Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Rating: ★★★

Libby can be very motivating when it comes to reading. I started Firekeeper’s Daughter, but didn’t finish before my loan expired. I had to put another hold on. When it came in again, I read so fast to finish in time! I also have about 4 or 5 other books right now because all of my holds came in at the same time. There’s no way I’m going to finish more than one of those.

Anyway, let’s talk about this book. Our main character, Daunis, is half Ojibwe, but because of a technicality on her birth certificate, she’s not formally accepted by the tribe. She lives between her white family and her native family. The story blooms from Daunis’ difficulty with her identity, family, and tradition. Interjected is a criminal investigation about meth being sold on reservations. Daunis is recruited to work undercover. She struggles because this is her community and she doesn’t want to betray them, but she also wants to help them. Also, the story takes place in the early 2000s. This doesn’t necessarily affect the plot all that much. I even forgot most of the time, until I realized how little technology played a part in the characters’ lives.

I enjoyed this book and was interested in the plot. There are moments that made me a little emotional surrounding grief and loss. Daunis’ relationship with her mother didn’t exactly remind me of my own, but there are things they say to each other that moved me. Daunis’ feelings about herself in relation to her parents’ lives, however, felt personal to me. Living between parents who are separated for whatever reason is difficult. The book shows how it is to live with grief in many different ways, and those moments were very special.

However, in some ways it felt convoluted, convenient, and predictable. I found myself thinking, “I wish this written better,” meaning the structure of the mystery and overall story. There are many revelations and different characters. I do like that since the book is about Daunis’ life, which is wide and varied. The book was rich in that sense. But working out the mystery could have been done more clearly. The two aspects of the book – Daunis’ life and the mystery – simply don’t mesh well.

I suppose on the one hand, they shouldn’t exactly mesh. After all, this mystery is disturbing her life. However, what I mean is how the story is created. It felt messy and unresolved. I was able to predict several revelations. I wonder what it would have been like if Daunis’ life was even more forward and the mystery took a complete backseat. For example, if Daunis only heard rumors and someone else was working undercover. If the book was a study on Daunis’ identity, grief, family, etc., even more than it already is, I think this could have been a great book.

Additionally, the romantic plot almost made me angry. I don’t read or enjoy romance, so most of the time a romantic plot needs to be done really well for me to like it. A lot of the time it feels like every book puts in romance just to have it there. With Firekeeper’s Daughter, it makes sense to a degree. Daunis is undercover and having this boyfriend is her cover. But she then is distracted multiple times by how hot he is and how drawn she feels to him. It felt out of character and forced so it could lead to romance instead of just being undercover.

Overall, I might read this book again. It had its moments. I can’t say the mystery was the most interesting part, though, so I do wish it was in the background more.

Trigger Warning for this book: sexual assault. It doesn’t go into detail, but an assault happens on the page.

How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica

Rating: ★★★

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for review from Netgalley. Thank you to Tin House Books.

I believe the prologue of How We Named the Stars is absolutely beautiful. I cried a little when I read it the first time, and then read it again when I finished the book. The entire book itself is full of beautiful, emotional writing. When I finished, I discovered Ordorica is a poet, so that makes sense.

With that said, I want to say the book lacks substance because so much relies on language alone. Most of the book is just paragraphs of Daniel’s, the narrator, thoughts. Not exactly much happens until the third part. Until then, so much is just what’s in his head. However, it’s difficult to say the book lacks substance since the point seems to be emotional, not plot-focused. Still, it fell flat for me.

Speaking of the plot, essentially it’s supposed to be adjacent to a love story between Daniel and Sam. At least, that’s how I feel. Perhaps others would say it’s a full-on love story. But as I said, so much is in Daniel’s head. I find it hard to discuss this without spoilers, but the links between Daniel and others felt weak. If more time was spent with those other characters, where we as readers see them being themselves instead of Daniel telling us about them, perhaps the links would feel stronger. Besides Daniel and Sam, and really just Daniel, there is nothing to be said of these characters. I know nothing about them or their development. With Sam, I had trouble understanding why Sam felt the way he did. It was like, it just happened because it needed to be that way for the book. There was no development of character or feelings.

In the third part of the book, things change in many ways and there are so many scenes with other people. People talking and things happening. This was like a breath of fresh air. To be honest, while reading the first and second parts, I was getting frustrated. It was Daniel’s constant thoughts. If there was a scene with dialogue, each line was followed by a paragraph of Daniel’s thoughts. I didn’t know if the whole book would be this way, but I didn’t want to give up. The prose itself was lovely.

I guess all of this boils down to the old adage of “show don’t tell.” This book almost solely tells us what is going on. It was disappointing. My frustration would rate it two stars, but my feelings while reading Ordorica’s use of language would give it four stars. Normally, a three star rating from me usually means it’s a middling book. But I can’t say that’s the case here. There are two strong reactions to this book, and three stars is just the average.

It’s a Privilege Just to Be Here by Emma Sasaki

Rating: ★ – DNF

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for review from Netgalley. Thank you to Alcove Press.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book. I got almost 60 pages in, and I had a lot of difficulty. I understand ARC’s are not finished copies. They’re not polished, perfect, and ready to go. However, this felt like a first draft. There were a lot of basic errors – punctuation, grammar, tense – but also more serious construction issues. It was hard to follow what was happening, and this was right from the opening scene. The narrator, Aki, jumps between current action and dialogue, her own thoughts, something that happened in the past, the history of the person she’s talking to, and other things.

The premise of the book is interesting: an Asian teacher is working at a mostly white, rich, privileged prep school when racist graffiti appears. How will the school, students, and faculty respond to this? I love prep school and boarding school stories, so I was excited for this. What’s more, Aki’s daughter, Meg, attends the school since her mother is a teacher there, so that is an interesting dynamic as well.

However, I didn’t expect this to be comedic, and the presentation of many characters and events seem to lean towards humor. I don’t know if that was intentional or, frankly, bad writing due to being an underdeveloped story. I feel like this book just was not ready to be published. Highly disappointed.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Rating: ★★★

TW: Attempted sexual assault.

I’ve wanted to read one of Moreno-Garcia’s books for quite some time, and Mexican Gothic happened to be the first since I picked up a copy in a spooky, “haunted” bookstore on a trip for my fifth year anniversary. I’m interested in each of her titles, so I didn’t have a preference which book would come first. However, I have to say I’m disappointed this was my first read by her since I was disappointed by the book.

The story is set in a Gothic, haunted house and has many Gothic themes and characteristics. I suppose that was my issue from the beginning. It was like being hit over the head: “This is a Gothic story!” I mean, it’s right there in the title. I’m not sure what my expectation was. Perhaps some sort of subversion, or turning it all on its head? Instead, it became a runaway train. I think the story tries to lean in so hard, too hard, that it verges on ridiculous.

The story centers on Noemí Taboada who has come to this house to help her cousin, who lives with her new husband and his family. Noemí has no idea what she’s in for. She thinks her cousin is simply unwell and needs assistance. But there is so much more going on, and the mysteries and horrors unravel quite slowly before coming down all at once, like an avalanche. The slowness of the first half or so of the book bogged me down a bit. I kept going to see what would happen, but I felt frustrated for most of this book.

Avoiding spoilers, I want to say why I’m giving three stars and not a lower rating. Obviously I haven’t said many positive things here. While the face of the story didn’t do much for me, the undertones, symbolism, and postcolonial lens all work powerfully here. The story takes place in Mexico, where Noemí’s cousin’s family has settled from Europe. They settled there long ago and opened a mine. That alone is not only symbolic, but plainly shows how white settlers come in and rip open indigenous land for their own gain. As the story progresses, there are many things the family does, and have done in the past, which parallel how white settlers have treated indigenous women, lands, wealth, children, economies, power, individuality, and freedom. Trying to defeat such a family, to right such wrongs… what could do it? How much would it take?

