 Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)
Saving Sophie by Debbie Schrack is a very special book, one of our favorites of 2023! There's just something about it that packs a punch yet does it in a way that isn't full of itself or over-the-top. It isn't a perfectly structured story. It isn't a perfectly written story. The stakes aren't world-ending or world-altering. The characters won't blow you away (in fact, we didn't even realize the main character had a name until near the end of it). However, it is what it is. And it does it so well! It hits just the right notes. It's powerful, beautiful, and compelling all at once. Furthermore, it is such a sweet and romantic story full of humor and light. Seriously, this book is such a joy to read! It is actually very pleasant. We know that's strange to say about a work of fiction (shouldn't they all be “pleasant”), but you'd be surprised. Many books, despite their quality, can be so depressing and miserable that it starts to eat away at you. This book, on the other hand, is hopeful, optimistic, and uplifting, even when it deals with things like incarceration, physical and mental illnesses, alcoholism, guilt, and even death. There's still an underlying feeling of warmth and comfort to it that's difficult to describe, almost like a really good family Christmas movie. The interesting thing is that the main character isn't even that optimistic or positive of a guy. In fact, he's doubtful, apprehensive, and even angry at times. However, just about 100% of the time we're assured that all of his actions are justified by noble motives. He is a good guy, but one who is rough around the edges sometimes. Everything he says and does, whether out of anger, jealousy, or frustration, still seems 100% justified to the reader. Almost all of the time, the reader will likely conclude that they would've acted the same way and said exactly what the main character does. And that's the thing. This book puts us directly in the main character's shoes. In a good and immersive way, he almost becomes a blank slate for us to engage with the other characters and his world. In some novels, this can be a bad thing. For example, the Twilight series infamously presents Bella as a blank slate who proves to be a relatively bland character. That is not the case with the main character of Saving Sophie. Notice that we keep calling him the “main character.” Does he have a name? Actually, yes! But we didn't even have to know it to care about him. He's actually referred to as “Gabe.” For most of the book, interestingly, other characters refer to him as “you,” “bro,” “little buddy,” and other pronouns. So, what's fascinating is that when character talk to him, it almost reads like they're talking directly to YOU. Now, that might just be because we're idiots and completely spaced on him being called Gabe over 150 times, or maybe that's just how we felt. We were so immersed in Gabe's story that, like a video game character, we BECAME him in a sense. And it was easy because Gabe was, like we said, a good guy. He wasn't one of those first-person characters that you dread following because they make poor or immoral choices. Gabe is almost always justified in one way or another, and you understand him. Anyway, let's finally talk about the plot (phew... it took us this long)! This book follows the aforementioned protagonist, Gabe, who was on the verge of great, big things in his life. He is a stellar student, a tutor, and is hoping to get into a good college. He really seems to be someone who longs for their place in the sun. And, for the longest time, he had a great, loving family that held firm to their traditions. All of that is seemingly derailed and shattered when Gabe's older brother, Josh, gets into a catastrophic accident. Although he escapes with his life, several others in the accident lose theirs. Among them are the Mandelas, parents to the titular Sophie—one of the school's most successful and promising students. Sophie, tragically, is inflicted with a traumatic brain injury and amnesia. Compounding this, she often experiences seizures. It is discovered that Gabe had been drinking and was intoxicated during the accident. Several things come as a result of this accident, the two key things are:
Now, before you go off thinking that this book is just some mushy South Korean soap-opera/romance/drama, it's actually much more. In fact, it's hilarious. Gabe's thoughts (which we get the inside scoop on) are often very blunt and even crude or vulgar at times. Here are some of our favorite funny lines from the book: “...they sell out faster than Trojans on prom night” “And let's face it—no one can sit on one of these chairs for longer than ten minutes without getting hemorrhoids.” “We walk to the door slowly, hand in hand, while Joe [the dog] sniffs around and pees on some bushes.” “She stops and stares at me. Her expression goes blank. I wonder if she's going to have a seizure but Joe's just lying on the rug licking his crotch.” “Abby's behind him wearing a black dress about the size of a square of toilet paper.” There are so many high points of this book. So many times when we laughed or were elated with joy. Check this out on Amazon!
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 Score: 91/100 (9.1 out of 10)
THE DEAD SPEAK! Well, sorta. Richard Goldman is a recently-deceased billionaire who has left behind a fortune, property, and an all-important will & testament. In these end-of-life documents, he named a number of people who meant something to him, key of which is his mysterious estranged grand-niece, Greta Goldman. Now, if you're thinking this sounds a bit like The Testament by John Grisham, then you're right. It is a bit like that. However, rather than be fixated on a lawyer's point of view like Grisham was, this book focuses on Greta herself. Believe it or not, this adds to the intrigue because you're literally following the person in question to a point of realization. Greta (or the protagonist we get to know as “Greta”) is a rather interesting character. She is a New York Times best-selling author with fame comparable to someone like Sarah J. Maas or Stephanie Meyer. However glamorous and idealistic as this might sound, when we first meet her she's under tremendous pressure from her publisher and fans to publish her next book, Give or Take. The author's life is a stressful life. It becomes even more stressful when Richard's mysterious death becomes of personal interest to her. Richard didn't just die, he was murdered. And he wasn't murdered by just anyone, but a serial-killer who becomes known as the “Millionaire Club Killer”--a killer who specifically targets rich people. It turns out that Richard had a lot of people who loved and admired him, and he also had a fair share of people who hated and despised him. For example, it turns out that for all his success in various industries, he failed in the restaurant business, causing financial hardship and suffering for all involved. He also may have failed in some of his relationships, particularly as a parent and grandparent. Little by little, the mystery grows deeper and we become more and more intrigued. At one point, we are struck by the possibility that the Greta we know is not Greta at all! Perhaps there are two Gretas! Or one Greta and an impostor! It's seriously like an episode of Maury, complete with DNA tests and all! It also kinda reminded us of The Man in the Iron Mask in which there seems to be two people who share the same identity and are competing to be recognized as such for their own ends. This book has as many twists and turns as a dangerous highway, and we love it for that. Now, there was a little bit of silliness with this book. For example, some of the names are obvious inside jokes. There's Richard GOLDman (the dead rich guy), Detective MOODY, Detective REED (as in “Read”), Special Agent TURNER, Uncle BILLIE and Aunty JEAN (as in the Michael Jackson song), DAWN (as in the dawn of the morning) etc. You could even argue that Edith, like maybe Agnes, is such a classic elderly-woman's name. We had a few chuckles and laughs about these names. This book is exciting in that it keeps you guessing about who is who and what is really going on. Why was Richard killed? Who killed him? Who is the real Greta and what does she want? Who is this enigmatic, socially-awkward Mallory? What does Mallory want? What is her story? The one thing we did not like about this book was the ending. It felt like so much was built toward something the murders, yet we don't get a clear, satisfying conclusion to that. Either there will be a sequel or you might have to reread the whole book to pick up clues on your own. Your reaction to this will depend on the kind of reader you are: one who likes an ending that wraps everything up into a nice, neat bundle, or one who likes a ending that leaves things open-ended or up to your interpretation/imagination (like Castaway, perhaps). You can check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
Treasure Isle by Catherine Corcoran is everything that a children's book should be! It's fun, it's colorful, it's exciting, it's adventurous; it follows some compelling characters, it holds the promise of uncovering buried riches, and it rhymes! That last bit might not seem important, but think about many of the books that hooked you as a kid. Think about the children's books that perpetually capture the attentions of your kids/students. Rhymes are largely what made Dr. Seuss the GOAT that he's known as today. These are usually colorful books that are FUN to read! Above all, they usually rhyme and have a catchy rhythm to them. This book accomplishes that, having a song-like rhythm complete with the leitmotif/verse “So, they set out again on the salty, blue sea.” This verse usually bridges into the next scene with the two characters, a boy and his parrot, trudging along on their adventure to find Treasure Island. This book is full of wonder, excitement, adventure, and a strong spirit of exploration. We are stunned that this book is listed at only 19 pages long because it reads like an epic! Along the way, the boy and his parrot have a lot of ups and downs. They encounter penguins, a whale, a crocodile, big waves, mermaids, a chameleon who loves its bling, a volcano, and more! Your kids might really enjoy reading along with you and pointing out many of the various animals/characters they see! This book might even inspire your children to come up with their own little stories, exercising their creative minds! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 87/100 (8.7 out of 10)
So, is everyone dead? Are we in purgatory? Are we in Hades? Is this the Hotel California? Are we in an alternate/parallel reality like Neverland? Are we in some sort of fantastical pocket universe like in Once Upon a Time in which the events in fiction books actually happened and are crossing into our world? This book has so many different angles and interpretations. That can be a very good or very bad thing depending on the kind of person and reader you are. If you're someone who loved the non-linear, edgy, chaotic, yet choppy nature of something like Pulp Fiction, you might like this book. If you're someone who wants a story with a three-act structure with a clear hero and a clear villain, grounded in a gritty, realistic setting, then this book may not be for you. This book is SURREAL, hence the Neverland comparison. It's almost like a dream. Maybe you haven't thought much about the contents of your dreams, but normally, dreams are made up of random thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences—either manifest or latent, real or imagined. They often skip from thing to thing, topic to topic, and much of it gets forgotten or challenging to recall by the time you wake up. That's what this book is like. Now, dreams are awesome. They're just not always... comprehensible. However, there are people who enjoy interpreting (or trying to interpret) dreams. It's almost like solving a puzzle, in a sense. Either you like doing it or you don't. We can tell you that this book primarily follows John Proctor, a man moving back to New England on the verge of turning 70. Each day brings John “closer to the old bone yard.” He returns to New England realizing that it may reopen some old wounds. John has had a long and storied life including a past he has seemingly suppressed. However, reality comes knocking on his front door when he encounters Eli, a boy who reveals that he may be descended from John. He is the grandson of one of John's late wives, Sara. There is also a potentially scandalous angle to this. John and Eli continue to swap ideas and conversations about some of their interests and experiences. Prominent among these interests is an interest in classic literature, namely The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Interestingly, one of us also wrote a book which used descendants of characters from these exact same books. What a coincidence! What's interesting is that the characters from these two novels seem to blend and blur into reality, almost as if they're a part of the narrative of this story. And maybe they are. In a strong sense, the characters and themes from Hawthorne and Melville's works overlap with those of John and Eli. For example, John's promiscuity and sexual sins make him comparable to Hester Prynne. Eli's quest to know John—the unknowable old man—and to better understand his roots parallel Ahab's quest for Moby Dick. His desire to simply be a part of something bigger and to find himself on a journey parallels Ishmael, a character he is constantly compared to. There are also references to some of the characters who don't get near enough respect and attention like Tashtego. One motif that keeps occurring is Queequeg's coffin, the object on which Ishmael floated and survived on after the sinking of the Pequod by Moby Dick. It's fitting in that it symbolizes that one can find their “life” (or appreciation for it) while on the verge of death. It's kinda difficult to sum of this book without spoiling things or messing up our interpretation entirely. The truth is, different people are going to have different interpretations of this very surreal novel! What's yours? You can check it out on Amazon!  Score: 92/100 (9.2 out of 10)
The Girl Who Loves Lemons is a very unique and charming children's book by Debbie Vehnekamp. It follows Courtney, a girl (and later a full-grown woman) who LOVES lemons! Beyond just her love for lemons, this book is about the passage of time, sentimentality, and how, despite things changing and evolving, some things always stay the same—like the love for something as mundane and simple as lemons. A love for dinosaurs. A love for fast cars. A love for soccer. A love for ice cream. A love for blueberries. These types of things are our “mainstays” or “anchors”—the things that we go back to in order to recapture a good feeling or to remind ourselves of who we are, where we've been, and what we've experienced. Call it nostalgia, perhaps. So, this book is so much more than meets the eye! Speaking of “meeting the eye,” the illustrations in this book are truly impressive! There's a real hand-drawn, hand-colored look to them. All of them are colorful, but not so colorful that they become distracting. They aren't shell-shaded (from we could tell) or AI generated, so there's a real sense of authenticity to them. The artist was very good at showing the different emotions and expressions on characters' faces. The writing is also solid. Yes, it's slightly wordy and doesn't always flow perfectly, but it's grammatically correct and relatively easy to read. There is a certain randomness and spontaneity to this book, skipping from thing to thing. On one page, the book is talking about Courtney, on another page you're getting random facts about lemons or tips on eating them. It kinda disrupts the flow of any coherent narrative, making it a little bit of a “beautiful mess.” We can dig a beautiful mess! However, we wonder if the point of this book was to tell us about Courtney's life experiences or to teach us about lemons. It doesn't always flow and mesh well when we're constantly flip-flopping between what Courtney is doing and information about lemons. At the same time, it has a certain charm and appeal that we appreciated. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 92/100 (9.2 out of 10)
The Pirates Conquest is an exotic, erotic, exciting adventure/romance novel featuring love, hate, passion, betrayal, scandal, and drama galore. This book is filled with so many ups and downs—a lot of downs in terms of things not going well for the characters. Along with drama, you expect some tension and turmoil. However, this book depicts a dog-eat-dog world where people use, abuse, betray, and take advantage of each other. This perhaps reflects one of the themes that emerges in this book: that “good guys” don't always wear shining armor or capes, sometimes they wear devil horns or carry a pitchfork. Sometimes the good guys wield a rapier, have a peg leg, and sport an eye-patch. Ok, that might be exaggerating a bit. The protagonists or “good guys” of this novel are pretty messed up people in their own right. Our lead male protagonist, Captain Timothy Lockwood, is pretty much responsible for at least one sexual assault. Let's not sugar coat things. He's a pirate. He has done just about every evil deed that a pirate is classically known for, so much so that he becomes known as “Tim the Bloodthirsty.” The least of his sins include purchasing at least one [sex] slave and having an affair. He's a man of poor choices, and that's something that repeatedly gets brought up. Usually, “gray” characters like anti-heroes or anti-villains are the most interesting, and we tend to get behind them because we relate to their weaknesses and vulnerabilities more. However, Timothy's actions, attitude, and behavior is so despicable at times that's it was difficult for us to actually get behind him. The only reason(s) we're really cheering for him are: 1. The main character loves him, 2. He's not as bad as Geoffrey. Case in point: even when he's “redeemed” and comes to the realization that he loves the main character (cause, of course, how could this story go any other way?), he still does aggressive, forceful things like covering her mouth when she speaks objections and choosing what clothes she wears (such as when he chooses her emerald dress). Later on we meet one his most loyal followers, Dante D'Mattea. Again, similar to Tim, Dante might seem like a decent fellow with a love interest of his own (Serena) and a seemingly noble heart, but he is every bit as ruthless and cruel as Tim the Bloodthirsty as well as the clear villain of the novel, Geoffrey Lyndon. He brutally tortures and castrates a dude, for instance, and laughs while doing it. This occurs in the course of a relatively noble rescue mission, but it doesn't change the fact that these heroes are not really great people. We'll talk a bit about Geoffrey later because he comes up time and time again like a bad habit. This book mostly follows 26-year-old Jennifer “Jenny” Weatherly, our main female protagonist and the main love interest of Captain Timothy. Jennifer is a relatively sheltered, high-born girl whose father, James, has bestowed a large amount of his estate and riches to. This makes her a prime target for the power-hungry Geoffrey who sees marrying Jennifer as a shortcut to power and riches. Jennifer's naivety becomes obvious when she believes that pirates are just a part of the fiction literature she reads. Still, she shows budding strength in resisting the forced marriage to Geoffrey. She reminds us a lot of Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She even become emboldened even to go through with a plot which involves her escaping aboard Captain Tim's ship, the Moonlight, something which immediately puts her and the ship's crew in jeopardy, as if they weren't already hunted/wanted people! The frustrating thing about Jennifer, in our opinion, is that she is a classic damsel in distress, and boorishly so. That's fine, to an extent. There are great damsels in distress like Lois Lane, Mary Jane, and Princess Peach, but the problem is that it seems clear that Jennifer was intended to be the main character—the driving, active force behind the events of the novel. She was supposed to be growing and developing, becoming more mature, more independent, and stronger as the book went along. She does, to an extent, but her arc is quite neutered compared to the potential that it had. Instead, things seem to always happen to Jennifer rather than Jennifer doing things or working toward things. She spends so much of this book just trying not to die. She's always trying to survive. And, yes, survival is an important instinct and adds some tension, but it almost seems like she's waiting out the plot. How many times does the same character have to be kidnapped and rescued? How many times does the same character have to be tossed around, used and abused, sold, traded, and sexually assaulted for the audience to get the point? Why does every character with testicles have an attraction to her? Like, we get when someone is hot and attractive, but does every single man in this book have the exact same tastes? It reminded us of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen when every single male character regardless of their background or orientation develops a crush on Mina, the vampire lady. Like, some dudes in real life prefer women who won't eat them. Some like blonde women. Some like brunettes. Some like Black women. Some like Asians. Yet, it almost seems like everyone in this book is magnetically attracted to Jennifer's red hair and green eyes. Yeah, it's special and unique, probably features shared by about 1% of women, but there comes a point when all the leering and the hooting and the cat calling by every male under the sun becomes ridiculous and overdone. We get that the character is SUPER HOT. We don't need to be reminded every five pages about how that's her defining characteristic. Anyway, there were times we were a bit annoyed by the two lead characters. One is terrible person who makes terrible decisions. One is a weak person who seems to invite trouble. She's like Ashley from Resident Evil 4. She seems to just stand there and gets herself grabbed, stabbed, sick, and shot at. It's really frustrating when considering the hopes we had for her. Originally (for the first quarter of the book), we had a very different point of view on Jennifer. We were about to compare her to someone like Jane Eyre or Emma. What's interesting is that this book reads a lot like one of those classics... like Jane Eyre or Emma. It had bits that reminded us of Pride & Prejudice--the tangle of scandals and love-triangles/love-cubes run amok. There was even an aspect of this book that reminded us of The Count of Monte Cristo, especially with the parts that deal with seafaring. Then again, one of the most modern comparisons to this book is 50 Shades of Gray. There seems to be a sort of Stockholm syndrome that seems to take hold of the main characters in this plot. There are times when Tim is abusive, aggressive, and adulterous in his relationship with Jennifer. Well, we promised to get back to Geoffrey, so let's talk about him. Geoffrey, again, is the villain of this book—a book filled with terrible people like Ginger and Captain Mark Gregory. Geoffrey ranks among the most terrible. The thing is that Geoffrey is like an Austin Powers villain or Wil-E-Coyote: he seemingly can't stay dead no matter what you do to him! At first, it was suspenseful and interesting. Then, it just became funny and almost sad. You know like how you start to feel bad for Tom from Tom & Jerry every time he gets horribly mutilated and dies? Well, it wasn't quite at that level, but it was getting there. Geoffrey is not just a terrible person, he's a pitiful person. (On the note of pitiful people... POOR SEBASTIAN. Oh, gosh. That poor giant man. He deserved better.) Going back to what we were saying about the theme of the book, Geoffrey is on the opposite spectrum of where Timothy is. Timothy is a thug, and he knows it. Society knows it. On the other hand, Geoffrey is a relatively high-born “gentleman” who figuratively wears the shining armor and rides the white horse. Society expects him to be “good” and the “hero,” but he is actually a despicable person and a villain. So, in a sense, that dynamic worked. That theme played out well. There's also a series of love-triangles/love-cubes involving about at least a half-dozen characters. Furthermore, there's an inheritance subplot that involves Stefan (Jennifer's cousin) going from “poor Stefan” to Mad Stefan (we thought he was about to replace Geoffrey as the villain). Furthermore, there's another subplot that involves Timothy serving as a captive navigator on board a rival captain's ship. There's also a subplot that involves Jennifer sold and held captive (again) and pimped out in a brothel. Now, to be fair, the last two subplots play side-by-side and reflect the idea that Timothy and Jennifer are two people who are suffering and struggling separately, yet haven't given up hope of seeing each other. So, it's quite romantic in that regard. It's sorta like how Prince Charming and Snow White in ABC's Once Upon a Time kept getting separated, yet always promised and strived to find each other. Now, there is an unintentionally funny moment in which a character says (to paraphrase), “He's not dead, I felt it.” This reminded us of when Darth Vader refuses to believe that Padme, his wife, is dead in Revenge of the Sith. Ok, the difference between Darth Vader and Jennifer is that Vader had the Force and thus had some degree of extrasensory perception. Jennifer isn't a psychic. Or is she?......... Ironically, the author IS a practicing psychic and card reader. So, in the author's mind, it might be plausible for someone like Jennifer to sense the fate of a loved one across the universe. And, let's face it, some of us can just sense these things. Call it “intuition.” Call it “clicking” with someone. Call it “wishful thinking.” Whatever it is probably exists to a certain degree. This is a solid novel with a lot of action, adventure, and romance! It has some issues such as the character issues we mentioned. It is also missing commas when addressing people in dialogue. However, that's very minor and easy to overlook. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
We were not expecting this book to be THIS wacky and entertaining! The Dragon in the Closet: Book One is an immensely wild, wacky, fun, and entertaining children's book by Carolyn Watson-Dubisch, who designed creatures for Star Wars and TV shows. Those monster-making skills really come in handy in this book! This book is a CREATURE FEATURE! It is PACKED FULL of cryptids and mythical creatures from dragons to giant worms (akin to Tremors) and even a monstrous bipedal fish. There are nearly 100 full pages of full-color graphics and illustrations in this book! It is beyond impressive. No, the art isn't Picasso, but you can definitely tell that a lot of time, thought, and energy went into crafting each and every illustration! You can see the lines and the strokes in the colors. The effort alone is noteworthy. There's good attention to detail too. For example, did you notice that the box in the attic says “Jack's Stuff?” It is revealed that the family is descended from Jack from “Jack & the Beanstalk.” Something else that really comes through in the illustrations are the emotions the characters are feeling! You can tell when they're scared, happy, angry, tired, or worried. The writing is also decent to good. For one, it is very easy to follow what the characters are doing and saying, even when crazy, wild things are happening on the pages. The dialogue is very brief and concise, which we loved (for a children's book). The other thing that REALLY comes through in this book is the humor. This book is incredibly funny, and the humor is incredibly dry at times. For example, when Orin asks his Nana, “Nana, are you a witch?” She gives the eye-rolling response, “Do you really have to ask?” Immediately after violently frying two giant worms to death, Nana then asks Orin if he wouldn't mind tacos for dinner. In the context of this book, it's very funny considering that his Nana very clearly has magical powers. The entire first-quarter of this book is a running gag about Nana constantly saving Orin from monsters. It's hilarious because of how overdone and over-the-top it all is. Something else that's arguably funny (although it'll depend on your taste) is how much cartoonish death occurs in the book. Things are constantly dying in this book. They get burned, squashed, eaten, etc. The dragon, for example, is a carnivore. It's constantly killing and eating things including a random bird and a random rabbit. This might be a bit dark for kids to see, but it is a little humorous in a Tom & Jerry sort of way. Another thing about this book that we loved was the relationship between Orin and his best friend, Lucy. Together, they are candidates for “Best Couple”/”Best Duo.” However, we were a little disappointed that Orin couldn't have a more heroic moment when Lucy was in danger. It instead had to be Nana to the rescue again. We wanted to emphasize that this book is a bit more dark and mature than most children's book, despite its humor. We'd almost categorize it as Dark Humor. As we said, there's A LOT of death in this book. Creatures die in various ways. As we mentioned, a bird and a rabbit get flash-fried and eaten like Porgs in The Last Jedi. At least a couple of humans die of their injuries during a particular conflict. It's surprisingly violent, albeit in a cartoonish way (think Looney Tunes). All in all, though, it's all in good fun and actually quite silly. We LOVED this book and actually care about the cliff-hanger ending and sequel! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
Sadie Goes to School is one of the funnest and most charming children's books we've ever read! C. James Sweeney really pulled all the stops to make this book a cute, funny, and engaging as possible. It's impossible not to be caught up in Sadie's adventures (and misadventures) on her first day of school. Oh, yeah, did we mention that Sadie is a Sasquatch!? They DO exist! So, being a Sasquatch (i.e. Yeti, Big Foot), Sadie is uncultured, uncivilized, and just doesn't seem to fit in. It's both hilarious and a bit sad. We can definitely empathize with a character who is in a new environment and is like a fish out of water. However, this book still excels in encourages learning and adapting to changing scenarios. For instance, it might be fine to pick your nose and fart in the privacy of your home (as Sadie does), but it isn't appropriate to act that way in a setting which you share with other people. In a sense, this book teaches consideration and respecting the rights and feelings of other people in your surrounding. So, blasting music that you enjoy may not be the most appropriate thing when people are trying to study in a library. Firing rockets into the air may not be the most appropriate thing when it's 2 AM at night and people are trying to sleep. The truth of the matter is: there are rules and norms that should be followed and adhered to, at least to a certain degree. It's ok to be yourself, but you also need to be respectful and considerate of others. When Sadie farts in the middle of class, it's distracting and disrupting. It is also a bit rude as it doesn't consider that other people have to smell the putrid smell who don't want to. It's comparable to when people smoke in close proximity to others. Similarly, when Sadie uses a paint brush to pick her nose, it doesn't consider that other people might have to use the same paint brush and may not like Sadie's boogers being on it. At the same time, this book isn't a big, huge Debbie Downer about a failure to fit in. It's actually very cheerful and uplifting the majority of the time. Sadie is just a very positive, self-affirming character. Even when she's told “no” or not to do something, she still takes it in stride and doesn't let it ruin her day. Instead, she goes with the flow and cherishes every new experience. Another thing we loved about this book is that the illustrations are excellent, especially for the genre! Sadie herself is adorable, a feminine little fuzzball with huge green eyes and a pink bow. Also, text and information are presented very well. It's easy to follow and read, unlike some other children's books that bombard you with text or use fonts that are difficult to read. That's not an issue with this book. You're also getting value. This book might look like a 30 page book, but it's actually about twice that length! Each page is basically two or more panels, often filled with colorful, amazing illustrations! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 92/100 (9.2 out of 10)
Veronica Lane is dead. Charlie Calvin Clements, the man believed to be responsible for her murder, sits on the verge of death row. Veteran lawyer Duncan Pheiffer, the one and only man who the defendant believes can save him from the electric chair, is found strangled and burned to death in his own vehicle, killed by an unknown assailant. It falls to the other attorneys of the city of Town to find the evidence to try to acquit Clements and solve the mysterious murders of both Veronica Lane and Duncan Pheiffer. Leading this valiant and seemingly hopeless effort is Duncan's long-time friend and colleague, Barclay Griffith, the assistant district attorney. It is a long, arduous, twisty-turny quest for truth and justice in the face of increasingly worsening odds. Along the way Barclay and company confront many painful truth and shocking discoveries. They fight to live by the mantra that Duncan lived by—his “Hero Rule” to “do the right thing for the right reasons” even when it seems easier just to solve the case based on the apparently-clear evidence and take the big paycheck. This book does a very good job exploring many of the dark (and gray) sides of the legal system. How often do defense attorneys encounter and represent people they know are guilty, yet they still represent them out of obligation (or for a paycheck)? How often do prosecutors know that the person they're prosecuting is innocent, yet they still do everything in their power to prove that they're guilty? How much do things like bias, racism, and prejudice play into courtroom decisions? How often are court cases decided by who can afford the better lawyer? How often do we see travesties of justice? How often do we see court decisions be based on what seems to be the simplest and most straight-forward conclusion (i.e. Occam's Razor)? How often do courts, for the sake of brevity or shear laziness, avoid digging deeper for the truth? It made us think about the attorneys of these mass-shooters or serial killers who have a truly unenviable job of representing and trying to defend these absolutely terrible people, some of whom you wouldn't even want to be alone in a room with. It also made us wonder about things like reasonable doubt and probable cause. This book is really phenomenal as a sort of murder-mystery and courtroom thriller. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Now, this is how you start a novel! Throw your characters right into the fire, right into the heat of the action, and allow the audience to see the curtains progressively fold back, revealing more and more context. Magic, Mystery, and the Multiverse kicks off with one of the tensest and great opening chapters that we've read since Justifiable Deceit. We're introduced to Ana, an actress-turned-adventurer, as she finds herself in quite a predicament: caught in a time and place where she is considered a “witch” and sentenced to be burned at the stake, all the while harassed by giant spiders in her cell. So, the discomfort level is up to 11. We gathered a lot of vibes from this book. It definitely has shades of Peter Pan and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In fact, Aunt Wendy may be a direct reference to Wendy from Peter Pan, and the naming convention of this novel matches the style of C.S. Lewis. There's even a wardrobe that acts as a portal at one point. Like these aforementioned works, the novel blends and contrasts the real world—our universe—with an alternate, fantastical world(s): parallel universes, different timelines, alternate realities. This is all made possible by the Marvelous Multiverse app. That's right, an app that sucks you down a rabbit hole and pulls you into a TARDIS (both literally and figuratively). Also, this book pretty much has Weeping Angels in it (from Doctor Who). There might be some social commentary there as apps and A.I. have become almost scary in their usefulness—replacing utilities and people in various regards. They've become a huge part of just about everyone's life in the 21st Century. Furthermore, this book kinda plays with the idea that virtual reality and video games have become so realistic, they might even overlap with our reality in the future. Think about how you “become” Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid or “become” Joel in The Last of Us. You experience some of what they experience—the frustration, the pain, the fear, the sadness, etc. What if you truly BECAME the person in those games and had to experience everything in their universe. That would be both cool and very scary! Ana (often humorous called by her nickname, “Ana Banana”) is a really fun character to follow. She really leaps out of the pages and excites the reader with her youthful pep and spunk. She distinctly has violet eyes, perhaps a homage to actress Elizabeth Taylor. Ana is often accompanied by her little brother, Zachary, who gives Ana someone to fight for and look after. She is constantly trying to feed him and make sure he's safe and healthy while still keeping him involved in her adventures. Ana kinda reminded us of Wendy Darling while Zachary reminded us of Wendy's eldest brother, John Darling. Zachary is not just a little inept twerp on an escort mission. He's actually quite capable in his own right, and actually tries to talk some sense into Ana when she's being irrational or impulsive. He's also rather heroic and has at least one major moment of self sacrifice. He deeply cares about his sister and her safety just as much as she cares about him. He also has the misfortune of battling cancer, something which quite cleverly comes into play. The bond between the siblings might be the most powerful, beautiful thing about this book. It's a great book about siblings cooperating and working together for a common purpose. The world-building is also quite notable. Opus Dei, an enigmatic king, is viewed as the “god” of this particular universe. His main enforcers, Sensors, ensure that his word is law and that any deviation is punishable by death and/or corporal punishment. There are some references to 1984 in here with the Sensors working with the “Thought Police” and the oppression of this government (a sort of theocracy in this case) being ever-present. They even persecute “Word Crimes.” Among the leaders of the Sensors is the very hot and very sexy Crimson Sensor, who is basically your ex-wife if she were given a personal army and inquisition equipment. She might be a candidate for “Hottest Character” anyway based on how she's physically described. Also in this world is an equally-enigmatic wizard named Snapdragon, a legendary magic-user who is said to possess the ability to heal people. Snapdragon is sort of like the Gandalf of this book. This book is legitimately inspired, and actually gave us “the feels” a few times. Check it out on Amazon! |
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