Jen Ryland Reviews

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Review of And Now She’s Gone

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I really love a good private eye story and this one was really a great read. Check out my review of And Now She’s Gone

And Now She’s Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall. Published on September 22, 2020 by Forge Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

Synopsis: Isabel Lincoln is gone. But is she missing? It’s up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Gray’s search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the woman’s secrets and the truth she’s hidden from her friends and family. Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat and mouse game, And Now She’s Gone explores the nature of secrets — and how violence and fear can lead you to abandon everything in order to survive.

Review of And Now She’s Gone

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I love mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals, and all things suspenseful. Like many people, I’m also trying to read more authors of color, especially Black authors. So I Googled “Black mystery writers” and found Rachel Howzell Hall. I’m so glad I did. I can’t believe she wasn’t on my radar before!

And Now She’s Gone was just what I look for in a mystery. It has strong female characters, a really twisty plot, great writing, and an atmospheric setting.

Grey Sykes works for a Los Angeles investigative firm behind the scenes, writing reports and doing research. Then she’s assigned her very first case in the field: a local doctor wants to find his missing girlfriend and their dog. Gray interviews him and gets started, but quickly discovers that nothing and no one in this case are what they seem.

Gray was such a great protagonist. She’s a Black woman trying to make it in a white man’s profession, but has a lot of strong female colleagues she relies on for advice and favors. She’s smart, and trades on the fact that she’s often underestimated (even outright disparaged) by her clients and the world at large.

The twists and turns in And Now She’s Gone were great. The story started out as a dual timeline, and then the two converged. And the surprises in the missing person case just kept coming.

I absolutely loved And Now She’s Gone. Can I please have more Gray Sykes books? Or a Netflix show? I’m hooked on this character and I want more!

Why You Need to Read Grown

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Do you love powerful stories featuring characters who lose their way and then fight their way back to the people who love and value them? Me too. I thought this book was great and am here to tell you Why You Need to Read Grown.

Why You Need to Read Grown

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. Published by Katherine Tegen Books on September 15, 2020. Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Synopsis: Korey Fields is dead. When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight. Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields? All signs point to Enchanted.

Why You Need to Read Grown

Grown is one of a several books I read this year about abusive relationships (the others included The Comeback and My Dark Vanessa.)

But Grown is the book that gripped me the most, the one I won’t stop thinking about.

From Grown’s synopsis I was expecting a murder mystery, but it’s really not. It’s a story of an abusive relationship. It’s a story about a girl who falls prey to a charming and powerful man. It’s a story about how young Black women with talent and big dreams feel exhausted by a world that constantly “others” and devalues them.

Tiffany Jackson uses a fairy tale (the Little Mermaid, specifically) as a thematic framework for her story. I really loved this choice. Fairy tales are deeply internalized by many of us. They’re the underpinning for romance novels, and create many of our expectations when it comes to love and relationships. But just as fairy tales have princesses and magic, they also feature monsters and villains. Love requires trust and sometimes we trust the wrong people.

Enchanted (love the thematic fairy tale name!) is a talented singer. She’s a Black teen who attends a predominately white high school and is constantly told that her hair and her curves are “distracting.” Enchanted has a wonderful family who loves her, but when a famous singer offers to mentor her, she begs them to let her take the opportunity. I’ve seen reviewers criticize her family, but as a mom I can attest that it’s really hard to say no to your children and their dreams.

First we watch Korey build Enchanted up, then we watch him break her down. Watching her get drawn deeper and deeper into a bad relationship was hard, but in the end, this book was focused on Enchanted’s strength and resilience. Yes, you will find out who killed Korey, but this isn’t his story, it belongs to Enchanted.

Just a heads up that does contain scenes of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship.

I highly recommend Grown! Definitely add it to your to-read list. If you’ve read it, let me know what you thought in comments!

Review of You Had Me at Hola

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Even before the pandemic I’ve been reading ALL the rom coms . What did I think of this sweet and heartwarming romance between two actors? Check out my review of You Had Me at Hola!

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria. To be published on August 4, 2020 by Avon Books. Thanks to the publisher for sending a review copy.

Synopsis: After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez returns to her hometown to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy. Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez. After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Taking this part will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences. With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.

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Review of You Had Me at Hola

Both Jasmine and Ashton get a big break as they’re hired to star in a new Latinx rom com for a popular streaming service. They’re playing a hate-to-love divorced couple with some unfinished romantic business. Jasmine and Ashton also each have reasons to fear the increased publicity and public scrutiny that the success of their new show might bring them. Which also gives them reason to fear the growing attraction between them…

There was SO much to love about this book. Set in New York and written by a New Yorker (yay!) it featured two leads with roots in Puerto Rico (and a bunch of other diverse Latinx characters.)

There were lots of great family relationships, from Jasmine’s cousins to Ashton’s supportive father and grandparents. The multigenerational love and support was so strong in this book and I loved it.

It was also really fun that the book focused on the relationship between the fictional characters played by Jasmine and Ashton, Carmen and Victor, whose relationship has its own trajectory.

