I want you all to quickly remember the YA scene during the Twilight craze, when teenage vampire romances were all the rage. Think of all the thinly-plotted knockoffs that disgraced the YA shelf during that time. We remember the over-sexed, awkward, and cliché House of Night series, but then, we also remember the delicious soap-opera-esque … Continue reading Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, by Beth Fantaskey →

Another fluff book, pandemic still raging, blah blah, you guys all know the drill by now. But, after the mediocre review I gave to No Offense, it might not be expected that I review another Meg Cabot book so soon. You see, I bought No Offense and today’s book No Judgments, in the same shopping … Continue reading No Judgments, by Meg Cabot →

Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is…something of an obsession of mine. Even as a kid, I freaking loved the tale of kind and gentle Snow White, her friends the seven dwarfs, and, of course, the cruel and jealous Evil Queen. I’ve even cosplayed as Snow White twice. In fact, when comic conventions become … Continue reading Mirror, Mirror: A Twisted Tale, by Jen Calonita →

I don’t normally pick up contemporary fiction, especially not these days when all I want is an escape. But then, a funny thing happened…I actually got tired of reading escapist fluff. Can you imagine? Yeah, neither could I. Maybe I finally could stomach a little bit of reality—even if that reality was about a devoted … Continue reading The Promise of Stardust, by Priscille Sibley →

Maybe I’m getting too old for some YA authors. Maybe I’ve grown out of some YA characters. Either way, I read through a lot of Robin Palmer’s Geek Charming with clenched teeth. I first read Robin Palmer’s work when I was fifteen or sixteen. It was around this age that I really started (mentally) critiquing … Continue reading Geek Charming, by Robin Palmer →

It’s been a hot minute since I last read Meg Cabot, but she, like Sarah Dessen, was a staple of my teen years. I remember sitting against the fence surrounding my junior high school track field, doing homework and reading the Princess Diaries between events. I even took up journaling every day just so I … Continue reading No Offense, by Meg Cabot →

It’s probably clear by now that many fantasy books have shaped my reading tastes. Indeed, my bookshelf is still chock-full of fantastic works about fantastic worlds. But A Mango-Shaped Space, a piece of realistic fiction, is different—it’s special. A Mango-Shaped Space was the first book that I remember made me cry. And I don’t just … Continue reading A Mango-Shaped Space, by Wendy Mass →

So here we are: another YA fairy book from the post-Twilight years when hidden destinies were found inside of love triangles and magical melodrama. I remember Wings being almost as polarizing as its vampire predecessor when it came out in 2009, which makes it sound like it’s cut from the same problematic young adult fantasy … Continue reading Wings, by Aprilynne Pike →

Is it seriously any surprise that I’ve turned to yet another fluff book? I know the pandemic is six months old at this point, but sometimes, anxiety turns on a dime and literary escapism is not a bad thing. I’ve actually read Head in the Clouds before. It was a fluffy summer read that I … Continue reading Head in the Clouds, by Karen Witemeyer →

A funny thing happened to me the other day at the bookstore: I picked up a book called The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, and after reading the summary, I decided I was in for a comfortable and familiar fantasy adventure.  I took it home, and quickly discovered the summary lied to … Continue reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson →