Category: Realistic Fiction

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen

I received a free e-ARC of A Taste For Love thanks to PenguinTeen in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I loved this book. I usually don’t like rom-com books because I find them too cheesy, but I knew I’d enjoy this one. What’s better is that it is a retelling of my favorite book: Pride and Prejudice! How can you not win with that?!

So what’s it about? We have Liza Yang, a seemingly perfect high school student. Except for the fact that she dates non-Asian guys, that is. Liza’s mom would prefer if she dated Asian guys—the more traditional and suitable partner—but Liza refuses. When Liza gets to help her mom judge the baking competition they host every year, Liza realizes her mom has set her up: all of the contestants are Asian American men. Will Liza go along with it? And what happens when she starts to fall for one of the contestants?

A Taste For Love: Recipe for Success?

This is such a light fun read. I loved all of the descriptions of the food and baking. Although this was a light contemporary read, one thing that I really appreciated was the dynamic between the family. The relationships between different family members felt real. The tension and inability to see eye-to-eye was so relatable. While it did have a unique cultural aspect, I felt like it could be recognizable to others outside of the Asian cultures. 

There was one thing that I did find a little bit confusing. Mrs. Yang, Liza’s mom, hosts the competition and picks the contestants. I was a little surprised at the caliber of the contestants that were participating in the competition, especially since there was such a big turnout. It just seemed like the competition would have been a little more stiff.

One thing that I found a little bit eye-roll worthy was that, of course, James was perfect. The rest of the book made up for this, though, and it was so minor that I was able to overlook it. 

Overall, this book was a hit. I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fun contemporary reads, food, or who wants to read a twist on a classic. A Taste For Love is out today, so be sure to pick up your copy! 

A Taste For Love by Jennifer Yen
Picture From my Netgalley Shelf

The Project by Courtney Summers

I received a free e-ARC of The Project thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

When I saw that Courtney Summers had a new book coming out, I was so excited. I read Sadie and I enjoyed it and gave that one 4/5 stars. I’d heard such good things about The Project and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

We follow Lo as she searches for her sister Bea, who has become a member of The Unity Project after a tragic accident left them parentless. Trying to expose The Unity Project as the cult she believes it to be, Lo goes to work investigating and asking questions. But when she gets close to Lev Warren to expose him for who and what he is, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. 

The synopsis sounded good and I know I already like Summers’s writing style. Unfortunately, the execution of it didn’t pan out for my personal tastes. 

The Project: The Scoop

This is being marketed as a thriller, and it is about a cult. Honestly, I didn’t get any thriller vibes at all. It felt too dry. There were times where I think it could have been trying to lead up to that point, but it never really got there for me. There just wasn’t enough suspense built. 

In regards to the cult aspect, I wanted more. We are told that people in The Unity Project are engrossed and enthusiastic members. We only really got to know a handful of people and how it’s impacted them, so I just wanted more detail. I also wanted answers to some of the questions that Lo went in search of but were just kind of forgotten about. 

Most of the characters were kind of flat for me, so I didn’t care about most of the characters. Some of the character traits didn’t make sense for the roles.

Overall, the story wasn’t terrible. If it hadn’t been marketed as a thriller/mystery, I personally would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, there wasn’t anything wrong with the story, it just wasn’t for me.

I know that I have an unpopular opinion. Although this book was a miss for me, I will still read other books by Summers. I encourage you to read some of the other reviews about this book, especially those that did enjoy this book. 

Publication is set for 2/2. 

The Project by Courtney Summers
Cover of The Project from My Netgalley Account

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

*Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. You can read more here.

I read The Kite Runner as one of my selections for Banned Books Week. I’ve always heard such good things about it. Alas, like many of my other books, it’s just been sitting on my shelf, eyeing me sadly while I read all the fancy new releases. I finally picked it up and wow did it pack a punch. First, let’s get into what it’s about.

