Wrong Answers Only

Wrong Answers Only

by Tobias Madden

Page Street YA, 2024. 384 pages. Realistic fiction

Marco should be at university studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack (which it most definitely was not.) Even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself and his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions. But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing in every possible way, it’s time for Marco to get a few things wrong.

It's no secret that I love to go on cruises, so the premise that this book is largely set aboard a cruise ship seemed like a perfect match. However, there was a considerable amount of suspension of disbelief required, and perhaps Madden went a bridge too far for my taste: Hunter's decision to engage in a sexual relationship with someone who is essentially a passenger would definitely have gotten him fired, full stop. It's worth noting that this work definitely doesn't classify as a romance; it's more closely a bildungsroman, and it focuses on Marco's sense of self (including a realistic depiction of grappling with anxiety), as well as his family and friend relationships. Madden also sheds light on generational differences regarding views on homosexuality, which definitely rings true.

In Our Stars

In Our Stars

by Jack Campbell

Titan, 2024. 383 pages. Sci-Fi

Book #1 in the series "Doomed Earth"

Earth, 2180. Genetically engineered with partly alien DNA, Lieutenant Selene Genji is different from ordinary humans. And they hate her for it. Still, she’s spent her life trying to overcome prejudice by serving in the Unified Fleet while Earth’s international order collapses into war. Genji is stationed on a ship in orbit when factional extremism on the planet reaches a boiling point, and she witnesses the utter annihilation of Earth. When the massive forces unleashed by Earth’s death warp space and time to hurl her forty years into the past, Genji is given a chance to try to change the future and save Earth – starting with the alien first contact only she knows will soon occur. But altering history could put her very existence in danger.

Campbell has written a fast-paced story with likeable characters. The social commentary was veiled a bit thinly at times, but it didn't detract from the plot. To say it ends on a cliffhanger is an understatement: rather, it ends in the middle of the story, which is difficult because the sequel has not been released at the time of this review.

Spare

Spare

by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

Random House, 2023. 410 pages. Biography

Before losing his mother Princess Diana, Harry was the carefree Spare to the serious Heir. Grief changed everything: he struggled at school and in the spotlight. Military service gave him structure – as well as post-traumatic stress and crippling panic attacks. The world was swept away by his romance with Meghan and their fairy-tale wedding, but from the beginning, they were subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. For the first time, Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty.

I know I kinda missed the trend with this one; it was really big when it first came out, and then slipped into quiet obscurity. However, maybe it worked out okay to read this when I did, precisely because I could view it more objectively without the hubbub. I enjoyed learning the behind-the-scenes peek at the British Royal Family and their relationship with the press, and my heart broke to hear of how Harry and Meghan were treated. Harry speaks with candor and honesty, giving an honest and raw look at his life thus far. What this was missing was a true purpose: Harry doesn't seem to have a clear call to action or any goal for this work. Instead, it just seems to be him telling his story and what things were like for him. But I suppose that's fine, isn't it.

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

by Michiko Aoyama

Hanover Square, 2023. 304 pages. Realistic fiction

What are you looking for? This is the question routinely asked by Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. She has read every book lining her shelves – but she also has a unique ability: for anyone who walks through her door, Komachi can sense exactly what they’re looking for in life and provide just the book they never knew they needed to help them find it. Each visitor comes to her library from a different juncture in their careers and dreams, from the restless sales attendant who feels stuck at her job to the struggling working mother who longs to be a magazine editor. The conversation that they have with Sayuri Komachi – and the book she lends each of them – will have life-altering consequences.

I may have a personal connection to this story in particular, since I am a librarian by profession. This brief book was lovely to read, with five separate yet interconnected stories who find inspiration and clarity in the library. I love when we see glimpses of the author's culture shine through the translation, as they did in this work. I do wish Aoyama had introduced us to Komachi and let us get to know her in a way beyond just her physical appearance. With its simple, digestible writing style, this made for a heartwarming and uplifting read that underscore the importance of libraries and literature.

Too Big for a Single Mind

Too Big for a Single Mind: How the Greatest Generation of Physicists Uncovered the Quantum World

by Tobias Hürter
Klett-Cotta, 2021. 398 pages. Nonfiction

There may never be another era of science like the first half of the 20th century. Many of the most important physicists ever to live – Marie Curie, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Ernst Schrödinger, Albert Einstein – came together to uncover the quantum world: a concept so shockingly contrary to traditional physics that its own founders initially rebelled against it. Hürter takes us back to this momentous time when war and revolution upended the lives of renegade scientists. These brilliant thinkers are revealed anew as friends and enemies, lovers and loners, and men and women just like us. Quantum mechanics is a concept too big for a single mind – and its birth is a testament to the boundless potential of collaboration.

