thelovelylibrarylady's Reviews (1.1k)

St. Amant's newest book is a cute and innocent romance. What it lacks in steam, it makes up for with a solid plot filled with diverse characters and lots of family drama. While reading this one, I found myself craving Mexican food - especially tacos. My one issue with Tacos For Two was that the storyline was a little predictable. If you are looking for a fast-paced, lighthearted read, you should consider adding this title to your reading list!
(PUB DATE: AVAILABLE NOW)
(I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed above are my own.)

How To Fail At Flirting is a much deeper story than its cute cover conveys. The love story of Naya and Jake is a good one, as they have a strong relationship and actually communicate with each other - a rarity in other contemporary romance novels. However, Naya lives with the trauma from a past relationship that affects her ability to get into another romantic relationship. She is a survivor of domestic abuse and this topic is explored extensively in this novel. Readers should take note of that before picking up this title, as it is graphic and difficult to read about. 

While Americus is a YA graphic novel, it tackles an important, multilayered issue in today's world: censorship. Neal, a shy teenager, finds himself going head-to-head with members of his community after they try to get his favorite book series banned. Obviously, Neal has the support of his local librarian (because librarians are the best) and others, but he must take the lead in order to save the fantasy books he loves so much. The illustrations in Americus were beautiful, but I thought that the writing could have been stronger. Sometimes, the dialogue and actions of the characters seemed exaggerated which is why I only gave this title a three-star rating.

If you are looking for a creepy story that will mess with your head, look no further than A Head Full Of Ghosts. This book is mainly told from the point of view of Merry, a young woman who is being interviewed about her childhood. Merry's family was dysfunctional, to say the least. After convincing himself that Merry's sister is possessed by a demon, their father brings a television crew into their house for a paranormal reality show and seeks help from a local church. Obviously, things spiral out of control pretty quickly making this book captivating for the reader. This is the first title I have read from Paul Tremblay, but it will definitely not be the last. It is obvious that he thrives on scaring his readers and is a prominent author in the horror community.

White Smoke is the perfect read for spooky season. Jackson tackles the haunted house trope in a way that I have never seen done before which is a very impressive feat. I actually listened to this novel and the narrator, Marcella Cox, did a fantastic job with it. I highly recommend checking out the audiobook if you can! Out of all of Jackson's books, this one is by far my favorite. I am continuously impressed with her ability to write compelling stories and am at the point where I will read anything that has her name on it.

While this book has one of the cutest covers I have seen in a long time, the story behind the cover just didn't work for me. My biggest issue with Hot Dog Girl was the protagonist, Lou. She might be one of the most frustrating characters I have ever encountered in a story. Like any teenager, she makes some questionable decisions, but hers are on the extreme end. Halfway through the story, I just kind of gave up on her because she kept digging herself in a deeper and deeper hole with everyone in her life. In addition to this, I thought the way the author tackled Lou's sexuality was inappropriate. For the majority of the book, Lou pressures her best friend (who is a girl) to pretend to be in a relationship with her in order to catch the attention of the boy she is crushing on. This storyline reinforces the stereotype that bisexual girls only date other girls to get the attention of men - because the relationship is seen as scandalous and/or sexy.

Deep Dark Fears is a collection of comic strips that depict people's most irrational fears. The author/illustrator asked people to submit their strangest fears and included them in this book. As someone with quite a few irrational fears, I found myself laughing at some of Krase's illustrations, not because they were funny, but because I could relate to them. I showed some of my favorites to my boyfriend and he didn't really "get" them so maybe this book will only make sense to a select group of anxiety-ridden people. I really wish the comics had been organized better because it did feel disjointed and not like I was reading an actual book, hence why I only gave this title three out of five stars.