The Feeling of Falling in Love - Mason Deaver

 

Title: The Feeling of Falling in Love 
Author: Mason Deaver 
Format: Hardcover 
Rating: 4.5 Stars 

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From the bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best, comes a new kind of love story, about the bad decisions we sometimes make... and the people who help get us back on the right path.

Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston and What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli.

Just days before spring break, Neil Kearney is set to fly across the country with his childhood friend (and current friend-with-benefits) Josh, to attend his brother's wedding—until Josh tells Neil that he's in love with him and Neil doesn't return the sentiment.

With Josh still attending the wedding, Neil needs to find a new date to bring along. And, almost against his will, roommate Wyatt is drafted.

At first, Wyatt (correctly) thinks Neil is acting like a jerk. But when they get to LA, Wyatt sees a little more of where it's coming from. Slowly, Neil and Wyatt begin to understand one another… and maybe, just maybe, fall in love for the first time…

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This was an absolutely adorable and yet sometimes heartbreaking novel.  I loved everything about it. 

The characters in this book were so so well written, even including Neil's transphobic and homophobic grandparents.  Like, I couldn't stand his grandparents, but yes, they were well written and I believed their characters and wanted to swear at them a lot and kick them in the kneecaps.Wyatt, Neil, Josh, Michael, Neil's mom - they were all very well written, and very believable.  It was great to see that.  

I loved that Neil went through some really great changes throughout this book, as did Wyatt and Josh.  Neil is a trans boy who has had, um, some sort of issues with the way he treats people.  He's not really kind when we first meet him.  When was at home with his mother he snuck out of the house so many times, and would take the car and get into 18+ clubs where he would just sit and hang out.  His mother got tired of this and sent him to a boarding school in N. Carolina.  Anyway, no more spoilers (I hope) but this is where he met Wyatt and also became, ahem, more than friends with Josh.

It was truly heartwarming to watch Wyatt learn about themselves as well.  Wyatt learns that it's okay to be who you are and they start dipping into learning more about themselves and their gender identity.  The author explores this learning with great care. 

Josh even learns and grows and realizes that yes, he was in love with Neil, but Neil wasn't really the person he was supposed to be with. He learns to look into himself and find out what he really wants in a boyfriend/partner.  

This whole book was also filled with humor and heart.  There were so many funny moments, and tropes that will make your little queer (or straight ally) heart very happy. Mason Deaver weaved in so much fun in this book, which is fair because you need fun on a cross country week long trip, amiright?! 

I personally feel like the book can be described fairly well with the following two pics: 

If you have read this book, let me know what you thought of it, and if you haven't GO DO IT NOW!

Heartstopper - the series

 

I just finished watching Heartstopper on Netflix, and it was just as sweet and adorable as the graphic novels.  If you're a teen who loves romance and all sorts of sweet cute stuff, or if you're an adult who loves rooting for kids being kids and being themselves, this is the series for you.  It is fluffy and awesome and I loved it! 

The series does a lot of things well, including the casting.  I absolutely loved each person cast in the series and I thought they fit into the characters they were playing so well.  I especially loved that they cast a trans actress to play Elle.  Hollywood has this bad bad habit of casting cis people to play trans roles, and that's just not cool - so it was really refreshing to see that they had cast Yasmin Finney in that role. 

True to the graphic novels, Ben and several of Nick's friends were real jerks.  Ben especially was just horrible!  He was so nasty to Charlie and it was absolutely fantastic when Charlie was finally able to build up the confidence to really tell Ben to basically fuck off and leave him alone.  Go Charlie!  

I loved that the art teacher was so cool and understanding with Charlie.  He'd been there when Charlie was bullied, when Charlie went through it with Ben, and just created this safe space within his classroom that made Charlie feel good.  It's great when the important adults in a young persons life show those kids that they are safe with that adult and that they can be whoever they are without question. 

The books and the Netflix series both show that acceptance is a good thing, It is amazing to see a series that wholeheartedly embraces all the characters and shows them living unapologetically.  I know someone is going to get their panties in a twist and get mad at seeing a show and a graphic novel series that shows queer love and joy, but my suggestion for them is: get over it.  Everyone deserves to be happy, to feel joy, to experience all the good things in life, and that includes LGBT people.  Alice Oseman did such a wonderful job creating this whole world and showing the love these people felt for their friends, and the joy and happiness they want with the people they liked. 

It was fantastic to see Charlie grow and to see Nick grow - to watch them both learn so much about themselves and who they are.  They were both just phenomenal and wonderful, and the actors cast to play them in the Netflix series were so so good.  

The whole season is beautiful and wonderful, and if you haven't watched it, you need to now.  Also, if you haven't read the books yet - DO IT NOW! 

Love at First Fight - Sandhya Menon

 

Title: Love at First Fight 
Author: Sandhya Menon
Format: Ebook
Rating: 3.5 Stars

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Ashish Patel has never considered himself a hopeless romantic. But now that he’s found his other half, Sweetie Nair, there’s nothing he wants more than to celebrate love in all its forms. So when Valentine’s Day rolls around and he hears about a romance-themed escape room, he knows it’s the perfect opportunity to bring together Sweetie along with his newly engaged brother and sister-in-law-to-be, Rishi Patel and Dimple Shah.

On their way to the escape room, the group runs into Pinky Kumar and Samir Jha—both friends to Ashish but nemeses to each other. Despite Pinky’s kneejerk reaction to the cheesy theme (which gets her a high-five from Dimple), the two of them agree to join the group.

The escape room is as insufferably saccharine as Pinky feared, but even she is surprised when she and Samir actually…work well together. Samir embodies everything Pinky despises—following rules, having no fun, consuming single-use plastics. Getting along with someone like him—a shiny Volvo when she’s so used to junkers—sends Pinky into a tailspin.

Sparks are definitely flying, but it’s unclear if that’s a good thing. Could this be love at first fight?

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Love At First Fight is a smooshy novella by the author of When Dimple Met Rishi - Sandhya Menon.  Her cute romantic comedy books have easily become some of my favorite YA romance books. 

This book was definitely a cute, smooshy read just like the other books in the Dimpleverse.  It was a very quick read (it took me a bout an hour to get through) and was honestly the perfect thing to read on a lazy afternoon.

This book takes place in an escape room that two couples and their friends go to as a date night.  Samir and Pinky object to it being called a date, of course, because in this book they are still not dating EVEN THOUGH THEY SHOULD BE!  

Love At First Fight is full of Menon's trademark witty humor and sweet moments. The characters play off each other well, and the story flows nicely from beginning to end.  

Because this was a book that took place over the span of like two hours, there really wasn't the chance for character development or inflection.  However, you could tell that the two established couples, Dimple and Rishi and Ashish and Sweetie, really played well off each other.  Reading the book was a reminder of what great couples they both are and how good they are for each other. We also got a chance to see that Pinky and Samir are definitely attracted to each other, and watching them try to hide it is just hilarious.

If you want a lighthearted, quick, funny read, you need to get your hands on this delightful ebook. 

If you've already read this book, drop a comment below and let me know what you thought of it!

Brightly Burning - Alexa Donne

Title: Brightly Burning
Author: Alexa Donne
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 2 Stars

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Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects, having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind.

But the Rochester harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the fleet. 

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SPOILER ALERT: This review has spoilers, so, I guess don't read the review until later if you don't like spoilers. 

I started out really enjoying this book. By the time I finished, I felt like I had just trudged through 50000 pounds of quicksand AND the fire swamp from The Princess Bride AND the bog of eternal stench from Labyrinth.

This book is a futuristic retelling of Jane Eyre.  Cool, right?  Well, turns out, not so much.

The book has things you'd expect in a retelling of Jane Eyre - hauntings, a young nanny, a brooding alcoholic 19 year old.  Wait, did I jut say brooding alcoholic 19 year old? Yes, yes I did - because that's how old Hugo Fairfax, the captain of the Rochester, is. He became the captain of the ship at 14 after his parents died, because obviously a 14 year old is mature and capable enough to be the captain of a ship.

Anyway, let's break this book down.

The Characters: were about as well written and well developed as a bag of bricks.  They were all flat and uninteresting.  There was nothing about any of the characters that I found to be special or that made them stand out to me.  They were stock characters with limited traits, and they had limited growth throughout the book.

The plot was predictable and boring. There wasn't really much of a surprise as to what would happen, and there were too many things that felt forced, like they were added to the story just for the sake of being there, and not for any real purpose. 

I found it unrealistic that the *only* books they would read were books from at least 200 years in the past or older.  Now, I like me a good classic - I love classics.  But, I love modern books as well.  However, this book only mentioned books like Harry Potter, all the way back to books that are classics in our current time of 2019.  They did not mention any new books that people might enjoy during their time period.  That didn't feel very well planned out to me. People read classics, yes, and classics are important, but to me it just isn't realistic that these are the only books people would read. 

I thought a few things were a little unrealistic - like the fact that people in this society suddenly only usually live to be around 35, maybe 40. (Unless you are a worker on the Rochester. Then apparently you live past middle age.) I would think that in such an advanced time period they would have found a way for people to live for more time, not less, but that's just me.  Also, what's with treating a bunch of teenagers like they are old maids if they are not married off by the time they are 18!?! As if a person's entire identity is tied up in whether or not they are married?  People are more important than that, and shouldn't be treated like the only thing that matters is landing a spouse. 

Overall, this book ended up being a bit of a dud for me - read it if you want, but don't go into it with high expectations

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Okay, reader friends - have you read this book?  If so, tell me what you thought of it in the comments below! 

There's Something About Sweetie - Sandhya Menon

Title: There's Something About Sweetie
Author: Sandhya Menon
Format: Hardcover
Rating 5 Stars

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Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After he’s dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.

The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.

Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

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Hi reader friends!  Let's talk about Sweetie and Ashish. 

If you've read When Dimple Met Rishi, you are already slightly familiar with Rishi's younger brother Ashish Patel.  Ashish is as different from Rishi as you could possibly imagine.  He's not as traditional as his older brother, he's into sports - specifically basketball, he (until recently) never wanted to follow his parents or brothers lead and date Indian-American girls.  BUT, then he met Sweetie. 

Sweetie is a wonderful, charming young woman who also happens to be fat - and is growing up with a mother who really wants her to lose weight and be skinny.  Her mom is so convinced that there is something wrong with Sweetie that she even goes so far as to tell Ashish's parents that Sweetie can't date him because she's not good enough for Ashish and won't be until she's skinny. 

Anyway - long story short - Ashish and Sweetie do go on dates together, as you can tell from the description.  Now of course, Sweetie's parents don't know - and normally I'd be against kids dating without their parents knowledge, but in this case, it works and I'm here for it.

Let's break down the love here now!

There is a great, wonderful cast of characters in this book.  I think every single character adds so much to this story - even when they just have small part to play in where the story is going.  Each character has such a well developed and distinct personality. The author does a great job of creating characters that are well written, with their own distinct personalities, who work well with each other.  Even the characters who's personalities were a bit much (Tina auntie, and Samir in the beginning of the novel) were so well done!  You will love these characters.  (Watch out for Pinky - she's great and so fun!)

I think there is also a lot of chemistry between Sweetie and Ashish.  They have the physical attraction to each other, and they learn that they have enough in common with each other as well to have a real, good relationship.  I love what they have together.

This story is a total cute, fun read.  The story is well developed, and there are so many fun and funny moments that just make it even more worth reading.  I love that each moment in this book feels perfect and fits with the book as a whole.

Sandhya Menon's books are well written as always - and I love that she manages to not only write her stories well, but to weave in so many important things to her books as well. 

Are you surprised that Sandhya Menon has supernatural references in her book?!  I'm not!  I love that she loves Supernatural as much as I do, and weaves that in to her writing.  So - let's have some of my favorite Supernatural memes and gifs to end this post: 

I want to actually end by saying that this book does deal with fat teens and the way that fat people can often be treated like they are less than because they are fat.  I want you to know, from one fat person to another, if you are struggling, know you are worth it. You have value even if other people claim you don't.  You will find yourself in Sweetie, and I hope you know there are other people out there who are in your corner and who love and accept you just the way you are!  Now go read this fabulous book, and when you're done, come back here and talk to me about it.  I want to know what you think! 

29 Dates - Melissa de la Cruz

Title: 29 Dates
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 1 Star

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How many dates will it take to find The One?

Jisu’s traditional South Korean parents are concerned by what they see as her lack of attention to her schoolwork and her future. Working with Seoul’s premiere matchmaker to find the right boyfriend is one step toward ensuring Jisu’s success, and going on the recommended dates is Jisu’s compromise to please her parents while finding space to figure out her own dreams. But when she flubs a test then skips out on a date to spend time with friends, her fed-up parents shock her by shipping her off to a private school in San Francisco. Where she’ll have the opportunity to shine academically—and be set up on more dates!

Navigating her host family, her new city and school, and more dates, Jisu finds comfort in taking the photographs that populate her ever-growing social media account. Soon attention from two very different boys sends Jisu into a tailspin of soul-searching. As her passion for photography lights her on fire, does she even want to find The One? And what if her One isn’t parent and matchmaker approved?

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My first thought when I saw the cover of this book:

My thought after I read the description and made a note of who the author was:

My thought after I actually read this book:

So, reader friends.  Here We Go.

