Author Archives: Andrea Valcarcel

ARC — Long Story Short — Serena Kaylor

“What must it be like to feel so confident in your own skin that wearing another person’s seemed like nothing at all?”

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

“Long Story Short” follows Beatrice as she embarks on a Shakespearian summer camp adventure in order to show her parents she’s mature enough to move to another continent in order to attend the university of her dreams. Branching out from a to-do list, she makes friends, breaks rules, and, surprisingly, has some fun in the process.

I found Bea’s inner voice to be very engaging and I absolutely loved the friendships she built as she broke out of her shell. Mia and Nolan were the perfect summer camp friends, and they kind of made me reminisce all the friends I made in summer camps when I was younger. Slow-burn crushes usually aren’t my favorite, but I must say I enjoyed this one very much.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes nerdy YA novels, because oh- does this book get down and nerdy about Shakespeare. But really, you don’t have to know much about Shakespeare to enjoy this book (take it from me, I’ve only really read Twelfth Night and I still thoroughly enjoyed this book). Do not hesitate to pre-order this book, so you’ll get it as soon as it’s published. You will not regret it.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 26, 2022

p.s. Nik is essentially Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, and I was there for it.

Roomies — Christina Lauren

“I’ve never done this before. I just know I’m falling for the girl I married.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: None than I can think of.

“Roomies” follows Holland, an aspiring author who’s working in a Broadway show thanks to some lowkey nepotism, and her subway crush Calvin, a talented classical guitarist who’s overstayed his student visa and is trying to make ends meet in New York City. One thing leads to another, and they end up in a marriage of convenience, where Holland is helping her uncle and Calvin is getting his green card. But after real sparks fly, will they follow through on their plan or will they listen to their hearts?

Oh, wow. I love the Christina Lauren duo. Their writing has always engulfed me, bringing me into whatever world they build. This time around they didn’t disappoint, but at the same time, I think I’ve never been this frustrated with two of their characters before. I’m not sure who messed up more, Calvin or Holland, but HOLY did they mess up. Continuously. Consistently. Making each mess up increasingly worse. The only reason why I’m not giving it a higher rating is because of all the stress and frustration I suffered thanks to their fuck ups. But oh well, it’s a good romance novel when all’s been said and done.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy romance novels, especially if you’ve enjoyed books by authors like Colleen Hoover, Emily Henry, Sally Thorne, or Alexis Daria.

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“Maybe the reason I can’t write about fictional life is because I haven’t actually lived.”

Yes No Maybe So — Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

“I would freeze history if I could. Right here, this exact moment, this is my favorite point on the timeline.”

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: Touches the subjects of racism and discrimination.

“Yes No Maybe So” follows Maya and Jamie as they rekindle their childhood friendship, become active in their local government issues, and maybe, just maybe, fall in love. Directly showcasing the reality of racism and discrimination, and how we’re able to fight them with even the smallest of actions, this book could be a great resource for teachers and librarians who’d like to empower young readers.

This was my first time reading Aisha Saeed’s writing, but I can’t wait to read some more of her books. I assume her chapters were the Maya chapters, and I must say these were some of my favorites. Then there’s Becky Albertalli, who is easily one of my favorite authors. I know her books aren’t aimed to my age group, but I still thoroughly enjoy them.

“Yes No Maybe So” is a perfect example of why teenage advocacy is both valid and necessary. Because, yes, even if they can’t vote, their opinions matter.

But you want to know what “Yes No Maybe So” was not? It was not a fair representation of any of the religions and cultural backgrounds (and sexual identities) that were supposed to be included. It felt like these backgrounds were written in just for the sake of being inclusive.

I would recommend this book to high schoolers (and some middle schoolers) who are interested in making a change. And really, I would recommend it to just about anyone who likes YA fiction too. It’s a good book. It’s witty, funny, well-paced, and entertaining. It’s just not as representative as it pans out to be.

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ARC — The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy — Edited by James Crews

“We lay together under the stars.
We know ourselves to be part of mystery.
It is unspeakable.
It is everlasting.
It is for keeps.”

