Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review: Fortune’s Kiss by Amber Clement

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Fortune's Kiss

Fortune’s Kiss
Amber Clement
Union Square & Co.
Published November 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Fortune’s Kiss

The legendary Fortune’s Kiss has returned to Ciudad Milagro for the first time in ten years. The magical gambling house shows up twice a year in a new city during the solstices to lure those worthy enough to wager their souls for wealth, the realization of their greatest desires, and, even, immortality.

Known by many names throughout the years, it returns to Milagro as El Beso de la Fortuna . . . and the game is Lotería. And best friends Mayté Robles and Lorena (Lo) de León are determined to change their lives, escape the dangerous men who threaten them, and gain riches.

Mayté, the sole daughter of the disgraced Robles family, wishes to leave her family and become a successful painter, while Lo suffers at the hands of her powerful and abusive father and seeks to find her mother, who escaped to Fortune’s Kiss years ago but never returned.

When Fortune’s Kiss finally returns to their city, the pair follow on their childhood blood pact to enter the gaming salon. But once inside, Mayté and Lo quickly realize that beneath the marvelous glamour, the salon is hiding dangerous secrets and the house always wins. And the game of Lotería is not the children’s game they grew up playing—it is a deadly lottery of chance.

With the help of a young, handsome croupier, the girls embark on a mission to unravel the mystery of the salon’s magic, find Lo’s mother, and try to win a nearly impossible game as their friendship is put under the greatest of tests.

My Review

This book has a lot going on in it! The relationship between Lo and Mayté sits at its center, though, and I loved that celebration of friendship and sisterhood.

In some places, I thought the narrative was a little heavy-handed, reminding readers or repeatedly dropping hints that the bad guys are bad and the good guys are good. Once Lo and Mayté entered the game, I thought that smoothed out, though.

Some elements of the book reminded me of Hotel Magnifique or The Splendor. The chaos of the game reminded me a bit of The Marvelous, which also invites its players into shifting alliances and rivalries with one another.

The world in which the girls live before the game has some references to colonialism and a very patriarchal society which leaves them both no choice but to find husbands to care for them in order to secure a future– something Lo desperately wants to avoid, and Mayté isn’t sure she can achieve with her family’s fallen status.

Entering the game not only offers the girls a chance to change their destinies but also forces them to face secrets and betrayals from their pasts. I liked the way the tension built and ultimately led to the story’s resolution. This is a really ambitious debut, and I’m excited to see what Amber Clement writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most characters are Latine. A few are from a colonizer class.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild swearing used infrequently. There are a few places in which Spanish swears are used.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to God and other deities. Some characters have the ability to use magic. The game enacts curses and other consequences on its players, both negative and positive.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A girl stabs someone with a knife multiple times. A girl uses a piece of broken glass to kill an injured person. References to abuse and domestic violence. A man hints that he would kidnap a girl and traffick her because her family owes him money.

Drug Content
Some characters drink potions which cause positive or negative effects. For example, a potion puts someone to sleep. Another heals someone’s wounds.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

MMGM Review: Take It From the Top by Claire Swinarski

Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Take It From the Top
Claire Swinarski
Quill Tree Books
Published November 19, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Take It From the Top

Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they’d be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, regional indie bestseller of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

My Review

I love summer camp books, so it was a joy to discover this one that came out all the way in November, just when it’s getting cool enough outside to for me (in Florida) to miss the summer again. I’ve been a long-time fan of Swinarski’s books, so that also made me feel pretty confident about reading this one.

Like her other books, Take It From the Top explores complicated grief. For Eowyn, this comes in the form of grief over a lost friendship but also her feelings of isolation an rejection in her family. One of the ways this manifests for her is through pretty intense anxiety on stage. It’s not until a new director comes to camp that an adult seems to notice Eowyn’s struggle and create opportunities to help her.

