Tag: young adult books

ARC Book Review: Betting on You by Lynn Painter

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: November 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Better than the Movies, this swoon-worthy rom-com in the vein of She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You follows a teen girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a bet while working at a waterpark.

When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.

Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers—particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.

Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama—but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret—a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

THE BANTER.

I absolutely think that Lynn Painter writes some of the best banter I have ever read in rom-coms. I LOVED the way Bailey and Charlie brought the slowly building tension through well placed snark and sarcasm with a hint of some real feelings.

The strangers to friends to lovers was super cute. I loved the friendship and how it took up a lot of the book. The slow burn was fantastic and I really felt the chemistry between them.

I connected deeply to the themes surrounding divorced parents, seeing parents in new relationships and that struggle to watch things move on around you and not knowing where you land. It’s a big sucker punch that I could understand the way Bailey and Charlie were working through their situations.

As a YA book I do think there was a bit too much language, otherwise nothing else bugged me. I think if I could have had a little bit longer chapters from Charlie I would have known him even better. There was something slightly missing from that angle.

But honestly, another great read from one of my favorite romance authors. I love her books. I love how easy they are to binge and just ENJOY. And this ending was real stinkin’ cute and I loved Bailey and Charlie.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong and high
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: strained parent relationships, cheating (side characters), theme surrounding being a child of divorce

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Historical Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Author: Isabel Ibanez
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: October 31st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents—who frequently leave her behind.

When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the eARC.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

This has got to be one of the best cliffhangers I’ve read in recent memory. When I tell you my jaw DROPPED and I frantically read the last page multiple times trying to figure out what happened, ohhhhh boy. That right there deserves a lot of praise. I love a good blindside. BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN.

The tension in this romance will send you to space. Whit and Inez are two planets orbiting each other but not quite close enough. AND I LIVED FOR IT ALL. Give me all of the build moments. I am a sucker. I loved both of them as separate characters too. Complicated backgrounds and trauma, learning to be open and lean on each other, just all the goodness I love seeing in main characters.

I thought the plot was fantastic and it sent me on multiple internet dives to read more about Cleopatra and Egypt. I loved the way that history was blending in with the fantasy and how lush and beautiful the words built the world. Immersive and daring and WILD twists and turns. I may have caught one, but in no way caught them all.

I NEED BOOK TWO NOW.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Historical Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: heated make-out
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, kidnapping, loss of loved ones, near death experiences

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph || TikTok

Book Review: Sky Without Stars (System Divine #1) by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Dystopian/Sci-Fi
Length: 582 pages
Author: Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: March 26th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A thief. An officer. A guardian.

Three strangers. One shared destiny . . .

When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. But five hundred years later, it’s now a place where an extravagant elite class reigns supreme; where the clouds hide the stars and the poor starve in the streets; where a rebel group, long thought dead, is resurfacing.

Whispers of revolution have begun—a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes…

Chatine is a street-savvy thief who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime, including spying on Marcellus, the grandson of the most powerful man on the planet.

Marcellus is an officer—and the son of a traitor. Groomed to command by his legendary grandfather, Marcellus begins to doubt the government he’s vowed to serve when he discovers a cryptic message that only one person, a girl named Alouette, can read.

Alouette is living in an underground refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. But a shocking murder will bring Alouette to the surface for the first time in twelve years…and plunge Laterre into chaos.

All three have roles to play in a dangerous game of revolution—and together they will shape the future of a planet.

Power, romance, and destiny collide in this sweeping reimagining of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece Les Misérables.

BETTER THAN EXPECTED.

This has been floating on my radar for awhile but I kept putting it off for other books. I had a small break in-between audio holds and here we are! I now have a new series I want to continue (Thank heavens it’s already complete).

I LOVED this dystopian reimagining of Les Mis. I could clearly see the nods and allusions to the original classic, but throwing it much more sci-fi aspects on a whole new planet.

The characters were perfectly set for a YA fantasy read. I don’t think I have any major complaints about anyone. I liked the progression of individual journeys and how things flowed up and down until that intense ending. I would love to continue and see how things continue to shake out.

It is a BIG book and I did read it as an audio. I don’t know if that helped me move through it better of if I would have thought things were a bit long. There’s a lot more to the world building and political system I’m intrigued by and the raw experiences that kept happening.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Dystopian
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: torture, death/execution, persecution, murder, oppression, abuse

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Lux (Texas Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson and Steven Bohls

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Dystopia
Length: 480 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson & Steven Bohls
Publisher: Audible Originals
Release Date: July 22nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Texas Reckoners novel

A new team of Reckoners must infiltrate the flying city of Lux to take down the Epic Lifeforce in this audio-exclusive novel from Brandon Sanderson.

When the great red star Calamity appeared in the sky, some believed the end had come. They were right.

Calamity created the Epics: humans with incredible powers they didn’t deserve.

They could have saved mankind. They could have lifted us into harmony and prosperity. Instead they burned. They slaughtered. They conquered. And then they ruled.

Jax has learned all of this the hard way. Orphaned at an early age, he’s spent most of his childhood training to be a Reckoner – determined to find the Epics’ weaknesses, unlock their secrets, and protect those of us who are still left.

But now, the mysterious High Epic Lifeforce has arrived with his flying city, Lux, to plunder what’s left of Texas. So Jax and his ragtag team – the few who remain of the once-mighty Texas Reckoners – must take their battle to this floating fortress of riches – and defeat the invincible.

To avenge what has been lost. And rise anew.

A GOOD SPIN-OFF.

I enjoyed the original Reckoners series and I couldn’t pass up reading all things Sanderson so here we are!

The main character, Jax, was solid. I liked that he had to work through tough decisions, sometimes make the wrong choice, and decide what path was the best for everyone involved. It gave a many layered character that I enjoy seeing. Not to mention, there’s villain points of view??? Wild and never happens so this was fun too.

There was nothing glaring for my rating to be four star, but you know when it’s Sanderson but not? It’s that vibe that just had it missing somethings for me overall.

I thought the ending was good, but there’s room for more??? So I’m confused because I thought this was a standalone. Guess we’ll find out.

LOTS of action, missions gone wrong and moments you won’t see coming. I really enjoyed this as an audiobook (and I actually think it only comes that way right now?) so give it a go!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Dystopia
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: flirting
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mass murder, physical violence, weapons violence, explosions, loss of life, loss of a sibling

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph