The charming Bat series by Elana K. Arnold comes to a conclusion in Bat & the End of Everything, which sees Bat having to face several goodbyes, not the least of which is Thor, the baby skunk he's been helping care for. Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat) has been the caretaker for Thor, the best... Continue Reading →
Every once in a while, as an adult who reads a lot of YA, I encounter a book that I wish had existed when I was still a teenager. This Book is Not Yet Rated by Peter Bognanni is one of those books. The Green Street Cinema has always been a sanctuary for Ethan. Maybe... Continue Reading →
Sarah Beth Durst returns to the world of her Queens of Renthia series, with a new standalone companion that takes readers to the islands of Belene, where one woman will fight against the odds to return to the normal life she craves with her beloved. The natural magic of the classic The Island of the... Continue Reading →
In the last few months, I have fallen in love with R.S. Grey's adorable romantic comedies, and her latest - Make Me Bad - is one of my new favorites. Flirty, fun, and charming characters, Make Me Bad features one of my favorite tropes -- the "teach me to be sexy" one -- expertly executed.... Continue Reading →
One of the things I love most about fantasy and science fiction, is the way authors use an imagined world to examine problems in our own world. Suzanne Young has just done that x1000 with her newest dystopian YA sci fi thriller, Girls with Sharp Sticks. The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it... Continue Reading →
I am not a sportsball person. I've never been into sports of any kind, really, outside of going to the occasional MLB or college football game (the latter always for a friend or family member's team). So a romance that centers around a sport? Ha, as if ... And hockey? My least favorite sport of... Continue Reading →
I admit to having a little bit of YA fantasy fatigue lately ... or fantasy fatigue in general. I'm a long-time lover of contemporary fiction, and I've been in a major contemporary rom-com fix lately. But I loved the synopsis for Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith, and was excited to receive an ARC from the publisher... Continue Reading →
I've been in a weird reading funk lately, in which I've mostly been in the mood to just binge-read adult romance (specifically, romantic comedies). I know why I've been in this funk (Life Stuff), and as much as I've been enjoying adult rom-coms lately, I've also been missing YA and being in the mood to... Continue Reading →
Fellow lovers of romantic comedies will swoon along with me for Heartbreaker by Inara Scott, an adorably sweet, funny, and touching new romance. Mistakes? She’s made a few… Dropped out of high school? Check. Ran away with loser boyfriend at age sixteen? Check. Fell for every line from every guy? Sadly, check. But now, Tess... Continue Reading →
I have always loved a good contemporary YA, and while I've never shied away from the ones that are more serious, lately I've mostly stuck with fluff and fantasy (for reasons). But Lizzy Mason's stunning debut The Art of Losing is like a breath of fresh air; this heartfelt book somehow finds a way to... Continue Reading →
Novel Novice 