book review – Story-eyed Reviews

I spent a lot of time this morning reading posts and stories about George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery: three human beings who are no longer alive today because of the continued racial injustice in this country. I don’t even know how to talk about how I feel today. I am furious. I am so angry and so sad, but saying that doesn’t feel like enough.

I mourn with the black community today. I mourn because we all should be mourning. “We belong to each other.” I firmly believe that, and when any of us is hurt, the rest of us should hurt too. I’ll never understand how anyone can justify the suffering and death of another human being, no matter how much I learn about ignorance and hate and the systemic racism riddled throughout America. I felt helpless and useless today, and so I wrote this list.

As a white ally, it is my job (and yours) to step up and support those who’s voices aren’t being heard. All of us allies have room for improvement and it’s past time to educate ourselves on how to do this job better, because we’ve been failing. We can be better allies. We can learn to listen and pass the mic. We can use our privilege and platforms to help black voices be heard. It is no one else’s job to hold our hands and do the work for us, especially not people of color. That’s what I’ve been thinking about today.

So if you’re angry and sad today, this list is for you. If you want to be a better white person, this list is for you. Hell, if you just want to be a better human, this list is for you too. It’s not much, but it’s a place to start the real conversations that all of us need to be having and to improve on the ones that we are. We have to all be in this together.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

If you’re an ally, you’ve probably already read this one. (You might have read a lot of these already.) But it’s still an excellent place to start. How to Be an Antiracist is equal parts guidebook and social education tool: it does a great job of illuminating and explaining the variety of struggles faced by people of color in this country and it also offers some suggestions, actions, things that we can do.

This book makes a distinction that I think is so important, especially today, that “not being a racist and being Antiracist are not the same thing.” It’s not enough to simply stop being a part of the problem, we have to actively take part in the solution and this book is a great primer on how to start doing that.

White Fragility: Why Its So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo

If you’re looking to do some self-reflection, this is the book you need. I remember reading this book and thinking back to so many moments in my life, relating to the stories and struggles here. If you’re like me, you grew up in a home that taught tolerance but that also didn’t talk about race very often either. A lot of us grew up in places where conversations about race were hushed or ignored, not invested in, or even judged. Especially if you were “making others uncomfortable.” But its way past time to say “f*ck that attitude.” White Fragility is about that struggle, to unlearn what so many of us have been taught. The “wokest” among us still need to soul search in these spots, and I encourage everyone to read this book.

As allies, we have to be willing and comfortable with being uncomfortable, and if we don’t know how then we need to learn. Reading a book like this, that will hopefully challenge the way you think and feel, is a great place to start.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

If you don’t think we have a problem with race and mass incarceration in this country, then…well, honestly I’m surprised you’re even reading this list, but I’m so glad you’re here. You need to read The New Jim Crow.

This book will change the way you think about “color-blindness” and the way our justice system treats people of color in this country. From the police, to education, to the prison system, this book covers it all, smartly weaving in and out of seemingly disparate topics that all have one central truth: our system is broken, and in very specific and intentional ways. We need change. Now. This book offers some suggestions, but mostly it will open your eyes. Read this, and then recommend it to all of your friends.

White Rage by Carol Anderson

If you’re looking for something historical, factual, and driven by years of research, White Rage will be right up your alley. In this book, Anderson takes an unflinching approach to analyzing the structural and institutionalized racism that has been a part of America for hundreds of years. This book is a history, essentially, of white anger and aggression toward black America and how it effects all of us, even today. Spanning more than a hundred years, White Rage uses key moments in history and first-hand accounts to expose and discuss how the narrative around race has formed in this country.

Never more relevant than today.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

This book is both primer and all-around catch-all, in my opinion. Written with brilliant insight and authenticity, So You Want to Talk About Race is a book that every white person in America should read, especially those engaging in social, political, or economic conversations today.

This book has a bit of everything, it touches on so many important topics. The author writes from a place of experience and truth and the helpful facts and suggestions in this book are the perfect place for anyone to start trying to learn more. Oluo does a wonderful job of taking on the emotional labor of explaining these difficult topics to her readers so that other people of color don’t have to, and she created an incredible handbook in the process. If you only read one of the books on this list, start here. It’s basic, clear, educational, and full of opportunities to be better.

Love and courage, friends. Stay safe. Stay healthy. xo

Find more recommendations on: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Reviews

The Vanishing Stair

November 30, 2019November 29, 2019 A Morrow

All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.

