Puss Reboots: Blog: December 2022: Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)

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A Killing in Costumes by Zac Bissonnette and Melanie Carey and Paul Bellatoni (Narrators)
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) by Carrie Jones
Manor of Dying by Kathleen Bridge and Vanessa Daniels (Narrator)
Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott and Karen White (Narrator)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie and Hugh Fraser (Narrator)
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Tumble by Celia C. Pérez
Unseen Magic by Emily Lloyd-Jones
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

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November 2022 Summary

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Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape): 12/28/22

Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) by Carrie Jones is the sequel to Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend (2007). Belle is trying to move on with her life post break-up and is helping her friends buy condoms and tampons because she's not embarrassed to do so. She would desperately love to be having sex with someone but so far that's not happening.

Then things take a turn when Em misses her period. She's pregnant and like Belle, still in high school. Belle is the first person she turns to while she decides what to do. OK, decide, is being generous here as by about the second paragraph after finding out she decides to keep the baby.

I remember loving the first book which I read eleven years ago. My interests in reading have changed and I've read other books that tackle these plots better, such as Counting to Perfect by Suzanne LaFleur (2018). Now, though, I just wanted Belle to show any amount of growth as a character.

My initial thoughts after I finished the book still sums up my feelings about it,

It's like a Lucy Stone mystery but from the POV of a teen. Belle, despite having so many boxes ticked in her character sheet (guitar playing, dead father, allergies, seizures), she has zero personality.

Three stars