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Book 928: Going Public (Jade Capital #2) – Hudson Lin

I requested an ARC of this one from the publisher after I saw it in their upcoming titles email that I get monthly.* The fact that there was not just one non-white man on the cover of this MM Romance novel, but TWO of them was a definite ‘okay let’s give this Hudson Lin person a try.’

Totally on me, but I also thought it was written by a man (damn you pseudonyms!), but that didn’t change my opinion or reading of the novel, I was just excited that there were BIPOC protagonists AND they were on the cover. Add in that I don’t think I’ve read many with Asian protagonists and it caught my attention.

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Book 918: Prejudice Meets Pride (Meet Your Match #1) – Rachael Anderson

I am NOT happy with this book. I purchased this back in July 2015 and assumed, like many others on Goodreads, that this was a modern retelling of Jane Austen.

Like everyone else who read it with this assumption, this can be blamed on us not reading the blurb—nowhere does it say that it’s a retelling. HOWEVER, to take such an iconic title from such an iconic work of fiction and repurpose it without even mentioning Austen or her works in what you’re writing is either incredibly naïve/ridiculous or incredibly underhanded and manipulative.

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Book 869: The Guncle – Steven Rowley

I had to wait a few weeks for this book to come in at the library, but when it did I immediately slotted it into my upcoming books to read. I did this not so much out of an OMG I have to read this but more out of an OMG I need to read this before it goes back to the library because the wait list exploded and I’d never get it back again!

The book is a lot more serious than the cover and the characters really make you think it is. It covers death and grief and growing from both of those things at different ages and life stages. It talks about substance abuse and  sibling rivalries. And it highlights dysfunctional adult sibling relationships. Rowley really did a great job of bringing humor and lightness to some really serious topics.

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Book 868: Sailor Proof (Shore Leave #1) – Annabeth Albert

This is the very first Annabeth Albert ARC that I’ve read!* (I think, there may have been one more in her True Colors series, but who cares I got one!) Generally I’m bogged down in other stuff and I don’t realize when Albert’s releasing new works, but after joining her Facebook group and signing up for her newsletter I’m much more on the ball than I have been in the past!

The only downside of reading this as an ARC is that I have to wait for the next book FOREVER!!!! I’m so used to blazing through her series, that I actually forewent reading the teaser for book two, Sink or Swim, because the publication date is SO FAR AWAY!!!!!!!

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Book 866: Under the Whispering Door – T.J. Klune

After loving everything I’ve read by Klune so far it was obvious I was going to read this. And then, when it appeared on NetGalley AND I was approved, I had to sit on it for SO. MANY. MONTHS.* It was 100% worth the wait.

Having not read any of Klune’s “adult” books, this one feels more mature than his superhero books (The Extraordinaries and Flash Fire) or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Most of this is directly because there are no young adult characters and this deals so much with the topics of death and grief. And it brings up so many philosophical ideas about life and death that I’m sure I still missed plenty.

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