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CaramelLunacy

CaramelLunacy

Joined October 2016

only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason to drink champagne
review
CaramelLunacy
Keeping The Castle | Patrice Kindl
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Pickpick

A bit of I Capture The Castle plus some Austen heroines. Our beautiful heroine is determined to marry rich to help save her family's crumbling estate, but her overly forthright tongue keeps frightening away prospects. When a handsome baron and his financially savvy cousin come to town, things are looking up - even if one of them is terribly annoying with his bluntness...

14 likes1 stack add
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CaramelLunacy
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Pickpick

I may not be hopelessly devoted to this Regency era Grease! Retelling, but it's great for those Summer Nights... Tell you more? Tell you more?
It was lust at first sight when notorious rake Dane, heir presumptive to the Duke of Rydell sees prim and proper Sandrine floating in a secluded bay "drowning". I laughed so hard at his "rescue". And though Sandrine may be lousy with virginity, she has a wicked list she sets out to fulfill. Scandal!

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CaramelLunacy
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Queen Elizabeth II's first investigation with an assistant private secretary - in this case a dependable, clever woman named Joan McGraw who had an "interesting war". When the Queen fears there may be a plot to sabotage her State Visits and murders in an acquaintance's house that may link to the Royal Family (however obliquely), she brings in Joan to help make discreet inquiries. An interesting denouement and I am half in love with Hector Ross.

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CaramelLunacy
That Weekend | Kara Thomas
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Mehso-so

A girl wakes up on a hillside, disoriented, covered in blood and with no memory of what happened to her or her best friends.
Great premise, right? This one is very twisty as Claire tries to work out what happened, and I loved a lot of the guesswork, but about 3/4 through it lost momentum in an ugly muddle and the final twist was a big NOPE from me.
She really had me gripped at the beginning, though, I'd try another of hers in a heartbeat.

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CaramelLunacy
Milkweed | Jerry Spinelli
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Panpan

Listen, if you liked The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, you will probably like this one. It suffered from a similar problem - I just couldn't believe the ignorance, naivete and utter incomprehension of the situation and surroundings. Our main character, a street kid who grows up thieving, can't recognize cruelty? For me, this really didn't work at all and I didn't get a sense of what life in Warsaw and the ghetto was like.
Recs tagged below:

CaramelLunacy A story about two boys growing up together during the 1930s, one Jewish, one not. Rumored to be semi-autobiographical. 1mo
CaramelLunacy A girl learns about the importance of traditions and concentration camps 1mo
15 likes3 comments
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CaramelLunacy
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Madeline Hathaway has grown up on the Ren Faire circuit, but the past year she lost her mother to illness and is grieving. The last stop for the summer was her mother's favorite but everything has changed.
Annoying bard Arthur brings her out of her shell and on little adventures, and it is mostly cute, fun and positive (both body and emotionally). Conflict ended up being a bit irksome as it was so wildly evident to everyone but those involved...

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CaramelLunacy
A Trace of Poison | Colleen Cambridge
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Pickpick

The second Phyllida Bright mystery, this one is a little less Downton mystery. It involves a bunch of bloodthirsty amateur detective writers, the famous Detection Club and the most lethal of English traditions - a village fete. It is once again up to Agatha Christie's housekeeper to puzzle out the culprit, motive and methods. I am still Team Dr Bhatt and his handsome inky black moustaches.

15 likes1 stack add
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CaramelLunacy
Everyone Wants to Know | Kelly Loy Gilbert
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Mehso-so

Honor is a people-pleaser and peacemaker for her dysfunctional family - all normal boundaries a mess from the reality show they starred on. Honor can't stand being alone, but is too mistrustful of others to connect outside of her family, so she clings to her family - until they fall apart.
I'm not sure the story actually unpacked the toxicity of her family, though Honor herself does improve. Hated all the jabs at Baylor, though.

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CaramelLunacy
The Duke Undone | Joanna Lowell
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I soft pick - this was an expectations problem. I was lured by the premise of a female artist stumbling across a naked man and using him as a model, only to find out he is a Duke. I expected hijinks and trading for modeling sessions and fun.
This went a lot deeper into PTSD, alcoholism, corruption, mental institutions - especially the last third went to some dark places and I'm not sure the pay-off really got out of them. More painting please!

