Alice Chen's Reality Check

Rating: 4 for summer ridiculosity and mystery

My Thoughts:

Alice Chen does not necessarily stand out. She is a middle school teacher, mathematics whiz, devoted daughter and uber competitive A personality. In other words, she  is not a reality TV natural, but her fiancee, Daniel, has signed them up for a coupleʻs competition that could solve all of Alice's financial problems. Her mother is getting treatment for cancer, and on a middle school teacher paycheck, Alice needs to make an unnatural decision to leave her mother and secretly go to an island for this competition: Dawn Tay's Inferno.

Her fiancee is like a puppy dog. He is sort of clueless and functions on whim versus loyalty, but of course Alice Chen's high school rival is going to show up with a smoking hot partner. So predictable, but so much fun. The murder mystery just puts this summer read over the top!

I started this book just as my son 2 went on his own reality show adventure so this whodunit, rivals to lovers, romp where producers create the drama for, well drama sake, really informed the kinds of questions I would ask him (through his wife) regarding the interviews, "scripted conversations," and the competition itself. I devoured this. Unfortunately, my son is still away and still surviving in the show, so the stress level has not gone down yet. Still, this was a fun summer distraction. 

From the Publisher:

In this sizzling rom-com perfect for fans of Dial A for Aunties and One to Watch, a reality show contestant must fake date her rival . . . while solving a murder mystery on set.

Alice Chen doesn’t believe in true love, but she does believe in cold, hard cash. Buckling under the weight of student debt and her mother’s medical bills, Alice will do anything to make bank–even star on Dawn Tay’s Inferno, the hot new reality TV show designed to push couples to their breaking point.

The show is Alice’s chance to sip cocktails on the beach and win a cash prize of a million dollars. But when her fiancé cheats on her with another contestant, Alice is faced with a choice: go home in defeat or fake date the other newly single contestant—who just so happens to be her high school rival and sworn nemesis, Daniel Cho.

But all’s fair in love and reality TV, and Alice isn’t the only one who will do whatever it takes to win. When a dead body turns up, Alice and Daniel are faced with uncovering the secrets of the cast and crew to catch the killer–all while playing the loving couple on camera. As the show spirals out of control, Alice must crack the case and confront her true feelings if she wants to make it out alive.

Starring a murder mystery twist, plenty of reality show drama, and a thrilling romance, this debut by up-and-coming Asian American writer duo Kara Loo and Jennifer Young is the ultimate beach read.

Publication Information:

Authors: Kara Loo and Jennifer Young

Publisher: Quirk Books (June 3, 2025)

Print length: 387 pages
 

The Ghost of Gaudi

From the publisher:
Someone is committing barbarous murders throughout Barcelona, focusing on locations designed by renowned visionary architect Antoni Gaudi. The police have no clues, but a young woman is thrust into the investigation by a man resembling the late Gaudi himself, led to the scenes of the crimes before they even occur… could be a precognizant ghost?

My thoughts:
Yes, this is a  murder mystery and it is fascinating to use the graphic novel for this type of story. The art, by Jesus Alonso Iglesias is hauntingly beautiful. Yes, the murderer is positioning the dead bodies in different Gaudi buildings, but that is what is hauntingly beautiful. It does all the things that good graphic novel art does. It tells the story, it supports the story through tone and eye movement. It creates a complete package. 

In addition, this graphic novel is un American. I don't quite know what I mean by that, except that this book by El Torres, a Spanish comic, and another recent read by the Italian cartoonist Zerocalcare (Kobane Calling) are different in the way they approach story meshed with art. There seems to be a different lens to this storytelling that I can only describe as not typical of American works or even Japanese works. I like that about this book.

Finally, what this book did was introduce me to Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect, THE modernist Catalan architect whose building defy structure and embrace nature's organic flow. Barcelona is moving up to my number one must see place on my bucket list because even seeing his buildings on the internet make me ache as if I am missing out on something and I am at a loss because of my inability to truly SEE. 

New Orleans Requiem by D.J. Donaldson

Author: D. J. Donaldson
Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions
Rating: 4.5

Andy Broussard is the lemon ball popping New Orleans Chief Medical Examiner, and Kit Franklyn is his criminal psychologist who are trying to quickly solve a series of gruesome murders even as they are hosting a conference for other medical examiners, psychologists and criminologists.

There's something appealing about setting this fast-paced story in New Orleans. I have been fascinated with New Orleans post Katrina, from the cuisine, the music and the mystery of this place. Perhaps it's my HBO GO marathons of Treme. New Orleans, after this, is definitely on my bucket list.

The murders are appealing. A missing eyelid. A newspaper with cut letters spelling something and nothing. A countdown of the letters from KOJE to KOJ. A race agains the clock. Mesmerizing.

Finally, as someone who went to college thinking that I wanted to be a medical examiner, and ending up as an English teacher, I truly appreciate the massive amount of detailed research that Donaldson puts into this novel. This is the first time reading this series, but Broussard and Franklyn are so likable that I definitely will be looking for more books with these characters.  This is one of the best mysteries I've read in a while and if you've ever read Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpatta novels this is the perfect YA equivalent.