As soon as I saw that Melissa Brayden was writing a second-chance romance I knew I had to read it. Second-chance is one of my favorite tropes and BrayAs soon as I saw that Melissa Brayden was writing a second-chance romance I knew I had to read it. Second-chance is one of my favorite tropes and Brayden is one of my favorite authors over all so I didn’t figure I could go wrong.
Bethany and Reid were high-school loves and haven’t seen one another in eleven years when they unexpectedly run into each other. This alternates timelines between their senior year when they meet and begin their friendship which then evolves into a secret relationship and their reintroduction to one another.
I really loved the YA version of the story and found that fun and interesting. However, I wasn’t as sold on the current storyline. While I liked them and loved their history as it unfolded, I felt that they really didn’t get to know one another as adults. It seemed like they depended on their feelings from their teen years and it didn’t make sense to me how quickly they got back together. I would’ve liked had this been a little longer and developed their adult emotional connection a bit more. They do talk and reconnect but a lot of it happens off page but it wasn’t enough to buy their feelings after so much time apart.
Even with that, I still enjoyed this a lot and would recommend it. This is in typical Brayden fashion where there’s a lot of heart and banter. Not only between the main characters but between them and the people in their lives as well.
I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Merged review:
As soon as I saw that Melissa Brayden was writing a second-chance romance I knew I had to read it. Second-chance is one of my favorite tropes and Brayden is one of my favorite authors over all so I didn’t figure I could go wrong.
Bethany and Reid were high-school loves and haven’t seen one another in eleven years when they unexpectedly run into each other. This alternates timelines between their senior year when they meet and begin their friendship which then evolves into a secret relationship and their reintroduction to one another.
I really loved the YA version of the story and found that fun and interesting. However, I wasn’t as sold on the current storyline. While I liked them and loved their history as it unfolded, I felt that they really didn’t get to know one another as adults. It seemed like they depended on their feelings from their teen years and it didn’t make sense to me how quickly they got back together. I would’ve liked had this been a little longer and developed their adult emotional connection a bit more. They do talk and reconnect but a lot of it happens off page but it wasn’t enough to buy their feelings after so much time apart.
Even with that, I still enjoyed this a lot and would recommend it. This is in typical Brayden fashion where there’s a lot of heart and banter. Not only between the main characters but between them and the people in their lives as well.
I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
This was 3.5 but I rounded up. While I ended up liking this there were some moments that had me shaking my head and/or rolling my eyes. Like, I need sThis was 3.5 but I rounded up. While I ended up liking this there were some moments that had me shaking my head and/or rolling my eyes. Like, I need someone to explain why this girl's grandmothers couldn't tell her anything about her mother? In 18 years?!? Like, not even how she died...are you kidding me?? Also, how did no one else come across all of Tori's clues and journal entries over the course of the 18 years. I mean, some of them were barely hidden? A lot just made no sense, honestly. However, this is one that got to me emotionally so that's why I went with the higher rating....more
100% got to me emotionally. This was a cathartic read for sure. This actually made me feel lucky for my religious upbringing. While it was fairly stri100% got to me emotionally. This was a cathartic read for sure. This actually made me feel lucky for my religious upbringing. While it was fairly strict, it was nothing like this. ...more
Playing For Keeps by Jennifer Dugan is a young adult contemporary romance. It’s a rivals-to-lovers sports romance between a high school baseball pitchPlaying For Keeps by Jennifer Dugan is a young adult contemporary romance. It’s a rivals-to-lovers sports romance between a high school baseball pitcher (June) and student umpire (Ivy.)
This was a bad fit for me for several different reasons. Firstly, it’s marketed as rivals-to-lovers but that fell flat for me because they’re into each other by their third interaction. I would’ve like to see this drawn out a bit more. Especially given that their whole romance is a no-no with their sports rec.
This leads to my second point; their relationship moves so quickly that it bypasses the emotional connection for me. A lot of their development happened off page so it felt like I was being told about their relationship rather than seeing it happen. The reader gets the scenes where they’re dealing with their family drama and other things instead of the relationship.
This story is actually a lot heavier than the cover might imply but it wasn’t an issue for me because I’m a fan of angst. June and Ivy are both dealing with the loss of a close family member. One has recently lost her mother to cancer while the other has lost her brother, also to cancer. They have a ton of pressure on them about their futures that stems from the losses. A good majority of the story deals with this. I didn’t mind this storyline as it felt realistic but I also didn’t like how it to up so much of the story. It made the romance feel tacked on more than anything.
My last big issue was the miscommunication, or rather, lack of communication. I hate miscommunication when it’s used how it was done here. It made me wonder why they even wanted to date each other if they wouldn’t even communicate some basic information.
