Mini-Reviews: Recent DNFs

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: September 6, 2022
Source: Borrowed

For generations, every Frankenstein has found their true love and equal, unlocking lifetimes of blissful wedded adventure. Clever, pretty (and odd) Angelika Frankenstein has run out of suitors and fears she may become the exception to this family rule. When assisting in her brother Victor’s ground-breaking experiment to bring a reassembled man back to life, she realizes that having an agreeable gentleman convalescing in the guest suite might be a chance to let a man get to know the real her. For the first time, Angelika embarks upon a project that is all her own.

When her handsome scientific miracle sits up on the lab table, her hopes for an instant romantic connection are thrown into disarray. Her resurrected beau (named Will for the moment) has total amnesia and is solely focused on uncovering his true identity. Trying to ignore their heart-pounding chemistry, Angelika reluctantly joins the investigation into his past, hoping it will bring them closer. But when a second suitor emerges to aid their quest, Angelika wonders if she was too hasty inventing a solution. Perhaps fate is not something that can be influenced in a laboratory? Or is Will (or whatever his name is!) her dream man, tailored for her in every way? And can he survive what was done to him in the name of science, and love?

Filled with carriages, candlesticks, and corpses, Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match is the spooky-season reimagining of the well-known classic that reminds us to never judge a man by his cadaver!

DNF @ ~10%

We all know that The Hating Game is one of my all-time favorite books. 99 Percent Mine wasn’t bad. Not my favorite, but not bad. I’ve had Second First Impressions on my shelf since it came out and haven’t read it yet. But Angelika Frankenstein? I was skeptical, especially given the early reviews, but I wanted to give it a chance. It took me three weeks to get to 10%, and what I read was just so… weird. This isn’t necessarily a forever DNF, but my library book was due back and I just can’t justify buying this book that I don’t care that much about reading. I might pick it back up later, once there aren’t 20+ holds on it.


The Roommate by Rosie Danan
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: September 15, 2020
Source: Borrowed

House Rules:
Do your own dishes.
Knock before entering the bathroom.
Never look up your roommate online.


The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet…

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.

DNF @ ~50%

I thought I’d like this. Really, I did. And it wasn’t bad at first, but Clara really rubbed me the wrong way. The premise was good, but I started losing interest halfway through. I would’ve probably finished it if my library loan hadn’t expired while I was in the hospital giving birth. I can’t say that I really care enough to put it back on hold, wait however long until I get it again, and then pick it back up.


Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: July 11, 2017
Source: Borrowed

1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven’t seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she’s got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter’s been dead for years.

The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.

DNF @ ~20%

I remember hearing so much about this book when it first came out. I really thought that I’d love it. I mean, it’s basically Scooby Doo for grown-ups! (Right down to the Zoinkx River.) But the characters annoyed me, the writing style annoyed me, and I also just… didn’t like the plot. I wish I’d been able to finish this one. It seems like it would have been perfect for spooky season.


Have you read any of these books? What’s the last book you DNFed?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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ARC Review: Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Rating: ★★★★
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
Source: ARC via Netgalley
The Hating Game meets Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by way of Morgan Matson in this unforgettable romantic comedy about two rival overachievers whose relationship completely transforms over the course of twenty-four hours.

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow … maybe she’s already fallen for him.

My sincere apologies to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for the fact that this review has taken me two years to write. I was approved for this ARC shortly before I took what was supposed to be a brief hiatus from blogging that ended up turning into a two-year break. I figured that I should knock this one out pretty quickly after resuming blogging, and I’m so glad that I did! It took me more than two years to pick up this book but less than 24 hours to finish it.

Today Tonight Tomorrow is everything I love in a YA contemporary. It’s everything I love in a romance novel. It’s everything I love in a book, really, and it’s the first fiction in a long time that I’ve genuinely enjoyed. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance featuring high school rivals. Both Rowan, our main character, and Neil, our love interest, are fully developed characters that exist completely outside of their relationship to each other. Neil wants to study linguistics, which made me so happy because that’s what I studied in college, and you never see linguists in fiction! We also get a lot of scenes of Rowan not concerning herself with Neil, which is always nice to see in a romance.

My only critique of this book, really, is the fact that Rowan is so into romance novels and yet she falls into the same pitfalls the characters always do when it comes to misunderstandings and miscommunication. I get that she’s a teenager, but if she’s read as many romance novels as she says she has, you’d think there’d be some amount of “hmm, I wonder if this is really what’s going on here.”

