We Can´t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon

´I´m no longer the girl who always says ´yes´ ´.

I am always interested in discovering books with a multicultural topic, therefore We Can´t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon, an author whose name often appeared on my bookish feed, sounded like a good recommendation.

To my shame, I´ve started the book five years ago, abandoned it - although was considering resuming the reading every few months, and was only able to finish it last week. I am a very compulsive reader and even though I am trying to keep my overactivity under control - including in its bookish manifestation, I often embrace my limitations.

Quinn, who is Jewish - her name isn´t though - is trying to part ways with her family´s wedding company, while finding out herself in playing harp and being tormented of the idea of comitting to a relationship with Tarek, the son of an Egyptian family owning a catering company. There are few, but not enough identity markers of the two main characters so for me it looked a bit make up. It sounds good to have inter-racial love, but it is not enough as long as the characters do not really belong. 

However, other details regarding the characters are more fulfilling rendering them and their stories more relatable. Quinn´s transformation and the acknowledgement of her interests and need to follow her own dreams, happening at the same time with her fully acceptance of her feelings for Tarek, are important story pivots. 

Better placed and developed than the inter-racial story, the struggle of the characters with mental health issues like OCD, chronical illnesses and family trauma do relate to topics of interests for the younger generation.

I think this book brings a lot of contemporary topics and I am very much glad of being able to finally finish it. In the meantime, would be more than happy to give more than one chance to this author in the coming months.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Random Things Tours: 138 Main Street by Gavin Bell

I love a good crime story, but I love even more a fantastic premise for creating a story. Each story has a start but some do have a greater spring priviledge.

138 Main Street by Glasgow-based Gavin Bell created such an unique reading encounter. An unknown killer is picking up his victims from the same address: 138 Main Street. And, not surprisingly, there are 7,000 such addreses in the US. As the corpses pile, the killer is issuing a manifesto of social justice to the media, warning of a continuation of the killing spree. 

Personally, I couldn´t stop reading this book, because it sounded both authentic and scary. I went thinking that although it is important catch the killer, but nevertheless sounded more intellectually challenging to guess if there will be any reasons why - except being killed - the crimes may stop.

The professional team assigned to find the killer - Ben Walker and Zoe Hill, especially Zoe Hill who is playing a terrific role in catching the killer - deserves a special place in the evolution of the plot - with an interesting dynamic, personalities and character threats. 

Both the original premise and the well-structured story itself - with mounting tension as the terror threat continues - were outstanding, and the ending was equally interesting. 

A recommended read if you are looking for a strong unexpected thriller.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego

A famous mysterious library in New York hosts a legendary book many do have reasons to see, and maybe to have it too. A group of curious among which, an architect, a journalist, a bookseller, a famous author and a professor, taking part to a special after dark tour of the aptly named Daedalus Library. And a potential killer on the run who must be found as soon as possible. 

The Library after Dark by Ande Pliego  is an alert thriller, with a sense of emergency. I love books sets in libraries, but don´t remember to have read a looked room thriller set in one. For all the right reasons, it was a stellar choice and I was clearly caught into the story web from the very beginning.

The details of the plot are very important for the further development and so is the chain of different points of views reflecting the story. The multiple voices sharing their own version of things echoes the facts, without offering us however enough information for sharing a conclusion of our own. I love books with a generous cast of characters, especially thrillers, because it challenges me more to trace the mystery solution.

Ande Pliego weaved a captivating story, where personal and historical stories are brought together in a puzzle dominated by powerful emotions and hidden family histories. 

A recommended read if you are looking for a very eventful thriller story, happening in an unexpected Gothic setting.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Tous mais pas Beyrouth by Mathieu Diez illustrated by Jibé

´Le pays de la guerre des autres´.

French embassy in Lebanon and one of the most important abroad, which shows still French´s interest in the region, although politically speaking French politics internationally aren´t at their best. French soft power however still plays an important role, not only from the linguistic point of view.

Mathieu Diez, founder of Lyon BD Festival, spent four (very) eventful years in Beyrouth working at the embassy´s cultural section, where he was involved in organising important cultural events like book fairs and literary prizes awards, swimming through the trouble waters of a country forced to restrain its cultural potential while serving as arena of other people´s wars.

Tous mais pas Beyrouth/Anything but Beirut, illustrated by Jibé, is his graphic memoir covering time spent in the diplomatic service, between 2021 and 2024, very intense years for the country and the region in general. With an acribie and empathy not always expected from this genre, he is not only serving as a chronicler of his times, but also is doing his best in understanding the history, current challenges and culture of Lebanon. 

This book is another example of the potential of graphic novels, allowing their authors to play the role similar with the journalist: taking notes of their times, and putting it into words and images. It is a humorous, yet subjective take, that may help you get to know a topic through its main actors, their interactions and last but not least their feelings.

A recommended read for anyone curious about personal experiences from a conflict zone.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Les Enfants de la Nuit by Eva Ionesco

 

The perception of childhood changed through ages, with our Western times, in my opinion, enjoying the most generous definition of it, extending the age of childhood - and implicitly, of consent - until late teens. The legal protection - from abuse, forced labour or marriage - in the Western world goes far from the previous approaches. Sexualisation of young girls, that we no need to go too far than the glorious rebelious 1970s. Personally, I experienced it much later, in the 1990s, but those are stories for another time.

I´ve first heard about Eva Ionesco as she was mentioned in Vanessa Springora´s book, with her very sharp insights into the French literary afterwriting debacle, as a case of young girl in the attention of social services. Ionesco´s story however, is even much cruel and her struggle with sexual abuse continues until today. 

Eva´s mother - Irène/Irina - who died at the beginning of 2020s, was a Romanian-born photographer famous for her sexualized portraits of young girls, for whom her daughter was forced to pose from the very early age of four. Before being a photographer, Irène born from an incestuous relationship, used to play in a circus, until being partially incapacitated for this type of work from an accident. 

In the autobiographical novel by Ionesco, read in the original French language - part of a series of three - Les Enfants de la Nuit/Children of the Night - her mother is portrayed in very cruel, sadistic even terms: manipulative, narcissistic, self-absorbed. Her daughter, in her very early teens, became aware of being used for purely financial purposes, as a free-model for her mother sexual photographic fantasies. Although she despised Irène, she is not cutting her out completely, even accepting a little dance of lies with the representatives of the social services. Her silent scream of abuse is her self-destructive night life, wasting herself out with drugs and illicit sex during the nights spent with her hard-partying band of dysfunctional teens, among which Christian Loboutin.

Without excusing her mother´s fundamental role in her traumatic story - until today Ionesco is fighting in court for her right to taking out of circulation her sexualised pictures - the amplitude of her case was facilitated by the so-called esprit du temps. In other words, it was a public open to the consumption of the media her mother produced; or the society accepted the picture of an 11-year old in Playboy; or a bunch of teenagers were accepted to roam the best of the Paris´ dubious clubs. It is the same world where Brooke Shields played the role of a 11-year old prostitute. 

The topic of the book is not easy to digest, but it mirrors an age, an episode from the last century French world, introduced in its cruelest possible way. It is not an easy read, at times the writing is raw and traumatic - if it´s for the reader, spending some hours only with this book, think about how does it feel for Eva -, but necessary. As parents or just humans, it is vital to understand how to protect our children - from themselves and the others.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered for the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Rachel´s Random Resources: The Collector by Rae Devine

Lucien, a billionaire art dealer is tasked -- by the Devil - with the recovery of a forbidden artifact stolen centuries ago by a rebelious Gatekeeper. Curious, he wants to know more and may found the task challenging, but the dangerous pathway to Hell may threaten the hierarchies and provoke loyalties.

The Collector by Rae Devine is dark, may belong to the paranormal genre while adding some spicy romance to the already packed plot. Paranormal isn´t my genre, but I´ve found the combination literarily attractive and Devine´s writing kept me engaged from the very beginning. There is a lot of ´sin and shadow´ into this story, but the ambiance is skillfully built. An important element in the plot are the detailed descriptions creating perceptive environments so important for the paranormal genre. 

The book is relatively short and it can be easily read in one sitting. This was my reading choice, and it was very helpful to keep a fast track of the characters and the very action-packed story. 

The Collector is the second installment of the paranormal romance series The Seven Gates. 

A special word of appreciation of the cover, with both lettering and the images are in a tensed sync. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: Work Love Balance by Sophie Loxton

Romance is being rewritten, over and over again. Each generation, its love stories. As much as I love romance - without being too much of a Romantic myself - I´m usually drawn to contemporary stories I can actually relate to.

From this point of view, Work Love Balance by Sophie Loxton was a great read to start the week with. The author is a romance writer with a sharp, witty voice, and her story was such a fun and relatable read, especially if you love influencers characters and stories from the world of art. The main female character, Lizzy, seems to have everything under control...until a few work-related encounters bring her closer to a charming young man who threatens the delicate balance she´s built between her career and her love life. Her boss however, doesn´t mind too much keeping those limits and this may challenge Lizzy in unexpected ways. 

From the very beginning, Lizzy became my favorite character. As the main storyteller, she is sharing her own - very vivid and humorous - interpretations of things. Through her experiences, she learns what she expects from herself, from others and from her work. The story keeps the reader entertained, with unexpected situations twists that not only make you want to keep reading, but also reveal new and engaging details about the characters. The book itself starts with a surprise - an unexpected wedding between Esme and Ajax and the meeting of Olly - and keeps entertaininng the reader until the very end. The fact that it also includes travel - clearly of the work-related kind - and influencer-related episodes, was definitely a big plus for me as well.

I loved that the characters who give the tone of the book - Lizzy and Esme - are women, successful in their own professional areas. The mention of Esme´s dyslexia is noteworthy, as one may rarely associate successful people with such issues, which is far from being the truth. 

Work Love Balance is a great book to start - or end - your workweek, with or without the counter-balance of love.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review