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The Babysitter’s Coven Book Review

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Thank You Penguin Teen and Random House Publishing for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.

Summary: Esme has a babysitting club that consists of just her and her friend Janis until the new girl comes to town. She begs to be able to join the babysitting club and fails at her job the first night, so why would she want to even be a babysitter? Does she really care for children? Does she really want to get to know Esme as she claims? Or is there something more to this babysitter’s club than Esme knows?

Thoughts: When I started reading I kept having to pause because of the random TXTing lingo that was included, while I knew what the words meant they just seemed very out of place. I liked how the book had a very 90s theme and tone to it and I think there were some times where modern things were brought into play that took away from that. I wasn’t a big fan of all the time jumping because it made it hard to figure out what time period was this book taking place in.

While this was marketed as a babysitter’s club/buffy the vampieish book I looked past any of that since I’m not familiar with either of those things. I think because I wasn’t familiar and read this book as something new I found it really entertaining. I loved each of the characters and how they developed throughout the story. I liked how their relationships with each other changed and how complex some of those relationships were.

Something I really enjoyed was the last few chapters as the action picks up and you can’t turn away because you need to know what happened. I’m glad this is a series because after that ending I”m left wanting more of this babysitters coven and of the girl’s parents.

I recommend this to those of you who like novice magic in your books or to teens ages 13-16.

You can find this book at Barnes and Nobles or look for it at your local library.

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph Book Review

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Thank you NOVL for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for my review.

Summary: Birdie (Dove) has her life already set out for her, she’s just planning on following whatever her parents have set out for her. Unfortunately for Birdie falling for Booker was not part of this plan and she knows her parents would never approve of him because of his past. Carlene, her aunt, has now come to stay in the apartment with her family and things suddenly start changing for Birdie. Will Birdie tell her parents about Booker? Will they find out on their own? What secrets are her parents trying to keep from her?

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this coming of age story and how complex each of the character’s lives were. I loved how Birdie is hiding her boyfriend from her parents but she’s surrounded by people who all have secrets of their own and little does she know her parents have secrets to hide from her too.

I really enjoyed how everything pieces together and how things develop over the whole story. Carlene becomes my favorite character as you see everyone doubt her and question her motives when all she wants is to get closer to her niece. It’s heartbreaking to watch her family turn away from her and not believe in her because of her past.

The twist at the end of the story really tied things up nicely in my opinion and I never saw it coming. I thought many different things when everyone was being secretive but never what we find out.

Something else I enjoyed in this book was the amount of LGBTQ+ representation that was there. Finally I have read a book where a character is ace and I put the book down in that moment because I had to take in the beauty of that.

I recommend this to those of you who like reading YA and who want to read a good coming of age story.

You can purchase this at Barnes and Noble or look for it at your local library.

One of Us is Lying Book Review

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Summary: 5 students go into detention together but only 4 come out alive. A traumatic incident has caused the death of one of the students in detention and the police believe that the other 4 must have something to do with it. Who is to blame? Which student has the most motive? How did they do it?

Thoughts: I read this as part of a book club that I am in online and I have loved each of that book club’s picks so far and this did not disappoint. I was a little worried after I got through the first few chapters that I wans’t going to like this book because I had guessed what the result was but I kept reading to see if I was right.

My guess was correct but even as it all unraveled I was still shocked to see how it happened and why it was done that way. I loved the twist in the story and the twists that kept coming even if I knew the results.

Something that I loved about this story was how the characters developed throughout the whole book. I like how their relationships with each other changed gradually and how their feelings about each other shifted. I also liked how they developed on their own and with their respective families, I felt that it all added to the story as their secrets were revealed.

Something else that I loved about this story was the balance of dialogue, narration, and the character’s internal thoughts. I usually like a lot of dialogue to move the story along faster but I think this story was told in the things that were not said and that was interesting. I like how we even get the extra characters and we hear the main characters thoughts on these people who play a big role in their life. I really think the addition of so many characters was done seemlessly.

You can purchase this book at Barnes and Noble or look for it at your local library.