gardenofbookworms - Tumblr blog

[gardenofbookworms]

week #12 recommendation: rose

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

▪︎ romance novel ▪︎

who's that one really, really, really annoying kid in your neighborhood? that one kid who hides a severed lawn gnome's head in an oh-so-pleasant place for you to find, drags a tire to your favorite parking spot so you have to park somewhere further away, puts tape on your windshield, etc etc.

for liz buxbaum, that's wes bennett. as a senior in high school, liz just wants to live her life and make all the Memories Every Senior Should Have. her childhood crush, michael, has just moved back into the neighborhood, and she's determined to go to prom with him. who cares about wes bennett, anyway? he's not boyfriend material... right? but there's just a little hitch. michael still thinks of liz as the quirky little girl he grew up with—"little liz." and he's never going to ask her out to prom with that mindset. there's only one solution: make. him. jealous. and who better than liz's annoying neighbor to act as her fake, perfectly lovable boyfriend? but as liz is forced to spend more and more time with wes... well, what else happens in an enemies-to-lovers type book?

▪︎

i adored this book. it's a beautifully set up enemies-to-lovers, and there's nothing better to accompany a rainy day and a cup of tea. you can tell from the beginning how frustrated (and oblivious) liz is, and how head-over-heels wes is. there are so many funny moments, so many ridiculous plot points. but not in a bad way—painter does a really good job of showing the reader how even wes' most absurd pranks drive liz absolutely insane. overall, a wonderfully lighthearted, quick read, perfect for a lazy day.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #11 recommendation: bee

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

▪︎ historical fiction novel ▪︎

there was julia (lindsay mackenzie wallace beaufort-stuart). then there was queenie, and eva. for a little while there was katharina. and there was verity, who wrote truth. and there was nothing.

julie, code name verity, is a coward. out of all the prisoners in the hotel the gestapo have seized, she’s the only one to enter an agreement. she writes for her life—that is, she’ll tell them everything they want to know just as long as she doesn’t die. it’s not as if she could write if she died, though. the plane crash that sent her there dive-bombed maddie, the pilot, onto a different road. but all she can do is wait in agony for word about her best friend through a group of resistors and a nazi cooperator who’s family first to them. a long, late night at the bridge is where the standstill is finally broken—but despite maddie’s broken heart, there’s no way it can end there.

▪︎

okay. in all honesty i think this is one of those books (e.x. song of achilles) that would tear most people apart but have had little effect on me in the moment (maybe i should’ve had rose write this one, hm?). but i can still say, with my whole heart, that the emotions and raw devotion portrayed in this book is real. holy shit is it real. it’s in the iconic, recurring lines and unwavering trust. in the fears shared and planes flown and the wondering wondering wondering. in the split-second decision made for the sake of “i will save you”. but they’ve done their parts. julie has written the truth, maddie has flown the plane. and forever, a part of her is buried in lace and roses, stuck in the climb, unflyable.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #11 recommendation: rose

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

▪︎ historical fiction/mystery novel ▪︎

not very long ago and not very far away, there once was and still is an invisible place right here with us. and if you were born knowing, you will find your way through the woodlands to the shimmering doors that lead to the land made just and exactly for you...

so begins the story of whisperwood, a magical place in which hazel and flora linden could disappear away into. the sound of hazel's voice took them through the bushes and above the trees, turning the sisters into any animals they desired, journeying into a magical world made just and only for them. all of this, while staying in a hole in a tree in the woods near the cottage where they'd been sent to live, far away from the comfort of their mother's flat in london. they'd been sent away for their own safety—it was 1940, and the bombs were soon to start falling. but there in the english countryside, in beloved binsey, the girls were safe. until six year old flora disappeared near the beautiful but deadly river thames. hazel left her for but a moment, and she lost her. now, twenty years later, hazel has almost given up hope of finding flora once more—a body was found in the river, and it was entirely possible that it was flora. then, in the bookshop where she works, hazel comes across the secret story she told flora. the story of whisperwood. hazel never told anyone—it was their story, and theirs alone. so how did it get into the hands of this strange american author, and why is she telling it now? could flora be alive despite all the evidence to the contrary?

