Leave it to the Prose

Love Songs and Other Lies was written by Jessica Pennington and follows two people, Cameron (Cam) and Virginia (Vee). This story switches between both of their perspectives and follows both their past and present. After her first heartbreak two years ago, Vee Miller is more than ready for a fun summer where she follows her bestfriend, Logan, as his band enters a battling band reality show. This also is great opportunity for Vee as she has her dream internship on the tour. However, all of this crashes down as she realizes that Cam is in the band; the boy who both stole and broke her heart two years ago. Now, Vee has to deal with the public's prying eyes and Cam's determination to get another chance with her.  On the other hand, Cam never intended to hurt Vee this much. When he first met Vee, he was running away from something that he never wanted to remember again. However, the relationship he formed with Vee completely ruined all that. Now, when he has a second chance to m...

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz is a coming of age story hidden within a large fantasy setting set in Earth. The story is set on the earth except, there are monsters that live in the sea. These monsters are hunted by people called sicarios, or sics for short. Regular people don't know about the existence of these monsters. The main character named Indi, is a sicario and lives on a boat with his three siblings. His older sister Beleza, his younger brother Oscar, and his younger sister Zulu. All of them are orphaned off screen in the story after their parents die trying to take down a monster. Apparently, that monster guards a treasure that Indi's parents were after. All four of the kids are after the monster together although some want to do it more than the others. Now the scene is set for the kids to travel around  the Mediterranean for shenanigans to ensue. Meaning and tone (spoilers onward): I would like to preface that this book is probably better suited for people around 14-...

The Silent Patient  is a psychological thriller written by Alex Michaelides. It centers around a seemingly average woman, a painter, Alicia Benson, who is one night found over the dead body of her husband, Gabriel, with a gun. It seems like a cut-and-dry case of domestic violence except for one thing: Alicia will not speak a word. The only expression of her thoughts and feelings since the murder is a painting of herself naked in her studio, with the word  Alcestis written on it. Alicia's art, especially Alcestis , suddenly becomes famous. As her case takes over the news, everyone believes they know exactly who Alicia is, a guilty psychopath, except for one person: Theo Faber. Theo Faber is a psychotherapist who became one to help himself more than others. He has wanted to work with Alicia ever since he heard about her case and finally gets the chance to when he gets a job at the Grove, the asylum where Alicia is being held. The story follows Faber as he tries to figure out w...

The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence was written by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong in 2015 and it follows a Chinese-American boy called Steven. When he is exploring a museum, he stumbles upon a strange ritual that calls upon the power of each of the animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac. Steven absorbs the power of the Tiger which grants him quick reflexes and astonishing strength. However, this power does not come without a cost. Steven soon learns that Maxwell, an evil man, is trying to steal all twelve powers for himself and unfortunately, Maxwell has managed to grab part of the Dragon power. Teaming up with other people who have absorbed other powers, Steven must stop Maxwell or consequence is death.  This book got straight down to business in the first two chapters and completely blew me away. Convergence is a fast-paced book that includes lots of detail and develops the plot well. The authors manage to grasp the emotion of each different scene and express it in the bes...

Zev McManus-Mendelowitz Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell may be the first book that I have spent more time thinking about than reading. A relatively quick read at 285 pages, the book gives an extremely unique and somewhat pessimistic take on success. With case studies that explore Bill Gates, John D. Rockefeller, the Beatles, Canadian hockey leagues, and Italian immigrant communities, this book aims to convince the reader that the topmost levels of success are mostly dependent on luck. From this main idea are other anecdotes, such as “proof” of the 10,000-hour rule, the trouble with geniuses, and theories such as why some cultures excel at math and how ethnicity influences plane crashes. Over a month after reading this book, there are two stories that stand out. The first is about Canadian hockey leagues. In all elite groups of Canadian hockey players, about 40 percent are born between January and March. This is no coincidence. The eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is January fi...