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pucksandpaperbacks
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Rating: 3.75 stars
TW: Racism, Depression, Homophobia
I haven't read many middle grades that tackle the topic of mental health specifically depression and loneliness and after reading Hurricane Child, there's a need for more and I want to read more.
Caroline Murphy is lonely and grieving as her mother left her and her father on Water Island on the Saint Thomas US Virgin Islands. Caroline has no friends, her teacher harasses her and all of her peers at school bully her to the extreme (i.e. throwing rocks and degrading her).
Until one day, a new girl arrives at her school, Kalinda Francis from Barbados. Caroline is eager to befriend her and once she does they become inseparable. Caroline becomes infatuated with Kalinda, her first friend and now first crush. However, she is deemed a sinner when she confesses her love for her new friend. Caroline goes through so much in this book and Kalinda is someone she relies on to keep up her spirits.
The major issue I had with this book was that Caroline doesn't get a single adult figure who will hear her out. Caroline is battling a lot of bad, dark thoughts that a 12-year-old shouldn't have to go through. The adults in her life are horrible communicators and I really disagreed with her parents particularly in the end.
I love dark contemporaries, so I did enjoy the topics of Caroline and "the woman in black" and her loneliness and thoughts of leaving the island and her father behind. I would recommend this for an #ownvoices book about a queer, black girl and her demons.
Rating: 3.75 stars
TW: Racism, Depression, Homophobia
I haven't read many middle grades that tackle the topic of mental health specifically depression and loneliness and after reading Hurricane Child, there's a need for more and I want to read more.
Caroline Murphy is lonely and grieving as her mother left her and her father on Water Island on the Saint Thomas US Virgin Islands. Caroline has no friends, her teacher harasses her and all of her peers at school bully her to the extreme (i.e. throwing rocks and degrading her).
Until one day, a new girl arrives at her school, Kalinda Francis from Barbados. Caroline is eager to befriend her and once she does they become inseparable. Caroline becomes infatuated with Kalinda, her first friend and now first crush. However, she is deemed a sinner when she confesses her love for her new friend. Caroline goes through so much in this book and Kalinda is someone she relies on to keep up her spirits.
The major issue I had with this book was that Caroline doesn't get a single adult figure who will hear her out. Caroline is battling a lot of bad, dark thoughts that a 12-year-old shouldn't have to go through. The adults in her life are horrible communicators and I really disagreed with her parents particularly in the end.
I love dark contemporaries, so I did enjoy the topics of Caroline and "the woman in black" and her loneliness and thoughts of leaving the island and her father behind. I would recommend this for an #ownvoices book about a queer, black girl and her demons.
I was sent this book for review by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
TW: Opioid Addiction, Overdose, Abortion, Cheating, Depression, Suicide Attempt, Loss of parents, death, grief
Rep: adopted mc, POC side character
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Sisters, Mae and Hannah unexpectedly lose their parents to a tsunami in Malaysia and are pulled from their sunny life in California, forced to move to Boston to live with their mother's sister, Nora, Uncle Tony and their cousin, Nate who is studying at MIT. Hannah is battling opioid addiction and depression. Mae is trying to find where she belongs in the Winters family, she was adopted into around age three & she dreams to become an astronaut. Space isn’t normally an element I like to read about but the way the author carefully explained and connected space to the characters and the story had me engaged as I read about Mae using the scientific method and conducting hypothesis’ in her daily life. I was laughing at the puns and immersed in the work Mae’s father did with dark matter.
I appreciated the multimedia aspects of this book like, Mr. Winters interview on dark matter. Even though their parents weren’t present as characters, I got to know them through the multimedia elements and inclusion of flashbacks. Heather Demetrios included so many elements of space and the universe which impressed me until the last page. I loved how their mother had a “soup habit “and was a yoga instructor; how their traditions never paused because the girls were grieving. Sometimes memories help the grieving process speed up. Hannah and Mae’s grieved slow and it felt very realistic.
This book is definitely a tear-jerker. I warn you in advance to have tissues present while you’re reading because I regret not having them at my side as I sobbed through the loss and gripping scenes between Mae and Hannah. But what I really enjoyed was that we saw grief from every character from Aunt Nora losing her sister to losing a daughter to cancer at a young age and to Hannah battling her demons and losing her own daughter.
