Review of A Complicated Love Story Set in Space, by Shaun David Hutchinson

Audiobooks, Romance, Science Fiction, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Complicated Love Story Set in Space

by Shaun David Hutchinson
narrated by Kevin R. Free with Gibson Frazier and Candace Thaxton

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2021. 11 hours, 2 minutes.
Review written December 24, 2021, from a library eaudio

Well, the title of this book tells the truth. This is a very complicated love story, and it’s set in space.

In fact, the book begins when 16-year-old Noa North wakes up in a spacesuit outside a ship. He remembers going to sleep in his own bed and has no idea how he got in space. He’s not feeling good about it. And when he gets to the airlock ready to go into the safety of the ship, a voice tells him that the ship is about to explode and he needs to patch a hole on the outside of the ship. Which is not an easy thing to do.

And that’s just the beginning of their adventures in space. There are only two other people on the ship – DJ, the owner of the voice that helped him fix the ship, and Jenny, whom they later find locked in a restroom. They are all sixteen years old. But are they the only people on board?

The things that happen to them after that, ranging from finding another person on the ship, fighting an alien monster, and getting stuck in a time loop, all seem oddly episodic. On top of that, their efforts to get back to earth are consistently thwarted. But things really get interesting as they begin to discover why they’re on the ship in the first place and who put them there.

But meanwhile, Noa’s wrestling with a bad experience in his past that makes him afraid to give in to his feelings for DJ. Can they find love in such a complicated setting?

The story, once we know what happened, all seems wild and farfetched, but let’s be honest, it’s still a whole lot of fun. Noa is endearing, and you’ve got to feel for a guy who wakes up in outer space. Don’t read this one for believability, but do read it for a fun romance between two guys caught up in extraordinary circumstances.

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry, by Joya Goffney

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry

by Joya Goffney
read by Jordan Cobb

HarperAudio, 2021. 9 hours, 39 minutes.
Review written October 25, 2021, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry is a teen romance with a lot of depth. Quinn is a senior in high school and one of the few Black girls at her private school. She pours out her private thoughts in her list journal. But one day, she accidentally picks up the journal of that cute guy in her study group instead of her own.

She works to fix the switch, but he’s lost her journal. Or so he says. Then someone anonymously starts blackmailing Quinn. If she doesn’t complete the items in her list to do before the end of high school, the blackmailer will start posting embarrassing pages from her journal on the internet – beginning with the revelation that she didn’t actually get into Columbia.

Quinn’s parents met at Columbia, and they’ve been planning on her going there since she was born, so Quinn didn’t manage to tell them she didn’t get accepted. She even forged an acceptance letter – and then they made the news known far and wide. Part of her list was to tell them the truth, but Quinn isn’t sure she can ever do that. Another item is to tell the guy she’s had a crush on for years how she feels – though that may be changing. Yet another is going to visit her grandmother, who’s in a nursing home with dementia. Quinn’s afraid she won’t even recognize her.

So she begins by tackling an easier item – visiting the two colleges where she did get accepted. And Carter, the cute guy who lost her journal, is willing to come along and help. Maybe he isn’t the blackmailer after all – though Quinn still isn’t sure she can trust him.

As Quinn works through all of this, she makes some new friends and gains some new experiences. And she does some things she was afraid of doing.

It all adds up to a fun read about a teen who made some mistakes, but is trying to pull herself out of them.

The only thing I didn’t like is that Quinn’s use of the list journal is seen as a bad habit. She wrote in the journal so she wouldn’t have to open up to actual people. I don’t think that’s the way it works. Journaling is good for you! And I think that opening up to a journal makes it easier to open up to actual people rather than harder. I think you’d be a lot less apt to stuff your emotions. So I hope she won’t give it up forever.

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss, by Amy Noelle Parks

Contemporary, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss

by Amy Noelle Parks

Amulet Books, 2020. 361 pages.
Review written August 27, 2021, from a book purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review
2022 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book, Grades 9-12

An adorable teen romance about a girl who’s a math genius, which always scores points for me.

Caleb has almost kissed his best friend Evie Beckham fourteen times. One of those times, when they were thirteen, he told her what he wanted to do, and she was not onboard. So he has been careful ever since not to let her know.

Almost four years ago, Evie talked him into applying to Newton Academy, a selective math and science boarding school. Caleb was surprised when he was accepted, but knew it was the right place for Evie. At Newton, he has watched guys try to ask Evie out, while she has shown no interest whatsoever.

But in their senior year, a new kid named Leo has come to Newton Academy. He gets Evie’s attention by being nearly as good at physics as she is, and Caleb is horrified when they start dating.

