All is Fair

This WWI YA spy novel was a pleasant surprise!  Most of the historical war stories seem to be about WWII, which is fine, but I’ve found myself burned out by the overexposure. But with this book revolving around WWI, it reminded me of early Downton Abbey.

Lady Thomasina—Mina—is called back home by her father to help with the war effort.  Her family estate, one of the only large estates that have not been turned into a convalescence home, seems empty with her mother away caring for family, her father’s secretive job in London, her brother Crispin missing in action, and her sister Margaret’s nervous temperament.  But Mina never expected “helping” would involve her hosting a play for the local airmen, stumbling upon a spy in the household, and a secretive American soldier named Lucas.  When secret plans start to go wrong, Mina must prove that she isn’t just a spoiled rich girl…she’s a girl with spunk and many hidden strengths.

I liked that this book had a strong female lead.  Mina is a very well-developed character that you can identify with, especially her need to be of use when everyone sees her as a silly girl. I also liked how it showed the old ways of life for England’s rich versus the changing landscape because of war.  Like I said previously, the forced decorum and social structure that is then challenged by the war reminds me of Downton Abbey, so maybe that helped color my perspective of this novel.  It’s very YA appropriate, especially for people who like spies and intrigues.  I found it to be a very well-done novel!

**Thank you Net Galley for this free read in exchange for an honest review.**

The Everlasting Rose

I read The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton earlier this year because she was coming to ReadUp Greenville (the local YA author’s conference).  The book definitely took some getting used to since it’s fantasy world takes a little getting used to (read the review here).  However, as the story goes along, you do get sucked into Camille’s tale.

The Everlasting Rose continues the story where the last story left off.  On the run and hiding from beauty-obsessed Princess Sophia, Camille and her friends must find a way to try and stop Sophia’s reign of terror.  Camille is determined to find all her Belle sisters (girls who grew up with special talents—arcana—to change people looks and personalities) before they are abused by Sophia, who wants to control all beauty changes in the country.  But Camille cannot do it alone and reluctantly accepts help from the Spiders, an underground web of women who reject beauty treatments and want to purge the empire of it’s beauty obsession.

I think I liked this one more than the first only because it had more espionage and spying with the first book focusing more on setting up the fantasy world and it’s infatuation with beauty.  Camille, her sisters Amber and Edel, and her guard Remy are all wanted criminals, so their plotting and scheming to get away from Princess Sophia—who has eyes and ears everywhere—was interesting to see.  The one part that was a little bit of a let down was the ending.  It seemed rushed and hasty.  I still had many unanswered questions, but it feels like it could be the end of the series…maybe?

Overall, it was an enjoyable YA fantasy read.

**Thank you Net Galley for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.**

Comics Will Break Your Heart

When I saw this advanced reader’s copy on Net Galley, I knew I had to snag it!  I was already familiar with the author, Faith Erin Hicks, through some of her graphic novels, Friends With Boys and Brain Camp.  Even though this one was not a graphic novel, I was excited to see her take on a modern-day Romeo & Juliet story revolving around…comic books.

Miriam lives in the small Canadian town of Sandford, a place that feels small yet familiar to Miriam.  She dreams of leaving to go off to college but is afraid because all her friends will be staying behind.  On top of her college worries, her best friend Raleigh is becoming more distant the more she spends with her hard-edged boyfriend.  One comfort is working at the Emporium of Wonders, a book and comics shop.  Not only can she save money for college, but she can also feel connected to her grandfather, the illustrator of the original TomorrowMen comic books who signed away his half of the TomorrowMen fortune to his business partner.

Weldon is new to Sandford and is living with his aunt and uncle for the summer because of his poor decisions that keep getting him suspended from school.  His father, the owner of the TomorrowMen comic characters, is also busy overseeing the new TomorrowMen action movie and has no time to control his out-of-control son.  Weldon, bored, finds the Emporium of Wonders and by chance meets Miriam.  His interest is peaked, however, once hearing his name Miriam visibly goes cold towards him.  Time and time again, the two find themselves thrown together, but can they get over generations of hostilities between the two families?

