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After finishing One of Us is Lying, I wanted to read something else that I have been meaning to read since the beginning of the year but have honestly been putting it off for a while. Granted, One of Us is Lying was an emotional roller coaster all the way throughout the entirety of the novel and ended with a bang! I was content after finishing it and I am relatively appreciative of how it ended. I was glad that Bronwyn had stood her ground and did not forgive Nate immediately which I could tell that he did not mind that much. So, after all of that, I decided to read Dumplin’. Many of my friends had recommended it to me—especially my sister Jennie—so I could not resist reading it for myself. I knew a little about this story before I started reading it this year which was mainly because of my English I teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, who had assigned our class to read an excerpt of it to identify its uses of punctuation and sentence structure. Anyway, now to the actual book itself. The main character, Willowdean, has so much depth to her character and I can clearly see the type of development Julie Murphy put into this story. I love her as a character so much because she is totally relatable and so self-assured, but the only thing letting her down is how comfortable she is in her skin around Bo. To me it is kind of difficult to explain, since I have not really gone through it myself, but their relationship thus far is secret—even to her best friend—which brings me to another point. Willowdean and her bestie Ellen have been together since birth because their moms knew each other and lately they have been distant. I think it is partly due to Ellen’s recent progress in her relationship with her boyfriend and her ‘new’ best friend Callie who she made friends with at her part-time job. My heart was broken along with Willowdean’s. Bo had not bothered to tell her that their ‘sparse’ relationship could have been changing because he was moving to her school and Ellen leaving her due to a recent development that she and Willowdean did not have in common. I’m upset with how she dealt her situation with Bo concerning the fact that she did not tell Ellen about them, but it’s understandable considering how there was a breach in trust and insecurity in their relationship.

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So far, the group is being investigated for the murder of Simon most likely for the inconsistencies of the case. Now that they are, I can tell that most of them have a lot to hide. They are becoming more suspicious and I know that the author is intentionally keeping the secret from us because Cooper is especially the one who has the most to lose. He has a full-ride scholarship for his athletic skills to some great schools, but that can’t happen if his secret gets out. I am sure that it has nothing to do with enhancers or else he would be freaking out more about the Tumblr post that appears in place of Simon’s app About That.

Bronwyn and Nate are starting to be much closer and I am loving it!! I know that they are so different from each other, but I just cannot help and love their dynamic together. I have a feeling like they just missed their chances of being together. I have a feeling that Nate and Bronwyn had crushes on each other, but now we will never really know now. I think it is just tragic that they could have had something great, relationship-wise. With all that is happening, I think Nate is just the kind of person that builds walls and does not let anyone in. I think Bronwyn is the first person to break through. I sympathize completely with Nate; given that he comes from a family that turned rotten and are just broken now, it is only logical that he would turn out that way.

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Already when reading this book, the beginning got me hooked from the start. I know that suspense and thriller books are everyone’s cup of tea, but it is so interesting to me. Right from the start, I was on guard about every little detail, because people who had recommended it to me had told me so much about this book and recommended that I read it. “It’s like nothing you have ever read before. You won’t expect anything that happens.” So, I decided to give this book a try and they were right, but I was expecting Simon to end up dying because the person you least expect is the rule of thumb in these kinds of books. Right off the bat, it was fishy, especially with that whole deal the extra phone that somehow happened to be in everyone’s possession; they did not even belong to them. So, I was guessing Simon was the one who put them there. Because to me, Nate is the person with the least motive to put them there, because that is who everyone would be expecting because he is the stereotypical “bad boy” and always get into trouble. Simon the most likely candidate because he is the school’s ‘gossip’ except he is totally credible. Simon is a bit like Jughead character in the Netflix series Riverdale. They both are very observant, so it makes it easy to gain the information they need; they always try to see everything from an outsider’s view. What I also found interesting was that Jake, Addy’s boyfriend and Addy being one of the witnesses of Simon’s murder, was friends with Simon prior to their freshmen and sophomore year of high school which probably prompted Simon to make an app that exposes everyone’s secrets.

