Marshmallow’s reviews

Marshmallow reviews The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French

Today Marshmallow is reviewing The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French, published in 2026. The book bunnies are delighted to be reviewing this book as part of a Blog Tour for The Good Mother Test organized by WOW! Women On Writing.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, love, and mother-daughter relationships, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Emily loses her house to the bank when she is eighteen. Her family is forced out, but not before she sort of attacks one of the people foreclosing on her home. Yet, she recovers and succeeds academically, refusing to let that loss stop her from becoming great. At her new high school, she meets Salina, who becomes her best friend. After graduation, the two go their separate ways but remain in each other’s lives. Salina works at a plant nursery and Emily takes a gap year, planning to start her freshman year at UCLA on a scholarship after. During her gap year, Emily gets a job working as an assistant at a company doing work she finds fascinating; as a result, she excels.

If it feels like I am speeding through these parts, it is because the turning point of the story happens once Emily starts UCLA. She eventually reconnects with her former boss and that changes their relationship status to a romantic nature. Unfortunately, they make a mistake and Emily ends up pregnant. They are delighted by the idea of a child, but Doug (the father) ends up feeling like Emily isn’t right for him. He takes good care of her during the pregnancy and makes sure she is supported after, but he leaves Emily to shoulder parenting mostly by herself. Emily—who had been feeling directionless—finds purpose in her ‘career’ as a mother. Their daughter Violet becomes her whole life.

As Violet grows, it becomes clear that she is a prodigy and Emily does everything she can to provide for her, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Doug re-enters their lives when Violet is relatively young and introduces his new girlfriend Amanda. Emily is immediately threatened as Amanda and Doug start to play larger and larger roles in Violet’s life. Amanda does seem rather benevolent in a way. She pays for clothes, education, and everything else Violet might need. Yet, something within Emily recognizes Amanda as a threat. Emily wants to be the best mother she can be, but how can she compete with someone who has everything?

Marshmallow is reading The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French. — Marshmallow is reading *The Good Mother Test* by Michael R. French.

Marshmallow’s Review: I found The Good Mother Test to be a very touching yet simultaneously strange book. The plot is very good and the story meaningful. I found the emotional connections and developments were very well developed. However, I did find certain lines throughout the book to be a bit off-putting. There were never any parts that were very disconcerting, but towards the beginning I found the characterization and treatment of a couple characters to be a bit bizarre. For example, Salina seemed sort of like a token who was treated and talked to in ways that weren’t right for a best friend. This problem was resolved very soon and other similar issues disappeared half way through the book. However, the book didn’t seem to recognize that some of these things were problems.

I found it interesting that all romantic relationships were devoid of emotion. The two main protagonists, Emily and Violet, are very detached from the men they are involved with. Speaking of which, intimacy is mentioned occasionally in a way that is more suitable for readers older than sixteen. The author luckily does not describe anything too inappropriate except for one time that was shocking to me when I read it.

The word I would use to describe this book is honesty. It feels as though it is written by a real person who went through a real story like this one. The author definitely deserves recognition for writing a book about motherhood while being a father. The style was starkly different from other fiction books I’ve read, more realistic and less focused on flowing rhetoric. This makes the world seem more grounded.

One thing that made it a bit difficult for me to relate to the characters in The Good Mother Test was the level of wealth they enjoyed. Amanda is incredibly rich and Violet, as a genius, eventually makes a ton of money on her own. As a result, they do a lot of things that are very difficult for most people to do. Jewelry, clothing, and lavish items are mentioned in almost every chapter. This was unusual (I am not sure how realistic their lifestyles are), but negligible.

Overall, I would recommend The Good Mother Test especially to mothers and daughters who are old enough to understand it and absorb its message. It is a very heartfelt book dedicated to the bond between mother and child, and reading this makes one realize just how beautiful that bond is.

Marshmallow’s Review: 97%.

Marshmallow rates The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French 97%. — Marshmallow rates *The Good Mother Test* by Michael R. French 97%.

Marshmallow reviews Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman

A few weeks ago Marshmallow read and reviewed Scythe, the first book in Neal Schusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Today she shares with us her thoughts on Thunderhead, the second story in the series, originally published in 2018.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked Scythe, the first book in Neal Schusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): At the end of Scythe, Citra Terranova was ordained as a scythe while Rowan Damisch fled from the scythedom. At the beginning of Thunderhead, their lives are going in two very different directions.

