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Review: The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans

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The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans

The Otherwoods
Justine Pucella Winans
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published September 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Otherwoods

The Otherwoods is calling. And it won’t be ignored.

Some would call River Rydell a ‘chosen one’: born with the ability to see monsters and travel to a terrifying spirit world called The Otherwoods, they have all the makings of a hero. But River just calls themself unlucky. After all, it’s not like anyone actually believes River can see these things–or that anyone even believes monsters exist in the first place. So the way River sees it, it’s better to keep their head down and ignore anything Otherwoods related.

But The Otherwoods won’t be ignored any longer.

When River’s only friend (and crush) Avery is kidnapped and dragged into The Otherwoods by monsters, River has no choice but to confront the world they’ve seen only in their nightmares–but reality turns out to be more horrifying than they could have ever imagined. With only their cat for protection and a wayward teen spirit as their guide, River must face the monsters of The Otherwoods and their own fears to save Avery and become the hero they were (unfortunately) destined to be.

Justine Pucella Winans will have you cowering and cackling as you follow River’s reluctant hero’s journey, perfect for fans of Doll Bones, Ghost Squad, and Too Bright to See.

My Review

Without a doubt, the most charming part of this book is River’s aversion to danger and the evolution of their beliefs about themself. At first, River believes they aren’t brave because they ignore monsters instead of confronting them and won’t enter the Otherwoods. Right away, I doubted their assessment– it would take an enormous amount of bravery for me to keep sleeping in a room where a monster lived under my bed. River instead names the monster and tries their best to ignore it. It makes sense, though, why River sees themself as not brave since they find themself constantly afraid. I love River’s inner monologue. They piece together the things happening around them in what is often a very kid-like, funny way.

I also like the way that River’s journey into the Otherwoods makes them realize there’s more to being brave than feeling brave. I like the way the story turns our perceptions of things on its head with unexpected moments and humor.

Also: the cat. If you know me, you know this was coming. But seriously. Mr. Fluffy Pancakes is fantastic. Not just for his name, which cracked me up. That cat has a huge personality. He never does anything without some cattitude. His love for River is also very clear and endearing. I adore him. Yay for books with cats!

On the whole, this one has some scary, intense moments, but it also shows a character who feels deeply afraid find ways to deal with those fears and learn to speak up about them. I love the way the story invites readers into River’s fears and shows us what it means to be brave in the face of them. While it’s not for every reader, I think THE OTHERWOODS has a lot to offer. I’d recommend it for readers who like portal stories or anyone looking for books about kids in tough circumstances who must learn to speak up for themselves.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Main character is nonbinary. A couple of minor characters are also queer. One girl identifies as pansexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
River has a crush on their friend, Avery.

Spiritual Content
River sees monsters and spirits of the dead. They learn this is because they possess some magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Monsters come very close to River. A few scenes show confrontations between characters and monsters. In a couple, monsters are killed.

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 THE OTHERWOODS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Time Out by Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald

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Time Out
Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald
Simon & Schuster
Published May 30, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Time Out

Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights in this keenly felt coming-of-age story about a teen hometown hero who must find out who he is outside of basketball when his coming out as gay costs him his popularity and place on the team.

In his small Georgia town, Barclay Elliot is basically a legend. Here basketball is all that matters, and no one has a bigger spotlight than Barclay. Until he decides to use the biggest pep rally in the town’s history to come out to his school. And things change. Quickly.

Barclay is faced with hostility he never expected. Suddenly he is at odds with his own team, and he doesn’t even have his grandfather to turn to the way he used to. But who is Barclay if he doesn’t have basketball?

His best friend, Amy, thinks she knows. She drags him to her voting rights group, believing Barclay can find a bigger purpose. And he does, but he also finds Christopher. Aggravating, fearless, undeniably handsome Christopher. He and Barclay have never been each other’s biggest fans, but as Barclay starts to explore parts of himself he’s been hiding away, they find they might have much more in common than they originally thought.

As sparks turn into something more, though, Barclay has to decide if he’s ready to confront the privilege and popularity that have shielded him his entire life. Can he take a real shot at the love he was fighting for in the first place?

My Review

This is the kind of story that takes a minute to digest. From the cover copy, I knew that Barclay was going to come out at a very public pep rally and that it was going to go badly. And so, in the scenes leading up to that moment, I couldn’t help wanting to shield him somehow from the hurt that was obviously coming. But I could also really see why he wanted to do this and why he felt like it would be okay and would be safe.

