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Sisters

Turtle Under Ice

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Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario
Published: February 11, 2020
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Teens

I am not going to lie to you, this is a sad one. From page one you can feel the loneliness and sorrow that hangs over Row, Ariana, and their home. Each one, their own island of grief.

Their mother died. Years later the grief is still with Row and her big sister Ariana. For Row, Ariana’s disappearance into a snowy night is a terrifying blow to their relationship. The novel, written in verse, is told from both Row’s and Ariana’s perspective. Without focusing on the small details that make up their lives, the novel centers on how each character copes with their grief, and how the disconnects in their relationships with each other and with their friends, keeps them from healing in order to live their lives. They both need to learn how to miss their mom while being more than the sum of their grief.

Don’t let the prospect of a sad and poignant story sway you from reading this beautifully written and hopeful portrayal of loss, love, and grief.

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The Nightingale

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults & Teens

Vianne and Isabelle are estranged sisters living through their new reality of a Nazi occupied France during World War II.  Isabelle is the younger, impulsive, defiant sister who speaks her mind about any injustice while Vianne is the older, cautious, and practical sister trying to manage the household and keep her own daughter safe under rapidly worsening conditions.  With the men in their lives taken away by the war, they both find themselves in roles they never imagined and have to reach deep inside themselves to decide which risks are truly worth taking.
This is a wonderfully told story about love, war, sisters, friendship, and true heroism.  It makes you ask yourself ‘What would I do?’

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The Accidental Beauty Queen

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The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Even though she is an identical twin, Charlotte Gorman has always been considered the sister with the “great personality,” not that it has ever really made much difference to her. Nerdy, book-loving Charlotte is more than happy with her job as an elementary school librarian and keeps far out of the limelight cast by her pageant crown-seeking sister, Ginny. However, the night before the Miss American Treasure competition, Ginny has a severe allergic reaction and Charlotte is her only hope. Reluctantly, Charlotte agrees to secretly swap places with her sister and quickly discovers that there is more to the pageant world than she ever assumed.

The Accidental Beauty Queen is a delightfully fluffy romantic comedy—like the movie Miss Congeniality, if Sandra Bullock’s character majored in English literature instead of law enforcement.

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My Sister, the Serial Killer

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Recommended Book
My Sister, the Serial Killer by  Oyinkan Braithwaite
Publication/Release Date: November 20, 2018
Format: Book or ebook
Who it’s for: Adults

Below is the publisher’s blurb. I’d suggest only reading this much of it. It gives away too much of the story, IMHO. I picked this book based solely on the cover, title, and the author’s name.

Satire meets slasher in this short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends.

“Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer.”

Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning. -Publisher’s blurb

I read an Advanced Review Copy ebook from NetGalley. We call them ARC’s. If you subscribe to different services or get on publishers’ lists, you can receive ARC’s of books to review before they are released. It’s pretty cool. (NetGalley is a site where book reviewers and other professional readers can read books before they are published, in e-galley or digital galley form. Members register for free and can request review copies or be invited to review by the publisher).

I am not sure how to comment on this without giving anything away. Basically, I really like it even though I don’t like any of the characters in the book. Although I can’t really tell they are in Africa, I was glad it was a novel written by an African woman.  I was disappointed about that part. This story reads like any other story of a place I have never been in the USA; except for a few words (that I hope will have definitions in the finished publication), the traffic police, and a mention of a chief. As I read, I thought they must be in Nigeria because that is where the author lives but I never could recall the name of the city. Since it’s a great character driven story, not much detail about the city/country where they live.

Korede is the older sister who enables Ayoola, her younger spoiled sister (as does the entire world cuz she is just that pretty). Right off the bat, I am not that sympathetic to either of the sisters. Korede cuz she complains bitterly about Ayoola but says nothing and keeps enabling.  Ayoola cuz she is a killer and a spoiled brat. Yet I really liked this book. It was quite thrilling in some parts and the other parts were equally fascinating.  I did read parts out of order. The chapters titled Father intrigued me. I had a theory about his death and wanted to see if I was correct. I also read ahead because I wanted to know if Ayoola killed Korede’s crush. It’s a short read so I had already read a third of the book by the time I skipped around. It was a great, fun read. I hope she writes more and that they get published/released in the USA as well.

Find this thriller here