Book Beat Reviews

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Hi I’m Reese and I like playing softball and volleyball, skiing, and hanging out with family and friends. My favorite genre of book is mystery and some subtle horror

I think that this book, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the perfect mystery. It has aspects of suspense, closure, and so much more. It has everything from happy parts, sad parts, and parts where you are left with so much suspense that you can’t put the book down.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a young girl detective who works to solve a mystery that forever haunts her town. When another older girl is supposedly murdered by her boyfriend, Pip doesn’t believe it. When an opportunity for Pip to dig deeper into the case shows itself, she takes it to prove Sal innocent. She must take risks and put her life on the line. Pip wants so badly to prove Sal innocent, but is it worth possibly her own life? Along the line she loses people, and she loses her own mind.

In the end, Pip discovers the truth behind the brutal murders of the 2 innocent kids. She was right all along. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is the perfect book for anyone willing to read a page and not be able to stop.

Find it in print and ebook here.

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Hi I’m Reese and I like playing softball and volleyball, skiing, and hanging out with family and friends. My favorite genre of book is mystery and some subtle horror.

Not only is Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy an amazing read, but it is also a very successful motion picture on Netflix making it extremely popular. And that’s for a good reason because after reading this book, I had a new book to add to my top 3 list! This amazing book is very engaging and the story gets off on a great foot with an action-packed first few chapters.

It all starts with a dramatic and unexpected romance for the main character, Willowdean, who branches out to a less confident version of herself. Entering her city’s local pageant is sure to get Will back to her old self. Right? She must undergo challenges just to get to where she wants to be and along the way, she loses her best friend. Willowdean must face her fear and get over her own insecurities and realize that she is good enough. After overcoming her fear and becoming a real couple with Bo, Will feels like her old self again.

Dumplin’ is a book that is sure to make you feel warm inside and want to read more of Julie Murphy’s amazing books!

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and ebook here.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Hi, my name is Reese and I like to read books with a horror-ish edge. I like movies, sports, and hanging out with friends.

I think that the book Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden, is one of the best books that I’ve ever read. It has little bits of horror, but mainly mystery and suspense. I enjoy the kinds of books that have all of those aspects, so I had a good time reading this book. I think that there was a perfect amount of everything in this book. Small Spaces is the kind of book that the second you pick it up, you can’t put it down.

It all starts when a school field trip goes terribly wrong, unraveling a 100-year deep mystery. For the three unlikely friends, Coco, Ollie, and Brian, the trip starts as a nice day at the farm, but when their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere and the fog sets in all around them, things start to fall apart. They run off into the woods trying to obey the many warnings that Ollie had received from her deceased mother, the creepy bus driver, and the book that she found at the creek back home, with the goal of staying safe. But from what? The smiling man who had turned their classmates into heartless scarecrows that are out to get anyone who hasn’t been turned into a scarecrow. After working hard to stay safe from the scarecrows and the smiling man and save their classmates, they finally get to go home. They make it out with a new respect for the things that they have and have a new sense of being after the things that have happened to them. Overall, I think that this book is an amazing choice for readers who enjoy the thrilling suspense of a story

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and ebook here.

You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

My name is Bria, I am a ski racer, swimmer, and dancer. I love reading in my free time

You’ll be the Death Me is a compelling murder mystery. It is about three friends from middle school who reunite in their senior year of high school. That day Ivy (one of three friends) was in the senior class presidential race and lost against somebody who entered as a joke. The next day, the news class president had to give a speech and Ivy did not want to go. Mateo, another main character, had been working double shifts and three jobs ever since her mom’s bowling alley got shut down and he needed some rest. Cal, the final friend, had no reason not to go to school and no reason to go to school. They all randomly met up in the middle of the high school parking lot and decided to skip school together and have a fun day like they did in sixth grade, but the day didn’t end up like that at all. That day one person is murdered, Cal and Ivy almost get killed, and drug dealers are exposed.

I read this book in less than a week it was so engaging. I enjoyed all the plot twists it made the book so much more engaging. I also enjoyed the perspective; it was first-person switching between people. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes murder mysteries and anyone who likes an engaging story that throws you off. I could not stop reading this book. I thought it was amazing and exhilarating.

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and ebook here.

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

My name is Bria, I am a ski racer, swimmer, and dancer. I love reading in my free time

I just finished reading “Side Effects May Vary” by Julie Murphy, and I really enjoyed it. It’s about a high school girl who finds out she has leukemia when she’s sixteen. She goes through chemo, loses her hair, and deals with all kinds of stuff. The story is all about her feelings during this tough time. Her friend Harvey is there for her through everything.

The plot was interesting and had enough problems to keep it from getting boring. However, one thing that I did not enjoy was the perspective I enjoyed that it was first person switching between different main characters, but I did not like that it switched between past and future I thought it was confusing. Even though I found that part a little hard to follow, I thought the characters’ emotions were real and the author did a great job dealing with a tough topic.

Overall, “Side Effects May Vary” is a touching and thought-provoking book. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes stories about friendship and resilience. It helps you understand a little bit of what it’s like. Although I am sure I won’t ever understand what it’s like to be in that situation. It’s the kind of book that sticks with you even after you’ve finished reading it and you can’t stop reading until you’re finished.

Find it in print here.

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

My name is Judah, I am 14 years old and I like to play soccer, alpine ski and x- country ski. Some of my favorite books are the Golden Goblet and A Night Divided .

Pilgrim’s Progress is a thrilling fiction book written by John Bunyan. This novel full of adventure, friendship and shows a Christians life till death. Although there are a lot of characters introduced, the main ones are Christian, Faithfull, Hopeful and Evangelist. This book begins when Christian reads in the Bible that his city will be destroyed by fire from heaven and wishes to be saved. Then a guy by the name of Evangelist, tell Christian that there is a way to be saved from this judgment by taking a long journey to the Celestial City. Christian also mentions a burden that weighs him down and wishes to be rid of it. Christian meets his first companion, Faithful, when he is walking in the valley of the shadow of death. Christian and Faithful encounter many dangers through their joinery together but always keeping their eyes on the Celestial City. Unfortunately, in Vanity-Fair, Faithfull meets his end, and Christian meets his new companion, Hopeful. Hopeful and Christian form a new friendship between each other which lasts until the very end.

I think Pilgrims Progress should be read by ages ten – fifteen as it is an engaging book for any reader who might pick it up.

Find it through Interlibrary loan here.