#big nate’s book reviews

[lordfarragut]

we made it everyone. end of the year content alignment chart.

i’m interested to look back on this considering how well my last one aged: https://www.tumblr.com/lordfarragut/712362985953312768/tw-cringe-making-this-mostly-bc-i-consume-a-lot

[matttgirlies]

Matt & Me🎀

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

a story heavily based on Priscilla Presley’s Book “Elvis & Me” based in the 1950’s - 1970’s.

fem! reader x singer! matt

disclaimer!! - in no way am i saying matt would ever support or do these kind of things, for the sake of the book certain unethical things do happen at times.

warnings - mentions of guns,, drug use,, threats,, mentions of affairs

y/nn = your nickname for any confusion🩷

Chapter 21

Putting together the best musicians, sound and lighting technicians, costumers, and choreographers, he was taking no chances this time. He scoured the music scene for the top sidemen in the business. Auditions were held and he handpicked each player—names such as James Burton, John Wilkinson, Ronny Tutt, Glen D. Hardin, Jerry Scheff. He loved the sound of the Sweet Inspirations, backup group for Aretha Franklin, and he hired them on the spot as a warmup act and to sing backup vocals. He also hired his favorite gospel group, the Imperial Quartet.

Before leaving Los Angeles, Matt rehearsed at RCA Sound Studios for ten days and then polished the act for a full week prior to the opening. It was the event of the summer in Vegas. Colonel Parker brought the preopening publicity to fever pitch. Billboards were up all over town. On the third floor of the International, administrative offices bustled with activity. No other entertainer coming into Vegas had ever stimulated this kind of excitement. The hotel lobby was dominated by Matt paraphernalia—pictures, posters, T-shirts, stuffed animals, balloons, records, souvenir programs. You’d think Barnum and Bailey were coming to town.

Back home there was also excitement as we girls discussed what we’d wear to the opening. ���I want you to look extra special, Baby,” Matt said. “This is a big night for all of us.” I hit every boutique in West L.A. before finding just the right outfit.

Though it had been nine years since Matt had given a live performance, you never would have known it from his opening. The audience cheered the moment he stepped onstage and never stopped the entire two hours as Matt sang, “All Shook Up,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “In the Ghetto,” “Tiger Man,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” He mixed the old with the new, the fast and hot with the lyrical and romantic. It was the first time I’d ever seen Matt perform live. Wanting to surprise me, he had kept me from rehearsals. I was astounded. At the end he left them still cheering and begging for more.

Cary Grant was among the stars who came backstage to congratulate him after the show. But the most touching moment was when Colonel William arrived with tears in his eyes, wanting to know where his boy was. Matt came out of the dressing room and the two men embraced. I believe everyone felt their emotion in that moment of triumph.

I don’t think we slept that night. Nate Doe brought in all the newspapers and we read the rave reviews declaring, “Matt was great” and “He never looked or sang better.” He shared credit for his new success with all of us.

“Well, we did it. It’s going to be a long thirty days, but it’s going to be worth it if we get the reception we got last night. I may have been a real tyrant, but it was well worth it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” we all agreed, laughing. “You were a tyrant.”

The International Hotel was delirious over Matt’s performance and the box-office receipts. The following day they signed a fiveyear contract with the Colonel for Matt to appear twice a year, usually around the same time, January and August, at the then unheardof salary of one million dollars a year.

Matt literally took over Las Vegas for the entire month he was there, playing to a packed house every show as thousands more were turned away. No matter where we looked, all we could see was the name Matt—on television, newspapers, banners, and billboards. The King had returned.

Initially, Matt’s triumph in Las Vegas brought a new vitality to our marriage. He seemed a different person. Once again, he felt confident about himself as a performer and he continued to watch his weight and work out every day at karate.

It was also the first time that I felt we were functioning as a team. I made several trips to New York, trying to find unique accessories for him to wear onstage. I bought scarves, jewelry, and a black leather belt with chain links all around it that Bill Belew would later copy for the famous Matt jumpsuit belts.

I loved seeing him healthy and happy again, and I especially enjoyed our early days in Vegas. The International provided an elegant three-bedroom suite that we turned into our home away from home. During his show I always sat at the same table down front, never tiring of watching him perform. He was spontaneous and one never knew what to expect from him.

On occasion, after his midnight show, we’d catch lounge acts of other performers playing Vegas or we’d gamble until dawn. Other times we’d relax backstage, visiting with entertainers captivated by his performance. This was the first time I’d been with Matt at a high point in his career.

With the renewed fame came renewed dangers. Offstage he could be guarded by Sonny and Red. Onstage he was a walking target. One night that summer Nate and Sonny were tipped off that a woman in the audience was carrying a gun and had threatened to shoot Matt. A true professional, Matt insisted on going on. Additional precautions were taken and everyone was on the alert. Matt was instructed to stay downstage, making himself a smaller target, and Sonny and Jerry were poised to jump in front of him at the slightest sign of suspicious movement in the audience. Red was positioned in the audience with the FBI agents.

The show seemed to take an eternity. I glanced at Patsy apprehensively and she in turn grasped my hand as we comforted each other, longing for the night to end without incident. James remained backstage, never letting Matt out of his sight and praying, “Dear God, don’t let anything happen to my son.”

Because of this and other threats, extra security was arranged wherever Matt appeared. Entrances through backstages, kitchens, back elevators, and side exits became routine.

Matt had his own theory about assassinations, based on the murders of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. He felt that the assassins gloated over their “accomplishments,” and told his bodyguards that if any attempt were made on his life, they should get the killer—even before the police. He didn’t want anyone bragging to the media that they’d killed Matt Sturniolo.

Sonny and Red lived in so much tension these days that they were constantly frenzied. Suspicious in crowds of overzealous fans, they were quick to respond to any sign of danger. Compared to Sonny’s diplomacy, Red’s reputation was to act first and ask questions later. Eventually, numerous assault-and-battery charges started piling up against Matt. When James warned him about Sonny and Red’s aggressiveness, Matt said, “Goddamn, Red. I hired you to keep the sons of bitches away from me, not get me in any legal binds. Somehow you’re going to have to control that redheaded temper of yours.”

Although Matt would joke about the death threats—and there would be several more throughout the Vegas commitments—the fear and constant need for security heightened the pressure of nightly performing.

In the beginning when Matt began doing regular Vegas engagements, we girls visited frequently. We’d fly in over the weekend, sometimes bringing our children, spend three or four days, and then return home.

On the days we were apart I’d take hundreds of Polaroids and home movies of Charlotte. She was growing so rapidly I didn’t want him to miss out on her development. Daily he’d receive his “care packages,” as I’d refer to them, including tape recordings of me teaching Charlotte new words and Charlotte mimicking me. Each week, upon my arrival, I’d paste photos on the mirrors in his bedroom to remind him that he had a wife and child.

During his first couple of engagements he still seemed humbled by lingering doubts of whether the public was fully accepting him. At this point he had no interest in outside affairs or flirtations, his concentration on daily rehearsals and performances every evening excluding everything else.

Later he would become more cocky. The crowds’ admiration took him back to his triumphs in the early fifties and he found it hard to come down to earth after a month of nightly cheers. His name on the International’s huge marquee would be replaced by the next superstar. The offices on the third floor would be cleared out and incoming calls for reservations would stop.

Thriving on all the excitement, glamour, and hysteria, he found it difficult to go home and resume his role as father and husband. And for me the impossibility of replacing the crowd’s adoration became a real-life nightmare.

At home in Los Angeles, there was just the usual group around—strictly a family atmosphere. This abrupt change was too much for him and soon he developed the habit of lingering in Vegas for days, sometimes weeks, after a show. The boys were finding it increasingly difficult to resolve the conflict between working for Matt and maintaining a home life.

Crazed with inactivity and boredom, Matt became edgy and temperamental, a condition exacerbated by the Dexedrine he was again taking to control his weight.

Sometimes, to ease the transition home, Matt would insist we all pile into cars and head for Palm Springs. Since our marriage we had spent-many weekends there sunning and watching football games and late-night television, but after Charlotte was born, my needs changed. The Palm Springs heat was too much for her, the long drive boring, the idleness of resort life wearying. One weekend I suggested, “Matt, why don’t just you and the guys go down?”

From that time on, the guys developed their own lifestyle in our secluded desert home. Occasionally we wives would be invited to spend the weekend, but by and large, Matt now considered Palm Springs his private refuge.

He made it clear that this time away was good for him, giving him a chance to think, to hang out with the guys. In reality Matt was lost. He did not know what to do with himself after Vegas. He escaped in more powerful, unnecessary prescribed drugs to raise his spirits and ward off boredom.

After he had conquered Vegas, it was agreed that Matt should go back on the road. Colonel immediately began booking concert tours around the nation, starting with an impressive run of six sold-out shows in the Houston Astrodome, which earned over one million dollars in three nights.

The night I arrived in Texas to watch the performance, Amber, Judy, and I flew in on a private jet. I looked down on the Astrodome and found it hard to believe my eyes. The length of a football field—and already sold out. It made me nervous. I could imagine how Matt felt.

Matt too found the Astrodome overwhelming. “Goddamn,” he said when he first walked in. “They expect me to sell this son of a bitch out? It’s a goddamn ocean.”

However dwarfed he was by the giant facility, he electrified his audience. Houston was our first run-in with mass hysteria. The limousine was strategically parked by the stage door for Matt’s immediate getaway. Even so, screaming fans surrounded the car, frantically yelling out his name, presenting flowers, and trying to touch him.

If anything, Houston was an even greater victory than Vegas. The King of Rock and Roll was back on top. The strain of sustaining such a hype was just beginning and, for the moment, I could believe that everything would still be all right. I did not realize the extent to which Matt’s touring was going to separate us, that this in fact was the beginning of the end. After Houston Matt began crossing the country, making one-night stands, flying by day, trying to catch some sleep to maintain the high energy level demanded by his performances. From 1971 on, he toured more than any other artist—three weeks at a time with no days off and two shows on Saturdays and Sundays.

I missed him. We talked constantly of being together more, but he knew that if he let me join him, he couldn’t refuse the requests from regulars whose marriages were also feeling the strain of long separations. For a while a group of us would fly in from time to time, but this didn’t last long. Matt noticed that his employees were lax in discharging their duties to him when spouses were present, and he established a new policy: No wives on the road.

I didn’t really miss the one-night stands, a tedious routine at best: Jump off the plane, rush to the hotel, unpack as little as possible, since you had to check out the next day, go to the performance, then back to the hotel for a little rest before heading back to the airport. Everything was the same except for the name of the town.

It was the day Matt suggested I come to Vegas less often that I became really upset and suspicious. He’d decided that we wives would attend opening and closing nights only.

I knew then I’d have to fight for our relationship or accept the fact that we were now gradually going to grow apart as so many couples in show business do. As a couple, we’d never sat down to plan out a future. Matt, individually, was stretching as an artist, but as man and wife we needed a common reality.

The chances of our marriage surviving were slim indeed as long as he continued to live apart from Charlotte and me, and in bachelor quarters at that. It came down to how much longer I could stand the separation. Matt wanted to have his cake and eat it too. And now, as the tours and long engagements took him even further from his family, I realized that we might never reach my dreams of togetherness.

I had trouble believing that Matt was always faithful, and the more he kept us apart, the more my suspicions grew.

Now when we went to Vegas, I felt more comfortable at the openings. He was always preoccupied with the show and I felt he needed me then. On closing nights I always felt uneasy. Too many days had gone by, enough time for suspicions to poison my thoughts. The Vegas maître d’s invariably planted a bevy of beauties in the front rows for the entertainer to play to. Curious, I would scan their faces while watching Matt closely to see if he seemed to direct his songs to any girl in particular. Suspicious of everyone, my heart ached—but we were never able to talk about it. It was to be accepted as part of the job.

Backstage one night James was jokingly negotiating for a key that had been tossed to Matt. She was an attractive middle-aged blonde—James’s type. Matt said, “Dad, you’ve got enough problems at home with one blonde. You certainly don’t need two.”

“Well, okay,” James said. “You’re going to have problems of your own if your wife goes out in the street looking like that.” I had begun wearing skimpy knit dresses and see-through fabrics that were daringly revealing. Steven and Charlie whistled and gave wolfcalls, while Matt proudly showed me off.

The jokes I played on him were also efforts to get his attention. One night, after he’d left early for a show, I put on a black dress with a black hood and an exceptionally low-cut back. When it came time for Matt to give away kisses to the girls in the audience—a regular part of his show—I went up to the stage. Instead of kissing me, he kept on singing his song, leaving me to stand there. With my hair hiding the dress strap around my neck, I appeared from the back to be nude from the waist up. I could hear the “oooh”s and “ahhhh”s of the audience. They were under the impression that a topless girl had cornered Matt and that he couldn’t figure out what to do.

I kept whispering to him, “Kiss me, kiss me, so I can sit down,” but he decided to turn the joke on me, and made me wait in the spotlight for the duration of the song. Planting a big kiss on my lips, he surprisingly introduced me to the audience. I felt a bit embarrassed and made my way back to my seat.

Later in the show he’d strut back and forth onstage, tease his audience, talk to them, tell them stories, even confide in them. “You know,” he’d say, “some people in this town get a little greedy. I know you folks save a long time to come and hear me sing. I just want you to know, as far as I’m concerned, there won’t be any exorbitant raise in price when you come back. I’m here to entertain you and that’s all I care about.”

Matt was having an ongoing love affair with his audience and the next time I was home alone I knew I had no choice but to start more of a life of my own.

It was with that thought in mind that Amber, my sister Michelle, and I planned a short trip to Palm Springs. In the course of the weekend I opened the mailbox to check the mail and found a number of letters from girls who had obviously been to the house, one in particular signed “Lizard Tongue.” My immediate response was disbelief, followed by outrage. I dialed Vegas and demanded that Nate find Matt and bring him to the telephone. When Nate said Matt was sleeping, I told him about the letters and insisted I speak to Matt. Nate promised that he would have Matt call as soon as he woke up. He did, but it was clear that Nate had filled him in on the situation and Matt had his explanation ready. He was totally innocent, the girls were just fans, they were out of their minds if they said they’d ever come to the house, and besides, it was their word against his. As usual, in the end I apologized for putting him on the spot, but things at this point were becoming too obvious.

He said, “Get out and do things while I’m gone, because if you don’t, you’re going to start getting depressed.”

Although my choices were limited—he still objected to my taking a job or enrolling in classes at college—I continued my dancing and started taking private art instruction.

Matt was a born entertainer and although he tried to avoid crowds, disliked restaurants, and complained he “couldn’t get out like a normal person,” this life-style suited him. He handpicked the people he wanted to be around him—to work with and travel withand they adjusted to his routine and his hours and his temperament. It was a pretty close clan throughout the years. A few arguments erupted and a few couples left over some misunderstandings, but they usually returned in a week or two.

My view of life had been fashioned by Matt. I had entered his world as a young girl and he had provided absolute security. He distrusted any outside influences, which he saw as a threat to the relationship, fearing they would destroy his creation, his ideal. He could never have foreseen what was happening as the consequence of his prolonged absences from home. A major period in my growth was beginning. I still feared our separations but felt that our love had no boundaries, that I was his and if he wanted me to change, I would. For years nothing had existed in my world but him, and now that he was gone for long stretches of time, the inevitable happened. I was creating a life of my own, starting to achieve a sense of security in myself, and discovering there was a whole world outside our marriage.

Over the years of playing Vegas, other pressures began to mount. There were more death threats and lawsuits, including alleged paternity suits and assault-and-battery charges. Jealous husbands claimed they’d seen Matt flirting with their wives, and others continued to charge that Sonny and Red were manhandling them. Matt began to get bored with these nuisances as well as with the sameness of the show. Inevitably, he tried to change the format, but then he felt it just didn’t have the same pacing as the original. He’d add a few songs here and there but then revert to the original. Pointed suggestions that he make changes before the next Vegas date added to the pressure.

Bored and restless, he increased his dependence on chemicals. He thought speed helped him escape from destructive thinking, when in reality it gave him false confidence and unnatural aggressiveness. He started losing perspective on himself and others. To me he became increasingly unreachable.

Excerpt from: "Elvis and Me" by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. Scribd. This material may be protected by copyright.

a/n - welll..🎀

[polyklok]

Movies I think Dethklok members would really like

No this is not based on anything I’m just in a mood™ rn

Nathan Explosion

Mad God

So, no, I did not have any ounce of an idea of what this movie was about when I originally watched it, and I’m still not 100% sure tbh but an hour and a half of these pure vibes would totally be up Nathan’s alley. The post-apocalyptic setting, all the gore, the details of the various monsters, and I think he would just really appreciate it from an artist’s standpoint as well. This movie would just resonate with him, even if he wouldn’t have a fucking clue what was going on the whole time.

Mary and Max

I’m, personally, a bit on-the-fence about this movie, but it is undeniably sweet and I headcanon Nate to be on the spectrum so 🤷

This would be, like, his guilty pleasure film. The movie he knows is for kids and is totally not brutal but he loves it anyway. The, “I do not feel disabled, defective, or a need to be cured” really hits for him every single time. He rewatches it at least once every few months, especially when he’s in some sort of emotional slump.

Mandy

Another one that just like, like, big Nathan energy, you know? He just seems like a guy to really love loose plots with trippy visuals and strong emotions attached to them. Also, this movie is so completely badass, it is certified metal in his book. He also finds the story incredibly tragic; having the love of your life stripped away from you in such circumstances really tugs at his heartstrings, but in a way that gets him pumped up rather than sad. This is probably his go-to when people ask, “what’s your favorite movie?”

