The Stars We Steal starts off with Leo, the heir to a derelict spaceship, trying to avoid the fate of having to marry for money. She's resourceful and smart, coming up with her own water-filtration system that could make money for her family while saving her from a marriage of convenience. But then it slowly devolves into a pointless YA romance, childish and overdramatic, and by the end, I lost all respect for Leo and this story.

Leo pines for her ex-fiancé, who she broke up with years ago. Now he's back, and she spends the entire book making eyes at him, while feeling hurt that he doesn't love her back, while giving signs that she hates him, while being sad that he's dating other girls. Ugh, I wanted to stab my eyes out. Please girl, figure out what you want! Stop giving mixed signals and expect others to read your mind, then acting so terribly hurt when they don't.

All the drama in this book is pretty much people not saying what they should, so there's a lot of misunderstandings. Leo, in particular, has serious trouble with honest communication. She'll do something strange, then refuse to explain, and then act like a martyr when others get mad at her. She chases after two different guys because she can't make up her mind, and honestly, she doesn't deserve either. And she keeps drinking like a fish to de-stress because her life is SO hard. Please, my eyes have rolled out of my head.

She's also portrayed as a privileged princess who can afford to look down her nose at others. She talks a good talk about how there should be justice for all, but when it comes down to it, she takes the easy road because her family and connections make it possible for her to do so. Meanwhile, she passes judgement on others who have to make considerably harder decisions in order to eat and live.

In the end, this was such a disappointing read. Leo is so annoying that it's hard to cheer for a character like that. The plot is silly, and it's barely a real one since all the drama is manufactured by people who can't communicate honestly with each other or refuse to listen. I'm looking for books right now to help me relax and take me away into a fantasy world, but this book just made me angry.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars

[Evgeny Velikhov] asked Deputy Minister Silayev to call Gorbachev with a message: "Tell him that our outhouse is overflowing, and they'll have to climb a mountain of shit."

Midnight in Chernobyl is a comprehensive account of the events leading up to and resulting from the meltdown of Reactor Number Four at Chernobyl power station. It details not only the technical failures that led to the meltdown, but also the interpersonal dynamics and prevailing attitudes of secrecy and sycophancy within the USSR governmental structure that contributed to the disaster. It also explores the subsequent confusion around how to contain the nuclear fallout and the monumental efforts by so many firefighters, plant operators, scientists, doctors, and ordinary citizens to undo the damage and save lives.

I went in knowing almost nothing about Chernobyl, and found it absolutely fascinating and eye-opening. The author did a great job building a cohesive narrative out of what must have been hundreds of people's testimonies and a considerable amount of data, likely obscured by secrecy and the passage of time. I found I had no trouble understanding the technical explanations around how the reactor worked and what led to its ultimate meltdown.

One of the things I found most interesting is the book's exploration of the part that cultural and interpersonal dysfunctions played in contributing to and exacerbating the after-effects of the meltdown.

When General Pikalov... forecast the decontamination work would take up to seven years to complete... the hardline Politburo member Yegor Ligachev exploded in fury. He told Pikalov he would have seven months. "And if you haven't done it by then, we'll relieve you of your Party card!" "Esteemed Yegor Kuzmich," the general replied, "if that is the situation, you needn't wait seven months to take my Party card. You can have it now."

There were so many nuggets of gold like this one within the book. The focus on each individual person, and their motivations and emotions, brought them to life on the pages. It turned what could have been a dry nonfiction account into a captivating read.

If you've ever been curious about what happened at Chernobyl, I highly recommend this book. It's accessible to the layman, and contains so many insightful and often inadvertently humorous passages on what went so horribly wrong and the heroic effort to set it right. Especially at this time, when we are all dealing with a viral disaster in the making, it can offer a bit of relief to escape and read about a completely different disaster from the past.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

Perfect Little Children starts out with Beth driving by the home of her best friend, Flora, who she lost touch with 12 years ago. She knows she shouldn't be there, but she's so curious about her friend. She sees Flora call out to her children Thomas and Emily to get out of the car, but the children who appear look exactly the same as the children Beth remembers, aged five and three, from 12 years ago. They should be teenagers now, but the children Beth sees haven't aged a bit, as if they've been frozen in time.

Isn't that just the craziest premise for a book you've ever heard? It sounded so intriguing to me, I knew I had to read it. And it turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for, twisty and turny, with so many secrets and mysteries that it's not clear where one ends and another begins. I honestly couldn't put it down.

One thing I particularly enjoyed about this story is that all the things I'm mulling over and trying to puzzle out, it's all spelled out in the book too as dialog between Beth and her husband and her daughter. In particular, her daughter Zannah is a hoot, coming up with clever observations and just offering general insight and support for Beth throughout the whole ordeal.