Jules has been a star at camp for several years, and she feels great about the fact that it’s her talent that have brought her to the top. Learning that she had unexpected help behind-the-scenes calls her self-confidence into question. Even with her abilities, Jules has to work hard because of her family’s financial circumstances and her dad’s disability. She can’t help resenting it when others’ privilege hands them things she has to struggle for.

There Is More Than One Form of Privilege

The story examines some of the different forms of privilege, from financial privilege to the benefits of an emotionally present and supportive family. The narrative alternates between Eowyn and Jule’s perspectives, so we witness their challenges and their versions of the events that led to their friendship crumbling.

The frank exploration of these feelings and circumstances made me think a lot about the expression about not judging others because they fight battles we know nothing about. Each character faced hardships the other couldn’t imagine.

All that makes the story sound like it’s pretty grim. It’s really not! There’s a lot of the fun and joy of summer camp and theater performances. We get to celebrate successes and see some relationships mended or at least end on a hopeful note.

If you’re missing summer days or love summer camp books, I think this is a great one to put on your reading list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Not a lot of race or other representation details. I think both the main characters are white, though Eowyn is described as tanned with brown hair.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Eowyn has a crush on a boy at camp.

Spiritual Content
Eowyn’s brother makes a brief comment about his mom watching them from Heaven.

Violent Content
References to the death of a parent from cancer.

Drug Content
Eowyn’s dad and brother drink wine at a fancy dinner.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Blogger's Favorites, Lists, Middle Grade 8-12, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Normally, I start a post like this at the beginning of the season and add to it as I finish reading each book. That gives me a diary-like record of my experience with each book, which I enjoy looking back at later.

This time, I forgot to start the post and only remembered about it in mid-November when I began making my calendar of list posts for next year. At any rate, I did manage to get my Fall 2024 backlist reading list together, and I’m excited to talk about some of these books.

I somehow managed to get to a lot more backlist titles than I thought I did. My guess is that this is because I read many of them as audiobooks. A few that I read as ebooks or hard copies were basically mood reads.

I’ve had some of these books high on my reading list for quite a while, like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte, and Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Others, like Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price, The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich, and We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride, are newer to my reading list, but I am really glad I got to them.

Note: This post contains affiliate links that do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. Thanks for using them to do your shopping.

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is one of the top ten most frequently banned books in the US. It’s about two best friends who learn that a classmate has been diagnosed with cancer.

Published March 1, 2012 | My Review to Come

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: stuff stuff

Published April 6, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This feels like a convention-setting novel, and I’m glad I read it. Some of the commentary about the characters is very dated, which might make it challenging for today’s readers. It’s a fascinating mystery, though.

Published June 1, 1997 (Orig. 1978) | My Review to Come

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Weirdly, I read Warrior Girl, Unearthed before I read Fire Keeper’s Daughter, so there were a couple of elements of the plot that I already knew about. I did enjoy getting to see Pauline and her sister as younger kids and reading Daunis’s story. It’s a tightly plotted, intense book. Highly recommended.

Published March 16, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I read Anne Frank’s diary earlier this year, and I immediately put this book on my reading list after that. The book carefully tracks an intricate investigation into who betrayed the Frank family. It’s an amazing book.

Published January 17, 2023 | My Review to Come

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Five teenagers spread across the US who become involved in human trafficking. This one is pretty dark with fairly straightforward characters. It’s one of the most frequently banned books in the US.

Published August 25, 2009 | My Review to Come

The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart #2) by Stephanie Garber

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: Evangeline’s adventures continue! This might have been my favorite book of the three. We learn more about the fairytale for which Evangeline is named and what Jacks is truly after. It’s a pretty wild ride.

Published September 13, 2022 | Review to Come

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A powerful novel-in-verse about magic, depression, and the power of the stories we tell ourselves. Amber McBride is pretty much an auto-buy author for me. She’s amazing.

Published January 10, 2023 | My Review to Come

A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart #3) by Stephanie Garber

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The finale of the series. I think the second book was my favorite, but I definitely wanted to know how things turned out for Evangeline and her love. If you like Garber’s work, I am pretty sure you’ll like this series.