In this story, we’re following Amir, an Afghani man who recounts his life from childhood to adulthood. We learn about his life growing up in Afghanistan, his escape from a war-wracked Kabul, his journey to America, and his journey back to Afghanistan. We witness his relationship with his father, and with his playmate, Hassan, and a myriad of other important characters. In this story, we are privy to Amir’s failures, his regrets, his redemption, his fears, his love, and everything in between, as well as what it means to forgive. It’s an emotional story that will put you on a roller coaster and have you wondering if you can take it anymore.

My Reading Experience of The Kite Runner

I wasn’t sure if I could handle reading it. After 7 chapters in, I had to stop. I didn’t pick the book up for 3 days. As I was reading chapter 7, I was bawling. I couldn’t stop, so I put the book down before I could finish the chapter. I consulted one of my reading groups about the rest. Does this get better? Will I stop crying? I had to know. I wasn’t sure I could continue reading an almost 400-page book with this much turmoil and emotion. “You probably will keep crying, but it’s worth it.” That was the resounding response from the group. So, after a 3-day hiatus, I forged on.

I don’t regret reading it. Yes, it was absolutely emotional. The whole book ripped at my emotions and my heart and I did cry through the rest of it. I’m actually a little upset with Hosseini about some of this book. But it’s a book that will stay with me, and that’s what makes a book great, so I guess that means he did his job.

While I definitely struggled with this one because of the sheer emotional impact it caused, I do recommend it. However, I will say that there are some triggers with this, and some content warnings. Please be advised that some of these triggers include depictions of rape, attempted suicide, bullying, murder, and war.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
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August Wrap-Up

Well, y’all, I didn’t get to all the books I had wanted to. I had tried to read 8 books during August and I was only able to fully complete 5 of them. I’m in the middle of 2 others and one I wasn’t able to get to. Let’s dig in, shall we?

So what did I read this month? To recap, there was White Fox by Sara Faring, How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi, The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe, Eleanor, Alice, & The Roosevelt Ghosts by Dianne K. Salerni, and Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stevens.

I didn’t find any new favorite books this month, but there were two that I did enjoy more than the others. Those books were White Fox by Sara Faring, and Eleanor, Alice, & The Roosevelt Ghosts by Dianne K. Salerni. I hadn’t read from either of these authors before but I found myself enjoying both books and I will look for more books from them in the future. Faring did a great job with the atmosphere in White Fox and I found that a particularly strong element in that story. Salerni really brought the characters to life in Eleanor, Alice, & The Roosevelt Ghosts and made me want to continue down the history tunnel. I gave each book a 4/5.

The books that were misses for me were a tie between Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stevens and The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe. Both had interesting premises but seemed to fall flat in their execution. I struggled to get through both and can’t say I’d recommend either one. Both received 2/5.

So there you have it, folks. What books did you read last month? Were you able to find some awesome new books? Any that you’d recommend?

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stevens

In this book we’re following Billie McCaffrey, daughter of the town preacher, and just one of the guys. Living in the small southern town of Otters Holt, Billie knows people are used to conventional thinking. But Billie isn’t used to being conventional. We follow her as she comes to terms with her own sexuality when she realizes she may be in love with two of her best friends.

I’ve had this on my shelf for years and have been meaning to read it, and have even started it before, but just have never gotten around to finishing it. Thankfully this buddy read forced me to actually read it. Unfortunately,

I thought the synopsis of the story sounded so interesting but the execution needed to be better. I was not a fan of Billie. She didn’t like that people assumed things about her but she spent quite a bit of the novel making assumptions about everyone else. She also seemed selfish in some of her actions and decisions. I did like that she had such a close group of friends. What I liked even more was that Davey’s friends took her in so quickly without even a second thought.

The book just overall was not it for me. It was too slow paced and if it hadn’t been a buddy read, I probably would have set it back down again. I wouldn’t recommend this book but would rather read something else that deals with coming to terms with your own sexuality and identity.