State of the Onion, by Julie A. Hyzy, tells the story of a White House chef who becomes embroiled in a state security mystery. Protagonist Olivia Paras is an assistant chef in the White House, and on her way to work she stops an intruder from getting to the President. What she at first thinks was just a simple security matter becomes an extended plot that could threaten both the President and the United States.
We Were Liars is a captivating novel that intertwines themes of family, love, and the corrosive nature of lies. Set on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts, owned by the wealthy Sinclair family, the story is told through the eyes of Cadence Sinclair Eastman. Cadence, her cousins, and a close family friend (the "Liars" of the title) spend every summer together on the island, living a life of privilege and leisure.
One of Us is Lying is a mystery novel by Karen McManus. It follows the story of four high school students who are suspects in a murder case. Each of the characters has a unique background with many secrets that the reader learns about throughout the book. There is a huge twist that happens in the book that reveals a major detail in the murder case. Throughout this book, the characters made it more captivating and made me want to keep reading.
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds is a romantic mystery novel where Avery moves from D.C. to a small southern town and unravels her family secrets, and what it means to fall in love again. This story tackles both racism and homophobia in the United States, weaving a deep mystery. Avery has to reconnect with her tough, hardened Mama Letty. There is a lot of characterization of both Avery and Letty. The other characters help support the novel but feel a little stereotypical without a lot of growth.
City of the Dead is an adventure novel that follows the City Spies. They are a group of young spies that take on missions that adults can’t, and in this book they take on their most complicated mission yet. It takes them from the British Museum to Berlin all the way to Cairo. And, guess what, there’s a spy amongst the spies (better known as a mole).
J.B., Trey, and Ramon, three students at Promise Academy, are the three main suspects in the murder of their principal. They want to clear their name, so they work together to prove their innocence and find the real murderer. This book is told from various perspectives, mainly the three main characters, but also some other characters. Throughout the book, you get different perspectives on life through the different characters.
I have a confession to make. I first decided to read this because I thought it was going to be a story about the police’s neglect of the missing case of an African American girl and it was so different from that. That would have been wonderful but this was wonderful in a different way. Monday’s Not Coming is the fascinating story of a girl’s life after she loses her best friend, the person closest to her.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: Good Girl, Bad Blood is a book series that follows Pip, a teenage girl who solves local mysteries. Despite saying her mystery-solving days are over, Pip falls back into the rabbit hole of mystery when Jamie goes missing the day of town memorial. With the help of her friend, Ravi Singh, Pip begins to uncover what happened to Jamie, discovering some of the town’s secrets along the way. Since the police won’t solve the mystery, it is up to Pip to find out what happened to Jamie.
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, is a murder mystery-love novel that takes place in the marshes of North Carolina. The life of the protagonist Kya known as the marsh girl is on display showing her rough upbringing as her family leaves her and her father abuses her as she hides within the confines of the swamp. She meets Tate, they fall in love but Tate leaves for collage and doesn't come back then Kya meets Chase, the star of the small town but then Tate returns.
This book was written using three different perspectives. The first one was from a girl named Libby, who had just turned 25. This was very significant for her because this was the age that she would receive an unknown trust from her parents. The second perspective was a character named Lucy. Lucy, barely getting by, has two kids, a violin, and no permanent home. The final perspective was a boy named Henry Lamb. Contrary to the first two perspectives, Henry narrates the story in the past (1980s). Libby and Lucy are dealing with the present.
