Mini-Reviews: The Emma Mills Edition

First & Then by Emma Mills (2015)

What a refreshing story!  A contemporary YA novel that actually feels realistic and relatable.  Devon is in her senior year of high school, unsure of what she wants to do after graduation, while also dealing with some issues at home.  Her cousin Foster has come to live with Devon and her parents because his own mother has major problems.

I love that the crux of this story begins in gym class, of all places.  Devon and Foster have gym class together, and there they cross paths with All-American football player Ezra, who really takes Foster under his wing and (maybe?) develops feelings for Devon.

At first I wasn't sure if I would like Devon; I thought she was going to be whiny and overly sarcastic, but she wasn't.  I grew to really love her.  I identified with her fear of being average, of not knowing what she wanted to do with her life, of being kind of on the fringe in school, and having an unrequited crush on her friend Cas (and she loves books!).  I also fell in love with Foster - there was so much more to him than just an awkward kid.  And Ezra as well - I think this is where the Pride and Prejudice influence came in the strongest.  At first Ezra seems aloof and silent, but by the end of the story, we've learned so much about him.

Nothing really outrageous happened in the story, but that's what I enjoyed.  The characters felt like real high schoolers, living normal lives while also going through some tough issues.  4 stars

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills (2017)

Emma Mills has become a queen of contemporary YA for me.  She has the ability to take the most relatable, even (dare I say it) mundane, parts of high school and craft heart-warming stories around lovable characters.

In Foolish Hearts, Claudia finds herself stuck working with Iris, who really doesn't like her, on the school play, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  She also becomes close with Gideon, a popular boy at a neighboring high school who is also in the play, but can she overcome her fears of dating?

I loved the evolution of Claudia and Iris' friendship.  They eventually find some common ground, and Iris really grows as a character.  She doesn't have a lot of friends, but I think she's also a bit misunderstood.  And the slow burn romance between Claudia and Gideon is adorable - at first, I wasn't sure Gideon was even into Claudia.  He just seemed like a bubbly, flirtatious guy.  But when it became obvious that he really does care for her, I wanted Claudia to get out of her own way and just go for it.

Mills also includes one of my favorite things in YA - great families surrounding the main character.  We don't see Claudia's parents that much, but we do meet her brother Alex and sister Julia, and they are all so much fun together, playing their online game.  4 stars

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Boardwalk Summer

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases!

Boardwalk Summer
Meredith Jaeger
Expected publication date: June 19, 2018

What happened on that long-ago summer? In this riveting novel from the author of The Dressmaker’s Dowry, an aspiring Hollywood actress makes a shocking choice in 1940, and seventy years later, a young mother sets out to discover what happened …

Summer, 1940: When Violet Harcourt is crowned Miss Bathing Beauty in her hometown of Santa Cruz, she’s determined to see herself on the silver screen. But Violet’s pageant victory comes with a price—cracks appear in her seemingly perfect marriage…and she quickly discovers Hollywood is not the glittering escape she dreamed of. So she makes a shocking choice, leaving her name in headlines and creating a mystery surrounding her fate.

Summer, 2007: Single mother Marisol Cruz lives in a charming seaside cottage that belonged to her grandfather, Ricardo, once a famed performer on the Beach Boardwalk. Drawn to the local history of her town, Mari discovers her grandfather’s connection to a beauty queen who died too young. She embarks on a journey that uncovers his lifelong secret—Ricardo’s connection to Violet…a story of tragedy and courage that will forever transform her. - from Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday: Blue Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is books with our favorite color on the cover or in the title.  I was able to find SO MANY books with my favorite color, blue, on the cover - it was narrowing them down that was a problem!

Three Days in Chicago

Last month, we took a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to celebrate our nephew's first birthday.  We decided to extend our trip and stop in Chicago for a couple days on the way back.  I'd never been there before, and Tom wanted to see his sister and niece, who live just outside the city.  One of my brothers and his wife also lived there for a couple years, so we got some great suggestions from them.

Day 1: We arrived on a rainy Sunday morning and Tom's sister and niece picked us up at the airport.  We drove out to Shedd Aquarium first.  I had looked into getting the City Pass before we left, but didn't buy it because I wasn't sure we'd have enough time to really get our money's worth out of it (the $106.00 pass gives you fast pass/express entry for 5 attractions from a choice of 7).  When we saw that entry into the aquarium was $40.00 by itself, we decided to get the City Pass (and we ended up using every ticket in it, so we saved a TON of money).  Shedd Aquarium was fun, and they even have a dolphin show right inside the building.

