This title was originally self-published in 2012. Intisar Khanani’s Thorn is a beautiful fairytale for young adults (but may honestly be read by people of all ages) about an outspoken princess touched by magic who must remake her life as a goose girl when a sorceress swaps her body with that of a servant. Alyrra,…
Mayra Cuevas’ Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a sharply etched and unforgettable tale of an expat American teenager trying to find her way in France. It’s a beautifully done life study that knows what it’s talking about when it speaks of food, family and love alike, with a heroine who’s unforgettable. Isabella Field’s life revolves around…
Malice, the latest standalone novel from author Pintip Dunn, is a hard book to categorize. It’s a mix of YA romance with a hint of apocalyptic terror thrown in for good measure and then, just to make things extra unique, an element of time travel is introduced. If you like books that fit neatly into…
Mindy McGinnis is one of those powerhouse authors who write across various genres intended for young adult readers. In her latest novel, Be Not Far From Me, she introduces readers to an intrepid young woman who is determined not to let the wilderness get the best of her. It’s a great story if you’re looking…
We Unleash the Merciless Storm is the sequel to 2019’s We Set the Dark On Fire, a Mexican-inspired young adult fantasy novel with a fabulous female/female relationship at its core. The first installment did end on a rather sizable cliffhanger, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of book two. This is a duology that…
Sandhya Menon opens a brand-new series of fairytale retellings centered around an elite academy with a magical secret with Of Curses and Kisses, a lovely re-take of Beauty and the Beast. Book-loving Rajkumari Jaya Rao of the Imperial House of Mysuru enters St. Rosetta’s International Academy in Colorado with one mission – to break the…
Sandhya Menon breathes new life into the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale with her diversely cast Of Curses and Kisses. The author’s humor creates a nice balance to her look at serious issues like teen loneliness and parental expectations in this fun YA novel. The Emersons and Raos are the English/Indian equivalents of the…
Persuasion meets The 100 in Alexa Donne’s The Stars We Steal. Earth is a frozen wasteland. What’s left of humanity circles the planet in a flotilla of spaceships, waiting for it to thaw, but as on earth, rank and wealth still mean a great deal. The descendants of those who had money and power planet side…
Deathless Divide is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the bestselling, engrossing Dread Nation. Picking up immediately after the events of the first novel, this story (and therefore this review) contains serious spoilers for that book. After escaping the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene, Kate (Katherine) Deveraux and their small band of followers have a simple…
The premise of Halpern and Kujawinski’s YA dystopian novel Nightfall is amazing, and it’s why I picked it up. The inhabitants of a certain island are preparing to leave it, because on their world, day and night exist in fourteen-year cycles. The fourteen years of Day are drawing to an end, the sun sinks, frost…