Caleb is still Evie’s best friend, though, and he knows how to help when she has an attack of social anxiety. Last year, Evie wasn’t able to cope with giving a presentation when her paper was accepted to the Frontier awards. So this year, she plans to do a project with Caleb. She’ll do the math, and he’ll do the coding.

This book maintains a wonderful balance of describing their high-level project while keeping the reader interested in the relationships. We alternate between Evie’s and Caleb’s perspectives and wonder if she’ll ever wake up to how her best friend feels about her.

The author is an associate professor of mathematics and I love that she can write such a relatable teen romance. I also appreciate that it’s the heroine who’s the star math student. The book does show many underestimating her because she’s female. There’s also some stereotyping of the mentally ill math genius, but since Evie is fighting against that stereotype – even coming from her own mother, it adds to the story instead of detracting. Evie takes her mental health into her own hands and throughout the book, we see her coping with her social anxiety in positive and helpful ways.

I confess – this book kept me reading into the small hours of the morning. Too much fun to stop!

amynoelleparks.com
piquebeyond.com

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Review of Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yarros

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Romance, Starred Review 0

Iron Flame

by Rebecca Yarros
read by Rebecca Soler
with Teddy Hamilton

Recorded Books, 2023. 28 hours, 17 minutes.
Review written November 20, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Iron Flame is the second book in the Empyrean series, and yes, you absolutely should read these books in order, because we’ve got one epic adventure going on.

I will try not to give anything away. The first book ends with a big reveal and big reversal — as does this book. But the book does cover Violet Sorrengail’s second year at Basgiath War College, and her skills as a dragon rider and magic-wielder are growing. And once again, she has to escape death over and over again to get through it. In this book, she’s also trying to uncover knowledge hidden for centuries.

Violet’s romance continues — with plenty of conflict. Since, after all, they don’t want to put each other in danger with what they know. And there’s a new vice-commander at Basgiath who wants to know all of Violet’s secrets and has ruthless – horrible, in fact – ways of getting them.

There’s a content warning at the front of this book:

Iron Flame is a nonstop-thrilling adventure fantasy set in the brutal and competitive world of a military college for dragon riders, which includes elements regarding war, psychological and physical torture, imprisonment, intense violence, brutal injuries, perilous situations, blood, dismemberment, burning, murder, death, animal death, graphic language, loss of family, grief, and sexual activities that are shown on the page. Readers who may be sensitive to these elements, please take note, and prepare to join the revolution…

Yes, it has all these things. Yes, these books contain the most detailed and explicit sex scenes I’ve ever read. Not that I’ve read a lot of books with explicit sex scenes — but that’s why I feel like I should warn my readers — this is different from the books I normally rave about.

But also yes, I’m going to rave about it. Why did I even pick up the first book, with a content warning like that? Well, I heard more than one person I respect recommend it. And it has dragons! Once I started reading, I loved the main character, a young adult with what is probably Ehler-Danlos syndrome, with her bones easily going out of joint and lots of aches and pains — trying to make it at a school where the physical challenges kill a large percentage of cadets.

I have been a bit skeptical of a college where a large percentage of recruits and students die. So I thought it was interesting right when a controversy about spanking erupted on Twitter (I was spanked, and I’m against it, but we discussed how it often takes time before kids who have been spanked can even dare to think differently enough from their parents to challenge that it’s a good method.) — right after that, I got to a part in the book where Violet defends the deaths they’ve seen of their friends and classmates because it helped her face the brutality in an actual combat situation. However, several chapters later, she learns about the procedure in another country that griffons use to choose their fliers — and nobody dies. Even Violet notices the contrast and wonders if all the deaths at Basgiath are truly necessary.

It was also interesting to read about the scandal of governments letting civilians die — as the conflict in Israel and Gaza is going on. Fantasy always has commentary on real life.

Well, that’s as much as I’m going to say without giving away details of the plot. It’s fast-moving, one thing after another, and over and over again Violet and her friends face life-threatening situations. And it’s completely gripping in a way that I didn’t want to stop listening and would find myself thinking about it when I wasn’t listening.

Oh, and her dragons are awesome, too. Andarna is an adolescent in this book, and is full of attitude — plus some surprises.

I’m annoyed at the ending — because there is another reversal, and the next book isn’t written yet. I will probably do as I did with this one and monitor when the library is getting eaudiobook licenses and snag one of them right away.

This book continues an amazing adventure about characters you can’t help caring about faced with terrible odds, but triumphing in spite of them. (Well, so far)

RebeccaYarros.com
EntangledPublishing.com

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Review of The Mysteries of Thorn Manor, by Margaret Rogerson, read by Emily Ellet

Fantasy, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Mysteries of Thorn Manor

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Emily Ellet

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. 3 hours, 52 minutes.
Review written June 15, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

The Mysteries of Thorn Manor is a light-hearted novella sequel to Sorcery of Thorns. After Elisabeth and Nathaniel battled evil forces to save the world in the first book and discovered they had allies in each other, Elisabeth nursed Nathaniel back to health — and is still spending the nights in his room and now in his bed. (Though they’ve only been kissing so far.)

