YA Book Reviews

I have a lot of conflicting emotions regarding House of Earth and Blood—ranging from extreme dislike to moderate enjoyment—and, consequently, was having a difficult time assigning a rating to it. I'm still trying to reconcile the fact that I actually, for the most part, had a good time reading it with the many, many problems I had with it. Hence the neutral 3-star rating. I couldn't get into it—that was my first problem. It almost felt like doing work, or reading an assigned book for class. The beginning was THAT bad. I still cannot tell you shit about this world, after 800 freakin pages. Sarah J. Maas kept throwing us a million characters, a shit load of incomprehensible backstory, and historical event upon historical event, as if I'm meant to care. It was only through sheer willpower that I got through the beginning, holding on to the hope that it would get better. And to be fair, it definitely did. When the story picked up, it really picked up, and I was engrossed. I was never at a point where I couldn't put the book down (In fact, I frequently stopped to go on Instagram), but once the pseudo-worldbuilding but actually info-dump ceased, and the "murder mystery" began, I was hooked. So here go my positives: the aforementioned murder mystery was good. I was worried that we were going to start a rebellion or a war (that's where Sarah's books always end up) but I like that we started relatively simple. House of Earth and Blood kept me on my toes. I had a few predictions along the way that didn't end up being right, which I was pleasantly surprised by. And I even had a few :O moments. But, let's talk about Bryce. Oh, Bryce. I really didn't care about you at all. You were annoying. You were so sexed up that you were completely unrelatable. You had a terrible temper and treated people like shit. You could be funny, I'll give you that, but your smirking and "alpha-hole" vernacular just made it so difficult to like you. One of the few things I actually really liked about Bryce was her relationship with Danika because it reminded me of my own relationships with my best friends. In her moments with Danika, or when she was talking about Danika, Bryce suddenly became relatable. At almost every other point, however, I wanted to slap her. Then there's Hunt. I'd be interested in seeing a love interest that isn't like every other love interest I've ever read about in my whole life. Characters are starting to become copy-pasted—I couldn't distinguish Hunt Athalar from any other YA character I've read. When I think about him, I have such a neutral opinion and can't pinpoint any defining personality traits other than "protective", "brooding", and "sexy". These three personality traits describe 95% of YA bad boys. At least I can say that Bryce has a personality, however bad it may be. This brings us to the writing. The smirking. The overuse of the fuck, and how it sounded like a teenage boy excited to use a cuss word for the first time. The smirking. The fact that people are smelling like lilac and nutmeg as if that's normal. THE SMIRKING. I don't want to get into it, but the smirking was my number one pet peeve in this book. I thought we had all agreed smirking was a joke of a description word and would only be used in Wattpad. Also, there were some things that I just couldn't wrap my head around. Why are there phones and cameras and coffeemakers and colleges and majors in this magical world? It seems like Sarah really wanted to make her characters seem relatable with their modern amenities, but it didn't make any sense to me. You're telling me that Alexander Graham Bell existed in this universe to invent the telephone?? THe fuck??? My final problem: why was it 800 pages? Sarah, you did this for what? Why? This book could have been 300 pages shorter, EASILY. And I know exactly where I would have made the cuts - the info-dumping at the beginning, the millions of characters we didn't need to know about, and of course, the gratuitous descriptions of Bryce's ass and Hunt's chiseled facial features. The one thing I'm so grateful for is that we barely got any sex scenes. Some of Sarah's other books have been insanely difficult to get through because of that very reason. Contrary to her belief, we don't all enjoy reading about the absolute nitty-gritty of what these characters are getting up to in bed. No, some descriptions just simply aren't needed. I can only hope that she continues this trend and limits the number of sex scenes in the remaining books. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I'm going to be reading the next book so Sarah you can do what you want! While I definitely didn't hate House of Earth and Blood, I'm over putting myself through the frustration that I've felt every single time I've picked up one of Sarah's books in the past few years. I'm over her as an author, which is a damn shame because I still remember how much her books used to excite me. It seems I've finally, officially outgrown them. Peace xoxo

