Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow

Title: Death by Bubble Tea

Series: LA Night Market #1
Author: Jennifer A. Chow 
Source/Format: NetGalley; eARC
More Details: Cozy Mystery
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley Books; July 5, 2022

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Two cousins who start a food stall at their local night market get a serving of murder in this first novel of a delicious new cozy mystery series by Jennifer J. Chow, author of Mimi Lee Gets a Clue.

When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn't seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it's a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale hasn't cooked in years, and she hardly considers Celine's career as a social media influencer as adequate experience, but because she's just lost her job at her local bookstore, she feels she has no choice. Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine's surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They're quite shocked that their bubble tea, in particular, is a hit--literally--when one of their customers turns up dead. Yale and Celine are prime suspects due to the gold flakes that Celine added to the sweet drink as a garnish. Though the two cousins are polar opposites in every way, they must work together to find out what really happened to the victim or the only thing they'll be serving is time.

It’s been a minute since I last picked up a cozy mystery, but I was instantly intrigued by Jennifer J. Chow’s Death by Bubble Tea. Set in LA and featuring two cousins (Yale and Celine), the book had the look of a promising beginning to a new series. It met all my expectations.

Death by Bubble Tea was the perfect weekend read to get lost in. There was plenty of talk about food (which made me hungry while reading), and I liked the setting and the overall way the plot unfolded. 

The characters, particularly Yale and her family, were developed well from basically page one, and I liked the sense of community that was established early on. The characters weren’t without their troubles, and that was explored alongside the other aspects of the story.

The mystery had a great introduction, and the portion of the story dedicated to sleuthing was relatively fun to follow along to. It was trial and error for Yale and Celine—something that was complicated by the fact that they were considered suspects where, theoretically, there should have been an ample amount of witnesses who had to have seen something. Untangling what happened that night was an interesting journey.

Death by Bubble Tea was a lot of fun. I will definitely check out the sequel.

About the author....

Jennifer J. Chow is the Lefty Award-nominated author of the Sassy Cat Mysteries and the forthcoming L.A. Night Market Mysteries (Berkley/Penguin Random House). The first in the Sassy Cat series, Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, was selected as an Overdrive Recommended Read, a PopSugar Best Summer Beach Read, and one of BuzzFeed’s Top 5 Books by AAPI authors. Her upcoming Mimi Lee Cracks the Code was listed in BookRiot’s Best Upcoming Cozy Mysteries for the Second Half of 2021. She is the current Vice President of Sisters in Crime and is active in Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America.

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Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Berkley Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

Music Monday (206): FKA Twigs, Louie Vega, Caron Wheeler Jimmie Allen

Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: One of my favorite songs from FKA Twigs' Caprisongs is her collaboration with The Weeknd. It's called Tears In The Club.

Adri: This week I'm enjoying A New Day by Louie Vega featuring Caron Wheeler.

Andrea: Hi all! This week I'm listening to Jimmie Allen's Down Home. Have a great week!

What are you listening to this week?

Quarterly Recap: April-June

It’s July, so it’s time for the second quarterly recap of 2022. As always, I’m starting with the reviews that have appeared on Our Thoughts Precisely in the last three months.

April Reviews:

• A River Enchanted Rebecca Ross
• Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega 

May Reviews:

• We Free The Stars by Hafsah Faizal
• The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah 
• Shadow Grave by Marina Cohen
• Monsters in the Mist by Juliana Brandt

June Reviews:

• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
• Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
• Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

Other April Posts:

• Short Stories I Read In March
• I Listened to Crash by Charli XCX
• Thought Corner: What I've Been Watching
• Quarterly Recap: January-March
• Break Notice

Other May Posts:

• I Played Horizon: Forbidden West
• I Listened to Serpentina by Banks

Other June Posts:

• I Listened to Hypnos by Ravyn Lenae
• I Listened to Harry's House by Harry Styles
• Short Stories I Read in May

Looking ahead, I don’t have any plans. I was exposed to someone who had covid and, at the beginning of June, I got sick. I’m feeling better now, but the whole thing just kind of derailed my month.

As for upcoming posts, I’m reviewing two of my most anticipated releases of this month and a recent (and favorite) nonfiction read. And, for later in July, there will be a post dedicated to Dawn FM by The Weeknd. Also, Adri is taking over one of the Friday weekly memes post, as well as talking about one of her favorite bands.  

Short Stories I Read In May

It’s the twenty-ninth of June. So it’s time to talk about the short stories, miscelanious posts, and podcast episodes I read or listened to in May.

