In a Nutshell Reviews

In a Nutshell Reviews are my version of mini-reviews, because sometimes, you just want the highlights.

You Bring the Distant Near
Mitali Perkins
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Nominated for the National Book Award | Walter Award 2018 Honor for Teen Literature | PW, NYPL, Horn Book, JLG, Boston Globe, Shelf Awareness, SLJ Best Book of the Year Lists | Six starred reviews: ★ Horn Book ★ School Library Journal ★ Publishers Weekly ★ Booklist ★ Shelf Awareness ★ VOYA

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity--award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

This was such a beautiful multigenerational story, that carried us through forty years of fierce Das women. I fell in love with this family, and just didn't want the book to end.

• Pro: This was a heartfelt look at a family's history. We celebrated with the Das family, as well as grieved with them. We experienced their joy and their pain. 
• Pro: Getting to spend so many years with these women allowed me to form an extremely detailed picture of who they were. We watched Tara and Sonia grow up, and we also saw Mrs. Das evolve. 
• Con: I would have liked a little more of Shanti and Anna's story, but it's just because I really cared about what happened to them. 
• Pro: I loved all the cultural aspects Perkins shared with us. I found so many of the traditions quite lovely, but what I really adored, was my trip to Bangladesh! Perkins did such a great job bringing us there with her descriptions of the sights and sounds, smells and tastes. 
• Pro: Yes, I loved the sensory part of my trip to Bangladesh, but I really loved what happened to Tara when she was there. I could not wipe the stupid, sappy grin off my face for quite a while after that part. 
• Pro: There were a lot of interesting ideas about race and culture explored. I especially connected with Shanti. When she said, "I'm not BLACK enough for SOME people. I'm not INDIAN enough for OTHER people," it struck a chord with me as my daughter is biracial, and was often considered not asian enough. 
• Pro: I really appreciated the pro-American sentiment in this book. The current climate makes me quite sad, because I am first generation, and was raised to appreciate how my family benefited from coming to the US. This country is not perfect, but we are afforded a lot of privileges that one cannot have in other places. It was nice to see that this was acknowledged in the story. 
• Pro: I just never wanted it to end. I could read about these women until I mourned each of their deaths. They were just such wonderful characters. 

Overall: A gorgeously written tale of five fierce women intertwined with thoughtful observations on culture and race from multiple perspectives, which I am so happy to have read.

#Prettyboy Must Die
Kimberly Reid
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Espionage
Publisher: Tor Teen
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

A CIA prodigy's cover is blown when he accidentally becomes an internet sensation in #Prettyboy Must Die, inspired by the #Alexfromtarget story.

When Peter Smith's classmate snaps a picture of him during a late night run at the track, Peter thinks he might be in trouble. When she posts that photo--along with the caption, "See the Pretty Boy Run,"--Peter knows he's in trouble. But when hostiles drop through the ceiling of his 6th period Chem Class, Peter's pretty sure his trouble just became a national emergency.

Because he's not really Peter Smith. He's Jake Morrow, former foster-kid turned CIA operative. After a massive screw-up on his first mission, he's on a pity assignment, a dozen hit lists and now, social media, apparently. As #Prettyboy, of all freaking things.

His cover's blown, his school's under siege, and if he screws up now, #Prettyboy will become #Deadboy faster than you can say, 'fifteen minutes of fame.' Trapped in a high school with rabid killers and rabid fans, he'll need all his training and then some to save his job, his school and, oh yeah, his life.

This is not my normal kind of read, however, I really enjoyed it. When I was reading it, I kept thinking it had this "Die Hard" vibe, and sure enough, I saw my sentiment echoed by other reviewers.

• Pro: The action started from page 1, and only let up for a very short time in the early chapters. This was exactly what I had expected from a book about spies trying to escape a hostage situation. 
• Pro: All this action was balanced out with punches of humor, that kept the overall tone of the book on the lighter side, which is honestly the side I prefer. 
• Pro: Peter/Jake was fabulous! He was witty and intelligent, and his inner monologues were fantastic. I absolutely adored his narration. 
• Con: I would have liked to understand how Peter/Jake came by his hacking skills. He was orphaned, floated through the foster system for years, and was even homeless at some point. When did he hone his mad hacking skills? 
• Pro: Bunker was an incredible sidekick. His backstory was hilarious! I loved him so much, and it warmed my heart that Peter/Jake finally had a best friend. 
• Pro: Katie made an exquisite love interest for Peter/Jake. She was fierce and no nonsense, and I enjoyed every second they were on page together. There was a lot more to her than met the eye, and I was elated that she provided yet another point of connection for Peter/Jake. 
• Pro: Spy gadgets! It was so fun waiting to see what they would pull out next or what they would be able to MacGyver from found objects. 
• Pro: This story had lots of twists and turns, which kept me wanting more. I was quite pleased with the way it unfolded, and had a lot of fun piecing it together. 
• Pro: I sort of liked the ending, in that it could be a doorway for another #Prettyboy story. 

Overall: A fun thriller jam packed with action, spies, villain, and nefarious plots.

** ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Allegedly
Tiffany D. Jackson
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a church-going black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.

Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?

In this gritty and haunting debut, Tiffany D. Jackson explores the grey areas in our understanding of justice, family, and truth, and acknowledges the light and darkness alive in all of us.

I have had this book on my TBR since I first heard about its pending release. I am so glad I selected Allegedly for my #2017Throwback reading challenge, because this was one incredible journey.

• Pro: Mary was such a superbly complex character. Every time I thought I understood her, another layer was revealed. Jackson is a master character crafter, because I found myself terribly sympathetic towards Mary, who was a convicted baby killer. That is some set of skills. 
• Pro: This story made me feel so many things, though I mostly felt heartbreak. A broken girl with a broken mom trapped in a broken system with no real future because they are part of this broken system. It was all very sad. 
• Pro: It wasn't all tears and sadness. There were some awesome adults, who were actually quite kind to Mary, and they kept me hopeful for her. 
• Pro: I loved the format. The bulk of the book is narrated by Mary, but in-between were excerpts from books, transcripts from interviews, and other epistolatory type snippets. They really brought me into the "life" of this murder. 
• Pro: So many twists and turns. I just could not stop reading, because I had to know what was real and what was fabrication. 

Overall: A dramatic page turner, that kept me guessing until the end. 

Have you read any of these books?

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