Recently Read: All the Crooked Saints

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Young Adult- Historical fiction/Magical Realism
Page Count: 311
Publication Date: 2017
Rating: 3.5/5
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Also by Maggie Stiefvater:
The Raven Boys Quartet

A town in the desert named Bicho Raro is full of saints who grant miracles and the pilgrims who come to receive the miracles. The Soria family has been preforming miracles in their 1960s Colorado town for generations, but they can only perform the first miracle which manifests a pilgrim's darkness, the banishment of the darkness must be done by the pilgrim and the pilgrim alone. Interference or help from a Soria is forbidden, until a saint and a pilgrim fall in love. 

I loved The Raven Boys quartet by Stiefvater and have been meaning to read more of her works since finishing the series. I was browsing in my local bookstore when I came across a signed copy of this one, so I decided it was the next Stiefvater I would read. Stiefvater has a very unique and beautiful writing style which lends itself to magic and magical realism very well. This book, I was a bit surprised to see, is very full of magic and borders on fantasy. I loved the concept of this novel and the idea of miracles and darkness being given physical forms. The concept was totally unique and felt so real and plausible. The town of Bicho Raro had a real life of its own and felt as if it truly existed thanks to Stiefvater's writing. 

Despite this, I felt the book was lacking in a few ways. I thought that this concept had so much potential and the story could have been much longer or more developed. I love that it's a standalone, and I think the ending was great, but I think there could have been more 'middle' to the story. The characters were a bit unmemorable, and although Stiefvater's writing is always beautiful, I felt that the writing sometimes got in the way of the plot and made me loose interest. 

With that being said, I think this book is definitely worth reading and there is a lot of beauty in this story. I'm eager to read The Scorpio Races as I know a lot of people love that novel, and of course, I will be reading whatever Stiefvater releases in the future as her novels are always unique, atmospheric, and entertaining. I'm really itching to reread The Raven Boys now! 

2018 Releases on My Radar (and that might not be on yours)

January tis the month to post about upcoming book releases! I have seen quite a few posts highlighting books that will be released in 2018, but I haven't seen a lot of the books that have caught my eye on many lists. I thought I would share some of the books on my 2018 watch-list that may not be on yours. Book titles lead to Goodreads of course!

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson 
Release Date: January 16th

This is a mystery that flips back and forth in time that takes place at a boarding school. I love Johnson's humor and thought the first two books in her Shades of London mystery series were hilarious and so well-done, so I think this one will be a really great read. It looks as if this will be the first book in a trilogy.  

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson

Release Date: February 6th 

I loved the writing and magical realism of Hutchinson's We Are the Ants which I read in 2016, so I'm really looking forward to this release. This one also sounds like it will have some magical realism as the main character, a girl-who-likes-girls, is able to perform miracles, including healing her crush from a gunshot wound as her mysterious shooter disappears into the clouds. 

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartmen

Release Date: February 27th 

This one is set in Medieval times and is about a rebellious girl who avoids being sent to a nunnery by her parents by running away and disguising herself as a boy. Oh, yeah, and there's dragons. 

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough 

Release Date: March 6th 

Books about art and artists always catch my eye and this one sounds really interesting as it centers around an Italian teenage female artist in the early 1600s. It's written in verse, and centers around a young woman's struggle to make a name for herself in a world that doesn't approve of her lifestyle. 

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

Release Date: March 13th 

This one deals with family curses, witches, and love. I haven't read Walton's first novel, but I've heard lots of great things about the lyrical writing and the magical realism elements. 

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Release Date: May 8th 

This one has a super unique premise! Mila tries to solve the mystery of her best friend and the school's mean girls' deaths by bringing them back from the dead. I love the vibes of this cover, and the premise sounds like it has a lot of potential! 

Scream All Night by Derek Milman

Release Date: July 24th

I have to rely on Goodreads for this one because its another one with a unique premise. 

Dario Heyward knows one thing: He’s never going back to Moldavia Studios, the iconic castle that served as the set, studio, and home to the cast and crew of dozens of cult classic B-horror movies. It’s been three years since Dario’s even seen the place, after getting legally emancipated from his father, the infamous director of Moldavia’s creature features.