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CaramelLunacy
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Tentative pick - I don't usually love true crime, but this looks at Lollie and Julie as people and as a couple, not just as murder victims. The author's recurring theme is how women and marginalized groups feel unsafe in the outdoors and she attempts to counteract that but also highlight very real concerns. It is a tricky balance.
I was more interested in the evidence and investigations (and their mismanagement) and found her approach not lurid.

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CaramelLunacy
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I enjoyed this second in the Ghost Lands series, though I preferred the non-linear episodic format of the first. Bobby Cross lays and elaborate trap and Rose must rely on a woman who hates her Prof Moorhead to beg a favor of Persephone.
Rose is particularly whiny in human form, but I really enjoyed the reimagining of the Underworld.

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CaramelLunacy
The Ivy Tree | Mary Stewart
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Pickpick

A case of mistaken identity by Hadrian's Wall has a young woman pretending to be Annabel Winslow at the behest of Annabel's gorgeous but menacing cousin Con who is seeking to secure his own inheritance of the farm. There are three potential heirs (including Annabel), old love affairs to negotiate and several attempted murders. Twisty and Gothic and clever with surreptitious sandwiches being sneaked to the cat hiding under the armchair.

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CaramelLunacy
The Ivy Tree | Mary Stewart
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The book opens along Hadrian's Wall looking down at a majestic sycamore. I could picture exactly where our heroine was which was lovely, but it made me sad for that gorgeous tree, too.

TrishB It‘s still awful! 2mo
18 likes1 comment
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CaramelLunacy
A Million to One | Adiba Jaigirdar
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Mehso-so

I wanted to love this: Team of diverse girls staging a HEIST of a jewel-encrusted book aboard the Titanic. What's not to love?
Unfortunately, the leader Josefa has an irritating backstory (running away to thieve because a life of material comfort is too confining) and we don't spend enough time with the other girls to really round out their motivations or relationships with one another as they rush aboard and the countdown to sinking begins. ⬇️

CaramelLunacy We don't spend enough time forming a clever plan that utilizes everyone's strengths, and we don't get enough sense of place to put the reader aboard Titanic. Not to mention Josefa's secret motivation makes even less sense than the rest of her impulsive ill-thought-through behaviour. I liked the other girls, though and wanted to spend more time with them. 2mo
BookmarkTavern I had the same problems with Josefa. I wanted more of all the other characters! 2mo
15 likes2 comments
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CaramelLunacy
Garlic and the Witch | Bree Paulsen
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Pickpick

Sweet. Garlic finds herself grappling with a big change - she may be turning human! - and on an adventure with her friend the Count.
The first resonated more for me. This one felt a little more on-the-nose about puberty.

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CaramelLunacy
Garlic and the Vampire | Bree Paulsen
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"I'm a BLOOD orange! I'm done for!"
Even vegetables are not immune to fears of vampires...

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CaramelLunacy
Garlic and the Vampire | Bree Paulsen
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Adorable story about facing your fears, being brave and resisting prejudices and catastrophizing. Garlic is a very relatable vegetable and has a sweet supportive friendship with Carrot. When the vegetables fear that a vampire has moved back to the castle, Garlic is chosen to vanquish it despite her misgiving.

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CaramelLunacy
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An interesting starter bio of a remarkable woman - though the level of detail/complexity seemed to vary. Also I had hoped for a bit more time spent on spy hunting. Definitely has me interested in further reading.

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CaramelLunacy
Fourth Wing | Rebecca Yarros
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Divergent + Shadow and Bone + Dragonriders of Pern, season with a smidge of Tortall.

I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the sequel.

Bookwormjillk I finished this today too. Makes me want to reread Divergent. 4mo
CaramelLunacy @Bookwormjillk Funnily enough, I reread Divergent (though just the first) earlier this year - maybe why the comparison leaped to mind. 4mo
19 likes2 comments
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CaramelLunacy
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Kind of Jasper Fforde-ian.
Lawyer Rob Sutherland's literary genius of a younger brother has the ability to "read out" or summon characters from the books he's reading. One such character, Uriah Heep, warns him that a rival summoner is afoot, determined to create a new world that threatens reality.
We have a heroine straight out of Famous Five, several Mr. Darcys, Heathcliff, Sherlock Holmes, Dorian Gray and a number of Dickensian figures. Fun.