I also loved the way book highlighted the incredible diversity of the Latinx community, both in New York and outside it. Ashton lives primarily in Puerto Rico, but Jasmine grew up in New York and feels a little judged for her less than perfect Spanish. (This worked out well, as snippets of the book are in Spanish that Jasmine has to sometimes translate. My written Spanish comprehension is about on the same level as Jasmine’s listening comprehension, so it was fun for me to try to understand as much as she did.)

Yes, the reasons this couple has to fear love (primarily hers) were a little contrived at times, but this is a rom com and sometimes the “obstacles” aren’t all that substantial. That didn’t bother me or detract from the warm, funny, positive vibe this book had – it was just what I needed!

Looking for other great rom coms like You Had Me at Hola?

I’m definitely adding this to my Rom-Com-A-Thon list of recommendations. You can check them all out here if you’re looking for more rom coms to read!

Review of The Year of the Witching

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Love dark stories about witchcraft? Feminist stories about standing up against patriarchal oppression? Spine-tingling suspense? Then you’ve got to check out my review of The Year of the Witching!

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. To be published on July 21 2020 by Ace/Berkley Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement. But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother. Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.

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Review of The Year of the Witching

Part feminist fairy tale, part dark witchy horror, part historical-inspired fiction, part dystopian nightmare, The Year of the Witching is a gripping and atmospheric book with fascinating and important themes. 

Immanuelle lives in a religious society ruled by a polygamous man called the Prophet. She was born of an illicit romance between a local boy and a woman betrothed to the Prophet. When their secret love affair was discovered, he was burned at the stake. She bore his child and then fled into the Darkwood, a spooky forest that is home of a coven of vengeful witches.

Immanuelle is now raised by her maternal grandparents and is close friends with Ezra, son of the Prophet. One day Immanuelle takes the family ram to sell at market and he escapes into the Darkwood. She chases after him and encounters the witches, who give her a diary that belonged to her mother. Already a bit of an outsider in her community due to the circumstances of her birth, she tries hard to conform to the rules and hesitates to look at it. But when she finally decides to look into her mother’s story, she learns about terrible things that have happened both in the Darkwood and within her own community. At first Immanuelle believes she’s cursed, but then realizes that she is the only person who can stand up against the forces of darkness and save her community from ruin.

The Year of the Witching was such a vividly told, atmospheric story. It did feel like part historical fiction (Puritan society and the Salem Witch Trials) part Handmaid’s Tale (dystopian, misogynistic society) and maybe part Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (dark, cinematic witchery!) Immanuelle was such a strong and inspiring character, the society she lived in was creepy and repressive, and the dark pull of the witches and their anger and sadness was poignant and chilling.

If you love horror, stories about witchcraft, or just a well-told spooky tale, I definitely recommend this one – if you’re kind of a scaredy cat like me, it’s not TOO terrifying. Just the perfect amount. I could not put it down!

If you love witch books, check out my list of YA Books About Witches!

YA Books About Witches

Review: When We Were Magic

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This was a great coming of age and friendship story with magical elements – I’ll tell you more in my review of When We Were Magic!

Review: When We Were Magic

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey. To be published on March 2, 2020. Thanks to the publisher for providing me a review copy. This post contains affiliate links.

Synopsis: Alexis has always been able to rely on two things: her best friends, and the magic powers they all share. Their secret is what brought them together, and their love for each other is unshakeable—even when that love is complicated. Complicated by problems like jealousy, or insecurity, or lust. Or love. That unshakeable, complicated love is one of the only things that doesn’t change on prom night. When accidental magic goes sideways and a boy winds up dead, Alexis and her friends come together to try to right a terrible wrong. Their first attempt fails—and their second attempt fails even harder. Left with the remains of their failed spells and more consequences than anyone could have predicted, each of them must find a way to live with their part of the story.

Review: When We Were Magic

I really loved this one! It made a really interesting contrast to Foul is Fair, which I reviewed on Monday. Both books are about tight-knit squads of friends dealing with a difficult situation. Both were really interesting books, but When We Were Magic was more of a Jen book as it had the relationships and psychological complexity I love as a reader.

It’s Alex’s prom night and she and is ready to lose her virginity to her date at a party when … she accidentally kills him. This happens in a weird and dramatic way that characterizes the darkly humorous tone of this book. She quickly assembles her friends to help her with this unexpected situation. Fortunately, her friends all have magical powers. Unfortunately, they make things … well, not really worse, but not much better either.

The rest of the book explores Alex’s relationships with her friends, her guilt, and her secret, undeclared love for her friend Roya. Her squad is a diverse one, all of whom possessing magical abilities that they seem to be exploring and learning to master. As is often the case in paranormal books, using magic has its consequences, and all of friends start to suffer in different ways. This makes Alex feel guilty, both for unintentionally causing someone’s death and then dragging her friends into it.

At times I wish the magic had been better explained. But the characters didn’t really understand their own powers yet either. It seemed to me that their exploration of their sexualities was somehow intertwined with the magic. Amidst all the drama, the love story of Alex and Roya was so lovely.

I found When We Were Magic quietly suspenseful – it reminded me at times of How to Get Away With Murder or even (if you’re older like me) I Know What You Did Last Summer. And at times, even The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (no, I’m not THAT old but I read it in school.)

Definitely recommend you check this one out!! Do you love books about magic and murder? Talk to me in comments!

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