Originally posted on Goodreads.

Using intellect, wit, and some spectacular writing skills, Courtney Maum had me hooked in Touch. Trend forecaster Sloane Jacobsen is one of the most badass, real characters that I’ve read in a long time. I was invested in her life and couldn’t wait to hear more and more. I particularly enjoyed the audio version, and I could listen to Kristen Sieh read literally anything. 

Sloane Jacobsen is one of the most sought-out trend forecasters in the world. She’s hired by mega-corporation Mammoth to consult for their upcoming conference that targets the voluntarily childless population. She moves from her Paris apartment to New York for the job, bringing her Neo-Sensualist partner Roman with her. Roman has an affinity for wearing skin-tight lycra body suits that cover him from head to toe, an affinity Sloane does not share. When their visions for what the next trend will be are completely opposite, Sloane is at a crossroads. 

I so loved the writing in this novel. In particular, the last sentence in each chapter was so powerful, it would often make me laugh or feel like a punch to the gut. It felt so special and important, and I just couldn’t get enough.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

Rebel girl you are the queen of my world
Rebel girl, rebel girl
I know I wanna take you home
I wanna try on your clothes
Love you like a sister always
Soul sister, rebel girl
Come and be my best friend
Will you, rebel girl?
I really like you
I really wanna be your best friend
Be my rebel girl

I had Bikini Kill running through my brain every time I picked this book up. This feminist, realistic, awesome story warmed my cold, dead heart and was everything I wanted it to be. There were so many time reading that I thought I could see the twists and turns coming and dreading the potential reactions of characters that would ruin the book for me, and every time I was wrong. This book oozes girl power, revolution, and exactly what it’s like to be a teen girl fighting the power.

Set in the early 1990s, Rebel Girls tells the story of Athena Graves, aspiring Riot Grrrl and high-school sophomore who never feels quite outspoken or punk enough to really be part of the movement. Sure, her taste in music fits the bill but she knows that being a feminist is so much more than that. Unfortunately, she’s often stuck her her sister, Helen. Helen is an aspiring fashion model and was the head of the pro-life club at her middle school. 

Everything changes once they’re back to school and a viscious rumor starts spreading – people think that Helen had an abortion over the summer. Their ultra-Catholic high school strictly forbids this, and the rumor is not only ostracizing socially, it could get Helen expelled. 

Helen and Athena, along with their friends, band together to protest the rumor, but also send a message that it’s not anyone’s business whether or not she had an abortion. 

Athena fights the power, stands up for women, and always sticks to her values. The way she questions herself and chides herself for thinking things that don’t always line up with the feminist message was so real and honest and refreshing. The growth we see in her as a character was amazing, and left me so happy. I’ll definitely be buying a copy of this for all the young girls in my life.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

Thank you to Goodreads and the Publisher for this ARC! I won in a giveaway, and I’m so happy I did! 

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane is a slow, slow burn of a romance novel that left me in a puddle. I finished the book, cried on my couch, then went back and re-read the last chapter about eight more times. 

Georgina’s had a tough go of it. Clad in her ever-fabulous fuzzy pink jacket, she has been fired from her job in an attempt to impress a food critic, judged by her younger sister, deserted by her mother, and oh she also walked in on her boyfriend having sex with his assistant. So, things aren’t going great for her. 

She’s determined to move forward and make the best of it, as she always has. She takes a one-night bartending job for an event and is offered a position as bar manager on the spot. It isn’t until after she accepts that she realizes that one of the owners is the guy she dated in high school, the one that got away. 

I didn’t expect this to be as slow of a burn as it was. For a romance novel, it really doesn’t get there until the very end of the book. That being said, I loved all of the characters. The writing is fabulous and poetic and I couldn’t put the book down. I would definitely recommend these to any of my twenty or thirty-something friends, because we all know that feeling of being kicked when you’re down and trying to crawl your way back to the surface.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

A brilliant historical fiction novel with a lot of mystery and a touch of romance, The Lady and the Highwayman was an enjoyable adventure for the reader. Elizabeth Black is a prim and proper schoolmistress by day, who writes silver fork novels that are loved by elite women. By night, she takes on her more enjoyable pursuit of writing Penny Dreadfuls under the pseudonym “Mr. King”. Fletcher Walker was a street urchin child who clawed his way out of poverty. Now, he fights for the freedom and education of the poorest children, which he finances through his writing of Penny Dreadfuls. 

When Fletcher’s reign as the best-selling author of Penny Dreadfuls comes to an end thanks to the elusive Mr. King, he begins a missing to discover the identity of this mystery man. 

Eden really took a chance with the format of this novel. Chapters of the serial Penny Dreadfuls written by both Elizabeth and Fletcher are woven throughout the main story. I was nervous when I began reading, worried this would become confusing or uninteresting, but it was not the case at all. I especially enjoyed the parallel story that Elizabeth told in her serial. I did find Fletcher’s story less compelling, and it felt as if we never really got the end of the story. It was a great way to break up the story and I think Eden did a fabulous job.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

When I requested this book from Netgalley, I had no idea how engrossing, moving, unnerving, overwhelming, and important it would be.  Nobody’s Victim is Carrie Goldber’s memoir of the work she has done as a Victim’s Rights attorney. She represents clients that have been assaulted, humiliated, stalked, and harassed in the digital age – something that is crucial these days. 

The stories of her clients gave me chills, and made each of the issues personal. The author’s own stories were heartbreaking and inspirational, because they set her on a path forward. 

In a fiercely feminist, accessible way, Goldberg tells readers that she believes, you are enough, and she won’t stop fighting for you.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

I wanted so badly to enjoy this sweet little book, but I just couldn’t get there. I understand that novellas have to move a bit quicker than full-blown novels, but everything just felt so rushed. I never got a chance to care about the characters before jumping into the romantic plotline. It was almost jarring. I also didn’t care for the author’s writing style, it just felt a bit too formal for my taste.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

DNF at 47%

Libby Dewitt’s life is turned upside down when she is jilted at the altar. An extreme workaholic (she was even sending work emails on the way to her wedding!), she decides to still go on her honeymoon/business trip. 

Harrison Banks is a nice guy, who happens to own the resort that Libby’s company is trying to buy out. 

I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t. Libby is slut-shamey and unrealistic and unfeeling. Harrison is just too nice. Like, to the point of barely having a personality. Real people aren’t like that. I tried to forge through it, but an off-color joke about #metoo, and I was out.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

I wanted so much more from this book, but it reads like a middle school text book. This was the first time that I ever felt that a book needed an introduction, as it just seemed to jump into the history without any kind of introduction whatsoever. 

The writing and history is very, very, very elementary. It pauses to explain what the Underground Railroad is. 

This should be marketed more as a middle grade book. I also wish it would have touched on the controversies surrounding Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but instead it painted her as an abolitionist and a feminist, ignoring the ways she did not support black women.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

“If you fall in love with someone, there’s a good chance the person won’t love you back. Hatred, though, is usually mutual. If you despise someone, it’s pretty much a given they’re also not your biggest fan.”

I have tried to be a fantasy reader, but it is just so far out of my wheelhouse that I usually can’t get through an entire novel. Sleeping Giants was an exception. Rose Franklin (literally) falls into a giant glowing metal hand, and her life will never be the same. As a professional, she is assigned to the project to study the hand and learn from it. A team is assembled of a badass pilot, a linguist, a geneticist, and many others. An unnamed narrator oversees them all, monitoring the project. Little do they know how big this hand actually is. 

I absolutely loved the interview/case file format of this novel and found it very compelling. I may have enjoyed that even more than the story. I think it was an absolute stroke of genius on the part of the author. 

There were several twists in this novel that I didn’t see coming, but unfortunately the ending just isn’t one of them. What was supposed to be a big reveal just seemed obvious to me. 

Still, I will be picking up the next in the series. I’m excited to see what else the author does with this format.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

“It’s strange. All those times we’ve met in darkness, and I’ve only ever seen you in sunlight.”

You couldn’t possibly ask for better writing in a romance novel. The characters are well-developed, the writing is fabulous, and the plot is compelling. I am a committed fan, now, and will be working my way through MacLean’s already published works. 

Lady Felicity Faircloth (aka Finished Felicity) would give just about anything to restore her place in the ton. Her group of “friends” have abandoned her after she found herself part of a scandal, leaving her a plain, aging, lonely wallflower. That is until she makes a deal with the devil in the dark. 

Devil has fought for everything he has. He started from nothing and built himself and his siblings to a place of not just comfort, but of prosperity. He runs the darkness, and nothing is out of his reach. With eyes set on revenge, he comes up with a plan and Felicity Faircloth is just the pawn he needs. 

I can’t say that I loved this as much as Brazen and the Beast (Whit is just so brooding and wonderful), but I couldn’t help but get lost in this story. The steam, the dialogue, the character development, everything is just perfection.