Creating Beauty

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is another 2024 high school Nutmeg nominee.

Moon and her twin sister Star couldn’t be more different. Star is a beautiful social media sensation, and she is their mother’s pet. Meanwhile, Moon works behind the scenes as her sister’s assistant. She is overweight, and constantly berated by their mother. The only thing they have in common is a family curse.

Moon is forced to set out on a social media tour with Star as a merchandise salesperson. She will try to make the best of the trip by focusing on her passion- photography and flowers. She immediately butts heads with the head social media guy’s attractive brother Santiago.

During the trip, she is forced to confront her insecurities and abusive upbringing. Her dynamic with her sister is also tested. Through this she begins to develop real feelings for Santiago, who is also battling his own insecurities. Moon learns to love and trust herself.

This is not a book I would typically pick up. But it covers a lot of important topics, such as abuse, depression and suicide. Most importantly it addresses how to nurture positive relationships, learn acceptance and to trust in one’s passions/talents.

Fairy Wars

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is first in its series.

Reminiscent of the Twilight books and HBO’s “True Blood” series, this is a story full of magic, otherworldly creatures, action and romance.

Fayre has been the provider for her family ever since her father brutally lost his business. She taught herself to become a fierce hunter, which is what she is doing when she kills a large wolf. It turns out that the wolf was a high fairy in disguise. She is taken prisoner by one of seven Fairy lords to atone for her actions.

As prisoner, she learns that her mortal world may be in danger. There is a ruthless female Fairy with an age old vendetta to settle, and she will do anything to get her way. Fayre becomes involved in all of this once she starts falling for her captor. She finds out that she may be able to stop a century-old curse.

The story kept my interest and prompted me to check out book two. Although based on the size of it, I’m not sure if I’ll finish any time soon!

Press Rewind

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale is a Groundhog Day-type story in which Cassandra desperately tries to fix a botched relationship.

In one day, Cassandra is dumped, fired and on the verge of being kicked out of her apartment. Added to this is her parents’ death ten years earlier. Her autism makes it very difficult for her to interact with others “normally.”

She sets about fixing things once she realizes that she can rewind time (within a few months) whenever she desires. After countless attempts to control outcomes, she realizes that some things are unavoidable while others change more subtly. It becomes apparent that her gift for time travel is to repair a family relationship and to figure out herself.

There is some humor and plenty of repetition to understand the characters along with countless references to Greek mythology (one of Cassandra’s profound interests).

“Crush”ing It

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon checks another 2024 high school Nutmeg nominee off my read list.

This is an enemies to lovers romance story. Rowan has spent her entire high school career competing with Neil. Now it’s their last day of senior year and he beats her again by getting valedictorian over her.

The final senior event is a scavenger hunt called Howl, it is organized by the junior class. There is a cash prize at the end. Rowan is determined to take this last victory over Neil. However, they begin working together which forces Rowan to see Neil as more than an enemy. They share information about their families, their feelings about being Jewish and their desires for their futures. Could one day overturn four years of animosity?

Deadly Worm

The Troop by Nick Cutter is a solid horror book.

A Boy Scout group of five teenage boys and their scout master are on an island for their yearly getaway. Each boy‘s background is explored a bit through the story. There is a budding psychopath, an overweight nerd, a jock, one prone to anger issues and his closest friend.

Their whole group is put to the test when an infected stranger shows up during their first night. This sets off a domino effect of contagion which pits the group against each other in varying degrees. Snippets of the experiments that led to this point are scattered throughout the story in the form of interviews and news clips.

I had to skip over a few particularly gruesome scenes involving animals. Reminiscent of Lotd of the Flies cranked up with a horror/science twist, it is a take on human nature in extreme circumstances.

User’s Life

The Guest by Emma Cline is a trippy novel.

Alex is a major player. She lands herself a great deal by starting a relationship with a wealthy man named Simon. All is going well until he decides to break up with her.

She can’t go home (she left on bad terms with just about everyone). She decides to stay in the area for the week until Simon’s big Labor Day party. She feels this party will be her moment to win him back. Until then she works her way into various groups of people in order to use them as needed. She manages to botch just about everything that she touches along the way.

Spoiler- the ending is a huge cliffhanger. Maybe I missed something, but I wasn’t sure if she was even alive any more once making it to Simon’s party. Overall this is a decent read with lots of uncertainty to keep you going. Unfortunately for me, the uncertainty remained after finishing!

Pregnancy Bonds

Girls Like Us by Randi Pink is a high school Nutmeg nominee.

It is set in the 70s and told from multiple female points of view. Each girl is contending with teenage pregnancy.

Ola is pregnant and her younger sister Izella is determined to end the pregnancy. Missippi is only fourteen and pregnant with twins. Sue is from an affluent white family.

Missippi and Sue are hidden away at the same home for pregnant girls under the excellent care of a midwife. They become best friends, and eventually all become bonded due to shared circumstances by the end of the book.

Different family and societal issues are explored throughout the story with a focus on empowering women.

Office Crush

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne is a fun, steamy romance.

Lucy and Josh are both assistants to the co-CEOs of a recently merged book publishing company. They can’t stand each other and purposefully annoy each other on a daily basis which creates some entertainment.

Events get spicy once they are both up for the same promotion. Through this, they begin to develop feelings for each other, or is it possible that those feelings have been there all along?

This book reminded me a bit of the movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” It was a perfect summer beach read.

Working It

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz is a quirky read about main character Cara’s experiences with a Senior Workforce Program.

We learn more about Cara during her weekly check ins with her caseworker. Cara is an immigrant from the Dominican. She arrived in America many years earlier with her young son to escape her abusive husband. She lost a factory job she had for years, and is hoping for help finding a new job in order to keep her apartment.

Cara has made some interesting choices (affairs, abusive actions toward her own son), but she has also shown herself to be a strongly devoted woman. This story is a quick read about working with what you have, and not giving up despite barriers.

A New Poet

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner is a beautiful tear jerker that touches upon just about everything important in life. It’s one of the 2024 Nutmeg high school nominees.

Cash and best friend Delaney receive an incredible offer to attend a private school in Connecticut. This entails leaving their home in Tennessee. This is especially difficult for Cash. He was raised by his grandparents, and he knows his grandfather doesn’t have much time left. He also doesn’t feel worthy of this offer.

Once at the private school, Cash explores life away from everything he’s ever known. Despite a cruddy roommate, he finds friendships, a sport he enjoys and an introduction to poetry class that profoundly impacts him. He also finds love.

This book is beautifully written. Countless lines grabbed my attention. Loss, change, integrity, friendship, family, nature, poetry and religion are all explored in some manner and the combination resonated with me.