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proseandpinotnoir · 2 years

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REMINDERS OF HIM by Colleen Hoover

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3/5 stars 🌟🌟🌟

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To read Colleen Hoover is, to some extent, to consciously agree to suspend reality for the duration of the novel. Which makes sense - she writes fiction. BUT. I personally struggle to endorse 300+ pages of a plot that almost exclusively revolves around an “I’ll do anything for you” relationship when its foundation was built upon one or two pages’ worth of intense instant chemistry and literally nothing else.

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I believe in the instant attraction she writes about, but I personally don’t like when the relationships solidify without any sort of additional depth. I sometimes feel like I read chapter 1, start chapter 2, and wonder if I missed 15 chapters that were supposed to be wedged in between.

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SO. Reminders of Him does feature that never-felt-like-this-before chemistry, but it was not the focal point of the novel. WHICH I LOVED. The romance was more of an added bonus to a plot that raised a bevy of moral and ethical dilemmas: Kenna is released from prison after serving five years for manslaughter. She’d lost custody of her daughter, whom she gave birth to at the beginning of her sentence and never even got to hold, and returns to the small town where she formerly resided - where her daughter currently resides - in the hope of being reunited in some capacity.

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The issue? Kenna’s daughter lives with her paternal grandparents. Kenna was found guilty for the death of their son - the father of Kenna’s daughter - and, for a host of very valid reasons, they want nothing to do with her. Kenna connects instantly with a local bartender, Ledger, but their relationship becomes fraught with sadness and hurt and uncertainty when they discover each other’s identity. Ledger was Scotty’s best friend, and has been a surrogate father figure to Kenna’s daughter since she was born.

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This book made me think about how much more inclined we are to be harsh or unforgiving or parochial when we’re hurting. Ledger’s character representes a gray area - he showed us what can happen when compassion and empathy mix with the sort of wounds that are never going away.

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Have you read this one yet?! What’s your fave CoHo novel?

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proseandpinotnoir · 2 years

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A RIVER ENCHANTED by Rebecca Ross

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2.8/5 🌟🌟🌟

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I don’t particularly enjoy writing negative reviews about books. However, I do particularly enjoy having a visual representation of the books I’ve read throughout the year laid out chronologically via the internet, and it is for that reason that I post this photo and this mini “I didn’t vibe with this book” review.

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I didn’t vibe with this book. Its intriguing premise pulled me in straightaway, which I was obviously so excited about, but by 18-20% through my momentum slowed and my motivation slowed shortly thereafter in sad and slightly lagging tandem. I realized I’d thought that by 100-120 pages, the story would have progressed further than it had. That I’d care about the characters more, that plot would have skipped or twisted or jolted or done SOMETHING more than it had up until that point.

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The experience of reading it felt like drifting along a lazy river in an inner tube during the middle of the summer - I was neither wholly bored nor wholly captivated. Parts of the journey were beautiful and interesting, but other parts had me swatting away mosquitoes and thinking, “This inner tube is getting hot and I’m kinda thirsty and my nose feels sunburned, I wonder how much longer until it’s over?”

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While that is, I’m sure, probably up there with the world’s lamest and least scintillating metaphors, it does honestly encapsulate my feelings about the book. It never, in my opinion, needed to be 480 pages long. The characters were charming-ish but predictable, and the pace slowed down too much, too frequently. If your taste runs super parallel to mine, I’d save it for when you’re in the mood for a squarely middle-of-the-road experience, if you read it at all. And I don’t say that lightly, as I would normally consider this genre and premise to be exactly up my alley.

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Have you read this one yet? Did the last book you read surprise you or let you down or make you feel some type of way you didn’t see coming?

#books #book quotes #reading #book blog #bookstagram #booklr #bookish #book review #booknerd #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #always reading #quotes #proseandpinotnoir #book lover #lit #fiction #book of the month #a River enchanted

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proseandpinotnoir · 2 years

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ZODIAC ACADEMY by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

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2.5/5 stars but I’m really into it??