Pickles the Drummer

Son in Law

Okay this is my guilty pleasure movie. I usually don’t like stoner-comedy from the 90s, but this movie hits different. Maybe I just find Crawl hot. Anyway, I’m projecting that onto Pickles. He honestly probably finds a lot of crappy comedies to be peak film, and this is no exception. Pauly Shore pretending to be a country boy for a whole movie? Hells yeah. Pickles would watch while high off his mind, laughing his butt off and going to town on some cheez-its or something. And you know what? He deserves it.

Opal

I’m counting short films because I feel like Opal is the movie for Pickles. He’d watch it on a whim, because these are not usually the types of things he enjoys, and then he’d in tears over the emotional rollercoaster he did not agree to go on. Like, he grew up in a neglective household with authority figures that were overly-selfish and projected their own problems onto the youngest one in the house, to which he had to hide within his own brain more often than not just to properly function. And then he just…watched it happen all again in the hypnotic style of Jack Stauber. The Mom’s song had him in gasping tears for a while, the way you get when a movie somehow perfectly captures your own trauma right in front of you. And the ending??? Ugh. Go watch Opal, guys, it’s on YouTube.

Nathan and Pickles both get very emotional about certain stop-motion films, isn’t that crazy?

House

Thank you to Lucy for this Letterbox review that I think he would write

Anyway-

This movie is actually so insane. It’s not scary in a horror-movie way, like it meant to be, it’s scary as in ‘What the hell is happening and why do I understand it?’ Pickles doesn’t like most traditional horror films, as the long, quiet suspense bores him and the sudden jumpscares freak him the hell out way more than they should. But he loves the campy-wacko-type horror that they were apparently making in 70s Japan. It’s just scary enough to get his heart pumping, but the pure silliness of it all overrides that, getting him in a giddy mood and excited to see what happens next.

(No I am not done but tumblr won’t let me add more pictures)

[transgenderer]

nate is so chuuni i love him:

How I found the River

Three-and-a-half years ago, when I first conceived of On The Edge, I was feeling discontented — maybe even lost. We were coming out of what was a very rough 2020 for everyone — the pandemic and all the disruptions it caused, and an election that ended in violence. But I was also deeply unhappy with the direction things were headed at FiveThirtyEight. And I wasn’t sure the whole Quasi-Celebrity Election Forecaster Guy thing was working. As I wrote in the book proposal, I felt like “Shamu on exhibit at SeaWorld”, performing tricks for people but not on my own terms. My contract at ABC News ran through the 2022 midterm, and when I walked into their studio on election night, I thought it might be my last election.

It turned out I didn’t need to go that far. Writing this newsletter instead of working for a big corporation has been liberating. The newsletter and the book have helped me to contextualize the nature of a probabilistic forecast and intellectual tradition it comes from. And this has evolved into a much more interesting election than I was expecting. Still, as some reviewers have picked up, On The Edge is a deeply personal book. There’s a lot of reporting in the book (around 200 formal interviews) and a lot of explainers about concepts like game theory and expected value. But it’s also about finding where I fit in.

The place where I fit in is what I call “the River”. It’s a place for people who are very analytical but also highly competitive. The archetypal activity in the River is poker. I’d been a professional poker player from 2004 to 2006, and the first trip I took by plane after the pandemic was to a casino in Florida — which was every bit as much of a shitshow as you’d expect — to play in a World Poker Tour event.

There are other communities in the River, though: Silicon Valley, Wall Street, sportsbetting, crypto, even effective altruism, all of which are covered extensively in the book. And I found I had a lot in common with these people too, even if I sometimes disagree with their politics. There are traits like decoupling, contrarianism and a high risk tolerance that I share with the River, for better or worse. And these seem to be correlated with extremely high-variance outcomes: tremendous success or tremendous failure (as in the case of Sam Bankman-Fried, who is sort of the antihero of the book).

guy who calls the place he feels he fits in the capital-r River...

[wishbowl]

The Locked Door

F. MCFADDEN

About Switches the pov between Evie, the wife of nathanial and this high school girl who happens to have a growing crush on her english teacher. the english teacher in question is a married man in his late thirties who is actually her maths teacher’s husband oh and might i add called Evie. And if you think that isnt complicated wait till you read the end because thats actually crazy bro.

Review Is it becoming a common theme that i do not LOve Mcfadden’s endings? I dont know, but i can tell you one thing, this endings was a bit much. Yeah it makes sense logically speaking but rationally speaking nah uh. There doesn’t have to be some big plot twist at the very end to make it a good read and i feel like somehow this plot twist is what stopped it from becoming a good ending. They could’ve just left poor jay out of it since because of it, the whole righteous character arch of Evie now makes little sense. If anything it only justifies why he would understand what the girls went through but overall i feel like it just complicated the whole thing and soured much less the whole book. If you can ignore the ending, which i dont know how you can, but if you take that out of the equation, this book was actually a decent read. I was so riled up by Nate’s grossness and each time she fell for it, i was at a cross roads between relatability and also wanting to scream at her to run. Also the last part where nate is finally crashing and burning was very cathartic so props for that.

[queenvreads]

REVIEW: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus

*Contains Spoilers*

5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is one of those rare cases that I actually watched the tv show, before I read the book. The show was really good, and I figured since I loved it so much the book must be even better.

If you're wondering this book is like a mix of Breakfast club - gossip girl - Pretty little liars - and even revenge.

Its the epitome of YA murder mystery that I ADORE!

There were actually some really big differences between the first season of the show and the book. It didn't alter my rating, I am actually glad we get 2 alternate endings in both. One a little lighter, and one a little darker.

The #1 major difference between the series and the book is the identity of Simon's killer. In the show, Jake and Simon planned a prank where Simon would fake an allergic reaction to peanut oil, but Jake got scared when Simon revealed he had recorded their conversations. Jake stole the epi pens, leading to Simon's death. In the book, Simon died by suicide and involved Jake in his plan to frame others for his murder. The series added the detail of Simon being the mayor's son, which wasn't significant in the book. Simon brought Jake in to take over About That after his death. Jake was pure evil, as he also manipulated a conversation with Janae to blackmail her into compliance after Simon’s death.

I liked Simon’s story better in the series as it was less “13 reasons why” and more a murder situation. Jake & Simon were also more “friendly” in the series than the books and there was no mention of Simon’s funeral & the xbox in the book.

#2 Nate and Bronwyn's relationship had more development in the book. In the series, Bronwyn initially dated Evan but became interested in Nate after Simon's death.

I really enjoyed their romance more in the books. I understand that for tv they may have wanted to drag out them coming together a bit more for ratings, but the book did it well. Bronwyn does sort of ‘date’ Evan at the end of the book, but of course ends up back with Nate. I also liked both characters better in the book.

#3 Maeve in the book was the gang's tech expert but was not romantically involved with Simon or Janae. However, in the series, she had romantic ties to both of them. Bronwyn still had a reason to confront Simon in the book due to an About That post about her sister, and Maeve appeared on the app after getting drunk at a party, not for sexting as shown in the show.

I enjoyed Maeve way better in the book than in the series. In the series she was conniving and at odds with her sister at times. Bronwyn kept so many secrets from her and in the book they were very close, and Bronwyn told her everything.

#4 The detention teacher, Mrs. Avery, played a role in Simon's death in the series by being blackmailed to get the Bayview Four into detention. In the book, Mr. Avery was the detention teacher and had no involvement in Simon's death. Simon paid students from another school to create a fender bender to remove Mrs. Avery from the room.

I was expecting this to be the same in the book as they kept hinting that the police should look into the teacher but in the end they had nothing to do with it.

# 5 Cooper's outing as gay had more significant consequences in the book. In the series, his brother and girlfriend already knew about his sexual orientation, but in the book, Cooper was completely closeted. Cooper's father's reaction was also more homophobic in the book.

I preferred Cooper’s story more in the books than in the series.

#6 Kris, Cooper's boyfriend, had a minor role in the book since Cooper was not out. In the series, Kris knew Nate and attended Cooper's baseball showcase. In the book, Kris knew Cooper was in high school and not out, leading to a temporary breakup in the series. Despite his limited role, Kris was the one who connected the dots about Simon's depression and dark suicide plot in the book.

I loved Kris in the book, but not so much on the show. I felt like their relationship overall was much healthier in the book. Once Cooper was outed he and Kris were basically hanging out with the murder club openly and I liked Kris’ involvement.

#7 Janae knew about Simon's whole plan in the book.

I liked Janae so much more in the show. In the book she knew everything and let it happen. I found it very disturbing she knew Simon was planning on this suicide mission and she try to didnt prevent it.

#8 Jake was arrested, and not killed in the book. Whereas in the show, Addy kills him when he attacked them in the forest after a party.

This is a major twist and is different from the show. Which will make watching season 2 and reading book 2 completely different experiences.

There were other small differences in the series vs the books, I couldn't keep track of all of them but one that stood out was Ashton’s presence in Addy’s life. She was around for everything. She wasn't in the series.

✍️Befriend me on Goodreads: ⭐HERE⭐

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb:

A new holiday romantic comedy from best-selling author of Tis the Season for Revenge!