I loved just about everything about this YA novel.  Miriam’s uncertainty about leaving her hometown, family, and friends to pursue her college dreams and her troubles navigating her changing friendships.  Weldon’s complicated family relationships (divorced parents who both won’t take him in for the summer or find the time to stop his rebellious antics) and his public facade that many people can’t—or are unwilling—to see through.  They all felt very real and applicable to students today.  Then there’s the who idea of putting aside prejudices against people just because of who their family is.

Yes, it’s Romeo & Juliet, star-crossed lovers, but it also has heart and strength and vulnerability.

The Princess and the Fangirl

I love a good fairy tale reimagining, so when I saw Ashley Poston’s follow-up novel to her debut Geekarella, I knew I had to read it.

Geekarella revolves around ExcelsiCon, a comic-con convention in Atlanta whose big lure is the sci-fi franchise Starfield.  It’s your basic Cinderella retelling:  girl wants to go to comic-con, step-mother forbids it, a friend with a food truck (aptly named The Magic Pumpkin) helps get her there, meets famous actor who also turns out to be a Starfield fan, they fall in love, the end.

This book takes place a year later at the next ExcelsiCon where the reboot movie Starfield has just crushed the box office and the actors are coming back to announce a movie sequel.  However, Jessica, the main actress in the movie, isn’t thrilled.  She’s been lampooned online for her portrayal of her character and desperately wants out of her contract.  By chance, she meets Imogen, a Starfield superfan who has an uncanny resemblance to Jessica.  They decide to change places (in the style of the Prince and the Pauper…hence the title).  Now Jessica is reveling in anonymity pretending to be Imogen while Imogen is basking the limelight as perfect movie star Jessica.  But with a mysterious person leaking the next Starfield script online, unlikely romantic possibilities, and internet trolls, the girls start to realize the importance of what they already had.

I throughly enjoyed this book!  I remember liking Geekarella, but by the end, it felt like it was dragging, since we all knew the happy ending was right around the corner.  With this book, the tension and plot never slowed down.  Maybe because the whole story takes place over the comic-con weekend, so there was no time for it to drag?  Whatever the case may be, this one, in my opinion, was even better than the first.  I liked how it showed the ugly side of the Internet, how people don’t realize that what they say online does matter, and how insecure everyone is.  Imogen felt like she was never seen as herself, always in her brother’s shadow, while Jessica always felt like she wasn’t enough, for her fans, her agents, or herself.  It also brought up the question of being happy and how you shouldn’t try to conform yourself to other’s ideas of you.  

I think this book will be a great book for those geeky girls, the ones who feel like they don’t fit in when in reality they don’t need to.  Make sure you set your calendars for April when this book hits the shelves!

**Thanks Net Galley and Quirk Books for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.**

On Thin Ice

To kick off February, I started with this free teen romance book from Net Galley and Entangled Publishing!  On Thin Ice fits its genre well and knows it’s clientele, but it was just an okay read.

Set in Minnesota, the small town of Juniper Falls lives and breathes hockey.  Jake knows this all too well, as one of the star seniors of the high school hockey team.  But when a decades-long hockey hazing tradition goes terribly wrong, Jake is now on the sidelines and questioning his town’s adoration of all things hockey.  Enter Brooke, the new girl who moved to town to live with her grandmother.  She’s an outsider, and she’s dealing with the town gossip about her parents.  But when the school’s new JV girls’ hockey team needs new players, she decides to try being “normal” and play for the team…even though she’s never played hockey before.  Jake is helping coach the team, and he seems to be drawn to Brooke’s quiet strength.  But can she help him stand up for what he knows is right, even if it means going against the entire town?