I can see, when viewing the story this way, how it works. It’s like looking at a painting, and it’s alright, but when the light changes, it’s beautiful, because you can see things that were hidden before. I think, though, that the main story, or painting, or anything, should be done well and enjoyable. The events of Mexican Gothic were sometimes predictable and uninteresting. Great Gothic stories are classics because of the tension in the main character’s solitude. I didn’t feel that here. I felt bored. With the horror elements, how vulgar and gross they were, even then I wasn’t moved since they felt over the top, but not in a camp way.

In writing this review, I’ve been trying to sort my own thoughts. I’m conflicted because I like what Moreno-Garcia did, but I suppose I don’t like how she did it. Perhaps in the future I could read Mexican Gothic again, after reading some of her other stories, to experience the story again and hopefully enjoy it more.

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

Rating: ★★

Wow, finishing books so close together is really impressive for me. I received The Kingdom of Sweets from Book of the Month, and I chose it because it’s inspired by The Nutcracker. I had vague memories of the ballet, but felt like I liked it. I also thought it’d be fun for Christmas.

I did really enjoy reading this book. I reached for it, looked forward to it. Last night I read for two hours in order to finish it. I go back and forth on my rating, between 2 or 3 stars. I lean towards 3 because of how much I wanted to finish the story, but I’m stuck at 2 because I noticed the flaws I will discuss while reading. I also realized more issues after finishing.

I don’t want to discuss the plot in depth because I hate giving out spoilers. I also went in completely blind, which is my favorite way to read a book. My reviews are not plot descriptions because of this. The story is definitely inspired by The Nutcracker in a loose way. I read the plot of the ballet after finishing and I think Johansen did so much with what was there. There are moments that are directly taken and expanded on in a very interesting way. A new character is introduced, Natasha, and the story is from her point-of-view. Her twin is Clara, and Clara has always had everything: attention, beauty, love. Natasha sticks to the walls and is friends with servants. This dynamic works for them and they aren’t enemies. But it fuels what happens in the story.

The momentum stayed up for me and I just wanted to know what would happen. However, in the last 30% or 40%, I started to feel like the story was falling flat. And that feeling stuck once the book ended. I hate to say this, but there was so much potential. Overall, I think this book suffered from a lack of editing. There are so many ideas: directly from the ballet, inspired by it, and newly formed. I suppose they don’t mesh seamlessly. Early on in the book, I found repetition was common. In the actual Kingdom of Sweets, it makes sense to describe all the different sweets, but it became, well, annoying. This after this after this after this. These types of repetitive descriptions happened multiple times. The writing didn’t feel clear, especially when describing a complicated idea. A few times, I simply couldn’t understand what was happening.

One thing that bothered from the beginning was the fact that this book is nearly all exposition. Yes, there are scenes of dialogue and action. But only very key scenes are acted out in this way. Everything else is told to the reader by Natasha. At one point I though Johansen might be doing this on purpose since there is no speaking in a ballet, which is clever, but she does have scenes with dialogue. You can’t really go halfway with that idea.

Yes, I read the book, and quickly, so how bad can it be? Could I recommend it? Perhaps. Just with the caveat that it is lackluster. It needed to be tightened up and polished.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Rating: ★★

It’s been a while since I updated this blog. I haven’t been reading much since June. I did finish the third book of the Murderbot series, but I didn’t do a full review. I enjoyed it and gave it three stars.

The Salt Grows Heavy was recommended to me by a coworker, and they even brought their copy in for me to read. Even though it’s such a short book, it took me a while, about two months, to finish it. I picked it up for a bit, then stopped for a long while. I finished the last half in the past two or three days.

