Holly Quick Backlist Reviews, Bookman!: Week 1

Just to get through some backlog of books I've read, I'll post 4 super short reviews of backlist titles every Wednesday.

1. Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin's Griffin, 2019): Enemies to fake best friends to real best friends to lovers is the trope I didn't know I needed. Well-paced, heartfelt, and steamy, this lovely title will pull you into your new OTP. 5 stars.
2. Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo (Agora Books, 2021): If a gruesome retelling of the Pied Piper fairytale set in modern-day Chicago sounds appealing, you'll have a good time with this book. While poorly titled, this bewitching thriller will lure you in with inspiration from true crime, supernatural vibes, and a tangled web of murder. 4 stars.
3. The Surface Breaks: A Reimagining of the Little Mermaid by Louise O'Neill (Scholastic Press, 2019): With captivating prose, O'Neill will pull you under into the watery and extremely patriarchal world of Gaia, a mermaid living in the cold sea off the Irish coast. While empowering at times, at others it feels as though a true feminist message gets lost in a world of extremes. 3.5 stars.
4.  A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (Harcourt, 2003): While an intriguing premise based on a real murder case, A Northern Light fails to intrigue beyond that. At times the mystery is there, but most of the time all too familiar tropes trump. 2 stars.