Published October 24, 2023 | My Review to Come

The Game of Silence (The Birchbark House #2) by Louise Erdrich

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Omakayas’s story continues as her family faces new threats to their way of life. Her dreams prove a powerful force, but is she brave enough to listen to them? I am loving this series so far.

Published June 16, 2006 | Review to Come

Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is the first book about Mary and her community on Martha’s Vineyard. I wish I’d read this one first, though I don’t think you have to in order to follow the series. Reading this book made the areas of focus in the other books make more sense to me. It’s a fabulous historical fiction book.

Published March 3, 2020 | My Review to Come

Coyote Queen by Jessica Vitalis

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The back cover copy calls this book moving and voice-driven, and boy is it both of those things! An unforgettable tale of a girl with a troubling home life finding her voice.

Published October 10, 2023 | My Review to Come

Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The story of three friends and their connection to a local pizza parlor and a missing girl. Moving, thoughtful, and intense. Each point of view has amazing characterization.

Published September 12, 2023 | My Review to Come

This Town is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: An incisive exploration of relationships and activism and the opportunity to continue to learn and grow. Powerful storytelling here.

Published June 20, 2023 | My Review to Come

Did you read any books in the past few months that came out before 2024?

Did you do any reading over the fall season? If so, what were your favorite books?

Have you read any of the books on my Fall 2024 Backlist Reading list? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Review: The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

The Whispering Night (The Luminaries #3)
Susan Dennard
Tor Teen
Published November 19, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Whispering Night

The forest is more dangerous than ever in this highly-anticipated, pulse-pounding, and swoon-worthy conclusion to the bestselling Luminaries trilogy.

Winnie Wednesday’s future is looking bright. Hemlock Falls is no longer hunting the werewolf, she and Erica Thursday are tentative friends, and Winnie finally knows exactly where she stands with Jay Friday.

With everything finally on track, Winnie is looking forward to the Nightmare Masquerade, a week-long celebration of all things Luminary. But as Luminaries from across the world flock to the small town, uninvited guests also arrive. Winnie is confronted by a masked Diana and charged with an impossible task—one that threatens everything and everyone Winnie loves.

As Winnie fights to stop new enemies before time runs out, old mysteries won’t stop intruding. Her missing father is somehow entangled with her search for hidden witches, and as Winnie digs deeper into the long-standing war between the Luminaries and the Dianas, she discovers rifts within her own family she never could have imagined.

What does loyalty mean when family and enemies look the same?

My Review

I’ve followed this series from the beginning, and wow, has it been a wild ride. I love Winnie Wednesday so much. She’s smart and artistic and deeply loves her family. The tension between her and Jay– so fun.

I wasn’t really sure at the end of the second book how the author was going to pull all the loose threads of the series together in this last book, but I think everything came together nicely. Through the whole series, there has been this fear of and undercurrent of a Diana plot, but I don’t think we really get to see that explode across the page until this final installment.

I was so ready. Or, at least, I thought I was. I had ideas about where the story would go, and I was right about a few things. But there were a lot of elements that surprised me, too. I like the way that Winnie’s community connections, even those she has felt distanced from, matter in the way that things play out. Her town feels like a small, close-knit community with rivalries, agendas, and politics. Those tensions feel very real. The loyalty beneath those tensions feels real, too.

I’m glad I stuck with this series all the way to the end. It was a lot of fun. Though the story is pretty high-stakes and serious, there’s a lot of humor between the lines or in the ways the characters relate to one another. I love that.

This is a great series for people who like a fantasy story that’s anchored in the real world with the addition of magic and monsters. Think, The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (but minus the are-they-or-arent-they-related component).

