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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
representation: main latina character with multiple sclerosis, side latinx characters, side black character, side black character who formerly had polio
This was a really quiet, sweet middle grade graphic novel. , follows the title character a month before a new year at school starts after her family has just moved to a new city. She has to spend all her time indoors just reading and watching movies due to her having MS. As a way to connect with the outside world, she writes to a friend who's at camp and spends time with a strange elderly woman, Pearl, who lives in the building.
As I said, this is a very quiet graphic novel. Not many events happen, but you watch as she grows and learns to accept certain things. She feels alone because no one, no matter how hard they try, can understand how it is to live her life. She ends up writing unsent letters to Pearl's son who had polio when he was a child as she feels like he would be the only person who would understand.
The art style is very simple but works perfectly for the story that is being told. I really liked the way that there would be several pages where was just going through her daily activities and it would perfectly portray how alone she felt.
I think this is definitely one to look out for next month, and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a simple middle grade contemporary.
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a really quiet, sweet middle grade graphic novel. , follows the title character a month before a new year at school starts after her family has just moved to a new city. She has to spend all her time indoors just reading and watching movies due to her having MS. As a way to connect with the outside world, she writes to a friend who's at camp and spends time with a strange elderly woman, Pearl, who lives in the building.
As I said, this is a very quiet graphic novel. Not many events happen, but you watch as she grows and learns to accept certain things. She feels alone because no one, no matter how hard they try, can understand how it is to live her life. She ends up writing unsent letters to Pearl's son who had polio when he was a child as she feels like he would be the only person who would understand.
The art style is very simple but works perfectly for the story that is being told. I really liked the way that there would be several pages where was just going through her daily activities and it would perfectly portray how alone she felt.
I think this is definitely one to look out for next month, and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a simple middle grade contemporary.
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
1) Fence Vol. 1 ★★★★
2) Fence Vol. 2 ★★★★
representation: japanese-american side character, multiple black side characters, various other side poc, multiple mlm characters, side f/f relationship
This is becoming one of my favourite graphic novel series, and this is my favourite volume thus far. This is the last volume that's focused on tryouts, and holy god it really heated up. There were such fantastic character dynamics explored in this one, and some backstory stuff when parents showed up in one volume.
Each and every character in this series is my child and I love them with my whole entire heart. They're all infuriating in their own ways, but they also have these moments that are just so endearing. Issue #12 especially has some super sweet parts as the fencing team is decided and the new members are initiated.
Everything about this comic series is so fluffy and sweet, and I never want it to end.
Read in the single issues that will make up the third volume in April 2019.
2) Fence Vol. 2 ★★★★
representation: japanese-american side character, multiple black side characters, various other side poc, multiple mlm characters, side f/f relationship
This is becoming one of my favourite graphic novel series, and this is my favourite volume thus far. This is the last volume that's focused on tryouts, and holy god it really heated up. There were such fantastic character dynamics explored in this one, and some backstory stuff when parents showed up in one volume.
Each and every character in this series is my child and I love them with my whole entire heart. They're all infuriating in their own ways, but they also have these moments that are just so endearing. Issue #12 especially has some super sweet parts as the fencing team is decided and the new members are initiated.
Everything about this comic series is so fluffy and sweet, and I never want it to end.
Read in the single issues that will make up the third volume in April 2019.
content warnings: war, death, bigotry, bombings, violence
representation: syrian muslim main characters
“All I can think tonight is how deep the sea, and how vast, how indifferent. How powerless I am to protect you from it. All I can do is pray.”
This is perhaps the most gut-wrenching, devastating thing I've read all year, and it's not even 50 pages.
Sea Prayer is an illustrated book which contains a father's letter to his young son the night before they are to attempt to flee Syria. It was inspired largely by the refugee crisis, but specifically by the story of a three-year old boy who drowned in 2015 when he and his family were trying to find safety in Europe.
This entire book is drenched in sadness, with wistful remembrance of a more peaceful past and a father despairing at the world his son is being forced to grow up in. The images are simple but beautiful, perfectly conveying the tone and message of this book.
This is definitely worth a read, no matter how much it costs.
representation: syrian muslim main characters
“All I can think tonight is how deep the sea, and how vast, how indifferent. How powerless I am to protect you from it. All I can do is pray.”
This is perhaps the most gut-wrenching, devastating thing I've read all year, and it's not even 50 pages.
