ARC

Book Review: In the Light of the Sun

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

In the Light of the Sun
by Angela Shupe

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Historical fiction

Rosa and Caramina Grassi, Italian Filipinas, are both extraordinary singers. Rosa, the older sister, lives in Italy with their grandmother, who was also a famous singer in her time, and attends a music school to develop her gift. Younger sister Caramina is only 14 and still at home in the Philippines, but dreams of one day following her sister to Italy. But as war comes to both Italy and the Philippines, both sisters are forced to re-examine their priorities and fight just to survive.

I don’t think I have a lot to say about this book, good or bad. It was just kind of okay, to me. Both of these angles of WWII are fairly fresh—I especially have never read a book set in the Philippines when the Japanese invade. The horrors they endured there were no less horrible than what was going on in Europe, and the author did a good job of showing some of that without getting too dark or graphic. However, the overall pacing is really slow, which might have been partly to do with the fact that the book covers a few years. But I think the author also focuses on details now and then that just aren’t that important to the story. Though each of these stories could have been interesting on its own, I’m not sure the choice to go back and forth between the basically completely disconnected sisters was the right one. The sisters are fairly similar in personality and actually even experience some very similar situations, so some of it felt really repetitive. There is even some romance involved, but it’s all so broad-scope, I found that I didn’t particularly have much interest in it. Overall, I could see a lot of people really loving this book. The writing is smooth and easy to read, and I really liked some of the side characters. If you’re interested in these less-explored aspects in WWII fiction and don’t mind a slower-paced book, I encourage you to check this out.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about In the Light of the Sun

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

November in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 10 books last month, which is more than it felt like. Between Thanksgiving and participating in a writing challenge all month, I didn’t spend as much time reading or listening to audiobooks. So 10 is a pretty good number!

Here are the books I read in November:

HTTYD 3
Finding Phoebe
Minor 2
Odd 1
Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000040_00026]
House of Many Ways
Sea Before
Carpenter 21
Power cover, Kindle
Godhead
white placeholder
white placeholder

How to Speak Dragonese by Cressida Cowell (4 / 5)
Finding Phoebe by Ellie Katz (3 / 5)
The Minor Rescue by Meredith Davis (3.5 / 5)
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (4 / 5)
Resistance by Jaye L. Knight (3.5 / 5)
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (3.5 / 5)
The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin (4 / 5)
Muzzled by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
Power by Kristi Drillien (5 / 5)
The Godhead Complex by James Dashner (2 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from November was Muzzled. I started 3 series, continued 4 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: The Minor Rescue

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Minor Rescue
The Amazing Adventures of Noah Minor #2
by Meredith Davis

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the previous book, The Minor Miracle.

In the aftermath of his encounter with Uncle Saul, anger is nearly always lurking beneath the surface of Noah Minor’s mind. He’s angry about his friend Haley’s loss of one of her gravitar abilities. Angry about his other friend Rodney’s loss of his musical know-how. Angry that the Gravitas organization has demoted him because he broke the rules involving his great uncle. And mostly angry that Uncle Saul caused all of this destruction and got away. Noah’s anger seems to make his gravitar abilities stronger, though, so he’s happy to lean into it. But when 26 middle schoolers are kidnapped, his anger may be a liability in the search for the missing kids.

This book definitely had some ups and downs for me. Noah is impulsive and impatient, and though I understood his anger at the beginning of the book, it made him a fairly unlikeable character, especially when he actually bullies others with his power. On the other hand, it is resolved in a way that is meaningful; I only wish he hadn’t been quite so harsh for quite so long. I liked the story arcs for both Haley and Rodney, though. And there’s a serious plot twist in this book that I think will have kids on the edge of their seats. Overall, this is a decent follow-up for the previous book, and I’ll keep an eye out for more to the series, especially now that Noah has gotten past his anger issues. I think kids around age 8-12 will enjoy the book, though it would make more sense to start with the first book.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about The Minor Rescue

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Finding Phoebe

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Finding Phoebe
by Ellie Katz

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Coming of age YA drama

Growing up, Phoebe Carasso developed a stutter that made life difficult for her. She survived up to and through high school by relying on her twin brother, David, to talk for her, protect her, and be her best friend. After graduation, David goes to college out of state, while Phoebe is staying near home, thus forcing her to face the world on her own.

