Tag Archives: Romance

Review: How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans

Book Review and Content, Horror, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans

How to Survive a Slasher
Justine Pucella Winans
Bloomsbury
Published March 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About How to Survive a Slasher

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight meets Scream in this YA slasher that turns classic horror tropes on their heads.

Few people can say they faced the infamous Satterville Wolf Man and lived. But CJ Smith can.

She doesn’t talk about that, though.

CJ has survived the horror movie that is her life by following one rule: blend in and stay out of it. But that’s hard to do when your trauma gets turned into a bestselling book series. The Slasherville books are a true crime phenomenon, documenting the Wolf Man massacres that changed CJ’s life forever. CJ hates everything about the books and their fans, but at this point she’s just grateful there aren’t any more murders to write about.

Until one day when an unpublished Slasherville book shows up on her doorstep predicting new Wolf Man killings. CJ is sure it’s a bad prank. But then the events in the book start coming true, and when CJ breaks her one rule, the Final Girl-the person who, according to the book, was supposed to stop the Wolf Man-ends up dead. Suddenly, blending in and staying out of it is not an option, and CJ will have to use everything she knows about the rules of horror to make it out alive.

My Review

I’m generally not a huge fan of slasher books, but I enjoyed You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (Kalynn Bayron… is there anything she can’t write?!?!) and the description of turning tropes on their heads had me intrigued. I’ve also read a couple of middle grade horror novels by Winans, and the first one in particular (The Otherwoods) is still a favorite. So with all that in mind, I wanted to check out this book.

One thing How to Survive a Slasher does well is acknowledge the slasher story tropes right out of the gate. It adds to the fun and genre-celebrating element of the book and relieves whatever tension might gather between readers and their willingness to suspend disbelief. It also made it feel like readers and characters were in on some of the same jokes, which was fun. There’s a line in the book that’s something like, “We’re not all characters in books!” Which was funny, too.

I like CJ as a character and found it easy to root for her throughout the story. CJ identifies as genderqueer and explains what that means to her, which I thought was cool. It’s nice to see characters represented in fiction that explore different ways to identify. CJ also discusses what her identity means to her and how it feels to try to describe her identity to others.

The story moves quickly, and at less than 300 pages, it’s a pretty quick read. If you’re a fan of the slasher tropes, or just want to read something that walks the line between celebrating them and poking fun at them, I think you’ll have fun with this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity throughout.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Characters have some discussions about spirituality in a more general sense. One character is an atheist. Others talk about the parallel between life and stories and whether we have assigned roles to play or are in charge of our own fates. Some characters act in service to a higher power, while others spurn that idea.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief graphic violence. Scenes show murders and accidental death.

Drug Content
In one scene, a teenager wishes for alcohol but doesn’t drink any.

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

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

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

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

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: The Deathly Grimm by Kathryn Purdie

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

The Deathly Grimm (The Forest Grimm #2)
Kathryn Purdie
Wednesday Books
Published March 25, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Deathly Grimm

The spellbinding sequel to Kathryn Purdie’s bestselling dark fairytale, where our main characters must return to the forest—and its monsters.

The story hasn’t ended yet.

After surviving the Forest Grimm and defeating the Wolf, Clara and Axel have made it back to their village, the one place they can be safe behind the forest’s borders. But when the forest itself begins luring in more villagers, it’s clear that Clara and Axel have only treated the symptoms of the forest’s curse, not the cause—and it’s getting worse.

Burdened with visions of the past and learning to navigate her fragile new relationship with Axel, Clara finds herself entering the forest with Axel yet again to discover the truth once and for all: the identity of the murderer who caused the curse. As they fight murderous woodsmen with incomprehensible riddles, ladies who will drag you into an eternal dance, and ghosts with the power to wield the forest against them, Clara and Axel realize the stakes are higher than ever. If they don’t survive the dark, deadly twists of the forest once more, not only will they never escape, they may also no longer have a home to escape to.

Romantic, eerie, and beautiful, The Deathly Grimm is the triumphant conclusion to Kathryn Purdie’s bestselling Forest Grimm duology.

My Review

More twisted fairytales! More Scary forest! And more romantic tension! This book delivered all of the things I wanted more of after reading the first one in the duology. One of my favorite things about the first book was the appearance of familiar fairytales twisted into something new and more like a curse rather than a sweet story that promises a happily-ever-after.

The only thing that I struggled with was the miscommunication between Axel and Clara. Like, I understood that his fixation with finding his dad didn’t mesh well with Clara’s mission to undo the curse on the village. I found it frustrating that the divergent goals went on for so much of the story. However, I can see how that tension worked to isolate Clara and make space for some of the story’s other elements.

I also appreciated the disability representation. Clara describes a spine issue that sounds a bit like scoliosis. She wears a lift in one shoe to make it easier to walk, and someone gives her a corset that operates like a back brace. I love Clara as a character, and I appreciate the representation even more after reading Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda LeDuc, which examines how disabled characters appear in classic fairytales.