Genre: Poetry, Essays and Collections
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

I’ve read poetry collections before, and have always had mixed feelings about them. Sometimes I hate them, sometimes I love them. Sometimes they’re right in between. I think the latter is how I feel about “The Path to Kindness.”

Some poems were good, while some felt slightly forced into the narrative. It’s not I didn’t enjoy reading this collection, it’s just I didn’t feel inclined to keep reading at times.

I think my favorite parts of this collection were the reflective pauses. They included an invitation to write down your thoughts, and I liked the prompts.

I would recommend this book to people who have been lonely through this pandemic and who like poetry and journaling.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: April 12, 2022

ARC — The Lives of Diamond Bessie — Jody Hadlock

“Do you know why most of us are here? Because we’ve been betrayed by the men who wanted to enjoy the pleasure of our company, who lead us down the primrose path, promising to defend our reputations, to marry us, but then abandon us because they’re engaged or married to someone else. Then they claim they’ve never known us (…).”

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mysteries and Thrillers, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Domestic violence, mentions death, sexual assault, suicide, and drug abuse.

“The Lives of Diamond Bessie” follows the story of Annie Moore, a woman in the 1860s who, after getting pregnant out of wedlock, is sent to a convent to pay for her sins and not bring shame upon her family. After giving birth and having the baby taken away from her by the nuns, she runs away in hopes of being reunited with her daughter. With no references, she can’t find a decent job and is left with no other option but to resort to prostitution. This is essentially what’s given to us by Jody Hadlock through the book’s description, but I must say this isn’t even one-eighth of the story.

You build so many preconceptions about what will happen in this book based on its summary… and then Jody takes them all and rips them apart. Annie, Elisabeth, Bessie, you were such an amazing character, such a resilient woman. Once you learn why they call her Diamond Bessie, you’ll be devastated and hoping it’s all a dream or some kind of premonition.

This book is very fast-paced, and maybe to a reader that enjoys extensive details and narrative it may seem like it skips through some steps. I think it was paced differently from other books I’ve read, and so I enjoyed it very much.

I would recommend this book to any reader who thinks sex work is real work (because it is) and to readers who like historical fiction and true crime.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

ARC — Open Up — Alex Woodard

“These are tears of unexpected anger.
Anger at what’s happening to her. Anger at the heaviness that buries me in the past, because that’s the only place I can still find her. Anger at my inability to build a bridge between the chasm separating me and these Polaroid versions of me. Anger at my anger, when I have so much to be grateful for.”

Genre: Memoir, Humor, Nonfiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions death, dementia

“Open Up” follows the author, Alex Woodard, and how he grows (as a child actor/line-memorizer, as a singer-songwriter) and fucks up and gets better and deals with his family and relationships and heartbreak and lowkey childhood trauma.

This memoir was wonderfully written, it was almost poetic. I really enjoyed the pictures at the end of some chapters (especially the Skippy one, I’m sorry).

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes funny memoirs or slice-of-life literature, especially if they have an interest in dementia and how it affects family members even in the most subtle of ways. No, dementia isn’t really the main topic here, but it’s like it’s been interwoven into the essential fabric of this memoir. Either way, it’s a really good book.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

p.s. the chapters “Emily” and “The Sender” absolutely destroyed me. What a beautiful letter, what a beautiful song.

Publication Date: November 20, 2020

ARC — Avidly Reads Poetry — Jacquelyn Ardam

“In the 1990s, poems existed for me in books and in my brain and then maybe you could read them aloud to make someone fall in love with you, but that was it. These days, poetry happens on the internet.”

Genre: Nonfiction, Poetry
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions racism, sexism, sexual assault

This is the type of non-fiction book I love. The ones with personal narrators that know they don’t have everything figured out. The ones with narrators that are willing to ask questions and don’t seem afraid to make mistakes.

I didn’t love how the narrator assumed we were all in or from the United States, but I also get it, I guess? They’re writing for their demographic, their usual readers. Too bad I’m not in or from the US. Also, I didn’t like the criticism to Kaur… it felt kind of condescending at parts but to each their own.

