Posts By: Rashika

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Lackluster Poolside Read: Airports, Exes and Other Things I’m Over by Shani Petroff

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I received this book for free from Swoon Reads in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lackluster Poolside Read: Airports, Exes and Other Things I’m Over by Shani PetroffAirports, Exes and Other Things I'm Over by Shani Petroff
Published by Swoon Reads on May 15th, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Swoon Reads
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two-stars

A bad storm, two canceled flights, stuck in an airport with a hot stranger and the guy who broke her heart... what could go wrong?

After Sari caught her boyfriend Zev cheating on her, their romantic Florida vacation was ruined. She can't get back to NYC soon enough. Unfortunately, mother nature may have different plans. A huge storm is brewing in the Northeast, and flights all over the country are getting canceled—including Sari's. She winds up stuck at the airport for hours. With Zev!

When another stranded passenger (a hot NYU guy) suggests a connecting flight to Boston, Sari jumps at the chance. But when her mom freaks out about her traveling alone, she has no choice—she has to include Zev, and somehow survive being trapped with the guy who broke her heart!

I love a good travel story. I specifically love a good travel story involving airports and things going horribly wrong. Partially because I travel relatively often and because I have a couple of bad travel stories in my own pocket. I don’t think this is really a trend in YA though and it NEEDS TO BE. Jessica Brody’s The Chaos of Standing Still was basically everything I wanted in such a story and I was hoping Airports, Exes and Other Things I am Over would deliver on a similar scale. It didn’t.

The book feels like it’s missing something honestly. It starts with Sari walking in on her boyfriend and his ex kissing. She runs away, doesn’t talk to him and spends an entire week and a half brooding over him while not giving him a chance to explain. I mean, again, I firmly believe that no one is owed a chance to explain in such a situation but I also felt that within the context of the plot, it was to obvious that there was more to the story. Sari also started the book extremely confident in their relationship and trusted Zev completely. If she had truly trusted him in the first place, she would have at least given him the chance to explain instead of running away and avoiding him altogether on a trip they had planned to take together.

Also, like. The book’s story arc felt like it could have been better?? The book starts with her going to Florida to hang with her grandma, she spends the week there and about 25% of the book there. During this time, we meet the ‘other’ guy, her grandma and spend not much time with either of this characters to be honest. It just felt like words? Anyway, then drama strikes on the return trip. It would have been MUCH more satisfying, I think, if the travel issues had taken up the first part of the book and allowed us actual time getting to know the stranger boy from NYU and her ex. It is a truth universally acknowledged YOU BOND WITH PEOPLE OVER BAD TRAVEL EXPERIENCES.

A minor thing I also wanted to point out was that there was an instance where a character was described as ‘Asian’ and clearly the author meant “Chinese.” Honestly, I am over people using Asian to describe characters when they clearly are thinking East-Asian. Let me remind everyone again that the Asian identity is not a monolith and accompasses an INCREDIBLY large group of people. SO. Just do the bare fucking minimum and assign the character you want to describe as Asian an actual ethnic identity because Asian ain’t one.

Having said all this, I don’t think Airports, Exes and Other Things I Am Over is inherently a bad book and I didn’t regret having read it. It was entertaining and enjoyable even if Sari made it INCREDIBLY frustrating. Sari’s relationship with her best friend was probably the best thing about this book though and I really enjoyed how consistently Trina was part of this trip even though she wasn’t actually on it.

Overall though, the book was lackluster and had nothing special going for it. I’d recommend reading it as a poolside read to flip through real quick but not if you’re looking for a substantial summer read.

two-stars

2 Hot Espressos

Jason Reynolds Mini Reviews

Posted by on 05/15/2018 • 2 Comments

April was basically the month of Jason Reynolds books. We got not one but TWO NEW RELEASES but THE GREAT and since I wasn’t doing that great last month and sucked at reviewing, I FINALLY got around to talking about these great books. Ratings haven’t been included since I cannot make up my mind and regardless, Jason Reynolds writes great books.

For Every One Jason Reynolds

GOODREADS | PURCHASE

Originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean Myers, this stirring and inspirational poem is New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds’s rallying cry to the dreamers of the world.  