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Winnie has a diverse group of friends.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent use of swearing, including a few F-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. Magical monsters spawn at night in the mist of the forest near where Winnie lives. Someone transforms into a werewolf. Someone casts a curse on Winnie, so she can’t speak about certain topics.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battles with monsters.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

In Want of a Suspect (A Lizzie and Darcy Mystery #1)
Tirzah Price
HarperTeen
Published November 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About In Want of a Suspect

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that London’s first female solicitor in possession of the details of a deadly crime, must be in want of a suspect.

The tenacious Lizzie Bennet has earned her place at Longbourn, her father’s law firm. Her work keeps her busy, but luckily she often has help from (and steals occasional kisses with) Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a stern but secretly soft-hearted solicitor at Pemberley.

Lizzie is hired to investigate a deadly warehouse fire, and to find the mysterious woman who was spotted at the scene moments before the flames took hold. But when the case leads her to the sitting room of a woman Darcy once proposed marriage to, the delicate balance between personal and professional in their relationship is threatened.

Questions of the future are cast aside when the prime suspect is murdered and Lizzie’s own life is threatened. As the body count rises, and their suspicions about what was really going on in the warehouse grow, the pressure is on for Lizzie and Darcy to uncover the truth.

Lizzie and Darcy are back for more suspense, danger, and romance in this first in a duology spinoff of the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries!

My Review

It turns out that a cozy mystery was a great pick for me to read this month. I enjoyed the early 19th-century London setting and the investigatory prowess of Lizzie and Darcy. The murder mystery had just the right number of twists and turns for me.

Also– if you asked me before I read this book whether I needed a book in my life in which multiple heroines of Jane Austen novels appeared, I probably wouldn’t have had an answer. Now, I realize it’s something I absolutely needed in my life. My favorite scenes from the book were the ones in which characters from other Austen novels appeared. Lizzie, Elinor, and Marianne solving a mystery together?! YES!! With my whole heart, yes.

As with Pride and Premeditation, I struggled when the two main characters did something that seemed decidedly different than something either would do in the original story. Once I invested in this mystery enough to imagine these as different versions of Lizzie and Darcy (more a multiverse representation than a reimagining, if that makes sense?) then I deeply enjoyed my reading of the book.

If you like a good, cozy mystery set in London during the Napoleonic Wars (I love that Price included this detail), I recommend this one. If you’re new to Tirzah Price’s reimaginings of Jane Austen novels, Sense and Second-degree Murder is my favorite.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Lizzie and Darcy are white. The story delves into prejudice against the French, with whom England is at war during the story. There is some xenophobia and anti-French comments and behavior.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to murder. Lizzie and Darcy see a warehouse on fire from a distance and learn that someone perished in the blaze. They see the body of a murdered woman in a park.

Drug Content
References to alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

28 Books Still on My Fall 2024 Reading List

Lists, Middle Grade 8-12, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18

28 Books Still on My Fall 2024 Reading List

What happened to the fall? Is this what a reading slump feels like? These are the questions I’m asking myself this weekend as I finish up this post about my lack of fall 2024 reading and prepare it to go live. Whew. It has been a wild month, y’all.

One of the really terrible things that I’m learning about myself is that when my anxiety level peaks past a certain point, I almost physically cannot read. It’s like my eyes and brain simply do not cooperate. I start the page taking in letters, words, sentences, but within a line or two, I realize I’m not reading anymore. My gaze is just sliding down the page like neglected ice cream down a cone in the summer heat we Northern-hemisphere-dwellers miss right now.

It’s only gotten that bad a few times, but every time it does, I panic. Do I give up my blog? Email publishers and authors and sob into their inboxes? (I do not do this, but the fact that I consider it also kind of scares me?)

I have found Zen Coaching to be a helpful practice during these times as it helps me reconnect to my body and approach accepting what’s happening right now and what I can do to support and acknowledge it.

Right now, it seems like the need I have is for slowing down, which means the list of books I want to read this fall but haven’t picked up yet is much longer than usual. I’m hoping that I will still get to several of these before the year ends, but I’m probably past the point of being able to read them all, sadly.

