As usual, Zoboi has created a thought-provoking story that will stay with you when you finish it. It's about race, it's about questioning how you were raised, and it's about finding your own voice. I will be honest, this is tagged as historical fiction in a few places, so I spent a good portion of the beginning trying to figure out the time period of this book. As far as I can tell, it seems to be present day? Unless anyone has any other insight on that!

Anyway, Nigeria's story is messy, she's learning new things about herself and her family and trying to act on her mother's wishes despite what her father wants for her. There is a twist towards the end that I did see coming, but I think it's still impactful despite that. There's just a lot of a meat to this story, and it's one that is still relevant to the current United States.

Other than the timeline issue, I did enjoy listening to this and think it will get some buzz when it comes time for awards season!

Pan has finally escaped her planet and is now on the run with two rebels, Bee and Cass, and the mysterious Kate. They've also rescued a princess, who might has her own idea of what her freedom should look like. And Pan still wonders what happened to her childhood friend Tara, who was a princess that escaped their own planet. But as the crew is headed to a new mission, will the stress of the rebellion tear them apart? Or bring them together against the empire?

I read the first volume of Cosmoknights about a year ago and fell in love. It's a queers in space adventure with fantastic art and gorgeous colors. The way that Templer expands the world in this book is fantastic, but it also doesn't overshadow the strong characters she created. We get to see how the rebellion is pulling at the seams of their group, but also that their idea of rebellion doesn't necessarily line up with other people's. There are a lot of interesting character dynamics throughout this volume, and I expect these will just be expanded upon in further volumes (because there better be more with that ending!).

One of the things I appreciated most about this volume was getting the perspective of the princess that they rescued. They thought they were helping her, but they found that she had different ideas about that. It's these conversations that allow them to think about how they are going their revolution, and it also adds character devleopment to the characters we met in the first volume.

All in all, I just really love this series and it's one that I definitely think that I'll need to add to my own shelf eventually!

This is such a fantastic middle grade graphic novel about finding yourself, getting the courage to try new things, and gaining some independence. Based on Santat's own experiences in middle school traveling abroad, there's a lot that middle schoolers will relate to. Honestly, getting to do a trip abroad like this in middle school would have been kind of cool!

As expected, the illustrations are fantastic throughou. Santat uses a different color palette when focusing on past memories, and features some of the drawings he did when he was actually in middle school. It was just an overall great reading experience!

Pirates, magic, romance, adventure, what more could you want in a YA fantasy? I was hooked in this story from beginning to end. The pacing worked well, and the charaters were all fantastically developed. This is loosely based on pirates from the 1800s, adding magic and a queer romance. 

It reminded me a little of In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens, though maybe a touch darker than that one. I feel like there aren't a whole lot of pirate stories in YA, but I do think teens love them! There was a clever little twist at the end, and I would definitely read more about Mar and Bas and their adventures on the seas. 

Vivian Lantz has the worst luck when it comes to first days of school. Every year something different happens, whether it's being forced to sing in front of her entire class or having your appendix burst in fifth grade. 8th grade is going to be her chance for a fresh slate.

However, it turns out, 8th grade is the worst first day yet. So, when Vivian wakes up the following day and finds herself stuck in her first day of 8th grade again. Now is her chance to right all of her wrongs and create the best first day ever. But as it keeps happening, Vivian has to figure out how to escape the first day time loop.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy to review! I love Kathryn Ormsbee; she writes great middle grade that just hits the voice just right. And this one was no different! Vivian has such a journey of self-discovery in this book, one that a lot of middle schoolers will relate to. Finding her voice, finding a new friend after her best friend moves away. It's got it all.

Vivian also discovers that she might be attracted to girls in this book, and her dads just roll with it. The entire first crush moment was adorable, and Vivian learned more each time she was stuck in the time loop. She also had some great family relationships, and we get to explore those too as she's stuck. 

All in all, if you like time loop stories and stories about finding yourself, you'll definitely love this middle grade!

This novel in verse is a good look at Cuban culture with a romance at it's center, focused on art and making the world a better place. It's a quick read, but definitely still an impactful one. Even though Soleida and Daniel are from differnet worlds, they're able to find commonality through art. I think there are areas where the story could have been expanded, but still a good story overall.

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar to review! A baking competition themed romance is exactly what I needed right now. And yet another great summer read!

First of all, I absolutely loved all of the baking puns at the beginning of each chapter. Not only do they reflect what’s happening in the story, but they also just make reading the book a fun experience. Because who doesn’t like baking puns, honestly?

As a fan of baking shows, I knew that I was probably going to love this. You get to see a lot of the competition in the book, and while some of it isn’t quite believable, it was still so much fun to read. Seeing what Shireen comes up with, applying it to her culture. And she gets to make donuts for her family’s shop as well! 

The side characters were pretty well developed, as well as Shireen, making a full cast that fleshes out the story. Warning: if you’re a baker, you’ll probably want to bake once you’re done reading this!

If you like ex-lovers to lovers romances with a side of baking, you’ll definitely love this book when it comes out next month.

An adorable summer rom-com if you're looking for one to read as we get closer to summer! It will probably make you long for spending a summer in a big city, working at a coffee shop and just exploring with friends. A summer without many worries, if you will. Seriously, all the summer vibes!

Also, I loved that Lydia was like, well, my sister said no boys for the summer, so that doesn't apply to me dating a girl. A loophole! It just made for a fun premise, and I loved that Lydia got to bond with her sister throughout the summer. Plus, there was a fun friend group and mentions of lots and lots of great food.

The ending is predictable, but it is a rom-com, so that's to be expected. It will make a great beach read for whatever your summer looks like.

Has it been three years since I read Starsight? Yes. Did I still jump into this without looking up what happened in that book? Also yes. For the most part, I found that some details came back to me while reading this one, but it didn't really seem to affect my reading of it. I mostly decided to pick this up becuase I think the final book in this series comes out this fall, so I figured it was time to catch up.

What works best about this book is the character development. Spensa changes quite a bit in this book, trying to figure out how to defeat the enemy by essentially jumping into their territory. Sort of. M-Bot also grows a lot in this book, and he's just such a great character. We also get to meet a whole new cast of characters, and each of them felt like full characters in an of themselves.

This book did feel like mostly filler for the last book, so it's kind of second book syndrome even though it's the third book. I am intrigued about how Sanderson is going to finish this series off, though, so I will definitely be picking up that final book when it comes out! Maybe this time I won't wait three years to do it. 

I guess I get why so many people love this book because it is easy to read and moves rather quickly. At times, it does get a bit repetitive, and the ending felt a bit rushed to me. But it is the first in a series, so the pacing and the info dumping does make sense.

Read this for a banned book club, and it will be an interesting discussion because of Orson Scott Card's problematic behavior. I'm not sure how much this is still banned because of content, it's something I will have to look up. I am looking forward to our discussion, though!