Hannah was a brilliantly written character. Complex and hopeless but she had so much beauty inside of her. This novel is written in dual POV, we see how Mae and Hannah react differently and we read all of their thoughts external and internal. You learn about how their communication has subsided and how they come together by the end.
There is romance involved and mostly they’re very healthy, but the author did a great job of writing the complexities of a teenage relationship through Drew and Ben. They were great characters and so, so genuine. Most of the time, YA shows the bad boy trope but that didn’t last for long with Little Universes.
It’s often hard to write a contemporary novel that is past 300 pages, but this novel stuck out. I was on the edge of my seat by the last 60 pages. I couldn’t predict the end, but I absolutely loved how it wrapped up. I wish I could keep reading about Hannah and Mae because I felt like their story wasn’t completely finished. But, I also felt that there was a perfect closure.
It’s hard to review this book and do it any justice. So I will just say, to read it – unless the content is triggering to you. I loved this book so much, I'm going to be raving about it until the end of time.
Addiction is a subject I haven’t read about before this book. But Heather wrote this carefully and I could tell she put her heart into this book. The male characters looked toxic masculinity in the eye and I absolutely loved seeing Nate being feminine and the guys wearing nail polish. This is what a 2020 YA novel should have, it felt so progressive and I was thrilled to see this.
One flaw I had was just that I wished I had seen some sort of therapy take place but that’s a very minor concern I have.
This book was full of great quotes and lessons. I cherished Demetrios’ writing a lot. So, I’ll leave you with some of my favorites:
“A good astronaut knows that anything – rejection, failure, death – can be a sim. Everything in your life is preparation for the mission”
“There’s nothing rational about grief. I’m learning this”
“I don’t want to be defined by my adoptedness – it’s just apart of me, not all of me. A fraction. But, for some reason, even the people closest to me have determined that being adopted bothers me. It doesn’t. Them thinking it bothers me is what bothers me”.
“The Sad is so big, it’s like, I don’t know, it’s like that movie Mae loves where the astronaut can’t get back to the ship and he just floats off into the complete, utter, terrifying darkness of space listening to cowboy music. My sister studies the void – but I look into it Every. Single. Day.”
“I feel like that wave brought you to me. It washed you up on my shore”
“If a label society wants to give you is helpful to you, make you feel connected to the world – gender, race, religion, nationality, whatever- cool. Use it. / But, if it’s not, it f the label makes you smaller inside. Fuck it.”
TW: Opioid Addiction, Overdose, Abortion, Cheating, Depression, Suicide Attempt, Loss of parents, death, grief
Rep: adopted mc, POC side character
---
Sisters, Mae and Hannah unexpectedly lose their parents to a tsunami in Malaysia and are pulled from their sunny life in California, forced to move to Boston to live with their mother's sister, Nora, Uncle Tony and their cousin, Nate who is studying at MIT. Hannah is battling opioid addiction and depression. Mae is trying to find where she belongs in the Winters family, she was adopted into around age three & she dreams to become an astronaut. Space isn’t normally an element I like to read about but the way the author carefully explained and connected space to the characters and the story had me engaged as I read about Mae using the scientific method and conducting hypothesis’ in her daily life. I was laughing at the puns and immersed in the work Mae’s father did with dark matter.
I appreciated the multimedia aspects of this book like, Mr. Winters interview on dark matter. Even though their parents weren’t present as characters, I got to know them through the multimedia elements and inclusion of flashbacks. Heather Demetrios included so many elements of space and the universe which impressed me until the last page. I loved how their mother had a “soup habit “and was a yoga instructor; how their traditions never paused because the girls were grieving. Sometimes memories help the grieving process speed up. Hannah and Mae’s grieved slow and it felt very realistic.
This book is definitely a tear-jerker. I warn you in advance to have tissues present while you’re reading because I regret not having them at my side as I sobbed through the loss and gripping scenes between Mae and Hannah. But what I really enjoyed was that we saw grief from every character from Aunt Nora losing her sister to losing a daughter to cancer at a young age and to Hannah battling her demons and losing her own daughter.
Hannah was a brilliantly written character. Complex and hopeless but she had so much beauty inside of her. This novel is written in dual POV, we see how Mae and Hannah react differently and we read all of their thoughts external and internal. You learn about how their communication has subsided and how they come together by the end.
There is romance involved and mostly they’re very healthy, but the author did a great job of writing the complexities of a teenage relationship through Drew and Ben. They were great characters and so, so genuine. Most of the time, YA shows the bad boy trope but that didn’t last for long with Little Universes.