I have never been so disappointed by a book as I have now been by Find Me. I'm honestly in shock that this is written by the same author as Call Me By Your Name, let alone that it was supposed to be an acceptable sequel. I was wary about this book to begin with—in my head, Call Me By Your Name ended beautifully, albeit depressingly, and I appreciated the finality to it. But I was still excited for Find Me, still excited to see another book full of Elio and Oliver and their tragic love story. Um but yeah... I didn't get that. The first 100 pages were solely about Elio's father, Samuel, falling in love with the epitome of every male fantasy - our girl Miranda was hot, 20-something, educated, poetic, manic-pixie-dream-girl-esque, and, most importantly, really into older men. For some reason that is still beyond me, Samuel and Miranda fell in love in approximately 2 hours and decided to spend the rest of their lives together, and André Aciman, the same man that made us wait forever for Oliver and Elio to even kiss, thought this was okay. The next 100 pages were devoted to Elio and his relationship with Michel, a man "almost twice his age" (as we were reminded every 5 minutes). At this point, I'm thinking that André Aciman has a weird age gap fetish and I'm even more disturbed than I was reading the first part. What's worse was that Michel talked like how every sugar daddy texted. In fact, he even acted like a sugar daddy, taking Elio to all these expensive restaurants and excursions. He also fell in love with Elio within like a week and now I'm wondering if André Aciman even remembers writing one of my favorite love stories or not. Then there was a short section from Oliver's point of view, where he throws a party and reminisces on Elio. It had its sweet moments (basically just when he was reminiscing about Elio) but it was overall forgettable. We got approximately 11 pages of Elio and Oliver. 11. Out. Of. 260. I was NOT amused. It was a good 11 pages, I'll admit, but was it worth the other 249 pages of absolute BS??? NOOOO!! Also, I'm really confused about the timeline of this book because it seems to directly contradict Call Me By Your Name. If so, I'm tempted to just erase this book from my memory (despite its happy ending) and stick with the original, where there was no Miranda, no Michel, and no 249 pages of absolute agony. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

I started watching Christine Riccio's youtube channel when I was in high school. She was the first "booktuber" I ever watched and the only one I wanted to watch for the longest time. My life during the last couple years of high school consisted of reading, watching her videos, and repeating. I stopped watching her videos when I got to college, when I had less time for books and when her quirky awkwardness started to become too much for me to tolerate, and I probably only watched two or three of her videos in those four years. That being said, I knew I wanted to read her book when I heard it was coming out. I thought that if anyone knew what the YA demographic would like, it would be her because I would definitely say that her and her fellow booktubers helped in part to make YA what it is today. I gave this book 4 stars and I want to be clear - I'm not giving this book 4 stars because I thought it was objectively good. I'm giving it 4 stars because, simply put, I liked it. Again, but Better follows Shane Primaveri who is, in essence, Christine. Shane actually made me realize how much I know about Christine—her favorite TV shows, books, music, the way she names her electronic devices, how she studied abroad, her family dynamic, I could go on. I don't like that she wrote a character exactly like herself. It reads like that that y/n fanfiction that used to be so popular except worse because this is actually published. I read a couple reviews saying Again, but Better is over the top wish fulfillment and I have to agree. Having yourself fall in love with a hot guy in London and then becoming a super successful writer? It's pretty much the dream of every single person watching her YouTube videos. My biggest issues: Shane's awkwardness and all the pop-culture references. As I said, Shane is Christine. As I also said, I outgrew Christine. This isn't a good combination. Shane is so over-the-top with everything. It's one thing to over-think situations (I'm heavily guilty of that as well) but the way she goes about it and seems to oscillate between having 0 social cues or skills to being calm, cool and collected when she needs to be, just seems fake. The "older Shane" is much more tolerable, but I couldn't get past the manic energy that Shane just exudes. As for all the damn pop-culture references... oh boy. It didn't do a single thing to help the "this reads like fanfiction" issue. Do I need to hear about "T-Swizzle" and Lost and The Mortal Instruments every other page?? Absolutely not. Did I? Unfortunately so. Also, why in the HELL did I hear so much about Angry Birds?? I GET THAT IT'S 2011 - I DON'T NEED TO BE REMINDED OF IT EVERY OTHER PAGE. To quickly end the negatives, I have to add that Christine's writing was juvenile, her descriptions were lacking, and her pacing was off. She added "diverse" characters to mask the fact that her two main characters were as white and straight as could be. But with all that being said... I am a little ashamed to say I got caught up in Again, but Better, rooting for the characters along the way and laughing along with Shane. Her romance with Pilot Penn was cute, and their relationship, particularly towards the end, was one that I really enjoyed reading about. The real issue here is that I'm a sucker for cute guys being romantic and tend not to care about anything else but that's a problem for another day. I also resonated with the idea of going abroad and really growing as a person. I stupidly didn't study abroad in college, but I did just spend a month in Europe and aside from it being one of the best experiences of my life, I feel like I learned a lot about myself in the process. I can understand why Christine thought that this experience was so valuable that she had to write a book about it. And I could really see Shane change from a scared and awkward individual to someone more self-confident and self-assured. In my opinion, Christine did a good job showing her transition. I'm a firm believer in the fact that a book doesn't have to be good for someone to like it. Some of my favorite romantic comedies are objectively really bad. I don't think Again, but Better is a great book nor would I recommend it to someone who has no idea who Christine Riccio is, but I enjoyed reading it and don't regret that I did.