Sea Prayer is an illustrated book which contains a father's letter to his young son the night before they are to attempt to flee Syria. It was inspired largely by the refugee crisis, but specifically by the story of a three-year old boy who drowned in 2015 when he and his family were trying to find safety in Europe.
This entire book is drenched in sadness, with wistful remembrance of a more peaceful past and a father despairing at the world his son is being forced to grow up in. The images are simple but beautiful, perfectly conveying the tone and message of this book.
This is definitely worth a read, no matter how much it costs.
content warnings: stalking, death, blood, gore, use of medication
representation: black side characters, asian-american side character
Review can also be found on my blog.
I'm not entirely sure what I just read but I think I liked it?? Snotgirl follows Lottie, a famous fashion blogger who presents a very glamorous version of herself online. Offline, however, her life's kind of a mess as she deals with her allergies, terrible friends, an ex-boyfriend, and maybe killing someone.
The plot is really weird and kind of confusing because the entire thing is from Lottie's POV, and there are parts where she doesn't seem to be able to discern what's real and what's not. There isn't really an explanation in this volume (it's hinted at that it's her new meds, but nothing is confirmed), and that entire aspect of the book was both a positive and a negative. On one hand, it made it more interesting, but it also made it unnecessarily confusing sometimes.
You need to know before going into this that every single person is awful. Lottie is judgmental and vapid, as is everyone around her. Personally, I thought they were an entertaining kind of awful, but that's definitely going to be something that's going to rub people the wrong way.
Easily the highlight of this entire volume was the art. It's really cute and the colouring makes everything extremely aesthetically pleasing with its use of greens. Leslie Hung and Mickey Quinn deserve so much credit for how pretty they made this graphic novel.
Overall, this is weird. I liked it well enough, but that will definitely not be the case for everyone.
representation: black side characters, asian-american side character
Review can also be found on my blog.
I'm not entirely sure what I just read but I think I liked it?? Snotgirl follows Lottie, a famous fashion blogger who presents a very glamorous version of herself online. Offline, however, her life's kind of a mess as she deals with her allergies, terrible friends, an ex-boyfriend, and maybe killing someone.
The plot is really weird and kind of confusing because the entire thing is from Lottie's POV, and there are parts where she doesn't seem to be able to discern what's real and what's not. There isn't really an explanation in this volume (it's hinted at that it's her new meds, but nothing is confirmed), and that entire aspect of the book was both a positive and a negative. On one hand, it made it more interesting, but it also made it unnecessarily confusing sometimes.
You need to know before going into this that every single person is awful. Lottie is judgmental and vapid, as is everyone around her. Personally, I thought they were an entertaining kind of awful, but that's definitely going to be something that's going to rub people the wrong way.
Easily the highlight of this entire volume was the art. It's really cute and the colouring makes everything extremely aesthetically pleasing with its use of greens. Leslie Hung and Mickey Quinn deserve so much credit for how pretty they made this graphic novel.
Overall, this is weird. I liked it well enough, but that will definitely not be the case for everyone.
content warnings: blackmail, emotional parental abuse, slut shaming, bdsm, dom/sub relationship, mentions of drug addiction and sexual assault
representation: fat main character, bi/pan main character, black side character, queer side character
“I like how you are. So you have quirks. All the most interesting people do.”
Review is also posted on my blog.
Hot damn, this was good. I discovered this because the Book Hangover Book Club read it a couple months ago, and Chelsea and Julie praised it so much that I ended up getting really hyped, apparently for good reason!
This is about Rain Barrington, a young woman from a wealthy family who has just gotten involved in a sex scandal and decides to go on a vacation to New Orleans to escape her overbearing mother. The owner of the hotel she stays at is Sol DuMont, a recent divorcee who is immediately enraptured by Rain. Within literal pages of meeting they're having sex and it all goes from there.
So, yeah, this book is extremely unrealistic in terms of how quickly they have sex, then go into having a dom/sub relationship, and then fall in love. But you're not here for a realistic story, you're here for sex, and boy is there a lot of that. Not only is there a lot of sex, but it is so well written and so hot.
I really enjoyed Rain and Sol as main characters. Sol is a little bi shit who flirts with his straight best friend all the time, and Rain is a fat woman who knows that she's hot as fuck and will use her adorableness to manipulate you. I also loved that Rain's fatness is almost exclusively mentioned as either a matter-of-fact or as a way of Sol describing how hot she is.
But let's be real, my new queen is Maddy. I'm so excited that the next book is about her getting to have all the sex.
There are a couple things I didn't love. One is the cover; who the fuck decided to not have a fat model on the cover?? Not a knock against the book, just something that really frustrated me. In terms of the content of the book, I wish there had been more discussion when it came to the dom/sub aspect of the relationship, and the characters' inner thoughts could get a bit much sometimes.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book. If you're looking for some good ass smut then this should be one of the first on your list.
representation: fat main character, bi/pan main character, black side character, queer side character
“I like how you are. So you have quirks. All the most interesting people do.”
Review is also posted on my blog.
Hot damn, this was good. I discovered this because the Book Hangover Book Club read it a couple months ago, and Chelsea and Julie praised it so much that I ended up getting really hyped, apparently for good reason!
This is about Rain Barrington, a young woman from a wealthy family who has just gotten involved in a sex scandal and decides to go on a vacation to New Orleans to escape her overbearing mother. The owner of the hotel she stays at is Sol DuMont, a recent divorcee who is immediately enraptured by Rain. Within literal pages of meeting they're having sex and it all goes from there.
So, yeah, this book is extremely unrealistic in terms of how quickly they have sex, then go into having a dom/sub relationship, and then fall in love. But you're not here for a realistic story, you're here for sex, and boy is there a lot of that. Not only is there a lot of sex, but it is so well written and so hot.
I really enjoyed Rain and Sol as main characters. Sol is a little bi shit who flirts with his straight best friend all the time, and Rain is a fat woman who knows that she's hot as fuck and will use her adorableness to manipulate you. I also loved that Rain's fatness is almost exclusively mentioned as either a matter-of-fact or as a way of Sol describing how hot she is.
But let's be real, my new queen is Maddy. I'm so excited that the next book is about her getting to have all the sex.
There are a couple things I didn't love. One is the cover; who the fuck decided to not have a fat model on the cover?? Not a knock against the book, just something that really frustrated me. In terms of the content of the book, I wish there had been more discussion when it came to the dom/sub aspect of the relationship, and the characters' inner thoughts could get a bit much sometimes.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book. If you're looking for some good ass smut then this should be one of the first on your list.
content warnings: hospitalisation, discussion of infidelity and a panic attack, homophobia, racism
representation: main m/m relationship, gay jewish main character with adhd, gay white passing puerto-rican main character, side character with anxiety, biromanic asexual side character in an f/f relationship, fat biracial side character
“Maybe this won't work out and I won't care about it ending. But I can't get from A to B without us being A and B first. Live in the moment.”
Review can also be found on my blog.
Listen, this book has flaws (as does literally every book) but I still loved it and, frankly, some of you are being extremely harsh on it. I love Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's books (okay, I've only read one Adam Silvera book, but I'm planning on reading his other two soon) and I was so excited when I found out that they were going to be writing a book together. And this book definitely didn't disappoint.
What If It's Us is about Arthur, a musical nerd from Georgia visiting New York for the summer, and Ben, a New York native who has just gotten out of a relationship. When the book starts Arthur is out on a coffee run and meets Ben as he's going to the post office to mail his ex-boyfriend his things. But then a flash mob happens and they lose each other without getting any contact information. Both then proceed to try to find the other, succeed, and then go on a horrible first date.
This book is, at it's core, about how messy and complicated relationships can be. Arthur and Ben go on bad dates, say the wrong thing, react inappropriately to something, and it's portrayed as totally normal because it is. Relationships are messy and complicated, and I really love that Becky and Adam decided to portray that aspect in what is essentially a teen romcom.
Honestly, most of the rest of this review is going to be me reacting to recurring comments I keep seeing on negative-to-okay reviews because so many of them genuinely confuse me.
➵ Arthur is a creepy stalker and Ben is amazing. Okay, I'm not disputing that Ben's amazing, but y'all are seriously misrepresenting Arthur. Yes, he gets the label from the package, tries to find Ben with it, fails, considers putting an ad on Craigslist, and then puts up a flier. But did y'all just not read Ben's chapters in that portion of the book? Because he obsessively tries to find Arthur on social media, then his best friend's girlfriend does the same, and goes to a Yale meet-up because he thinks Arthur might be there. I don't know what book you read, but if you're all up in arms over Arthur being a stalker, then you might want to include Ben in that camp as well.
➵ The only good characters were Ben and Dylan. As previously stated, I love Ben, but I'm seriously not getting the Dylan hype. I thought he was a perfectly fine character most of the time, but some of his comments came off to me as something a fuckboy would say (the "future wife" comment constantly coming up and his use of the term "friend zone") and some of his dialogue was very... Obnoxious is the best word for it. Clearly he didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book and I still liked him, I just don't understand why he seems to be peoples' saving grace of this book.