▪︎

i loved this book. the author does a brilliant job of showing the bonds that tie hazel and flora together, and why hazel can't let go of the fact that a fairy tale by the name of whisperwood has recently been published. this book is sort of a mystery, sort of historical fiction, sort of fantasy—which, in my opinion, makes it even better. the best books and songs and movie can't be easily sorted at categories; they do an outstanding job of tying it all together. and callahan henry definitely does that that here—the idyllic picture of whisperwood is beautifully painted, and yet it's so easy to jump right back in to binsey or london or wherever hazel is. also, alternating timelines? the perfect way to tell this story.

[gardenofbookworms]

may's monthly: from bee and rose

The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto 

▪ thriller/suspense novel ▪

you all know the questions in a relationship. who plans the dates? who combs the other’s hair? who yaps, who listens? who hides the most secrets? who stalks the other? and, most importantly, who ends up dead first?

logan (who has no last name, interpret that as you will) is convinced that he’s destined for delilah, his gift from the crush of junior year—the glamorous sophie. she looks just like sophie, and they used to be perfect for each other, right? right…up until sophie died. 

now, logan spends his time scrolling through every one of delilah’s socials, sneaking into her house uninvited, checking footage from the camera he’s put near her place, and finding excuses to walk by and talk to her. it’s just so obvious they’re meant to be together; he knows nearly all of her darkest secrets and loves her all the more for them. and no one, no one, could ever possibly know her better than he does. 

sweet, shy delilah wong is fucking sick of controlling men. she’s all her mom’s got left after pa and brandon, her terrible ex-boyfriend. her mom’s been through enough, so shouldn’t delilah be strong enough to protect the both of them? falling for logan proves to be her worst mistake, and she’s blackmailed into dancing to a tune she knows all too well—but it’s only a matter of time until she gets to lead. and she’ll paint the ballroom floor with blood if that’s what it takes to live freely.

it's been months since the two started dating, and logan feels like he’s going insane. delilah has become more compliant, yes, but her constant worrying about the video is getting to him. he’ll have to do something about it—make her happy and keep her happy, forever. it’s all out of love, so it’s fine, right?

wrong. the roles have been switched, and delilah is starting to bare her fangs. but is that enough to escape the cage logan’s carved around her?

▪

from bee

this book has, well, a history. i first gave it to rose for her birthday last year (and with a note she’ll never let me forget). and actually, it’s got stuff we both like. romance and murder fit hand and hand. and of course—because there’s always an “of course”—you’ve got drug dealers, giant pancakes, concerned bestie josh, dead ex nightmares, and a serious case of erotomania. 

after rereading this book recently, there was one thing in particular i really liked. delilah’s transforming from the prey to predator, yes, but she’s still wavering. she can do all these bad things but she’s still scared. she’s still just a high schooler who’s desperate to escape her life, not some hero who gains all the confidence in the world after her Big Realization. i think that’s a little more realistic than delilah going on a rampage. besides that, i also noticed how logan took to calling her “dee” really quickly…quite devoted for someone who’s only known her a few weeks.

from rose

as bee just said, the two of us have quite a history with this book. this year, i gave her the prequel, the new girl, for her birthday, with a note very similar to the one she gave me. and yes, romance and murder fit together very well here. but, as bee so brilliantly put it a while back, here’s the thing: you gotta think of this book less like a sketchy romance, and more like a spiral towards insanity. 

logan feels like he’s slowly losing his mind—everything comes back to delilah, and everything (and i mean everything) seems like a threat to their relationship. in my opinion, this is a wonderful way to set up a romance called the obsession; it enables the author to justify the anger and worry and “love” logan feels when exposed to anything to do with delilah, while still letting the reader see in perfect clarity how utterly wrong he is. and delilah is going to make him pay, even if it all doesn’t turn out quite how she hoped it would.

▪

bonus: spotify playlist!

