Fiction, Science Fiction

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: SciFi

What is there to say about Project Hail Mary that has not been said over and over in the past month? I finished the book a few weeks before the movie came out (which I have now seen twice) and absolutely loved it. I’m not a huge sci-fi person, and I did skim a lot of the super sciencey passages, but the story really held its own beyond the science.

Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher, wakes up in a space ship with no recollection of who he is or what is going on. Little by little, his memories return and he realizes he is on a mission to save earth from an extinction-level disaster. With information about his mission returning to him very slowly, he is forced to try to piece things together as quickly as he can.

This book is about so much more than just the space mission though. We get flashbacks interspersed with the present narrative that help us get to know Grace and how he became involved in the mission. We learn about the months leading up to his departure from earth and the stakes for all of humanity. I found the general science/world-building really easy to follow which was incredibly impressive to me. It wasn’t a stretch or confusing to understand what was at play.

The friendship in this book was really so outstanding. It was unexpected and endearing and so so heartwarming. To me, it spoke to the power of Weir’s writing and character development. Next on my TBR: The Martian.

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Buy Project Hail Mary at an indie bookstore near you
Project Hail Mary on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

I’m doing a consolidated review of volumes 1-3 of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion because although I enjoyed them, I listened in close succession and can’t say I remember where one ended and the next began. (They’re also very short, so felt more like one book’s length all combined).

What a delightful world. This series is presented as a set of journal entries detailing Emma’s life as she arrives in London in the quirky St. Crispian’s neighborhood. Things are a little abnormal there (in a fun, charming way) and I loved how naturally those quirks were sewn into the fabric of the setting.

Emma is such a wonderful narrator. She’s funny and sarcastic and her wit had me chuckling. I loved her uncensored take on the people in her life. Because we’re in her journal, we see exactly what she wants to do, even if she doesn’t take action.

It took me a while to get to know all the characters in Emma’s world, but each is a bit of a caricature and serves a different purpose to the storyline. I have largely come to love them all (even the annoying ones).

I felt like I needed a break after volume three, but now that I’m finally getting around to reviewing the series, I think I’m ready to dive back in. This world is perfect wholesome untroubled escapism.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 1 at an indie bookstore near you
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1 on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, mystery

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

My first five star read of the year! Broken Country is a dual timeline narrative following Beth. In the past, she meets and begins to date Gabriel, a wealthy boy in her village. They’re teenagers when they meet and have a big class divide. As is often the case with first love, they end things and Beth finds herself giving a chance to Frank, the boy-next-store who has always been there for her. In the present-day narrative, Beth and Frank are married when Gabriel suddenly comes back into her life. And then there’s the future storyline: a murder trial.

There are so many layers to this story. Beth and Frank lost their young son only for Gabrie to appear, newly divorced, with a son of a similar age. This alone introduces an interesting and emotional dynamic. As the book unfolded, I was holding my breath to find out what happened to Beth’s son and to start to piece together how things ended up in a murder.

It’s really hard to pin this book to any one genre. There’s a romance through line, deep character studies and layers of mystery. The big twist made me audibly gasp and I fully had to finish the audiobook at my desk at work because I could not stop listening.

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Buy Broken Country at an indie bookstore near you
Broken Country on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

The Phone Swap by Lia Louis ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Pub date: August 25, 2026 (Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my ARC!)

I loved how perfectly I could picture every bit of this story. Allie is a field scientist heading home from a work trip when she accidentally switches phones with her plane seatmate who just so happens to be a movie star named Milo. When the two realize their mistake, they contact each other to see about switching their phones back and find themselves unexpectedly drawn to each other.

Even though their connection grew over the phone, Milo and Allie’s chemistry was so wonderful and well written. I was rooting for them as they slowly opened up to each other. We got a lot of background about each character and insights into past trauma and things that influenced their flaws. They were certainly each flawed, but it mostly made them feel real.

Partially because a lot of the first part of the book was excerpts from the digital environment, the initial section of the story flew by. I don’t know where I was expecting it to go, but there was a dramatic change in setting and how the story was written about halfway through.

The part of the book that was set in the arctic was really picturesque and I loved how Allie’s passion bled into the descriptions of the nature surrounding them. This setting was really immersive and made this a nice winter read (even though it’s publishing in the summer).

I often struggle with characters just refusing to communicate about confusion and there was definitely some of that in this book, but it didn’t bother me tremendously.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Phone Swap at an indie bookstore near you
The Phone Swap on Goodreads

Book Review, Fantasy, Fantsy, Fiction

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fantasy

As with Sarah Penner’s previous books, The Amalfi Curse does a wonderful job intertwining a historical fantasy storyline with a present-day story. Haven, a nautical archeologist (insanely cool job title), is exploring the Amalfi Coast with her team. Little do they know that her dad had also dived in the same location and left Haven information about sunken treasure in the area. In the past, Mari, a sea witch living in the same area, finds her community torn apart as men begin to kidnap other witches for their control of the water.

Mari’s community and storyline was really rich in detail. Her relationships were well thought out and the struggles her community faced made me understand her motivations well. She was fierce and protective. I would have liked a little more detail on how the sea witches’ magic actually worked, but I was mostly able to suspend reality.

The present day setting was spectacular. I could feel the heat and color and vibrance of Positano. Haven and her storyline felt a bit flat and confused to me. There was a lot going on, which I felt detracted from really fleshing her out as a character. I found her hard to root for because I didn’t really know her.

