Tag Archives: Romance

Review: All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber

All the Stars Align
Gretchen Schreiber
Wednesday Books
Published April 1, 2025

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About All the Stars Align

All the Stars Align is the magical love story that is Taylor Swift’s Enchanted meets Cyrano, from the author of Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal.

All the women in Piper’s family know their true love at first sight, complete with butterflies, heart eyes, and a gut instinct. The kind of fated love that lasts forever. Piper grew up with her ancestors’ epic love stories repeated like fairy tales, and yearns for the day she’ll start her own. Already singled out in her family due to her physical disability, Piper collects a second strike against her when her parents announce their divorce, which convinces her family that she’s doomed.

When she finally finds her true love at a party, she’s more determined than ever to attain her love story and earn a spot in her family. But after completely botching their first meeting, she realizes that she’ll need help from her best friend Leo, who is sort of a love expert. The catch—he and Piper haven’t talked in six months, since he needed a “break” from their friendship.

To win over the love of her life and a place in her family, Piper must convince Leo to teach her his ways. And it’s all going as planned…until Leo confesses his own love for Piper. Now, she must decide which fate to follow.

My Review

This book started a little slowly for me. It’s pretty clear from the beginning that Leo has feelings for Piper, and she’s too deliberately oblivious to see it. Just as he’s about to confess how he feels, she meets the person she’s been waiting for: a boy named Forest, whose presence makes her feel a tug in her heart.

The biggest thing that elevates what would be a simple love story is the subplot about Piper’s parents, who, despite the family Blessing identifying them as true loves, have recently divorced. At first, Piper is committed to her aunts’ campaign to reunite her parents. After all, it’s clear the two still love each other.

As Piper explores her feelings for Leo and Forest, she begins to question whether letting Fate choose her romantic destiny is the right choice. Is it what she truly wants, or is it a safe way to ensure her place in her larger family?

Piper has some physical disabilities, including scoliosis. Her feelings about being a disabled child and possible love interest also come into play as she explores her family relationships and romance.

Diana, Piper’s best friend, is easily my favorite character. I liked the way that she navigated the mess between Piper and Leo and adored that she had her own unexpected love story in the mix as well.

If you liked The Charmed List by Julie Abe, then definitely check out The Stars Align.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used periodically.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some people believe in the goddess Fate, Piper’s family among them. Members of Piper’s family have been gifted a Blessing that allows them to know their true love when they meet them.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party.

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: Renegade Girls by Nora Neus and Julie Robine

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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: Loveboat Forever by Abigail Hing Wen

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Loveboat Forever (Loveboat, Taipei #3)
Abigail Hing Wen
HarperCollins
Published November 7, 2023

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About Loveboat Forever

Return to the sparkling world of Loveboat, this time with Pearl Wong, on an entirely new, romantic, whirlwind adventure from Abigail Hing Wen, New York Times bestselling author of Loveboat, Taipei!

Pearl was ready for a worldwide stage. Instead, she needs to stage a comeback.

Seventeen-year-old music prodigy Pearl Wong had the summer of her dreams planned—until a fall from grace leaves her in need of new plans…and a new image.

Where better to revamp her “brand” than at Chien Tan, the Taipei summer program for elite students that rocketed her older sister, Ever, on a path to romance and self-fulfillment years ago.

But as the alumni know, Chien Tan is actually Loveboat—the extravagant world where prodigies party till dawn—and there’s more awaiting Pearl there than she could have ever imagined, like a scandalous party in the dark, a romantic entanglement with a mysterious suitor…and a summer that will change her forever.

Sweeping, glamorous, and deeply soulful, this companion to the New York Times bestselling novel Loveboat, Taipei and Loveboat Reunion will reunite readers with their favorite characters, in a thrilling new journey of romance, self-discovery, and empowerment. Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.  

My Review

I really enjoyed Loveboat, Taipei, but this book is truly something special. Pearl, who appears as a minor character in the first book, takes the lead in this story. She’s a musician, so lots of the ways she describes things have a connection to music. She also plays the piano in several scenes and learns a new instrument called a pipa, or a Chinese lute.

True to Loveboat form, Pearl has a summer romance and finds herself drawn to two different boys for very different reasons. One is open and friendly and interested in the kind of music she’s trained so hard to play. The other is surly and frank and doesn’t seem interested in her until he teaches her to play the pipa.

But as she gets to know both boys and learns more about her own family history, she discovers that there’s more to her than being a classical pianist, and she wants to explore these things. She begins examining her feelings about music (her preference for Western composers, for example) and what it means to be a Chinese American musician.

At one point, she meets her mom’s extended family while trying to track down proof of her connection to her great-grandmother, a professional pipa musician. I loved those scenes and how they changed her path forward in the book.

Conclusion

Honestly, this has to be my favorite book in the series so far, and I absolutely need to read more of Abigail Hing Wen’s work. This story has layers for days. From the romance to the explorations about a musician’s identity to how we treat Chinese American artists to the power and strength of community, this book has so much to offer.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series, you could still start with this one, but it will spoil the endings of the other books. If you plan to read all three, start with Loveboat, Taipei first.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Few instances of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and brief touching under a shirt.

Spiritual Content
Pearl’s family is Christian. She references her family history and her grandfather’s conversion to Christianity and her questions about the context of that conversion after she visits a place where he lived and worked.

Violent Content
Pearl’s social media post goes viral, labeling her photos racist. At first, she is furious, but as she learns more about how racist tropes have harmed Chinese people, she realizes why she triggered some hurt with her images.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol, smoking, and vague references to drugs. It’s legal for eighteen-year-olds to drink alcohol in Taipei, so some do, mostly off-scene. No drug use happens on-scene. A tabloid magazine reports drugs were used at a party, but it’s unclear whether that happened or is a rumor.

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: 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
Justine Pucella Winans
Bloomsbury
Published March 11, 2025

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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

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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.