For maximum reading pleasure, there are a few things a prospective reader should keep in mind. The most important is that Beth, our narrator/self-styled detective, has absolutely no understanding of personal boundaries or limits, and you the reader must accept this. If you don't and you question it, her actions will drive you crazy. She pretty much acts like a relentless and obsessive loony through the whole book, sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and essentially hounding the people in Flora's circle until she got answers. If you think about it, who would do this for a friend they haven't seen for twelve years? Well, no one, is the answer.

The other is that when a premise is so amazing like this one, it's best to keep one's expectations tempered when it comes to the actual explanation. After all, it still has to fit within the boundaries of reality and science (unless it's paranormal). I found the ending satisfactory and interesting, but it wasn't jaw-dropping amazing. No, I thoroughly enjoyed this book for the journey, and the ending was sufficient to wrap everything up.

For me, this reads more like a mystery than a thriller, and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much (since I usually find thrillers to be more hokey than thrilling). The process of trying to figure everything out was so fun and entertaining, it was almost a letdown when I reached the end and it was all explained. I wanted to keep reading more of Beth's zany antics and Zannah's sage perspectives. This story is so unique, weird, disturbing, and strange, and I'm glad I picked it up.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

Love Her or Lose Her is the story of Rosie and Dominic. They were high school sweethearts who were madly in love, but somehow in the ten years they've been married, their connection has faded. Now Rosie realizes that if she ever wants to salvage their love for each other, they must fight hard to rediscover what made them fall in love in the first place.

I've been eagerly anticipating this release ever since I read and adored the first book in the series last year. And boy, does it deliver! Most romances focus on the initial honeymoon phase, when couples meet and fall in love and everything's perfect. Yet everyone can relate to a long relationship slowly losing its vitality as the years pile on and the drudgery of real life takes its toll. That's why I found this story to be particularly appealing.

I adore Tessa Bailey's writing because her couples are always so passionate and fun, and there's so much heart in their love stories. Of course, she delivers her trademark steamy sex scenes, so just be warned, as they can be a bit shocking if you haven't read anything by her before and thought this was an innocent rom-com from the cover.

If I had to settle on a minor quib, it would be that the ending felt drawn out. It seems like the couple had resolved everything, but Dominic was holding back one more thing and there was no reason for it. He could've told the truth much earlier. As a result, my attention waned a bit, and I kept being surprised that I hadn't reached the end yet.

So far I'm two for two with this series, and I can't wait to read more. It looks like the next book will be out in the fall, and I'm already counting down the days.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

Foul Is Fair is so wild and crazy! Like, what did I just read?

Jade wakes up after having been drugged and raped by four boys at a party. She and her friends vow revenge, and will stop at nothing to set right what has been wronged. She plots to destroy each of the boys, along with anyone who has turned a blind eye and enabled their behavior.

No doubt a lot of the appeal of this book is its boldness at tackling a crime whose punishment, in the real world, is often lacking or non-existent. It is unapologetic and fearless in its drive for justice and its thirst for vengeance. It feels right and good to read about a fantasy world where a powerless victim can go on to seek justice with their own hands, and I found myself cheering Jade on through each step of her journey.

This is probably the most bloodthirsty book I've ever read. I noticed it's marketed for young adults, but the content may be a bit too much for that age group. With all the violence and brutality, I sometimes felt a little distanced from the action and the characters. Some of the emotional connection is missing for me. It's extreme fantasy, and it mostly glosses over the nuances and long-term impact of emotional trauma.

Still, it was an interesting and unique story, one I'm happy to have picked up and read. Most books following the aftermath of rape and trauma feel unsatisfying because the victim never receives the justice they so rightfully deserve. This book turns that on its head. It's cathartic to immerse myself in a world where vengeance is served, and bad people get what's coming to them.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

Whenever I see anything about plural marriages, I'm always fascinated. Let's be honest, one marriage is hard enough... who's got the energy to sign up for more than one at the same time?

Thursday is married to Seth, but he also has two other wives. None of them have ever met or know much about each other. One day, Thursday finds a receipt in Seth's pocket for a woman named Hannah, and she deduces it's one of his other wives. She's so curious and starts digging around. As she does, she realizes that something isn't quite right. So what secrets is Seth hiding? And who are his other wives?

I picked up The Wives more or less on a lark. It had been getting great reviews, the premise is interesting enough, and plural marriages just sealed the deal. And the first half delivered. It was entertaining and interesting, focusing on the mystery of the other wives and what secrets Seth could be hiding.

Then, the book took a left turn and became a different story altogether (at least to me). It started being crazy, with so many convoluted twists, all of which are ridiculous and cannot possibly happen. Even the characters became different people. It feels like the author made a list of the craziest things she could think of, and then wrote them all into the second half. And just when I thought it was over, we are hit with one last parting shot right at the end, just to cement the insanity.

Sigh. I was promised one story, and it was a good one. I was following along, happily reading and anticipating what's to come, and then it zoomed into a completely different direction. In doing so, it abandoned the story I was hoping for. The disappointment of realizing I'll never know what happened in the story I thought I was reading is a sad and unsatisfactory pill to swallow.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars