Jessica Goodman is always good for a quick, fun mystery/thriller read and this one is no different! This time, it's set at an event for private school students, trying to get into The Legacy club. But there's possibly something sinister going on in the background that leads to the death of one of the students.

People who like things like Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars will probably thoroughly enjoy this one! I found the mystery a little easy to figure out, but that's part of the reason I like coming back to these books. They always guarantee a twisty mystery and definitely make for quick reads.

 It’s London 1593, and Will Hughes is a regular actor on Shakespeare’s stage. But in his personal life, he’s also pretending to be someone else: hiding the fact that he’s the son of traitors to the crown. All he wants to do is lay low and earn enough to escape back to his family.

But when his mentor, Christopher Marlowe, is murdered in front of him, his plans change. As the truth about Marlowe comes out (and the fact that he was a spy for the queen), Will gets wrapped up in solving his murder. As well as wrapped up in Lord Bloomsbury, the handsome man helping him solve Marlowe’s murder. 
 

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter to review! Apparently, I was on a bit of a historical fiction kick, which is fine by me. This is another YA set in a time period that doesn’t happen often in YA. I’m loving the fact that publishers are branching out from just WWII historical fiction!

Hands down, the romance in this was the best part. Yes, it’s a bit of a mystery, a bit of a spy thriller, but the chemistry between Will and Bloomsbury is absolutely the best part of this book for me. You have two people who desperately want to be together, despite the fact that it’s basically against the law. It’s a bit of a “will they figure out a way to be together?” kind of story. I admit I’m a bit of a sucker for that.

It’s fun to see some of the historical figures that Cotter includes throughout, especially seeing Shakespeare pop as a character (who teens will definitely know the most). The book itself is a little on the long side, as I kept thinking it was done at the end but then it kept going. But it wraps itself up nicely at the end (maybe a bit too nicely for the time period, though).

If you like historical adventure with a heavy dose of queer romance, this is definitely the book for you! 

There is a lot that happens in this book, that's packed with a lot of relevant social topics that are worth exploring! At times, though, it felt like a little too much and that the story went on for a little longer than it needed to. I was also a bit thrown off by the incorporation of COVID at the end, and I do wish there would have been a little more warning about that becuase I still think it's too soon.

But I digress! The premise of this book is lovely, even if it wasn't quite as fantasy-esque as I expected. The topics are hard hitting, and it is overall well-written; a different editor might have taken out some of the more unncessary plotlines.

All in all, I really wanted to like this one more than I actually did. But this will definitely be an author to watch in the future!

Back to Percy in this one, with all the action you expect in a Percy Jackson book. Again, I do think this could have been on the shorter side, but Riordan is trying to pack a lot into this series. 7 demigods going on a quest! Things are bound to get a little tricky.

Even though we know what's going on because of book 1, there's still the suspense of Percy remembering who he was and connecting back with his Camp Half-Blood friends. We do get some fun new characters though, and the inclusion of someone we already know. The ending definitely came back to me once I read this, and it really was a great weekend read!

I was hesitant to pick this up because I read [book:The Truth About White Lies|60743851] last year, and it was not my favorite. While some similar subjects come up in this book, I think the writing and the way tough topics are dealt with are miles better than her previous book. 

Despite having the title "Dear Medusa," Medusa doesn't actually come up too much in the overall plot of the story. Alicia, the main character, does feel a connection to her and ends up sort of writing letters to her at some point, I was just expecting that to be way more of the plot. 

Honestly, the way this book deals with the way men (yes, men) look at teen girls is probably the best thing about it. Alicia is aware of the way she is perceived by men who are much older than she is, partly because she has been sexually assaulted herself. Alicia, who is bisexual, makes a comment that she never tries the things she does with men with women because they have that boundary. I wish I would have saved the exact quote. There are quotes like that speckled throughout the story that just feel like a gut punch because you know they're true. 

