This week, I bring you a fun rom-com, a mesmerizing tale about rockers in the 1970s, and a YA fantasy.
Title: Red, White & Royal Blue
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars
Red, White & Royal Blue was a delight, and I didn't expect to laugh as hard as I did. Alex, the biracial First Son, was trying to squeeze himself into the politics world while still being a carefree young adult. I loved this book because it didn't read like a traditional rom-com, instead Red, White & Royal Blue felt like a coming of age story for almost all of the characters. Alex had the most important growth as he went from someone who liked to party and kiss whoever was nearby. It was wonderful to watch him fully understand himself as bisexual even when he kept making excuses for himself. One thing from traditional rom-coms that I felt was missing from Red, White & Blue was the alternating perspectives. We only have Alex's perspective so we only got to see the relationship through his eyes. I would have loved to see how some of the events unfolded from Henry's perspective. Nonetheless, I had a great time reading this, and I loved the political commentary. If I could change some minor things, it would be to add Henry's perspective and cut about 100 pages.
Title: Daisy Jones & the Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5 Stars
First and foremost, Daisy Jones and the Six must be devoured as an audiobook. Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing brought the large cast to life, but the full audio cast made them undeniably human. This was a story I didn't have any expectations for, I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and wanted to check out what came next, but I hadn't really looked into what it was about. Daisy Jones and the Six followed a band of seven musicians as they came together and climbed to stardom. The story is told through various interviews which made this such an easy story to fall in to. Daisy Jones and the Six embodied the 1970s rock scene of drugs, sex, and rock and roll with some important female friendships and overall growth. I found myself crying at the end and I would love to see this as a movie.
Title: We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1)
Author: Hafsah Faizal
Source: Work
Rating: 3.5 Stars
The world of We Hunt the Flame was extraordinarily vivid and I was sold immediately. Unfortunately, my enjoyment lessened when huntress Zafira met up with the assassin prince Nasir and general Altair. Of course it was a forced alliance, but the ease of that alliance did not feel authentic. For the entire book, Zafira thought Nasir and Altair had done something terrible, and given her reaction to said Horrible Thing, it was hard to believe that she would let her guard down around two strangers. I mostly enjoyed learning about the world and its magical history, I would have preferred less time on the magical island and more of the small kingdoms and how tense the political situation was.
Have you read any of the above?
What was an audiobook that you absolutely adored?
Labels: 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 4.5 stars, book reviews, casey mcquiston, Daisy Jones and the Six, hafsah faizal, les petites revues, mini reviews, red white and royal blue, reviews, taylor jenkins reid, we hunt the flame