Sadly, this is not something I’d recommend. Hopefully I’ll have better luck with Dugan’s new release.
I received an ARC from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I received an ARC from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
“Wish You Weren’t Here” is a sweet coming of age YA story. While thI received an ARC from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
“Wish You Weren’t Here” is a sweet coming of age YA story. While this is classified as a romance, I’m not sure I’d go that far. While there is a romance, it’s more of a subplot than anything else. This is more about Juliette’s journey to finding self-discovery and acceptance.
I only went to summer camp once and unfortunately; I don’t remember much about it. However, this story has made me see what I was missing. Camp Fogridge is Juliette’s oasis from her home life and it’s the only place where she feels like she can really be herself. At home she’s a middle child that is ignored and considered “too much.” At school she has to deal with Priya, a social media influencer, that she’s known most of her life. Priya, while not an enemy exactly, gets on her nerves with how perfect her life is. Her plans to enjoy her last summer at Camp Fogridge come crashing down when she finds out Priya will be her roommate for the summer.
Juliette is an intense girl with intense feelings. She doesn’t make a great first impression as she is pretty insufferable to start. Because of her home life, she has some issues with her self-worth and being insecure. She doesn’t take Priya being at camp well and it takes a lot of work for her to accept the situation. Luckily, she has some friends that help.
Priya has known Juliette for long enough that she doesn’t let Juliette’s attitude get her down. Their relationships grows and evolves over the 5 weeks and I loved how sweet and funny they were with each other. I did have an issue with Juliette some of the time. She could verge on being a bully sometimes and I wanted to see her held accountable and deal with that more.
I appreciated all the queer and POC rep. I think it did a nice job of showing how differently things are now even if it doesn’t always feel like it. Especially with the younger generations. Race and sexuality were accepted without much discussion if any at all.
Also, kudos to the author. This is Baldwin’s debut and nothing about this felt like it. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to find out she’s written under a pen name or something like that.
I want to end by saying this felt young adult. I read quite a bit of YA and it doesn’t always feel YA. There’s a lot of teen angst and emotions and I appreciated that the author did make this seem like 20 years old and slap a YA label on it. ...more
I received an ARC from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mara and Rory were best friends with deeper feelings when the worlI received an ARC from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mara and Rory were best friends with deeper feelings when the world as they knew it ended. Now Mara has to learn how to be human again and live with what happened while she was a Tick. After Mara is turned from being a Tick, she’s sent to Rory’s to try to acclimate to things. Rory, who has survived without being turned, has had a tough time and is trying to survive their new normal. She hates the Ticks is unhappy that Mara will be joining her family.
No one is more surprised than me that I loved this book. Zombie, dystopian books really aren’t my jam but I’m glad I decided to give this one a go. I literally couldn’t put it down.
This was dark, intense, and emotional and had me stressed out at certain points. But I loved it. I liked the world building since most cities have fallen and only a small portion of the population remains. It was interesting to see how different factions are trying to regroup and live this post zombie reality.
It was also interesting to see how the apocalypse has changed people. A lot of people changed in ways you might not have imagined and I liked that Archer shows us how it shaped them. Especially how Rory and her mom basically switched roles.
I do wish we had gotten more of Mara and Rory together outside of high action scenes. I really liked their dynamic (the tension!!) but it felt like all of their scenes together had so much going on and I would’ve loved to see them once they got to settle a little. I’d love to see maybe a sequel to show life after the ending of this.
My only issues were there were a couple of instances where it would start to drag a little. I also needed more on Mara’s relationship with her sister, Carter. Carter plays a big role but she’s hardly ever seen and I wanted more out of those two.
This is one of those books that can be difficult to read but is also so important. I would definitely read the author’s warnings in the beginning of tThis is one of those books that can be difficult to read but is also so important. I would definitely read the author’s warnings in the beginning of this book before starting this. This book is heavy and isn’t easy to read. It deals with a lot, there are some lighter moments but the majority of the time it’s difficult.
I’m not 100% sure I’m qualified to write a review for this. I’m not autistic and to my knowledge, don’t have a lot of in-person experience with anyone that is. The neurodivergent rep seemed good to me but someone who is on the spectrum might have other things to say.
Ariana (Ari) is self-diagnosed autistic (her parents don’t believe in therapy) and is also selectively mute. Because she doesn’t speak, she’s been mostly ignored by the other students at her school. She’s desperate for attention when Luis starts noticing her. Luis eventually date rapes Ari (it is not on page) and she’s later confused about how she’s supposed to feel about it and him.