Again, it’s obvious from the beginning how the story will play out…guy meets girl, they have a connection, conflict ensues, resolve by kissing.  But there is another facet to the story with Jake and the hazing charges.  It’s a conflict that’s applicable today with all the stories in the news about fraternity and sports hazing rituals.  It’s a good moral for the story, but again a very predictable ending.  The one thing that did bother me and I felt didn’t add to the story was the sex scene between Brooke and Jake.  I just don’t feel it sets the right morals for feelings-enhanced teens to see characters say “I love you…now we must have sex.”  There’s also a line between implied sex and explicitly stated sex, like in this book.  Anyways, that was the only part, as a parent and a middle school teacher, that felt wrong.

This book is actually the third in the Juniper Falls series, but the books are all about different kids in town, so reading them in order isn’t necessary.  

The Raven's Tale

This book caught my eye because it’s a fictionalized version of Edgar Allan Poe’s youth.  Add a little mystical fantasy touch and I knew I wanted to read it.

In school, you read Poe at some point, whether it’s The Raven or The Pit and the Pendulum or The Tell-Tale Heart.  He’s seen as one of the great gothic writers of the weird and macabre.  But what if he dreamed of being a romantic?  A satirist?  That’s the question this book revolves around.

We meet a seventeen-year-old Edgar Allan Poe, orphaned when his theatrical mother died of tuberculous when he was three and adopted by the affluent Allan family.  Poe is anxiously wanting to leave Richmond, Virginia, and cannot wait to start university classes at the University of Virginia.  But his adoptive father is threatening to not send him if he doesn’t stop his frivolous writing habit, his adoptive mother is constantly sick and in a fragile state, and the love of his life is being wishy-washy about commitment for fear of her father’s disdain of Poe’s lowly background.  Basically, Poe’s feeling pressure from all around to be successful.  So this is not the most ideal time for his gothic writing muse to spring from his imagination into real flesh and blood.  His muse, named Lenore (obviously), spends a year trying to convince Poe that telling ghastly stories about death is his true path so she can evolve into the raven she’s meant to be.

I really enjoyed the language in this book, the way Cat Winters weaves her words together using language from the 1800s (I guess it’s the English teacher in me).  The author also spent a quite a bit of time researching Edgar Allan Poe’s life to keep it as accurate as possible. However, the tale was just okay.  It was an interesting concept, but unless the reader is really into Poe, then I don’t see them really connecting with this book.

If writing that springs to life, ghostly specters, and tormented artists don’t catch your reading fancy, then this YA novel won’t hold your attention.

**Thank you, NetGalley and Amulet Books, for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.**

The Incredible True Story of the Making of the Eve of Destruction

I'm completely mixed about this book.  The first half of the book drew me in:  the 1980s culture, the elements of a blended family during a time when it wasn’t as common, the threat of nuclear destruction and Laura’s nervousness about it.  However, the second half of the book was a let down.  It was very over dramatic and just skimmed over events so it didn’t have the same connected feeling.

Laura wins a guest role in a movie that's being filmed in her town.  It's the 1980s and people are still anxious about Russia and impending nuclear attacks, which makes people a little edgy about the 1950s style movie about an accidental nuclear war.  Laura is especially anxious about mutually assured destruction because her dad works in one of the nuclear silos located near her town, however, the rest of the town can only talk about Laura’s mother new marriage to a black man.  I enjoyed hearing Laura's backstory about her family and new stepbrother Terrance, however, the second half of the book just made me say, "What?"  Some of the side stories got lost somewhere, and the details just got confusing. 

I was really hoping for a little more cohesive storyline, so it was a little bit of a let down for me.

**Thank you, Net Galley, for this free read in exchange for an honest review.**

Pride: a Pride and Prejudice Remix

I have a soft spot for Pride and Prejudice (as you know from this post and this post), so when my husband got me this book for my stocking this year, I was over the moon!