For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.

The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel of the Truly Devious series, nothing is free, and someone will pay for the truth with their life.

This review is heavily delayed, given that I read and enjoyed this book at the beginning of the year. The sequel, and final installment in the trilogy, is about to come out however…and I need to be ready. I also buddy-read this with Liz from This is Lit! (Check her podcast out here.)

To be honest, I was skeptical when I first read Truly Devious, the first novel in this mysterious trilogy, but I powered through and ultimately had a good time. The Vanishing Stair was a different story- I was sucked into this from the beginning. Vanishing Stair is a lot like its predecessor in many ways, but it also had a sense of urgency and action that I felt the first one lacked. This time around there was no slowing down.

My favorite thing about these books has always been their protagonist, Stevie. Her practical outlook on life, her struggles with her anxiety disorder, as well as her all-too-common variety of teen problems, have always come off as very relatable to me at their core. While the books might sometimes be over-the-top, or just over-the-top enough one could argue, Stevie is an anchor for the whole series. Her personality is whole and grounded and I enjoy watching her make decisions and figure out secrets at every turn.

I haven’t connected super deeply with any of the romantic stories in this series, but I honestly don’t think that the book needs it. The Vanishing Stair moves quickly and has detail and action a plenty, there is always something happening. I didn’t get bored, all the way up to the end.

I’m really looking forward to The Hand on the Wall, the finale to this trilogy. I can’t wait to find out who ’Truly Devious’ is and solve the mystery once and for all.

If you are someone who likes a good mystery without the gore or scares, these books are for you. They are eerie and mysterious, confusing and thought-provoking, even sometimes surprising, but its a gentler kind of murder mystery than I am used to. Personally, I think its a strength. This core has connected with so many readers and I whole-heartedly enjoyed my read so far. Check this one out for yourselves!

See you soon, friends! x

Find more recommendations on: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

ARC Reviews, Reviews

The Return

November 29, 2019 A Morrow

An edgy and haunting debut novel about a group of friends who reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance.

Julie is missing, and the missing don’t often return. But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she’ll come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.

The Return by Rachel Harrison was un-put-down-able.

I had so much fun reading this and stayed up way too late more than once to reach the end of the story. The Return was everything that I wanted in a modern horror, mystery novel: it’s murky, compelling, hypnotic, and slowly ratchets up the tension with a masterful hand. If you like horror, or even if you like thrillers or mysteries and want to try something new that isn’t too gory, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it.

This book is ultimately about friendship. As dark, mysterious, and grisly as it gets, what makes this book so great is the emphasis of the strength of female friendships through it all. If you’ve had a group of girlfriends for a long time, you know how far you would go for them. Or do you? Regardless, The Return makes you face this question over and over and over again as Elise, Julie, Molly, & Mae have to figure out the answer to this question themselves.

The friendships and characters alone were enough to keep me reading. The book shifts POVs occasionally, but I most loved and related to the primary POV character: Elise. She was broke and a little bit judgemental, sarcastic and a little crass sometimes, while giving in too much in others. She was, more than anything, just so relatable. All of her feelings, thoughts, and choices that she has to face in the story after her missing friend returns after so many years, they felt real and natural, like how I would probably react myself. Their friendships are real and deep, despite their struggles and so much time apart. Anyone who’s tried to reconnect with an old friend after too many years will find so many of their most painful moments so relatable. Mostly, I enjoyed that a group of women friends were center-stage for this story. Especially in the horror genre, I find that to be a beautiful and powerful thing in its own right.

More than anything, The Return was just engaging as hell. Even if I hadn’t known it was a thriller, each page felt like it turned itself as I couldn’t stop reading. Reading about them trying to reconnect after such an odd and all-consuming trauma was fascinating in its own right, before anything spooky even begins. After that– well, I couldn’t have put the book down then if I’d tried. Once the shadows start to recede in this mystery, this book breaks out the insane, dark and deadly in such fine form and it was a real treat to read.

Check out The Return when it releases on March 24th, 2020!

Thanks so much to Edelweiss+ for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

See you all on Tuesday! x

Find more recommendations on: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

ARC Reviews, Reviews

Rules for Vanishing

November 17, 2019November 17, 2019 A Morrow

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?

It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

Well, what can I say? I enjoyed the hell out of this book.

I had no expectations when I picked up Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall. I had never read anything by Marshall before, YA horror was a genre I hadn’t read for years, and I had won this book in a contest before it was published, so- at the time, I didn’t even really know what it was about. I can now say that absolutely none of that mattered. I picked up Rules for Vanishing on a Tuesday night and finished it on a Wednesday afternoon. And not on purpose, mind you, but something about the eerie beginning of this story swept me up almost immediately.

Rules for Vanishing was everything I want around this time of year: eerie, mysterious, spooky, and full of questions.

There were so many things I liked about it that I’m just going to make a list:

One. The format of this book was so much fun to read. Rules for Vanishing is sometimes written like a traditional, first-person novel, but only in some chapters. Most chapters are something different: transcripts from videos found on various characters’ phones, interviews with police, school assignments. This changed the angle of perspective constantly throughout the book which only added a deliciously disorienting effect to an already mysterious story. If this was an homage to the trend of found footage in horror movies in the last few years, it was executed with a very thoughtful eye. It was compelling as hell.

Two. I liked all of the characters. Okay, some of them more than others, but- given they’re a group of teenagers, I feel like that’s only fair. I really felt for all of the main circle though and I feel like Marshall did a great job at giving each of them a unique and relatable vulnerability. They were teenagers, to put it quite simply. Some of them were vain or pretentious or dramatic, but they were also great friends. Their histories were varied and riddled with complications and old wounds and, because of this, their reunion through the story had a sentimental, electric effect. This book made me remember running around with a group of kids at that age, only never in such dire circumstances. I rooted for them.

Three. The main character, Sara, was particularly competent in a way that just makes me so happy. I love reading a character, especially when she’s a woman, that does the best they can and generally doesn’t do anything supremely stupid, barring normal human error anyway. People are flawed, and so is Sara, but it can also be refreshing to read about a character who is driven, prepared, and competent to do what they’re doing. Or- for the most part, at least. Especially in YA, I liked seeing her fortitude and drive being front and center.

Four. Damn, Kate Alice Marshall did a fantastic job of rendering The Road in all of its mysterious, terrifying, glory. The environments in this story are often shrouded in darkness or lost to the unknown, but the way that the author chooses to render them to the reader was done particularly well. Marshall’s descriptions were focused on all the right things to bring you right into the moment that these characters are living and forget about the world around you. I couldn’t put the book down, mostly because I just couldn’t stand not knowing what insane, spooky obstacle would come up next. The plot and the atmosphere are drenched in fog and confusion and malevolent spirits and I loved every twist.

Five. I love horror, scary movies, scary books, and all things Spooky Season so I’m not an easy scare. While I wouldn’t say this book “scared” me per se, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, wanting more. Too often with YA horror/thriller it feels like something is being held back, either in the writing or in the topics, but I didn’t feel that here. Marshall took me to some dark places, both in the story and conceptually, and I genuinely enjoyed myself along the ride. I commend her for taking those risks because they paid off.

So- I guess I really recommend this book. Especially if YA is your thing and/or spooky books are your thing! This book had a little bit of all of that and then a little more, and a ghost story on top of the whole thing. Rules for Vanishing is on shelves now! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you so much to BookishFirst who provided me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

See you tomorrow! x

Find more recommendations @ Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

ARC Reviews, Reviews

The Furies

November 9, 2019 A Morrow

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead.

She’s posed on a swing on her boarding school’s property, dressed all in white, with no known cause of death. Whispers and rumors swirl, with no answers. But there are a few who know what happened; there is one girl who will never forget.

One year earlier: a new student, Violet, steps on the campus of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl’s boarding school on the outskirts of a sleepy coastal town. This is her fresh start, her chance to begin again in the wake of tragedy, leave her demons behind. Bright but a little strange, uncertain and desperate to fit in, she soon finds herself invited to an advanced study group, led by her alluring and mysterious art teacher, Annabel.

There, with three other girls–Alex, Grace, and Robin–the five of them delve into the school’s long-buried grim history: of Greek and Celtic legends; of the school founder’s “academic” interest in the occult; of gruesome 17th century witch trials. Annabel does her best to convince the girls that her classes aren’t related to ancient rites and rituals, and that they are just history and mythology. But the more she tries to warn the girls off the topic, the more they drawn to it, and the possibility that they can harness magic for themselves.

Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this heady new world of lawless power–except she is needled by the disappearance of a former member of the group, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance. As her friends’ actions take a turn for the darker and spiral out of control, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled. How far will these young girls go to protect one another…or to destroy one another?

I am loving the “female rage novel” trend, aren’t you??

The Furies by Katie Lowe is another compelling addition to this developing genre. Following the new girl at the notorious Elm Hollow Academy, the Furies reads like The Craft, Mean Girls, and The Secret History all had a meeting and wrote a book together. It’s dark, explores the intense sides of humanity and female friendship, throws in a dash of witchcraft, and all for an enthusiastic Young Adult crowd.

I am always fascinated when a book explores female relationships as a primary plot point and this book definitely does that in spades. The girls in this book are sometimes brutal, mean, or downright wild but they are all one thing at their core: human. I loved the way the author played with mortality and fear and the ways we compete with each other whether we’re in competition or not.

Lowe’s writing style sets the perfect tone for this kind of story. Her descriptions are detailed and full, the plot is tight and interesting all the way through, but what I liked most was the way she wrote characters. Lowe’s eye to humans and their relationships is nuanced and examined and thoughtful, which gives the whole book an eerie speculative feel. The Furies does an excellent job of making the reader wonder what is going to happen next and if we really know the characters as well as we think we do.

Overall, The Furies was a great debut and an excellent contribution to the recent growth of “rage-lit.” It was fun, brutal, twisted, and consistently kept my attention on every page. I enjoyed feeling, raging, and going wild with the girls in The Furies, and I very much hope you will too.

Happy reading, friends! x

Find more recommendations on: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Book Tour, Reviews

Sisters of Shadow and Light (+ Giveaway!)

November 5, 2019 A Morrow

From the acclaimed author of DEFY, Sara B. Larson, SISTERS OF SHADOW AND LIGHT is a timeless and fantastical tale of sisterly love and powerful magic.

“The night my sister was born, the stars died and were reborn in her eyes…”.

Zuhra and Inara have grown up in the Citadel of the Paladins, an abandoned fortress where legendary, magical warriors once lived before disappearing from the world―including their Paladin father the night Inara was born.

On that same night, a massive, magical hedge grew and imprisoned them within the citadel. Inara inherited their father’s Paladin power; her eyes glow blue and she is able to make plants grow at unbelievable rates, but she has been trapped in her own mind because of a “roar” that drowns everything else out―leaving Zuhra virtually alone with their emotionally broken human mother.

For fifteen years they have lived, trapped in the citadel, with little contact from the outside world…until the day a stranger passes through the hedge, and everything changes.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

This book was wholeheartedly fun to read.

Sisters of Shadow and Light is not a simple story, but it’s a wildly intriguing one. It was readable, relatable, fantastical, and most of all it felt original. The story moved in ways that I didn’t expect at all, which is saying something considering that I’d pegged the story for an ending early on in the book. I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Following two sisters with vastly different talents and experiences in the world, this book is told from alternating perspectives for the most part and the effect this creates is masterful. Zuhra, the sister we hear from first and most often, has had her life formed around caring for her sister and keeping their family’s secrets. Inara, on the other hand, is struggling with powers that make her so sensitive that she can’t even communicate for part of the book’s story. Her moments of lucidity are cherished and then used as a device to further the story, it really is well done.

I enjoyed the characters as much as the book in this one. These girls aren’t perfect, but they are strong. Both whole and interesting characters in their own right, both sisters are ambitious and headstrong, committed and focused, and they do not give up. Their bond was my favorite part of this whole story. Yes, I know, I’m a bit biased in that I love a good sisterly bond in a book, but adding the fantasy and the dynamic between them, this felt new and fun.

I hesitate to say too much else about the magic system or plot lines because I truly enjoyed being confused and confounded throughout the course of this story. I truly enjoyed Sisters of Shadow and Light and (gah! with that ending??) I cannot wait for the sequel that hopefully comes.

Sara B. Larson is the best-selling and critically acclaimed author of the YA fantasy DEFY trilogy (DEFY, IGNITE, and ENDURE) and the DARK BREAKS THE DAWN duology. Her next YA fantasy, SISTERS OF SHADOW AND LIGHT, comes out November 5th from Tor Teen. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t write books—although she now uses a computer instead of a Little Mermaid notebook. Sara lives in Utah with her husband, their four children, and their Maltese, Loki. She writes in brief snippets throughout the day and the quiet hours when most people are sleeping. Her husband claims she should have a degree in “the art of multitasking.” When she’s not mothering or writing, you can often find her at the gym repenting for her sugar addiction.