Chilling Effect (Untitled Space Opera #1) by Valerie Valdes

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes

My Rating: ★

I received a copy from HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Captain Eva Innocente is living her best life working with a crew of friends that have become family on her spaceship as they pick up odd delivery jobs that take them all over space. Just when she thinks that a job requiring her to drop off a litter of psychic cats falls through is the worst part of her week, she finds out her sister has been abducted by a deep space criminal group that manipulates people by threatening the lives of their abductees. Unable to tell a single soul that she’s now working for this criminal group, she takes her crew on a new dangerous ride so that she can save her sister.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book, but then I’d be lying. While a hilarious space opera with strong family ties and psychic cats sounds fun, I spent a good portion of the book asking questions instead of enjoying the story. I think it would’ve been far more enjoyable if it had a good amount of world building early on. Instead, I was confused about the world Eva and company lived in and spent some time confusing the cast of characters for one another. It was hard to visualize this world when the scenery was constantly changing before there was enough time spent to explain where they even were. I wish that some basics were explained early on and that there was time spent on world building before the story kicked off.

I also didn’t care for majority of the characters once I got a hold on them. Much of Eva’s crew was one dimensional and I wish that more time was spent on getting to know the core cast of characters. The only one we really get to know is Eva, who also narrates the story. Eva is extremely selfish, short tempered, and hypocritical. I didn’t really care for her, but I do love that she is willing to jump through hoops for her family even if they aren’t on talking terms.

There are some good and funny moments, but sadly, this was a miss for me. While it’s fast paced, there isn’t enough world building to stabilize the story. I think there is some potential here, but it needs more world building, more character growth, and a slower pace.

Legendary Ladies by Ann Shen

Legendary Ladies by Ann Shen

My Rating: ★★★★★

Continuing to read more books on badass women in history, I knew I had to pick up this book on Goddesses. Covering goddesses from all over the world, Ann tells us where they’re from, their origin story, and what they stand for. Plus, we get some beautiful artwork depicting each goddess at the end of their story.

One of the things that I love about this book is that it covers goddesses from all over the world rather than just Roman and Greek goddesses. Don’t get me wrong. I love Roman and Greek goddesses as well, but we often get a sample of Greek and Roman mythology rather than expanding and covering other cultures. Based on the cover and the synopsis, I knew we were going to finally get a good variety when I picked up this book.

I also love that this the perfect book to introduce kids to mythology. It’s kid friendly, has beautiful artwork, and will inspire kids to look more into mythology during and after reading. Of all the chapters, there is one chapter that is not kid friendly, so I recommend screening the book beforehand since there isn’t a trigger warning at the beginning of that particular chapter.

The only thing that I didn’t like is that it’s encouraged to call on each goddess for a particular reason (fertility, inspiration, etc) at the end of each chapter. It’s not something that I would recommend because you shouldn’t call on a deity you don’t worship for help. Otherwise, it’s a great book and I highly recommend picking it up and adding it to your book collection.

Women Who Dared: 52 Stories of Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebels by Linda Skeers, Livi Gosling

Women Who Dared: 52 Stories of Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebels by Linda Skeers, Livi Gosling

My Rating: ★★★★★

Women have been doing amazing things for centuries, but many of the women who were noted in history are often forgotten. It’s important to remember these people because women have always played an important role in society even if some try to say otherwise. This book presents short biographies on 52 notable women whose stories should be shared with every generation in a format that is geared toward younger generations, telling them that women have always been amazing.

I saw this book and knew I had to read it because I’m all about badass women that are often forgotten or glossed over. While I was excited to read it, I did wish that the biographies were a little more in-depth, but I know that its target audience is kids through pre-teens so there’s no complaint there. If anything, I’m excited that books like this exist to introduce kids to people they may have otherwise never heard of. In fact, there were several people featured that I had no idea about. Now I can add them to the list of people I want to learn more about!

The artwork is cute and fun, which makes it perfect for kids. I also like that we do learn a lot of important information about the women featured that also encourages readers to check out more about their lives. This would make a great gift for anyone, but especially for kids. It can really encourage them to get into history and empowering women. It’s also inspiring because all of these women did great things and it shows that it’s possible to reach your goals even when the odds are against you.

Meal by Blue Delliquanti, Soleil Ho

Meal by Blue Delliquanti, Soleil Ho

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Letter Better Publishing Services through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yarrow is a young and passionate chef who wants to bring her love for insect-based food into people’s lives. Excited about a new insect-based restaurant’s opening, Yarrow is determined to land herself a job there. However, things take an unexpected turn when she irritates the owner, Chandra, rather than wowing her. Issued with a challenge that will make or break her chances at the restaurant, Yarrow takes a step back and remembers that she’s not trying to get Chandra to look past the bugs and give the food a try like she does with most people.

I saw this graphic novel and thought it sounded cute and interesting, so I knew I had to read it. Yarrow is a sweet woman who just wants to bring her passion for insects and their role in the culinary world to people who would normally turn their nose up at the idea. Along the way, we learn about how she began raising her own insects and cooking them as well as the cultural ties that insects in the culinary world has. I thought it was quite interesting, especially as someone who would normally turn my nose up to knowingly eating insects. I’m not sure that I would run out and try something right now, but it has opened my eyes to the idea that it might be something I’m willing to give a try at some point in the future.

