April Wrap-Up – Crying & Cringing & Cake, Oh My

The Giver Of Stars - Jojo Moyes

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This book was incredible. I was entranced with the writing and the story and I want to be best friends with Moyes's characters. I have read very few if any historical fiction pieces that I enjoyed as much as this one.

The Giver of Stars is the story of the first Packhorse Librarians- a group of women who rode long distances during the Great Depression to bring books far and wide to less fortunate families. The plot alone intrigues me, but I had no idea how much I would adore this story. Each character is more lovable than the last, and the audiobook made this experience even more fun! The narrator was so good at voicing the characters that this honestly felt like listening to a piece of theater. If you feel like checking it out, I have a longer review up here. 🤓

Black Rifle - Alex Davidson

⭑⭑

As a foreword, I’m super excited because this was the first book that I received from a Goodreads giveaway, so thank you to everyone at Goodreads who will not read this review.

I wrote a very pleasant, while not gushing, review of this book on GR because I am all about supporting the newly-published author, but on my own site I will do whatever I please, thankyouverymuch.

I…hated this book. Like truly. I was initially excited by the premise; the book is about the intricacies of what happens after a pro-gun senator’s daughter gets killed in a mass shooting. I thought that a novel discussing the issues of gun control would be topical and important, and those issues were definitely raised, but the writing. Was so. Bad.

Just at the tip of the iceberg, there were several typos, including spelling characters’ names wrong, and occasionally using the wrong character’s name entirely. Soapy, over-the-top clichés were used in abundance, to the point where I have a suspicion the author was watching a B-list thriller movie marathon while he was writing the book. The one thing that truly bugged me throughout the novel was the number of characters that were introduced. There were several new people in each chapter, and some were intricately introduced and then simply never heard from again. I love the idea of several storylines overlapping and intertwining, but there was just too much going on. I did empathize and care for the protagonist and her story, but she was sometimes swallowed by everything else happening around her. I hate to give a negative review on something that is so newly released, but they can’t all be 5-stars. 😬

Whispers on the Waves - Kim Mann

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This book was comprised of short stories told from the POV of several wild Canadian creatures. The stories were pleasant and easy to read, while offering facts about woodland wildlife peppered throughout. I think this book would be awesome to read to a younger age group; the stories were brief and informative about the naturalistic world, and they all tied up in different moral-colored bows. If you’re looking for something sweet and easy, this is a great pick!
I received a copy of this book courtesy of Goodreads.🤩

Call Me By Your Name - André Aciman

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I am bordering on too emotionally devastated to properly write this one up. A friend recommended this book to me for months, and I always told her I’d get to it, that I had better things to read. SO, so wrong. I initially thought I would be repelled by a young character constantly gushing with purple prose. But I adored Elio. His narrative was romantic and nostalgic, and I think his painful detail is reminiscent of how many people feel after their first dose of an infatuation.

This was not just another teenager whining about his flavor of the week, but instead offers a much more adult perspective on the longing he is feeling. This, coupled with the fact that Elio’s love interest is about ten years his senior, does not provide the sappy beach read I thought I signed up for. While this novel is extremely emotionally charged and is abundant in hormones, there are a lot of very real and adult things that Elio is feeling about his summer romance. This novel documents a kind of melancholy uncertainty; I think everyone can relate closely to Elio in one way or another. I loved it, I cried, I will definitely be re-reading in the future.

Fat Girl Finishing School - Rachel Wiley

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April POtM Alert! Rachel Wiley is a badass. I’ve been watching her spoken word work for a few years, but this was the first book I’ve read of hers. Many of the poems in this collection display Wiley’s tribulations living as both an overweight woman and a white-passing mixed-race person. Wiley conveys these ideas in a way that is so human, and utilizes humor so expertly in her poems that it was difficult to not read in one sitting. BRB, adding all of Wiley’s other books to my ~independent bookstore~ cart.