Citra chooses the name Scythe Anastasia (for the patron historic of Anastasia Romanov) and begins gleaning in a different way; this is poorly received by some and lauded by others. When she selects someone to be gleaned, she tells them a month in advance and gives them that time to prepare. Then they seek her out at the end and tell her how they would like to die (those who try to flee are killed by a location-triggered device she implanted in their arm). This is a very unconventional method of gleaning given that most kill their victims almost instantly—and that is generally deemed the most merciful manner of death. However, Scythe Anastasia finds her version of death to be more acceptable to her conscience.

Some scythes don’t really care about mercy at all though. One such scythe is Scythe Brahms who plays his patron historic’s lullaby each time he gleans, which is generally with bias. A new scythe, Scythe Lucifer, begins to take out corrupt scythes like Scythe Brahms, burning them so their bodies cannot be revived. Scythe Lucifer spares Brahms, but the endings of the many other corrupt scythes he did not begin to alert the scythedom to his presence. They call him a vigilante and soon realize that he is none other than Rowan Damisch.

After seeing the rise of the ‘new order’ (a movement within the scythedom that ignores the founding ideals of discipline and modesty in order to actively encourage bloodlust, self-indulgence, and corruption for scythes), Rowan has vowed to take as many bad scythes out of the equation as possible. Of course, this doesn’t go over well with the scythedom, even though some like Scythe Anastasia acknowledge that the scythes removed were undeserving of their roles.

While the scythedom reels with shock over Scythe Lucifer’s actions, the Thunderhead (the ambivalent, benevolent A.I. consciousness that rules over humanity as a guardian angel, running everything perfectly to create the perfect world) stays quiet. Scythes are not allowed to communicate with it—in order to create a separation between the two institutions—but they are puzzled by why it has not done anything to stop Rowan. The Thunderhead, it is revealed, worries that the new order will topple the balance that has kept their utopian world at peace for so long. And while the Thunderhead can’t do anything to stop the new order, it can hint certain things to a certain Grayson Tolliver, an ordinary man who was essentially raised by the Thunderhead after his serial parents left him (serial parents are people who spend their immortal lives starting families but never sticking around to raise them). Through Grayson, the Thunderhead saves Scythe Anastasia and her former mentor Scythe Curie from a murder attempt. This begins Grayson’s new life as the Thunderhead’s vessel for action, action it is technically not supposed to be taking.

Through the perspectives of Scythe Anastasia, Scythe Lucifer, Grayson, and the Thunderhead (though sometimes we witness another scythe’s life), we see the glitches in the system—both real and metaphorical—grow. The scythedom has protected their utopian world for centuries, but everything seems to be changing for the worse. This is the one thing the Thunderhead cannot fix; it cannot save humanity from the scythedom if it cannot save the scythedom.

Marshmallow is reading Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman. — Marshmallow is reading *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman.

Marshmallow’s Review: Thunderhead was an amazing book! I was absolutely fascinated by the first book and reading the second book has made me even more enveloped in the story. In Thunderhead, Schusterman shows how the characters we met earlier in Scythe have changed and how they have made new roles for themselves in their world. Furthermore, in this book, Grayson Tolliver is introduced and quickly becomes a central character. We get to witness his development and I am really, really curious to read more about him and how he will affect the plot.

The story line is ingenious and I found myself not even trying to predict what comes next. That was not out of a lack of interest; I was so enjoying the story that I was content to just continue reading to find out. After all, I didn’t really stop long enough to try to foretell the future. I am really excited to read the next book and find out what will happen.

Of course, both the third book and second book are irrelevant to someone who hasn’t read the first book. After reading Scythe, reading Thunderhead is the immediate instinct. Both books require the same reading level and maturity. Neither is particularly inappropriate and I think an eleven year old would find both intriguing. There is some violence and something sexual is implied at the end, but nothing is ever described in detail at all. This was perfect for me because I don’t mind those two things as long as I don’t have to read about it for more than a sentence! This was a good decision on Schusterman’s part because I think it makes the books more accessible and open to a broader audience.

That said, I felt his prose was slightly less flawless in Thunderhead. Certain sentences were worded a little strangely. Yet, this might have been a good thing overall because it made me feel like the book was from a future era, one you fall into when you start the first chapter.