I loved the characters that we meet and how we learn why they want to bring insect-based food to American culture as the story continues. It’s also fun because Yarrow makes a friend, Milani, at the beginning of the story and we watch her try Yarrow’s food and really get into eating food that she herself would normally have turned her nose up to. Plus, their friendship slowly turns into romance and we watch Milani blossom in her own world as an artist.

At the end of the story, the book continues and we learn more about insects and how people view various foods as good or gross depending on the culture. There’s also some recipes and tips on dipping your toes into raising and cooking insects yourself. There are also character sketches at the very end, which I loved looking at because I loved the style and I love seeing artist’s sketches.

Killed on Blueberry Hill (A Berry Basket Mystery #3) by Sharon Farrow

Killed on Blueberry Hill by Sharon Farrow

My Rating: ★★★

As tourist season continues to boom, Marlee dives face first into the Blueberry Blow Out festival. Literally. Her fiancé, Ryan, signed her up for a pie eating contest in hopes to outshine his rival, Porter. As the events continue, Marlee soon learns that Ryan has a mean streak when losing an event turns into an all-out brawl. Just when things can’t get any worse, Porter is murdered, and Ryan gleefully takes off on a fishing trip. As Marlee hunts down the killer so that she can clear Ryan’s name, she learns that her fiancé is hiding a lot more than she could’ve ever imagined.

I’ve been a fan of this series since I picked up the first book a few months back, so I was excited to get my hands on this installment. Sadly, I spent a good portion of the book irritated and finally got on board with the story a little past the halfway point. It’s not a bad story, and there are great things about it, but the story dragged along and there were some things that just kept taking me out of it.

Early on, Marlee implies through her thoughts that a character thinks she’s weak and helpless and therefore makes herself weak and helpless after helping this character get away from two sexual harassers. This just rubbed me the wrong way and really made me lose respect for Marlee, which soured my view as I read several more chapters. Combined with her relationship falling apart, how little she poked around in Ryan’s life while trying to solve the murder, and the slow pace of the story, it took me some time to truly get back into the story and like Marlee again.

That said, there were good things. I liked that Marlee and Ryan’s relationship problems finally came to a head, revealing that Ryan has a lot of secrets and ulterior motives. When the other shoe dropped, it really dropped! However, it took a long time to get to this point and Marlee seemed like she was just poking around doing a very distracted attempt at sleuthing because she didn’t want to face the sinking ship that was her engagement. I also think it’s odd that Ryan being the prime suspect in the murder was kept under wraps even though the town’s gossip queen must’ve known he was a suspect. I would’ve liked to see the rumor mill really get churning with that information as Marlee investigated the murder. There could’ve been more pushback when she jumped to conclusions because it read like she was just there to point the finger at anyone but Ryan.

I enjoyed seeing the usual cast of characters and seeing what they were up to as well as hearing their opinions and seeing their reactions as events unfolded. I think Natasha, Dean, and Andrew are my favorite characters. I love seeing how they interact with the other characters and what shenanigans they get up to themselves. I would honestly follow a spin-off series following any of the three if that was something that happened somewhere down the line.

I felt optimistic about the next installment when I reached the last quarter of the book because the story picked up and it had the same charm that hooked me in the first place. While this is not my favorite book of the series, I am looking forward to the next installment and am already counting the days until its release.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

My Rating: ★★★★

Millie Morris is best buds with a group of guys who also happen to be her colleagues. As a professor and expert on female serial killers, she’s ready zone out but still support her friends in their areas of study every time they get excited about something out of her area of interest. Terrible at letting anyone in or sharing her feelings, Millie is the first to change the subject or crack a joke. Things get weird after she has a half-night stand with one of her best buds, Reid Campbell, because she realizes that she has feelings for him. Unable and unwilling to let him in, she struggles with their mutual decision to keep things platonic, especially after her group of friends decide they need to hit dating websites to find a date for a big event coming up. It all seems like a great idea until she creates a new secret profile and catfishes Reid.

Told in narrating perspectives, we follow Millie and Reid as they navigate their love lives, friendships, and personal hardships. I absolutely love this story even if I didn’t love the ending. It has such a great cast of characters that I felt myself wanting to be friends with all of them. It’s clear that Millie, Reid, Alex, Ed, and Chris have a meaningful friendship with each other. The company they keep enriches their lives. Plus, they’re a silly bunch with an addiction to boardgames.

While it’s hard to keep the names straight at first, it’s easy to know who is who after a few chapters. I found myself liking everyone but Millie after some time because of her response to catching feels for Reid. Instead of being honest after he doesn’t put two and two together about her secret profile, Catherine, being her, she decides to catfish him. It’s extremely immature of her. That said, she does experience a lot of character growth through the book and I found myself liking her more again toward the end once she faces what she’s done and decides to work on herself.

I loved Reid and I did feel bad for him because I knew he was being catfished all along. I also loved his family and the interaction his family has with his friends. It’s like they accept Reid and all his friends as an extension of their own family. It reminded me a lot of my own family, so I just really loved them. While I didn’t care for the ending, I think it did make sense because of who Reid is as a person.

I highly recommend picking up this novel. It’s funny, heartwarming, but also sad. It has a wonderful cast of characters and I laughed a lot while reading it. I especially loved the group chats between the characters and how they interacted as friends who are also family. I look forward to checking out more books from Christina Lauren in the future.