Something I did love, tho, was how diverse the poetry verses used as examples were. The author really did quote everything from Walt Whitman and Shakespeare to the poem read in 10 Things I Hate About You, a movie that’s a cult classic at this point.

I would recommend this book to all poetry lovers that are into nonfiction, but also to everyone who’s even remotely interested in poetry. This is NOT a poetry book. It’s a book about poetry (and there are a few poetry verses here and there, but that’s it).

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“The grief is not finished but the poem is. The art of losing this beloved is impossible to master, but still, you go through your motions, you make your rhymes, you complete your stanza, you finish the poem because that is all there is to do. The beloved is gone but the poetry remains. And that will have to be enough (Write it!) for now.”

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

ARC — The Surrender Theory: Poems — Caitlin Conlon

“grief has always kept a neat house, which is to say
sometimes feelings are so large that there
isn’t space for anything else.”

Genre: Poetry
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: Death, grief, and mental health (stated in the beginning of the book, 10/10 for that)

This poetry book looks at the topics of death and grief from a very crude, very recent, very real stand point. I loved the hand-drawn doodles that were there to guide you through the story. I loved the duality of Caitlin Conlon’s writing, as the words were both tender and heartbreaking. I think this book has been my favorite poetry book of 2021. I think Coded Signals is my new favorite poem STOP but, also, Ode for the Girls that Camp Out for Concerts spoke to me so deeply. It’s literally the story of me and my friends and how we waited outside of SNL to see Taylor Swift for two seconds (spoiler alert, we didn’t).

I would recommend this book to anyone who’s still grieving (a death or a heartbreak) even if it’s been years since the loss (but really, only pick it up if you feel you’re ready). I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes the works of Andrea Gibson, as I feel they will absolutely love “The Surrender Theory”.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

p.s. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book.

p.s.s. I think I’m still in the aftermath.

Publication Date: February 22, 2022 (omg 02/22/22, that’s amazing)

ARC — Revenge Body — Rachel Wiley

“She is a woman because she tells me so. She is a woman because there is no wrong way to woman.”

Genre: Poetry, LGBTQIA
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions fatphobia, trauma

This poetry collection touches up on subjects like grief, queerness, love (and heartbreak), race, and body image in all its glory. The ocean and sandcastles are definitely a theme here and I love it. I’m a zoologist that works with marine conservation, so I am 100% here for it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes spoken word poetry. Rachel Wiley’s voice can be read just like that. “Revenge Body” is a beautiful collection of heartfelt poetry, filled with highs and lows that are so well written and so meticulously woven together that you can’t help but finish this book in one sitting (I know that’s what I did).

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 18, 2022

ARC — Someone Else’s Dream — Janet Pywell

“You have to be a friend to have a friend.”

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Covid-19, mentions suicide and death, mentions racism and homophobia

This book follows Amber, a lawyer that’s moved away from London in order to fulfill her girlfriend’s dream…only to then have her girlfriend leave her. Essentially stranded in a harbor town, she starts meeting the locals, setting up a business she did not want, and perhaps, just maybe, finding love again.

This is a true tale of friendship and new beginnings. I loved this book beyond what words can describe. Would I call this a love story? No. But I enjoyed every word of it.

I grew up in a big, busy city and then moved to a small town for uni, and I must say I fell in love with the quaintness of it all. The author has perfectly described the feeling of community and claustrophobia that can be born from small-town living. Amber’s inner voice is my inner voice, our way of thinking is very similar and I felt connected to her pretty much right away. Rarely do I ever read a bisexual/queer character that resonates so much with my own identity.

I can’t end my review without pointing out how weird it was to start reading a book and realizing it’s set in the present-day, where Covid-19 is a thing. Every time lockdowns or face masks were mentioned, it caught me off-guard, but I honestly liked it; this is the reality we’re living in and it was bound to show up in literature eventually, right?

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light read that’s not predictable in the slightest. “Someone Else’s Dream” will transport you to a small town, with all its people and all their mosaic opinions and beliefs. It will serve you love in so many ways, maybe just not so much in a romantic way.

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ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: November 30, 2021