Book Beat Reviews

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Meijia

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

We Set the Dark on Fire is a captivating dystopian tale set on an island ruled by two brothers: the God of Salt and the God of the Sun. The story unfolds with Constancia, the clever daughter of Medio’s King, whom the Sun God marries. While wandering his Moonlit Garden, the Sun God encounters the Moon Goddess, a beautiful woman, and soon falls in love, leading to his indecision. Torn between Constancia, and the Moon Goddess. He decides to marry both Constancia, his equal, and the Moon Goddess his opposite, sparking a devastating war and resulting in the God of Salt’s banishment and curse.

The narrative follows Daniela, a student at the Medio School for Girls, where young women are groomed to become ideal wives—Premera (the smart one) and Segunda (the beautiful one). As Daniela nears graduation to be a Premera, she grapples with feelings of insecurity due to her family’s illegal immigration status. When faced with a choice to join the rebellious group La Voz or risk exposure, she chooses rebellion.

The book takes readers through Daniela’s journey with La Voz, filled with unexpected twists and turns. I enjoyed this original plot that kept me engaged. Although the first-person perspective is compelling, I would have appreciated hearing from different viewpoints. Overall, this book offers an intriguing, plot-twisting exploration of identity and rebellion in a dystopian setting.

Find it in eaudiobook here.

Dead Voices 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.

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden is an amazing book with tastes of horror and little bits of excitement. In this sequel to the first book of the series, Small Spaces, Coco, Brain, and Ollie are on another adventure to the Hemlock Lodge out in the middle of the wild. On the way there, they encounter a dangerous storm that keeps them in the lodge longer than expected. During their stay, the three friends go face to face with paranormal activity and a long story that goes back almost a hundred years. The lodge used to be an orphanage, and it seems that the ghosts of the little girl who died there just won’t go away.

After discovering that a man named Mr. Voland, who was helping them and claimed to be a ghost hunter, is really the relentless Smiling Man who’s come back to attempt to beat them again. The Smiling Man makes a new deal, but this time no one is there to help them. Ollie, Coco, and Brian all get separated and must find their way back to each other before they can figure out how to stop the Smiling Man again.

Throughout this amazing book, the three friends learn what it really means to feel hopeless, and what it takes to get past that feeling of defeat. This book shows exactly what it means to be a team and work together through hard times and get out of anything.

Find it through Interlibrary loan here.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Hey! I’m Kinley, and I’m 12 years old, living in the awesome Wood River Valley. I love reading it’s one of my favorite things to do, and I can get really into a good book! When I’m not reading, I’m usually swimming, ski racing, or dancing. I love being active and having fun with my friends. I’m always up for trying new books!

Every summer, Belly has gotten really close to her mother’s best friend’s sons, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. They have always felt like family to her because they’ve shared lots of happy moments together. But now that Belly is getting older, she starts to see them in a new way, and her feelings begin to change. Belly has always had a crush on Conrad, but this summer he seems really angry and distant, which makes her feel confused. On the other hand, Jeremiah has been very kind to her, and she begins to notice how sweet he is. What she doesn’t know is that Jeremiah secretly has a crush on her, which adds a bump in their friendship. Belly’s summer is filled with fun days at the beach, going into town, and swimming in the ocean. However, her best friend Taylor joins them and causes some drama between Belly and the boys. As the summer goes on, Belly learns a lot of secrets from her mom, Conrad, and Jeremiah, as well as from Conrad’s and Jeremiah’s mom, Susannah. These secrets help her understand more about the boys and what they are going through.

Belly’s summer becomes more than just about having fun it’s also about figuring out who she is and what her feelings really mean. This summer is where Belly learns a lot more than she has before and the summer is filled with fun packed moments but also some drama between Belly, the boys, and Taylor. Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty is about Belly, and her summer at the beach house.

Find it in print here.

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.