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Review: Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Youngblood
Sasha Laurens
Razorbill
Published July 19, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Youngblood

For fans of VAMPIRE DIARIES and dark academia, two queer teen bloodsuckers at an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all of Vampirdom when they uncover a frightening conspiracy on campus.

Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.

Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.

When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.

My Review

Paranormal isn’t usually a go-to genre for me, but when I heard about YOUNGBLOOD, I kinda couldn’t resist. I have hardly kept up with current vampire books, so it’s possible some of the things that appealed most to me have been done in other places, but a lot of things in the description of the story felt pretty fresh and new to me.

I loved the idea that the vampires have developed a blood substitute and that because of a pandemic, it has become unsafe to feed on human blood. The changes that brought to the vampire culture and community and the way that’s explored in the story were things I’ve never seen done anywhere else.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a boarding school that’s 100% all vampires, either. I liked that element to the story, because it created room to really explore some of the vampire culture ideas that I thought made this book really cool.

Not only is it a vampire book set in a boarding school, it’s also part murder mystery. YOUNGBLOODS has lots of layers to explore, and I loved that as each chapter unfolded, those layers kept getting exposed, and I kept getting more and more drawn into the story.

In terms of characters, I liked Kat immediately. She’s so sweet, and really wants to find a way to have connections with her people. Taylor had to grow on me. At the beginning especially, she kind of came off like the super judgy, too cool for the cool kids type that just tends not to be a character I connect easily with. But as I got to see some of her more vulnerable moments and see her use her anger and her power for good, I grew to love her as much as I loved Kat.

On the whole, it took me a few chapters to really invest in YOUNGBLOODS, but once I did, I really enjoyed reading it. I think readers who like paranormal romance like THE FELL OF DARK by Caleb Roehrig will like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Taylor is a lesbian. Other characters have romantic relationships with girls. Main characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. In one scene, a girl is topless while kissing. References to sex between two girls. Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Main characters are vampires and immortal. Vampires have the ability to glamour humans, which enchants them into doing whatever the vampire wants them to do.

Violent Content
Vampires feed on humans who are under a glamour and helpless. A girl tries to stop them and is knocked into a glass table. A girl discovers the body of a vampire.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol in a couple of scenes.

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

Review: Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Bad Things Happen Here
Rebecca Barrow
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published June 28, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Bad Things Happen Here

I KILLED ZOE SPANOS meets THE CHEERLEADERS in this haunting mystery about an island town with a history of unsolved deaths—and a girl desperate to uncover the mystery behind it all.

Luca Laine Thomas lives on a cursed island. To the outside world, Parris is an exclusive, idyllic escape accessible only to the one percent. There’s nothing idyllic about its history, though, scattered with the unsolved deaths of young women—deaths Parris society happily ignores to maintain its polished veneer. But Luca can’t ignore them. Not when the curse that took them killed her best friend, Polly, three years ago. Not when she feels the curse lingering nearby, ready to take her next.

When Luca comes home to police cars outside her house, she knows the curse has visited once again. Except this time, it came for Whitney, her sister. Luca decides to take the investigation of Whitney’s death into her own hands. But as a shocking betrayal rocks Luca’s world, the identity Whitney’s killer isn’t the only truth Luca seeks. And by the time she finds what she’s looking for, Luca will come face to face with the curse she’s been running from her whole life.

My Review

I own a couple other books by Rebecca Barrow, but BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE is the first one I’ve ever read. Right away, I felt hooked into the story. The relationship between Luca and Whitney is so real. I loved the small town, closed circle feel of the group of friends they shared.

As Luca learns that everyone has been keeping secrets, my interest in the story only deepened. I kept coming up with my own theories of what happened and then hanging on as the story pivoted new directions. I couldn’t stop reading. Things happened so fast that I kept wanting to read one more chapter all the way until the very end.

I have thoughts about the end, but I don’t want to give anything away. I think I can safely say that the way it ended felt both true to the character and also not what I expected. It both closed the story and yet left me yearning for more in a good way.

I think it’s hard to tell a story from the perspective of a narrator like Luca, someone who’s grappling with so much grief and betrayal and trauma and not only keep them an engaging narrator but walk the balance between them doing things that feel totally in character but also give the reader the experience we need from a story– to feel like there’s some growth and conclusion. Rebecca Barrow does both and does it all beautifully. I loved this book and can’t wait to read other books she’s written.

