SOMEONE YOU LOVED....SHARED GRIEF LEADS TO NEW LOVE, BUT WHO WILL IT HURT? (*****)

 Someone You Loved by Robin Constantine (2023)

                 I can already imagine the thousands of eager readers who'll gravitate to this book with just one glance at its striking cover, featuring two teens with a decided resemblance to....well, no one will have any trouble guessing. who.....

                  And they'll be in for an even nicer extra bonus.......the book inside between the covers....

                  What I loved most about "Someone You Loved"......for a refreshing change, it offers a sweet, poignant teen romance without an excess of plot baggage that might threaten to bog down its forward momentum. 

                   The tragic accidental death of Alex a much beloved high school basketball star, leaves a cloud of grief over the community......and most of all, those closest to him who loved him dearly.  Those deeply grieving for Alex include his younger sister Ash, Sarah, his girlfriend who's also Ash's best friend and  Jake, Alex's best friend and fellow teammate. 

                   Even more conflicting feelings run through these three well drawn characters.  The stricken Ash can't even look at Jake because she resents and blames him for her brother's death, since he was there when it happened.  Sarah, whose romance with Alex was brief but fiercely intense, can hardly deal with her sense of crushing loss while consoling Ash. And Jake, guilt-wracked  and uncomfortable in replacing Alex as the team's captain and guiding light, also contends with his lifelong crush on Sarah. He's held an unrealized love for her long before she ever became Alex's girl. 

                     From that primal, basic set-up, you can easily see there this is going.  Connecting in their shared grief and thrown together to plan a fundraising event in Alex's memory,  Jake and Sarah.......well do I really need to say more than simply.....Jake and Sarah. 

                    The slow but sure development of their romance is handled with exactly the right amount of tenderness and the anxiety that threatens to tear them apart.  Sarah fears her growing union with Jake will anger and hurt the already wounded Ash, while Jake dreads anyone thinking he's appropriated every aspect of Alex's life......as both star of the team and boyfriend to Sarah. 

                     You can't help rooting for Jake and Sarah every step of the way and even better. author Robin Constantine deals with the supporting characters around them with a knowing gentle sympathy.....even when  a few of them might annoy you at times. 

                      Not an earth-shaking story by any means, but you can never have enough heartwarming experiences like the one this book delivers.  Never mind who's on the cover.....the really good stuff's in the pages. 5 stars (*****)

'THE SHADOW SISTER'....SIBLINGS AT WAR, SERIAL KILLINGS, AND A STARTLING GENRE BEND (****)

 The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade (2023)

                First let me add to the consensus that "The Shadow Sister" grabs you right away with one of the most beautiful, perfectly realized covers I've seen this year. 

              And the book itself, a debut novel for author Lily Meade, made for a compelling, suspenseful and most  urgently current read......particularly in its weaving in of black history and systemic racism.

 
               In a biracial family of a black father and white mother, teen sisters Sutton and Casey's relationship has devolved into a toxic battleground.  Casey's come to deeply resent  what she feels is the family's favored treatment of her older sister, thought of as the perfect 'golden girl'. 

                Sutton disappears, touching off a wide but futile community search orchestrated by her desperate parents. (She's not the first black teen girl to missing.) But unlike the other missing girls she re-appears as mysteriously as she vanished. And Casey notices not only Sutton's memory of what happened to her is gone, but also her previously combative, self-centered personality.....as if her sister's been permanently altered (and somehow more humanized) by her unknown experience......

             Lily  Meade's expert, intuitive creation of the lifelong love-hate bond between these siblings held me in a tight grip from beginning to end.  And the book's ability to blend in the growing suspense and chills of a thriller along with the heartrending legacy of the family's black ancestors  left me even more impressed.

              But while I was well on my way to a 5 star review, the final climactic chapter, top heavy with sudden,  startling, jaw dropping reveals, became problematic on multiple levels.  It came across to me like a very rushed, Hail Mary pass with an abrupt closeout guaranteed to leave a reader hungry for an epilogue.  That climax packs a punch alright, swerving  the book into a jarring, hairpin turn.......and  hurled it into a completely different genre altogether.   I guess you either go with it fully or just mutter, "Say what now?"

              I cannot forget or deny, however, the brilliant use of character development and skillful writing that brings the story of these two sisters and their family to such vivid, relatable life.  And combining this with all the tropes of an ominous thriller stands as quite an achievement.  Even with its much worthy of discussion finish,  it still came out as a 4 star page-turner for me.....and a fine introduction to a new author I'm eager to try again.

THE QUIET TENANT.....A DUTIFUL DAD, HIS YOUNG DAUGHTER.....AND DAD'S CAPTIVE SEX SLAVE (*****)

The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon (2023)

           What a grand slam of a thriller. I'm still breathless from the read. 

          Put simply, "The Quiet Tenant" is textbook example of everything you want in a stay-up-all-night, page turner. By the time you reach the final chapters, you realize the book has you completely by the throat and racing to the finish at 'Star Wars' hyper-drive speed. 

          Author Clemence Michallon picked a well worn (some would even say worn out) genre - the sick twisted path of a serial killer who stalks and then keeps his victims as sex slaves until he decides he's finished with them.....and then he finishes them.  

         And of course, this inhuman soul, as many of them do,  lives a life as a beloved, friendly, upstanding member of his community, a respected dutiful single dad to his 13 year old daughter. Following his wife's cancer death,  the town reaches out even more to embrace this poor tragedy stricken dad and child.