Aside from that, though, this book was really fun. It was cute, it was a little steamy, and it was a lot of fun. I’ve already put We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This on hold and I can’t wait to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC of Today Tonight Tomorrow in exchange for my honest review.


Have you read Today Tonight Tomorrow? Is it on your TBR?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Rating: ★★★★★
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: June 13, 2017
Source: Borrowed

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life.

When she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Last year, I read Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I loved it, but Evelyn Hugo had gotten so much hype that I was too scared to read it. Well, enter the Great Reading Slump of 2020 and I figured I didn’t have much to lose. Nothing was holding my interest anyway, so if I hated it, that would obviously be why.

Well, let me just say… this held my interest. Evelyn was an absolutely fascinating character, and I found her life story so interesting. I liked that she never claimed to be a good person and never tried to excuse the bad things she’d done. She fully owned every decision and every mistake and I aspire to someday be that self-assured.

As with Daisy Jones, Evelyn Hugo is told mostly through a series of interviews. I love this style of storytelling and Reid is so good at it. This book spanned several decades (and seven husbands) and I felt like I was right there with Evelyn through all of it.

And that twist at the end? I did not see that coming.

I’m not sure which of Reid’s other books I should read next, but I’m definitely not stopping here.


Have you read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo? Is it on your TBR?
Let’s talk in the comments!

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ARC Review: The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune

The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
Source: ARC via Netgalley

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. TJ Klune’s YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl meets Marissa Meyer’s Renegades in TJ Klune’s YA debut.

 

I have this really bad habit of requesting books on Netgalley without fully reading the synopsis. I just knew that this book had a fun cover, had something to do with superheroes, and was written by T.J. Klune, who I’ve only ever heard good things about. As I was reading, I wrote in my little reading journal “It’s like Renegades meets Fangirl!” and wow… that’s literally in the synopsis. For once, the comparison worked!

First things first, this book was a ton of fun. This was the fun, quirky, nerdy superhero book I never knew I needed. Nick and his friends were great and I absolutely believed in this world where superheroes are real and the police are just exasperated with them. This book almost felt like a movie because it was so descriptive! I could almost see everything playing out in front of me.

I loved how Nick kept trying anything he could think of to make himself an Extraordinary and he never gave up regardless of how many times he failed or how many people told him he was crazy. Also, I thought I knew what was going on with the various superheroes (and villains?) but I did not.

There are at least two major plot points that are hinted at and left open at the end of the book. This was a little bit frustrating for me because I really wanted answers, but now I see that this is going to be a trilogy and things make a little more sense. The next book has no title or cover yet, but it’s set to come out at some point next year. (Do what you will with that information.)

All in all, this was a super fun book and I would definitely recommend it as long as you’re okay with waiting for answers. I would also recommend not taking it seriously, because it’s meant to be a little bit silly.


Have you read The Extraordinaries? Is it on your TBR?
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Blog tour (+ interview!): More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn

More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads 
Publication Date: July 21, 2020

Growing up under his punk rocker dad’s spotlight, eighteen-year-old Luke Greenly knows fame and wants nothing to do with it. His real love isn’t in front of a crowd, it’s on the page. Hiding his gift and secretly hoarding songs in his bedroom at night, he prefers the anonymous comfort of the locally popular podcast he co-hosts with his outgoing and meddling, far-too-jealousy-inspiringly-happy-with-his-long-term-boyfriend twin brother, Cullen. But that’s not Luke’s only secret. He also has a major un-requited crush on music blogger, Vada Carsewell.

Vada’s got a five year plan: secure a job at the Loud Lizard to learn from local legend (and her mom’s boyfriend) Phil Josephs (check), take over Phil’s music blog (double check), get accepted into Berkeley’s prestigious music journalism program (check, check, check), manage Ann Arbor’s summer concert series and secure a Rolling Stone internship. Luke Greenly is most definitely NOT on the list. So what if his self-deprecating charm and out-of-this-world music knowledge makes her dizzy? Or his brother just released a bootleg recording of Luke singing about some mystery girl on their podcast and she really, really wishes it was her?

I loved Erin Hahn’s debut, You’d Be Mine, so imagine my excitement when I was invited to participate in a blog tour for More Than Maybe! (Imagine my excitement growing even more when I got the chance to interview her!) I loved this book just as much as her debut (and already posted my review here) and now I’m thrilled to be able to share an interview!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and Erin Hahn for making this post possible!