After that, we walked across the Museum Campus to the Field Museum.  This enormous museum boasts a ton of science and history exhibits, from Egyptian mummies to animals to gemstones.  They also have the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton, but unfortunately SUE is not currently on display. 

After spending a couple hours at the Field Museum, we checked into our hotel in the theater district and then went out to dinner with Tom's family.  We went to Portillo's and tried some Chicago-style hot dogs.

Day 2: Even though it was mid-April, it snowed all day.  We walked to Cloud Gate ("the bean") early before the crowds got there and got some fun pictures with the iconic sculpture.  Since the Art Institute of Chicago didn't open until 10:30am, we walked around a bit more in the chilly weather, through Millennium Park and down to Buckingham Fountain (which wasn't turned on yet for the season).  Then we spent a couple hours at the Art Institute, which had a fabulous collection; some fun, recognizable pieces with a lot of other things we hadn't seen before.

We had lunch at the Italian Village, Chicago's oldest Italian restaurant, which is actually three separate spaces, each with a different feel.  We ate upstairs, and it was really good!

After lunch, we walked down to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) and went up to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor.  From here, you can see views of 4 states and also try out the Ledge, which are a series of 4 glass boxes extending out from the Skydeck.

For dinner, we had to try some deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's - so yummy!!

Day 3: On Tuesday, the sun finally came out, although it was still pretty cold.  We started our morning with a lake and river architectural tour with Wendella's.  They also have an architectural tour that just focuses on the river, but my brother and SIL suggested we go out on Lake Michigan if we could because we would get great views of the city skyline, and they were totally right!

We then walked up the Magnificent Mile, which is a stretch of North Michigan Avenue that has tons of high-end stores and restaurants, to the John Hancock Observatory.  We went up to the 93rd floor and saw some amazing views.  Yes, we did both the Hancock and Willis Towers, but the views were actually pretty different, so I'm glad we did both.

View looking southwest towards the Willis Tower

View looking north towards the Lincoln Park Zoo

After that, we walked to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is open every day and it's FREE!  I think because of the weather, lots of the animals were hiding and staying warm, but it was still a beautiful place.  We also visited the Lincoln Park Conservatory, where it finally felt like spring and smelled so lovely.  For our last night, we had dinner at the Berghoff, a Chicago institution where we had some delicious German food.  We got one last treat at Garrett Popcorn, known for its mix of caramel and cheddar popcorn (will definitely be ordering more of that soon!).

 

We packed a lot into three days, but we had a blast in Chicago and I could definitely see us going back someday!

Have you ever been to Chicago?  What was your favorite attraction or thing to eat?



Review: How To Walk Away

How To Walk Away
Katherine Center
Expected publication date: May 15, 2018

Margaret Jacobsen has a bright future ahead of her: a fiancé she adores, her dream job, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in one tumultuous moment .

In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must figure out how to move forward on her own terms while facing long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak, and the idea that love might find her in the last place she would ever expect. - from Goodreads

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

Judging from the many glowing reviews for this book on Goodreads, it seems like I may be an outlier, because I was not blown away by How To Walk Away.  I really wanted to like this one, too!  Warning: minor spoilers below.

Despite Margaret's fear of flying, her boyfriend Chip takes her up in a Cessna and proposes to her.  Their joy, though, is quickly erased when their plane crash-lands, leaving Margaret partially paralyzed and badly burned.  Now, Margaret must learn to navigate her new way of life.

Ugh, I just had a lot of issues with this book:

• Obnoxious characters.  So many of them.  Margaret's mother is overbearing and blunt to the point of rudeness.  Chip completely falls apart after the accident, wracked with guilt.  Ok, I know it's not really right to judge someone else's grief, but Chip was basically the worst.  He can't even bear to look at Margaret; he gets drunk every night; and he cheats on her, then proposes to her again because he feels obligated.  And Margaret's physical therapist Ian is one of the most unlikable characters I've come across.
• The romance.  I guess this is a hate-to-love romance?  Ian doesn't talk to Margaret during sessions, except to criticize her.  She doesn't really like working with him, either, until she gets a whiff of his "intoxicating scent," and suddenly she's obsessed with him.  He gives her completely mixed signals, passionately kissing her then telling her he has no feelings whatsoever for her.  The whole thing was just kind of unethical.
• The cheesy, cliche ending.  Most of the book takes place in the weeks following the accident, but when Margaret is released from the hospital, the story kind of went off the rails for me.  Over the next year, a big secret rips through Margaret's family and there's a random trip to Brussels.  It was just too saccharine for me.

