Tag: young adult romance

Book Review: These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Sci-Fi Romance
Length: 390 pages
Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: December 10th, 2013
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

IT WAS A BLAST.

Laughing at my own pun if you’ve read this book.

ANYWAYS.

Uh first and foremost, this is a standalone series. I was not aware as I don’t read synopses very often. If you also do this, here’s your heads up now. It didn’t really take away from my reading, I was just surprised whenever I looked up the next book and noticed a new couple on the cover. Apparently they all interconnect which is nice.

I really liked this forbidden romance! It was very fast paced and the audio was perfectly accomplished. I read through it quickly wanting to know what was going to happen next and if anyone was going to rescue Lilac and Tarver. The pacing of the romance was pretty spot on too. For an initial standalone I liked the slow burn nature as they started to truly rely on one another to survive a new planet.

There’s a lot of interesting nuggets about the world building and other species present in space. Things definitely tripped me out at times and I was rather shocked with how some of the last moments occurred. The authors kept this action packed and even with a bit of a slow middle I was all for this adventure in space.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Sci-Fi Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: space ship crashes, major loss of life, explosions, loss of loved ones

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ARC Book Review: All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary + Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: March 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir comes a brilliant, unforgettable, and heart-wrenching contemporary YA novel about family and forgiveness, love and loss, in a sweeping story that crosses generations and continents.

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

MUST READ.

I’ve sat here in a struggle to put words together enough to explain how I think this should be a required reading type of book. Filled with some things I understand, but many more I never will. This is one of those stories that we need to hear, need to acknowledge and need to learn from.

The nuanced level at which the title, All My Rage, played out on page was impeccable. I saw the rage, I felt the rage. A complex emotion that stems from many different avenues was written out again and again in raw and deep ways. This isn’t a light-hearted read by any means. Yet with the discussion of religion and love for those around us and far from us, hope still stands like a pillar in dark times.

It was visceral and full of broken-hearted people trying to rise from the ashes. I loved the main characters, Noor, Salahudin, and Misbah. Each told their own story as they wove around each other. The strength of this story is immense. The writing was captivating and the pacing made the pages fly by. I loved the ending and these characters are going to stay with me for a long time.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary + Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: drug and alcohol addiction, mentions of repressed sexual assault, physical domestic abuse, Islamophobia, racism, death, tense exchanges with law enforcement

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Book Review: Once Upon A Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Monica Gomez-Hira
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: March 2nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Jenny Han meets “Jane the Virgin” in this flashy and fun Own Voices romcom from debut author Monica Gomez-Hira.

Carmen Aguilar just wants to make her happily ever after come true. Except apparently “happily ever after” for Carmen involves being stuck in an unpaid summer internship! All she has to do is perform! In a ball gown! During the summer. In Miami.

Fine. Except that Carmen’s company is hired for her spoiled cousin Ariana’s over the top quinceañera.

And of course, her new dance partner at work is none other than Mauro Reyes, Carmen’s most deeply regrettable ex.

If Carmen is going to move into the future she wants, she needs to leave the past behind. And if she can manage dancing in the blistering heat, fending off Mauro’s texts, and stopping Ariana from ruining her own quinceañera Carmen might just get that happily ever after after all. 

A LET DOWN.

This book really took me back. I was in a few friends quince’s growing up and all of the practicing, trying on dresses and learning new dances reminded me of the wonderful times those were.

There were many many ups and downs in Carmen’s journey. I think there was a bit tooooo much drama for me. Now that I’m thinking on it, I don’t remember many people giving out genuine apologies? Things felt brushed under the rug, even at the end. Carmen spent the entire (no, really) book angry. So angry at everything. I love a good character arc, but waiting until 95% to give it, was definitely too long to wait. Way more development was needed.

Mauro was super sweet at least! I liked his efforts in reconnectiong and understanding what happened intitially between him and Carmen. The enemies to lovers (+ second chance) trope is always a good decision so I wasn’t mad about that.

The plot was there and I enjoyed what I got overall. It was muddled on and off with many tangents that I didn’t know what the main focus was supposed to be. I didn’t like but maybe 2 (of the many) side characters. Nobody ever got better. No growth to be found by anyone who deseperately needed it. Waverly was an unsung hero and I wish more focus had been put on her friendship with Carmen.

Other aspects like Carmen working for a company that dresses up and princesses/princes for parties was fun. The parties with the little kids made me smile and was wholesomely sweet. Carmen’s video-editing hobby was really cool too! I would have loved to have seen even more of that as well.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to closed door scenes
  • Violence: a lot of yelling and familial conflicts, brief physical altercation
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mention of sexual harrassment in the first chapter or two

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Book Review: Gilded (Gilded #1) by Marissa Meyer

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA/NA Fantasy Retelling
Length: 512 pages
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: November 2nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller’s daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda’s outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn’t meant to be part of the bargain.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times-bestselling author, returns to the fairytale world with this haunting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

MADE SOME CHOICES.

As someone who [at the time of reading] didn’t know the FULL story of Rumpelstiltskin, I gotta say, most of this story took me by surprise, holy wow. After catching up on the tale and what happens, I muuuuuch more clearly understand the artistic choices here and made me look back and enjoy it more.

I adored Serilda as the main character. She was brave and wily. I love the spinning of tales and how she just lied. And rolled with it. She was somehow a bit morally gray, and completely the hero at the same time and that’s the kind of characters I love. I wish there was a bit more depth with her romance with Gild. They didn’t get a lot of page time, meaning I didn’t get enough pages to love them.

This is a dark and twisted tale. And the chapters focusing on the actual moon cycle were good, enthralling, and kept me going. All of the stuff in-between? Eh. I found the pacing here much slower causing me to feel like this book draaaagged itself through the middle.

It was a wild set-up at the end and I have MANY QUESTIONS and answers needed. Can’t wait for the next book because as always, I love Marissa Meyer!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA/NA Fantasy Romance + Retelling
  • Language: some
  • Romance: closed door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: blood/gore depiction, multiple children murdered, loss of parents, kidnapping, torture, murder, animal cruelty

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