Tag young adult

September: A TBR List

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August was a really successful reading month for me, so I’ve got a fairly ambitious tbr for this month.

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee has witches and a boarding school – which is all I need to know. The book just came out last month but so far all I’ve heard are positive things.

After the Ink Dries by Cassie Gustafson is a contemporary drama released in July this year. The graphic novel follows Erica and Thomas as Erica wakes up half naked with names written in sharpie on her body. Without risking further humiliation, Erica tries to figure out what happened that night. From the summary alone, my heart aches.

I don’t read many graphic novels anymore. But I’m really excited for this one.

What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell is a Rapunzel retelling releasing in September. I love Rapunzel’s story so I’m going into this without knowing much. And this has to be the read this month that I’m excited for the most!

If you know me, you know I love my Sci-Fi. From Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman to Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Which is why, I’m super excited to dive into Across the Universe by Beth Revis. The thing that’s held me back all these years is the cover changes across the series.

Aside from cover changes, the book has a murder mystery and romance all in a space ship. So, I figured, why not give it a go?

My book club, Read Between the Times has chosen Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard for the month of September.

The YA Fantasy is set in a world divided by red and silver; commoners and the elite. When Mare Barrow, a red, discovers her powers (something exclusive to the silvers), she’s paraded around as a lost Silver Princess. Under this facade, Mare plans with a militant resistant group, fighting to bring down the silver regime.

I’ve avoided this book for so long, and I don’t have a single good reason why. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, the synopsis sounds great. I’m glad this is the book club’s pick, and even gladder that I have the push to pick this up.

Through Netgalley, I’ve received some advanced reader copies for upcoming books. My goal is to read some and put up reviews for their release dates. Here are some releasing in the month of September!

Before We Were Blue by E. J. Schwartz releases on September 14th! So, I’ll be diving into this just as September starts so I can have the review up before the release date. In this young adult-contemporary, we tackle eating disorders and the struggle of recovery.

Slanted and Disenchanted by Lisa Czarina Michaud is a coming-of-age story about Carla and Pete, who start a band together. This releases on September 21 2021, so keep your eyes peeled!

Text Publishing presents Social Queue by Kay Kerr, a young adult romance releasing on the 28th September of 2021.

The book has been pitched as a ‘heart-warming autistic story about deciphering the confusing signals of attraction and navigating a path to love.’

With insightful illustrations, Own Your Period by Chella Quint is a guide to period positivity. I’m all for destigmatising menstruation so I was quick to grab this.

House of Glass Hearts by Leila Siddiqui follows a Pakistani-American teen’s quest to find her missing sibling. This young adult fiction has been shelved as a historical fiction, magical realism and fantasy.

The book releases on September 30th 2021, so if this interests you, grab yourself a copy when it comes out.

What are your planning on reading in September? Have you read any of these?

Awakened by Ciara Duggan: ARC Review

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I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher and author through Netgalley in exchange for feedback and my honest review. These are my opinions, uninfluenced.

Awakened by Ciara Duggan is a young adult, fantasy romance releasing on September 7th 2021. After the death of her parents, Hannah is determined to have a fresh start. At her new college, things turns dire when she accidentally, wakes up a witch who’s been sleeping for a long (decades? centuries?) time. With the witch awakening, so have other creatures, creatures that want Hannah dead. To add to the mix, the witch claims to know her.

I was super excited for this. The blurb sounded fun and the cover is stunning. I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had hoped.

One of my biggest issues was the romance. The entire book takes place over two days, and by the end Hannah and Callan (the witch) are confessing their undying for each other. It felt very rushed and it was hard to believe.

Initially, Hannah is set up as a closed off and stoic character. But as the plot requires, her personality does a 180 turn and she’s so trusting and forthcoming. Hannah’s motivations for helping Callan and risking as much as she did, didn’t make sense to me.

The most believable part of the book was Hannah’s griefs. That was handled well and it did make me feel for her.

The magic system was interesting. I would’ve loved to get to know it more or even to see Hannah learn how to use and harness it. However, the book settles for a more convenient option.

The book is really fast paced and certain aspects felt rushed. But if you’re one for an insta-lovey romance and a fast paced novel about witches, this one is for you.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Magi Menagerie by Kale Lawrence: ARC Review

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I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher and author through Netgalley in exchange for feedback and my honest review. These are my opinions, uninfluenced.

The Magi Menagerie by Kale Lawrence is a historical fiction slash fantasy set to release on September 7th 2021. For as long as Ezra has known, his parents have been travelling from the Ottoman Empire and across 20th Century Europe. On their journey, Ezra’s mother is murdered by a bounty hunter and his father is forced into a life on the run. Ezra soon learns that his family has been on the run and now their enemies will do everything to see Ezra dead.

In a moment of desperation, Ezra’s fate collides with the Third Order of the Magi, a secret society dedicated to using their supernatural powers to protect their communities. With increasing violence around the world, the Magi are fairly certain they know who’s behind the attacks on Ezra and his family since the same group could also be threatening their own existence.

Both Ezra and the Magi’s survival hinges on knowledge only Ezra’s father has and the key to saving them could be buried within history itself. In a race across continents and time, both Ezra and the Magi must secure an ancient Babylonian artifact before hell is unleashed on the world. And, against all odds, Ezra must decide where his allegiances truly lie, despite what is written in the stars.

