Tag Archives: Romance

Review: Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift

Cast in Firelight (Wickery #1)
Dana Swift
Delacorte Press
Published January 19, 2021

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About Cast in Firelight

Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, a talented witch on the cusp of taking her royal ceremony test, and a girl who just wants to prove her worth to her people.

Jatin is the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard who’s mastered all nine colors of magic, and a boy anxious to return home for the first time since he was a child.

Together, their arranged marriage will unite two of Wickery’s most powerful kingdoms. But after years of rivalry from afar, Adraa and Jatin only agree on one thing: their reunion will be anything but sweet.

Only, destiny has other plans and with the criminal underbelly of Belwar suddenly making a move for control, their paths cross…and neither realizes who the other is, adopting separate secret identities instead.

Between dodging deathly spells and keeping their true selves hidden, the pair must learn to put their trust in the other if either is to uncover the real threat. Now Wickery’s fate is in the hands of rivals..? Fiancées..? Partners..? Whatever they are, it’s complicated and bound for greatness or destruction.

My Review

I really liked the concept of this book, and I’m generally a fan of the enemies-to-lovers types of stories, so CAST IN FIRELIGHT definitely has that going for it. I liked Adraa and how quirky and awkward she is, too.

There were a few things I struggled with, though. One was the magic system. It’s nine different types and coordinating gods/goddesses and colors. That made it a lot to keep track of, but also characters that then could use most or all types of magic seemed almost too powerful?

I also had a hard time understanding some of the structure of the royal family/palace. Like, I couldn’t understand if the palace was just really small, with a really small staff? (Was the kitchen maid the same girl who styled Adraa’s hair?) Sometimes things happened that seemed strange, like when a guard takes Adraa to his room to speak with her privately. Wouldn’t that be a huge breach in propriety? And with the prince’s fiancée??

They were small things, so it wasn’t hard to kind of just shrug and move past them to see where the rest of the story was going. I liked that it had a lot of twists and turns, and I definitely wanted to know where Adraa and Jatin’s relationship would head, so I was definitely invested in the story.

I also appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book explaining that while it’s not an #ownvoices story, she wrote the book for her children, who will be Indian. That and the nod to her husband’s family was really sweet.

I feel like this book would be a good one for middle school readers. It’s solidly a young adult book, but not really dark or gritty, so a great fit for readers who need something a bit lighter– readers who read and enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles, for instance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are Indian-coded characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Characters use “blood” as a swear word.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point a boy and girl fall asleep on top of a building, and he teases her about them “sleeping together”.

There are references to some sexual bullying.

Spiritual Content
Nine gods and goddesses have the power to bestow gifts of different types (and colors) of magic on humans.

Violent Content
Some battle violence and situations of peril.

Drug Content
Some people use a powerful drug called Bloodlurst that causes enhanced magic for a time before causing damage. It’s viewed very negatively in the story, and Adraa is working hard to try to stop a group which sells the drug to her people.

Note: I received a free copy of CAST IN FIRELIGHT in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: Written in Starlight by Isabel Ibañez

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

Written in Starlight
Isabel Ibañez
Page Street Kids
Published January 26, 2021

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About Written in Starlight

If the jungle wants you, it will have you…

Catalina Quiroga is a Condesa without a country. She’s lost the Inkasisa throne, the loyalty of her people, and her best friend. Banished to the perilous Yanu Jungle, Catalina knows her chances of survival are slim, but that won’t stop her from trying to escape. It’s her duty to reclaim the throne.

When Manuel, the son of her former general, rescues Catalina from a jaguar, a plan forms. Deep in the jungle, the city of gold is hidden, home to the fierce Illari people, who she could strike an alliance with.

But the elusive Illari are fighting a battle of their own—a mysterious blight is corrupting the jungle, laying waste to everything they hold dear. As a seer, Catalina should be able to help, but her ability to read the future in the stars is as feeble as her survival instincts. While searching for the Illari, Catalina must reckon with her duty and her heart to find her true calling, which could be the key to stopping the corruption before it destroys the jungle completely.

An adventerous South American Tomb Raider! This hotly anticipated companion to Woven in Moonlight follows an outcast Condesa, as she braves the jungle to forge an alliance with the lost city of gold.

My Review

I always feel super nervous going into the sequel of a book that I adored. WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT was one of the best books I read last year, so I had high expectations for the companion novel, and I really wanted to read Catalina’s story.

I thought the book was great, so let me go no further without saying that. The jungle setting felt so spongy and deadly real. Catalina’s fierceness, her total, unquestioning commitment to her people made her admirable. I liked the slow burn, forbidden romance.

Perhaps the thing that kept me from falling in love with this story the way I did with WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT is that because I’d already walked with Ximena through her journey to understand and love the Llacsan people, it was difficult not to feel like Catalina was being selfish and narrow-minded as she dug into her prejudices and clung to them.