BookNAround This was such a fun book! 4mo
CaramelLunacy @BookNAround I really enjoyed it (though have clearly not read enough Dickens!). Loved spending time in Wellington - definitely not where I expected a Dickensian adventure! 4mo
19 likes2 comments
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CaramelLunacy
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I've been watching the Bosch TV series and thought to give the book that started it all a try. It's a bit old-skool with some jarring references, but the underlying plot was twisty and intriguing - and it didn't hurt to have Titus Welliver in my head.
A dead army buddy Bosch knows from his days as a tunnel rat in Vietnam ends up linked to a bank heist the FBI is investigating.

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CaramelLunacy
How to Survive Your Murder | Danielle Valentine
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Horror movie lover Alice Lawrence is sent back to last Halloween, the day her sister was killed in a corn maze. The Rules: 1) Find out What Really Happened before midnight and she can keep the changes and 2) Don't die.
Alice has to use all the Final Girl knowledge she has gleaned to survive as bodies drop all around her and secrets are uncovered.
Lots of plot twists, some meta commentary I enjoyed even though slasher horror isn't my usual genre.

14 likes1 stack add
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CaramelLunacy
Youve Been Served | Kristen Alicia
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Mehso-so

Former saucier at a Michelin star restaurant Simone Alexander pivots to law school and on her move in day meets handsome neighbor Silas Whitman. The book follows her stumbling through her first year at law school (especially Contracts) and trying to make sense of Silas.
I enjoyed their relationship for the most part, but was constantly baffled by how ill-prepared she not only began but remained for law school.

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CaramelLunacy
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Nina Hill has always been quite happy being alone and working at a bookstore, stomping other teams in the local trivia league. But she steps a bit out of her comfort zone when she is informed her father (who has never contacted her) has left her something in his will, she has quite a sizeable quirky family. She also begins sort of dating her trivia nemesis (with a lot of engineering from their teams). Pleasant enough but not deeply memorable.

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CaramelLunacy
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A Rare Books Librarian at the Library of Congress is called into service with the OSS and sent to Lisbon to gather foreign and underground newspapers to send back to the US for analysis. With her British counterpart, she decodes a message hidden by a French Resistance worker in Lyon defying the Gestapo and Milice.
I especially enjoyed the sections set in Lisbon as more unusual, but felt for both characters. Also such a good title.

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CaramelLunacy
The Other Merlin | Robyn Schneider
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When Merlin's feckless son is summoned to King Uther's court to train as an apprentice wizard, his far more competent sister Emry takes his place (temporarily!). Loved the masquerade, the inclusivity and Arthur as a bookish library boy.

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CaramelLunacy
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A creepy cult. Robin undercover again. Treachery within the agency. Kidnapping attempts. Suicide. This was an intense read but one I absolutely tore through to get to the resolution. Can't wait to see what's next for Strike and Robin (and maybe to reread this one at a less breakneck pace once I've had a breather...)

Momob121 I am the same way with certain books. I won‘t peek ahead to read the end; but I will read at break-neck speed to find out what happens!! I really do love these characters. 5mo
CaramelLunacy @Momob121 Me too! I hope you enjoy this round 5mo
19 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CaramelLunacy
You Sexy Thing | Cat Rambo
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Pickpick

An unlikely crew of misfits turned chefs and restaurateurs to escape the army hive mind find themselves onboard a living bioship and beset by ruthless pirates. There is a ton of sharp, dry wit, distinct personalities and no shortage of lived in atmosphere. I really enjoyed spending time aboard the You Sexy Thing. (Password: I believe in miracles)

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CaramelLunacy
Twelfth Grade Night (Arden High, Book 1) | Molly Booth, Stephanie Strohm
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Vi is a new student at Arden High - where ghosts and witches and fairies roam. Tanya and Ron (the teen fairy royalty) have taken a shine to her, but world-weary Puck sighs: "She's not actually cool; she's just wearing a beanie."