But then Dario’s brother invites him home to a mysterious ceremony involving his father and a tribute to his first film—The Curse of the Mummy’s Tongue. Dario swears his homecoming will be a one-time visit. A way for him to get closure on his past—and reunite with Hayley, his first love and costar of Zombie Children of the Harvest Sun, a production fraught with real-life tragedy—and say good-bye for good. But the unthinkable happens—Dario gets sucked back into the twisted world of Moldavia and the horrors, both real and imagined, he’s left there.

With only months to rescue the sinking studio and everyone who has built their lives there, Dario must confront the demons of his past—and the uncertainties of his future. But can he escape the place that’s haunted him his whole life?

The Truth Lies Here by Lindsey Klingele 

Release Date: August 21st

This one has lots of great elements. It takes place in my home state, it's a mystery with paranormal elements, and a conspiracy theory obsessed father who goes missing. 

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke 

Release Date: October 2nd 

There's not a lot of information about this one out yet besides that it's a gender-bent Beowulf, which you can sign me up for. 

Blanca and Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore 

Release Date: October 9th 

Goodreads: A magical realist Snow-White & Rose-Red meets Swan Lake, in which two sisters become rivals in a game that will turn the losing girl into a swan.  I enjoyed McLemore's first novel. Her writing was super lyrical and the magical realism was super interesting, and I'm hoping this one will be similar.  

Pulp by Robin Talley

Release Date: 2018

Goodreads: About a closeted teen in the 1950s finding a way to express herself by writing a lesbian pulp novel and a contemporary out-and-proud lesbian who discovers the book years later and becomes fascinated by its pseudonymous author.

Girls on the Verge by Sharron Briggs Walker

Release Date: 2018 

Goodreads: When 17-year-old Camille discovers she can't obtain an abortion anywhere near her small hometown, she sets off for a Planned Parenthood clinic in the next state. Accompanied by Annabelle, the one-time star of her high school who has wound up stocking shelves, Camille embarks on a road trip of self-discovery in this coming-of-age story pitched as Going Bovinemeets Thelma and Louise. 

Recently Read: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Adult Fiction/ Fantasy/ Magical Realism
Publication Date: 2013
Page Count: 181
Rating: 5/5

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Also by Neil Gaiman:
The Grave Yard Book

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what. Goodreads

This is my first adult Gaiman novel, and it was a great one to start with. My brother read this last year and lent my his copy and I finally decided to pick it up on a whim. I had no idea what I was getting into besides that this novel would fit in with my weird reads cravings, and I devoured this novel. After I finished it, I actually opened my notebook and wrote my thoughts about the book and the ideas it presented because they were bursting out of me; that's how I know a book is worthy of a five star rating. 

This novel is narrated by an unnamed man, but he is looking back on his childhood. This adds a layer of mystery and intrigue to the story as the narrator becomes some-what unreliable as time may have tempered with his memories. 

This novel fits in with the like of children's classics such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan as it touches on growing up and the gap between childhood and adulthood. Just like those novels, the story seems simple on the surface but is so complex underneath. The idea of magic or "other-wordly-ness" in the gap between childhood and adulthood is common in classic children's coming of age stories and I loved seeing a modern author take on that idea. This book touches on the complexities of children and childhood experiences and puts words to the inexplicable experience that is growing up. Just like in Alice and Peter, you spend a lot of time off -balance or confused while reading the story, but that is the point that these novels try to make. Growing up is confusing and frustrating and it's an amazing feat that these novels can allow us to experience these feelings again as adults. 

The characters in this novel were super interesting. I loved the Hempstock women and how the setting becomes a character in itself. The way that the magical family of women are represented in this novel is great; they are powerful and wise but also kind and sympathetic. The supernatural elements of this novel are so unique and unlike anything I have read before. This was a world I didn't want to leave when the novel was over. I'm very surprised this hasn't been adapted as a movie yet, as Gaimen's writing is so clear, the novel runs as a movie in your head.

