The Burning by Jane Casey
I am always on the lookout for a great detective-murder mystery and Jane Casey delivers. Honestly, it was like watching a well done BBC series. As always, I have to start from the beginning, back with the first book written in 2011. We meet Maeve Kerrigan, the newbie homicide detective, trying to make a name for herself with the boss, dealing with the rampant sexism within the department, and getting entangled with a fellow detective. And all while trying to figure out if the fifth victim of the serial killer nicknamed the Burning Man, was a copycat or the real deal. I loved how it uses a few different viewpoints, consistently sending me down rabbit holes as I chased Casey's red herrings. And yes, I already have Book #2 in my hands!
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
The story of young Betty, a child of Ohio Appalachia, daughter to a half-Cherokee dad and a mentally ill mother, this story was one of unrelenting sadness, trauma, and tragedy. From the moment Betty is born into this sprawling family, she takes the place of her father's favorite, the child who looks most Native like her dad, the one who listens to his myths of the land and the sky, who sits in the middle of numerous brothers and sisters, who watches as each child moves to their foreshadowed destiny. The writing is lyrical, beautiful, evocative, yet it was hard to continue at times. The one ray of light was the father, Landon, and his incredible relationship with Betty; would that every child could have one person in their live who loves them unconditionally and irrevocably.
Jackpot by Nic Stone
Having read both Dear Martin and Dear Justyce, I am a huge Nic Stone fan. She has an uncanny ability to capture not only young adults and their attitudes/outlooks/realities, but also important issues in our world in a very authentic way. This time around, Stone looks at a young adult relationship in their senior year of high school - yes, the boy is white and the girl is biracial, but more important to the story is the economic inequality between these two. Zan is the white boy who comes from great wealth, who has never known 'want,' who is handsome, popular, kind, thoughtful, yet ignorant of need. Rico is the girl who works after school to help pay rent, whose brother was brought home to a homeless shelter, who worries about doctor bills w/no insurance, and who does not see any way out of her life. When she and Zan team up to locate a woman who has a winning lotto ticket, their worlds collide. This would be a fantastic book for students, middle school through high school, to be taught, as well as an adult book club, as we often focus on the easily seen issues of today, and not the vast economic divide tearing us apart. Yep, I loved this book.
Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
This is the buzziest sci-fi/fantasy book of 2020, and it lives up to all the hype. It combines Native mythology with an earth where unique, and sometimes magical groups of people, live in different cities, have different faith systems, and whose cultures war against one another. The entire story revolves around the axis of a solar eclipse, as well as the return of Serapio, a young boy who has been turned in a god. Yeah, it's complicated, and there's a million characters, but wow, it is creative, unique, and all together fascinating. I listened to it, and while the narration is fantastic, I think I would have been better off having a physical copy so I could keep names and places in better order.
American Royals by Katharine McGee
This is what I call a bag of potato chips - nothing healthy, but all together addictive. After having my heart shredded by the sadness and trauma of Betty, I needed a palate cleanser and this silly book did the job perfectly. It is alternative history in the most implausible manner, with George Washington accepting the kingship at the end of the Revolutionary War, and handing out titles and duchies like they were candy. In today's royal family, the story follows the three young adult children of the Washington royal family, with the daughter prepping to become queen someday and the twins wreaking havoc as the 'spares.' Throw in young hot love, a perfectly evil nemesis of an ex-girlfriend, and friendship drama, and yep, the perfect escapism can occur. Well done!
You (You #1) by Caroline Kepnes
What. Was. That??? Hmmmm, let’s see - a lot of sex (like a LOT), a sociopathic male lead, a shallow unlikeable young woman, a LOT of murder, some gratuitous sexism, and not a lot of karmic justice. YET...a really talented narrator on audio. I’ll still never get back those 12 hours, nor all the showers I felt I needed after listening. This book was just NOT for me.
