Gay's essays certainly helped me to expand my thinking, and is a balance between social commentary, memoir, and critical analysis. Her points throughout left me thinking long after I finished the book, and there's certainly much to return to throughout her series of essays. Definitely a conversation opener about the topic of feminism.

Read my full review at Between-the-Shelves.com!

Natasha is a scientist. She has always believed in facts and figures, not in fate and destiny. And definitely not in love. Especially when her family is about to be deported to Jamaica. Daniel is a poet and a dreamer, though he puts aside his desires in order to be the good son, the son that his parents are proud of. But all of that changes when he meets Natasha. The two meet one fateful day in New York City--will the universe allow them to be together?

I've never really been one to believe in fate, in destiny, in love at first sight. To me, it's always been something that exists in books, that people read about in order to escape the harshness of reality. But this book made me want to believe in the power of fate and destiny. Nicola Yoon has crafted an exquisitely beautiful story about human nature, about why things happen the way that they do. I found myself completely lost in the story, desperate to know whether Natasha and Daniel make it.

Yoon also uses the point of view of other characters that Natasha and Daniel interact with in order to give us a more complete version of the story. Not only do we get depth in the two main characters, but we get depth in the background characters, showing that humanity is more intertwined than we might originally think.

Not only does Yoon craft a romantic love story, she also addresses issues like race, immigration, and family expectations. It delves deeper than the romance, and that's part of what made me love it so much.

A beautifully romantic exploration of fate and destiny.

This particular book was on my to-read list for a long time before I actually read it; school mostly got in the way, and then I forgot about it until I wrote an article about gender non-conforming individuals for The Nerdy Book Club (which will be posted on December 3rd). This might be one of the more important books that I've read recently, mostly because of one thing: it features an intersex individual.

Kristin Lattimer was just voted homecoming queen, and it finally feels like her life is going in the direction that she wants it to. The night of the dance, she feels that she's ready to take it to the next step with her boyfriend--but the moment isn't close to what she wanted it to be. Her experience brings her to the doctor, where she learns she is intersex, meaning that though she looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes and some male features. When her identity is outed to the school, Kristin questions her entire identity. Will she be able to continue on the path she was on before, even with everyone knowing the truth?

Aside from the fact that the plot of this novel is a little high school drama-esque, I think everyone should read this book. Intersex individuals are often left out of conversations discussing LGBTQ+ individuals, so most people are very unfamiliar with the identity. Though at times it leans a little more on the medical side, this book is important for teens who possibly find themselves in a similar situation to Kristin and could help them to explain to others exactly what being intersex means.

I will say that even though I felt bad for the humiliation that Kristin has to endure, at times, she can be a little annoying and whiny. There were a few points in the book where I just wanted to yell "Get over it! You're just making things more difficult for yourself!" It fit the drama-esque tone of the plot, though.

Overall, despite the flaws in plot, this book is important and shouldn't be left off high school shelves.

So, I received this book from NetGalley for review without realizing that this was a sequel. Nonetheless, despite being a bit confused in the beginning, I was fascinated by this world that Pollock has created. It's different than anything that I've read before, and it's inclusive in a way that many books in this genre aren't.

"Pen" Khan is used to holding secrets, especially since she and her best friend Beth discovered the secret monsters that inhabited London. The only person who truly understands is Pen's mirror-sister Parva, who inhabits the world on the other side of the mirror, London-Under-Glass. When her sister mysteriously disappears, Pen goes into London-Under-Glass to find her, but there are people there who would do anything to keep Pen from finding her mirror-sister and ruining their fragile power.

Where do I even start with this book. Not only was I amazed and fascinated by the world that Pollock creates, a world that is the reflection of the real world (and includes intricate details I wouldn't even think about), but Pollock also created characters that are absolutely unforgettable. I may not have had the backstory necessary to completely understand what was going on, but I was still drawn to Pen's story, so much so that I definitely want to find the first book and figure out how she got all of her scars.

The other thing that is absolutely amazing about this book is its inclusion of diversity. Pen is a practicing Muslim (as least, that's what I gathered), but it's not all that defines her. For this genre, that is almost unheard of. If you're interested in a detailed, intricate urban fantasy, you definitely found it in Tom Pollock's book.

Another book that was sent to me for review, this one is a little different than the things that I normally read, mainly because I would classify it as a romance. Don't get me wrong, I like romance once in a while, but I don't often willingly seek it out. This book was related to Sarah Dessen, who I read on occasion, so I decided to check it out! While it took me a bit to get into the story, by the end, I was invested in Jill's story.

When Jill's mom suddenly leaves one day, only Jill knows the actual reason that she left. But she's afraid that if she tells anyone, especially her dad, that it will only make her situation worse. As Jill tries to make sense of her new reality, a new guy moves in next door--one with a myriad of scars. Jill throws herself into trying to make life better for him, until she realizes she can't fix anything for anyone else until she fixes herself.

The things I thought were great about this book: the complexity of the characters and of the relationships. The way that Johnson writes them feels realistic, and I found myself feeling sympathetic for the characters, especially Jill, Sean, and Claire. They all have their own issues to work through, their own things they are struggling with, and I think Johnson does a great job of making them all very realistic and relatable characters.

At first, I had a hard time making sense of the story because the timing at the beginning was a little unclear. I wasn't really sure if a flashback had happened, or if we had moved on from the initial event at the beginning. It took me a couple of chapters to get caught up to where the story was. Additionally, while I thought the characters were very realistic and their problems were relatable, at times I found myself getting irritated with Jill for being so repetitive and constantly only focusing on the bad. While this irritated me within the narrative, I still believe that it was a realistic quality for the characters.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good romance or enjoys books similar to what Sarah Dessen writes, but it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea.

I received this book for review from NetGalley, and just let me say, I was so excited when this was approved. It breaks the mold from the traditional superhero story, and gives readers a different type of hero to look up to, which is especially fantastic for its targeted audience. The voice is remarkable, and the action was paced well throughout this book, making this a highly entertaining read.

Javier Medina is a Junior Hero in Liberty City, and he's still trying to figure out how to navigate from being an awkward gay high schooler to a newly buff and attractive superhero, hiding his identity from his school mates and his parents, all the while trying to learn how to navigate the dating world when his boyfriend keeps mysteriously disappearing. Javier gives an unflinching account of the sacrifices needed to become a superhero--something that didn't quite fit his original expectations.

Let me begin by saying the voice in this book was absolutely fantastic. Javier is so real and honest, and downright hilarious at times. It honestly reminded me a little of the Spider-man comics, and the sassiness and snarkiness of Peter Parker, thought maybe not quite as quick witted. Pendragon also created very real characters throughout, incorporating a lot of diversity that is slowly making it's way into the superhero world in the ways of sexuality. It's refreshing to read a book with a gay male superhero that isn't afraid to hide his sexuality.

The only critique I have of this novel is the formatting at the beginning. Though I liked that it jumped right into the action, it took me a while to realize exactly how far back in time Javier jumps. Add in a little more transition there, and think this book will be golden. Absolutely golden. And I would love to read more stories from Javier, because I think he has lots more to tell!