The plot of this story felt really fresh and the descriptive writing was captivating. The story didn’t quite uphold itself throughout the full book, but I still enjoyed it.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Amalfi Curse at an indie bookstore near you
The Amalfi Curse on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Heart the Lover by Lily King ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

I devoured this book in two days, captivated quickly by “Jordan,” our nameless narrator, as she is sucked into the world of Sam and Yash in college. This book did a wonderful job of illustrating a time in life when you are trying to figure so much out and so much is unknown. It explores the mistakes young people make and the lasting impacts those choices can have throughout life.

I was captivated by Lily King’s writing. Her descriptions and her simple ways of describing thought and feelings made it hard for me to stop reading and easy for me to perfectly see and feel what was happening in this book. I found the writing style to be as special as the book itself.

Although classified as a romance, it didn’t feel like one in the traditional sense. Jordan finds herself in a love triangle of sorts between both boys in her life and we do watch these relationships unfold. I was not terribly convinced of the romance (perhaps because both men were somewhat insufferable) – the story felt much more about the longstanding impact of those relationships on her life.

In the later parts of the book, we see Jordan married with her own family. It seems as though things have worked out for her as she hoped. I liked her relationship with her husband and seeing her happy. The ending has Sam and Yash suddenly pulled back into her life due to a terminal illness. To me, this felt like a plot device and the scenes at the hospital were overly saccharine. They seemed introduced to force some sort of emotion that the writing should have done on its own.

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Buy Heart the Lover at an indie bookstore near you
Heart the Lover on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

P.S. I Hate You by Lauren Connolly ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

This was a bit of a throwaway book for me in that I had a pleasant time listening to the audiobook and pretty immediately forgot about it. When Maddie’s brother Josh dies from cancer, he requests that she and his best friend, Dominic, scatter his ashes in eight different places he never got to visit. The problem? Maddie hates adventures and hates Dom since he broke her heart years ago.

Maddie, our narrator, was kind of obnoxious in a way that was somewhat enjoyable but got a little old by the end. I didn’t particularly feel any sort of growth from her and a lot of her inner monologue going over her past was repetitive as a result. I did appreciate the way her relationship with Josh was portrayed and strengthened through the notes he left for her.

One part of the book that I found bizarre was the inclusion of Maddie and Josh’s emotionally abusive mother. Her excerpts were so randomly thrown in and felt like a plot device.

I did enjoy the romance and the way it contrasted and intersected with grief. It developed slowly, which made it more believable than is often the case with this kind of book.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy PS: I Hate You at an indie bookstore near you
PS: I Hate You on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance

This was a really lovely second chance romance in which high school sweethearts Ellis and Wren take the chance to see if they want to spend what’s Left of Forever back together. The two are divorced (from each other) and dropping off their son at college. On the road trip back, Ellis asks Wren to let this be a chance for them to revisit their relationship.

This framing felt unusual (in a good way to me). I loved that their experiment was finite and confined to their drive home. It combined an adventure in California/the Pacific Northwest, complete with really lovely descriptive settings, with the central conflict.

I appreciated the history of this relationship and the fact that the two had worked hard to be good parents together despite being teenagers when they had their son. However, I felt like the reasoning behind their divorce wasn’t really well thought out (or well explained). It seemed like they just stopped communicating in a weird way that didn’t make sense to me based on how strong their connection seemed to be.

In the present day, I liked the progression of their romance. I found some of it over the top/cheesy, but I was kind of expecting that from this book (purely based off the cover).

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Buy Left of Forever at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Science Fiction

The Poppy Fields by ~ Nikki Erlick

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Science Fiction

Ava, Ray, Sasha, and Sky are strangers who find themselves thrown together as they all happen to be heading west towards the Poppy Fields. The fields provide an unusual opportunity: to heal from grieving through a controlled, weeks-long sleep. This experimental treatment is highly contested, despite its great success rate.

At a macro-level, I found the premise of this book to be fascinating. Along with following our group of travelers throughout the book, there are chapters narrated by the founder of the Poppy Fields, which provides a better understanding of the facility, the process, the possible side effects, and her intentions behind the sleep. This insight allowed me to understand the treatment central to the story without it feeling forced.

Each of the characters was wonderfully crafted with a full backstory and very distinct personalities. They were all on their own journeys for different reasons and it was interesting to hear what was drawing each one west. I enjoyed watching them open up to each other. There were also a number of unexpected twists that deepened character relationships and added a lot of depth to the story.

I found myself somewhat disappointed with how this book wrapped up, which is the reason it didn’t quite hit four stars for me. It felt like there was a ton of build up for a somewhat incomplete and abrupt ending.

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Buy The Poppy Fields at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

Culpability is an ambitious fictional exploration of the increasing role of AI in our lives and the ethical considerations around it. The book starts with a family getting into a car crash that kills two people. Who was driving? Was it technically the autonomous car, or teenage Charlie who was in the driver’s seat? In the wake of the incident, the family retreats to a rented house on the Chesapeake Bay to try to lay low and process what happened. As each one grapples with the fallout, we slowly learn that they are all harboring secrets related to the crash.

The family drama and secrets kept me most drawn to this story. Although I didn’t really like any of the characters, I wanted to know what they were hiding from one another and how it was all going to come to light. That part of the story did not disappoint. Lorelei, Charlie’s mother, is a leader in the AI space adding an extra wrinkle to the discussion about AI within the story and influencing perspectives and motivations.

Despite a very interesting and timely premise, I felt like this book had a lack of focus that kept it from totally working for me. There was a whole second ‘incident’ with Charlie that popped up partway through the story and seemed totally weird and unnecessary. For me, it took away from the main issues at the center of the book, in terms of both technology and the family drama.

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Buy Culpability at an indie bookstore near you
Culpability on Goodreads