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.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

When I heard that Suzanne Collins was writing a prequel to the Hunger Games, I was excited. What would we get to see? Haymitch's times in the arena? A view into another district? The times before the war? There were so many exciting possibilities to choose from. When I found out it would be about a young President Snow, I was disappointed. We don't really need to know more about him because we know he is the worst, and we don't really need to hear any more tales of sad white man woe leads to justification for murder. I still decided to read the book because I loved the original trilogy, I love Collins' writing, and I was curious about what we'd get to see and about the girl from District 12 that was featured in the book trailer. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place shortly after the end of the war between the districts and the Capital, right before the 10th Hunger Games. Even in the Capital, things are not good. People are poor, hungry, and suffering. Coriolanus Snow is a young student about to graduate. His once great family is in dire financial trouble after his father died in the war. They try to keep up pretenses, but Snow, his cousin Tigris, and his grandmother are often hungry, eating nothing but cabbage soup and beans to survive. He still aspires to succeed and hopes to find a way to get to university and help his family become great once again. The interesting thing we find out is that even the Capital isn't a fan of the Hunger Games. In order to generate more interest, students from Snow's school are paired with the tributes. They will plan strategy, train them, introduce them, etc. Snow hopes to get a strong tribute, preferably from 1 or 2, but is disappointed to receive the female tribute from District 12. Lucy surprises him by making a splash at her reaping, and Snow decides he might be able to use her just yet. Throughout the book, we see the starts of the Hunger Games we know from the original series come into shape. Katniss was treated to luxury when she entered the Capital, but these tributes are starved and kept in an old zoo while surrounded by rats. Snow ends up coming up with the ideas of betting on the tributes and sponsoring the tributes throughout the games. Telling the origin story of a known villain is always going to be tricky. Make them too sympathetic, and it might not be believable, but there also has to be something that started it all. Nobody is born evil, right? Snow has some moments of decency, but he is ultimately shifty and calculating even when good. He's motivated by purely selfish gain, all that "Snow rises on top" stuff he spews. In the end, I hate him just as much, though I do wonder if maybe the obsession with roses was also to cover up the smell of all his inevitable cabbage farts.

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Kettle Springs, Minnesota seems like your average Midwest town. It's very rural, surrounded by a lot of corn fields and farms. The town is small and dying after the local corn syrup factory, Baypen, closed its doors. A lot of residents blame the problems on one thing: teenagers. These kids these days are always filming crazy pranks on their phones, disrespecting elders and traditions, commiting arson (Okay, that one actually is bad). Certain members of the community have had enough, but they came up with a plan that will get rid of the kids and save Kettle Springs at the same time. Quinn and her father just moved to Kettle Springs. He is taking over the medical practice after the previous doctor moved away, and they both need a change after her mother died. On her first day at school, Quinn is lumped in with Cole and his gang of troublemakers after they are punished by a vindictive teacher. Cole is the son of the owner of Baypen, rich but also sad and troubled. He was basically abandoned by his father after the accidental death of his sister. At Founders Day, Cole's friends set off firecrackers during the parade. It was supposed to be a harmless prank, but it snowballs into a disaster. After that, the plan is set in motion. Cole's friend Janet planned a big Founder's Day party out in a corn field while the owners are on vacation. There's music, bonfires, and lots of alcohol. It's an amazing party...then the clown attacks. Frendo, mascot of Baypen and beloved icon of Kettle Springs, takes out teenagers left and right with a crossbow. When they run for cover in the barn, Frendo sets the building on fire and shoots anyone who tries to escape. After they manage to take the clown out with some very helpful guns courtesy of Quinn's neighbor Rust, they discover there are more Frendos trying to kill them, armed with more weapons. There's no cell service out in the corn fields, and all the cars have had their tires slashed and engines removed. It comes down to teenagers versus killer clowns as the kids have to fight and kill for survival. Clowns in a Cornfield was definitely appropriate for spoopy season (Note: I read it in October). It's like reading one of those teen slasher movies. There's some suspense and a fairly good amount of gore and death. I was pretty surprised to find myself siding with the teenagers in this story, because like the band My Chemical Romance, teenagers scare the living sh*t out of me. But the adults in this story are dumbasses, with their stupid murder plan and their "Make Kettle Springs Great Again" slogan, and yes, it is meant that way. So, yeah, it's a bloodbath, and a good portion of Kettle Springs' youth are murdered, but in the end, they *SPOILER* still win, the young still come out on top, although they are left with raging amounts of PTSD and a bunch of therapy all around. I also really appreciated the resolution of the Quinn/Cole/Rust triangle thing...that was fun.

Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu

Five years ago, the princesses of Ever were placed under the Spell of Without by an impulsive young witch. Every year on their 13th birthday, the princesses will be cursed to go without one vital thing. The eldest Jane was cursed to be without food. Therefore, she hasn't eaten or drank in five years. Nora is cursed not to love, Alice is cursed not to sleep, Grace is cursed not to remember. Now that the youngest princess, Eden, is turning 13, the witch will tell them how they can break the spell. The witch, Reagan, had not been of age when she cast the spell. Young witches can only cast Slow Spells, which means that the curses will not kill the princesses until Reagan turns 18, when the spell becomes True. She recklessly cast the spell in hopes of punishing the King on behalf of her mother. Reagan expects to see the King suffering and in pain, but he is none of those things. In fact, he is fairly happy. She starts to regret casting the spell, especially when she realizes there are only four days between Eden's 13th birthday and her own 18th. It seems daunting, but the princesses and Reagan must work together to break the curse. She tasks them with gathering four items: a thimble of tears from the saddest person in Ever, a clock from the oldest, a lock of hair from the most handsome, and the crown of a King. The last seems fairly simple. After all, their father must want them to break the spell. The other objects are trickier. The princesses have never left the castle. A moat separates the royals from their subjects, and once they get to the other side they are in for a rude awakening. The kingdom has been suffering. Worst of all, their father may not be the Good and Gentle King they thought he was. Ever Cursed is pretty heavy with allegory. You have your princesses and their spell, plus their mother who was cursed into a glass box with the same spell. What's kind of perverse is how princes and princesses from other kingdoms fetishize the cursed princesses, saying how rare they are because of the curse, because of what they are lacking. Then we get to the King, who seems like a good man and a good father at first glance. He didn't even mind that Alice was originally a prince or that Grace wants to marry a princess. Then Jane and the others start to see what was always in front of them, what they had been looking away from the whole time.

"Kings and princes have been doing the same things to princesses and witches for ages... It was a king's kingdom and we all suffer for it..."

They want a quiet and pretty Queen stuck in a glass box. They want a Princess who can't eat who wastes away to nothing. They want a witch who protects the kingdom from the top of the highest mountain. What they don't understand is that all the girls are witches and queens/princesses all at the same time. They have the ability to be vulnerable, but they also have power. That power scares them. The front cover of Ever Cursed looks like a typical YA fantasy. The pretty flowers don't convey the feminist fairy tale within. It definitely made me angry as a woman, especially the aforementioned scene where the sisters and Reagan are assaulted by the other princes and princesses. I'm even more motivated to smash the patriarchy now.

"It would be nice, to be given everything we deserve. But it's not necessary. And if he won't give it, we'll just take it. We're goddamn witches. Don't tell us we can't..."