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I’m writing this review of from the perspective of someone elbows deep in the second installment. You’d think that would be a testament to the strength of the first book, but it’s not. Book 1 is objectively bad. I saw one Goodreads user refer to it as “good in a junk food-wattpad sort of way,” which a) cracked me up and b) is accurate.

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The writing isn’t great. The first third of it is super information heavy without a lot of depth, which seems oxymoronic but unfortunately isn’t, leaving much to be desired in terms of orientation within the world and familiarity with the characters.

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Gemini twins Darcy and Tory are wrenched from their vaguely depressing mortal existence and thrown into the tumultuous world of Zodiac Academy, a school for - shocker - Fae who have magic powers, personalities influenced by their zodiac signs, and affinities for elements.

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Darcy and Tory discover they are the rightful Heirs to the throne of Solaria; their real parents were the kingdom’s last king and queen until their apparently gruesome and mysterious murder. Post-unsolved regicide, the kingdom’s four most powerful families formed a Celestial Council and began to rule, grooming their sons to one day take their places. Max, Caleb, Darius, and Seth, as Heirs, are RUTHLESS and will do anything to ensure Darcy and Tory - the most powerful Fae the school has seen in years - don’t ascend the throne.

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I decided to read Book 2 at the endorsement of two incredible friends whose reviews I trust completely: @marasantana17 (who gifted me this for my birthday - THANK YOU🥺😭💖) and @rachels.booksta, whose Zodiac Academy stories have been giving me LIFE these past few weeks. Both Mara and Rachel warned me this isn’t groundbreaking literature, but there’s a addictive sort of must-keep-going quality that makes it hard to put down.

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I completely see what they mean: there’s a kernel of promise I can see burgeoning into something addicting, and I am therefore excited to continue my excursion into a rated R world that combines Avatar, House of Night, and The Magicians.

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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Finally finally FINALLY. I am so ready to settle in for the night with a huge blanket, a glass of wine, and A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES. When I took this photo about an hour ago (on my way home from Barnes and Noble obv), there was a huge lightning storm brewing over the ocean. (Did you guys know Florida is the lightning capital of the US?) That storm has since arrived, and the soundtrack to the opening chapters is about to be pouring rain and cracking thunder and the chiming sound my phone makes whenever lightning strikes within a 5 mile radius.

Cassian and Nesta, bring it🍷✨🏹

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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“Timidity created nothing.” - Madeline Miller, Circe

You guys - how TALENTED is @olgacree?! Olga is a freelance illustrator who works a lot with watercolor - swipe to see the GORGEOUS painting she did for me! She sent me ideas from her vision board and I picked out the clothes (this is my go-to when I’m not wearing athleisure; I own about 584 variations of this outfit) and pose and book. She even looked at pics from my feed to get my hair right! I was so obsessed I wanted to recreate the overall vibe, though this isn’t an exact match because I don’t have a chair as tasteful as the one she painted.

Is Circe my FAVORITE book? No. But I chose it for the painting because, aside from A Little Life being too depressing to look at all the time and Lolita being too taboo to have on display without explanation, I love what Circe represents in mythology and contemporary society.

Circe embodies everything immortality represents in a way the heroes and Olympians of Ancient Greece never could. She is simultaneously revered and scorned, worshipped and detested, consistently underestimated despite her deadly gifts. The degree of freedom and power in that kind of fluidity is precisely how and why Circe transcends Homer himself. AND THAT IS SO COOL TO ME.

I think when most people think of Zeus, they think - lightning. Hercules - 12 labors. Achilles - Trojan War. You get the idea. Nearly everyone has their “thing” in Greek mythology. Even Circe: enchantress. Sorceress. Man-hater. Deceiver. Outcast. Witch.

