Young Adult – Page 39 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Say Yes Summer

Title: Say Yes Summer
Author: Lindsey Roth Culli
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 12, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Netflix/Hallmark Channel rom-coms, this is the story of a girl who decides to give in to the universe and just say yes to everything, bringing her friendship, new experiences, and, if she lets her guard down, true love.
The perfect book to kick off summer! For as long as Rachel Brooks can remember, she’s had capital-G Goals: straight As, academic scholarship, college of her dreams. And it’s all paid off–after years of following the rules and acing every exam, Rachel is graduating at the top of her class and ready to celebrate by . . . doing absolutely nothing. Because Rachel Brooks has spent most of high school saying no. No to dances, no to parties, and most especially, no to boys.
Now, for the first time in her life, there’s nothing stopping Rachel from having a little fun–nothing, that is, except herself. So when she stumbles on a beat up old self-help book–A SEASON OF YES!–a crazy idea pops into her head: What if she just said yes to . . . everything?
And so begins a summer of yes. Yes to new experiences and big mistakes, yes to rekindled friendships and unexpected romances, yes to seeing the world in a whole new way. This book is a fresh and fun take on the coming-of-age novel that explores the quintessential themes of growing up: taking risks, making mistakes, and, of course, love. And who knows? Lindsey Roth Culli’s hilarious and heartwarming debut may just inspire your own SAY YES SUMMER.

Review:

Rachel has always had a crush on the most popular boy at school, Clayton, but he hasn’t ever noticed her. After Rachel gives her valedictorian speech at graduation, Clayton starts talking to her. Rachel finds a book in her grandmother’s things that is about saying yes to every opportunity. She has spent her whole life saying no to other people, while focusing on her grades and family, but she’s ready to start having exciting experiences. Rachel starts hanging out with Clayton, but she’s not sure about his relationship status, so she also spends time with her childhood best friend Miles. Saying yes to everything leads Rachel into two complicated relationships.

Rachel’s story was kind of a modern fairytale. The boy she had always liked suddenly liked her too. Her childhood friend, who also would be a good match for her, likes her as well. Suddenly the girl who didn’t have many friends has two potential boyfriends. It was exciting in the moment, but someone was bound to get hurt in the love triangle.

This story showed how it’s easy to think that someone else’s life is perfect, from a distance. Rachel thought the popular kids in her school were perfect and didn’t have any problems. She would stalk their social media and see the perfectly curated lives they showed on there. She ended up discovering that they had a lot more problems than she thought, though they were good at putting on a brave face online.

This is a great summer romance!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Dark Shores (Dark Shores #1)

Title: Dark Shores (Dark Shores #1)
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Indigo Spring Preview 2019
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 7, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

High seas adventure, blackmail, and meddling gods meet in Dark Shores, a thrilling first novel in a fast-paced new YA fantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Danielle L. Jensen.
In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West.
A SAILOR WITH A WILL OF IRON
Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences.
A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET
Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.
A DANGEROUS QUEST
When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely—and unwilling—alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

Review:

Teriana is the daughter of the captain of an important ship belonging to the Maarins. She gave away secrets on how to communicate with the Maarin gods to her friend, when her friend’s life was threatened. When her friend gives away the secret, that there is another land across the sea called the Dark Shores, the Maarin way of life is threatened. Teriana is captured and forced to show Marcus, a soldier, the way to the Dark Shores.

Pirate stories are really popular right now in YA fiction, but this is the first one I’ve read. I really liked the action in this story. There were some battles, but the descriptions were brief so they didn’t get complicated. There was the added complication of the gods, who could affect things in their world.

Since Marcus was from the Celendor Empire, he didn’t know as much about Teriana’s way of living, and he knew nothing of the Dark Shores. We got to learn about the world along with him.

Teriana was a bit of an unreliable character, which made the story exciting. She would tell people the wrong thing, and betray the ones closest to her. Usually I don’t like characters who are untrustworthy and unreliable, but Teriana was unpredictable and kept up the tension of the story.

I really enjoyed this story! I’m excited for the next books.

Thank you Indigo Teen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Other Books in the Series:

Dark Skies

Have you read Dark Shores? What did you think of it?

Review: Four Days of You and Me

Title: Four Days of You and Me
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: May 5, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A new swoon-worthy romance following a couple’s love story on the same date over four years.
Every May 7, the students at Coffee County High School take a class trip. And every year, Lulu’s relationship with Alex Rouvelis gets a little more complicated. Freshman year, they went from sworn enemies to more than friends after a close encounter in an escape room. It’s been hard for Lulu to quit Alex ever since.
Through breakups, make ups, and dating other people, each year’s class trip brings the pair back together and forces them to confront their undeniable connection. From the science museum to an amusement park, from New York City to London, Lulu learns one thing is for sure: love is the biggest trip of all.

Review:

Every year, the students at Coffee County High get to go on a special school trip. The trips get larger each year, starting with a museum outing in their freshman year and ending with an international trip in their senior year. Each of these trips marks a pivotal moment in Lulu and Alex’s romance, such as their first kiss on their freshman trip. Each of the following trips pushes them together, leading them to make important decisions about their relationship.

This story shows just a few snapshots in their relationship. It covers about four days, with a few other brief scenes from throughout the year. It was amazing to see how their relationship is defined by their actions in these few days. Their relationship and feelings changed so much throughout the book that I wasn’t sure if they would end up together at the end.

This book brought back so many high school memories for me. We went on a bunch of school trips, though none as lavish as the later ones in this book. Lulu and Alex, as well as their friends, deal with the complicated feelings that come along with first loves and discovering yourself. It made me laugh and it made me cry. This book has all the feels!

This was a great high school romance!

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1)

Title: The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1)
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Wednesday Book
Source: Owlcrate
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.
It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.
To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.
Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history–but only if they can stay alive.

Review:

In Paris in 1889, there are four family houses that run the city: House Kore, House Vanth, House Nyx, and the Fallen House. Only two are left standing, with House Vanth and the Fallen House having supposedly died out. Séverin knows he is the heir to House Vanth, even though he was denied that title years before. He wants to get his title back but it will take a lot of work. Him and his friends steal an artifact belonging to another House, but they get caught. They go on a mission to retrieve Séverin’s status, while also preventing their enemies from rising to power.

I loved the historical references in this book. There were some Greek mythology references within the structures of the houses. For example, they had roads named after the rivers in mythical Hades. In 1889, Paris had the Exposition Universelle, which unveiled the Eiffel Tower. Part of this story took place in the Paris Catacombs, which is a fascinating area of the city.

Though there was lots of glitz and glamour in the city, there was also a darkness as well. The exposition had a “human zoo,” called the “Negro Village,” which was exactly what it sounds like: people could go view other humans like they were animals in a zoo. This seems so absurd that it could be a highlight of an event, when it is completely offensive to treat people who look different from yourself like animals. This part of the expo didn’t play an important part in the novel, but it was mentioned. It shows the dark sides of history that aren’t usually talked about.

I love heist novels with a diverse cast, like this book. In other books, I’ve found that the action scenes can be confusing, because there is so much happening at once. This story was clear the whole time. It was very exciting at the end.

This is a great story! I’m excited for the next book in the series to come out in a couple of months.

Other Books in the Series:

The Silvered Serpents

Have you read The Gilded Wolves? What did you think of it?

Review: Prince Freya, Vol. 1

Title: Prince Freya, Vol. 1
Author: Keiko Ishihara
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 7, 2020
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

To save her kingdom, a simple village girl must live a royal lie.
The powerful kingdom of Sigurd has slowly been conquering all the lands that share its borders, and now it has turned its voracious attention to the small, resource-rich Tyr. Tyr cannot hope to match Sigurd in strength, so in order to survive, it must rely on the intelligence, skill and cunning of its prince and his loyal knights. But should their prince fall, so too shall Tyr…
Freya thinks of herself as a simple village girl, but her idyllic life is shattered when she is caught up in the aftermath of a treacherous Sigurdian plot. She bears a striking resemblance to her country’s beloved Prince Edvard, who lays dying from poison. Without its ruler, all of Tyr will quickly be engulfed by Sigurdian violence. Now Freya must take Prince Edvard’s place and lead his valiant knights in defending the realm!

Review:

Freya is a girl who lives in a small village with her sick mother. Her adoptive brothers work with the prince in the kingdom. They visit one day and Freya finds out that she is needed to impersonate the prince. Prince Edvard is dying and Freya looks exactly like him, so she has to become the prince. Freya has to leave her own life behind and transform into Prince Edvard.

