February in Review — Lit Chat, Vol. 16
Hi friends,
Not to start on a morbid note, but most of the books I read in February feature some form of impending death or loss—an awareness that time spent in a particular place, with a particular character, is precious and finite.
I spent most of February wishing time would go faster so I could get to something I was looking forward to, and then wondering where all the time went. I always feel anxious about not having enough daylight hours to do everything I need/want to do in the winter, but as spring grows closer, this anxiety has felt especially heightened.
At the same time, this month’s reads have almost forcibly prompted me to stop and reflect on this particular time in my life. There are so many things I’m impatient for this year, but at the risk of sounding very cheese-fabreeze, I’m also so exceedingly grateful to just be where I am. My loved ones are safe and healthy and happy and so am I, and that is no small thing in today’s world. The stability that currently defines this chapter of my life is a treat and a welcome relief, and I hope it lasts a long time.
Plot twists and lots of movement make for good reading, but exhausting living. This month, I’m happy to leave them to the books. Speaking of, let’s get into it! Per usual, if you’d like to get this post straight to your email, you can subscribe to my Substack below:
THE FOUNDATION:
The Dark Prophecy — Rick Riordan
I finally finished watching the new Percy Jackson adaptation on Disney+ and have been filling the void by once again diving into The Trials of Apollo series, in which the god Apollo is forced to live as a mortal teenager and tasked with the responsibility of restoring hidden or lost Oracles to their former power. I love listening to these books on audio because the narrator, Robbie Daymond, is truly the perfect Apollo in his smug superiority, blissful ignorance of mortal slights, and sheer delight taken in ragging on his godly family. Come for the familiar faces from previous series, stay for the new friends, monsters, and jokes at Hera’s expense.
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love — Lex Croucher
I first saw this medieval YA rom-com on author Casey McQuiston’s Instagram story (they did the front cover blurb), which checks out because the royal context and goofy banter in this book reminded me a lot of Red, White, and Royal Blue. Gwen, the teenage Princess of England, has been betrothed to Arthur since they were children, and their mutual hatred has lasted almost as long. She’s also had her eye on the formidable lady knight Bridget Leclair for long enough to know she’s not interested in marrying a man. Lucky for her, Arthur feels the same way about Gwen’s brother, Prince Gabriel. Cue a mutually beneficial and delightfully silly fake-dating arrangement, until a surprise betrayal jeopardizes the peace not only in Camelot, but in all of England. A fun and quick read, this was the perfect Valentine’s Day indulgence.
Heartstopper, Vol. 1 — Alice Osman
I zipped through this graphic novel in a day and promptly requested the next four volumes in the series from the library (which have all since come in! Yay me). Nick and Charlie are a year apart in their all-boys British prep school, and unlikely friends. Charlie came out last year and has dealt with his fair share of bullying and social fallout. Nick is a rugby player, older and popular, and Charlie has no idea why he’s suddenly taken an interest in teaching him how to do a rugby tackle. This was a beautiful exception to this month’s accidental theme because nobody dies! I’m thoroughly looking forward to spending March with these cuties and watching their relationship unfold throughout the rest of the series (and then binging the TV adaptation, of course).
SOLID SUPPORTS:
Family Lore — Elizabeth Acevedo
There was a lot of deserved buzz for this book as Acevedo’s first novel for adults, and having read her YA novels The Poet X and With the Fire on High, I was eager to see how her unique voice adapted to an adult audience. Family Lore did not disappoint. A sprawling family saga that spans oceans and decades, the book follows the four Marte sisters and their daughters in the week leading up to sister Flor’s living wake. Each Marte woman has a gift, and since Flor has the ability to foresee when someone will die, her family is understandably shaken when she decides to host a celebration of her own life on short notice.
Told through the framework of interviews-turned-memories as Flor’s anthropologist daughter, Ona, attempts to preserve her family history, Family Lore traces the Marte sisters’ individual journeys from the Dominican Republic to New York, and all of the ways their lives intertwine in support, success, and disappointment. Acevedo’s signature lyricism is most present in the descriptions of her settings, treating both DR and NYC as wild, magical, proud places, and the tenderness with which she portrays the Marte women and each of their unique struggles makes it easy for readers to recognize their own loved ones in their stories. I’m excited to see more from Acevedo in the adult space!
Stay True — Hua Hsu
This is a book about someone who loses their best friend, but it’s also a book about identity and belonging, love, memory, and preservation. The New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu eases us into the world of his early adulthood first with a depiction of his high school years, splitting time between California and Taiwan, forging an identity for himself as a loner alt-music fan, at odds with everything popular or mainstream.
This changes his freshman year at Berkeley when he meets Ken, a congenial, easy-going, trend-following frat bro who seems to represent everything Hsu resents, but who adopts Hsu into his world with such earnest compassion and interest that Hsu is powerless to resist his friendship. When Ken is senselessly murdered at the beginning of their junior year, Hsu’s world is shattered, and this memoir is the result of years spent working to reassemble their time together in a way that feels meaningful and respectful to his late friend’s memory.
On the night Ken dies, there’s a scene where Hsu is smoking on Ken’s new balcony, imagining all the memories they’ll make in this apartment in the coming year, only to realize within hours that that future no longer exists. This moment has defined so much of my thinking about time and loss lately, about how entitled we feel to an expected future, and how instantly it can change and render the past a previously unappreciated golden era we can never get back. Stay True is not a fun read, but it is a beautiful and powerful one. Hsu imbibes his friend’s memory with so much love and care that it makes Ken’s everlasting presence, both on and off the page, undeniable.
THE TIPPY TOP:
I’m Glad My Mom Died — Jennette McCurdy
Unintentional that the two grief memoirs vied for the top spot this month, but these were the ones that had the biggest impact on me. While Stay True was a quieter anguish, Jennette’s narration of her trauma on the audiobook for her memoir brought her past starkly into the present in a way that I couldn’t put down. I feel like everyone I know read this book a year ago, but if you are also fashionably late, Jennette McCurdy’s memoir centers on her relationship with her mother, a terminally ill narcissist who physically and emotionally abused her daughter for the sake of being able to vicariously live out her own show business dreams.
Having grown up watching Jennette as Sam on iCarly, it was devastating to hear her speak about her unhappiness with such candor and to realize how much of it we unknowingly witnessed. I think a lot of late millennials will share the parasocial fondness I feel towards the Disney and Nickelodeon stars of our childhood, so to learn how badly she silently struggled with eating disorders, addiction, and her mother’s harmful control through all those years we watched her on TV, the sadness I felt for her was as if I had been neglecting the suffering of one of my actual friends.
There’s a moment about three-quarters into the book where Jennette hears a therapist verbalize for the first time that what her mother put her through was abuse, and in the narration, her voice cracks. You hear her take a steadying breath and push on with her reading, and in that moment when her worldview is first shattered, my heart breaks for her, too. She’s only a few years older than I am but she has had to fight nearly every day to be able to exist in a world where she can be at peace with herself, her body, and her memories of her mother. Her resilience is awe-inspiring, and the fact that she can write about her experiences with such frankness, insight, and humor speaks to her prowess as a writer and her rare talent to connect with people. I truly wish the best for her, and I am also so glad her mom died and set her free.
Thanks for reading! Next month may very well see the transformation of Lit Chat into a Heartstopper fan page, but I hope you’ll stick with me anyway. In the meantime, let me know if you have any thoughts about these books–I’m always down to chat!
Until next time, happy reading!
❤ Catherine
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Catherine Thoms 