CW: Mention and description of sexual assault; sexual harassment; racism; racial slur; violence; gun violence; death; mention of slavery and being enslaved; blood; taxidermy; mention of alcoholism; mention of death by child birth, mention of child abuse, sexual harassment, alcoholism,  animal still birth.

Wow! I knew I wanted to pick up Beverly Jenkins for the Diverse Baseline Challenge prompt "historical fiction" for February. But that window is over now that it's almost April.  Regardless, I'm thankful to the challenge for giving me an opportunity to finally pick up her work!

Wild Rain is a slow burn grumpy x sunshine romance between a female rancher and a reporter who comes into town. If you like the caregiver trope - you must pick this up. Set in the wake of the Civil War, Spring takes in Garrett during a blizzard thinking he will only be with her for a couple of days. However, Garrett is in town to interview her brother and doctor, Colt. 

I loved how Jenkins played into the forced proximity trope and it was realistic! Even if it was at the hands of her characters getting injured, haha. What I appreciated and admired most about this romance is how the grumpy x sunshine element unraveled, showing the author's intent for applying it to this story. Spring is bold, fierce, and resilient. She has endured a lot of trauma due to the way men have treated her. Therefore, she wears her heart on her sleeve and doesn't allow men to let her in. 

But Garrett (our cinnamon roll) shows her what a healthy relationship and a kind man is. By asserting and accepting Spring's boundaries, listening and accepting her. Very early in the book, Spring declares that she doesn't want to marry and later on we learn she is child free by choice. Garrett is okay with that. Whenever I read romance, I always say this: THIS is a healthy romance. I thought this was great and very refreshing to see a historical romance where the female protagonist is child free and the love interest is okay with it. 

CW: Islamophobia; menustration mentioned on page.

Funny memoir about Huda Fahmy coming of age in high school and finding who Huda really is. Meanwhile, she experiences a lot of Islamophobia from teachers and peers. I really enjoyed this. It was a short and sweet read! 

CW: death of a grandparent, death of a teen; mention in detail of a car accident death, grief, mention of homophobia and misgendering, mentions of Ari & Dante Save the Universe (author is transphobic), underage drinking & drug use (edibles)

I think I found my favorite Julian Winters book with As You Walk on By. Julian Winters nails coming of age stories every time and I love the uniqueness of his characters and stories. Instead of the generic retelling of The Breakfast Club, Winters sets his during a high school house party. The book unpacks teenage years with the pressure of high expectations from parents, crushes becoming real,  and distancing yourself from childhood friends, drama/angst and an emphasis on friendships. Although we do have a romance blooming, As You Walk on By heavily speaks to friendships and falling outs. If you want a book about friendship breakups and rekindling, Winters does them justice in this novel. 

 I absolutely loved the way Julian Winters tackled these topics through our protagonist, Theo. What I love about Winters' work is how unique the characters and storyline are. They turn common topics in YA fiction flipping them on their head and making you feel for the character and want to keep learning more.

I'm so glad I got to read this!  

CW: animal death, racism, sexism

CW: Sexual content, blood, grief, exorcism, animal death and resurrection, depiction of gender dysphoria, discussion of racism, gore, graverobbing, horror

Since learning the author has been lying about their BIPOC identity, I have removed my review.
Read more: https://geni.us/dFD1EG

I was enjoying this but the execution was just not there for me. It was too slow burn and I felt myself not being as invested in the characters. This was one of my most anticipated releases, so this is such a bummer. 

CW: mention of a panic attack, mention of someone having a seizure, mention of a parent having cancer 

This was an interesting graphic novel that felt somewhat like a fever dream.  It has Five Nights at Freddy's & Alice in Wonderland vibes with the animatronic the group meets when they enter Confetti Realms. Set on Halloween night, a group of queer teens go to the cemetery to summon a spirit, but find themselves in Confetti Realms, a town filled with talking animals. They're tasked with collecting teeth to bring back to Tom. But, during their quest, they're faced with talking about unresolved conflicts between each other including romance.

This was such an interesting and unique story. Plus, the illustrations were stunning especially with the depictions of the animal characters.  

If you liked Finna by Nino Cipiri but want to follow teens, you'll enjoy this as well. 

CW: chronic pain, ableism, medical content, cancer

A sweet graphic novel and budding romance between two queer Australian teens (14 and 15) who meet at a fandom convention. This graphic novel heavily discusses the need for disability representation in media and intersectionality. Our main character Maisie is bisexual and an amputee and our love interest, Ollie is non-binary. Stars in Their Eyes was a cute, slice of life graphic novel following Maisie and her mom who go to a convention. Maisie wants to meet her favorite actor who is also an amputee. There she ends up meeting Ollie and they catch feelings for each other. There is some cheesy dialogue and I believe, for copyright sake they changed the names of popular fandoms like Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Stranger Things. I will say, I wish they would've just added the names instead of change them out or like most fandom/con related stories do, they have their own fandom. That is true in this book for Midnight Girls, but the other fandoms have different names but you can still tell what they are. I thought that was an odd choice, personally. But overall, it was a short and sweet read!