Without looking at a blurb, it’s hard for me to say exactly what this book was about. Maybe that’s my own fault because I went so long between starting and finishing. After looking it up, I’m reminded that this is a story of a mermaid and a plague doctor who become more-or-less trapped in a village of children and surgeons. The story is full of gore and mystery. There’s elements of fantasy and, I suppose, science-fiction, though nothing is fully explained.

I think my issue is with many novellas or short stories I read: the setup isn’t there. I’m not oriented enough when I begin the story, so I don’t understand how things work or where we are. However, I continue on, trying to enjoy it. By the end, the story felt flat, like the big flourish of an ending, or even a climax, wasn’t there. I left disappointed, because I did really enjoy the writing of this novella. It’s creepy and gory. The mythology of the mermaid here is terrifying, and the reader realizes it over time. That’s the novella’s strength. Everything else, though, seems like extras so the author could share this mythology.

The plot was uninteresting to me, and at the end something happens that seems completely out of left field. I don’t know if the author was building to it, if it’s not a spoiler, or if it’s obvious. I’m not going to say what it is just in case, but it seemed so awkward and wrong for the story. Suffice it to say, I didn’t like the ending.

I would definitely read other stories by Khaw because the writing was great. This was the first thing I’ve read from them, so of course I’d try again. Also, it has no bearing on anything, but this cover is absolutely stunning. I would hang this on my wall!

Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

Rating: ★★★★★

I read Somebody’s Daughter in about 3 days, which is amazing for me. I am a very slow reader, and I’ve been a horrible slump for years. Much of this is due to the fact that my mother died in 2018 and I’m still grieving. It still hurts. Her death was traumatic because it happened quickly, over a few weeks, out of nowhere. I didn’t have a great relationship with my mother, and some of what I experienced can be found in these pages. Ford is my age and by hearing her interviews, following her Twitter, and reading this memoir, I feel like I’m not so alone. For me, childhood was a mix of good things and bad things, but I can really only remember the bad things. I feel guilty about that. I think Ford feels similarly.

Regarding the book itself: I loved it. I devoured it. I wanted more when it ended. I can’t wait to read what’s next. I’ve never read any of Ford’s essays, but now I want to find them. The way it’s written is so accessible and familiar. It makes you feel what she feels without pity or pride. Ford is writing about her experiences with the understanding of an adult. While the hurt is still there, she’s not wallowing in it. In that way, I wasn’t put off. There wasn’t a wall. I could be empathetic to what was happening.

I struggled a bit between giving this memoir 4 or 5 stars because there was one thing that bothered me: I wanted more. Some questions weren’t answered for me. Some things felt unsaid. Some things felt left out. But when I thought about it, I realized all the questions I had weren’t about Ford herself. They were about the people around her. Allen, for example. What happened to him? Did he stick around or disappear? How did she grow apart from R.C. and why? Did her mother ever believe her about anything? This book is about Ford, her growth, her pain, her love. In it, we can see ourselves. We don’t need fleshed out characters with their own backstories.

I don’t read a whole lot of nonfiction. In fact, the last one I read was by Roxane Gay in 2017. Wow, that’s a long time ago. But I haven’t even read many other books between then and now. Ford’s memoir made me want to read more memoirs, but I get nervous about being disappointed. However, it’s important to take a leap of faith. I want to try to do that.

This review is a lot more personal than my others because this book feels so personal to me. I connected with it so deeply, even though Ford and I have very different lives. I learned a lot here, and the stories, the passages, the thoughts, the experiences, everything in this book made me want to keep going and keep trying and do new things. I am so happy I read this.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Rating: ★

Catherine House is a strange story about a fictitious, prestigious school. It follows Ines who isn’t all that invested in her classes. She has a mysterious past. The school itself allows students to do whatever they want as long as they pass their classes. There’s drinking and parties and sex. However, the students aren’t allowed any contact with the outside world for three years. Ines is soon put on probation, but she seems to drink a lot and sleep. It’s clear she’s running from something that happened before coming to Catherine. What’s more to this story is something called plasma that the school is studying for seemingly magical properties; or at least the story frames it as beyond the realms of known science. Ines isn’t in the plasma concentration, so she sees certain things from afar and is interested in delving farther.