Gaimen is an amazing storyteller; my brother says he writes every book like the story actually happened to him, and I agree. I really want to get to Gaimen's back catalog of works soon. Let me know where I should start! 

Just Added to my TBR (16): (Weird Reads)

If you have been reading anything I've been putting out lately, you will have caught on to my craving for weird and creepy reads lately. I've rounded up the last three creepy reads I've added to my Goodreads TBR.

Just Added (15)
Just Added (14)

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Summary from Goodreads:

The nine stories in Link's second collection are the spitting image of those in her acclaimed debut, Stranger Things Happen: effervescent blends of quirky humor and pathos that transform stock themes of genre fiction into the stuff of delicate lyrical fantasy. In "Stone Animals," a house's haunting takes the unusual form of hordes of rabbits that camp out nightly on the front lawn. This proves just one of several benign but inexplicable phenomena that begin to pull apart the family newly moved into the house as surely as a more sinister supernatural influence might. The title story beautifully captures the unpredictable potential of teenage lives through its account of a group of adolescent schoolfriends whose experiences subtly parallel events in a surreal TV fantasy series. Zombies serve as the focus for a young man's anxieties about his future in "Some Zombie Contingency Plans" and offer suggestive counterpoint to the lives of two convenience store clerks who serve them in "The Hortlak." Not only does Link find fresh perspectives from which to explore familiar premises, she also forges ingenious connections between disparate images and narrative approaches to suggest a convincing alternate logic that shapes the worlds of her highly original fantasies.

Why I added It: Short stories can be a great way to get your creepy fix (think The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits but in book form) and I saw this book on quite a few recommendation lists for creepy reads. Plus I love that cover! 

Alice and the Fly by James Rice

Summary from Goodreads:

A spellbinding debut novel by an exceptional new young British talent.

This is a book about phobias and obsessions, isolation and dark corners. It's about families, friendships, and carefully preserved secrets. But above everything else it's about love. Finding love - in any of its forms - and nurturing it.

Miss Hayes has a new theory. She thinks my condition's caused by some traumatic incident from my past I keep deep-rooted in my mind. As soon as I come clean I'll flood out all these tears and it'll all be ok and I won't be scared of Them anymore. The truth is I can't think of any single traumatic childhood incident to tell her. I mean, there are plenty of bad memories - Herb's death, or the time I bit the hole in my tongue, or Finners Island, out on the boat with Sarah - but none of these are what caused the phobia. I've always had it. It's Them. I'm just scared of Them. It's that simple. 


Why I added it: I saw this one over on Mixed Margins' post about her top five books of 2017 so far, and it sounded perfectly weird and delightful. 

The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson 

Summary from Goodreads:
One day in March 1969, twenty-three- year-old Jane Mixer was on her way home to tell her parents she was getting married. She had arranged for a ride through the campus bulletin board at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was one of a handful of pioneering women students at the law school. Her body was found the following morning just inside the gates of a small cemetery fourteen miles away, shot twice in the head and strangled. Six other young women were murdered around the same time, and it was assumed they had all been victims of alleged serial killer John Collins, who was convicted of one of these crimes not long after. Jane Mixer's death was long considered to be one of the infamous Michigan Murders, as they had come to be known. But officially, Jane's murder remained unsolved, and Maggie Nelson grew up haunted by the possibility that the killer of her mother's sister was still at large.

In an instance of remarkable serendipity, more than three decades later, a 2004 DNA match led to the arrest of a new suspect for Jane's murder at precisely the same time that Nelson was set to publish a book of poetry about her aunt's life and death - a book she had been working on for years, and which assumed her aunt's case to be closed forever.

The Red Parts chronicles the uncanny series of events that led to Nelson's interest in her aunt's death, the reopening of the case, the bizarre and brutal trial that ensued, and the effects these events had on the disparate group of people they brought together. But The Red Parts is much more than a "true crime" record of a murder, investigation, and trial. For into this story Nelson has woven a spare, poetic account of a girlhood and early adulthood haunted by loss, mortality, mystery, and betrayal, as well as a subtle but blistering look at the personal and political consequences of our cultural fixation on dead (white) women.