The heart of this story is overall well done, with Phoebe learning who she is without her brother and trying to navigate social situations that she used to avoid. Though “avoid” really means that she went to social events with her brother but sat in the corner. What I find the most interesting about this book is the exploration of an introvert that might not be a true introvert, but only became such due to psychological issues. Her stutter does not manifest around people she’s comfortable with, so being around strangers or mere acquaintances, which during her adolescence included everyone outside of her family, she either wouldn’t speak or would give only the shortest of responses when addressed. Thus, she’d be wiped out from every social encounter, which is the mark of an introvert. However, to my mind, at least, when Phoebe gets out into the bigger world, she actually seems quite happy to be around people. Maybe not to the point where she gains energy from it, as an extrovert would, but when she’s mostly with friends and in situations she’s grown comfortable with, she doesn’t seem as sapped of energy when she doesn’t spend as much time trying to avoid stutter. It made me question the source of my own introvertedness, if perhaps it at least wouldn’t be as strong as it is if I didn’t have the social anxiety issues that I have.

On the other side of things, though, this book suffers from being fairly bloated. There is a lot of focus on what is being eaten at meals, on outings Phoebe and various friend groups go on, and on minor details in the plans being made for those outings that are completely unnecessary to the story. By the halfway point, I started to do a lot of skimming when Phoebe and her friends were going to go ice skating or to a museum, and I think the book could have been cut down by at least 100 pages and not suffered any loss to the story and character development.

Phoebe herself comes across as nearly a Mary Sue. Yes, she has a couple of flaws, but outside of her stutter and a stubbornness that crops up close to the end of the book, she’s interested in everything, great at everything she tries, and, even though she spent all of her life until now in silence, somehow a great friend and host without really having to try too hard. She attracts everyone she meets, whether they knew her when she was still quietly sitting in her brother’s shadow or have only met her as she’s tried to break free. And there are times when she is talking to someone she only just met, says more than the 2-3 words that help her avoid her stutter—multiple full sentences that I thought must be a triumph for her, but turned out to not be anything? Maybe she was doing her other trick, very carefully enunciating the words, and the author felt it would be tedious to explain that every single time she did that, but since the alternative is that Phoebe just doesn’t stutter and somehow isn’t aware that she’s managed to avoid it, I think the reminder would have still been helpful.

Due to Phoebe’s tendency to be great at nearly everything she tries her hand at, this book has almost no conflict. Her brother provides most of it, but overall, it feels really shallow and…nice. I don’t know another word for it. Maybe because the book’s author is a psychotherapist, the characters are really good at analyzing themselves and each other (when they get past Phoebe’s stubbornness and take the time to discuss their issues). It just felt overall shallow and unrealistic to me. However, since my issues with the book are probably more based on my own personal preferences as a reader and a writer, if you’re interested in the book, please check out other reviews at the link below.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

Find out more about Finding Phoebe

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

October in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 15 books last month, another higher-than-average month, with a page count only barely lower than last month. It’s been a good stretch of reading for the last 3 months, but that will come to end in here in November, as I spend more time writing and less time reading. With my current rate of listening to audiobooks, though, the number for November might not dip as low as it has when I did NaNoWriMo in the past.

Here are the books I read in October:

Edgeland
Carpenter 20
HTTYD 2
Poirot 20
Maze Cutter
Pennypickle
gambit
Castle in the air
Bleak Creek
7 Things
not-if-i-save-you-first
Lemoncello 2 GN
lost-lt
Sunrise

Edgeland by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski (2.5 / 5)
Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt (4 / 5)
How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell (3 / 5)
The Maze Cutter by James Dashner (2 / 5)
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie (3.5 / 5)
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (4 / 5)
Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein (5 / 5)
Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (2 / 5)
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal (4.5 / 5)
Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew About the Bible by Michael F. Bird (3 / 5)
And to All a Good Bite by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter (1.5 / 5)
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics: The Graphic Novel by Chris Grabenstein (4.5 / 5)
The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch (5 / 5)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (5 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from October was Sunrise on the Reaping. I started 2 series, continued 4 series, and finished 2 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: And to All a Good Bite

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

And to All a Good Bite
Andy Carpenter #32
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When a man who once saved a puppy from a burning building is arrested for murder a year later, defense attorney Andy Carpenter is a little less reluctant than usual to take his case. A man who can save a dog’s life can’t possibly want to harm a human, right? This case takes Andy into another area that is foreign to him—high end art.

I may have sounded a little snarky in my synopsis, but really, sometimes Andy’s belief in a client’s virtue simply due to how they treat dogs makes me roll my eyes. Still, that doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book (maybe because I’ve gotten so used to the crazy amounts of dog love in this series). I always enjoy Andy’s team, and I liked seeing the inclusion of Corey, a former K-9 cop that is one of the major characters in the spin-off series, The K Team, which I haven’t read yet but plan to start soon. I really liked the angle of Nazi-stolen art in this story, which I felt was a fresh and interesting area to explore for this series. And the conspiracy, though twisty as always, comes together really well in the end.

