A lot of sci-fi, but also a couple contemporaries and a little historical so we once again have something for everyone!

All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
Sisters of the Forsaken Stars by Lina Rather
Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

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All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on February 15, 2022
Pages: 304
Format:ARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review

The Bachelor meets Gilmore Girls in this laugh-out-loud young adult romance about a girl who joins her mother on a reality dating show for single parents—only to fall for a contestant’s son.

Cara Hawn’s life fell apart after her father cheated on her mother and got remarried to a woman Cara can’t stand. When Cara accidentally posts a rant about her father online, it goes viral—and catches the attention of the TV producers behind a new reality dating show for single parent families.

The next thing Cara and her mother know, they’ve been cast as leads on the show and are whisked away to sunny Key West where they’re asked to narrow a field of suitors and their kids down to one winning pair. All of this is outside of Cara’s comfort zone, from the meddling producers to the camera-hungry contestants, especially as Cara and her mother begin to clash on which suitors are worth keeping around. And then comes Connor.

As the son of a contestant, Connor is decidedly off-limits. Except that he doesn’t fit in with the cutthroat atmosphere in all the same ways as Cara, and she can’t get him out of her head. Now Cara must juggle her growing feelings while dodging the cameras and helping her mom pick a bachelor they both love, or else risk fracturing their family even more for the sake of ratings. Maybe there’s a reason most people don’t date on TV.

Gah, this was fun and adorable with a huge focus on mother-daughter relationships, and I really enjoyed it! Maybe I was high key jealous that Cara’s mom got picked for the very fun dating show, but alas. She did, and off they went, from their daily grind of trying to make ends meet and dealing with Cara’s jerk of a dad and his less-than-stellar new wife, to Key West and the limelight of reality television.

And while it certainly deals with some deeper issues, like the divorce and fallout, but it is a fairly lighthearted novel. There are all kinds of shenanigans that ensue while filming the show, and Cara and her mom have quite a few disagreements about who the perfect stepfamily would be. But Cara’s relationship with her mom grows so much during the course of the book, as does each woman’s relationship with herself.

I loved that Cara and her mom both started their journey looking for away to escape this crappy dude who kind of ruined their lives, but that wasn’t what this process was truly about. They had to navigate their relationship, figure out what they wanted in both romantic relationships, familial relationships, and friendships, and just kind of figure out who they wanted to be in general, what they wanted out of life. Kind of a great message, really.

Bottom Line: Fun and heartfelt, I really enjoyed this mother-daughter adventure!

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Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Published by St. Martin's Press on February 15, 2022
Pages: 304
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Mickey7, an "expendable," refuses to let his replacement clone Mickey8 take his place.

Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.

Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.

That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.

What makes us us, exactly? Is it our memories, our experiences? Our DNA or the culmination of our biological components? Mickey7 is going to ask you those questions, and make you ponder the answers long after you’ve stopped reading. Because really, I am still asking you, aren’t I?

We catch up with Mickey, now in his seventh iteration. He usually doesn’t need to rely on numeric identification, as only one Mickey is allowed to be alive at the time- he is only reincarnated after the demise of a prior body, after all. But after a bizarre turn of events leads his pal to believe him dead and his body “irrecoverable”, the powers that be make a brand new Mickey, version 8.0… without realizing that the seventh just waltzed back into camp fairly unscathed.

Only… now who gets to live? Neither Mickey feels like he should volunteer to be recycled, so they try to stay hidden. This doesn’t bode well, as all the citizens are on reduced rations, and threats lurk at every corner. There are a lot of bizarre twists and turns along the way as the Mickeys try to navigate life as essentially fugitives. They can’t figure out who is trustworthy, and basically if anyone in the colony is going to make it much longer, much less themselves.

The world building is really unique as well, and I loved getting to know the workings of this colony, the struggles they faced, and the life forms that were already there. My only minor qualm really is that I’d have loved to know more about everything, and I’d gladly welcome a sequel or a companion!

Bottom Line: Incredibly thought provoking, the questions posited in Mickey7 have remained with me since reading it.

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You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
Published by Inkyard Press on February 8, 2022
Pages: 352
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stirs, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.

Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and find solace and a sense of community.

Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.

The premise of this book is incredible, and the stories of its characters beyond necessary. That said, I thought the execution could have been a bit better? Still, a super important book that is definitely worth reading, let’s break down what I liked versus what I’d have liked to see a bit more of!

