Tag Archives: LGBTQIA+

Review: Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,
Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

Wrong Answers Only
Tobias Madden
Page Street YA
Published October 8, 2024

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About Wrong Answers Only

Marco’s always done the right thing. But now it’s time for wrong answers only.

Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.)

And even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself, about his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions.

But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing, in every possible way, it’s time for Marco to get a few things wrong. And hooking up with a hot dancer from the ship is only the beginning . . .

My Review

Sometimes it’s nice to read a story about a messy main character who really doesn’t have it all together. That’s exactly what this is. Marco is super smart, and super in denial about his anxiety over leaving for college. He seizes an opportunity to join his estranged uncle aboard a cruise ship in a desperate bid to avoid facing his fears. With his best friend at his side, he makes some impulsive choices. I liked that he doesn’t completely abandon his principles. He needs something different and outside his comfort zone, but he still keeps his head for the most part.

The cruise ship atmosphere is really fun, and something that’s more unusual for a young adult novel. I think I’ve only read two other books set on a cruise ship, so it was a fresh, welcome setting for me as a reader, too.

I also like that this book doesn’t tread all the obvious paths that a story like this might take. A lot of Marco’s conclusions rang true, which made it really easy to cheer for him as he untangles some of his feelings and decides what moving forward looks like for himself. Marco also has a big Italian family, which was fun to read since I come from a big Italian family, too.

I think many people in those early post-high school days will identify with the confusion and pressure Marco feels. I think this would make a perfect summer read or a great book to snuggle up with on a late fall evening to remember the feel of baking in the summer sun on a beach.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Marco and several other characters are gay. His best friend, CeCe, is Australian and Filipina.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A handful of F-bombs and some other swearing used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Kissing between a boy and a girl. References to sex. Some brief sexual comments or innuendo.

Spiritual Content
References to God more in a colloquial sense. The family attends a mass together. Two characters very briefly discuss their beliefs about whether someone exists after death.

Violent Content
The ship on which Marco travels encounters a storm and some rough seas. At one point, a man grabs Marco on the dance floor. He quickly shoves the man away.

Drug Content
Once Marco turns eighteen, the legal drinking age in Australia, he drinks alcohol. He gets drunk more than once and sometimes does some things he regrets later while he’s intoxicated. In one scene, a few of his friends invite him to do drugs with them, but he refuses.

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: Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

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

Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix (Remixed Classics #9)
Gabe Cole Novoa
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 16, 2024

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About Most Ardently

A trans boy searches for a future―and a romance―in which he can live and love openly as himself in this heartrending young-adult reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, part of the Remixed Classics series.

London, 1812 . Oliver Bennet feels trapped—not just by the endless corsets, petticoats, and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world, and the vast majority of his family and friends, think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.

But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart, not to mention attractive.

As Oliver spends more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares to hope that his dream of love and life as a man can be possible. But suitors are growing bolder―and even threatening―and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly his own.

My Review

This is the fourth book in the Remixed Classics series by MacMillan that I’ve read, and even before picking it up, I thought this might be the most challenging one for me. Not because of the transgender character but because inserting a transgender character into a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice is a huge change to the story. I’m going to split up the review into two sections because I want to explore the book as a Regency romance with a transgender main character and separately look at how it reimagines the Austen’s classic novel.

As a Regency Romance

I like Most Ardently on its own merit. Considering what life could have been like for someone like Oliver living during the time that Pride and Prejudice was set is really worth doing, especially now. I thought the author did a great job of exploring Oliver’s choices, how he felt about those options and the risks he was willing to take to create a life he could live as freely as possible.

The back of the book includes an author’s note which explains some information about what it may have been like for transgender people living in Regency England and explains some of the historical references in the book. For example, in Most Ardently, Oliver visits a Molly house, a club for queer people. The author’s note explains a little bit of the history of those establishments.

A lot of the story centers around Oliver’s identity, specifically around the fact that most people don’t know he’s a boy and how difficult this is for him. His mother and others constantly remind him about society’s expectations for him as long as he’s perceived as a woman. The ongoing pressure to become someone’s wife grows increasingly difficult for him to bear.

His determination to be seen for who he is and his courage in speaking his truth to the people around him on his timeline can’t help but be inspiring. The author makes space for messy conversations and shows tenderness and growth in so many of the characters.

As a Remix of Pride and Prejudice

Some of the characters in the book felt very true to the spirit of the original characters. I could see Mr. Bennet reacting much the way he does in the text when he learns Oliver’s identity. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Mrs. Bennet would have behaved the same way, too.

Other characters’ roles are minimized or removed from the story to simplify some elements. A few times, I felt like the references to the original story and the new theme about gender identity seemed in conflict with one another. The messages didn’t disagree, but occasionally plot elements from the original story were introduced and then dropped and never revisited or distracted from the more central story.

One of the big changes in this remix of Pride and Prejudice is Oliver’s reaction to Wickham, whom he has creepy vibes about from the very first moment he enters the story. I found myself missing the evolution of the main character’s feelings about Darcy and Wickham. The romantic component in this remix is a lot more simplified than the original.

The writing in Most Ardently is, of course, a lot more accessible than Austen’s original language. For the most part, I didn’t mind this, but there were a few times that the characters revealed things to one another that seemed very out of character or against the social norms of the day. The few times that happened were a little bit jarring. The more modern style of writing will probably make the book more satisfying to contemporary YA readers.

Conclusion

On the whole, I enjoyed the book as a Regency romance centered around a transgender character. I appreciated the inspiration from Pride and Prejudice, though it’s super different than the original. I think readers who enjoyed My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron should check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Oliver is a transgender boy.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One instance of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two women are in a secret romance. Two boys kiss. More than one man proposes marriage to someone.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Oliver’s family and some people in public refer to him as “Elizabeth.” He is required to dress as a woman when at home with his family or appearing with them in public. Most of the people in his life don’t know his true identity and misgender him or refer to him by the wrong name. It always startles or hurts Oliver.

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 this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: What is This Feeling? by Robby Webber

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What is This Feeling?
Robby Webber
Inkyard Press
Published September 17, 2024

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About What is This Feeling?

This joyful romp from Robby Weber, perfect for fans of Jason June and Morgan Matson, follows a boy who will do anything to win his drama club’s scavenger hunt in New York City, even if it means teaming up with a tech crew loner…and discovering unexpected sparks between them.

Theater star Teddy McGuire is ready for all his dreams to come true. He and his best friend, Annie, have been counting down the days to the end-of-the-year drama club trip to New York City. To make it even more magical, if they can win the annual scavenger hunt, they’ll get a chance to meet their popstar idol, Benji Keaton.

But the universe has other plans: when Annie can’t go on the trip, Teddy is forced to room with tech crew loner Sebastian, who has no interest in the scavenger hunt—or Teddy—and seems to have a secret agenda of his own.

On a larger-than-life adventure across the city, the boys will discover a lot more than what’s on their checklist, including masquerade mishaps, obstacles of Jurassic proportions, Hollywood starlets, and, most surprisingly of all, sparks beginning to fly between them. In a story about chasing your destiny, Teddy and Sebastian are about to learn the secret to making their own luck.

My Review

This is the most fun book I’ve read in a while. It’s not the first field trip to New York City that I’ve read this year. There’s a Wednesday books title about a band trip that had some similarities to this one.

Teddy is a really fun narrator. He’s so in his head, which I appreciate as a person with a lot of mind spirals myself. I also liked that his identity wasn’t really a focus of the story. Don’t get me wrong– the books about coming out or grappling with identity are important, and I love them, too. But it was nice to read something that sidestepped those themes and simply told a story about unexpected romance without stopping to explain or justify itself.

The only thing that was hard was how often Teddy’s best friend and brother minimized his feelings. They tended to assume he was being dramatic and kind of roll their eyes at him in a loving way, but still. It makes sense within the context of the story, and it’s realistic. I guess it hit on some old wounds for me, so I really felt for him in those moments.

What is This Feeling? is the first book by Robby Webber that I’ve read, but I can tell you that it will NOT be the last! I can’t believe I’m just now discovering his books. I love the balance of sweetness and realism in this one. The relationships aren’t perfect. The characters are flawed but not so deeply that it interferes with my ability to connect with them. It’s a great fall romance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Two characters are queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple F-bombs. Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys.

Spiritual Content
Teddy believes the friendship bracelets he and Annie made together years ago bring them luck, but only when they’re wearing them or have them on their person.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Teddy (a high school senior) drinks champagne at a gala and sips a cocktail at an event with college students.

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: Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian

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Desert Echoes
Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins
Published September 10, 2024

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About Desert Echoes

From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.

Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.

Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.

Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.

My Review

I think I have at least one other of Nazemian’s books, but this is the first one that I’ve read. The writing and characters are so compelling in this book. I usually have a really hard time with long chapters, but I couldn’t stop reading this one, even though it only has about nine chapters which are each somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 pages long.

The story follows two different timelines: the present, in which Kam faces a return trip to Joshua Tree, the park where he last saw his boyfriend Ash, and the early days of Kam’s relationship with Ash two years earlier leading up to Ash’s disappearance.

Because the chapters are long, there aren’t a lot of transitions back and forth between these two timelines. This helped keep me immersed in each storyline and meant that I was going to get a lot more information every time I switched to a new chapter. I liked that.

I’ve sometimes read books that show a reflection back to a lost loved one or relationship that didn’t last, and sometimes those stories leave so many unanswered questions that reading the book can feel unsatisfying. Desert Echoes does provide Kam some closure, though it’s not the information he expected to uncover. He does begin to process his feelings and see his life in a new way once he has the information he needs, and once that happens, other things that felt left in limbo in the story begin to shift into place.

It has the kind of ending that might feel too easy to some people, but readers looking for an uplifting ending will definitely appreciate the way that Nazemian closes Kam’s journey. The back of the book has a moving note from the author explaining his emotional connections to the story, too. It explains why he writes about these topics with so much authenticity.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book a lot, even though it’s a story of grief. I’m glad I read it, and I am excited to read more by Abdi Nazemian.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Several major characters are queer. Bodie, Kam, and their families are from Iran and recently moved to the United States from Canada.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some f-bombs and profanity used here and there. Some references to homophobic comments, particularly by Kam’s dad.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Very brief descriptions of sexual contact in a couple of scenes.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A character is missing, presumed dead. There’s some question as to whether this person died by suicide or an accident of some kind.

Drug Content
References to drug addiction. One scene shows a person with drugs and an intent to take them. Kam’s dad is an alcoholic and is frequently drunk when he’s in the house.

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: Don’t Let It Break Your Heart by Maggie Horne

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

Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
Maggie Horne
Feiwel & Friends
Published August 27, 2024

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About Don’t Let It Break Your Heart

You only get one soulmate, and I’m not throwing mine away.

Alana and Gray have been the perfect pair all through high school, and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure, their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever dynamic is stronger than ever. Really, the only difference is that instead of kissing Gray herself, Alana sets him up with other girls to do that.

Enter Talia: tall, confident, gorgeous. Gray’s master plan is simple: befriend Tal and charm her into being his girlfriend. With Alana’s help, of course.

But as Alana spends more time with Tal, she is introduced to a world of possibilities. A world outside her small town. A world in which Alana can fully embrace her queer identity. A world where Alana and Talia are . . . together.

As the two get closer, Alana must juggle her loyalty to Gray with her growing feelings for Tal. Can she stay true to herself and to her best friend? More importantly, does she want to?

My Review

I started to read this book with the back cover copy in mind. It left me with some pretty specific expectations of what Alana and Gray’s relationship would be like, and I was a little confused when it played out differently. I didn’t really see Alana setting Gray up with other girls. It seemed more like she endured his prowling and did her best not to roll her eyes about it because she felt guilty about breaking up with him.

There’s something about Don’t Let It Break Your Heart that feels like a train wreck you can’t look away from. The writing is good—consistently insightful and full of compelling, realistic characters. The relationships between Alana and her friend group have this ticking-time-bomb feel to them. Some of that comes from the group’s toxic patterns and the undercurrent of homophobic feelings among some characters.

I liked that Tal’s addition to the crew altered the dynamics of the group a bit and brought a fresh perspective to relationships that Alana had been in so long that she never stopped to question. She voiced some of the things I’d been thinking, which felt validating as a reader, too.

Alana’s journey of self-discovery is frank and vulnerable. She recalls the slow demise of her romantic relationship with Gray and her growing inability to deny her identity, as well as her deep feelings of guilt and inadequacy at some points in her experience. I felt like those feelings were pretty real and Horne explored them in a way that I haven’t seen done in young adult literature before and adds some important notes to the conversations about identity.

Readers who enjoy upper young adult stories exploring messy relationships and first love will find a lot to love about this bold story. Perfect for fans of Marisa Kanter and Robin Talley.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Alana is a lesbian. She meets other queer characters, including a nonbinary person.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Pretty liberal use of profanity and f-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Veiled homophobic comments and manipulative behavior.

Drug Content
Several scenes show teens drinking alcohol and getting drunk. References to smoking pot.

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: A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen

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

A Bánh Mì for Two
Trinity Nguyen
Henry Holt & Co.
Published

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About A Bánh Mì for Two

In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vivi meets Lan while studying abroad in Vietnam and they spend the semester unraveling their families’ histories—and eating all the street food in Sài Gòn.

In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father but has stopped updating since his passing.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She’s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she’s seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two.

When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother’s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.

My Review

If you’re looking for a sweet romance set in a beautiful city and packed with tantalizing descriptions of food, you will not want to miss this book. It’s also a super quick read at a little over 200 pages.

I love the descriptions of the city of Sài Gòn. The author describes the book as partly her love letter to the city, and that affection comes through on every page of this novel. I felt like I could hear the noise of the city and smell the food made by the street vendors.

Lan and Vivi’s relationship is really sweet. Spending time together and showing an actual person the things she loves about Sài Gòn reinvigorates Lan. The fog of writer’s block that surrounded her begins to dissipate, and she begins writing again. Lan also helps Vivi find her family through her connections with people and her knowledge of the city.

The only thing that seemed a little odd was that we never really see anything about the educational part of Vivi’s study abroad program. I don’t remember there being descriptions of the university or even her traveling to and from classes. It wasn’t a major part of the story, so it wasn’t a big deal. Just something I noticed.

The story alternates between Lan and Vivi’s points of view. Both share complicated relationships with their moms. After losing her dad unexpectedly, Lan wants to protect her mom and support her so much that she’s closed off other parts of her life. Vivi desperately wants to know about her mom’s past in Việt Nam, something her mom refuses to talk about despite their closeness in other ways. I like that the book explores different mother-daughter relationships and the roles of parents and children.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book for its sweet romance (it does get a bit sappy in a scene or two, but I didn’t mind) and fabulous descriptions of the city of Sài Gòn.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Most characters are Vietnamese. Cindy is Latine.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few F-bombs. Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Lan’s family lights incense on an alter for her dad as part of celebrating the anniversary of his death. References to other holidays.

Violent Content
References to war and torture. References to hard times after the war in Việt Nam.

Drug Content
Vivi drinks a beer with her peers. (The legal drinking age in Việt Nam is 18.)

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.