But Madeline Miller says: before you label Circe and stuff her in the “crazy/scary women” corner of mythology (sounds lit tho), consider this - she was a lover. A healer. A mother. A botanist and an herbalist and a chemist. Formidable AND nurturing. Skilled the arts of poison AND medicine. Why must we confine her identity when her existence is infinite?

Miller, in her uncanny, haunting way weaves a tale of humanity and heartache in an age of harsh and unrelenting divinity. She shows us that what you do isn’t necessarily reflective of what you ARE, or how you are remembered. Feminist and subversive and witchy. (And Olga captured that PERFECTLY in the cover!)

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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Book convos with people you love >>>

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS by Aiden Thomas

4🌟🌟🌟🌟

Pub date: 3/23/21

Lost in the Never Woods isn’t a retelling of Peter Pan (thank God) - rather, Thomas takes the most charismatic and enchanting elements of Peter Pan mythos and weaves them into a moving modern tale of innocence and loss.

The usually-crime-free coastal town of Astoria, OR is unwell when 11-year-old Wendy Darling and her younger brothers, Michael and John, vanish into the woods without a trace. Six months later, Wendy turns up with her brothers’ blood caked underneath her fingernails, unable to recall a single detail. At 18, Wendy struggles daily with the grief and guilt and trauma of her losing her baby brothers so horrifically, without a hint of closure.

Driving home one night, something hits Wendy’s car, and she, in turn, almost hits a boy. The night gets even weirder when the boy tells her his name is Peter Pan. And weirder yet: he needs Wendy’s help because he’s missing his shadow which, according to him, she has sewn on before.

Though Wendy is certain she’s never seen this strange, mesmerizing boy before, something about him feels familiar and warm and safe. She is quickly forced to conclude Peter is who he says he is: THE Peter Pan, the flying, pirate-fighting, never-grows-up boy Wendy used to make up stories about to tell her brothers.

Peter’s arrival isn’t coincidental. Children have started to disappear in the woods, and Peter believes his missing shadow - a manifestation of dark thoughts and fear - is responsible. Wendy and Peter team up to basically fight the forces of evil while exploring their undeniable chemistry in a very YA and wholesome way.

This book so bittersweet. I don’t want to spoil anything, but Peter has a purpose in Lost in the Never Woods that is so much more fulfilling and poignant than the original tale. He is, to quote SJM, extremely easy to like and even easier to love. I ended up crying at 1 AM because the whole endgame of Peter Pan is very snap-your-heart-in-two.

Taylor says it best: I knew you tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendy💔

Thank you to Netgalley and Swoon Reads for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT by Elle Cosimano

3.8/5 stars🔎🥸💰

I saw a tweet the other day that said something to the effect of, “29 is a wild age because one of my friends owns a home and one of my friends lost her shoe in an Uber.

At 31, mother-of-two-toddlers, borderline-broke Finlay Donovan is that exact tweet, personified. She’s a published author who has experienced both marriage and divorce, and yet somehow consistently radiates this chaotic, lose-your-shoe-in-the-back-of-an-Uber type of energy that had me cackling on one page and extremely stressed out on her behalf the next.

This book has a HOOK: after a Murphy’s law kind of morning with her kids in which literally everything goes wrong, Finlay arrives late and flustered to a meeting with her editor to discuss the allegedly “almost done” first draft of her upcoming suspense-romance novel, which she of course has yet to start.

Finlay is overheard hashing out some of the more gruesome elements of the plot and subsequently mistaken for a contract killer. She is shocked to discover a note next to her turkey and Brie sandwich offering $50k - money she desperately needs - in exchange for making the note writer’s husband neatly disappear.

What follows is a hilarious and eyebrow-raising tale that combines romance and suspense with real-life aspects of modern day friendship and motherhood that feel gritty and authentic, all wrapped up in this layer of meta-levity. I couldn’t get Moira Rose yelling, “I think I’ve killed a man!” out of my head the entire time.

