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The reality-show setting and LGBTQIA+ representation in Ever After flips the traditional fairy tale I loved the open discussions of mental health, the characters' realistic imperfections, the LGBTQIA+ For more Bossy reviews of books with LGBTQIA+ representation, please check out this link .

Wilson overcame tough childhood circumstances before setting her sights on becoming a performer, and her memoir celebrates her self-discovery and her unapologetic enjoyment of her success and privilege. I love to listen to the audiobook version of a memoir (if you haven't yet, you might want to check out the many stand-alone memoir reviews and memoir-focused Greedy Reading Lists  I've posted on Bossy Bookworm). A friend recommended actress Rebel Wilson's memoir Rebel Rising , and I listened to the Australian's account of a challenging youth, familial conflicts, her growing love for performing, her discovery of her sexuality, her desire to have a child, and her struggle with separating issues of good health from issues of weight. Wilson doesn't come across as particularly introspective, but she overcame many tough circumstances before becoming somewhat delightfully, unapologetically privileged and wealthy (she owns two houses in Los Angeles for her own convenience). The sections regarding Wilson's childhood were most engaging to me, as well as her zigzagging path toward understanding, celebrating, and embracing her sexuality and her determination to become a mother. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Rebel Wilson starred in the Pitch Perfect movies as well as in Bridesmaids .

But t he LGBTQ love is lovely.

Come and Get It is the story of an RA and the consequences of her actions related to privacy and safety; the book dabbles in issues of race, class, sexual identity, and loyalty, yet I found myself wanting more of an exploration of each of these aspects. In Kiley Reid's new novel Come and Get It, the author of Such a Fun Age offers a story set in 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie is an experienced RA coping with students' concerns large and small. She's got her sights set on graduating and settling down with a job and a house of her own. She's a black young woman supporting residents who are largely white, and Reid shows widespread entitled behavior but sets them in contrast to situations in which students are struggling to get by. Then Millie is offered an unusual opportunity to help a journalist and visiting professor by offering clandestine access to the private conversations of the students in her dorm. Neither allowing such access nor the nominal payments she receives for her help seem questionable to Millie, although I have to think that the RA manual that she must be deeply familiar with--and likely also at least one aspect of one of her college courses?--must have outlined some basic ideas of privacy, responsibility, and culpability. It seemed very odd that Millie--who is so focused on goals, doing her duty, behaving in a manner that's beyond reproach, and keeping her head down--didn't feel squirrelly about this setup, and that she didn't ever question the ethics or appropriateness of it. I could imagine a story scenario in which Millie compromised her morals as the situation bloated into the complications that it does: of emotional and romantic concerns, minor class and race clashes, and worries about money and the security of her future. Or that her shift in feelings of responsibility could be part of her cutting loose in areas of her personal life. But instead, the increasingly questionable activities and compromises that Millie agrees to as the story progresses are just versions of what she was willing to go along with--without asking any questions--from the very first. Her character is presented as naïve, but I felt as though she would have paused for a moment during one of her many opportunities to do so and considered the way in which the scenario might impact her important plans. Meanwhile the students under Millie's watch in the dorm are developing young-feeling (dirty dishes in the common area; spreading hurtful gossip; excluding others from invitations) yet impactful interpersonal conflicts, and Millie's growing interest in the professor distracts her so that she misses all of them, as well as their potential implications. After an unlikely moment of tragedy upends everything, each character seems to misinterpret it and also to react in unintentionally unhelpful ways (meanwhile the truth of the situation is not revealed by the one person who could do so). Millie is in danger of losing everything, and this culminating situation of neglectful, inept damage that is ultimately inflicted by practically every character seems to embody the ignorance and incompetence displayed by almost everyone in the book. The banter between Millie's two RA friends was a highlight, yet felt somewhat extraneous to the story. I was taken with how their friendship with Millie was ultimately threatened not by the realities of the secrets Millie was keeping, but by the fact that she kept secret her deepest desires and dreams from those she was meant to trust. The title of the book sets a tone that feels fast-paced, or sassy, or spirited. The tone of the book felt more measured than this, and while Reid flirts with Big Issues (race, class, exploring sexuality) in the story Come and Get It, for me, the book never fully dives into exploring them, and I felt myself wanting more. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Kiley Reid is also the author of Such a Fun Age, Complexity, and George Washington's Teeth.

I may not have followed all of the echoes in time, creatures convincingly impersonating other creatures, or protagonists' complex, evolving motivations, but I adored the characters, their connection, their banter, and the amount of heart in the story. Kembral Thorne, expert investigator, is on leave and bleary-eyed from single-parenting her newborn, and she's questioning why she agreed to come to a work New Year's Eve party in the first place. But when people start dropping dead around her, she realizes that someone is plunging the party down through layers of reality, through echoes of time in which strange events loosely repeat themselves--and seem to be building in intensity. In fact, the whole world seems to be in terrible danger. It looks like Kembral will have to work tonight after all--and, even worse, she'll need to cooperate with her nemesis Rika Nonesuch, the cat burglar, in order to try to save the world. The last time Kembral and Rika came into contact, Kembral thought they might be building something real from their mutual attraction. Then Rika set up Kembral, leaving her literally in a pile of trash, humiliated and alone. Now Rika and Kembral tentatively take steps toward a truce, and they're two of the only people retaining their memories through various realities, desperately trying to figure out how to stop the sinister game causing deaths (both reversible and permanent), how to outwit the increasingly strange and destructive creatures they encounter, and how to survive until midnight and keep everyone around them alive as well. I didn't follow all of the echo world-building, in which things are similar to yet different from earlier versions, creatures lose their memories over and over, and people impersonate other people to convincing degrees. I was repeatedly left wondering who was who, much less what their motivations, pasts, and realities might be. But I love Caruso's writing style, her character-building, and the way the characters relate to each other. The hard-fought connection between Rika and Kembral (and the rich past that's revealed) had me swooning, and their banter is sometimes grumpy, hesitantly vulnerable, and often darkly funny. I predict that I'll be reading all of Caruso's other books as well. I listened to The Last Hour Between Worlds  as an audiobook. More about Melissa Caruso books--and more favorite Bossy reads that play with time: This is the first of two books in Melissa Caruso's Echo Archives duology. The second book is The Last Soul Among Wolves . Caruso is also the author of the Rooks and Ruin and Swords and Fire series. For Bossy reviews of many other books that play with time--this is one of my favorite elements--you can check out the books and lists at this link .

The unnamed main protagonist in All Fours frequently made me feel uncomfortable because of her unorthodox decision-making and near-constant navel-gazing, but she ultimately uses her unorthodox detour from her everyday life to shape a fulfilling path forward. In All Fours , Miranda July offers the story of an unexpected midlife journey, in which a semi-famous creative type (her medium and work is unspecified) sets out on a road trip from LA to New York to meet with friends and find inspiration--but impulsively exits the freeway thirty minutes from home and checks into a motel instead. The unnamed narrator leads her (steady, unthrilling) husband and her child Sam to believe that she is following her carefully planned route and then that at the end of her cross-country adventure, she is immersing herself in the wonders of New York. But she is actually redecorating her nearby motel room (using the $20,000 windfall she was to spend on her NYC trip), wandering the nondescript town, making up stories about her New York experience, and developing an all-consuming obsession with a younger man who works at Hertz. I generally feel extreme personal discomfort at witnessing others' questionable decision-making, and at times I felt as though All Fours was sent to test my limits. I had visceral reactions to some of the protagonist's choices, and, early on and often I was exhausted by her relentless, intense navel-gazing and the picking-apart of each minute detail within each of her experiences. Her revved-up sex drive was so heavily featured, it felt like its own character. But I settled into the constant unease of traveling alongside a character whose author seemed hell bent on making the reader uncomfortable. (Beyond the main protagonist's overreaching intention to burn it all down in her life, there are extended scenes that involve bonding through cutting matted poop hair away from a dog's butt; one character's removal of a tampon from another in a bid for unorthodox intimacy; and putting hands into a stream of another person's pee for the same purpose.) The shape of the character's primary relationship after these weeks in the hotel room is unusual (she polls her friends to determine that it is so within her circle as well) and for me was a relief, as it was an actively chosen path rather than a reactive, motel-based, lie-founded, drawn-out floundering that heavily featured and often relied upon various bodily fluids. I appreciated the exploration aspect of the story, and ultimately I could appreciate its existence within a claustrophobia-inducing and self-imposed set of impulsively imposed and drawn-out circumstances. I laughed out loud once and did enjoy the dark humor that emerges at times. The title references a scene in which the main character's sculptor friend is working on a headless piece of a woman on all fours, and her note that it is not the most vulnerable pose as we might think, but the most stable position for the human body. I listened to All Fours as an audiobook. More about Miranda July A performance artist, actress, and director, July is also the author of the books The First Bad Man and It Chooses You and the stories No One Belongs Here More than You .

ICYMI: Frankel's storyline is powerful, important, and poignant, and the deep love, support, and acceptance within the family in This Is How It Always Is is a gift. Dispelling fear. Taming what was scary not by hiding it, not by blocking it or burying it, not by keeping it secret, but by reminding themselves, and everyone else, to choose love, choose openness, to think and be calm. That there were more ways than just two, wider possibilities than hidden or betrayed, stalled or brokenhearted, male or female, right or wrong. Middle ways. Ways beyond. I posted this week that I'm happily reading Laurie Frankel's most recent novel, Family Family. I realized that I read Frankel's novel This Is How It Always Is pre-blog, and that I need a review of that one on the site. In Frankel's novel, Claude is the youngest of five brothers. He dreams of being a princess when he grows up, and he would like to be called Poppy and wear the dresses he loves out of the house. Poppy's family is full of love, and they fear for Poppy out in the world. Yet keeping the whole person of Poppy a secret or thwarting Poppy's clothing, name, or other choices doesn't feel right--or sustainable--either. They will all need to follow Poppy's lead and lean on their bravery and unwavering devotion to each other in order to face the potential cruelty of a world that still often demands one of two gender identities. If you've been following along, you might have noticed that for me, small moments or elements in a novel that don't feel as though they ring true are sometimes enough to make me stop reading. Very early on, the family setup and characters in This Is How It Always Is rang false to me, as though they were caricatures of a quirky family. I considered abandoning the book, predicting that my irritation might grow. But: this book! The heart of the book is a complete gem. This Is How It Always Is soars when it explores the heart-wrenchingly real emotions, torn feelings, intense worry, and the overreaching, all-encompassing love from Poppy’s parents. Those elements were exceptional. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Laurie Frankel is also the author of Family Family, One Two Three, The Atlas of Love, and Goodbye for Now.

Much of The Safekeep feels claustrophobic, quiet, and hopeless, but unexpected shifts late in the story turn accepted histories on their heads, opening the door for newly imagined futures of the characters' dreams. It's the summer of 1961 in the rural Dutch province of Overijssel, and rigid Isabel is a spinster in self-prescribed rigidity, adhering to strict schedules and a quiet life in her late mother's home--where she resides at the whim of her brothers, who, as men, own the house (but do not live there). When her playboy brother Louis drops his gauche girlfriend Eva to stay--for at least a month! in their mother's old room!--Isabel is more than a little upset. Isabel is already paranoid that her meek weekly maid is stealing from her. She becomes obsessed with the small items that begin to disappear after Eva's arrival...then she becomes obsessed with wild Eva herself. Eva's curiosity, enthusiasm for the world, and embracing of new experiences begin to seep into Isabel's experience. Isabel is initially annoyed, then inexplicably drawn to Eva--and eventually a torrid love affair begins between the women. Yet most of their feelings and hopes and thoughts are unexpressed. Theirs is largely a halting, unsure, almost silent, sexually driven relationship. A mix of unexplained actions and conflict, Louis's imminent return, and Isabel's discovery of what seems to be Eva's greed (in the form of a detailed hand-written ledger of Isabel's household items) come to a head and cause the women to dramatically split. Isabel is physically ill for a long period as a result, and Eva disappears. But approximately three quarters of the way through the book, the story's perspective changes to Eva's, exploring her past, her reason for having pursued the foolish Louis, the truth of her unexpected but real affections for Isabel, and her deep link to Isabel's family and home. Shocking revelations shifted my thinking about the book's various relationships and made me question the basis for the story's loyalties and for the accepted family histories that drive the characters for much of the novel. Eva's tone as shown in this section was surprisingly chatty, and she is shown to be savvy and determined--whereas for the majority of the book she has presented herself as silly, naive, and guileless. For a resolution to their personal and romantic troubles, both women will need to be more brave and more emotionally open than either has ever dreamed. This felt almost gothic in its initial darkness and hopelessness, then took me by surprise by blooming into a story about coming into one's own and defying expectations to find healing and love. I listened to The Safekeep , which was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, as an audiobook. I'd love to hear your Bossy thoughts about this book! This is Yael van der Wouden's first book.

Our Evenings explores a young, often cruel, existence at a British boys' boarding school; later fits and starts of exploring sexuality and expressing vulnerability; a growing love for acting; and seeking and finding a path toward living a genuine life. Did I have a grievance? Most of us, without looking far, could find something that had harmed us, and oppressed us, and unfairly held us back. I tried not to dwell on it, thought it healthier not to, though I'd lived my short life so far in a chaos of privilege and prejudice. Young Dave Win, the son of a Burmese father he never met and a devoted, kind seamstress mother, attends a prestigious boarding school on scholarship in the 1960s. His social position is fragile because of his mixed race and his modest background. He dodges unwelcome attention, begins to love to act in plays, and explores his feelings about other boys. Dave's scholarship benefactors are a couple flush with family money, interested in the arts and matter-of-fact about supporting causes they care about. Their selfish, bull-headed, sometimes cruel son Giles is a classmate of Dave's, and when Dave is invited to stay with the family during school breaks, he is fascinated by the library, the talk of literature, ideas, and plays, and by grown-up discussions of the world. But as a price for temporary forays into upper-crust life, he must navigate Giles's physical aggressions, rude comments, and unwelcome sexual interest. Later, Giles and his parents will separately pop in and out of Dave's adult life at crucial moments--his parents as supportive sometime-benefactors, and Giles as a depressingly predictable bully of a politician. Dave shares the stories of his young life as though in a dream: it was repeatedly quite alarming to me as a reader to anticipate and then hear accounts or murmurings of various terrible cruelties inflicted upon Dave (and other young boys). But Dave never paints himself as a victim or feels righteous rage; his account treats such occurrences without dramatic editorial comment, as though they are commonplace--and, for him and his vulnerable schoolmates, they are. His later life, in graduate school and then as an actor, offers his evolution into and realization of his true self, which is gratifying to read, as well as the heartbreaking fits and starts of his explorations of his sexuality and, ultimately, a satisfying amount of growth and his ability to be vulnerable with other men. Meanwhile, his small-town mother is exploring her feelings for a wealthy woman who is also her business investor, despite malicious gossip and judgment from the community. Our Evenings trails the various impacts of the authority of wealth, abuse of power, and cruelties of the mighty inflicted upon the powerless. The story also explores Dave's and his mother's personal, individual paths through various experiences of bigotry to living life honestly and freely with partners they love. I appreciated the fullness of the arc of Dave's life, while feeling relatively little emotional attachment to it. I listened to Our Evenings as an audiobook. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book! Alan Hollinghurst   is also the author of The Swimming-Pool Library; The Folding Star; The Spell; The Line of Beauty ; and The Stranger's Child .

I loved Enid's complicated, loving mother-daughter relationship as well as her best-friendship. But I was distracted by what felt like uneven pacing, multiple willfully delayed resolutions, and slapstick-seeming scenarios. In Emily Austin's Interesting Facts about Space, Enid is obsessed with space, and she could talk all day about black holes and the universe. She uses the sharing of space facts to deflect from emotions, uncomfortable situations, and facing the truth. In her spare time, Enid loves true crime podcasts and dates a variety of women from dating apps. She's beginning to understand that she's coping with past trauma that she's blocked; that she has social anxiety; that she has phobias and isn't clear on their roots; and that she's operating under a consistently high level of stress. Meanwhile she's trying to come to terms with the death of her previously absent father--and build relationships with her estranged half-sisters. Her quirky, beloved mother struggles with depression, and Enid struggles to keep an eye on her. Enid is exploring a new love interest when she becomes consumed by the idea that someone is following her. (And the stalker seems to have her most feared quality: he's a bald man.) Is this a paranoia inspired by her podcast listening? Or is someone really after her? I was intrigued by the book's premise, and I loved the science facts Enid spouted off at times, but in general, the story's tone frequently felt oddly zany, and the pacing felt uneven to me. At times the novel was so absurd as to seem slapstick, so that the important issues underlying the story were potentially poignant but not actually (for me) so. The bald-man phobia and the stalker premise were each so over the top in their willfully delayed resolutions, I felt myself growing irritated. I loved the idea of a complicated, imperfect, thrillingly expanding unconventional family. I loved the mother-daughter love. And I loved Enid's best-friendship. But I thought Enid's romantic "love," when it was called such, felt juvenile in that it seemed superficial, based on brief and limited connection, attraction, interest, and knowledge. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Atria Books. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Emily Austin is also the author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead.

The tone of Martyr! was tough for me to get a handle on for much of the book. The story is dark, nerve-racking, irreverent, tragic, and poignant. Late in the story a fateful connection made the story really take off and feel meaningful. His whole life has been a steady procession of him passionately loving what other people merely liked, and struggling, mostly failing, to translate to anyone else how everything mattered so much. Cyrus Shams is an orphaned young adult, the child of Iranian immigrants, and a recovering addict and alcoholic. He is also a self-doubting poet. As Cyrus sinks again and again into the careless, distracted, volatile ups and downs of a constant barrage of various drugs and alcohol, his obsession with the concept of a life worth living--and a notable death--seems to sometimes be all that tethers him to existence. As the book progresses, Cyrus seeks meaning in art, in a close, sometimes-sexual friendship, and in the idea of trying to craft his book. The level of his passion for the topic of martyrdom is off-putting to most of those around him, and his substance abuse keeps him at a distance from his feelings. Portions of Cyrus's book about martyrs are interspersed throughout the novel; at first I considered these to be part of his draft; later in the novel I imagined that these were excerpted from his future, completed work. The tone of Martyr! is difficult to pin down; there's dark humor, a haunting thread of tragedy, some irreverence, strange and off-balance moments, and a story that went in directions I didn't anticipate. For the majority of the novel I felt as though I appreciated the story more than I was taken in by it or enjoyed it. For me, the book really took off and intrigued me once Cyrus traveled to New York to visit an artist whose final exhibit was made up of living in the Brooklyn Museum and having conversations with visitors until her death. The ripples of their meeting and connection reached farther than I could have imagined, and this portion of the book was fascinating. I listened to Martyr! as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Kaveh Akbar is a poet and the author of the poetry collection Calling a Wolf a Wolf.

Dunlap's debut novel explores early Edinburgh surgical schools, questionable methods of obtaining study subjects, a main protagonist's surprisingly believable entrée into body snatching, a forbidden love, and serial killers, and I was in for it all. I've heard comparisons drawn between A. Rae Dunlap's The Resurrectionist  and Caleb Carr's The Alienist , a suspenseful novel about the evolution of forensic science that I adored reading years ago, and while the books are quite different, I can appreciate the favorable association. Dunlap's debut novel is dark, twisty, gothic, and it's set in 19th-century Scotland as fictionalized versions of real-life serial killers Burke and Hare are terrorizing Edinburgh. James Willoughby is a na ï ve young medical student whose family fortunes have taken a negative turn, leaving him with a passion for studying medicine but no resources to pursue schooling. He becomes drawn into the underworld of body snatching when he seeks paid work to fund his studies--and begins to understand (and assist with) the process of obtaining cadavers for his surgery study. Ultimately, terrifyingly, his activities lead him to run into the cadaver-producing killers Burke and Hare. Dunlap does a wonderful job of bringing a spooky, fascinating underworld of Edinburgh to life, while also exploring the burgeoning surgery and medical school experience, and, against all odds, building the somewhat-reasonable-feeling case for James's horror-turned-acceptance on the subject of mining graveyards for bodies to study. At the center of the story there's a hesitant friendship, then a meaningful, playful, and poignant relationship between James and his "handler" (which is affected by the complication of societal intolerance for gay relationships in this period), plus the mystery of the disappearances of community characters, and an elaborate, amateur, exciting group attempt to catch Burke and Hare. I love Dunlap's writing and the way the author crafted this story. I'm definitely in for reading this author's future books! I'd love to hear your Bossy thoughts about this book! I read this title, published in December, courtesy of NetGalley and Kensington Books. For Bossy reviews of more books set in Scotland, please check out the titles at this link .

Marske continues the LGBTQ-positive storylines in a Jack-Alan romance that is frequently intensely steamy In A Power Unbound, Marske also explores class divides, gender-power imbalances, LGBTQ love, and the

Alice Winn's account of the unrelenting slog of World War I and the beautiful young men set against each other in the trenches serves as a backdrop for a tentatively begun, deep love story born in a British boarding school and blossoming amid the cruelties and horrors of battle. Alice Winn's gorgeous, brutal, captivating historical fiction In Memoriam  is set during World War I. Henry Gaunt, Sydney Ellwood, and their classmates came as young boys to their sometimes claustrophobic, cruel, and lonely English boarding school; now that they're close to the end of their schooling, they are playful, treasuring each other's friendships. But by 1914, World War I is drawing most of these young boys into a swirl of wartime horrors. They trade their hesitant confidences and youthful search for comfort and affection within an unforgiving school environment for the cruelties of battle. Our bodies were used to stop bullets, thought Ellwood. He could think of nothing else. Tragedy and looming doom are twisted through this story of a hard-fought love story between Gaunt and Ellwood. The wartime mud and trench nightmare, endless slog, relentless death, horrifying gore, and mostly pointless-seeming pushing onward toward mutual destruction--all of this serves as a backdrop for a heartwarming, heartbreaking story of friendship and love. Characters struggle with vulnerability and to allow feelings to grow, and all is shaped by the constancy of life-and-death danger and the deep-seated fear of destroying a friendship that both young men cling to more deeply than living itself. In Memoriam is beautiful, frequently painful, and offers a layered, complicated version of happy ever after. I loved this. I listened to In Memoriam  as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? You might also be interested in these Bossy reviews of books set during World War I .

Croucher's young adult queer medieval adventure romance is sweet, spunky, and full of great banter, with characters finding their way (and love) despite complex challenges. "You aren’t merry," Clem said to her captor. "And you aren’t all men. So there’s been some marketing confusion somewhere along the line." Mariel is the bristly new captain of the Merry Men and is anxious to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the retired Robin Hood (who now lives with his true love, William), and to make her hard-to-please father, who has wrested control of the Merry Men, proud. Clem is a jovial healer from the country who is advancing medical techniques and is sought out for her helpful salves and methods in a time of the outdated use of leeches and attempts to cure dark humors. Clem has only noble intentions of helping others, and she doesn't differentiate between those on the Sheriff's side and those on the Merry Men's side. When the Merry Men capture Clem in retribution for her help in healing the Sheriff of Nottingham, things get complicated for both Mariel and Clem in this sassy, fun, queer historical fiction young adult romance. Mariel is trying to find her way and keep her emotional walls up, while Clem's openheartedness seems determined to tear them down. The rest of the gang is fantastically spunky, tough, kind, and loyal--with nonbinary representation and lots of love. The group faces real challenges, and some characters don't make it through the battles and sometimes-messy plans-gone-awry. Consequences feel appropriately weighty. It's a young adult book, with lots of love and attraction but very little steaminess (none explicit), and it kept me hooked with the layers of emotional growth, the fights for autonomy, and the determination to build a new future. I am all in for Lex Croucher novels forever. The banter, the adventure, the medieval setting--yes yes yes. I received a prepublication edition of this book, which was published November 26, courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. More from this author: Lex Croucher is also the author of the wonderful Gwen & Art Are Not in Love .

Donoghue's captivating historical fiction centers around two real-life young women in an early 1800s British boarding school who fall into a clandestine love and break each other's hearts. Hypotheticals, impossibilities. The dreams of youth rarely come to pass, I remind myself. We were not the first young lovers to fail at love in the end. Early in the story, Learned by Heart very much reminded me of A Little Princess. That was one of my favorite books when I was young, and within Learned by Heart, the concern with classism, money, and control, the living in the attic, the stern headmistress, and the links to India made me feel as though this was a grown-up version of the loose framework of Frances Hodgson Burnett's story. But as Learned by Heart progresses, Donoghue builds a rich story around the real-life figures of Eliza Raine and Anne Lister. Raine was a wealthy orphan--one of two daughters born to a white British father and an Indian mother, who were committed but unmarried--sent from India to England at age 6. She grew up in a cold, strict British boarding school in the early 1800s. Lister arrives as a wild, curious, unconventional, brilliant tomboy--and is paired as roommates with Raine in the drafty dormitory attic. It almost seems as though the school heads would like to forget either of the troublesome young ladies exist. The teenage roommates become unlikely best friends, then fall into a deep, forbidden attraction, pledging their eternal love to each other. Their romantic connection is passionate but clandestine, and they manage to evade the scandal and punishment that would befall them if their situation were made known to the conservative school administrators--or if it were made plain to the other students, who are all vying to avoid formal reprimands and seem prone to sacrifice each other to the teachers' and headmistress' wrath. When the two are separated by circumstances, Lister moves on to explore long-term romances with various of their mutual friends, breaking Raine's heart a little more each time. The book is partially epistolary, and the letters involved are primarily written by Raine (who is in a mental institution) to Lister. Donoghue's Author's Note explains that while more of Raine's letters survived so that they inspire the correspondence in the book, Lister was in fact frequently writing back to her former love--but many of Raine's belongings were lost. The unraveling of Raine's mental state on the page is striking--but she does have "lucid moments" and periods of calm. It's difficult to consider Raine's mental illness without crediting the likely powerful influence of her worries about her orphaned state, her cold relationship with her sister, her lack of autonomy as a female, her financial future's reliance on her age and marital state, and the secretive nature of her desire and single close relationship--which ends in heartbreak, followed by years of prolonged angst, yearning, and continual disappointment. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Emma Donoghue is also the author of Room, The Pull of the Stars (which I loooved; it was one of My Twelve Favorite Books of the Year when I read it), and other books.

Hess's dystopian Utah relies on AI, robots, and the growing, stark split between the haves and have-nots. Trans salvager Val is just trying to get by--but an unexpected connection changes everything. Why strangers needed to ask about a person's appearance, gender, or physical makeup at all he would likely never know. Al Hess's World Running Down tracks the adventures, challenges, unexpected meetings, and joys of a trans salvager in a futuristic, dystopian Utah. Valentine Weis is coping with body dysmorphia, and he dreams of making enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City, where the privileged have access to endless food options, shelter and safety, and, most importantly to Val, surgical and medical options to aid his transition. But for now, Val is eking out an existence in the rugged city outskirts. And a typical day might involve facing mortal danger from roving pirates, cyborg animals, certain AI beings, and even his own salvaging partner Ace. Yet he remains hopeful for his future--and begins to believe that despite the constancy of his fight for survival, he might even be falling in love. I love a dystopian story, and this setup as well as the unorthodox relationship at the heart of World Running Down drew me in. Osric is an AI made to inhabit an android body (ahem, "meat suit") in order to find Val and Ace and offer them a lucrative job: to track down a group of missing android escort-prostitutes and return them to their grim existence as forced sex workers. But the android escorts are beginning to show signs of self-awareness, which shouldn't be possible--and which could change basic laws, the thinking around artificial intelligence, and the way the current civilization thinks about its foundation. He'd known the cities were like this.... But it was something else to see it.... He'd do whatever he needed to in order to gain access to this abundance.... And he hated himself for it. Society's split between the haves and have-nots is as pronounced as ever in Hess's novel, and literal barriers keep the struggling less fortunate outside the glittering cities full of technology, opportunity, and wealth. Val is an underdog and fights for others who have been dismissed or taken advantage of. He's an appealing, unexpected hero, and his heartbreak and heartwarming connections were lovely to dive into. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If this book sounds down your alley, you might want also to check out the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Fascinating Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels, Six More Fascinating Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels, and Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life, and AI. Al Hess is also the author of Yours Celestially, Key Lime Sky, and the series Hep Cats of Boise.

ICYMI: White Houses is gorgeously written, exhaustingly researched historical fiction about Eleanor Roosevelt and her love, Lorena Hickock, and it was a five-star read for me. Oh, this book! Bloom’s writing is exquisite. The characters in White Houses are funny, heartbreaking, and feel alive. I loved the behind-the-scenes peeks at the residential rooms of the Roosevelt White House (which, Bloom recounts in interviews, functioned more like a not-very-fancy boarding house at the time). The dialogue is incredible, and the faulted main players are irresistible. The final paragraphs of the book in "first friend" Lorena Hickock’s voice were so gorgeous, they made me want to weep. In preparation for writing this story, Bloom read 3,000 letters between "Hick" and Eleanor—along with studying biographies, other books, and conducting more extensive research—and she channels each woman into an indelible force of nature that she brings to life here. What a satisfyingly rich world and story—yet I’m still dying for a long, detailed interview in which Bloom lays bare even more about the real-life love, the lasting friendship, and the whole remarkable relationship between Eleanor and Lorena, especially in that place and during that time. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Bloom is also the author of the heartbreakingly beautiful In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, Away, Lucky Us, Come to Me: Stories, and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories.

Schwab returns to the world of the four Londons in the first of a wonderfully paced new series featuring established characters, their banter, and their in-progress stories as well as a new antagonist and a new potential hero who are both strong, fascinating young women. “If you only think of the wrong hands magic can fall into, you forget that now and then there are right ones.” The Fragile Threads of Power is set in the world of Schwab's Shades of Magic, with a return to the four Londons. The Londons are connected by magic but separated by doors, which were created in a desperate attempt to protect the magic of each world. Only a few Antari have been born in a generation, and they have long been the only ones with the power to open these doors. If you've read the Shades of Magic books, you'll already be acquainted with the fantastic characters of Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk of White London. Now Kosika, a young, impressionable, fervor-driven young Antari, is taking up the mantle of the deceased Holland's rule in White London. Delilah Bard is crossing worlds to take stock of the threats and power struggles. In Red London, Kell's brother king Rhy Maresh is facing spreading resistance and assassination attempts. And then there's Tes, a crafty runaway with immense power who's just trying to keep from being noticed. Schwab does an excellent job of reinforcing characters from prior stories while introducing new ones; in this first of her new series, she weights the story more heavily toward names we already know and storylines in progress, which I found satisfying. Meanwhile, two young women, a new antagonist and a new potential hero, trickle into the story until their presences are a flood. One may upend everything across four worlds--and one may possibly be able to save them all. I loved returning to the wonderful Schwab pacing and banter and delving into the love stories already in progress--which are sweet yet barbed, full of acceptance and imperfection, and never cloying or verging on "romantasy." Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? The first two books in the Shades of Magic series are A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows, each of which I gave four Bossy stars. You can check out my review of book 3, A Conjuring of Light, here.

Caroline O'Donoghue's coming-of-age story celebrates friendship, young love, and life-changing decisions and missteps that shape the lives of her characters in 2010s Ireland. In Caroline O'Donoghue's contemporary fiction The Rachel Incident, main character Rachel is an Irish university student working in a Cork bookstore in the 2010s. She's dating a boring but reliable young man from her high school and living at home when she meets James. James is irresistible, vivacious, and mischievous--and Rachel is immediately swept into his powerful orbit. They move in together and she largely subsumes her life in order to be part of his. I wanted to protect him against the world's many disappointments, guard him with my body like I would a baby or a small dog. Meanwhile, she is bowled over by her handsome, opinionated literature professor, Dr. Byrne, and in an attempt to ingratiate herself to him, she insinuates herself into a complicated role of supporting the publication of his academic-press book through her bookstore job. Rachel meets another James, James Carey (who she calls "Carey," as she already has a James), falling for him despite his sometimes-flaky behavior. James comes out as gay, and a complicated web of relationships builds between Dr. Byrne, his wife, James, Carey, and Rachel. Rachel is dedicated to both James and to Carey, and The Rachel Incident is centered around Rachel and her Jameses coming of age, making mistakes and missteps, struggling with money crises and career decisions, and figuring out where and how they want to be in the world. Years later, Rachel runs into someone from her past, which spurs her to think back to the events and relationships that shaped her during her college years. Despite some of the questionable, haunting choices that are made at times in the story, I was so taken with the characters that my cringing didn't hamper my enjoyment of the celebration of friendship, circuitous routes to self-confidence, and heartwarming second chances. I loved The Rachel Incident--the story, the characters, and the vivid setting of 2010s Ireland. I am good at a few things, but I am great at being married. As I learned that year in Shandon Street, there is nothing that my personality or my humour thrives on more than being able to see the same person at the same time every day. I thrive on overexposure, on elaborate jokes, on private mythology. I received a prepublication copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Knopf. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Caroline O'Donoghue is also the author of Scenes of a Graphic Nature, Promising Young Women, and the teen series All Our Hidden Gifts.

right-hand-man); the unorthodox and touching loyalty within a reimagined Gwen-Arthur relationship; and the LGBTQ-positive

Adjei-Brenyah's novel explores in disturbing detail a version of a society that may feel familiar: a corrupt, greedy prison system; the exploitation of "disposable" lives for money and entertainment; the impact of racial and socioeconomic disparities on imprisonment; and the impossible intersection of forced fights and undying loyalty. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's Chain-Gang All-Stars explores an America in which prisoners in the private prison industry take part in profitable, popular, and controversial televised gladiator death-match performances in which they fight for their freedom. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" are lovers, teammates, and the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, a televised program at the heart of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment. Each Chain Gang is a group of prisoner fighters that make up a team, yet each must fight opponents to the death to have any hope of emerging from the prison system. Entering into the gladiator-styled lifestyle is presented as a choice, but the prisoners have few options and little control over their lives. Adjei-Brenyah offers glimpses of characters' histories and their lives before the tragedies that led to their imprisonment. The story includes perspectives from those who stand outside the stadiums to loudly protest the brutality and inhuman bargain pushed upon those in the show--as well as the rabid fans of the obscene entertainment and how they justify viewing and cheering for the show's glorified, regularly broadcast murders. Loretta is poised to earn her freedom in just a few more matches. She's bracing herself to leave behind her beloved teammates and Staxxx--but the corporate owners of CAPE will do anything to protect their investment and secure their profits. When those pulling the strings change the rules to force a dramatic showdown, key characters must make impossible choices, even as they seemed to have suspected there would be no graceful emergence from their doomed existence as was blithely promised. The ending is a showstopper. I listened to Chain-Gang All-Stars as an audiobook courtesy of Libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio. It was a difficult story to read but also a disturbingly fascinating exploration of the prison system, a collective obsession with violence, and the concept that there are few taboos on what might be televised and monetized. The author includes nonfiction footnotes that link race, socioeconomic disparity, and imprisonment. These tie the book's tragic, dystopian scenario to our current society in an uncomfortably close-to-home manner. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is also the author of Friday Black.

As with book one in the Arthur Less series, I was pleasantly surprised by the heart and vulnerability beneath the absurdities and funny moments of Arthur's escapist journey--this time across the United States--in Less Is Lost. In Andrew Sean Greer's (Pulitzer-Prize-winning) novel Less, we met the character of Arthur Less as he was about to turn fifty and was facing his status as a novelist of limited acclaim. When his ex sent him a wedding invitation, Arthur panicked. He felt that he couldn't possibly attend, but that he couldn't stay home, either. He decided to accept all of the random literary event invitations he'd received for the coming months and to put together a makeshift tour of the world, putting thousands of miles between himself and his problems. ...novelists, with their love of structure and language and symmetry in novels, are frequently mistaken about the people who inhabit the actual world.... In book two, Less Is Lost, Arthur faces the death of a former lover as well as a financial crisis--and again turns to the distracting schedule and constant movement of a literary tour to attempt to run from coping. Yet despite himself, he continually runs up against himself in unexpected, clarifying moments that reinforce who he is, has been, and wants to be. There's even an ongoing identity confusion subplot to really underline this element. We could invent a time machine, my Walloon, and go back and never choose each other. We could go back further still and try it all over again with what we know; try to be young together and in love, the way hardly anybody gets to be. Young and foolish and happy. But I have an easier solution: Just take the ordinary time machine. And try to grow old. Old and foolish and happy. I wondered if Less Is Lost would rely heavily on the context of the first book, and after reading it, I'm not certain this one can stand on its own, because it felt that it built on the story in Less with more of Arthur's often emotionally stunted encounters and his frequent inability to accept and address complicated realities. I was distracted at first by the shifts in points of view and by Freddy's omniscient role here--and I felt a little disappointed that the long-distance, repeatedly-thwarted reunions between the lovers didn't allow for the story to build their in-person connection. But the separation allows them to grow as individuals--and staying in Freddy's point of view allows his character to display interesting layers that worked to develop him more fully. But as with Less, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth that crept up on me here. Less's mishaps, assumptions, wrong turns, and excruciatingly slow growth in emotional maturity lead to appealing vulnerability, lots of funny moments, a building, brave resignation, adventurous departures from the expected, poignant heartbreak, and redemption. I do take some issue with the elderly descriptions of Less (one example: "Less's [hair], of course, has faded to an abbot's tonsure..."). He later reveals that he is not yet 55! Ouch. The story takes on somewhat of an evaluation of "the state of the United States" as Greer uses Less's encounters with various colorful characters to inject hope regarding the state of our country and grace for those with different manners of facing the world as best they can. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Check out this link for my review of Andrew Sean Greer's Less, a book that was the right one at the right time for me. I loved being surprised by the depth beneath Arthur's sometimes absurd take on the world in each of these books.

True Biz is a coming-of-age story, a beginner's primer on Deaf culture, and a captivating novel about romance, disappointment, fury, and loyalty. I happily read it in one sitting. Students at the residential River Valley School for the Deaf are trying to get through finals, maintain teenage crushes on each other, and make the most of living out from under their parents' roofs. But the hearing headmistress February (a CODA--a child of deaf adults), the rebellious new transfer student who doesn't know ASL, Charlie, and teacher's pet (and Deaf royalty in the area) Austin find that their pasts, current struggles, and priorities link them together in unexpected ways. True Biz is a coming-of-age story that also explores the importance society places on language; past and present political and social pushes concerning American Sign Language, cochlear implants, and Deaf culture; and above all, the essential role of community. Nović occasionally shifts points of view from key characters Charlie, Austin, and February in order to provide additional perspectives. At first I feared this would dilute my connection to the main characters, but the ventures into others' heads were brief and illustrative. The forays into others' views also felt fitting; Nović highlights the way in which ASL gracefully allows for the indication of different speakers and points of view. The ASL-focused illustrations and information could have been dry but were illuminating instead. I learned about Deaf history, culture, and the politics that have disrupted and damaged those in the Deaf community while immersing myself in True Biz. There isn't a clean resolution to each of the large-scale (and infuriating) issues Novic raises, but a clean wrap-up to such an immensely complex situation would have likely felt disingenuous. True Biz was fascinating. I devoured this in one sitting, on a plane. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Sara Nović is also the author of Girl at War and the illustrated nonfiction work America Is Immigrants.

McQuiston's love letter to New York offers charming song references, LGBTQ love, steamy scenes, character The book revels in wonderful LGBTQ love and tons of sexiness; fantastic New York-centric details; and

Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel offers a dual timeline, immersive Old Hollywood detail, a forbidden love, and revelations and long-held secrets that seem destined to shake up everything for our modern-day main protagonist. I listened to Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as an audiobook. Evelyn Hugo is a reclusive, extremely famous Old Hollywood movie star, and she's finally ready to tell the story of her life--all the heartbreak, career maneuvering, mistakes, joys, victories, the sordid details of her many marriages, and the story of her one true love. She plucks Monique Grant, a promising young magazine writer, out of relative obscurity for the writing job, offering incredibly lucrative terms and making demands about having the biography released only after her death. Monique can't figure out why she's been trusted to tell Evelyn's story, nor does she understand the multiple allusions Evelyn makes regarding her certainty that Monique will come to hate her by the end of her roller coaster of a tale. As is often the case for me with stories structured around dual timelines, I felt more invested in one time period than the other--in this case, I was entranced by the immersive Old Hollywood era of the book more so than in the modern bookends of Monique's documentation of Evelyn's stories. Monique displayed a consistent, grating aw-shucks quality that was important to the character's development, and while she shed this in favor of self-confidence by the end of the book, it felt grating to me. Modern-day Evelyn felt abrasive, selfish, and irritatingly and purposely obtuse in multiple instances. While I can get behind unapologetic terseness and a straightforward manner, Evelyn frequently came across as willfully bull-headed in an unsympathetic way. Jenkins Reid focuses much of the page time in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on the fascinating dynamics of Evelyn's romantic and professional relationships, which were without question my favorite aspect of the book. This was a fast, captivating read. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Reid's upcoming novel Carrie Soto is Back is set for publication in August; stay tuned for that Bossy review. You can click here to find my review of Malibu Rising, and you can find my glowing review of Daisy Jones & the Six in the Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories about Bands and Music.

Young Mungo offers a striking story of disappointment, abuse, Protestant-Catholic conflict, and a young, gay love forged in the intensely unforgiving climate of working-class Glasgow. In his second novel, Young Mungo, Douglas Stuart offers the story of a working-class Glasgow family and particularly the life of sensitive, kind, dreamy Mungo, who was named for a saint. Raised by a codependent, emotionally stunted alcoholic mother who frequently abandons the kids for days or weeks while on benders or with a new boyfriend, Mungo also lives with a tough, loving older sister who's desperate to escape to university but doesn't dare leave Mungo. His local gang leader brother consistently makes trouble, forces violence, and threatens those Mungo cares about if Mungo avoids participating in brutality such as the widespread beatings of Catholics in the area. The story of Young Mungo largely alternates between an intensely disturbing, extended situation involving abuse, neglect, and danger and the blossoming of a forbidden young love, the vulnerability of allowing one's self to be seen for the first time, overcoming lifelong Protestant-Catholic conflicts, and forging a meaningful connection. The timing of the story isn't explicitly stated, but it feels like a 1980s setting. Young Mungo explores ideas of masculinity and loyalty, a gay relationship forged in an intensely unforgiving social climate, brutality, revenge, and it offers surprises as well. Stuart uses an omniscient point of view that allows the reader to understand characters’ disparate contexts and pressures and motivations. The story is beautiful and tragic and never feels emotionally manipulative. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Douglas Stuart is also the author of Shuggie Bain.