She receives an anonymous letter saying there are others that want to get back at Louis for the wrong he’s done to them as well. This group and their relationships with Ari and each other was my favorite part of this book. The group is diverse and Luis doesn’t do the same thing to do all of them. It was interesting what they had in common and how he used it against them when he did do whatever it is he does to them. But each of them respected Ari and her boundaries. Some had different boundaries of their own and I thought it was cool how they learned to mesh with each other.
The romance was something else that I liked. It’s not at the forefront but it is sweet and important for Ari. This is Ari’s coming of age story and I liked how she accepted her feelings and how to deal with them given she’s not had much, if any, prior experience. I also liked how the other person found different ways to communicate with Ari since she doesn’t speak much.
My only complaint is Luis and how much time/space he took up. He’s lurking on every page it felt like and I wanted to be done with him. Whether it was the group talking about him, Ari thinking about him or him actually being present, I just felt his presence far too much. Which is silly seeing how his name is literally in the title, I know, be here we are.
This book blew me away and I highly recommend it.
I received an ARC from Harper Collins Children’s Books / Balzer+Bray via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
This was an entertaining rivals-to-lovers romance. Vale is also ace so there’s that rep that makes this slightly different than other queer YA romanceThis was an entertaining rivals-to-lovers romance. Vale is also ace so there’s that rep that makes this slightly different than other queer YA romances out there.
I’m not a soccer fan and there is a lot of soccer here. Soccer is an area where you see Vale’s growth so I didn’t mind it.
The relationship between Vale and Leticia was my favorite! They’re long time rivals and them going from rivals to more was sweet and funny. ...more
“Where Echoes Die” by Courtney Gould is a sci-fi YA queer book that I had hoped to like. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
Beck Birsching is 17 wh“Where Echoes Die” by Courtney Gould is a sci-fi YA queer book that I had hoped to like. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
Beck Birsching is 17 when her mom dies. She receives a letter afterwards from her mom telling her to come and find her. Beck lies to her dad and with her sister Riley, decides to head to Backravel, Arizona, where her mom spent the last few years writing an investigative report. Riley doesn’t know the real reason for the trip and believes they’re just going on vacation before moving to Texas with their dad.
The town is strange and the people are even more strange. They don’t drive cars and there are no pets or churches or cemeteries. What this book has going for it is that it’s atmospheric and creepy and weird. Gould was wonderful with the little details that made me uncomfortable while reading.
There’s a mystery and while I liked it for the most part, but the ending left me confused. I was expecting to get the answers but there’s still a lot left unexplained by the end.
There’s also a side romance with Avery, the leader of the town’s daughter. I wasn’t thrilled with the romance and would not read this if you’re looking for any romance as it’s very underdeveloped. The town of Backravel plays with time and memories and the romance was a victim of that so it seemed rather pointless.
I may have liked this more if I had liked Beck more. She starts the trip by lying and does so until the end. It takes her sister almost dying before she lets the truth come out and I found that hard to accept while rooting for her.
I recommend Gould’s “The Dead and the Dark” over this one.
I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
This book was not for me. I generally love YA and don’t mind the dramatics and emotional turmoil that goes along with it. However, this time it was toThis book was not for me. I generally love YA and don’t mind the dramatics and emotional turmoil that goes along with it. However, this time it was too much.
“Out of Character” is about Cass, a self-described fat lesbian nerd. And I loved this about her. Unfortunately, those were the only things I loved. Almost every single issue Cass had was brought on by herself. She lied to everyone she knew and kept making things worse for herself. She kept her role-playing life away from her “real life” friends and family. She also lied by omission to her role-playing friends by not telling them that the people in her real life didn’t know about them. This becomes a major issue so that’s why I mention it.
I just didn’t see how in 2023 it’s a big deal to have online friends and to play role-playing games. I probably can list off 5 people I know for sure that do that and no one cares. I don’t see the big deal and thought it was ridiculous why she was hiding her online activities.
Also, she’s a terrible girlfriend. Because of the lying about her role-playing, which is a big part of her life, she’s always lying to her girlfriend. She chooses her online life over Taylor time and time again and doesn’t seem to really want much to do with her. Why have a girlfriend if you won’t make time for her?
I think if you’re interested in this book then read other reviews. I’m sure others enjoyed this far more than I did.
I received an ARC from HarperCollins Children’s Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
“The Girl Next Door” by Cecilia Vinesse is a queer YA contemporary romance.
I found this to be mostly sweet but with some storytelling that i3.5 Stars
“The Girl Next Door” by Cecilia Vinesse is a queer YA contemporary romance.