There were, though, some things I enjoyed:

• Margaret's relationship with her sister, Kitty.  Although Kitty walked out on the family three years ago, as soon as she hears about Margaret's accident, she's by her side, never leaving her and always encouraging her.
• The research the author put into the book.  I could tell the author had learned about paralysis, different therapy techniques, and the potential prognosis for Margaret.
• Margaret's internal struggles.  I appreciated that the author included both setbacks and successes for Margaret.  Her feelings in the weeks after the accident felt so real; a lot of the time she was completely numb.  I mean, it must be so hard to reconcile that just days earlier, she had it all, and now she had to basically start all over again.  She had good days, but she also had a lot of bad days where she felt hopeless and even depressed.  Ok, not that I want people to feel hopeless; I just want it to be realistic.  I kind of wish the author had included more mental health therapy in the book, as opposed to just the physical therapy.

So, this didn't end up being the book for me, but I know a lot of people will enjoy this one.  3 stars

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Dreams of Falling

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases!

Dreams of Falling
Karen White
Expected publication date: June 5, 2018

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night the Lights Went Out comes an exquisite new novel about best friends, family ties and the love that can both strengthen and break those bonds.

New York Times bestselling author Karen White crafts evocative relationships in this new contemporary women's fiction novel about best friends who share a devastating secret, set in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

It's been nine years since Larkin fled Georgetown, South Carolina, vowing never to go back. But when she finds out that her mother has disappeared, she knows she has no choice but to return to the place that she both loves and dreads--and to the family and friends who never stopped wishing for her to come home. Ivy, Larkin's mother, is discovered in the burned out wreckage of her family's ancestral rice plantation, badly injured and unconscious. No one knows why Ivy was there, but as Larkin digs for answers, she uncovers secrets kept for nearly 50 years. Secrets that lead back to the past, to the friendship between three girls on the brink of womanhood who swore that they would be friends forever, but who found that vow tested in heartbreaking ways. - from Goodreads

Review: Sorority

Sorority
Genevieve Sly Crane
Publication date: May 1, 2018

Prep meets Girls in White Dresses in Genevieve Sly Crane’s deliciously addictive, compulsively readable exploration of female friendship and coming of age that will appeal to anyone who has ever been curious about what goes on in a sorority house…

Margot is dead.

There’s a rumor she died because she couldn’t take the pressure of being a pledge. You may not ask what happened to her. It’s not your business. But it wasn’t a suicide, if you’re wondering.

Spring Fling will not be cancelled. The deposit is non-refundable. And Margot would have wanted the sisterhood to continue in her absence, if only to protect her sisters’ secrets: Shannon is the thinnest girl in the house (the other sisters hate her for it, but they know her sacrifice: she only uses the bathroom by the laundry room); Kyra has slept with twenty-nine boys since she started college (they are all different and all the same); Amanda is a virgin (her mincing gait and sloping posture give it away); and while half the sisters are too new to have known Margot, Deirdre remembers her—she always remembers.

With a keen sense of character and unflinching, observant prose, Crane exposes the undercurrents of tension in a world where perfection comes at a cost and the best things in life are painful—if not impossible—to acquire: Beauty. A mother’s love. And friendship…or at least the appearance of it. - from Goodreads

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

As a member of a co-ed service fraternity in college, I was interested in reading Sorority, because there don't seem to be a lot of books out there about the college experience.  If I had read this book before rushing my fraternity, I probably never would have gone through with it!  This sorority experience isn't all puff paint and toga parties, but a dark look at college Greek life.

This book is less of a linear story and more a compilation of vignettes, each devoted to one or two sisters and sometimes a "chorus" narrator.  I was a bit surprised by the structure of the book, especially because the blurb made me think it would be about the death of one of the sisters (Margot), what happened and the other sisters' reactions to it.  But, Margot isn't even mentioned in a lot of the stories, and the timeline skips around several years.  It took me awhile to get into the book, but once I started approaching each chapter as its own new story, I could appreciate it more.

Within the chapters, Crane has crafted a look into different aspects of sorority life - what might happen if a sister got pregnant, the friendships that last long after graduation, and how not everyone will get along all the time.  There is a pervasive darkness to the stories - drug use and drinking are rampant throughout the house, and one story explores a sexual assault that occurs during pledging.  I thought some stories didn't fit at all, including (surprisingly) a chapter on the founders, and one of my favorite chapters was actually a short one with each sister detailing what pledging meant to her.

Crane's writing is sharp and tight, which really highlights, in a no-nonsense way, the messy, gritty lives of these girls, inside and outside the house.  The stories often feel raw and give the reader a super-personal look into the characters.  While I don't think this book is representative of every fraternity or sorority (particularly not my experience), there's enough realness here to give the reader a peek behind the curtain of Greek life.

3.5 stars