     

I don’t think…

What a Girl Wants with a Twist: Royals by Rachel Hawkins

Posted by on 05/11/2018 • 1 Comment

Rachel Hawkins is an auto-read author for me so I barely even glanced at the Goodreads blurb before diving into this. I just saw her tweet a bunch about it and decided I definitely needed this book in my life. Anyway, so. I dove in. Fell in love and then realized I should probably look up the Goodreads blurb. ANYWAY. SO. A book about royalty!!!! Most books about royalty feature that one character who finds themselves amongst royalty because they have fallen in love with someone who is royal except that is absolutely, 110% not the case with Daisy. Daisy’s sister has fallen in love with the Crown Prince of Scotland. This is not ideal for Daisy, not because she has royal aspirations of her own but because she…

Pressure of Perfection: On Diverse Authors and Readers

Posted by on 05/08/2018 • 5 Comments

These past two years, we have seen a definite surge in the amount of diverse books that are focus titles. This means that they are essentially a main focus for the publisher for the season and receive more publicity and marketing that non-focus titles. I am guessing seeing a couple diverse books floating around has probably led some people to believe that all the problems in publishing and life have been solved. THE END. WE HAVE ALL THE DIVERSE BOOKS WE NEED. We’re never gonna need anymore. Well, for starters, if you take a moment to look at the CCBC stats, that is simply not true. Only a fraction of children’s literature published each year features diverse* characters and a fraction of those books are written by the people…

Diverse Books out April 2018

Posted by on 05/06/2018 • 5 Comments

Helloooooo. Look at me. I didn’t publish this post late this time. Anyway, so. Welcome to the April roundup of Diverse Releases. These roundups focus on Young Adult and Middle Grade releases with the occasional romance release (which, there are way way way better roundups out there of diverse romance books.) I do also include books by authors of color that don’t necessarily have characters of color. Anyway, let me know if I miss a book or include one with bad rep!

                     

 Any of these on your TBR? What are you most looking forward to diving into??

A Graphic Novel Memoir To Keep On Your Radar: Amla Mater by Devi Menon

Posted by on 05/04/2018 • 2 Comments

I hadn’t heard of Amla Mater but when I was approached to review it, I was immediately on board. The graphic novel memoir is rich in nostalgia and the memories of the motherland. Amla Mater is told from the perspective of a pregnant immigrant. It starts with a craving. A craving for something from home and from the Mili’s childhood. Something that can transport her across time and space.

One day, her significant other brings home some gooseberries, some amla. She decided to try to pickle the amla the way her childhood best friend’s grandmother would. While she is waiting for the amla pickle to mature and be ready to consume, she reflects on her life until the moment.

We are taken on a journey that begins with Mili and her…

What I’ve Been Reading: April Update

Posted by on 05/01/2018 • 5 Comments

Happy May everyone!!! New month new me?? Who knows. I ended up spending most of April in a funk. I didn’t get a lot of reading done but I am starting to feel a little bit more productive so we’ll see and hope May is a better month personally and for my reading aspirations.

Okay so I didn’t read any backlist sequels this month because again, I was in a funk but, I am counting the two sequels I did read in this update so I can give myself a pat on the back.

 

Both these books were anticipated sequels and coincidentally, both were pushed back to this year so I’ve been waiting on them for quite some time (After the Wedding for 2.5 years.) Trouble Never Sleeps…

OTP Playlist: Trouble Never Sleeps by Stephanie Tromly

Posted by on 04/27/2018 • 1 Comment

Today, I am bringing to you a playlist that I think encompasses Digby and Zoe’s relationship. This was slightly harder than I thought because well… I started off with a song in mind and like the fool I am, I never wrote it down. This hindered my initial search because all I could think about was WHAT WAS THAT SONG. Anyway. So. The general vibe Zigby & Zoe give me is fun and banter so that’s the general vibe of this playlist as well. Enjoy!

About the Book About the Author

Stephanie Tromly was born in Manila, grew up in Hong Kong, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and worked as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. She is currently on leave from her PhD program in English literature at the…