[gardenofbookworms]

week #10 recommendation: bee

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutano

▪︎ thriller/mystery novel ▪︎

be careful around new people. for the obvious reasons, yeah—they could be murders or addicts or something. but there's something else you gotta watch, too: your shoelaces.

lia setiwan, whose last name no one can pronounce, has just won herself a scholarship into the prestigious draycott high. totally out of place among the preppy rich kids with their drugs and perfect grades that cost a pretty penny (not to mention weekend trips to vegas and yacht parties), the track is one of the few places she can really, literally, run free. she relies on her legs to keep her away from the wrong crowd—but it depends on what you'd call a drug dealer, a devastatingly hot guy, a maybe-bulimic, and a genius hacker. a quick snoop into mr. werner’s (her bastard of an english lit teacher) office ends up as the start of the murder investigation, and the next day werner himself ends up dead. and if lia has to go down, then she’s sure as hell dragging everyone with her.

▪︎

i don’t know if i've said this here before, but it is always the side characters for me. that being said, stacey…my beloved…even from the first description i latched onto her like “oooh i know i’m gonna like YOU”. my favoritism aside, i also really like the way misunderstandings arise so quickly with no way to oppose them without revealing something you shouldn’t. lia’s trapped herself in a traumatic situation full of guilt and self-neglect, and the effects that it has on her misleads everyone really quickly. the drama on the dd app also does really well to create a sense of…paranoia? someone’s always watching? that type of atmosphere, it’s amazing.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #10 recommendation: rose

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

▪︎ fantasy romance novel ▪︎

ah, yes, the beauty of the enemies to lovers trope—sarcastic, witty humor to arguments about all the wrong things to letters exchanged in secret to the day when the two finally realize they've fallen so impossibly hard for each other. one of my favorite tropes, i must say, especially in a fantasy world where almost anything is possible.

more than anything else, iris winnow wants to win the position of columnist at the oath gazette. for months, she's been competing against roman c. kitt for the position, hoping to win over the boss with her touching writing. sure, there was a time when she had other dreams, but what's it matter now? her brother, a soldier who only recently enlisted, has gone missing on the front lines of war, and iris has been left alone with her mother, who can't even be bothered to get off the couch. what a war it is—two of the gods of old, awoken from their slumbers in the grave, persuading humans to fight their battles for them. iris is angry, saddened, confused, lost—right up until she discovers an opportunity to head to the front lines and report on the happenings of the war. an opportunity to search for her missing brother. to do so, she'll have to leave behind everything she knows. there's nothing left for her in the city anyway, so it's fine, right? but what happens when roman—who is still her enemy, no matter what's happened between them—follows her down into the danger?

▪︎

this book was introduced to me by a very close friend, who was nothing if not insistent that i read it. and damn, was this girl right. ross' writing style is absolutely perfect for this kind of book—descriptive, but not excessively so; emotional, to the point where you're living and breathing iris and roman's experiences; breathtakingly suspenseful, to the point where you literally cannot stop reading. the couple's story is beautifully wholesome, and realistic even though it's set in a fantasy world. and the musical connections? endless, especially if you love finding the smallest phrases in songs that relate so fudging well to a book or movie or whatever. and with that, i'll leave you with this. do enjoy.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #9 recommendation: bee

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

▪︎ dystopian fiction ▪︎

everyone comes from bottles—that’s a fact now. everyone comes from bottles, kids have sex for fun, and the thought of a family? parents? absolutely scandalous.

before they have a chance to see the sun, everyone’s free will has been carefully manipulated. bernard marx, however, is a bit of an outlier (they say there was extra alcohol put in his bottle). he’s always a little out of touch, never taking soma, never taking girls. john, having grown up on a reservation, is the same way. where's all the life, he wonders? where’s the hardship, the struggle—whatever happened to no struggle, no progress? it seems that the brave new world he had once been so excited to see, the one that took away his linda, is as incomprehensible as the vacuum of space—and just as empty.

▪︎

the world will keep turning, and one person compared to the whole of Society isn’t always enough to change that. john and bernard and even helmholtz are all just examples of the all-powerful system. if you’re different, you’re sent away. and because not everyone’s an up-and-coming revolutionary protagonist, there’s really nothing you can do. the media’s insistence on seeing john and what they drove him to do was, unsurprisingly actually, horrifying. when the general consensus is that you’re a freak show, everything you do is interpreted as an act. the crowds can keep shouting “more! more!” and sometimes, there’s nothing else to do (if you can’t tell, i’m obsessed with the ending).

[gardenofbookworms]

week #9 recommendation: rose

Displacement by Kiku Hughes

▪︎ sci-fi/historical fiction graphic novel ▪︎

how many people actually know their family history? no, i'm not talking about what happened in the time period their (great) grandparents lived. not just that, at least. what actually happened to their family, specifically? daily lives? experiences too small to be worth documenting?

not many people do, that's for sure. and kiku was one of them—at least until she was forced to. kiku is a japanese-american girl whose (deceased) grandmother was one of the many who ended up in an incarceration camp. one day, kiku is whisked back in time to when the camps were first established, but not by choice. suddenly, she has the opportunity to discover more about her grandmother and her heritage than she ever knew before—but will she ever be able to go home?

▪︎

i absolutely adored this book. it highlights one of the biggest truths of our time: silence is the enemy of truth (another book that does the same, for anyone interested: the silence that binds us by joanna ho). many of the topics discussed in this book are barely taught in american schools, and are definitely not talked about enough. very few people have more than a vague idea of what life was like in the incarceration camps, and this book does a great job of calling attention to that. while it may not be the most realistic way of doing so, the warring emotions kiku feels throughout the book balance that quite well, and really help develop the part of the narrative that is much more personal for her.

[gardenofbookworms]

SPECIAL: BEE’S SEVEN SOMEWHAT OBSCURE MANGA RECS (long post)

today is a very special day and so i am taking advantage of this opportunity to give you all my manga recs before rose kills me :D

(“bee i thought you hated romance there's a lot of bl on here” bl doesn't count okay. shhh)

*note: author and character names are in last-name-first-name format when full name is shown

Kindergarten Wars by Chiba You

in japan there exists an establishment called kindergarten noir, where children can often be seen running around in the playground out front. though it may look unassuming—this is the safest kindergarten in the world, daily attacked by assassins (such as leo) yet never having lost one single child. rita is one of the staff members, all of which are former convicts with more kills than their age in years and enough baggage to weigh down a jet. her only goal in life? to find a hot boyfriend (and definitely NOT her nicotine addicted swindler colleague). but before that, there’s something that must be done at any cost—protect the children.

▪︎

the balance in this manga is actual, literal perfection. it’s officially classified as a comedy, and yet there’s a real seriousness behind the characters and their missions that makes it so, so emotional (the end of the asakusa arc…). not only that, but there seems to be a lovebug going around, and of course it’s not complete without the resident manga otaku (luke). the “elite” from another level in fighting aren’t set apart from the others in the kindergarten, either—the characters are constantly unified and there for each other which only made it worse when [redacted].

Servamp by Strike TANAKA

shirota mahiru is a very simple person. if you see a lonely cat, you pick it up, right? but what if the cat is a vampire, or rather, servamp, and he's just been dragged into the complex world of the supernatural (y'know, vampires, werewolves, demon children splitting in half)? with tensions growing between the seven and the “eighth”, the servamps draw closer to war. and, thinking simply, mahiru and his neet vampire kuro are the only ones who can stop it—and not without help, of course. now, how much of that was a lie?

▪︎

word is that servamp is ending this year which, nooo…but holy shit is it a good series. everything escalates really really quickly (and ridiculously but that's the charm) but each arc is obviously carefully thought out (sakuya……lilly……ophelia……tsurugi……). the complexity makes it a little hard to follow sometimes, but seeing the way the characters struggle to keep their morals and navigate relationships with each other and more stuff i can't fit here is so, so worth it.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead by Aso Haro and Takata Kotaro

tendo akira has a definite zombie apocalypse role—the guy who’s just happy not to go to work. having had his dreams crushed by an exploitative corporation, akira would readily take a zombie apocalypse over another day in the office. when his prayers are answered, he realizes he’s had no free time to be anything other than an employee. so what does he do? make a bucket list, of course! after a reunion with college friend kenchiro ryuzaki, the two travel japan and meet other survivors—shizuka, a strategist whose dream is to become a doctor, and beatrix, a foreigner and samurai who came to japan with bright eyes. hordes and manipulative former bosses may follow them, but they can’t fall to their level—because they’d much rather be eaten by zombies than miss out on a chance to live.

