Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital

By: Elise Hu
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 310

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): An audacious journalistic exploration of the present and future of beauty through the lens of South Korea's booming "K-beauty" industry and the culture it promotes, by Elise Hu, NPR host-at-large and the host of TED Talks Daily

K-beauty has captured imaginations worldwide by promising a kind of mesmerizing perfection. Its skincare and makeup products—creams packaged to look like milkshakes or pandas, and snail mucus face masks, to name a few—work together to fascinate us, champion consumerism, and invite us to indulge. In the four years Elise Hu spent in Seoul as NPR’s bureau chief, the global K-beauty industry quadrupled. Today it's worth $10 billion and is only getting bigger as it rides the Hallyu wave around the globe.

But although self-care consumerism may be fun, darker questions lurk beneath the surface of this story. When technology makes it easy to quantify and optimize ourselves—from banishing blemishes, to whittling our waistlines, even to shaving down our jaws—where do we draw the line? What are the dangers for a society where a flawless face and body are promoted and possible? What are the real financial, physical, and emotional costs of beauty work in a culture that valorizes endless self-improvement and codes it as empowerment?
 
With rich historical context and deep reporting, including hours of interviews with South Korean women, Hu presents a complex, provocative look at the ways hustle culture has reached into the sinews of our bodies. She raises complicated questions about gender disparity; consumerism; the beauty imperative of an appearance obsessed society; and the undeniable political, economic, and social capital of good looks worldwide. And she points the way toward an alternative vision, one that's more affirming and inclusive than a beauty culture led by industry.

First Impressions

This isn’t the typical book that I review, but I am a skincare junky. If you’re an OG blog reader, I used to do a lot more beauty reviews, hence the blog name. When I saw this book, I was immediately intrigued and knew I wanted to read it.

What I thought

While this book wasn’t what expected, I found it to be fascinating and informative.

Elise Hu is a reporter for NPR. From 2015-2018 she lived in Seoul as a reporter with her family. While there and after moving back, she learned a lot about the beauty culture of Korea. Korea is well known for their skincare, but this book delves even deeper than that.

I will warn, I’m not the best at reviewing nonfiction stories. I will try my best, but honestly, if you think this topic is interesting, I say go for it!

When I first agreed to review this book, I thought it was going to focus on Korean skincare. I have used a lot of K-beauty products and know that they are the at the top of their game. They are made from natural products and cruelty free, both of which are appealing to me. Hu starts of explaining the history of Korean skincare and how it became so essential to the culture. I loved the first few chapters of this book and drank it up.

The majority of the book, however, is much more serious and focused on Korean culture. It delves into topics such as female beauty expectations, plastic surgery, and even women’s rights. I learned so much about how culture can impact the day to day life as well as how ingrained beauty is to the Korean culture. It was fascinating and I definitely feel way more educated on this topic than I was before.

Hu does an amazing job educating about Korean beauty and culture in an accessible and easy way. I think this would be so interesting for anyone to read. It’s very informative and I think there’s a lot of important information for people to learn about, both men and women equally. While it wasn’t exactly what I expected, it was very well done and I enjoyed every minute of reading this book.

Book Club May 2023- The Golden Spoon

By: Jessa Maxwell
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 288

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): For six amateur bakers, competing in Bake Week is a dream come true.

When they arrive at Grafton Manor to compete, they're ready to do whatever it takes to win the ultimate The Golden Spoon.

But for the show's famous host, Betsy Martin, Bake Week is more than just a competition. Grafton Manor is her family's home and legacy - and Bake Week is her life's work. It's imperative that both continue to succeed.

But as the competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it's small acts of sabotage. Someone switching sugar for salt. A hob turned far too high.

But when a body is discovered, it's clear that for someone in the competition, The Golden Spoon is a prize worth killing for...

What I thought

When Steph picked this book, she said that it had been described as The Great British Bake-off meets murder mystery. I was immediately intrigued. I also liked that it was less than 300 pages.

This story follows 6 bakers through a reality baking competition called Bake Week. It’s pretty much GBBO. They stay at a manor, they film in a tent with pretty colored tables and mixers, and the hostess is a grandmotherly figure loved by America. The difference is that someone gets murdered.

