Happy Monday! Our first podcast episode comes out tomorrow – eeks! I’m so excited for you guys to hear it, and I hope you love it as much as we loved making it. 🙂 Our podcast should be showing up on all podcast players at this point, so be sure to subscribe so the first episode downloads tomorrow morning!
I had a very interesting reading week last week: I read a book that I was basically hate-reading towards the end and then read two back-to-back books that will be going on my favorites list at the end of the year. Let’s get into it!
The Hellion’s Waltz by Olivia Waite (★★☆☆☆)
Short synopsis: When Sophie and her family move to a new town to reestablish a piano shop, she continues to run into the gorgeous and enigmatic Maddie who seems to be everything she doesn’t want—especially with her conniving ways—but also someone she can’t stay away from.
This book was 177 pages and it felt more like 771. It was such a slog. I would have 100% abandoned it except it was so short that I powered through just to get to the end. Honestly, 2 stars may be generous here. The characters were flat and undeveloped and there was zero chemistry between Sophie and Maddie. I felt nothing when they finally got together, and was plain bored by all of their scenes together. The overarching plot involved a long con that Maddie and her friends put together, and the actual con was so very silly and over-the-top that it was hard to take it seriously. I love that Olivia Waite writes sapphic historical romance, but she needs to do better if I’m going to keep reading her novels.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (★★★★★)
Short synopsis: A novel-in-verse about a teenage girl growing up with a strict mother in Harlem and the poems she writes to cope with her life.
This book was a masterpiece. We’re taken into Xiomara’s world through the poems she writes, some about the experiences she’s going through right now and some about her past and how that has shaped her into the person she is today. It’s brutal in parts, especially the abuse X suffered at the hands of her mother and the Catholic church she attends, but mostly, it was a beautiful story about a girl who has a gift for poetry and what happens when she lets her voice ring loud and true. It’s a quick read and one I want to shove into the hands of everyone I know. So worth reading!
Book Lovers by Emily Henry (★★★★★)
Short synopsis: Nora Stephens is a cutthroat literary agent living in NYC who agrees to take a month-long trip to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina with her sister, Libby. While there, she continually stumbles into her literary world nemesis, Charlie, and starts to envision what her life could look like if she let some of her walls down.
Here’s my truth: I liked Beach Read by Emily Henry a lot. I absolutely despised The People We Meet on Vacation. So I was apprehensive about Book Lovers. However, it was getting a lot of buzz and many people who also didn’t like TPWMOV loved this one, so I decided to give it a shot. And y’all, I think I have a new all-time favorite romance novel. For years The Hating Game has been my #1 romance novel and nothing has ever come close to the place it has in my heart, but Book Lovers may just have it beat. I read this book with a goofy grin on my face throughout most of the novel, especially the scenes between Nora and Charlie. Their banter was adorable and I just loved watching their love story unfold.
What really took this story to the next level for me, though, was Nora. I could identify viscerally with her. Nora has the same trauma response as me with feeling the need to be in control of everything and make sure the people around her are happy, healthy, and never upset with her. For me, this trauma response came from living with a parent who was physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive and would erupt in anger at the tiniest thing. For her, it’s due to her mother’s death when she was just 20 years old (and then became her 16-year-old sister’s legal guardian). For me, I have a controlling tendency when it comes to my mom and I always need to know she’s safe, she’s not unhappy with me, and she’s happy. (If she ever answers the question of, “How are you?” with “I’m ok,” I’m immediately on edge and figuring out ways to make her happy again.) For Nora, she has to control her sister Libby and make sure she always has everything she needs and is never unhappy. There were scenes of Nora waking up in the middle of the night in a panic, but settling down when she could feel her sister next to her. I do the same thing, often waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if the reason I woke up is that my body knows something just happened to my mom. (This is when I have to say, “Everything is okay. You are safe. Mom is safe.” And repeat that over and over again.) There were so many scenes of Nora essentially babying Libby that I could see people rolling their eyes at, but I have been there and I know what it’s like to feel that way, and Emily Henry did such a great job at portraying this trauma response and what it’s like in the real world. For the most part, it’s illogical and over-the-top and to those unfamiliar with trauma, really, really ridiculous. But it feels so real to us. It feels so necessary to our entire being, as if the only thing keeping us together is this desire for control.
