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Black Buck
Darren (Buck) is content working as a Starbucks shift manager. He makes enough money to support his mom and has enough time to spend with his girlfriend. He’s getting by, and he likes his co-workers. So he’s surprised when one morning, he gets the sudden urge to upsell a regular customer and bigshot CEO of Sumwun. He’s even more surprised when the man offers him a job working in sales.
The first third of the book is comparable to The Wolf of Wall Street with a wild work environment, employees that devote their life to the company and to sales, and a lot of people who are probably on cocaine. Mateo Askaripour’s debut novel paints a hilarious picture of a toxic work environment and crafts each page with wit, voice, and wild similes. Unfortunately, I felt let down after the first third. I felt the similes became overused and a little outrageous, and I found the voice a little annoying after almost 400 pages. The novel tackles the diverse representation in the corporate world through humor. While it achieves this, I felt it would have been better achieved in about half the number of pages.
If you want to give it a try, you can grab a copy on Bookshop!
A Little Hope
A Little Hope is a lyrical novel briefly, yet deeply, exploring the lives of interconnected characters. While this is a novel, it, at times, felt like a short story collection. Each chapter focuses on a different character. Most characters are given two chapters worth of writing, while some appear more throughout the novel. The depth each character achieves in such a short amount of page-time is impressive, and frankly a skill I hope to hone in my own writing. Ethan Joella knows exactly what parts of the characters lives to zoom in on with precision.
The events of the novel are at times gut-wrenching. I cried. A lot, actually, while reading through. The title says hope, but at times the novel makes hope seem impossible. I suppose that’s life though. You have to find hope among the mess.
I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone. A five-star read and one of my favorites in 2021. Grab your copy on Bookshop!
The Holiday Swap
One day after school, I was exhausted. Ok, well, that’s every day. But on this particular day, the holiday spirit felt like the only thing that might be able to bridge the gap between mid-November and winter break, allowing me to make it through December alive and well. So I started my holiday reading off strong, mid-November, with The Holiday Swap.
Initially I regretted my decision. The book is SO predictable. For reference, the story follows identical twins as they swap places and happen upon some hotties. By about page 10 I could tell you the whole book (and I was right). And then, about a third of the way through, I actually started to like the characters. I started to root for their straight-out-of-hallmark romances. Watching them constantly forget that they were trading places, and constantly making ridiculous mistakes was actually entertaining. By the end of the book, I was in full Holiday, Hallmark Romance mood. AKA: I was feeling festive AF, and I’m here for it.
This ended up being a surprising four-star read. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a holiday romance novel. Considering that, it’s pretty damn good. Pick this one up from my Bookshop and have a Holly freaking Jolly time!
Kelliemarie Mash 