Tag #youngadult

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?

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao: Book Review

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How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao is a freshly released young adult, mystery thriller. Set at prestigious, Sinclair Prep, Nancy’s best friend, Jamie is missing and later, found dead. Things turn for the worse when Nancy and her friends are incriminated in Jamie’s murder by a social media presence called ‘The Proctor’. Someone out there knows all of their deepest, darkest secrets and if the world finds out, they’ll lose everything they’ve worked for.

If you read my August TBR post, you’ll know that I was hyped for this. Think Pretty Little Liars meets One of Us Is Lying but make it Asian American. What’s not to like? Turns out, a fair bit. Let’s start with what I did like.

I really enjoyed how we focused on the academic pressure in Asian societies. It felt very realistic and believable. The stress of having to be the best, the expectations of your parents and not wanting to waste their hardships of migrating to a Western country. I felt all of that.

This was a quick and fast read. It wasn’t something I read in one sitting, but even with the little bursts, I finished this quickly. The book is only around 300 pages, so it’s something you can get through easily. The writing also contributes to the ‘easy read’. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I think younger ‘young adults’ will enjoy the writing.

The characters all felt like they had potential. Their morals and decision making were questionable at times making them very complex characters. However, we didn’t explore that very much. It was barely touched upon. Even Nancy, who we see the entire book from, didn’t feel that developed. I couldn’t tell you much about her except that she really wanted to excel.

The mystery aspect of this book wasn’t very mysterious. I predicted it from the start and I think it had been made too obvious. There weren’t any other suspects introduced that it could’ve been. There were no red herrings or twist and turns. The only thing that caught me off guard was the ‘how’. I may have to re-read to confirm this, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I couldn’t think of any hints or clues that were dropped to allude to the ‘how’.

I didn’t find the book to be very ‘thrilling’. The only part that had my heart even slightly racing was near the end, with the shorter chapters and countdown.

The whole idea of wanting to stop ‘The Proctor’ is to keep their secrets a secret because they’re so bad. The stakes were high and I was so here for it. However, every time a secret was dropped, there were no consequences. Like, everyone just moved on. After the first time that happened, I found myself less interested in what happened to the characters.

There were a few things that I didn’t find very realistic or believable in the story. First thing, what is it with these mass texts? Never, in my entire high school career have I received a mass text. Is this an American thing? The next thing was the police involvement – or lack there of. I kept waiting for police officers to step in or even do an interview with the ‘suspects aka the main characters’, but it never happened. Another thing that made it hard to believe this story. Last thing was the ending. I don’t even know what to say about that.

The story ends on a cliffhanger and I’m curious to see what happens in the next book. Hopefully, it improves. Currently undecided if I’ll be picking up the next book.

Overall, it wasn’t something I disliked. I was disappointed by it, but expectations aside, it was a decent read. I think those that enjoyed Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars will enjoy this. Ideal for younger readers or those new to reading mystery.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis: A Book Review

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The Raven and the Dove is a young adult, fantasy retelling of Tristan and Isolde. It’s been pitched as the perfect novel for the fans of Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir. As a big fan of all three, I whole-heartedly agree.

As the avian kingdoms in the sky (what a concept) prepare for the courtship trials, Princess Lyana Aethionus is ready for her last adventure. She doesn’t expect to save a raven prince from a dragon. Rafe, is the bastard son of the late Raven King, and he would do anything for his half-brother/prince. Including, posing as him in the courtship trials. Unknown to the world above, a war brews in the sea below, ready to threaten everything Lyana and Rafe know and love.

I have to say, I only picked this up because of how gorgeous the cover is. It gave me major Rhysand and Feyre vibes from A Court of Mist and Fury. I had no idea I would end up enjoying this as much as I did.

Princess Lyana was a great protagonist – she was fierce, determined and mischievous. She was so much fun to read about as she flew away on her adventures – albeit some reckless. At times she was a little immature, but that’s where the young adult bit really shines through. On the other hand, Rafe is the epitome of brooding and angst. He felt everything so intensely, that my heart ached for him. All the characters were so well developed, including Cassi and Xander. The story is told from multi point of views and surprisingly, I enjoyed reading this book from all of their perspectives. There was never a chapter that I wanted to skip.

I loved the pacing of this book, it was filled with action but it wasn’t too fast to cause whiplash and neither was it slow enough to bore me. I was super happy with when everything happened. Hence, why I flew through this book and stayed up to finish it. The sleep loss was totally worth it.

The world was really interesting, and not something I’ve seen in young adult before. Kingdoms in the sky were such a lovely idea and it was executed really well. I’m really excited to explore more of this world. Hopefully we get to see more of the other kingdoms in the upcoming books.

I loved the angst and pining between Rafe and Lyana, it was exactly what I wanted to read. The only downside for me, was how quick it was. It felt very insta-lovely and slightly rushed. I would’ve enjoyed the pining and angst a little bit more, if it made sense to why it meant so much to them.

Overall, such a great read and I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this book. You need to add it to your TBR asap!

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Kaitlyn Davis

Pantser or Plotter: Writing Diary

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If you‘re in the online writing community, you’ve heard the terms ‘pantser’ or ‘plotter thrown around. In case you haven’t and you’re staring at this screen with ‘wtf’ eyes, let me explain. There are two types of writers in the world, pantsers and plotters. Pantsers essentially don’t plan, they wing it as they write. Plotters on the other hand can be found with meticulous research and outlines.

If you know my personality, it’s not going to take a wild guess for you to figure out that I’m a plotter through and through. My main form of planning is chapter summaries. I find it so helpful to write down what the goal of the chapter is, so even on a day when I don’t have inspiration, I can still lock in some words.

Strangely enough, while working on ‘Where the Light Ends’ the kind of novel that definitely requires some intense plotting, I was starting to wing it. Ignoring of course my journal of timelines and who killed a who. Side note: a very messed up story. There’s even some math. *Shudders*.

So this writing diary records how I decided to knuckle down and do some good old plotting.

I really researched red herring and disguising clues.

I am beginning to become really concerned about my browser history. There’s some weird stuff going on in there.

With all the mystery, drama and questionable deaths going on, Where the Light Ends was definitely becoming a plot driven novel. Feeling a little out of touch with my characters, I sat down in order to balance it out.

This is my brain storm of where I want Ruan to go as a character, his big movements of character development.

How do you plan out your characters? I’m really curious to know how other writers are doing this.

So, what are you, a pantser or plotter?

Before I let you go, here’s a word count update!

Are you working on anything right now? If you are, drop a comment below and tell me about it.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim: A Book Review

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In Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim we join Shiori, the princess of Kiata. In this YA fantasy, Shiori’s biggest problem seems to be avoiding her betrothed, until her step-mother curses her and turns her brother into cranes. Without money and her voice, Shiori has to not only survive without the perks of her title but also find a way to save her brothers and free them from the curse.

The fairy retelling was an excellent concept that was executed really well. I fell in love with the culture, the tales and the song. Lim had created a wonderful world that I was able to be dive into.

The characters were so interesting, especially Shiori, Seryu, Raikama and Takkan. Speaking of Takkan, he is such a cutie! I loved these characters and felt like there were so many dimensions and layers to them. My only issue with the characters were probably her brothers, I couldn’t tell them apart except maybe two? They all seemed the same and I hope we get to know them a bit more in the upcoming books.

I loved the romance in the book, it wasn’t overwhelming or in your face. Subtle, and slowly burning in the background.

There were some bits I found to be a little predictable and other bits that caught me off guard. I don’t want to say too much and spoil it, but I love the direction this book went in.

I haven’t quite made up my mind on the pacing of this book. It was fast paced and kept me hooked but there were some bits that gave me whiplash and felt rushed. This felt jarring and would bring me out of the book, and it would take another few chapters to get back into it.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I stayed up to read more of it. And I’ll be eagerly waiting for the next book in the series.

I highly recommend this for anyone that loves an action-packed book.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

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Elizabeth Lim

The Endless Skies by Shannon Price: 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 Endless Skies by Shannon Price is a standalone, young-adult, fantasy releasing on August 17th 2021. Not long to ago!

In the sky, floats Heliana, the city of winged-lion shapeshifters (Leonodai). A day before Rowan can pledge to become a part of the elite warriors to keep Heliana peaceful and safe, a disease spreads amongst the children. Once her closest friends are sent on a risky mission to get the cure from their enemies (Humans), Rowan is left behind. As time starts running out, Rowan learns something that could save Heliana, but the truth comes with a price.

The story is told from three point of views: Shirene, Rowan, and Callen. The first chapter is Shirene’s introduction, creating a sense that either she’s the main character or a really important factor for the story. Shirene was an interesting character, she seemed strong and badass. From get go, as she is put in a position of power by the King’s side, I liked her. Even though there seems to be a lot to her, from her love interest, role in the hierarchy and perspective, she doesn’t seem to play as key of a role as I had expected. She doesn’t have a character arc through which she grows and develops. In the end, she is simply Rowan’s sister and someone with a high position in the system.

