REVIEW: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

OUR REVIEW:

I read this ahead of assigning it as part of a dystopian book club unit; I wanted to make sure it would work as an option with the other options selected. It did and the students who read it had THOUGHTS. The things we all liked were: the integration of the texts and emails and the overlapping narratives/flashbacks and we loved to hate the premise because who really likes the idea of being in a world like the one Lalami created? Uhhhhh no one. That being said, she definitely made it feel realistic and uncomfortable. We also loved to hate the characters; at varying points I think we wanted to throttle each of them. The things we didn't love: the ending. We all wanted more and we all felt like there were some loose ends that could've been more tied up at the end. Despite all of that, it was a solid 3.5 read--a good fit for the dystopian unit I created and one that my students enjoyed.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4wBFjOe

SYNOPSIS:

A novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.
 

REVIEW: The Shippers by Katherine Center

 

OUR REVIEW:

Katherine Center is still a new to me author; I believe I've read one of her other novels, but I recall enjoying it, so when The Shippers was available on NetGalley, I decided to give it a try. The Shippers is most definitely a romcom-JoJo reminds me of a Lucille Ball type character--physical comedy, that comes off as kind of a ditz, even though she's really not. She's just trying to figure out how and why she's so bad at relationships. About half of this novel is about JoJo working on trying to snag the guy she thinks all other relationshis failed because of. When she finally wakes up to the truth, it's almost too late...but luckily for us, this is romance...so it's never too late. Cooper. Cooper is an interesting dude. On the one hand, such a good guy. Seriously such a good guy. On the other hand, I wanted to shake him for letting things go on for as long as it did. Because COME ONNNNNNN, we knew it was him all along. Gah. 

Anyway, this novel is a great vacation read--light, funny, cute, and easy to read. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3LodjLD

SYNOPSIS:

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. With the help of a little pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly-divorced wedding guest ), and she decides to woo him during the cruise for some long-delayed closure. Only problem is, her sister’s a little busy being a bride at the moment—so JoJo ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, to be her wing man. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but then showed up, anyway. Cooper: who left town without a word four years earlier and moved to London. Cooper: who was, if she’s honest, the worst heartbreak of JoJo’s life. It’s bliss for her to see him again, and it’s agony, too—and the more they team up for Project Conquest, the more she obsesses over questions she can’t bring herself to ask.

Shipboard antics ensue in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance—as JoJo and Cooper fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, treat sunburns, get jealous, rescue each other over and over, and finally, at last, figure it all out in the most blissful, swoony, romantic way.

No one does summer romance quite like Katherine Center. THE SHIPPERS will take readers on the cruise of a lifetime in a story awash with romantic longing, top-notch banter, long-held secrets . . . and true love rediscovered.

REVIEW: The Last Page by Katie Holt

OUR REVIEW:

I really enjoyed Katie Holt's previous release, Not in My Book, so when I saw this one was available on NetGalley, I quickly requested it. The Last Page is an enemies to friends to lovers trope that is a little bit of a slow burn. Ella and Henry are basically pitted against each other because the now deceased owner (and Henry's grandfather) promised both of them the bookstore and much to Ella's chagrin, when Henry shows up to take over, she feels betrayed and led astray. She just KNEW she was going to have the store; she KNEW she'd be able to keep its legacy alive. Well, good thing that didn't come true because it turns out the store was in so much debt that had she been left to manage it, she most likely would've failed. So once she gets over her hurt feelings, she works with Henry (who specializes in saving companies in similar situations) to do everything in her power to save the store.

The rest of the novel is really Henry and Ella working together to try to save the store and as they're doing that, Ella introduces Henry to the New York she knows and loves. They get to know each other, get to liking each other, and they fall in love. 

Their love story is delightful. It's cute and sweet and funny and emotional and I enjoyed getting lost in their story for a few days...it sure beats the shitshow that's happening in our world today. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3Oe01lE

SYNOPSIS:

Ella has grown up at The Last Page, a charming local bookstore in New York City where she now works. Her first kiss was in the women’s health section. A boyfriend dumped her in comedy. The owner is like a second father to her and has begun training her to take over the store. So when he unexpectedly dies and his estranged grandson is left everything in the will, Ella is devastated.

Henry doesn’t know the first thing about running a bookstore. With his aging mom back in Tennessee, he plans to stay in New York just long enough to ensure things are running smoothly and then head back home. What he never could have counted on was the beautiful, funny bookseller who loves The Last Page more than any place in the world—and who sees him as the villain who’s come to ruin her life.

But when it becomes evident that the store is in deep financial trouble and Henry and Ella are both at risk of losing everything, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and team up—despite the inconvenient chemistry blossoming between them.

Fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood will adore this rivals-to-friends-to-lovers bookish romance!

 

REVIEW: Love Song by Elle Kennedy

OUR REVIEW:

Fans of the Off Campus series will love the next gen books, I'm certain. Having read some, but not all of the first gen characters, I found that I didn't have to have read them all, or remember much of them, to follow along and enjoy Love Song. 

I'll be honest and say that Wyatt was frustrating AF at first. I didn't have much sympathy for his plight because he seemed to assume a lot and then use those assumptions as a basis for action or inaction. Blake also gave me fits at times. She didn't do what I wanted her to do, when I wanted her to do it, dang it. I think what got me past all of this was when they capitulated to their feelings ...and when their family came in for the summer. The extra characters added a layer of tension and fun and conflict and the pages were flying. It was also amusing to have the dads all interact and be ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, the group chats. Those were the best. Loved those.

All in all Love Song was an angsty, funny, sexy, and quick read.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4eJ6kJc

SYNOPSIS:

New York Times bestselling author Elle Kennedy returns with her signature heat and humor for a Briar universe standalone romance featuring the next generation Off-Campus characters―where one unforgettable summer changes everything.

After a brutal breakup, college junior Blake Logan escapes to her family’s lake house in Tahoe, determined to shut out the world. Her plan is simple: no men, no drama. Until Wyatt Graham shows up. Four years older and far too good at getting under her skin, Wyatt is the living embodiment of a “bad idea,” and the guy who shattered her pride when she confessed her crush at sixteen.

With his music career stalled, Wyatt has come to Tahoe for inspiration. The last thing he expects is to find it with Blake. He’s spent years keeping his distance, convinced he’s all wrong for her, but she’s no longer the innocent girl he once knew. She’s confident, captivating, and impossible to ignore. And the slow-burning tension between them? It’s catching fire fast.

They both know this can’t last, but one reckless kiss turns into another, and soon they’re tangled in something that feels dangerously like more. Just as they finally give in to the pull, tragedy tears them apart, leaving their hearts in pieces.

But forgetting that one, nearly perfect summer? Not a chance. And when fate brings them together again, Blake and Wyatt must decide if this is a second chance…or the final verse.