When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McClain (★★★★☆)
The best way to go into this novel is to know it is not a thriller. It’s a literary mystery, which means it’s not going to be that fast-paced, page-turny, twisty story you may be expecting. Instead, it’s a slow-burn mystery that’s more about the main character’s struggles than it is about the mystery at the heart of this novel. This story is about Anna who has just gone through some sort of trauma in her personal life. Because of that, she and her husband are taking a break, and she is trying to find her way back to herself. She ends up in her old hometown of Mendocino, and the day she arrives is the day a local girl has gone missing. She immerses herself in the case (her work has entailed finding lost children, so she knows this process better than anyone) and in turn, may be losing herself in the process. I really liked this story. Anna is an easy character to root for, even when she’s making bad decisions. The author weaves in information about missing children, sexual assault, and kidnapping in a seamless way that made it feel like a part of the story. And while the book was a hard read at times, it was ultimately an impactful one for me. Trigger warnings abound in this book, so take care.
The Fine Print by Lauren Asher (★★☆☆☆)
What a disappointment this book was! Maybe it’s because the trope of the boss falling in love with his employee is icky to me, or maybe it’s because I really despise the trope of the “wealthy man buys everything he wants for his down-on-her-luck lover.” There’s just something vaguely misogynistic with this trope, and also because it’s nearly always the man who is the wealthy one. This romance is about Rowan and Zahra. Rowan is the grandson of the man who founded a Disney-esque theme park called Dreamland. There are now hotels and production companies and more; it’s all very clear that this is just Disney World (it’s even located in Orlando, sigh). After Rowan’s grandfather dies, he’s given a task in order to be given his shares in the company. He has to spend 6 months as the director of the theme park and unveil a new plan to take Dreamland to the next level. On his first day as director, he meets Zahra who is a park employee and it’s basically insta-love for him. Rowan ends up promoting her to their Creator division (where new rides and other creative endeavors are engineered) and then can’t stop bothering her. The number of times they had conversations right outside her cubicle and none of her coworkers had anything to say about the big boss spending all of this one-on-one time with her? NONE OF THEM?!
Anyway, this book was such a let-down and I was basically hate-reading it at the end. Neither characters were people I particularly cared for, and Rowan was definitely towing the line of love-bombing with everything he did for Zahra. It was a bit much. This review, though, really sums up my feelings about the book in a perfect way:
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (★★★★★)
I’ve always struggled with how to rate memoirs, but in the case of this book, my struggle was that I wanted to give this book more than 5 stars. It was sensational! George M. Johnson is nonbinary, queer, and Black. They graduated high school the year before me, which means we grew up in the same era. It was a time when being queer wasn’t always a safe thing to be, and getting outed was an incredibly scary concept. George always knew they were queer, always knew they didn’t fit into the typical gender boxes as their peers, and always knew that these identities must be hidden. Throughout the memoir, George speaks about their family that was filled with other queer people (including a cousin who was trans) and coming out to them. They speak about getting jumped at age 5, a horrifying sexual assault involving a family member, and coming to terms with their queerness and identity in college. It’s a beautiful memoir about family and identity and queerness and being true to yourself. While I am a cis-gendered queer person, I could relate to many of George’s struggles of coming out. I am so, so glad they were given the platform to write this book because I know it’s going to help so many other Black queer kids feel seen and validated.
What are you reading?
I always get so upset when I read romance novels with billionaire heroes (it’s always the men, right? never the women who have money). You have tons of money! Pay your employees a living wage and not just your assistant or the ONE PERSON you know personally. It’s deeply upsetting. I’m really into blue collar romances at this point – Carrie Ann Ryan is an author who writes romances about actual people with money and job concerns. It isn’t as much “wish fulfilment” as much as it is “hardworking, low- to middle-class people also have love stories.”
YES. I think I am just OVER billionaire romances at this point. The trope is so overplayed. This one felt especially brutal because the hero I’m supposed to be rooting for cut wages and health insurance in favor of profits and didn’t feel bad about it one bit until he started seeing one of the workers. UGH.
I just started The Bodyguard, but this weekend read Bad Vibes Only – it was pretty good – and Convenience Store Woman – also good! I’ve been on a roll!
The Bodyguard was a sweet romance! I liked it!
I read When the Stars Go Dark. This is definitely the kind of mystery I like- true thrillers make me too anxious.
Ha ha, I like how you were “hate reading” The Fine Print… I think I would hate this one too!
It was a solid mystery! I love a good twisty thriller every now and then, but a literary mystery is also nice, too!
I also really liked ‘When the Stars Go Dark’ and like Jenny, that style of mystery is a better fit fo r me than a true thriller! I really love that author and am impressed that she changed genres and did so well. I enjoyed her interview with Sarah Dickinson. It was interesting to hear how hard it was for her to get this book published since it was a new/different genre for her!
I just finished “We are All Completely Beside Ourselves.” I read it so I could listen to the spoiler discussion on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live. I didn’t love it… the writing was beautiful but it was just a bit out there for me? Next i will read The Girl in his Shadow which is about a young girl who becomes the apprentice to a surgeon. I think it’s set quite far back, like the 1800s? My neighbor/running partner who is a surgeon recommended it to me!
I can’t remember if I listened to Paula McLain’s interview with Sarah or not. I need to go back and find it so I can listen to it, if not! This book was such a change in genre for her, so it would be interesting to learn more!
“All Boys Aren’t Blue” has been on my TBR list forevvvvvver, and I think it’s time that I finally get around to it!
I hope you do! It was so, so good!
All boys aren’t blue is been on my radar for some time. I think I am even more interested now. I see if I get it in my library.