Having a background in science, I had heard of all of these scientists and their discoveries. However, my formal education focused more on the interactions between the ideas, whereas Hürter here portrays them as real people, showing how their complex individual and professional lives interacted (and sometimes clashed). The writing is exquisite and flawless, which isn't always the case for work on scientific topics -- or for any narrative nonfiction, for that matter. If you're looking for a deep dive into the science, you might want to look elsewhere. On the other hand, you don't need any sort of prior knowledge to fully appreciate this work, making it quite accessible to the average reader. I'd recommend this to any nonfiction reader interested in science or history.

The Last One

The Last One

by Will Dean
Atria, 2023. 448 pages. Thriller

When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love Pete. On their first night, they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends. But when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew: nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic, and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey that she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.

I loved the premise of this book. As an avid cruiser, I found myself drawn in and invested in this setting, even though there wasn't much reason to connect to the characters. None of them seemed to experience much character development or growth -- with perhaps the exception of some minor characters (but it turns out, they were plants all along, so that doesn't really count.) There was a sharp change in tone around the 35% mark: this book went from a thriller to a survival story bordering on horror, and that was unexpected to say the least. I also wish the pace were a bit quicker: for a thriller, there is an awful lot of reflecting and remembering that didn't seem to influence the plot at all. I was also a bit mystified by the ending: the way I understood it, she is set up again to be a contestant on another Dark Web broadcast show, but this time it's on a plane? It seems a bit too far-fetched for my taste. All thing considered, it gave me a lot to think about.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath

To Shape a Dragon's Breath

by Moniquill Blackgoose
Del Rey, 2023. 511 pages. Fantasy

Book #1 in the series "Nampeshiweisit"

The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations –until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. To her people, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit: a person in a unique relationship with a dragon. Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing – and they might just be the ones to do it.

I'm always a fan of a protagonist that goes to lengths to disrupt the social hierarchy, especially one that is racist and sexist. While it has roots in reality, the world that Blackgoose has created is complex and rich in its history and scope. I particularly enjoyed learning  the details about their fantasy version of chemistry, which others in the genre gloss over or ignore altogether. However, I see how this could be a bit laborious and cumbersome to those with a different academic background. Also, dragons are always fun, but I feel they could have been developed a little further as characters. And the romance was a very slow burn: IIRC first kiss somewhere around 70%. This one definitely needs a sequel.

The Daughters of Izdihar

The Daughters of Izdihar

by Hadeer Elsbai
Harper Voyager, 2023. 384 pages. Fantasy

Book #1 in the duology "Alamaxa"

As a waterweaver, Nehal can move any water to her will. She desires nothing more than to attend the Weaving Academy, learn control of her powers, and join the first all-female military regiment. But her family cannot afford to let her go due to her father's crushing gambling debt, and Nehal is forcibly married into a wealthy merchant family. Her new spouse, indifferent to Nehal's dreams, pines for the bookseller Giorgina. However, Giorgina has her own secret: she is an earthweaver with dangerously uncontrollable powers. Her only solace comes from the Daughters of Izdihar, a radical group that fights for women to have a say in their own lives. As Nehal and Giorgina fight for their rights, the threat of war looms in the background, and the two women find themselves struggling to earn and keep a lasting freedom.

I absolutely loved the magic system: elemental magics are my jam! It was also lovely to have the cultural influences of Egypt and Western Asia reflected in this work. I'm usually not a fan of multiple POVs, but Elsbai made the work flow effectively and smoothly between the two tightly intertwined storylines. There were times when the gentle pacing seemed to drag, and the allusions to (and outright portrayal of) civil rights seemed a bit heavy-handed. I wish we had seen more of the protagonist's relationship with Malak, the leader of the Daughters of Izdihar. I also was disappointed that this book was quite long, and yet the ending was extremely unsatisfying. I understand that it's part of a duology, but it felt like the plot was arbitrarily interrupted by the end of the book.

