Recent Updates and Currently Reading | April 30

Hi, friends! I have great news (for me anyways). I managed to catch up on some review writing this week so stay tuned for some actual reviews. Thank you for continuing to support how thoroughly inconsistent I can be!

We took a day trip out to Galveston yesterday, and we got to visit the museum and the rainforest. The dolphins were out on the ferry ride over so it was a nice getaway.

Finished Reading

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon ⭐⭐⭐★★ - Fun alien smut buddy read with friends. Review coming soon.

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune ⭐⭐⭐★★ - I loved this book, but the pacing was a struggle for me. Review this week.

Currently Reading

City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Trying to tackle this one just after reading In the Lives of Puppets may be a mistake, but I'm planning to start this one today. We'll see how it goes.

Added to the TBR

Pomegranates by Priya Sharma - I loved Priya Sharma's Ormeshadow {my review of Ormeshadow}. I'm excited to check this one out. (Thank you, Priya.)

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - I forgot to mention in my last update my copy of Tress of the Emerald Sear finally arrived.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | April 23

Hello, friends! Today I'm catching up on things around here as I was away for Easter weekend and tax weekend.

How has your reading year been so far? I feel like I haven't read as many books this year, but the quality of what I've been reading has been so good.

Finished Reading

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti [dnf] - This was a dnf for me. It's written in interview format which will be fun for some readers. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to put up with these teens being sassy, sarcastic, and annoying in the police interviews after their friend was ripped apart in the woods. I get it - but I don't want to read it. I'm the wrong demographic so don't discount this for the right YA reader.

Beach Read by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - I went to the beach for Easter, and this was the perfect slump buster to bring with me!

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - Yay for book club this month! I finally got to read Sea of Tranquility. I thought it was great.

Currently Reading

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune - I'm 100 pages in and loving it so far. The characters are so unique and the messages are lovely so far.

Added to the TBR

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - Eeek! I'm so excited about this one, and it's chunky!! "A gripping, page turner set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephen Jones as he's sent to a segregated reform school and sees the horrors of racism and injustice for both the living and the dead." I love Tananarive Due. Thank you to Saga Press for sending me this. It releases in October.

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward - I will read anything by Catriona Ward. Anything. This is a "twisty psychological horror". Many thanks to Tor Nightfire for the review copy.

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown - An interstellar space horror and it's a debut? YES! This is going to be one of my next reads. Probably next weekend so I can binge it in one sitting. Again, thanks to Tor Nightfire.

Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey - I love M.R. Carey. He's another must read author for me. This chunky multiverse scifi is supposed to be "genre-defying" so I'm excited to see what's in store. Thanks go to Orbit for sending this to me!

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling - I had been eyeing Camp Zero so I was excited to see it in the Book of the Month selections. It was meant to be.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | April 2

Hi, reader friends! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Book Lovers has been optioned for film. There's already a screen writer attached so fingers crossed!

Speaking of movies, we watched Murder Mystery 2 this weekend on Netflix. Adam Sandler movies are pretty cheesy, but I love them. We also finally watched Jurassic World Dominion. I had low expectations so it turned out OK enough.

Posted Last Week

Review | Chlorine by Jade Song ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Loved this literary fiction/horror/coming of age novel.

Finished Reading

Chlorine by Jade Song ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Last week I mentioned the lack of horror in this literary horror tale, and boy was I wrong. It appeared alright. I posted a link to my review above. 

Currently Reading

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez - I'm back to reading Our Share of Night. It's a chunky one, and I'm taking my time with it. I suspect I'll be reading this one for a while.

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher - I started listening to this while playing Stardew Valley yesterday. Is there a greater way to relax while the family is still asleep? Probably not. 

Added to the TBR

The Replacement by Lindsey Duga - My son had a book fair at his school this past week so we went to family night together. I was excited to see Lindsey Duga's latest release because I haven't read this one yet!

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Review | Chlorine by Jade Song

Chlorine is a debut literary fiction/horror novel by Jade Song.

In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a debut novel that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale, told from an adult perspective on the trials and tribulations of growing up in a society that puts pressure on young women and their bodies... a powerful, relevant novel of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming.

Ren Yu is a swimmer. Her daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach, her guiding light. If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, go to a good school. Her parents will love her. Her coach will be kind to her. She will have a good life.

But these are human concerns. These are the concerns of those confined to land, those with legs. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. Ones that called sailors to their doom. Ones that dragged them down and drowned them. Ones that feasted on their flesh. Ones of the creature that she's always longed to become: mermaid.

Ren aches to be in the water. She dreams of the scent of chlorine--the feel of it on her skin. And she will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter the pain. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter how much blood she has to spill.

Wow - I have so many feelings about Chlorine! I will start with the most important since that's why we are all here - I loved this book.

Chlorine is a debut coming-of-age novel that follows Ren Yu - a swimmer who grew up loving tales of mermaids and the water. I could really relate to Ren and her obsession with being in the water. In fact, the synopsis for Chlorine sounded like a perfect read for me, and it was.

The comparison to Han Kang's The Vegetarian had me curious about what kind of horror I would find in Chlorine (In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a debut novel that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale...). I find sometimes a book that is strange or unsettling gets labeled as horror because there's not really another marketing box to put it in. I wondered if this was the case with Chlorine and for the first 150+ pages I feared I was right. Chlorine is a wonderful work of literary fiction. The character building was incredible, and I was heavily invested in the story. I was side-eyeing the claims of "horror" in Chlorine until Jade Song spelled out for the reader exactly what horror was going to take place, and I absolutely could not look away.

So be warned. This book is wonderful. I loved it, and it will be one of my favorite books of the year, but the last 100 pages are disturbing. They're amazing, but they're disturbing. I had to put the book down, take some breaths, and pick it right back up again.

I loved these characters, and I miss these characters already. Chlorine is a really great coming-of-age story, and I highly recommend it if you can handle having horror in your literary fiction. I think I'm going to buy this one for my mom for Mother's Day, and you should treat yourself, too.

5/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Recent Updates and Currently Reading | March 26

Hi, reader friends! 

Did you see the article written about Brandon Sanderson this week? It was published in Wired. I hate to even link to it (or give it more views), but it was such a bizarre article. The author of the article went out to Utah to spend several days learning about why Brandon Sanderson is so popular. He stayed in Sanderson's home, met his friends and family, went to his fan convention, and even went with his family to an amusement park. He had pre-conceived notions and a clear intent to uncover dark secrets and write a hit piece on Sanderson, but he got there and found Sanderson is everything everyone claims he is - a hard working guy who loves his family and his company and loves to write. Instead of changing his agenda and writing a real story from all of the insight he should have gained while having all of that personal access, he wound up writing a mean-spirited article with no direction and no point that insulted not only Sanderson and his family but everyone in the Fantasy community.

What I really want to point out is Sanderson's response to the article. He is so very kind and so much can be learned from his response.

Posted Last Week

Book Review | The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review | Book Lovers by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Two 5⭐ reviews! Go check them out!

Finished Reading

Book Lovers by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I finished Book Lovers shortly after posting last week, and the ending was exactly what I wanted. Book Lovers turned out to be such a good read. 

Currently Reading

Chlorine by Jade Song - I am about halfway through Chlorine. I am very invested in the characters, but I'm starting to wonder about the promise of "horror" in this debut. Sometimes books that are strange get classified as horror and that's fair here (I guess) since it's being compared to The Vegetarian which falls to that same categorization. 

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.