What I Loved: 

• Having three Black Muslim main characters is fabulous and awesome and important. I cannot speak for the representation, but I thought it was beyond wonderful to read about these young women and their experiences, especially following an attack that provoked increased anti-Islamic rhetoric across the country. It’s completely awful that these young women, or anyone, should be subject to such hate, and I think this book does a wonderful job illustrating that.
• I loved how it tackled the internet as its own awful form of hate. I mean, hate everywhere is terrible, but there is something about the internet that makes the worst in people come out. Perhaps it’s the perceived anonymity of hiding behind a screen, but there were just some awful things being said about these young women who were simply trying to express themselves, and create a safe space for others to share their own feelings. It’s disgusting, frankly.
• And, it becomes easy to see how this hate spills over into real life. Really, it’s a gut punch to see how easy it was in many cases for even grown adults to treat some of these young women terribly. How could they!? I still can’t wrap my head around it, but it was great that the author was able to shine a light on it.
• Loved the relationships the book featured. Not only the friendships among the girls, but their friendships with others, their familial relationships, and their romantic relationships. Because there were three characters with three totally separate lives, we got to take a look at so many different relationships, and that was pretty great!

What I Didn’t: 

• The characters’ voices simply didn’t feel unique to me. Each girl absolutely had her own story, and her own background, so that isn’t what I mean. Rather, all of their internal voices just felt very… generic, perhaps, is the best word. I could tell them apart based on their circumstances, locations, families, etc., but not necessarily on their voices and personalities, and that was kind of a bummer.
• The dialogue just felt very off to me. A bit stilted, perhaps? Not the way anyone really communicates, I suppose, and definitely not the way I expect teens to communicate. It felt rather formal, and like no one knew each other on a personal level. Kind of the way I’d speak to the receptionist at my dentist’s office: perfectly polite, but without a ton of emotion or connection. I think because of that, I never really felt the characters’ relationships with each other on an emotional level. Like, I was obviously glad they had each other to commiserate with, to talk these things out with, but it would have been so great to feel that, instead of just have them say they enjoyed each other in a fairly unemotional tone.
• Some of the story felt kind of easy. I mean, as an actual blog owner, I haven’t a clue how a person could make an accidental blog, but I went with it. And I could overlook some of the ease to which certain problems were overcome, because of course this story was supposed to have an upbeat ending. But just a lot of the ease in which stuff was overcome had me scratching my head a bit, frankly.
• Certain plot choices confused me. To the point where I wondered if this story was taking place now, even? For example, one of the moms was mentioned listening to a Mariah Carey CD in the car. I haven’t a new car by any stretch of the imagination, and it doesn’t even have a CD player. One character was asked if she knew how to Skype and… ?? Then, in the very beginning, literally all the ballet auditions everywhere in the general vicinity are canceled because of this attack, and the sad truth is, in 2022 America, violence is simply too commonplace for long term closures like that. Basically, it seemed like choices were being taken to move the plot forward when they didn’t really make sense, is my point.

Bottom Line: There is a lot worth reading here, even if the execution wasn’t perfect, so I definitely still recommend.

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Sisters of the Forsaken Stars by Lina Rather
Series: Our Lady of Endless Worlds #2
Published by Tordotcom on February 22, 2022
Pages: 192
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita navigate the far reaches of space and challenges of faith in Sisters of the Forsaken Stars, the follow-up to Lina Rather's Sisters of the Vast Black, winner of the Golden Crown Literary Society Award.

“We lit the spark, maybe we should be here for the flames.”

Not long ago, Earth’s colonies and space stations threw off the yoke of planet Earth’s tyrannical rule. Decades later, trouble is brewing in the Four Systems, and Old Earth is flexing its power in a bid to regain control over its lost territories.

The Order of Saint Rita—whose mission is to provide aid and mercy to those in need—bore witness to and defied Central Governance’s atrocities on the remote planet Phyosonga III. The sisters have been running ever since, staying under the radar while still trying to honor their calling.

Despite the sisters’ secrecy, the story of their defiance is spreading like wildfire, spearheaded by a growing anti-Earth religious movement calling for revolution. Faced with staying silent or speaking up, the Order of Saint Rita must decide the role they will play—and what hand they will have—in reshaping the galaxy.

I was so wonderfully surprised by Sisters of the Vast Black, and when I heard there was to be a sequel? Well, consider me thrilled. And while it did take me some time to get back into the world, I was so glad there was a continuation (and certainly do hope there will be more)! I think the reason for my slight disconnect at the beginning was because we were reading from third person perspective, without really any backstory. And I read the first book like three years ago, so.

That aside, as with its predecessor, this book does a phenomenal job of exploring faith (and not just religious faith- this can include faith in other people, or humanity as a whole, faith in a form of government, whatever) in such a huge universal context. The Sisters (and in some cases, former Sister) see literally the best and worst of humanity, spread across the stars, and it’s incredibly difficult at times to reconcile that with the faith constructs they’re meant to adhere to.

After all, the Sisters are human, and they have to make their own best decisions at the end of the day. Where that falls into the spectrum of their individual faith, as well as their church-taught faith is something they each must navigate for themselves. The world they’re living in is also incredibly unique, and exciting, with biological spaceships, and political and religious upheaval. I cannot wait for more.

