Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review: Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
Salt and Sugar Rebecca Carvalho

Salt and Sugar
Rebecca Carvalho
Inkyard Press
November 1, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Salt and Sugar

The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families’ feud.

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?

My Review

This book made me want baked goods so badly. The descriptions of the process of baking were absolutely tantalizing. Everything seemed like it would be absolutely delicious.

My favorite thing, though, were the Romeo and Juliet themes or references. I loved that there was so much more to the feud than fighting between the families. I also loved the pacing of the romance between Pedro and Larissa. They were adorable and sweet, and I loved rooting for them to figure out their feelings and finally get together.

In the story, Larissa has just lost her grandmother, a super important person in her life. Her grief felt so real and palpable. There’s a scene in which she visits her grandmother’s graveside, and I cried through the whole scene. It really struck me and made me remember those feelings about my grandma’s death, too. A good grandma is a really tough loss.

I also loved that the story is set in Brazil. The food, the culture and celebrations were all so present in the story.

All in all, it wasn’t love at first sight with this one for me– it took me a few chapters to really get into the book. Once Larissa gets talked into joining the cooking club, I was pretty much hooked, though, and that happens really early on.

I think readers who enjoyed WE CAN’T KEEP MEETING LIKE THIS by Rachel Lynn Solomon would enjoy this fun, sweet romantic book.

Content Notes for Salt and Sugar

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
All characters are Brazilian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

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The Luminaries
Susan Dennard
Tor Teen
Published November 1, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Luminaries

From Susan Dennard, the New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series, comes a haunting and high-octane contemporary fantasy, about the magic it takes to face your fears in a nightmare-filled forest, and the mettle required to face the secrets hiding in the dark corners of your own family.

Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie’s town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.

Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family’s good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

“You’ll want to get lost in the world of THE LUMINARIES again and again.”—Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author

My Review

THE LUMINARIES is the first book by Susan Dennard that I’ve read, and all I can say is, what have I been doing with my life?!

I was absolutely hooked from the first page. The story world is tense and dangerous, its forest filled with monsters. Winnie had my heart from word one.

At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of the whole clans organized by the day of the week thing? It seemed a little clunky? But once I got into the story and understood how it worked, why it worked, and that different places had the same system but used weekday names in other languages, I kind of got into it.

Okay, also, I loved the stuff with Winnie and Jay. He’s definitely got more secrets than we know about at this point, but that only made me read the book faster. It only makes me want the next book in the series sooner! Haha. I definitely liked the slow burn of their connection and the layered-ness of it.

All in all, I’d say this book is just about unputdownable. I started it in the morning one day and didn’t go to sleep until I’d finished every page. It made me think a little bit of A FAR WILDER MAGIC by Allison Saft, which I also really enjoyed. I haven’t read Susan Dennard’s other books, so I can’t compare this to those, but I’m much more likely to pick up her Witchlands series now.

Sooz Your Own Luminaries Adventures on Twitter

So the idea for the story began as a series of polls on Twitter where author Susan Dennard created what she calls a “Sooz-Your-Own-Adventure.” I love that. You can read the original thread here. If you’ve already read the book, you’ll recognize some of the characters from the thread, though the events in the book are not the ones described in the thread. THE LUMINARIES is its own story.

Additionally, in the days leading up to the book’s release, Susan Dennard had another “Sooz-Your-Own-Adventure” Luminaries thread going with daily polls and more chances to participate in the storytelling.

I love this! She’s absolutely cracked the code on creating engaging polls, and the threads made me laugh more than once.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
List.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
List.

Romance/Sexual Content
List.

Spiritual Content
List.

Violent Content
List.

Drug Content
List.

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

Review: The Sevenfold Hunters by Rose Egal

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

The Sevenfold Hunters
Rose Egal
Page Street Press
Published October 25, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Sevenfold Hunters

Sci-fi fans will love this genre-bending debut full of cutthroat school politics and the speculative intrigue of alien contact.

There’s nothing hijabi alien hunter Abyan wants more than to graduate from Carlisle Academy and finally rid the Earth of the Nosaru, a species hidden in plain sight.

Everything is going to plan until the Nosaru kill one of Abyan’s squad mates, leaving the team devastated. To make matters worse, the school admins replace her elite squad member with a sub-par new recruit, Artemis. Despite Artemis failing every test—and bringing the team down with her—their cutthroat instructors refuse to kick her out.

Together Abyan, Artemis and the rest of the team unravel the mystery of why Artemis is actually there, what the Nosaru really want, and what Carlisle Academy has been hiding from them all.

My Review

An elite team of teens fighting vampire space aliens called Nosaru. A girl wrestling with the her boyfriend’s sudden death. A girl on the hunt for revenge for her family’s deaths. All that seemed like it would add up to a pretty compelling read.

For me, those elements just didn’t come together in THE SEVENFOLD HUNTERS. Artemis felt kind of flat. In a couple scenes she seemed motivated to learn more about her boyfriend’s death, but mostly she was so distracted about her own survival that her grief got really pushed to the side. Concern for her survival makes total sense, but it was weird that the story framed her as this grieving girl, and I didn’t feel like it delivered that.

Abyan, however. She’s complex. A girl from a poor family in a school of wealthy elites. A practicing Muslim. The top team’s driven leader, with a tragic, secret past and a desperate hope for revenge. I was all in on her.

At times, I felt pulled forward through the intense, action-packed scenes. They fight space vampires who’ve invaded earth. It’s super cool. But.

I didn’t understand some of the dynamics of the overall battle between the humans and aliens. Like, the operatives know there are a number of hives of Nosaru near the school, but they just sort of… let them be? I thought this was a kill or be killed kind of enemy?

After a Sevenfold mission goes badly because one team member turns on the others, everyone goes back to base for a debrief where they… worry about this team member’s feelings? They’re like, we can’t press this person to tell us why they did what they did because it involves secrets from their past. We need to wait for them to feel comfortable to tell us.

That didn’t add up for me. Most of the members of the team were (I think) in their last year at the school, very near to being able to graduate and work as paid operatives in the fight against the Nosaru. It seemed like the first concern should have been, is this team member going to get me killed? Is this team member capable of serving the needs of the team, or do they need to step back and deal with whatever past issues are interfering with them and risking everyone’s safety?

I don’t know, but that whole part read very strangely to me.

There were also a couple of reveals that came late in the story that I felt like didn’t really get explored. It’s possible that those were primarily supposed to be a setup for a sequel. I just didn’t see how they fit into this story and they were big things, so it was weird that they didn’t have more focus or weren’t revealed earlier.

On the whole… I struggled with this book. There were things I liked. Abyan’s character is at the top of that list. I loved her. I liked some of the other team members, too, especially Kade and Hank. The plot felt a bit unfocused and some parts didn’t make a lot of sense to me. So that made the book harder for me to read. I thought the story world was interesting and there are a lot of cool elements to explore if there are further books to come in the series.

Content Notes for The Sevenfold Hunters

Content warning for torture and violence.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Abyan is Somali and Muslim. Artemis is biracial and bisexual. Other characters identify as LGBTQIA+.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
References to Abyan practicing daily prayer and keeping to halal foods.

Violent Content
References to a brutal attack on a group of teenagers. Situations of peril and battle scenes. One scene shows a man torturing a captive.

Drug Content
One scene shows several teens drinking alcohol at a party. Another scene shows a teen vaping.

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

Review: Drawing Outside the Lines by Susan J. Austin

Book Review and Content, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Drawing Outside the Lines: a Julia Morgan Novel
Susan J. Austin
Sparkpress
Published October 18, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Drawing Outside the Lines

Meet the brilliant, fearless, and ambitious Julia Morgan. In 1883, eleven-year-old Julia visits the amazing new Brooklyn Bridge—an experience that ignites within her a small but persistent flame. Someday, she decides, she too will build an astounding structure. 

 
Growing up in horse-and-buggy Oakland, Julia enjoys daring fence walks, climbing the tallest trees, and constantly testing her mother’s patience with her lack of interest in domestic duties and social events. At a time when “brainy” girls are the object of ridicule, Julia excels in school and consistently outsmarts her ornery brothers—but she has an even greater battle ahead. When she enrolls at university to study engineering, the male students taunt her, and the professors belittle her. Through it all, however, Julia holds on to her dream of becoming an architect. She faces each challenge head-on, firmly standing up to those who believe a woman’s place is in the home. Fortunately, the world has yet to meet anyone like the indomitable Miss Morgan. 


DRAWING OUTSIDE THE LINES is an imagined childhood of pioneering architect Julia Morgan, who left behind her an extraordinary legacy of creativity, beauty, and engineering marvels.

My Review

Lately I feel like I keep running into repeated mentions of women in history that I didn’t previously know anything about. For example, a week or so before I read this book, I picked up another book about 50 women artists that also includes a bio of Julia Morgan.

I enjoyed this sweet imagining of the early life of Julia Morgan and her family. The story includes brushes with other famous people from her time as well as some of the architectural marvels that were created during her early life, like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

The story follows her journey through school, graduation and into college. As a woman in an engineering program at that time, she faced a lot of gender discrimination and prejudice. Her kindness and strength as she perseveres through it all can’t help but be inspiring. It was easy to celebrate Julia’s successes with her.

After the story ends, the author includes a note explaining some of the other famous people who appear as minor characters in the story as well as commenting on a few key events, such as her school burning down twice. I found myself wishing that there were also some biographical notes summarizing the rest of Julia Morgan’s life and accomplishments, especially in architecture. The book definitely made me more curious about and more appreciative of Julia Morgan as an architect, and I look forward to learning even more.

I think readers who enjoy history will love reading this story imagining Julia Morgan’s early life.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy knocks Julia into the mud on purpose. Several boys in her college program say derisive things to her. A couple of male professors do, too.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of DRAWING OUTSIDE THE LINES in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

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Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove
Rati Mehrotra
Wednesday Books
Published October 18, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

To learn what she can become, she must first discover who she is.

Katyani’s role in the kingdom of Chandela has always been clear: becoming an advisor and protector of the crown prince, Ayan, when he ascends to the throne. Bound to the Queen of Chandela through a forbidden soul bond that saved her when she was a child, Katyani has grown up in the royal family and become the best guardswoman the Garuda has ever seen.

But when a series of assassination attempts threatens the royals, the queen ships Katyani off to the gurukul of the famous Acharya Mahavir as an escort to Ayan and his cousin, Bhairav, to protect them as they hone the skills needed to be the next leaders of the kingdom. Nothing could annoy Katyani more than being stuck in a monastic school in the middle of a forest, except her run-ins with Daksh, the Acharya’s son, who can’t stop going on about the rules and whose gaze makes her feel like he can see into her soul.

But when the queen hurriedly summons Katyani and the princes back to Chandela before their training is complete, tragedy strikes, tearing Katyani from the only life she has ever known. Alone and betrayed in a land infested by monsters, Katyani must find answers from her past to save all she loves and forge her own destiny. Bonds can be broken, but debts must be repaid.

My Review

Okay, I stayed up WAY too late reading this book and then finished it the next morning as soon as I had a second to sit down. It’s a super immersive story packed with magic and intrigue. I loved the characters, especially Katyani and Daksh.

Outspoken and fierce, Katyani had me from the first page. I loved the complex relationship she shares with the royal family and of course with Daksh and the way so many things change as the story unravels. The plot moves quickly with high stakes– definitely the thing that kept me reading. That and the romantic tension between Katyani and her love. I really invested in that thread of the plot, and couldn’t stop until I knew how it resolved.

I’m seeing a lot of reviewers on Goodreads calling the setting of this book an alternate medieval India, which makes sense. The story world felt rich and easy to lose myself in.

I think readers who enjoyed THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN by Roshani Chokshi will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Characters are described as having brown skin and are Indian-coded.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to the Goddess. Some characters have spirit energy and magical ability. Characters battle monster or ghost-like enemies.

Violent Content
Situations of peril, battle scenes, and some brief torture.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of NIGHT OF THE RAVEN, DAWN OF THE DOVE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

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Cemetery Boys
Aiden Thomas
Swoon Reads
Published September 1, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Cemetery Boys

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

My Review

CEMETERY BOYS is another one of the books that’s been on my To Be Read list for a while. I wasn’t able to get a pre-release copy, but I did order a copy when it released. Yay! Recently, a friend gifted me an audiobook version, so I listened to that version and loved it.

I loved Yadriel’s character and especially his friendship with Maritza. I tend to love characters who say the thing that everyone is thinking, even if it’s a hard truth, so Maritza was pretty much guaranteed to be a favorite with me.

It took me a little bit to fall in love with Julian, though. At the beginning of the story, he keeps himself closed off and it takes a while for him to thaw. So I felt braced not to like him, but as he opened up, I found that I loved his strength and loyalty to the people he loves.

I liked the way the story explored Maritza’s veganism and how it impacted her place among her people and her relationship with magic. It brought up some interesting things and was cool to see a vegan represented in a YA story. I haven’t seen that very often.

In terms of the plot, I felt like it moved along at a really good pace. I liked where the story went and the speed at which things unfolded. It definitely kept me reading.

All in all, I enjoyed reading CEMETARY BOYS and I would love to read the next book in the series and/or other books by Aiden Thomas.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Yadriel is Mexican and Cuban American. Julian is Colombian American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. In one scene, a girl comments on the fact that boys are wearing hospital gowns which are open in back and she can see their butts.

Spiritual Content
Yadriel is part of a community of magic wielders who have the ability to heal or interact with spirits of the dead. Those roles are decided by gender and both involve the use of animal blood in order to complete the magic. In a special ceremony at fifteen, boys or girls are welcomed into their new abilities by Lady Death, the goddess who governs their magic. Spirits who linger may at first have the personalities they had in life, but the longer they remain, the more they risk becoming corrupted and turning violent and evil if they’re not released.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to murder. Rituals involving the use of blood. In one scene, a character finds a boy with a knife in his chest, slowly bleeding out. One man loses his life to a ritual gone awry.

Drug Content
Yadriel and Julian go to a beach party where kids are drinking alcohol, but they leave after a short while when police break up the gathering.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.