I bought this book four years ago and I'm slightly ashamed to admit I only started reading it after watching two episodes of You on Netflix, realizing I bought this book four years ago, and then thinking I should probably read it before continuing on. So for the last couple days, I've spent all of my free time reading You, and to be frank, I'm left... unsatisfied. First off, this book is LONG. I felt like no matter how much I read, Kepnes would find new ways to drag on the plot. I also felt like after all the shit I was forced to read, I deserved a better ending than what I got. Don't get me wrong, You is incredibly unique. I've never read Lolita, but based off what I've heard, they are similar in that you end up sympathizing with a main character you would otherwise despise. And I was 100% on that boat. Yes Joe was creepy, yes Joe was a stalker, but Kepnes did such an amazing job as a writer that for the most part I never hated him. If it's possible, I hated all the characters around him even more. I honestly can't even tell if they were truly terrible characters, or if Joe just made them out to be this way and I ate it up. What makes this book so fascinating (in a staring-at-a-car-crash kinda way) is how plausible it seems. Joe stalks Beck through almost completely legal means. Everything he learns, she puts out there for him to see. And Joe's personality is so much like the "heroes" of popular YA novels that it's enough to make me question every YA male crush I ever had. So really, my problem with this book doesn't lie with the characters, but with the plot. As I said, it's LONG. It could get veeeery slow. The pattern of without-Beck, with-Beck, without-Beck, with-Beck, etc. got real old, real fast. At one point I got up and complained (loudly) to my roommate that You was driving me crazy because I just wanted it to end and that I didn't care what Joe was going to do or thinking about doing or wanting to do (to which she very logically replied I could stop reading at any time - which of course I wasn't going to do). And considering how long everything else was, the ending was wrapped up too quickly and with no remorse. Finally, at a time when I was ready for the story to be long and drawn-out, Kepnes was over it. That's why I can't give this book a higher rating than I did, because although Kepnes is a great writer and did a great job executing this story, it just exhausted me and hung me out to dry after I devoted so much of my time to it. And now excuse me while I go watch the show while simultaneously having nightmares about being stalked for a week. ...Also... I'm gonna change all my passwords and delete my social media.

I've officially become a fan of Karen M. McManus. Last year, I read her book One of Us is Lying, and while YA thrillers are not usually my cup of tea (and I hesitate to call either of these books a true thriller), I absolutely loved it. While Two Can Keep a Secret, in my opinion, wasn't as good as its predecessor, it was still so damn fun to read. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that this book is incredibly well-written or that it has one of the best plots ever. But Karen M. McManus managed to keep me confused and intrigued her whole book, and I was solving things right alongside the characters up to the very end (also unsuccessfully, I might add). The only thing truly bothering me was how dumb this town was - if you're getting a bunch of death threats that seem tied to homecoming, CANCEL HOMECOMING! Like with One of Us is Lying, the characters are what sets this book apart. Ellery (while having an unfortunate name that would only be found in YA literature) is obsessed with true crime, and her passion is what really drives this novel forward. If not for her, the mysteries and secrets of Echo Ridge might have gone unsolved forever. I also really liked her relationship with her brother Ezra, although he was definitely not as present in this novel as he could have been. Malcolm, while the only other POV character other than Ellery, wasn't a fleshed out as she was. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about him, other than his family and the fact that he was "attractive without knowing it" (shocker). Consequently, his ~relationship~ with Ellery wasn't so much exciting as it was expected. It was just a matter of time before they got together. The side characters - Daisy, Mia, Declan, Katrin, Brooke - were honestly so interesting and complex for side characters. I could get a whole book on any of them and I'd be pleased. For fans of true thriller and mystery, Two Can Keep a Secretmay not be that amazing of a story - but for people trying to dip our toe in this genre, and really anyone looking for a quick, fun read that will keep you until the late hours of the night wanting to finish it, this is definitely the right place to look. Also... the last line... boy... I'd be SHOCKED if there isn't a sequel.

3.5 STARS I have never once read a book about a girl like me - a Persian girl with immigrant parents who feels out of place. When I read YA books, I scrounge around, clinging onto anything remotely middle eastern. It was nice to, for once, be totally in tune with the culture I was reading and not have to be like oh that’s kind of like what Persians do! because everything in this book is what Persians do. And for that fact alone I want to thank Tahereh Mafi. Her book wasn’t perfect (quite honestly I had a lot of problems with it) and there were also a lot of things I didn’t relate to (for one, I don’t wear a scarf), but she gave me a Persian character. And that alone means the world. A Very Large Expanse of Sea is about Shirin, a 16-year-old Persian, Muslim girl who, in addition to facing the general awfulness that is high school, also has to put up with the racist and bigoted assholes at her school that subject her to constant microaggressions and actual aggression. Her life turns around, however, when she and her brother finally fulfill a lifelong dream of forming a breakdancing crew and she meets Ocean, a boy in her biology class that actually seems interested in her in a non-creepy, fetishy type way. I get what Tahereh Mafi was trying to do with this book. I also wonder how much of this book is based on her own experience going to high school in the US, because if it was, that’d truly be awful. I’m lucky that I never really experienced any racism growing up here, and neither have my parents. Like many other children of immigrants, I was just asked questions about my “weird” food or my “dangerous” home country, which, while obviously racist, have become so normal that at this point I barely blink twice. That being said, I think that Tahereh missed the mark in a couple of ways. One, she made some of the students so obviously racist and bigoted that they seemed like caricatures of real people. While I don’t doubt that each of these experiences happened to some Muslim girl at some point in time, the sheer amount of comments and incidents and general backlash to her relationship with Ocean seemed excessive. And on that note, my biggest problem was Shirin’s relationship with Ocean. I don’t have any problem with Shirin’s physical relationship with Ocean. It may seem “un-Muslim” to some people but I don’t find that to be true at all. For one, Persians as a whole are a different type of Muslim than other Muslims. Despite the fact that Iran is the only country where all women are required to wear a hijab, as a whole we aren’t very Muslim. There is actually a joke that we’re too Muslim for non-Muslims and not Muslim enough for Muslims, alienating us from both groups. And of the other Muslim girls I know, many of them are like Shirin, going out with boys and not really following the whole “no touching” thing. No, my problem was first with the insta-love. Shirin and Ocean probably had like one conversation before he was in love with her, and she followed suit shortly. Their conversations were also so…. weak. Half of it was Shirin educating Ocean on something, and the other half was him saying “Wow” or “I feel pressure from my family” or “I want to see you”. See her to do what exactly? Stare at her and say she’s beautiful? Okay lol. I also disliked the way she treated him. I get why she was so against being in a relationship with him, but she was so bitchy about it. Realistically speaking, I just don’t get why Ocean was so adamant on being in a relationship with her based off that one conversation and then be in such anguish whenever it didn't work out. Especially after she would ignore him for a week and then just say “Hi” like nothing happened. The fact that their relationship went from 0 to 100 in a matter of what felt like days was something I just couldn’t get behind. Then there was the issue that within a couple months of them hanging out, he was willing to throw away his whole life for her. The level of idiocy and lack of communication displayed by YA couples always astounds me. Furthermore, once she and Ocean started hanging out, everything became about him. Nothing more about the Persian experience, barely anything about breakdancing (which I feel, as a whole, wasn’t talked about enough), nothing about school or making new friends - it was just Ocean. I’m also always so annoyed when a female character only has male friends because apparently, girls are too bitchy to be friends with. Idk. Tahereh tried to fix that in the end, but too little too late. I also think that Tahereh introduced characters only to forget about them later. Navid’s friends and Yusef had great potential, but she included them only to raise Shirin’s self-esteem, and then didn’t include them again. The last thing I want to say is about the end. We resolved things way too quickly and I was left feeling profoundly unsatisfied. The last chapter literally felt like Tahereh was like alright well it’s time for this to end let me just put together a few summarizing sentences and leave it at that. After I had to read pages and pages of empty dialogue between Ocean and Shirin, I kind of expected something more than what we got. I’m so torn about A Very Large Expanse of Sea. While I love Persian representation and am grateful Tahereh decided to write about her own experiences, she ruined it with a dramatic romance that didn’t really need to be there. Not to be that girl but do we really need a white man to save the day and ~open our eyes~? Probably not lol. Honestly, after the emotional rollercoaster that was the Shatter Me trilogy, I don’t really know why I was expecting something different, although I have to say that Tahereh’s decision to NOT include the frilly flowery language of Shatter Me was an excellent one. I don’t think this is an important book the same way The Hate U Give was, but I also know that Persian and Muslim representation is so little that even this small education is better than nothing. Ultimately, this isn’t a book that you have to read. But it is one that, despite all its issues, is one worth reading.

