The Best of #TNReads 2018

Before I tell you what Everything We Keep is about, let me say I LOVED THIS BOOK. It had everything I like in fiction: a strong heroine with good character development, a romantic element, a mystery that keeps you guessing, and great storytelling.

Everything We Keep is told from the perspective of Aimee Teirney, a 26 year-old woman who is spending what should have been her wedding day with the funeral of her fiance, James. James and Aimee were childhood sweethearts with a love story that you’ll enjoy reading. You’ll fall in love with them and mourn with Aimee as she experiences her first year without him. What makes this story truly great though is the fact that it’s unclear if James is actually dead or if it’s possible that something more sinister has happened. Aimee, and the reader, can’t move on with our lives until we know what happened to James. I read this book in one highly enjoyable sitting. I know you’ll enjoy it too.

An infant is missing and everyone looks guilty. From the tired mother to the husband with the wandering eye, the moody teenager to the ex-nanny, anyone could have had motive and opportunity. Isabel Ashdown’s Little Sister, tells the story of an abduction, and the aftermath from multiple points of view. Even though the reader is privy to the thoughts of these characters, crafty writing will keep you guessing throughout this suspenseful novel. A big reveal happens halfway through the book and yet the tension continues as new questions and suspicions arise. A gifted storyteller, Ashdown’s fifth novel will take you for a ride with a very satisfying ending.

The first time Stella meets John it’s in a grocery store aisle as they argue over the last carton of Mint Chip ice cream. The next time it’s when she realizes he’s her new next door neighbor. Oh and that he’s the lead singer of international rock sensations Kill John who infamously attempted suicide two years before. John is a mess. Stella is a mess. Their story is raw and heartbreaking, but it’s also beautiful. I enjoyed every minute of it.

You don’t need to read the previous two books in this series to enjoy Fall, but you’ll never regret reading a Kristen Callihan book.

The Caged Queen is a sequel/companion novel to The Last Namsara, which I raved about and which we read for Boozy Book Club. It centers on Roa and King Dax, who we briefly saw in The Last Namsara. I didn’t think Kristen Ciccarelli could create another couple as great as Asha and Torwin, but she TOTALLY DID. King Dax is a dreamboat and I will fight you for him.

Roa is a foreigner whose marriage to Dax is a purely political alliance; she gave him the army he needed to overthrow his evil father, and in exchange Dax has promised to lift the taxes and embargoes that have driven her people to starvation. But they have a history. Dax spent much of his childhood being raised in her house, and Roa blames him for the death of her twin sister. When Roa learns of ritual that could return her sister to her, she’s determined to see it through, even though it means killing the husband she’s starting to fall for.

Calla Fletcher lost her job and broke up with her boyfriend all in one day, so when an opportunity arises to visit her estranged dad, whom she hasn’t spoken to in 12 years or seen in 24, the timing makes sense. All she knows about the man who fathered her is that her mom loved him completely but that life in Alaska was too isolating for her to handle. He chose to stay with his first love, piloting bush planes, when her mom took her back to Toronto as a toddler. Maybe this will be the chance she needs to start over and move on from that childhood rejection.

Unfortunately, nothing in her city-living life could prepare her for what it’s like to live in the Alaskan frontier where wifi is spotty and soy milk is sparse. (She has a milk allergy, give her a break). But, despite all that, none of the hardships of life on the frontier, or the emotional trauma of meeting her father again, can compare to the whirlwind maverick pilot, Jonah brings to her life.

He hates her on sight and the feeling is mutual. Or is it?

The Bird and The Blade is a historical YA novel based on an Italian Opera called Turandot. Turandot, in turn, is based on a story from 12th Century Persian poet Nizami. Author Megan Bannen places her version in the 13th Century Mongol Empire, and it’s an incredibly fresh and unexplored historical landscape.

Our main character is Jinghua, a Chinese slave of a Mongol Khan. After experiencing a late-night act of kindness from the Khan’s youngest son Prince Khalaf, Jinghua voluntarily follows Khalaf and the Khan into dangerous exile after a failed war campaign. They journey through the treacherous wilds together, trying to outrun the assassins determinedly tracking them. Through physical hardship, danger, and fear, the three inevitably bond despite their many secrets and opposing goals. A tragic epic of loyalty, love, and sacrifice, it explores self-worth, beauty, family relationships, and the things we’re willing to do for love.

What I Loved: The writing is beautiful and clear, and the author masterfully incorporates Persian and Chinese poetry and literature to give the story a rich depth and nuance. All the characters are compelling and multidimensional, utterly likable despite their flaws. You learn fascinating details about the setting within the Mongol empire. The romance between Khalaf and Jinghua is slow and heartbreakingly exquisite. I could go on and on. I simply adored it.

Alosa is kidnapped by a band of pirates that plan to torture the location of the Pirate King’s keep (home base) out of her. Alosa gets herself kidnapped so that she can steal the ship’s captain’s third of a map that leads to a siren island full of treasure. The captain assigns his first mate -his brother, Riden – to question Alosa from her brig, but all he receives is sarcasm with a smile. And at night, when the pirates that guard her are passed out from rum, Alosa picks her lock and searches the ship.

I was not expecting this to make me smile as I read it, but it really did. The bickering between Alosa and Riden, watching them try to figure each other out (because “pirates are liars”), and them denying their attraction for each other made this one of the more fun books I’ve read in awhile. I cannot wait to read the sequel (conclusion?), out in February (last February – it’s out now!).

Freya is a rising celebrity, but recently her voice has been giving out and it is putting her recording contract on the line. Harun is stuck deciding between his religious family and the boy he has loved for over a year. Nathaniel just secretly arrived in NYC to find his father. All three are feeling lost. They are brought together when Freya falls off of a bridge and onto Nathaniel with Harun witnessing it all. The book follows these three through the city as they face the things holding them back, finding not only themselves, but real friends in the process. All in a single day.

Fans of Gayle Forman will not be disappointed with her latest YA book. Somehow she always figures out how to set a tone that is both melancholic and hopeful. And the best part is that you won’t want to throw the book across the room the way we all did after Just One Day/Just One Year!

Trigger warning: only read this book if you need a good cry. IT WILL MAKE YOU CRY. Stephanie’s brother Harris Wittels, writer for Parks and Rec, Master of None, and podcast star for the ages overdosed on heroin in 2015. This is an account of her life for the year after, written to Harris. It’s raw, heartbreaking, but overarchingly hopeful. It’s the grieving process put into words, and it’s beautiful. As a fan of Harris, it was tough to read but so enlightening. The public only saw a bit of the amazing talent he possessed. He will be greatly missed.

I must’ve been distracted when I read the description of this book, because it wasn’t until I was actually reading that I realized it was a retelling of The Little Mermaid. I wasn’t upset with this because it seems like this is one fairy tale that’s been a bit neglected in this world of redoing ideas that have been done before. And let me tell you, this is a retelling done right. It’s dark, evil, and imaginative and that’s just how I like my fairy tales. Mermaids – they’re boring. Give me Sirens trying to sing silly humans to their death. Give me sexy pirate princes on an honorable mission. Give me a quest that sends a wily crew to mysterious lands where something could go wrong at every turn. If that sounds good to you, read To Kill a Kingdom.