Reviews
I cannot claim to be a writer without also being a reader. Here is a collection of reader reviews of the books I’ve binged. To stay even more up-to-date with what I’m currently reading, add me on Goodreads.
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“Raybearer” by Jordan Ifueko • Book Review
“Your heart is not your friend unless you know who you truly are.”
★★★★★ (5 / 5 stars) Raybearer is a masterpiece of young adult fantasy. Not an inch of story is wasted, as Ifueko weaves elegant foreshadowing and thematic symbolism in every beat of the griot's drums, every whisper of the ehru's commands, every memory gifted or stolen, shared or abandoned.
With a delightfully disastrous Catch-22 premise and a richly developed magical world, Raybearer is a booming drum of a story that demands to be devoured.
“Aurora Rising” by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff • Book Review
“But they have not seen their sun die. Their people burn. Their world end. And they do not know, yet, that there are some breaks that cannot be fixed.”
★★★★ (4 / 5 stars) What a journey! This book is like the YA version of “Star Trek”/”Guardians of the Galaxy” with a motley crew of teens who were clearly fated to be on this path together.
I loved so much about this novel. The squad is fantastic, their personalities are on point, and the narrator cast is amazing. The storyline is mysterious, action-packed, and intriguing.
I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard with a sci-fi read, and I can’t wait for more.
“Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell • Book Review
“Sometimes writing is running downhill, your fingers jerking behind you on the keyboard the way your legs do when they can’t quite keep up with gravity.”
★★★★ (3.5 / 5 stars) For me, Rainbow Rowell’s books and I have a slow-burn relationship. In the beginning, I’m curious and not instantly in love with the writing style. But by the end, my heart has grown three sizes and I’m just keeping myself from collapsing into a puddle of tears.
Overall, I would recommend this book! Not as lighthearted as I’d hoped, but love the literature integration. It’s a rich story and extremely enjoyable.
“The Fill-in Boyfriend” by Kasie West • Book Review
“I like it when you're not perfect.”
★★★ (3.5 / 5) Gotta love those read-in-a-day books, am I right? This was a fun, easy read with a lot more happening than I expected.
Some of the shallow behavior made me roll my eyes, but hey—that’s high school, I guess. Meanwhile, the fake relationship trope was well done (and I’m a sucker, anyway), and Beck was by far my favorite character. I was surprised how much I could relate to the perfect-family-image issues Gia was dealing with and felt like this was a much, much nicer spin on “Mean Girls.”
Overall, The Fill-In Boyfriend is nothing too special but an enjoyable read, and I’d recommend it.
“Leah on the Offbeat” by Becky Albertalli • Book Review
“You can't just like Harry Potter. You have to be balls-out obsessed with it.”
★★★ (3 / 5 stars) Maybe it’s just because I’ve been reading so many contemporary books back-to-back, but I’m kind of tired of the nothing-happening-pining-from-afar-while-filler-plot-takes-place-until-crushes-are-confirmed-with-a-dramatic-kiss stories... While I enjoyed Leah’s less-common, pessimistic narrative, it didn’t quite save the book for me.
Why do we keep writing teens who deny their own feelings to themselves? This is not something I did when I was young, so when an entire book relies on that very repression for its plot, I just can’t relate.
“What If It’s Us” by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera • Book Review
“People like me should come with a mute button.”
★★★ (3.2 / 5 stars) I have such mixed feelings about this book, I’m not even sure where to start. On the one hand, the pop culture references were cute and Arthur’s chapters were pretty hilarious. On the other, I felt basically zero chemistry between these two characters and the entire end was just meh.
I’m glad we’re normalizing more non-hetero romances in contemporary fiction, but it was hard to even root for this couple once they met. I was just hoping for more, especially with the ending. But it is what it is! Hope I get more satisfaction out of similarly hyped books like Red, White, & Royal Blue.
“Love & Luck” by Jenna Evans Welch • Book Review
“A good friend is like a four-leaf clover. Hard to find and lucky to have.”
★★★ (3.4 / 5 stars) The entire first half of this one felt really drawn out, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the switching timelines. It felt jarring in some cases because the tense didn’t change—we were just suddenly talking about the past and then jumping back to the present.
Overall, I enjoyed this even though it didn’t have quite the level of charm I felt with Love & Gelato. But I’m eager to read the next one from Welch when it releases!
“Love & Gelato” by Jenna Evans Welch • Book Review
“What I really want is someone who will wake me up early so I don't miss a sunrise.”
★★★★ (4 / 5 stars) This was such a sweet story. I would definitely recommend this to fans of YA, Eat, Pray, Love, “Mama Mia!” and “The Lizzie McGuire Movie.”