When the wards on the house set up by Nathaniel’s ancestors set a storm all around the house so they can’t even leave, they need to investigate what’s going on. They discover that the house wants Nathaniel to court Elisabeth properly as a sorcerer should — including three impossible tasks.

This story is sweet romantic fun. You should read the first book before tackling this one so you can properly appreciate it.

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Review of Sorcery of Thorns, by Margaret Rogerson

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Sorcery of Thorns

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Emily Ellet

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019. 14 hours, 21 minutes.
Review written February 10, 2023, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

Last year, my Cybils panel chose Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson as our 2021 winner for the Cybils Award in Young Adult Speculative Fiction. And after reading for the 2022 Cybils awards, I finally made time to listen to an earlier book by Margaret Rogerson.

Sorcery of Thorns is fun because it features an apprentice librarian. But she doesn’t work in any ordinary library. Elisabeth Scrivener was a foundling who grew up in one of the Great Libraries of Austermeer — a library packed with grimoires, full of ancient magic.

But one terrible night, Elisabeth is the only one awake and she finds the director of the library dead, killed by a grimoire that got loose and turned into a malefict — a giant sentient monster. But with the director’s sword, Demonslayer, Elisabeth is able to defeat the malefict.

That gets Elisabeth the attention of all the wrong people. A young sorcerer, Magister Nathaniel Thorn, comes to escort Elisabeth to the chancellor for questioning at the magisterium, along with his demonic servant. Elisabeth knows not to trust sorcerers, but he’s surprisingly kind, and helps Elisabeth when they’re attacked by a horde of fiends. He’s compelled to take her into the protection of his own home.

But when the chancellor takes Elisabeth into custody, she begins to realize something is wrong. Little by little, Elisabeth — and eventually Nathaniel as well — start to unravel clues about a monstrous plot that could destroy the world.

I thoroughly enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing, and the romance in this book was delightful. Elisabeth is a wonderfully resourceful heroine who’s more likely to rescue the guy than be rescued, though some of both happens.

I do have a lot of quibbles with the magic. I never have patience for sentient objects feeling emotion. In this case, it was books, but if you look at those details too hard, it just doesn’t work. And the relationship between sorcerers and their demons has some problems as well, if you look too closely. But I enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing so much, I was able to set aside all those quibbles and thoroughly enjoy the story.

In fact, I finally got this audiobook listened to because I heard about a new volume coming out, Mysteries of Thorn Manor. I’m now disappointed that it’s only a novella, but happy to get to read a little more about Elisabeth and Nathaniel.

MargaretRogerson.com
simonandschuster.com/teen

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Review of The Do-Over, by Lynn Painter

Contemporary, Romance, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Do-Over

by Lynn Painter
read by Jesse Vilinsky

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2022. 8 hours, 46 minutes.
Review written from a library eaudiobook.

The Do-Over is a time loop story, and a fun teenage romance.

Emilie is someone who plans and organizes her life. And today is Valentine’s Day, and she’s got a plan for the perfect Valentine’s Day, with a cute outfit maybe a little chilly for the winter weather, a gift wrapped for her boyfriend Josh, and plans to tell him those fateful words, “I love you.”

Instead, on the way to school, she crashes into the truck of Nick, her lab partner in Chemistry, who doesn’t even recognize her. Her own car bursts into flames and she has to get a ride with him to school, and she doesn’t even get to see Josh. Then she learns that there was a mistake and she didn’t win a slot in the summer program that would go perfectly on her college applications. And then when she goes to Josh’s car to surprise him with his gift — she sees him kiss his ex-girlfriend. On top of everything, when she gets home her father tells her that he and her stepfamily are moving far away. Not the day she had planned.

But when she wakes up the next morning, everything repeats. Her phone says it’s still Valentine’s Day.

Naturally, she tries to fix the day. But she still gets in an accident. And Josh still kisses his ex.

But she gets lots more tries! And gradually, she gets to know Nick better, little by little.

One problem though — when Emilie thinks she’s achieved the perfect Valentine’s Day — when she wakes up, everything resets and no one else remembers it. So she thinks, why worry about what anyone else thinks? They won’t remember anyway! And she sets out on a Day of No Consequences. But one way or another, Nick ends up coming with her.

