Review of Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Dear Martin, took me by complete surprise and introduced me to an Own Voice author that I have not known before. Nic Stone has become, very quickly I might add, one of my favorite new middle grade and YA authors. Her storytelling ability is remarkable as I'm reading the book, I am picturing scene by scene in my mind and putting faces to voices. This character-driven story has impacted me in a way most contemporaries don't do. 

Dear Martin, made me look at my surroundings, my work office, my school, my church, my grocery store, and my neighborhood. I listened to how people said things to and about one another, and I recognize the injustices as soon as I opened my eyes. I am a white middle-aged, middle-class woman and even though I struggle from time to time to have money to do extra things that I want to do (I am by no means a Beverly Hills chick), I don't and could not understand what it is like to be oppressed in America. 

Dear Martin, opened my eyes to the injustices that surround us on a day-to-day basis. For such a small book to have such a huge impact makes me speechless even though I'm rambling on about how much I loved it. This is a book that my 12-year-old son will read. This is a book, that I want my husband to read. I want to gift this book to everyone I know because I want people to look past the notions of prejudices that we’re taught and raised with.  I immediately fell down a Nic Stone rabbit hole and just devoured my third book of hers and I'm ready for the next one!

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Review: The Dinner List by Rebecca Searle

Synopsis

We’ve been waiting for an hour. That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.

At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends within her utterly captivating novel, The Dinner List, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day,and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.

When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.

Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, The Dinner List is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.

My Thoughts:

I really loved the premise of this book. I mean who wouldn’t want to read about a character who gets to choose any five people, dead or alive, to have dinner with.  We all ask ourselves this question or have been asked by others at some point in our lives.  

Disclaimer: I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author herself.  While her voice was lovely, she expressed little to no emotion at all while speaking making it very difficult to feel what the characters were feeling. I then tried to read the physical book.  It was better but not by much.  

Again, while the premise stayed strong, the characters fell flat for me as did the flashbacks to the main character and her love interest’s past. I will say I enjoy the side characters more than the main characters. Conrad was delightful.  Audrey was more boring than I had expected her to.  Jessica is where my heart went to.  She was a strong character who kept being pushed aside because of the main characters selfish tendencies.  All in all, it was a struggle to finish the book but as it was for book club, I pushed myself to not DNF it.