On the other hand, I think the things she felt and believed made a lot of sense for her character. I guess I just wish that the resolve of her hate had begun to crack sooner. That would have allowed more time for her spiritual journey, too, which I would have liked to see.

Even with all that, I enjoyed the book and loved seeing Catalina grow into the person she was meant to become. The jungle setting was fantastic, and the slow burn romance totally delicious.

I think fans of GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson (still one of my favorites) would really enjoy this book. It could probably be read on its own, though some characters and relationships from the first book are referenced. I think it’s written in such a way that you could infer a lot of what happened in the first book. (That said, if you want to read both, definitely start with the first book, otherwise WRITTEN IN STARLIGHT will spoil a lot of the plot.)

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are Latinx-coded.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point they bathe together but stay pretty far apart.

Spiritual Content
Catalina was raised worshipping the moon goddess, Luna, and believing that her people were the only ones to do so. Other people worship the earth goddess or the sun god. Some prayer and meditation rituals are shown, and some characters speak with and experience the presence of the gods.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. The jungle is full of dangerous animals and people who attack Catalina and her allies. A vicious monster literally tears some limb from limb. Magic wielders use their magic against Catalina and the others.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of WRITTEN IN STARLIGHT in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: Alex Approximately by Jenn Bennett

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

Alex, Approximately
Jenn Bennett
Simon Pulse
Published April 4, 2017

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About Alex, Approximately

Classic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new arch-nemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

My Review

This is another book that’s been on my shelf for a while, and the second book by Jenn Bennett that I’ve read. I remember hoping to get a pre-release copy when I heard about this book, but I wasn’t able to. At some point I bought the e-book, and it’s been sitting in my Kindle app patiently waiting for me to finally sit down and read it.

Which I did! I read ALEX, APPROXIMATELY right after reading P.S. I LIKE YOU by Kasie West, which might sound weird because it’s a really similar plot line. What can I say? Zero regrets!

I really enjoyed the characters and the cheesy museum workplace. I remember this book being compared to the movie YOU’VE GOT MAIL, and I hoped for a cool reveal moment like that. Happily, I will say that the book delivered on those hopes.

The classic movie references were also awesome. I knew most of them, so it definitely let me feel like I was in on the story a bit more, though I think it’d be plenty enjoyable without understanding the references.

Apparently I love Rom Com. Who knew? This makes two in a row that I really enjoyed and lifted my mood. I liked it a lot.

If you’re new to Jenn Bennett’s books, you may also want to check out my review of STARRY EYES.

Content Notes for Alex Approximately

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Porter’s mom is Hawaiian (Chinese and Polynesian).

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and making out between boy and girl. Reference to masturbation and brief description of sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Description of a brutal shark attack. A character shares a childhood memory of getting shot. Boys get into a brutal fistfight twice.

Drug Content
References to drug use. Bailey notes that teens drink alcohol and smoke pot at a big beach party.

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

Review: Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

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

Love & Olives
Jenna Evans Welch
Simon Pulse
Published November 10, 2020

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About Love & Olives

Liv Varanakis doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and will she fly out to Greece and help?—Liv jumps at the opportunity.

But when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little…awkward. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. And yet Liv doesn’t want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo—her father’s charismatic so-called “protégé”—to witness her struggle.

And that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.

My Review

I have some mixed feelings about this book, but I liked a lot of things. First, the stuff that I loved.

The setting is gorgeous. LOVE & OLIVES made me feel like I was in Santorini enjoying the outdoors and the sea and excited about hunting down rumors of Atlantis. I loved a lot of things about Liv. She’s smart and artistic, and I couldn’t help feeling for her as she faced this unexpected trip to reunite with her estranged father. I liked Liv’s mom, too. She’s sharp and I felt like she tried really hard to walk that balance between interfering when necessary and letting Liv make her own life choices.

I really struggled with Liv’s feelings and relationship with her dad. I feel like I’ve been burned by that kind of visionary, head-in-the-clouds type of person before. He just seemed like he might flake out on her any second. It was hard not to worry that Liv was going to end up hurt again. Sometimes that made me angry.

I also had a hard time with Theo. I really didn’t like that he filmed her without her permission and ignored her when she asked him to stop. There were reasons in the story that made it a “good thing” that he had that footage, that’s still not okay. I don’t like stories where the guy overrides a girl’s no because he “knows better” than she does or knows her better than she knows herself, etc. I think it’s a dangerous behavior to idealize because it romanticizes someone who ultimately isn’t respecting a point-blank refusal.

That aside, I did like that Theo asked her thought-provoking questions. He also acted as a buffer between Liv and her dad. He did eventually grow to trust and respect Liv’s boundaries.

Her relationship with her dad went some places I wasn’t expecting. I still had a hard time because I worried that somehow he wouldn’t be accountable for the hurt he’d caused. I think the way the story explored the reasons why he disappeared and why he’d wanted to be a part of Liv’s life again were ultimately satisfying. It just took me a long time to warm to him.