Johnson offers a wonderfully imperfect heroine and her fascinating journeys through the multiverse, her various lives, and her alternate selves in this science fiction debut. Cara is one of a dwindling number of traversers. She can travel through the multiverse, but only to worlds where another version of herself no longer exists. Her other selves seem uncannily apt to die, so Cara is able to visit 372 other Earths where her counterparts are no longer living. She comes from poverty and an unfavored area, and she lives in uncertain status, without citizenship or security aside from her employment for the mysterious, greedy Eldridge Institute. She collects off-world data, the purpose of which has never been of interest to her--she's more focused on tracking the shadows of her other existences, piecing together the lives of her counterparts, and keeping a journal of all that was and might have been. If I figured anything out in these last six years, it is this: human beings are unknowable. But when one of Cara's eight remaining selves mysteriously dies while she is world walking, shocking secrets are revealed that connect various worlds and shake Cara to her core. She must cobble together the various bits of knowledge and savviness she's gained through tracing the steps of her many other selves if she's going to stand any chance of outsmarting the canny and intelligent Adam Bosch--a man who will otherwise almost certainly be the source of her undoing. I could become the thing I'd always feared, and then I might never be afraid of anything again. This was a fascinating story that offered satisfying character depth and various permutations of Cara herself, her family members, loves, nightmarish enemies, and best friends. Johnson's explorations of the complicated intersections of class, wealth and poverty, control of valuable resources, and disparate levels of freedom throughout the multiverse are haunting. Cara lives through tantalizing explorations of her alternate lives--and the shape of each is dramatically affected by her own various small and large decisions, others' choices, and chance. I was intrigued by the layers Johnson built into the story. In some worlds, Cara recognizes common characteristics in those she loves or fears; she sometimes barely recognizes the same people in other worlds; and she always mentally logs the various factors that allowed beauty or cruelty or desperation or joy to take root. There's a postapocalyptic feel to the story, with turf wars, corruption, mercenary "runners" who shake down travelers, and gritty survivors. When asked what this discovery could teach us about what mattered, about death, and human nature, and how to make the world a gentler place, both parties were silent. But we were right, the scientists said. And so were we, the spiritual said. Cara isn't superhuman; she's imperfect, sometimes selfish, tough, and occasionally she's wonderfully vulnerable. I loved her as an unlikely heroine, and I loved that it wasn't too easy for her to attempt to address complex issues within the multiverse. The middle of the story dragged a little bit for me, but generally I was hooked and ready for whatever Johnson was serving up. Side note: I'd like for this story to also become a movie, thank you very much. I received an advance digital copy of this book courtesy of Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? This is Micaiah Johnson's first book. Its tone reminded me a little bit of The Goddess in the Machine. If you like books with a postapocalyptic feel, check out the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Fantastic Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels.

Chambers's science fiction is full of heart, heartbreak, and hope--with a fascinating backdrop of space travel and interspecies relations. "But brothers. Brothers never go away. That’s for life. And I know married folks are supposed to be for life, too, but they’re not always. Brothers you can’t get rid of. They get who you are, and what you like, and they don’t care who you sleep with or what mistakes you make, because brothers aren’t mixed up in that part of your life. They see you at your worst, and they don’t care." In The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, the first science fiction title in Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series, young Rosemary feels lucky to have landed the job of clerk for the quirky, ragtag, but welcoming crew of the Wayfarer ship. The group is made up of various creatures from around the galaxy, and they've already built bonds through working together for ages. Yet they make room in the mix for Rosemary, who's grateful--and who's frankly glad to leave her significant personal troubles behind. Just as she's adjusting to life on board, the crew gets a lucrative opportunity: to tunnel wormholes through space to a distant planet. But things quickly take a turn as pirates and other dangers threaten the makeshift family on the Wayfarer. They each have reasons to mistrust other creatures, but they have to trust and rely on each other more than ever before in order to survive. Chambers's story is science fiction that's full of heart, heartbreak, and hope. The book feels much more focused on the characters--with a backdrop of space travel and otherworldly creatures--than on exploration or adventure. Much of the story is about acceptance and openness and finding ways to get along. Interspecies relations are prickly, comfortable, romantic, puzzling, or all of the above. I love that the crew of the Wayfarer feels like a close-knit group of summer camp counselors somehow, palling around, sometimes irritating each other, each with special gifts and the ability and desire to help crewmates reach their full potentials, emotionally or otherwise. I just adored this. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series includes The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet; A Closed and Common Orbit; Record of a Spaceborn Few; The Galaxy, and the Ground Within; and a series prequel, A Good Heretic. She's also the author of a A Psalm for the Wild-Built (the first in the Monk & Robot series) and its upcoming sequel, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. She also wrote To Be Taught, If Fortunate, a standalone novella.

imbued with personality but are battle machines with infinite knowledge); and the fight for love in this LGBTQ

The second book in Marske's series is an irresistible queer magical mystery thriller with Edwardian England details, racy encounters, vulnerability and love, and witty banter on a ship bound for England. A Restless Truth is the second in Freya Marske's queer fantasy mystery Last Binding trilogy that began with A Marvellous Light. A Marvellous Light was full of details of life in Edwardian England, gay love, mystery, magic, wonderful dialogue, and plenty of heart. I adored it. In A Restless Truth, the character of Maud Blyth (Robin's sister, introduced in book one) expects adventure when she agrees to help save the magical world by serving as companion to an elderly magician on an ocean liner. By doing so, Maud aims to help her beloved older brother resolve a magical mystery that's been decades in the making. But when her charge drops dead on day one, Maud must identify the murderer, try to get her hands on a magical object essential to untangling the mystery at hand--and try to survive the voyage without being murdered herself. Maud and each of her unlikely allies are fantastic characters. The mystery element kept me hooked, and details of proper Edwardian etiquette and clothing were wonderful. Marske doesn't skimp on presenting multiple magical elements, which I loved--and she includes many detailed, saucy, passionate encounters between our main characters. I was struck by the drastic manner in which Violet attempted to free herself from the shackles of marriage and the subsummation of a woman to her husband that was expected at the time. (This reminded me of the measures taken by the main protagonist in another book I recently read, A Study of Scarlet Women, in order to secure freedom from a stifling marriage.) A Restless Truth is fun and quirky yet has depth, an appealingly complicated mystery, and a satisfying version of a resolution that sets up book three. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom, and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? The third book in the Last Binding series will be titled A Power Unbound. Its publication date has not been announced.

Heard's young adult thriller was a lightning-fast read, and there's a yearning for connection between the two main protagonists that feels real and true. Heard's young adult thriller follows the twists and turns at the intersection of three volatile young people--bored photographer Veronica; her best friend, mischievous performance art rebel Nico; and their new friend, Mick, who hasn't quite found her place in the world outside of being a competitive swimmer. Mick, whose mother is emotionally unavailable (and barely physically present), has a lot to figure out and responsibilities weighing her down, meanwhile Veronica is pushing Mick past her comfort level into vulnerability. The girls fall hard for each other--but they've built their early relationship on lies that could destroy their possibility of true intimacy. With Nico's troublemaking and incessant challenges to the status quo serving as a catalyst for fast-paced changes, everything begins to spiral out of control, threatening the girls' safety and the community around them. Veronica and Mick will have to figure out if they can trust each other with their lives. I loved the girls' young love, but I was haunted by the fact that their relationship seemed doomed because of its basis in lies. Heard allows the teens to make realistically messy mistakes and experience devastating betrayals, but to also bravely try to trust each other again. The stakes quickly ratchet up up up in She's Too Pretty to Burn so that the characters find themselves making life-and-death decisions, and their missteps aren't without serious consequences. This was a lightning-fast read for me, and while the young people's circumstances build to be almost outlandishly complicated and disastrous, Heard presents what feels like a true yearning for connection between the two main protagonists, and that kept me hooked for anything else she threw at me. I was haunted by how Mick's desperate situation and lack of options pushed her to say yes to uncomfortable compromises and take part in things she would likely otherwise have avoided. I received a prepublication edition of this book (published March 30) courtesy of Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? She's Too Pretty to Burn is a fast read and I was in for all of it. Heard is also the author of adult thrillers The Kill Club and Hunting Annabelle, and she co-hosts the Unlikeable Female Characters podcast.

Blackgoose offers a fascinating, layered story about a strong-willed, whip-smart young Indigenous woman in a steampunk 1800s Nordic setting, with plenty of dragons, dragon science, and dragon bonding alongside activism and bravery. Moniquill Blackgoose's To Shape a Dragon's Breath delivers the dragons: in-depth training around being partnered with dragons, dragon-related science, emotional and physical ties to dragons, and the cultural importance, historical significance, and potential power of being linked to dragons, It's also a steampunk, mid-1800s Nordic setting for some radical rethinking of nonsensical, destructive rules and regulations. To Shape a Dragon's Breath begins on a remote island, Masquapaug, where dragons are local legends--but the Indigenous Masquisit people haven't seen them in generations. Then fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon egg, and when it hatches, she befriends and bonds with the hatchling, Kasaqua. The community's hopes soar for a return to days of cooperation with and good luck received from dragons. Her people celebrate her as a Nampeshiweisit, a respected person who builds a revered relationship with a dragon. But the Anglish conquerers of Masquapaug insist that a dragon must be raised a certain way, and they register the dragon's birth send Anequs and the dragon to a school for special training. If they fail to demonstrate that Anequs can control and shape Kasaqua's behavior, the dragon will be killed. The Anglish colonizers expect Anequs to either adhere to their strict customs and expectations--all of which are a mystery to her--or to behave like Theod, the other "Nackie" they've had in their midst. But Theod was orphaned, removed from his extended family, and raised as a servant. And everyone's about to find out how disruptive a whip-smart, open-minded, and strong-willed young woman can be. Because the restrictive Anglish world--and its selective history of the destruction of the Indigenous people--is due for some changes. And Anequs is just the fearless catalyst who might be able to shift it all. Moniquill Blackgoose offers a wonderfully layered first installment in her series (I can't wait to read the rest of the books as they're published), taking on issues of Indigenous people and colonization, wealth and privilege, gender power imbalances, nontraditional sexual and relationship conventions, the bucking of societal traditions, and more. And my thirst for boarding school/magical school settings was quenched by the feminist-activist Anequs's dragon academy experience. I absolutely loved this. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I cannot wait to read the next installments in this series. I love books about dragons (check out some of my favorites). One of my criticisms of the currently popular romantic fantasy Fourth Wing is that I wanted more more MORE dragons.

The first book in Marske's duology is full of Edwardian England detail, gay love, mystery, magic, wonderful dialogue and banter, and plenty of heart. I adored it. A Marvellous Light, the first in Freya Marske's Last Binding duology, starts with a devastating ending (the demise of a character, caused by nefarious magicians) and a less-than-promising beginning (Robin Blyth's first day in his civil service job, for which he doesn't feel remotely qualified nor interested). Robin is trying to keep the household afloat after the deaths of his parents, to support his bright, ambitious younger sister, and to date some handsome men along the way. He soon realizes that (a) magic exists (!), (b) he's mistakenly been assigned the job of liaison to a secret magical society, (c) his office has been ransacked and a curse has been placed on him, (d) his curmudgeonly, book-smart coworker Edwin may be the key to saving them all, and (e) maybe he's falling for Edwin just the tiniest bit, despite himself. Marske offers immersive Edwardian England detail in this adorable, captivating, magical, queer book. Robin and Edwin's love is romantic and sweet and heartbreaking and sexy; the mystery at the heart of the book seems only to be solvable by the biggest book nerd in existence; and the story's magical details are fascinating and odd. I was completely hooked by A Marvellous Light, and I tried to slow down my reading to make it last. The amount of heart in this book was exquisite. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I didn't see a mention anywhere in the book of a sequel, and some aspects felt tantalizingly unresolved, so I was relieved to find out that another book is coming. The second and final book in Marske's duology, A Restless Truth, is scheduled for publication in November.

#youngadult, #LGBTQ, #fourstarbookreview

North provides intrigue, an exploration of gender and power roles, tales of unconventional friendship, and enough shoot-outs and danger to make this a feminist Western I couldn't stop reading. In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw. It's 1894, and seventeen-year-old Ada is a newlywed, following contentedly the path set out for her as a young married woman in her small town. She assists her mother with her midwifery, loves her younger sisters, and adjusts to life with a mother-in-law. But when time goes by and Ada doesn't conceive a child, she is suspected of witchcraft, of causing trouble and destruction throughout the community, and of wielding vague, threatening, dark power. Her town, her neighbors, and even her husband turn against her. Fearful for her life, she flees to a convent (where she quickly establishes that she is not destined to become a nun), then through an unlikely convent-to-outlaw pipeline, joins up with The Hole in the Wall Gang, a group of outlaws led by a larger-than-life local legend, The Kid. Ada serves as the motley crew's healer, learns to shoot, takes part in various schemes--some ill-fated--and begins to understand that the group's intention is to effect sweeping change by wielding its power for good. But grandiose plans don't always go off as planned, and making any change in a society so entrenched in prejudice and superstition is going to be tricky, if it's possible at all. North provides intrigue, an exploration of gender and power roles, tales of unconventional friendship, and enough shoot-outs and danger to make this a feminist Western I couldn't stop reading. Plus: I love this cover! Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I mentioned Outlawed (along with Firekeeper's Daughter and Body of Stars) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/10/21 Edition. North also wrote America Pacifica and The Life and Death of Sophie Stark.

ICYMI: This funny, wry, silly, sweet, heartbreaking story feels light on the surface but has deep meaning churning underneath. “I look at you, and you’re young. You’ll always be that way for me. But not for anyone else. Arthur, people who meet you now will never be able to imagine you young.” Arthur Less is about to turn fifty and is a novelist of limited acclaim. When his ex sends him a wedding invitation, Arthur panics. He can't attend, but he can't stay home. He decides to accept all of the random literary event invitations he's received and to put together a makeshift tour of the world, putting thousands of miles between him and his problems. Less is a surprisingly sympathetic character, and as he's using an unusual method to escape attending an ex's wedding he fumbles into figuring out his past and some of his future. Andrew Sean Greer offers a story of enduring love, loss, chance encounters, friendship, adventure, and wonderful realizations large and small. Greer describes small moments so fully, they feel like everything. I thought this was just great. Less is absurd, very funny, and a little heartbreaking--light on the surface but with plenty of meaning churning underneath. It was definitely the right book at the right time for me when I read it. I loved it. Oh, this wonderful book! Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Andrew Sean Greer's sequel, Less Is Lost, is scheduled for publication this fall.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading three books that are about to be published: Cory Anderson's debut, a dark young adult novel about young brothers desperately trying to stay together and stay alive in rural Idaho; Wendy Heard's fast-paced California-set thriller about an infatuation between two young women, dangerous risks, and a web of lies that may get them both killed; and Jennifer McMahon's dive into a family's haunting history that has mysterious, powerful present-day repercussions. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson In the young adult novel What Beauty There Is, Jack and his brother are painfully poor and living alone in rural Idaho. It's winter, it's cold, and it's tough enough to simply survive. But if Jack can't find the drug money his father stole before heading to prison, things will get worse: his younger brother will be sent into foster care. There's no real choice to make--Jack would never allow his brother to go. So now he just needs to do some dangerous digging into matters that seem to generally end with jail time...or death. Meanwhile, nearby, Ava's been kept quiet and controlled by her father her whole life--and he's after the same money Jack so desperately needs. Ava must decide whether she'll stick by her cruel father or if she's willing to help the brothers save themselves. Cory Anderson's debut is a story about darkness, desperation, loyalty, and cobbling together something close to hope. I'm mesmerized by this gorgeous cover art. I received a prepublication edition of this book (its publication date is April 6) courtesy of Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley. 02 She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard Heard's young adult thriller follows the twists and turns at the intersection of three volatile young people--bored photographer Veronica; her best friend, mischievous performance art rebel Nico; and their new friend, Mick, who hasn't quite found her place in the world outside of being a competitive swimmer. Mick, whose mother is emotionally unavailable (and hardly physically present), has a lot to figure out and responsibilities weighing her down, meanwhile Veronica is pushing Mick past her comfort level into vulnerability. The girls fall hard for each other--but they've built their early relationship on lies that could destroy their connection. With Nico's troublemaking and incessant challenges to the status quo serving as a catalyst for fast-paced changes, the girls will have to figure out if they can trust each other as everything begins to spiral out of control, threatening both their lives. I received a prepublication edition of this book (to be published March 30) courtesy of Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley. 03 The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon The Drowning Kind is the newest story by McMahon, the author of The Winter People and many other books. When Jax, a social worker, gets a series of frantic missed calls from her sister Lexie, she assumes Lexie is having another manic episode. She'll have plenty of time to try to cope with her estranged sister's mess later. But disaster strikes, and Jax finds herself trying to unravel the twisted, complicated history of her family and its land--a history Lexie was researching and had become haunted by. McMahon's modern-day ghost story delves back into the family's goings-on in 1929, when Jax and Lexie's ancestor Ethel Monroe, desperate to have a baby, may have made a dark bargain--with terrible repercussions echoing for generations to come. I received a prepublication edition of this book (its publication date is April 6) courtesy of Gallery Books and NetGalley.

