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purplepenning
Content warning: I recommend seeking out #OwnVoices reviewers for this one, which I think would have benefited from a sensitivity reader. Book contains (and review discusses) insensitive comments and hurtful stereotypes, specifically for readers from Palestinian, Israeli, Hawaiian, and Polynesian heritages; and hurtful comments from a parent about body shape and size. Additional content notes: strong language (the first word in the book is f*** and a major plot device is a F***-It list); frank discussions of sex and sexuality; absent father; emotional cheating; separation; unhealthy communication styles
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I liked the premise, but that cover paired with the perfect tagline ("Mistakes were made.") are definitely what sold me. I probably should've looked a little closer before jumping in because I don't generally like contemporary YA that is teen angsty and messy with drama and this one has ALL. THE. DRAMA.
Literally: It's framed with snippets of a modern rap version of Othello that the friend group and extended theater-track kids are producing. This sort of works, but I think you have to be a bigger Shakespeare or theater nerd than I am to get the full impact. I don't really dig his tragedies, so the Othello-ness of it all didn't add a lot for me even though the theater setting itself did.
Figuratively: It's full of the drama of modern teen love and life as our self-conscious, bottled up main character tries her own version of Shonda Rhimes' year of yes, developing a F***-It list on the fly as she tries to navigate junior year with more confidence and honesty. I love a coming-into-her-own tale, so that part of the storyline worked for me, but I'm not a fan of love triangles and high school relationship drama when the "if they'd just TALK to each other" factor gets too painfully high. If the humor level is high enough, I usually still enjoy a contemporary YA with all the drama. This one was almost there, but not quite. Also I didn't feel like the main romantic relationship ended up as a particularly satisfying and healthy situation.
Contextually: The cast is diverse (in ethnicity, religion, and with one elder coworker named Al, even in age) and the text examines, with varying degrees of success, a ton of contemporary issues (bias and stereotyping, code-switching, body shaming and harmful messaging, sexuality, etc.) but some of the banter and characterizations are insensitive and don't get called out or clarified as much as they should, which has left reviewers in a tough spot as far as rating and reviews go. If these 17-year-olds can talk frankly about sex and masturbating, if they can call each other out on their crap and maturely apologize to each other, if they can navigate their million-follower YouTube channels — then shouldn't they be able to address a disturbingly messed up joke about "holy war" in the context of a kid with Palestinian-Israeli heritage or not unthinkingly embraced "Moana" and other stereotypes in the context of a Hawaiian kid? Maybe. And if they can't — because life is messy and nonlinear and everyone has blindspots and these are just 17-year-olds and they're already maybe too mature for their years and this is trying to be a realistic and nuanced portrayal — then the author or editor should make that clear and also make it clear that those hurtful comments and stereotypes aren't being condoned. But they didn't. So drama. Deserved drama.
Sometimes I'll just add a content note and proceed with a normal review and rating in these cases, but for this one, I'm going to go without the star rating and with a prominent suggestion that you seek out #OwnVoices reviewers for this one.
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I liked the premise, but that cover paired with the perfect tagline ("Mistakes were made.") are definitely what sold me. I probably should've looked a little closer before jumping in because I don't generally like contemporary YA that is teen angsty and messy with drama and this one has ALL. THE. DRAMA.
Literally: It's framed with snippets of a modern rap version of Othello that the friend group and extended theater-track kids are producing. This sort of works, but I think you have to be a bigger Shakespeare or theater nerd than I am to get the full impact. I don't really dig his tragedies, so the Othello-ness of it all didn't add a lot for me even though the theater setting itself did.
Figuratively: It's full of the drama of modern teen love and life as our self-conscious, bottled up main character tries her own version of Shonda Rhimes' year of yes, developing a F***-It list on the fly as she tries to navigate junior year with more confidence and honesty. I love a coming-into-her-own tale, so that part of the storyline worked for me, but I'm not a fan of love triangles and high school relationship drama when the "if they'd just TALK to each other" factor gets too painfully high. If the humor level is high enough, I usually still enjoy a contemporary YA with all the drama. This one was almost there, but not quite. Also I didn't feel like the main romantic relationship ended up as a particularly satisfying and healthy situation.