Heavy Possessions by Seoung Kim (Strange Horizons; Issue: 2 May 2022)

Short Stories was on break last month, and to get back into the swing of things I read Seoung Kim’s Heavy Possessions. I liked the style the story was written in. The narrative felt a little detached—or at a distance. But it worked well with the contents of the story. It was about a ghost, a digital medium, and reflection. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Magical Girl Burnout Bingo by Lauren Ring (Lightspeed Magazine; Issue 144: May 2022)

The second story I read was Magical Girl Burnout Bingo. When I first saw the title, I knew this one was going to be something I would make a point of reading in May. I liked this story a lot. It’s kind of like a chosen one (magical girl) story with a twist—plus a side of burnout. It poses the question of what if that whole scenario goes wrong, and what happens to that person afterwards. This one was great!

This Village by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny Magazine; Issue Forty-Six)

The next story I read was a piece of flash fiction, This Village by Eugenia Triantafyllou. I’m a sucker for fiction that reads like a fairy tale, and that’s exactly what This Village is. Candy and pastry coated descriptions make up the invitation, which also hints at an underlying darkness surrounding the titular village. It’s there for those who need it. And if you don’t, watch out. This Village was a short but thoroughly engaging story.

From around the web…

• You Are the Hero: Learning Storytelling From Video Games [Sarah Maria Griffin; Tor.com, April 8, 2022]
• Print Run Podcast Episode # 149: Critique, Awards, and Subjectivity
• Understanding Horses: Changing Season [Judith Tarr; Tor.com, April 4, 2022]
• Our Opinions Are Correct Episode # 106: Waking Up From The Illusion Of Change
• Print Run Podcast Episode #150: No Thoughts Just Toucans

Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

Title: Our Crooked Hearts

Series: n/a
Author: Melissa Albert
Source/Format: NetGalley; eARC
More Details: Young Adult; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Flatiorn Books; June 28, 2022

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Secrets. Lies. Super-bad choices. Witchcraft. This is Our Crooked Hearts, a darkly gripping contemporary fantasy from Melissa Albert, the New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood

The suburbs, right now . . .
Seventeen-year-old Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a secret she’s always known—that there's more to her mother than meets the eye.

The city, back then . . .
Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.

Years after it began, Ivy and Dana's shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.

I rarely ever stay up to finish a book, but it does happen. With Melissa Albert’s latest novel, Our Crooked Hearts, I was thoroughly engaged with the story. And by the time I finished the book and checked the time, it was already after two in the morning and I’d read it basically in one sitting. Our Crooked Hearts was a ride. It was a tale of magic, ambition, the relationships between mother and daughter (and friends), and all the ways that those things could go horribly wrong when the cost of magic is thrown into the fray.

Our Crooked Hearts begins with a mystery, and the dual timelines (past and present) run alongside each other until they reach the point where they inevitably connect. It had the feel of a modern fairy tale: equal parts atmospheric and magical with the dark undertones of a mysterious forest that gives the impression of something lurking. It’s pretty in line with what I’ve come to expect from Albert’s stories. After all, dark and whimsical—magic and the importance of stories—were hallmarks of The Hazelwood, The Night Country, and Tales from the Hinterland.

The present side of the story follows Ivy. After a bad decision and an accident, her plans for the summer pretty much go up in smoke. However, ruined plans don’t hold a candle to the string of events that begin with that night. At first, it could have been strange but a coincidence. But things quickly don’t add up, and the strange occurrences take on a dangerous and frightening edge. Caught up in there was the fraught relationships between Ivy and her family, particularly with her mother. Mistakes, miscommunication, and long kept secrets are the kind of messy family dramas that I like. It certainly kept me turning the pages.

Meanwhile the past follows Dana. This was the part of the book that reminded me most strongly of The Craft—it was the magic and the tenuous comradeship between Dana and her friends—while also being a completely different story altogether in the end. Some bonds were stronger than others, but even well-worn friendships could change. They either grew or shrank as intentions became clear. Dana’s part of the story was heart-wrenching—marked by difficult choices and loss—and it also really demonstrated the danger of messing with things you don’t know.

Our Crooked Hearts is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

 

About the author....

Melissa Albert is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of the Hazel Wood series and Our Crooked Hearts, and a former bookseller and founder of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times’ list of Notable Children’s Books. She enjoys swimming pool tourism, genre mashups, and living in Brooklyn with her hilarious husband and magnificently goofy son.

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Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Flatiron Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!