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2026 Book 44 - Tropesick by Lauren Okie

The writing was very strong, but I feel a little conflicted about the story itself. Magic pixie Katie adds glitter and sparkle to everything in part to force herself to see and feel beauty. Her golden-child brother’s life was tragically cut short, and the one person she wants to lean on, the boy next door and her brother’s best friend, Tyler, leaves her in the dust. Her parents seem to have forgotten they had two children, and it was heartbreaking to see her so neglected by their grief. 

When Katie and Tyler are forced to work together to ghost write a book for a famous romance author (Meredith), they have to face their pasts and where it all went wrong. They end up staying at the author’s mansion, and all the tropes they weave into the book mirror in real life. The mysterious author has a cat sidekick, and a history tied to Tyler and Katie. Spoiler alert: Tyler’s father was in love with Meredith, but she chickened out and pushed him away, becoming, literally, a ghost of herself. Katie’s brother was going to be a MLB lit, until Tyler crashed and the accident destroyed his pitching arm. They both got hooked on pain pills, but Tyler sobered up, and Katie’s brother overdosed. 

Tyler obviously has been through a lot, but his wishy-washy behavior was grating, and at times I felt Katie, who has been through so much, could do better than him. I mostly came around at the end. The writing was lyrical and enjoyable to read. It felt like a slog occasionally but I never wanted to DNF. (7.5)

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