Contextually: The cast is diverse (in ethnicity, religion, and with one elder coworker named Al, even in age) and the text examines, with varying degrees of success, a ton of contemporary issues (bias and stereotyping, code-switching, body shaming and harmful messaging, sexuality, etc.) but some of the banter and characterizations are insensitive and don't get called out or clarified as much as they should, which has left reviewers in a tough spot as far as rating and reviews go. If these 17-year-olds can talk frankly about sex and masturbating, if they can call each other out on their crap and maturely apologize to each other, if they can navigate their million-follower YouTube channels — then shouldn't they be able to address a disturbingly messed up joke about "holy war" in the context of a kid with Palestinian-Israeli heritage or not unthinkingly embraced "Moana" and other stereotypes in the context of a Hawaiian kid? Maybe. And if they can't — because life is messy and nonlinear and everyone has blindspots and these are just 17-year-olds and they're already maybe too mature for their years and this is trying to be a realistic and nuanced portrayal — then the author or editor should make that clear and also make it clear that those hurtful comments and stereotypes aren't being condoned. But they didn't. So drama. Deserved drama.
Sometimes I'll just add a content note and proceed with a normal review and rating in these cases, but for this one, I'm going to go without the star rating and with a prominent suggestion that you seek out #OwnVoices reviewers for this one.
I don't really do "horror" but this YA girl-power zom-com (think Geekerella meets The Walking Dead) is just on this side of doable for me. Yes, there's gore and gross-out and mortal danger and lost lives, BUT it's campy enough, keeps moving enough, and has enough humor (particularly in the internal monologue of June, our narrator) to make it readable for me. And listenable — the chapters I listened to from the audiobook were excellent and probably added a whole star to my rating.
There are a few long explainers about the fictional zombie show that our friends here are mega-fans of, but the info is dumped in such a cheerfully pro-fandom way that I didn't even mind. Do I have any interest at all in zombie shows or a ZombieCon? I do not. But I love it when people are unabashedly, enthusiastically into something like that. With no cynicism, just pure geeky joy.
There are a few long explainers about the fictional zombie show that our friends here are mega-fans of, but the info is dumped in such a cheerfully pro-fandom way that I didn't even mind. Do I have any interest at all in zombie shows or a ZombieCon? I do not. But I love it when people are unabashedly, enthusiastically into something like that. With no cynicism, just pure geeky joy.
A friends-to-lovers rom-com with some big doses of family drama and the support of our favorite all-male, romance-reading, anti-toxic-masculinity book club!
In the year since they worked together to bring down a serial sexual assaulter, Alexis and Noah have become best friends. Alexis sees the steady, caring man that former angry hacktivist Noah has become. Noah sees the courage, strength, and empathy that cat cafe owner Alexis serves up every day. They're both starting to see that they may want more than friendship, but they can't risk screwing up the most important and healthy relationship either of them has ever had. Can they? The Bromance Book Club is happy to swear Noah in as a member and guide him to the wisdom of a good romance novel — and try to steer him clear of the bad tropey nonsense that ruins relationships and novels alike.
That's one of the obvious strengths of this series — it gets to lean in and play off of romance novel tropes in a really fun, smart way. I was happy to see that book 3 includes excerpts from the book club novel again (after book 2 abandoned that format). I'd like to see it used even more, as it was in book 1. The Bromance boys are back in good form as well, insisting on emotional honesty and respect and giving a couple of rousing feminist speeches that are as much of a turn on as the steamy sex scenes later in the book. And I'm happy to see the Russian starting to break out of the caricatured space he was relegated to — although I'll be happier when he gets a name and is treated like a fully human person (coming in book 4 I think!). As "woke" as some of the gender-relationship stuff is, there's a bit of a haze of privilege and othering here. I'm also not a fan of the use of "crazy stupid" in the title (but it does comes directly from dialogue in the book).
Overall, this series continues to be a brilliant idea that delivers fun, heartfelt stories with smart, interesting characters who treat each other (and sex) like adults — owning their issues, having difficult conversations, being mature and vulnerable, and reaping the rewards.
Content notes: main character is a survivor of sexual assault, main character committed a computer security crime in his past, loss of parent, DNA test reveals unknown family, hospital scene for surgery, organ donation, minor injuries caused by major feline, a character gets punched in the face, a character expresses toxic masculinity, strong language, frank discussions about and realistic descriptions of sex (including use of condoms — yay!)
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a digital ARC.
In the year since they worked together to bring down a serial sexual assaulter, Alexis and Noah have become best friends. Alexis sees the steady, caring man that former angry hacktivist Noah has become. Noah sees the courage, strength, and empathy that cat cafe owner Alexis serves up every day. They're both starting to see that they may want more than friendship, but they can't risk screwing up the most important and healthy relationship either of them has ever had. Can they? The Bromance Book Club is happy to swear Noah in as a member and guide him to the wisdom of a good romance novel — and try to steer him clear of the bad tropey nonsense that ruins relationships and novels alike.
That's one of the obvious strengths of this series — it gets to lean in and play off of romance novel tropes in a really fun, smart way. I was happy to see that book 3 includes excerpts from the book club novel again (after book 2 abandoned that format). I'd like to see it used even more, as it was in book 1. The Bromance boys are back in good form as well, insisting on emotional honesty and respect and giving a couple of rousing feminist speeches that are as much of a turn on as the steamy sex scenes later in the book. And I'm happy to see the Russian starting to break out of the caricatured space he was relegated to — although I'll be happier when he gets a name and is treated like a fully human person (coming in book 4 I think!). As "woke" as some of the gender-relationship stuff is, there's a bit of a haze of privilege and othering here. I'm also not a fan of the use of "crazy stupid" in the title (but it does comes directly from dialogue in the book).
Overall, this series continues to be a brilliant idea that delivers fun, heartfelt stories with smart, interesting characters who treat each other (and sex) like adults — owning their issues, having difficult conversations, being mature and vulnerable, and reaping the rewards.
Content notes: main character is a survivor of sexual assault, main character committed a computer security crime in his past, loss of parent, DNA test reveals unknown family, hospital scene for surgery, organ donation, minor injuries caused by major feline, a character gets punched in the face, a character expresses toxic masculinity, strong language, frank discussions about and realistic descriptions of sex (including use of condoms — yay!)
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a digital ARC.
A super fun idea! Jane Austen's beloved classics reimagined into the equally beloved cozy mystery genre — for YA readers. It's teen Jane Austen meets teen Agatha Christie with a contemporary feminist flavor, and I'm definitely here for all of that. Two more books are already in the works: "Sense and Second-Degree Murder" and "Manslaughter Park."
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man." And thus "Pride and Premeditation" opens with Elizabeth Bennet glaring at Mr. Collins, the inept junior partner of her father's law firm, as he regales the Longbourn & Son employees with "his" brilliant casework. Ugh. It's impossible that Collins should inherit the firm and all the family properties, but that's exactly what will happen if Lizzie can't persuade her genial but too traditional father that he should hire her instead. And, of course, she'll need to avoid her mother's matchmaking schemes and the young Mr. Darcy's attempts to derail her as he protects the interests of his friend Bingley and his firm Pemberley and Associates. The game is afoot and a number of familiar characters are players.
The characterizations of the players are fairly well done here, though all are younger than the originals and lacking some depth, none are stretched into unrecognizable roles. Lizzie is smart and lively and headstrong, though I missed the original's sly humor. The setting is just a bit off. It feels more Victorian (or after) than Regency and probably should've been adjusted so that was the case. I did love the obvious research that went into the barrister/solicitor/courtroom parts though! And an attempt was made at some racial diversity with Lizzie acknowledging racial and class privilege. I loved finding familiar phrases throughout, though tighter editing could have reduced a bit of distracting repetition in the use of that technique. The investigation/mystery plot was fun, with higher stakes than I was anticipating, but it felt both drawn out and frantic at times. Overall, however, this was fun read and I'll be looking out for the next one.
Content notes: death, murder, stabbing, drowning, kidnapping, blood, gunshot, brandished knife, piracy, locked in enclosed space, gender discrimination, racism, no sexual content (a couple of kisses) or profanity
My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for a digital ARC.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man." And thus "Pride and Premeditation" opens with Elizabeth Bennet glaring at Mr. Collins, the inept junior partner of her father's law firm, as he regales the Longbourn & Son employees with "his" brilliant casework. Ugh. It's impossible that Collins should inherit the firm and all the family properties, but that's exactly what will happen if Lizzie can't persuade her genial but too traditional father that he should hire her instead. And, of course, she'll need to avoid her mother's matchmaking schemes and the young Mr. Darcy's attempts to derail her as he protects the interests of his friend Bingley and his firm Pemberley and Associates. The game is afoot and a number of familiar characters are players.
The characterizations of the players are fairly well done here, though all are younger than the originals and lacking some depth, none are stretched into unrecognizable roles. Lizzie is smart and lively and headstrong, though I missed the original's sly humor. The setting is just a bit off. It feels more Victorian (or after) than Regency and probably should've been adjusted so that was the case. I did love the obvious research that went into the barrister/solicitor/courtroom parts though! And an attempt was made at some racial diversity with Lizzie acknowledging racial and class privilege. I loved finding familiar phrases throughout, though tighter editing could have reduced a bit of distracting repetition in the use of that technique. The investigation/mystery plot was fun, with higher stakes than I was anticipating, but it felt both drawn out and frantic at times. Overall, however, this was fun read and I'll be looking out for the next one.
Content notes: death, murder, stabbing, drowning, kidnapping, blood, gunshot, brandished knife, piracy, locked in enclosed space, gender discrimination, racism, no sexual content (a couple of kisses) or profanity
My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for a digital ARC.
4.5 rounded up to 5 wholesomely hilarious stars
If Diana Wynne Jones and Douglas Adams had team written a sweet tale that was part Harry Potter, part Good Omens, and two parts Professor Xavier and the early X-Men, it would be something like this — contemporary fantasy that drops you into an Orwellian bureaucracy and then dismantles it with quirky charm and kindness.
Linus Baker is our everyman protagonist, a caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. DICOMY is a miserable office to work in but he's very good at what he does. As a caseworker, Linus evaluates orphanages for magical youth to ensure they're safe and safely contained. Above all, caseworkers must remain impartial, uphold the RULES AND REGULATIONS, file very thorough reports, and not concern themselves with things that aren't in their purview.
He's so good at this that Linus is chosen by DICOMY's Extremely Upper Management to evaluate a highly classified orphanage with an unusual group of magical children who are under the care of the mysterious Arthur Parnassus. Linus's small, dreary life is suddenly bursting with color, but he can't decided whether to be more frightened, annoyed, or enchanted. There are a few things he's certain about, however — Extremely Upper Management provided extremely inadequate files and the inhabitants of the orphanage are not at all what he expected.
The House in the Cerulean Sea was, perhaps, a bit overlong and a bit sentimental and didactic, but I was honestly too enamoured to care. It is wholesome, inclusive, hilarious, diverse, and has themes of nature vs, nurture, found family, beauty in brokenness, magic in the ordinary, kindness as strength, the power of love, self-discovery, and so much more.
"Hate is loud, but I think you'll learn it's because it's only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as you remember you're not alone, you will overcome."
Content notes: body image issues that were addressed but perhaps not quite as overtly as necessary, off-screen child abuse and trauma, bigotry and oppression, mob mentality
ARC provided by #NetGalley
If Diana Wynne Jones and Douglas Adams had team written a sweet tale that was part Harry Potter, part Good Omens, and two parts Professor Xavier and the early X-Men, it would be something like this — contemporary fantasy that drops you into an Orwellian bureaucracy and then dismantles it with quirky charm and kindness.
Linus Baker is our everyman protagonist, a caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. DICOMY is a miserable office to work in but he's very good at what he does. As a caseworker, Linus evaluates orphanages for magical youth to ensure they're safe and safely contained. Above all, caseworkers must remain impartial, uphold the RULES AND REGULATIONS, file very thorough reports, and not concern themselves with things that aren't in their purview.
He's so good at this that Linus is chosen by DICOMY's Extremely Upper Management to evaluate a highly classified orphanage with an unusual group of magical children who are under the care of the mysterious Arthur Parnassus. Linus's small, dreary life is suddenly bursting with color, but he can't decided whether to be more frightened, annoyed, or enchanted. There are a few things he's certain about, however — Extremely Upper Management provided extremely inadequate files and the inhabitants of the orphanage are not at all what he expected.
The House in the Cerulean Sea was, perhaps, a bit overlong and a bit sentimental and didactic, but I was honestly too enamoured to care. It is wholesome, inclusive, hilarious, diverse, and has themes of nature vs, nurture, found family, beauty in brokenness, magic in the ordinary, kindness as strength, the power of love, self-discovery, and so much more.
"Hate is loud, but I think you'll learn it's because it's only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as you remember you're not alone, you will overcome."
Content notes: body image issues that were addressed but perhaps not quite as overtly as necessary, off-screen child abuse and trauma, bigotry and oppression, mob mentality
ARC provided by #NetGalley
3.5 maybe?
"I had been thinking constantly about 'han,' a feeling that had been killing generation upon generation of Korean people. According to Mom, han was born in the gut and rose to the chest... Han was a sickness of the soul, an acceptance of having a life that would be filled with sorrow and resentment and knowing that deep down, despite this acceptance, despite cold and hard facts that proved life was long and full of undeserved miseries, 'hope' was still a word that carried warmth and meaning."
An indie favorite that just wasn't for me, Pizza Girl packs a strong perspective and a skillfully told, brilliantly detailed and realistic narrative into a short package. I read it in two lightning fast sessions that were mostly fueled with uneasy fascination and literary respect as this bright, numb, miserable, pregnant, 18-year-old pizza-delivery girl zombie-walks, stumbles, and then careens toward … will it be disaster or hope, denial or revelation? (If you've followed my reviews for long, you'll probably guess that I wouldn't have given it 3 stars if there weren't at least some hope here.)
It's an interesting and well-written debut that brings up a lot to think and talk about, especially concerning grief, mental health, and family legacy. Other readers also found it funny, but I couldn't see the humor through the uneasiness.
Content notes: strong language child endangerment, pregnancy endangerment, alcoholism past and present, off screen emotional and physical abuse, firearm, first person internal monologue of person dealing with emotional trauma and depression
"I had been thinking constantly about 'han,' a feeling that had been killing generation upon generation of Korean people. According to Mom, han was born in the gut and rose to the chest... Han was a sickness of the soul, an acceptance of having a life that would be filled with sorrow and resentment and knowing that deep down, despite this acceptance, despite cold and hard facts that proved life was long and full of undeserved miseries, 'hope' was still a word that carried warmth and meaning."
An indie favorite that just wasn't for me, Pizza Girl packs a strong perspective and a skillfully told, brilliantly detailed and realistic narrative into a short package. I read it in two lightning fast sessions that were mostly fueled with uneasy fascination and literary respect as this bright, numb, miserable, pregnant, 18-year-old pizza-delivery girl zombie-walks, stumbles, and then careens toward … will it be disaster or hope, denial or revelation? (If you've followed my reviews for long, you'll probably guess that I wouldn't have given it 3 stars if there weren't at least some hope here.)
It's an interesting and well-written debut that brings up a lot to think and talk about, especially concerning grief, mental health, and family legacy. Other readers also found it funny, but I couldn't see the humor through the uneasiness.
Content notes: strong language child endangerment, pregnancy endangerment, alcoholism past and present, off screen emotional and physical abuse, firearm, first person internal monologue of person dealing with emotional trauma and depression
I don't think I've ever read a book that reminded me more of a TGIF sitcom. And I mean that in both the best and worst ways. The narrator voice is funny, the main character is a completely exhausting but somewhat endearing mess, the supporting cast is convenient and cute, the setting is pure Americana, and it's all a lot to take — but I couldn't walk away.
As you can see, Elouise works as a hot dog character in a "small, super run-down, beat-up, falling-apart, probably-wouldn't-pass-any-sort-of-official-inspection version of Disney." Elouise is a bit of a schemer, and she's not exactly smooth about any of it. Which she only recognizes in hindsight: "I am the least smooth thing of all the things in existence. It's like the world doesn't need sandpaper or rocky outcrops or tree bark anymore, because, hi, I exist to serve all of your unsmooth needs." When she's simultaneously figuring out her feelings for girls, crushing hard on a boy, trying to make this the BEST SUMMER EVER, and attempting to save the park that harbors the best memories of her life, our hot dog girl drags her best friend into a messy fake dating scheme. It all goes about as well as you'd expect.
Content notes: strong language, underage drinking, cheating, parent walks out on a child, unethical use of confidential paperwork, coming out to supportive parent, off-screen character with cancer, mention of bullying, bacon-flavored cupcakes, some kissing
As you can see, Elouise works as a hot dog character in a "small, super run-down, beat-up, falling-apart, probably-wouldn't-pass-any-sort-of-official-inspection version of Disney." Elouise is a bit of a schemer, and she's not exactly smooth about any of it. Which she only recognizes in hindsight: "I am the least smooth thing of all the things in existence. It's like the world doesn't need sandpaper or rocky outcrops or tree bark anymore, because, hi, I exist to serve all of your unsmooth needs." When she's simultaneously figuring out her feelings for girls, crushing hard on a boy, trying to make this the BEST SUMMER EVER, and attempting to save the park that harbors the best memories of her life, our hot dog girl drags her best friend into a messy fake dating scheme. It all goes about as well as you'd expect.
Content notes: strong language, underage drinking, cheating, parent walks out on a child, unethical use of confidential paperwork, coming out to supportive parent, off-screen character with cancer, mention of bullying, bacon-flavored cupcakes, some kissing
4.5 stars
This is so much more than I was expecting! And I was expecting a modern Romeo and Juliet by way of You've Got Mail with queer rep and a comic-book-geeky setting! Which it is!