Even despite the miscommunication between Clara and Axel, I devoured this book. I think I read two-thirds of it in one evening. It’s a wild ride of a story that cleverly weaves together scenes featuring familiar fairytales. The satisfying conclusion made me want to go back and start the duology all over again.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. The characters discuss having sex, but decide to wait.

Spiritual Content
A curse draws people into a dangerous magical forest, where they may die or become Lost. The Lost forget their identities and become fairytale characters, acting out twisted stories in a loop. Clara’s grandmother can use magic to appear as a powerful wolf. A spell book offered each villager one wish until a page was stolen.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battle violence. Scenes include brief descriptions of poisoning, manipulation, and torture.

Drug Content
A potion puts others under a spell that makes them act out of character.

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: Flyboy by Kasey LeBlanc

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

Flyboy
Kasey LeBlanc
Balzer + Bray
Published May 14, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Flyboy

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the speculative twists of The Night Circus in this standout debut YA novel, about a boy who visits the magic-filled circus of his dreams each night in order to escape his daily reality where his trans identity remains a secret.

After an incident at his school leaves closeted trans teenager Asher Sullivan needing stitches, his mother betrays him in the worst possible way—she sends him to Catholic school for his senior year. Now he has to contend with hideous plaid skirts, cranky nuns, and #bathroomJesus.

Nighttime brings an escape for Asher when he dreams of the Midnight Circus—the one place where he is seen for the boy he truly is. Too bad it exists only in his sleep. Or at least, that’s what he believes, until the day his annoyingly attractive trapeze rival, Apollo, walks out of his dreams and into his classroom. On the heels of this realization that the magical circus might be real, Asher also learns that his time there is limited.

In his desperation to hang onto the one place he feels at home, Asher sets both worlds on a collision course that could destroy all the relationships he cares about most. Now he must decide how far he’ll go to preserve the magical circus, even if it means facing his biggest challenge yet—coming out.

My Review

I love the concept of this story. Ash’s daytime life in Catholic school, the constant pain of being misgendered and living unseen juxtaposed against his life in the Midnight Circus, in which his body matches his identity and people truly see him, is brilliantly done. When he arrives at the circus at one point, Ash takes a full breath and notes that this is something he can’t do in his waking life. It’s a powerful moment.

His relationship with his mom is complex. He hasn’t come out to her at the story’s start, and he experiences so much frustration with her. It’s like he wants her to figure out that he’s a boy without telling her, even though he also knows he’s keeping her from knowing by not speaking up himself. That internal struggle felt so raw and so real.

The only thing in the story that I struggled with at all is the pacing. This is a big story, with two different worlds and casts, plus a romance subplot, plus a coming-out. There’s school drama, family drama, and friend drama, too. That’s a lot to fit into 364 pages.

There are a few big moments that I wish had had more space to breathe. For example, when we finally learn what happened that day in the bathroom, which left Ash needing stitches. That resolution was so important to the story, and it felt a little bit rushed to me.

On the whole, I think that’s a small thing. This is still an incredible debut novel that draws readers into understanding the pain of a closeted life and allows us to join in Asher’s triumph as he embraces his identity. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I’m truly excited to see what the author writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some swearing and a handful of F-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Asher attends Catholic school and mass with his grandparents.

Violent Content
Homophobia and transphobia, including the use of a slur. Ash is misgendered by people who don’t know his identity, and he describes the hurt and dysphoria this causes. He witnesses a fight between three boys. He hears rumors that someone burned down a school. One scene shows a fire with people inside the building. References to a fatal car accident. Ash witnesses someone having what appears to be a stroke or heart attack. Ash punches a boy in the face.

Drug Content
Ash attends a party where teens drink alcohol. In one scene, Ash and two friends drink cheap wine and get very drunk.

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: Warrior of Legend by Kendare Blake

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

Warrior of Legend (Heromaker #2)
Kendare Blake
Quill Tree Books
Published October 29, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Warrior of Legend

Reed is officially a member of the immortal order of the Aristene. She even has a new name: Machianthe. It’s everything she’s ever dreamed of—so why isn’t she happy?

Maybe it’s because every hero she helps can only find glory at the cost of their life. Or maybe it’s because she can’t stop thinking about the prince she left behind.

Now Reed looks for any opportunity to help with low-risk hero’s trials. And a princess looking for a glorious marriage? Nothing could be less dangerous. But Hestion is one of the suitors, and while Reed is occupied trying to win him back, an old danger is gaining strength.

To battle the growing threat, the Aristene must band together, but the order has never been more divided. Will Reed be able to survive this war with her chosen family and her heart intact?

My Review

Is this still the conclusion of a duology? The author’s webpage and a question answered on Goodreads state that Warrior of Legend concludes the Heromaker duology, but it doesn’t feel like a series conclusion to me. To me it reads more like a middle book in a trilogy.