I’m a slow reader and I’ve been in a slump for quite some time. Many, many months. I picked up this book thinking it was a gothic mystery that would have me turning the pages quickly. That wasn’t the case. I started reading this book around May or June and now it’s October and I’m only half-way through. I finally asked myself, Am I in a slump or is this book boring? Everything happens so slowly, and nothing seems to happen at all. Our main character doesn’t care about anything. She’s depressed and hiding. She doesn’t interact a whole lot with anyone. The interactions she does have are very muted. I suppose this book could be seen as highly philosophical, which is why it bored me. I’m not in the right headspace for it, so I couldn’t enjoy it. I like strong characters and interesting plots. Ines is not strong in any sense. She’s weak-willed, sleepy (literally), and detached from reality. Her perspective is utterly uninteresting. Perhaps that was a choice so that the school itself would shine, but the descriptions of strange goings-on don’t hit very hard since Ines isn’t all that involved. She also doesn’t seem to care. There’s no meat to this story.

When I don’t or can’t finish books, I always rate them one star. It couldn’t hold my attention so I couldn’t be bothered to finish it. When thinking about reading it at night, I would consistently turn away because I didn’t want to go into the story. Painfully boring.

A Splendid Ruin by Megan Chance

Rating: ★★★

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This story follows naive May Kimble who leaves New York when her mother dies to be with rich relatives in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. The first part of the story has May being overwhelmed, and then bored, by all the glamour of society. There are a couple of big twists, so I’m not going to give much more away about the plot. May goes through a lot throughout the story, and the narrative tells me she’s a changed person by the end, but I frankly didn’t believe it.

This book is a good example of plot driving the story, of plot happening to a character, instead of the character taking action. I found myself rather annoyed at several instances, and I can think of only a couple times where May makes a decision for herself. Still, the story intrigued me enough to want to know how everything would end. I admit I was rather let down. The end seemed to fizzle out in the third act. There was really nothing remarkable here, but it wasn’t a bad read.

Long Lost by Jacqueline West

Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Sometimes it’s a little hard to review middle grade books because they’re not meant for an adult audience. Some parts of the story may feel flat or predictable, but those parts wouldn’t necessarily feel that way to the intended audience. I always have to remind myself of that when I read these books. The reason I go back to them is for the simplicity and pure fun that they give. Usually, the middle grade books I pick up are fantastical, and I just love the pure imagination I find.

Long Lost is about Fiona Crane who has to move away from her old life to Lost Lake with her family. She’s very unhappy about it and jealous of the attention her older sister, Arden, receives for being a figure skater. The story takes place during the summertime, so Fiona has to find something to do with her time. She turns to the local library and discovers a mysterious book. This leads her on a hunt for truth.

I highly enjoyed reading this book. It’s about Fiona and her family, but it’s also about the mysterious book she discovers, which is also about two sisters, Hazel and Pearl, who lived about a hundred years ago. The story of Fiona involves her reading this story, and it’s hard to say which story is more interesting. At first, I thought it was going to be a frame story, but Fiona gets interrupted in reading the Hazel and Pearl book. This brought some intrigue since you, as the reader, wanted to finish it with Fiona.

I personally don’t like too much detail about the books I’m going to read, so I’m not going to give away much more details. But the adventure Fiona goes on is so much fun. I quickly read through the second half of the book, when things really started taking off. As I stated at the top, some things do feel flat and predictable, but that’s more on me. I’m not the audience for this. Even so, those few small things don’t kill the book. The overall story is a joy.

There’s many characters throughout the book, and most of them are pretty distinct. I can’t say the writing was anything special. It was all pretty straightforward, just telling us what we need to know, but there were a few pretty phrases. However, I think middle grades are more about the story instead of pretty writing. I’ve never read a book my Jacqueline West before, but the imagination in this book really impressed me.