Ooo what a twisty, surreal kind of horror book. You probably won't look at bees the same way after reading this one. This book takes so many twists and turns that it's impossibly hard to put down. I almost read it entirely in one sitting yesterday! I can see a lot of teens picking this up and really enjoying it.

In addition to the horror vibes, there are also a lot of explorations of gender and privilege, especiallly in a summer camp setting like this. There are a lot of different angles to look at this one from, and there is a bright future for Ryan La Sala!

Loving all of these epic fantasyies based on different Asian mythologies! Admittedly, I don't know the Chinese classic that this one is based on, but the characters were great, the world building was great, and I was sucked in from the beginning. There's war, scheming, and a little bit of found family. Something for all kinds of historical fantasy lovers!

And the plot twists! Between the scheming and the plotting, there are twists that you don't see coming all throughout the book. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire book! 

I think the perspective and the story in this is interesting and important. It deals a lot with boarding school culture, especially that of privileged, wealthy students and how that impacts those at the school that don't have that. The students are given quite a lot of freedom at thsi school, and not a lot of the issues are really dealt with by the end of the book.

Honestly, the story suffers from having too many perspectives. While the story does come from the author's own experiences with boarding school, narrowing the focus would have allowed the narrative to breath a bit more. It would have allowed Nazemian the ability to really delve into one of the topics, like bullying or sexual harassment, instead of being spread too thin across a wide variety of issues. That's party why the ending doesn't really feel like an ending; we never get to see any of the issues from each of the narrators fully resolved by the time the story is over.

That being said, I do think Nazemian did a good job making each voice distinctive, for the most part. A lot was happening, but the voices didn't blend together too much.

All in all, if you enjoy hard-hitting boarding school stories, this might be your jam!

Maud Blyth is used to most of the interesting things happening to her brother, Robin. So, when she gets a chance to travel to New York for her own adventure, she jumps on the chance. Especially since it means covering up secrets that threaten all of the British Isles.

Instead of an adventure, what she happens upon is a dead body. And a mysterious woman named Violet Debenham, who is a magician and an actress. Thrown together by a murder on the ship, the two must work together in order to solve the mystery. When sparks start to fly between the two of them, it's the last thing Maud ever expected.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for an advanced copy of A Restless Truth to review! I I loved A Marvellous Light last year when I read it, so I was excited to jump into this sequel. I am happy to say that I wasn't disappointed! And the cover is just as gorgeous as the first book.

This is being pitched as Knives Out meets The Binding, and I'd definitely agree about the Knives Out aspect. The murder mystery is definitely the driving force behind this plot, with a little magic and romance mixed in. It's a great sort of genre blender, so I think there are a lot of readers who will really enjoy this! I will say, you don't have to read the first book to get what's going on in this one; it just gives you some background knowledge on the world building.

The chemisty between Violet and Maud was absolutely my favorite thing about this book. Their chemistry is great from the get-go. And it continues to build throughout the book. Honestly, I would read a whole entire book about them. Or maybe they go on an adventure with Robin and Edwin! Yeah, let's make that the next book.

In addition to Violet and Maud, there's a cast of quirky side characters you'll fall in love with as well. The group on the ship are fun to read about, making this a magical mystery adventure romance you won't want to miss.

All in all, if you love a great genre blender, especially one with a little magic, you'll definitely enjoy this book!

Let me just start by saying if you're looking for a cute rom-com, this book is not it. It's billed as a lighthearted romance, but it is definitely not that. And that is not a bad thing! I love Alexis Hall's writing, and I love that he often goes outside the box when writing romance. Because of that, I almost think this book feels more realistic. It felt more like real-life to me.

The strongest aspect of this book is the way that Hall portrays Paris's anxiety. Paris has a pretty severe anxiety disorder, and it is exhausting being in his head for a good majority of the book. He is constantly second guessing himself, doesn't believe he's good enough, and torpedoes a lot of his relationships. Even though I don't struggle with severe anxiety like Paris does, Paris's voice felt authentic and realistic. And I think it will turn a lot of people away from this book.

