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Review: Renegade Girls by Nora Neus and Julie Robine

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Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-rousing by Nora Neus

Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-Rousing
Nore Neus
Illustrated by Julie Robine
Little, Brown Ink
Published April 1, 2025

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About Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-Rousing

A swoonworthy queer romance set against a riveting story of social change in the 1880s, this historical graphic novel reimagines the life of America’s first stunt girl—a young undercover reporter—and her whirlwind summer of romance and fighting injustice. 

Seventeen-year-old Helena “Nell” Cusack came to New York this summer looking for a story—a real story. She dreams of one day writing hard-hitting articles for the New York Chronicle, but so far she’s only managed to land a job as a lowly society reporter. That is, until Alice Austen strolls into her life, an audacious street photographer who encourages Nell to shake up polite society…and maybe also take a chance on love.

When her best friend, Lucia, is injured while working in a garment factory, Nell is determined to crack the story wide open. Posing as a seamstress, she reports on the conditions from the inside, making a name for herself as the Chronicle’s first-ever stunt girl. But as Nell’s reporting gains momentum, so do the objections of those who oppose her. Will Nell continue to seek justice—even if it hurts her in the end?

Based on real-life stunt girl Nell Nelson and photographer Alice Austen, this tenderly drawn narrative is about bringing buried stories to light and the bravery of first love.

My Review

What a fun book! I loved the historical setting and the focus on “stunt girl” reporting. I think the adaptation to graphic novel worked well here, though it meant that some scenes needed to be simplified. The story was very cohesive and the characters felt very real.

As a person with Italian immigrant ancestors, I loved that this is something Neus included in the book, too. It definitely left me feeling with a little more of a personal connection with the story. My great-grandmother worked in a factory during the 1930s/40s after her husband passed away, which is later than when this story is written, but it gave me a chance to reflect on that part of her life a little bit.

The main characters in the book are inspired by real people, though Neus takes some artistic liberty with some elements. The book includes a detailed author’s note that explains which elements are historically accurate.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book, and I would love to see more graphic novels like this one. (Another historical graphic novel on my reading list is I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner.)

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Nell sneaks into a factory and poses as a worker while working as an undercover reporter. She could get in a lot of trouble if caught. Someone shows Nell an injury that resulted from high-pressure factory work.

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: Meet Me at Blue Hour by Sarah Suk

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Meet Me at Blue Hour
Sarah Suk
Quill Tree Books
Published April 1, 2025

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About Meet Me at Blue Hour

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Past Lives in this gripping, emotional story of two childhood friends navigating the fallout of one erasing their memory of the other, from acclaimed author Sarah Suk.

Seventeen-year-old Yena Bae is spending the summer in Busan, South Korea, working at her mom’s memory-erasing clinic. She feels lost and disconnected from people, something she’s felt ever since her best friend, Lucas, moved away four years ago without a word, leaving her in limbo.

Eighteen-year-old Lucas Pak is also in Busan for the summer, visiting his grandpa, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. But he isn’t just here for a regular visit—he’s determined to get his beloved grandpa into the new study running at the clinic, a trial program seeking to restore lost memories.

When Yena runs into Lucas again, she’s shocked to see him and even more shocked to discover that he doesn’t remember a thing about her. He’s completely erased her from his memories, and she has no idea why.

As the two reconnect, they unravel the mystery and heartache of what happened between them all those years ago—and must now reckon with whether they can forge a new beginning together.

My Review

It was easy to see the parallels between The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and this book. The storytelling is more linear in the book than that movie, though. For the most part, the story alternates between Lucas’s and Yena’s viewpoints. Periodically, short scenes show erased memories from unusual perspectives. For example, one memory is told from the viewpoint of a windchime that one character gives another for a birthday present.

One of my favorite elements of The Eternal Sunshine is the way that the movie explores different facets of a memory loss procedure and how it might be used in harmful ways. While Meet Me at Blue Hour doesn’t follow that thread, it does explore the impact of memory loss on the community surrounding the person who has had memory alteration. The narrative leads us to think not only about the ramifications of erasing memory but of preserving it as well. Pretty fascinating stuff!

In addition to the thoughtful exploration of those ideas, the author delivers a compelling romance between two people with past connections. The pacing of their relationship is perfect– I felt like I was on the edge of my seat hoping for them to find the answers they were looking for.

Additionally, I loved the South Korean setting. It’s been a long time since I visited Seoul, and I have never been to Busan, but I found some of the descriptions of the markets and stuff triggered fond memories for me, too.

If you like thoughtful stories or sweet summer romances, add this one to your reading list! Adam Silvera just announced that he will be hosting a speculative romance book club, and this book will be the first pick for the group to read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very infrequent use of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Characters discuss the social and communal implications of a person’s memory loss.

Violent Content
Nightmares and a brief panic attack. References to the loss of a parent and other repressed trauma.

Drug Content
Lucas and his uncle drink an alcoholic drink together.

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: What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tesch

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What Wakes the Bells
Elle Tesch
Feiwel & Friends
Published March 11, 2025

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About What Wakes the Bells

Inspired by an ominous Prague legend, What Wakes the Bells is a lavish gothic fantasy by debut author Elle Tesch that is perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace, Margaret Rogerson, and V.E. Schwab.

Built by long-gone Saints, the city of Vaiwyn lives and breathes and bleeds. As a Keeper, Mina knows better than most what her care of Vaiwyn’s bells means for the sentient city. It’s the Strauss family’s thousand-year legacy―prevent the Vespers from ringing, or they will awake a slumbering evil.

One afternoon, to Mina’s horror, her bell peals thirteen times, shattering the city’s tenuous peace. With so much of the city’s history and lore lost in a long-ago disaster, no one knows the danger that has been unleashed―until the city begins to fight back. As the sun sets, stone gargoyles and bronze statues tear away from their buildings and plinths to hunt people through the streets. Trapped in Mina’s bell, the soul of a twisted and power-hungry Saint festered. Now free of his prison, he hides behind the face of one of Vaiwyn’s citizens, corrupting the city and turning it on itself.

As the death toll rises, the only chance Mina has to stop the destruction and horrific killings is finding and destroying the Saint’s host. Everyone is a suspect, including Mina’s closest loved ones. She will have to decide how far she’ll go to save her city―and who she’s willing to kill to do it.

My Review

There are some really imaginative fantasy novels coming out in the YA market in the last few years, and I am absolutely loving it. The cover copy of the book reminded me a little bit of Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek, which I read last year and adored.

I think the writing is a little more straightforward than Poranek’s, but not in a bad way. Maybe it’s simply that this book focuses on descriptions of magical things that are more familiar to us– walls, doorways, etc.– rather than ancient enchanted forests.

I could see this book appealing to readers who enjoy Francesca Zappia. This one feels somewhere in the middle between Katzenjammer, Zappia’s weird, contemporary fantasy in which the school students find themselves trapped in is alive, and Greymist Fair, a fairytale-esque fantasy and murder mystery.

Though it’s not specified, the words Mina uses to describe her relationship with romance and sex led me to think of her as on the asexual spectrum, maybe demisexual? At one point, she has a conversation with another character who doesn’t feel romantic attraction to others, and they both ultimately feel less alone after comparing notes on their identities. That was a sweet moment. I appreciated that they didn’t have the language to label themselves and how that left them more isolated, but that they ultimately connected and felt seen anyway. It’s a minor note in the whole story, but beautiful nonetheless.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book. It’s a layered, complex story that delivers on its promises. I’m excited to see what Tesch writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty infrequently. A few F-bombs, but not many.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Mina has been in a romantic relationship for a while, but she hasn’t felt ready to do more than kiss. Her partner respects her boundaries and doesn’t push her for more contact than she’s comfortable with.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are immortal beings/deities with supernatural abilities. A curse trapped a powerful entity within the city’s bells, but Mina and other Keepers have to stop the bells from ringing twice a day. (The bell’s thirteenth chime would break the wards on the bells.) The city has some sentience. For example, if someone breaks a wall, the city can heal the hole and repair itself.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. Some threats of torture. Some fall victim to a deadly plague connected to evil. A couple of scenes show dead bodies and describe burial rituals.

Drug Content
One character is an alcoholic as a result of past trauma. Mina and a couple of other characters drink alcohol together.

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: They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

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They Bloom at Night
Trang Thanh Tran
Bloomsbury
Published March 4, 2025

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About They Bloom at Night

The author of the New York Times bestselling horror phenomenon She Is a Haunting is back with a novel about the monsters that swim beneath us . . . and live within us.

Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she’s focused on survival, Noon doesn’t have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin.

Mercy has never been a safe place, but it’s getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that’s been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what’s haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters . . .

My Review

I heard so many incredible things about Tran’s debut that I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading their books. I still need to read She is a Haunting, but after reading They Bloom at Night, I seriously cannot wait. Just wow.

The balance between the elements of this book– its characters, the setting, and the tension in the horrific elements is absolutely perfect. The mostly abandoned town of Mercy feels incredibly real. It was so easy to picture where things happened and feel completely immersed in the landscape of this story. Noon is also a fabulous main character. Her relationships with others are so layered. She loves her mom but feels trapped by their life and grief over her brother and dad’s deaths. She reconnects with an estranged friend and has mixed feelings about that, too. When circumstances force her into a reluctant alliance with a girl, Noon is surprised by the relationship the two forge.

I loved the themes in this book about identity, specifically about being more than one thing that happened to you. I loved the message about having a found family or community to protect you and help you face uncomfortable truths. One line in particular says it well: “Sometimes we need people to hunt the things inside of us that need to die but that we aren’t ready to kill.”