Anyway, here’s the list of books I still want to read this season. Let me know if you’ve read them or still have them on your fall 2024 reading list!

Note: This post contains affiliate links that do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. Thanks for using them to do your shopping.

Middle Grade Books Still on My Fall 2024 Reading List

Thea and the Mischief Makers by Traci Badua

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Two Filipino goblins wreak havoc at Thea’s Stunt Warrior summer camp. This sounds like loads of fun!

Published October 15, 2024 | My Review to Come

Vanquishers: The Rise of the Wrecking Crew by Kalynn Bayron

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Boog and her friends are ready for more vampire-butt-kicking adventures in this much-anticipated conclusion to one of my favorite MG series.

Published October 8, 2024 | My Review to Come

Sylvia Doe and the 100-year Flood by Robert Beatty

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A hurricane and a flood. Magical creatures. A girl with no knowledge of her history discovers an unexpected connection with a mysterious boy. Sounds incredible.

Published October 8, 2024 | My Review to Come

Camp Twisted Pine by Ciera Burch

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A spooky summer camp story (with an inclusive cast) in which campers go missing. I loved another book by this author, so I’m desperate to read this one.

Published September 17, 2024 | My Review to Come

Keeper Chance and the Conundrum of Chaos by Alex Evanovich

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This one looks like a good fit for fans of Percy Jackson (that’s me!) Something about the book summary reminds me of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog. I definitely need to make time for this one.

Published October 8, 2024 | My Review to Come

Freedom Fire: Black Girl Power: 15 Stories Celebrating Black Girlhood edited by Leah Johnson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Every time I see even just the cover of this book, I want to drop everything and read it. What a timely collection of stories. That title says it all.

Published November 12, 2024 | My Review to Come

Wingborn by Marjorie Liu and Grace Kum

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I have been waiting for this one since the moment I finished Wingbearer, the first book in the series. I can’t wait to see where the adventure leads next.

Published October 1, 2024 | My Review to Come

Bye Forever, I Guess by Jodi Meadows

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The first time I saw a social media post about this book, I immediately ordered a copy. Teens playing a MMORPG and drama ensues, you say? I must know more!

Published October 22, 2024 | My Review to Come

House of Elephants (Witchlings #3) by Claribel Ortega

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is another series I can’t get enough of. Seven and Thorn face prejudice from their community and loads of new witchlings into the Spare coven. I know they’re smart enough to make it through, but I gotta read it anyway.

Published October 1, 2024 | My Review to Come

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Ruta Sepetys is one of those authors that brings history beautifully (and tragically) to life. I love the historical moment this book centers on and the fact that it’s about a brother and sister duo.

Published October 8, 2024 | My Review to Come

Take It From the Top by Claire Swinarski

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Since her debut, Claire Swinarski has been a must-read author for me. I love the sensitivity she brings to her stories and the exploration of complex relationships and emotions. This one alternates between two former best friends, relating the story of what happened between them.

Published November 19, 2024 | My Review to Come

My Vampire, Your Werewolf by Paul Turbin

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is outside the norm of a book I’d normally pick up, but I am really fascinated with the idea of this series. It reminds me a lot of conversations my nephews might have, and maybe that’s why it has been climbing my reading list.

Published September 3, 2024 | My Review to Come

Wishbone by Justine Pucella Winans

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I still think about one of Winans’ other books on an almost weekly basis, so I cannot miss this one about the unexpected consequences of wishes.

Published September 17, 2024 | My Review to Come

Note: This post contains affiliate links that do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. Thanks for using them to do your shopping.

Young Adult Books Still on my Fall 2024 Reading List

Warrior of Legend (Heromaker #2) by Kendare Blake

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I’ll be honest. I’m really on the fence about reading this book, but not because I don’t expect it to be great. I don’t know if I can handle it emotionally. Ha. The characters faced such huge odds in the first book, and I really invested in them, and I’m scared not all of them are going to make it through to the end, especially considering our main girl’s superpower is to aid heroes who will die. Oof.

Published October 29, 2024 | My Review to Come

Drown Me with Dreams by Gabi Burton

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I enjoyed the first book in this series, but I’m super intrigued about where it looks like the story is headed next. I think I remember Carrick, the best friend/betrayer, and I really want to know what Saoirse discovers on her quest. I’m sure it’ll upend everything she thinks she knows.

Published August 20, 2024 | My Review to Come

Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Rival bakeries! Is there anything I love more in an enemies to lovers rom com? This sounds a bit like Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho, which I liked.

Published September 3, 2024 | My Review to Come

Fortune’s Kiss by Amber Clement

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Best friends Mayté and Lorena enter a high-stakes magical game. Will their friendship survive? Will they? I need to know.

Published November 12, 2024 | My Review to Come

The Whispering Night (The Luminaries #3) by Susan Dennard

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I’ve devoured this series so far, and even followed some of the “Sooz Your Own Adventure” social media posts by the author, which were hilarious. The first and second books left me with so many questions about the town next to a forest that spawns monsters and the people responsible for keeping them from escaping. I have to know how it all concludes.

Published November 19, 2024 | My Review to Come

The Dagger and the Flame (City of Fantome) by Catherine Doyle

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I became a fan of Catherine Doyle through her MG series, The Storm Keeper’s Island and stayed for the magical-twins-separated-at-birth trilogy she cowrote with Katherine Webber. Sign me up for this rival assassins/enemies to lovers novel stat!

Published October 1, 2024 | My Review to Come

The Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A novel about teen alcoholism by the author who nearly wrecked me with You’d Be Home Now. I cannot wait to read this.

Published October 1, 2024 | My Review to Come

Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I loved the first book in the Secrets of the Nile series. I didn’t realize when I read it that it would become a series, so when I saw this continuation of Whit and Inez’s stories, I was thrilled.

Published November 5, 2024 | My Review to Come

Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Adiba Jaigirdar’s contemporary romance novels have been a smash hit with me, so as soon as I saw this book announced, I put it on my reading list. Two girls played by the same boy team up to compete as partners in the European Young Scientist Exhibition. Love and smart girls? Yes, please!

Published November 12, 2024 | My Review to Come

Our Deadly Designs (This Dark Descent #2) by Kalyn Josephson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I love that this series is a duology because I truly don’t think I could wait another year to find out what happens to Reid, Mikira, Ari, and Damien. It looks like it’s going to be a wild ride.

Published November 12, 2024 | My Review to Come

The Shadow Road by J. D. Kirchner

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Dragon-like monsters invade, leaving two heroes responsible for saving humanity. Has there ever been a better time to read an underdog story?

Published October 15, 2024 | My Review to Come

This Dark Paradise by Erin Lukens

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Described as “perfect for fans of Hotel Magnifique“– That’s me! A magical island with a hidden curse? A bisexual love triangle? Count me in.

Published October 1, 2024 | My Review to Come

In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price (Lizzy and Darcy #1)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Elisabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy return in a new murder mystery filled with Jane Austen’s beloved characters. A cozy mystery sounds like exactly what I need right now.

Published November 12, 2024 | My Review to Come

Heir by Sabaa Tahir

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A new sweeping fantasy from the author of An Ember in the Ashes. Do we even need to know more?

Published October 1, 2024 | My Review to Come

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A trio of semidioses (demigods) must take on the Obsidian gods and return the sun to the sky to save the world. I’ve loved the rich worldbuilding in Aiden Thomas’s books, so I’m super eager for more!

Published September 3, 2024 | My Review to Come

Do you still have books on your fall 2024 reading list?

There are too many good books coming out much too quickly for me to keep up. Are you like me? Are there still books that came out in the fall of 2024 on your reading list?

If you’ve read any of the books on my list, please let me know what you thought about them by leaving a comment.