It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favorites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: summer reads. What I read very much depends on my mood so I don’t necessarily read different books according to the season. That said, summer is pretty much synonymous with the beach and pool time so when I think summer reads I always think of the types of books that I like to take with me when I’m lying under the sun. My favorite genres to read beach/pool side are: romcoms, thrillers, and occasionally YA fantasy/sci-fi.
These aren’t necessarily my *favorite* summer reads, but they’re ones that I’ve enjoyed reading from each genre! I’m going to try and name books that I’ve never mentioned on my blog before (Thank goodness for Goodreads and Kindle lol)
Goodreads:Evidence of the Affair Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Short Story Rating:
Dear stranger… A desperate young woman in Southern California sits down to write a letter to a man she’s never met—a choice that will forever change both their lives.
My heart goes out to you, David. Even though I do not know you…
The correspondence between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here. Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.
I’ve had this sitting on my Kindle for a while now and only realized yesterday that it’s a short story. So, feeling in a bit of a restless reading mood, I decided to start it on a whim and I’m so glad that I did!
This story is written in the form of letters between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer. Carrie reaches out to David after finding letters from his wife to her husband, and what follows is a sad and sweet correspondence between the two, as they turn to and support each other in the after of this tumultuous discovery. Through their exchanges, Reid manages to not only display but also evoke a wide range of emotions. These letters are filled with heartbreak and defeat, insecurity and longing, but also with hope, passion and love. Carrie and David were such compassionate characters and my heart really went out to them. They were just regular people with relatable lives who found themselves in one of the worst situations, and it was hard not to feel invested in them despite only spending a short time together.
“It is funny the crazy things our brains make up to save us from the truth.”
As someone who has been in a relationship with a cheating partner and finding out through text messages, some of the emotions displayed on the page felt like a shot right to my gut and tore my heart open again. Reading the hurtful words was a little bit like dejavu and helped me really identify with the raw and real heartbreak and confusion that these two characters face.
“It was just easier to consider the possibility that he’d changed his entire personality overnight than it was to believe that he would cheat. But he’s the same Ken I’ve always known and loved […]. It’s just that he’s capable of things I never knew.”
Carrie’s revelation in her last letter, while surprising, wasn’t all that shocking and it added a nice victorious twist to the story. I’m glad that it ended that way because if it had continued then I felt it would’ve just become too messy. As it was, the ending felt incredibly freeing and like a weight had been lifted!
With Evidence of the Affair, I’m once again reminded why Reid has a firm spot on my list of auto buy authors. I continue to be amazed with her simple yet powerful and evocative writing style. It’s another win for me!
Have you read Evidence of the Affair? Loved it? Hated it? Meh about it? Leave a comment below and let’s chat books (and TJR!) 🙂
Goodreads: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Publisher: Washington Square Press Publication Date: 29 May 2018 Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Panda Rating: (5 pandas)
Reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to write her story, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Determined to use this opportunity to jump-start her career, Monique listens in fascination. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s – and, of course, the seven husbands along the way – Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. But as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
NOTE: I finished this book in March 2019 but for some reason didn’t post my review on my blog. I remember that I was traveling for work when I finished this and felt completely shattered at the airport waiting to board my late night flight. When I finished it, I felt like if I could give it all the stars, I absolutely would and even now, months later, I still feel that way. I believe the immediate words I used when I finished this were: Wow, holy heck, and why did this book have to end?!
One of my new all-time favourites, definitely a Top 2019 read. Fierce, heartbreaking and inspiring. I dare you to not fall in love with Evelyn Hugo!
I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to read Evelyn Hugo, despite all the insane hype. The story really surprised me from the start because it didn’t go at all the way I expected it to. Of course I thought it would be compelling, but maybe a little predictable. I didn’t anticipate that it would have me on the edge of my seat the whole time and greedily flipping through pages to learn more. How wrong I was! This was such a beautiful, sometimes tragic, life and love story—but it’s probably not the love story you’re expecting.
