March Madness Mini-Reviews

Welcome to our March Madness Mini-Reviews! There are so many awesome books being released on March 26th, so we decided to combine the reviews for some of those releases into one post!

Malka

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This book follows three students tasked with creating a product that is the basis of their grade in an entrepreneurial class. As the only 3 freshmen, Braden, a trust fund baby, is paired up with Sara and Robbie. They end up building a dating app that has users rate one another to show who’s truly the fairest of them all. But of course, the founders feel a bit guilty about the objectification they’re causing, and there might be a love triangle thrown in the mix, so some drama ensues. 

I think my main issue with this book was how bored I was. I don’t feel like any of the characters were fleshed out enough, and I feel like the character motivations were very one dimensional. Nothing about the plot was surprising, and I questioned almost every choice made by all three characters in this book. Yet, I didn’t really care at all about what was happening for such a dramatic book. 

I felt that the tension and drama were unnecessary and undeveloped, and felt that the resolution was too easy. A certain character was a pretty despicable human being, but there seemed to be no arc for his story, which left me very disappointed. 

The two things I did enjoy about this book were the discussion on immigration status, as Robbie’s mother was deported ten years ago, and the aspect of building an app and a company. However, just as with everything else in this book, neither of those issues were developed enough for me to truly get the grasp I would have liked.

In short, this book fell flat for me. It had a promising concept of an app that causes the founders to think whether the money is worth the product they’re putting into the world, but didn’t satisfy me in its execution.

Chana

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I’ve mentioned it plenty of times before, but I’m a look at cover first, find out what the plot is later kind of girl. So, when I saw the gorgeous cover to this book at Comic-Con, I picked it up right away. Imagine my pleasant surprise upon noticing that Voices is written by David Elliot, the fantastic author who wrote another book in verse called Bull.

Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc is a book written in verse about, you guessed it, the final hours of Joan of Arc. David Elliot crafts a fantastic tale solely based on transcripts from Joan of Arc’s trial. Each of the poems in the book are written in a poetry style that was popular during Joan of Arc’s time. I’m a big fan of historical fiction and I love books that are written in verse, and this book combines the two of those beautifully.

The book was incredibly creative, there are poems from the point of view everything from swords to family members. I also love how educational it was, giving so much insight the life and death of Joan of Arc. I would recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of books told in verse or historical fiction.

Malka

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I’m so glad I read this book because it was a super cute and fun read! Eyes on Me follows Lily, who is forced into dance lessons by her father with the intent of having a stress free activity after she ends up in the hospital due to school-related stress. In order to motivate Lily to keep going to lessons, her father ends up enlisting Stone, the school quarterback and son of the dance school owner to be her permanent partner during lessons. As you can imagine, cuteness ensues from there.

What I appreciated most about this book was how it managed to be adorable while also dealing with important topics. It deals really well with grief and anxiety and I appreciated how both of these issues were discussed in a thorough manner. Concerns about not knowing what to do with your life and maintaining an image were also really well explored in this book.

I also adored the familial aspect in this book, and by that, I mean Stone’s adorable family. His parents and twin sister, Angela,  were great to read about, and I feel like there’s a chance we can get Angela’s story in the future, which has me very excited.

The story may have been a bit predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Stone and Lily were really cute together and I enjoyed seeing how their relationship helped both of them develop and grow, albeit in different ways. 

I’d definitely recommend this one for anyone looking for a cute, fluffy read that has strong family dynamics and a whole lot of dancing.

Have you read any of these books? Are you excited for any of them?