Bottom Line: This series is just so unique, and provides such an incredible introspection on faith and belief with the backdrop of the entire universe to assist.

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Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe
Published by Wednesday Books on February 15, 2022
Pages: 352
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The only life Mae has ever known is on the island, living on the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the magic on the island and the spirits who inhabit it. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper family, where her best friend, Coco, will see her as an equal, and her crush, Miles, will finally see her. Now that she’s eighteen, Mae knows her time with the Prospers may soon come to an end.

But tonight is First Night, when the Prospers and their high-society friends return to the island to celebrate the night Lord Prosper first harnessed the island’s magic and started producing aether – a magical fuel source that has revolutionized the world. With everyone returning to the island, Mae finally has the chance to go after what she’s always wanted.

When the spirits start inexplicably dying, Mae starts to realize that things aren’t what they seem. And Ivo, the reclusive, mysterious heir to the Prosper magic, may hold all the answers – including a secret about Mae’s past that she doesn’t remember. As Mae and her friends begin to unravel the mysteries of the island, and the Prospers’ magic, Mae starts to question the truth of what her world was built on.

Forbidden magic, a family secret, and a night to reveal it all...

Full disclosure, I haven’t the foggiest idea what the premise of The Tempest is, so I could not tell you in what ways or how this compares to it. Regardless, I enjoyed the story! At first, I was a little put off by the characters, especially Mae. Mae lives with this hoity-toity family who is kind of… extra, they’re all really extra. And Mae is of course enamored with them all, in a very eye-rolling way. But here’s the thing I realized fairly quickly: you can’t really blame Mae for that. It’s all she knows. And it’s kind of saying a lot that she isn’t even more messed up, living with these people her whole life, never leaving this weird island full of magic and secrets and elitist bullshit.

So, the crux of the story kind of becomes wondering who, if anyone, can break free from the bonds of this island, and the only life they have ever known, to become their own person. The atmosphere of said island is very on point, too. You know it hides all kinds of secrets and magic and madness, and I loved that part of it, too. Most of the book takes place in a very short time span, while all the cousins and family friends have gathered for a party. Obviously, we know there will be some stuff happening at this party!

The book moves pretty quickly, and was easy to read. I liked that Mae underwent a lot of development in a short amount of time, and the pacing of the story was great.

Bottom Line: Overall,  a fast, entertaining story featuring magic and mayhem, and a lot of learning about oneself.

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Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
Published by Tor Nightfire on February 8, 2022
Pages: 352
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Titanic meets The Shining in S.A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, a SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn't yet ended.

A GHOST SHIP. A SALVAGE CREW. UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

I am such a fan of Dead Silence that upon finishing it, I added it to my wishlist. I honestly don’t know what that says about me as a person, because it’s a fairly messed up book, but I can live with that. I want to tell you so much about this book, so you can run out and read it, but then I want to tell you so little, again, so you can run out and read it! I am going to tell you a few things I loved, keep it short and sweet, and then, you know, tell you to go out and read it!

First, you should know it’s told in both past and present- so you’re seeing glimpses of Claire’s current situation, and back when she and her crew initially found the Aurora. The Aurora is this big ol’ luxury ship where rich folks decided to vacation, basically. So, Space Titanic meets Kardashians, basically.

• I loved the character dynamics. There was just something about the way the characters interacted with each other that I devoured. Claire was written really well, in that the reader has no idea how reliable she is, but she still seems sympathetic and likable. Interestingly, Claire herself is a bit… curmudgeonly. That doesn’t make her any less likable and relatable though, it may even make her more so. And her interactions with her crew especially, but even the rescuers, is extremely entertaining and one of my favorite parts of the story.
• The Aurora is messed up! Remember those Kardashians? I mean, not the actual Kardashians, but some “influencer” family were among the passengers, along with everyone you can think of who could be considered the rich and famous. From athletes to movie stars to tech moguls to reality TV randos, this ship was filled to the brink with them. And not only them, but the secrets they harbored, too. The secrets the ship itself harbored, perhaps more importantly. This is not going to be a happy reunion for Claire’s crew and the Aurora, as you can already surmise after decades have passed. But even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined how messed up this ship would be! And as always, I cannot tell you anything else, just. It’s bananas in there.
• The stakes are even higher than just Claire and the crew’s lives. I really enjoyed that this had stakes outside of just Claire and her crew, or even the entirety of the Aurora’s crew and guests. I can’t say more for fear of spoilers, but there is so much more at play here.
• It was simply unputdownable. You know the kind of book that you just cannot stop reading? And if you must stop, you literally think about it until you get back to it? Yeah, that was this book for me. I was beyond hooked.

Bottom Line:  It’s dark, exciting, full of great characters and a deliciously creepy space mystery. You seriously need it in your life.

Have you read any of these books? Plan to? Let us chat about them!