I think readers who enjoyed WHITE RABBIT by Caleb Roehrig or LITTLE & LION by Brandy Colbert will want to read this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Luca is Black and Latinx. She’s also a lesbian and deals with some mental health issues.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. One scene briefly shows masturbation.

Spiritual Content
Luca believes there’s a curse on her island that’s causing girls to die.

Violent Content
References to sexual assault and murder. One murder happens on scene. Luca briefly describes seeing the bodies of two people after they were found murdered.

Drug Content
Luca drinks alcohol with her friends. References to smoking pot. Some characters have a history of using hard drugs.

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

Review: Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

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

Home Field Advantage
Dahlia Adler
Wednesday Books
Published June 7, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Home Field Advantage

In this sweet and funny new f/f romance from the author of Cool for the Summer, a cheerleader and the school’s newest quarterback are playing to win, but might lose their hearts in the process.

Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.

The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.

Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can’t stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.

Dahlia Adler’s HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE is a sparkling romance about fighting for what – or who – you truly want.

My Review

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE is one of those books that every time I heard people talk about it, I couldn’t wait to read it. I’m not usually a big reader of football player/cheerleader romances, but I loved the concept of this one and its celebration of girls playing football.

The first chapter was a little bit rough for me because it’s really setting up how much Amber feels like she needs to become cheer captain the next year and why she’s so obsessed with that goal. As the story went forward, those early pages made a lot more sense, but I didn’t feel connected with her at the time I read that opening chapter. Once I got to know her and to see that even though she had very scripted goals and wants, she also had a lot of empathy and determination. Those things definitely made me fall in love with her.

As for Jack– I was a fan from minute one. Her passion, her fierceness, and even her guilt over the sacrifices her family made so she could have this one dream were so real and raw. Honestly, I couldn’t help rooting for her from the first minute to the last. I loved her so much.

My favorite part of the book was actually the part where Jack is on the field, the stakes are high, and she’s not at all sure she can get anyone on her team to come through for her. I feel like I read those pages on the literal edge of my seat, back straight, barely breathing as each play began. So, so good. I absolutely loved that scene (and the cheer immediately after the game, too…).

On the whole, I would say HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE is a total win for me. I feel like if you read LGBTQ+ fiction, you’ve probably already heard of Dahlia Adler from her blog, but if you haven’t– you’ll definitely want to check out both the blog and the book!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Amber identifies as polysexual (attracted to more than one but not all genders). Jack identifies as a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. References to making out.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some instances of bullying and some homophobic statements. References to one character who was blackmailing and bribing another character because he was gay and closeted.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at parties. One of the football players died in a car accident while he was drunk driving.

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

Review: She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

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

She Gets the Girl
Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published April 5, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About She Gets the Girl

Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.

Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she’s not a selfish flirt. That she’s ready for an actual commitment. And while Alex is the last person Molly would ever think she could trust, she can’t deny Alex knows what she’s doing with girls, unlike her.

As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.

My Review

This one started a teeny bit rough for me. I don’t know if it was the writing or the fact that I’d just read two other books in which a parent was an alcoholic, so I was kind of worn out on that idea? It didn’t feel quite authentic in those opening chapters, but maybe that’s because at that point, Alex was her most inauthentic self.

At any rate, once I was three or so chapters into the book, I felt like things smoothed out and I started to really like both Molly and Alex a lot. I loved watching their friendship develop and watching Molly find her confidence and Alex find the ability to open up and let herself genuinely care about someone.

One of the things I think SHE GETS THE GIRL does really well is deliver complicated relationships. Natalie isn’t the perfect girlfriend, so Alex’s goal of reuniting with her isn’t as simple as it looks, and I found I had a lot of feelings about that, in a good way. I also thought the relationship between Alex and her mom was well done. At first I thought it would be kind of one-dimensional, but I liked that Alex began to unpack her feelings about her relationship with her mom and how she was responding to her mom’s behavior.

Molly also had a complex relationship with her mom. I felt like there was a good balance there, too, of giving enough time and space in the story to bring up some of those issues without it dominating or taking over the whole book.

On the whole, I can say this wife-wife duo delivered exactly the sweet romance I was looking for. I really enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Molly is half Korean American. Both she and Alex are self-described lesbians.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. References to sex between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Molly tries out for a rugby club and gets flattened when another girl tackles her.

Drug Content
Molly attends a party where people are drinking alcohol. Alex and Natalie get drunk after a show. Alex’s mom is an alcoholic.

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