▪︎

i first found out about this manga through the anime (which is phenomenal but beware for your mental health). the way it kicks off really set the tone—akira tries confessing to his coworker, but it goes nothing like he’d ever plan for—that bittersweet start had me hooked throughout the manga. a lot, if not all, of the circumstances are nothing short of ridiculous, my favorite examples being the zombie shark (defeated by electric punch) and the government robots (defeated with the help of a gamer girl). above all, the bad guys aren’t the zombies! it’s—you guessed it—capitalism (yay!).

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai

highschool gyaru oosawa aya is set apart from the rest of her glamorous friends by (mostly) one thing—her music taste. deviating far from the typical, fresh j-pop that everyone seems to listen to, aya prefers her much-treasured american indie rock bands. koga mitsuki, who quickly earns her reputation as “the prince”, is the same way, except she’s on the opposite side of the school spectrum. but it just so happens that mitsuki, one of those “loner-types”, sits right next to aya in class. when their paths cross for real at the record shop where mitsuki works, a case of mistaken identity is the first thing that sets off their relationship—but when you break it down, they’re just two people who really love music.

▪︎

there are two things that i absolutely adore in this manga. a) MUSIC IS A BIG FOCUS. AHHHH if you can’t tell im also obsessed with music so (btw on spotify i have a playlist of all the songs featured in the manga if you’d like to take a look). really loved the exploration with mitsuki and aya’s feelings about music and also mitsuki’s uncle AND kanna too. and b) the art style is so captivating…the use of green, and especially neon green at that, is so so cool. it kind of reminds me of glitter pen ink with all its shiny-ness. flashy teen romances are definitely not my thing but this series…

Hirano and Kagiura by Harusono Shou

kagiura akira has never been good at waking up early, despite all his early basketball practices. luckily, he's got his new school dormmate hirano taiga to help him get out of bed. but as the school semester progresses, kagiura begins to realize something—he is horribly, hopelessly, in love with hirano. when he figures out hirano doesn't return his feelings, they enter a compromise; for ten seconds a day, kagiura is allowed to touch him with more affection than just between “friends”. starstruck, kagiura is willing to give him all the time he needs to come to terms with his feelings. but hirano isn't even sure of them himself—kagiura is so, so close to his heart, but are those feelings really romantic? and just how long is he okay with making him wait? and when will they be past the point of trying?

▪︎

how do i even start to describe this manga. every single chapter i read, there were at least three times i had to put my phone down and take a deep breath. why? because they are so cute rahhhhhh. kagiura’s initial underlying uncertainty about his feelings growing into something he's more sure about is. an amazing reflection of his maturity. meanwhile hirano is still catching up, trying to sort through everything but still cheering his kagi-kun (that's so affectionate i’m gonna cry) on. and obviously, because this is bl and who are we kidding, there's niibashi and hanzawa for comical outsider pov commentary (while i'm on that pipeline, i adore how hanzawa knows and trying his best to be supportive).

▪︎

“but bee, i thought you had seven recs?” i do, but unfortunately i am lazy af and forgot to write the last summary for given (kizu natsuki). it’s still one of my favorites though. music, romance, and of course, angst. yes it’s bl, shhh. i also highly recommend the bungou stray dogs series (asagiri kafka and harukawa sango) but since that’s a little more widely known (and we trend once a month, if yk yk), i’m not gonna get into it.

hope you enjoyed :DDD

[gardenofbookworms]

week #8 recommendation: bee

Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard

▪ thriller/suspense/murder mystery novel ▪

the kerr couple moves into the belleview house. just over a week later, the wife is found dead on the beach in a miserable little town hours away. the reason? well, it’s simple—the water tank was shitty.

natalie o’connor, instagram star, leaves her house on a november morning and does not return. in between these events, she catches a bus to shanamore to investigate a lead on her husband and diminish her paranoia. the manager of shanamore cottages (and owner of the camera that captured natalie’s murder, initially intended for a different sort of “graphic”) is andrew gallagher, shrouded in a “black oil” and who harbors a secret that no one must ever find out—and of course, someone already has. days before naatalie’s body is found, a windswept reporter looking to advance a level at her job speaks with mike, the concerned husband, and follows in natalie’s tracks to shanamore. they lead her to local pervert richard flynn, who confronts her with a ridiculous proposal that may be more important than she thinks.

▪

let me be completely honest—i read this book mostly when i was in the wrong headspace for it, and so i can’t give it the credit it truly deserves. past that, holy shit. 90% of the book progresses without anyone getting closer to figuring out the murderer, and that is excruciating in all the best ways. everyone’s backstories make you suspect all the wrong people…the switch between timelines threw me off too. every time a section left on a cliffhanger, i flipped two pages to meet the continuation of a different setting. the exploration of natalie’s paranoia, andrew’s obedience, and the likeness of the mastermind behind all of it all add up to one of the best suspense novels i’ve ever read.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #8 recommendation: rose

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

▪ science fiction novel ▪

what would you to save the people that you love? what would you do to get revenge? and most importantly: what would you do to survive? 

my distinguished readers, welcome to the tenth annual hunger games. these are not the hunger games as we know them—no, these take place long before, in a rundown arena during a time when no one can bear to watch them play out. a time when formidable future president coriolanus snow is just a struggling capitol boy whose once wealthy family has fallen from grace. snow has one chance to redeem his family and condemn those who doubted him—a prize with enough money to see him through university and on to higher places. the only way he is sure to win it is by participating in the newest installment in the hunger games: the mentor program. twenty-four of the capitol's best and brightest youth, each set to mentor one of the twenty-four tributes. but out of all the tributes, who does coriolanus get? the girl from district twelve, lucy gray baird—last and least. he is devastated by this news, believing his chances of winning a prize to be dead and gone. but you know what they say—the show's not over until the mockingjay sings. 

▪

this was my favorite book for a really, really long time. it's extraordinarily different from collins' original trilogy, and that alone makes it a perfect prequel to the series. even though it is, in some ways, a villain backstory, it doesn't feel biased like many are; by the end, you can see exactly how snow became the person he is in the trilogy, and how much of that person was deeply rooted in who he was as a young adult. it was also fun to see where some of the odd traditions in future district twelve come from, and this book did a really good job of explaining that. and last (but not least), the ending. i can't explain what i love about it without spoilers, but i'll say this: collins gave us the most ironic ending possible. and it works so, so unbelievably well.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #7 recommendation: bee

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

▪ suspense/thriller novel ▪

sometimes you lose control. sometimes you do irrational things. sometimes decisions you made a long, long time ago will come back and stand face to face with you. and sometimes they will demand revenge.

joey mullen lives with her brother jack and his pregnant wife, rebecca. two doors down lives their neighbors, the fitzwilliams. charming and smooth, tom is a whole lot older but a whole more enticing than joey’s current boyfriend, alfie. as freddie watches girls come home from school, a mother watches him with crazed eyes. nicola is the most normal of the trio, a regular mom who takes jogs around town. a chance encounter at a pub brings tom and joey together, and their lust continues to reignite as they run into each other in various other situations. potential flirting turns into something more forward, and a hotel meeting to sort things out ends in a murder the same night. and joey’s boot tassel is found at the crime scene of her neighbor’s murder, right inside the house. 

▪

can you tell who my favorite author is…anyway. this is probably my favorite novel of hers, whether it’s due to the content or sentiment, i don’t know. keeping everything hidden until the very end was definitely  a big power move—and alternating between the police interviews and actual story kept tossing in new information that sometimes conflicted and most times made everything more complicated (especially with the last-minute evidence and sudden reveals). the variety of relationships, both toxic and genuine, and the amount of subplots is also really engaging. i never expected half of the things that happened in this book to actually happen. i nearly threw the book against the wall when i realized who had killed…mm, i won’t say it yet.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #7 recommendation: rose

The Cousins by Karen M. Mcmanus

▪︎ (murder) mystery novel ▪︎

decades ago, they were mysteriously cut off from their family fortune. the only explanation they got was in the form of a one-sentence letter: you know what you did. but as for what that was? they have no idea.

so goes the story of the story siblings: allison, adam, anders, and archer. after the infamous cut off, three married and had children: aubrey, milly, and jonah. aubrey is an outstanding swimmer who's nothing like the rest of the storys. milly's had one dream her entire life: somehow becoming her grandmother's favorite grandchild. and jonah? well, jonah is a mystery, beyond the science camp he wants to attend this summer. the three cousins haven't seen each other since they were very young, but now their supposedly unforgiving grandmother is inviting them to work at her resort for the summer. to the cousins' parents, this is the opportunity of a lifetime; get back into her good graces and have access to the fortune again. but to the cousins themselves? it's a chance to learn why their grandmother did what she did—and they will, assuming they manage to survive the season.

