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Looking for Alaska by John Green

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Looking for Alaska by John Green
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“How will you ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?” John Green’s novel Looking for Alaska unfolds in two distinct parts: before and after “the incident.” The narrative builds gradually, leading up to the event, fostering suspense and posing thought-provoking questions that keep readers engaged. Green adeptly captures authentic teenage angst, unlike Perks of Being a Wallflower and Catcher in the Rye. All three novels explore themes of teenage trauma, love, substance use, and existential questioning within a compressed timeframe. What distinguishes Looking for Alaska is its portrayal of teenagers grappling with credibility, profound existential queries, insecurities, and impulsive decision-making, often disregarding consequences. The characters in Looking for Alaska share similarities with those in John Green’s other works like The Fault in Our Stars. Despite their different genders, Augustus from “The Fault in Our Stars and Alaska from Looking for Alaska lack distinct characteristics that set them apart from each other. Suffering and the afterlife are prevalent themes in this novel. Alaska’s reckless and turbulent behavior originates from witnessing her mother’s sudden collapse and subsequent death, an event that leaves her frozen in shock, unable to intervene or seek help. John Green excels at portraying tragedy. His depiction of character demise is so vivid and poignant that it resonates with readers as if they have lost someone they intimately know. Green possesses a remarkable talent for swiftly establishing a deep and genuine connection between readers and his characters.

Looking for Alaska by John Green, (List Price: $6.99, Dutton Books for Young Reads, 9780525556541, April 2023)

Reviewed by Nichole, Bodacious Bookstore and Cafe in Pensacola, Florida

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Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Between the World and Me” is an honest, raw love letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his fifteen-year-old son, Samori. The six-chapter letter was conceived after Coates watched his son’s heartache at the announcement that there would be no charges filed against Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Coates reveals his own fears for his son and his frustrations with the world the boy is growing up in. He writes about the many senseless murders of black men; men who would still be alive if it weren’t for their black bodies. Coates tells his son, “You have every right to be you. And no one should deter you from being you. You have to be you. And you can never be afraid to be you.” Except the last sentence contradicts the world in which we live. Because Coates is afraid, both for his son and himself, but also of the world in which they live. The word body is repeated excessively in his letter. It is an insightful and persuasive argument that, first and foremost, we are a body. We are a body before any other distinguishing markers or features, and they embody a state of blackness. While this revelation isn’t new, the way Coates strings together his argument so elegantly causes one to pause and contemplate. His contrasts between human ideals and the stark realities of life rooted in racism are raw and painful. I found myself comparing this letter to Isabel Wilkerson’s masterpiece, Caste. While Coates points out the ways black bodies have been mistreated, his letter doesn’t provide the depth of contemplation and assessment that Wilkerson’s excellent work did.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, (List Price: $20, One World, 9780812983814, June 2025)

Reviewed by Nichole, Bodacious Bookstore and Cafe in Pensacola, Florida

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Honey Bee Mine by Sarah T. Dubb

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Honey Bee Mine by Sarah T. Dubb
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Sarah T. Dubb’s sophomore novel, Honey Bee Mine is a contemporary romance between a small-town beekeeper and a reformed bad boy who returns home after his grandfather’s death. Thirty-four-year-old Penny Becker has been obsessed with bees since childhood. After her father abandoned her mother, Ruth, upon learning she was pregnant, Penny became determined never to be a burden or an obligation. When her boyfriend, Henry, convinces her to leverage Becker Farms for a capital-gains venture that ultimately fails, Penny is left with just two months to earn enough money to cover her debts, or risk the bank seizing her thirty-eight-acre farm.Thirty-five-year-old Zander Bouras has loathed Sullivan’s Glen ever since his addict mother dropped him there every summer so she could get high, leaving him in his grandfather’s care. Known as the town’s bad boy, Zander rejected his grandfather’s guidance, constantly testing the limits of both the school and the community before fleeing town with his pregnant girlfriend, Mallory. Now a successful restaurateur, Zander returns following his grandfather’s death with his ex-wife, Mallory, her girlfriend Quinn, who also happens to be Zander’s best friend, and their eleven-year-old son, Winter. His plan is simple: renovate the house, sell it, and return to Boston once the summer ends.Everything changes when Zander encounters “Perfect Penny,” the girl next door his grandfather idolized and held up as an example of everything Zander was not. She seemed to have the perfect family and the town’s unwavering affection. But when Winter asks for a bee tour of Penny’s farm and Zander learns that Penny also grew up without a father, he realizes how flawed his assumptions about her truly were.Determined to save her farm for another year, Penny plans to revive Sullivan’s Glen’s annual Honey Festival. Thanks to her RJ and Winter, Zander volunteers to help. As the two work together, they must learn to trust each other and dismantle years of misconceptions, not only to ensure the festival’s success, but also while knowing that any relationship between them has an expiration date, as Zander intends to return to Boston once the summer ends. Dubb’s sophomore novel is a classic contemporary romance that notably avoids both miscommunication tropes and a third-act breakup. She grounds the story in realistic conflicts and enriches it with a diverse supporting cast, including a trans and ace side character, a sapphic relationship, and a mixed-race couple. Penny’s ex never appears as a traditional villain, which is a refreshing deviation from genre expectations. However, the antagonism between Penny and Zander dissipates quickly, shifting most of the tension toward saving the farm and Penny’s reluctance to share the extent of her financial troubles. Honey Bee Mine is sweet, much like its title, though Dubb’s debut novel ultimately remains the stronger work.

Honey Bee Mine by Sarah T. Dubb, (List Price: $19, Gallery Books, 9781668037874, February 2026)

Reviewed by Nichole, Bodacious Bookstore and Cafe in Pensacola, Florida

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