The Last Cuentista is a beautiful future dystopian-esque story about a girl named Petra. Petra wants nothing more than to be a storyteller like her abuela, but she is sent to space to a more viable planet. When she awakes almost four hundred years later, she discovers things are not as ideal as they were told to expect before leaving earth. 

As Petra races to save herself and her family members, she must also try to keep stories alive. Something "The Collective" seems intent to destroy, Petra's memories and stories are an integral part of the message of this futuristic novel. While categorized as middle grades, I'd put this in between middle grades and YA. It is dark, appropriately complex, and brings up feelings about the future of our planet and mortality so I think it is best for a reader prepared for those topics or reading with an adult. 

I wanted to love Nayra and the Djinn as it came highly recommended by a friend that I trust. That said, this graphic novel fell flat for me. The art was amazing and the way the author used the month of Ramadan to pace the storytelling was wonderful. What was missing for me was depth of character development for Nayra and her semi-estranged best friend, Rami. I always felt like I had missed something (I hadn't) or that maybe I just wasn't inferring enough. So I'm not sure if it's a me thing or not enough exposition, but I really would have liked more backstory on the disagreement between Nayra and Rami. I know teenage friendship is complicated and finicky, but I feel that this was missing detail that would have made the story easier to follow and more relatable. 

Ever since a tragic night fifteen years ago, Cassie and Lenora have been inseparable. As twins they have always felt a connection, but now as they hide from their past in a remote cabin in rural Tennessee they lean on each other more than ever. 

This novel starts slowly with alternating chapters told by Cassie and Lenora. Cassie has a true crime YouTube channel and Lenora is a ghost writer that never leaves their cabin. When a new landlord shows up, the twins are thrown out of their usual routines. Then something terrible happens to a family that comes to vacation in the third cabin. Cassie is full of questions and doubt as she tries to figure out, did Lenora finally leave the cabin? 

Both isolated and claustrophobic, this book plays to many familiar thriller tropes. And you probably think you have the big twist guessed based on the title; I certainly thought so. However, this book took me for a ride after the halfway mark and actually surprised me. That's no small feat for an avid reader of mostly thrillers and mysteries. 

I loved how the author weaved in past and present timelines and created depth in the characters while still shrouding them in mystery until the very end. I don't want to give much away, because I think with the slow start having less information will help you get hooked into the story sooner. My only quibble is that I didn't really feel wrapped up in this story until past thirty percent, but I can't say I was disinterested either. I think this is going to be a popular thriller and if you've liked isolated settings or sibling stories in the past, it's well worth trying! 

Listen for the Lie is a mysterious and engaging, well produced audiobook with multiple narrators and a podcast element. This will be perfect for fans of Megan Goldin's The Night Swim. Five years ago, Lucy's best friend died and Lucy doesn't remember anything from that night. She's always been suspected but without evidence, her life has gradually reached a new normal over time. That is until a true crime podcast decides to feature Lucy for their new season. 

As the podcast is quite popular, Lucy's life is quickly turned upside down and she has to face her past in the small Texas town of Plumpton where everyone knows everything about everybody. Finally at the request of her grandmother, Lucy comes home to Plumpton and faces her biggest fears. 

Told from many perspectives and full of questions, this is an engaging read from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this, but I did find the end fell just a bit flat for me. I think it will be a stunner for those who don't read thrillers too often, this is just a hazard of the number of thrillers I read each year. I am hard to surprise. 

Last, I think this is an audiobook for anyone. Even folks who don't typically like audiobooks or have trouble paying attention can give this a shot; with the great production value, multiple narrators, and fantastic podcast aspect, it is so easy to visualize and stay engaged with. Highly recommend!

Claire Douglas presents us with a solid twist on a police procedural with The Woman Who Lied. Told from several points of view, our main character is an author who is putting the finishing touches on the tenth book in a very successful police procedural mystery series. Emilia feels done with this series, despite her agent's pleading, and decides to kill off her beloved Detective Moody at the end of book ten. There are also chapters by a young woman named Daisy nearly twenty years go and another perspective as well. 