I’ll start with a few things I liked about this book before I get into my issues. I think the characters are fun and this was a super easy read. The audiobook is narrated by multiple people and I do wish I had listened to it rather than read it. I think it would’ve made the characters really pop off the page. I didn’t mind the concept of the story. I do think it was helped by being short, meaning it didn’t wander off to too many side stories. I think I appreciated that the most. Sometimes with stories that have multiple characters like this we get side tracked with their backstories that are unnecessary and it didn’t happen in this story.

What I didn’t love was how predictable this story was, while also being a little vague. I think it could’ve done with a better editor as there were some inconsistencies that hurt the story. But overall, I could’ve told you almost every aspect of this story after the first few chapters. Because of that, this mystery lacked exactly that. Mystery.

I also watch a lot of GBBO and this felt like such a knockoff. It wasn’t even a tribute to it, it was as though she just copied the entire show but decided to have 6 bakers compete over the course of one week rather than 12 over the course of a few months.

It wasn’t a bad book, but definitely a solid 3 stars. I am curious to see how this plays our as a TV series. I think it could be fun if they leaned into the campy-ness of it, but if they try to make it dark and serious I think it could fail.

What book club thought

Some of the book club members found it to be less predictable than I did but we all enjoyed it overall. We appreciated that it was relatively short and did talk about a lot of the craziness. Something they pointed out that I didn’t realize is that Betsy’s chapters were told in 3rd person whereas everyone else is in first person. We discussed why we thought that might be but weren’t too sure. I wouldn’t say it was the greatest book club book for discussion purposes, but it was a fun read. If you enjoy light mysteries, fan fiction, and short reads, I would recommend checking this out.

The Daydreams

By: Laura Hankin
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 368

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s—and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout, that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good.

Back in 2004, The Daydreams had it all: a cast of innocent-seeming teenagers acting and singing their hearts out, amazing ratings, and a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that steamed up fan fiction forums. Then, during the live season two finale, it all imploded, leaving everyone scrambling to understand why.

Afterward, the four stars went down very different paths. Kat is now a lawyer in Washington, DC. Liana is the bored wife of a famous athlete. Noah, the show’s golden boy, emerged unscathed and is poised to become a household name. And Summer, the object of Noah’s fictional (and maybe real-life) affections, is the cautionary tale.

But now the fans are demanding a reunion special. The stars all have private reasons to come back: forgiveness, revenge, a second chance with a first love. But as they tentatively rediscover the magic of the original show, old secrets threaten to resurface—including the real reason behind their downfall.

Will this reunion be a chance to make things right? Or will it be the biggest mess the world has ever seen? No matter what, the ratings will be wild.

First Impressions

The cover isn’t my favorite. I don’t know if it’s the green font or the blue filter on the photograph, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I think I would walk by it. The summary on the other hand is an immediate yes please! I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. 2000-2006 was my prime teenage years, so this book is right in my wheelhouse.

What I thought

This is everything that I wanted Daisy Jones to be.

Katherine/Kat was a character in a popular teen show in the early 2000s with two other girls and one guy. The show is about them in high school forming a band and there was a lot of tie over between the show and real life. When they did a live finale, Summer, the star of the show, had a bit of a melt down and it was ended mid-broadcast. Now 13 years later, they’re getting together for a live reunion episode.

I’ll start by saying, I really enjoyed the Daisy Jones book (more than the show), but I wasn’t obsessed with it like a lot of other people were. This book though, this is probably what everyone else felt when they read Daisy. I think it helped that this was a time I could relate to. The pressure that female teenage stars were under in the early 00’s and the paparazzi plus Perez Hilton and TMZ was disgusting. This book portrays that so well. If a female star did one thing wrong, she was immediately villainized and torn to shreds.

This story is told mainly from Kat’s perspective, but does have a few chapters told from the perspective of the other characters. Though the audiobook does have multiple narrators, so I’d be curious how that changes the way the story is told. I would also love to watch this as a show or a movie.

Hankin does a fabulous job of reflecting what the spotlight was like in the early 2000s. I also liked all of the characters, even though I know you’re supposed to dislike some of them.

I loved the conflicts and the drama. I also loved the flashbacks and the perspective we have now compared to 20 years ago. Summer’s desire for redemption, Kat’s desire for forgiveness, and Noah and Liana’s desire for fame all mixes together to make a story you just can’t look away from.

I could not put this book down. I loved every minute of it. If you enjoyed Daisy Jones or if you’re a fan of 2000’s pop culture, you will love this book. It is so well done and I can’t find any fault with it. I loved living in this world and, like the fans who wanted a reunion episode, I would love a sequel (though I don’t know what it would be about). This book was truly everything that I wanted it to be and might end up as one of my top reads of the year.

The True Love Experiment

By: Christina Lauren
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 416

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.

Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.

The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.

First Impressions

I mean… do I even need to say anything about Christina Lauren at this point? They are an auto-read for me. I’ve read and reviews everything they’ve published since 2018. This book is a sequel to Soulmate Equation and I do like the colors of this cover more than Soulmate.

What I thought

Christina Lauren haven’t done a sequel about a side character in the past 5 years that I know of. I was excited to see what they would do.

Fizzy, the best friend of Jess from the first novel, is a romance novelist who has lost her mojo. At this time, Conner, a TV producer asks her to be the heroine in a new dating reality show. Conner is a divorcee with a 10 year old and he has just been forced to move from making documentaries to this reality show, so he has his reservations as well.

Christina Lauren writes romance so well. The chemistry between Conner and Fizzy was immediate. I also liked how they took some of the romance tropes and ropes in them into the story in a tongue and cheek way. While I don’t think the format of the reality show would’ve worked in real life, it worked for the sake of the story and I enjoyed how they tied it back to the dating app from the first book.

I enjoyed that Fizzy is a strong woman who is unapologetic for her sexuality and her personality. She has some crises in the story about who she is and how to continue, but she still stays true to who she is. What I always love about Christina Lauren books is how realistic they are. There are always scenes where I feel like I’ve lived those moments or I know people who have.

The only part I didn’t love about this story compared to some of their others is the third at break. I didn’t love the conflict. There were actually two points of conflict and I felt like one of them was a little stronger than the other. I could’ve done without one of them because the way Fizzy reacted wasn’t my favorite.

While this isn’t one of my favorites of theirs, I feel like it’s always a little hard to judge because I’m comparing to other great novels. The hidden romance and reality show storylines were great. I also adored the chemistry between Conner and Fizzy and feel like I fell in love with Conner a bit. I think it’s a great follow up to The Soulmate Equation and it another solid book to their list. I highly recommend both books in this series.

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl

By: Renee Rosen
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 432

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this story.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm, in this dazzling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Social Graces and Park Avenue Summer.

In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. She’s ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean on—and into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estée. Their chance encounter will change Gloria’s life forever.

Estée dreams of success and becoming a household name like Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Revlon. Before Gloria knows it, she is swept up in her new friend’s mission and while Estée rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estée’s insatiable ambitions.

But in a world unaccustomed to women with power, they’ll each have to pay the price that comes with daring to live life on their own terms and refusing to back down.

First Impressions

Such a beautiful cover! The cover and title made a solid first impression. Then when I found out it was a story about Estee Lauder I didn’t even hesitate. Rosen has written other modern historical fiction novels I’ve enjoyed, so that didn’t hurt.

What I thought

Fascinating!

This story mostly follows Gloria, a fictional woman who ends up in New York City alone after her father is arrested for a Ponzi scheme that has bankrupted hundreds of people during the Great Depression. She heads to a hair salon after her fall from grace to disguise herself and runs into Estee who is selling her products at the beauty salon. The two become fast friends and the story follows mostly Gloria but also Estee as she pursues her beauty line.

What I love about Rosen’s novels is that I learn things about these historical figures that just stick in my head for years. Estee Lauder was one of the first premier skincare brands I used consistently. In college and up until I started to focus on using more cruelty free brands, I used their night serum, day cream, and one of their toners. I loved all of their products. I especially loved that every time I went, my Nordstrom girl would give free samples and they always had free gifts with purchase. Through this book, I learned that is trademark Estee and what helped her brand take off.

