This was an excellent book about a trans girl coming to terms with being transgender at a young age. I cried so much reading this, it really hit home.

This was my first Manga, so I can't really comment too much on the format of this book in a critical way. It was a little confusing at first because I wasn't sure which direction the pages were going. Some were top to bottom, others were bottom to top. But, I got the gist of what was going on.

As for the story as a whole, it was really wholesome and I enjoyed the transgender representation and I liked that the book wasn't so heavily focused on the character being trans, she was still figuring herself out. However, I was still a little bit confused on the characters names and the side characters weren't as fleshed out so I just had trouble following the stories of the side characters.

As for illustrations, I think the art was nice! It was a different style and personally I like when illustrations larger on the page, so that was nice to have.

3.5/5
I was sent this novel for review from Macmillan-First Second in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

All Summer Long is a short and sweet read following, thirteen-year old Bina who is devestated when she finds out her best friend, Austin is going to soccer camp for a month during the summer. At times, I couldn't stand Bina. She was very whiny and childish, but given her age that was understandable. However, I just wasn't a fan of her character. She felt like an annoying younger sibling. For instance, she got angry when Austin didn't text her back right away, so she assumed they weren't friends anymore... Bina just seemed to act younger than she was. Bina is also a diverse character yet there was no mention of her ethnicity, she is definitely Chinese, Asian or Korean but we're not told.

I liked seeing her bond with Charlie, Austin's older sister yet she was also a character I disliked. She stopped everything just for her crush on Jae and abandoned Bina at their babysitting job. I felt like she could've been a good person for Bina to have in her life to look up to as a role model yet that didn't happen.

I did like the message the story told, 1. BOYS AND GIRLS CAN BE FRIENDS. 2. Coming of age - since they are approaching eighth grade - Austin makes a good point when he returns from camp, simply telling Bina how things are changing. Yet, Bina seems to hate the idea of growing up.

I also wish we saw more of character development with Bina and more background on her hobby, music - playing the guitar and songwriting. There is only a mention of her talking to Charlie about her favorite band and the music she likes. There is also a turntable, yet no mention of the year the story is set in.

Major points to this middle-grade graphic novel for adding a same sex couple!! I was so excited when I saw this. Bina's brother and his husband get approved to adopt a child and the baby is delivered at the hospital.

Overall, this was a cute graphic novel yet it needs some work like more details and background added to the character arcs. The novel felt very rushed in my opinion.

I was sent this book for review from Macmillan-First Second Reads. All thoughts and opinions are honest.

I've read Anya's Ghost and I really enjoyed it. So, I knew very well that I wouldn't have a problem reading this. Vera is eight & nine-years old in this graphic memoir and dreams of going to sleep-away camp like her friends are. Yet, her mother is going to school for accounting and is a single parent. They're dealing with poverty and Vera is being excluded and called "weird" because she is Russian. I liked seeing young Vera and her character development throughout the novel. She learns a lot about herself by going to a Russian camp.

I really enjoyed how Vera incorporated her own camp experience into this novel with her own written letters and adding her experience to the plot while adding some fictional elements. Be Prepared showed the ups and downs of childhood and trying to belong. I also enjoyed the incorporation of the Russian language. You learn some Russian words. and I especially liked that the words were starred and had English translation.

If you went to summer camp, you will definitely relate to this novel! I didn't go to sleep-away camp, I only went to day camp yet I could still relate to Vera in some ways.

This was a sweet novel and I would highly recommend.

I’m so sad this is over!! I’m craving more. The Art was STUNNING. The story was phenomenal.

give me a dark contemporary about grief and now i'm cryin' in the club
audiobook was a 5 star! - full cast

Some issues I had were just the insta-love, the way the therapist was written/the use of the word "shrink" when referring to the therapist, and how the fact that Rin was obsessed with looking things up was used as a "problem" but I understood why the author put that there, I just thought it wasn't something strange, yet all the characters thought it was.

the scene where Rin is in the airport church got me in the feels and what a well written scene! Definitely a scene that will stick with me for a long time.

This is a short story following a transgender boy, Kieran starting an internship in politics that he was recommended for by a professor of his, Marcus. Coffee Boy explores Kieran's sexuality and how he is perceived by others and it does not sugar coat the struggles those who are transgender deal with on a daily basis such as being misgendered. Coffee Boy ALSO includes a bisexual character and talk of bisexuality in general. I would've rated this 5 stars, however I had to skim the last few pages because the sex scenes were in depth and graphic, which I was not expecting! :O Just personally, I couldn't read it. Coffee Boy has great rep and I loved seeing a story of a transgender boy in the workplace and going into adulthood (he's 23 y.o.) versus Young Adult, which I'm used to.

I can't express enough how great the LGBTQIA+ representation was and I LOOOVED the mention of pins to indicate sexuality or that Kieran wears a pronoun pin. I loved how real this story was and I highly recommend.

I loved this book so much. I devoured it! I'm a sucker for a book set in a small town and this book didn't disappoint. The friend group was awesome and they made me laugh out loud. I felt so attached to the characters and would definitely recommend this contemporary!

Jen Wang created a whimsical story that tackled many topics such as having a brain tumor as a child, which was from her own experience. I really loved Moon and Christine's friendship and how it blossomed. Moon was quickly my favorite character. She's Buddist and vegetarian who lives with her single mother and they're trying to make ends meet. Christine is also dealing with having strict parents who have rules about her doing well in school and not painting her nails, which is something that really affects her.

The illustrations were colorful and I enjoyed the contrast of child drawings/sketches and comic strips. This was such a great story about the stars and I wish it would've been longer & the star concept be touched on more. But overall, it was a cute story.

If you like K-Pop or want a coming of age graphic novel, I highly recommend this title!

I won an advanced reader copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway hosted by the publisher.
*this contains some spoilers but really why waste your time reading this book like I did*

I wish this book came with a reset button so that I could forget ever reading it. This book was just a long "That's Cringe" video. This book felt like a big joke and I was missing the punchline.

As a debut novel, this book needs a ton of work. Throughout my reading, I could think of several things that would make each scene better as I read cringey scene after cringey scene. This is an instance where I can separate the creator from their work. I've been watching Christine since 2014 when I first started my Booktube channel and got excited to read her novel as she posted her Book Writing videos.

Another problem was that I couldn't tell whether I was reading her journal entries or her blog. It would've been way better if the book was told in blog/letter format.

However, this book was just poorly written. There's a specific analogy that kept coming up and it makes no sense. How did anyone in editing not tell her, hey, this doesn't make sense!
"Do you like to play cards?”
“Do I like to play cards? Does a bear shit in the woods?”
…. *crickets*
If this was supposed to be humorous, I didn't laugh. It just makes no sense. They're two very opposite things.

Next, Shane was too much like Christine. Anybody who doesn't know Christine would pick this up and have no problems reading it. But, being familiar with Christine, her verbal language, interests, and personality I found it very difficult to separate Shane and Christine because they were the SAME PERSON. It would've been fine to add subtle references to her life and Booktube career, but I lost my mind as soon as Shane's blog (and eventual YouTube channel) was revealed to have the name, FrenchWatermelons19 - similar to Christine's channel name, Polandbananas20...This alone showed me that Christine lacks imagination if it's really that hard to come up with a name for a travel blog. Shane was a super confusing character (aside from the whole plot being confusing as well) and her "relationship" with Pilot (don't get me started on his name!! I will come back to this later) was forced and confusing. They didn't have any chemistry but by the end of the book yet they were forced to "do-over" their study abroad experience after six years and PILOT STILL HAD A GIRLFRIEND!!! Not like Shane cared about that anyway! Shane felt like the type of person who has never had a relationship, but since they watch a lot of TV and rom-com's they think that's how it is. If you're making your character someone who has never been kissed, I would like to see the cliche of her trying to perfect the perfect moment or something. I would’ve rather had the romance be Shane meeting a guy at her internship because the whole i’m in love with a dude I JUST MET (queue the scene where she’s walking to the grocery store the day they met and she asks herself if it’s a date….)


I know Christine is a quirky person, so it wasn't shocking when she decided to name the male protagonist, Pilot because Shane is a fan of TV. This is another instance where I began to think Christine lacks any imagination. You easily could've had his name be a name that also is the name of one of Shane's favorite TV characters. Every time I had to read the name, Pilot, I physically winced. ALSO WHERE IS HE FROM? The side characters lacked so much! I thought when you first meet your flatmates you have conversations. Does Christine/Shane not know how to have an actual conversation? Because it seems like it to me. I only knew small, specific details about them and her flatmates resembled Christine's IRL friends! It was blatantly obvious that Babe was supposed to be Natasha (Tashpolis) but fictional. It's fine to pay homage to your friends, but by using their name as a character NOT MAKING THEM THE CHARACTER BECAUSE THIS IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER. I feel like Christine forgot she was writing a work of fiction.

I'm fine with adding pop culture references to your novel just to set the scene of circa January 2011. But, the book overflowed with pop culture references (Kelly Clarkson, HP Deathly Hallows Pt 2, Spotify launch in the U.S., etc.) but, this wasn't a historical fiction novel. It's just a contemporary novel set in 2011. Shane is even caught reading Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead. You easily could've just written that she was reading a vampire romance book. But, I have to draw the line when you name a professor after a Cassandra Clare character, Blackstairs. At this point, I was saying, "you've got to be kidding me". Seriously, when is Ashton Kutcher going to come out and tell me that I'm being Punk'd?

Another qUirKy thing that Christine did was named Shane's laptop, Sawyer (a reference to Lost! We love references in this house apparently) and it took me 100 pages to realize that it was her laptop’s name and not an actual character…

Overall, this book needs A LOT of work. I got super pissed when I read part two and was transported back to the beginning of the book and I skimmed a lot. I will say I wanted more scenes at her internship, that fascinated me the most and I enjoyed reading that at the end. So, I understood why she added the time travel part for character development and all and it was a little bit interesting to see what she missed out on while she was being selfish. This just needed to be executed way better. I hope that Christine can take criticism because I know I'm not the only one who feels like this and make changes for her future novels.