This story was fast paced. I found that there was so much happening that it was difficult to process the information. Even the characters had to move along quickly to new changes, without really thinking about what happened. There were deaths and changes, like Freya becoming the prince, which they didn’t really have time to think about.

There wasn’t enough background on the story. I had so many questions about the world and the history of the characters that weren’t answered. We didn’t find out much about Prince Edvard and why they would need Freya, a country girl, to impersonate a prince who was dying. There wasn’t a reason that a young girl looked exactly like the prince, enough to be able to fool all of his friends. This background information wasn’t given, so I was left with a lot of questions about the story.

Freya was also an unlikeable character. She cried constantly. The other characters even told her to stop crying because people would guess that she wasn’t the prince. The way she was always crying and whining made me question again why she was chosen to impersonate the prince, since she didn’t behave like him at all.

This story was a little disappointing and cheesy. I don’t think I’ll be continue with this series.

Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1)

Title: The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1)
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 5, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true.
But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

Review:

Hollis Brite lives at the palace in Coroa with her family. The young King Jameson starts paying attention to her, leading to a courtship. Their relationship escalates quickly when the king of their neighbouring country, Isolte, comes to visit. Hollis has to step into the role as queen beside Jameson. This visit coincides with an aristocratic family from Isolte moving to Coroa as refugees. As Hollis learns more about her future position as queen, she wonders if it is the right path for her.

Hollis was driving me crazy throughout this story. She made so many decisions that I didn’t agree with. She also made snap decisions on big life changes, which affected her own life and everyone around her. I didn’t agree with her, but I had to keep reading to find out the outcome of her decisions.

I flew through this story! It was very fast paced. Hollis’s relationship with Jameson progressed quickly in a whirlwind. The story ended in a big bang, which left me wondering where Hollis’s story is going to go in the next book.

This was an exciting start to this new series!

Review: Camp Spirit

Title: Camp Spirit
Author: Axelle Lenoir
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, LGBT
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 23, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Summer camp is supposed to be about finding nirvana in a rock garden… But Elodie prefers Nirvana and Soundgarden. Can she confront rambunctious kids, confusing feelings, and supernatural horrors all at once?
Summer 1994: with just two months left before college, Elodie is forced by her mother to take a job as a camp counselor. She doesn’t know the first thing about nature, or sports, of kids for that matter, and isn’t especially interested in learning… but now she’s responsible for a foul-mouthed horde of red-headed girls who just might win her over, whether she likes it or not. Just as Elodie starts getting used to her new environment, though — and close to one of the other counselors — a dark mystery lurking around the camp begins to haunt her dreams.

Review:

Elodie is forced to go to a summer camp as a councilor the summer before she starts college. Other classmates that she can’t stand are also going, but they’ve gone every year and it is Elodie’s first time attending. Elodie discovers that this camp isn’t anything like she thought it would be, with the creepy camp leader, a camp theme song filled with references to satan, and wild red headed girls who ask inappropriate questions. She finds herself learning about the dark and supernatural sides to this camp.

I never went to a summer camp, but I love stories about the creepy things that can happen there. With a bunch of imaginative kids cooped up in a camp, surrounded by a dark forest, supernatural events often occur in these stories. This story reminded me of the Lumberjanes series, but this one had more mature themes.

This book was set in Quebec in the 90s. There were lots of timely references, such as the Nirvana songs Elodie liked to listen to on her Walkman. Even though it was set more than twenty years ago, a lot of the events could have been happening today (not including the supernatural parts). The only difference was the kids didn’t have cellphones to play around with, but they probably couldn’t use them at a camp anyway. I liked that unique setting.

I really enjoyed this camp graphic novel!

Thank you IDW Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)

Title: Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)
Author: Emily A. Duncan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 7, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Darkness never works alone…
Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who–and what–he’s become.
As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer.

Review:

In this sequel to Wicked Saints, the characters head off on a journey into darkness again. Nadya has something wrong with her powers, Serefin hears a mysterious voice in his head, and Malachiasz has turned to the dark side. They have to travel across the country to find their gods.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I was hooked. This book was just as dark and gruesome as the first book. It’s a unique fantasy world. The demon creatures are described in such detail that I felt like they were real. There were also many injuries and a lot of blood.

I can’t say much without giving away spoilers. Many of these characters were fighting, yet they had to work together. They didn’t like each other all the time, but they saved each other’s lives. That made for some strange situations, since they didn’t necessarily like each other yet they had to work together against a common enemy. There were also some new characters and new relationships mixed into their group.