At any rate, this is the second book in the Heromaker series. I wasn’t sure where the story was heading at first. The cover copy is a little vague, and it took a while for the momentum of the story to build. Somewhere around the halfway point, I felt it pick up speed, and I started to see how all the threads of the plotlines connected.

Warrior of Legend follows several different points of view. I think it’s mainly Reed, Hestion, and Lyonene, with a few scenes from other perspectives sprinkled into the narrative. The cast of characters is large, and I occasionally got some of the Aristene characters mixed up. Two women are in a romantic relationship with one another, so there’s some queer rep. I like all the major characters, though. Hestion’s reentry into the story isn’t great. I guess his behavior makes sense, but it’s a low point, for sure.

If this is a series conclusion, I think it ends in a weird place. None of the main characters’ stories are completed. The closest is Lyonene’s. She has a moment where she sees the future unfold before her and accepts what will happen. Both Reed and Hestion end the book in very unfinished states.

The books have a Greek myth type of feel. The Aristenes are an order of women warriors who help heroes achieve glory in service to their goddess. If you enjoy fantasy in that vein, these books will be worth checking out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and references to sex. Scenes show characters in bed together but skip over the details of sexual encounters.

Spiritual Content
Reed and the other members of the Aristenes serve the goddess of glory. A prophet of all gods was murdered before the story begins. The prophet’s bones have been used to corrupt people and turn them into monsters. The Aristenes each have some magical ability. They can summon armor that appears on their bodies. They can see golden threads of glory that indicate their goddess at work. The glorious death of a hero brings strength and honor to the goddess.

Violent Content
Lots of battle scenes and descriptions of battle. In one scene, a boy kisses a girl against her will.

Drug Content
Several scenes show celebratory drinking. A few characters get drunk and say or do things they regret later. One character has a drinking problem at the start of the story.

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: Layers: A Memoir by Pénélope Bagieu

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

Layers: A Memoir
Pénélope Bagieu
Translated by Montana Kane
First Second
Published October 17, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Layers: A Memoir

Following the Eisner-award-winning Brazen, Pénélope Bagieu pens her first autobiographical work in this hilarious and bitter-sweet graphic memoir.

Pénélope Bagieu never thought she’d publish a graphic memoir. But when she dusted off her old diaries (no, really―this book is based on her actual diaries), she found cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking stories begging to be drawn.

In Layers, Bagieu reflects on her childhood and teen years with her characteristic wit and unflinching honesty. The result is fifteen short stories about friendship, love, grief, and those awkward first steps toward adulthood.

My Review

I have to agree with the endorsements calling this book “hilarious.” Pénélope’s recollections about her childhood and transition to adulthood are so relatable. She’s awkward and earnest, and I both laughed and cried reading this memoir in vignettes.

The book opens with a chapter about when her parents got her and her sister two kittens. Her cat is exceptionally clingy and causes all sorts of mayhem, but Pénélope absolutely loves her. She recalls the phases of cat ownership, and how hard it is when we have to say goodbye to our furry friends. She captures the emotions of pet ownership so perfectly.

Several of the chapters or stories focus on Pénélope’s adventures in romance. She has unrequited crushes, friendship betrayals, and a wild week with an early boyfriend, which culminated in her hitchhiking to see a gynecologist. She has an incredible way of showing that confident naïveté that feels so classic to a teen experience. I felt so much nostalgia reading this book.

This is the first book by Bagieu that I’ve read, but after reading about her other work in her author biography, I’ve already got more of her books on my reading list. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need sources of joy in the coming year.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief, strong swearing.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and references to sex. A couple of panels show topless ladies (one image references something shown on TV on certain days when the author was growing up). One scene shows Pénélope and her boyfriend nestled together. We infer that they’re having sex based on body positions, but there’s no graphic nudity other than the above.

A couple of scenes reference sexual assault. It’s two stories told side by side, one when Pénélope was a child and one when she was older. In the younger scene, she spends the night with friends, and a boy gets out of bed and comes to her in the middle of the night. All we see are their eyes, but it’s clear Pénélope is scared and uncomfortable. She sneezes loudly and wakes up her friend, and the boy goes back to his own bed. Similarly, in the later scene, she’s gone to sleep, and a man touches her. She tells him to stop, and he acts entitled to her body. When she refuses him again, he kicks her out of his apartment. In both instances, she worries about telling someone else and being blamed for what happened.

Spiritual Content
A loved one promises Pénélope that she’ll sense her presence with her after she dies. Pénélope imagines or senses arms wrapped around her later when she feels sad. One image shows two angels who’ve sent the translucent, hugging arms.

Violent Content
References to unwanted sexual advances and feeling unsafe.

Drug Content
Pénélope and her friends smoke cigarettes in some scenes.

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