Midnight Without A Moon ~ Linda Williams Jackson

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a random find in the middle grade/young adult section of

Half Price Books. I'm glad that the title and spine of the book intrigued me enough that I picked it up and ended up taking it home with me that day.

Summary

Rose Lee Carter, a 13-year-old African-American girl, dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955. Her world is rocked when a 14-year-old African-American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman.

This is truly a powerful story. It is written about a time in America's history where racism and injustice was a huge part of everyday life, especially in the South. While I am glad that this book reminded me how prominent of an issue injustice was, and still is, it made this book hard to read for 85% of the story. Especially the parts where Ma Pearl refused to believe Aunt Belle and Monty about the way life could be better and that she didn't have to live below Ms. Robinson to have a happy and successful life. It hurts me to realize that while that specific incident is fiction, there are many true stories that are most likely very similar.

This is my first time reading a book where I am not the intended audience (even though anyone should be able to read any book) and I think this book would have been informative to the middle grade "intended" audience, while in my case it just riled me about injustice rather than letting me enjoy the story.

(SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION)

However there were also some things that bothered me about this book besides racial injustice. First was the lack of recognition for Rose from just about anyone besides Hallelujah. It's like she didn't exist to almost anyone and that really bothered me. Second, Ma Pearl. In general as a character, I really really REALLY disliked her. As I previously mentioned, just her negative outlook on life and on all of the people in her life and her general disrespect towards everyone is terrible. She is another reason why I couldn't enjoy this book because I was constantly mad at her and her actions. Third, the ending. I understand that the whole point of it was to show that you don't have to escape the South, you can fight the injustice, which I 1000% support, however in this case I don't think there was anything wrong with Rose going to live in Saint Louis with Aunt Belle & Monty. Since they are both clearly civil rights activists, Rose still could've been involved in fighting the injustice in a safer environment and taught how to do it better by them rather than living in it. The only reason I understand her not leaving is because she doesn't wanna leave her brother and Queen, and she doesn't wanna disappoint her Papa. But you can clearly tell that while he doesn't want her to go, her potential is what means she should go and he recognizes that!

All of my issues might again be that I am not the intended audience for this book and I accept that. However, I still wanted to share my opinions because I still think they are valid to the book as a whole.

The Royal Runaway ~ Lindsay Emory

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I expected this to be the light, fluffy contemporary I thought I needed after reading a such a hard-packing book (The Book Thief), but it wasn't that at all, in the best possible way.

Summary

Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing.

After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place.

So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it.

Don't get me wrong, in a way, this was still a light contemporary. However, I think it packed more of a punch that I gave it credit for. While there wasn't a lot of character development the plot was full of many twists and turns that kept this story interesting for me. The main thing that kept me hooked however was the chemistry between Thea & Nick. I wanted them together from the very beginning and their chemistry was very enjoyable, and it wasn't written in a cringey sort of way. Other parts of the book were kind of cringey though, like the naiveness of Thea. Oh my god it got so annoying how naive she could be at some points. I pushed past it though because 1. Chemistry 2. Plot. (like I mentioned before).

If you are looking for a contemporary with good chemistry between characters (even with a lack of character development) and a plot that will keep you hooked. I would recommend this, it was a great read.

Enchantée ~ Gita Trelease

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is truly incredible. The writing was incredible. Agh I loved it so much! I saw it at the library last week thinking it would be something nice to read, but I never expected it to be my next five star book!

Summary

Paris in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries—and magicians...

When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the ‘Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonist—who dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible.

But la magie has its costs. And when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she's playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magic—before Paris burns…

There are so many things I enjoyed about this book. I loved the magic aspect, the conflict, the mystery, the love, the cities, agh I just loved all of it so much. I enjoyed how it kept me guessing at what was going to happen! I haven't felt that way about a book in such a long time. It was refreshing to feel so deeply invested in the story and the characters, and while that is usually more common for me to feel when reading books, it was different this time. There was something magical (how fitting) about this book for me.

I'm struggling to express my thoughts because I finished the book less than five minutes ago at the time of writing this.

Seriously, if you enjoy historical fiction with an aspect of magic and a twinge of love, then I would definitely recommend this. You will fall in love with the characters and yell at them (like I did multiple times) when they make stupid mistakes! But love them all the same.

p.s. I'm sorry this review is short and that it's mostly my ramblings