Genre 📚: YA Contemporary/Fantasy, Dark academia, Romance, Coming-of-age
Tropes 💁♀️: Body swapping, Hidden identity, Friends to lovers
Rep ✔️: Chinese American main characters, POC and queer side characters
CW ⚠️: Depression, Self-loathing, Grief, Off-page death of a parent
Rating ⭐️: 5/5
Genre 📚: YA/NA Contemporary, Romance, Coming-of-age
Tropes 💁♀️: Rivals to lovers, Ex-friends to lovers, First love
Rep ✔️: Bisexual love interest, Indian best friend character, queer and non-binary side characters
Rating ⭐️: 3.5/5
I’ve been trying to get myself to read more books, but for the longest time, life was too busy to fit more than 30-ish books a year. 2024, however, was the year I put my foot down and said I’M DOING THIS. I’M READING 100 BOOKS. And somehow, here I am now, with ✨160 books✨ read, my heart full and my head aching. (I read some crazy stuff, y’all…)
Continue reading “Challenge accepted, challenge won 🏆”
Gloria Chao writes some of the sweetest, ooey gooiest YA rom-coms, her last being friends-to-lovers romance When You Wish Upon a Lantern. Her forthcoming novel goes the complete opposite direction, bringing on the witty banter and hate goggles in an enemies-to-lovers adventure. Ex Marks the Spot follows FMC Gemma and her ex-boyfriend/rival Xander as they travel to Taiwan to solve the puzzles her late grandfather left her. Puzzles that could possibly lead to an inheritance she desperately needs for college tuition.
Continue reading “Mini Review: Ex Marks the Spot”
(Laughing at the fact that my review title is basically DF: D and D & D and D 😅 but yeah, anyway — )
I’m not a roleplaying game person, so the first couple of times I saw Kristy Boyce’s Dungeons and Drama floating around online, I gave it a pass. Then I peeked at the reviews, many of which stressed that the novel is enjoyable whether you’re into RPGs or not. Thank god I listened, because GAHHHDHGBSKJAGGBJKGJD. It is one of the cutest freaking books I’ve ever read and definitely my favorite comfort book of 2024. It is very much a love letter to DnD, and you really feel the author’s passion for it, but it’s also a well-crafted coming-of-age story about discovering new things, whether that be in hobbies, in glasses-wearing love interests, or in parents we thought we knew.
Continue reading “Double Feature: Dungeons and Drama & Dating and Dragons”
**CW: Abuse, kidnapping, violence, and a few instances of racism.
I could easily see Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart as the perfect teen slasher movie, like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. The story follows Jessa, who has lived her entire life following her parents’ plan to be successful. Though she hates her goody two shoes reputation, she can’t break free from it — not even at a parent-free sleepover with her friends. But when innocent jump scares turn into serious dangers, including a raging storm and an actual killer, Jessa will have to break out of her comfort zone if she wants to protect herself and her friends.
Continue reading “Mini Review: Perfect Girl”
**CW: Child abuse, neglect, and trauma.
First published in March 2023, Sheltering Eaves follows Yoru and Tenjaku, who meet at a children’s home and grow up together. After Yoru is bullied, Tenjaku defends her and vows to look after her, which, okay, ~melts~. Naturally, she becomes attached to him, as well as the home, since it’s the stability she never had. As they get older, however, Yoru is scared of what will happen when they graduate and Tenjaku, who’s been itching to get out, leaves her.
Continue reading “Manga Review: Sheltering Eaves Vol. 1”
**CW: Homophobia, transphobia, gender dysphoria, religious extremism, conversion therapy, graphic violence, body horror, and self-harm.
Come Out, Come Out is the latest queer horror novel I’ve gotten into, and it certainly won’t be the last. Jaq, Fern, and Mallory run away to an abandoned house in the woods, where they’re free to be themselves. But, I mean, it’s a house in the woods, so of course, some scary shit’s gonna go down. Mallory is killed, and as Jaq and Fern escape, their memories and true selves are erased. The girls return to supposedly happy straight lives, until Mallory’s spirit starts haunting them and reminding them of what happened.
Continue reading “Mini Review: Come Out, Come Out”
Laura Taylor Namey’s latest YA novel is true to its title, in that it’s full of love and full of Echo Park. Within the vibrant Los Angeles neighborhood is our FMC Clary, who works in her family flower shop and plans to stay there for the rest of her life. She carries some deep abandonment issues because of her runaway birth mother, so she clings to her home and the people in it. The golden-haired neighborhood boy Emilio, however, wants to sever ties with their home and explore the world. And here we have our opposites who eventually attract.
Continue reading “Mini Review: With Love, Echo Park”
**CW: Multiple instances of ableism.
I’m so thankful I discovered Anna Sortino. Her debut novel Give Me a Sign was an adorable Deaf summer camp romance, filled with silly camper hijinks, sweet counselor camaraderie, and plenty of flirting via sign language. The book served as a solid introduction to Deaf culture, with a likeable heroine at the helm. Sortino’s second novel On the Bright Side goes one step further, exploring two different disabilities in two different teens.
Continue reading “Review: On the Bright Side”
Sara Bechtol 