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Beautyland

Review 1 of 2024, Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Beautyland is the story of an alien life sent to earth to learn about humanity. The result is a funny, heartwarming, and complicated narrative about what creates a full life. I have complicated feelings about this book because I LOVED the first 3/4ths of it but struggled with what is implied in the end (trying so hard to avoid spoilers!). As a neurodivergent person, I could really relate to Adina’s observations, especially in childhood and overall I really enjoyed this book. The narration in the audiobook was wonderful and really added to the experience. 

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction, Literary

Content Warning: death of a pet, abuse, bullying, cancer

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Orbital

by Samantha Harvey, Review 18 of 2023

Orbital is a short meditation on the magnificent and mundane aspects of humans in space. Even with the lovely narration, I found myself losing the thread of the story. Each chapter describes an orbit around earth from the vantage of the space station and includes several astronauts’ points of view. The structure was interesting to listen to but hard to follow at times. Would recommend Orbital to those looking for a unique perspective on space, humanity, and climate change.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction, Literary

Content Warning: Death of a Parent

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The Second Chance Year

by Melissa Wiesner, Review 17 of 2023

The Second Chance Year is the ideal rom com for the upcoming holiday break if you’re looking for something light and heartwarming to end the year. We begin the story with Sadie, a down on her luck pastry chef, wishing to re-do her particularly terrible year on New Year’s Eve. Good news for Sadie because, unlike for the rest of us, there’s magic at play. When Sadie uses her unexpected fresh start to attempt to undo all the things she thought went wrong, it goes exactly as you, the reader may already expect. 

Will there be an almost unbearable amount of baking similes? Yes. Will you want to use magic to strangle her sometimes? Also, yes. Was this adorable and cute and simple and nice for those of us coming to the end of a challenging year? Yes! 

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Categories: Romance, Fiction, Humor, Magical Realism

Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Emotional Abuse

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Homeward

by Angela Jackson-Brown, Review 16 of 2023

Homeward is a moving and impactful story about Rose Perkins Bourden, a young woman trying to find herself while living through personal, familial, and societal tragedies during the Civil Rights Era. I expected the story to be more about the civil rights aspect but it ended up being more about the main character’s journey toward understanding what kind of a person she wants to be as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, and woman. Rose’s family members were the heart and soul of this story and while I became extremely invested in the story, I almost wished that we could have heard some alternative perspectives on the events. Rose’s parents, siblings, and love interests tended to outshine her. I found myself immersed in the story and would recommend to others interested in what this era in U.S. history looked like for black families. 

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Racism, Violence, War, Death (adult and child), Grief

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Every Duke Has His Day

by Suzanne Enoch, Review 15 of 2023

SO CUTE. A seriously adorable regency romance featuring quirky mismatched leads and a fun cast of supporting characters, count me in! If you like your romance spicy, this is not the one for you. If you adore Bridgerton, this is a must read. He’s a stoic and science minded Duke with a distaste for society, she’s the bubbly diamond of the season. When they’re forced to solve a series of dog nappings together, what could possibly go wrong?

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Categories: Regency, Romance, Historical Fiction

Content Warning: Threats of animal cruelty, dognapping

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The Centre

by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, Review 11 of 2023

Something is amiss in this suspenseful and strange novel about language and identity. When Anisa learns of a secret language learning organization, her quiet life is changed forever. Without spoiling anything, this book says a little about a lot of topics but left me a bit disappointed at the end. 

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warning: Cannibalism, Death, Racism

Highlight the content above for content warnings (spoilers)

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King: A Life

by Jonathan Eig, Review 10 of 2023

This comprehensive biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and death, complete with references to recently released FBI investigation reports, is a must read for biography enthusiasts and worth the effort even for those who are not. It was a heavy lift at over 20 hours of audio, but Dion Graham, an expert narrator, made it easy to listen to. 

It’s tempting to simply idolize and ignore the complexity of figures such as King. This type of thinking comes at the expense of recognizing that we all have a role to play in changing the world and the country for the better. It has been 55 years since Dr. MLK Jr. was killed, and in many ways the U.S. is still inching toward the vision King proclaimed. This is a timely examination of a life lived with conviction.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

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Mountains Made of Glass

by Scarlett St. Clair, Review 9 of 2023

This unexpectedly spicy, little fairy tale retelling has left me with conflicted feelings. I laughed, I cringed, I blushed. It shares the problematic romantic origin of Beauty and the Beast but I loved that the female lead is definitely a force to be reckoned with. The narration was a little distracting at times because the narrators had very different accents. Overall though, I enjoyed the mystery aspect, the nods to multiple fairy tales, and the fast pace. I would recommend it to my spicy book loving friends.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content warning: Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship

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Radical Inclusion

by David Moinina Sengeh, Review 8 of 2023

This book explores inclusion, the “I” in the increasingly popular acronym, DEI. In David Moinina Sengeh’s personal and professional anecdotes we can see the possibility for true inclusion in organizations and communities. His coalition’s struggle for pregnant students’ education in Sierra Leone is evidence that progress toward inclusion is possible today. I enjoyed this book and I’d recommend it for anyone interested in social inclusion and/or shifting cultural beliefs.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

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Hello Stranger

by Katherine Center, Review 7 of 2023

Katherine Center does it again, another meet cute (or two) and more loveable characters in zany situations. You’ll see the ending coming a mile away but you’ll enjoy the ride anyway. There are some heavy topics covered so take a peek at the content warnings but everything is covered gently.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Death of parent, Bullying, Medical content

Categories: Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Romance