Even though these books are set in a different time, the discussions about mercy, empathy, humanity, love, and what we owe to each other are relevant to everyone today. Thunderhead is very entertaining and interesting, but it also teaches values and morals that I think are crucial to a society hoping to reach utopia one day. As a whole, this book was absolutely amazing and I would completely recommend it to everyone.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words by Miya Ando with Joan Halifax

Today Marshmallow reviews Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words, a unique book by artist Miya Ando, published in 2025.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like nature and taking time to think about things on a deeper level, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary: Miya Ando is a Japanese American artist whose grandfather was a Buddhist monk. Her mother and grandmother practiced tea ceremonies, and this upbringing gave her a deep understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture, poetry, and admiration for nature. This book reflects exactly that.

First off, I should note that pages 104-240 of the book contain the 2o00 words referred to in the book title. These pages list each of the 2000 words in Japanese script (first kanji, basically how the word is actually written, then the hiragana script to tell the Japanese reader how the word is pronounced, I think), and an English pronunciation of the word as well as a poetic translation of the meaning of the word.

There is not much text in Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words. except for the Foreword “A Constellation of Frozen Moments: The Language of Rain” by Hollis Goodall, Curator of Japanese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Preface by Miya Ando herself; and a short introductory essay “Perceiving Rain” by Joan Halifax, an American Zen Buddhist teacher. These are each a couple pages long and explain the author’s perspective, methods, and some of the Japanese words that relate to the book. Goodall, Ando, and Halifax all mention words like wabi, sabi, ichigo ichie, “thusness,” and mono no aware. These are not part of the 2,000 Japanese rain words, but are ideas that relate to rain. They are all very meaningful and nuanced and are very difficult to describe. There is no direct translation for the meaning behind those words. For example, wabi is the sad beauty of poverty which forces you to drink tea but to also experience it more gratefully. Sabi is the beauty of loneliness which cultivates beautiful haikus and ink paintings. I find it remarkable how these ideas can conjure soft images in my mind and have such a simple meaning yet leave a profound feeling of wonder and appreciation for life. This is something that continues throughout the book. It is, after all, a book with 2,000 Japanese words that are used for rain.

Shockingly, Japan has that many words (if not more) to describe all the different types of rain. I also learned that Japan, traditionally, has 72 micro-seasons which affect the way one is supposed to dress and conduct tea ceremonies.

The first part of the book has 100 drawings by Miya Ando that represent some of these Japanese words. The drawings are all blue but they are all astoundingly unique. You would figure that there are only so many ways you can represent rain on a canvas. Yet, Japanese culture seems to have infinite ways to characterize rain and—in doing so—appreciate nature, its impermanence, and its existence (its “thusness”) in a way that so many of us today have perhaps never done once in our lives. This book presents this way of thinking to the reader and offers a sense of fulfillment just by being and a sense of wonder at how beautiful our world is.

If you are interested in seeing some of Ando’s work that appears in this book, you can check out: https://www.miyaando.com/rain

Marshmallow is reading Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words by Miya Ando with Joan Halifax.

Marshmallow’s Review: I was a bit stressed when I started reading Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words; reading it has made me feel so much better. The Japanese ideas of wabi, sabi, “thusness,” and others described in the book are reminiscent of a peaceful past that takes you out of the present and into a state of mind that is more ready to appreciate the world and the nature that silently surrounds us.

I will say that the writers are very verbose and some of their word choice feels overly esoteric. I had to look up a couple of words every paragraph or so. This, for me, was a worthwhile and fulfilling experience and I liked learning and trying to understand the meaning behind the complex sentence structures and SAT-level words. Yet, I do think this might be discouraging to younger bunnies or someone who is not a huge fan of hard words. I would recommend sticking to it though because the sense of calm and comprehension you get at the end is worth it.

Reading Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words and looking at Miya Ando’s art truly did make me feel as though I was in a completely different state of mind. Sometimes, I felt as if I was living back in ancient Japan and it was raining outside. This was a very interesting experience. Just like how the best haikus put a brief, impermanent image in your mind, this book does too. The authors discuss how rain is impermanent and how appreciating rain is appreciating nature and how things fades away and change and are created. Thinking about these sorts of things puts you on another level of thinking, a deeper yet higher level of understanding that does make you forget about daily stress for a moment.

Looking at Ando’s art is itself an amazing experience. It is amazing how there are so many different iterations of rain. Every moment truly is unique and never repeated. Japan is probably the first country to catalogue every beautiful, individual rainfall (the only comparable thing I can think of is that unproven claim that there are one hundred words for snow in Inuit).

