Emiko Jean’s Tokyo Ever After is listed for grades 6-8 on Amazon, and it will be fine for that intended audience, especially in a library that is working to diversify. I do not, however, see it having what it takes to reach audiences beyond that maturity level, or to become a classic when a better…
The best literary retellings take us to new places and bring new worlds to light. So Many Beginnings does a beautiful job of applying the basic background of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and adding a whole new layer of emotions and experiences to it. I have read many retellings of the story, but this…
Ferryman is Twilight for Greek Mythology nerds. There’s no shame in saying this. For some readers it will be a great boon. The book is the first of a three-part Fantasy YA trilogy in which a teenage version of Charon falls for a human girl whose soul he’s supposed to reap. Leaden and with a…
Kiera Cass’ work has never quite been as interesting as it was back in The Selection series, which was a fascinating combination of reality dating shows and old fairytales. The Betrothed is a fresh series which tries to build a world all its own, but it is a mediocre and even sometimes trite exercise in…
Blood Like Magic is filled with richly-plotted worldbuilding and complex magical hierarchies. Overall it’s quite a satisfying and engrossing read, with a few minor issues that kept it from getting a full-on A grade. It’s a full-tabled banquet loaded with treats – most of them of a rather chilling flavor. This book opens with our…
Faking Reality is a sprightly and fun romance about a girl trying to avoid love – and the way love finds her anyway. It feels very young though, so older readers might not enjoy it, especially because the characters feel a little underwritten, and the way the heroine’s parents react to the machinations of others…
Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance is a simple, sweet novel about two teenagers who share a passion for dance and manage to fall in love while tackling their worst insecurities. Teenagers will love it and adults who enjoy sweet romances will likely be swept away by it too. Radha dreams of becoming one of…
Instructions for Dancing blew me away while asking some very deep and thought-provoking questions, and yet it also has a deft, gentle touch. It is a heavy book; it hurts the reader’s heart and yet lifts them up, and will provide young readers with a signpost towards developing an understanding the bumps and heartbreaks ahead…
For a concept as out-there as the one presented in Never Say Never, the story’s delivery and execution are distressingly ordinary. It’s 2021 – we’re a bit beyond “I’m not like other girls, love is gross and I wear a leather jacket” heroines. Brynn Stark wants nothing to do with love. At all. Ever. It…
Any Place But Here is a strongly written, quiet little novel about realistic characters experiencing realistic emotions and going through realistic turmoil. Author Sarah Van Name handles this all with elegant and beautifully done prose. June and her best friend Jess are inseparable. They’re even asked to leave Greenmont, their private North Carolina school, together…