* I am always hesitant whenever I see someone who is not from a particular culture writing a book about that culture.  Example: Melissa de la Cruz writing a book about a girl from Korea and Korean culture.  Why does this make me hesitant?  Because there is no way that anyone who is not from X culture could possibly know deep things about that culture.  There is not way someone who is not Korean could possibly understand what it really means to be Korean.  I don't care that Melissa de la Cruz's best friend from college who was Korean.  I don't care that her sister-in-law is Korean.  There is no way that Melissa de la Cruz could possibly understand the complexities of someone else's culture, especially not with enough depth to write a book based on said culture and with a Korean main character.  It's one thing to include diverse characters in your book.  It's something else entirely to write a book based on a culture of which you don't know a ton about and of which you are not a part.

The thing that make me even more hesitant about this is the way the MC and others sort of talk down about Korean culture.  First of all, her parents set her up on a seon, even though seon's are, from what I've read (and feel free to correct me if I am wrong) are usually set up between people who are older - as in out of high school.  But the author, in her own words, has "taken some liberties with this practice."  Yikes - it is alarming when someone thinks they get to take liberties with another persons culture.  Fellow human, please don't take liberties with another persons culture!

So, this kid, who is still in high school, is set up on 29 seons over the course of this book.  29!  Her parents are so into the idea of their 17 year old daughter getting married that they have already set her up on 29 seons.  And the entire time, seons are just being trashed by the MC and her friends.

* Their was NO CHEMISTRY between the MC and her love interest in the book. None.  This is supposed to be a romance, amiright?  I just wasn't feeling it. 

* Their was no discussion about how hard it must have been for Jisu to move from Seoul to San Francisco.  Which, I mean, how could there be, because how could Melissa de la Cruz possibly know how that could feel. I am not being sarcastic here - there is no way that de la Cruz could possibly know what it's like for a young girl from Korea to just get shipped off to a new country and try to adjust.  There is no way. 

* What's with the "Hey we know you just woke up, but surprise, here's a ticket to SF for TODAY?!"  Seriously?  Her parents gave her zero warning they were just shipping her off to another country.  Who Does That?!

* In addition to the above issues...... the writing was mediocre at best, and there was minimal character development - especially for Jisu's 2 best friends, Min and Euni.  They were small characters in the story, still, but even with them - you didn't have a chance to really know them or more important characters, and there was no change or growth. 

Overall, I feel like 1 star is generous for this book, but I have to give it some sort of rating. If you've read this book, tell me what you think in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Couples In Books

Hey reader friends - welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!  This week we're talking about Favorite Couples In Books!

If you've been around my blog at all, many of these probably won't come as a surprise to you.

Clara and Hamlet in The Way You Make me Feel are amazing - and this is, so far, my favorite book by Maurene Goo!  

While the way that Desi got a boy may have been a little.... unique - I do love Desi and Luca!  

When Dimple Met Rishi starts out with 2 characters who are on opposite ends of the spectrum of having a relationship, and ends with them in love in the most adorable way.  Dimple and Rishi are perfect together! 

Twinkle and Sahil in From Twinkle, With Love are perfect together - even if it takes a minute for Twinkle to realize it (because she loves his twin brother at first!)  I think the reason I love them so much together is because Sahil does such a good job of keeping Twinkle real and calling her out when she gets a little.... wild with her movie.

 Rufus and Mateo are two of my favorite characters - and even though you know they are both going to die by the end of the book - I loved their togetherness through this entire book!

 Hazel and Gus in The Fault in Our Stars - they have this amazing relationship together, and while it is punctuated by them both having cancer, they have this ability to be there for each other in the most amazing ways.

 Simon and Bram (Blue) in Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.  This was, hands down, my favorite book that I read last year, and there was not one single moment when I wasn't cheering my ass off for Simon. 

Cheesy Romance Love!

Hey reader friends!  It's February.  That means it's the perfect time of year to talk about cheesy romance books.  These are books that are sure to make your heart flutter (even if some of them are total clean teen books!)

1. Lucky in Love - Kasie West

2. Listen to your Heart - Kasie West

3. Tell Me Everything - Sarah Enni

4. I Believe in a Thing Called Love - Maurene Goo

5. The Way You Make Me Feel - Maurene Goo 

6. Simon Vs. The Home Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli

7. When Dimple Met Rishi - Sandhya Menon

8. From Twinkle With Love - Sandhya Menon 






This is not, obviously, a complete list of all romance books!  These are just some of the ones I really enjoyed.  Feel free to drop your favorite romances (YA or adult) in the comments. 

P.S. I Still Love You - Jenny Han

Title: P.S. I Still Love You
Author: Jenny Han
Format: Paperback
Rating:

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Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.  When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

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This sequel to the novel To All The Boys I've Loved Before felt just marginally more well developed than the first book. Although I did like this book ever so slightly more than its predecessor, there were still too many things about this book that I did not like.

What I Liked: 

Once again, I found that Kitty was my favorite part in this book. She expresses everything that is just so charming and yet morbid and dark. 

