Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

  • Book Highlight: Dangerous Creatures

    This spin off duology from Kim Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Beautiful Creatures quartet follows fan favorites, Wesley “Link” Lincoln and Ridley Duchaness. The adorkable wannabe rocker and the emotionally-stunted bad girl of the Duchaness clan. This is mainly Ridley’s story as you can tell from the beginning that she is fully aware of her Dark Caster. She makes no bones that she is not the saintly princess you’d want to take home to your mom, she’s the siren that will tear your castle down.

    And if you’re like me, that kind of intro makes for my favorite kind of anti-hero. She knows she’s cursed and most of the time she embraces it, but you can also see the underlying sadness and bitterness that comes from being seen as the “bad one” almost all your life. What can you do but embrace it? Even if it warps your self-image and ability to believe that you’re capable of good relationship. Well. . . there’s a bit more to just Ridley’s insecurity in her relationship with Link.

    She has an underlying connection with the equally alluring and “broken” club owner, Lennox Gates. He’s the reason why Ridley and Link head over to NY for Link to make his big break. However, Ridley may have pulled some strings- a legit bad thing that will be the downfall of RidLink. As well as herself as Lennox is involved with other villains (that you remember from the original quartet) who targeting the Siren for his collection.

    I know I’m not explaining this very well, but it’s hard to talk about without spoilers or if you’re unfamiliar with the Beautiful Creatures quartet. But the main hook is exploring a girl’s insecurity and self loathing in a deeply emotional journey of possession, obssession and gilded cages. It’s as compelling as Lennox Gates who really gives Link a run for his money. But don’t worry Link gets plenty of chances to shine too, showing why he is the rockstar of Gatlin County plus an edgy cast of new supporting characters too alongside the old.

    Supposedly it’s a trilogy but since it’s been several years, it seems to be unfortunately canned which is sad because it was left on a huge cliffhanger.

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  • Musical Books

    What are your opinions on musical books?


    I have read quite a few last year and thoroughly enjoy not only getting to read the lyrics with its footnotes of inspiration and changed lines (while bopping to the soundtrack, of course) but I love getting a behind the scenes look from crafting the script, finding producers, finding the cast, the costumes and all that to bring a scrappy small idea to life as a bona-fide Broadway sensation.

    Some I haven’t seen like Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 but the book made me desperately wish to see it with its pop opera aesthetic and unique setting as a Russian club where you’re actually served appetizers.

    Others just add to its greatness, bringing another layer to all the talent behind the scenes and onstage like Hamilton: A Revolutionary Musical, giving credit to those we don’t always see onstage like the set designers, costumers and choreographers.

    And others just offer a chance, with its lyrics and dialogue, to feel like you’re seeing it live because Broadway tickets are expensive.

    What are your thoughts on musical books. Just another way for theatre geeks to spend cash or a helpful archive to how these spectacular pieces of art are made?

    Comment below!

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  • Women’s History Month Books P8

    Now for my final post for Women’s History Month. Woo woo, I can’t believe I got to 8!

    #NotYourPrincess by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

    This book is chock-full of essays, paintings, essays, inteviews stories and other mediums from Native American and First Nation women all over North America. It seeks to repair some of the damage left by colonial forces that sought to erase and oppress their voices. But they have risen and they have survived and are here to tell about the abuse, atrocities and stereotyping from the past to the present that people wish to ignore. They are sharing their stories and demanding change. It’s a raw book, and they do not sanitize the pain they’ve been through, but also has moments of cathartic reflection and hope for a better future.

    Imagining Ourselves, edited by Paula Goldman

    Another anathology that takes stories/essays/drawings/photos/other mediums from women around the world (literally there is an index separating the contributers from Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe Latin America, Middle East & North Africa, Sub Sahara Africa, North America, and Oceania). THis was part of the 2006 International Museum of Women Online Exhibit and Global Gathering which has now become a permenant museum. Created to highlight the achievements and changes brought on by this generation of women who were becoming educated, traveling, working, breaking boundaries in higher numbers than ever before. It started with the question of What defines your generation of women? The answers are as diverse and unique as the experiences of each woman herself. Some are famous like Isabelle Allende and Oksana Baiul, others may be well known in their respective fields like Hafsat Abiola while most are regular women who had a story to tell or only famous to their local communities. It highlights the changes in tradition and perspective, the challenges ahead, and the positive contribution of these women using their culture/strength/knowledge/convictions to bring about positive impact for future generations, and comprehensive in covering the many aspects of being a female or being a human in general as it is split into four sections: Inside (spirit, body, family/relaationships, self development), Outside (community, work, power), Between (generations, borders/identity) and Towards. Also includes articles and resources to fight against sex trafficking, HIV/AID, domestic violence and support reproductive health education, women in politics and the pay gap.

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  • Book Highlight: My Most Excellent Year

    I put this book under book highlights because I am so biasedly incapable of doing an objective review of this.

    This book by Steve Kluger is just wholesomely wonderful. Not in the sacherrine way but in a this is how life and people should be. Characters are everything to me when I read, and I love everyone in this book, I’d want to hang out with them. Plus the romance is legitimately sweet.

    The three mains are Tony or T.C. as he prefers to be called is a regular Boston Red Sox fans with an accent that has been called indecipherable. His “brother,” Auguie who is bound to be the next Broadway star as he is able to belt out “Always true to you in my fashion” better than the girls. And Ale, the new girl in school is the Mexican diplomat’s daughter, and activist but her dream of performing is a big no-no to her governmental family that becomes a close friend and something more to Tick.

    I love how each has such a distinct voice, and even as they tackle simple teenage stuff in the beginning like trying to ask out their crushes, first love, and school plays, there is a magical addition with Hucky.

    Hucky is a even year old deaf kid who has an amazing eye for when to strike a baseball pitch that T.C. bonds with. There is a certain connection between them as T.C.’s mom died when he was little. With seeing Hucky so alone and scared of connection for anyone besides the beloved movie figure, Mary Poppins, T.C. is determined to bring that magic to life for the kid.

    For that’s what this book is about when you get down to it, love and magic as each of the teens find out the real advice they’ve been looking for has come from the prim British tone of everyone’s favorite nanny.

    There’s more but it’s better to be read without knowing. But I will say, the romance and growth between T.C. and Ale is sweet and doesn’t go through the usual dragging-out of will they or won’t they as teen books are wont to do. Augie also gets his own entertaining romance without the gay angst, everyone is very accepting of his sexuality. So accepting he doesn’t even come out to them, he just bypasses to “how do I know if he likes me,” panic just like any hetero romance.

    Plus Hucky is just adorable.

    So go on, read this book as soon as you can. And if this doesn’t convince you, I found on goodreads almost unanimously positive reviews. Except one but clearly that guy has no heart. Point is, it’s a feel-good book.

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  • Dionysos: The New God Review

    Hey, it’s my birthday and I got the final book of George O’Connor’s The Olympians series as a gift. 

    And is Dionysos a fitting conclusion to this 10+ year series? You bet it is. 

    For those who don’t know, The Olympians is a comic series tackling each god in the Greek pantheon, depicting their fantastical myths, greatest foes and mentors to the Greek’s most famous champions. O’Connor has a great flair for not only illustrating expressive faces, humorous asides and action packed sequences, but he really highlights the humanity of the gods, showing why they have endearing to us for ages and why they were used by the Greeks to make sense of their world. 

    Dionysos is narrated by Hestia, which I adore as a nice full circle of the eldest goddess looking over the new god. Since both don’t have as many stories as the main eleven, it’s a good way of presenting them both since they tend to be most forgotten and are connected by the throne myth in the finale. 

    Not only does it give some depth to Hestia, but it is a true showcase to Dionysos, him being the star of the title.

    Dionysos is a classic coming of age story. Born of a human princess (accidentally killed thanks to Hera’e manipulations) and Zeus, he is hidden among mortals and later centaurs to be safe from Hera’s wrath. Understandably, he is confused about his destiny. He feels he is meant to be for bigger things but not sure how. 

    Then he invents wine for wine and revelry are the areas he excells. Hdecides that he’ll become the god of both, and become great enough, speading his invention across Greece, for the gods to notice him. 

    Like the other books in the series, it does a good job tracing Dionysos’ loves and his cunning with famous myths like his invasion of the Greek states to spread his creation of wine, the frenzy of his maened followers, his marriage to Ariadne, capture by pirates etc.

    Dionysos is often depicted as a fun loving god which fits his talent, and the raucous party scenes serve to restate that, but O’Connor also shows the vulnerabilties of Dionysos with how so many of his loved ones end up dead to which he questions whether he is to blame.

    Not that Dionysos is all fun and wine spills. He is still a god after all, and O’Connor reminds us of this when Dionysos uses his powers of insanity to make a fatal point to his enemies. Don’t mess with the fun ones.

    But the ending is the best, not only to bringing Dionysos up to the Olympian pantheon where we know he belongs, but serving a reminder that the Olympians may be unpredictable, powerful, untouchable, and their petty motivations may be incomprehensible to us mortals, they also share love, joy and fun times together too. Like the ultimate dysnfunctional family, which we can all relate to.

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  • Book Highlight: DC Comic Bombshells

    Okay so if you are a DC fan and badass women fan, you must read Marguerite Bennet’s amazing series, DC Comic Bombshells!

    It has badassery, it has feminism, it has women fighting nazis, it has women fighting bigots, it has women fighting in WWII, it has Eleanor Roosevelt as President! Really what could be a better alternate history to explore. Also the artwork is amazing nod to those pinup styles of the 1940s while also providing some modern flair with tattoos and such.

    As a history major and world traveller, Bennett did copious research not only into WW2 but also the Spanish Civil War, the colonialism and imperialism in Africa, Japanese internments and others so as to provide historical tidbits and realism even in this action packed story of superheroes. Also her goal to write three-dimensional women was well-met here as each women has their own story and complexities. And each in their own genres like Batwoman is a radio serial, Catwoman is a noir film, Supergirl as Russian propganda story etc. With art by various talented illustrators like Marguerite Sauvage, Kelly Fitzpatrick etc. that reflect that.

    Also if you’re concerned that in this girl power book that even the evil women will be seen as good, nope. Evil women are still evil even if they have sympathetic backstories, they are still acknowledged as bitgoted Nazi sympathesizers because part of being a feminsist is seeing women as equal as men. Including being equally evil. Same with the men being equally good like Steve Trevor and Arthur Curry and Superman here.

    Plus, as an alternate history it goes all out in representing a vast amount of ethnicities and sexualities.

    But the best part is that she almost included every DC heroine and villainess in this. Yes, even obscure ones like Isis and Felicity Smoke, and Lady Blackhawk and the female Question, Rene Montoya. It’s like something I always wanted to write, but it’s real and better than anything in my imagination.

    The only sad part is that I believe it got cut off too soon as the final volume showed various battles but it was so smashed together I felt like I missed a couple of issues as they smashed the final three of the war into like 5 pages, which is a shame because I felt this one could have the legs to keep going.

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  • Curse of the Blue Tattoo Review

    Starting right after Jacky is taken off the deck of the Dolphin, she is sent to Boston’s Peabody Lawson’s School for Young Ladies. The proper place for a female, but not the proper place for Jacky. Even though she’s determined to become a proper lady for her dear midshipman, Jaimy, our favorite sailor is meant for the sea and sometimes. . . the jail.

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  • Bobbie Faye’s Very (very, very, very) Bad Day Review

    I found this in my search for my comedoc mysteries like Stephanie Plum. While funny, I found it to be more like a comedic action flick on steroids.

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  • Book Highlight: Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman #1-2

    I’ll confess first, I thought this was going to be another funny crime comedy book in the vein of Stephanie Plum. While it did have some aspects of that since Maggie’s concussion gave her the magical ability to understand animals, and its all based in NJ, it has a lot more heart. Maggie has issues, and not just self deprecating single lady issues. 

    Her mother has a serious bipolar/schizo not quite diagnosed disorder that left Maggie feeling like she had to watch her mother and her 3 sisters. But one day, when she was busy making sure her mother didn’t cause a scene, her younger sister was kidnapped. She was never found and Maggie blamed herself (as well as resenting her mother). Especially when said kidnapped sister’s twin ended up overdosing herself to an early grave. And now Maggie has no sisters since she was in the car crash that killed her 3rd sister, the husband and left her niece in a coma. 

    Now that’s where the hitwoman comes in, I won’t tell you how she gets the job but I think it’s plausible enough if you hold the suspension of disbelief, and you can imagine why Maggie is desperate enough to take it to help her niece. 

    There is so much more to add like her hot love interest that cannot be since he’s married (to two different wives no less. There’s an explanation for it, trust me). God, short for Gozilla, her niece’s pet lizard provides the needed commentary and conscience. Not to mention there’s the supporting cast of her family members like her three crazy aunts who semi-raised her, and her jailed father (also a long story) as well as the niggling worry that maybe she is going to head to the asylum next door to her mother. Plus the emotional payoff in the end makes it all worth it.

    Anyway, the second book is just as good as the first with how the character progression never remains static and the characters are always showing new sides to themselves that you’re never sure whether they are as bad as they seem (I still got my eye on you, Templeton) or that their good guy veneer hides a hot tempered psycho (I seriously want to know what is Paul’s deal?). There’s a lot more going on but I’m keeping it vague since more people should read it and then come discuss it with me.

    Unfortunately only the first two are in paperback, the rest on kindle which may be more environmentally friendly but I will go cross eyed if I stare intently at a screen too long. But I still really want to know what happens next!

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  • Things You Won’t Say Review

    This was a very timely novel in light of police brutality in the news and everywhere else. 

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