Heir of Illusion

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by Madeline Taylor
First sentence: “I cradle my lover’s head in my hands, longing to shatter it against the hardwood floor.”
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Content: To take from the content advisory at the beginning of the book, there is: violence, strong language, sexual content (on page), PTSD, mentions of self-harm, mentions of grooming, sucidial ideation, suffocation, drowning, emotional and physical abuse, murder, attempted sexual assualt, unwanted touching, abuse of power, and depictions of grief. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Ivy (actually Iverson, which is a stupid name) has spent the last 15 years as the special “pet” of the King of Illusion. She wears a collar that binds her to the king’s will – and if she defies him, he uses the collar to choke her. After 15 years, Ivy is fed up and wants to escape. All she has to do is find the sword that is paired with the collar and cut it off. Which she absolutely can do, except the God of Death, Thorne, has shown up demanding the sword and is in her way. A fractious meeting turns into a tenuous partnership, which turns into a budding romance. Will it hold, though, when the dust settles?

On the one hand, I liked this enough to finish it, which is more than I can say for the last two Romantasies that I read for book group. The world-building was intriguing enough to keep me interested, and I liked that Ivy was pushing and pulling against the “norm” of her world. That said, Taylor isn’t a great writer, and this book could have easily been 100 pages shorter. She repeats herself often, and uses the same descriptive words over and over again. Yes, we know Thorne is often angry and looms. Yes, we know Ivy can turn invisible. Yes, we know the king is a bad man. Do you need to tell us every single chapter?

I don’t know if I’m curious enough to read the sequel, but I didn’t outright hate this one.

Once and Again

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by Rebecca Serle
First sentence:”I landed, he texts me, and I feel the ground underneath my feet once again.”
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Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing and some on-page but vague sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Lauren is at a crossroads. Her husband, Leo is a filmmaker and has a job opportunity in New York. So Lauren moves back into her childhood home, on the beach, with surfing and her ex-boyfriend Stone. It’s a glorious summer. But, the women in Lauren’s family have this gift to turn back time, to re-do one event. Her mother used it to save her father’s life when Lauren was 15. And when Lauren makes an earth-shattering mistake, it’s up to her to decide what to do with her chance.

Firt off: this is NOT a romance. There is nothing about it that is romance-y at all. It’s a love story, sure, in the sense that Nicholas Sparks books are a love story. It’s a family drama. It is not, on any level, a romance. And with that said, although I have lliked Serle’s books in the past, I didn’t enjoy this one. Well, that’s not true. I liked it enough to finish it, but I was dissatisfied with the ending, and I felt unfulfilled by the book as a whole. Perhaps it was because I went in expecting a romance and didn’t get that, or maybe it was just not what I was in the mood for. Either way, this was a miss for me.

Audiobook: Pole Position

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by Rebecca J Caffrey
Read by Joshua Chase & James Joseph
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Or listen on Libro.fm
Content: There’s a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs. There’s talk of sex and on-page sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Are we here for gay sports books? Yes. Yes, we are.

Kian Walker is the reigning F1 World Champion, and he has so much going for him. He’s methodical, prepared, focused, and the best in the world. Harper James is the exact opposite. A talented driver, but a party boy – he’s determined to never let anyone close enough to find out what demons he’s chasing. So when he ends up in the second driver position with Kian, sparks fly. And it doesn’t help that they feel this…. attraction. It’s not going to be an easy season for either of them.

I picked this up – I’ve had it kicking around for a while – because F1 started up again! So why not celebrate with a little gay F1 romance? It’s not deep, though they deal with abandonment issues and the trauma from bad parents, as well as the death of a parent. I did like the F1 references- sure, the teams were made up, but I think Caffrey captured the intensity of the sport and the way the drivers make decisions on and off the track. It’s probably not entirely accurate, but for a mid-level fan like me, it fit the bill. And I did like Kian and Harper’s relationship. I liked the push and pull and the way they eventually came to trust one another. And the narrators kept me engaged when the plot wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.