Chris was actually present more in this book as a friend figure, and I felt like that was something that was really lacking from the last book. I still don't know that I see what Chris and Lara Jean have in common to be friends, but at least she is more present in this book.

The Assassins game - I think this just sounds like a fun idea!

I do love that this book, just as the first, shows great family dynamic and has Korean characters in it.  I think it's important that their dad is so present is important, because there are so many YA books with absentee parents.  As if teens don't need their parents?!

What I Didn't Like:

THE "LOVE TRIANGLE"!  I put love in quotes, because I felt like, even though there was this introduction of a third person in the series as an interest, there just wasn't much of a love interest between Lara and John until after she and Peter broke up (again, and for real.) At least, it didn't fee like there was much there to me - especially from Lara Jean's perspective. This was forced and completely unnecessary.

In this book Kitty turns 10.  She's young.  But yet, Chris and Lara Jean did not have any issues talking about sex in front of her.  Not only that, but Kitty - little 10 year old Kitty - KNOWS MORE ABOUT SEX THAN LARA JEAN!  Now just to be clear, I believe in teaching people age appropriate comprehensive sex ed. However, a 10 year old knowing more about sex than her 16 year old sister is not age appropriate.  Kitty should be learning about periods, not sex.

Why did Peter think it was okay to be there for Gen all that time but not for Lara Jean?!  I fully understand that Gen is Peter's first love, blah blah blah. BUT, they aren't together anymore, and given how toxic their relationship is, he really should be cutting her out for a while - especially since Lara Jean is his girlfriend now!  I think it's fair that their relationship ended, and I can't for the life of me figure out why Lara Jean was back together with him at the end.  He treats her like crap because "Gen needs me" and she just takes him back?! UGHHGGGGWFHIO

Love, Life, and The List - Kasie West

Title: Love, Life, and The List
Author: Kasie West
Format: Hardcover 
Rating: 2 Stars

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Love, Life, and The List was another cheesy, light hearted read for me.  This book was, like the other two Kasie West books I've read, pure fluff.  But it's certainly a nice break to read the fluff sometimes.  

The very, very basic rundown of this book is: Abby wants to be a professional artist, get into an art show at the museum she works at, and get into a prestigious art program.  But she gets told by the museum director that her paintings lack heart and depth, so she goes on a mission to learn how to create this heart and depth and maturity in her paintings and life through accomplishing things on what she calls the Heart List. Abby talks to her best friend Cooper and gets him to agree to do the list with her.  You can imagine that ends so well! 

So, reader friends, here we go:

The characters in this book are about what you would expect to find in a Kasie West book - sweet, a little depth to each of them, and all about that good clean fun.  I mean that in the best way - I think it's important for teens to have books with characters that don't drink all the time or run around having sex with every single person they meet.  I think sex is important to talk about with teens - don't get me wrong, but not every teen wants to have sex. And it's important to have books that show that sex is a valid option for teens who are ready, but it's important for kids to see there are other options as well. 

So, this book is definitely good at showing the good clean fun kids can have - like Abby watching Cooper at his races on the dunes, or their movie nights at the beach.

Their was some growth for Abby as well, since she did do things and learn things she might not have if her boss hadn't been so frank with her.  She did also realize at the end that she had a lot more growing and maturing to do in spite of her list.  She realizes that she is still very young and that is not a bad thing, but it does mean there are things she still has to learn - and it's good that she realizes this.

I appreciate that this book, like West's other books have parents that are actually present to, you know, parent their kids.  Abby's mother has some issues that she needs to sort out through therapy, but it doesn't erase the fact that she is there for Abby in the ways she can be. There has been this trend in YA books lately of the disappearing parent, so it's nice when there are books that show parents actually being there and involved in their kids lives. 

The thing that I did hate about this book was: Abby has been in love with Cooper for a while.  And she tells him that a year prior to where this book starts. So this book stars with Cooper having known for a year that Abby is in love with him. Then, he admits towards the end of the book that he knew all along that Abby wasn't joking when she said she loved him. He knew Abby was serious - he knew she was actually in love with him and not just friend love! And he brushed it off and led her on for a YEAR!  I think that means she was totally justified in not talking to him anymore.  If I were her, I never would have started talking to him again, let alone dating him (sorry spoiler!)  This makes Cooper a class A jerk undeserving to lick Abby's shoes. 

Take this advice please: if someone tells you they love you, and you don't feel the same way, for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT LEAD THEM ON!  Just be honest with them and let them go. You are not doing them or yourself any favors if you lead them on.

That last thing was what dropped this book down to 2 stars for me.