All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman

All of Us Villains was presented to me as the Hunger Games with magic, so I was of course there for that combo. It's about a curse that affects seven families who each have to enter a champion into a tournament. Whichever champion wins the tournament, their family gets control over the only stores of high magic in the world. The tournament takes place every twenty years, but the newest tournament has a twist. Someone released a tell-all book called A Tradition of Tragedy, so now the tournament isn't a closely guarded secret. The entire world knows, and this years champions are being hounded by paparazzi and reporters. The book is narrated by four of the champions in alternating chapters. Isobel Macaslan was the first champion to be announced. Her family is known for attending funerals to collect raw magic and her father's unsavory dealings. In spite of their low status, Isobel is actually a powerful spellcaster and could end up winning...until she casts a spell that puts her at a severe disadvantage. Alistair Lowe has trouble with his family's high expectations. The Lowes have won the most tournaments, so Alistair is definitely favored to win. Yet, in spite of years of being conditioned to be a monster, Alistair might not be all that bad inside. Briony Thorburn's family is known for perfection and overachieving. She is strong and athletic, and expects that will guarantee her to be her family's champion. What actually happens is just as surprising to Briony as to everyone else. Finally, we have Gavin Grieve. The Grieves have never won a tournament, in fact they are usually the first to be killed. Gavin wants to change his family history. He's smart and strong, but he knows he needs more in his favor. He finds a way to get power, but at a very high cost. It was nice to get some insight into many characters instead of one main character. Imagine how interesting it might have been to read the Hunger Games from multiple points of view. There are still three characters left out, so...just don't grow too attached to them. It's an exciting story, and I definitely want to see how everything ends in the second book.

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal

"You can't ignore the truth just because you don't like it. It's true whether or not you want it to be. It's true even if you think it's impossible..."

Priya has had a difficult year. She had been on the road to greatness, enrolled in medical school across the country at Stanford. After a bout with Lyme disease, Priya moves back home to recover. Even though the bacteria is gone, the effects of the disease still linger. She deals with joint pain, swelling, and brain fog that makes it difficult to even get out of bed, let alone complete all her courses and eventually the gruelling work needed to become a doctor. Basically, Priya feels lost. Thankfully, our girl is not alone thanks to the internet. Some of her buddies form a support group/group chat for those experiencing chronic pain, "oof ouch my bones." Priya becomes pretty close with one of the members, Brigid. They even end up exchanging addresses and find out they only live an hour apart. After some scary morbid postings, Priya and the group are concerned about Brigid's wellbeing. They know he illness comes about once a month, but otherwise it doesn't have an official diagnosis. Priya becomes so concerned that she takes her brother's car and drives to Brigid's house. Once there, she finds a messy house, a bunch of spoiled steaks in the fridge, and a giant dog that tries to attack her. Priya ends up calling animal control, but when they arrive, all they find in the bathroom where she locked the dog is...Brigid. It turns out that Brigid's illness is lycanthropy, and she has been changing more frequently and unpredictably. It's up to Priya, Brigid, and animal control guy Spencer (Team Werewolf) to find a cure or at least a way to get Brigid semi-normal. This was a pretty fun story, although a lot of the werewolf details are kinda gross. The chronic pain issues are valid, and it's funny how lycanthropy isn't all that different from normal illnesses. Part of me was frustrated with Brigid through a lot of the book because she's very unpredictable and gets upset, angry, etc...but I think it's pretty realistic. Priya and Spencer are trying to help her, obvs, but they also treat her like a sick person, a fragile person, and it's got to suck. There's also a lot with Priya having to accept her new normal, that even though she may feel better sometimes, her illness will still flare up and never completely go away. Also, this doesn't really fit but I don't know how to end this, here's a quote from one of their friends on medical diagnoses for women:

"sppokyspoony: A lot of chronic illnesses are considered female illnesses, which is honestly why we don't know enough about them Women are just expected to live with their pain I was actually talking to Lee about this recently, you know what she said? paranormaldetective: What? spookyspoony: She said that being a woman means that everyone hates your body, and your body hates you..."

Yeah, I'm still here trying to finish this thing...I dunno, just read this book if it sounds cool to you? It's this quarter-life crisis, chronic illness, internet nerd, werewolf lore thing. Go for it!

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

"We all knew too well what could happen to girls on poorly lit streets at night, because it had happened to us. Then again, all girls knew that..."

