Tag: young adult contemporary romance

Book Review: Better Than Revenge by Kasie West

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Rating: ★★★★★
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: December 31st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A swoony new romance from the author of Sunkissed! When her football-player boyfriend and now ex lands the podcast job she’s been dreaming of, a girl takes matters into her own hands by enlisting the help of his nemesis to get revenge.

Seventeen-year-old Finley has only ever had one to become a famous podcaster. This includes coming up with the perfect pitch to land her on her school’s podcast team. But when her football-obsessed boyfriend, Jensen, decides to also try out—and uses her idea—she’s left confused and betrayed. 

Determined to get back at him, Finley and her friends try to find the perfect revenge scheme, but quickly discover that Jensen is almost-impossible to best. Keyword, almost. 

By chance, Finley discovers a knack for kicking and decides to take Jensen’s spot on the football team. To help her train, she recruits Jensen’s cute but conceited nemeses, Theo. Soon the two discover that their connection runs deeper than football. But Finley can’t let herself get distracted, and Theo has secrets of his own. Is true love really better than the perfect revenge?

Thank you to Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

NEW KASIE WEST FAVORITE.

Well I was just absolutely charmed with this book y’all. At the core is a true young adult novel with a lot of relatable themes and content that’s appropriate for this age group. I loved the the teenage drama wasn’t over the top and lent itself to many great moments of character growth and self reflection for Finley.

And I was smitten with the romance. It was so sweet and also showcased mistakes and communication and hearing each other out. I loved the support Theo gave Finley in her endeavors and his kind nature. The banter was cheeky and fun and I loved the chemistry between them.

I also loved that Finley worked on her friendships, finding out what the next life step was and realized the true nature of being a vengeful person can become. All of the grandma content was really sweet and I was very involved in knowing her story. It was a great addition to the plot and seriously, this book was an absolute gem.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: a grandmother in the early stages of dementia

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Book Review: Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen

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Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Kara H.L. Chen
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.

Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:

1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.

2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.

When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.

WELL.

I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I think this has some great themes, is good for a younger audience and is a quick read. I liked the messages about staying true to yourself and making mistakes and learning from them. On the other hand, this is the same YA contemporary I’ve read at least 10 times. Which led me to having a harder time moving through this because nothing felt new. And since that’s entirely a me thing, it could easily be a book for others.

There is a little bit of language, but the romantic content is kisses only with no innuendo. It’s definitely a true to young adult book and that is its biggest strength. I did like the character growth from Juliana (even though it came a bit late). She stood up for herself and made the tough decisions facing a lot of nuanced aspects in her life.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary + Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content Warnings: loss of a father (cancer, recounted)

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ARC Book Review: The Calculation of You and Me by Serena Kaylor

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Serena Kaylor
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: June 18th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A calculus nerd enlists her surly classmate’s help to win back her ex-boyfriend, but when sparks start to fly, she realizes there’s no algorithm for falling in love.

Marlowe Thompson understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn’t overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone, and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird, math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school’s couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was surprised when Josh dumped her because he’d prefer a girlfriend who was more romantic. One with emotional depth.

But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn’t about to start now. When she’s paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash’s hidden stash of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to help her write some love letters, she’ll calculate the perfect data analytics formula to make Ash’s band go viral.

As the semester heats up with yearning love notes and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there’s really a set solution to love. Could a girl who has never met a problem she couldn’t solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the eARC and LibroFM for the audiobook.

A BIT OF A LETDOWN.

I loved the authors previous book and it had made me all the more excited to pick this one up, and I’m not quite sure what to do about my thoughts.

My biggest issue was that for 90% of the book it was focused on the FMC getting back together with her ex. This left very little room for the new relationship to form and for a spark of true chemistry to be there. I was so tired of the constant focus on her ex.

I did like the general themes. I loved the acknowledgment of the power of romance books and how we can all love in our own ways and how important that part of our selves is. I liked the tight friendship group for Marlowe and a realistic family life too.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses

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ALC Book Review: I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Upper YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 305 pages
Author: Eva Des Lauriers
Publisher: Henry Holt
Release Date: May 21st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this drama-filled love story, private confessions are scattered on the beach during a senior class overnight and explosive secrets threaten to tear everyone apart, including best friends (or maybe more?), Natalia and Ethan.

It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom―when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.

When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves―what they wish they would do this year if they were braver―Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed―especially their own.

Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

LEAN INTO IT.

I knew going into this that it would be drama with a capital D. Honestly, knowing that going in allowed me to enjoy it more. I wasn’t overanalyzing everything and rode this rollercoaster in style.

Audiobook notes: The audiobook was fantastic. It’s a dual POV story with two narrators which worked wonderfully. Definitely recommend this format.

Anyways, this is a concentrated timeline of about 48 hrs with a few flashback chapters here and there. It kept the pace fast and I did find myself continually wanting to pick it up so I could see what spectacle was going to occur next.

There are some good moments of growth towards the end. And I didn’t mind the main characters. Yes, it’s filled with miscommunication but I also tried to remind myself these are 17/18 year old’s and I’m glad they worked things out in the end.

Overall audience notes:

  • Upper YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: one closed door scene; mild innuendo throughout
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: mentions of inappropriate teacher/student relationship, homophobic remarks, cheating (off page), divorce, underage alcohol use

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