But what it isn't is another light YA rom-com with a goofy vibe like Hot Dog Girl. There's humor here and sweet nerd joy and, yes, awkward teen relationships and coming-of-age awareness about sexuality, but I wouldn't really consider this a rom-com. I'd call it a contemporary YA that skillfully and sensitively tells the story of two star-crossed young lovers who, like their Shakespearean counterparts, don't need to blame the stars for their trouble when it's clearly being generated much closer to home — by their feuding families and the mental health issues that can grow from unhealthy family dynamics.
Jubilee is so tightly wound about her upcoming cello auditions that she's hit a wall and no amount of practice can get her through it. Under orders to let go and live a little, she follows the advice of her best friend and master of the ComicCon crush — she dresses as a peacock character (we'll call her Peak) and flirts with a cute boy in a half-assed Batman costume at the con prom. She's supposed to ghost him, but Bats lives safely on the other side of the country, so a fun text-only relationship doesn't seem like the worst idea.
Bats turns out to be Ridley, the anxiety-riddled black sheep son of the aggressively competitive comic book chainstore owner that is the mortal enemy of Jubilee/Peak's indie store–owning mom. Of course that doesn't all come to light until later. After Peak and Bats discover how well they click, after Jubilee and Ridley (who is current NOT living on the other side of the country) discover how important they could be to each other, after they endure some no-win situations, some friends and family angst, several panic attacks, some truly bad decisions, and a few courageous course changes.
The writing sparkles, the characters are fleshed out and fun and endearing, the pacing could be tightened up just a bit, but it's the representation and careful portrayals that really shine here. In particular, there's diversity in character ethnicity and family structures; honest conversations about bisexuality, sexuality, and labels; and realistic, sensitive portrayals of anxiety, depression, codependency, and narcissism. It feels fresh and needful and like I want to put it in every high school library.
Content notes: strong language, lying, codependency and enabling behaviors, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, grounding exercises, suicidal ideation, past suicide attempt (described and discussed; resources for hotlines and lifelines given), teenage runaway, emotionally abusive and detached narcissistic parents, alcoholism, car crash, hospital scene
This is so much more than I was expecting! And I was expecting a modern Romeo and Juliet by way of You've Got Mail with queer rep and a comic-book-geeky setting! Which it is!
But what it isn't is another light YA rom-com with a goofy vibe like Hot Dog Girl. There's humor here and sweet nerd joy and, yes, awkward teen relationships and coming-of-age awareness about sexuality, but I wouldn't really consider this a rom-com. I'd call it a contemporary YA that skillfully and sensitively tells the story of two star-crossed young lovers who, like their Shakespearean counterparts, don't need to blame the stars for their trouble when it's clearly being generated much closer to home — by their feuding families and the mental health issues that can grow from unhealthy family dynamics.
Jubilee is so tightly wound about her upcoming cello auditions that she's hit a wall and no amount of practice can get her through it. Under orders to let go and live a little, she follows the advice of her best friend and master of the ComicCon crush — she dresses as a peacock character (we'll call her Peak) and flirts with a cute boy in a half-assed Batman costume at the con prom. She's supposed to ghost him, but Bats lives safely on the other side of the country, so a fun text-only relationship doesn't seem like the worst idea.
Bats turns out to be Ridley, the anxiety-riddled black sheep son of the aggressively competitive comic book chainstore owner that is the mortal enemy of Jubilee/Peak's indie store–owning mom. Of course that doesn't all come to light until later. After Peak and Bats discover how well they click, after Jubilee and Ridley (who is current NOT living on the other side of the country) discover how important they could be to each other, after they endure some no-win situations, some friends and family angst, several panic attacks, some truly bad decisions, and a few courageous course changes.
The writing sparkles, the characters are fleshed out and fun and endearing, the pacing could be tightened up just a bit, but it's the representation and careful portrayals that really shine here. In particular, there's diversity in character ethnicity and family structures; honest conversations about bisexuality, sexuality, and labels; and realistic, sensitive portrayals of anxiety, depression, codependency, and narcissism. It feels fresh and needful and like I want to put it in every high school library.
Content notes: strong language, lying, codependency and enabling behaviors, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, grounding exercises, suicidal ideation, past suicide attempt (described and discussed; resources for hotlines and lifelines given), teenage runaway, emotionally abusive and detached narcissistic parents, alcoholism, car crash, hospital scene