It’s often hard to write a contemporary novel that is past 300 pages, but this novel stuck out. I was on the edge of my seat by the last 60 pages. I couldn’t predict the end, but I absolutely loved how it wrapped up. I wish I could keep reading about Hannah and Mae because I felt like their story wasn’t completely finished. But, I also felt that there was a perfect closure.
It’s hard to review this book and do it any justice. So I will just say, to read it – unless the content is triggering to you. I loved this book so much, I'm going to be raving about it until the end of time.
Addiction is a subject I haven’t read about before this book. But Heather wrote this carefully and I could tell she put her heart into this book. The male characters looked toxic masculinity in the eye and I absolutely loved seeing Nate being feminine and the guys wearing nail polish. This is what a 2020 YA novel should have, it felt so progressive and I was thrilled to see this.
One flaw I had was just that I wished I had seen some sort of therapy take place but that’s a very minor concern I have.
This book was full of great quotes and lessons. I cherished Demetrios’ writing a lot. So, I’ll leave you with some of my favorites:
“A good astronaut knows that anything – rejection, failure, death – can be a sim. Everything in your life is preparation for the mission”
“There’s nothing rational about grief. I’m learning this”
“I don’t want to be defined by my adoptedness – it’s just apart of me, not all of me. A fraction. But, for some reason, even the people closest to me have determined that being adopted bothers me. It doesn’t. Them thinking it bothers me is what bothers me”.
“The Sad is so big, it’s like, I don’t know, it’s like that movie Mae loves where the astronaut can’t get back to the ship and he just floats off into the complete, utter, terrifying darkness of space listening to cowboy music. My sister studies the void – but I look into it Every. Single. Day.”
“I feel like that wave brought you to me. It washed you up on my shore”
“If a label society wants to give you is helpful to you, make you feel connected to the world – gender, race, religion, nationality, whatever- cool. Use it. / But, if it’s not, it f the label makes you smaller inside. Fuck it.”
Perfection. Laughed so hard during this. It was truly the perfect closure to a great series. Will be re-reading this for ages!
I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
It may just be a theme that any book I read "set at Pride" I've rated low. The first half of this book was great! I loved the aspect of going back to the family cottage and the mystery that was involved. However, the mystery was quickly solved, and by the end of the book, the reason Mark and Talia's parents were feuding was so disappointing.
This book is pitched as a story set a Toronto Pride, however, Pride is only a few chapters toward the end of the book. I would've much rather have read a book set in 24 hours at Pride than this. As a queer book written in 2020, this book got SO MUCH WRONG. The major red flag I had was that Talia's ex-partner, Erin was misgendered and NOT by a character which confused me because the first half of the book emphasizes through Talia's dialogue how important pronouns and identity are Both characters, Mark and Talia are so unlikeable. Mark ghosts a guy throughout the WHOLE BOOK and then he tries to make up for it at the end? Not cool. Talia is essentially an SJW type and constantly attacks other characters when they accidentally out people or say anything that isn't ethically right. But, she's also a gatekeeper. She gets angry at Erin and asks them when they mention they met a trans guy and were able to relate to him being on the trans spectrum and what does Talia say? Well, first, she's uncomfortable then asks Erin if they would ever transition into a man? NO THANKS. Finally, Talia insults the whole polyamorous community because of her jealousy and is selfish about Erin expressing their desire to be in a polyamorous relationship.
As for more queer related things that were done wrong 1. the bisexual/pansexual debate - basically saying it's the same 2. using the "d-word", a lesbian slur a lot - personally, this word makes me uncomfortable and I know it's sort of been reclaimed by the lesbian community but I skipped over the pages with that word used in every sentence. There's also some homophobia in the beginning. But, overall, this book was disappointing and I still can't shake the fact that the enby character was misgendered in the text.
It may just be a theme that any book I read "set at Pride" I've rated low. The first half of this book was great! I loved the aspect of going back to the family cottage and the mystery that was involved. However, the mystery was quickly solved, and by the end of the book, the reason Mark and Talia's parents were feuding was so disappointing.
This book is pitched as a story set a Toronto Pride, however, Pride is only a few chapters toward the end of the book. I would've much rather have read a book set in 24 hours at Pride than this. As a queer book written in 2020, this book got SO MUCH WRONG. The major red flag I had was that Talia's ex-partner, Erin was misgendered and NOT by a character which confused me because the first half of the book emphasizes through Talia's dialogue how important pronouns and identity are Both characters, Mark and Talia are so unlikeable. Mark ghosts a guy throughout the WHOLE BOOK and then he tries to make up for it at the end? Not cool. Talia is essentially an SJW type and constantly attacks other characters when they accidentally out people or say anything that isn't ethically right. But, she's also a gatekeeper. She gets angry at Erin and asks them when they mention they met a trans guy and were able to relate to him being on the trans spectrum and what does Talia say? Well, first, she's uncomfortable then asks Erin if they would ever transition into a man? NO THANKS. Finally, Talia insults the whole polyamorous community because of her jealousy and is selfish about Erin expressing their desire to be in a polyamorous relationship.
As for more queer related things that were done wrong 1. the bisexual/pansexual debate - basically saying it's the same 2. using the "d-word", a lesbian slur a lot - personally, this word makes me uncomfortable and I know it's sort of been reclaimed by the lesbian community but I skipped over the pages with that word used in every sentence. There's also some homophobia in the beginning. But, overall, this book was disappointing and I still can't shake the fact that the enby character was misgendered in the text.
I really loved this volume because I felt more connected to the characters. Tbh, Nicole is probably my favorite character so far and I love the witchy element.
I received a review copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
TW: Grief, Death of a loved one, Depression, Alcoholism, PTSD, panic attacks, school shooting scenes, teen sobriety, talk of AA, underage drinking
I'm not crying, you are.
One year ago, May McGintee lost her twin brother in a school shooting and is living with guilt after being in the same room as her brother died. Those who survived that day are The Lucky Ones. This novel is a raw insight into the grieving process of a teenager who survived a school shooting and feels at fault. With no one to turn to but her closest friend, who just doesn't get it, May turns to anger and violence to cope with her mourning and mental health.
But, some light shines into her world when she meets Zach, a boy in her drama class at a band audition. However, little does May know, Zach is the son of the lawyer taking on the shooter's case and she's been vandalizing the woman's home for months.
May was such a complex character with a unique voice and I felt for her. I'm prone to reading books about grief because it's something everyone goes through at some point in their lives and everyone copes with grief differently. In May's experience, she goes through waves of survivor guilt leading to panic attacks and depressive and coping through aggressive episodes. Zach comes into May's life at the perfect moment and not just because he's the love interest. I appreciated that their romance wasn't forced insta-love as it was more of a love at first sight, but Zach doesn't cure May of any of her mental health disorders and she's still mourning and coping.
Zach was my favorite character because he was funny and didn't take sh*t from anyone.
I usually crave a story with good parents who communicate with their children, but in this story, I enjoyed the different angle Lawson took - it wasn't just teens being angsty and hating/resenting their parents, it was much deeper. For one, Zach resents his parents because he's not able to live a "normal teen life" because his father is clinically depressed and his mother is at the office day and night. Zach has had to provide for his fourteen-year-old sister, Gwen like going out to buy groceries. As well as being the victim of bullying at school since their mother took the shooter's case. Meanwhile, May's house is always silent, in between the rare occurrence that her father is home from work; directing a film.
This was a great book about the grieving process and the justice system.
TW: Grief, Death of a loved one, Depression, Alcoholism, PTSD, panic attacks, school shooting scenes, teen sobriety, talk of AA, underage drinking
I'm not crying, you are.
One year ago, May McGintee lost her twin brother in a school shooting and is living with guilt after being in the same room as her brother died. Those who survived that day are The Lucky Ones. This novel is a raw insight into the grieving process of a teenager who survived a school shooting and feels at fault. With no one to turn to but her closest friend, who just doesn't get it, May turns to anger and violence to cope with her mourning and mental health.
But, some light shines into her world when she meets Zach, a boy in her drama class at a band audition. However, little does May know, Zach is the son of the lawyer taking on the shooter's case and she's been vandalizing the woman's home for months.
May was such a complex character with a unique voice and I felt for her. I'm prone to reading books about grief because it's something everyone goes through at some point in their lives and everyone copes with grief differently. In May's experience, she goes through waves of survivor guilt leading to panic attacks and depressive and coping through aggressive episodes. Zach comes into May's life at the perfect moment and not just because he's the love interest. I appreciated that their romance wasn't forced insta-love as it was more of a love at first sight, but Zach doesn't cure May of any of her mental health disorders and she's still mourning and coping.
Zach was my favorite character because he was funny and didn't take sh*t from anyone.
I usually crave a story with good parents who communicate with their children, but in this story, I enjoyed the different angle Lawson took - it wasn't just teens being angsty and hating/resenting their parents, it was much deeper. For one, Zach resents his parents because he's not able to live a "normal teen life" because his father is clinically depressed and his mother is at the office day and night. Zach has had to provide for his fourteen-year-old sister, Gwen like going out to buy groceries. As well as being the victim of bullying at school since their mother took the shooter's case. Meanwhile, May's house is always silent, in between the rare occurrence that her father is home from work; directing a film.
This was a great book about the grieving process and the justice system.
TW: schizophrenia, depression, suicide, talk of death
This is by far one of the best mental health books I've read in a while. I listened to the majority of Challenger Deep on audiobook and I couldn't recommend the audio enough. Each character from the pirate ship to Caden's doctors have different voices. I personally loved how the pirate ship scenes came to life from the audiobook. I hadn't read about schizophrenia before, but Shusterman wrote such a vivid story to teach me about his son's hallucinations. Incredible read!
June 2020: I have been informed that this book includes racism toward Native Americans and I will no longer be promoting this book. I have removed my rating.
CW: gender dysphoria, testosterone shots, top surgery, transphobic comments, misgendering
Felix Love has never been in love. He's convinced he is unlovable because of his trans identity and since his mother left him & his father at the age of ten. When a gallery is posted at the art summer program of his pre-transition photos and his deadname (name given at birth) for the whole school to see. Felix wants to get revenge by catfishing his school rival by creating a fake Instagram account which turns into more than he expected.
Non-traditional trans stories are SO IMPORTANT which is why this is such an important read. Felix struggles with accepting himself and continues to question his identity. His journey felt so similar to mine. As a trans man who constantly struggles with being proud of his identity, Felix's character and his journey made me feel very validated because many trans people are not proud of being trans and constantly struggle with self-esteem and self- love. Especially the scenes where he didn't want to go to the Pride March spoke to me so deeply. There have been so many times where I didn't feel like I was worthy of being there because I wasn't proud to be trans when so many people around me were proud to be them. Ugh, these stories are so important because there's a part of the trans community who aren't proud to be trans and deal with it constantly.
I really enjoyed Felix's character development and it felt very natural. I liked the slow burn romance as well.
Highly recommend this.
[favorite quotes to be added later]
Felix Love has never been in love. He's convinced he is unlovable because of his trans identity and since his mother left him & his father at the age of ten. When a gallery is posted at the art summer program of his pre-transition photos and his deadname (name given at birth) for the whole school to see. Felix wants to get revenge by catfishing his school rival by creating a fake Instagram account which turns into more than he expected.
Non-traditional trans stories are SO IMPORTANT which is why this is such an important read. Felix struggles with accepting himself and continues to question his identity. His journey felt so similar to mine. As a trans man who constantly struggles with being proud of his identity, Felix's character and his journey made me feel very validated because many trans people are not proud of being trans and constantly struggle with self-esteem and self- love. Especially the scenes where he didn't want to go to the Pride March spoke to me so deeply. There have been so many times where I didn't feel like I was worthy of being there because I wasn't proud to be trans when so many people around me were proud to be them. Ugh, these stories are so important because there's a part of the trans community who aren't proud to be trans and deal with it constantly.
I really enjoyed Felix's character development and it felt very natural. I liked the slow burn romance as well.
Highly recommend this.
[favorite quotes to be added later]
Bingo Love Volume 1: Jackpot Edition
Paulina Ganucheau, Gail Simone, Marguerite Bennett, Sara Alfageeh, Shawn Pryor, Beverly Johnson, Ariela Kristantina, Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge
TW: dementia, death of a loved one
This was such a fun read and I was swooning over Hazel and Mari! This is an important story because every LGBTQ+ coming out story is different and many come out later in life. The illustrations were STUNNING and seeing a Black woman with a darker skin tone is very important because they are often overlooked due to colorism.
I really enjoyed Hazel & Mari's story & I was not expecting that ending :/
This was such a fun read and I was swooning over Hazel and Mari! This is an important story because every LGBTQ+ coming out story is different and many come out later in life. The illustrations were STUNNING and seeing a Black woman with a darker skin tone is very important because they are often overlooked due to colorism.
I really enjoyed Hazel & Mari's story & I was not expecting that ending :/