A year ago, Jules stumbled upon the man of her dreams in a bar on New Year's Eve. After a lifetime of watching romantic comedies, she was sure she had found her soulmate. That is, until she learned he has an entire family and blocked him.

A year later, she’s having the worst day she possibly could, leaving her stuck on the sidewalk outside her place in a ballet costume, watching firefighters condemn her house because of a water main break when a little girl grabs her hand and tells her she’s her Christmas wish.

When Nate’s daughter tells Santa all she wants for Christmas is for her dad to marry the real-life version of her favorite doll, he dreads having to tell her the truth. When they run into the spitting image of the doll, ballerina costume and all minutes later, he’s floored to find that it’s his dream woman who disappeared from his life last Christmas.

Nate’s meddling sisters offer his in-law suite and his contracting skills to Jules in exchange for watching his daughter, and he jumps on the opportunity. Now, he has just a few weeks to use Christmas magic to make her realize they are meant to be.

Review:

A sweet holiday romance that has all the cute Hallmark move vibes you could ever ask for. Jules and Nate had a magical time together last New Year's Eve.... until a big misunderstanding broke them apart. Now they are facing each other again and Nate is determined to win Jules back over..... and with a bit of holiday magic maybe it'll be possible. This was such a cute and easy holiday read that is perfect for adding to your tbr! It's sweet and fun and the characters are easy to get along with. Nate is a great love interest and he really had some fun lines that had me swooning. It's an adorable and funny read and one I'd absolutely recommend this holiday season!

Release Date: October 25,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Valentine PR for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Maple Hills Review Round Up

So I went to college at UAF, where all the hockey players were Canadian and if you referred to anyone in the state as "American" they would correct you to "Alaskan." UCMH is a far cry from my college experience, but wow were they a ton of fun to read! So for those of you who want to get a sense of all three books from one post, I have collected my reviews and put them together here. Teeeeeeeeeeechnically they're all hockey romances insofar as the male leads are all literally on the same hockey team, but if I'm being honest, Icebreaker is really the only true hockey romance of the bunch. Wildfire is a summer camp romance and Daydream is best described as a college romance. So let's talk the Maple Hills books!

This is your SPOILER WARNING and your CONTENT WARNING. I'm going to spoil all three of these books. And I'm also going to talk about sex, sexual intercourse, consent, disordered eating, brief discussions of non-consensual kissing, and probably a couple of other things I've forgotten about, so please take care, and skip this one if you need to.

Icebreaker

Ok, for a lot of reasons, I was never a competetive athlete. That said...I am Canadian and I was probably 3 or 4 years old when my grandparents bought me my first pair of skates and my parents took me to the (manmade) kiddie rink in the park to teach me to skate. My middle sister and I had skating lessons for a few years, our parents took us skating pretty often growing up, and when we moved into the big house in Alaska, we had a pond out back that we skated (and burned christmas trees--yes, it was always awesome) on every winter until I left the state. And even when I moved back to Canada, I brought my skates with me and still use the arenas and outdoor town square rink in the winter. All this to say that while I'm never going to be an Olympian, I deeply love skating, so when there was a cozy college skating romance between a figure skater and a hockey team captain...it was not a hard sell. And then I was absolutely delighted by this cozy, fluffy, very skate-y book. Let's talk Icebreaker.

The very last thing Anastasia Allen wants to do right before sectionals is be forced to share her rink with a hockey team. Then she gets adopted by a bunch of overgrown man-children with hearts of gold who enjoy body-slamming other overgrown man-children into the boards over a puck. It is possibly the most adorable thing I have ever seen, and it is the best possible embodiment of the healthy, non-toxic version of "boys will be boys" insofar as the team just genuinely love and support each other and make space for Anastasia and Lola in that world with care, respect, and joy. I love it so, so much.

Of course, Anastasia is not here just to be adopted by a hockey team. She's also very much in danger of falling deeply in love with Nate Hawkins, captain of said hockey team. Nate and Anastasia are a genuinely darling, adorable couple, and watching them together was just FUN.

Particularly in contrast to Anastasia's relationship with her skating partner, Aaron. Who is--to put it mildly--the biggest most manipulative toxic douchebag I have ever seen. There's something about his and Anastasia's relationship that managed to embody everything that can go horribly toxic with athletic partnerships and how difficult it can be when your dream relies on someone who is actively trying to drag you down.

The super nice thing though, is that Aaron is absolutely the bad guy in this book. Neither Nate nor Ryan (the adorable himbo basketball player she begins the book in a friends-with-benefits arrangement with) descend to Aaron's level. They are there to support Anaastasia. That doesn't mean they don't get angry or jealous--they're human men in their late teens/early 20s, of COURSE they get angry and jealous--but they deal with those emotions pretty freaking healthily, and they don't descend into petty ego-based bullshit. Add that to Anastasia's therapy-honed communication skills, and the relationships in this book are just so well done. Sometimes relationships in romances can get weirdly toxic for drama, but that's not the case here, which made this cozy romance GENUINELY delightful to read.

The side characters are also super well-developed and full of personality, so everyone in this book feels well-rounded, real, and delightful. From Lola to Henry, Robbie, Russ, and JJ, you get to know an ensemble of strong secondary characters in the context of the main romantic relationship, and Anastasia and Henry's platonic love for each other might be the best platonic relationship I've seen in FOREVER. I would 100% read a spinoff novel about those two buddy-ing around.

Author Hannah Grace is a self-proclaimed "fluffy comfort book writer," and if Icebreaker is any example, then ACCURATE. And I cannot recommend this book enough, it was a delight to read from start to finish.

Wildfire

This book takes place in a summer camp in California, one of our love interests is terrified of thunderstorms, and the title is Wildfire.

You Guys.

I would be LYING if I said I wasn't fully expecting this camp to burn to the ground before the end of the book. It did not do that, but I still thoroughly enjoyed watching Russ and Aurora absolutely flout the staff "no fraternization" rule. Let's talk Wildfire.

Possibly the two things I love most about Aurora are her ability to see when she and Russ are being a trope she does not like and how absolutely unhinged she is. Girl has zero filter and is more than happy to have the uncomfortable and hard conversations, and she is also MORE than happy to whip out some just bananas lines, like the following ones:

Aurora is wildly unhinged and frankly, I enjoy it just as much as Russ does. I also appreciate that Aurora is self-aware and a halfway decent communicator, because if she wasn't, the rich girl daddy issues angle would have come off as abrasive and tired rather than genuine.

I also really love that Russ--a hockey player who might typically be expected to be brash and loud and confident--is allowed to be quiet and soft and tidy and lacking in confidence. His journey to confidence and self-worth is really sweet, and honestly can we please have more Russes in romance. He is very much soft boy vibes in the best possible way.

The other really lovely thing about Aurora and Russ's relationship is that they find all the places they fit together--and I don't just mean the squishy fun time bits either. Finding that your trauma and your partner's empathy fit together like puzzle pieces and that the outcome is peace and acceptance and being valued is an incredible thing. Aurora and Russ have that, and they work through the difficult bits of it in really sweet, healthy ways.

While Aurora and Russ are the main reason to read this book, author Hannah Grace is damn good at also writing funny, compelling secondary characters that make the world of the novel come alive. Jenna, Xander, and Emilia--plus cameos of the rest of the hockey team from Icebreaker--all help the world feel bigger than just Russ and Aurora, and they add dimension, depth, and humor.

Overall, I highly recommend this book, because it manages to be soft and funny and cozy and real while also dealing with some really weighty issues.

Daydream

I have been waiting for this book for literal months, and I am SO HAPPY that it is finally here. I'd have read it in one day, except that I got 1 hour of sleep in two days, so I did actually crash before getting to finish Halle and Henry's story. It was worth it though, because watching the dynamics between a neurodivergent-coded love interest and a demi-coded love interest was absolutely fascinating. I had so much fun with Halle and Henry, and it was nice to have Nate, Stassi, Russ, and Aurora around a little too. Like, the "adopted by a gang of hockey-playing golden retrievers" vibe that I loved from Icebreaker was still here, but we also get how Henry and Halle navigate a deeply gregarious group that loves them. Let's talk Daydream.

Soooooooo...the fact that Henry DIDN'T take a swing at Will because he was so worried about how Halle would feel about a) what her dickhead ex-boyfriend said and b) about Henry's response just makes Henry the bigger man in so many ways, and that was just deeply satisfying to me as a reader. That and Halle letting her mom HAVE it because her mom has been using Halle as a third parent in the household since Halle was a kid. Hannah Grace has a knack for making character arc climaxes immensely satisfying and avoiding cliches, and I really appreciate that. I also loved how Halle and Henry both get climaxes that work WITH their character arcs. Halle learns to say no and prioritize herself, and Henry gets to BE himself and be loved and supported in his needs.