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CaramelLunacy
Carolina Moon | Nora Roberts
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Pickpick

Tory Bodeen has psychic visions and an abusive father- when she was 8, she lost her best friend Hope Lavelle to a murderer. Now that she's grown she comes back to Progress to seek peace but discovers the murderer still at work. We also get romance with Hope's brother Cade, a secondary pairing and a tentative friendship with Hope's prickly twin. Less professional details in this, but strength and vulnerability. Not enough clues for the killer.

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CaramelLunacy
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Mehso-so

The premise is cute! Grad student trying to sort out her life and interests after a romantic and academic setback decides to head to a cooking class in Ravenna as a break. She meets handsome nerdy history professor.
The writing was cute, but story So-so for me as it's a bit too lightweight for an emotional payoff and because Ginny seems like a bundle of quirks instead a real person so her constant lying was irritating rather than understandable.

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CaramelLunacy
The Search | Nora Roberts
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Mehso-so

As ever, I love the competence - in this case Fiona trains search and rescue dogs. But Simon, the woodworker artist hero is overbearing and grouchy and just...a jerk which I did not find as attractive as Fiona. Add scenes in the head of a serial killer that were jarring and ugly and this one doesn't make the keeper shelf. Even if I do love that Fee names her dogs after classic movie stars (Peck, Bogart and Newman)

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CaramelLunacy
Murder on Black Swan Lane | Andrea Penrose
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A Regency set mystery juxtaposing a satirical cartoonist who relies on her (and street urchins') artistic observation of details and a chemistry-loving overly rational Earl. Their skills complement each other as they seek to ferret out the culprit of a series of murders connected to alchemy and art.
I enjoyed this and am looking forward to more forays into the ton and St Giles with this pair.

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CaramelLunacy
Love Lettering | Kate Clayborn
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The description of these characters is so cute - would love to see someone's interpretation of these

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CaramelLunacy
Sacred Sins | Nora Roberts
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Mehso-so

A backlist romantic suspense from Nora Roberts, I enjoyed Tess and her empathetic heart, but found Ben's disdain for her profession hard to deal with. There were other places where the book definitely showed its age...the constant smoking, for one.
But the description of the avant garde art show had me snort laughing my tea.

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CaramelLunacy
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Difficult to categorize - a white man gets a call to come visit with an Indian elder and help him write a book of his observations. It's fascinating, frustrating and meaningful. Worth picking up for sure.

6 likes1 stack add
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CaramelLunacy
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Mehso-so

Abby Cooper is recovering from being shot in the last instalment and eases back into the psychic game working with her PI friend Candice on one of Dutch and Milo's cold cases, not quite with his blessing. The mystery is fine, but largely forgettable with the psychic aspect relatively light. Abby's tendency to run rather than speak to Dutch when she has done something he won't like (often potentially-his-career-ending) isn't cute, it's irritating.

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CaramelLunacy
Warm Up | Sara Leach
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The newest member of a lyrical dance team, Jasmine struggles to keep up and let her emotion shine through. When her teammates and her teacher all become more focused on competition than their performance, all the joy gets sucked out of dancing until they learn to come together again. A really good sense of the dance and how it unfolds but emotionally a bit one-note.

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CaramelLunacy
The Rest of the Story | Sarah Dessen
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When Emma Saylor's summer plans fall through, she ends up at North Lake staying with her grandmother (on her mother's side) - and working through memories of her mother and getting to know that side of the family. As usual, Dessen's characters have real flaws, they figure themselves out with hard work and new friends and a summer romance. Plot was slow to build and the romantic plotline less swoony than others, but I enjoyed it.

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CaramelLunacy
Nothing More to Tell | Karen M. Mcmanus
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I liked the ambiguity, the twistiness and the true crime show framing - this reminded me (in a good way) of Sadie and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.
Brynn Gallagher pitches an idea to her true crime internship - to investigate the murder of her English teacher 4 years ago. He was found by 3 13yos, one of whom used to be Brynn's best friend.
Clever and full of twists and turns, I enjoyed this one.