The Shamshine Blind

The Shamshine Blind

by Paz Pardo
Atria, 2023. 320 pages. Sci-Fi / Mystery

In an alternate 2009, Argentina has supplanted the USA as a world superpower ever since development of psychopigments to win the Falkland’s War. Created as weapons, these colorful chemicals can produce almost any human emotion upon contact, and they have been embraced in the West as both pharmaceutical panaceas and popular recreational drugs. Black market traders peddle everything from Blackberry Purple (which causes terror) to Sunshine Yellow (which induces happiness). Psychopigment Enforcement Agent Kay Curtida works a beat just outside the ruins of San Francisco, chasing down smalltime crooks. But when an old friend offers a tantalizing lead on a career-making case, Curtida’s humdrum existence suddenly gets a boost. Little does she know that she's on a tangled path leading to an overdue reckoning with her family and her own emotions.

I'm a big fan of works that blur the lines between genres, and Pardo manages to do that beautifully here. This work is a combination of the gritty noir and hardboiled detective stories from the early 20th century on one hand, and the post-apocalyptic alternate history science fiction on the other. The idea of weaponizing human emotion is fascinating and refreshing, though I wish there had been more of a good twist at the end. And as an Argentine American myself, I secretly relished in this world where Argentina was a superpower, conquering both the Falkland Islands and Great Britain itself (even though Argentina is made out to be the bad guys; haters gonna hate).

Body Neutral

Body Neutral: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Body Image Issues

by Jessi Kneeland
Penguin Life, 2023. 432 pages. Nonfiction

Have you ever thought that, if only you could change the way you looked, your life would be better? We all know that our problems wouldn’t actually be solved by magically attaining a so-called "perfect body". That’s because body image issues are never just about the surface: they’re always about something deeper inside. As a personal trainer and coach, Kneeland set out on a quest to discover how to help people understand, process, and heal their body image issues for good. Body Neutral will help you discover why you are unhappy with your body and how to defuse its power, freeing you to enjoy a life of true confidence, security, and satisfaction.

I've had body image issues for at least a decade and a half now, and this may sound naïve, but I had never really considered what might be the underlying reason(s) for them. Kneeland presents four "avatars" that describe common profiles of people who struggle with body image. This book will make you work, and it has a lot to unpack, including specific actions to take on a personal level. I liked this book enough to purchase myself a copy after reading (which is not something I do very often, as a public librarian). I'll for sure revisit this book as I continue to work on seeing my body through a neutral, impartial, unbiased lens. (I also especially appreciated that Kneeland wrote to a diverse audience in this work: body image issues are not women-exclusive, thank you very much.)

How to Be Remy Cameron

How to Be Remy Cameron

by Julian Winters
Duet, 2019. 340 pages. Realistic fiction

Everyone on campus knows Remy Cameron. He's the out-and-gay, super-likable guy that people admire for his confidence. The only person who may not know Remy that well is Remy himself. So when he is assigned to write an essay describing himself, he goes on a journey to reconcile the labels that people have attached to him, and get to know the real Remy Cameron. 

I enjoyed how this book presented true-to-life depictions of queer adolescence (which, if you're a regular of this blog, you know that YA sometimes misses the mark for me in that regard). I also love how Remy refuses to let either his race or his sexuality be his sole defining characteristic, and Winters grapples with this important issue head on. This book is beautifully written, and there are passages and lines that really captivated me. This work is not so plot-driven and focuses more on introspection while maintaining a lighthearted and positive tone.

Man Enough

Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity

by Justin Baldoni
HarperOne, 2021. 368 pages. Nonfiction

The effects of traditionally-defined masculinity have become one of the most prevalent social issues of our time. Actor, director, and social activist Baldoni reflects on his own struggles with masculinity. With insight and honesty, he explores a range of difficult, often uncomfortable topics including strength and vulnerability, relationships and marriage, body image, sexuality, racial justice, gender equality, and fatherhood. He challenges men to be brave enough to be vulnerable, strong enough to be sensitive, and confident enough to listen. 

Every so often, I come across a book that changes my life. This is one of them. Baldoni speaks from his experiences and his heart in a raw and honest way as he discusses the challenges he has faced throughout his life when it comes to the expectations society places on us as men. Not everything in this book was perfectly relatable to me (such as the portions about his relationships with his wife and children), but most of the work rang true to what I have experienced. It was also lovely to hear him narrate the audiobook version of his work. I'm inspired to continue my work to embrace all the aspects of myself, including the masculine and the feminine.