So I'm not neurodivergent, and I'm not always good at seeing it in books and book characters where it's not explicitly stated in the narrative, so I was grateful for the letter that my copy had about how there was explicitly NOT going to be a diagnosis. I will say I'd probably have caught it in Henry's case from the text and the context, but I appreciate the clarity and I also appreciate the opportunity taken to highlight that nobody needs a diagnosis to be valid or to explain their experiences and needs. Just the matter-of-fact acceptance Henry gets and the patience people in his life have to let Henry explain what he needs and then GIVING THAT TO HIM with no questions asked was lovely. I also love that it wasn't always perfect. People made mistakes in good faith when they were trying to help, and there cannot be enough good said about modeling communication, accepting new information, and doing better the next time.

Listening to and believing people when they tell you about their needs and experiences should not be groundbreaking, but holy crap do people still struggle with this, so I love that Henry never had to. He is surrounded by people who listen, hear, and support.

Which is extra nice narratively because Halle is not. Her dickhead ex-boyfriend is ten kinds of jerk, her family basically uses her as a stage manager/extra parent, and she was honestly super isolated and lonely before she got pulled into the house full of hockey playing golden retrievers (seriously, that wonderful lost keychain in a frat house tumblr post about how wonderful "boys will be boys" can be as a vibe when it isn't toxic absolutely applies here). I was never a Halle, but I have KNOWN Halles, and I cannot tell you how lovely it was to watch her learn how not to people please and to find herself in a girl squad that genuinely loved and valued her in addition to having Henry around. It was lovely and happy.

I also (and please feel free to correct me on this) read Halle as demisexual coded, and that's a dynamic that I'm not used to seeing in romance novels, but it was also one that I really enjoyed. It's never bad to reiterate that pressuring someone to do something they're not ready for or don't want to in bed is SUPER BAD, ACTUALLY, and that that behavior includes bullshit like trying to enforce arbitrary timelines or calling someone cold for not wanting sex. Also, asexual spectrum identities are entirely valid, and deserve more representation in romance.

Overall though, the thing that made this book for me was Halle and Henry's communication. They're really good at the communication thing and they're really good at BEING together, which does not mean sex, it means that they are good at existing in the same space while being aware and accommodating of each other's preferences, needs, and boundaries. AND THEY HAVE FRIEND SQUADS FOR SUPPORT. Because it is normal and healthy (and often hilarious) to have multiple sources of support in addition to your partner. I adore that Henry and Halle have that, and the side characters (both new ones and ones we know from other books) are still wonderful.

Other things I adored in this book in no particular order:

Henry being a fine arts major. That was such a fun alternative side to an MMC after Nate and Russ were SO sports-focused. Henry having that extra dimension was great.

Halle being a writer. This is very much a "ooh, it me!" moment, so your mileage may vary, but I do love me a writer character. (Yes, this is why I still have a deeply soft spot in my heart for Rick Castle. No, nobody asked. You just know this now.)

Henry being so worried about Halle being sick that he takes her home to his mother who is a literal doctor. Henry was correct, Halle needed to take care of herself, and honestly, this was the sweetest thing.

Halle getting to have her girl squad preparatory periods. As someone who also used to adore getting ready for stuff with her girl squad, there is something really wonderful about this dynamic, and it was a treat to see Halle get to experience it.

The sex painting. I was not expecting to do anything but roll my eyes at this scene, but actually? It was well handled, it was cute, it made sense in the context of their characters, and y'know what? Sure. The book not self-cringing at this also helped, and I was willing to let these two adorable college kids have their fun and make some art together.

Henry's gift giving. I am a Halle, I am SO BAD at gifting, but I appreciate the skill in others. And Henry NAILED it. A+, no notes.

Halle admitting to Gianna that she wasn't sorry she and Will broke up. That was big for Halle personally, and hot damn did it model something important to her little sister. Just excellent.

I had a delightful time with this book overall, and I'll be sad to leave Maple Hills. If we are lucky, there will be more Hannah Grace books in the future though!

[polyhexian]

Nate, my boy, since you know everything and what you don't you make up, do you have any info on Warren Johnson as a writer?

Well he's got a short list of projects but they're definitely nothing to shake a stick at. Wonder Woman is a huge net score. Beta ray bill is too. Working with both marvel and DC is solid credentials.

Dead earth seems to have notably good reviews, which i remembered from extremely fleeting familiarity. I've heard the name before positively.

I found this review particularly noteworthy:

However Chad isn't the only one concerned about it being in character

One of the main complaints people seem to have is that DWJ had a story he wanted to tell and he pushed the characters he was given into the molds to tell it.

Also very highly rated.

Chad didn't like this one, but apparently the characterization issues were absent this time. Scrolling through other reviews, I didn't see any other complaints about characterizations-- I saw lots of comments about how great the characterization is, actually. Perhaps that is because beta ray bill has a lot less history than wonder woman and perhaps people are more open to seeing more diversity and exploration of who this character is. If you don't go here, beta ray bill is not a HUGE character, but he's been around since the early 80s and has plenty of media to draw from. He has plenty of ardent fans, so plenty of people who already have an idea of who this character is when they went into this story.

All of his work has reviewed really well, nothing dips below a 4 on Goodreads.

Reading reviews and summaries of each book, it seems like DWJ really likes action, blood, hyperviolence, and, specifically, mad max. I see people being up mad max in so many reviews I can't not mention it. he does a lot of stories with fighting, with big action setpieces, wrestling, heavy metal, grit and gore. Pretty much all his stories are gritty.

I strongly suspect he is going to write a very "gritty war story" version of transformers, which is... Something we have seen before. It may not be bad, but idw definitely already did that. So did wfc siege. Grimdark kind of hyperviolence and war and action is pretty par for the course with tf. I don't see a lot of people talking about his stories being particularly deep or emotionally engrossing. I see people say some are very FUN or very engaging or even that they have interesting commentary. But... Mm.

Having not read his stuff and only having just studied these reviews, I'm expecting some really pretty war violence. Seeing as he's clearly not as familiar with the property as your average tf fan, he's still a little shaky on his tf stylization, I'm predicting he's going to focus on a lot of mainline G1 characters, the pop boys people recognize. Megatron, Optimus, soundwave, prowl, Jetfire, starcscream, the seekers probably, ultra Magnus, grimlock, hot rod maybe, arcee definitely. I think it's a lot less likely we will see more obscure characters like we did with idw2.

Tho if I had to drop money I would bet windblade is there. Hasbro has been pushing her hard. I really suspect they will have asked him specifically to make sure she's there.

[myloveforhergoeson]

Uhh... I'd apologize for the wall of text I just left on your new chapter on AO3, but my mother always told me to never tell a lie. ;)

AHHHHH thank you SO MUCH i know it was so long and so much information to take in but im so so so overjoyed that you enjoyed! thank you for taking some time out of your day to write such a thought out and sweet comment 😭 literally my #1 motivator. us james girlies gotta stick together!!!!!!

i know you left the comment on ao3 but i've got a lot to say back so imma take some bits and pieces and write them out here ehehe

"I'd noticed that James seemed a bit hesitant to talk about his parents. Especially his mother. And I saw Roxy wonder if she was the type of girl you bring home to your parents. But I think for her, everything's going to become clearer at Mother's Day. It's not that James is ashamed or anything. I think it's because he loves her so much and he doesn't want his mother ruining what they have. She is a bit... domineering."

YES UGH roxy just doesn't get it bc she has such a good relationship w her dad and mentioned way way back after she broke up with dak that she thought he was hiding their relationship (which he was... but she's just speculating) so she's just a teensy bit freaked out about james potentially doing the same thing. and it's totally like you said, she just doesn't understand quite yet. from what she knows about the diamond family, she sees james' dad as the problem, not his mom. she's in for a ride lol

"But, seriously, side note for these two: OPEN UP TO EACH OTHER!"

mannn they struggle with that don't they 😭 it's so hard to write! not that i'm a perfect communicator in my own relationships but... yeah i remember being 17 and wanting to share ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about myself so...

"Kendall sure knows how to bribe her, doesn't he? And the cheeky payback with Kendall on the ice is so Kendall. I really love how you touched on Kendall being a prodigy on the ice. And of course he was the Captain. I can see it. And the nicknames too. Sir Rounded. Pretty Boy. Tensie. Sensacional. Please, please, PLEASE have the boys refer to each other by those nicknames at some point. Or even Roxy."

roxy and kendall are like brother and sister to me; of course he knows how to get what he wants from her!! especially when joe jonas is involved... but yes!! they talk big hockey game in the show but we never really get to see it; so i wanted to highlight that just a little bit. go captain go! i really don't know anything about hockey irl but i do know that nicknames are a big thing at least in the american league! did my best. if you ask my friends im equally as terrible at nicknames in real life. and don't you worry roxy is definitely calling james pretty boy at some point in the future (she already did in the rockstar au!) but i'll have to find a way to work in the others. did anyone almost catch that kendall nearly told her logan's real name? hortense... 'tensie... oh god she's going to freak lmao...

"Side note: I love how all the hockey guys are super chill. I actually like that image of them being so aggressive on the ice, but actually be teddy bears in real life. (Something that especially fits Carlos.)"

