Every Reason We Shouldn’t – enjoyable and well rounded read. Romantic YA (Young Adult) novels tend to focus on romance and nothing else, this was an exception. The characters, their voices and actions were well formed and there was a good balance between showing and telling motivations. I was sad for this fictional world to end.
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Would Like to meet- I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. Evie with a promotion on the line, agrees to re-enact meet cute situations to inspire a scriptwriter at her agency to finish his rom com script. Cue clumsy romance scenarios and multiple love interests.
Before and After the Book Deal: a writer’s Guide to finishing, publishing, promoting and surviving your first book- as someone that is on a journey to acquiring a book deal, this was on my must read for the year and it was well written and easy to read. If you’re someone that loves to research, most of the information is pretty available online, but something like this pulls all the important stuff into one place.
Loveboat, Taipei- Ever is sent to a summer camp in Taiwan for fellow foreign students to learn more about their home country. The camp ends up being more fun and drama than she expected and allows her to explore herself away from her parents.
I’m Not Dying With You Tonight- a white and black high school student get stuck finding their way home together during police riots. During their journey home, they find out more about each others lives and points of view and examine previously held prejudices. I usually avoid plots that take place in a short time frame because I tend to find it repetitive and long winded, but it actually worked here and was a quick easy read.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington- when Zoe opens a letter addressed to her that she isn’t supposed to have, she finds that its from her father in jail. Knowing her parents wouldn’t allow her to speak to him, she starts a secret correspondence with hum and leafs to her finding out complicated information.
The Fitness Chef: Eat What You Like & Lose Weight For Life- if you follow Graeme on instagram, this book is basically a reprise of his instragram and doesn’t really say much else that’s new. I think the “lose weight for life” is a bit of a marketing gimmick because what does that even mean, but he talks about energy balance and encourages
Not so pure and Simple- when Del feels like he may miss an opportunity to finally get with his long term crush, Kiera, he enters a purity pledge at church to be closer to her. What follows is his examination of friendship, sexuality, faith and family.
What I carry- this is a look at the American foster care system from a different perspective. With only one year left in foster care, Muir has learnt to not form attachments, or roots and to only own what she can carry in her suitcase. Her final placement leads her to people that are life changing which upsets her idea of everything she has fought so hard to believe. While it was nice to read a different perspective of foster care (the author adopted a daughter that was previously in foster care), the story fell a bit flat in places and the character motivations were kind of flat. It was a quick, don’t want to think too much kind of read.
The million pieces of Neena Gill- this was a very hard read because it was told from the point of view of someone that was experiencing psychosis after the disappearance of her brother- the unreliable narration, the way incidents were skewed, the flawed relationships- it was very well done, but I felt like I needed a break after because of the intensity.
Nothing to see here- When Madison invites her old school friend to babysit her step kids, Lilian jumps at the offer because she has nothing else going on. What she doesn’t expect is that the twins sometimes burst into flames. The books explores the relationship between Lilian and the twins as she learns about them and tries to control the fire.