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For right now, Sadie is in a totally new place alone. Completely surrounded by unknown faces and places. The authorities are currently looking for her, but there’s no telling what will happen when they catch up to her. That’s what I know so far at least. If I were in her place, I know that I would be scared for my life because so many bad things could happen to me, especially in as bad a neighborhood as Sadie’s. But she isn’t like that which is understandable considering that she did not leave that much behind. With her sister’s murder and their detrimental living conditions, Sadie clearly has a lot to think about. I know that, that was not the only reason for her leaving home because she said herself that she was planning on killing her stepfather. Although I think that she is justified for being angry at her stepfather, I kind of find it hard to believe that he does not have a reason for killing her sister Mattie. Sadie keeps asking why he killed Mattie in the first place, so I think it might have been a misunderstanding or she really did witness him killing her and I’m hoping it’s not the latter.

It’s sad that Sadie does not get the kind of life that people her age do. When she was looking for her dad, she needed to look for his son and daughter. They met at a party, so that’s how Sadie had the information to find her stepdad. She was dancing with this nice guy, but she had to let all that go to waste even though she knew that it would have been fun to be with him and just be a normal teenage girl for once. To just forget about it all. She lost all her in high school opportunities just because she was slightly different to her peers and neglected by her mother. She even had to drop out so that she could provide for her little sister and I just find it so unfair that because she is clearly an intelligent individual despite having difficulty speaking; I think she deserves so much because the world was hard on her from the start, barely giving time for her to adjust. The only thing that was really going for her was her sister Mattie and she loved—no, worshipped—their mother more than Sadie. Because Mattie was so young, she never really got to understand how much Sadie sacrificed for her and now she’ll never get to repay her, and Sadie won’t ever get to have the happiness that everybody should at least experience during their lifetime because of this one man. This one man that seemed to make life hell for her. The one who took her Mattie from her. I cried thinking about all of this because Summer’s words were so moving and the depth of them got to me. It’s so unfair.

Despite how unfair it is, I’m afraid that if she does go through with killing him, she’ll lose a part of her that she’ll never get back, but she is clearly unafraid of that. In her perspective, she already lost everything she had and that was Mattie. I just want everything to go right for Sadie at this point; I want her to be happy and get the experience of being a person. All she has ever been treated as was beneath everyone else and I think no one should feel like that. I admire that Sadie keeps strong despite all her hardships; that she can bounce back is a miracle.

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Obviously, the police and May Beth are still on the lookout for Sadie, so nothing has really progressed with their search, but they are getting closer on Sadie’s trail. At first, on the last chapter I thought Sadie was going to be in trouble because there was a guy who had information on where her father was, but he was not going to give it to her unless she gave him something he wanted and money was not going to cut it. Thankfully, she had barely gotten out of that situation because she was able to defend herself and find out where her stepdad was. Honesty, I had no idea what Sadie was thinking at this point because she came from a pretty dysfunctional family and was neglected by her parents for the whole duration of her childhood. I feel bad for Sadie because the only thing she had going for her was taking care of her little sister, Mattie, who was favored more by her mother. Sadie was always the one who had to be blamed for things not going right and I think that is so unfair because the minute that Sadie had been born, there was no one for her to reach out to except May Beth and Mattie. That really sucks because her sister, Mattie, had idolized their mother, so even if she had been in the wrong Mattie would still defend her mother and end up hurting Sadie. Now at this point, I have figured out that Sadie had ran away not because of all the pain that had welled up inside her, which was a factor but was not enough to prompt her to do that, was because she was looking for her stepdad so she could punish him for all his wrongdoings he put on her family.

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Okay, so I have started Sadie after finishing up my last book. I did finish My Lullaby and I did end up liking reading it in the end, so my initial impression was not entirely how I felt about it. While reading Sadie I am under the impression that the story follows the observations of a radio station host, West McCray and Sadie’s point of view. At first, I was so confused and I had to reread the passages because I had no idea what was going on. Eventually I did understand the gist of how the author had wanted to reveal the story to the reader.

I think that it is an interesting choice for the author to do that because if I’m being honest it is something I would have never thought of before and I like that the author is giving us all the facts and providing us with all the information for us, the readers, to make our own conclusions about the story. It kind of reminds me of a television show that I watch, called Criminal Minds because of the wide range of perspectives that the viewers can obtain from the characters and into the mind of the actual serial killers. On the show, the main point of focus is the investigations of the murders or crimes. In the center of all these investigations is a Federal Bureau of Investigation team whom of which specialize in dangerous serial killers and potential threats in the United States. Anyway, from what I understand is that Sadie has gone missing and she is from a pretty terrible background apart from, May Beth, her caretaker and surrogate grandmother. I believe that Sadie has run away home in order to look for her father, but the thing is I do not completely understand because she already has people who care and love her.

