Andrea Valcarcel

You Should Pity Us Instead — Amy Gustine

“If you don’t belong where you’re born, you’ll never belong anywhere.”

Genre: Cultural Heritage Fiction, Essays and Collections
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses death, suicide, mental illness, and so many more things. This is a compilation of really dark stories, so if you’re not in the best headspace, then don’t grab this book.

“You Should Pity Us Instead” was Amy Gustine’s debut collection of short stories (but she’s published lots since then). All following different characters along different settings—from different cultures, cities, countries—these stories will drag you into an existential crisis for sure.

If you’re looking for a depressing compilation of stories, look no further. Amy Gustine found a way to write about really heavy topics and very distinct characters and narrators in these entertaining short stories. Usually I feel like short stories leave us with more questions than answer—due to their short nature—but I am happy to say this was not the case with (most of) this compilation. (And why were they so many cat-related stories? I love cats, why make them into sad sad sad stories?)

Have you read “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara? Well, if you’ve read that and liked it, then this book is for you. The stories are so heavy and depressing, that I’m not sure I would ever be able to give this book as a gift, but it was still a good read.

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All The Feels — Olivia Dade

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Content Warning: Discusses fat-shaming and domestic violence.

“All the Feels” follows Lauren Clegg, a former ER therapist, and Alex Woodroe, a famous actor in the long-running TV show “Gods of the Gates”. Hired to keep Alex out of trouble, Lauren must follow him wherever he goes. With a budding friendship and a ton of sexual tension on the line, this book, although shelved as a sequel, really isn’t. You could read it as a stand-alone, so don’t let that deter you.

Does this book encompass the close-proximity trope? Honestly, I don’t know. I feel like Lauren and Alex would’ve fallen in love either way, but I guess their close proximity did help. Also, I will not be picking favorites from this series. I just loved them both so much. The writing is great, the characters are charming and complex, the stories are radically different (although they both include famous actors and non-famous, plus-sized women falling in love), and they are both spicy, if you know what I mean.

I would recommend this book to anyone who’s ever fantasized about soulmates or read fanfiction or both. I would recommend reading Spoiler Alert first, but honestly this series is like multiplying, the order of the factors does not change the product—you’ll love the stories no matter which one you read first.

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The Spanish Love Deception — Elena Armas

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warning: Mentions sexual assault, power-imbalance couples, and cancer.

“The Spanish Love Deception” follows Catalina—a.k.a. Lina—Martín, as she sets to find a fake boyfriend that’ll follow her all the way to Spain, to her hometown, for her sister’s wedding. Then bring on her only candidate: Aaron Blackford, her annoyingly smug coworker. Ever since Aaron’s been in the office, Lina’s had the impression he doesn’t like her that much, and so she’s skeptical, to say the least, about him being her fake boyfriend. Set mostly in New York and the northern coast of Spain, this book will engulf you between two cultures and a not-so-deceptive love affair.

First things first: HOW IS THIS ELENA’S DEBUT NOVEL? It’s so well-written, her storyline was clear and well-constructed, and her characters were unique and lovely… Most writers don’t get it this right this early on in their careers. I can’t wait to read her second book, that’s coming out in August 2022—although it won’t follow Lina and Aaron, it’ll be following Rosie (Lina’s friend and coworker) and Lucas (Lina’s cousin) instead.

I would recommend this book to anyone who liked The Hating Game (book or movie, doesn’t matter), or anyone who’s fond of the enemies-to-lovers troupe. It’s a semi-lengthy book (almost 500 pages) but oh God, did I not get enough of those two and their story. I can’t recommend this book enough.

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Beach Read — Emily Henry

“Happy endings don’t matter if the getting there sucks.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5+ stars
Content Warning: Discusses death, divorce, cancer, and violent cults, mentions of cheating (but not from the main characters).

“Beach Read” follows January Andrews and Gus Everett, two former university classmates-turned writers, as they fight through some writer’s block in a small beach town by Lake Michigan. Both fighting different demons, they embark on small adventures as they venture outside of their writing styles as well thanks to a small bet between the two competitive writers. This is a book for romance-lovers and cynics alike.

I… I understand the hype. That’s all I can say. January and Gus were lovely characters, but so were all the supporting characters. I don’t know who I grew to love the most: January or Gus or Pete or the Labradors or the Labradorite (which is actually a really pretty stone, Google it). It is beautifully written, as Emily Henry transports us to that small town feel. It is heartbreaking, as both January and Gus grow as people. It is healing, as every loose knot is tied in the end.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a heavy but heartwarming story, with a very very very HEA.

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“Your mother has been a lot of people in the twenty year I’ve known her, and I’ve had a chance to fall in love with every single one of them, Janie. That’s the key to marriage. You have to keep falling in love with every new version of each other, and it’s the best feeling in the whole world.”

The Crown — Kiera Cass — The Selection #5

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 2 stars
Content Warning: Mentions of abuse.

“The Crown” is the last installment I’ll read from The Selection series. Having a radically different arc from the first three books, I must say the last two books have been my least favorite… And considering I did not like the first three all that much, it means a lot. This last book follows Eadlynas she comes to choose who’ll be her prince consort and as she becomes queen. There’s no other way to put this: it sucked.

Eadlyn’s faults were worse than the first time around. The only redeeming quality of this book was that the writing wasn’t terrible—but what’s good writing without a good story? Well, it’s a waste of your time, that’s what it is.

I would not recommend the second arc of The Selection at all. Maybe read The Selection #1-3, if you like reality TV shows like The Bachelor, but other than that, I wouldn’t even recommend those books that much either. Reading this series has been the worst decision I’ve made this year. What a shame.

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The Heir — Kiera Cass — The Selection #4

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 1.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

“The Heir”, although included within “The Selection” series, has basically nothing to do with the first three books of this series. This books follows Eadlyn, the eldest daughter of Maxon and America, as she goes through her own Selection, the first ever Selection where it’s a princess not a prince doing the choosing.

I understand the need to make Eadlyn’s personality as distant from America’s personality as you could, to differentiate the narrators… but really? So different? Eadlyn does not seem like someone who was raised by Maxon and America. She was so stubborn for the sake of being stubborn, so unpleasant for the sake of being unpleasant. The was almost nothing I liked about this book. I am giving it 1.5 stars only because of Kile and Erik, the only two characters I could tolerate.

I would not recommend this book at all. But I’ll be reading the next and last book in “The Selection” because if I’ve made it this far, I can’t give up now.

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The One — Kiera Cass — The Selection #3

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

If you’re looking at this review, I’ll assume you’ve read the other two books or at least know the premise to the series. But, essentially, America is a girl in a dystopian future who’s competing to get her country’s prince’s heart.

In my personal opinion, this third installment of The Selection series was so much better than the second one. The characters in “The One” resembled the ones we met in “The Selection” so much more. America was back to being her confident self.

To be honest, I was not happy with the ending. I feel like it was extremely rushed and slightly unnecessary. Oh, and let’s not even mention the epilogue. Is that really all we’re going to get from this book?

I guess I would recommend this book more than I would recommend the second book in this trilogy. There’s more suspense in this once, but honestly this series as a whole as a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting 3 5-star reads, when really the only one I truly enjoyed was the first book.

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ARC — Pangaea: Prose and Poetry — Hinnah Mian

“No matter how much I wear to cover my skin, I can never seem to hide it enough.”

Genre: Poetry, Essays and Collections
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses racism, discrimination, death, and depression.

“Pangaea” is a collection of poetry and prose where the author, Hinnah Mian, looked to express how a body can be destroyed and reborn through many means and for many reasons. Looking at the color of skin, the significance of cultural bias, the power of love—lost and gained, from family and from lovers—, and the impact society has on us, Mian has composed a beautiful oath for our bodies and our selves.

I saw being watered down as a theme. It was mentioned various times and it was something that resonated a lot with me through this book. Hinnah Mian made a wonderful job at highlighting how you can feel like you’re not appropriate in your own ‘home’, how at times you’ll have to dilute yourself to be accepted. The only reason why this book didn’t get a perfect rating from me is because some poems were repetitive and a bit monotone.

I would recommend this poetry book to anyone who’s ever felt invisible in their own skin or—even worse—targeted because of it. I also feel like this could be a powerful gift for a friend or loved one who loves poetry.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

“some nights i am less star
and more the darkness that shrouds them”

The Elite — Kiera Cass — The Selection #2

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Content Warnings: Beatings and cheating.

In “The Elite”, the second book in The Selection series, America is still stuck fighting for love—she just isn’t sure whose love she’s fighting for. Following the exact same pace as the first book, just with less contestants and more rebel attacks, there is really nothing new to this series.

I think this is the definition of a filler book. I mean, honestly a filler series. It seems like The Selection, The Elite, and The One could have easily been condensed into a single book, tops two books.

And suddenly everything that I loved about America in the first book is completely lost this time around. Maxon and Aspen were both horrible, but America was even worse. Where is her independence? Compassion? Understanding? She seemed like an entirely different character. I’m hoping we get her back for the next book in the series, The One.

I would recommend this series to dystopian fiction and YA lovers. I described the first book in this series to The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor, but I don’t even think that description is accurate anymore. I’ll be reading “The One” because I’ve already committed too much time to this series only to leave it halfway through.

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The Selection — Kiera Cass — The Selection #1

“No, I’m not choosing him or you. I’m choosing me.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance

Actual Rating: 4 stars

Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

Are you a fan of The Hunger Games and/or tv shows like The Bachelor/The Bachelorette? Well, this book is for you. The Selection follows a girl named America Singer, in a dystopian reality where the United States has a monarchy and people are divided into castes that define their job prospects and future. In a much anticipated tradition, America is selected, along with 34 others girls, to participate in a competition of sorts where the price to win is the prince’s heart (and crown).

The thing about this book is that it’s greatly predictable and there is some character development, but not as much as I expected. None the less, I love this series already. By the time you’ll be reading this, I might’ve even finished The Elite (The Selection #2). It’s that good. I loved how fast-paced this book was, there were no dull moments.

Would it be wrong if I said I fell in love with America? Like, I understand that the main focus is supposed to be loving Prince Maxon versus loving Aspen, but I was just completely blown away my America as a character. Her compassion, her originality, her dreams. I was moved by her greatly.

I guess I already set up the parameters for my recommendation in the introduction, but yeah. If you’ve liked series like The Hunger Games or Divergent, and if you enjoy dating shows like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, then it seems like this series might be for you. This is a fun, young adult read, I would certainly recommend it as a gift for young, teenaged readers.

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