Tag: young adult romance

Book Review: A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak (Girl’s Guide) by Laura Taylor Namey

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Laura Taylor Namey
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this highly anticipated companion to the New York Times bestseller A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, Flora Maxwell heads to Miami to find a path for her future… and finds her heart along the way.

Winchester, England, has always been home for Flora, but when her mother dies after a long illness, Flora feels untethered. Her family expects her to apply to university and take a larger role in their tea-shop business, but Flora isn’t so sure. More than ever, she’s the chaotic “hurricane” in her household, and she doesn’t always know how to manage her stormy emotions.

So she decides to escape to Miami without telling anyone—especially her longtime friend Gordon Wallace.

But Flora’s tropical change of scenery doesn’t cast away her self-doubt. When it comes to university, she has no idea which passions she should follow. That’s also true in romance. Flora’s summer abroad lands her in the flashbulb world of teen influencer Baz Marín, a Miami Cuban who shares her love for photography. But Flora’s more conflicted than ever when she begins to see future architect Gordon in a new light.

Laura Taylor Namey’s newest novel navigates heartbreak that feels like a hurricane in a city that is famous for them.

I LIKED THE ENDING MOST.

Y’all know me, I’m not big on love triangles and I feel like I got lost in this one for a bit. Though I will admit to enjoying how things worked out for all parties in the end. It was way less dramatic and felt a lot more realistic and genuine.

I liked seeing the ups and downs of Flora’s journey. She definitely made some quick decisions that left her in hot water, and as those reasons unfurled you saw a very hurt soul who needed a safe place to be. I love that in the end she recognizes her need for help and admittance of things to work on. Character growth will always be my favorite.

It’s a fast read with a little bit of swoon and fake dating, LOTS of great photography content and a sweet group of people who are growing up.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: death of a mother from dementia

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Book Review: The Dividing Sky by Jill Tew

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Dystopian Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Jill Tew
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Serpent & Dove meets Arcane in this dystopian romance debut that follows a cunning memory merchant who deals a little extra happiness on the side and the handsome rookie officer on her tail!

In 2460, eighteen-year-old Liv Newman dreams of a future beyond her lower-class life in the Metro. As a Proxy, she uses the neurochip in her brain to sell memories to wealthy clients. Maybe a few illegally, but money equals freedom. So when a customer offers her a ludicrous sum to go on an assignment in no-man’s-land, Liv accepts. Now she just has to survive.

Rookie Forceman Adrian Rao believes in order over all. After discovering that a renegade Proxy’s shady dealings are messing with citizens’ brain chemistry, he vows to extinguish the threat. But when he tracks Liv down, there’s one problem: her memories are gone. Can Adrian bring himself to condemn her for crimes she doesn’t remember?

As Liv and Adrian navigate the world beyond the Metro and their growing feelings for one another, they grapple with who they are, who they could be, and whether another way of living is possible.

Thank you GetUnderlined for the gifted copy.

UNDERRATED.

Alright y’all. I have seen no one in my book circles pick this one up (yet) and I gotta say, this needs to change!! I really liked this book and (while I can’t figure out if it was a standalone or a sequel is coming) it reminded me of why I used to read a lot of dystopian books circa the earlier 2000’s — now I feel old.

ANYWAYS. I thought the ideas and world building in this book were cool. I loved the division throughout and how each one worked inside this mega city corporation. It had this haunting edge of something that could actually happen and an intriguing look at how things would function.

The romance is a bit fast paced but it was charming. I thought it was sweet and loved that it stayed to true YA. There were a few romantic tropes I loved and there was good chemistry between Liv and Adrian. I’m very impressed with this debut and definitely will be reading this author’s next book!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Dystopian Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Slow Dance in Purgatory (Purgatory #1) by Amy Harmon

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Paranormal YA Romance
Length: 232 pages
Author: Amy Harmon
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: April 2nd, 2012
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Orphaned from the age of ten, 17-year-old Maggie finally finds a permanent home with her elderly aunt in a small Texas town. Working part-time at the local high school, she becomes enmeshed in a fifty-year-old unsolved mystery where nothing is as it seems. Who is the boy no one else can see? And what do you do when you fall in love with a ghost? This volatile and mismatched romance is doomed from its start, as Maggie struggles to hold on to yet another life destined to be taken from her. Secret love and hushed affections are constantly threatened by outside forces resulting in a terrifying race to stay alive.

‘Slow Dance in Purgatory’ captures the heart-ache of a love story where there can be no happy ending…

GHOSTLY.

I’m honestly a hard sell on paranormal ghost based romances and that was my biggest draw back here. Granted, I thought the way things worked out has me totally intrigued and I will be picking up the next book to see what happens.

It’s a very quick story (honestly thought it could have been one book??). I enjoyed both main characters and that we got dual POV. MY FAV. The dancing and little dates and intensely heated conversations were all great. There’s a lot to unpack throughout.

One of the side characters drove me up a wall and I wish we didn’t have any of his POV or commentary or anything else. It just came off naïve and silly and a page filler.

Otherwise, I’m loving getting the chance to work through Amy Harmon’s back list (I think this is her first released book too). It’s fun to see how writing styles have changed.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Paranormal Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief gun violence, losing a loved one, physical altercations, bullying

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Book Review: Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Anna Sortino
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: July 11th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Jenny Han meets CODA in this big-hearted YA debut about first love and Deaf pride at a summer camp.

Lilah is stuck in the middle. At least, that’s what having a hearing loss seems like sometimes—when you don’t feel “deaf enough” to identify as Deaf or hearing enough to meet the world’s expectations. But this summer, Lilah is ready for a change.

When Lilah becomes a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, her plan is to brush up on her ASL. Once there, she also finds a community. There are cute British lifeguards who break hearts but not rules, a YouTuber who’s just a bit desperate for clout, the campers Lilah’s responsible for (and overwhelmed by)—and then there’s Isaac, the dreamy Deaf counselor who volunteers to help Lilah with her signing.

Romance was never on the agenda, and Lilah’s not positive Isaac likes her that way. But all signs seem to point to love. Unless she’s reading them wrong? One thing’s for Lilah wanted change, and things here . . . they’re certainly different than what she’s used to.

INFORMATIVE.

I looooved how much this book taught me. Easily my favorite aspect of reading this. And I also loved the way the audio was put together too. The whole production was fantastic.

I liked Lilah as a FMC. Very much a YA lead, and easily relatable to first love, finding your path and trying to enjoy those last breaths of summer. I loved the camp setting and all of the growth it allowed for. I do wish the book was a bit more positive overall. Not that it was heavy, but the negativity seemed at the front a lot.

The romance was super cute. I loved seeing Isaac and Lilah figure each other out and stumble as they connected. It was realistic and sweet and I liked how the ending was handled with them too.

This was a great debut novel and I think a solid young adult book for teenagers.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: many accounts of ableism, accusation and wrongful police arrest

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