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I finished This Lullaby a few days ago, but since I have not really gotten that far into my new book, Sadie, yet I did not want to leave this blog unfinished with only half of my review, so this is my rendition of the other half of the book.

I will have to admit; my first impression of This Lullaby was not exactly my cup of tea. I didn’t really understand where the story was going and reading it for a while was a little drowning for me because it was just introducing all the characters and building a foundation to tell a story, but it was a bit slow for me. Honestly this book would not have been my first choice, but I was completely content reading it. Francine had given it to me because she no longer needed it anymore and strangely enough the characters and the author’s diction had eerily reminded me of her. For me the story was a bit too cliché and predictable because when Remy was going to reconcile and “tie-up loose ends” with Dexter, I knew from my reading experiences that there was going to be something that Dexter was going to do that would cause them to have another disagreement and I was right; She had misunderstood his intentions and gotten angry at him.

Though I was satisfied with the ending though. Dexter and Remy could clear up any kind of misunderstanding, her mother was able to finish another novel, her fifth stepdad had cheated on her mother and she found out about it, but it also somehow deepened their mother- daughter relationship. It’s good that Remy could be carefree about going to college and not have to worry about her mother. All in all, good things all around for everyone.

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Right now, I feel like the plot of the story is going really slow for me. Even though I like reading romance the story is not really engaging me other than the fact that Remy Starr, the main character, is rediscovering her trust in people. This is unusual but, I do not read that many romance novels and mainly focus on other type of books, like science-fiction, thriller, fantasy, realistic-fiction, or mystery. So, this book is essentially my first romance novel; although I have read other romance stories on my own time, this one is not especially my favorite. I might plan on abandoning it, but I know that I will hate that because I always want to finish a book because I still do not fully know whether it is an engaging story for me.

I kind of find it a bit strange for an individual like Remy to fall so quickly for a guy she met just recently as well. I am unsure how to feel about the development of Remy and Dexter’s relationship. Although they have an incredibly strong chemistry in the story, I feel it is a bit unrealistic that it adds very little to the plot of the story. Right now, Remy is also just doing things she normally does not fairly early in the story in my opinion. However, there was a time skip of roughly a month so I might also be wrong. As a character, I like that Remy is such a intelligent, independent, and caring (at times) person, but I guess the downsides of her a bit less charming which somehow adds more depth into her character. I understand the reason behind Remy’s reluctance towards building close relationships with others to some extent, however, I feel that she goes a little too far sometimes, especially with her brother’s girlfriend, Jennifer Anne.

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| The Wrath & The Dawn | By: Renée Ahdieh 9/23

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| The Wrath & The Dawn | By: Renée Ahdieh 9/23

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So far Shazi is dealing with a lot of stress and pressure whether it is from understanding Khalid’s feelings or from her “necessity” to bring justice for Shiva. Honestly, I do not know how one would feel in this type of situation, but I do know that it is frustrating when someone does not make themselves clear or they are not honest about their feelings. I know that I do it sometimes but usually I do it unconsciously, so I try to get my point across to the other person. Even though Khalid was hurt, it was not necessary for him to ignore Shahrazad. She was trying to apologize and I know that there are people out there that will not even do that. I can tell that it took her all her pride and courage to walk up to Khalid and I think it is completely disrespectful for him to do that, but then again, he is the Caliph.

There is also the situation with Shahrazad’s Handmaiden, Despina. I totally agree with Shahrazad which is that Despina should tell Jalal about their baby and how she loves him. I know how strong and independent Despina is, so it confuses me as to why she will not tell Jalal about their baby. She is even lying about her feelings for him!!! Honestly, I feel like she’s making excuses when she says” ‘I’m—a handmaiden. He’s the cousin of the caliph” I think it is because our world has different principles and rules that it makes me mad that they cannot be together just because of their different societal positions. Even though it is what to be expected in their society, I can totally tell that they love each other. Even though Jalal is hard to read sometimes, they both have tells that reveal their true feelings of each other

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| The Wrath & The Dawn | By: Renée Ahdieh

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| The Wrath & The Dawn | By: Renée Ahdieh

