I really enjoyed Beyond the Cerulian Sea and so I was disappointed that I did not love this book.  I really don't like being spoon fed morality in my novels and this one left nothing up to interpretation.  The metaphors and symbology were just too obvious and the pionts felt like they were being rammed down my throat at some points.  I obviously think that having trans representation in fiction is important and powerful, but my underlying take away from this book was that only magical beings (read Queer) can take care of magical kids and magical beings can only depend and trust magical beings. I can understand where this mentality comes from, but I just think that there is a lot more nuance than what this books allows for.  I found it pretty depressing, rather than inspiring, and a letdown.  The first book took quite a while to grow on me, but once it did, I was all in.  This one had the benefit of my coming in really excited for it and just progressively getting more and more let down as it went on.

Do not recommend.

​Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

I somehow missed that there was not just one, but two new Hunger Games books and a new movie since I last visited this series.  What a treat it is to read a series where the books hold up on their own and don't invite a cliffhanger so you have to get the next book to feel a sense of closure.  Both of these books, which are prequels to the original trilogy, were really well down and worth reading.  I love that we aren't spoon fed the analogies to modern politics, but the complexity of the relevance is nevertheless there.  

Highly recommend both of these.

Click here  or here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.
​

​This is a ridiculously cute college romance.  For all the stereotypical forbidden lovers plotline, this jock frat boy meets ambitious, determined budding sports journalist whose brother is on the jock's rival team is actually remarkably fun--and a model of consent based romance, which I just love to see becoming more popular.  

Light. Sweet. Predictable for the most part.  It is a great choice for escape reading. It is slightly more steamy than a regular read, but has more of that YA feel to it.

Recommend.

​
Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

Part of the growing number of holiday romances popping up in the last few years centering around winter holidays other than Christmas, this one was super cute.  Unlike many of the other ones I have read in this genre, this one did not feel like it was trying too hard at all. It was comfortable and I do love a gentle romance with a bookish girl and a smart guy trying to navigate their awkward meet cute and figure out a problem together.  A young editor's assistant is sent in to help an author with writer's block, but ends up meeting the author's grandson and being flung into a joint venture together just in time for the Chanukah baking and cooking season and in the midst of family loss that adds a sweet tang into the mix.  I quite enjoyed it as one of my favorite light holiday romances this year.

​Recommend.

This is a sweet sweet sweet young adult fiction about two trans-masculine kids exploring friendship and love together and apart.  Written for a slightly more mature audience than Cemetery Boys, this is one of the few trans-masc narratives that I have felt expressed the joy of transitioning and questioning ones gender identity, as well as the difficulties of navigating that experience in the context of complex familiar and cultural systems that are not always supportive.  This adds a layer of complexity by exploring the relationship between the two friends as their relationship moves between friendship and romantic interest, with one family supportive and one not.  There are themes of child sex abuse, but not related to the trans characters and none of that sub-plot is at all graphic, but the juxtaposition of how the Catholic family rallies around the child abused within the church while continuing to be unsupportive of their trans child is an interesting example of how families can step up for one child, while letting down another one, such that children growing up with different issues can have wildly different support networks.

​Recommend. 

Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

Super cute and charming, this story is at its core about growing up and living in isolation because you thought there was something wrong with you and you couldn't connect with other people lest they find out just how different and problematic you are and then finding a group of people like you that love you and want you to be your family. It is just heartwarming in all the right ways. I really don't want to say much more about it because it is just so lovely, it needs to be read to be appreciated.

There are lots of characters of color and Queer characters, but it never feels like these are added as side-kicks or for some type of credit towards having diversity in the book. These are well-written characters whose demographics are woven into their stories and into this story as a whole. It couldn’t be told without those pieces. The twist ending is fun, the magic is quirky, and the lovey feelings feel genuine and messy. There isn't a romance and yet the book oozes love in all the best ways.
​
Strong recommendation.

Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

I was pretty convinced that this book was just going to be silly.  The art and title are, well, silly.  Classic example of not judging a book by its cover.  This isn't that at all.  This is a really subtle story about love, friendship, found family, and making life what you want of it.  I found everything about it charming and just a real delight.  The relationship dynamics and dialogue were really well developed, but I particularly love a good fantasy book that pulls you into a world without spending pages describing that world to you.  In this story, the world just is and I just loved that.  

Legends and Lattes: Highly Recommend.

Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

Having absolutely fallen unexpectedly in love with the first book, I was thrilled to find there was a second one I could jump right into, but alas the second book was a huge disappointment. All the subtlety of Lattes was gone. The world was over-described and the relationships felt forced.  The nuance of the main character that was so unusually charming was gone in place of a predictable and trite backstory to explain who she was in Latte.  Super disappointing.  Just skip this one.

​Do not recommend.  

Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

A murder mystery set in Nairobi, I was excited about his book in anticipation of my trip to Kenya.  I read it on the flight over and on the first day of my arrival and found it to be exciting, fast-paced, and with detailed descriptions and narrative.  A refugee from DRC, the main character is part of a gang in the slums following the death of her mother and a skilled thief.  The story unfolds amidst a complex background which unfolds and does come together as the book moves along. I found the swift moving plot solid enough to keep my interest and since I was in Nairobi, it was interesting to be reading a story set in the country.

Now the bad news.  Although almost all of the characters in the novel are Black and the main characters all are, the author is not. Nor is she from Kenya.  Her biography cites experience working in human rights, refugee work, and with survivors of sexual assault during times of violent conflict, but she is a white American who has been living and working abroad. Although there are included author notes, those don't acknowledge this problematic situation whatsoever and I can't find much about the book online, let alone about this issue.

Not not recommended.

This is a ridiculously cute YA romance set against a backdrop about fandom and friendship that was just adorable.  The imagined sci-fi universe that the protagonist -- and others-- loves mirrors Star Trek and the convention, online communities, and fans have a similar feel.  The story, of course, is a rewrite of Cinderella, but even that came across as way less forced than the typical fairytale knock-offs are.  I just found this to be a super fun read.

Recommend. 
​
Click here to purchase this book and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.