They Bloom at Night is a tightly plotted story that doesn’t waste a single word. This would be a perfect (or terrifying) book to read during a hurricane or big storm. Fans of The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade or Don’t Let the Forest In by C. G. Drews will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
There are some supernatural/paranormal elements to the story, including characters with an ability to communicate nonverbally and change form.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to sexual assault (not shown on the page). Some homophobic comments. At one point, several people perform surgery on another person (with consent) and try to remove something from their body. Noon finds a dead body. She also encounters others who seem to be transforming and for whom it’s unclear if they’re alive.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol (not shown on the page).

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: Divining the Leaves by Shveta Thakrar

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Divining the Leaves
Shveta Thakrar
HarperTeen
Published March 4, 2025

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About Divining the Leaves

From critically acclaimed author Shveta Thakrar comes a beautifully imagined contemporary fantasy about two teens, one a believer of magic who yearns to belong, the other a skeptic searching for an escape, who find themselves embroiled in a twisty world of court intrigue when they venture into a forest ruled by yakshas, mysterious woodland spirits drawn from Hindu and Buddhist folklore.

Plant-loving Ridhi Kapadia and popular Nilesh Batra were friends once.

Now, seventeen and alone, Ridhi blends natural perfumes, wears flower crowns, and wanders her local woods, listening for the leafy whispers of her beloved trees. Pleading for the yakshas to admit her into their enchanted forest kingdom, where she knows she truly belongs.

After learning his parents’ perfect marriage is a sham and getting suspended from school, a heartsick Nilesh lands at Ridhi’s doorstep—the last thing either of them wants. So when a pretty yakshini offers him the distraction of magic, the same magic he mocked Ridhi for believing in, he jumps at it.

Furious, Ridhi strikes a bargain with a noblewoman named Sulochana. In return for helping restore her reputation, Sulochana will turn Ridhi into the yakshini she yearns to be—and teach her to divine the trees’ murmurs.

But when Nilesh ends up trapped in the yakshas’ realm, Ridhi realizes the leaves might be telling a disturbing story about the forest her heart is rooted in—one that, even if the two of them band together, threatens to shred the future like so many thorns.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book are all the descriptions of flowers, trees, and plants. I also love the way that the author incorporates dance into this story so centered on nature and plants. In one scene, Ridhi dances so that her body tells the story of the forest she’s standing in. Because of the lush descriptions of the woods and magic, I that description really came to life. I’ve never seen anything like that so well-captured in a scene before. It’s something I think I’ll remember for a long time.

I also enjoyed the unfolding of the relationship between Ridhi and Nilesh. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I had certain expectations when I started the book, and for a minute, I was not sure I was going to like the way things unfolded. It took longer for him to grow on me as a character, but eventually, I felt like I understood him more and appreciated him. Ultimately, I love where the author took the story and the hints at new relationships in the ending. (Also hooray for the reference to tabletop games there at the end!)

So, yeah. I’ve got Star Daughter on my shelf, but haven’t gotten to it yet. Divining the Leaves is the first book by this author that I’ve read, and I am sure I will read more.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
The story contains magic and mythical beings from Hindu and Buddhist folklore.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One scene very briefly shows a character being tortured.

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: A Song for You and I by K. O’Neill

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A Song for You and I
K. O’Neill
Random House Graphic
Published March 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Song for You and I

Being a ranger means adventure, action, and protecting the weak. But who protects the ranger when they lose their way? From the bestselling author of The Moth Keeper and the Tea Dragon Society comes a must read MG graphic novel for fans of soft sweeping fantasy romances.

Rowan knows exactly what they to be a ranger, protecting their village alongside their trusted flying horse Kes. But when Rowan’s eagerness to show off their worth gets Kes injured, Rowan is suddenly unsure if they’re capable of being the protector they’ve always dreamed of becoming. 

With Kes needing to heal, Rowan is assigned a slow and winding expedition across the outlying lands. Paired with a lackadasical sheep hearder Leone, Rowan only finds frustration as they seem to fail even the simplest tasks. But Leone’s own struggles, and endless support brings a new possibility to Rowan. Could their unlikely friendship be something more? And if it is, will Rowan be able to leave Leone behind to pursue being a ranger once Kes is healed?

My Review

This sweet book is exactly the story I needed this week. I’ve been a fan of O’Neill’s work for a while, though I still have some books to catch up on. So, when I saw this book coming out this year, I knew I would have to read it.

The gentle pacing and gorgeous landscapes that appear throughout the story swept me away. I’m not sure I’d call this cozy precisely, but maybe cozy-adjacent? There is at least one moment with some real tension, though a lot of the story centers on relationships and personal growth or healing.

The two main characters have really different personalities. Leone is generally positive and optimistic, but struggles with confidence in playing music. Rowan resents the slower pacing that Leone lives life and feels anxious to get out into the world serving as a ranger. As the story progresses, though, they realize that Leone’s way of approaching life offers things they lack.

I honestly couldn’t have read this book at a better time. The color palettes are stunning, the characters made me smile, and the pacing felt like taking a long, full breath after a stressful day. It’s a fabulous book.

If you’re unfamiliar with K. O’Neill’s work and you like cozier fantasy, you definitely do not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One character kisses another on the cheek.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Rowan’s horse, Kes, is injured during a storm.

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.