Another aspect that makes this standout from other romance is Tariq's view on sex before marriage. It's another thing that you don't see a lot in romance, but I appreciated the focus on the fact that you can have romantic relationships without sex. More of this kind of romance, please! 

Of course, the baking aspects were all lovely and wonderful, especially if you're a fan of Bake Off. I do hope Hall continues this series, because I think it's a really fun idea for a romance series and both books in it so far have been reallyl strong!

A little bit of the history of how Heartstopper came about, some of the original drawings, and of course mini comics! I loved every bit of this. As most people would expect. Getting to see Alic Oseman's creative process was fun, and kind of inspirational if I'm being honest. Makes me want to draw or create something too.

 Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for an advanced copy of How to Excavate a Heart to review! I'm always looking for great new holiday romances, and while this one isn't super heavy on the holiday, it's a treat! You'll definitely want to add it to your winter TBRs.

How to Excavate a Heart reads like a typical rom-com. An accidental meet up leads to something more. The setting is around Christmas, but both of our protagonists are Jewish. They have quite a few conversations about the overall holiday season and I thought they were great. They added a different perspective to the typical holiday romance we see, and we need more of that!

The evolving romance between Shani and May is also adorable. Yes, they make teenage mistakes, but that's to be expected. Also, some of the subject matter gets a bit heavier than I was expecting. Be warned if you jump into this one, there are some discussions about sexual assualt. It adds an emotional depth but doesn't take away from that mostly lighthearted feel. I would equate it to the way Heartstopper deals with eating disorders/depression/anxiety.

All in all, if you're looking for an emotionally deep holiday story not centered around Christmas, I recommend checking this one out! 
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This is a cute, sort-of holiday romance you'll definitely want to read this holiday season! Stay tuned for a full review to come tomorrow!

This is different than a lot of YA that's out there, which is both a good and bad thing. It has a bit of a slow start, which means it might take more for its audience to latch onto the story. But let me tell you. Once it gets going, it's such a great, interesting, emotional, engaging story.

The comp title for this is Good Omens, which is a pretty good comparison in overall feel. An angel and a demon partnering together to sort of solve a mystery. However, this book is heavily based in Jewish culture and mythology, which gives it another edge.

The queerness in this book is pretty subtle, which I actually don't mind. It feels authentic and I'm glad they didn't really make a big deal of it in the story. I loved Uriel and Ash's evolving relationship, it was probably my favorite thing about the book overall.

It's the summer after high school graduation, and Aria is sent to her grandmother's house for the summer after a boy publishes photos of her with her shirt off. It's there Aria meets Steph, her grandmother's gardener. Steph, who introduces Aria to the queer world of art and music. Who might make Aria realize she's not straight.

This book is set in 2013, after the legalization of gay marriage in the United States. Lo brilliantly adds little details about this throughout the book, showing the reader how the news affected the LGBTQ+ community in different ways.

Aria's journey in this book is messy. It's emotional. It's relatable. However, while this book is billed as YA, I think it might have a slightly older target audience. Twenty-somethings might see themselves more in this book, because of the time period its set in.

Like all of Malinda Lo's book, there's an emotional tenderness in this book as Aria is trying to discover herself. It's not a fast moving book, but a book focused on the ways that she is changing, the ways that she is coming into herself. It is honestly so beautifully written.

My only complaint, really, is that this is being promoted as a companion to [book:Last Night at the Telegraph Club|35224992], and while there is a connection, it's very small. I almost wished that aspect could have been explored a little more, because I think it would have just pushed this book over the edge, up to five stars for me.

Nevertheless, this is still an emotional, coming into your identity story and I'd highly recommend it!

Not a bad entry into the YA DC graphic novel universe! Admittely, I know pretty much next to nothing about all of DC. Except for what I've seen in movies. So, I enjoy that these make DC more accessible, even to people who don't know much about the original characters they're based on.

In all honesty, the art was my favorite thing about this book. The color palette, the structure, I loved everything about the art. The story takes a bit of a dark turn towards the end, but still engaging all around.