Overall, the book is good frothy fun. I like the way someone who’s spent her life pleasing others, following the rules, and not making waves learns about herself when she starts thinking about what she wants. Also, the romance is sweet. I was worried that he would forget too much of their time together, but the author worked that part out pretty well. A sweet book that left me smiling.

lynnpainter.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, by Sonora Reyes

Award Challenge, Contemporary, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

by Sonora Reyes

Balzer + Bray, 2022. 385 pages.
Review written February 21, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Walter Awards Honor Book, Young Adult
2023 Pura Belpé Author Honor Book, Young Adult
2023 Morris Award Finalist

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School is a debut novel that introduces an author with lots of promise. Our protagonist is Yamilet, who’s just been told she and her brother Cesar are going to Catholic school. Yamilet’s job is to look after her younger brother, in her same grade because he’s so smart, who keeps getting into fights at the public school. Their mother is hoping a new environment will keep him out of trouble.

What their mother doesn’t know is that Yami is happy to go to Catholic school herself because her once-best friend outed her at public school after Yami told her she was in love with her. It turned out Bianca did not share her affection and was horrified that Yami is gay. So Yami is determined to not make the same mistake at Catholic school and does everything she can to appear straight.

But then there’s one person who’s lesbian and out at her new school — and Yami finds herself falling for her. She can’t let that happen!

And that’s not all that’s going on. Cesar keeps getting detention (at least he’s not fighting!) and spins a story for their mother that he’s on the football team. Yami’s trying to make some money, in case their mother finds out she’s gay and kicks her out, and much more. Their father was deported years ago back to Mexico, but Yami thinks he might understand what she’s going through, since he was never as sincere about the Catholic faith.

It’s all put together in a story that keeps you reading and makes you care about Yami and all she’s trying to navigate. We’re rooting for her to be able to be herself and find love as herself. I liked the way people in the story surprised her, without it feeling unrealistic.

sonorareyes.com
EpicReads.com

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Review of A Very Large Expanse of Sea, by Taherah Mafi

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Romance, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

by Taherah Mafi
read by Priya Ayyar

HarperAudio, 2018. 6 hours and 43 minutes.
National Book Award Longlist.
Review written August 17, 2020, from a library eaudiobook

A Very Large Expanse of Sea is a book I didn’t get around to in 2018 mainly because it was obviously geared more for young adults than for children. This book is set in 2002 about Shirin, a Muslim girl who wears a headscarf, at yet another new high school for her Sophomore year. Her parents move the family often, always moving up to a better neighborhood. But it means that Shirin and her older brother have trouble making connections in high school. Or at least Shirin does.

Shirin is disgusted with humanity and the way she gets treated because of her scarf. She wants nothing more than to be invisible. She doesn’t look people in the eye. She listens to music under her scarf and gets away with it.

Then in her Biology class, she’s given a lab partner whose name is Ocean. Romantic sparks start up between them. But Shirin doesn’t think he realizes what he’s getting into, and it turns out she’s right. What she doesn’t realize is that he’s the school basketball star and the whole school is interested in whom he dates.

This is a romance about teens who face some formidable obstacles, and it includes characters who feel realistically flawed, but who will find their way into your heart.

taherehbooks.com

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Review of The Garden of Small Beginnings, by Abbi Waxman

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Romance, Starred Review 0

The Garden of Small Beginnings

by Abbi Waxman
read by Emily Rankin

Penguin Audio, 2017. 9 hours, 51 minutes.
Review written June 15, 2021, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

I read this book after reading The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by the same author, because all of Abbi Waxman’s books had been recommended in my Silent Book Club Facebook group as feel-good reading. They were right! This is a nice happy story about a young widow named Lilian, the mother of two girls, who gets signed up for a gardening class by her boss – and the class is led by a handsome instructor from Europe with a marvelous accent (especially appreciated in the audiobook version) who is also attracted to Lilian.

But Lilian isn’t ready to date, even though it’s been four years. And she doesn’t believe her kids are ready either. So the book is about Lilian working through that, and the gardening class, and the friends she makes in the class, and the family and relationships around Lilian, including her wonderfully precocious kids.

I do have a caveat: I’m an older single and have my eyes open for a match – with very little luck. I recently told off a couple of married friends who implied that I was overlooking possibilities. Trust me, that’s not a thing! And this destroys my suspension of disbelief when it comes to reading a Meet-Cute story. There is no way I can bring myself to believe that in real life the instructor would be single and available, near her age, handsome, and a good match for her. It just wouldn’t happen. And they are not even the only couple that meets in this book!

So, I’m going to have to switch over and read some murder mysteries or nice tragedies or maybe a revenge novel. I’m still glad, though, I finished this book – sometimes fairy tales are nice to read. And if you’re looking for a happy and thoughtful romance-after-loss about some delightful people you’ll be glad to hang around, I do recommend this book. If you’re turning cynical, though, you might need to set it aside. This is a feel-good book for people who are already feeling pretty happy.

abbiwaxman.com
penguin.com

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