Rules For Vanishing is old-school paranormal horror: suspense, gore, and sinister threats from unexpected directions. Kate Alice Marshall orchestrates a strong ensemble and perfectly plotted twists.
My favorite quotes from FRANKLY IN LOVE
I revisit 10 great quotes from one of my favorite YA new releases of the year. “America, this is Korea. Korea, this is America. Everyone good? Can I go do my thing now? Good.”
Happy Book Birthday! One book I loved and two disappointments
Though September is a crazy busy month, especially for YA releases, this week is a little slower. Today, three new YA titles that I’ve read are hitting shelves.
Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Reading Snacks
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl and features a new prompt for a top ten list every week.
Q&A with Candace Ganger: Blog Tour for SIX GOODBYES WE NEVER SAID
My Q&A with Candace Ganger, author of SIX GOODBYES WE NEVER SAID, a heartfelt contemporary of loss and recovery told in lyrical prose.
Happy Book Birthday to my favorite release of the year (so far)
I’ve read arcs of four of the YA titles hitting shelves today, and they’re an exceptionally mixed bag: a three-star, a four-star, a very rare one-star, and a book that I’d give six stars if I could.
Book Review: WHO PUT THIS SONG ON? by Morgan Parker
Who Put This Song On is an honest exploration of the intersection of mental illness and Blackness circa 2008 that probably shouldn’t have been a novel.
Book Review: THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY by Alix E. Harrow
If there’s any justice in the world, The Ten Thousand Doors of January will soon be a YA classic. My favorite read of 2019 so far.
August Wrap-Up: it finally happened
You all said it would happen. Every blogger warned me that this couldn’t last, and I didn’t listen.
Book Review: SCARS LIKE WINGS by Erin Stewart
Scars Like Wings is a moving, introspective story of healing from immense loss when healing can be a trauma itself. Through the eyes of a teenage burn survivor, Erin Stewart asks what it takes to truly choose life.
Happy Book Birthday! 13 New Releases Hitting Shelves Today
The first of the September release dates brings two books that I was fortunate to read in ARC form and loved, plus three I can’t wait to get my hands on.
Top Ten Tuesday: Books Outside of My Comfort Zone
I’m doing a Top Ten Tuesday post for the first time! I’ve been reading other bloggers’ lists for a long time and I’ve finally gotten my act together enough to join in the fun.
Anthology Review: THE OTHER F WORD ed. Angie Manfredi
The (Other) F Word takes on modern fatness with an intersectional eye and a spirit of joyful defiance.
September is Going to Kill Me (with YA releases)
Publishers have decided to kill me by dropping a pile of highly-anticipated, amazing-looking YAs on my all at once in September. Here we go.
Book Review: THE BABYSITTERS COVEN by Kate Williams
The Babysitters Coven doesn’t have the story to back up its fun hook. A shallow series-starter that might have been more successful as upper-Middle Grade.
Book Review: ONE PERSON, NO VOTE (YA EDITION) by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden
The Young Adult rewrite of Anderson and Bolden’s award-winning One Person, No Vote never justifies its existence. Read the original instead.
Anthology Review: IT’S A WHOLE SPIEL ed. Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman
It’s a Whole Spiel uses its all-star lineup of Jewish YA authors to maximum impact, painting a nuanced, intersectional picture of the joys and pains of contemporary teenage Jewish identity.
Book Review: REBEL GIRLS by Elizabeth Keenan
Rebel Girls attempts to repackage nostalgia as a novel, substituting pop-culture references for thoughtful worldbuilding. The result is a poorly-paced, directionless story with a disturbing lack of empathy.
Book Review: FRANKLY IN LOVE by David Yoon
Frankly in Love isn’t the fake-dating romance you might be expecting. It is, however, an outstanding YA debut: a loving look at identity, family, and growing up.
Is FRANKLY IN LOVE’s hype setting it up to fail?
Penguin Teen’s huge marketing push could be setting expectations that the actual book won’t be able to meet.
Help us start a magazine of YA!
If you noticed that I’ve bene on semi-hiatus for the last two weeks (and I know you have. Hundreds of you have been hitting refresh on your WordPress, wondering why Katie has only posted two reviews in the past two weeks), this is why. I’m helping to launch a magazine devoted entirely to the world…