thoughts on books

Category: Heartwarming

  • ps you’re the worst by chloe seager

    “Life is hard so I started lying to people’s faces. Hiding my feelings. Avoiding conflict. Going along with things. Taking the “easy” route. But nothing about where I’ve ended up as easy.”

    Becky is a non-confrontational people pleaser. And you know what they say about people pleasers? Never pleased a person in their life. At 29, she lives with her mom (for free) but resents her mom’s rules. She hates her job. She is irritated with her friend for planning her wedding and is jealous. She hates her other friend’s boyfriend and thinks he is a cheater. She feels abandoned by her father, whom she hasn’t seen in 20 years. And Becky still carries a torch for her ex, Max.

    One day she goes to a tarot card reader and misinterpreted the cards thinking she is about to die. So she sends off six letters that are pretty mean and telling all of the people in her life what she really thinks. Soon she realizes that she has made a huge mistake and tries to deal with the aftermath of finally telling the truth.

    Becky is a bit of a mess, she is whiny and kind of unlikable at the beginning, but ultimately this is a “growing up” story. This is really a great story and I love how it turned out, differs than I expected. Becky really does get better than she deserves by the ending. The minor characters are well drawn and easy to keep straight and understand.

    The moral of the story is really to not be stagnant in your life and to be honest with yourself so you can be honest with others. This was an easy and pretty heartwarming story.

    Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published 11/18/2025.

  • I know how this ends by holly smale

    Margot is a meteorologist. She has just moved back to Bristol and is in the midst of an experiment to go on Tinder dates each Monday — the goal is 20 dates—- just so she could say she tried. But she is a master at finding the red flag. Our novel starts as she is on number 16.

    But it’s number 17 that changes everything. At a low point in her life, Margot left her job out of spite as she had a terrible break up that was embarrassing and would crushing. She has started an instagram account as Margo the meteorologist and finding some success as she shares her excitement about the weather. It’s a niche!

    Margot begins to have visions of her life in the future, just a few
    Minutes at a time when she seemingly drops into her
    Future life. She can see clues of what will happen, then makes changes based on what she knows will occur.

    This is a time tested theme—- if you could see the future, would you? Would you want to know the end of the story without the context? There are times we think we know better, but sometimes the future path is better left in the future.

    Clever plotting and quick readability- this book is heartwarming and intriguing. The plot makes the reader want to just keep turning the pages. Mostly I felt pity for Margot, although I was hoping she would find success and happiness. She didn’t deal well with her breakup or the betrayal she felt, but over the course of the book we learn more and more about her life. Her grandad was the BEST character, and Winter, a 6 year old, was written very well, with realistic attitude and dialogue for a kid of that age.

    Read if you like magical realism, books set in the UK, thought-provoking sad girl stories.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the ARC. Book to be published August 11, 2025.

  • the girl I was by jeneva rose

    What a lovely and heartwarming time travel novel! This is a departure from Jeneva Rose’s other books, not exactly a romance but reads a lot like a romance, this is a very well done time travel book. I was completely surprised and touched by this book. It’s less about finding love and more learning to love yourself.

    I never end up eating a book 5 full stars unless I get a little choked up at the end. If you eye roll at schmaltz, maybe skip this one. But I ate it up.

    Alexis is at a rock bottom in her life, it’s 2017, she hasn’t really accomplished anything, her boyfriend dumped her, and she has been let go from her job. That’s when she wakes up in 2002. Unlike other time travel stories, she interacts with her 2002 self and they work together to find out what it’s going to take to get her back to 2017.

    The ending is really satisfying. The characters are great! The pop culture references are outstanding. It also is amazing that the 2002 characters have never heard of things that feel like they have been around forever- like Taylor Swift, the kardashians, and iPhones. They’ve never heard of an iPhone! Wow! 2002 doesn’t seem like that long ago but it really was.

    If you are in the mood for something heartwarming and lighthearted, you should pick this one up.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Mira for the ARC. Book to be published July 15, 2025.

  • let them stare by jonathan van ness and julie murphy

    Infinity stars; I loved this— it is a ghost story / non-binary MC / small town Pennsylvania/ YA romcom … and I know not everyone enjoys some of those elements… but ignore those biases because this book is delightful.

    Sully can’t wait to leave Hearst, PA; after high school graduation they have a fun new internship with an influencer in New York City. But just as their new life is about to start, the internship falls through and they are stuck with no job and no car. So what better time to go thrifting? And because karma rewards those without hope, they are rewarded with a super rare, vintage, extremely valuable Butler bag. (Think of a vintage Birkin because I don’t think a Butler bag is a thing)

    Lo and behold the handbag is haunted with the ghost of Rufus,
    a queer diva who has been erased from the history of Hearst- so now it up to Sully to uncover and tell their story.