I sometimes forget what an amazing author Brandon Sanderson is. What a genius he is when it comes to constructing plot. How everything is his books blend together so well. I consciously know that he's one of my favorite authors, but I usually have to force myself to read his books. Even a couple of chapters into Skyward, I was thinking that this book was going to be a drag. But of course, it wasn’t. Like all of his other books, it was freakin wonderful. Skyward follows Spensa, the daughter of a dead and disgraced pilot, whose dream is to escape her family's tarnished reputation and be the hero that she knows her father was and believes she can be. As hard as that sounds, it proves to be even harder for Spensa. Getting into flight school is almost impossible with the Admiral out to get her and her father's reputation makes her the object of ridicule. Of course, this doesn't stop Spensa, and her grit and determination make her a fantastic character that you not only feel intensely for but also want to cheer on every step of the way. Brandon Sanderson is a master of world-building and Skyward is no exception. A world and plot that you think has been done before in countless other YA books (dystopian novel that involves fighting some mythic enemy) is completely turned on its head and you, along with the characters, start to question everything you thought you understood. What I love about Brandon Sanderson's books is that moment where you realize this is NOT how I thought this was gonna go. It happens in every one of his books because it's near impossible to predict what's going to happen (even though it's fun to try). In true Brandon Sanderson fashion, there is next to no romance in Skyward. He does lay the seeds for a relationship in the future, but for now, you get to relish in the fact that the friendships are pure and platonic and that any future relationship is going to be based on trust and understanding rather than blind passion and attraction (which is the common theme in YA books). Also. M-bot. Enough said. I've been hyping up Brandon Sanderson's books to anyone who will listen for years now and Skyward is no exception. No more spoilers. No more risking ruining the fun that comes with watching this book unfold. Just. Read. It. :)

I'm a senior in college (shocker, I know). I just turned 21 a few weeks ago. I just don't relate to 16-year-olds in their junior year of high school anymore. Part of me knows I should branch out and read adult books just so that I can actually relate to the characters but I haven't yet done that. The reason I picked up Nicy Try, Jane Sinner is because I saw that it had to do with college (I was sold!) and reality TV and had decent reviews. I probably should have paid more attention to the synopsis. If I had, I might have realized that Jane is 17 and technically in her senior year of high school. Furthermore, if I was told beforehand that 17-year-old Jane actually had the maturity of a 14-year-old, I wouldn't have picked it up altogether. But I didn't know any of that, so I read it. You probably have already guessed this by my rating, but I didn't love Nice Try, Jane Sinner. While the premise was actually pretty unique, it wasn't executed well. The journal style of the book felt like lazy writing to me - a way for the author to tell us things rather than show us. The screenplay-like dialogue made it even worse. Jane Sinner herself really had the potential to be funny and entertaining but for the most part, she just came across as annoying and heartless. Even her sarcasm, which I suppose was supposed to come off as being humorous, just... wasn't. It's hard to sympathize with a character who is straight up mean. The ~twist~ that reveals why Jane is the way she is does explain her personality somewhat, but in my opinion, it doesn't justify it. Oddly enough, the supporting characters in Jane Sinner really shone. They were actually funny and complex, which made Jane all the more frustrating. I especially loved her sister, Carol. There was definitely an ensemble cast present, but I felt like I got to know each and every one of them. To comment on the reality TV aspect of the book - I really wish we got to see more of it. I watch a few reality TV shows - The Bachelor and Love Island - and I love the confessional interviews. I wish 1. that Jane had been more cooperative in them and 2. we got more! I think it could have been really cool if they didn't get to see the show as they were filming it and if the interviews actually revealed deep, dark secrets. Oh well. I don't want to tell Lianne Oelke how to write her book. Basically, I think you can pass on Nice Try, Jane Sinner, unless you for some reason have a huge desire to read it. While it had its moments, I feel pretty meh about it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 STARS In 2018, for a YA fantasy to really catch my attention, it has to go above and beyond. We’re holding them to higher standards now. No more of this rebel uprising crap here, random magic ability there. Rule by Ellen Goodlett does not deliver. It joins its YA fantasy counterparts in mediocrity in that, while there was nothing terrible about it, it had very little that made it unique. The premise of Rule was fairly standard - lower class girl discovers she’s ~special~ in some way and now has the opportunity to change the world that has wronged her. Except, instead of there being just one girl, there are three (which made for a confusing first couple of chapters). Zofi, Florencia (Ren), and Akeylah are three girls from three separate parts of the world, all brought together when they are discovered to be the king’s illegitimate daughters and only living heirs. With the king dying, only one of them will have what it takes to replace him. They have to decide whether or not to trust each other as they navigate this world of court intrigue and danger, while also harboring their own secrets. I’m honestly making this sound far more interesting than it actually was. While Rule was a fast read and clearly compelling enough that I finished it, it was more entertaining in an I kind of want to see what happens and I don’t really have much else to do kind of way instead of an If I don’t finish this book I’ll die from the suspense kind of way. There was no real threat of danger to any one of the girls so I was just sitting there with a deadpan face every time one of them got into danger - which actually wasn’t even that often. Even the cliffhanger didn’t leave much of an effect. It’s only been 30 minutes since I’ve finished the book and I’ve already forgotten about it. Now for the girls. I will say this about the uniqueness of the characters - Zofi, Florencia, and Akeylah were all annoying in their own special way. Zofi was the carbon copy of every other “strong”, “independent”, YA heroine and Florencia, who was my favorite (of the three bad options, mind you), had her head up her ass about literally everything (ESPECIALLY IN REGARDS TO HER LOVE INTEREST). As for Akeylah… whew… chile…. let’s leave the step-mom lesbian fantasies at the door, shall we? Ellen Goodlett really took the opportunity for a good LGBT romance and made it, como se dice, icky. Needless to say, I will not be continuing on with the series. And for anyone looking for a good YA fantasy, let me point you in the direction of Children of Blood and Bone and away from this mess.