Andy sarcasm in this book reminded me of why I love these books, and overall, this one ranks up there for me in this series. I don’t know how much longer the series will go on, but it’s good to know that Rosenfelt still brings an enjoyable story 32 books in. And Grover Gardner continues to portray Andy perfectly. If it’s not clear, I recommend this book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, as well as the books that precede it in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about And to All a Good Bite

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest
by Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Twelve-year-old Benjamin Broderick is into puzzles and random knowledge. Eighteen-year-old Ethan Broderick is into sports and girls. These brothers don’t have much in common and aren’t very close, and it won’t get any better once Ethan leaves for college in the fall. Though being coerced into taking a road trip together isn’t how Ethan wants to spend the beginning of his summer, he can’t deny that the perks might just be worth it. Especially when Benjamin wins them a chance at a million-dollar prize, and all they have to do is work together to solve a series of puzzles set up by the eccentric puzzle purveyor, Ms. Pennypickle—before their competition beats them to it.

This book was a lot of fun overall to read. I really felt for Benjamin, who keeps trying to connect with his brother without being pushy. And Ethan isn’t mean or bad, he’s just an 18-year-old about to go out into the world and not exactly thinking about how his little brother fits into his life anymore. There were parts to this book that felt a little too convenient or coincidental or just unrealistic, but it all made sense in the end, and in a way that I really enjoyed. There’s a twist to this book that I didn’t see coming, and then a second, smaller twist that I anticipated, based on the first twist, though that doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy to be right. It actually reminded me of one of my favorite movies, but to even say what that movie is would be a spoiler for this book, to those who know the movie.

The book has a lot of interesting trivia in it, especially about Route 66, introducing me to locations that I’ve never heard of and probably never would have, but I have to admit that it made me want to take a road trip to experience some of these places. There is also plenty of humor and a fun shout-out to Grabenstein’s much-loved Lemoncello series. And speaking of that, I appreciate Grabenstein wanting to go in a new direction from that popular series yet still wanting to include puzzles in this book. I felt there was more diversity in puzzle types in this book, and I really liked trying to solve some of them along with the characters. And while it’s difficult to avoid comparing Ms. Pennypickle with Mr. Lemoncello, due to them both being eccentric, rich, genius puzzle creators, I noted some personality differences in Ms. Pennypickle that made her her own person. And the story focuses more on family and relationships than the end goal. I don’t know that this book can become a series, but I do hope Grabenstein continues to write puzzle-filled, adventurous books like this. I really recommend this book for kids around 8-12, and for parents too—any age, really, especially those who like games.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

September in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 15 books last month, only one book less than last month, making it the 2nd-highest for the year, both in books and in page count. I can only chalk it up to spending more time listening to audiobooks lately.

Here are the books I read in September:

songbirds
HP 1 - MinaLima
Very Dangerous
Carpenter 19
Screenshot_20250913-000034_Kindle
HTTYD 1
Boone 1
Uncanny
Mandie 1
Howl
Poirot 19
Forward
Legacy
Far Horizon
5th

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (4 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (MinaLima version) by J.K. Rowling (4 / 5)
Very Dangerous Things by Lauren Muñoz (2 / 5)
Bark of Night by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)
The Wedding Bond by Lee Tobin McClain (2 / 5)
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (4 / 5)
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (4 / 5)
True Life in Uncanny Valley by Deb Caletti (1.5 / 5)
Mandie and the Secret Tunnel by Lois Gladys Leppard (4 / 5)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (4 / 5)
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (3 / 5)
Forward As Always by Olan Rogers & Jake Sidwell (3 / 5)
Legacy by Clifford Riley (4 / 5)
Beyond the Far Horizon by Carolyn Leiloglou (5 / 5)
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (2.5 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 3 re-reads. My favorite book from September was Beyond the Far Horizon. I started 5 series, continued 3 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

*This includes 1 series I didn’t reach the end of, but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Beyond the Far Horizon

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Beyond the Far Horizon
The Restorationists #3
by Carolyn Leiloglou

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian middle grade fantasy

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with Beneath the Swirling Sky.

Ravi may have chosen to side with the Restorationists, but that doesn’t mean he trusts them. All his life, he’s been used and had to look out for himself. So though he’s agreed to help Vincent, Georgia, and Ms. Arte take down the Distortionists, he has a secret escape plan in case things go bad. But the longer he works with them, the more he realizes that he might not want to be on his own anymore.

I am so sad to think about this being the last book in this wonderful, inventive world in which people can enter paintings and travel between them, interacting with the painted people, creatures, and other aspects within, and making changes that aren’t visible but affect the painting’s viewer, for good or for ill. Though I’m not much of an art lover, the author is clearly passionate about paintings, and I really enjoy the inclusion of different paintings and especially the various components within the paintings.