I do wish Alicia's love interest would have played a bigger role, as that plot line felt like it took more of a background seat to everything else that was going on in her life. Maybe if it hadn't been told in verse Cole would have had more space to explore those relationships.

All in all, if you're looking for a sort of gut-punch of a novel that really looks at the way teen girls are perceived in the world, I'd definitely pick this one up.

 While I think this book is a little longer than it needs to be (see the rest of Rick Riordan's books, I'm guessing. Why do they get so long??), you keep reading because you need to know what happened to Percy. And who the heck this Jason person is. The way the entire plot is set up really works to keep you reading and keep you guessing, all the while introducing you to Greek and Roman myths that maybe you didn't know about.

I do remember reading this when it first came out, but I couldn't tell you anything that happened in besides the fact that Percy disappeared and I remembered the things about the Roman camp. I also never actually finished this series, so I am excited to see where it goes next!

Here's to seeing if I can fit all the other books in before the new Percy Jackson book comes out in September.

Objectively, this is well-written, with a tense mystery set at the core of the COVID lockdown. It hits on a lot of important issues surrounding race in America, and surrounding issues with COVID in general. Kim Johnson is a great writer and really examines these issues with a lot of emotion and through the lens of a Black teen in America. It will definitely spark a lot of great conversations.

However, I have a hard time reading anything that is set during the pandemic because I read (mostly) as an escape. The story feels too close to home, and while I get writing is a way for some people to work through things, I'm not someone who necessarily wants to read about this topic at the moment. So, if you want to avoid COVID related stories, I'd probably shelve this one for later.

Re-read for a mini book club at work! This is still the best of the trilogy, they kind of go down hill from here (especially the third book, don't even get me started). So I'm just going to pretend this is where the story ends and be happy with that!

 Léon Delafosse is supposed to be France’s next great pianist. He’s the youngest student ever accepted into the Paris Conservatory, and has been studying for years. However, in 1890s Paris, it’s nearly impossible to make it as any kind of artist without a patron.

Enter Marcel Proust, a young gossip columnist who takes an interest in Léon. He takes him under his wing and introduces him to the right people. So, when Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fézensac offers Léon patronage, he immediately accepts. But as Léon gets closer to his dreams, he realizes he’s getting further away from his original country roots. And thus, further away from Felix, the boy he might just love. 
 

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer to review! Schrefer seems to be excellent at writing characters who seem to find themselves in impossible situations. Moving from sci-fi to historical fiction might be an odd jump, but Schrefer has shown that he can masterfully write in both genres.

In the author’s note, Schrefer explains that he was interested in the story of Léon Delafosse after seeing his painting in a museum. After learning that Léon and Robert had a falling out, he was inspired to write this story. Not a lot of YA historical fiction is set during this particular time period, so it really was a breath of fresh air in that aspect. Even though I am no historical expert, the story felt well-researched and realistic for the time period he is portraying.

This book is generally more of a character driven story, showing more of what life could have been like in this time period for those that are queer. It’s a bit slow moving, focusing on Léon and the way he’s moving about society. The writing style also sort of fits with the kind of things that would have been written at that time, which helps to pull you into the story even more.

However, it is quite a short book, so it almost feels like maybe it was over a bit too soon. For the most part, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of it, but it could have been fun to see more of an expansion of some of the background characters.

All in all, if you like historical drama, you’ll definitely enjoy this one! 

I started reading the Squirrel Girl comics way back when, and I never really kept up with them (I should go back and catch up!), but this book definitely has the overall same tone and style. If you loved those, then you will definitely thoroughly enjoy this story. There's a slight tone of darkness in the background (you know, the world ending stuff), but Marguerite and Daisy are delightful main characters on a quest to save the world. Or so they think.

Of course, chaos ensues, and you join them as they try to find the missing pieces to the spell that will save the world. There's found family, D&D references, and just an overall good time. If you're looking for soome general end of the world fun, definitely check this one out!