The story is told from Ezra’s and Jonas’ point of view. Ezra was a really interesting character. Through out his journey, I felt for him. There were even a few times that my eyes welled up. I felt frustrated when he was frustrated, and I felt just as lost when he was left to his devices. Jonas, is a Magus, a part of the Third Order of the Magi. The minute we meet Jonas, I loved him. I loved reading from his point of view and seeing the politics that he dealt with.

There’s a romance arc between Jonas and another male character and I was so here it. I liked how the dangers of a LGBTQIA relationship in that period of time was done. I felt so scared for them. Although, the forbidden romance was definitely welcomed. I ate it up.

I liked all of the supporting characters as well, they felt like they had their own personalities. The story also has the ‘found family’ trope, which I’m a sucker for. It was well executed and added to my enjoyment.

The worldbuilding was handled well. By the end of the book, I had a fairly good understanding of the magic system and the politics. I didn’t feel bored by an big portions of info dumps. Instead, there were little bits of information woven into the story.

As soon as I got to the end, and I read the cliffhanger that we ended on, I wanted to scream. I cannot wait for the next book.

I just want to take a moment to appreciate the diversity in this book. I don’t practice Islam nor am I queer, but the topics handled in the book felt like they were done well.

I’m still not able to put my finger on it, but something felt amiss for me. I think it may just have been my mood. So I’m adding this to my pile of books to re-read so I can give it the proper shot it deserves.

I highly recommend this for anyone that likes a good worldbuilding, great characters, forbidden romance and the ‘found family’ trope.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Knockout by Sajni Patel: A Book Review

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The Knockout by Sajni Patel/ S. A. Patel is a young adult standalone following Kareena Thakkar, a high school student and Muay Thai fighter. When Kareena gets a chance to enter the competition of her life, she’s more than excited. But reality is quick to check in with a really unwell father and even more severe financial debt. Kareena struggles with the challenges of being a female athlete in a time and cultural society that judges and ostracizes her for it. Through it, her saving grace comes in the form of Amit: a genius who strangely needs tutoring from her.

Female athletes are a power move and this book really showed that. I loved entering the world of Muay Thai, learning about it and reading about Kareena’s fight scenes. They were absolutely badass. Sajni Patel’s writing was vivid and easy to imagine. My heart raced through it all. One of my favourite aspects of this book was watching Kareena’s confidence with her body grow.

Kareena is easy to love and relate to. At times, she’s frustrating but even then it’s consistent with her background and history. I loved seeing Kareena grow and become the best version of herself despite her struggles.

Kareena’s relationship with her family is goals! Their dynamic was sweet and refreshing to read. Young adult books tend to skip over familial aspects but Sajni Patel dove right in. Amit, the love interest, has to be one of my favourite love interests from a contemporary novel. He was so supportive, sweet and perfect for Kareena. Amit had his own life and problems, making him feel quite real. I wish Kareena’s best friend, Lily had been developed a little more like Amit was.

Kareena’s story resonated with me more than I had expected. The Indian rep and culture was executed so well, I couldn’t have asked for more.

When we join Kareena, she has a very complicated relationship with Indian culture and society. She has a more ‘Western’ approach to things and I expect other readers who are more religious or involved in society may feel attacked by some of Kareena’s early thoughts and approaches. Personally, this made it more satisfying to see her grow into accepting her culture. I do wish that we got to see her become more accepting of the people around her as well.

The only thing that would take this book up a notch for me were that some of the high school drama felt a bit juvenile to me. But in saying that, I probably would’ve enjoyed it if I were younger.

This book frustrated me, made me cry, laugh and smile in all the best ways. I felt so much reading it. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for more South-Asian and/or female athlete representation in books. If you’re a sucker for underdogs, this one’s for you!

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Sajni Patel

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson: A Book Review

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A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a young adult mystery novel that released in 2019.

A few years ago, in a small town called Kilton, high school senior, Andie Bell is murdered. When the prime suspect, her boyfriend, Sal Singh commits suicide a couple days later, the case is closed and Sal is labelled murderer. Fast forward a few years later when Pippa is lining up to finish high school, she decides to re-analyse the unfortunate incidents of Andie Bell and Sal Singh. But the deeper she digs in, the more mysteries she finds.

I loved reading about Pippa, her friends and Ravi. I felt invested in her investigation and more than that, I felt invested in what happened to them. Whenever Pippa was in danger, I was clinging to every word. In times of distress, I was just as upset for Ravi or Pippa. Pippa is such a strong and determined character. I loved how nerdy she was and she was just so refreshing to read from.

As if they think I don’t already know. I came out of the womb knowing how to do academic references.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson

I loved the plot twists and how everything unfolded. From the little clues, her logs to her mini interrogations.

This is one of the rare YA fictions that actually has such a heavy crime focus and I ate it up. Most of the law and crime aspects felt realistic and well-researched.

I enjoyed the bits of comic relief which grounded me back into the YA world. The dialogues felt real and so did Jackson’s writing. Down to little details about day to day life.

The only downside for me was the slight predictability. I did expect half of what happened but I was still surprised but the other bits and pieces.

This was the book I needed to get out of my reading slum. If you haven’t picked up Holly Jackson’s debut, you definitely should.

This is perfect for someone who’s looking to venture into the crime and mystery world. If you’ve enjoyed Karen M. McManus’ work, I’m sure you’ll love this.

Have you read the book? What did you think?