I’ve written an entire novel about Book Lovers at this point. Who knew you could have such deep feelings about a romance novel? When I finished this novel, I started crying because I felt so seen by Nora’s characterization and it also made me recognize all of the work I have done in therapy to break free of this trauma response. It’s not easy, and I was not only grateful for the inclusion of this storyline, but also that Nora’s anxiety wasn’t suddenly “solved” by falling in love or having one long conversation with her sister. It is still a part of her life, but she’s in therapy and trying to work through it (slight spoiler, but I don’t think it ruins the book at all). Anyway, this book meant a LOT to me and it will likely be my favorite of the year.
Also, Charlie + Nora 4Ever. I just adore their relationship and I loved that there wasn’t really a typical, over-the-top dark moment. It felt really natural to the plot and their relationship as a whole.
What I’m Reading This Week
- The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley (audio) – I’m just a few hours into this audiobook and I like it alright. I find it so interesting, though, how many novels are being written about loneliness these days. Love to see it!
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (print) – This is a book on my Goodreads Challenge (it’s been sitting on my TBR since February 2017!), and I just started it last night so I don’t have much to say about it yet.
- The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas (e-book) – My romance for the week! I haven’t started this novel yet.
What are you reading?
I really liked The Authenticity Project. I am reading Hamnet, which I’m liking so far, but I know bad things happen to some of the characters, so we’ll see if I can get all the way through it.
I have Hamnet on my list but I know I’m going to need to be in a very specific mood to read it!
Okay so I have seen all the buzz about Book Lovers, but thought “nah” and now you’re making me rethink that decision. OKAY I’LL READ IT!!!
I recommend giving it a try! It’s a really, really cute story.
I am on a long wait for Book Lovers! I have enjoyed both of her previous books but preferred Beach Read. I can’t wait to read it! And I’ve been meaning to read a book by Acevedo for quite some time – I need to read one soon!
So I do not have trauma in my past, but I am similar to you in that I feel responsible for the feelings of others at times… And a response like “ok” to a text will make me wonder if someone is upset with me. Phil hates texting and he is the person who sends things like “ok” and I have had to learn that he isn’t trying to communicate that he’s upset. He also, in my opinion, overuses the word “Ok.” When he says his day was ok, I teasingly say, “just ok?” And he has instructed me to read his text with the happiest tone possible. Ha. So we have never had much of a texting relationship, even when we were dating because he comes across so flat on text… He also doesn’t use emojis and just dislikes text messages overall.
I think the fact that so much of dating these days takes place over messages/text can be so detrimental for people who aren’t great over text! I definitely judge someone more harshly if they don’t text in a way I like, but I’m trying to give people the benefit of the doubt that not everyone comes across great over text.
Interesting. I thought Book Lovers was fine, but definitely didn’t rave about it. I am not sure what the couple had in common besides a love of NYC and not wanting children. While those are solid things, I wonder if they’re going to stay together after the ending of the book. I also thought the sister’s behavior in the book was 100% inexplicable and never figured out why she behaved the way she did. Oh, well, I also thought The Hating Game had some great points (such great banter!), but the dude was so terrible in that book that the whole book became meh for me, so I think we are quite possibly looking for different things in romance novels.
Oh, I think it has been WELL established that we want different things from our romances. I’m sorry Book Lovers didn’t work for you, but it really touched me deeply.
Once you read the Authenticity Project, try the author’s other book, Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting. It’s a similar premise-ish but totally different setting. She’s great at making a bunch if disparate people’s stories swirl together.
I also liked Book Lovers more than I thought I would too, because it wasn’t quite as predictable of a story as most of these summer reads where the main female character hates the male character but things end up the same way after predictable shenanigans and easily avoidable misunderstandings.
I’m loving The Authenticity Project more and more, so I think I will definitely check out her other book! I just love all the different characters she’s bringing together. <3
And yes to your thoughts on Book Lovers! It just felt like such a mature relationship, and I loved that.
Wow! I am so happy to read how much you loved Book Lovers and how seen and understood it made you feel! That’s amazing! Yay yay yay!
I am reading The Love of my Life.
Thanks, friend! It really impacted me deeply, in a way I wasn’t expecting!
OK, moving Emily Henry to the “try this one out” list… if something knocks the Hating Game off the top of your list? Definitely worth checking out. I also tend to have the same approach to people – endless worrying and stress if they don’t text me back/respond with more than one word/etc. It’s not related to trauma, in my case, but more a function of my personality, I suspect. I have been known to pick up the phone to answer an unexpected call from my parents or brother and just jump right to asking, “Is everything okay???” I suspect this drives them bonkers, but come on! Why else are you randomly calling me – not texting me – at 3 pm??? (Also, that first book sounds just… awful. Bleah.)
I do the same thing when my mom randomly calls me! Why else would you be calling me if it wasn’t something terrible!??! Anxiety brain is fun!