Each of these books spotlights a different teenager with the ability to Travel through paintings, and each one deals with some sort of baggage throughout the story. Vincent’s resulted in a moment that I will never forget. Georgia’s kind of paled in comparison. I felt this book brought back a lot of the sympathy and enjoyment I felt in the first book. I felt for Ravi so much, I just wanted to hug him through most of the story. 

The plot is exciting, and the ending is a satisfying conclusion to the 3-book arc. I didn’t like this book quite as much as the first, but it was still a 5-star read I recommend this book (and series—and really, you should start at the beginning if you’re interested) to anyone, young or old, interested in fantasy fiction with a Christian worldview.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Beyond the Far Horizon

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: True Life in Uncanny Valley

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

True Life in Uncanny Valley
by Deb Caletti

My rating: 1.5 / 5
Genre: YA contemporary

Eleanor has grown up with a single mom and always knowing that her dad is a wealthy, powerful tech/AI genius that doesn’t want anything to do with her, her sister, or their mom. But Eleanor can’t help but be obsessed with her dad and stalks him, both virtually and physically. When an opportunity comes up to work as nanny to her dad’s toddler son (her half-brother), Eleanor sort of falls into the job, but without revealing the truth about her identity and her connection to her charge or his father.

In case it’s not clear from my rating, I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. Humans are messy and creative and AI can never fully replicate them. That is the lesson that this entire book boils down to, which should be obvious to most of us. Of course, Caletti’s view of “messy” humans is downright terrible. Besides Eleanor’s deadbeat father, her mother is no peach either, fat-shaming Eleanor’s slightly chubby stomach, telling her how stupid she is, and making it clear that she’s always been an inconvenience. Eleanor’s older sister basically follows her mom’s lead, yet Eleanor often assures the reader that, “I know they really do love me.” I’m not buying it.

But on the plus side, Eleanor has two best friends who are basically perfect and perfect for her. The three of them have formed a book club through which they look down their noses at almost everyone else’s reading or book-reviewing habits. Seriously, I’m pretty sure that if I ever met these three, they’d absolutely hate me, and that’s considering that most of the specific things that Eleanor mentions the book club disliking aren’t even necessarily habits of mine. For example, they hate terms like “sickening thud” and seem to dislike half-star ratings (take that!) and constantly point out things that they think are cliché or tired tropes. Well, Soggy Bottom Book Club, to you I say that the inclusion of 3 best friends who don’t seem to ever fight and always understand each other perfectly is a cliché (and that!).

The main bright spot in this story is Eleanor’s connection to her little brother and even his mom, but even that comes with downsides. Like the fact that Eleanor is basically perfect as a nanny almost right away, despite some internal panic moments about really never having taken care of kids much in her life. And the fact that everyone is lying to everyone about everything pretty much through this entire book! (Except her best friends, because they’re perfect and always tell each other the truth.) There’s also a romance, which is nice at first, but then they start to make out all over Mexico and then there’s the super awkward sex scene—awkward meaning both that the characters are awkward and that I was incredibly awkward, because there are suddenly some very graphic descriptions. Though maybe it wasn’t as sudden as I thought at the time, considering the parade earlier in the book that I guess involves naked people and is just casually attended by people of all ages? Is this some Seattle thing I just don’t know about (and don’t want to know about)? I was also really thrown off by Eleanor saying (in the narration) that people of older generations, which in this case includes everyone from the toddler’s 30ish-year-old mom to Eleanor’s grandma’s age, were all about sex, but Eleanor’s generation isn’t…really? Really? 

On top of all of that, I didn’t really get along with the writing style, which is basically like stream of consciousness. For 400 pages. And Eleanor is obsessed with a comic book heroine named Miss Fury, Miss Fury’s author, and the villainous creator of Wonder Woman—a man who stole ideas from his wife. And by obsessed, I mean that she sees Miss Fury as inspiration, something to aspire to in her own life, and almost every situation she’s in, she thinks of how she’d act if she were Miss Fury. I learned way more about the creator of Wonder Woman (William Moulton Marston) than I would have ever wanted to know, especially while reading a fictional story.

This review has gone on quite long, but I think that, if nothing else, it showcases another problem with this book—there’s just TOO MUCH going on. I didn’t even touch on the AI aspect, beyond what I said at the beginning of the review. Eleanor seems to have far too little understanding of AI for her—you know what, no. I think I’ve said enough. If you’re still interested in reading this book, please check out the link below to see other reviews, though for once, I’m not as much in the minority in not enjoying this book too much, if that tells you anything (though yes, others did like it at least a little more than me).

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about True Life in Uncanny Valley

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!