“It’s always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly.“
Evelyn Hugo is one of Hollywood’s darlings. Starting in the 50s when she exploded onto the scene with her tanned skin, blonde hair, dark brows, and her busty voluptuous figure. She dazzled Hollywood and the masses with her acting and won them over time and again with her looks and sexuality. She was one of the most complex and compelling characters I’ve had the pleasure to read in a very long time. Her character managed to evoke a range of contradicting emotions simultaneously. I was enamoured and repelled by her. I admired and pitied her. I loved and hated her. She was brilliant and cunning, always working angles to manipulate the people in her life to ensure that the outcome suited her agenda. Her sexuality was a weapon that she honed to perfection and brandished without hesitation when she wanted. As much as I found myself repelled by her blasé attitude towards some of her awful actions and thoughts, I honestly couldn’t stop myself from admiring her and falling in love with her anyway. She was unapologetic for always openly going after what she wanted, especially at a time when it was unheard of for women to do so, and I admired the hell out of her character for that.
Her story was an endlessly fascinating journey that captivated me from chapter one. From her beginning as a Cuban girl growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, to her making when she moved to Hollywood and decided to become a star. To her career, her marriages, her friendships. To the exploration of love and sexuality throughout her life. To her struggle with her heritage in a society that wouldn’t accept it. All of it kept me hooked and constantly craving more. You not only learn about Evelyn Hugo and her Seven Husbands, you learn just how far a strong willed woman can go when she’s determined to be the biggest, brightest star there is.
“Evelyn looks at me with purpose. ‘Do you understand what I’m telling you? When you’re given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that.'”
On the other hand, I wasn’t so invested in Monique. I didn’t love or hate her, I was just a little meh about her character. I felt for her at the end–I can’t imagine what learning something like this would do to a person–but otherwise I didn’t connect with her character. She did experience an empowering growth through the novel, but I saw her less as a “main” character and more as a plot device to help the story move along (as the character to hear Evelyn Hugo’s story).
Taylor Jenkins Reid is supremely talented. Her writing flows like water, her descriptions are vivid, and her characters are so full of life. There’s a simplicity to her writing that I love because it lets the story speak for itself and allows the characters to come to life without any need for embellishment. I honestly finished this book feeling as if I had said goodbye to real people, old friends even, whom I’d come to know and love, and my heart was broken over it. Her ability to take even the most morally questionable characters, and make them likeable and relatable is probably one of the main reasons why I love her writing.
This is the second TJR book that I’ve read and I can confidently say she has quickly become one of my favourite authors. I’m very much looking forward to reading more of her work as soon as I can get my hands on all of them! If you haven’t read this yet, I urge you to do it ASAP!
Have you read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo?Did you love her as much as I did or were you kind of ‘meh’ about her story?Let me know in the comments and let’s have a little chat about one of my all time favourites!
The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on the Infinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth. Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity. Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of the Eternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….
Holy wow, this was not at all what I expected… Hah! This story was full of thrilling twists that kept me on the edge of my seat and had me quickly flipping through the pages to find out just what the hell was going on! It was a much darker read than I thought it’d be. I admit to being initially confused by the details of space travel (I blame this on the fact that I started reading it way past midnight), but Lauren James did a good job of keeping the details as simple as possible throughout the story; which I greatly appreciated!
The focus of this story is Romy Silvers. She was the first baby to be born in space on The Infinity, the first manned aircraft bound for Earth II. She’s 16 going on 17 and after a tragic incident resulted in her parents’ death five years ago, she’s been living alone on the spaceship. She writes fanfiction of her favorite TV show, exercises, does homework, and loves pop music. Having to man a spaceship alone since the age of 11, she’s plagued by frequent and crippling panic/anxiety attacks, that she has been learning to manage with the help of her therapist, Molly, on Earth.
Her loneliness and yearning for contact with other people was a palpable thing. I can’t even begin to fathom what it’d be like in Romy’s shoes. Like, I honestly don’t know what I’d have done in her position. That kind of isolation can really do wild things to a person, especially when they’re haunted by the confined space that they live in. She is constantly overwhelmed by self-doubt, but she’s incredibly smart and when she springs into action, quick-thinking and so badass! Even though she’s in her late teens, her character’s voice comes off quite young and it’s hard to remember she’s not actually 12 or 13. While this normally would annoy me, I thought it did a good job in illustrating her isolated upbringing.
“I always told you that you were stronger than you realized, didn’t I, Romy Silvers?”
The build up of the story was terrifyingly awesome. Reading parts of this book *seriously* creeped me the f out and I thought it was brilliant psychological horror! At the same time, it was also an intense thriller kept me on my toes until the very end. I was soo impressed. This is definitely a book that you want to go into knowing less aboutand there’s honestly not much else I can say without giving anything away. Just know that whatever you think you’ll find in this book after reading the blurb, chances are you won’t anticipate what comes your way!
Have you read The Loneliest Girl in the Universe?Loved it? Hated it? Meh about it? Let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat!
Omg, is it only Wednesday?! Welp, my brain keeps tricking me into believing it’s Thursday and that there’s only one more day standing between me and my beloved weekend. Well, on that note, it’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
Yaaas, I finally finished Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff and I kind of hate myself for not reading it right away, but also for not waiting even longer to read it because now book two feels even further away. #bookwormproblems or is it just me? Anyway, I absolutely loved and adored this book and Squad 312, and I wrote a super gushing review about it stuffed full of artwork taken from Jay Kristoff’s website. So if you want to read my review, follow this link! I also recently finished The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James (review coming) and e-ARC for The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill, which was a really cute prequel to The Tea Dragon Society! You can read my review of it here.
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult and This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel are two other buddy reads that I totally forgot I said I would join this month so after I finish my two current buddy reads, these will take priority because I wanna get them read! I’ve been looking forward to both and I’m hoping the buddy reads will give me motivation to finally pick them up.
What are you currently reading? Have you read any of these books? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: autobuy authors. I tried to diversify my list a little bit instead of repeating authors and books that I’ve already mentioned on here countless times, but you can’t avoid the inevitable because these authors are my all time faves, so they’re bound to make an appearance! It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to just recall all the authors I’d auto buy, so I had to do a little bit of rummaging around my memory (it’s really that bad) and came up with this list. Yay!
Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is a master of crafting words into incredibly bizarre and delightfully magical worlds within our actual world. I’m always left in awe of his stories. They’re dark, funny, did I mention bizarre, and oddly touching. When I read Neverwhere for the first time a few years ago there was no looking back. He’s been an autobuy since! I’ve really enjoyed everything of his that I’ve read including American Gods, The Graveyard Book, and The Ocean At the End of the Lane, to name a few!
Taylor Jenkins Reid. So I’ve only read two of TJR’s books: Maybe In Another Life and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Both took my feelings and ripped them to shreds and I loved every minute of it! These reads are so emotionally packed and I’ve found elements of relatability in both of them, which obviously made it more impactful.
Jodi Picoult. I’ve loved Jodi Picoult since I first discovered her in high school. I think my first book by her was The Pactand it just wowed me with the writing style and the storylines. Since I read most of her books in high school, I don’t think I fully appreciated the complexity of her characters and their situations. I’d definitely love to re-read my favorites at some point!
Robin Sloan. Sloan’s books are so odd, intriguing, and full of quirky loveable characters that worm their way into your heart! Sourdough is probably one of my all time favorite books — no joke. It just makes me feel warm and so happy. Mr. Penumbra’s was also such a fun-tastic adventure with BOOKS and who wouldn’t love that?! I wish it were easier to get my hands on more of his books!
Helen Hoang. Hoang has only put out two books (The Bride Test and The Kiss Quotient) so far but I’ve loved both of them dearly! I love the diversity of her romances. They’re awkward, funny, sweet, (so) steamy, and have left me feeling light-hearted after each read. I am also eagerly looking forward to reading about QUAN in her next book, The Heart Principle. She describes it as: “kind of a cross between a gender-swapped Sabrina and Say Anything” … I MEAN C’MON. All the 😍 emojis.
Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. I’m a little embarrassed to mention this but I’ve only ever read anything by both authors that they’ve written together. So that’s The Illuminae Files and Aurora Rising. It’s not that I don’t want to read what they’ve written separately, there are just SO MANY books and so few waking+non-working hours! But I will buy anything these two write together. They are the ultimate dynamic writing duo and slay me with their stories and characters!
V.E. Schwab. After finishing ADSOM I immediately knew it’d be one of my all-time favorite series and Schwab immediately jumped onto my auto buy authors list. I loved the writing, storyline and characters. The magic really came to life! I’ve since read and loved her Monsters of Verity and Villains series.
Christina Lauren. It’s as simple as I love CLo and pretty much everything that I’ve read from them! Josh and Hazel‘s Guide to Not Dating is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite romances. This duo never fail to make me laugh, swoon, squeal, and generally have the most fun reading experience with their books. I’m so looking forward to reading Twice In A Blue Moon when it comes out!
Jane Harper. I discovered Harper this year after reading The Dry and there was just no looking back. Her writing is just stunning. It’s so deeply atmospheric, reading her stories takes you straight into the punishing dry heat of the Australian outback. Although her books are classified as thrillers, I’d say they’re more mystery, but they kept me guessing right up to the end.
Brian K. Vaughan. He’s the writer of my all time favorite graphic novel series, Saga. I’ve mentioned this one countless times already on my blog but it’s seriously so freaking good. Anytime someone asks me for graphic novel recs, Saga is the first one I mention. He’s also written Paper Girls, which I enjoyed!
Who are your auto buy authors? If you’ve done a TTT this week, leave your link in the comments and let’s chat auto buy authors!
An introvert spends a year trying to live like an extrovert with hilarious results and advice for readers along the way. What would happen if a shy introvert lived like a gregarious extrovert for one year? If she knowingly and willingly put herself in perilous social situations that she’d normally avoid at all costs? Writer Jessica Pan intends to find out. With the help of various extrovert mentors, Jessica sets up a series of personal challenges (talk to strangers, perform stand-up comedy, host a dinner party, travel alone, make friends on the road, and much, much worse) to explore whether living like an extrovert can teach her lessons that might improve the quality of her life. Chronicling the author’s hilarious and painful year of misadventures, this book explores what happens when one introvert fights her natural tendencies, takes the plunge, and tries (and sometimes fails) to be a little bit braver.
Non Fiction is a genre that I don’t normally pick, not because I don’t want to read them, but most of the time I struggle to find something to catch and hold my attention. Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come was my first NF read of the year and I absolutely loved this book! I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to finish it and I’m sorry that I didn’t get to it even sooner; although I’m convinced that I picked it up when I really needed it most. I’ve already recommended it to countless friends who’ve mentioned something in passing and my brain would ping back to things mentioned in this book. It’s not a self-help book but it’s filled with such relatable experiences. Not only that but it was just downright hilarious! I don’t think there was one chapter in which I didn’t laugh my ass off at least once (seriously). With a title like that, how can you resist wanting to pick it up right?
We follow Jessica Pan, a shin-trovert (shy introvert) who faces a bit of a ‘midlife crisis’ after moving to the UK and struggling with her increasingly introverted life and inability to make meaningful or even non-meaningful connections with people. After confronting a health-scare with a member of her family, she decides to embark on a one-year journey doing extroverted things that would make all introverted people want to curl up in a corner and cry about. Things like stand-up comedy, public speaking, improv, and *shudder* striking up conversations with strangers. What follows is a personal and hilarious recounting of all her experiences and what she took away from living life as an extrovert for a year.
This book brought me great comfort at a time when I was feeling such debilitating anxiety and stress due to an event in my life that required me to speak in front of close to 100 people, followed by networking with all those people who just witnessed me most likely make a fool of myself. Public speaking is still insanely uncool but when I came across Pan’s own experience with it in this book, I found myself completely awed and enamored by her courage to get up on that stage to face one of everyone’s greatest fears. It wasn’t smooth sailing, and to be honest, my actions at the time mirrored hers in the book 100% (i.e. pushing off making my presentation until the very last minute due to intense fear). But it made me want to steel myself and plunge forward just like her. Obviously, it wasn’t as simple as wanting to do it, but the fact that she, someone who I saw big parts of myself reflected in, could do it, then I could too, right?
There’s no greater comfort in knowing that there are others out there who experience the same fears, and feelings of loneliness, as well as anxiety about what to do with it. Like Pan all my friends are scattered across the globe and since moving to where I am now and entering my 30s, I’ve noticed it has become progressively harder to make friends. Or even to just meet people in general. While I couldn’t see myself doing half of the things she did, I liked the insight that she gave through her experiences. I think at the end of the day, it’s not really about realizing being extroverted or introverted is better than the other, but knowing that putting yourself out there, even when you really don’t feel like it, can often times lead to really great, and sometimes even life changing things.
