Short and Sweet:

If you don’t want to read the part of my review that’s more personal, here’s the quick version of my thoughts on this book: Girl Against the Universe is a must-read for anyone who has ever needed healing, anyone who loves athletics and team friendships, and anyone who enjoys a slow and fiery burn romance. Recommend 10000 times over.
To Elaborate….

Maguire believes she is cursed with bad luck. Not bad luck like missing a bus or losing a shirt, but life and death bad luck where those around her have a tendency to get killed or hurt, starting with several members of her family dying in a car crash she walked away from unscathed. When she meets Jordy, a fellow therapy-goer and tennis star, they decide to help each other with a few challenges, but Maguire is all too aware of how dangerous things can happen when people get close to her.

Maguire deals with PTSD, panic attacks, and other related mental illnesses, and a good portion of her story revolves around going to therapy and doing personal challenges to help her heal. I deal with severe depression and anxiety, and I’ve been to therapy many times, so I immediately felt a close connection to Maguire. What I didn’t expect was the way her healing and her mindset mirrors my own in many ways. Maguire is very self aware, often recognizing when her thoughts or thought patterns aren’t healthy, but still believing them on a level that strongly effects her. She feels an intense desire to control the space around her, which is horribly difficult because no one can control the Universe.

One of the ways Maguire’s story is so special is because of her willpower. There are many times she feels weak and scared, and there are many times she responds to those emotions in a negative way. However, she challenges herself to keep going. A method of therapy used in this book (which rings extremely true, as I’ve used similar techniques) involves setting a big goal and creating several steps (or even mini-goals) to work yourself up to being ready for the big one. This of course doesn’t mean that the accomplishment of the Big Goal will solve everything, and that there will be no more panic attacks or rough times. A prominent message for anyone with mental illness is that there will be good and bad days no matter what. Therapy can accomplish many things, one of which is restructuring your thought process and coping methods so that the bad days can be handled in a healthy manner.

As I’m still going through my own healing process, I had a resounding thought while reading Maguire’s story: This is it. This is what I want my own healing to look like. Healing is different for everyone, but what I find so meaningful in Maguire’s is the way she starts to work with her fear and slowly, very slowly, accepts both that she cannot control the Universe but also that the Universe can’t control her. Some days, I feel as powerful as Maguire is, ready to choose happiness and lean on my support system when necessary. Other days, I am Maguire hiding in her room, under the blankets with a book, knowing that one room absent of other people is far easier to control than the rest of the world. Either way, Maguire has without a doubt become a character that feels like a friend, one I will likely find myself turning to again and again when I need to.

Moving away from the mental health part of the story, and on a much lighter note, this book has one of the best romances I’ve read in a long time. Both Jordy and Maguire are working through their own issues, and they never let the state of their mental health rely solely on the other person. They support each other and encourage each other, but neither uses the other as a distraction or puts the weight on their happiness on him/her. Their flirting is adorable and goofy, and I officially declare Jordy as my Personal Book Boyfriend™. Maguire’s family is also a lovely part of the story, and her discussions with her stepdad are some of my favorite in the book.

Overall, Paula Stokes writes a forceful, compassionate, and hopeful story about a young woman who learns to meet the Universe on her own terms, as best she can.

Originally posted at The Forest of Words and Pages: http://www.forestofwordsandpages.com/2016/06/review-girl-universe-paula-stokes/

Now that Lois is at home in Metropolis, she’s started finding a rhythm: enjoying her reporter job, interacting with her friends, flirting with SmallvilleGuy, and diving into another unexpected mystery. Lois doesn’t know much about her friend Maddy’s twin (other than the twins don’t get along), but when Maddy’s twin starts having weird, sickly episodes after a strange study, Lois senses something dark is happening. She soon finds herself getting deeper into the seedy underbelly of the city she’s learned to love.

LOIS LANE: DOUBLE DOWN picks up from LOIS LANE: FALLOUT with Lois finally feeling a sense of home. However, as she starts to feel more at home, she also discovers more about the city and the many secrets it keeps. The mystery this time goes deep into corruption and serious crime, giving a darker edge to the story. Bond does a brilliant job of making Metropolis almost feel like a character itself, multifaceted and complex, as full of bright and shiny parts as neglected and struggling ones. The world seems to revolve around this one city, as is fitting since Lois’s own world is now settled there.

Lois’s narration is even stronger than it was in the first book. Her voice makes the story shine. Since Lois investigates and searches for the truth, she spends a lot of time in her head figuring things out, and Bond expertly captures her inner dialogue. By the end of the story, it’s hard to not to feel that Lois is a friend. Her conversations with SmallvilleGuy are especially fun, and readers will find a very positive development in their growing interactions.

The book also dives deeper into the lives and personalities of several of the secondary characters. Twins Maddy and Melody have a history of sibling dispute, and they have a strong subplot of navigating troubled waters as their lives become endangered. Readers will also get a bit more information on James and his home life, softening some of his hard edges. Overall, the secondary characters bring new layers to the story and give different examples of family lives.

The Lois Lane books are not to miss. DOUBLE DOWN goes deeper and darker in plot and is even more addictive than the first book.

Originally posted at YABC: http://www.yabookscentral.com/explore-ya-fiction/discussions/review?id=37480

Short and Sweet:

This spooky, Caribbean folklore middle grade is a great pick.
To Elaborate…

Corinne La Mer knows the stories of the jumbies: creatures of all sorts that live in the dark forest. When Corinne runs into the forest to save her dead mother’s necklace, she thinks she sees eyes that are watching her. The next day, Corinne sees a beautiful and mysterious woman at the market, a woman who later shows up at her house. The woman, Severine, has dark plans for the island and the jumbies she commands. Corinne will have to find inner strength, help from her friends, and maybe even a little assistance from magic to save her beloved home.

I’ve heard so many good things about this book, and I’m so glad I decided to buy it. I didn’t know anything about Caribbean folklore before reading this, but Tracey Baptiste has written a spectacular fairy tale with a dark forest, oranges that taste so good they must be magic, and friendship. The different jumbies are fascinating, and the author’s note at the end that discusses them in a little more detail is fascinating. As someone who loves fairy tales and folklore, I’ve been trying to read more outside of the European tradition, and if anyone else is looking to do the same, this is a perfect book to read.

The chapters are usually short, and with all the intense action, THE JUMBIES reads quickly. I wanted to devour this in one sitting, but I tried to pause and soak in the brilliant atmosphere of the story periodically. The tension throughout will make your heart race, and Severine is a special kind of villain. She is a jumbie, but she is also capable of love, though that doesn’t mean she’s ever inclined to kindness.

With a spooky premise, powerful magic, strong friendships, and a beautiful atmosphere, Baptiste’s THE JUMBIES is a Caribbean fairy tale you don’t want to miss.

Originally posted at The Forest of Words and Pages: http://www.forestofwordsandpages.com/2016/07/review-jumbies-tracey-baptiste/

I’m kicking myself for how long it took me to read this. ASH, a Cinderella retelling, is exactly the kind of book I love. It has magic, romance, great writing, and, of course, fairy tales. This actually might be the first fairy tale retelling I’ve read with a f/f romance. Ash and Kaisa, the huntress, are such a sweet couple, and I love how they get to know each other over time.

ASH is one of those books that’s hard to review because it has so many good parts. It has the magic of two of my all time favorite retellings, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine and Ever After (the movie). I never thought I would find another Cinderella retelling to add to that list of favorites (especially because Cinderella isn’t my favorite fairy tale), but Malinda Lo is a beautiful writer, and it’s easy to get captured into this story. Ash is a cinnamon roll of a character, and I just wanted her to be safe and happy.
Final Verdict:

I highly recommend this, particularly for readers who love a sweet, steady build up romance and a good retelling.

Originally posted at The Forest of Words and Pages: http://www.forestofwordsandpages.com/2016/07/review-ash-malinda-lo/

"Trixie Watson has her senior year goals set: save up money to spend at her favorite comic store and, most importantly, take third ranking in her class from Ben West. Since they were kids, Ben and Trixie have been at war. When their best friends start dating, the two are forced into a shaky truce. However, as the two get to know each other more, especially each other's fandoms, a friendship, and maybe some more, grows. When a cheating scandal breaks in their class, fingers point to Trixie's best friend, and sides must be chosen...even if it means going back to hating each other." Full review at Fresh Fiction: http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=60456

TW: Suicide/suicidal thoughts, physical abuse (in the book and referenced in this review)

Can we talk about how awesome this premise is? A zombie apocalypse from the POV of a girl with depression. Just let that sink in.

THIS IS NOT A TEST is the kind of book I knew I wanted, but I didn’t know how to describe. From someone who has depression, it can be exhausting reading about books where the MC is in either a mega dangerous world or on some excruciating journey with lots of battles, and they just keep rolling with the punches. That’s great for them and all, but when you’re depressed, sometimes rolling with the punches is the exact opposite of what you feel you can do. This book asks a really important question, “What happens when world survival is at stake but you already want to die?”

When it comes to zombies, I think people often love it or hate it. I’m not a huge fan, but I still love iZombie, and I like how zombies are used here. This is a story that involves zombies, but it’s not about how they happened, how much humanity is left in them, etc (though both issues are mentioned at some point). It’s about Sloane and a group of fellow students who are barricaded in their high school, trying to survive, waiting for help, and dealing with all that’s happened. I love how dynamic each character is. You get to know each of them, for better or for worse, and you really feel it when not everyone makes it out alive. They are the kind of characters you remember long after reading their stories.
Final Verdict:

Zombies plus brilliant depression portrayal plus realistic characters combine in another fantastic Courtney Summers novel.

Originally posted at The Forest of Words and Pages: http://www.forestofwordsandpages.com/2016/08/review-not-test-courtney-summers/