:)))))))) even though they appear for so little in this chapter the hockey boys mean so much to me. if anyone reads my monthly book reviews... well... you know i love a good hockey romance! they're all themed quite similar - the giant, violent sports machine actually has a soft side... god i'm such a sucker for it! james really isn't like that, at least not in the way his friends are, but i gotta squeeze in some self-indulgence in here and there. i named most of the guys after characters from those books! hawkins comes from nate hawkins (icebreaker by hannah grace) ((i know! you can all boo me later)) callaghan comes from russ callaghan (wildfire by hannah grace) graham comes from garett graham (the deal by elle kennedy) miller comes from rory miller (the fake out by stephanie archer) logan (not that one) comes from john logan (the mistake by elle kennedy) and streicher comes from jamie streicher (behind the net by stephanie archer) PHEW!!!! we love a cameo

"And the way Roxy got tricked by Katie was so... that was just glorious. And the way Roxy freaked out when she realized what was happening was great too. This is making me excited for Big Time Crush. Their conversation at the end was such a great touch. I'm glad Katie has that older sister figure in her life."

katie MASTERMIND strikes again... though if she just asked rox would've taken her anway!!! she was just embarrassed... it's hard for her to talk about her feelings when she's growing up with not one, but FOUR, overprotective older brothers! someone left a comment on my wattpad and said they really loved the roxy/katie interactions and i realized they had like. such little time together so i needed to fix that asap! i don't have an older sister, but i am one, so i tried to channel that energy into that scene hehe

"AH! JO SAID THE L-WORD ABOUT KENDALL! Damn. That episode is gonna be even more heartbreaking now."

>:) sorry. had to! bothered the fuck out of me they never said it in the original show soooo

"And the cat's named Hippocrates?! That is such a Logan thing, though. And I love how Logan and Roxy were able to talk to each other about their respective heartbreaks."

eheheh it took me sooo long to come up with a name for the cat, it was originally einstein but we talked about hippocrates in one of my classes the day i edited the chapter and it just felt more fitting... here is the mister in the garden himself. thanks google!

and yess lord i love writing logan and roxy so so so much. out of all of them (even james!) she's most comfortable talking with him; i accidentally made them really similar personality wise and they just get along so well

"Aw, Carlos got Roxy on an early morning run. AND HE BROUGHT A PUPPY! (Her age doesn't matter - all dogs are puppies to me.) Missy sounds so cute! And the way she led the run is so cool. And I'm with Carlos. Keep Missy away from Lightning. He's such a protective dog dad."

MISSY!!!!! you are so right all dogs are puppies and missy is no exception!!!! i read somewhere a long time ago that dalmatians are natural leaders, so i just let our girl have her moment! my dog can be like that too though; she has her favorite walking paths! as for keeping her away from lighting... i think missy can hold her own :) but yes carlos is such a protective dog dad. that's his baby!!!! and here is missy, thank you once again google

"And seriously? James needed to ask if he could kiss Roxy at midnight? Also... can I live in Roxy's dream house?"

yes!! he's a gentleman!!! they were drinking!!!!!! but rox was def thinking the same thing as you hehe. and she's sooooo funny! miss ma'am gets a few drinks in her and she just starts blabbing and blabbing (just like me fr) for anyone wondering what her biggest fantasy is... she's literally living it idk what to tell you. dream job, living in her dream city, dating the hottest guy ever who is so sweet and attentive to her, and he's FAMOUS? not that james needs to know that she thinks that :) lord knows she's going to love the introduction of one direction in the third season...

lmaooo there you go - an equally as long wall of text i am also not going to apologize for... i was bursting with all this information and just waiting for someone to ask loll. you know me. i can talk about my own silly story for hours and hours and hours-

thank you so much again for reading! i'm so excited for the next chapter of take a shot in the dark!!! and i noticed you put in a new section of your ao3 for kaelyn knight stories? are we getting short stories in the future!? ahhhh!!!!!!

[wahlpaper]

Review of Nate Plus One

Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye

CW: Underage Drinking, Discussion of Sex, Non-Graphic/Undescribed Underage Sex Scene, Discussion of Child Death, Discussion of Apartheid/Systematic Racism & Oppression, Death of a Parent, Car Accident, Cheating, Ghosting, Homophobia, Homophobic Slur, Racism, Malicious Neighbor, Overworking, Betrayal, Intellectual Theft, Homophobic Parent/Boss, Classism, Hero Complex

4.5/5

Recently I found that I wasn't ready to start reading the big series I have planned for the year, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman). I was also waiting on my holds and feeling inspired by the A-Z reading challenges. I don't want to commit to an actual a-z challenge right now either, so I decided to spell my first name! Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye is the book I chose to fill the first "N" in HANNAH*. I'll admit that I only skimmed the blurb and thought I was getting a fake dating story, but this slow burn vacation book was still well worth the read. I'll be sure to read more of van Whye's books in the future!

Nate Hargraves is looking forward to starting his summer vacation with a trip to his rich cousin's wedding in South Africa, the place where his late father grew up. His mood is dampened when he finds out his mother won't be able to make it and that his ex will be in attendance. Thankfully, his best friend/secret crush, Jai Patel volunteers to go along. Jai also has a problem that Nate can help with. Jai is weeks away from a major Battle of the Bands when his lead singer leaves for another band, taking Jai's song with him. Nate may have stage fright, but he is a talented singer and is willing to step in. The first few weeks of summer won't be smooth, but they'll certainly be life changing.

I enjoyed the balance between cute fun things and serious emotional elements in Nate Plus One. On the surface, it's a sweet teen romcom taking place on the vacation of a lifetime. Having that be queer will always draw me in and warm my heart. Still, the book doesn't ignore who its main characters are or where the wedding is. Racism, class differences, homophobia, being raised by a single parent, and Apartheid are all addressed. Apartheid was surprisingly a topic that I was taught about in detail in school, but as Nate points out, it's important to learn about what you aren't taught in school. Van Whye focused on the Soweto Uprising, a horrible injustice against black African children that I can't recall ever having learned about before. He made space for all of these things and a love story in just over 250 pages. Nothing felt trivial or overpowering, impressively done.

I can still enjoy a romantic tale even if it feels illogical, underdeveloped, or left with unresolved unhealthy elements, but it always stands out to me when a fictional romance is very healthy and well written. I found the romantic, familial, and friendly love to all be very healthy in Nate Plus One. My biggest concern in a book is getting to the BIG FIGHT. It can easily be out of the blue or overdone. Instead, when Nate messes up, it's in a redeemable way, he owns up to it, Jai is not too quick to forgive him, and Nate finds the perfect way to make it up to him. We also get to see Nate interacting with family he doesn't see very often, and each interaction felt realistic. The moments he spent with his grandmother were especially touching. She helped Nate get in touch with his roots and paved the way for Nate and his mom to talk more openly about his father. Even the negative interactions with his homophobic uncle provided clarity for Nate. While I wouldn't say this book felt like a puzzle, no interactions or plot elements were wasted.

Kevin van Whye's Nate Plus One is a sweet, cute book that is likely to leave you wanting more. And if you were taken aback by the open ended ending like me, you'll be happy to hear that Jai's band, Infinite Sorrow, will be making a cameo in van Whye's next book. Whether you're looking for queer content or to learn more about South Africa from a unique perspective, this book will be a good read for you.

*Be on the lookout for a post about my challenge once it's complete!

[yeunno]

Review One

One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus

as always i would like to note that this review contains spoilers for One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus. if you do not want the book spoiled, do not read this! at all! i will begin spoiling shit immediately <3

first of all, i should begin by noting that i bought this book knowing the entire plot line from start to finish. i already knew who the alleged “killer” was, knew everyone’s secrets, and still went ahead and purchased this book. and i definitely dont regret it at all. the start of the book keeps you intrigued because they get to the point quick. simon has his accident(?), the drama starts a bit, and then you find out that he dies, and you’re left wondering why. i think the book did a great job of keeping interest high. it’s definitely hard to say if i would feel this way at all if i didn’t quite literally have the whole book explained to me, perhaps maybe i was always interested because i already knew what would happen next, but i think the slight-yet-not-too-long drawing-out of the secrets and how they all handle them differently, especially with the fact that cooper’s real secret wasn’t revealed to us for a while, and the public/his family for even longer. i think that one of my main criticisms comes into okay here, though, because between cooper denying his use of steroids and the planted phones at the beginning, it was, on occasion, hard to determine what was true and what was not. at the beginning, when bronwyn mentions that the phone in her bag wasn’t her, simon says something along the lines of “you too?” at first i took this as simon mocking bronwyn, like he thought her excuse was dumb. and with the steroids, i don’t remember cooper explicitly stating to the reader that he wasn’t taking steroids until a bit later. i’m mildly disappointed that nate and bronwyn didn’t end up together at the end until a bit farther into the epilogue, as i was honestly routing for them. i do, however, understand that it’s probably a decently realistic scenario, as they led such different lives, but i did want them to work out. bronwyn had a nice little “i can change him” mentality that i honestly really wanted to be true. then, in the epilogue, they don’t even have their shit fixed, and they’re some weird on-and-off long-distance couple. which, again, slight bonus points for realism, buttttt i did not want said realism in this situation :) plus, this is combatted by the unrealistic nature of the fact that no one looked into simon himself and how fucking ODD it was that all four students claim to have a phone planted in their bag, and they all ended up in detention with simon the day he was going to write shit about them. you’re telling me that no one IRL would look into that? eli and his big brain really came through with that one. i found it really heartwarming that kris was the one to solve the whole problem, essentially the first time that cooper is OUT out with him, in more ways than one. i liked that little touch.

