A few days late on this one, but here it is!

Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet (4.5 stars) The protagonists of this Miami novel are Izzy, a teenage Pitbull impersonator who wants to be Scarface, and Lolita, the orca at the Miami Seaquarium. And it’s not a comedy. A total original that A24 needs to option.

Heart the Lover by Lily King (5 stars) (book club) In the 80s, a lonely college student meets two boys in her creative writing class who draw her into their casually privileged academic world. She dates one boy but finds herself increasingly drawn to the other. The latter part of the book flashes forward 20 years to their unexpected reunion. I laughed (because I knew these kids and kind of was one myself), I cried, I will be re-reading Writers and Lovers shortly. An instant favorite. Lily King is magic.

I Belong to Me: A Survivor’s Guide to Recovery and Hope after Religious Trauma by Tia Levings (4 stars) (ARC) This follow-up to A Well-Trained Wife is less memoir and more trauma-recovery textbook. Like, it’s so well phrased and thought-out that I genuinely think it could be used as a textbook. However, it was a bit of a struggle to read straight through.

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley (4 stars) In a small Florida Panhandle town, a group of mostly Black teen moms forms a community. Their story is told by Simone, the leader and mother of twins; Emory, who’s still determined to go to college; and Adela, whose parents have banished her to her grandmother’s until she has and gives up the baby. The plot really picks up about halfway through with a twist that I should have seen coming, but didn’t.

This Is Not a Test: The Definitive Edition with Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers (4 stars) Most of this YA novel is set in an abandoned high school where a few teens have found shelter from the zombie apocalypse. The main character, Sloane, has escaped an abusive home life so bad that it almost makes the zombies look like a vacation. This was my first Courtney Summers and won’t be my last!

BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity by Ruth Whippman (4 stars) The day the 62 million views news broke, I turned to my Kindle and uploaded this book. The British journalist author (raising sons in the US) did some intensive research, and her findings were mostly encouraging, in that we can do something to make this generation of boys emotionally healthier.

Books for April: 6

2026 year to date: 22