I found this to be mostly sweet but with some storytelling that isn’t my jam.
Cleo is starting her senior year and she has plans. However, her plans are railroaded over the summer when her boyfriend cheats on her and breaks up with her. Her boyfriend, Daniel, is her partner in writing and directing horror movies and they are supposed to be working towards going to NYU together. Kiki, the girl Daniel cheated with and is now dating, also cheated on her girlfriend. Her girlfriend, Marianne, is Cleo’s next-door neighbor and former best friend.
Sounds convoluted right? Well, it is a lot but it didn’t take too long to figure everything out. This story has a pretty large cast of characters. And kudos to Vinesse, they all sounded different and I was abley to tell everyone apart.
Cleo and Marianne are mistaken to be a couple by Kiki and decide to go along with her assumption. They want to win back their respective partners and hope to make them jealous. What I didn’t care for was that the four of them spent so much time together. Cleo and Daniel and Kiki and Marianne were best friends before they started dating and I couldn’t believe Cleo and Marianne would want to be around the other two given the fact that they cheated. But there are double dates and all of them hanging out at in the film department multiple times.
I really wanted more time with Cleo and Marianne to see how they go from being former best friends to fake dating to having actual feelings. While there was some of that, there wasn’t nearly enough. They were sweet with each other and I liked their scenes together. I just wanted more of them. There was way too much “group time” and especially Daniel. Cleo spends the same amount, if not more, time with Daniel than she does Marianne and it got on my nerves.
There were some things I liked about this as well. Marianne suffers from anxiety and I liked how it was represented. I liked her arc probably the most, even if we didn’t get her point of view. I also liked how this sounds young adult. I read quite a bit of YA and a lot of the times it doesn’t really feel young adult, except for the ages. I also liked how much queerness was in the group of friends and how it was just accepted. There wasn’t any homophobia or anything like that.
I received an ARC from HarperCollins Children’s Books (Quill Tree Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
“If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come” is a queer YA debut novel by Jen St. Jude.
Avery Byrne is on her way to kill herself when she receives news that there’s an “If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come” is a queer YA debut novel by Jen St. Jude.
Avery Byrne is on her way to kill herself when she receives news that there’s an asteroid heading towards earth. This follows Avery on what happens when you find out you and everyone you love has only 9 days left to live.
This was an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. Avery has suffered from lifelong depression and is also trying to come to terms with being gay. Her family is a religious Catholic family and she’s grown up hearing that people like her will be going to hell unless they change their ways.
Avery has pretty much given up when we meet her. She’s failing a class at her first year in college, her soccer career has tanked and her best friend Cass, who she also happens to be in love with, hasn’t spoken to her in months. She can’t see a way to make anything better and decides to end it all. However, once she realizes the world as she knows it is about to end, she decides to hold off and spend her remaining days with her loved ones. Rather than piling onto what her family will be going through.
I cannot stress enough how emotional this was. There are a lot of lows because not only is Avery trying to deal with her mental health and thinking everyone would be better off if she were gone; she’s also now trying to be there for her family in preparing for the end. Avery and her family decide to prepare a bunker in case they can survive somehow after the asteroid hits. On the other hand, there are some really lovely highs as well. After reconnecting with Cass, Avery spends her possibly last days finding some joy again. Her growth and finding out she has things to live for was a touching journey.
This is told in a dual timeline. It begins in the present and then goes back in time so you can see what leads her to her suicide attempt. I mention this because I know there are some out there that don’t like this set up.
However, I found it really worked in giving the backstory on Avery and Cass and Avery’s progression with her depression.
I found the ambiguous ending fitting. It was sweet and hopeful and I love St. Jude for leaving it to me to determine what happens.
I received an ARC from Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
So, I really loved this for the most part and am so glad it was by first Becky Albertalli book.
Everyone in the friend’s group was a gem and I could hSo, I really loved this for the most part and am so glad it was by first Becky Albertalli book.
Everyone in the friend’s group was a gem and I could honestly read more about them all. Imogen was precious and I just wanted her protected at all costs. And Tessa! Oh my. What a sweetheart. If only everyone could have their first crush/significant other be like Tessa.
I think just about every queer person can sympathize with Imogen and what she’s going through. However, I also sympathized with the overbearing gatekeeper of this story. She’s a teenager and has been dealing with homophobia for a long time. So, although she’s wrong about a lot and goes about things the completely wrong way, I felt like there should’ve been a better ending for her as well.
I recommend this, especially to teenagers. Even though I don’t agree with everything I do think this is a good place to start some important discussions about queerness and gatekeeping.
I received an ARC from Harper Collins Children’s Books / Balzer+Bray via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
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