This YA book modernizes the classic story while also having its own heart and soul.  Set in modern day Bushwick, Brooklyn, Zuri and her loud Haitian-Dominican family love where they live.  Zuri loves the block parties, the old men who sit outside the corner bodega all day, her fortune telling landlady in the basement, and the sense of togetherness.  However, she has noticed changes coming to her neighborhood, the biggest of which is the rich family who bought the old dilapidated house across the street and restored it.  Zuri is worried that the Darcy family moving in is the beginning of the end of her close-knit neighborhood, since they obviously don’t belong with their wealth and uppity son, Darius.  The summer before her senior year should have been filled with college essay writing and sister-bonding, but Zuri finds she now must worry about her sweet older sister Janae falling for Ansley (the other Darcy brother), her two younger sisters emerging into the world of puberty and boys, and the sincerity of her her love interest Warren.

This was a great start to my New Year’s reading!  The characters were well-developed (or at least Zuri, Janae, and the Darcy boys are…no one ever really thinks about her poor middle sister Mary), and I think many teens will resonate with this story. 

You don’t have to have read the original to appreciate this one, however, it does add to the layers of the story to know the original.

New Year's Resolutions and Reading Challenges

I admit, I’ve never been one to pick a resolution for the new year (except that one year I tried to give up chocolate in college and it ended flopping like a professional basketball player).

So this year I’m doing something different:  I’m committing to a reading challenge.  

There are tons of reading challenges out there:  post a picture every day on a specific theme, read through the genres, read lesser known books with fewer review hits…but the one I’ve decided to do is the Unread Shelf Project for 2019.

My current unread stack of books

The rules are simple, read books you already own (or in my case, books that I’ve wanted to read but haven’t found the time).  I currently have a stack of 23 books next to my nightstand waiting to be read, another 18 books on my Kindle, and 71 books on my Goodreads “Want to Read” list.  And in all sincere honesty, I blame all of you for this.  You give me really good book recommendations.  My husband passes on great library finds to me.  Instagram is inundated with books, books, and more books.  I also blame myself.  I’m a mood reader, so if I’m reminded of a favorite book, I really want to go back to reread it (for example, I read Fangirl FOUR TIMES in 2018 because it’s my go-to book to destress my anxious mind).

So what are the specifics, you may ask?

• January:  read any unread book
• February: read a book gifted to you
• March:  read the book that’s been on your self the longest
• April: read the book you most recently acquired
• May: read a book you bought because of the movie/TV/theater adaptation
• June: read a book about travel or set in a country you’ve never been to
• July: read a book from a series on your shelf or one you already started
• August: read a book recommended for you by a friend
• September:  read a book you can buddy read with someone else
• October: read a book that scares you (can be its length, content, or genre that’s out of your comfort zone)
• November: read a book from your favorite genre
• December: read the shortest book on your shelf

Usually I read multiple books a month, so this will be one of my monthly picks to give me some emotional freedom to still moody read.

Want to join me?  I’d love the company and the accountability.

Happy reading in 2019!

Lois Lane: Triple Threat

Since seeing Gwenda Bond at ReadUp Greenville in October, I’ve read all three of her Lois Lane books.  She’s taken the iconic Lois Lane character and given her a spunky, sassy personality.  This third book in the series is no different.

Teenage investigative reporter Lois Lane has seen some weird things since moving to Metropolis:  cloning, mind-melding experiments, and cyber bullying.  Through it all, Lois has found a set of in real life friends (something she’s never had before because of moving around for her dad’s army job) and online friends (like her mysterious SmallvilleGuy).  In this book, Metropolis is full of weird sightings of silver-tinged teens doing superhuman things, like lifting cars and flying.  Lois decides to start investigating for her newest Scoop article but soon realizes that these teens have an odd fascination with her.  To make things more complicated, her cyber-maybe-more-than-a-friend SmallvilleGuy is coming to Metropolis for a birthday trip which means they will finally get to meet in real life.  Lois is also still trying to figure out if another online acquaintance TheInventor is a friend or foe, especially when he leaks a list of usernames to the government to retaliate for Lois’s snooping.

This book focuses more on Lois’s personal life than her news story this time, which is fine, but it makes the news story seem like an add-on story. She does (finally) figure out why these silver kids are trying to recruit her, but it wasn’t because of her investigative skills.  She found out more because she lied to her friends and charged into trouble without thinking things through.  