I absolutely loved this book! It was so much fun to read about Vada, a music blogger, and Luke, a podcast host. What was your inspiration?

Well there are a few. Firstly, as a (young) teen, I was obsessed with the 90s cult classic EMPIRE RECORDS. If you haven’t seen it, you should… but it’s basically built around a day in the life of a record store complete with a misfit cast of employees and a mentor-like rock-and-roll boss, Joe. Working at Empire Records was a dream of mine. I wanted to be the one to save the record store and as an author, I wanted a way to make that idea contemporary. I, like so many others, started working at 14 and had multiple part-time jobs throughout high school and college. First jobs are where you often first stretch your wings and are exposed to a more eclectic population of people. For some kids, they don’t find their people in high school, but rather at their first jobs. For Vada, and later, Luke, the dive bar known as the Loud Lizard becomes a sort of surrogate home for them—filled with interesting characters who challenge and support them. And where you find an eclectic array of strangers of different ages and backgrounds working at a dive bar, you’re bound to find music. I didn’t get to save the record store, but I did get to save the dive bar. ☺

Vada and Luke both reference a ton of great music throughout this book. I was so happy to see some of my favorite bands show up! How did you choose the songs you wanted to use?

Playlists are my superpower. These songs have been waiting years for this moment to shine. I did work super hard on balance in this story. I wanted to make sure I featured an equal number of older, more classic songs and brand new, up and coming artists. Since Vada is a music critique blogger with big ambitions of Rolling Stone, it was important that she knew about all kind of music, not just what is on the radio today. She needed to have educated opinions about music of all genres. Luke, being the son of a former British punk rocker from the 80s and 90s was a good match for that. He’s also well-versed in the classics. I tested it out on several beta readers and my goal was to have EVERYONE hitting up their Google app while reading. I knew it would be impossible to expect everyone (particularly non-music lovers) to know all of the songs and artists, but I hoped to tease the songs enough that people would want to check them out for themselves after reading a conversation between Luke and Vada. I hope I’ve achieved that. I think I have! Nothing makes me happier than when an early reader has reached out to say they’ve been following along with the music in the story and or creating their own playlists. I’ve got my official playlist set up on Spotify, but when readers create their own? Amazing. I love it.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?

I wrote “More Than Maybe” before my debut “You’d Be Mine” released and that made it especially difficult to give myself permission to be creative. I felt on the edge, waiting for readers’ reactions to my first book while trying to convince myself I could write another, and that people would want to read that too! It took a lot of faking it. ☺ But eventually, “You’d Be Mine” released and found its audience and I was able to breathe easy and really focus on making “More Than Maybe” the best it could be. 

Which scene was your favorite to write?

I have a few, to be honest. I loved writing the relationship between Phil and Vada, and basically cried my way through all their interactions. The silent disco “not-date” was fun because Luke and Vada are so overflowing with chemistry around each other but happen to also be completely adorkable and awkward. So that’s a riot for an author to portray. I knew the ending before the rest of the book came together, and I don’t want to spoil it except to say that the day I sat down to write it, my heart was racing, and I wanted to puke, I was so excited for it. It’s definitely my favorite ending I’ve ever written!

What are some of your favorite songs right now?

I’m creating a new playlist for a whole new, totally unrelated story so my current faves come from that… 

Top three are:

Every Heartbeat by Grace Potter

Bluebird by Miranda Lambert 

I Hope by Gabby Barrett

Are there any books that you’ve read recently that you’d recommend checking out?

In the next year, three authors are debuting with magical YA books: Syed Masood wrote the hilarious and heartfelt “More Than Just A Pretty Face”, Laura Zimmerman’s charming “My Eyes Are Up Here” and all the yearning in “Amelia Unabridged” by Ashley Schumaker. 


About the Author

 

Erin Hahn is the author of You’d Be Mine and More Than Maybe. She teaches elementary, would rather be outside and makes a lot of playlists. So many playlists in fact, that she decided to write books to match them! She married her very own YA love interest who she met on her first day of college and has two kids who are much, much cooler than she ever was at their age. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, aka the greenest place on earth and has a cat named Gus who plays fetch and a dog named June who doesn’t.

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Have you read More Than Maybe? Is it on your TBR?
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