So, was it great? No. But it was a lot of fun, which was excatly what I was looking for.

Audio book: French Windows

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by Antoine Laurain
Read by Alex Wyndam
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Or listen on Libro.fm
Content: There is mention of infidelity and murder, and there’s some mild swearing. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Doctor Faber is a pretty run-of-the-mill psychologist. No remarkable clients, nothing remarkable to speak of. That is, until Nathalia Guitry comes into his office, saying that she has lost her artistic drive ever since she photographed a murder. Faber suggests an unorthodox treatment: why doesn’t she tell the stories of the people in the apartment building where the murder took place, and she can work out what’s bothering her. There’s a reclusive cartoonist, a social media influencer, and on and on as Nathalia spins her stories.

This is all about the power of fiction. Are Nathalia’s stories true? Maybe. Maybe there are some elements that are. But mostly, she’s getting at the heart of what makes people do the things they do. There’s also a twist that I kind of saw coming. Even so, it felt satisfying. Wyndam was a good narrator as well, though I kind of struggled to figure out when he was in “story mode” and when he was in “Doctor Faber narration” mode. That said, it was a short book, and an intriguing one at that.

The Book Witch

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by Meg Shaffer
First sentence: “All stories are love stories if you love stories.”
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Release date: April 7, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There’s some mild swearing, some mild violence, and off-page sex. It will be in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Rainy March is a Book Witch – she pops into books to save them from the Burners, the people who want to stop the stories from existing. It’s a great job – who wouldn’t want to pop into the worlds that books have created and spend time there? But then Rainy’s grandfather goes missing, and she gets the help of a fictional detective to help find him. That’s the base plot, though it’s winds and weaves more than that. The point of the book is a love of books and reading and the way that books can help people. But it’s also about the joy of stories and reading.

Of course, I loved this one. A bookish book about books that gets meta? I’m totally in. I thought this was fun, the characters were charming and delightful (Duke!), and I’m a sucker for a book where the characters get to physically experience being in books. I did think Shaffer kind of struggled with the ending – it kind of faded away rather than sticking the landing, but that’s a small quibble in an otherwise delightful reading experience.

To Dance the Moon and Stars

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by Tasia M S and Barbara Perez Marquez
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Release date: July 14, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence (including poisoning a king), and some kissing. It will be in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Myra has spent her entire life training to succeed her grandmother as high priestess for her country. She desperately wants to do a good job, but there are problems: dancing is banned and Myra loves to dance. And she’s in love with the crown prince, but the Heir to the kingdom and the High Priestess can never be together.

Oh dear, what will they do?

Okay, that sounds sarcastic, and maybe that’s a little harsh, but that’s kind of how I felt reading this one. I wanted more. I wanted more depth, I wanted more angst, I wanted more drama. And all I got was some dancing (nothing wrong with that) that helps defeat a demon. Ok then.

I think this has the bones of a good idea, and there will be people who like it, but it just felt flat to me.

Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children

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by Mac Barnett
First sentence: “If you’re a children’s book author (I’m a children’s book author), people will often ask you if you plan on ever writing a real book.”
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Release date: May 5, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: While it’s written with an adult audience in mind, I’m sure some kids will find value in this as well. It will be in the Literary Reference section of the bookstore.

This is, in short, a defense of the value of children’s literature. Not the value of children’s literature for children, but the value of it in its own right. Barnett makes some pretty general assertions: children deserve good literature because children are people too, and writing books for children doesn’t make anyone any less of a writer than someone who is writing books for adults.

It’s pretty simple, and yet it’s told with Barnett’s trademark humor. He analyses Goodnight Moon, and highlights the genius of Margaret Wise Brown. He tells a bit about how he became a writer for children. But mostly, he’s just advocating for books children want to read.