i think that that’s all i’ve got for this review. i could make a whole separate post on the show, please don’t watch it, you’re going to hate addy and everything just moves too quick. granted, only watched the first episode, but i was immediately not… not at all into it.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus

overall, i really enjoyed this book. was satisfied with the delivery, had minimal complaints, and was sort of dying to read the book whenever i had a free moment, and even when i didn’t. i will say, though, it was a book that i could put down, and when i did put it down it was down for a little bit before i picked it back up again. but i think that everyone’s development was done very well and the suspense factor was not drawn out too much nor was too quick. very good book, sort of looking forward to reading the next one, though probably not for the writing style, but the plot itself. very much enjoyed

final rating: 8/10

thanks for reading my shitty little book review! let me know what you thought! if you have anything you’d like me to read, please let me know!

see you on the other page!

[dollycas]

Caught on Camera: A Camera Club Mystery by Kara Lacey #Review / #Giveaway - Great Escapes Book Tour @karalaceyauthor @levelbestbooks

Caught on Camera: A Camera Club Mystery by Kara Lacey About Caught on Camera Caught on Camera: A Camera Club Mystery Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Setting - Vermont Publisher ‏ : ‎ Level Best Books (September 24, 2024) Print length ‏ : ‎ 307 pages Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DGNDGPV4 Blue skies and wildflowers signal the start of summer in southern Vermont, and the Stonebridge Keep it Snappy Camera Club lenses are zoomed in on…murder. It's been more than a year since the sudden death of her husband, and photographer Bobbie Brooks wants nothing more than to escape her grief. Fleeing her life in the city, she seeks a fresh start in the serenity of the Green Mountains. But Bobbie’s new beginning comes to a halt when she finds a member of her camera club dead beneath the village’s idyllic covered bridge. Tragic accident or something sinister? With a keen photographer’s eye, Bobbie suspects murder. As if transitioning to small-town life wasn’t challenging enough, Bobbie’s missing scarf is found at the murder scene, making her the primary focus. Scorned by local gossips, she enlists the help of her camera club and shifts her lens from photographer to amateur sleuth. Using photos found on the victim’s camera, they waste no time setting out to catch the killer—and discover no shortage of suspects. Secrets, lies, and blackmail…Danger abounds as they close in on the killer. Her camera holds the answers… But can she develop the clues in time to stop the killer? Dollycas's Thoughts Photographer Bobbie Brooks needs a new start. Her husband's sudden death a little over a year ago has been so hard to accept. She wants, no needs, to escape her grief. Leaving her life in Boston behind she hopes she will find a way forward in Stonebridge, Vermont nestled within the Green Mountains. It is where her big sister has made her home with her family. She has found a home for herself and Darcy, her yellow Labrador retriever on Main Street with a cute barn that will make a perfect photography studio. Her first step in making her dream of turning her hobby into a profession is starting the Keep It Snappy Shutter Club. The club includes her sister, her best friend Rose, who owns the Rosebud Cafe, Tiffanee Jacobson who is in her mid-30s, pretty brash, and dating Rose's ex-husband, Jackson Gilbert, "an outdoorsy Vermonter with a flair of his own",  and Penny  Wright, the youngest member of the group and the first to join. Their first photo shoot is a covered bridge, but Tiffanee fails to meet up with the rest of the group. The group split up at the bridge anxious to get their unique clicks. Bobbie takes time to check on each one but she is still worried about the missing photographer. As dusk was falling she starts to take some pictures of her own. She gets an eerie feeling and notices a large bundle. Rushing to the motionless shape, she finds Tiffannee face down on the rocky riverbank.  To make matters worse, a scarf she had lost earlier is found at the scene of the crime making her the prime suspect. Bobbie decides to use her unique talents for observation to find the real killer and she asks the club to help. Turns out there are a plethora of suspects and she believes the pictures from the victim's camera can provide clues to bring the guilty party into focus. Can they clear Bobbie's name? And get justice for Tiffanee? Or will the killer take the final shot? _____ Kara Lacey introduced a group of very interesting characters in her first Camera Club Mystery. Protagonist Bobbie Brooks immediately captured my heart. While I haven't lost a husband, I have lost an adult son and know the pain that grief can bring and the way it shakes your whole world. I was happy to see her move to be close to her sister and her family. Alicia and Nate were there for her the whole way. As was her friend Rose. The closeness of these relationships was so heartwarming and genuine. Bobbie also has a daughter Emma away at school and everything about that relationship feels true to life. Readers are also introduced to a variety of Stonebridge residents, all pretty typical of what you find in any small town. I used to have a neighbor very much like Bobbie's Lester Miller, so I could relate there too. Ms. Lacey has crafted a compelling mystery. Secrets and lies abound as Bobbie tries to follow the clues while Detective Cram keeps his focus entirely on her. Things get shaken up when someone else is murdered sending Bobbie's theory out the window. I enjoyed how photos,  her knowledge, and her observation skills helped her bring all the pieces together. That and a little intuition set up a dramatic showdown followed by an exciting rescue and takedown. I do find the camera club theme very appealing. Like Penny, my camera is my phone. My husband, on the other hand, has taken his photography hobby to a new level with multiple lenses. Maybe we can both learn something from Bobbie. Caught on Camera is a very entertaining whodunit that has given this series a fantastic start. A strong protagonist, engaging supporting characters, and a top-notch mystery laced with humor, all set in an intriguing small town will delight cozy lovers. The last few paragraphs give readers a little snippet of what Bobbie has in her future. I am keen to see what adventure she and her camera club catch with their lenses next. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent About Kara Lacey Kara Lacey is the author of the Camera Club Mysteries. Along with her husband, she lives in a tiny village nestled in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont—the inspiration for her novels. Kara is a photography enthusiast who also enjoys hiking, skiing, and getting cozy with a good book. When she’s not at her laptop creating havoc for her characters, you can find her rambling through the forest with her husband and spirited Labrador retriever, camera in hand. Kara is a member of Sisters in Crime, Sisters in Crime-New England, and Mystery Writers of America. She is also a co-Member at Large for Vermont SinC NE writers. Click the link below to get your copy of "Taste of Stonebridge":    https://pr.bookfunnel.com/grgtlaq Author Links Instagram    Facebook     Website Purchase Link Amazon  TOUR PARTICIPANTS  - Please visit all the stops.  October 24 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW October 24 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW October 25 – Celticlady's Reviews – RECIPE  October 25 – Maureen's Musings - SPOTLIGHT October 25 – Christy's Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST October 26 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT October 26 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT October 27 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST October 28 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW October 28 – Baroness Book Trove – AUTHOR INTERVIEW  October 28 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT October 29 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT October 29 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW October 29 – Novels Alive – REVIEW October 30 – Jody's Bookish Haven – REVIEW October 30 – Boys' Mom Reads! – REVIEW October 31 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW October 31 – Deal Sharing Aunt – RECIPE October 31 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW a Rafflecopter giveaway Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas. Read the full article

[newbookcats]

Book Review: Truly, Devious by Maureen Johnson | How to Solve a Century-Old Murder as a Teenage Prodigy

Review also available to read at https://newbookcatsreads.blogspot.com/2018/01/book-review-truly-devious-by-maureen.html

Stevie is experiencing a My Lottery Dream Home moment; however, instead of a multi-million dollar prize leading to a new house and bonding time with the show's host David Bromstad, Stevie is enrolling in Ellingham Academy, a school known for teaching the brightest teenagers as well as the site of the near-century-old murder of previous student Dottie Epstein and the kidnappings of the school founder Albert Ellingham's wife and daughter. Both the murders and kidnappings are known to be done by the anonymous Truly Devious -- evidenced by a ransom poem crafted and sent nights before the terrible night in April 1936. 

Inclined to solving the school's cold-case with her passion for forensics, Stevie becomes engrossed in a group video project staring the school's Hollywood star Hayes Major. Their focus is to recreate the series of unfortunate events after Albert became aware of his wife and daughter's kidnappings; unfortunately, Hayes is murdered after a night of filming the group project. 

Amidst her awkward attempts at romancing an upperclassman and balancing her school work, Stevie investigates if Truly Devious has made a possible return to the school. However, with stolen badges, the school's underground tunnel network, and teenage drama, Stevie begins to wonder if she can really trust her classmates, especially the ones in her own dorm, in this young adult mystery. Discussion:⭐⭐

A girl from Pittsburgh came to Ellingham Academy and she wanted to see a dead body. She got her wish.