▪︎

this was easily one of the best mysteries i've read in a while. family drama, tidbit of murder, plenty of mystery; a great recipe for a mcmanus novel. the book is written in alternating perspectives, as is the author's custom, along with a little of bit of parallel timelines; just enough to make it delightfully suspenseful, but not so much that it's extremely confusing. i love the way mcmanus slowly reveals each of the characters' pasts and personalities; there were plenty of moments where the characters' realistically vague thoughts had me mentally screaming, which is exactly what i want in a mystery. overall, a quick, suspensfully frustrating (and frustratingly suspenseful) read.

[gardenofbookworms]

april's monthly: from bee and rose

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

▪︎ adventure/fantasy novel ▪︎

everyone wants something—money, revenge, freedom, love, risk, recognition—tangible or otherwise. but how far are you willing to go for it? how many rules are you willing to break, how many things are you willing to risk, how many people are you willing to lose? is it all worth it, in exchange for what you long for most?

kaz brekker certainly has the will. a cold-blooded thief to the end, he’s known as dirtyhands on the streets of ketterdam, the dirty and crowded kerch capital. there’s absolutely no job he won’t take—anything for the right price. money and greed are his gods, and the revenge they’ll get him, brick by brick, is what he craves above all else. he’s willing to do anything to get what he wants, even break into the world’s most impenetrable safe in its most impenetrable fortress in its harshest, iciest, strictest country—and steal the world’s most valuable man.

it's an impossible job; but then again, kaz makes everything impossible, possible. but of course there’s a hitch; this time, he has to rely on other people to get what he wants. desperate people, people willing to risk their lives for the grand prize—four million kruge each. to kaz, that’s everything he needs to burn his enemies’ world down. to his crew, it's a ticket out of the city—to freedom.

enter inej, the best spider ketterdam has to offer, desperate to pay off her contract and leave the city. nina, a grisha struggling to survive an ocean away from home. jesper, a risk-addicted gambler trying to keep it all together. wylan, a runaway with a gift for chemistry. and matthias, an escaped convict desperate to return home to his beloved fjerda and see to it that nina is dead. there's only a very small chance the crew makes it out alive with their prize. most likely, they’re all going to die—and worse, without being paid.

▪︎

from bee

this book has been on my list for a very, very long time. when i finally got off my ass and read it last year, rose was so excited because they had read it a while before me already. like they’re about to say, there are a zillion good quotes for reference material, and we even use them a lot ourselves.

but about the book itself? soc got me into the “group of rivals band together with a common goal” trope. the way bardugo goes about it is just perfect—it seems that everyone is involved with something unfathomable. and as much as they want to stick to their morals to get past it, the road is tricky (and of course they can't walk it alone). and a note about the character’s pasts: they don't feel made-up, as outlandish as they seem when you boil them down. they're complex and thought through and diverse and give the characters something solid to run towards or away from. all in all, an amazing start to an amazing series.

from rose

by the time i made it to, say, halfway through the book, i was absolutely in love with the story—the characters, the plot, the witty humor, everything. and as much as i love the author, none of her other books have quite lived up to the amazingness of this duology. bardugo writes with suspense that will make it literally impossible to put the book down, even if you’re rereading. the wit and humor of the characters is insane; their banter is so much fun to read, and, if you’re like me and love throwing little references into conversation, there is so. much. material. to go off of. and a little side note to bee—jesper is a gay goat lover and there is nothing you can say to change my mind.

i first heard about this book in a very dark little corner of the internet, when a few mutuals read it (together?) and posted about it. it was at least a few months before i actually got around to finding a copy and reading it, but i have never been more grateful for that dark little corner than i was then (okay, so that’s not entirely true, but still).

▪︎

bonus: spotify playlist!

[gardenofbookworms]

week #6 recommendation: bee

The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

▪ mystery/suspense novel ▪

thirteen is definitely an age. not only to social media, random mood swings, and the dreaded p-word (puberty! ahhh!), tweens around this age are especially prone to desperately acting a lot more mature than they really are.

while twelve-year-old pip is perfectly content with her somewhat childish ways, she and her mother clare don't know how to feel about firstborn grace’s transformation from a fresh, innocent teen to a flashy grown up kid. since moving from their old home (which their schizophrenic father burnt down), the family has been outsiders in the new community and its famed, feared, park. it's not long, though, until grace finds a new haven with the sisters from across the way, under the care of their outgoing parents adele and leo. it's the picture perfect family that grace has always wanted, complete with cute boy dylan who lives in the apartments nearby. and in this park, the surrounding families can let their children run as animals, playing with each other until dark sets. but the tight-knit “gang’s” insular views on friendship and loyalty might go farther than pip, clare, and adele may have imagined.

▪

another lisa jewell book, yay!!! what i really loved about this one was how jewell takes advantage of the preconceptions that people most likely already have—that parks at night are dangerous, once a pervert always a pervert, history repeats itself, that the “perfect” dad probably hides something. these things that the reader already anticipates really throws you off track sometimes. and the kids’ ages, too. they're a perfect example of growing up too fast, trying to find the meaning of maturity and then spiraling out of control. and of course, all the possessiveness surrounding one’s familiar stomping grounds and friends. i really had no idea what to make of grace, especially after what she did in the elevator…

[gardenofbookworms]

week #6 recommendation: rose

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan 

▪︎ realistic fiction novel ▪︎

that's right, guys. it's another john green book. well, partially john green. and this book is also based off a little thing about names. 

one of the last places anyone would expect to run into a person with the same name as them is a rather questionable shop in chicago. well, guess what happened to will grayson (we'll call him will) and will grayson (and we'll call him Will)? just that. Will's had a pretty shitty day; his fake id is, apparently, useless, and he's been ditched by his two closest friends for a band. will has had a much better day—he was on his way to meet his online boyfriend, isaac, for the first time. upon running into each other, the teens' lives take a twisting, spinning turn, with a huge, gay football player and an insanely funny musical coming into the mix. 

▪︎

this book is amazing. it's rude, dirty, angry, funny, sarcastic, and absolutely brilliant. i, personally, adore both wills. right from the start, we see how lost Will is, floating in the black space that surrounds tiny cooper's planet, as well as how achingly, roaringly angry will is. even if you're not a musical person, you'll be cheering for hold me closer by the end of this book. the combination of green and levithan's writing styles works so, so well—they create really realistic characters with some really out-there problems. and none of it feels outlandish or anything, just painfully real.

[gardenofbookworms]

week #5 recommendation: bee

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

▪︎ thriller/supernatural novel ▪︎

ted and caroline maxwell didn't exactly dance in wonderland. for years, they've tried to conceive with no luck. then teddy came along, they spent some time in barcelona, bought a new house that was too big for them, and got a babysitter. now, how much of that is a lie?

the babysitter part is accurate, at least. mallory quinn is eighteen months into rehab when she scores a job with the maxwells as teddy’s sitter through her sponsor, russel. caroline maxwell, the head of the house, is the definition of a perfect mom, almost making mallory wish she could replace her own. ted, the husband, is a little cool—which is fine, except something about his demeanor sets mallory off. and there’s teddy, a sweet little angel who adores swimming and drawing, which he's incredibly good at. a little too good, leading mallory to wonder—is it really him drawing? with adrian, the friendly mexican landscaper, by her side, mallory strives to find out what's happening to teddy. but how far can she go before she crosses the line?

▪

hoooly shit. did i say that already? because it applies here too. hooooooly shit. definitely my favorite supernatural story. mallory being a former addict adds some serious complexity into the boundaries between babysitter and family, and i think it forces the readers to consider the maxwells in a certain way, too. i was paranoid for much of the book because i kept wondering how deep the maxwells’ patience with her went. teddy is only a kid! you can only push a kid so far! and of course, seeing the drawings scattered throughout the novel was really fun; seeing them lined up when mallory tries figuring out the mystery feels sorta vicarious. i can’t say much without spoiling anything, but i will say this: there are four members in the maxwell family. guess who…