It happened on New Year's Eve years and years ago. The three Hollow sisters were walking down the street. The clock turned to midnight, and their parents looked away to kiss, just a moment. When they looked back, the girls were gone. They searched high and low, but they couldn't be found. One month later, the girls were found right where they disappeared. They were naked and had half-moon scars at the base of their throats. Their eyes turned black, and their hair soon turned white. They didn't remember where they had been or what had happened to them. The sisters now live separate lives, though they share a freakish connection. The oldest, Grey, became a model. She started her own fashion line with beautiful, frightening dresses that contain little vials of her perfume in the hem. Their mother is terrified of Grey, even hates her. The middle, Vivi, cut all her hair off and ran off to tour with a punk group. Iris, the baby, is quite timid and bullied at her school. She takes the abuse in hopes of graduating, attending university, and becoming a doctor. When Grey goes missing, it's up to her sisters to search for clues to figure out where she went. They also encounter a man with a minotaur skull, a dead body, and a lot of mold, corpse flowers, and ants...it's a lot scarier than it sounds. With Grey's ex-boyfriend Taylor (Who I love, cause he's awesome), they work to find Grey and learn the truth about what happened when they disappeared. House of Hollow sounded deliciously creepy, so I just had to read it. I know a lot of lore about changelings, and the book does touch on that a lot, but it's also doing it's own creepy thing. It has a couple twists that it employs well, and though I expected where it was going, it still sort of surprised me. There's not really a happy ending, and it makes me a little uncomfortable, especially if there's a sequel like they implied...but, all's bleak that end's bleak, amiright?

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

“Humanity is so weird. If we’re not laughing, we’re crying or running for our lives because monsters are trying to eat us. And they don’t even have to be real monsters. They could be the ones we make up in our heads. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

Linus Baker lives a dull, ordinary life. He works at DICOMY, the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where his job is to ensure that the magical children living in state run homes are being cared for properly. The RULES AND REGULATIONS hanbook for the job is always close at hand, and Linus follows it religiously. Yet Linus himself is a bit of a pushover, letting his landlady, coworkers, and even his cat treat him with no respect. One day, Linus is called into the Extremely Upper Management office. He fears the worst, but is surprised to be given a top secret assignment. They want him to spend a month at the DICOMY orphanage on Marsyas Island to observe the children and their master, Arthur Parnassus. Linus is chosen because of his ability to remain impartial and avoid personal attachments in his previous reports. Linus travels by train, and upon arriving at the town near the island, he finds that the residents do not care for the orphanage on Marsyas Island. The town is plastered with "See something, say something" posters that encourage citizens to report those with magical abilities. Even Linus becomes frightened when he decides to learn about the children he will be meeting, and opens the first folder to find one is the literal antichrist. The charges of Marysas Orphanage are: -Lucifer, better known as Lucy, the 6-year-old antichrist -Talia, a crabby female gnome -Phee, a wood sprite -Chauncey, a...well, noone really knows what he is. He is sort of slimey and has tentacles and eyestalks -Theodore, a winged, rare wyvern -Sal, who transforms into a Pomeranian when he becomes frightened This motley crew is cared for by Arthur Parnassus, a very kind but mysterious man. Linus is intrigued by him, but isn't given a lot of information. Once he gets over his initial fear, Linus begins to understand and love the children and Arthur. Lucy is a bright child who loves music and occasionally says evil things to get a reaction. Talia grows the most beautiful garden. Phee grows the tallest trees. Chauncey dreams of becoming a bellhop. Theodore has a horde of buttons and his own unique language. The most difficult to access, Sal, writes beautiful poetry. After spending so long on Marsyas, it becomes Linus' home more than his actual house. The residents become his family. This makes it that much harder for him to leave. This book was lovely to read. There were countless times when something so adorable happened that I just had to stop and cry for a second. The kids were super cute, but especially Lucy, he was just the cutest little antichrist. It took me forever to finish, but it was truly a joy to read and such a sweet story.

This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey

It's going to be pretty difficult to talk about this book without spoiling the big twist, although the twist is pretty obvious from the beginning. It's advertised as a cross between Black Mirror and My So-Called Life, which partially gives it away to me. Anyways, I'll try my best to toe the line... Jess Flynn is your typical late-1990s high school girl. You know, the late 90s, Spice Girls and BSB, Titanic, TGIF, Doc Martens and babydoll dresses, Clueless, pagers, inflatable furniture and lava lamps...that aesthetic. Jess has a lot on her plate dealing with her sick little sister and overbearing parents. At school, she is finally starting to act on her crush on her childhood friend. Jess starts to notice odd things happening. There are strange words being chanted outside in the morning. A lot of classmates and teachers are out sick with the flu. Her best friend drops a strange object out of her backpack, a small rectangle with a glass screen and an apple with a bite out of it on the back. These random, small, weird things start to snowball. Jess notices that her dog has been replaced with one that growls and bites her. Eventually, she is told the truth, and her reality completely shifts. The book moves from a YA contemporary novel to an action story as Jess is on the run, being pursued by those who want to push her back into her ordinary unknowing life. By the end, I still wasn't sure how I felt about the book, but I am interested to see how the sequel handles the story. I guess I will hold of my judgment until I can see how the story continues.

Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan

Verona Comics is yet another modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The two star-crossed kiddos in this story meet at a comic convention prom. Jubilee is dressed as a peacock character from her step-mother's indie comic when she encounters a young man in a button down shirt wearing a Batman mask. Jubilee was tasked with leaving her comfort zone to add some life experience to her cello playing, so she spends the evening talking with Office Batman. Afterwards, even though it was supposed to be a one night encounter, the pair end up texting each other. Bats and Peak have a good back and forth banter going on that could be spoiled if Peak/Jubilee knew who she was texting. Bats is in actuality Ridley, son of the owner of a major chain of comic book stores. He learns who Peak is but keeps texting her because he likes her. When his dad finds out, Ridley tells him that he's using Jubilee to get inside information on Verona Comics, the small comic book store her step-mom owns and that his dad has been trying to partner with for a long time. Ridley feels terrible about the deception, but he still has a desire to win his horrible, abusive father's approval. So Ridley stays with his father instead of flying back home to the other side of the country and poses as a new Verona Comics customer. Soon, Ridley is one of their regulars, then part of their family. Jubilee is even torn between Ridley and Bats for her affection, not realizing they are one and the same. I felt really badly for Ridley. His father was incredibly abusive, and there was a very upsetting scene in the beginning of the book where he was drunk and lashes out at Ridley. Ridley's mother wasn't much better, as she ignored him constantly and never sent his things from their house. Poor Ridley also has an inner monologue in his chapters for when his anxiety gets to him, and I just really worried about this boy and needed someone to save him from his horrible parents and give him some therapy and a hug. I went into Verona Comics expecting a fluffy romcom story, but it took a sort of unexpected mental health issue twist. As I read more, I also remembered that the actual Romeo and Juliet story wasn't very fluffy or romcom, and I got very worried for my little nerdy babies. Poor Ripley, on top of his issues with anxiety and his horrible parents, had gotten into some trouble in the past where he tried to kill himself by jumping off a roof. Thankfully, the book doesn't end THAT way here, though things do get a little bleak. The conclusion is a little bittersweet, but hopeful.

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

For my first review of 2021, I'm revisiting the world of Ashley Poston's Once Upon a Con series. We started with Geekerella, the story of a fangirl who ends up getting a direct line to the star of the movie version of her favorite TV show...but she doesn't know it's him. Then we ventured to The Princess and the Fangirl, wherein a normal girl switches places with a famous actress to uncover a sabateur. Now, we visit a young lady who wins over a beastly young disgraced actor in Bookish and the Beast. Rosie is the Beauty in the pairing, she who wants much more than this provincial life (That was actually directly quoted in the book, as well as a few other memorable lines from the Disney movie). Her plan is to get into NYU, although the admissions essay is giving her trouble. She doesn't have a lot to make her stand out, and she refuses to use the recent death of her beloved mother as inspiration. She is being pursued by Garrett, the most popular boy in school. Garrett thinks that if he wins Homecoming King, Rosie will have to attend the dance with him. Rosie isn't interested, and tells him so. Unfortunately, Garrett doesn't believe in taking no for an answer. Meanwhile, Vance Reigns is an actor in the Starfield movies. He recently encountered a scandal with Elle/Geekerella that ended with a car in a pond and broke up Elle and Prince Carminder/Darien. Vance was exiled to stay in a small town to get out of the spotlight, at least until he turns 18. The pair meet when Rosie follows a dog into a castle-like large house. She thought the place was abandoned, but was surprised by the library that contains a massive collection of sci fi, including the entire Starfield series, the books her mother used to own that they were forced to sell to pay for her hospital bills. Suddenly, Vance appears and startles Rosie, who runs away into the backyard...straight into the pool...while holding one of the very valuable books. In order to make up for the $1500 book, Rosie agrees to work in the house, arranging and cataloguing the library as a surprise for the owner. The two don't get along, and Vance isn't very agreeable to helping with her task. After some mishaps on Rosie's part, eventually Vance softens to her and realizes what an a-hole he has been. There's also he fact that the two of them met at a convention not too long ago and had a great night getting to know each other. Vance worried that Rosie would exploit all his secrets, while Rosie thought that Vance was disappointed to meet the real her Of course, they eventually come to like, then even like like each other. It is nice how Vance knows how to take no for an answer, when he's all famous and isn't even used to hearing the word. There's still another misunderstanding and need for more reconciliation, but these are fairy tales. Of course they're going to live happily ever after. P.S. These books are fantastic in how inclusive they are, lots of great LGBTQ+ characters. In this book, Rosie's non-binary friend runs for Homecoming Overlord in order to save her from Garrett, and it's awesome.