A story involving two murders, separated by nearly a century, at a famous entrepreneur's school for prodigy children should be exciting. A story of the young woman solving these crimes should be inspiring, if not jaw-droppingly impressive. Truly, Devious should be a novel of twists and turns, consistently leaving readers in awe as the main character Stevie navigates the mysteries of Ellingham Academy. Rather, this novel leads with the above interesting premise, struggles with a slow middle section to attempt a concerning romance, and attempts to redeems itself with 50 pages of absolute adrenaline. 

The writing itself is not an issue -- I absolutely adored Johnson's wit and humor she instilled in her characters and their dialogue. For example, within the first paragraph, the reader meets Dottie, one of the brightest students in Ellingham's 1936 class. Dottie is meeting with her school counselor and is berated for "acting smarter than everyone else," to which Dottie blatantly replies with:

"But I am." Not out of arrogance, but because it was true. 

Dottie's personality is reminiscent of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory/Young Sheldon, and I am here for the sassiness. Even Stevie's friend Nate quickly becomes my favorite character with his Dottie-esque straightforward replies and limited social skills, though he initially presents as stoic and nearly as infuriating as an angry hormonal teenager.

Instead, my main issue with the novel is the lack of depth and development in the characters, particularly with the main character. Johnson's original image of a quirky, rebellious, and "super" intelligent female lead are consistently undermined by Stevie's inability to handle simple situations, such as crossing the boundaries of her boyfriend's past or withholding crucial information from police. Although her passion for solving crimes and her ability to use her experiences with anxiety and panic attacks as strengths are redeeming qualities, Stevie's isolation tactics and poor decisions lead to the demise of her friendships and ultimately leave a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, Stevie as a relatable main character has yet to capture my love for wearing black hoodies and listening to My Chemical Romance songs on-repeat when I need to mourn a heart-wrenching book. And, I promise this is not just a phase, mom!

 As for the rest of the novel's innards, it appears that Johnson is attempting to throw diverse cultures and relationships into the story without much regard. In the beginning of the novel and when Stevie first enrolls at Ellingham, a female student wearing a hijab is mentioned; however, this student never reappears within the novel. Maybe, Johnson is attempting to show the wide range of students accepted into the prestigious school; however, 'hijab-wearing student' doesn't even get a name or an interaction with Stevie. Then, Johnson introduces Stevie's best friend Janelle as lesbian and eventually writes a romantic relationship between Janelle and a classmate. At the discretion of the publishing author, including a diverse array of relationships and characters is essential to represent our community and its values; however, the relationship is not given the quality or the depth of even being a side romance. Not even Stevie and David's back-and-forth flirting and eventual kissing sessions are given time to develop or mature into a realistic relationship. In a romance, I am looking for a slow burn; unfortunately, this novel was unable to accomplish what Johnson may have sought to do although she had enough pages to build the storyline and develop the characters and their relationships with each other. Moreover, Janelle's relationship launches Stevie into fits of jealousy in fear of losing her relationship with Janelle. Consequently, I wish Stevie had shown half the support that Janelle responded with to her passions and overall respect for their friendship; unfortunately, Stevie remains self-absorbed in her own drama throughout the story's entirety.

Lastly, despite the flaws of Truly, Devious, I appreciate the attention Johnson brought to Stevie's passion for forensics. As someone who meticulously researched cold cases in high school and now hopes to enter a career in medicine, it has been essential for me to remember that there is face to every situation or problem encountered. Bettering or fixing a problem can lead to intense focus for solely the solution; however, the spreadsheets of data and creativity needed to address an issue all stem from the individuals directly affected by the case. 

"This is about real people, not figures from fiction. [C]rime itself is popular. But crime has a human face. If you're going to study crime, you have to remember the people involved."The above quote sums up the previous paragraph and includes an important lesson. Stevie, as she typically does with adult advice, shrugs it off in the moment but does use it to her advantage when working through Hayes crime, which did surprise me in the end. 

Overall, I will stick to the Sherlock Holmes, the Agatha Christie novels, and many other of my beloved mystery stories rather than trial the subsequent books in this trilogy. I'll never say never; however, from my reading experience with Truly, Devious, I expect for the other books of this trilogy to be drawn-out versions of the main murder mystery that ominously attracted me first. Additionally, I do not have the patience for Stevie's irrational antics or the troubling romance between her and David. 

What are your thoughts of Johnson's Truly, Devious or the complete trilogy? What are some of your favorite mystery books, young adult or not? What steps would you take to solve the murders of your new friend and a previous student from 1936? Hopefully no steamy make-out sessions, but it's your case! Chat with me in the comments below or via any of my social media.

Love, 

newbookcats

[sixtenmachado]

sixten copy pastes some rambly discord messages into a review and calls it a day: An InFamous 2 Review

(Copy/pasted from my backloggd)

i like how WEIRD the movement is, there's not really any other games where the character moves like the InFamous games, except Ghost of Tsushima, which is made by the same studio and also directed by Nate Fox. It's kinda hard to explain but it's like right in between uncharted and a PS2 platformer, with a bunch of special interactions with grind rails, power lines and such. The game feels weird at first, but when you get into the swing of it it feels REALLY good to play, especially the movement. I can run around for hours in the InFamous games and never get bored, the balance of flow vs careful pathfinding is immaculate. I like the electricity, both looks-wise and how you're constantly aware of and interacting with electrical currents in the world

there are few games that are so mechanically fixated on the way you perceive and navigate your environment while also being focused on being empowering and free flowing

i also really like New Orleans as a setting, i like the misty swamps and the faux french architecture, i like the way hints of jazz sneak into the soundtrack in subtle and unexpected ways

infamous 1 and 2 are probably the most deserving of a HD rerelease out of literally any games because they run like dogshit and it brings the experience down SO much, especially when you're not a kid with patience for bad framerates

what else… I just love that Cole (the guy you play as) is this parkour dude with big pants and a funny courier bag, he loves urban exploration and he's like a gruff bald late 2000s game protagonist but he has a few moments where he softens in a way that feels human and believable. I love that his best friend, Zeke, is this kind of sleazy but truly loyal and kind southerner who clearly doesn't have his shit together but isn't portrayed with any kind of disgust or malice. Any other game would have that character just be a GTA-style piece of shit that you're supposed to just kind of dislike but feel empowered by what a piece of shit he is, but here he's portrayed with empathy and nuance

also while i don't particularly love comic books the game bleeds love for them, and it's just nice when things are so earnest. I can see what they were going for and i truly appreciate it

the good/evil system, while kind of binary and oversimplified, still has a fun dichotomy of carelessly explosive or carefully precise. Both playstyles are cool and valid, even if the moral choices themselves are generally complete no-brainers. But that's kind of the point: the more evil shit Cole does, the less he has to care. What's motivating him truly is personal greed, which aligns with the players motivations if they're drawn to that explosive playstyle. Moral choices in most games come down to investment in the story, but InFamous primarily treats it as investment in mechanics, with story beats reflecting the implications

for all the jank, strangely balanced combat encounters, annoying enemies shooting you as you're trying to get from A to B, terrible framerate, and often sort of forgettable and limp story, I can't help but give this game the highest score. None of those issues manage to get in the way of the impact this game has had on me, and all the fun I've had just running around in it. Every moment of jankiness, be it gameplay or narrative, is met by not only moments where it works really well but also shows some truly interesting, unique and clearly well thought-out artistic choices.

[thisismytwocents]

Frieda McFadden has taken me by storm. Recommended by Alley Kei after I told her that "Conversations with Friends" by Sally Rooney was not working, I started reading "The Teacher," and wow, I was not prepared for that book.

The Teacher is the best of the three I've read so far. All drama, smoke, mirrors, and storyline, with a few unexpected turns along the way. Pacing was good, and it never felt rushed. The way she wrote every minor and big twist got me hooked on this book.

It was about an illicit student-teacher relationship between Addie, a hopeless romantic student who feels excluded and now feels she is like the soulmate of his teacher, Nate Bennett, who has a lot of students admiring how he looks. Eve Bennett, who is married to Nate, is somewhat in a love-hate relationship with her husband, who also has her fair share of secrets.

It's never entirely obvious in this convoluted psychological thriller who can be trusted, what secrets each character is hiding, or what the real story is, which is looking like a staple in McFadden's writing.

Do Not Disturb felt like a pedal to the metal action right from the beginning. While I do occasionally, well, typically enjoy a little backstory or build-up, it is not necessary for this narrative. The pace was indeed fast for this one. Even though this is only my second book by Freida McFadden, her writing style seems to be similar to this one. Her ability to transition between characters or time periods without losing the reader has really pleased me. The story is clear and well-detailed.

Although I do remember the story, my disappointment with the ending makes it hard to remember the characters.😅✌️

I'll do a different review for "The Housemaid," as that has three parts. I've finished at least four books this year, three of them from Freida, and I look forward to reading more of her work.