I will say, this story is Gloria heavy and Estee light. You still learn a lot about Estee and she’s central to the book, but there is a lot of the story that isn’t related. I think parts of it could’ve been shortened as the story did get a little long for me. Gloria spends a lot of time feeling self-righteous and sorry for herself because of the guilt of what her father did. Sometimes it got a bit pretentious for me and I didn’t understand why people wanted to be friends with her.

I do wish there was a little more interaction between Gloria and Estee. Sometimes their relationship came off more tumultuous than a true friendship that we were supposed to believe they had. I loved hearing about Estee’s love life as well. Gloria’s love life made me a little sad at times, but I liked the way it ended.

This book definitely piqued my interest to learn more about Lauder and maybe start buying some of her products again. It also made me dislike Elizabeth Arden a lot!

Rosen’s historical fictions are always hard for me to rate. I rate the about 3/3.5 stars and then I’m still thinking about them years later. If you are curious about Estee Lauder and her journey to success, I highly recommend this book. It’s very fun, albeit a little on the long side. I greatly enjoyed the story and can’t wait to see who Rosen writes about next!

Only the Beautiful

By: Susan Meisner
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 400

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the winds of fortune that tear them apart by the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War.

California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers, and having lost her family she treasures her pregnancy as the chance for a future one. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place far worse than anything she could have imagined.

Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman's sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.

First Impression

Beautiful cover! I have reviews a few other of Meissner’s books and have enjoyed all of them. She is a solid historical fiction writer and there’s usually a twist in her stories that I don’t expect. This book did make me a little hesitant because I just read a historical fiction book that dealt with synesthesia, so I was a little worried they’d be too similar, but I knew Meissner wouldn’t let me down.

What I thought

Rosie is 17 years old, unwed, an orphan, and pregnant. Her guardians send her to what she thinks is going to be a home for unwed mothers, but turns out to be a home for the infirm and psychologically disturbed. She is forced to give up her child for adoption as well as live through some other trials and tribulations. Helen is older and lives in Europe during World War II. Her brother was one of Rosie’s guardians. When Helen comes back to the US, she learns about Rosie’s story and how closely certain parts mirror the experiences she saw in Nazi Germany.

This book is essentially two books in one. The first half is Rosie and her story, the second half is Helen and hers. Each story is told through flashbacks and their present day in the 1940s and eventually 1950s. The story deals a lit with eugenics and the side of Nazi Germany that dealt with the murder of the disabled and not just of the Jews. I do think that sometimes that can be forgotten I the shadow of all of the other horrors. It was interesting to read a WWII historical fiction that highlighted it.

The hard part for me was moving from Rosie’s story to Helens. It happens a little over halfway through the book and it made me a little sad to leave her story. I connected with Rosie a lot during her section and wanted to know that she was ok. It was a little harder for me to connect with Helen. I think this might be because her storyline isn’t quite as personal as Rosie’s, so while you’re in her head just as much, it’s different.

This book moves a lot quicker than expected. It touches on some extremely important topics that I think are, unfortunately, still timely today. I think I would’ve loved this book a little bit more if it had solely been Rosie, but it’s a solid and wonderful historical fiction. It also dealt with the synesthesia in a very different way than Hester, which is the other book I read earlier this year. So, if you’ve read one, you can absolutely read the other without feeling like you’re read the same story.

Sisters of the Lost Nation

By: Nick Medina
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads):A young Native girl's hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe's reservation lead her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself, in this atmospheric and stunningly poignant debut.

Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation's casino...and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step--an ancient tribal myth come-to-life, one that's intent on devouring her whole.

With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old. As girls begin to go missing and the tribe scrambles to find answers, Anna struggles with her place on the rez, desperately searching for the key she's sure lies in the legends of her tribe's past.

When Anna's own little sister also disappears, she'll do anything to bring Grace home. But the demons plaguing the reservation--both ancient and new--are strong, and sometimes, it's the stories that never get told that are the most important.

Part gripping thriller and part mythological horror, author Nick Medina spins an incisive and timely novel of life as an outcast, the cost of forgetting tradition, and the courage it takes to become who you were always meant to be.

First Impression

This cover honestly isn’t my favorite, and I don’t think I would’ve picked this book up if it hadn’t been sent to me to review based on the cover alone. The thing that did make an impression was that it was about Native women, written by a Native author, and had a bit of mystery.

What I thought

I’ve heard a lot about the high numbers of Native women that go missing each year, so it was interesting and timely to read a book about that subject.

Anna is the eldest of 3 living on the rez in Louisiana. A few years ago, a casino was built on the rez and Anna and her younger sister Grace both work there. They also both go to high school in town. When Grace doesn’t come home, Anna is immediately worried. A few other young women have recently gone missing and Anna knows that there is something shady happening on the eighth floor of the casino hotel.

While I did overall enjoy this book, I do think it could’ve been a little shorter. In the middle it started to feel a little drawn out and I got anxious waiting for the resolution. Because of that, I started to skim more in the final 25% of the book. To me, that shows that there was a lot of unnecessary plot just to drag the mystery out a little further. I also felt like there were story points that were purposely left vague that would’ve benefited from being more specific. For example, Anna is being bullied at school. At the very beginning of the story, you find out that her graduating class nominated her as Homecoming King. But the exact reason she’s being bullied, which is a part of who she is as a person, are just left up to the reader to interpret.

Another part that bugged me was not knowing when exactly this story took place. I think it took place in the late 90s/early 00s? It’s not something key to the story, but just felt weird that it was never specified.

The unfortunate fact about this story is that it is so closely related to the truth. There is a disproportionate number of young Native women who go missing each year and no attention is brought to it. I appreciate what this book has done in bringing this story into the forefront. This book is full of bad men and strong women and I very much appreciated that.

As far as the mystery element, I don’t think it’s one in which you aren’t supposed to know who did it but more so how and whether or not her sister will be found. I won’t ding this story just because I knew what had happened. It kept me intrigued and invested the entire time, even with its weak points.

If you’re looking for a unique mystery, I recommend checking this one out. I haven’t read a story like it, and I think the perspective it brings is much needed. I enjoyed all of the characters, but do think they could’ve been more fleshed out. There are some plot points that felt unnecessary or maybe they felt unnecessary because they weren’t followed through. I think this book could be good for book clubs that enjoy mysteries and I’m curious to see what Medina writes in the future and whether or not his writing matures.

Legendborn

By: Tracy Deonn
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 501

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

First Impressions

Honestly this cover did not make a good first impression. I saw it all over the internet and people were raving about it but the cover just didn’t do it for me. I used to read more fantasy but haven’t in the past few years. When I read and enjoyed the sequel to Ninth House, it sparked my enjoyment of Urban Fantasy novels and I did some research about the best current Urban Fantasy. This book came up and I liked that it was by an author of color with a main character of color, so I added it to my list.

What I thought

I had more fun reading this book than I have in a long time.

Bree’s mother died in a car accident right after she got into the Early College program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. When she gets to UNC, she discovers that magic exists. Through that, she discovers a secret society called the Legendborn, that is based on the mythology of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Throughout this story, in addition to the fantasy element, Bree is dealing with grief. A huge storyline is Bree coming to terms with the loss of her mother. She even goes to therapy and uses both therapy and magic to try to discover who she is now in the after of her mom dying. I honestly haven’t read a book that deals with grief this well and honestly. I love that it is out there and especially that it’s in the YA genre for younger readers who need it.

When it comes to the fantasy element, I enjoyed every piece of it. The mystery, the legend, the magic, it all flowed so well. Part of the reason I gravitate towards Urban Fantasy is because the magic element can take a lot to follow without adding in a whole new world and language. There is a lot of back story in the fantasy element, but I found it super easy to follow. Not only was it pretty logical, but I appreciated that Bree would explain how to pronouns some of the unique words that came up as a result.

Honestly, I can’t find much to fault in this book other than the length and the fact I feel a love triangle coming. I got a little sick of love triangles back when dystopian novels were super popular. I also feel like, being a little older, I’m not immediately in love with the bad boy who may or may not have a heart of gold, but rather the good guy who is kind and dependable. It’ll be interesting to see how much of a factor this becomes in the future.

If you’re looking for a good, fun fantasy novel, I highly recommend this one. I can’t wait to see how the lore plays out in the future books. I hope that books 2 and 3 conclude in a satisfying way. This first book was very fulfilling and I hope the next ones can live up to the first.