without an adult present pressure him to say he's homophobic, he's charged with two hate crimes and faces life in prison.

In an instant, these two teens' lives were changed, and it is easy to simply identify one as the victim and the other as the bad guy. But author Slater helps the reader understand the intricate nuances of this tragic story, taking us deep inside both teens' lives and relationships with friends and family. This book also takes a close look at the failings of our judicial system. One thoughtless moment of goofing around became a life-changing moment for both teens, and this award-winning book that delves into issues of race, class, and gender makes us think deeply about the incident and its aftermath. It's a book that should be required reading for adults as well as teens, and it was excellent on audio.

320 pages, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Recorded Books

I got this book from Sync several years ago, which offers two free audio books each week during the summer.

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - Crime and Punishment

Diversity Challenge

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 

Teen/YA Review: This Is Our Place

In April, I was looking for a YA audio book and something set in another country (I'm trying to read more globally for my Travel the World in Books Challenge this year). I found just the book in This Is Our Place by Vitor Martins, a unique novel set in Brazil about three different gay teens who each lived in the same house, in three different decades.

One of the unique aspects of this original novel is that the house narrates the story. In 2000, a teen girl named Ana celebrates the new millennium (and the absence of any real Y2K problems) with her father. On New Year's Day, though, Ana's dad breaks the news to her that they have to move to Rio de Janeiro for his job. Ana is devastated. Not only is this the only house she's ever lived in, but she will also have to leave behind her girlfriend (that her father doesn't know about).

In 2010, Greg moves into that same house to live with his aunt temporarily. He knows his parents are probably getting divorced, but they never talk to him about it and have sent him to his aunt's house while they figure things out. Greg's aunt is a film buff who runs a video rental store out of the garage, so Greg helps her out with the shop and with her dog, Keanu Reeves. Clearly, video is on the way out, so Greg also helps her brainstorm how she can continue to share her love of movies. The boy who delivers his lunch every day is really cute and they talk more and more each day, so Greg wonders if he might get his first kiss here. His parents don't know he's gay, but maybe he can tell his aunt.

March 2020 marks the beginning of the pandemic, and Brazil is in lockdown. Beto and his mother are stuck in the house together, and soon, his older sister joins them, as the isolation of her single apartment in the city becomes too much for her. As they each struggle to deal with the pandemic, individually and together, Beto misses being able to go outside with his camera to take photos, so he starts taking photos from his window. He's been texting and interacting with a boy online that he likes, but they can't meet in person, so he's not sure it's mutual.

The narrative moves back and forth between these three main characters in three different time periods, cleverly telling their individual stories while also telling the story of the house itself. Though a bit quirky, the house actually makes a great narrator, seeing and hearing everything that happens within its walls. The details and differences in the three decades adds another layer to this intriguing novel. Each of the three teens is gay and struggling with different issues personally and with their families. The three warm and thoughtful stories come together in a wonderful way toward the end. I was completely engrossed in this delightful novel about life, love, and family.

320 pages, PUSH

Scholastic Audio

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Diversity Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Brazil

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or order this audiobook from Libro.fm to support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

Teen/YA Review: Creep

I was looking for a creepy YA novel to listen to on audio in October for the R.I.P. Challenge, and Creep: A Love Story by Lygia Day Peñaflor certainly fit the bill! I enjoyed her earlier YA novel, All of This Is True, for Big Book Summer in 2021. This latest release is all about obsession, with a sense of growing dread perfect for my spooky fall reading.

 

Rafi is only a sophomore, but she knows all about Laney and Nico, the popular "it" couple of the senior class. They are both beautiful, kind, and talented, Nico in sports and Laney in dance. Rafi's job in the school office gives her a unique chance to interact with the two of them, like the day they both come in late, citing a trip to the DMV that is obviously a cover story. It's clear the two of them have just had sex for the first time, and as Rafi writes them late passes with the DMV excuse on them, it's like she's in on their secret joy. Little by little, Rafi works hard to become a part of their lives, volunteering for the clubs Laney volunteers in and offering to babysit Nico's little sister. She's also a photographer for the school yearbook and makes sure that Laney and Nico feature prominently in its pages, so they can look back and remember their perfect senior year together. There are hints that Rafi has done this before, with a teacher last year, and got in trouble for it, but she convinces herself that this is different, that Laney and Nico are truly her close friends. When tragedy strikes the perfect couple, Rafi is devastated and vows to do anything to keep them together.

 

This is a wonderful suspense novel, with a mounting sense of dread as Rafi's obsession grows. The title is perfect because as I listened to it, I kept thinking, "That's so creepy!" But this novel is so much more than just its tension and suspense. It has wonderful emotional complexity, as the reader gradually learns more about Rafi's background and life. She lives with her grandparents, and the mystery of what happened with her parents and their absence has a lot to do with Rafi's obsession with Laney and Nico. All of that backstory unspools slowly, through Rafi's perspective as she gets closer to the couple, thinks back to her own past, and learns more about her parents. The audio book was very well-done, with Gail Shalan providing a sweet adolescent voice that contrasts brilliantly with the creepiness of Rafi's obsession (listen to the sample below). I enjoyed this engrossing audio book. It just cements my opinion that Lygia Day Peñaflor writes gripping, immersive YA suspense stories.

 

272 pages, Clarion Books

HarperAudio

 

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

R.I.P. Challenge

Fall Into Reading Challenge - Autumn Vibes

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

 

Or you can order Creep from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.