There were, though, some deeper themes beneath the lightheartedness: hot bartenders with gold-green eyes (*mostly* kidding), the importance of strong female friendships, the superficial paradox of social media (sometimes your realest friends - the ones you’d “bury a body with” - aren’t on your Instagram at all), and how quickly the purest of intentions can devolve into not-so-pure actions.

I read the first line of Instagram.com/emilybookedup’s review, comparing FDIKI to an adult version of AGGTM, and added it to my cart immediately. She, as usual, was on point in her rec!💕 I will def be reading the sequel!

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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THE EX TALK by Rachel Lynn Solomon

2.8/5🤕😔

Unpopular opinion alert - I apologize in advance😩

Whenever Shay Goldstein finds herself in an uncomfortable or intimidating situation, she asks herself: what would a mediocre white man do?

I found this aspect of the plot hilarious and honestly beneficial (whatever source of power mediocre white men draw their energy from, convincing them they’re smarter and cooler and more capable than they are - sign me up), but am disappointed to report the same cannot be said about the rest of the book.

A mediocre white man probably would not butter up a review of a book he didn’t enjoy for fear of being too harsh, and so it is with that inspiration in mind that I say this was a solid almost-3 star read.

Shay and Dominic are forced to team up to cohost a radio show/podcast, The Ex Talk, in which they pretend to be exes and dole out relationship advice. Though they’re both uncomfortable lying to listeners about their completely fabricated history (the ‘closest’ they’ve ever gotten is Shay trying to block Dominic’s entry into a senior staff meeting), they’re willing to put aside their morals as well as mutual dislike for each other to save their jobs. They start to grow closer as they spend more time together, which of course isn’t conducive to a podcast hosted by alleged exes.

I WANTED TO LIKE THIS. I loved Shay’s relationship with her Jewish faith. I thought it was cool she was five years Dominic’s senior. And I really liked that Dominic, who’s Korean, seemed on board for an episode about diversity in dating and the unspoken stigma that exists within it.

What I didn’t like was how that episode never happened. And what I really didn’t like was how rudimentary miscommunication was conflated with so much of the rising action. I have ZERO patience for Shay learning that Dominic “is interested in someone” and, instead of entertaining the extremely obvious possibility that ‘someone’ could be her, jumps to insecure conclusions without passing go, derailing the plot to literally everyone’s detriment.

Overall, there was too much potential here for me to be as frustrated and annoyed as I was. Perhaps the spring musicale.

#proseandpinotnoir #books #book blog #book quotes #reading #bookish #booklr #book review #bookstagram #fort lauderdale #booknerd #romcom #romance #contemporary romance #unpopular opinion #normalize negative reviews #the ex talk #not a romance girl #do not recommend

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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THE PORTRAIT OF A MIRROR by A. Natasha Joukovsky

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10 billion/5 stars 🪞💍🏛🗽🥂

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“Let this be said of portraits and mirrors: as often as they are objects of devotion, they are vessels of ridicule.”

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Let this be said of The Portrait of a Mirror, too. It’s an object of devotion (maybe @danaholz can advise as to whether or not there’s a cult following yet because there should be) as well as a vessel of ridicule: to read it is to identify with a delightfully painful character named Eric Hashimoto who, on pg. 184, “was officially in on the joke of himself, and eager for everyone to hear it.” This book is like being in on the joke of a generation but refusing to turn the spotlight off, even when you know you can’t exclude yourself. Even when the joke loses its luster and doesn’t realize it’s not funny or clever anymore.

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When I heard Dana and @jackieoshry rave about it on @thereadheads, I knew it’d be really good, but I didn’t know it’d be THIS good. I posted some of my favorite quotes that had me cracking up or hating everyone (myself included) or just gaping in stunned awe.

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Somewhat like reading a book about books, The Portrait of Mirror is art about art. And about what happens when the themes and ideas in certain immortal works of art are matched against the themes and ideas in our all too mortal society. Including, for example, the lack of empathy displayed by the four main characters, which is a byproduct of rampant narcissism mixed with arrogance. The entire book contains exactly one jarring passage in which a character experiences anything remotely similar to compassion:

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“Quite unconsciously, even against his will, he was experiencing the radical discomfort of considering this scene from her perspective; he was experiencing Diana’s pain as her pain, rather than in its similarity to his own.”

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Invoking one of the most powerful themes in the book (transformation), Wes becomes something else entirely - a better version of himself - for a moment so brief it’s a flicker on the page, before promptly reverting to the eye roll of human he’d been previously. Apotheosis, almost.

God, this book was good. Highly recommend🪞

#proseandpinotnoir #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #book review #books #quotes #lit #reading #book quotes #lit quotes #fiction quotes #satire #social commentary #the portrait of a mirror #a Natasha Joukovsky #I met ovids heirs #literary

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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HAPPY PUB DAY to This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith! I reviewed this book in December and gave it all the stars, and I want to hype it up again today because it’s THAT GOOD.

TRIGGER WARNING: these book talks extensively about su*cide and depression.

This book is really something special because brings attention to the ugly, sad, and heartbreaking parts of life but does so in a way that promises you’re never too far from away from the warmth of the sun on your back, or a One Direction jam sesh, or a hug from someone you love.

Mental illness and racial identity are two HUGE themes in this book that cannot be underestimated in terms of their scope, magnitude, and relevance in 2021 America. I’ll re-post my full review for anyone who is interested.

I HOPE EVERYONE READS THIS BOOK. It had me writing in the back, scribbling in the margins, and underlining like crazy. (I realize this practice is very off-limits to a lot of people, but it’s how I engage with the books I read. I find it extremely helpful to be able to see what I was thinking, or what quotes stood out to me, when I return to books I’ve read in the past.) I am so excited to make my way through the rest of Cross-Smith’s work.

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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SWEET THING by Renée Carlino

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4/5 stars 🌃🎸🤘🎹

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There’s just something ABOUT Renée Carlino. A mystical alchemy, if you will. I feel like I’m indulging when I read her books but not in a sinful or guilty pleasure way, if that makes sense. The way that she writes is warm, and big, and she makes New York City feel as freewheeling and expansive as the stars but as intimate as well-worn, well-loved kitchen. The stories she tells feel like that one shirt you can dress up or dress down, wear around the house or out with your friends, depending on your mood: reliable, familiar, comfortable...but exciting.

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Mia books a flight from Ann Arbor to New York City, where she plans to organize and take care of her late father’s apartment as well as the Avenue A café he poured his heart and soul and love of music into for as long as she can remember. Armed with her business degree from Brown, Mia figures she’ll get her own life organized while she’s there: she’ll find out what she wants to do, play some piano on the side, and maybe even meet a banker or a doctor along the way.

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Instead, she meets Will, an aspiring rockstar with tons of God-given talent and soulful eyes, who charms her and intrigues her and reminds her of how thoroughly music is an inextricable part of her and her relationship to her dad. Their connection is intense and instant, but Mia makes it clear when Will decides to rent Mia’s second bedroom: friends only. As the plot evolves, Mia struggles to balance the part of her that’s sensible and driven with the part of her that’s wild and creative, full of music and yearning.

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This entire book is push and pull, call and answer. Movement against and then with a powerful, persistent, seductive tide. Mia annoyed me at times, but not in a bad way. She was emotionally and spiritually struggling, and needed to give herself the time and space and freedom to grow into someone who is capable of having faith.

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If you’re looking for a contemporary, NYC-based romance full of character, Sweet Thing might be for you. It’s lighthearted but profound, sweet but intense. I really enjoyed it - right up there with Before We Were Strangers - and highly recommend!

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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THE HUNTING WIVES by May Cobb

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4/5 💍🍷🤫🔎

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If a depraved version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants sat down to write a for-adults-only book with Pretty Little Liars, the result of their combined efforts would be The Hunting Wives.

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Though there were no magic pants involved, The Hunting Wives capitalizes on this idea of a sisterhood so strong it gives off “wait...do YOU think they’re in a cult?” vibes: what that bond means, how it’s formed, and how the dynamic within it can shift depending on who’s with whom and where.

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I also thought of Pretty Little Liars for the obvious reasons - mystery and murder involving a circle of girlfriends with secrets to keep, set against a small town backdrop - but for the more subtle reasons, too. When PLL first came out my friends and I all wanted to find a character to throw our supoort behind, but as the seasons wore on, none of us could singularly defend any of the girls in good faith. That was the case here, too: every single character, including the ones I really wanted to like, were objectively unlikeable. (WHICH IS NOT A BAD THING AND I KINDA LOVED IT THANKS.) They exist in an incredibly morally dubious gray space that in and of itself seemed to exist on a steady diet of secrets, Chardonnay, and, occasionally, cackling bisexual energy.

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Of course, The Hunting Wives is more explicit than The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and PLL put together, but that’s all a part of its twisted charm. I really got a kick out of this book AND was totally thrown by the ending. The Hunting Wives doesn’t shy away from delving into - embracing, even - some of the more uncomfortable and disturbing elements of not just a quintessential murder mystery but our society in general, and weaving them into fiction. Which is ART.

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Having said that, I expected to gasp a couple of times during this book, which, DID I EVER, but I think an added and underrated bonus of a thriller such as this is laughter. And I did a lot of laughing, too!

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I’m v happy I picked this as a @bookofthemonth and will be definitely looking out for more May Cobb - who is on the right side of history when it comes to Katy Perry’s singing voice - in the future😌

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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🌴MEET THE BOOKSTAGRAMMER🌴

So I joined bookstagram about nine months ago and have genuinely loved every single second of it! I’ve never formally “introduced” myself of here, but thought I’d share a little bit about me so y’all know who you’re following!

☀️I can put on a truly heinous one-woman performance of Hamilton.

☀️ I graduated from Columbia in 2015 and absolutely loved it even on the days I absolutely hated it.

☀️I know how to brew my own kombucha and drink it every day.

☀️I LOVE CONCERTS. The first concert I ever went to was Hannah Montana and it was truly a One in a Million (get it ok no me either) experience. My favorite concerts since then have been Taylor Swift, Kygo, The Weeknd, The 1975, and the Jonas Brothers.

☀️I totally believe in astrology. I’m a Capricorn sun, Leo moon, and Cancer rising (also an enneagram 5w1).

☀️I LOVE Greek mythology/the Classics.

☀️I am one of Those Millennials™️ who made a tiktok during quarantine and brings down the aggregate quality of the platform just by existing on it.

☀️I’m the oldest of three sisters and we’re all super close.

☀️I am a firm believer in the soul-deep benefits of reality tv. Siesta Key is the most underrated show on television, and I adore everything Kardashian, Love Island, and VPR. I actually despise Bachelor Nation but can’t stop watching for reasons I have yet to understand.

☀️I moved to DC after graduation and spent ~four years on Capitol Hill working for a Wisconsin House Member. I now know more about Wisconsin than I do Florida, and am the proud owner of a Jordy Nelson jersey. I love the Badgers, bars in Lake Geneva, Culvers, cheese curds, and Spotted Cow.

☀️Tennis was my literal identity from the time I was 10 until the end of my college career. My mom played at Clemson, my middle sister played at UCLA, our little sister played at Tufts, and my dad even taught for awhile in the Bahamas!

☀️I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t love to read. I LIVED for the 15 minutes after school and practice and homework when I could crawl into bed and lose myself in a book.

What do we have in common?!

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah

4.5/5 🌾☔️🌪🙏🏻

The Four Winds is a difficult book to summarize because I felt as though it transformed into something it didn’t necessarily have the skeleton for at its outset. What I thought were the bones of an extremely character-driven story about hardship and love and loss during the Dust Bowl Era actually morphed into something with wings: a much more expansive and sweeping arc about the essence of the American dream and its intersectionality with classism and political ideology.

I struggled to find a thread of continuity connecting what I consider to be two disparate halves of a whole, but have come to the conclusion that the driving force of The Four Winds is as stark as it is simple: roots. Literal and metaphorical roots, and the parallels between them.

During the Dust Bowl, the overplowed topsoil of the Southern Plains region became so powdery and exposed that nothing - neither crops nor vegetables nor simple garden flowers - could take root. The land became harsher and more unforgiving with each passing year. Birds fell from the sky and butchered cow carcasses yielded dust instead of meat.

There were no roots so to speak of, save for metaphorical ones. Elsa Martinelli and her in-laws had driven roots of their own, comprised of hard work and love and grit and resolve, deep into the same soil that refused to show their wheat crops even the slightest mercy. And because the Martinellis believed in their roots and their land and their God and the American dream, they refused to leave. Until it became clear that to stay was to die. And then: is this - betrayal? forsakening? - reconciled with anger, or through faith?

Choosing faith and hope, Elsa uproots herself and her children and heads west to California, where the reader has the distinct displeasure of bearing witness to the myriad of ways in which the American dream can play out over a variety of multifaceted landscapes. The roots of the dream, while conceptually pure, yield different outcomes depending on circumstance and irrespective of hard work.

In the case of Rosa and Tony, there is no such thing as equal opportunity because there’s literally no opportunity. The dust storms do not care you are or where you come from or how hard you’ve worked: they bury everyone the same.

In the case of Elsa, there is opportunity, but it isn’t equal. No matter how hard she works, the only opportunity available to her is entrenched in an oppressive and discriminatory system that would destroy her before lets her succeed.

This book is a study in endurance. A testament to the idea that sometimes, to uproot is to endure. I was left with the lingering impression that the roots that matter most are not the ones we anchor in places or ideas, but the ones we share with those we love. This is how we forge systems stronger than the ones we can’t control: by watering the permanent roots that link mother and daughter. Families and friends.

I was deeply affected by this book (as you can see) & highly recommend it.

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proseandpinotnoir · 3 years

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YOU HAVE A MATCH by Emma Lord

3.7/5 stars 🏕📸🛶

I am here to say Emma Lord does it again. You Have a Match is like the Evermore to Tweet Cute’s Folklore. Unlike Tweet Cute, which put the most adorable spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope, You Have a Match takes the friends-to-lovers route instead - all the way to summer camp!

Abby and Leo secretly like each other but are too nervous in that high school-y, first romance type of way to admit it to anyone, including (especially?) themselves. They’re also extremely wary of doing or saying anything that might shake the foundation of the lifelong friendship they’ve built, which includes the comfort of knowing they can lean on each other for anything.

The deeper layer of this book is the surprise sister Abby finds out she has after taking a DNA test. Savannah is very unlike Abby: a rule- and routine-obsessed Instagram influencer who does everything by the book and is probably really good at the Renegade.

Abby and Savannah agree to convene at the summer camp Savannah counsels at in the hopes that they can figure out how and why Abby’s parents gave Savannah up for adoption. The twist? The chef at camp is none other than her friend-turned-huge-crush, Leo.

What I loved about this book was that it was YA - “it’s a true testament to how far gone I am...that he’s managed to make the name ‘Eugenia’ sound sexy” - but deeper than a surface-level, instant-teenage-gratification story: “There it is again - the squeezing cycle of panic and relief. The teetering line between ‘are we okay?’ And ‘we’re okay enough.’”

Abby struggles with words, in the sense of locating the right ones and using them to express her feelings. She doesn’t want to stress anyone out or be a problem, and shoulders a lot of anxiety in trying to lessen others’ anxiety. Her primary form of expression is through photography, but throughout the course of the book she learns to advocate for her emotions and show up for herself, even when it’s uncomfortable or scary.

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