          The story unfolds from three viewpoints......the currently enslaved, abused woman,, kept in a shed and forced to call herself "Rachel" by her captor, 'family guy" Aiden Thomas......Aiden's daughter Cecelia, painfully lonely from being cut off from almost all socialization by her father........and lastly Emily, a young bartender/restaurant manager who's become overwhelmingly smitten by Aiden, unaware he's selected her as his next victim. 

           The narrative belongs primarily to "Rachel", and her heart rending account of how somehow she's managed to stay alive longer then any of the women who came before her. Sensing her time's running out, she sees a desperate chance in a sudden, drastic change for Aiden and Cecelia.

         Forced to vacant his house, (and its shed), Aiden must move to a home with no secluded hiding spot, He's put in the position of imprisoning "Rachel" in the new house itself and passing her off to Cecelia as a good friend needing 'quiet time' to recover from some shattering trauma. 

          Author Michallon sure knows how to suck you in to these characters and totally invest you (and fear for) the ultimate fates of Rachel, Cecelia and Emily.  The suspense steadily builds to near excruciating levels and once the endgame commences, I don't know how anyone could possibly put the book down. 

          Even if there's readers who think they've read every variation of a story like this, I still say don't miss this one. A thriller that thrills like "The Quiet Tenant" is a 5 star (*****) essential and a "must have" for this year.

ALWAYS ISN'T FOREVER.....A BOY MOVES HEAVEN AND EARTH TO RETURN TO HIS SOULMATE....(*****)

Always Isn't Forever by J.C. Cervantes (2023)

The amount of tears readers will shed while experiencing this book will no doubt equal a tsunami of epic proportions. By all means grab this, but not without a family-size package of tissues handy.

           Two primal emotions rule here -  the unconditional, intense love of a couple who've been soulmates since childhood and the overpowering, wounding grief befalling them due to the cruelest of fates. 

            Teens Ruby and Hart were practically born to be together, until Hart loses his life through a selfless act of bravery. But while his physical body has succumbed, an intervening angel offers a chance for his spirit and soul to live inside someone else who's positioned on the border of life and death. 

             Seizing the opportunity to come back to Ruby, Hart inhabits the body of Jameson, the high school's star athlete/and all-around obnoxious jerk. about to come out of a motorcycle accident coma.  

             Here's where the book's particular heaven-and-earth mythology becomes quite complicated and involved, presenting Hart, in his new incarnation, with a daunting challenge to win back the grief stricken Ruby. His, sensitive artistic soul now exists side by side within Jameson, along with Jameson's own abilities and memories. But Hart's memories, including those of Ruby are only taking up temporary residence.....they're fading fast and the clock's ticking.

             Even worse.....how can Ruby comprehend why on earth Jameson, once a smug, self centered delinquent, has transformed into such a caring, kind soul?  And what kind of unbelievable news, something he's incapable of saying out loud, is he desperately trying to communicate to her?

            Once J.C. Cervantes hooked me with this incredible combination of suspense and gut-wrenching emotion, I literally could not stop reading until the end.....and yes, it's just about impossible to navigate through this story with dry eyes.  It's everything you'd expect from a romance that keeps you on the edge of your seat, hoping and praying for the ripped-asunder soulmates to somehow find each other again. a truly passionate 5 star read for sure.  An absolute TBR must-have.

MAEVE FLY.....A PSYCHO DISNEY PRINCESS LETS IT GO....*****

 Maeve Fly by CJ Leede (2023) 

            You'll have to pardon me while I hose down the gallons of blood, severed limbs, assorted organs and at least one random eyeball that came flooding out this book.......

            A bit much? Not at all, cause I think it's essential that only readers who can stomach (and really love) hardcore horror go anywhere near 'Maeve Fly'  Everyone else?  Stick with 'The Addams Family'.....

..
             Imagine, if you will 'American Psycho's Patrick Bateman reconceived as a Disneyland park Princess Elsa, that beloved "Let It Go' belter from "Frozen". Just the perverse audacity of that idea made me laugh and shake my head in admiration. 

             To the delight of park visitors, the live action Elsa's well  played by none other than our title gal Maeve Fly, while sister Anna's played by Maeve's BFF, Kate. 

             Maeve loves her work with a passion, even tolerating Liz, her officious, micro-managing supervisor. Kate, however an aspiring actress, struggles to snag a film or TV role. And this is a perfect moment to mention how author CJ Leede evokes and beautifully portrays Los Angeles in all its sun-drenched madness - especially the underbelly of showbiz where's everybody's grasping for their dream while only a precious few achieve it.  Perceptive, sharp and darkly funny, at times the book reads like a modern day "Day Of The Locust"... only with way more blood. 

            Speaking of dark.....that's Maeve through and through. At the house she shares with Tallulah, her once-upon-a-time movie star and infirm grandmother, she celebrates Halloween like it's Christmas at Hallmark.  All she really needs to tip her over into complete insanity is something  (or someone) to light her fuse. 

           Sure enough, Maeve finds the fuse lighter in the person of Kate's hunka-hunka Hockey star brother Gideon, newly arrived to play for the L.A. Kings. Gideon, with rippling abs and libido to match, sees directly into the bottomless abyss of Maeve's empty, violent, psychotic heart.  He seems at least a possible kindred spirit, and for Maeve, who's already rapidly giving in to utter madness, that's all she needs to...uh... let it go.....and go medieval on any number of...uh....poor unfortunate souls. (but that's another movie, right?)

            As I previously forewarned, the carnage here is way, way, way over the top, but author Leede turns the whole thing into such a funhouse ride, you're never sure whether to giggle or gag. And I could only smile and nod at the finale's big twist, dripping with irony....(among other things).  For those who can take it, it's a 5 star ride into a human void. Dive in if you dare.