“Mixed up” Gordon Korman

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Scholastic Press (Scholastic). 241 p. Published July 18, 2023.

Twelve-year-old Reef is filled with guilt because he made his mom sick, and she died of COVID. With nowhere to go he’s taken in by her best friend, though her fourteen-year-old son is not happy and makes his life miserable. As if things weren’t bad enough memories from someone else begin to fill his mind while his own start to decline – including his mother’s face.

Twelve-year-old Theo is a disappointment to his father because he likes gardening and is not into sports. Battles with his dad, and an obnoxious rabbit intent on ruining his garden, fade when memories of places he’s never been to and people he doesn’t know fill his head. With his own memories starting to fade, Theo is determined to figure out how to get them back.

Through alternate chapters Reef and Theo talk about what’s happening, their thoughts about each other, and how to get their lives back. Time is not on their side as, with each passing day, many memories completely disappear. Will the boys figure out how to reverse what’s happening before it’s too late?

As usual, Gordon Korman hooks readers with an interesting storyline. Middle school boys, especially reluctant readers, will enjoy reading about Reef and Theo’s interesting predicament.

Recommended for ages 12-15.

“The silent bride” Shalini Boland

Rated 3 stars *** ebook. Thomas & Mercer. 2023.

Alice swore off men after she learned her boyfriend was emotionally abusing her. With her trust shattered she wasn’t ready for another relationship but, five years later, met Seth and fell madly in love. Dreams of happiness began to sour when they got engaged and he could never find time to meet her friends or family. He seemed to become more possessive, but she felt they’d get on track once they were married.

Halfway down the aisle on her wedding day Alice realized her Seth was a stranger. She literally didn’t recognize him and was sure someone switched a stranger for the love of her life. Though he sought to calm her all she felt was terror at his presence. With everyone staring and her heart broken, she ran away. How could she marry a man she’d never seen before?

So starts this bizarre story of Alice’s memories from before her wedding day and afterwards. Interspersed are snippets of ecstasy from the person who caused the chaos, leaving readers to draw conclusions as to who caused the mayhem and why. I had my suspicions but was proven completely wrong. Though turned off by Alice’s doormat personality, the book’s premise is highly unusual. I’ll leave it up to you to pick through the flotsam to find the pearls in Alice’s nightmarish adventures.

Recommended for Adults.

“Las Madres” Esmeralda Santiago

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Borzoi Books (Alfred A. Knopf). To be published August 8, 2023.

Luz is 57 years old and is a shadow of the vibrant girl and star ballerina she used to be when she was fifteen and lived with her loving parents in Puerto Rico. After a car accident killed them and left her with a devastating brain injury, life forever changed. Over time her brain healed enough to allow Luz to regain many functions, but an inability to remember her past and regressing into daily coma-like fugues became her new norm.

Luz’s memories appear in flashes she quickly forgets. After the accident she was taken care of by her grandparents as well as Ada and Shirley, two women who worked for her grandfather. When both grandparents died, they cared for her as if she was their daughter. When she was 16 years old, they moved to New York where she later married and had a daughter. When Marysol was 5 years old her father was killed and Luz was shot, so Ada and Shirley took care of her just like they’d done for her mother.

“Las Madres” is a story of love and strength from 1975 to 2017. It’s a woman desperately trying to remember who she was. It’s a daughter trying to connect to a mother with attacks that render her almost comatose. It’s an unbreakable bond between Ada, Shirley, their daughter Graciela, and Marysol. It’s the story of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Their stories, and what it means to be Puerto Rican, will resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Echoes of Grace” Guadalupe García McCall

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebooks. Tu Books (Lee & Low). Published August 16, 2022. (Includes “Resources” for abuse against women).

Grace’s older sister Mercy blames her for the death of her young son who was hit by a car while on her watch. Ever since their mother was murdered when they were little girls she and Mercy had been close but, with Alexander’s death, there is now a chasm between them. She blames herself for not being more attentive, as echo-type memories often take her somewhere into the past. These echoes are a gift she inherited from her mother, but their appearances are usually unplanned and unwanted.

Three years earlier, in 2008, Grace was living with her maternal grandmother after running away to Mexico. There she dealt with unwelcome advances from a local, determined to get her to notice him despite her repeated rebuffs. Her echoes are filled with the tortures he put her through, as well as memories of her grandmother beating her and, ultimately, throwing her out of the house.

Between 2008 and 2011, echoes are interwoven as Grace tries to make sense of them. Though her mother’s untimely death seems to tie everything together, it will take a special kind of love for Grace to get the acceptance and help she needs to find out what really happened to her mother.

The back and forth narrative is a natural part of Grace’s story, as she needed to find out where she was going, but couldn’t do so until she knew from where she had come. The lessons she learned from her past will make her future even better.

I predict “Echoes of Grace” is going to be the Young Adult winner of the 2023 Pura Belpré award. You heard it here first!

Highly recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“A day like this” Kelley McNeil

Rated 5 stars ***** ebook. Lake Union Publishing. 2021. (Includes “Topics & questions for discussion.”)

What would you do if you woke up after a car accident to discover nothing you knew about yourself was true? Your 5-year old daughter doesn’t exist. Your loving husband is divorcing you. The farmhouse where you spent many happy years has been sold, and you’re living in an apartment you barely recognize. All this and more faces Annie Beyers when she awakens in the hospital. She can’t shake detailed memories of what seems to have been another life, but everyone insists the accident rattled her brain.

Annie keeps dreaming of her daughter, and refuses to accept that life with her was just a dream. She’s determined to get back to her family but, as time passes, wanting something and actually having it happen are two different things. As she searches for answers Annie learns things she never knew about her own mother, realizing she also had the ability to travel through time. Will Annie also wind up insane, or will she get back the life she once lived?

I enjoyed reading “A day like this.” It reminded me of the movie “Somewhere in time.”  It also makes readers ponder the age-old question “what if?” We all sometimes wish we’d made different decisions at points in our lives. What would have happened if we’d chosen a particular path that day instead of the path we wound up following? Would things have been better for us or worse? “A day like this” keeps you thinking long after the last page has been turned.

Recommended for Adults.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

“Invisible fault lines” Kristen-Paige Madonia

Rated 3 stars *** Simon & Schuster. 306 p. 2016.

Callie was a junior in high school when her father never came home from work. The police couldn’t find him, while no one knew where he could have gone. As months passed without any word, the constant loneliness she and her mom felt without him dragged heavily upon their souls. Though she and her friends searched everywhere, and put up missing person posters, he was not found.

At a museum exhibition of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake Callie was sure a person in a photo looked like her father. She decided to research the timeframe for clues, believing her father was caught in a time warp. As time passes, Callie and her mother must learn to create a new normal in the midst of their loss.

I could feel Callie’s pain, but thought the storyline about her father was far fetched. At risk of being a spoiler all I will say is I wasn’t happy with the ending, but gave it an extra star because of the other storylines going on that gave strength to the characters.

I will leave it up to readers, ages 14 and older, to decide if you want to read it or not.

“Behind the red door” Megan Collins

Rated 3 stars *** ARC. ebook. Atria Books. To be published August 4, 2020.

Fern loves her daddy even though he was always distracted with his work. His research dealt with the effects of fear, and she was always part of his Experiments where he terrorized her for years in many ways then interviewed her about her feelings. Though she had always been truly afraid during the Experiments, his care during the follow up interviews made her feel important and loved. As she grew older the years she’d spent being tormented caused her to become anxious and develop nervous habits, but it never diminished her love for him.

When Ted called to ask for help packing for an upcoming move, Fern was thrilled because she believed he needed her. Once she arrived they took a trip to town where she picked up a book about a local woman who was kidnapped 20 years ago and was missing again. As reading about the kidnapping tugged at memories she’d long kept hidden, these remembrances began to turn her life upside down.

This book really bothered me. I can’t reveal what happened, but I can say I was not happy at how that particular situation ended. I also couldn’t understand how, as an educated Social Worker, she was so ignorant about her own father. I liked the suspense, and how she gave Fern a wonderfully loving and supportive husband.