This was such a fantastic read and I know that I’ll always want to keep it on my shelf so that I can go back to it whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed by my increasing need to introvert. This book was written in a very conversational tone so that none of the moments felt dull and it kind of felt like just chatting to a friend. I’d highly recommend it!
Thanks to NetGalley, Jessica Pan and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing the e-ARC for an honest review. Have you read Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come? Did you love it? Hate it? Feel ‘meh’ about it? Come let me know in the comments and let’s chat!
I’ve been looking for a weekly meme to do on Mondays and haven’t been able to find anything until now. YAY! Introducing: Goodreads Monday, which I just stumbled across on Emer’s page: A Little Haze Book Blog. This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it!
In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.
Why do I want to read it?
I am a sucker for historical fiction and especially ones that are set during the WWII period, so when I heard the rave reviews for this book, I knew I had to get my hands on it immediately. I don’t recall reading many books from an American’s perspective during this period, let alone an American woman, and I like the fact that it covers both WWI and WWII. The women also sound like they’d be good, tough characters and ever since reading The Nightingale earlier this year, I’m excited to read more about the role women played during the war(s). I don’t know why I haven’t picked read this yet, especially since after The Nightingale all I wanted to do was continue my historical journey. But I am hoping to read it this year and possibly next month because I’m already pretty booked out with a lot of buddy reads this July!
Have you read The Alice Network? Is it on your TBR? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s chat books!
Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.
The Tea Dragon Festival is another beautiful graphic novel by Katie O’Neill. The style and use of color in the artwork is gorgeous and really brings to life this wonderful world of dragons, tea dragons, magical forest creatures and village life. The story takes places before The Tea Dragon Society, and I really enjoyed meeting the younger versions of Hesekiel and Erik, two loveable characters from that book.
In this comic, we follow the story of Rinn, a young village girl who’s an aspiring cook and talented forager, who stumbles upon Aedhan, a young dragon who has been asleep for 80-years. Aedhan is plagued by guilt for having not done his duty of taking care of the village residents, but he was put under a sleeping spell by a magical forest creature. Rinn brings Aedhan to the village and the two quickly form a strong, sweet bond as Aedhan picks up his dragon duties and reintegrates to village life. I loved how this story was even more diverse and inclusive than the first book. We have characters who use sign language, different ethnicities, and diverse sexualities, and none of these elements in the story feels contrived.
The tea dragons were just as freaking adorable as in the first book. I want to live in this world and I want to take care of those tea dragons, no matter how pesky they’re claimed to be! At the end, O’Neill also included additional information about the tea dragon varieties, and more wonderful history about dragons like Aedhan.
This was a very quick read full of sweet and fluffy things! And I mean, super cute good looking dragons. Come on, isn’t that all you really need to know? Recommended to everyone who wants to experience all the good and happy feels!
Thanks to NetGalley for providing the e-ARC for an honest review. Have you read the Tea Dragon graphic novels or are they on your TBR?
Goodreads: Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Publication Date: 07 May 2019 Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: (5 pandas)
The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch… A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder An alien warrior with anger management issues A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.
I’m just gonna preface this review by saying that it’s going to be a whole LOT of gushing because friends… I WAS NOT READY. Which is so incredibly silly of me because I know just how much the Illuminae series affected me. I’m aware of the bewitching powers that Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have over my thoughts and emotions. They never fail to make me feel ALL THE FEELS. Was I really expecting this book to be any different? Silly girl. Anyway, you’ve been warned!
If there was any group that I’d wish to be stuck with in outer space facing the hottest of hot messes I’ve ever encountered in my life, Squad 312 would be my number one. I loved this crew! This was an incredibly fun space adventure that was a combination of the Breakfast Club and Guardians of the Galaxy, with the haunting horror reminiscent of The Ruins. It was wildly entertaining and I was here for every minute of it! I laughed my ass off at their antics, was impressed with their insane skills, became sufficiently terrified of all the creepy things and ended up heartbroken and aghast with that ending. I was seriously impressed by how quickly these characters wormed their way into my heart. While it wasn’t as epic as The Illuminae Files, I still loved it!
Tyler Jones: The Alpha. He’s a stickler for the rules and is guided by his father’s legacy. Megawatt dimples that when flashed can make ovaries explode within twenty paces. Bee-bro. Twin.