But things go sideways for Emilia when events from her books, including book ten that isn't even out yet, start happening in real life. She calls the police, who advise her to tighten up security at home and remain calm. It's probably no big deal. Of course, that's not the case and the events progress in severity. 

My quibble with this book is that it felt tedious and overwrought in the first half, but when a major twist occurred at 51% the pages started flying by and the writing was a better balance of descriptive and well paced. I would have liked a bit more character development for Emilia, but the characters did feel real enough for me to enjoy it. I predicted two of the major twists but not the final kicker, and I couldn't put this down for the second half so I'm calling it a win overall. 

Hard by a Great Forest is the story of Saba traveling back to his childhood home of Tbilisi to search for his missing father. Over twenty years ago, Irakli left Georgia with his two sons, Saba and Sandro. Their mother couldn't get papers to leave the country, so they fled to England without her. 

Now Saba arrives in Georgia to find his father and brother, following a breadcrumb like trail of clues reminiscent of fairy tails. As he disembarks the plane, he arrives in a city in crisis. The recent flood has caused many of the zoo animals to escape and roam the town. And on top of that Saba doesn't even know where to begin to look, so he leans on the support of his cab driver turned friend Nodar. 

This book is a beautiful, gut wrenching story of Saba and Nodar following the trail of clues to discover the memories Saba has forgotten and to try to heal the trauma of Nodar's recent past. Through absolutely harrowing challenges, this unlikely pair become family and stick by each other to try to solve Saba's family mystery. 

I loved the vivid descriptions of the mountainous landscape and way Vardiashvili's characters persevere through brutality and loss. There are elements of imagination and so many metaphors, this book reads easily and tugs at your heart while it is also full of so much depth and intention that it begs to be read again. (And I plan to.) 

Hard by a Great Forest will grab your heart and squeeze it until after you put this book down at its last page. I cannot say enough about this one. If this is his debut, I wait with baited breath for Vardiashvili's next novel. 

I rarely read horror and even more rarely read YA horror, but this cover spoke to me at the library and I am so glad! What Stalks Among Us is about two best friends who skip school because there's a field trip to an amusement park and Logan knows Sadie is worried that she won't fit on any of the rides. 

So Logan and Sadie go on a drive instead, and they find themselves in a mysterious unending corn maze. Cool, cool. Sadie loves a corn maze, but it's quickly clear that this maze isn't following the rules of the universe as we know it. For quite a few times in the first 50 pages, I thought I had zoned out while reading or missed something. Nope, I had read it correctly. Hollowell is just that good at creating a sense of confusion and therefore establishing a creepy mood right off the bat. 

So I won't tell you much about this corn maze other than Sadie and Logan keep finding dead Sadies and Logans. Yup, the maze can kill you and there's some repeating/parallel universe stuff going on. But the best part is how Hollowell uses this unique horror setting to talk about personal traumas that most people would dismiss. Heads up, this book has a lot to say about emotional abuse and it says it well. 

Long story short, I flew through this book and can't wait to see what Hollowell writes next. Pick this up for a fat FMC, an awesome friendship, and finding healing under pressure. I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

Okay, so first I thought this was a memoir until 71%. So that says a lot about the great character development of the narrator, Tara, and about the author's ability to make the events feel so grounded in reality and to establish emotional connection with the reader. 

Now that we've established that I don't read a synopsis to save my life, let's talk about Just Happy to Be Here. This YA gem is about Tara, a trans girl of color, who has fought to be the first trans girl at her new all girls school. Tara wants to be a member of an exclusive club called the Sibyls. Her desire to fit in and be part of a group is a huge focus of the novel, and she experiences people solidly in her corner and those fully opposed to her presence, and even her existence. 

And there's also all the other things going on in Tara's life, crushes, not being on T, wanting to be on T, navigating her identity with her parents, navigating being trans in Indian culture, making new friends at a new school... this book is rich and full of all the things in a real teen's life. 

This book will be triggering for some, with dead naming and transphobia that is very clearly on page. And it is also beautiful and important, as the author's note so poignantly explains. I am certain this will be on my list of top TA books this year.