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CaramelLunacy
The Winter Queen | Amanda Mccabe
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Pickpick

Set at the Elizabethan court at Christmas, Rosamund falls for a handsome member of the Swedish delegation. We have the Frost Fair, skating parties, the volta, masquerades, hunting, Dudley dramatically sulking, palace intrigue and conspiracies.
I would have preferred somewhat more focus on intrigue, but the category length meant a tight focus on the smooching and our main couple. Enjoyable.

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CaramelLunacy
Better Than the Movies | Lynn Painter
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Liz Buxbaum is quirky and lives her life as if she's living in one of the beloved romcoms she shared with her mother. So when her childhood crush moves back to town, it seems just the thing to enlist the hot enemy next door's help to get him to notice her All Grown Up...
Trope-tastic and funny, I grinned at the banter between Liz and Wes. Plus the crush reads romance! No Daniel Cleavers here.

Pic is romcoms referenced in the book.

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CaramelLunacy
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A new cyberbully at Bayview High - this time with a twisted game of truth or dare that ends in someone's death.
I sped through this fun thriller - I liked Maeve and Luis particularly and enjoyed glimpses of the Original Bayview Four.
We have a revenge pact and a bunch of different threads that aren't revealed until the end. I guessed the most shocking twist fairly early but raced to the end to see if I was right.

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CaramelLunacy
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A fun collection of literary comics about bibliophiles, classic novels, writing life and covid rules as applied to literary characters. I chuckled at several and related hard to some. Very fun afternoon.

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CaramelLunacy
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Panpan

Self-published fanfic contemporary retelling of Pride & Prejudice that bears no resemblance to the original other than character names.
We start with Elizabeth's psychic sex dream about handsome business hunk Will Darcy and then spend 100 pages squishing things to make them fit. It would have been no more than a forgettable interlude if the author hadn't harped on about how lust-crazed 17 year old Will was at the sight of 12 year old Lizzy. Ew.

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CaramelLunacy
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Soft pick. Very silly teen romcom that tackles one too many plotlines in its 195 pages.
Jo Vincent is dragged along on a ski vacation with her largely absentee father and his new girlfriend. On her first day she is "rescued" by a handsome young ski instructor. Throw in mistaken identity, too much diet talk, missing jewelry and big decisions over holiday romance. Some nice emotional beats with the boy (he's nervous about sex too) esp given its date

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CaramelLunacy
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Mehso-so

A thriller about a smart, tech savvy sitting judge who is also a serial killer - patiently waiting years to murder those who have slighted, humiliated or harmed him. The premise is clever, but we neither get a legal showdown, nor is our heroine Lacy the one doing the investigating.
This one fell flat for me as the reader isn't along for the ride of piecing everything together nor in securing justice.

13 likes1 stack add
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CaramelLunacy
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Mehso-so

A memoir written in 1982 about screenwriting and movie production. A large chunk of it still feels very relevant (studios want to make sequels because they are a given and don't want to take risks - and nobody knows what movies the public will want), but a lot of the specifics are about movies I'm not familiar with or didn't like.
The section at the end about adapting his short story was interesting though I disagreed with him about a ton.

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CaramelLunacy
Wolves in Winter | Lisa Hilton
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Panpan

The tagline is mostly wrong. The bulk of this story is our intersex, mixed race protagonist searching for a place to belong while improbably being at the fall of the Medici court and with Caterina Sforza as Forli falls to Cesare Borgia. There is a half-hearted attempt at magical realism with wolves that is abandoned and our protagonist's age is muddled. Everyone is horrible and unpleasant to spend time with. Not even soapy goodness, just dull.

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CaramelLunacy
When You Were Here | Daisy Whitney
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Panpan

Not for me. Our protagonist is a bundle of rage, self destruction and grief and I found him too self-absorbed by his own grieving to acknowledge that he isn't the center of the universe.
Undertandable? Sure. Someone I want to spend 250 pages with? Nope. Not at all.
Add to that a soap operatic Dramatic Secret and a Manic Pixie Japanese Girl Guide to His Emotions and I was more exasperated than empathetic.