There's something so magical about Laini Taylor's books. It's not just the breathtaking worlds she manages to create, but it's also the way she reveals it. Reading her books is what I imagine looking into the mind of an artist is like - full of color and life and more beauty that you could ever imagine. There's a point where flowery language can get tiring and even repetitive but Taylor never reaches that point. Her prose is beautiful and feels dreamy in and of itself, apt given that dreams play such a major part of Strange the Dreamer. Like Laini Taylor's other books, Strange the Dreamer is difficult to get into at first, at least for me. Her style is so unique that it takes me a couple chapters to reacquaint myself with it. Strange the Dreamer follows Lazlo Strange, an orphan who, since childhood, has been obsessed with the mythical city of Weep. His obsession only amplifies with age and, at 20 years old, his greatest wish is still to see it, although he doubts that he ever will. What I loved about Lazlo was how good he was. He was pure at heart and pure of mind, and there was a childlike innocence about him that persisted even as an adult. He had every opportunity and right to be angry at the world for giving him nothing but he didn't yield and it pays off when he is presented with the opportunity to realize his greatest dream. He is the underdog that you root for constantly and he's so lovely that he steals your heart before you even notice. With The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy as a predecessor, I was obviously wary that Strange the Dreamer would fall flat. And while I will always love The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, she blew me away with this first book in her new series. If you read this (which I highly recommend you do), I suggest going into it without even the synopsis. Just let yourself fall into the story and I can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed.

4.5 STARS It’s really a testament to Morgan Matson that five pages into the first chapter, which was essentially a prologue for Pete’s sake, I was hooked. Admittedly, I’m a big sap, and there was something about that first scene that evoked a positive memory from my own life so maybe I'm being dramatic. Either way, I could tell Save the Date was going to be good from those first few pages I just finished a couple fantasy books and, while I loved both of them, it was a nice change of pace to read something fun and distracting. That is, for the most part, what Morgan Matson’s books are. With the exception of maybe Second Chance Summer (my favorite of her books) which is more intense, they’re all lighthearted and easy to read. Matson is arguably one of the best YA contemporary authors out there because she delivers on what I’m looking for in a contemporary, and she does it well. While there were some aspects of Save the Date that were unrealistic, and I’m not lying when I say that the “Murphy’s law” parts of the wedding were giving me massive amounts of stress, I still loved it. I was particularly impressed with the supplemental cartoons, which show how Matson time and time again goes above and beyond to give her readers as interactive an experience as possible. I also really appreciated how, despite the large cast of characters, Matson somehow made me care about each and every one of them. Usually, in big family dynamics, it’s easy for characters to get lost or even worse, become copies of one another. That was never a problem in Save the Date - each of the Grants were unique and equally lovable. The reasons I’m docking half a star are not crazy significant - there were just times when the book felt a bit jumbled and messy and also the number of plot points was overwhelming. Not much else to say because, like with all contemporaries, it’s best to go into it knowing as little information as possible. Save the Date was a welcome addition to Morgan Matson’s other books and the perfect summer read.

P.S. Forgot to mention that everyone is Asian!! Look at that R E P R E S E N T A T I O N!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 STARS By all accounts, Sky in the Deep should have been a great read. Adrienne Young did everything right. Strong, beautiful, family-oriented and emotionally-tuned protagonist? Check. Aloof love-interest and a hate-to-love story arc? Check. ~Fantasy~? Check. Where have we seen this before? Oh, I know. Every single YA novel ever. Someone must have told Young that if she follows this laundry list of story elements, she will churn out a successful YA fantasy. And unfortunately for her, it definitely shows. I was surprised to see all of the hype surrounding this book, especially since there is nothing differentiating it from any other decently written YA fantasy novel. There was simply nothing remarkable about it. The characters seemed copy pasted, and the storyline has been done before. "Rebel" adversaries with zero backstories or motivation? Been there, done that. Less than four chapters into the book, I was already having difficulty. Like I said before, Sky in the Deep was fairly well-written, but it was just so dry. I couldn't get into it, and that wasn't made any easier by the fact that there were all of these new terms and names that were constantly being thrown at us. Combined with the chapters and chapters of housework and moping and brooding - I was at my wit's end. As for the love story... it was a combination of "why is this happening" and "it's only a matter of time before it happens". Meaning, there was 0 sexual tension between Eelyn and Fiske but you just knew that they were going to fall in love and be each other's ~everything~. It's one of those love stories that added nothing to the story and we all might have been better off had it not happened. In all honesty, I'm a pretty romantic person, and I will latch onto just about any love story, so the fact that I did not get excited one time should really be an indication of how lackluster this pairing was. I've admittedly been a little harsh, but I just can't get grasp the fact that this book, that is truly the exemplification of the words "ordinary" and "forgettable" if there ever was one, is getting so many great reviews. As of this moment, it has a 4.47 on Goodreads, which is high! So, I'm not going to say that other people wouldn't enjoy this book because clearly, they are. I do want to say that if you've been reading YA fantasy for years, you might be in the same boat that I was. It's a hard pass on Sky in the Deep for me, and now I need to reevaluate why I keep doing this to myself.

I've read a couple of Holly Black books before. I couldn't finish The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and I found The Darkest Part of the Forest average at best. Definitely nothing worth writing home about. Holly Black never fully leaves the conversation, however, and in an unprecedented move by myself, I decided to read The Cruel Prince, the first in her new trilogy The Folk of the Air. Although Faerie stories generally don't do it for me (and we already established that Holly Black doesn't either), The Cruel Prince ended up being a BIG hit in a genre of too many misses. It had its problems - a confusing beginning and a few too many YA cliches were just two off the top of my head - but I was hooked, which is more than I can say for some other Faerie books. This I attribute to the uniqueness and well-written prose of this particular story. Jude, her twin sister Taryn, and their older sister Vivi were only children when the general of the Faerie High King, and Vivi's birth father, walked into their house and murdered their parents. Jude, Taryn, and Vivi were forced to leave their old lives behind and move to Faerie with said murderer. 10 years later and Jude has accepted her mortal life in Faerie, not knowing nor wanting to know any other life. Despite her acceptance of Faerie, Faerie has yet to reciprocate. She is tormented at school and belittled by her peers. Her parent's-murderer-turned-father-figure loves her but doesn't believe in her aspirations. Jude wants power more than anything and I loved watching her try to get it. Jude isn't a true antihero, like Adelina from The Young Elites, but she has a fire and fierceness that makes her more interesting than the average YA protagonist. She's not ~special~. Far from it, in fact. Everything she achieves, it's through merit and hard work, which makes me like her even more. I can't say the same for Taryn, who was more annoying than lovable. There were multiple moments when I just really wanted to slap her. Vivi, thankfully, was more like Jude than Taryn and her arc was enjoyable to read about. As for the love interest(s), let's just say that I support Jude. What I really appreciated about The Cruel Prince was that I was constantly kept on my toes. Every twist and turn surprised me (except for anything love interest related - I've read far too many YA novels to be surprised by anything like that lol) and I just needed to know more at all times. I can honestly say that I was never bored while reading this book. It actually became problematic for me because I had an exam to study for and I kept getting distracted. My mistake. Holly Black has finally redeemed herself to me and I cannot wait to see where she takes us next. If the rest of the series is anything as good as The Cruel Prince, I'm sure I'll love it.

It takes a special kind of author to be able to take a well-known classic and make it completely original. And not only do that but also make it addictive enough that it would compel someone (namely: me) to put aside everything they were supposed to be doing that day just to read. Karen M. McManus did just that. One of Us is Lying is "based" on The Breakfast Club, and I use that term loosely because the only thing they really have in common is the initial detention setting and the stereotypical character profiles. The brain, the beauty, the criminal, the athlete, and the outcast are all put into detention one afternoon for having their phones during class. Over the course of detention, the outcast, Simon, dies suddenly from a peanut allergy, leaving the rest of the group, and the small town of Bayview, completely shell-shocked. It doesn't take long for the town to start pointing fingers at the only four people that saw Simon die; the only question that remains is who did it? I really like how this book was set up - split amongst the four narrators - and how bits of information were revealed gradually and whenever they became relevant to know. There were definitely moments where I internally gasped. The sub-plot of Simon's gossip blog added an element of intrigue because it widened the scope of people who had the motivation to see Simon dead. For me though, what really made One of Us Is Lying great was the characters, who were all relatable in their own way. It's rare that I read a contemporary book and actually care about the characters. But I loved Nate, Addy, Cooper, and Bronwyn and I especially loved seeing their growth. They all started off as living up to their stereotypes, which was expected. But they changed so much that, by the end, their original stereotypes were hardly recognizable. Just as an example, Addy and Bronwyn's friendship and their respective relationships with their sisters was so sweet. Honestly, genuine female friendships are so hard to come by in YA books and I felt like this was a winner in that regard. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't mention any other relationships I particularly enjoyed (*wink wink*) but just know that I did. Finally, it's been a problem for me as of late that I get frustrated with how immature YA characters are, by virtue of them being in high school. Surprisingly, this was not the case with this group, who were mature and pleasant to the point that I sometimes had to remind myself that they are, in fact, still in high school. I should also mention that I did not like The Breakfast Club. Like, at all. I recognize that it's hailed as the best teen movie ever and I get why it was unique for the time. I just didn't feel the same way. However, I clearly liked One of Us Is Lying, so don't think that liking The Breakfast Club is a prerequisite for enjoying the book. Funnily enough, the only real problem I had with One of Us Is Lying is something that couldn't be helped. The book takes place near San Diego, where I'm from, and nothing pulled me out of the book more than knowing that neither Bayview nor the high schools mentioned exist. Even something as small as the characters going to downtown San Diego made me roll my eyes because honestly no one really goes to downtown San Diego for a casual coffee after school because it's so damn far and has the worst parking. Anyway. I digress. Definitely recommend for anyone in the mood for a good old-fashion murder mystery mixed with some high school drama. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Karen M. McManus has in store for us.

3.5 STARS I'm a little... annoyed right now. This is the first book I've finished in months, a tribute to Marie Lu's addictive prose and compelling storylines but I'm not all that pleased with it. I spent 95% (!!!!) of this book thinking that I wasn't going to give it more than 2.5 to 3 stars. Marie Lu is an amazing author and her The Young Elites series is one of my favorites of all time. That being said, Warcross is nowhere near that level. It just felt so bland, so predictable. The characters weren't anything I hadn't seen before. The random hacker girl trope has been beaten to death. So has the "rich billionaire falls in love with a random poor girl for no apparent reason" trope. And when I say "no apparent reason", I actually mean no apparent reason. This man, Hideo Tanaka went from being a stone-cold businessman to a pile of mush in the course of a few chapters. I'm sorry, is encountering anyone with half a personality so rare in his line of work as CEO and richest man in the world that Emika (Emika of all people!) got him going? I don't buy it. Disregarding the fact that the characters were passable at best, the storyline was really struggling. Clearly, it was enough to keep me entertained and to pull me out of a months-long reading slump (not even The Becoming of Noah Shaw could do this, mind you). And there is no doubting that Marie Lu is a gifted writer - her world building was excellent and kind of gave me Big Hero 6 meets Ready Player One vibes. I also liked the concept of a video game such as Warcross taking over our lives. And for a debut author, it may not have been the worst thing in the world. But for Marie Lu, like I said, 95% of this book was meh. But Freaking Marie Lu manages to turn ALL that around in those last couple chapters. Maybe it was naïveté on my part. Maybe I was so busy being annoyed at everything else that I dropped my guard. But I was completely taken aback by the ending and I actually felt so involved in those last few chapters that I was extremely disappointed when it ended. I think that Marie Lu really laid the foundation for a great second book with that ending. So... Yeah. I'll be continuing on. But I'm still not happy about it.

I wasn’t really that keen on reading Always and Forever, Lara Jean because I recall being exasperated with the second book in the trilogy. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is one of my favorite books, but P.S. I Still Love You just felt like a letdown. Or at least that’s how I remember it. Probably because it had unnecessary angst and I despise unnecessary angst. After reading Always and Forever, Lara Jean in about two hours I don’t really feel that differently as a person. The book was cute and I enjoyed the Peter and Lara Jean moments as much as the next guy, but, just like its predecessor, it felt pointless. I really think that Jenny Han made a mistake in turning this book into a trilogy, but who knows what she was thinking. Always and Forever, Lara Jean felt like a fanfiction, both in plot and in writing. There were a lot of “cutesy” moments and a strained storyline (both consistent with fanfictions). I saw in her dedication page that she wrote this book “for the fans” so I guess it makes sense that she wanted to write a fluffy book for the readers to rejoice but I thought she could have done a better job. I didn’t dislike Always and Forever, Lara Jean per se, I was just disappointed with the direction the book went in. Even Lara Jean and Peter, who I normally love, were irritating me a bit. I just couldn’t take Peter seriously, for one. I was a senior in high school only two years ago so it was weird and frankly unbelievable for me to see Peter, an 18-year-old boy, acting like a 40-year-old married man and a bratty 15-year-old all at once. I just have a hard time imagining Peter crooning Sound of Music songs to Lara Jean and recreating romantic scenes from classic movies. Maybe I’m stereotyping and not giving him enough credit, but… c’mon…. Lara Jean, who was always quirky in a lovable way, just seemed annoying and naïve to me in this book. I found myself rolling my eyes at her more frequently than I would have liked to. My final verdict is that you should only read this if you are a big fan of the trilogy as a whole. Always and Forever Lara Jean was, in essence, a fan service book, and while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t something to write a love letter about.