I gave it 3 stars for its twists and turns, and will recommend it to Adults.

I received a digital advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Reverie” Ryan La Sala

Rated 2 stars ** 2020. Sourcebooks. 393 p.

Kane Montgomery woke up in the hospital after five days, and has no idea why he stole and crashed his father’s car. With his memory gone he doesn’t know answers to any of the questions that are running through his brain, but soon discovers he’s the founding member of a group called Others. They have differing powers that enable them to defuse dreams, also known as reveries. Kane is the only one who can unravel them to keep dreamers safe, but he has no idea how to use his powers. While Kane blunders around trying to figure out his past, a drag queen Sorceress is determined to have him be part of her future. It’s only through learning to trust that Kane can create his own future.

I really disliked this book. Kane was such a wimp. By the time I’d gotten to chapter eight he’d already cried twice and, by the end of the book, had cried and thought about running away many more times. His defeatist attitude was annoying. In contrast to him was Dean Flores, my favorite character. He knew he loved Kane and was willing to fight for his man in ways that imperiled his own life, while all Kane could do was cry. Dean is the only reason this book got more than one star.

Though I didn’t like it I will leave it up to you teen readers, ages 14 and older, to decide if you want to read it or not. I wish I had not.

 

“In a dark, dark wood” Ruth Ware

Rated 3 stars *** Scout Press (Simon & Schuster). 2015. 310 p.

Nora got an email that brought forth memories she’d been repressing for 10 years from when she’d been in love with James at the age of 16. Though it had ended badly, she’d never gotten over their relationship. Her ex-best friend Clare was getting married and Flo, her maid of honor, was writing to invite her to Clare’s Hen (bachelorette) party. After debating whether or not to go Nora decided to attend.

Six people showed up to a glass walled house buried deep in the spooky woods, where she finds out Clare is marrying James. With memories overwhelming her, Nora is desperate to leave but stayed to save face though no one has phone reception, the landline goes dead, and Flo is obsessed with pleasing Clare. Getting drunk, playing silly games and passing on snide comments about each other turn to seriousness when a Ouija board spells “murderer”, and the back door opens by itself in the middle of the night.

By this time they are all paranoid so, when someone comes up the stairs and is shot dead, no one remembers who did the actual shooting that killed James. Nora developed amnesia after the shooting but, for James’ sake, is determined to recover her memories and find out what happened that night. Who shot James? Did she do it?

The book started out slow and dragged through a few chapters before it started to pick up steam. I enjoyed the suspense, and whodunit feel. I had my suspicions, but was surprised when the villain was revealed. What I didn’t like were loose ends that weren’t explained, how much Nora reverted to her high school self around Clare, and why she went to the Hen when she wasn’t invited to the wedding.

Though the book had its hiccups I will recommend it to Adult readers who like suspense. It will definitely keep you guessing.

 

“Always” Sarah Jio

Rated 3 stars *** ARC. Ebook. Ballantine Books. To be published February 7, 2017.

Kailey loved Ryan, her handsome and rich fiancé who she’d been dating for 4 years. Though secretly still in love with a man from her past, they were set to marry. The day she runs into a homeless man she recognizes as Cade, the love of her life who had disappeared years earlier, her life forever changes.

Through flashbacks, readers are shown their love story, setting the stage for Cade’s disappearance and Ryan’s appearance in Kailey’s life. The more she remembers the former life she had with Cade, the more she begins to question her life with Ryan. Should she give up an old love for a new one? Could she learn to live a new life and leave her old one behind?

As Kailey debates what to do, readers easily split into Pro Ryan or Pro Cade camps. The decision is not as hard as Kailey makes it out to be; she’s just too dense to figure it out as fast as I did. In the midst of trying to understand what happened to Cade, I couldn’t figure out the point of all the “cloak and dagger” mysteries around him. “Always” was okay but was a bit too predictable, with a few too many loose ends, for me to rate it higher than three stars.

Recommended for Adults who don’t mind the occasional “huh?” thrown into their reading.

I received an Advance Reading digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.