Year: 2019

Title: The Beauty of the Moment
Author: Tanaz Bhathena
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: February 26, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Susan dreams of being an artist. Malcolm wants to move him and his sister out of a bad living situation. Sparks fly when the two teens meet at a fundraiser for Syrian refugees. A Canadian YA romance for fans of The Sun is Also a Star.

Susan is the new girl — she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy — he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since. 
Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants — until he meets her. 
Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are testaments to family, culture, and being true to who you are. 

Review:

I really enjoyed this story.

I liked the dual narratives of Susan and Malcolm. It was great to see both sides of their romance. They come from different backgrounds, yet they had many similarities. Malcolm’s father was remarried and Susan lived just with her mother, so they both only had one of their parents in their daily lives. However, they are in different positions in their school. Susan is new to the school and she has trouble making friends. Malcolm has a lot of history at the school, including a jealous ex-girlfriend. I saw the world through Susan’s new eyes, yet I also saw the history of the characters through Malcolm’s perspective.

Though there were fun parts of the story with their budding romance, there were serious issues addressed as well. Malcolm was abused at home by his father. Susan discovered problems in her parents’ marriage. They also reference the Syrian refugees in Toronto and Mississauga, because Malcolm’s sister organized a fundraiser for a Syrian family. These parts were educational and informative for young readers who may not know about these issues.

This story was set in Mississauga, which is a city in the Greater Toronto Area. I could picture most of the locations mentioned, which was so great! Though I couldn’t relate to the characters because they have different backgrounds from me, I felt connected to them through this setting.

This was a great story.

What to read next:

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

Have you read The Beauty of the Moment? What did you think of it?

Title: The Way You Make Me Feel
Author: Maurene Goo
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 8, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? 

With Maurene Goo’s signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look. 

Review:

This is a fun summer story!

I loved the character Clara. She was carefree and took risks. At her junior prom, she reenacted Carrie by having fake blood dumped on herself after winning the title of prom queen. It was a dramatic moment, and ended up earning her the punishment of working on her dad’s food truck for the whole summer. She was a fun character to read about because she is so different from me.

I also loved the mix of cultures in the book. Clara was born in America to two parents who were both born in Brazil to Korean parents. Clara’s father’s Korean and Brazilian heritage was explored in his fusion food truck called KoBra. I didn’t know there was a Korean population in Brazil before reading this book, so that was fascinating to learn.

This was a great story! It would be a perfect read for the summer!

What to read next:

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

Have you read The Way You Make Me Feel? What did you think of it?

Title: Goodbye Days
Author: Jeff Zentner
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What if you could spend one last day with someone you lost?

One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.

The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.

Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.

Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.

Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?

Review:

This story broke my heart and put it back together again. It was incredibly moving.

The premise of the story is that Carver texts his friends while they are driving, and they get into a fatal car accident while responding. Carver has to deal with the guilt of potentially causing his three best friends to die, while also moving on with his life. Carver goes on “Goodbye Days” with his friends’ families, in which they do his friends’ favourite things so everyone can say goodbye to them.

It was fascinating to read about this fairly new experience: texting while driving. There is a law, in this story, where a person could be charged with involuntary manslaughter for doing an action which you know could cause someone’s death. In this case, Carver texted his friend, knowing he may respond while driving and cause an accident. In my opinion, Carver shouldn’t have been blamed for this accident since his friend Mars ultimately made the decision to text while driving. However, it was up to the authorities to decide on his fate.

I don’t want to give anything away, because this is an important story with a modern lesson. I really liked the ending! I loved this whole story, and I highly recommend it!

What to read next:

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Have you read Goodbye Days? What did you think of it?