And then it wasn’t. This left him not only dealing with people’s reactions to his identity but also a lot of judgment about how he came out. He was called selfish, attention-seeking, all kinds of things, and those judgments blindsided him as much as the withdrawal of support, and the surge of homophobia among the people he thought would have his back.

I felt like that emotional arc– Barclay unpacking his own motives and learning when to stand up for himself and call people out versus calling people in and helping them see him better– was the strongest part of the story.

Another thing the story addressed really well is the way that, initially, Barclay felt like he had to choose between being out and playing basketball. As he explored his boundaries and what he wanted, he began to think about what place basketball would have in his life. I liked that exploration as well.

I also thought the story was well-balanced in terms of the characters. There are some big personalities on the page, from his best friend Amy to the possible love interest and even his grandfather, Scratch, who passed away before the story began. Yet the story really remains Barclay’s. I liked that, too.

All in all, I think TIME OUT would have slipped under my radar if the publisher hadn’t sent me a copy. I’m really glad I read it. Coming out and facing homophobia aren’t exactly new stories, but I think this version brings some necessary pieces to the conversation, and it’s a well-balanced novel packed with interesting characters. I think fans of Bill Konigsberg (author of OPENLY STRAIGHT and THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS) will enjoy this one.

Content Notes for Time Out

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Barclay and another character are gay. One of Barclay’s friends is Japanese American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Vague/brief references to sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
After coming out, Barclay faces an onslaught of homophobic comments. The F-slur is insinuated multiple times but only printed once. Barclay charges at a boy after he continually makes homophobic comments and threats to him and about him online. A boy punches another boy. A car slams into the back of a boy’s bicycle, injuring him. For a moment, it’s unclear whether the driver intends to hurt the bicyclist further.

Drug Content
Barclay goes to a college party with his older brother and drinks a lot of beer before making a fool of himself. He briefly references taking a friend’s CBD gummies between classes when he’s feeling stressed out.

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 TIME OUT in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie

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Ophelia After All
Racquel Marie
Feiwel & Friends
Published February 8, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ophelia After All

A teen girl navigates friendship drama, the end of high school, and discovering her queerness in Ophelia After All, a hilarious and heartfelt contemporary YA debut by author Racquel Marie.

Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys – way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to.

So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control. But the course of love–and sexuality–never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she’s always imagined or upending everyone’s expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all.

My Review

I don’t think I’ve ever read a debut so wise as this one. While Ophelia is herself a romantic, her story doesn’t truly center around a romantic relationship. It explores romantic feelings– both hers and some of her friends’. But the story truly shines as one of self-discovery. Ophelia wrestles with her own expectations for herself and the challenges of navigating close relationships as those expectations or feelings change.

Ophelia has a large and loud friend group, but the relationships aren’t all equally shared. Not only did this feel very real to me, because it’s hard to imagine a homogenously friendly group that size, but it deepened each of those characters because every relationship with Ophelia was individual, and impacted the group differently. It created a lot of tension and opportunity for ripple effects in that tension, which really made the big moments in the book even bigger.

I feel like I spent a long time on the edge of my emotional seat holding my breath and rooting for Ophelia to finally spill her guts and talk about the things she was holding back. I love the scene where things do come out and how wild and dramatic it was. I felt like it was the perfect scene for the story as a whole.

I think readers who enjoyed CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY by Steven Salvatore or HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE by Dahlia Adler will enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ophelia is Latine and white. She has a diverse group of friends. Some are black, Latine, and LGBTQIA+

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls. Brief reference to sex. Some conversations about asexuality.

Spiritual Content
Reference to family members who are homophobic for religious reasons.

Violent Content
Some homophobic comments.

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 OPHELIA AFTER ALL in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Heartstopper: Volume Four
Alice Oseman
Graphix
Published January 4, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Heartstopper: Volume Four

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fourth volume of HEARTSTOPPER, for fans of THE ART OF BEING NORMAL, Holly Bourne and LOVE, SIMON.

Charlie didn’t think Nick could ever like him back, but now they’re officially boyfriends. Charlie’s beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: I love you.

Nick’s been feeling the same, but he’s got a lot on his mind – not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder.

As summer turns to autumn and a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick are about to learn a lot about what love means.

HEARTSTOPPER is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

This is the fourth volume of HEARTSTOPPER, which has now been optioned for television by See-Saw Films.

My Review

The absolutely adorable romance between Charlie and Nick continues in the fourth volume of the series. All the books have been really quick reads, and all had me smiling at different moments. Sometimes I teared up, too. I love that while the story celebrates so many different loving relationships, it also gives space to talk about heavier issues.

In HEARTSTOPPER: VOLUME FOUR, the heavier issue explored is Charlie’s disordered eating. It’s mentioned in an earlier book, but Nick continues to be concerned and isn’t sure what to do to help his boyfriend through it. He has a couple long conversations with his mom and some panels show him doing internet research.

Ultimately, the story follows both Nick and Charlie through figuring out how to balance the intensity of their relationship and still maintain connections with others as well as figuring out how to have healthy support and boundaries with each other.

There are a couple of long passages that are journal entries from either Nick or Charlie. I thought those were a cool idea, but I wish more of the story was told in real time. Actual scenes unfolding in front of us.

I liked the attention to how to support– not save– someone who has an eating disorder, but I wonder if some readers will feel like the romance of the earlier volumes gets lost in the issue in this one.

I’m happy that I read it, and I will definitely read volume five.

Content Notes

Content warning for eating disorder, mentions of self-harm, and brief homophobic bullying.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Charlie is gay. Nick is bisexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Kissing between boy and girl, and kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some brief instances of bullying and homophobia.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Candidly Cline by Kathryn Ormsbee

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Candidly Cline
Kathryn Ormsbee
HarperCollins
Published November 9, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Candidly Cline

A must-read for fans of Julie Murphy and Ashley Herring Blake, this queer coming-of-age story from critically acclaimed author Kathryn Ormsbee sings with heart, warmth, and hope.

Born in Paris, Kentucky, and raised on her gram’s favorite country music, Cline Alden is a girl with big dreams and a heart full of song. When she finds out about a young musicians’ workshop a few towns over, Cline sweet-talks, saves, and maybe fibs her way into her first step toward musical stardom.

But her big dreams never prepared her for the butterflies she feels surrounded by so many other talented kids–especially Sylvie, who gives Cline the type of butterflies she’s only ever heard about in love songs.

As she learns to make music of her own, Cline begins to realize how much of herself she’s been holding back. But now, there’s a new song taking shape in her heart–if only she can find her voice and sing it.

“Empowering, affirming, and sweet as all get-out.” –Lisa Jenn Bigelow, author of Drum Roll, Please

My Review

I tend to love stories about musicians, so I was intrigued when I heard about CANDIDLY CLINE. She’s a songwriter, singer, and guitarist, and she’s learning how music can give voice to things that are hard to say other ways.

Cline pretty much had me at hello. She’s sure in her identity. She also loves her mom and grandmother, who all live together. I loved the bold way she handles her conflict with Sylvie and the way their relationship develops after that rocky beginning.

As she figures out how to tell her mom how important music is to her and to speak about her identity, Cline finds allies, friends and mentors, sometimes in unlikely places. When a church event leaves Cline feeling judged and isolated, a woman she knows from the same church comforts Cline and tells her the way she was treated is wrong, and that it isn’t in line with what all Christians believe. I loved that even though Cline’s church experiences aren’t the center of the story, CANDIDLY CLINE made space for the fact that people observe faith in different ways. Some of those caused her a lot of hurt, but other ways made her feel loved and valued. I’m really glad that got explored on the page a bit in this book.

I also liked Cline’s complicated relationship with her mom. She knows her mom loves and supports her, but she feels like this huge part of who she is (her music) will never be acceptable to her mom. After she learns more about her mom’s history and the pressures she’s currently facing, she begins to realize that it’s not as simple as her mom disapproving of her. I liked that her relationship with her mom wasn’t as simple as her mom wanting something different for her life. It had a lot of layers, and those were presented gently and without dominating the story.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book, and I think fans of BREATHING UNDERWATER by Sarah Allen or HURRICANE SEASON by Nicole Melleby will enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Cline is a lesbian. Her grandmother has Alzheimer’s. Her mom is a single mom.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used only once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Cline wonders what it would be like to kiss another girl. A girl kisses a girl on the cheek.

Spiritual Content
Cline visits church with her friend. She feels uncomfortable with some of the language about “the lost”. She wonders if her Christian friend views her as somehow lesser because she doesn’t believe in God/Jesus. The pastor preaches that same-sex attraction is a sin. However, another church member says she believes God loves everyone and has made them to be who they are.

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 CANDIDLY CLINE 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.