    I love Julie Murphy- she wrote my favorite in the Meant To Be Series, “If the Shoe Fits” and other romcoms with a plus sized/ thick hottie FMC.

    Queer Eyes’ Jonathan Van Ness first novel- I know them from their hair care only, but I am a fan.

    I laughed a lot at the dialogue between Sully – a modern day 18 year old, and Rufus who asks too many questions. I was really enraptured by the historical love story between Rufus and Robby and finding out as they did what happened in the 1950s. I was absolutely rooting for Sully all the way, a snarky and confident kid, a great friend.

    This is a happy ending with a lot of realism about our current state- and a lot of respect and integration of queer history. We simultaneously have so much to be grateful for and so much to keep fighting for. This book reminds me of a quote from Steel Magnolias “Laughter through tears is the best emotion.”

    Indeed.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025.

    **a best book of 2025**
    ***a best LGBTQ book of 2025***

  • spectacular things by beck dorey stein

    Mia was her mom and dad’s gift to each other, and her little sister Cricket was their present to Mia. The story begins as Cricket is playing for the US Women’s soccer Olympic team. Older sister Mia is giving birth at the exact time and watching Cricket play from the hospital. A health emergency occurs. Then the narrative jumps back to their mother Liz Lowe as she is a high school senior who has signed and committed to play for UCLA. It becomes apparent that Liz is pregnant with Mia and her promising soccer career ends abruptly.

    What I absolutely loved about this story was the characterization, the relationship and dynamic between Mia and Cricket, the gradual way that the narrative unfolds as we find out more about Mia and Cricket’s absent father, their mother’s love of soccer, and how she passed along being a “team player” to her girls, both named for Women’s soccer legends. Something else I loved was the interlocution of the history of the game of soccer and how it grew in culture. As a fan of women’s soccer I loved this essential part of the story. Cricket, Mia and Liz were WONDERFUL characters, there are also very memorable side characters.

    What I didn’t like; in some ways I feel like this book glorifies codependency, but it does show the darker side. I had a professor in college that said “Gilmore Girls” was “anti-choice pro-life propaganda” and I spent hours trying to prove them wrong by highlighting some of Rory’s most pro-feminist and pro-choice identity scenes. But ever since then I have always read into stories about teenagers choosing birth instead of termination with a critical eye, especially in narratives where the child’s father was a predator of some sort. I don’t think this is the case at all, but it did give me a lot to think about. What was a larger theme in this book is the mother and the sister giving up big parts of themselves for the other; without the person asking- so in some ways what you are willing to give up in your life for your daughter or sister.

    While some of the setbacks that happen can seem like too much, there is enough drama in all of their years that you are like JEEZ WHAT ELSE CAN HAPPEN TO THESE WOMEN they deserve a break already. It can be bit much at times and you don’t always agree with the decisions of the characters but you still get the feeling that things will work out for them….. particularly because in the prologue about Mia having a baby, you get a lot of what can only be described as spoilers.

    This would be a great book for book clubs as it is thought provoking and allows readers to ask questions within a group. The characters are flawed yet likable. This is great for fans of sweeping family dramas like The Celebrants, Blue Sisters, Long Island Compromise and Like Mother Like Mother. Written by a former White House stenographer.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Dial Press for the ARC. Book to be published July 1, 2025.

  • hazel says no by jessica berger gross

    Deep exhale. What a wonderful book. A great book for book clubs that can discuss the characters motivations and are sure to have “what would you do in this situation” type discussions.

    Do you like books in the LitFic genre that have deep character analysis? Ones that are about difficult subject matter yet offer hope at the conclusion? fish-out-of-water families faced with impossible choices? Then this will be one of your favorite books of 2025.

    Hazel was propositioned by her principal the first day at her new school. They moved from New York City to rural Maine. This sets off a series of events that bring the family pain and yet notoriety. She is a precocious and bright teen, her 6th grade brother Wolf has struggles with ADHD and wants to fit in. Her father Gus is a professor at the local college and her mom Claire is an artist. The book alternates their perspectives. The kids are incredibly well developed.