Scarlett Jones: The Face. The older twin but would do anything to protect her bro. Her uncanny ability to read people makes her an amazing face. Fiery, feisty, with sexy confidence to boot. She will get you in and out of all the sticky situations with her insane diplomacy skills. She’ll take care of you because she has a big heart.
Catherine ‘Cat’ Brannock: The Ace. She’s a bad-ass pilot who’s got snark and attitude for days. Childhood besties with the twins. Definitely not in love with Ty. She’s the character I had the most difficulty with at the start and I didn’t expect my feelings to turn around so quickly, but color me shocked, they did.
Finian ‘Fin’ de Karren de Seel: The Gearhead. An alien with biting sarcasm, dry slightly rude humor, and is into noticing all the hotness around him–both male, female and alien alike. Funniest of the bunch. Want to protect at all costs.
Kaliis ‘Kal’ Gilwraeth: The Tank. Of the alien elf race, Syldrathi. Tall, muscular, gorgeous silver hair and violet eyes, comes off as cold and unfriendly, but gooey on the inside. Can kick your ass faster than you can even blink. Seriously endearing. MY BAE.
Zila Madran: The Brain. Tiny, sociopathic, loves to shoot people, including her teammates, without warning, wearer of odd but very cute sounding earrings.
Aurora ‘Auri’ Jie-Lin O’Malley: The Girl Out of Time. Left earth at the “start” of space exploration only to get lost in cryo in space for over 200 years. Woke up with white hair and powers that turned one eye white. An enigma that could be the catalyst for a dormant billion-year-old war between two ancient, mythical, terrifying species…until now.
The story was told through alternating POVs although mostly through Ty and Auri. We only get to spend a few chapters (total) with each team member’s POV, but I thought they all had well flushed out personalities and distinctive traits that set them apart. Although they all come off as aloof in each others’ chapters, I loved that you see a lot of vulnerability from them in their own chapters. If there’s one character I would’ve liked to know more about it definitely would be Zila. We get a sense of her sociopathic ‘shoot-now-ask-questions-later’ tendencies, mostly through the others, but you can tell she carries a lot of emotional baggage and possibly trauma, and I would’ve liked to get more inside her head. I initially had mixed feelings about other members of the squad but by the end I was crying, rooting, and heartbroken for all of them. Yo, Amie and Jay, if anything else happens to these precious characters in the following books, I will burn them (the books, not the characters). Jokes lol I’d never do that but I’d be so angry I’d want to! Please don’t break my heart even more.
@Jay Kristoff’s website. Artist: Charlie Bowater
I think one of the main qualms people have mentioned about this book is the romance. Even I was a bit surprised that there was so much of it, and that it’d also sometimes creep up at the most inappropriate moments. Another point that people mentioned were the romantic pairings. I will admit that they weren’t the ones I expected from the start, but honestly, I wasn’t mad at them. The pairings grew on me and I think they just seemed odd initially because I didn’t feel chemistry between the characters. So I guess if romance is going to be “a thing” in this book, I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops! If I’m honest though, I don’t think the romance added a crucial element to the story so maybe they could’ve also done without it; but I love me some romance, so I’m just gonna accept what Kaufman & Kristoff dole out! 🤷🏻♀️
These two authors continue to surprise me with the incredible world building that they do. It’s kind of set in the same space dimension as Illuminae so everything isn’t completely new. But as more was revealed the virtual jaw in my head would keep dropping as the story became more complex and astounding! I continue to love all the -isms and details of our modern day that they’ve transformed in their story to bring this crazy world of theirs to life. Seriously, I never thought I’d be curious to know what shake n’ heat ration packs of NotPork’n’Apple Casserole and Pie!™️ would taste like. I know authors have to have one hell of an imagination but these two combined are seriously the ultimate! I could go on gushing about this book but TL;DR: just read it. I kinda wish that I didn’t devour AR because now I’m feeling a little adrift and unsure about what to do with myself until the next book comes out (lol). I already miss the squad and I just closed the book. I’m so ready and freaking excited for the next installment in this series!
Also, I am now sufficiently creeped out by succulents and even more so by viney plants?! Like, WHY. I wasn’t expecting to encounter elements that reminded me of The Ruins, which is actually one of the best-worst horror novels I’ve ever read (horrors are not my jam). Why can’t we just leave plants alone?
dinipandareads 