Gabe Cole Novoa

Fun read with a fascinating magic system—I mean, magic tattoos? AWESOME. It didn't grip me quite as much as some fantasies I've read, and I thought the villains at the end were a little overly evil for my tastes (I tend to prefer more sympathetic, nuanced antagonists), but overall this was enjoyable and interesting.

2.5/5 stars. This was okay. Interesting characters and questions about the intersection of identity and religion. First 75% felt pretty plotless, though.

Okay, so. Megan is a super lovely person, and I really enjoyed Make it Count, which was released last year, so when I heard she was writing a m/m NA, I basically freaked out with uncontained excitement.

Super quick note: this is, indeed NA (not YA), so everything you would expect from NA is here. I, obviously, did not have a problem with it, but I figure it's good to mention because sometimes people get confused when I say NA. It is not the same as YA. Okay.

As for Trust the Focus! Generally, when I read Erickson's romances, I expect sweet and sexy NA. This was exactly that. Justin and Landry go on a road trip to honor Justin's dad with no plans of making anything happen romantically between them (Justin isn't even openly gay, so there doesn't at first even seem to be a possibility of anything happening between them), but the more time they spend together, the more they begin to realize ignoring their feelings for each other isn't going to work for much longer.

Trust the Focus had me smiling, awww-ing, laughing, internally raging and getting teary-eyed—which is to say, making me feel all the things a good romance should. I absolutely loved Justin and Landry's chemistry, and while Justin frustrated me (as any good flawed romance hero should), I was rooting for them from the first page and loved seeing their relationship pull together.

If you're looking for some sweet and fun diverse NA, I absolutely recommend Trust the Focus. I've already added the next in the series, Focus on Me, to my TBR shelf, and I can't wait to continue to diversify my collection of NA novels!

This was so fun! Review to come. :)

REVIEW:

I've mentioned before and will probably mention again, Beth Revis is one of my all-time favorite YA Sci-Fi authors. I very much credit Across the Universe for showing me I actually really like YA Sci-Fi and dual POV. Anything she writes is basically an instal-buy for me, but you can imagine how excited I was when I won a signed, limited print edition (aka: VERY excited).

While I did find the opening to be a little on the slow side, the rest of the plot more than made up for it. I generally expect action, explosions, swoons and lots of twists from Revis, and in those respects, The Body Electric did not disappoint. I was expecting some sort of Inception-type elements, which were definitely present, but the twists in the book went so beyond what I was expecting and I really enjoyed the direction the book went in.

The Body Electric is very Sci-Fi with a fascinating futuristic world set in Malta (which was totally fun to read about) with ties to the Across the Universe series that were really fun to come across. Between cyborgs, androids, nanobots and more, I was totally immersed in The Body Electric's otherworldy-yet-not-unrealistic setting. As a bonus, the protagonist is a PoC and there are several PoC secondary characters, which was really nice to see.

I did notice that there were quite a few filter phrases throughout the work (which, to be honest, is more of a peeve I only notice because I'm a writer), and I did feel that the villain near the end bordered on a little too unequivocally evil—I tend to prefer my villains to be more nuanced and, at best, even somewhat sympathetic. But those flaws in no way ruined my enjoyment of the novel. I'm giving The Body Electric 4/5 stars, and I recommend it to those who like YA Sci-Fi rife with plot twists.

I can't wait to see what Revis comes up with next!

Second Faulkner book I've read, and his style is definitely not for me. Painful, convoluted read. Not my thing.

This was...odd. Didn't hate it, but...yeah. Very strange.

The narration is pretty unusual (the speaker is literally telling his story to a listener, who is also the reader), which threw me off at first and I wouldn't say I loved but it was interesting. The events that took place kept my attention for the most part, and the ending was especially curious.

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. I'd say this one was okay.

4.5/5 stars.

I think my brain is broken.

Full review:

I'm a total sucker for unreliable narrators and Unbecoming absolutely takes full advantage of Mara's extremely unreliable narration (and I'm not spoiling anything to say so). I was quoting Mockingjay's “real or not real?” throughout the book, there are twists galore, and the paranormal/supernatural aspect was so perfectly creepy. And I was totally impressed with all of that, and then I reached the end, and now I seriously need the sequels, which I will be buying together. And as an added bonus, I appreciated the incidental diversity integrated into the cast.

My one peeve was more of a writing quirk than anything else: there are a ton of filter phrases, which honestly is something I see all over the place, but I noticed it more than usual for some reason while reading Unbecoming. That said, it in no way ruined the reading experience for me, and it's a super minor flaw that most people probably won't even notice. So.

Unbecoming is twisty, eerie, unintentionally takes advantage of my fear of swamps, and I absolutely enjoyed it. Definitely recommended for those of you who like creepy book with trippy plots that leave you wondering what the hell just happened.

My main gripe was the pace was too slow for my tastes. I didn't really become interested until about 2/3 of the way through, and that was mainly to see what Zaid's fate would be. It isn't poorly written necessarily, it just didn't grip me as much as I would've liked.

Wow. This book is beautiful. Absolutely loved it.

Full review:

I'm not sure what I expected when I picked up I'll Give You the Sun. I knew the basics: dual POV, everyone seems to love it, LGBTQIA+ themes, and then it went ahead and won the Printz a few days after I started reading, so I knew chances that I was going to like it were high.

But wow, you guys. I really really loved this one.

I'm not an externally emotional reader. I mean, I obviously have feels like everyone else, but I've yet to read a book that made me cry, as I've confessed here before, and I'm usually pretty good about keeping a stoic exterior while reading. But I'll Give You the Sun put me on the brink of tears several times, which is ridiculously rare for me, and I just loved Noah and Jude so much, and the writing!

The writing. I think Nelson's prose is one of those love/hate varieties, but I definitely fell on the love side. Both Noah and Jude's voices were a little out there with some of the imagery and analogies, but I felt like I really got it, and it totally made sense to me with their very artsy personalities, and it just felt so fresh, and wonderful, and fit the tone of the book beautifully.

Noah and Jude aren't perfect. They both make hurtful, cringe-worthy mistakes with big consequences. They're emotional, and young, and full of dreams, and highs, and lows, and I became so very emotionally entangled with their stories.

I often tell people that the best books make you feel something. I'll Give You the Sun didn't make me feel something—it made me feel everything. I loved every page, and Nelson's got herself a new fan for sure.

UPDATE (7/13/16): So, as many of you noticed, I was finally able to announce that Beyond the Red is indeed getting sequels! Two of them! I'm really excited to share [b:Into the Black|30965933|Into the Black (Beyond the Red, #2)|Ava Jae|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|51581017], which releases Fall 2017, and [b:The Rising Gold|30965937|The Rising Gold (Beyond the Red, #3)|Ava Jae|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|51581023] in Fall 2018, which will complete the trilogy! Thank you all for your support—it's because of awesome readers like you that the full trilogy will be published. <3 YAY!

This is my book. It has kissing, aliens, and explosions, and I hope you guys love reading it as much as I've loved writing it. :)

Interesting and eye-opening read.

Gahhh this was adorable. I loved the very different NA situations presented in LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT (after all, not everyone has a blissful, straightforward four years at college), and the romance was sexy, and the awkward flirting was fantastic, and yeah, recommended.

Not my favorite read. The characters and their stories were interesting enough, but the writing style and voice just wasn't my cup of tea.

This was okay. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. Personally, I felt the pseudo e-mail intros at the beginning of each chapter were unnecessary at best, but overall, I thought GIRLS OF RIYADH was interesting enough. Lukewarm read, for me.

4.5/5 stars. So swoony and sweet and unexpected and happy sigh.

Full disclosure: I received a free e-copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

A SINGLE THREAD is a really imaginative and eerie NA Paranormal novella with some very interesting ideas. I found the mythology behind the many paranormal aspects to be pretty unique (at least, within my reading of Paranormal novels) and the spidery theme was equal parts fascinating and creepy.

That being said, because of the quickened pacing necessary in order to fit a novella length, I had a little trouble really understanding and accepting the cryptic (and strange) world of the book. This may be partially at fault to the fact that I have not, in fact, read the previous book I SEE THE WEB, but I also found the characters' quick acceptance of the paranormal elements that were not a part of their everyday world as they knew it a little beyond my suspension of disbelief. While the protagonist Morgan has some thoughts throughout about the absurdity of the many situations he ends up in, it didn't feel like enough resistance, to me, to really be believable.

That said, this is a novella, and I understand things have to get pushed along a little more quickly to fit expected word count ranges. I suspect, largely because of the rather quick pace and the necessity to have characters accept things quickly in order to keep the plot on point, I found it a little difficult to keep up. Despite that, A SINGLE THREAD was an enjoyable read with just the right amount of creepy, and it was fun seeing a paranormal perspective in the New Adult category.

4.5/5 stars. Really great representation.

3.5/5 stars. Took me longer to get into it than THE FALSE PRINCE, for some reason, but it was still definitely an enjoyable read.

I really really enjoyed this. 4.5/5 stars.

First and foremost! Hushed by Kelley York is a New Adult Thriller/MM Romance! I've seen a lot of people call it YA, but Archer and Evan are in college (as are all the major characters) and it's published by Entangled's Embrace line (which is a New Adult line). So just clearing that up. (Also, full disclosure: I'm an Assistant Editor for Entangled, but they did not ask me to review this book. I'm reviewing it because I enjoyed it and that's it).

Related to the NA note: for those of you nervous about reading NA because of the potentially graphic content, this book is pretty tame. There's one (literally) steamy scene, but there isn't graphic content, and more than anything there's just a lot of adorable cuddles and kisses. (Though, trigger warning, there's some sexual assault mentioned throughout the book).

Okay! So as for the actual book, this was such an interesting read. First of all, I can only think of one other book I've read from the primary POV of a serial killer (or, I suppose, vigilante, depending on how you look at it) and it made for a totally fascinating read. Mix in the super unhealthy relationship between Archer and Vicki and the ridiculously adorable Evan (who I just want to huggle forever) and I was totally hooked. The plot is interesting, the pacing works well and the relationships are complicated. I was totally emotionally invested and I really really enjoyed it.

Minor gripes: I may have missed it, but I don't think Archer specifically identifies as bisexual, which isn't a deal-breaker, but as he's pretty obviously bisexual, I would have liked to see him identify and help fight against bi erasure. (Though, if I missed it, which is totally possible, then never mind). Also, toward the end, I started getting kind of aggravated with Vivian and Archer's relationship, but I didn't think it was necessarily unrealistic...just frustrating. So.

All in all, I loved reading Hushed and I was so extremely happy to not only see some diversity on the NA shelf, but to see some diversity in a NA book that isn't strictly Contemporary Romance (double high five!). If you're looking for some diversity to add your NA shelf, I absolutely recommend Hushed.

So, okay, I know I'm wayyyy late to this party and people on Twitter have been recommending Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell to me for ages, but I finally got around to it! And. Um. Well.

I loved it.

So the number one thing I've heard people rave about with Fangirl is that they found it really relatable, and, well, I'm going to jump onto that bandwagon because reading Cath was like reading me (I mean, awkward, anxiety-prone, introverted writer? IT'S LIKE YOU KNOW ME, RAINBOW ROWELL). There were so many moments that I thought wow, I've done that or wow, I've felt exactly like that and I have to say? That doesn't really happen often. In fact, I can't really think of even one other time where that's happened before.

But what I really really really loved about Fangirl was something I wasn't even aware the book covered at all: mental illness representation.

I don't think this is a spoiler, since we kind of learn this pretty early on: Cath's dad is bipolar and she deals with some major anxiety struggles. Cath, at least, is never officially diagnosed with anything, but we can see right from the beginning that the anxiety she struggles with is much more than the norm. And it wasn't just that it was included that I loved (though that's part of it), but it was the way Rowell handled it so respectfully and without judgment.

I'll openly admit that I haven't had the chance to read many anxiety-prone protagonists (though not because I don't want to!), but I can say, at least for Cath, that reading her perspective, and what things made her nervous, and how that anxiety manifested felt so real to me, largely because I've experienced many of the same thoughts and anxiety grossness and seeing it represented so honestly was so wonderful to read.

So go read Fangirl for the wonderful writing, the lovely characters, the gay vampire/mage fan fiction (yes, really), the realistic-yet-adorable romance and emotional ups and downs. But also read Fangirl for the way Rowell so respectfully portrayed characters with mental illness, without judging or stereotypes or harmful language or assumptions.

I'm giving Fangirl five stars and a huge high five to Rainbow Rowell. Fangirl is so very well done and I can't recommend it more.

I do happen to love my YA full of action and intensity and The Living definitely met those expectations. This was pretty much as intense as it sounds. I've heard people say this is like a YA Lost without the smoke monster weirdness, and it definitely has that vibe, though I think it reminded me more of I Shouldn't Be Alive for YA. Either way, The Living is a super interesting read.

