Red, White, And Royal Blue

Red, White, and Royal Blue (2019) by Casey McQuiston is a queer enemies-to-lovers new adult romance that imagines a relationship between the son of the first woman president and the prince who is the younger brother to the heir to the throne of England. Alex Claremont-Diaz is in his last year at Georgetown, living inContinue reading “Red, White, And Royal Blue”

Olga Dies Dreaming

Olga Dies Dreaming (2022) by Xochitl Gonzalez is an engaging and darkly funny novel that deals with gentrification in Brooklyn, the aftermath of colonialism and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, living up to parental expectations, whether they are unreasonable or not, all with the background of a sweet romance. Olga and her brother Prieto areContinue reading “Olga Dies Dreaming”

Four Treasures of the Sky

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (2022) is a beautifully written and heartbreaking novel set in the 1880’s in China, San Francisco, and Idaho. Daiyu is a young girl living with her parents, who are tapestry-weavers, and her grandmother, in a small village near the ocean. Both her mother and grandmother tellContinue reading “Four Treasures of the Sky”

The School For Good Mothers

The School For Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (2022) is frightening because it is our world taken just one not-so-unlikely step further. Frida Liu is the 39-year old Chinese-American mother to Harriet, a toddler, and shares custody with her ex-husband, Gust, who had an affair with Susanna while Frida was still pregnant with Harriet. FridaContinue reading “The School For Good Mothers”

The Reading List

The Reading List (2021) by Sara Nisha Adams was lovely and heartbreaking at the same time. Set in London in Wembley, it follows widower Mukesh as he begins to try new things after the death of his beloved Naina; and young adult Aliesha who has just started working at the library, but isn’t sure it’sContinue reading “The Reading List”

Echo

Echo, a Newbery-winning middle grade novel by Pam Munoz Ryan (2015) tells the stories of three preteens–Friedrich in 1933 Germany; Mike in 1935 Pennsylvania; and Ivy, in 1942 Southern California–who are all connected by music and a harmonica that finds its way to each of them at just the right time. The stories are bracketedContinue reading “Echo”

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

I am very late to reading the 2014 Philip K. Dick Award-winner The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison, despite it being highly recommended by a friend and having her copy sitting on my bookshelf for 18 months. I suspect that the timing wasn’t right–I was given the copy on New Years EveContinue reading “The Book of the Unnamed Midwife”

Find Layla

Find Layla (2020) is Meg Elison’s first published contemporary YA novel. Elison has won and been nominated for multiple science fiction awards for her Road to Nowhere series, specifically The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (review coming soon), The Book of Etta, and The Book of Flora. Her novelette The Pill won the 2021 LocusContinue reading “Find Layla”