The result is a stark, fiercely intelligent, and beautifully written memoir that poses vital questions about America's complex relationship to spectacles of violence and suffering, and that scrupulously explores the limits and possibilities of honesty, grief, empathy, and justice.

Why I added it: This basically sounds like a cross of the last two documentaries I have watched and loved on Netflix: Packed in a Trunk and The Keepers. (Read more about these documentaries here.) It has the family mystery and detective work of Packed in a Trunk and the true-crime mystery element of The Keepers. Bonus: I live in Michigan and have never read a book about true-crime; I'm very intrigued!

Recently Read: When the Moon was Ours

Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Genre: Young Adult- Magical Realism
Page Count: 288
Publication Date: 2016
Rating: 3.5/5

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Miel and Sam are inseparable best friends. Perhaps this is because neither of them really feel like they fit in completely. Roses grow out of Miel's wrists, and have grown there since she fell out of the water tower and into town. Sam is hiding a huge secret about what's under his clothes, and Miel is the only one besides his mom who knows. When the mysterious, and somewhat magical, Bonner sisters decide they want Miel's roses for themselves, everything in Miel's and Sam's worlds must shift.

I knew pretty much nothing going into this book. I read the synopsis on Goodreads and then requested if from my library. By the time it came in, I remembered nothing about the plot so I just jumped in, and I'm glad I did. 

The writing is beautiful. The magical elements of the novel blend in seamlessly with the small-town atmosphere that McLemore creates. The existence of Miel's roses was so easy to accept and created a beautiful layer of magic in the novel. I also loved the diverse representation in the novel. Sam is a transgender boy whose family is from Pakistan and Miel is Latina. The after-note mentions that the author's husband is a transgender man, which is really great to know. It's great to see diverse characters in any novel, but particularly in genres where they don't often appear such as magical realism or fantasy. 

While the writing was beautiful, I had some issues with the plot. We seemed to be building and building up to something the whole novel, but I didn't really get the sense that that something ever happened. The end of the novel was good, but it felt quiet compared to all of the tension we were building in the novel. 

I loved Miel and Sam and their relationship with one another. Both characters grew together and independently, and I enjoyed their character arcs. The Bonner sisters were fascinating; they reminded me of The Virgin Suicides sisters, and I would have LOVED more on them, or something from their p.o.v. Perhaps this is why I felt a little unsatisfied with the ending; I wanted more from and about the Bonner sisters and the part they played in the plot. I was left with a lot of questions regarding the Bonner sisters. 

I used this novel to mark off the 'romance with a trans main character' square on my Diversity Bingo board and would recommend this novel if you're looking for a book that fits that bill or if you're a fan of magical realism. This book has a lovely reading experience, as the atmosphere is so magical and hazzy. I'll be checking out McLemore in the future! 

Recently Read: Places No One Knows

Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Genre: Young Adult/ Magical Realism
Publication Date: 2016
Page Count: 384
Rating: 4/5

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On the surface Waverly is perfect. Best friend to the alpha female at school, track star, and wielding an extra-curricular list a mile-long. But at night, she doesn't sleep; she runs. Until one night she runs through her dreams to the house of Marshall the mysterious burn-out. Waverly continues to visit Marshall when she dreams and the two build a relationship, but can they bring their relationship into the day?

I've been on a pretty big magical realism kick lately and when I saw Maggie Stiefvater recommend this one on Goodreads, I immediately requested it from my library. I was really interested in the dream element of this novel, and I thought it was done super well.

This novel's strongest feature is the characters. Waverly is a sociopath. She's a genius, and a robot. She suffers from insomnia and presents a fake version of herself to others all day. Marshall is loveable and troubled. His character isn't as strong as Waverly because she is just so much more interesting than him, but he is fully developed and likeable in the way that burn-out-boys-who-are-having-trouble-at-home always are.

I thought the magical realism element was really well done and blended seamlessly with the contemporary story-line. The dynamic between characters was really interesting and hearing Waverly narrate her high school experience was interesting because of her personality. I thought this novel touched on some really great themes and I really liked how the topic of outgrowing friendships and faking it to fit in was addressed as it wasn't too dramatic. I also liked the the magical realism element was turned into a relatable situation; Waverly and Marshall's connection and relationship exists when they are alone but not when they are with other people. I would have liked to see a few of the side characters explored a bit more, particularly Autumn because she was so interesting to me.  

Also, this book has my new all-time-favorite and most-relatable quote of life:

"I've spent my life wishing gay dead men could be my boyfriend."

(cough, cough Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, James Dean etc. etc.)

This is the first work of Yovanoff''s I have read, but I am interested to read more as I have heard her other works are quite dark. As always, leave me recommendations for magical realism in the comments as well as which Yovanoff book I should read next!  

Recently Read: We are the Ants

Author: Shaun David Hutchinson
Genre: Young Adult- Magical Realism
Publication Date: 2016
Page Count: 455
Rating: 5/5

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Henry has every reason to wish for the end of the world. His boyfriend killed himself, he no longer speaks to his best friend because of it, he hates school and the bullies, and to top it all off, his dad left the family and Henry blames it on himself. But when Henry is abducted by aliens and told he is the only one that can prevent the end of the world, Henry must decide if he thinks the world is worth saving. 

I devoured this book. I read all 450 pages in two sittings. I knew I loved Henry's narrative voice within the first two pages. Henry is smart and angsty, everything I want in a YA narrator. I thought all of the characters, even the minor side characters, were really well developed and Henry's world felt so real to me. I am a big fan of magical realism and I thought the magical element within this novel of the aliens was perfectly done and unique.  

There is a lot of hard stuff in this book. Henry's life is not a piece of cake and I felt for him. I wanted to reach out to him and offer encouragement. His journey and thought processes felt so real and authentic. I loved the way the relationships developed and changed. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but this book did a great job of portraying how difficult it is to see beyond your individual self to the rest of the world when you are young. I thought the end was perfect as it left a lot up to the reader to decide. This book was entertaining and very impactful. It makes a beautiful but brutal statement about life and the world we live in. 

One of my favorite things about this novel was that Henry is gay, but this novel has nothing to do with him coming out. While I also enjoy novels about gay characters expressing their true selves to their friends and families and think they are absolutely important, that should not be the only way gay characters exist in YA. Henry is gay and his family and friends already know, that is a part of him and a part of the story of course, but it is not the whole story. 

I'm usually not a huge fan of YA contemporary so I have found magical realism to be that added element that really helps me get into contemporary. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. If you are new to magical realism, this would be a lovely place to start as the characters and contemporary issues are very strong and well done, and the magical element is the icing on the cake. The romance in this novel is very well written, (romance is the element of contemporaries that make me hesitant to read them) and I really enjoyed the development and honesty of all of the relationships in the novel. This is a book I can see myself rereading in the future and enjoying it just as much as I did the first time, if not more. 

Let me know if you have any YA contemporary or magical realism suggestions in the comments!

Library Wish-List

Hey guys! I thought I would make a post about what I'm hoping to score from the library before the end of my summer break. I have been reading from the library quite a bit (I talked about feeling guilty about using the library when I have so many unread books here) but I have really been loving taking advantage of my library while I'm home for the summer.

I have been in the mood for something so specific lately -YA magical realism- so the first book falls in that genre. I devoured We are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson which was a great piece of YA magical realism and now it's all I want to read. If you have any recommendations for me (besides A.S. King) let me know!

Goodreads

I found this one because Maggie Stiefvater gave it a five-star rating on her Goodreads. I really liked the magical atmosphere in The Raven Cycle so I'm intrigued by any magical novel she gives a five-star rating. This one has to do with dream worlds. 

Goodreads

I'm not sure if this is magical realism or just a contemporary, but I have been hearing great things about it, and I'm really interested to see how this author pulls off the small town religion aspect.

Goodreads

I love poetry and have been wanting to get into some modern poetry and I think I will really like this collection. I have seen this author's work on the internet and loved its simple but impactful style. I have this one on hold right now, but I am considering just buying it because there is so many people ahead of me. Let me know if you read it and what you thought!