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Okay I realized that, while reading the book, that Shiva is really her best friend not her sister. I was a little confused when reading so that cleared a lot of things up. It’s still unclear as to why Khalid is killing his brides, so I just want to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible!  Anyway, Khalid and Shahrazad get a lot more intimate, which makes me internally scream because I want them together, but also makes their situation really complicated because Shahrazad meeting the Caliph was all so that she could give Shiva justice. There was also a part where Shahrazad was trying to find a way to get her justice by looking for a weapon within the castle’s walls. She was really struggling because, how was she going to get her hands on that? Well, that was until she met Jalal. My first impression of him was really intriguing because he was like Khalid…but not. Unlike Khalid, Jalal was much more easy-going and carefree—less rigid—if that makes more sense. But he was also very like Khalid because nothing went past him. Her archery was on par but she really could show off because that would have exposed her. Honestly, I think it is so awesome that she knows how to shoot an arrow because that stuff it hard to shoot accurately!

Later, the author reveals that Shahrazad’s handmaiden, Despina, is pregnant—with Khalid’s cousin—Jalal. This was what I had been expecting, to be honest, because Ahdieh had dropped so many foreshadow-bombs, like whenever she saw Jalal, she would become so flustered when Despina was usually so composed and elegant. At first, I had thought that Despina really liked Jalal, but his reaction to her was one that I contradicted this statement. Jalal had looked at her in confusion, which may have seemed like nothing to anyone else, but when I think someone has an infatuation with someone, I think it is usually who is unaware of it and them. When he reacted like that I was a little confused because that would mean that he knows her personally. This was not the only thing tipping me off; Despina was sick in the morning a lot and she had a lot of trouble staying up right, which I think is weird since she is technically a spy sent by Khalid. I think Khalid would have wanted a spy is at the peak when it comes to their craft, so I wouldn’t think that they would be sick all the time. There was also the poisoned tea situation, which takes the cake, because for a while Shahrazad could not trust Despina which was also understandable cause she served her the poisoned tea.

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| The Wrath & The Dawn | By: Renée Ahdieh

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| The Wrath & The Dawn | By: Renée Ahdieh

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My initial reaction to this book was one of recognition and curiosity. I was initially interested because I was kind of anticipating how the author would tell Shahrazad’s story and unveil the reason behind the caliph’s brides’ deaths. I was pleasantly surprised by how the Renée Ahdieh had artfully crafted together sentences. The style of writing resonated finding beauty in the most unexpected places like a desert jewel amid the desolate barrenness of singed brown. Usually I read at a snail’s pace because I want to absorb all the details and I just get lost into the story. I was only planning to read bit by bit throughout the week, but I jumped the gun and read over a hundred pages in one sitting (whoops).
There was one part where Shahrazad had told a story to the caliph and it reminded me of A Thousand Arabian Nights where a sultan’s wife would tell the king a story for a thousand nights, so that he would not kill her. Funnily enough, the wife’s name is Scheherazade which resembles the name of the main character; the plot of the story is also like The Wrath and The Dawn. Honestly, I admire that Shahrazad is so independent and cares so deeply for her family—I mean most everyone is, but it’s something that I feel that Shahrazad and I have in common. I would say that I’m close with my sister—I consider them to be my best friends, so if anything were to happen to them I wouldn’t hesitate to find a way give them justice. While reading, I was torn apart with a swirl of emotions; the chemistry between Shahrazad and Khalid, the caliph, was so powerful, but her underlying reason of why she chose to meet him conflicted her pursuit of him and him of her. I sympathize for Khalid because all he seems to have known is the miserable and abusive feelings of a royal household. For him to witness his own mother’s death by his father’s hands—it’s only natural that he would put up mental walls. Despite all this I love that both Khalid and Shahrazad had come to fall in love with one another and I’m internally dying because they can’t come together and just be happy. I know that this kind of thing takes time, but they are both such great people that I feel that they both deserve to be happy together.
However, it’s still unclear as to whether Khalid really did kill her sister, Shiva. Personally, I completely understand the internal conflict that Shahrazad is experiencing; the shame of not getting justice or at least finding out would kill me. Clearly Khalid takes no pleasure in killing his brides and he is an entirely different person than what I thought he would be. At first, I thought for sure that he wasn’t killing them, but he seems to be quite adamant that they really die at dawn. Shahrazad’s father also seems to be up to something to save her and I think that he is going to kill a lot people to save his daughter—right now I think he is going to perform sacrifices to conjure up a powerful force from an ancient book. It’s natural that her friends and family would try to save her, but I think it’s unnecessary because she is not in any immediate danger other than almost being poisoned once or twice.