As someone who’s been interested in, read, and championed children’s literature for years (30? Since I had my oldest? Maybe longer), I wholeheartedly loved this little book. No, it’s not really anything I haven’t thought or heard before, but I’m glad that Barnett’s out there putting it into words. It’s entertaining, it’s educational, and it’s a delight to read.

Haven and the Fallen Giants

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by Jen Xu and Kate Rhodes
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Review copy provided by the publisher
Release date: June 16, 2026
Content: There are some depictions of violence and some intense moments. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Haven has grown up outside the town of Raqmu in the desert. She’s never been unhappy with her life, even though she has to sneak into the town to get at the parts she needs to sell her wares. As she is scavaging, she finds an ancient relic – but the Guardians of the town are after her. The majority of the book is her running through the town’s festival evading the Guardians, but she isn’t alone: a town girl, Lin, helps her out. It sounds unintersting, but believe me: it’s not.

While I liked the plot – Xu and Rhodes deal with the class issues between the city-dwellers and the desert-dwellers – it was the art that took my breath away. I haven’t seen a graphic novel this beautiful since Amulet, and I don’t say that lightly. there’s a spread near the beginning, as a young Haven sees a Giant, that is absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to see this in print. And while the book ended in a bit of a cliffhanger – it captivated me enough that I’m going to be invested in this series as it comes out.

It’s one of the best graphic novels I’ve seen in a long time.

Audiobook: The Experiment

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by Rebecca Stead
Read by Mark Sanderlin
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments, bullying by an adult, and mention of crushes and dating. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Nathan has grown up knowing he is different from other kids. See: he’s an alien. His parents are CAST and came here from another planet, intending to see whether they could live among humans without being detected. It means Nathan has to brush his teeth five times a day with pink toothpaste and he mother has to obsessively way his food and track his bowel movements. There are nine other families in other states (Izzy in Illinois, Leo in Louisiana, Annie in Arkansas) that are also trying this experiment. But two things happen to shake Nathan’s world: first, Izzy disappears. And then, Nathan grows a tail. These two events set Nathan on a path that will question everything he has been taught, as he determines to find out the truth of the CAST, his purpose, and the meaning behind it all.

I was truly captivated by this audiobook. A lot of it was the narrator: Sanderlin has a great voice for middle-grade books, and he made this one utterly enjoyable. There were some intense moments when I didn’t know what would happen (justice for Victor! He should have had a larger role.), and I have to admit that the ending was a little pat and somewhat preachy. Perhaps it’s because I’m an adult, but I just felt like Stead couldn’t go through with what the story was demanding of her and pivoted at the end to make a moral out of it. I could be wrong, but that’s the way it felt. That said, the rest of the book is fantastic, and I appreciate a science fiction/aliens book where people are not actually out there battling “bad” aliens. It’s refreshing. And highly recommended.

When We Ride

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by Rex Ogle
First sentence: “I’m waiting to die”
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Content: There is drug use (and dealing) by teenagers, swearing including multiple f-bombs, talk of alcoholism, and death. It’s in the Contemporary YA section of the bookstore.

Diego is trying to find his way out of his town. His mom is a recovering alcoholic, and after his dad left, all she wants is for Diego to make something of himself. Study hard, go to college, live a better life than she has been able to provide. His best friend, Lawson, is also being raised by his mom, but doesn’t have the drive that Diego has, and has taken the easy way out: he’s selling drugs for easy cash. As the book goes over their senior year of high school, with the ups and downs of their friendship – Diego has a car and Lawson always needs rides places – we find out what drives Diego and what might keep him back.

I liked this one well enough, but I think I wanted more in the end. I was hoping for something similar to Long Way Down, something powerful and deep, and maybe it is that to some readers. I know there will be many who see themselves in Diego and Lawson, and I hope it starts conversations. But, honestly? It left me wanting more. The big climax wasn’t emotionally moving, and I felt like the book went in circles for much of it. That said, I’m glad it’s out there, and I hope it’s a good mirror for some readers.