ginasbookreport

Oye by Melissa Mogollon Publisher: Hogarth an imprint of Random House Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Literature / Fiction / Humor Read This If You Love: The Guncle by Steven Rowley / The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren “Pain! Beauty! Resilience! And silicone! All tightly packed in one.” Oye by Melissa Mogollon is a masterpiece of a humorous coming-of-age story with a twist. Luciana (Nana) is entering her last year of high school and is balancing figuring out who she is, being accepted, adjusting to her sister living away at college, and navigating her quirky family and their love. The book is a lovely, funny, touching tale of a young woman coming into her own voice and learning lessons from her fearless grandmother—a character readers are sure to love and NEVER forget. Oye opens with the quote  “Entre broma y broma, la verdad se asoma.” roughly…  “Many a true word is spoken in jest.”—Everyone’s Mother That quote sums up this novel so well. Nana pulls no pu...

Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk Publisher: Tordotcom Book Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Noir / LGBTQ Read This If You Love: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue “I called out to the devil, and the devil came to me.” Even Though I Knew the End  by C. L. Polk is a supernatural noir mystery novella that tells the story of the mystic detective. Tasked with uncovering the White City Vampire in 1941 Chicago, this atmospheric sapphic novel is brilliantly crafted. The writing is so well developed and is matched by the superior character development. A new take on the gumshoe detective novel, I hope Polk delivers more stories with these characters!

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole Publisher: William Morrow  Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Domestic Suspense / Mystery / Psychological Thriller Read This If You Love: The Other Black Girl “Come to find out the voice was already compromised by a whole damn castle full of other people and after everything I’d dumped on them, they disliked me as much as I disliked myself.” One of Us Knows  is an amazing book that I already have in the running for my 2024 book of the year. It is a mystery/thriller novel, but the way it is told and the dissociative identity disorder framing of it also sets it apart. It takes on some aspects of a horror novel or even a science fiction slant. It cleverly uses the storm trapped island trope and turns that on its head because our pool of potential killers isn’t limited. It’s a unique and fresh take on the mystery and thriller genre and I couldn’t get enough of it! ***Note: I’m not going to give any sort of synopsis on purpose. I wa...

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin Publisher: Atria Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Literature / LGBTQIA+ / Romance Read This If You Love: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine / Lessons in Chemistry / The Guncle “I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I want to be. I wish I were someone different.” Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin is a masterful piece of dark humor, wit, and emotion. Enid is finding her way in the world and it isn’t always easy when you see the world in a different way than those around you. Managing difficult family relationships, mental health journeys, and navigating accidental complicated romantic situations is full of pitfalls and Enid’s processing of it all will have you chuckling to yourself. Well, until something nefarious seems to be going on? Is someone after Enid or is she paranoid? Is it just her mind playing tricks on her because she is so obsessed with listening to true crime podcasts? Oh…and if you want ...

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott Publisher: Anchor Books Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction Read This If You Love: Neil Gaiman books / American Gods “Kill the lantern, raise the ghost.” My husband and I read Thistlefoot  as a buddy read, so you will see here our individual reviews.  Gina’s Take on Thistlefoot Bellatine and Isaac Yaga live in a mirror world of our own that possesses mystical happenings and powers. Estranged from one another, Bellatine is more comfortable with her carpentry and quiet life and Isaac is a shapeshifting nomad. All that is until they receive an inheritance from a distant ancestor. An inheritance that also comes with being pursued by the Longshadow Man. What does he want and just how dangerous is he?  Thistlefoot  is a dark fairy tale combined with folklore and mixed with modern fantasy. Nethercott masterfully crafts a fantasy world against which she paints the picture of our generational connection...

The Bat by Jo Nesbo Publisher:  Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️ Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Suspense Read This If You Love: Michael Connelly Bosch series I typically like Nordic Noir and I’ve read such wonderful things about Jo Nesbo’s Snowman . I decided to start with book one in his Harry Hole series by reading The Bat . Unfortunately, I really didn’t like the book, Harry, or the writing style at all. As they say, “It’s just not for me.” I did finish the book, so it did earn that second star, although I think I only made it through because I read it partially via audiobook and partially paperback. So, what were my issues with the book? It leans on all the male detective tropes that drive me a bit crazy: recovering/relapsing alcoholic, tragic love life in past, sleeping way through women tangentially involved in cases, massive trauma that has “changed them,” and lots of “manly man” gotta fight scenes. It...

A Mirror Mended (Fractured Fable series) by Alix E. Harrow Publisher:  Tor.com Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre:  Sci-fi/Fantasy Read This If You Love:  Wicked  / The Ten Thousand Doors of January Live as happily for as long as you have. - Zinnia Another piece of writing from the amazing writer, Alix E. Harrow. If you have been reading the blog, you will know that I absolutely fell in love with this author’s writing style and storytelling when I read The Ten Thousand Doors of January . (If you haven’t read it yet, get a copy now!) After finishing that book, I decided to read as much of her work as possible and read A Spindle Splintered , which is the first in the Fractured Fable series. A Mirror Mended  is the second in this series. Since we last saw her, Zinnia Gray has continued eluding death from her rare terminal illness. She has bought herself time by traveling through all the realms of Sleeping Beauty fairy tales. Her latest jump through the s...

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fable series) by Alix E. Harrow Publisher:  Tordotcom Ginasbookreport Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Fantasy Read This If You Love: Wicked  or The Ten Thousand Doors of January My own will might matter. — Zinnia Gray Zinnia Gray is terminally ill from an industrial accident. Her rare condition has never been survived past the age of 21. Charm, Zinnia’s best friend, throws her a fairy tale-themed birthday bash. Suddenly, Zinnia is transported into Perceforest, which is a far cry from Ohio. Perceforest is a realm in which she must do more than try not to die, but actually strive to live.  At its core, A Spindle Splintered , is a fairy-tale re-imagining of the classic Sleeping Beauty . However, this short novel is so much more than the classic damsel in distress with no autonomy of her own. This is a modern feminist fairy tale where curses are actually cussing and women get a voice. This series from Harrow is what happens when women get to writ...