➵ There are too many pop culture references. Were there?? Maybe it's because I recently read Ready Player One but I thought there was a normal amount of references for a very current contemporary. In fact, compared to Becky's other books, this one was fairly toned down. Usually the references were one of two things: a) just part of a characters personality, like Arthur constantly referencing musicals (and as someone who loves Hamilton, yes, we will just casually quote it in conversations and we will get offended if you don't get it), or b) it was a clever descriptor, like when one of them was referring to doing his hair and says he could do a Draco Malfoy, which majority of people will immediately realise means slicked back hair. The book would also sometimes go several pages without including any references so???
➵ The characters are over dramatic. Speaking as someone who is the same age as the characters, yes, they are extremely over dramatic. But that's how teenagers are. I've seen my friends' relationship drama and literally no rational thought goes into anything. Teenagers constantly blow things out of proportion and jump to conclusions, so this book is just portraying teenagers as they are, something which is quite frankly extremely lacking in YA. Also, this book portrays teenagers after they've been extremely over dramatic, they talk it out, they apologise, they acknowledge that they've been over dramatic.
Now, onto some other miscellaneous thoughts:
✨ I predicted the ending and I still loved it
✨ I hated Jessie and Ethan, they were major dicks
✨ He should've dumped them for Namrata and Juliet, the true queens of this book
✨ Where's our novella about Ben's parents, the cutest couple in this book. “Instead of buying Pa a coffeemaker that would have to be replaced within a year, Ma made him an I love you, Diego mug that he cherishes. Like, if the apartment is on fire, he's grabbing us and that mug. And instead of buying Ma a new prayer book, I helped Pa make an audio file of him reciting his favourite Bible verses to listen to every morning.” THEY ARE THE ULTIMATE OTP
✨ That scene where Arthur says something ignorant about Ben's ethnicity, Ben corrects him, Arthur apologises, Ben says it's fine, and then Arthur says that it's not fine? Literary perfection
✨ In fact, all the stuff about Ben being white passing was amazing
✨ Wattpad being mentioned made me both cringe and feel nostalgic
✨ The casual insertion of Arthur's family being Jewish, especially in that scene when they're over for dinner at the Alejo's, was so fucking good
✨ A YA book? Having discussions about dating someone with noticeably more money than you? It's more likely than you think
✨ The twin men book-ending the book was incredible
✨ I love when books have characters who aren't academically clever and that being perfectly fine
✨"Box Boy dates guys. I'M A GUY." Arthur is a Disaster and I love him
✨ Spoilery thoughts on Arthur's parents:
✨ The fact that Ben thinks quoting Taken makes someone cool
✨ "Let me mansplain your city to you" was the funniest line in the book
✨ Talking about hammering Thor is a Big Mood
✨ Also, I love this trope of 'coming out to your friends by mentioning that character/actor of the same sex in a movie is hot' (lookin at you Bright Sessions)
✨ Everyone texts fucking paragraphs in this book?? Do the Teens do that?? Sorry, I'm not hip with the kids
✨ The kiss took forever but good god was it worth it
✨ "No spoilers!" "It's history!" had me cracking up
✨ The fucking scene where Arthur's facetiming his mum and then Ben just,, walks in only wearing boxers,,, and Arthur just,, Can't Even
✨ Top/bottom jokes to do with bunk beds will always be funny. Sorry, I don't make the rules
I have a lot of Feelings and, as per usual, both Becky and Adam delivered a damn good time.
representation: main m/m relationship, gay jewish main character with adhd, gay white passing puerto-rican main character, side character with anxiety, biromanic asexual side character in an f/f relationship, fat biracial side character
“Maybe this won't work out and I won't care about it ending. But I can't get from A to B without us being A and B first. Live in the moment.”
Review can also be found on my blog.
Listen, this book has flaws (as does literally every book) but I still loved it and, frankly, some of you are being extremely harsh on it. I love Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's books (okay, I've only read one Adam Silvera book, but I'm planning on reading his other two soon) and I was so excited when I found out that they were going to be writing a book together. And this book definitely didn't disappoint.
What If It's Us is about Arthur, a musical nerd from Georgia visiting New York for the summer, and Ben, a New York native who has just gotten out of a relationship. When the book starts Arthur is out on a coffee run and meets Ben as he's going to the post office to mail his ex-boyfriend his things. But then a flash mob happens and they lose each other without getting any contact information. Both then proceed to try to find the other, succeed, and then go on a horrible first date.
This book is, at it's core, about how messy and complicated relationships can be. Arthur and Ben go on bad dates, say the wrong thing, react inappropriately to something, and it's portrayed as totally normal because it is. Relationships are messy and complicated, and I really love that Becky and Adam decided to portray that aspect in what is essentially a teen romcom.
Honestly, most of the rest of this review is going to be me reacting to recurring comments I keep seeing on negative-to-okay reviews because so many of them genuinely confuse me.
➵ Arthur is a creepy stalker and Ben is amazing. Okay, I'm not disputing that Ben's amazing, but y'all are seriously misrepresenting Arthur. Yes, he gets the label from the package, tries to find Ben with it, fails, considers putting an ad on Craigslist, and then puts up a flier. But did y'all just not read Ben's chapters in that portion of the book? Because he obsessively tries to find Arthur on social media, then his best friend's girlfriend does the same, and goes to a Yale meet-up because he thinks Arthur might be there. I don't know what book you read, but if you're all up in arms over Arthur being a stalker, then you might want to include Ben in that camp as well.
➵ The only good characters were Ben and Dylan. As previously stated, I love Ben, but I'm seriously not getting the Dylan hype. I thought he was a perfectly fine character most of the time, but some of his comments came off to me as something a fuckboy would say (the "future wife" comment constantly coming up and his use of the term "friend zone") and some of his dialogue was very... Obnoxious is the best word for it. Clearly he didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book and I still liked him, I just don't understand why he seems to be peoples' saving grace of this book.
➵ There are too many pop culture references. Were there?? Maybe it's because I recently read Ready Player One but I thought there was a normal amount of references for a very current contemporary. In fact, compared to Becky's other books, this one was fairly toned down. Usually the references were one of two things: a) just part of a characters personality, like Arthur constantly referencing musicals (and as someone who loves Hamilton, yes, we will just casually quote it in conversations and we will get offended if you don't get it), or b) it was a clever descriptor, like when one of them was referring to doing his hair and says he could do a Draco Malfoy, which majority of people will immediately realise means slicked back hair. The book would also sometimes go several pages without including any references so???
➵ The characters are over dramatic. Speaking as someone who is the same age as the characters, yes, they are extremely over dramatic. But that's how teenagers are. I've seen my friends' relationship drama and literally no rational thought goes into anything. Teenagers constantly blow things out of proportion and jump to conclusions, so this book is just portraying teenagers as they are, something which is quite frankly extremely lacking in YA. Also, this book portrays teenagers after they've been extremely over dramatic, they talk it out, they apologise, they acknowledge that they've been over dramatic.
Now, onto some other miscellaneous thoughts:
✨ I predicted the ending and I still loved it
✨ I hated Jessie and Ethan, they were major dicks
✨ He should've dumped them for Namrata and Juliet, the true queens of this book
✨ Where's our novella about Ben's parents, the cutest couple in this book. “Instead of buying Pa a coffeemaker that would have to be replaced within a year, Ma made him an I love you, Diego mug that he cherishes. Like, if the apartment is on fire, he's grabbing us and that mug. And instead of buying Ma a new prayer book, I helped Pa make an audio file of him reciting his favourite Bible verses to listen to every morning.” THEY ARE THE ULTIMATE OTP
✨ That scene where Arthur says something ignorant about Ben's ethnicity, Ben corrects him, Arthur apologises, Ben says it's fine, and then Arthur says that it's not fine? Literary perfection
✨ In fact, all the stuff about Ben being white passing was amazing
✨ Wattpad being mentioned made me both cringe and feel nostalgic
✨ The casual insertion of Arthur's family being Jewish, especially in that scene when they're over for dinner at the Alejo's, was so fucking good
✨ A YA book? Having discussions about dating someone with noticeably more money than you? It's more likely than you think
✨ The twin men book-ending the book was incredible
✨ I love when books have characters who aren't academically clever and that being perfectly fine
✨"Box Boy dates guys. I'M A GUY." Arthur is a Disaster and I love him
✨ Spoilery thoughts on Arthur's parents:
Spoiler
I wish they weren't a happy couple in the end because I was really vibing with Arthur over having passive aggressive parents who should realistically just divorce.✨ The fact that Ben thinks quoting Taken makes someone cool
✨ "Let me mansplain your city to you" was the funniest line in the book
✨ Talking about hammering Thor is a Big Mood
✨ Also, I love this trope of 'coming out to your friends by mentioning that character/actor of the same sex in a movie is hot' (lookin at you Bright Sessions)
✨ Everyone texts fucking paragraphs in this book?? Do the Teens do that?? Sorry, I'm not hip with the kids
✨ The kiss took forever but good god was it worth it
✨ "No spoilers!" "It's history!" had me cracking up
✨ The fucking scene where Arthur's facetiming his mum and then Ben just,, walks in only wearing boxers,,, and Arthur just,, Can't Even
✨ Top/bottom jokes to do with bunk beds will always be funny. Sorry, I don't make the rules
I have a lot of Feelings and, as per usual, both Becky and Adam delivered a damn good time.
content warnings: underage drinking, depictions of injuries sustained in a car accident, descriptions of minor injuries
representation: main interracial relationship, black amputee side character, samoan side character, black side characters, side interracial f/f relationship
“Good things are infinite too.”
I was incredibly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I first heard about it, as did many people, because of the author receiving antisemitic attacks and receiving one-star ratings before the book was out because of her political stance. Many people picked it up in support of her, and I became interested in it when those people also really enjoyed it.
This book is about Anise, a seventeen-year old who has lived her whole life in Santa Cruz and lives and breathes surfing. But, at the start of the summer before her final year of high school, her aunt gets in a car accident and she and her dad move to Nebraska to help her aunt and kids. While there, Anise discovers that there are some sports that could rival surfing with the help of cute skater, Lincoln.
This was an extremely quick read, full of fun characters and cute scenes. I wouldn't go so far as to saying that Anise is easy to love, especially initially, but even if you don't like her you understand her. The characters that surround her, in particular Lincoln and Tess, were so great and endearing and I loved them.
I also loved Anise's relationship with her cousin's. There are the nine-year old twins, Parker and Nash, and twelve-year old Emery. Anise has quite a close relationship with them, clearly seeing them as siblings she never had, and I loved seeing moments of her bonding with them. Her relationship with Emery in particular was incredibly sweet as Anise takes on a sister/parent relationship with her younger cousin.
This book also had a surprisingly great theme throughout of Anise being worried that she's becoming her mum. For her entire life, Anise's mum has drifted in and out of her and her dad's lives, seemingly not caring about how they feel when she leaves. Anise constantly worries that she could become her mum, especially when she starts to spend less time talking to her friends from back home and more time with Lincoln and her cousins.
With her mum being absent, this meant that Anise's relationship with her dad is incredibly strong and it might have been my favourite aspect of the book. They're extremely close and have several lovely quiet moments throughout the book of them talking and connecting.
It was amazing to see a love interest who's not only black but is also an amputee because I don't think I've ever seen a disabled love interest in YA before. Lincoln being an amputee isn't the defining feature of his character, though. It's definitely an important part of him, but he makes it a point to never let it define him and there are a few great moments of him and Anise talking about it.
This is a quick summery read that I would recommend to anyone in the mood for a cute romance with some deeper things happening underneath.
representation: main interracial relationship, black amputee side character, samoan side character, black side characters, side interracial f/f relationship
“Good things are infinite too.”
I was incredibly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I first heard about it, as did many people, because of the author receiving antisemitic attacks and receiving one-star ratings before the book was out because of her political stance. Many people picked it up in support of her, and I became interested in it when those people also really enjoyed it.
This book is about Anise, a seventeen-year old who has lived her whole life in Santa Cruz and lives and breathes surfing. But, at the start of the summer before her final year of high school, her aunt gets in a car accident and she and her dad move to Nebraska to help her aunt and kids. While there, Anise discovers that there are some sports that could rival surfing with the help of cute skater, Lincoln.
This was an extremely quick read, full of fun characters and cute scenes. I wouldn't go so far as to saying that Anise is easy to love, especially initially, but even if you don't like her you understand her. The characters that surround her, in particular Lincoln and Tess, were so great and endearing and I loved them.
I also loved Anise's relationship with her cousin's. There are the nine-year old twins, Parker and Nash, and twelve-year old Emery. Anise has quite a close relationship with them, clearly seeing them as siblings she never had, and I loved seeing moments of her bonding with them. Her relationship with Emery in particular was incredibly sweet as Anise takes on a sister/parent relationship with her younger cousin.
This book also had a surprisingly great theme throughout of Anise being worried that she's becoming her mum. For her entire life, Anise's mum has drifted in and out of her and her dad's lives, seemingly not caring about how they feel when she leaves. Anise constantly worries that she could become her mum, especially when she starts to spend less time talking to her friends from back home and more time with Lincoln and her cousins.
With her mum being absent, this meant that Anise's relationship with her dad is incredibly strong and it might have been my favourite aspect of the book. They're extremely close and have several lovely quiet moments throughout the book of them talking and connecting.
It was amazing to see a love interest who's not only black but is also an amputee because I don't think I've ever seen a disabled love interest in YA before. Lincoln being an amputee isn't the defining feature of his character, though. It's definitely an important part of him, but he makes it a point to never let it define him and there are a few great moments of him and Anise talking about it.
This is a quick summery read that I would recommend to anyone in the mood for a cute romance with some deeper things happening underneath.
representation: side black character, side characters of colour, side gay/bi characters, minor m/m relationship
This was extremely adorable! Drama follows Callie, a seventh grader who works on the crew of her schools' drama productions. She has friends and a crush, both which get thrown out of balance when cute twins show up.
As I said, this was adorable. It's middle grade and has that kind of naive sweetness that fluffy middle grades tend to have. The characters were fun, the dialogue was good and more or less sounded like something twelve/thirteen year olds would say, and I've discovered that I'm a sucker for stories about techies/the backstage crew. SpoilerAlso, this maybe has the most iconic moment of my reading year with Jesse just fucking showing up on stage in the dress, singing and acting flawlessly, and then making out with West. That fucking SHOOK ME and I was so here for it.
Would highly recommend for someone looking for a light and fluffy read.
This was extremely adorable! Drama follows Callie, a seventh grader who works on the crew of her schools' drama productions. She has friends and a crush, both which get thrown out of balance when cute twins show up.
As I said, this was adorable. It's middle grade and has that kind of naive sweetness that fluffy middle grades tend to have. The characters were fun, the dialogue was good and more or less sounded like something twelve/thirteen year olds would say, and I've discovered that I'm a sucker for stories about techies/the backstage crew. SpoilerAlso, this maybe has the most iconic moment of my reading year with Jesse just fucking showing up on stage in the dress, singing and acting flawlessly, and then making out with West. That fucking SHOOK ME and I was so here for it.
Would highly recommend for someone looking for a light and fluffy read.
content warnings: depictions of depression and hypomania, ableism, homophobia, racism, sexism, perverted/rapey comments, shaming of someone for getting an abortion, emotional cheating
representation: black bisexual jewish main character, jewish side character with bipolar disorder, black jewish side character, jewish side character, biracial (korean-black) deaf side character, latina pansexual side character, lesbian side characters, side f/f relationships, main and side interracial relationships
“Bi, queer… it doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re happy. Just make sure you don’t let anyone tell you what you are. People can be real assholes about labels.”
I want to start this off with saying that I liked this book. A 3.5 is by no means a bad rating; I just didn't love this book.
Little and Lion follows Suzette who is coming home for the summer from the boarding school she was sent to after her brother, Lionel, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As she tries to return to normalcy and get used to being at home, her brother's mental health starts to deteriorate again and Suzette must try to help him while also struggling with her personal life.
This is such an important story in so many ways. Suzette is black and bisexual, and she is part of an interracial Jewish family; she and her mum are both black, whereas Lionel and her step-dad, Saul, are white, and Suzette and her mother converted to Judaism when they got married. There are several side LGBTQ+ characters, such as Suzette's lesbian best friend, DeeDee, and pansexual prospective love interest, Rafaela. Suzette's other prospective love interest, Emil, is biracial (black-Korean) and has an illness which caused him to lose his hearing and he now needs hearing aids. And, of course, Lionel has bipolar disorder.
Lionel's mental illness is explored so much in this book and I really enjoyed it. The book has flashbacks to key points in his diagnosis, as well as showing him initially being misdiagnosed as having ADHD. Lionel also talks about how the word "crazy" makes him feel, how his medication changing makes him feel like a lab rat, the way that peoples' differing reactions effect him, etc.
But, this book is told from Suzette's perspective and I loved seeing her react to her brother's mental illness and how much she cared about his well being. Easily my favourite part of this book was their relationship, and that is the biggest aspect of the book - the title is even a reference to their nicknames for one another.
The rest of the book, however, was just okay. The love triangle Suzette finds herself in was extremely messy and undeveloped, so I wasn't really rooting for her to be with either one. There is also a massive amount of emotional cheating, toeing the line into just straight-up cheating in some cases, and I wish it hadn't been done with a bisexual protagonist who is figuring out her sexuality.
The synopsis is also extremely misleading, mostly in how it frames Rafaela as someone who is bad for Lionel. That confused me a lot while reading because she really isn't. Lionel makes an objectively terrible decision to do with his mental illness before he even meets Rafaela, and the minute she figures out that he's genuinely at risk of hurting himself she immediately stops going along with what he does. I think that was just added into the synopsis to ramp up the drama but all it did was make me an extremely confused reader.
I did really enjoy this book and I hope I can get my hands on a copy of Brandy Colbert's newest book soon because I really enjoyed her writing and characters.
representation: black bisexual jewish main character, jewish side character with bipolar disorder, black jewish side character, jewish side character, biracial (korean-black) deaf side character, latina pansexual side character, lesbian side characters, side f/f relationships, main and side interracial relationships
“Bi, queer… it doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re happy. Just make sure you don’t let anyone tell you what you are. People can be real assholes about labels.”
I want to start this off with saying that I liked this book. A 3.5 is by no means a bad rating; I just didn't love this book.
Little and Lion follows Suzette who is coming home for the summer from the boarding school she was sent to after her brother, Lionel, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As she tries to return to normalcy and get used to being at home, her brother's mental health starts to deteriorate again and Suzette must try to help him while also struggling with her personal life.
This is such an important story in so many ways. Suzette is black and bisexual, and she is part of an interracial Jewish family; she and her mum are both black, whereas Lionel and her step-dad, Saul, are white, and Suzette and her mother converted to Judaism when they got married. There are several side LGBTQ+ characters, such as Suzette's lesbian best friend, DeeDee, and pansexual prospective love interest, Rafaela. Suzette's other prospective love interest, Emil, is biracial (black-Korean) and has an illness which caused him to lose his hearing and he now needs hearing aids. And, of course, Lionel has bipolar disorder.
Lionel's mental illness is explored so much in this book and I really enjoyed it. The book has flashbacks to key points in his diagnosis, as well as showing him initially being misdiagnosed as having ADHD. Lionel also talks about how the word "crazy" makes him feel, how his medication changing makes him feel like a lab rat, the way that peoples' differing reactions effect him, etc.
But, this book is told from Suzette's perspective and I loved seeing her react to her brother's mental illness and how much she cared about his well being. Easily my favourite part of this book was their relationship, and that is the biggest aspect of the book - the title is even a reference to their nicknames for one another.
The rest of the book, however, was just okay. The love triangle Suzette finds herself in was extremely messy and undeveloped, so I wasn't really rooting for her to be with either one. There is also a massive amount of emotional cheating, toeing the line into just straight-up cheating in some cases, and I wish it hadn't been done with a bisexual protagonist who is figuring out her sexuality.
The synopsis is also extremely misleading, mostly in how it frames Rafaela as someone who is bad for Lionel. That confused me a lot while reading because she really isn't. Lionel makes an objectively terrible decision to do with his mental illness before he even meets Rafaela, and the minute she figures out that he's genuinely at risk of hurting himself she immediately stops going along with what he does. I think that was just added into the synopsis to ramp up the drama but all it did was make me an extremely confused reader.
I did really enjoy this book and I hope I can get my hands on a copy of Brandy Colbert's newest book soon because I really enjoyed her writing and characters.
content warnings: violence, injuries
representation: asian-american main character, main interracial relationship, black side character, side characters of colour
This was real good, guys. I have literally no interest in roller derby (or sport in general), but I do have a lot of interest in girls being friends and supporting each other, as well as girls having conflict with one another that revolves around themselves, not boys.
The characters in this were so fun and I loved all their dynamics. There was romance (not between girls, unfortunately), and friendship, and friendly rivalries, and not-so-friendly rivalries, and I loved all of it. I also loved that all the girls who do roller derby are super athletic, as would be expected, but they also come in different shapes and sizes.
There really isn't much more to say except that the art style was cute and I'm excited to continue!
representation: asian-american main character, main interracial relationship, black side character, side characters of colour
This was real good, guys. I have literally no interest in roller derby (or sport in general), but I do have a lot of interest in girls being friends and supporting each other, as well as girls having conflict with one another that revolves around themselves, not boys.
The characters in this were so fun and I loved all their dynamics. There was romance (not between girls, unfortunately), and friendship, and friendly rivalries, and not-so-friendly rivalries, and I loved all of it. I also loved that all the girls who do roller derby are super athletic, as would be expected, but they also come in different shapes and sizes.
There really isn't much more to say except that the art style was cute and I'm excited to continue!