Overall, it was good book, especially since you’re already invested in the characters and their outcomes from the previous books.

Love a la Mode

This book is pure sugar and spice.  Rosie and Henry meet on the airplane to Paris, and soon realize they are both heading to the same place, an exclusive cooking school founded by Chef Laurent.  They are both excited and overwhelmed with their experience—Rosie with her lackluster cooking skills since she’s a pastry chef and Henry with keeping up with his academics and the pressure by his overbearing mother—but as the semester continues on, they realize that their connection is more than just as friends.

Honestly, this book was predictable.  The cooking school part was interesting, along with the diverse mix of characters from all over the world—30 kids from America to Sweden to Germany to England—but the whole story seemed very fluffy.  I kept mentally yelling at the book, “Why don’t you just talk to him/her instead of saying it in your head?  Then all the tension and drama would be resolved.”  

Did I enjoy reading it?  Sure.  Would I be okay handing this off to a high schooler, or even a middle schooler?  Sure.  I just felt like the characters could have been developed more and the teen hormonal drama toned down a smidge.  

**This book was just published!  Thanks to Net Galley and Disney-Hyperion for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.**

Grim Lovelies

Fairy tale stories have always intrigued me, so the premise of Megan Shepherd's new book Grim Lovelies hooked me.  The question:  what happens to the animals in fairy tales that get turned into humans?  And how hard would they fight to stay human?

In the story, Anouk is a beastie, meaning she was created from an animal by a witch.  She's spent her year of life cooking and cleaning for Mada Vittora, the witch who created her, but after a tense night meeting, Anouk finds Mada Vittora dead.  In fear, Anouk and the other beasties--Cricket and Beau--flee for their lives and try to find a way to remain human forever before Mada Vittora's spell fades away.

This book is pure fantasy.  Yes, it's set in modern day Paris, but the magic, witches, royals, and goblins dominate the story.  The first half is straightforward--introductions and survival.  However, the second half of the novel gets a little crazy, in my opinion.  There’s an Ocean’s 11-esque heist and a goblin party in the subway tunnels.  There are living topiaries and love interests.  And, of course, there’s deception and trickery while Anouk figures out who she can trust.  

In my opinion, it was laid on a little thick, but it does set up for the next book in the series.

**Thank you, Net Galley, for this free book in exchange for an honest review.**

Love, Life, & the List

Kasie West currently reigns over sappy chick-lit stories in the middle school world.  Others have cycled through, but what I love about West’s writing is that it sets up love triangles and situations that relate to middle and high schoolers without all the unnecessary sex scenes.  My (current) favorite of hers is PS: I Like You, mainly because of the quirky characters and their banter.  Love, Life, & the List was good, just not my favorite.

This story is about Abby and Cooper, two best friends since 8th grade.  It’s their first summer together without their other two friends—Rachel’s touring Europe with her family and Justin’s on a church mission trip all summer—and Abby’s realizing that her unrequited love for Cooper may be one of the things holding her and her art back, along with her fear of change and her agoraphobic mother.  With the help of her mother and her grandfather, Abby makes a list of things to do over the summer—from trying something new to facing a fear to finding out a stranger’s story—to try and help her expand her world for herself and for her art.

Like I said, this book was just okay.  I guess I was frustrated at Abby most of the book because she knew Cooper didn’t like her back the same way, but she still enabled him to have a hold over her.  I know it’s harder to do than to just say “let him go” but her own personal happiness was so caught up in this one person that I just felt it to be unhealthy.  I do like how it shows that having more than one friend group is okay.  Each friend you have can bring something new out of you, and that’s what I feel Abby finally realized.  She’d been a four-some with her friends for so long, she didn’t have any other close friends to confide it.  So when two of the four were away for the summer, it forced her to make some new friends.  I’m not saying you need to be friends with everyone but having diverse friend groups you’re a part of is a good place to be.

Lois Lane: Double Down

We all know who Lois Lane is, but what about her life before meeting the infamous Clark Kent?  That is what this series focuses on.  

The first book, Fallout, introduced us to Lois (and her thick permanent record that follows her from school to school) and her first few weeks in Metropolis.  This is the second book in the series and picks up soon after the first book leaves off.  Lois and her friends from the Daily Planet offshoot The Scoop are looking for new investigative stories, not just feature pieces, when one bumps into Lois on the street…literally.  Melody—twin sister to Matty, one of Lois’s friends and Scoop colleagues—is in trouble and reluctantly decides to let Lois help find out what’s causing her dizzy spells.  At the same time, James—another Scoop colleague—asks for Lois’s help to figure out if his political father was falsely charged with embezzlement, causing him to go to jail.  As the two stories unfold, they start to seem like there’s more than coincidental timing linking them together.  During all this, Lois is also still messaging with SmallvilleGuy, a secretive teen she met online who’s quickly becoming one of her best friends and potential crush.

This book, in my opinion, did a lot better job keeping the reader hooked into the story.  I don’t know if the whole “get to know you” part of the first book just seemed forced or if I was really just in the mood to jump in without all the background stories, but this one was fast paced and had just enough quirky to make it a really enthralling read.  Lois and her take charge personality really do come through (and I really like how one promo blurb likened her to Veronica Mars, which is totally true).  You get to see her soften up a little bit, since she’s trying to figure out how to be a good friend while also sticking to the truth of her investigative stories.  Yes, there are some plot points that seem far-fetched, but the story is in the comic book world where there are alien superheroes living normal, teenage lives, so does it really matter?

I’m excited to see what Gwenda Bond’s newest installment, Triple Threat, will bring to the table…

Nyxia

I (obviously) went to ReadUp Greenville this year, a young adult author’s conference where you basically spend the day getting to listen to authors talk about their books, processes, and motivations.  It was (obviously) phenomenal, like I knew it would be.  Usually going in I have read some of the author’s books, so I have my list of ones that I want to buy or are interested in hearing about.  Scott Reintgen’s novel Nyxia wasn’t even on my radar, but after hearing him talk about it, I knew I had to get it.

If I had to describe Nyxia in one phrase, it would be “Hunger Games in space.”  It’s set in the future when a new Earth-like planet has been discovered along with a new element called nyxia.  The problem is the indigenous people of the planet don’t like humans, but they’re peaceful with children.  The solution:  assemble a team of teens, promise them a whole lot of money for participating, train them to be soldiers and miners, and send them to the new planet to mine the nyxia.  Ten kids are chosen to go, but they soon find out that not everything is as it seems and everything is part of the game of survival.

First, I loved the diversity.  Everyone can find someone they relate to.  Elliott, the main character, is a black teen from Detroit.  There are also teens from Pakistan, Japan, China, Switzerland, Nigeria…and the list goes on.  The author also did a good job with making the characters each have their own personalities while making them not seem stale.  Another aspect I liked was the quick action.  The storyline picks up quickly from the start, and the science fiction aspect isn’t completely weird.  Since it’s set in the future (around 2050-ish) the tech they have seems plausible and the element nyxia gives it just enough mystery to make it intriguing.

This is the first in a trilogy, so hold on tight!

Lois Lane: Fallout

Superheroes are big right now, raking in millions of dollars in movie and merchandise sales (I should know…my son was Spiderman this year for Halloween).  But what about the sidekicks?  Don’t they get a story too?  This book is the first in a YA series that revolves around Lois Lane, pre-Superman.

In Fallout, Lois is a high school student who just moved to Metropolis because of her military general father.  She doesn’t have the best track record with her old schools, but she’s determined to make a new start at her high school.  Meaning she’s going to keep her head down and stay out of trouble.  It works for about five minutes, until she sees another student being bullied by a group of kids who are eerily connected.  She quickly finds out through her new job at the teen Scoop newspaper, a small off-shoot of The Daily Planet, that this same group is targeting kids in a virtual reality game called World Wars Three.  Lois, with the help of her online friend SmallvilleGuy and her new Scoop buddies, soon realizes how far this group is willing to go to get what they want.

This book was a splurge buy at ReadUp Greenville after hearing the author talk about it on the Girl Power panel.  I enjoy superhero books and finding one that I think my kids would enjoy with a strong female lead sounded interesting.  However, this book was slow to start.  Maybe it’s because I’m nothing like Lois?  Maybe it’s because her constant need to snoop around was slightly annoying?  Maybe it was just getting a feel for the story and the whole virtual game aspect of it?  I don’t know what it was, but I had to read half-way into the book to fully get invested in the storyline and characters.  They grow on you the more you read, and by the end, I really liked the development of her friendships with her Scoop teammates.  

If you have a teen into the DC comics world, this book would be an appropriate one to pick up for your middle or high schooler.  And the story continues into two more books! 

What If It's Us

Books are a gateway into different stories.  One trend in books, especially YA books, recently is modeling diversity.  An author at ReadUp Greenville put it best…in the past, author’s writing YA books were writing about when they were young, basing their stories on their own personal experiences.  Now the YA genre has expanded greatly, and stories have infinite possibilities.  You can read about fantasy time traveling stories or creepy monsters or just everyday personal conflicts. Allowing students the ability to see themselves in books is a great encourager, especially as a teacher who sees many kids who are reluctant about reading.  I always try to find books that not only their interested in, but also ones they can learn something from, and What If It’s Us would fit this criteria (one of the co-authors, Becky Albertelli, also wrote Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah on the Off Beat and The Upside of Unrequited).

The story is set in New York City, where Arthur Seuss is living this summer while interning at his mother’s law firm.  Originally from Georgia, he feels out of place, without any friends, and lonely…until he randomly meets a guy at the post office.  He feels they had a connection, but without a name, phone number, or social media handle, he’s at a loss at what to do next.  With some help from his friends—and the universe—he realizes that some people are meant to be in your life.  

This YA rom-com does feature a boy-boy romance, but it’s more than that.  It shows that no relationship is perfect—with friends or significant others—and hiding your true self is exhausting and emotionally complicated.  Both the main characters admit their faults.  They are honest with each other when one makes a mistake.  They fight with their friends and learn how to apologize.  Overall, it’s a very good lesson on friendships and how to maintain them when dynamics change.  

As with my YA books, parents may want to read up on the content before blindly handing it over.  There is lots of cursing, some underage drinking references, and some romantic encounters.  This book, in my opinion, is definitely more of a high school book but still has merit nonetheless.

This Is My Brain On Boys

This was a cute read by Sarah Stromhmeyer, who I already like because of her book Smart Girls Get What They Want.  Both books feature smart teen girls (yay for good role models) who are also trying to navigate the dating world.  

In This Is My Brain On Boys, Addie is smart…like genius smart (they never said it, but it seems like she has high-functioning Asperger’s).  She goes to a special boarding school where she’s trying to the Athenian Award, a full-ride scholarship awarded to a high school student who has made a breakthrough in the field of neuroscience.  Addie’s project, the Brain Adrenaline, Dopamine, and Amine Synthesis System (or B.A.D.A.S.S.), focuses on manufacturing the feelings of love through stressful situations.  Her life in on track, but there’s one minor problem…she’s starting to have feelings towards one of her test subjects who just happens to be the person behind a vandalism and bullying situation surrounding Addie the year before.

It’s just a fun, rom-com read for teens.  There’s nothing really objectionable (no language, no romantic situations beyond kissing), but it just felt like an okay read.  I really liked the characters and thought that they were very believable.  Some of the situations felt like a stretch (like the fake shark in the water gag or the fact that they have a fully funded research lab at a high school) but it didn’t take away from the story.  The story swaps from Addie’s point of view to Kris, her love interest, so we get to see both sides of the story and what they are thinking.  This does add to some background but takes away some of the “will they, won’t they” romantic tension.

For any girls who love Kassie West, this may be a good book to pick up next.

Heart of Iron

I had the pleasure of hearing Ashley Poston speak at my school right after her first novel, Geekerella, was published.  Her love for fandoms and all things geeky was really endearing to hear, along with her writing process.  Her second book is nothing like her first (a modern day retelling of Cinderella set at a comic-con convention).  Poston’s description of Heart of Iron is “Anastasia in space,” and she’s totally right.

In this YA fantasy novel, Ana is a part of Captain Siege’s pirate crew and has been since she and her Metal humanoid companion, Di, were rescued from an escape pod.  Ana has scars on her face from a fire she doesn’t remember and a melted medallion around her neck which she doesn’t remember receiving.  When Di’s memory core starts to glitch, Ana is desperate to save him and will do anything…even stealing coordinates to a lost ship that supposedly has unused android parts on it.  With Captain Siege, her group of outlaws that are her only family, and a tag-along rich boy, Ana ends up finding out her past and a hidden secret the top royal advisors don’t want leaked.

It’s a little bit like Star Wars, with space fights and quick flying.  There are droids (called Metals) who are HIVED (connected together to a single mindless server) so they won’t rebel against the royal family.  I admit, there’s a lot going on in this story, but it does all come together eventually.  Yes, parts were predictable and a few of the “relationships” seemed forced (you know I don’t do “love at first sight” with no plausible reason for it) but it was an enjoyable fantasy read.

Reader warning:  it does set itself up for a sequel, so be prepared for a cliffhanger!

Six of Crows Duology

One thing I love about reading is the ability to escape into a new world, a historical, place, an alternate reality…and this week I’ve been running around Ketterdam with Kaz and is gang of criminals.

My first Leigh Bardugo book was Shadow and Bone, a fantasy story about Grisha, people with magical powers.  For some reason I really didn’t connect with the story…too much fantasy language to learn, too much twisting alliances, and just not what I was in the mood for at the time.  But when I picked up Six of Crows, I didn’t even know it was in the same fantasy realm as her previous books.  I remember a friend calling it “a fantasy Ocean’s 11 heist story” and I was hooked.

Ketterdam, the capital city of Kerch, is run by crooked politicians, organized street gangs, and money (I always imagined it as an early industrial-age England).  No one understands the city’s underbelly more than Kaz, a seventeen year old ruthless lieutenant in the Dregs street gang.  His reputation as “Dirtyhands” has created a mythological air around him…and gotten him many enemies.  When a wealthy merchant approaches Kaz with the deal of a lifetime, he can’t refuse.  He only has to find a crazy crew, infiltrate another country’s capital, and break out a scientist who has created a drug that causes superhuman feats of strength.  No small task, but if anyone can do it, Kaz and his scheming friends can:  Inej’s acrobatic ability to go anywhere undetected, Jesper’s sharpshooter status, Nina’s heartrendering magic, Wylan’s pyrotechnics, and Mattias’ strength and inside knowledge.

The second book, Crooked Kingdom, picks up right where the first book leaves off (I dare you to just read one and not the other…), with Van Eck, the wealthy merchant, turning on Kaz.  Now Kaz and his crew are trapped in Ketterdam with the the police, multiple countries, and all the street gangs after them.  Like the first one, this well-thought out fantasy drama will keep you on your toes wondering how they will get out of trouble.

I think what I love best about this series is the author’s ability to make you feel like you know the city and the characters.  Even though Kaz is cold and calculating, you can’t help but admire his persistence and underlaying good deeds.  His gang is supposed to be the criminals of the story, but the way Bardugo writes it, you are rooting for them to win.  It’s like the Harry Potter series; you get so invested in the story and the characters that you ache when the story is through because you know there’s no more.

This book is a YA book, but I’d say it has more high school content to it.  There is (obviously) lots of violence, but there’s also multiple sexual innuendos along with one character being kidnapped and forced into prostitution.  It’s not so much a major part of the major storyline, but just wanted you to know what you’re getting into before you pass it on to your favorite fantasy lover.