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

It's rather daunting to approach a review of The Starless Sea. It's a winding story that weaves inside and out, and I've heard (and personally believe) that it benefits from multiple reads. Alas, I am approaching this review having only read the book once. Still, I shall try my best. Zachary Ezra Rawlins once discovered a door painted on the side of a building. He did not go through the door that day, but he remembered it. When he finds a mysterious book in his university's library, called Sweet Sorrows with no author and donated by a particular person, he is surprised to find that he is featured in the story. There are also tales of acolytes and guardians and keepers, bees and keys and swords. He is lead to a party in New York where he meets an intriguing man who calls himself Dorian, a man who tells him stories and talks him into helping steal back another book. He also meets a pink-haired woman called Mirabel, though Zachary calls her Max. Max rescues Zachary when their heist goes bad and takes him to the Harbor, an underground series of rooms full of books and cats. The Harbor (And Max) is responsible for the doors, for leading people to the Starless Sea. There are also people, led by a woman named Allegra, who paint over the doors to keep people out. Thus, the central conflict. Anyways, it's all very complicated. There is the main story, and every other chapter are different stories from Sweet Sorrows and Fortunes and Fables, stories that have nothing to do with the main storyline until they do. Yeah, it's one of those books. I loved The Night Circus, so I was extremely excited to finally get a new book from Ms. Morgenstren. Despite the complicated nature of the story, I enjoyed The Starless Sea, and I look forward to understanding it even better when I finally get around to reading it a second time.

P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

In To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Lara Jean Song Covey's life is turned upside down when her younger sister sends out a series of love letters that she had written to the boys she had overwhelming feelings towards. One letter, to the popular and handsome Peter Kavinsky, led to a fake relationship that sparked real romance. The second book starts with Lara Jean deciding to make a play for Peter, for real this time. They get back together, or rather finally get together, and all is well...or is it?


Meanwhile, another letter finally reaches its recipient: Jon Ambrose McClaren. He used to live in their neighborhood when they were in junior high, and he and Lara Jean start a correspondence. In these letters, she conveniently never mentions that she is dating Peter now. For his part, Peter is always hanging out with his ex, Lara Jean's former friend Gen. He claims that she is going through something, a family issue that he doesn't want to divulge. To make matters worse, Peter and Lara Jean's infamous hot tub video from the school ski trip is still circling around. Lara Jean is certain that Gen is responsible for putting out the video, but Peter denies it.


In less dramatic news, Lara Jean starts to volunteer at the local nursing home. She spends a lot of time with a sassy resident named Stormy. Stormy is always trying to set Lara Jean up with her great-grandson, who turns out to be none other than Jon Ambrose-McClaren! They have some romantic moments between them, especially when Peter and Lara Jean break up for a bit.

I also watched the Netflix version of P.S. I Still Love You. I really enjoyed their To All the Boys I've Loved Before, especially Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky. The second movie was a pretty decent adaptation. The kids are still cute, and I enjoyed the romance. Jordan Fischer made for a charming Jon Ambrose, and made it a little hard to be completely Team Peter, though I still completely am. Even though the movie won't be released for a bit, I also read the third and final book in the series, Always and Forever, Lara Jean.

At the start of the third book, Lara Jean and Peter are together and better than ever going into their senior year. They even plan to stay together in college. Peter was accepted to UVA to play lacrosse. UVA is also Lara Jean's top choice, her dream school since childhood. It seems inevitable that she'll get in...but she doesn't.

Lara Jean decides to go to her second choice school, William and Mary. It's a bit of a drive, but still somewhat manageable. Plus they decide that Lara Jean can always try to transfer to UVA after Freshman year, and everything will be perfect again...then Lara Jean finds out she got into UNC. She had been waitlisted at first, so she never gave it a second thought. He best friend makes her take a road trip to check out the campus. They end up having a big adventure with a concert and burritos, and Lara Jean falls in love with the school.

Alas, UNC is much farther than William and Mary. What should Lara Jean do? Their mother told Margot (LJ's older sister) not to go to college obsessing over your high school boyfriend. Margot keeps telling Lara Jean to give whichever college she picks a fair chance, to choose what's right for her and not what's best for her relationship. Peter's mom even secretly asks her to break up with Peter. She worries that Peter will give up his full scholarship to stay with Lara Jean, and Lara Jean would never let him destroy his future for her.

It's sort of nice that there is less "I'm worried you're going to cheat on me" drama in this book. It adds a certain maturity. Part of me was very proud and excited for the kids heading off to college, but I was also jealous because they are young, in love, and looking forward to the future while I am none of those things. Anyways, my sad life aside, I am looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation when it comes out and more of my inappropriate crush Noah Centineo.