The Art of Us - Review

The Art of Us

By: Julie Wright

Publication: November 5, 2024 by Shadow Mountain

272 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Falling in love is complicated when you’re both keeping secrets.

On the surface, everything seems perfect for high school senior Ireland Raine. She’s intelligent and artistically talented, and her natural beauty and quiet charm are enviable. However, Ireland harbors a secret she’ll guard at any cost—she’s homeless.

When her crush, Kal Ellis, invites her on a date, she seizes the opportunity. Ireland has never had a boyfriend before, and Kal is not just a guitarist for the local band, he’s also an artist. Their connection is instantaneous, and he suggests they collaborate on the school mural. Working and laughing alongside Kal, Ireland can momentarily forget her problems.

However, when someone exposes her secret, Ireland ends up in a foster home alongside her most despised adversary, Mara Washington. To make matters worse, Ireland discovers it was Kal who revealed her secret.

Furious, Ireland must decide if she has the strength to forgive the boy who stole her heart or if she is better off alone.

I have been seeing the cover for The Art of Us for months. And every time I passed it I wondered if I should pick it up. Well, I was going through NetGalley and Edelweiss requesting books one day, and I decided to finally check it out.

Ireland has had a rough childhood. Her mother left when she was little, and her father raised her. Except, he hasn't done much besides provide a roof over her head and feed her intermittently. They've moved around often because he was always scamming people and running. Well, he finally scammed someone and fled but didn't take Ireland with him. Because they've moved so frequently, Ireland never worked to make friends. Thus she has no support system. She has nowhere to go. So she ends up living in a public, but not often used, bathroom. She doesn't want to leave the school she's in because she's been making decent grades for the first time. She finally decides to start trying to talk to people and make friends. And that also includes talking to Kal who sits next to her in first period. 

Kal sings in a band that plays at a local pizza restaurant. Ireland has noticed that she can slip in and grab some leftover pizza unnoticed, or so she thought. Turns out that Kal has noticed her snagging pizza. He realizes there must be a reason behind her hunger. Kal follows her one night and sees her grab a bag she stashed in a tree. He watches her go into the bathroom and lock the door. He doesn't know what to do. Ireland has only just started talking to him and he can tell she's skittish. But he also knows he can't let her stay there. He decides to speak to his art teacher who has been a good adult mentor for him. 

Ireland is confronted by the school and told a family is willing to let her live with them until she turns 18 so that she doesn't have to get put into the system. She isn't happy about the situation at first but does begin to see the benefits and gets attached to the family. Only there's stuff going on with Mara who Ireland doesn't get along with initially. And Kal ends up spilling the beans again. Only word gets out of his involvement in both situations and many people get hurt. 

I liked Ireland and Kal's story. They were both good for each other. And both are just kids trying their best. But I felt like the description built up their relationship like they have an epic love story when it just isn't to that level--yet. Mara might have been the character I ended up feeling for the most. 

Favorite quotes:

-For the first time in weeks, Ireland let herself feel her feelings. It was okay to miss him. It was okay to hope he was okay. It was okay to be mad at him. It was okay to feel betrayed. It was all okay. And maybe it was all going to be okay.

-And for the first time ever, she felt grateful to have had her own experiences because she suspected that savagery lurked in her as well.

-"Keep howling until your voice can find a different melody."

The Art of Us was good. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. That's the tricky thing about expectations. I did like Mara, Ireland, Kal, and the Washington family. The Art of Us gets 4 Stars. Have you read The Art of Us? What did you think? Let me know!

A Captain for Caroline Gray - Review

A Captain for Caroline Gray

By: Julie Wright

Publication: March 2nd 2021 by Shadow Mountain

336 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Regency London

Caroline Gray’s third season in London society ends as badly as her first two—no marriage proposal, no suitor, not even a glimmer of an interested prospect. She suspects it’s because she is far too quick to speak her mind to men who are put off by her forthright opinions, her eager intellect backed by a formal education, and her unconventional ideas about the future. She is far more daring than demure to suit the taste of her class. Besides, Caroline thinks there will always be next season to find a husband.

However, her family’s dwindling income leaves Caroline with only one choice to secure her future: a one-way ticket to sail with the Fishing Fleet to India, where the son of a family friend waits. If the match doesn’t work, Caroline cannot return home.

Captain Thomas Scott loves the thrill of the open sea, and as commander of one of the ships of the “Fishing Fleet,” he ferries scores of young English girls to the shores of India to find husbands. The voyages pay well, but he struggles to understand why families would allow young women to be matched with total strangers so far away.

The trips have always been routine and uneventful—until this trip’s first night’s dinner with one Miss Caroline Gray. She engages in a lively political conversation, presenting opposing viewpoints to the conventionally opinionated gentlemen at her table. Captain Scott is secretly amused and delighted at her boldness, not to mention quite drawn to her beauty.

The rest of the passengers are shocked by her behavior and Caroline finds herself an outcast, suffering harsh judgments from the other passengers. However, she finds an unlikely ally in Captain Scott which quickly draws them closer.

Both know an arranged marriage awaits Caroline at the end of their voyage, yet the attraction between them is undeniable. Caroline will have to decide if she will honor her mother’s wishes and marry a man in India whom she has never met—thus securing a future for her and her mother—or be brave enough to throw convention to the wind and commit to love a sea captain. He may be enchanted by her bold and unconventional ways, but will his love and admiration last?

Normally during *pregnancy I struggle through reading and reviewing books. I've surprised myself this pregnancy with reading just as vivaciously as ever. Until October. October is such a busy month for us. Our two kids have birthdays in October as well as my dad, Husband, and my nephew. Not to mention typical Halloween and fall events. Add to that binge-watching a series on Netflix and a children's consignment sale, and well, I had my worst reading month in years. That being said, A Captain for Caroline Gray is the first book I've read post-October. And even though I read it quickly, I'm starting to feel my normal pregnancy ambivalence towards writing reviews. But I'm going to do my best here.

I enjoyed A Captain for Caroline Gray , and I read it quickly. I could relate to Caroline in some ways. She's not interested in making herself like most of the other women she knows. She's outspoken in her opinions and knowledge. And this rubs people the wrong way. It was projected as a cultural thing from the period. A woman during this time shouldn't pursue knowledge in specific areas. But truth be told, no one likes a know-it-all of any gender during any time. But she fights to be true to herself even when she questions whether she should change or not.

The book description is deceiving. Thomas does love sailing, yet he hopes to secure his finances in a way that will allow him to settle down and get married. Sailing wasn't his plan, it was his father's. Also, the description indicates that Thomas knows all along that Caroline is sailing towards an arranged marriage. Two things are wrong with that. One, the arrangement she has is to go to dinner with a man with the potential to decide to marry him. There's no set agreement beyond that. And Thomas isn't aware of the arrangement until feelings are involved and confessed and acted upon.

There was another aspect of mystery and danger. I didn't mind this part, but the relationships are always what drives me to read.

Favorite quote:

-"There are far better ways to spend a Wednesday evening during the season than with people who work so hard to be fashionable that they will never truly be in fashion.”

A Captain for Caroline Gray gets 4 Stars from me. I enjoyed the relationship journey between these two characters. The secondary storylines and characters were just as interesting. I'll be looking for more by Julie Wright. Have you read A Captain for Caroline Gray ? What did you think? Let me know!

*This review was written in November when I was still pregnant but not posted to my blog until closer to the publication date of the book.