Something I appreciated was the incidental diversity. Shy is (half?) Mexican American and many of the important side characters have diverse racial backgrounds, which was really nice to see. And while there are absolutely some themes of race and class coming into play, The Living doesn't read as an issue book (and it's not supposed to), and overall, I think it was very nicely handled.

I will say that the ending was kind of predictable and the confrontation between Shy and a particular baddie was, shall we say, a teensie bit evil bad guy Hollywood cliché? Also, there was a thing with super aggressive sharks that I wasn't totally buying, but the issues were minor and I still definitely enjoyed reading. Now The Hunted just has to come out so I can find out what happens. frets

I'm giving The Living 4/5 stars and I recommend it to those who enjoy fast-paced, Adventure/Disaster-type books.

I have to say, We Were Here by Matt de la Peña has to be one of the rawest books I've read in a while—and I loved it. Miguel's voice comes through so clear, and it's so different from any other YA voice I've read, and it really fits the tone of the novel perfectly.

I'm going to give an example because I love it that much:

“You know how when you're a kid and you get a new bad-ass rubber football for Christmas, and the morning it takes a few minutes to remember why you're so excited? It's like that for me, only the opposite. When I wake up, everything's normal for a while. I'm just plain Miguel. And then suddenly it hits me what I did. It punches me right in the ribs. It screams in my ears how everything isn't normal anymore, it's fucked.” —pg. 125.

We Were Here

So I know I've used the word “adorable” to describe a lot of NA reads as of late (especially the Contemporary Romances), but, well...I'm going to do it again. Because Make It Count by Megan Erickson is just that—super ridiculously adorable. And it was so very fun to read.

Alec may actually be one of my favorite NA love interests ever—I mean, hot, nerdy beta male? SO much yes, please.

What's great about Make It Count is not only is it a really fun, cute, light-hearted NA read, but Erickson also tackles a subject that really doesn't get enough representation—learning disabilities. Not only that, but Erickson handles it really well—we see how a learning disability affects one of the characters (I won't say who, but you can probably guess), as well as what stigmas are attached to it, which is something, I'll admit, I hadn't really thought much about before.

Also! I haven't seen a whole lot of third person in NA, but if you like third person I so very highly recommend you pick up some of Erickson's books—she has such a great (and super-NA appropriate and fun) third person voice that's just as entertaining and real as any NA first person voice I've read and enjoyed.

My one peeve is I found Kat's crippling lack of self-confidence a teensie bit annoying to read at times—however! That was a deliberate character development choice, and by no means ruined the reading for me in any way, and I would still (and do) recommend this one for anyone looking for a light, fun NA read, especially in third person.

So if you like Contemporary Romance and you haven't yet checked out Make It Count, I recommend you do! And you may also want to check out Make It Right, which is now out, and I really need to get.

I always love when I read a book from a nice person on Twitter and it turns out that along with being really super nice, they're actually totally awesome at the whole book-writing thing, too.

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis is one of those examples.

So I began reading Otherbound thinking it would be a cool fantasy story with a diverse cast and an interesting premise. I was right, but wow, I didn't realize how impressive this book would be.

The world building and magic system alone makes the unique world of Otherbound so very interesting—I've never seen a magic system quite like what Duyvis put together in Nolan and Amara's intertwined worlds, and it was totally refreshing to see a fantasy world where there are consequences to magic use (can you say FINALLY?). Combined with the intricate details of the cultures (yes! more than one! thank you again!) and norms of Amara's world and the totally fascinating epilepsy-not-really-epilepsy-like attacks Nolan gets in his reality when slipping into Amara's world, and it all makes for one really interesting story.

I will say that there were some aspects of Amara's world that confused me and/or I had trouble grasping, but all in all, the world building was really well done and I totally admire the way Duyvis wrote Nolan and Amara's worlds.

Oh, and have I mentioned the diverse characters? This made me so happy. Nolan is a latino amputee with “epilepsy” (and even though we know it's not epilepsy, the way Amara's world affects him in a way that totally breaks your heart) and Amara is a mute bisexual girl. Not only that, but the full cast beyond the protagonists are so very diverse and it really was an extra bonus in an already fabulous book.

I totally recommend this book to those who enjoy YA Fantasy, and I look forward to more books from Duyvis!