Altogether, this book feels like a sweet summer romance, with a beautiful setting guaranteed to make you feel like you’re escaping reality. Ultimately I’m glad I read it. I think fans of Jennifer E. Smith will enjoy the romance of this story.

Content Notes for Love and Olives

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Liv and her father are Greek. So is Theo.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple instances of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of LOVE & OLIVES in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

Review: Dear Hero by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Romance, , , , , ,

Dear Hero
Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat
INtense Publications
Published September 28, 2020

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About Dear Hero

Cortex and V need a new nemesis. 

Up-and-coming teen superhero Cortex is on top of the world–at least, until his villain dumps him. If he’s going to save his reputation, he needs a new antagonist, and fast.

Meanwhile, the villainous Vortex has once again gotten a little overeager and taken out a hero prematurely. Will any young hero be able to keep up with her? Maybe she should work on finding a steady relationship with an enemy she won’t kill in the first round.

So the two turn to Meta-Match, a nemesis pairing site for heroes and villains, where they match right away. But not everything in the superhero world is as it seems. Who are the real heroes and villains? And just how fine of a line is there between love and hate? When darkness from the past threatens them both, Cortex and V may need to work together to make it out alive. 
Told entirely through texts, transcriptions, and direct messages, this darkly humorous chat fiction novel goes behind the scenes of the superworld.

My Review

So this whole story is told in what looks like direct messages through an app called Meta-Match, which is like a browsing site for villains and heroes to help them pair up and fight each other.

The opening chats were a little bit awkward, but I feel like it’s hard to write scenes where characters meet online without having at least a little bit of the feeling each other out and trying not to give too much away. Right away I knew I’d love V’s tough exterior and soft heart and Cortex’s awkwardness.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It’s really different. Definitely a great read for anyone really needing an escape. I haven’t read RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer, but I wish I could say how it compares to something like that.

It reminded me a teeny bit of the ILLUMINAE books in the way it used direct messages and transcribed conversations. DEAR HERO does leave you to fill in the blanks on some of the scenes because you’re strictly getting dialogue unless someone narrates what’s happening.

All in all, it was definitely an entertaining, cute read. I’d say perfect for middle school readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Cortex is Japanese-American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
There were some teasing comments about race. For instance, in one scene V comments to Cortex (who is Asian) something like, aren’t you supposed to be good at math? He calls her out for stereotyping.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Reference to V attending Mass with Cortex’s family.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some references to violence and descriptions of battles between heroes and villains.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of DEAR HERO in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.


Review: The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor

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

The Code for Love and Heartbreak
Jillian Cantor
Inkyard Press
Published October 6, 2020

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About The Code for Love and Heartbreak

From bestselling author Jillian Cantor comes a smart, edgy update of Jane Austen’s beloved classic Emma.

Emma Woodhouse is a genius at math, but clueless about people. After all, people are unreliable. They let you down—just like Emma’s sister, Izzy, did this year, when she moved to California for college. But numbers…those you can count on. (No pun intended.)

Emma’s senior year is going to be all about numbers, and seeing how far they can take her. When she and George, her Coding Club co-president, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born—a matchmaking app that goes far beyond swiping, using algorithms to calculate compatibility. George disapproves of Emma’s idea, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first.

Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other and her own feelings defy any algorithm? Emma thought math could solve everything. But there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.

My Review

As a contemporary romance, I really enjoyed CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK. I tend to like smart heroines, so it was a pretty strong possibility that I’d love Emma going into the book. And it turns out, I totally loved her.

I’m also a pretty big fan of sister relationships, so I loved the relationship between Emma and Izzy. I loved that they were so different from each other and that sometimes that caused sparks to fly and other times, they needed each other in ways that only sisters truly do.

As an update of Jane Austen’s EMMA, though, I have much more mixed feelings. I missed some of the dynamics in some of the relationships. I missed the Miss Bates of Austen’s version, in all her sweet, trying chattiness. I missed the connection between characters– the Westons and Frank (Sam) Churchill, and between Jane and Miss Bates.

In fairness, I don’t know how someone could bring all those relationships and the complexities they add AND tell CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK without adding like 100 more pages. Which I probably wouldn’t have minded once I was into the story, but I imagine the average reader might not feel quite the same! Ha.

All in all, I think this is a super cute romance with smart characters and interesting relationships. Fans of friends to lovers or of sister stories will find lots to love here. I think the story will appeal to fans of WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU by Marisa Kanter and TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW by Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Some minor characters are gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Couples hold hands. A group of senior class boys who make a bet on who can have sex with an underclass girl first. This behavior is pretty strongly condemned. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Emma remembers a party her sister threw that someone brought alcohol to. She hid upstairs and didn’t participate in the party.

Note: I received a free copy of THE CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

About Jillian Cantor

Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Website

Jillian Cantor is the author of award-winning and bestselling novels for adults and teens, including In Another Time, The Hours Count, Margot, and The Lost Letter, which was a USA Today bestseller. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Cantor lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.