#LGBTQ, #youngadult, #mysterysuspense, #dysfunctionalfamily, #twostarbookreview

Lane's story is zany and wonderful, with lots of glimpses into behind-the-scenes celebrity details--and a layer of heart and poignant reflection that surprised me. "This book is not about Carrie Fisher." Author Byron Lane was Carrie Fisher's personal assistant in real life, and in this novel, Byron's main protagonist Charlie is assistant to a sci-fi-blockbuster-famous actress who played Priestess Talara. Kathi Kannon is a character with a big, wacky personality who also struggles with addiction. She's Hollywood royalty, and her former movie star mother lives in a home on the same compound. So I was definitely picturing Carrie Fisher as Kannon throughout this story. I heard the dialogue in her voice, I had a mental image of Debbie Reynolds as her mother, and Star Wars was in my mind as the enormously popular movie series that made the actress famous. This is a novel, but the spirit of the book felt authentic to what we know about Carrie Fisher's strong, wonderfully unique personality and some of her life challenges. Charlie is searching for meaning and direction--and he doesn't much mind the social cachet of being assistant to a high-profile celebrity. Kathi tends toward outrageous excess and could use a loyal companion who cares enough to set limits toward a goal of her self-preservation. We see practical Charlie learning to roll with and embrace Kannon's spicy banter and often outrageous wishes. The story is zany and wonderful, with lots of glimpses into glamorous (and often tedious) celebrity details. There are fun and frenetic scenes about meeting the varied demands of an enormous star, and Lane explores the characters' challenges of striving to maintain balance in an odd employer-assistant relationship that blurs the lines of the professional and personal. As Charlie becomes more deeply involved in the ups and downs of Kathi's life, he finds himself more and more reluctant to drop her name into conversation to wow a party crowd, or to use tidbits of her life to perk up his first-date conversations. He's growing loyal to her and fully entrenched in her life, and it's not clear whether he could ever move on without hurting himself or Kannon or both. I would have been happy with a fake behind-the-scenes look at celebrity and the star-assistant dynamic. What surprised me was how much heart and reflection Lane injected into the story to flesh out a deeper, poignant relationship. I very much cared about Kathi and Charlie's struggles together and as individuals, and I laughed a lot. I adored this. What did you think? I loved this fictionalized peek at life with a beloved star. Have you read anything like this? What other titles might fit the bill? I mentioned this book in my Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 10/13/20 Edition.

#fantasyscifi, #LGBTQ, #youngadult, #threestarbookreview

Wizenberg struggles to reconcile her identity, sexuality, love, and duty into an honest lifestyle that can work for her and those closest to her. When The Fixed Stars begins, Molly Wizenberg has a husband of almost a decade (with whom she owns two restaurants and a bar in Seattle) and a toddler daughter. Her life is messy, busy, and full. She had never recognized any curiosity or attraction to women before, but in this memoir, Wizenberg recounts how she is struck by a sudden, paralyzing desire for a female defense attorney during jury duty. She strives to be honest with her husband, who is, she feels, understandably hurt, confused, and angry. Yet Wizenberg finds it impossible to brush off her strengthening feelings. Wizenberg explores what she realizes may be a more complex sexuality than she had previously understood, and she fears that her marriage will unravel if she pursues a path in which she satisfies her curiosity. But she is even more terrified of not attempting to live honestly, burying what she is realizing may be her true identity. She also begins to recognize the parts of her life and relationship that she had compromised on for others' happiness. For a time, Wizenberg is at a loss to explain much more than the power of her shifted desire. "I wanted to be believed," she says, "though I struggled to explain myself." Because it is difficult for her to elucidate, it is at times also a challenge for the reader to fully understand, but the author's determination to find truth and fulfillment are the touchstones here. Wizenberg retraces key points of her life, trying to find a pattern toward homosexuality that she hadn't acknowledged. Her marriage and her love had been real, she determines, as are her guilt and pain at potentially upending it all. She looks at studies, accepted knowledge, and understanding of sexuality (she includes some footnotes), desperately trying to establish whether there were signs, or if she has simply changed. Wizenberg struggles to look at herself unflinchingly and reconcile her identity, sexuality, love, and duty into an honest lifestyle that can work for her and those closest to her. What did you think? Wizenberg is also the author of A Homemade Life, a home management book that I adored the cozy idea of in my early married days (my love of and time spent reading and my vague desire for a cleverly organized house were forces already at war). She also wrote Delancey, about opening the restaurant by that name with her husband. This book was mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Three Memoirs I'm Reading Now, 10/7/20 Edition. If you like memoirs, you might also like Six Illuminating Memoirs I Read This Year.

#youngadult, #LGBTQ, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

openly gay senator, and who (along with his president of a mother) actively and passionately supported LGBTQ #politics, #lightfiction, #LGBTQ, #threestarbookreview

#mystery, #fantasyscifi, #series, #LGBTQ, #fourstarbookreview

01 Wild Life: Dispatches from a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs Keena Roberts grew up splitting her time between Botswana and an elite Philadelphia girls' school. In Philadelphia, she navigated the social hierarchy and her preppy classmates' expectations. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and worried about giving elephants, lions, and hippos a wide enough berth. Roberts details what it was like as a sensitive young girl whose unusual life was shaped by her parents' primatology careers and family travel, and she shares how she sometimes struggled to fit into either of these settings. 02 Blood: A Memoir Moorer is a Grammy- and Academy Award- nominated singer-songwriter whose father killed her mother when Allison and her sister were young. A longtime musical storyteller, Moorer examines her youth and that pivotal tragedy, considering how it has shaped her into her adult self and how much of her identity is separate from that horrifying event. I didn't know about Allison Moorer before her memoir began getting good reviews. Blood: A Memoir is said to read like a personal journal. The foreword was written by Allison's sister, singer and songwriter Shelby Lynne. 03 The Fixed Stars Wizenberg is the author of A Homemade Life, a cozy home management book (which I loved with a few reservations in my early married days; my love of and time spent reading and my desire for a cleverly organized house were forces already at war). During jury duty, Wizenberg is struck by a sudden, paralyzing desire for the female attorney on the case. She has a husband (with whom she owns restaurants) and a toddler, and none of this confusing complication was part of the plan. Wizenberg fears that her life will unravel if she explores her complex sexuality--but she is even more terrified of what it will mean for her life if she doesn't attempt to live honestly rather than allowing traditional expectations to subsume her true identity. Have you read some captivating memoirs lately? The order of my library holds is dictating what I'm reading at the moment. We are still in pandemic-era no-late-fee dreamland, but the memoirs I greedily put on my holds list are due back ASAP. These three women's stories seem like they couldn't be more disparate, and I imagine the tones will be refreshingly varied too. If you like memoirs, you might also like to take a look at the Greedy Reading List Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year.

#historicalfiction, #fantasyscifi, #LGBTQ, #series, #fourstarbookreview

#timetravel, #robots, #epistolary, #fantasyscifi, #LGBTQ

Schwab's stories take place within her detailed fantasy worlds, but her characters' conflicts, hopes, and fears feel real and true for any genre. A Conjuring of Light is an epic finish to V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series. There are four Londons in Schwab's trilogy, and in this final book, darkness threatens to upend the delicate balance the few, essential, magical Antari have struggled to establish among the worlds. The fantastic main players are back: Kell, the ward of the Red London's royal family who once thought he was the last Antari alive; Lila Bard, the gloriously contrary, mischievous pickpocket from Grey London who is learning to control her considerable magic; Holland, White London royalty Lila loves to hate; Rhys, Kell's prince and brother; and one of my favorites, Captain Alucard Emery. Then there's Osaron, Black London's villain who's trying to destroy everyone and everything the whole world over through his shadows and dark control. Necessity makes for strange bedfellows; as crisis after crisis erupts, situations require ingenuity, teamwork, selflessness, and a more sophisticated mastery of magic, skills, clever thinking, and politics than any of the characters could have imagined. Schwab's stories take place within her detailed fantasy world (with some historical fiction elements of London and life at the time mixed in), but her world-building never feels manufactured or self-conscious. Her characters' dynamics, conflicts, hopes, fears, and determination feel real and true. There's a great layer of twisty-turny love/denied feelings/ confusion/misunderstanding (Lila and Kell; Alucard and Rhys) that comes into play and adds nice depth. A small detail: the cutthroat magical bartering and "shopping" scene was a standout. The series is adult fantasy but would be appropriate for a young adult reader--if not averse to Lila's occasional and wonderfully foul-mouthed fury in the face of various indignities. The book is 600+ pages; I listened to the audiobook, and the dual narrators Kate Reading and Michael Kramer are spot-on. What did you think? The first two books in the Shades of Magic series are A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows, each of which I gave four stars. Schwab is also the author of the Villains trilogy, which I really like. The first book in that series is Vicious and the most recent is Vengeful, with a third not yet published. Schwab also recently published The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, a stand-alone book I'm eager to read.

Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas. In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart daily column "Eric Reads the News," shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently made me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I adored hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. His voice and delivery are fabulous. Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas as he recounts how he's navigated situations large and small in his life. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Thomas is also a host of The Moth storytelling podcast in D.C. and Philadelphia--and he certainly knows how to craft a compelling and full story out of a momentous moment. I mentioned this book (along with the new mystery The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins and the young adult book I'm reading with my book club for January, Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon) in my first Greedy Reading List of the year, Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and despite how long it took me to get to it, I'm so glad she did!