    I can hardly believe this is a debut. A fresh new voice in feminist contemporary fiction. A post #MeToo novel that gives us great setting, plot, and characters.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade publishing for the ARC. Book to be published June 17, 2025.

    a best book of 2025

  • say a little prayer by jenna voris

    YA book for any gay kid that felt like they were not “enough” or that being gay is a sin. It isn’t. God doesn’t make mistakes. Not all church people think being gay is a sin, and there are lots of devout Christians that interpret a lot of “clobber” verses differently than you may have been told. The church has been terrible to gay people, especially our youth. If your church is teaching you that, I am so so sorry. You can leave or find another church or attempt to change things from the inside.

    This is Riley’s story, she was in a fight at school and she was given the chance to make amends by attending church camp. The Pastor is a bad guy who often preaches that being gay is terrible and sinful. He also takes action to kick people out of the church, like excommunicating them, if they don’t follow his rules.

    The theme of the camp is the “seven deadly sins” (which are not in the Bible and were invented 400 years AFTER Jesus died, by the way) and so Riley tries to practice each of the deadly sins and journal about it to prove the concept wrong. She has a crush on the pastor’s daughter, who she has been friends with for years.

    Narrative is best for middle grades, I hope libraries will carry it and kids will steal it from the libraries if their parents won’t let them check it out.

    Thank you to NetGalley and Viking books for the ARC. Book to be published March 4, 2025.

  • all the mothers by domenica ruta

    10/10 one of my best books of 2025 – contemporary literary fiction.

    Sandy hasn’t had the best luck in love. A ten year relationship with a man who wouldn’t commit, another man she really didn’t love but still made her feel insecure. She finds herself pregnant with a guy who she doesn’t like all that much that she met on a dating app. She has a beautiful baby girl then finds out her child’s father has another child to a different woman.

    Because we have way too much information available to us all the time, she cyber stalks the other woman, Stephanie. As she is pumping her breast milk, she accidentally hits follow. Steph sees the follow request right away, which changes both of their lives forever.

    This is 2025’s heartwarming message fiction of the year. Like Margo’s Got Money Troubles, we find ourselves empathetic and fiercely protective of a single mom, and cheer on her best efforts. The men in this book are disappointing, particularly Justin, her baby’s father. But for all his faults, Justin does bring together a family despite himself and his weird codependent relationship with his mom. Sandy’s pre-mom friends also are caricatures of an unsupportive “friend” who is more self-centered.

    But over the course of the book Sandy discovers the real meaning of love, connection, and family.

    These CHARACTERS. They are so well fleshed out, so complicated and compelling.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Madison at Random House Marketing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I was unfamiliar with the author and hadn’t seen any marketing for this book, special thank you to the team who made this book available to me. Book to be published May 6, 2025. This review is uncompensated.

  • the dogs of venice by stephen rowley

    I was given an ARC of this novella in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam. A sweet yet sad redemptive story, this is a character study of a man who goes on a romantic Christmas trip solo to Venice. His husband asked for a divorce and he was in denial, but decided to go on his own. Paul seems like a lost soul, and he does a lot of soul searching and seeking connection on his trip.

    Obviously this is a shorter story, I can’t help but want to know more about Paul. It is almost a creative writing challenge to tell a story in this short of a format. It has sweet dialogue and I found Paul to be relatable. Although he is heartbroken, he is not pathetic and grows over time.

    If you have the chance to read this, it is worth the hour it will take to read.

  • the butcher’s masquerade by matt dinniman

    I am going to go ahead and admit that I don’t totally understand what is going on all the time in this series, which I LOVE and recommend to everyone I possibly can. I think it is a cross between Ready Player One, The Hunger Games and The Muppets. I absolutely love Carl, Donut and Mongo. I have a soft spot for Katia, and I understand they are playing some sort of intergalactic reality game they did not agree to. Organisms can cast spells and assume other forms. My partner has listened to the series on audible and when he knows I am reading one of these he always asks me what is happening at the moment and I always say something like “I don’t know. Donut said this.”

    There is a bit of a surprise character reveal midway through this book that I did see coming, but it warmed my heart to see how it played out.

    This particular one has some pageants and opportunities to let Carl save other crawlers and outsmart the hunters. In this one there are more alien hunters, which are basically like rich people who want to come into the game and kind of cheat and have privileges the crawlers don’t.

    If this isn’t an overall symbolic critique of the working class vs capitalism’s oligarch’s, I don’t know what is.

    Everything Donut says or sings is amazing.

    I never understand fantasy, and although I don’t understand this completely I really love it. That probably sounds weird, but it is true. I read somewhere that Seth McFarlane’s production company has bought the rights and is planning a streaming series and when I see it on film I will get it and then I can re-read and love it more.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Ace publishing, an imprint of Berkley for the ARC. Book to be published April 8, 2025. Obviously I have already pre-ordered my trophy.