YA Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

This is the latest offering by Justin A. Reynolds, an author whose work I always enjoy. It’s difficult to classify this book…I was thinking maybe magical realism? But on second thought, I think I’d go with contemporary with a touch of sci-fi.

So the story follows a young man named Jamal. He once had a best friend named Q (which was short for Quinn), but we learn right away that somehow Jamal blames Q for his parents’ death two years earlier and hasn’t spoken to Q since the funeral. Now Q resents Jamal and feels abandoned by him, so we have a very messy relationship dynamic.

So one night, Jamal is walking by the water, and he hears a cry for help. He dives in to rescue the person, and of course, it’s Q. He begins dragging Q to shore but ends up losing strength on the way. He makes it, but Q is unconscious but alive. Jamal heads to the hospital, where he learns that Q has died.

But that’s not the end of our story because, you see, there is a new technology that would allow Q to be reanimated — that is to say, to be brought back to life with no memory of his death or of what happened to him. But there’s a catch: he’ll only be alive for a short time: a couple of weeks max, maybe only days, and once that time has passed, he’s gone for good.

Jamal discusses this possibility with Q’s mom, and she agrees to have the people in charge of this technology — it’s not the doctors at the hospital — bring Q back to life. But there is a stipulation: nobody is to tell Q that he died nor that his days are numbered.

I love redemption stories, and that’s kind of what we have here as Jamal has one more chance to make things right with Q. What’s interesting is that in so doing, Jamal ends up creating a new type of family that supports him and surrounds him with love. I thought this aspect of the story was incredibly moving. So we have a significant focus on friendship and family in the novel as well as forgiveness.

My huge takeaway from this story was how we are all on limited time with the people we love, and now is the time to focus on making these relationships and the moments of our life count. So imagine how you would do if you only have a few days left? We definitely see the importance here of “seizing the day.”

But I will say that this story is incredibly sad, so be sure to have tissues handy. This is kind of like “They Both Die at The End” by Adam Silvera in that we know how it’s all going to turn out, and I knew there’d no way I wouldn’t tear up at the end. The book is beautiful, happy, and heartfelt but also, of course, heartbreaking as well. I loved this story. I loved the entire premise of this story where a grieving young man gets a second chance to say goodbye to someone he lost and maybe even make up for some of his mistakes.

This story certainly provides a lot to think about and contemplate, such as how forgiveness can not be expected or assumed but only hoped for and, of course, the importance of living life to the fullest now because…you never know. With that in mind, it’s a reminder not to waste our time being angry and resentful with others. I remember a speaker once said that being angry about something that happened in the past is like investing in a mausoleum – it will never pay off.

This may be one of those books that I’ll need to reread at some point. It totally surprised me how it wasn’t really about death, but instead was a celebration of life, friendship, and family,

Another new favorite book by Justin a Reynolds. I love this author!

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This book is kind of difficult to classify. It’s kind of a speculative fiction, alternate reality, paranormal murder mystery, I guess.

The world in the story is pretty identical to ours except that it is no stranger to magic, and discussions about monsters, magic, and ghosts, and heroes of legends are not unusual. There are also vampires who’ve pretty much been accepted by society and even fairy rings, which serve as a mode of transportation.

Our tale follows a young Lipan Apache girl named Elatsoe, who has the ability to raise the ghosts of animals. She even has a ghost dog named Kirby as a companion. This skill has been passed down to her through the women in her family. In fact, her six-great grandmother was quite a legendary hero. We learn that Elatsoe’s cousin Trevor has just been killed in an automobile accident, but he appears to her in her dreams and informs her that his death was no accident. He even names his murderer: a man in Willowbee called Abe Allerton and asks Elatsoe to ensure that justice is done and protect his family.

She ends up investigating the odd little town where her cousin’s murderer lives and, in the process, unearths some pretty dark secrets, and she soon discovers that the murderer is a key figure in a much larger and more dangerous conspiracy.

I especially loved this book because of the numerous indigenous stories that everyone told and how they were seamlessly intertwined with the plot. It’s clear that the concept of “story” is a key theme in this book, and I enjoyed how the stories about “Six-Great” rendered her immortal. I especially loved the tales about her and her ghostly mammoth.

Ellie’s character is also so lovable and real. She’s strong, delightfully nerdy confident, and never doubts her ability to succeed. Her touch of sarcasm and biting wit endeared her all the more to me. She’s also proudly asexual, so I enjoyed that rep in this story. What also really worked for me in this novel was the strong circle of support that Elatsoe has around her, including her parents, her friends, her ever-faithful, and protective ghost dog. Oh, and I absolutely adored her relationship with the ghost dog.

All of the secondary characters are well-fleshed out and vivid, and I enjoyed getting to know all of them. There were also quite riveting in their own right, such as her Fey friend and another character — I think it was her friend’s sister — who’s in love with and hopes to marry a vampire. Additionally, I loved the fact that no matter how far out Elatsoe’s experiences are, her parents and friend never doubt her or question her. At no point does anyone think she’s lying or fail to show her the utmost respect.

This book has a plethora of riveting themes such as grief, loss, family, the exploitation and genocide of indigenous people, colonialism, murder, greed, racism, and so much more. The fact that this was a book focused on Indigenous culture and its traditions was a huge plus for me. We got to see those traditions firsthand in the everyday life of Elosoe and her family.

So yes, this was a wonderfully written magical story with phenomenal world-building and a cast of realistic characters.

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This is the sequel to Dread Nation, a historical fiction novel that takes place after the US Civil War and after the zombie apocalypse (called shambles in this duology) and follows our two main characters, Jane McKeene and Katherine Deveraux.

Interestingly, this book alternates between Jane’s and Katherine’s POV, whereas Dread Nation was told entirely from Jane’s POV. Given that these two characters are so different, I enjoyed getting the story from both their perspectives.

Like the first book, the narrative voices where we phenomenal. I listened to this in audiobook format and thought both of the narrators did an excellent job. Bahni Turpin narrated Jane’s voice, the same person who did so in the first book, and the POV of Katherine’s POV was expertly performed by Jordon Cobb.

The story picks up where the last book left off where a supposed “utopia” once again falls to a hoard, and our characters again embark on a desperate search for somewhere out of the reach of the shamblers. I can’t say too much without spoiling the first book, except that Jane is hell-bent on revenge, and it has nearly destroyed her. It’s undoubtedly lead her to do some pretty horrible things.

You know, it’s always tough to talk about the second book in a series as you really can’t discuss too much of the plot without spoiling book 1.

But I can say that similar to the first book, there were numerous setbacks, tragedies, triumphs, and plenty of shamblers, with Katherine & Jane’s friendship sorely tested through it all. There was also an especially heart-breaking event that completely blindsided me. And I was like What??????

The villain was also unexpected and took me totally by surprise.

But I thought this as a phenomenal conclusion to the series. I think it’s only a duology though I could be wrong. There’s definitely an opportunity here for another book, and if Ms. Ireland were to write it, I for sure would buy it.

I loved the storyline and character development of this novel and adored the friendship theme that ran throughout it. There were plenty of plot twists, leading the story off into several different compelling directions. The book also nicely portrayed how our characters had to deal with and overcome constant racism as well as misogynistic assholes. But Katherine and Jane did an excellent job of putting these types of people in their place.

Like the first one, this was another solid 5-star read, and I love, love, love this duology.

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The Rattled Bones is a super-atmospheric ghost story that follows a young woman named Rilla Brae who has recently lost her father and is struggling with her grief as well as her uncertain future. The story takes place in a small Maine fishing community and visible to the town is a mysterious uninhabited island.

One night Rilla sees the apparition of a ghostly girl floating over the nearby island and her haunting yet familiar song reaches Rilla, beckoning her.

The ghosts pull grows stronger until intrigued, Rilla boats over to the island. There she meets a young man named Sam, a university student who’s excavating the island and searching for clues about the island people who were evicted from the island 80 years earlier.

Now, this is news to her, as Rilla has never heard of anyone living on the island, and she is determined and excited to investigate the island’s history. Bit the bit, the island’s horrifying past — and a tragedy that has been kept secret – finally comes to light — a disaster that has a strong connection to Rilla’s own past.

So there’s a lot going on with this story: long-held secrets, grief, and loss, there’s a mystery to solve, there’s the struggle between tradition and moving forward, the connection between the past and present, there’s the horror of racial prejudice and even a touch of romance. And given that this is a ghost story, there’s a delightful creep factor to it as well.

It was so much fun journeying with Rilla, and she began to uncover the island’s strange and unsettling past and discover herself in the process. It’s also an excellent example of how an unnerving and distressing past can resound right into the present in a variety of ways with the uneasy suspense building page after page.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the way the author developed the mystery and then slowly weaved together its strands, bringing the characters closer to each other in the process. This is an atmospheric book that is vibrant with life, rich in culture, and yet, is followed by haunting shadows that make your spine tingle.

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