Rowan, the main character was brave and a character that I could easily root for. But beyond that, I didn’t feel too much for her. Callen, her best friend slash love interest and warrior, was another character that I didn’t dislike nor did I love. To me, the characters felt under-developed. The multiple point of views could’ve easily been simplified to a single narrative or even two point of views.

A love triangle between Rowan, Callen and Ox brews in the story. Typically, I’m not a fan of love triangles, and it’s very rare that I make an exception for that and even rarer that I enjoy them. I was really excited for this book due it’s incredible premise so I decided to give the love triangle a go. This is one of the rare times, where the love triangle didn’t anger me, which is a plus. In saying that, I didn’t enjoy it either. The best way to describe the love triangle is: rushed. Time was split between Callen and Ox, not going into either the feelings either were evoking well enough. Due to that, I didn’t care who Rowan ended up with. I feel that if we had just had one romantic line going on, it would’ve had a chance to expand and thrive more.

The world was really interesting and one of my favourite parts of this story. It was a really interesting concept. Winged-lions? How cool is that? As if, lions and wings weren’t badass enough on their own. I loved everything about it, from the role everyone played in it, the animosity between humans and Leonodai. If this was a series, I would’ve liked to see the world explored more, especially the other kingdoms that we catch a glimpse of in the first chapter.

The first thing that I noticed about this book and possibly the most disappointing, was the writing style. It felt like there was too much telling going on and less showing. Usually, I see this in the descriptions and dialogue tags, but I picked up on this through the dialogues, too. It seemed like the dialogues were also a bit ‘info-dumpy’. I think if this had been fixed, I would’ve probably felt more attached to the characters. There was a lot of ‘I care about this person a lot’ and not actually showing me the relationship between the characters. This made it really hard to believe any of what was going on.

The overall plot and concept was the highlight for me. I liked the idea of the disease threatening the peace of Heliana and their only hope lying with the humans. I enjoyed reading about the stakes and how the plot progressed and questioned everything Rowan knew. This was a great adventure as we moved between different settings.

As the story wrapped up, I was left a little confused. The ending seemed all too convenient for me and there wasn’t enough of an explanation to justify it. The Leonodai don’t believe in luck, but the ending felt exactly that. Perhaps, that was the point, but I still wish we had explored that a bit more.

Another positive for me would be the messages in the books. I especially enjoyed the importance of individual’s morals and values, and how that shapes a person and their actions. Cruelty of human actions was also weaved well into the story, which was very thought provoking.

I was completely surprised by the betrayal portion of this book. It played into the ‘messages’ part of this story, and I ate it up. That was well done!

I know, I dissected this story quite a bit, but I did enjoy reading this. It was fast, thought-provking and a great standalone. But the issue with standalone fantasies will always persist – it’s hard to create such intricate worlds, characters and stakes without rushing them in only so many pages. Please also keep in mind that I received an ARC, which means changes could’ve made for the finished copy.

If you’re looking for an action packed, adventurous fantasy that doesn’t require commitment and takes you to a novel world of warriors, I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy when it comes out in a few days.

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Shannon Price

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

August 2021: My ‘To Be Read’ List

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I confess: I haven’t been reading much for someone who claims to be an avid reader. So in my mission to make time for reading, I’ve compiled a TBR list to share with you all.

Confessions About Colton by Olivia Harvard is a young adult mystery novel that follows Elliot, who’s best friend Colton, was brutally murdered. After Elliot gets a note from someone claiming to be Colton’s killer, Elliot has to follow the clues to find out the truth behind Colton’s death.

Confessions About Colton is one the books published by Wattpad and its high time I read more from my fellow Wattpad writers. I’m so excited to get into this one. I’m working on ‘Where the Light Ends’ and it has me in a really mysterious reading mood.

You Have A Match by Emma Lord is a young adult contemporary that’s slipped into my TBR. With my contemporaries, I prefer to go into it without knowing too much and I’m doing the same with this one. What I can share is that it’s more family focused than most young adult books we see.

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao has been pitched as dark academia but think Asian American. And the pitch has me hooked, line, sinker.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is one of the most hyped books that book tube has made me buy. As soon as the book came out, I had my hands on it. And since then, it has sat on my bookshelf, untouched. I even made my sister read it. I can’t share anything about the book with you, because I don’t know. But this time, I’m determined to tick it off my list.

Now that you know what’s on my TBR, what’s on yours? Have you read any of these, what were your thoughts?