I really appreciated reading Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words and all the hard work that went into making it! I would highly recommend it to anyone who has the time and is willing to push through the harder, more difficult reading at the beginning. The ideas are fascinating and beautiful and the paintings and the definitions themselves are beautiful as well. Or if you like, you can simply peruse Ando’s art work in bits and pieces. But taking your time with the book is the best way to appreciate it I think. Reading Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words really gives you the opportunity and duty to appreciate the beauty around you in the simple things of nature and everything in the world. We should all try to be a little more like that every day!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words by Miya Ando with Joan Halifax 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words* by Miya Ando with Joan Halifax 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta

Today Marshmallow reviews Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta, a book originally published in 2022 and recommended to us by a friend of the blog.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like romance books that do not completely revolve around romance or books about high school, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Leela Bose is a Bengali American high schooler who has competed in Speech and Debate / forensics for all of her years at Longbourn High School. She specializes in Speech because those in Debate are, as she says, “the mansplainers of the forensic world […] all arguing, no artistry.”

And no one bugs Leela more than Firoze Darcy, a Lincoln Douglas debater from the private school Netherfield Academy. Though he is “at least by appearance, just what a young man ought to be,” the first time they meet makes a memorable impression on both. They are at a Speech and Debate tournament, and Leela is singing “The Schuyler Sisters” with her teammates on a table. She spots Firoze across the room and then sings part of the song to him. Unfortunately, he is offended and later ends up telling one of his friends that he didn’t think their private school should have joined the public school league and that Leela isn’t beautiful enough to “tempt him.” So, overall, they don’t fall in love at first sight.

This episode reminds Leela of a lot of unpleasant memories from when she felt out of place in a White neighborhood where her dark skin and curly hair was viewed as anything but beautiful; the fact that Firoze is also Desi like her makes the insult about her looks feel worse.

Enter the classic enemies-to-lovers trope. Eventually, it becomes clear that fate has other plans for the two because they keep bumping into one another. Leela eventually starts to prefer another boy in their league named Jishnu from Regimental (a military private school). He also does Lincoln-Douglas debate, but Leela and he click. The fact that they both hate Darcy is also a plus. But some things he tells her about Darcy feel a little off, and Leela starts to realize that she was a bit quick to jump to conclusions about him. She also eventually switches to doing Debate because she is already very good at Speech and feels like there is no more growth for her in that category. Not to mention that she wants to beat Darcy at his own game. And she does … but it is him that eventually wins her heart (sorry, I just felt like this line needed to be used).

Marshmallow is reading Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta. — Marshmallow is reading *Debating Darcy* by Sayantani DasGupta.

Marshmallow’s Review: To be honest, I was initially a bit turned off by the premise of this book. I could tell it was going to be an enemies-to-lovers trope, and those make me sad because I am generally not convinced that if the guy is an unpleasant jerk at the beginning, he typically continues to be the same guy at the end; it is just that he starts treating the girl better or she starts making excuses for him and so on. However, this book was a pleasant surprise. All in all, I was relatively pleased at the conclusion with the ending.

Getting there was a bit painful though. If you like reading romance books that are a bit like torture and keep you waiting on your seat, then this is for you!

I liked the characters; DasGupta curates an entire cast of high school forensicators (as she calls Speech and Debaters) that are realistic, well-meaning, and endearing.

I was a bit surprised that the book went into the darker parts of Speech and Debate. There are discussions and scenes about sexism, sexual harassment, and sexual assault in the tournament setting. There is also one character who is groomed by another. This was jarring, but in a way that it needed to be. These problems do exist in all aspects of the world, and Speech and Debate is no exception. I think the author did a good job of showing Speech and Debate in an illuminating way (though she doesn’t show the sleep deprivation, anxiety, and depression some students go through). As a Speech and Debate competitor, I found it really cool to read about characters who do the same activity as me and a lot of things in the book felt very familiar. That was really cool to me!

When I started reading Debating Darcy, I expected to be disappointed by the romance but the familiarity kept me going and I was not disappointed. At the end, I was cheering them on. Debating Darcy is overall a very well written book; this should mean something coming from a person like me who doesn’t really like this type of book (enemies-to-lovers)!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rated Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta 95%. — Marshmallow rated *Debating Darcy* by Sayantani DasGupta 95%.