This book had an exciting end. I have no idea what will happen next!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Other Books in the Series:

Wicked Saints

Have you read Ruthless Gods? What did you think of it?

Review: Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1

Title: Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1
Author: Tomohito Oda
Genre: Young Adult, Manga
Publisher: VIZ Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 11, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Timid Tadano is a total wallflower, and that’s just the way he likes it. But all that changes when he finds himself alone in a classroom on the first day of high school with the legendary Komi. He quickly realizes she isn’t aloof—she’s just super awkward. Now he’s made it his mission to help her on her quest to make 100 friends!

Review:

Tadano meets Komi when he starts attending an elite prep school. Komi is the most adored girl in school, but she can’t talk to others. Tadano makes an effort to try to communicate with Komi, and he learns that she wants to make friends. Her goal is to make 100 friends. Tadano helps introduce her to people and encourages her as she makes new friends.

This story had a unique school dynamic, with Komi being very popular but also socially awkward. Everyone at school adored her and thought she was the prettiest girl, yet they didn’t realize she couldn’t communicate with them. They all thought she was just too cool to talk to them, which elevated her status even higher. This was a unique way of showing how someone’s appearance may give off one feeling, yet inside they feel very uncomfortable.

This was a great manga graphic novel. I’m excited to read the rest of the series.

Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: What I Like About You

Title: What I Like About You
Author: Marisa Kanter
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: April 7, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can a love triangle have only two people in it? Online, it can… but in the real world, it’s more complicated. In this debut novel Marisa Kanter explores what happens when internet friends turn into IRL crushes.
There are a million things that Halle Levitt likes about her online best friend, Nash.
He’s an incredibly talented graphic novelist. He loves books almost as much as she does. And she never has to deal with the awkwardness of seeing him in real life. They can talk about anything…
Except who she really is.
Because online, Halle isn’t Halle—she’s Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. Kels has everything Halle doesn’t: friends, a growing platform, tons of confidence, and Nash.
That is, until Halle arrives to spend senior year in Gramps’s small town and finds herself face-to-face with real, human, not-behind-a-screen Nash. Nash, who is somehow everywhere she goes—in her classes, at the bakery, even at synagogue.
Nash who has no idea she’s actually Kels.
If Halle tells him who she is, it will ruin the non-awkward magic of their digital friendship. Not telling him though, means it can never be anything more. Because while she starts to fall for Nash as Halle…he’s in love with Kels.

Review:

Halle’s parents are documentary directors who travel around the world making films. Halle and her brother move in with her recently widowed grandfather while her parents film a documentary for a year in Israel. Halle is also a famous teen book blogger, but she goes by the pen name Kels on her cupcake book blog. Halle discovers that her online best friend Nash also lives in the same town as she has just moved to when she runs into him at a library. However, Nash doesn’t know what Kels looks like, so he doesn’t know that Halle and Kels are the same person. Kels’s online persona is growing as she gets more opportunities but she has to keep up the division between her online life as Kels and her reality of Halle.

The book blogging community was really well portrayed in this book. There was one incident where an author insulted her teen community by saying that her books are meant for adults. This is a common argument, since many adults read young adult fiction. I think that’s because the young adult or teenage experience is so relatable because every adult was a teenager first. Even if you had different experiences as the characters in the book, most of the themes are relatable.

I found this book so tense. Halle was frustrating me because she wouldn’t tell Nash that she was really Kels. I kept holding my breath when he came close to discovering her identity. I wanted to yell at Halle to tell him the truth, yet at the same time, if she did tell him, it would be the end of the tension in the story.

I loved this book!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Dark Skies (Dark Shores #2) by Danielle L. Jensen

Daughter of a Pirate King (Daughter of a Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller

Other Books in the Series:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Grim Lovelies (Grim Lovelies #1) by Megan Shepherd

Other Books in the Series:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Not Your Idol, Vol. 1 by Aoi Makino

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass

The Siren by Kiera Cass

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

The Avant-Guards, Vol.1 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes (illustrator)

Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

The Devouring Gray (The Devouring Gray #1) by Christine Lynn Herman

Serpent and Dove (Serpent and Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin

Other Books in the Series:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2 by Tomohito Oda

My Hero Academia, Vol. 1 by Kohei Horikoshi

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith