Genre: Romance

Love in English

Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the words to express how she feels. 

At first, Ana just wants to return home. Then she meets Harrison, a very cute, very American boy in her math class, and discovers the universal language of racing hearts. But when she begins to spend time with Neo, the Greek Cypriot boy from ESL, Ana wonders how figuring out what her heart wants can be even more confusing than the grammar they’re both trying to master. After all, the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love. 

Told from Ana’s perspective, Love in English shows Ana’s struggle with understanding both the English language and American culture. To convey Ana’s language difficulties, Ana’s family’s conversations are peppered with Spanish words. In addition, when others speak to Ana in English, she misses many of the words which are written as “####### ########.” Ana also struggles with words, such as “close,” that have two meanings and are pronounced differently. Throw in American idioms like “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush” and “a stich in time saves nine” and readers begin to understand and empathize with how hard it is to learn English.  

It’s not just English that Ana struggles to understand. Ana meets Harrison and Neo at school. When Ana meets Harrison, she thinks, “There’s so much I wish I could ask him about. . . but I can’t catch any of the words needed to form those questions. They swim in my brain, some visible, some shapeless, but none want to coalesce into sentences. It’s so frustrating. It’s like someone stole all my words.” Ana struggles to understand the language of love, which often leads to misunderstandings.  

Much of the plot revolves around Ana’s inner dialogue, which makes Ana feel like a new friend that you want to sit down and share coffee and a secret with. Ana is extremely likable and deals with many of the same struggles as today’s teens. However, readers who love action-packed stories full of adventure will find Love in English difficult to read. For those who love looking into a character’s heart and soul, Love in English is the perfect book. Many readers will relate to Ana, who is trying to find a place where she belongs in life and in America. Through it all, Ana learns that “The most important words are the ones we’re brave enough to share.” 

Sexual Content  

  • While leaving the classroom, Ana bumps into Harrison. She thinks, “For a second, I want to grab his hand and hold it. Or pull him toward me, and we will have our first kiss here in our math classroom.”  
  • One of Ana’s new friends, Altagracia says, “You like boys? Girls? Both? I like girls myself.” Later, Altagracia tells Ana that “she went on a date with another girl and they kiss[ed].” 
  • In the cafeteria, a girl says she can’t keep lipstick on for more than twenty minutes. Her friend replies, “You should probably stop kissing so many people then.” 
  • Ana goes to a night club to watch Harrison’s band play. Ana sees Harrison dancing with Jessica, a girl from school. Jessica “pushes onto the tiptoes of her high-tops. The lean in is slow, so slow. . . Her lips land on his. He stands there. . . She gets off her tippy toes and runs her thumb gently over his lips.”  
  • After seeing Jessica kiss Harrison, Ana leaves but has no way to get home so she calls Neo. Instead of going home, Ana goes to Neo’s house and they watch a movie. Ana looks “up at Neo. He’s so close, a few inches away. He looks at me steadily. . . His lips look perfect, the dimple in his chin a little shadowed where he missed a spot shaving. . . “ Ana’s phone rings and she’s left to wonder if she wanted Neo to kiss her. 
  • Ana goes to Harrison’s house and he asks Ana permission to kiss her. Ana is “looking at Harrison, and I know I want to kiss him. Instead of words, I use my lips. His lips are soft, and wonderful, but he doesn’t move them. I am self-conscious. Am I supposed to do something more? I kiss him again. He kisses too, then pulls away.” 
  • Neo takes Ana to a poetry slam and then the Empire State Building. While at the top, he “leans in. When his lips touch mine, the moment shivers through me, his lips, warm and perfect, part mine. His hand is on the small of my back, and he pulls me in, and I can’t breathe.” The kiss is described over a paragraph. 

Violence  

  • Several times, a boy from school makes snarky remarks about Neo being an immigrant. One day, Ana gets to school and sees Neo and the boy fighting. “One has the other in a headlock. . . It’s Neo in the headlock, swinging his arms, connecting with a thud on the other boy’s lower back. He pulls Neo tighter.” Neo has blood on his face when teachers break up the fight. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • While at a night club Ana sees some girls from school and one of the girls is “flirty drunk.” 

Language  

  • Ana overhears profanity in the hallways at school. Ana writes in her journal, “Fuckface. A face that likes to do sex? Doosh noze? Shit biscuit? Duck butter? Bananas. Like ‘crazy’?” 
  • Profanity is used rarely. Profanity includes damn, fuck, and shit. 
  • Oh my God is used as an exclamation.  

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Prince of Song & Sea

Before Prince Eric’s mother, the Queen of Vellona, went missing two years ago, she reminded him of the deadly curse that plagued his entire life. The curse? If he were to kiss someone other than his true love, he would die. With a neighboring kingdom looking for any excuse to invade their shores, plus rumors of ghost pirates lurking the seas, Eric is desperate for any information that may help him break his enchantment and bring stability to Vellona. The answers he has been searching for come to him in the form of a letter that reveals Eric must find his true love—the one with a voice pure of heart—or kill the sea witch responsible for cursing him in the first place.

Now, Eric sets off on a quest to find the Isle of Serein, the witch’s legendary home. But after he is rescued by a mysterious young woman with a mesmerizing singing voice, Eric’s heart becomes torn. Does he enter a battle he is almost certain he cannot win, or does he chase a love that might not even exist? Then, when a shipwrecked young woman with flaming red hair and a smile that could calm the seven seas enters his life, Eric discovers true love isn’t something that can be decided by magic. 

Prince of Song & Sea retells the story of The Little Mermaid from Prince Eric’s point of view. However, most of the story focuses on Eric’s backstory, allowing Eric’s personality to become fully formed. Eric hasn’t been able to have normal relationships because of the witch’s curse. However, he does have two close friends who follow him in his quest to find the sea witch. His two friends add humor and depth to the story. Although Eric wants to break the sea witch’s curse, his reasons aren’t purely selfish. When he discovers that the sea witch wants to control Vellona, Eric puts the needs of his country above his own. Ultimately, Eric’s quest allows his bravery and compassion to shine.  

Anyone who loves The Little Mermaid will find Prince of Song & Sea a fun read. While it stays true to the Disney version of the story, focusing on Eric’s life adds an interesting perspective that allows readers to understand why Ariel was willing to risk her life for Eric’s love. Ariel is not portrayed as a love-sick teenager but as a curious, brave, and selfless woman. While some readers may miss Skuttle and Sabastian in this version of the story, Ariel is still a loveable character. 

Fans of fairytales will be swept into Prince Eric’s life and enjoy seeing what the world looks like from his point of view. While Prince of Song & Sea is an enjoyable read, it mirrors The Little Mermaid, which makes the story less suspenseful. Despite this, readers who love fairytales and mermaids will find Prince of Song & Sea entertaining. 

Sexual Content  

  • Eric thinks about kissing Ariel. Eric thinks, “She was wild and beautiful, hair damp with the sea. As they stared at each other, her tongue wet her lips, and Eric couldn’t help wondering what they would feel like against his own. They both leaned closer, her eyes fluttering shut. Eric reached for her, and – the boat tipped.” 
  • One of the female pirates flirts with another girl, and later, the two marry each other. 

Violence  

  • Pirates attack the ship Eric, and his friends are sailing. “A footstep cracked behind Eric. He twisted away, the blade of a short sword piercing the railing where he had been. . . Eric rammed his hilt into [the pirates’] temples.” 
  • Eric’s adviser, Grimsby, fights a pirate named Sauer. “Grimsby plunged his hand into his coat. A shot rang out. Sauer fell backward, blood splattering across the rail. They steadied themselves, blood dripping down their badly grazed cheek, and covered their faces with a hand.” Sauer is injured but doesn’t die. 
  • The pirates tie up the crew. “A purple welt marred Vanni’s cheek, and Gabriella’s bottom lip was busted. Not a single person had died, but neither were they unharmed.” The pirate battle is described over five pages. 
  • After the pirates capture Eric and his crew, they encounter sirens, which can make people see what they most desire. One of Eric’s friends, Gabriella, “lunged toward the edge of the ship…A wide, glassy grief lit her eyes, and she choked back a sob.” 
  • A supernatural storm batters the ship. “Another wave washed over the ship, rocking it to its side, and half the crew vanished in a blink.” The ship breaks up during the storm, and everyone climbs into a rowboat. Eric hears his dog, Max, and climbs back onto the ship. “His foot plunged through the wood, and he tossed Max as hard as he could. The dog vanished over the side of the ship. . . Pain shot through his ankle, and his heart stopped with each clunk of the loose barrels rolling across the fiery deck. . . And the world exploded.” Eric reawakens on the beach. 
  • The crew is attacked by “a malformed tentacle made up of eels. Hundreds of them were knotted together in one monstrous mass, the tangles so tight that blood rained. . . The tentacle curled over the ship, snapping rope and ripping away part of the sails, and gripped two of the masts tight.”  
  • The eels are able to generate electricity. “A terrible crack split the air. . . suddenly the eels along the tentacle bared their teeth. Eric lunged at it, butting through one of the small eels.” When Eric kills the eels’ leaders, “they untangled themselves from the knot of eels, and the electricity fizzled out.” No person is seriously injured. The scene is described over five pages. 
  • Ursula, the sea witch, disguises herself as Vanessa and compels Eric to marry her. But before the wedding, seagulls attack. “The flock swooped again, dropping half-eaten fish and seaweed on the deck. Vanessa shrieked, and the guests scattered. . . the world became a swirl of white feathers. . . A pair of sea lions barreled through the crowd, sliding across the deck and into Vanessa.”  
  • Ursula changes into her true form, grabs Ariel, and jumps into the sea. Eric follows on a dinghy. Ursula “had pinned Ariel against a rock, jabbing the trident at Ariel’s neck. . .[Eric] hauled his arm back before launching the harpoon. It sliced through Ursula’s arm, drawing a hazy cloud of blue blood.” Ariel escapes. 
  • Ursula’s eels grab Eric and “pulled him deeper and deeper, and salt burned in Eric’s eyes. He struggled against his hold, but teeth nipped at his hands every time he tried to break free.” A fish rams into the eels, and Eric gets free. 
  • Ursula causes a whirlpool that “pulled Eric in, sucking him beneath the waves and the holey hull of an old ship passed over him.” Eric pulls himself onto the ship. Before Ursula can kill Ariel, “Eric screamed, muscles aching at the grip it took to keep the ship steady. . . the bowsprit cut through her stomach, impaling her, and the pale waters ran sapphire blue with her blood.” Ursula dies. The battle is described over 14 pages.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • When a storm arrives, a crew member asks, “Which one of you pissed off Triton?” 

Supernatural 

  • Eric’s mother “saw a body floating in the surf. It was a child, small and chilled to the bone. . .” Eric’s mother saved the child, but a witch claimed that the child was hers. When Eric’s mother refused to hand the child over, the witch cursed her unborn child. The witch said, “If that thing in your belly ever kisses someone without a voice as pure as their spotless soul, someone who isn’t its true love, then it will die, and I will drag its soul to the bottom of the sea.”  
  • Before going on a voyage, Eric’s friend Gabriella “tipped a full bottle of wine into the sea before they left the bay as tribute to King Triton of the Sea, and there had been clear skies since.” 
  • Eric hears rumors of a Blood Tide and a ghost ship. “Once you acknowledge the ghosts are there, they ensnare you and force you to make a deal with them. Used to be they just offered. Now you have no choice.” The ghosts use their voice to control people.  
  • The legend behind the Blood Tide and the witch is explained. People would “make a deal with something in the depths so they could live their wildest dreams. The costs, though, were always souls.” 
  • There is a debate about whether ghosts are people who are dead. The pirates capture a ghost, who is “as translucent as a spiderweb in the wrong light.”
  • The witch captures souls, and “they require no maintenance other than a space to store them.” The witch turned Eric’s mother, Eleanora, into a ghost. “A ribbon of seagrass burrowed into her chest. Her form spun and shrunk, bones cracking and mouth open in a silent scream. She condensed. . . all that was left in her place was a ragged brown blade of grass with two branches like flailing arms. It shimmered with trapped magic.” 
  • The witch knows how to use magic in various ways, including how to compel people. At one point, the witch changes into a beautiful woman who uses her voice to control Eric. In addition, “the witch can transform people into whatever they want.” 
  • Nora discovers that one of her parents was from the mer world. Because of this, Nora transforms into a mermaid when she goes into the ocean. A merman explains, “You should’ve been taught how to control the transformation so that it became as natural as breathing. Most children who are part human and part merfolk transform every time they leave or enter the sea, but it can very much be controlled.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a “pleasure to have in class.” It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She’d never send them of course — she’d rather die than hurt anyone’s feelings — but it’s a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie’s work. 

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating co-captain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. “You’re attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you’ve been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft . . .” Sadie doesn’t have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them . . . that is, until they’re accidentally sent out. 

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It’s her worst nightmare — now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they’re not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there’s one person growing to appreciate the “real” Sadie — Julius, the only boy she’s sworn to hate . . .  

Sadie is a classic overachiever who worries about getting into her dream college, but of course, she keeps all her worries to herself. When her vicious emails are sent out, Sadie and Julius make a scene at a school assembly, and as punishment, the principal gives them a list of tasks they must complete together. Through it all, Sadie realizes that she doesn’t know herself, or Julius, as well as she thought.  

While the plotline of two sworn enemies forced to work together and fall in love isn’t new, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You throws the two competitive overachievers together in a surprisingly fun way. The story is told from Sadie’s point of view, which allows readers to understand all of her frustrations, fears, and insecurities. Sadie is convinced it’s up to her to save her family, but she unfortunately never has an open and honest conversation with them. This is similar to Sadie’s school life; she pretends everything is perfect despite harboring hard feelings. Through it all, Sadie learns to be real with herself and those around her. 

One reason Sadie tries to be perfect is because her parents divorced when she was young, and Sadie blames herself for her parent’s riff. Sadie’s parents never fought, so she was shocked when her father left. Her mom discusses how things aren’t always what they seem. Sadie’s mom says, “I almost wish that we had fought more, that we’d cared enough to challenge each other and bicker over the little things. Better that than just swallowing our resentment and staying quiet until we couldn’t take it anymore.” Not quelling her emotions is one of the major lessons Sadie learns. In addition, Sadie realizes the harmful effects of being a pushover. “What I’m realizing is that if you’re quiet about the things that hurt you, people are only going to mistake your tolerance for permission. And they’re going to hurt you again and again.” 

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is a feel-good romance that wraps up important lessons with some laugh-out-loud moments. Even though Sadie and Julius aren’t always nice—especially to each other—everyone can relate to their fear of rejection and their unexpected feelings for each other. Ultimately, they both realize that being vulnerable isn’t the same as being weak. And when it comes to love, you have to take risks to win the game. For more swoon-worthy romance, grab a copy of I Believe in A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo and Maybe This Time by Kasie West.  

Sexual Content  

  • A girl shows up at a party with “blue mascara streaked down her cheeks. The word has since spread that she’d been dumped by a girl on her gymnastic team for one of the glamorous equestrians at another school.” 
  • During the party, some of the teens play truth or dare. Someone dares Sadie to kiss Julius. Sadie kisses him. “It’s so fast, so light that I only have time to register the startling softness of his lips before I’m reeling back again.”  
  • After Sadie kisses Julius, he asks, “You call that a kiss? That was barely anything?” Embarrassed, Sadie wants to “slap that smug look off his face,” so she kisses him again. “I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him to me. This time, when our lips meet, I don’t back away. I deepen the kiss, letting my fingers slide up his neck, curl into his hair. . . Then he kisses me back, presses me closer, and something inside me slides off-balance.” 
  • Sadie tells Julius that she kissed a boy at coding class. Afterwards, Julius says, “Why would I be jealous? I would rather die than kiss you again.” Sadie feels shame. She describes, “I lurch forward and do the first thing I can think of: I kick him. Hard, right in the knee. The sound of the impact is even louder than I anticipated. . .” Julius is shocked but not injured. 
  • At Sadie’s party, “three couples are making out on the couch in one row, as if they’re in a competition to see who can make the most disturbing sounds or flash the most skin.”  
  • One of Sadie’s friends is upset that her sister’s boyfriend is cheating. “Not with one person, but multiple people.”  
  • Sadie and Julius are planning where to go for the senior trip. Julius doesn’t want to go to the beach because “the probability of teenagers sneaking into each other’s rooms and hooking up increases by zero-point-four when you put them in a scenic beach setting.” There are several other sexual innuendos in the conversation. 
  • Julius’s brother tracks him down by using Julius’s search history. Julius is upset so his brother says, “Calm down, it’s not like you were searching up the closest brothel.” Later, Julius’s brother tells him to “hook up” with Sadie and “get it out of your system in order to focus on what matters.” 
  • While on the senior trip, Julius and Sadie meet up in the hallway. As they talk, “he murmurs against my neck. His lips graze my skin, and his other hand slides up, tangles in my hair, his nails lightly scraping my scalp. . .” Sadie gives Julius permission to kiss her, and then “his mouth is on mine in an instant, desperate, urgent. And I cave in. . . My brain is buzzing, but all of my thoughts are floating, nonsensical fragments as he deepens the kiss, wraps a hand around my waist . . .” The kiss is described over a page.  

Violence  

  • A student, Danny, comes to school with a black eye. Later, Sadie sees Julius’s knuckles, which are “split open and raw red . . . [his injury] looks more unnatural, more deliberate as if he’d slammed his fist into something hard. Like Danny’s face.” Later, Sadie finds out that Julius punched Danny.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Sadie decides to throw a party, but she’s worried no one will come. Her friend says, “There’s no quicker way to bond than over cheap beer and good music.”  
  • Sadie’s party has “giant cartons of alcohol lined up along the couches.” At the party, the teens get drunk.”  
  • At the party, Julius tells Sadie not to drink a bottle of alcohol. “I uncap the bottle, holding his gaze the whole time in challenge, and take a long, deliberate swig. The liquid burns my mouth, so much stronger than I’d been prepared for. It tastes like fire. Rushes straight to my head. . . My body starts to warm up from within, and my head starts to spin.” Sadie drinks an entire bottle of bourbon and gets drunk. 

Language  

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, bullshit, crap, damn, hell, piss, and shit. 
  • Oh my god, oh god, and god are used as exclamations often. 
  • One of Sadie’s classmates writes, “Sadie Wen is a bitch” on the bike shed. 
  • When Sadie’s friend is upset about a cheating boy, Sadie says, “You couldn’t have known. It’s an unfortunate feature of douchebags that they’re good at hiding their douchebag tendencies.” 

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Reawakened #1

When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification.

And she really can’t imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe. But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world. 

Lily is a compelling protagonist who has always been a rule follower and an obedient daughter. This all changes when she meets Amon. At first, Lily is suspicious of Amon and doesn’t understand the strange power he has over her. However, when Lily learns that he is a reawakened prince, her determination to help Amon gives her the strength to make decisions based on her own thoughts and feelings. Readers will admire her determination and willingness to put herself in danger to help Amon. 

Reawakened incorporates Egyptian history and rich world-building. However, at times, the world-building is long-winded and breaks the story’s pace. While much of the information is necessary to understand the book’s events, the information often seems like a boring lecture. Lily’s inner musings also slow down the book’s pacing. At first, Lily is trying to understand her physical attraction to Amon as well as Amon’s powers. However, nothing exciting takes place until after the two travel to Egypt. Readers who enjoy action and adventure may find it difficult to slog through the first part of the story.  

From the start, Amon’s goal is to reawaken his brothers. However, the brothers don’t make an appearance until the story’s end, which increases the story’s action and suspense. In addition, the brothers are so incredibly likable that the reader will wish they could jump into the story and meet them. The three brothers’ strong bond and dedication to each other is heartwarming. The brothers are so interesting that some readers will be disappointed that they weren’t given more time.

Unfortunately, the climax isn’t very dramatic because it’s seen through Lily’s point of view, which gives the reader a limited view of the fight against good and evil. However, the conclusion has several surprises, including Lily’s willingness to sacrifice herself for Amon. Readers who enjoy character-based stories that allow them to understand the inner workings of the protagonist will find Lily a relatable character who grows throughout the story. Instead of ending with a happy ever after, Lily’s and Amon’s story will continue in the next book in the series, Recreated. 

Sexual Content  

  • Amon tells a story about Iris and Osiris, two siblings who were married. Amon says “incest” was common among the gods and pharaohs. 
  • Lily often talks about her attraction to Amon and not all of the passages are included below. For example, while they are dancing, “his hands, splayed on my back, moved inch by tantalizing inch downward until they reached the bare skin at my waist. . . he put his forehead to mine. The side of his mouth tickled my cheek. . . I could be kissing him. But I was too much of a coward to make the first move.” The scene is described over a page.  
  • When Lily and Amon are really close, she thinks: “Any slight movement and we could be kissing. With a twang of alarm, I realized that I wanted to experience his lips pressed against mine, and I wondered if it was something I truly desired for myself or if he was making me want it.” 
  • After Lily is injured, Amon’s “gaze dropped to my mouth, and my breath caught. . . I knew without a doubt that he wanted to kiss me. And Egyptian heaven help me, I wanted him to. But despite the fact that I was vividly imagining the press of his lips against mine. . .” Amon moves away from Lily. Lily tries to get Amon to kiss her several times after this, but he continues to keep his distance. 
  • After Lily and Amon’s bond is permanently sealed, he kisses her. “I’d waited so long for his kiss, and it was so much more, so much better than I had dared imagine. Golden sunshine burst behind my closed eyelids as I became a being entwined with the sun.” 
  • Amon’s brother, Astern, makes many sexual innuendos. For instance, when his body is re-formed, Astern says, “I am also grateful for my fully re-formed front, since I am partial to it.” 

Violence  

  • Since the story revolves around Egyptian gods, much of the violence is documented below under supernatural. Amon tells a story about three siblings—Iris, Osiris, and Seth. Seth tricked Osiris into climbing into a box, and Seth’s servants “sealed the lid with molten lead.” Then, Seth went to find Iris. “He was determined to take possession not only of the throne but of his sister as well.” To escape, Iris “leapt upon a moonbeam and vanished.” 
  • Later, Iris discovers that Osiris’s chest “had been thrown into the Nile. By the time she was able to raise the box, it had been broken into by crocodiles, and her husband’s body had been torn to pieces.” 
  • The god Amun-Ra sent out fellow gods, Seth and Horus, to search for Nebu, a golden stallion that roamed the desert. “Seth had heard the rumor that Horus had very powerful eyes and he worried that Horus would likely be the first to find Nebu, so in an act of desperation, he stole upon Horus while he slept and ripped his eyes from their sockets. . . He left Horus to die.” Horus promised to become the leader that Egypt needed, and Amun-Ra gave him a third eye. “It is said that an amulet made with the Eye of Horus can ward off evil, shielding its bearer from harm.”  
  • While looking for Amon’s canopic jars, Lily and Amon enter an ancient passageway leading to a tomb. “Rocks and debris shifted, rising into the air. . .  Amon continued to murmur in ancient Egyptian and the rubble rose higher, shooting past us in a cloud of stinging dust. Pebbles came next, firing through the air like bullets.” Amon’s spell keeps them safe, but the entrance is sealed. 
  • Seth asked three kings to sacrifice their children. When the kings refused, Seth took over a priest named Runihura’s body. “Runihura thrust his fingers into his eyes and yanked the bloody orbs from their sockets. . . he squeezed each eyeball, then opened his hands, a puff of light rising from each palm. . . the light pierced [the son’s] foreheads, and the boys cried out as dark magic lifted them into the air and threw them across the temple.”  
  • The priest warns the kings of doom. “The dying priest gathered his remaining strength and spat. Blood and saliva spattered across the king’s cheek, spraying his white robes with red. . . King Heru surged forward and plunged his own dagger into the neck of the priest, whose body finally slumped in death.” 
  • Seth, who is also known as The Dark One, sends a sandstorm. Amon tells Lily to hide, but she does not. She “cried out in pain and glanced down. The tremendous force was crushing my forearm, bruising the muscles, grinding against my bone, ripping into me, but nothing was there. Suddenly, the pressure lifted, and a crescent-shaped puncture appeared on both sides of my left arm.” Lily is bit several times before she is pulled to a safe location. She discovers the Dark One sent the creatures that bit her.  
  • While in a mountain, “a worm the size of Godzilla” attacks Amon, Lily and Amon’s brother, Astern. “Its gray skin oozed. The front half was all mouth with sharp, circular teeth that went back as far as I could see.” The worm tries to wiggle out of the mountain and attack. “Amon slashed at its side while Astern created magic dust that blew up in puffs of light. . . In retaliation, the worm opened its mouth, spewing neon-green slime and fat clumps of glistening saliva over everything. . .” Astern turns into a bird and takes Lily to safety. 
  • When Amon was a boy, he and his brothers skipped school and went on an adventure. Their teacher didn’t want them to get into trouble, so he followed their trail. He came across jackals. The teacher “did not survive. Our beloved instructor’s gnawed-upon bones were laid before the three of us, and our father honored his sacrifice as a hero.” 
  • Amon finds a man “burned, abused, and bleeding, with one eye ripped out, broken limbs, and bones protruding in several places, yet he still breathed.” The man tries to give Amon a message, but “he gasped as an invisible power lifted his torso. His broken arms dangled at his sides . . .” The god Seth speaks through the man.  
  • In the multi-chapter conclusion, Amon and his brothers fight the Great One in order to keep the god of chaos, Seth, from ruling the world.  
  • To defeat Amon and his brothers, the Great One raises “Masaw Haput—those born of death. You would call them zombies.” A zombie goes after Lily and her companion, Dr. Hassan. “Dr. Hassan sank his two files deep into the zombie warrior’s chest. It just stared at the two of us, breathing raggedly. Then, raising its sword overhead, it let out a supernatural scream, its jaws unhinging, a metal staple the only thing holding the jaw to its skull.” One of Amon’s brothers “took its head off” before it could hurt anyone. 
  • Lily hears Amon’s screams. When she finds him, a tray of ancient tools is close to him. “A pool of sticky blood surrounded the tray . . . Rivulets of blood had dried on his arms. . . Deep slashes marked several places on his thigh, and ugly stab wounds peeked out from between the fragments of what was left of his shirt.” Amon’s eyes had also been removed.  
  • Mummy crocodiles and living crocodiles attack Lily and Dr. Hassan. Amon’s brother, Ahmose, turns into a bird, and the two climb on. Lily falls “landing on the back of a croc mummy that did not like the fact that its remaining back leg broke off upon impact. It spun quickly and snapped at [Lily], grabbing [her] shirt in its teeth.” The crocodile is killed before it can injure Lily. 
  • Dr. Hassan and Lily create an effigy of Sebak, a reawakened man given power by the god Seth. “Dr. Hassan hit the figure three times and I heard a sharp snap like bone breaking. A scream full of rage blossomed, not from the doll figure, but from the giant creature by the pyramids. . .” Sebak became a crocodile beast and was trying to get to Lily. “His left front leg hung limply at his side, and one of his back legs seemed to have given way.” Dr. Hassan finds a way to send Sebak back to the underworld. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • While opening Amon’s canopic jars, Lily is covered in a red powder that makes her feel “nauseated, weak, and dizzy.” Later, she discovers that the red power was a poison that would have killed her if Amon hadn’t intervened. 

Language  

  • Amon yells, “Son of a stunted jackal.” 

Supernatural 

  • Since many of the characters use chants and spells, not all of them are listed below. The story revolves around the god of chaos, Seth, who wants to defeat Amon and his brothers so he can rule Earth.  
  • Amon’s power “is a gift from the sun god Amun-Ra and his son Horus.” Amon says that he needs to “waken my brothers and complete the ceremony to align the sun, the moon, and the stars so that the Dark One, Seth, the god of chaos, may be kept at bay for another thousand years.” Amon often uses chants to help him complete his mission and keep Lily safe. Often, no specific words are given. The chants used to create spells appear below.  
  • After completing the ceremony, Amon “will have my full power and I will be able to manipulate time and send you back to your home so that you will arrive just a moment after we left. No one will miss you. Your family will never even know you were gone.” 
  • In order to talk to Lily, Amon “invoked a spell from the Book of the Dead to be able to communicate my thoughts to you.” 
  • Since he cannot locate his canopic jars, Amon must pull energy from Lily. When he pulls energy from her, “it felt like a gradual draining, but the pull was sharp and painful like someone was vacuuming out my insides with a steel wool attachment.”  
  • When Lily is injured, Amon uses magic to help her. “Amon ran his hand up my arm to my hurt shoulder, and I hissed as he cupped it with his palm. After a quick chant he poured enough warmth into the muscle to rival a heating pad.” Her injury has not completely healed but has lessened. 
  • Amon transports Lily by using sand. The first time, Lily “screamed as wind swept around our bodies, gritty sand stinging my skin like thousands of needles. I watched in horror as my body unraveled, piece by piece, to join the tumult, and my cry was cut off because I no longer had a throat, let alone a voice.” 
  • Amon can use his voice to command people. When Lily tries to leave Amon, he tells her to stop. When she didn’t, “my legs froze with a jolt so sudden that my bag flopped around my front and pulled me off balance. I feel in a heap. . .” 
  • When Amon commands Lily to take his hand, she “made a concerted effort to refuse his command and was rewarded with pain—stabbing, knife-twisting-in-my-gut pain. It made me gasp. . . When my determination weakened, and the pain overwhelmed me, I whimpered and gave in.”  
  • According to Amon, “When you know the true name of a being, be they god, human, or animal, you gain power over them.” A person’s true name “represents your ideal self. The person at the center. The name that is engraved upon your heart.” 
  • Amon reawakens two dead shabti. Shabti are described as, “Human servants were entombed with their leaders, with the understanding that they could journey to the afterlife with their masters and continue to act as servants for the dead kings or pharaohs.” In order to do this, Amon weaves a spell that begins with “Shabti servants, apportioned to me,/ You who molder in corruption,/ I summon you from the realm of the dead. . .” The spell is half a page. 
  • Amon discovers that one of the shabti broke his canopic jars. When Lily opens the one remaining jar, particles “coalesced until they formed a light. . . Slowly, the golden light rose up and out of the container, where it stretched until two wings became visible.” The light turns into a falcon. Amon weaves a spell by saying, “I call upon the falcon, born in the golden fires of the sun. . . Lend your whole, living soul to the one rent in pieces. / offer your resilient wings, your piercing talons, and your discerning eye. . .” Afterward, Amon and the falcon become one. 
  • Amon attacks the shabti. “The shabti shrieked and turned to run, but the falcon was upon him. . . its sharp golden talons grabbed the man, squeezing his torso mercilessly. . .” Before Amon can send him back to the underworld, the shabti disappears “with a puff of red smoke.” 
  • Apophis, a human priest, is a “lecherous man who abused anything or anyone he considered weak and soft. . . He lured women, and when they were at their most vulnerable, he’d strike. . . When he was ready to move on to the next victim, he would sacrifice the young maiden to a giant croc that he adorned with gold bracelets . . .” He was given the nickname, the Eater of Souls, not only because he threw victims to crocodiles but also because of his ability to control the undead. 
  • Apophis sent biloko to hurt Lily. Biloko are “invisible demons with crocodile snouts that, like Apophis, have a taste for females, though, in their case, they prefer the sweetmeats of the eyes, intestines, liver, and heart.” 
  • Amon murmurs, and “grains of sands twisted and writhed, and suddenly three horses burst from the dunes in a blast of shimmering powder.” The horses take Amon and his companions to a forest. 
  • Amon and his companions use an adder stone to pass through a mountain. Lily thinks, “What really freaked me out was that I wasn’t in a secret cave hidden within a mountain; I was passing through solid rock.” 
  • In order to raise his brother from the underworld, Amon weaves a spell. “The stars rise. The stars fall. The stars die. / As do you, my brother. / Astern—the embodiment of the stars. / It is time for rebirth. For renewal. For remaking. . .” 
  • As Amon chants, “sightless orbs and a gaping mouth rimmed with teeth peek[ed] through the wrappings as they fell away. . . The remaining skin was stretched tight and looked like fragments of old leather. In some places, it was ripped off completely, revealing graying bones with hanging bits of flesh.” When Astern is fully formed, he is handsome and muscular. Later, the third brother is also reawakened similarly. 
  • When Amon’s canopic jars were stolen, he lost some of his powers. Amon’s powers are restored when Lily is willing to sacrifice herself for him.  
  • In order to send Amon back, Lily must kill him. She is reluctant to do this, but when Amon reaches up to kiss her, “the kiss was brief. Amon lay back down, eyes wide, as a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. . . the sharp blade as embedded in Amon’s chest up to the hilt.” Afterward, a god mummified Amon. Lily and the god recite a spell from the Book of the Dead and “commemorate his name as we do so. In naming him, we connect his body, his ka, or soul, his ba, which is the character, and his shut, or shadow.”

Spiritual Content  

  • In Ancient Egypt, three kings held a summit, and “each city worshiped a different god. . . The kings had been convinced by their priest that their patron gods had abandoned them and that they should come together as one to make offerings to appease a new god, namely, the dog god, Seth, in order to secure the safety and well-being of the people.” 
  • After the kings made an offering, each king’s wife became pregnant. But then, “the god Seth demands that three young men of royal blood be sacrificed to him and that they serve him indefinitely in the afterlife.” The princes were sacrificed.  
  • Amon, one of the sacrificed princes, chants to the god Seth. “Protect me, God of the Morning Sun. Rebuff those who work evil. Turn aside this calamity. . .” The chant is one page long.  
  • Amon has “been imbued, gifted, with a portion of [the sun god’s] power so that [he] may fulfill [his] duties.” 
  • Amon explains why the pharaohs aligned with a god. “They believed that if they took the names of the gods for themselves, they would receive divine aid. . . They made it so that to reject a pharaoh was to reject deity.” 

Here’s To Us

Two years after his first New York summer and his breakup with Ben, Arthur’s life is everything he could have wished for. His college classes are going really well, and his new boyfriend, Mikey, is amazing. He has finally moved on from that New York summer and couldn’t be happier with where he is right now. 

Ben, too, has moved on, although his life isn’t quite as dreamy as Arthur’s. He spent his first year of college finishing his novel manuscript he’s hoping to get published while working part-time at his dad’s store. He is casually dating a boy from his creative writing class, Mario, who is cute and a great Spanish tutor but not quite ready for the “boyfriend” commitment. Ben is content to be where he is, and yet he has this nagging feeling that there is more out there. 

When Arthur scores a dream internship at a Broadway theater, he is back in New York for the summer. Although he lost contact with Ben over those few years, they begin writing to each other, and soon both of them are excited to reunite as friends. They begin hanging out again in their New York friend group and even go on double dates when Mikey visits Arthur for a few days. But as they become closer, each of them realizes that they’re not quite over each other; it’s harder for them to see each other with other people, even though they’ve both moved on. Will they find their way back to each other again? Or has something broken forever between them, leaving each wishing for the other’s familiarity but unable to reconcile their feelings? 

This sequel to What If It’s Us is a delight from start to finish. It features all of the characters that readers know and love from the original book, plus a few new characters that readers will love meeting. This story moves at a consistent pace, keeping readers engaged while also allowing for slower moments that develop the characters and their relationships. The point of view alternates between Ben’s and Arthur’s, letting both voices and stories shine.  

A central theme in Here’s To Us is the importance of compromise in a relationship – both parties must put in an equal amount of effort for the relationship to be happy and healthy. Arthur and Ben learn this through trial and error, the way that all humans do. They don’t always make the best decisions and they hurt people they care about along the way, but they learn from their mistakes and do their best to make amends. Ben’s and Arthur’s growth makes them easy to sympathize with and subsequently learn from, even while being frustrated with decisions that we, as readers, can tell are not the best. 

Unlike, young adult stories, Here’s To Us is considered new adult fiction because the characters are in the 18–29 age bracket and deal with more mature topics. Here’s To Us tackles many questions that many teens and young adults have to navigate, especially when it comes to relationships. How do you know that you’re truly in love with someone? What is the best way to navigate complicated feelings in a relationship? How do your decisions affect your partner, and how do you act in a way that takes both parties’ feelings and best interests into account?   

Overall, Here’s to Us is a cute, funny, and satisfying sequel to What If It’s Us. At its core, it is a story about second chances and learning how to recover the people you may have lost touch with. Despite its drama, it has a happy ending, reminding readers that the universe always has a plan. 

Sexual Content  

  • Ben remembers a time when his father “was doing laundry and found a condom sleeve in my jeans pocket. It led to this big conversation where he asked if I was sexually active or not. He was shocked when I told him that I’d had sex with Hudson, Arthur, and Mario.” 
  • Arthur texts Jessie that he’s having trouble getting a fitted sheet on his mattress. Jessie texts back: “It’s probably turned the wrong way, check and see if it has one of those top or bottom labels.” Arthur replies: “My bedsheet has its own grindr profile now??” 
  • When Ben wonders what Arthur was doing all day before finally texting him, Ben thinks, “Maybe [Arthur and Mikey] were chilling. Let’s call it what it is– maybe they were having sex.” 
  • Arthur describes Ben as someone who “once turned down a blow job in favor of beating Dylan’s high score on Candy Crush. A blow job from Hudson, for the record. Ben’s never turned down a blow job from me.” 
  • When coming across a very overpriced shirt at a designer store, Ben asks, “Why is this better than, like, Marshalls? Is it threaded with diamonds? Does wearing it give you an orgasm?” 
  • Ben and Arthur have sex. Ben describes, “I fall back into bed first, kicking off my sneakers and unbuttoning Arthur’s shirt while he’s kissing me. We’re finding our way back to each other with every touch, both of us more experienced than last time, and without meaning to, we’re bringing those histories on top of the sheets. Even though I’m so damn ready to be naked with him again, I take my time undressing him.” 
  • Ben and Arthur kiss in a public place but away from a crowd. “[Ben] kisses me, his hands running down the sleeves of my jacket, leaving fields of goosebumps in their wake, even through layers of fabric. My arms hook beneath his, hugging him closer, holding his lips against mine, because air is good, but Ben’s breath is better. His hands change course, trailing back up to my shoulders, to the back of my neck, and I can’t stop thinking about how many stories these hands have told on tiny square keys. His fingertips find the skin just above my collar and just beneath it, tracing around the tag of my shirt – didn’t even know that was a move, but it definitely is. The way his touch lights me up, leans me forward. I think he’s italicizing me.” 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Arthur drinks a spoonful of chocolate liqueur. This is the first time he’s tried alcohol. “I swirl it around in my mouth for a moment, and at first I think it tastes like chocolate, but worse. But the more I sit with it, the more I like it, and by the time I finish the spoonful, I’m sold.” 

Language  

  • “Fuck” and “shit” are used often as exclamations. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

What If It’s Us

When Arthur found out he was going to spend the summer in New York doing an internship at a branch of his mom’s law firm, he was thrilled. As a theatre fanatic, he was excited at the prospect of living right at the heart of where everything happens. But when he gets there, he realizes that life in New York is no Broadway show. He misses his friends back home, Jessie and Ethan, and there are no other high schoolers at the firm to hang out with. The two people closest in age to him, Juliet and Namrata, are in college and treat him like a little brother, not a friend. And on top of it all, his parents have been bickering nonstop since they landed, and their New York apartment is too small for Arthur to get away from it. 

Ben’s summer isn’t going much better. During the school year, he spent so much time with his then-boyfriend, Hudson, that his grades suffered. Now, to graduate on time, Ben has to spend his break in summer school. To add insult to injury, he and Hudson broke up shortly before the end of the school year after Hudson cheated on him, causing a rift in their friend group as their mutual friends took different sides. Ben still has his best friend, Dylan, but his other friend Harriet only hangs out with Hudson now. Summer school is bad enough, but his broken friendships are really starting to take a toll on him. 

When Ben and Arthur first meet in the post office, they hit it off right away, but forget to exchange names or contact information. When they find each other again, they call it New York City magic, a sign from the universe that they should be together. After a few rocky starts, they begin to date. But Arthur has never been in a relationship before, and Ben has way too much on his plate. And, of course, there’s the fact that at the end of the summer, Arthur will have to leave New York. Can they make their relationship work despite all of these challenges, or are they simply not meant to be together? 

What If It’s Us is a humorous, cute, and cozy teen rom-com that’s easy and fun to read. It is full of references, particularly to contemporary Broadway musicals and Harry Potter, for fans to enjoy; however, knowledge of these references isn’t necessary to enjoy the book as a whole. All of the characters, particularly Arthur and Ben, are well-developed and fleshed-out, making them easy to relate to and sympathize with. The chapters alternate between both Ben’s and Arthur’s perspectives, giving readers a glimpse into both characters’ thoughts. Although they both make mistakes and have problems, they work through them together, making them an easy couple for readers to root for. 

Fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera will love their collaboration on this book. The novel flows well, without major style shifts, something that is difficult to achieve in a collaborative project. Each of their distinctive styles shines through while still working with the other, not overpowering it. Overall, What If It’s Us is an adorable teen rom-com, perfect for readers who want a simple story about the power of love. Its main lesson is to live in the moment; even if love and friendship may not last forever, they can still be beautiful and are worth pursuing. Fans of What If It’s Us should also read They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera and Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli. 

Sexual Content  

  • When Ben goes to his best friend Dylan’s house, Ben knocks on Dylan’s bedroom door before going in because a few months ago “[Ben] walked in and he was really going at it with himself. ‘Hand out of your pants?’ [Ben] ask[s]. ‘Unfortunately,’ Dylan responds from the other side.” 
  • On Ben and Arthur’s first date, Ben mentions, “My best friend, Dylan, once sent me a link to some Harry Potter porn. You can never read those books the same after you’ve seen Hermione, Harry, and Ron in a potions lab shouting Erectus Penis.” 
  • Ben and Arthur have their first kiss. Arthur’s “eyes are closed, and [Ben’s] lips move against mine, and WOW, I don’t know what the rules are around the appropriateness of getting a boner in this sort of moment, but– oh. I should kiss him back.” 
  • When Arthur brings Ben to his apartment to meet his parents, Arthur worries about how he should introduce Ben. “If he’s not my boyfriend, what do I call him? My friend? My gentleman caller? The guy with whom I think about having sex with 99 percent of my waking hours? And yes, I mean that both ways. I spend 99 percent of my waking hours thinking about how I’d like to spend 99 percent of my waking hours having sex with Ben.” 
  • During a dinner with Ben’s parents, Ben and Arthur go to Ben’s bedroom. They sit on top of Ben’s bed together (the door is open) and Ben thinks about sex. “I sit beside him and think about sex because that’s what happens when your beautiful boyfriend is in bed with you. If we make a move to have sex while he’s still in New York, it’s going to be his first time. That’s wild pressure. I want to prove myself to him so that no matter what happens between us, he won’t ever look back at me and regret our choice.” 
  • When Ben and Arthur are home alone, they mess around in Ben’s room. “And for a moment, we just stay like that– chest to chest, cheek to cheek. And then, slowly, [Ben’s] fingers trail closer to my boxers, slipping under their waistband. ‘This still okay?’ Holy shit. I laugh breathlessly. ‘Yup.’ So this is actually happening. It’s happening. It’s happening, and my whole body knows it. His hand slides down another inch. I don’t think I’ll ever not be hard again. His eyes never leave mine. He looks nervous. And he holds me like I’m breakable.” They do not end up having sex. 
  • Ben and Arthur kiss in Arthur’s apartment when they are home alone. “I just love this. Every part of it. The hitch in [Ben’s] breath and his slightly swollen lips and knowing I’m the one who made both of those things happen. I love the way the spaces between our bodies vanish, like we can’t be close enough. I love the feeling of my hands in his hair. I love the softness of the nape of his neck. And most of all, I love it when our lips are touching and our mouths slide open and my heart’s a mile a minute, and breath becomes something we share.” 
  • Ben and Arthur have sex for the first time in Arthur’s room. Ben describes, “We get going and we go slow . . . I kiss him and I call him beautiful and I tell him I love him and we go on past that finish line. We laugh and we catch our breaths.” 
  • When Arthur helps Ben study for his chemistry exam on Arthur’s last night in New York, Ben says, “I can’t believe we’re spending your last night studying for my fucking exam.” Then, Adam details the following exchange: “‘I love studying with you for your fucking exam.’ ‘I’d rather forget the exam part and go straight to–’ I clap my hand over his mouth. ‘Don’t say ‘fucking.’ Don’t you dare.’” 
  • Arthur comes up with the following mnemonic device for remembering the first nine elements on the periodic table: “Happy Hudson loves boners but can never overcome flaccidity.” 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Ben, Arthur, and their friends go to a karaoke night, and someone asks one of their friends to “go use your beard to get us some alcohol.” This doesn’t work, and the four drink Coke instead. 

Language  

  • “Fuck” is used often as an intensifier, and once as a synonym for “have sex with.” 
  • “Shit” is sometimes used as an exclamation. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Ben and his parents say grace before dinner. “This evening Ma is thanking God for the food on the table, for my abuelita who fell getting out of the car and my aunt who’s taking care of her, for Pa’s modest pay raise kicking in at Duane Reade, and for everyone’s well-being.” 

Our Violent Ends

The year is 1927. The chaos of the previous year has done nothing to quell the blood feud between the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers, and the streets of Shanghai are still rife with death and violence. But this is not only the work of the blood feud—foreign powers have increasingly become intertwined with the rival gangs, leading to talk of a brewing civil war. The possibility of peace feels further away than ever.  

The madness no longer sweeps through the streets like a contagion, infecting everyone it comes across, but that does not mean the madness has left the city for good. Monsters disguised as ordinary people still prowl through the streets, launching targeted attacks in crowded areas that cause everyone in the vicinity to rip their own throats out. It may no longer spread, but it is no less deadly.  

Betrayal, heartbreak, and death make all hope of reconciliation between Roma and Juliette seem impossibly far away. They miss each other terribly, but at the same time cannot forgive each other’s terrible actions. But when their fathers, in a rare show of cooperation between the Scarlets and the White Flowers, order Roma and Juliette to work together to find a cure for the new madness, they are once again thrown together and forced to cooperate. Their reconciliation is a relief to both of them as they realize how powerful they are together. But are they enough to save their city? The universe is never kind to star-crossed lovers, and they may just have to choose between saving Shanghai or themselves. 

Our Violent Ends is a dazzling conclusion to Roma and Juliette’s story. The prose is vivid, rich, and imaginative, and it fully immerses readers in Roma and Juliette’s world. While Our Violent Ends is on the longer side, there is never a dull moment – scenes packed with action transition smoothly into heartfelt confessions that will leave readers on the edge of their seats. Several subplots create many moving parts that all work together to culminate in a grand finale.  

The rich cast of characters is another factor that makes this novel a thrilling read. The narration switches between many points of view, allowing readers to inhabit many of the characters’ heads and get to know them and their motivations. The relationship between Roma and Juliette is an extremely complicated one, and these nuances are fully explored; neither character is perfect, and their circumstances often force them to hurt each other, but they ultimately work through their flaws to find a middle ground. 

Our Violent Ends is a great modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet. Like the play, this novel emphasizes the immense harm that hatred causes and reminds readers that unfounded hate leads to dreadful violence. Teens who enjoy intricate plots and cutthroat characters will love this book and think about Roma and Juliette’s story long after they close the final page. It is a satisfying conclusion to the duology begun by These Violent Delights. Fans of Romeo and Juliet may also want to read Crossing the Line by Simone Elkeles and Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine. 

Sexual Content  

  • Roma and Juliette kiss in a safe house. “Roma pressed his lips to hers with such ferocity that Juliette gasped, the sound immediately muffled when she pushed herself up and drew closer. Despite his burning energy, Juliette felt Roma’s mouth move with sincerity, felt his adoration while he trailed kisses all down her neck. ‘Juliette,’ he whispered. Both of their coats came off. Roma had the zip of her dress pulled in seconds too, and Juliette lifted her arms to accommodate. ‘My darling, darling Juliette.’ The dress fell to the floor. With some disbelief, Roma suddenly blinked, his eyes clearing for the briefest moment while she worked at his shirt buttons.” It is implied that they have sex, but not explicitly. 

Violence  

  • Juliette shoots a White Flower, wounding but not killing him. “Her pistol kicked. Juliette pressed back into her seat, her jaw hard as the man below dropped his weapon, his shoulder wounded.” 
  • During an altercation between the Scarlets and the White Flowers, Roma shoots, aiming for Juliette. “Roma reached into his jacket pocket and drew his gun, and Juliette had no choice but to jolt herself out of her daze. Instead of combating the would-be assassin, he had decided to shoot at her. Three bullets whizzed by her ear. Gasping, Juliette struck the floor, her knees grazing the carpet hard as she threw herself down.” The shot misses Juliette.  
  • Roma attacks Juliette. “He slammed her into the pipes. The effort was so forceful that Juliette tasted blood inside her lip, sliced by her own sharp teeth. She stifled a gasp and then another when Roma’s hand tightened around her throat, his eyes murderous.” Juliette defends herself: “Just as Roma shifted forward, perhaps intent on his kill, her hand closed around the sheath beneath her dress and pulled her blade free, slicing down on whatever she came in contact with first. Roma hissed, releasing his hold. It was only a surface cut, but he cradled his arm to his chest, and Juliette followed close, leveling the blade to his throat.” The fight stops when they call a truce and agree to talk. 
  • A monster attacks unnamed patrons at a bar. “The cabaret becomes enswathed in black, an ever-moving blanket of infection, and in seconds, the first succumbs, hands flying to throats and clutching, clutching, clutching, trying to squeeze the insects out. Nails break into skin, skin splits for muscle, muscle parts for bone. As soon as blood spurts from one victim, inner flesh exposed and veins pumping red, the next is already tearing before they have a moment to feel the visceral disgust that comes with being soaked in hot, sticky gore.” All of the patrons die. 
  • Benedikt, Roma’s cousin, is attacked by Scarlets. “He didn’t even have the chance to pull a weapon. A blow came to the side of his face out of nowhere, then Benedikt was reeling, crushed to the ground amid shouting and cursing and someone calling for the death of his whole family. His arms were bent back and his head was pushed hard into the cement, before something ice cold, something that felt like the butt of a gun, jammed up against his temple.” He escapes uninjured when the Scarlets are all shot by a third-party sniper. 
  • Tyler, Juliette’s cousin, shoots and kills two White Flowers. “Tyler pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession, two White Flower heads cracking with an explosion of red, crashing to the ground. Chenghuangmiao [the market] erupted with a wave of screaming, but most shoppers reacted quickly and hurried out of the way, in no mood to be caught in a gangster dispute. They didn’t have to worry. This was no dispute; there were no other White Flowers nearby to retaliate.” 
  • Marshall, Roma’s best friend, kills a Scarlet who recognizes him. “The bullet landed true. With a harsh clatter, the Scarlet’s weapon fell to the floor. It might have been a gun. It might have been a dagger. It might have even been a throwing star, for all the consequence it held. But in the hazy dark, all Marshall cared about was it being out of reach, and then the Scarlet collapsed too, a hand clasped over the hole studded into his breastbone.” 
  • Tyler sets fire to a building full of White Flowers as a targeted attack because of the blood feud. “Juliette could see him, holding a plank of wood swirling with flames. Behind him, the building’s roaring inferno drowned out the screams, drowned out the whole occupancy burning to death. Juliette heard nothing save that they were pleading–women in nightgowns and elderly banging on the closed windows, muffled Russian crying to stop! Please stop!” 
  • Juliette kills a White Flower who is attacking Tyler. “Without slowing her run, Juliette jumped over the threshold of the temple entrance and pulled the knife sheathed at her thigh. When she threw, the blade pierced into the White Flower’s neck smoothly, striking its target with nary a sound before the White Flower pitched sideways and fell.” 
  • During a fight, Roma throws a knife at Juliette, wounding her shoulder. “The pain did not come at first. It never did: a blade entering always felt cold and then foreign. Only seconds later, as if her nerve endings had finally registered what happened, did intense, sharp agony reverberate outward from the wound. . . Juliette managed, turning to look at the blade half-embedded in her shoulder, then at Roma. His jaw was slack, face drained of color. The wound, meanwhile, immediately started to bleed, a steady stream of red running its way down her dress.” Roma and his younger sister, Alisa, help stop the bleeding. Juliette is left with a scar. 
  • An unnamed foreman in a factory is killed by revolutionaries. “One slash, that’s all it takes. A knife over [the foreman’s] throat and he’s twitching on the floor, hands clasped around the wound in a futile attempt at holding the blood in. The red seeps regardless. It does not stop until he is naught but a body lying in a scarlet pool. It soaks the shoes of his workers, his killers. It is carried from street to street, the faintest red print pressed upon crumbling pavement and into the roads of the Concessions, marring stains upon the clean white sidewalks. This is what revolution is, after all. The trailing of blood from door to door, loud and violent until the rich cannot look away.” 
  • Lord Cai has Rosalind, Juliette’s cousin, whipped after finding out that she was spying for the White Flowers. “The lash came down again on her back, and Rosalind cried out, her whole body shuddering. They didn’t allow her to crumple to the floor: there were four Scarlets around her, two to hold her upright, one with the whip, and one standing just to the side.” Juliette defends her by “striking her fist across the guard’s face.” 
  • In a duel between Roma and Tyler, Juliette shoots Tyler, killing him. “Both her hands came around her smoking pistol. There was no room for regret now. She had done it. She had done it, and she could not stop there. She turned, and with a sob choked on her tongue, she shot each and every one of Tyler’s men before they had even comprehended what was happening, bullets studding their temples, their necks, their chests.” 
  • A Scarlet shoots a man named Da Nao because he is helping Roma and Juliette escape the city. “The Scarlet fired, and Da Nao fell with a spray of red, the bullet in his head killing him instantly.” 
  • Dimitri, a White Flower, shoots a group of Scarlets who are holding Roma hostage. “The Scarlets didn’t have a chance to fight back. Some managed to retrieve weapons, some managed one shot. But the workers had them surrounded, rifles already aimed, and with a pop-pop-pop! reverberating along the whole street, the Scarlets all dropped, eyes blank and glazed, fleshy wounds studded into their chests. The blood splashed generously.” 
  • The madness infects a crowd of people. “Destruction tore through the scene: a bloodbath, infecting those who hadn’t run fast enough. Juliette’s eyes swiveled to the side. A woman: dropping to her knees, fingers sinking into her neck and pulling without any hesitation. A scream–a figure, running to her. Her husband: cradled over her corpse and keening a loud, desolate noise. then he too gouged at his own throat and fell to the ground.”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • “Shit” is used a few times as an exclamation. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None

Throw Like a Girl

When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she’ll have to convince their coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched. . . Every. Single. Day.

Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: if Liv joins the football team as his temporary replacement, he’ll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the spring. But it will take more than just a flawless spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland’s halls, and behind that charismatic smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all. 

Readers will instantly connect with Liv, who is a hard-working, spunky protagonist worthy of admiring. When Liv is forced to change schools, she is determined to prove that she will be an asset to the softball team. Even though Liv joins the football team to impress the softball coach, Liv doesn’t slack or complain. Because of her competitive nature, Liv gives the football team 100% and proves to the players and the coaches that she is an integral part of the team. While Liv’s work ethic and athletic ability are admirable, Liv’s loyalty to her family and friends makes her lovable. However, Liv is not portrayed as a perfect person; teens will relate to Liv’s flaws and insecurities. Plus, Liv’s lively personality makes Throw Like a Girl incredibly fun to read.  

Liv is surrounded by well-developed and likable supporting characters. Liv’s family is an important part of the story and her little brother is adorable. While Liv’s family don’t always agree with each other, they (usually) don’t hide secrets from each other. The family’s healthy dynamics make it easy to fall in love with them. However, Grey steals the show with his winning smile, his charismatic personality, and his confidence in Liv’s football skills. There are plenty of swoon-worthy moments that will have the reader’s hearts melting.  

Throw Like a Girl has the perfect amount of football action, teen drama, and romantic moments. In addition, the story has a positive message because Liv learns that “standing up for yourself doesn’t mean walking away.” Readers will cheer for Liv when she’s on and off the field and by the end of the book, Liv will feel like a favorite friend. Throw Like a Girl is so charming that it will appeal to both sports fans and romance enthusiasts. For more sports and swoon-worthy moments read Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally and Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg .

Sexual Content  

  • When Liv first begins playing football, she is nervous about being a quarterback. During practice, Liv is uncomfortable because “for the eighth time in so many minutes, my hands are hovering near the rear-end seam of his pants. Like, right underneath his junk. Big, bulgy, manly junk.” 
  • Before a football game, Grey meets Liv outside the girl’s locker room. Grey’s “fingertips graze my cheek, moving down until they gently tip up my chin. My pulse stutters. . .” Before they can kiss, a friend interrupts them.  
  • When Liv drives Grey home, they sit in the car and talk. Then, “Grey closes the space between us, his lips warm against mine. They’re softer than I imagined, but the scrape of stubble pressing into my chin is 100 percent rough-and-tumble boy.” They stop when the porch light comes on. 
  • Grey and Liv kiss often. However, most of the kisses are not described. For example, Grey shows up at Liv’s house to check on her and her “arms lock his neck, lips to his.” 
  • During one conversation, between Liv and Grey, she thinks “We’ve made out and I’d love to do it again rightthehellnow. . .” Later in the conversation, Grey asks Liv to be his girlfriend. Liv “answer[ed] him with a kiss. Hard and full.”  
  • When his parents are away for the weekend, Grey invites Liv in and takes her to his bedroom. Then he tells Liv a secret. Liv “close the distance between us, twisting to push up onto my knees, draping my arms over his shoulders. . . I’m looking down on him, my chest touching his, the end of my hair pooling against his collarbone. . . And then I kiss him.” The scene ends here. 
  • Liv and Grey have an argument. A few days later, at football practice, they make up. “Even with the eyes of our teammates on us, he dares to touch my face, his strong hands cupping my cheeks, rough thumbs dusting my mouth in the breath before his lips crash into mine. Immediately, I wrap my arms around his waist. The hard planes of his chest conform to my curves. . . The wolf whistles start. . . It’s only by sheer, indoctrinated willpower that I’m able to pull myself out of the kiss.” 

Violence  

  • Liv’s sister, who is a lesbian, is the softball coach. During a softball game, a member of the opposing team, Kelly, says, “Does it bother you? Your sister being paid to check out your teammates?” When the game is over, Liv attacks Kelly. Liv describes, “The knuckles of my hand smack her straight across the ski jump of her obnoxiously pert nose, and we tumble to the infield dirt. I have her pinned, my butt across her kidneys, knees on either side of her squirming stomach.” When the girls are torn apart, Kelly has a bloody nose and Liv has a black eye. The fight is described over three pages.  
  • During a football game, the opposing team is unnecessarily rough. One of the payers, Jake, gets tackled and afterwards he does not move. The coaches go out to check on him and call for a medic. Liv “exhale[s] as I realize that though they’re keeping him steady, not a single one is gripping him like he’s not moving under his own power. I can see Jake’s mouth moving. Blood streaming down from a cut over his left eye.” Jake is not seriously hurt.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • During dinner, Liv’s adult sister drinks wine and her father “pops open a beer.” 
  • Grey takes Tylenol for a headache.  
  • After Liv goes on a date, her dad waits up for her. When she arrives, he has a “beer in hand.” Another time when Liv gets home, her father and sister are waiting for her and they both are drinking beer. 
  • Before the story begins, Grey was driving drunk and crashed into a tree. The accident isn’t described.  

Language  

  • Profanity is used profusely. Profanity includes ass, asshole, bastard, bitch, crap, damn, dick, freaking, goddammit, hell, and shit. 
  • God is frequently used as an exclamation.  
  • Christ and Jesus are used as an exclamation several times. 
  • After fighting the opposing team, Liv thinks, “Maybe all the soccer players in Kansas City are smart enough to know that gay people aren’t pedophiles.” 
  • When a football player flips someone off, the coach says, “Put down that hand, Rogers, or I’m taking that finder as a sacrifice to the god of high school football. Might take that senior captain title, too, for good measure.” 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • While talking about sports, Liv’s best friend says, “God did not make you a volleyball player, that’s for sure . . .” 

Yes No Maybe So

Jamie’s summer is not turning out like he hoped it would. After his fear of public speaking cost him a spot in a highly coveted internship, he settles for volunteering on a campaign for a Georgia State Senate candidate. It’s certainly not the glamorous summer he envisioned, but he’s wanted to be involved in politics and effect change for as long as he could remember, so he’ll take what he can get. Plus, it gives him breaks from bat mitzvah planning with his younger sister, Sophie. 

Maya’s summer doesn’t look promising, either. Between her parents potentially divorcing and her best friend, Sara, focused on work and getting ready to move away to college, it feels like her life is completely falling apart. Nothing feels right anymore, and she wonders if it ever will again. 

But when Jamie and Maya’s moms reconnect, they suggest that Jamie and Maya go door to door trying to get votes for the campaign Jamie is volunteering for. At first, neither is thrilled about the idea– Jamie is a nervous wreck around strangers, and Maya has enough on her plate already. But the more time they spend knocking on doors and promoting their candidate, the more they realize just how much is at stake in this election. And the more time they spend together, the more they realize that they don’t completely hate each other’s company. Are they growing closer as friends, or something more? 

Yes No Maybe So is a fast-paced rom-com that readers will tear through. Because the chapters alternate between Jamie’s and Maya’s perspectives, both characters are well-developed. Seeing the story unfold through both of their eyes adds lots of layers and nuance. Both characters have regrets and make mistakes, but learn from them and apologize; their ability to communicate and willingness to share their feelings is refreshing. The buildup to their eventual romance is satisfying too. Since they start out as friends, their relationship is clearly based on mutual respect and genuine regard for one another.  

This book also deals with complex issues such as antisemitism and Islamophobia, and how those manifests in politics. While these issues are not sugarcoated and are given the gravity that they deserve, there is still a healthy balance between the political and the romantic subplots. The two subplots complement each other well because neither one dominates the other. Yes No Maybe So’s main message is one of love and acceptance. Although we all have differences, it is important to respect people’s choices for how they want to live their lives, provided they are not hurting those around them. 

Overall, Yes No Maybe So is a fun and engaging read, perfect for teenagers who are looking for an optimistic (but not cheesy) view on the world we live in. It is a heartwarming romance full of twists and turns, while still sending a vital message about the importance of speaking out against injustice. Readers will fall in love with Jamie and Maya, and root for them as they try to navigate their friendship, as well as the ever-changing world around them. 

Sexual Content  

  • When thinking about how he often fumbles when giving a speech in public, Jamie nervously envisions himself giving a campaign speech and makes a sexual joke. He says, “Seriously, I wouldn’t just lose my election. I would call it an erection. And then I’d lose.” 
  • Jamie’s eighth-grade sister, Sophie, discusses games that she and her friends are planning to play at a no-adults birthday party. “We’re doing Spin the Bottle, we’re doing Seven Minutes in Heaven, we’re doing Suck and Blow. . . With a playing card.” 
  • Maya’s favorite season of The Office is “season two. All that Jim and Pam sexual tension.” 
  • Maya goes to Jamie’s house. His friends leave, joking that Jamie and Maya probably want “alone time.” Jamie and Maya laugh it off, but Jamie thinks, “Alone time. With Maya. In my house, which contains my room, which contains my–okay, I’m not going to think about beds. That would be absurd. No point in thinking about beds or alone or Maya or alone with Maya in beds or–” 
  • Jamie and Maya watch an episode of The Office together. During a particularly romantic scene, Maya puts her head on Jamie’s shoulder, and Jamie gets an erection. “Her head’s still on my shoulder, even though I’m the king of awkward, with my arm just hanging down stiffly. God. Speaking of stiff– I adjust the blankets, blushing furiously. Think of Asa Newton. Think of Ian Holden, Jennifer Dickers. Fifi. Fifi’s humanoid hands—Crisis averted.” 
  • Jamie and Maya kiss for the first time in Target. Then they move into a dressing room for privacy. Maya “sinks onto the bench, and I follow—kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. But then she hugs me, shifting backward, until I’m almost on top of her. I rest my hand behind her head before it hits the bench. Our legs tangle together, sneakered feet dangling off the edge. This time, when we kiss, it’s more urgent. Her hands fall to the back of my neck, gently threading my hair. My fingers trail down her bare arms, and she smiles against my lips.” 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • “Fuck” and “fucking” are sometimes used as an intensifier. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Jamie is Jewish and Maya is Muslim. They bring up their faiths, and how it affects their lives, many times throughout the story. For example, this story takes place during Ramadan, so the fact that Maya is fasting often comes up. She says, “‘I don’t do coffee on Ramadan. . .  I don’t even do water. I eat suhoor way before the sun is up and then I eat after the sun sets. That’s it.” 

Always Isn’t Forever

J.C. Cervantes’ novel follows Ruby and her long-time boyfriend, Hart. When Hart suddenly passes away in a drowning accident, Ruby struggles to figure out her new plans for the future—a future without the love of her life. Unbeknownst to his friends and family, Hart experiences a miracle, as his soul comes back to life in the body of someone else. Unfortunately for Hart, his new body is that of Jameson Romanelli, a football player at his school that Ruby describes as “arrogant, selfish, [and] obnoxious.” Because Jameson is in a coma after a car crash, an angel named Lourdes is able to put Hart’s soul into Jameson’s body. Lourdes explains to Hart that Jameson’s soul is about to pass on, and this is what allows her to put Hart’s soul into his body.  

Hart must try to reckon with his new body and he can’t tell anyone who he really is. This allows him to grow and experience new things. For instance, Ruby describes Hart as a bit of a “worrywart. . . when we were kids, he wouldn’t climb the monkey bars or anything more than four feet off the ground, he started a petition for seat belts on the school bus.” In addition, Hart is “a stickler for the rules.” But that changes when Hart has to learn to convincingly do things that Jameson would normally do, in order to not clue anyone in about his divine intervention. For instance, Hart needs to learn a lot about football, as Jameson is a top athlete at their school and he is under a great deal of pressure from his father. Being in Jameson’s body allows Hart to understand that people face pressures we have no way of knowing about from surface-level encounters. Hart explains, “I’ve only lived in Jameson’s body a day and I already feel like shit. Imagine how bad he felt living his whole life under this kind of pressure.” 

Because Hart (referred to as Hart/Jameson later in the book), now in Jameson’s body, is not able to tell Ruby what happened, Ruby feels completely confused as to why Jameson is suddenly reaching out to her and being nice. Eventually, as Ruby spends more time with this “new” Jameson, she starts to feel that “I couldn’t stand [Jameson] and then he woke up from a coma and I felt this weird connection and then I hung out with [Jameson] and to be honest he wasn’t that bad; he was nice.” Ruby feels conflicted about enjoying her time with Jameson, but says, “I felt like . . . like we’re connected by something bigger.”  

Always Isn’t Forever switches points of view at the start of each chapter, which will help readers relate to each of the characters individually. Though Hart initially judges Jameson, Hart grows as a character because he can feel Jameson’s emotions. For example, Hart discovers that Jameson had a serious girlfriend who “had a rock-climbing accident and died.” Hart is able to feel Jameson’s grief: “I feel an ache deep between my ribs that shoots into my heart.” Hart recognizes that this grief is what drove Jameson to alcohol. Hart learns about how the pain of grief can affect people who may seem hardened on the outside, like Jameson.  

Even though the book’s characters are extremely empathetic, the situation regarding what happens to Jameson’s soul when Hart’s soul is put into his body is not explained in detail. This causes confusion especially because Jameson’s memories begin taking over Hart. For instance, Hart lost some of his memories. He explains, “I have no idea how to sail this boat that evidently, I bought and fixed up and don’t remember a damn thing about.” However, Hart regains all his memories at the end, and though this leaves a happy ending for Ruby and Hart, the reader might be confused as to why the angel did not just give Hart all of his memories to begin with.  

Overall, the theme of processing grief is extremely pertinent in Always Isn’t Forever. Readers will empathize greatly with Ruby as she explains how she feels after Hart’s death: “At first, I let [grief] have at me. I knew the grief was eventually going to swallow me up. And I wanted it to.” Later in the novel, Ruby recognizes that her grief has caused her to give up things she used to enjoy. She reflects that she’s “given up what I love: the water, my dreams to travel—even myself. I guess a part of me is terrified that if I let myself want again, it’ll just be one more thing ripped away. But how is a life without desire worth living?” Eventually, Ruby is able to open up to Jameson and share her feelings, which allows her to refocus on her dreams of travel and college that she had put aside in the depths of her grief.  

Sexual Content  

  • Hart and Ruby share a quick romantic moment. Hart says, “[Ruby] gives me a kiss, meant to be a peck, but I’m greedy, and in a nanosecond the kiss is deeper, our bodies pressed so close I think we could melt into this mattress.” But the kiss ends abruptly, with Hart saying, “Sometimes I wish we had never agreed to wait to have sex until college.”  
  • To test her theory that “a part of Hart is inside Jameson,” Ruby approaches Jameson and kisses him. Hart/Jameson describes, “[Ruby] pulls me closer, opens my mouth with her own. Every nerve in my body is on fire. I let go. I deepen the kiss, feel its heat, its desire, and all the questions it’s asking . . . our erratic breathing matches the rhythm of the kiss now, frantic, out of control. As if this is the last kiss we’ll ever have. I want more of [Ruby]. All of her.” 
  • Ruby and Hart/Jameson spend a romantic evening together. Ruby says, “Each kiss more urgent than the second before, the longing growing, growing, growing.” 
  • Ruby asks Hart/Jameson if he wants to be intimate with her. Ruby explains, “We’d sworn we’d wait until college. But now. . . if this is my only chance. It was always going to be Hart. It was, is, and forever will be—Hart.” But they stop before they go any further than kissing because Hart/Jameson says, “No, not like this.” 

Violence  

  • When a little boy accidentally falls overboard during a storm, Hart goes out into the dangerous waters to rescue him. Even though the boy is saved, as Hart attempts to get to the boat’s ladder, “My fingers trace its edges just as a colossal swell sucks me under. The waters are dark . . . violent. I fight my way to the top, but it’s not there. I have no idea which way is up.”  
  • Hart’s drowning is described over a page, including Hart’s feelings about dying: “They say our life passes before our eyes right before we die, but it isn’t true. I think two things in that moment: I should have spent that extra minute with my dad. I should have chosen to spend tonight with Ruby. The water closes in . . . Water rushes into my nose and mouth, floods my lungs.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • It is briefly mentioned that Jameson’s car accident was caused because he was driving under the influence. Later, Hart explains that Jameson’s long-time girlfriend passed away. “That’s why [Jameson] started drinking.” 

Language  

  • Ruby refers to Jameson as a “two-faced son of a bitch”  because he cheated off her schoolwork and toilet-papered her house.
  • Occasionally, characters use words like asshole, shit, and damn.  
  • Rarely, characters use the word fuck.  
  • When frustrated, Ruby exclaims, “I swear on the baby Jesus that I am not a violent person.”  
  • Gabi, Ruby’s sister, exclaims, “Holy Santos,” when she discovers “a part of Hart is somehow inside of Jameson.” 

Supernatural 

  • Lourdes, an angel, explains to Hart that he “can go back to a human life; you can live out your days until your actual scheduled time to die . . . All we have to do is find a body that is on the verge of death.” 
  • As Hart’s soul enters Jameson’s body, Hart explains, “I stare out of Jameson’s eyes. The world looks different . . . I thought [Jameson] might tell me to get the hell out of his body. But no. You want to know what he said? What his last words were before he checked out for good? ‘Don’t waste it, man.’” 
  • Gabi, Ruby’s sister, tells Ruby that she has a theory about Jameson. Gabi says, “What if . . . [Jameson] has a message from the other side, from Hart . . . because he was so close to death?” 
  • Initially, when Lourdes uses her angel powers to put Hart’s soul into Jameson’s body, she explains that Hart will not be able to tell anyone exactly what happened to his soul. Lourdes explains that in order for Hart to be able to explain the truth of what happened to his soul to Ruby, Lourdes will “use the only power I have that is great enough . . . I will give up a single wing.” Lourdes’ sacrifice allows Hart to be able to explain what happened to his soul, so that Ruby can understand what happened to his soul after he drowned.  
  • Lourdes tells Hart, “When the death angel came for me . . . I asked to use my last wing to give you back your memories.”

Spiritual Content  

  • Lourdes tells Hart that she used her abilities as an angel on him. “You’re not in heaven, and you’re not exactly dead . . . I saw you struggling and I knew [drowning] was going to be painful, so I pulled your soul out early to save you from all of that.”  
  • Ruby’s sister, Gabi, does a card reading for Ruby. The cards that have been passed down through generations in their family. Gabi says the cards are “a special gift from the ancestors.” Gabi “takes the World card in her hands, closes her eyes, and meditates for as long as necessary until she gets that ‘message’ from our ancestors.” Gabi explains that she “heard a single whisper; it said, ‘message?’” 

Flirting with Fate

Ava Granados’s family has a magical secret. Ava explains, “All the women in the Granados family had this keen, odd, otherworldly ability to pass along blessings to their female descendants. But here was the catch: they could only do so from their death beds.” When her grandmother is dying, Ava and all her sisters rush to their grandmother’s bedside. Unfortunately, due to a flash flood, Ava gets into a car accident and is too late to receive her Nana’s blessing. While her sisters receive their blessings, including an extremely detailed memory and the ability to persuade others, Ava is devastated to not have received her grandmother’s parting gift.  

When Ava attends the celebration of Nana’s life, she looks up and suddenly sees her recently deceased grandmother looking at her. Ava describes, “A figure emerged from the orchard a mere thirty feet away. Wide-eyed, dimple-cheeked, perfect auburn coif. Nana?” When Nana lay dying, she accidentally gave Ava’s blessing to someone else, but because she is now a ghost, she has no memory of what happened. Nana asks Ava to help her restore the blessing to its proper recipient or Nana “will remain a ghost . . . until this is made right.”  

Ava realizes that Nana’s blessing must have accidentally landed on the boy whose car she crashed into. For guarded Ava, befriending some random boy is the last thing she wants to do. Desperate to help Nana reach peace, Ava must find a way to connect with this mysterious boy, Rion, in order to be able to recapture her Nana’s blessing. Nana encourages Ava to open up to Rion and to look within herself. Nana says, “You can always recognize the love when it belongs to you.” Over the course of the novel, Ava learns to trust in herself and her feelings for Rion.  

Many readers will be able to relate to Ava because she is afraid of being hurt or rejected. Ava begins to spend more time with Rion, all the while trying to figure out how best to get her Nana’s blessing back. Nana encourages Ava to look within herself. Nana says, “You can always recognize the love when it belongs to you.”  

Ava and Rion end up connecting over the loss of a parent. Rion’s parents died in a car accident while Ava’s mom left. However, they both blame themselves for their parents’ absence.  Because Rion is able to share his emotions, Ava is able to truly open up about her feelings. Ava explains, “I used to blame myself for my mom leaving too. She left when I was seven, and I used to think if I had been better, nicer, more, then she would have stayed.” Ava is able to comfort Rion by sharing what she has learned. She tells Rion, “We can’t blame ourselves for things we had no control over.” Ava and Rion’s relationship is extremely impactful as it allows them both to share feelings about things that they previously kept inside.  

Overall, Ava’s journey to opening up her heart and embracing things she never thought possible is extremely compelling. Similar to Cervantes’ other work, Enchanted Hacienda, Cervantes continues exploring the theme of magic being inherited through female descendants. Though there is a romantic relationship brewing between Ava and Rion, there is also a major focus on the importance of family, as Ava’s relationship with her Nana is central. Nana encourages Ava to open her heart, saying, “I gave you the gift of an open heart . . . you keep people at arm’s length; you don’t trust. I don’t want you to go through life closed off from love.” This wonderful novel leaves readers with an important message: trust yourself and open your heart to possibilities.  

Sexual Content  

  • Ava’s sister, Carmen, sees a cute guy at a party. Carmen tells Ava, “Look, there are a lot of boys to kiss in this world.”  
  • Ava explains her negative history with relationships. “Relationships always ended badly, with a goodbye and a broken, unmendable heart . . . at least for someone. But last year [Ava] did kiss Bryce Wellington on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland just to get it over with . . . Sadly, it felt unimpressive.” 
  • Ava’s sisters are watching The Notebook in the living room, and Ava remarks, “Clothes were flying off [the characters] and the last thing Ava wanted to do was stand there with her grandmother’s ghost and a fifteenth-century saint while a monster sex scene played out ten feet away.” 
  • Ava believes she and Rion are having a romantic moment, when suddenly, she realizes she is actually kissing his twin brother, Achilles. Ava says, “His lips brushed against hers. She felt a jolt, an alarm that screamed wrong, wrong, wrong.” After realizing she is actually kissing Rion’s brother, Ava “jerked free, horrified, as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.” 
  • After pushing Rion out of the way of a falling tree, they kiss. “She felt her body yielding, falling deeper into Rion. And then their mouths met. And Ava was no longer falling. She was dissolving. The forest and the sky fell silent. The world evaporated. There was only this moment.” 
  • Ava kisses Rion at a party. Ava “reached up, bringing his lips to hers. Allowing herself to be swept away in his trust, his warmth, his love.” 

Violence  

  • When Achilles tricks Ava into kissing him, Rion finds out and tackles Achilles. “The brothers rolled across the dirt, all grunts and curses and years of unspent anger.” They finally stop when Ava yells at them. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • Characters occasionally use moderate language like shit, damn, and ass.  
  • When Nana suddenly appears as a ghost, Ava exclaims, “Jesus Christ!” 
  • Nana, in her ghost form, splashes water at Ava’s sisters who exclaims, “Holy Mary, Mother of God!” 

Supernatural 

  • Ava explains an example of a blessing in her family. “Ava’s great-grandmother had graced Nana with an angel’s voice. Before that, Nana couldn’t even sing off-key . . . After the death-bed blessing? It was like listening to a Mexican Pavarotti [Opera star] when [Nana] opened her mouth to sing.” 
  • Ava’s sister, Viv, is given the blessing of persuasion by her grandmother. Viv explains, “It’s not like I can go around making people do anything I want them to. Nana said I would just be able to help others see my side of things.”  
  • Ava’s other sister, Carmen, received the blessing of memory from Nana. Carmen says, “I got the blessing of memory, which I guess means that I can recall details, read or hear or see something once and remember it verbatim . . . it’s weird—like having a camera in my head.” 
  • Ava’s Nana appears to her one last time at the end of the book. Ava explains, “And then, as if by magic, the mist parted, just enough for Ava to see Nana . . . [Nana] was young, beautiful, beaming with joy.”  

Spiritual Content  

  • As Ava drives to get to her grandmother’s bedside, Ava prays that she will make it there in time to say goodbye. Ava says, “Listen, God . . . If you get me home with enough time, I’ll go to confession for. . . I’ll go for a whole week.” 
  • Nana is guided in her ghost form by Saint Medardus. Medardus introduces himself as, “I am the patron saint of weather, vineyards, brewers, captives, prisoners, and teeth . . . I hail from the fifteenth century and am [Nana’s] guide, here to help her.” 
  • Ava attends confession, as she promised to do on the night of her Nana’s passing. Ava is nervous about it and says, “What if I see someone I know? What if the priest laughs at me? What if I get it all wrong?” But she ultimately speaks to the priest and after she confesses, the priest says, “Your penance is to say six Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.” 

These Violent Delights

The year is 1926. Shanghai is a city torn apart by violence and bloodshed. Two rival gangs–the Chinese Scarlet Gang and the Russian White Flowers–have long been engaged in a blood feud that leads to perpetual chaos in the streets. Nobody knows exactly how this feud started, but neither side shows signs of stopping, preferring instead to fan the flames by continuing to match action for action. 

Not only that, but new, much more obscure powers are also slowly seeping in, threatening to divide Shanghai even further. Growing numbers of Europeans are arriving, attempting to reform the ways of the city in the name of “progress.” There’s also a monster that now lives in the Huangpu River, identified only by its massive form and glittering eyes. In addition, a madness is sweeping through the city like a contagion, possessing ordinary civilians and causing them to suddenly rip their own throats out. 

Caught in all this chaos are Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov. Juliette has just returned from her four years abroad in America. Now, she must assume her rightful place as the heir to the Scarlet Gang. Roma, on the other hand, has been performing his duties as heir to the White Flowers. Despite the feud between their families, and their own complicated history, Roma and Juliette come to realize that everything plaguing Shanghai is interconnected. They must combine powers–secretly, of course–to save their city. After all, they had been lovers once, before betrayal on both sides sent Juliette away. But is their former relationship enough of a buffer between their families’ complicated history to allow them to work together? As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule. 

These Violent Delights is a stunning fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This novel takes a familiar story in wildly unfamiliar directions, transposing it onto a landscape that is closer to our modern world while retaining a historical element. This is not the Shakespeare you read in English class – the fantastical elements and action-packed scenes are sure to hook readers from the start. The characters themselves are also compelling because the point of view shifts between characters, allowing readers to get to know both Roma and Juliette and sympathize with them despite their cutthroat actions.  

Because this story has many moving parts to it, with several subplots and historical commentary woven throughout, the pacing of the plot feels off at times – too slow in some parts and not nearly slow enough in others. The prose, too, often oscillates between lush and imaginative, and clunky and awkward. However, the wide array of characters in this book greatly redeems its lacking qualities, and readers will root for Roma and Juliette in their quest to fix both the problems in their city and in their relationship. 

Overall, These Violent Delights is a fantastic debut novel, perfect for teenagers who want a fresh spin on a classic tale. It ends in a dramatic cliffhanger, setting the scene perfectly for its sequel, Our Violent Ends. 

Sexual Content  

  • Several passing references to brothels are made. For example, Juliette comments that, “In Shanghai, it was easier to count the establishments that didn’t double as brothels than the ones that did.”  
  • Roma and Juliette accidentally walk in on a couple who are implied to be having sex. “Juliette opened the first door she came upon. Two distinct yelps of surprise sounded as light seeped into the tiny room. Juliette squinted and saw a man with his pants down. ‘Get out,’ she demanded. ‘This is my room,’ the woman on the bed protested.”  
  • Roma and Juliette kiss in a private room. “Juliette hooked her legs around his and twisted her hips until Roma was the one flat on his back and she loomed over him, kneeling on the sheets . . . his hand was moving higher and higher, brushing her calf, her knee, her thigh. Juliette’s palm sank lower, until it was gripping the space underneath the smooth collar of his white shirt . . . They both gave in at once. Roma’s kiss was just as she remembered. It filled her with so much adrenaline and exuberance that she could burst. It made her feel too ethereal for her own body, as if she could tear out of her own skin.”  

Violence  

  • A group of Scarlets and White Flowers get ready to fight. “In a blink: guns upon guns. Each arm raised and steady and trigger-happy, ready to pull.” The police stop them before any further violence ensues. 
  • Juliette watches a man possessed by the madness kill himself. Juliette “saw the man thrashing on the ground, his own fingers clawing at his thick neck. . . most of his nails were already buried deep into muscle. The man was digging with an animal-like intensity–as if there was something there, something no one else could see crawling under his skin. Deeper, deeper, deeper, until his fingers were wholly buried and he was pulling free tendons and veins and arteries. In the next second, the club had fallen silent completely. Nothing was audible save the labored breathing of the short and stout man who had collapsed on the floor, his throat torn into pieces and his hands dripping with blood.” Many similar scenes occur throughout the novel. 
  • Juliette verbally provokes her cousin, Tyler, who physically attacks her. “Quick as a flash, Tyler slammed her into the wall. He kept one hand scrunched against her left sleeve and the rest of his arm splayed against her clavicle, pushing just enough to make a threat.” Juliette retaliates in self-defense. “Her right hand jerked up–fist clenched, wrist hard, knuckles braced – and made centered, perfect contact with her cousin’s cheek . . . Then Tyler stumbled, letting go of Juliette and whipping his head to look at her, hatred stamped into the hollows of his eyes. A red slash buried the line of his cheekbone, the result of Juliette’s glittering ring scraping through skin.”  
  • Juliette remembers an explosion caused by the White Flowers that killed many of her family members. “Her ears were screeching – first with the remnants of that awful, loud sound, then with the shouting, the panic, the cries wafting over from the back, where the servants’ house was. When she hurried over, she saw rubble. She saw a leg. A pool of blood. Someone had been standing right at the threshold of the front door when the ceiling caved in.” 
  • Juliette has a cutthroat reputation. “[The Scarlets] were killers and extortionists and raging forces of violence, but as the rumors went, Juliette Cai was the girl who had strangled and killed her American lover with a string of pearls. Juliette Cai was the heiress who, on her second day back in Shanghai, had stepped into a brawl between four White Flowers and two Scarlets and killed all four White Flowers with only three bullets. Only one of those rumors was true.”  
  • Roma tries to accost Juliette with a gun to her forehead, and Juliette defends herself. “Before Roma could so much as blink, her right hand came down hard on his right wrist, twisting his gun-wielding hand outward until his fingers were unnaturally bent. She slapped down at the gun with her left hand. The weapon skittered to the ground. Her jaw gritted to brace for impact, Juliette twisted her foot out from behind Roma’s and jerked it against his ankles–until he was falling backward and she followed, one hand locked on his neck and the other reaching into her dress pocket to retrieve a needle-thin knife.” Roma surrenders, stopping the fight. 
  • To get information, Juliette physically attacks someone with a garrote. “Madame squawked when Juliette pulled the garrote wire tight, her fingers flying up to scrabble at the pressure digging into her skin. By then the wire was already wrapped around her neck, the micro-blades piercing in.” Madame survives this, left with a bleeding cut on her throat. 
  • Roma participates in a sparring match that starts out as a game, but takes a turn when he realizes that his opponent, Dimitri, has a blade. “Dimitri kicked out and Roma took the hit. A fist flashed in his periphery, and in his haste to get away, Roma dodged too hard, overjudging his balance and stumbling. Dimitri struck again. A flash of the blade: a slit opened on Roma’s jaw.” The match ends when Roma is declared the winner after he “[reaches] out and [grabs] a fistful of Dimitri’s shoulder length black hair…[slams] a knee right into his nose, [takes] his arm and twists backwards until Roma [has] a grip on his neck and a foot stomping down on the back of his knees.”  
  • A British soldier draws his gun on Roma and Juliette, and Roma shoots him in self-defense. “A bang sounded from the space between them. Juliette immediately whirled around to catch the British tail collapsing where he stood, a bright-red spot blooming on his chest.”  
  • Marshall, Roma’s friend, hits Juliette, and she attacks him back. “From his seat, Roma bolted up and shouted, ‘Mars!’ but Juliette was already pushing Marshall back, her throbbing jaw giving way to anger and her anger intensifying the pulsating pain making its way to her lip.” The match ends abruptly when Marshall starts laughing, and Juliette helps him to his feet; this altercation ends as quickly as it began, and Marshall and Juliette work together for the remainder of this scene. Neither is seriously injured.  
  • Juliette shoots the man she and Roma believe to be the cause of the madness, Zhang Gutai. “Juliette fired. Zhang Gutai looked down, looked at the blotch of red blooming on his white shirt.” Zhang Gutai dies as a result of this wound. 
  • Juliette attempts to shoot the monster in the Huangpu River. “Juliette aimed her gun and fired – again and again and again in hopes that it could kill the monster, or, at the very least, slow it down – but the bullets bounced off its back like she had shot at steel.” 
  • Paul, a British man, tries to drown Juliette when she discovers a secret. Paul “grabbed a fistful of her hair and stuck her head in the water . . . Juliette bucked and kicked, harder and harder with no avail.” She gets away by stabbing a needle into his wrist.  
  • Juliette kills the river monster’s human host, Qi Ren. “Juliette raised the pistol. Her hands were shaking. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Once again, she pulled the trigger. The bullet struck his heart. The bullet was as loud as the bang at the end of the world. But Qi Ren’s sigh was soft. His hand came up to his chest gingerly, as if the bullet were nothing but a heartfelt compliment. Rivulets of red ran down his fingers and onto the wharf, tinting his surroundings a deep color.” 
  • Juliette shoots Marshall and his “head lolled back. He was motionless. Motionless.” It is later revealed that Juliette and Marshall staged this “murder” and Marshall is alive.   

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Several references to opium are made: for example, the narrator describes fighting between the Scarlet Gang and the White flowers as “more commonplace in heady Shanghai than the smoke of opium wafting from a thick pipe.”  
  • One key plot point is that the British supply lernicrom, a fictional opiate, to various groups. 
  • Benedikt, Roma’s cousin, drinks vodka at a bar. “Roma lifted the cup in front of Benedikt and took a cautionary sniff. His cousin snatched it from his hands. ‘Don’t drink that,’ Benedikt warned.” 
  • Roma and Juliette play a drinking game with someone they want to get information from: one shot in exchange for one question. Roma gets drunk enough to fall down; Juliette gets “woozy enough to see in doubles but not enough to lose balance.” 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Enchanted Hacienda

Harlow Estrada is an editor who has recently been through a breakup and lost her dream job, as she struggles to decide what her next path in life should be. Harlow’s mother invites her to come to the family farm, referred to as the Estrada Hacienda, and spend time reconnecting with her family and their land.  

Harlow feels out of place, even among her family, as she is the only female member of her family without magical abilities. She explains, “the magic happened to skip me entirely. Unlike my two sisters and pair of primas [cousins] and every other ancestress before me.” Harlow’s mother and aunt decide to leave on a sudden vacation. They leave Harlow to take care of the family’s land, as well as their magical plants. Harlow is determined to use this time to learn more about her family’s legacy and about how she fits into it.  

Harlow is an empathetic character that many readers will be able to relate to, as she struggles to figure out her place in the world, as well as within her family. Harlow emphasizes, “I mean, if I can’t have the Estrada family magic, I still want to feel like there’s significance to my work, my life . . . And now I’m worried I am and always will be unremarkable.” During her return to her family’s farm, Harlow realizes that it is a great opportunity to write something of her own, and she feels deep down that she should write “something magical.” She begins working on a novel inspired by the magic she experiences upon her return to her family’s land. 

Though she’s just experienced a terrible breakup, Harlow happens to run into a mysterious man named Ben, who she later learns is the grandson of Beverly—her late grandmother’s best friend. Tied together by their families and the magic of Harlow’s family farm, Harlow and Ben’s initial spark only grows stronger as they pursue a relationship together. However, their feelings for one another become complicated by Harlow’s important self-discovery, as she realizes she does in fact have magical abilities like the rest of her family. Harlow notices a glimmer in Ben’s eyes when they are kissing and realizes, “Ben Brandt has been magically bonded to me.” 

Desperate to understand how Ben was bonded to her, Harlow returns home to ask her mother for help. Harlow is shocked when her mother tells her, “[Your aunt] and I believe that you are an enchantress,” as Harlow has “lived [her] life believing [she has] no magic.” This exciting revelation leaves Harlow with a difficult decision to make, as she realizes, “I have to break the bond,” and risk magically destroying all of the feelings she and Ben have for one another in the process. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they wonder what will happen between Harlow and Ben.  

The Enchanted Hacienda is written for adults, many teens will be drawn to it since J.C. Cervantes has written so many young adult novels. Readers who enjoy fantasy, magic, and an immersive setting will love this book, as it heavily focuses on the power of nature and the beauty of Mexico.  

Harlow’s growth throughout the novel provides a reassuring message that everyone has something that makes them special. Through writing her novel, Harlow realizes that her main character is reflective of her own desire to “find her way, to learn to speak the language of the blooms, to unearth the family secret.” Harlow’s writing mirrors her own journey of learning more about herself and her family. Harlow’s completion of her novel and the support of her family emphasizes a major theme in the novel: the strength in family. Harlow summarizes the theme of family when she calls this love, “The kind of love that believes in you, challenges you, walks through fire for you, makes a home for you—the kind of love that transforms you.” 

Sexual Content  

  • When Harlow visits his family’s home in Quebec, Harlow and Ben kiss for the first time. Harlow says, “Drowning in his touch, I drink him in while he kisses me hungrily, urgently like he might never kiss me again.” This passionate kissing scene lasts for about a page.  
  • While waiting out a rainstorm inside an old barn, Ben and Harlow kiss passionately, and it begins to go further. Harlow says, “And then I feel that tug again. Powerful. Alluring. A kinetic spark that ignites every cell in my body . . . Ben’s fingers trace my bare stomach. They hover near my bra, then slip the seam.” Before they go any further, they are interrupted when Ben gets a distressing phone call. 
  • Harlow and Ben spend an intimate afternoon together beside the river.  “I’m [Harlow] still sinking when my hand unhooks the front clasp of my bra. I want to feel his heat against my bare skin.” This scene lasts about two pages, but just before they go further Harlow stops Ben, noticing a magical, “uncommon spark of light” that unnerves her.  
  • Harlow and Ben begin to passionately kiss. Harlow says, “My body is on auto-drive, operating on sheer emotion when I tilt my head back and kiss him. An urgent fiery kiss that is all-consuming.” This scene continues for three pages before Harlow stops Ben, feeling guilty about the bonding magic.  
  • Harlow and Ben are intimate. “We finally break apart near the table, and then [Ben’s] reaching behind me and untying my apron, never taking his gaze from mine as it falls to the floor. I stand perfectly still, savoring the pleasure of his touch.” This scene lasts four pages.  

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Harlow explains that her ex-boyfriend, Chad, is excellent at telling when there is a problem. Harlow explains, “He smells problems like a police dog sniffs out cocaine.” 
  • Harlow is about to attend a party to support Chad, even though she’s just been unexpectedly fired from her dream job. Harlow thinks, “You’re going to pull your shit together . . . pour a glass of merlot, put on a dress, and have the time of your goddamn life.” 
  • After Harlow’s break up, her friend “pulls bottles from her oversize bag and begins to mix a concoction of gin, sugar, champagne, and some red syrupy stuff.” 
  • Harlow enjoys the solitude of the empty hacienda, explaining, “I make a margarita with that aged añejo tequila my mom saves for special occasions before I find a good book in the study.” 
  • While attending a vow renewal of family friends, Harlow sees Ben who “is holding out a champagne flute to me.” 
  • Before Harlow attempts to remove the bonding magic between her and Ben, she takes “a shot of añejo” with her aunt. Harlow says, “’To courage,” and then she “tip[s] the amber liquid back.” 

Language  

  • Harlow and her friend, Laini, often use profanity such as shit, ass, and damn.  
  • Occasionally, Harlow and other main characters use “fuck.” For example, When Chad tells Harlow to wear something “appropriate.” Harlow’s friend says, “I’ll let you go. But only in a dress that screams, ‘Fuck the patriarchy.’” 

Supernatural 

  • Harlow describes her family’s land and how they create magic via plants. “The real family power, though, is in how they combine blooms, or concoct elixirs, using petals, leaves, and stems to create prosperity, love, health, hope, protection, or even to cause separation, doubt, fear, and misery. It’s all so complicated and beautiful and alchemical.” 
  • To help Harlow sleep, her mother uses “dream magic.” Harlow explains, “Then, as I fall back on my pillow and close my weary eyes, I remember that my mother sometimes uses holly for the power of dream magic.” 
  • Harlow discusses how her family is able to use their magic discreetly, explaining, “To the general passerby, it looks like a lovely vintage florist. But to the locals and a select few, this is the spot where you place and pick up your order of magic. After you sign the non-disclosure agreement—that is a modern addition. We operate using a whisper network, whispers carried on the wind of our town, El Viento, named for the goddess who is responsible for its creation.” 
  • To choose which Estrada family member will watch the farm and take care of the magical gardens while Harlow’s mom and aunt are out of the country, Harlow’s mother uses a “white iris petal, known for its faith and virtue.” Harlow’s mom explains, “You will each sleep with this under your pillow tonight. Whoever’s petal turns blue will act as the guardian.” Harlow’s petal turns blue. 
  • Harlow delivers a magical bouquet filled with memory magic that will allow her late grandmother’s friend, Beverly, to magically bond with her husband, William. Harlow explains that the bouquet is infused with memory magic, to help William recapture his memories of his life with Beverly, as he struggles with dementia. Harlow says, “Beverly and William Brandt were bonded at precisely 7:58 p.m. The moon was high, their hands connected, each breathing in the fragrance of the magic as he accepted the bouquet—just as instructed. I knew the moment it happened. [William’s] eyes sparked with flickers of gold, a sure sign that the bonding was complete.” 
  • The bonding bouquet that Harlow delivers to Beverly and William begins to work. Harlow explains, “[William’s] arms around [Beverly] with a familiarity that made me soar with joy and relief and even wonder,” showing that the memory magic has worked.  
  • When Harlow’s mom tells Harlow that she does have magic, Harlow tries magically bringing a flower back to life.  Harlow does “as [mom] says, and in a few seconds, I feel the vibration of life in the hydrangea; slowly I connect a thread of magic to it. The flower pulses as I open my eyes and watch it unfold into a healthy bloom.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • Harlow explains the story of how their family gained magical abilities. “The Aztec goddess Mayahuel whispered the given names of each child in the family,” and this instilled their family with power that passed down through the generations.  
  • Harlow says, “A lot of kids learn fairy tales, or stories from the Bible, but in my family? The very first tale you learn and commit to heart is the tale of a young and very beautiful goddess named Mayahuel whose jealous grandmother hid her in the farthest corner of the universe . . . wanting to conceal the goddess’s beauty and power.” 
  • Harlow’s family’s magic began with her great-great-grandmother; “Legend has it that the soil called to my great-great-grandmother when she came through this land on her way to somewhere else. . . the Aztec goddess of agave, Mayahuel, appeared to her and told her that if my great-great-grandmother used the land according to her instructions, the goddess would grant our family’s female descendants an unimaginable magic.” 
  • Harlow reflects on her childhood imagination about her family’s gardens. “I used to imagine the most fantastical night creatures swooping in to pollinate the flowers, to offer their gifts of magic to Mayahuel.” 

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You

Trixie and Ben have been sworn enemies since elementary school when Ben “accidentally” pushed Trixie off the monkey bars. Now in their senior year at Messina Academy for the Gifted, their mutual dislike of each other is still strong, to the dismay of all their friends. Harper and Cornell, Trixie and Ben’s best friends are especially affected by this — they have liked each other since their freshman year but have both been too scared to make the first move, and Harper is convinced that Trixie and Ben’s war is one of the main factors keeping them apart. 

When Harper and Cornell finally confess their feelings, Trixie and Ben try to reach an uneasy truce, but old habits die hard. During their school’s annual harvest festival, a costume party, Trixie badly insults Ben to his face without realizing it’s him under the costume. It seems that their friend groups will never find peace, until Trixie overhears Harper and her other best friend, Meg, talking about how Ben is hopelessly in love with her! Trixie immediately regrets every insult she ever threw at him, and vows to make amends. Ben, in turn, also begins to act surprisingly civil (and almost flirty), and Trixie wonders how she ever could have hated him. 

However, nothing at Messina Academy — the Mess — is ever simple. Being a school for the gifted, academic pressure is high and plagiarism is not uncommon. But when four students are put on probation for academic dishonesty, everyone agrees that this is abnormal, even for the Mess. And when the sweet, timid, and exceptionally smart Harper is expelled for supposedly altering grades, Trixie is furious. Everyone begins taking sides, tearing the large friend group apart. Trixie begs Ben to help her get to the bottom of this, and he agrees. But will they be able to uncover this mystery? And if they do, will their new relationship be able to handle what they find? 

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is a brilliant modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. While Shakespeare fans will enjoy finding parallels between the original play and this book, knowledge of the play is by no means a prerequisite for loving this book — the play’s witty banter and central themes of love, deceit, and confusion transpose themselves remarkably well onto the landscape of a modern high school. And while this book retains the central integrity of its source material, nothing about it seems dusty or antiquated — it brings in pop culture references and newer issues that affect teens today (such as academic pressure). These modern references blend well with Much Ado About Nothing’s timeless core. 

Trixie is a smart, engaging, and witty narrator that readers will fall in love with from the start. While some of her actions and decisions are impulsive and she does not always follow the best course of action, each mistake she makes is a learning opportunity that she takes full advantage of. Her character development is clear throughout the story, and she is a great example of how although nobody is perfect, character growth and positive change are always possible. The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is a compulsively readable adventure from start to finish, with multiple subplots and a loveable cast of characters. This engaging story is one that readers will want to return to in the future. 

Sexual Content  

  • Trixie and Ben kiss for the first time in a public park. “He lowered his mouth to mine, catching more of my bottom lip than the top. His nose brushed mine, a hinting nudge. My mouth opened to mirror his. There was a pattern to kissing. It was a chain of individual kisses of varying sizes strung together to make the verb. I’d never considered that before. But, for once, my body knew something that my brain didn’t.” 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Holiday Switch

Lila Santos is ready for her last winter break of high school. The snow in her small town of Holly, New York is plentiful, the mood as cozy as a fuzzy Christmas sweater, and she’s earning extra cash working at the local inn. In other words, it is the setting for the greatest film of all time, Holiday by the Lake—while moonlighting as an anonymous book blogger.

But her perfect holiday plans crash to a halt when her boss’ frustratingly cute nephew, Teddy Rivera, becomes her coworker. Lila is Type A while Teddy is Type “Anything but Lila’s Way,” and the two of them can’t stop butting heads over tangled icicle lights and messy gift shop merch. But when they accidentally switch phones one afternoon, they realize they’ve both been hiding things from each other. Will their secrets—and an unexpected snowstorm—bring these rivals together?

While Lila’s conflict is understandable, her judgmental attitude makes it difficult to connect with her. Even though Lila is the protagonist, Teddy is more likable because he goes out of his way to show Lila that he cares for her. For instance, when Teddy finds Lila’s list of Christmas activities that she wants to do, he plans ways to get Lila to spend time with him by taking her to the different activities on her list. 

The two teens eventually connect because they are both keeping secrets from their parents. Both are afraid their parents won’t understand their passions. Readers will relate to Teddy’s and Lila’s desire to meet their parents’ expectations as well as live their own dreams. In the end, both teens discover their fears are unfounded. While Lila’s parents are upset about her dishonesty, they support her goals. Likewise, Teddy also learns that his family supports his dreams.

Readers who want to snuggle up with a book during the holiday will appreciate The Holiday Switch because of the town’s over-the-top Christmas activities. The winter puns also add to the romance’s cuteness. For example, while ice skating, one of the characters “slipped on the ice and said, ‘Holy night.’” The predictable plot has some sweet moments that will warm readers’ hearts and get them into the holiday spirit. However, if you’re looking for a holiday romance that will be more memorable, grab a hot cocoa and a copy of What Light by Jay Asher.

Sexual Content 

  • Lila babysits for a couple who “party like they’d been caged animals in a zoo. They come home sweaty and red-faced, and the PDA is over the top embarrassing.”
  • While outside, Teddy asks Lila if he can kiss her. She says yes and then, “I rise up to my tiptoes and shut my eyes. When his lips feather against mine, I’m infused with energy and thrill. My hands climb his back, his cup my face, and he kisses me as if I’m another puzzle he has to explore.” 
  • Before Teddy begins a climbing competition, he kisses Lila. “Teddy lifts my chin with a finger and presses a kiss to my lips.” 

Violence 

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None

Language   

  • Oh my God and God are used as exclamations occasionally. 
  • Crap and pissed are used several times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Today Tonight Tomorrow

Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been rivals since their freshman year of high school when Neil (very narrowly!) beat Rowan in their school’s essay contest. Rowan, an overachiever all her life, simply cannot let this slide. Now in their senior year, Rowan and Neil have earned a reputation as ruthless opponents– every grade, project, standardized test score, and even pull-up contest in gym class is compared and argued over. As soon as she realizes that Neil will not back down, Rowan has one goal for high school: to take him down. 

However, at the end of their senior year, Neil is named valedictorian. Rowan is salutatorian, still way ahead of the rest of her grade, but it’s not enough. She is devastated until she realizes that she has one last chance to come out on top: there is still Howl, a scavenger hunt that takes graduating seniors hunting for clues all over Seattle. This is a Westfield High tradition that Rowan has been looking forward to since her freshman year, but now she knows she absolutely has to win.  

After she learns that a group of seniors is teaming up to take them down, Rowan ends up forming an alliance with Neil – having someone else beat him will bring her no satisfaction. But the more time they spend together and the more they learn about each other, Rowan begins to find Neil isn’t as annoying as she thought. In fact, as much as she hates to admit it, Rowan realizes she might actually have feelings for him. And is it possible that Neil feels the same way about her, despite their brutal rivalry? 

Part romcom, part thriller, Today Tonight Tomorrow is a YA lover’s dream. The scavenger hunt subplot makes the story relatively fast-paced, with plenty of friendly (and not-so-friendly) banter woven in to balance out the action. The romance subplot is equally well done. Rowan is an engaging narrator, and readers will enjoy going on her journey of self-discovery with her. Her character is easy to relate to because of how realistic her arc is; throughout this story, Rowan realizes that real life is nothing like the novels she holds dear, but that isn’t necessarily wrong or disappointing. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be enjoyable. 

Today Tonight Tomorrow also beautifully handles difficult topics. For example, Rowan is Jewish; the subtle yet impactful antisemitism she experiences and the way she reacts to it is a strikingly accurate depiction of what many Jewish teenagers experience in high school. Another major issue woven throughout the story is the downsides of intense academic pressure. Rowan regrets putting all of her time into academics because it meant she didn’t truly experience the social aspect of high school, which is also important. For readers in early high school, this can serve as a wake-up call to carve out time for friendships and other relationships; for readers who have the same regrets as Rowan, it is comforting to know that they are not alone in feeling this way. 

Overall, Today Tonight Tomorrow is an absolute delight. It is a love letter to adolescence and high school. Although this book can be enjoyed by everyone, it is especially perfect for graduating seniors who are nervous about leaving everything they know behind when they leave for college. Fall in love with more romance novels such as A Pho Love Story by Loan Le and American Royals by Katharine McGee. 

Sexual Content  

  • When Rowan reminisces about her ex-boyfriend, Spencer, she mentions they had sex. “The first time we had sex, he held me for so long afterward, convinced me I was a precious, special thing.” 
  • Rowan and Neil bicker in front of a wall of plaques recognizing past valedictorians, and Rowan makes a sexual joke to annoy him. “‘If you’re trying to impress me with your knowledge of past valedictorians, it’s working.’ I step closer to him, batting my eyelashes. ‘I am so turned on right now.’” 
  • Rowan finds a high school bucket list she created at the very beginning of her freshman year. One of the entries details prom night: “The night will culminate in a hotel room, where you and Perfect High School Boyfriend will declare your love for each other and lose your virginities in a tender, romantic way that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.” 
  • Rowan tells the reader about her love for romance novels, and she brings up how they informed her idea of sex. “Especially as I got older, my heart would race during the sex scenes, most of which I read in bed with my door locked, after I’d said good night to my parents and was sure I wouldn’t be interrupted. They were thrilling and educational, if occasionally unrealistic. (Can a guy really have five orgasms in a single night? I’m still not sure.) Not all romance novels had sex scenes, but they made me comfortable talking about sex and consent and birth control with my parents and with my friends…Most movies and shows I watched with my friends showed me that women were sex objects, accessories, plot points. The books I read proved they were wrong.” 
  • Rowan points out a spot where she hooked up with one of her ex-boyfriends for the first time. Neil mock-gasps and says, “Rowan Roth, I thought you were a good girl.” Rowan gets annoyed at Neil for assuming that girls who get straight As are automatically virgins. Rowan says, “You realize how wrong and outdated that is, right? Good girls aren’t supposed to have sex, but if they don’t, they’re prudes, and if they do, they’re sluts.” They have a conversation about double standards for men and women when it comes to sex. 
  • Rowan and Neil kiss in an empty room in a museum. “This has to be the earth-shattering feeling he was talking about. This: his hands sliding down the sides of my body. This: his teeth grazing my clavicle. And this: the way, when he moves back to my lips, he kisses like I’m alternately something he can’t get enough of and something he wants to savor. Fast, then slow, I love it all. Since we’re the same height, our bodies line up perfectly, and–oh. The proof of how much he’s enjoying this makes me feverish. I rock my hips against his because the pressure feels amazing, and the way he groans when I do this sounds amazing too.” 
  • Rowan and Neil make out in Rowan’s room. “I leave invisible handprints all over his chest, learning exactly where he’s ticklish. He skims his hands up to my knees, my hips, beneath the dress that has suddenly become a straightjacket. I twist on his lap, trying to reach the zipper. He has to help me with it, and together we tug it off . . . Losing my dress makes me miss him with even more urgency.  I run my hand over the front of his jeans, and he sucks in a breath through his teeth. It’s maybe the best sound I’ve ever heard, at least until I unzip and unbuckle and cast his jeans aside completely, pressing him deeper into the bed, and he releases another breathy groan again.” 
  • Shortly after, Rowan and Neil have sex. “It doesn’t last extremely long, because we’re tired or because it’s his first time or some combination of both. Every so often, he checks in with me, asking if it’s still good, if I’m still good. And yes. Yes. We try our best to be quiet, but we can’t stop whispering to each other. He finishes first, and then his fingers drift down between us and he gets me there for the second time tonight. Then we’re quiet, quieter than my sleeping, darkened house. I burrow close to him, resting my cheek against his heartbeat while he plays with my hair.” 

Violence  

  • Neil confesses that his father is in prison for nearly killing someone who was stealing from his store. Neil’s father “was so furious . . . he beat one of them unconscious. The kid–he was in a coma for a month.” 
  • Rowan and Neil are both Jewish. When sharing antisemitic microaggressions they’ve experienced, Rowan brings up that people usually make comments like that because they think it’s harmless, but then “there are security threats at your synagogue because someone called in a bomb threat. It’s harmless, and you’re terrified to get out of bed Saturday morning and go to services.” This happened right before her bat mitzvah. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Rowan invites Neil over for Shabbat dinner. One Shabbat ritual is kiddush, a blessing over wine. Rowan describes, “We pass around the kiddush cup that belonged to my dad’s grandparents, silver and ornately designed. Neil takes a small sip, then hands it to me. My sip is tiny too.”  
  • Neil suggests getting high, and Rowan is not opposed. They both take edibles with the lowest possible dosage of THC. “‘Do you feel anything yet?’ ‘Not really,’ I say, but even as the words leave my mouth, I’m aware something has changed. A laugh bubbles out of me, though nothing’s funny. ‘I– wait. I might be feeling something.’ My annoyance with him seems to float away.” 

Language  

  • “Fuck” is occasionally used as an exclamation or intensifier. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Rowan and Neil are both Jewish. Rowan invites Neil over to her house for Shabbat dinner, and the book vaguely describes the Shabbat rituals. For example, Rowan’s mother “lights the candles with a hand over her eyes,” and they all “recite the blessing over the challah.” 

How to Excavate a Heart

Shani Levine needs a break from New York. Following a bad breakup with her girlfriend, Sadie, she would rather be literally anywhere else. So when she snags a highly coveted internship at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. over winter break, Shani is elated. 

Shani’s high spirits are crushed, however, when she makes an enemy: her mother almost accidentally runs over a girl, May, while moving Shani into her D.C. lodgings. Shani is determined to watch her step from now on, but she keeps crossing paths with May. As they begin to talk, Shani begins to develop feelings for May. Once it becomes clear that May likes her too, the two girls begin to date, and for a short time everything is perfect. But can Shani juggle her new relationship and her internship? And is she really ready to be in a relationship again so soon after a messy breakup?

Readers will fall in love with Shani and May as they try to tackle these big questions together. How to Excavate a Heart is a cute, fun, fluffy romcom guaranteed to elicit smiles and warm feelings, even on the coldest winter days. At times, the pacing is quite slow, so readers looking for action should expect to consume this story in sweet, bite-sized chunks or over one long, lazy day. Because of this pacing, not every scene necessarily drives the plot forward, making some parts of the book less vivid and exciting than others  However, what really ties this book together is its cast of lovable side characters, from Beatrice, the eccentric and surprisingly spry elderly woman who houses Shani during her stay in D.C., to May’s adorable pet corgi, Raphael. Characters like these make even the slow moments delightful, especially for readers who are drawn to character-heavy books.

Teenagers will heavily relate to Shani as she struggles to find her place in a new city while also dealing with complex feelings and relationships. Issues such as love, loss, coming out of the closet, and adjusting to new stages of life are handled in a way that is informative and validating but not too heavy. How to Excavate a Heart features great Jewish and queer representation and is a perfect escape for readers dealing with big changes in their life.

Sexual Content 

  • When Shani reminisces about her failed relationship with Sadie, she explains that their relationship fell apart after having sex for the first time. “I was stressed, because if we were in love, then the next logical step was sex. And I had never done it before, I felt I needed to prepare…We had sex for the first time a couple days after we said ‘I love you,’ and, as it turned out, it was also the last time.”
  • Beatrice tells Shani that she’ll be sleeping in the bedroom Beatrice used to share with her husband. She tells her that “all six of [her] children were conceived in this room.” Later, Shani asks Beatrice where she’ll be sleeping if she’s taking the bedroom. Beatrice replies, “The attic. I haven’t been able to fall asleep in this room since my husband died. But I’m glad it’ll be put to good use.” Shani thinks, “It certainly won’t be ‘put to good use’ in the same way it was when Beatrice and her husband conceived their children here.” 
  • May’s dad, Greg, is the local weatherman. Tasha, another girl staying in Beatrice’s house, describes him as “kind of a DILF.” DIFL is slang for “daddy I’d like to fuck,” or an attractive older man.
  • Shani talks about her relationship problems with her internship supervisor, Mandira, who is also queer and in a committed relationship. Shani tells her about her bad experience with sex and how she doesn’t think she’ll ever have sex again because it ruins relationships. Mandira counters with, “Sex can be amazing. Especially queer sex. And especially if you communicate what you want with your partner.”
  • Shani’s best friend, Taylor, comes to visit her in D.C. on New Year’s. Taylor tells Shani that she was invited to a New Year’s Eve party by Teddy, the ex-boyfriend of their acquaintance Amy from Model UN, and invites Shani to come with her. Shani asks Taylor if she’s trying to hook up with Teddy; Taylor confirms this.
  • After work, Shani goes to May’s house. When Shani gets there, Shani smells badly so she takes a shower. They end up showering together but don’t have sex. “I keep my eyes closed as I press her closer to me, so that as much of our bodies are touching as possible. We explore parts of each other we haven’t before. I kiss down her neck to her chest, marveling at the fact that I get to touch her like this. But after a few minutes, the hot water runs out, and my knees hurt, and we’re kneeling in cold water.”
  • After a dinner date, Shani and May go back to Shani’s place. They start kissing, intending to have sex. Shani starts feeling uncomfortable but doesn’t want to ruin the mood. Shani hears Beatrice scream and goes to check on her. When Shani returns to the bedroom, she tells May she’s tired and doesn’t want to pick up where they left off. When May asks if she can just sleep over, Shani says no and May storms out.
  • Shani and May break up. While Shani is mourning her relationship, she texts her ex, Sadie, asking why she broke up with her. Shani tells the reader that she texted Sadie because she doesn’t actually remember having sex with her. “That Thursday, the day we said ‘I love you,’ we went to a house party and got drunk. Too drunk. Like, so-drunk-I-barely-remember drunk. Then we went back to my room. The only memories I have of that night come in flashes: Sadie grabbing my waist, leading me up to my room. Sadie kissing me. Sadie pulling down my pants, and her own. Me, copying what she did. Being excited to do it, to please her. And then, nothing. My memory goes dark. Until we woke up the next morning, both of us naked. Me with a splitting headache. Sadie grinning.” Sadie wanted to have sex again that morning. Shani told her she wasn’t ready; after pushing some more, Sadie ended it. 

Violence 

  • When moving Shani into her D.C. lodgings during a snowstorm, Shani’s mom almost runs May over with her car. “My mom finally sees her and frantically tries to slam on the brakes. She pumps them over and over, but between the snow and ice the car won’t stop. Then there’s a thud. The bump. Not a hard bump, but still. A bump. We bumped a person with our car.” 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Beatrice has a beige quote block at the top of the stairs that says, “Alcohol: because no great story ever started with someone eating a salad.”
  • At a New Year’s Eve party, alcohol is served. Shani pours herself a glass of a mystery drink that is “pink and sparkly and has mint leaves and blueberries and pomegranate seeds floating at the surface.” She says that it is “unbelievably delicious and barely tastes like alcohol.”
  • When Shani remembers the night before she and Sadie broke up, she says that they “went to a house party and got drunk. Too drunk. Like, so-drunk-I-barely-remember drunk.”

Language 

  • Profanity, such as variations of “fuck” and “shit” are used as exclamations often.

Supernatural

  • On her first night in D.C., Shani tries not to think about “the half-century-old sex ghosts haunting the room.”
  • Beatrice’s son, George, comes over to the house. He starts a conversation with Shani, in which he jokes that his dad haunts the room where she sleeps.

Spiritual Content 

  • When driving Shani to D.C., her mom sadly says that Shani won’t be home for Christmas for the first time. Shani reminds her that they don’t even celebrate Christmas. Her mom counters that it’s still the holidays, to which Shani responds, “Is it, though? Like, is it really the holidays? Hanukkah’s over, and it’s complete bullshit anyway. It was invented by American capitalists so that Jewish kids could be included in the Christian hegemony.”
  • After thinking about her failed relationship with Sadie, Shani resolves never to have sex again and be “the Jewish version of a nun.”
  • Beatrice’s house is decorated with “crosses and portraits of saints, along with some Christmas decorations– garlands, candy canes, a couple of wreaths.” Shani initially worries “that she’s really religious and that…she’ll be disappointed that I’m Jewish.”
  • Shani gets breakfast at a café next door, which has Christmas music playing inside. Shani thinks, “I know I complained to my mom about how Hanukkah isn’t a real holiday and how I don’t want to assimilate into mainstream Christian America, but the thing is…I fucking love Christmas music.”
  • Shani comes over to walk May’s dog, Raphael. Shani awkwardly tries to make small talk, and asks if May is Jewish because she saw a menorah in her window. May says, “Yeah, I am. But I’m not really that religious.” She later talks about how much she loves Hanukkah.
  • Mandira, Shani’s internship supervisor, tells her she’s going to a Christmas party later that night with her girlfriend. Shani is initially confused because Mandira doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but Mandira explains that she doesn’t celebrate in a religious way but her girlfriend does.
  • Shani comes over to walk May’s dog despite a blizzard. When May opens the door, she sees Shani shaking from the cold and exclaims, “Jesus Christ.” Shani jokes, “It’s almost His birthday, huh?”
  • Shani and May get snowed in at May’s house on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, the snow had stopped and been mostly cleared away, so Shani suggests that they partake in “Jewish Christmas” (watching movies and eating Chinese food). 

Hot Cocoa Hearts

‘Tis the season. . . for heartbreak? Emery Mason is not a fan of the holidays. She’s so over the tinsel, the shopping, and all the other trappings of the season. Unfortunately, this year, Emery is forced to work — as an elf! — at her parents’ Santa photo booth at the mall. There, Emery meets Alejandro Perez, who works at the hot cocoa shop next door and is always full of holiday spirit. Alex is cute, but he’s nothing like Emery’s real crush — the brooding and artistic Sawyer Kade. 

But the more time Emery spends with Alex, the more she realizes that she may not be the Grinch she always thought she was. Soon a blizzard, a Secret Santa surprise, and a family disagreement throw Emery’s world upside down. Can Emery embrace the magic of the holidays and find the perfect boy to kiss under the mistletoe?

Like Scrooge, Emery doesn’t believe in Christmas and she isn’t afraid to kill other people’s Christmas joy. Because of Emery’s bah-humbug attitude, readers may find it difficult to connect to her. Emery’s hatred of all things Christmas is connected to her grandmother’s death. Despite this, it’s hard to sympathize with a character who makes young children cry. Like Scrooge, Emery eventually finds the true meaning of Christmas and the happy ending shows that the holidays are about “the magic of believing. The sheer fun of giving the gift of that to other people, of sharing it with them.” Even though the story has a happy ending, the book’s negative tone takes much of the joy out of reading it.

Emery’s bad attitude isn’t the book’s only negative aspect. Emery idolizes her crush Sawyer and is ecstatic when he finally notices her. However, she soon finds that it’s difficult to be honest with Sawyer. To make matters worse, Sawyer doesn’t seem to understand Emery at all. As Emery spends more time with Alex, she begins to question what she really believes. The love triangle adds suspense to the story, but Sawyer acts more like a confident adult than a preteen which makes some of the scenes unbelievable. However, the scenes between Emery and Alex are full of sweet moments that middle-grade readers will enjoy.

Unfortunately, readers may have a difficult time connecting with Emery. While her grief over her grandmother’s death is understandable, Emery’s bad attitude hurts others. Despite this, Hot Cocoa Hearts teaches the importance of not making assumptions about others. In addition, the conclusion is super sweet not only because Emery finds the joy of Christmas, but also because Emery finds an unexpected community that jumps in to help her when needed. Readers who are looking for a more joyful holiday book to curl up with should read the Celebrate the Season Series by Taylor Garland. However, if you’re feeling a bit like Scrooge, Young Scrooge: A Very Scary Christmas Story by R.L. Stine gives the typical Christmas story a new twist.

Sexual Content 

  • Emery and Alex are at a spice store and suddenly she “wasn’t focused on the beans. I was looking at Alex’s mouth, at how soft and full his lips looked. And then a thought flashed through my head. What might it be like to kiss Alex?”
  • Emery goes on a date with Sawyer. Afterward, “he leaned toward me, and my eyes closed instinctively as my heart pummeled my chest. . . But at the last second, when we were so close I felt the warmth of his breath, I panicked and turned my face to the side. His lips brushed against my cheek.”
  • While at a holiday party, Emery finds Alex and puts mistletoe over her head. Then, she “stood on my toes and kissed him. The kiss was breathtaking and sweet.”
  • While at the mall, Alex “leaned close and gave [Emery] another sweet, lingering kiss.”

Violence 

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • When Alex gets sick, his grandfather had him “take a temazcal herb steam treatment.”

Language 

  • Omigod is used occasionally. 
  • Crud and darn are each used once. 

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • While working at the mall, Emery prays that none of her friends see her.
  • Alex’s grandfather has a sign on the wall that says, “Oh divine chocolate. . . we beat it with our hands in prayer, and we drink it with our eyes lifted to the heavens.”

Truly, Madly, Royally

Zora Emerson’s summer plans are simple: to attend the pre-university program at Halstead U and continue her community work in her hometown of Appleton. Zora is Black and from a modest background, which doesn’t fit the typical picture of students at Halsted U nor the royal family of Landerel – a small country in Europe. Dodging reporters, dating a prince, and attending a royal wedding were not part of the plan.  

After meeting a mystery boy in the library, Zora falls for his charm, only to discover that she’s fallen for Owen Whittelsey, the son of the Queen of Landerel. Soon, Zora’s studies and volunteering is split between dates with Owen. However great Zora’s dates with her Prince Charming are in private, the royal life is not as glamorous as it seems. Owen is constantly monitored by his security team, and the budding relationship between Zora and Owen is investigated by the press. When Zora wins a grant to bolster her after-school program, the award is taken away when outsiders hint that her connections to the royal family give her an unfair advantage.  

Despite the setbacks and scrutiny, Zora persists in growing her after-school program through different means while managing her relationship with Owen. Eventually, he invites Zora to attend the wedding of his brother as a guest of honor. During the trip of a lifetime, Zora learns how to be confident in herself and embrace her heritage.  

Truly, Madly, Royally is a romance story mixed with a unique narrator whose heart lies with helping her community. Despite the majority of students at Halstead being from rich, white families, Zora is determined to embrace her African heritage and prove that she has a place among them by excelling in the classroom and her community work. Zora’s confidence is admirable even as she’s faced with large setbacks, such as grant money for her community work being taken away. Instead of giving up, Zora runs her own fundraiser, earning the money on her own. At the end of the story, African culture is highlighted as the royal wedding is between Owen’s brother and a Black woman named Sadie. However, the romance plot takes center stage, so the book doesn’t teach much about African culture beyond these basic issues. 

Truly, Madly, Royally is an easy, quick read. However, there’s not much to learn or gain from this story due to its simplistic and predictable plot. Readers who typically enjoy the romance genre will be disappointed by the development of Zora and Owen. While the romance is underwhelming, the story of Zora’s relationship she has with kids from her after-school program is heartwarming. Beyond that, however, the story highlights the importance of community. Zora truly wants to make a difference in her community and works hard to achieve her goals. Zora’s caring nature, confidence, and African heritage bring a unique element to this common romance trope.  

Sexual Content  

  • Skye, Zora’s friend, admits that she and Zora’s brother Zach kissed. 
  • Owen invites Zora to the royal ball. Then, “Owen bows his head and kisses my hand.” Afterwards, he asks, “Am I welcome to kiss you?” Zora says yes, and Owen kisses Zora for the first time. Zora describes, “Owen closes the distance between us and bows his head closer. It’s a kiss that starts with one soft, sweet peck, quickly followed by another. We look at each other and smile before taking a deeper dive with a tender kiss that lingers. We stay holding hands the whole time. A few seconds later, we pull back slowly.” 
  • Owen kisses Zora in a lecture hall at Halstead. “He pulls me in closer for a quick, wonderful kiss.”  
  • Owen hugs and kisses Zora while dancing in a friend’s dorm. “[Owen] lifts me off the floor. He lowers my feet with a quick kiss.”  
  • When Zora shows up at a wedding, Owen greets her. “[Owen] wraps his arms around me and kisses my forehead.”  

Violence  

  • Owen’s sister, Emily, committed suicide, which Zora learns from an article that provides the details of her death. “Apparently, when [Emily] was younger, a royal biographer dubbed her the ‘redheaded stepchild.’ Sadly, the unfortunate moniker stuck. . . [Emily] was considered chubby. The body shaming, the merciless trolling, the unflattering memes everywhere all threw her down a self-destructive path that ultimately led to her tragic death. Her body was found off a cliff in a mountain range along the southern coast of Landerel.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • When Owen’s sister died, there was “a high level of alcohol in her system.” 

Language  

  • Zora’s mother claims that her ex-husband, Zora’s dad, is always “showing his ass.”  

Supernatural  

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Zora’s mother is religious and occasionally mentions God and praying. She says, “I’m gonna pray you find a friend there you can relate to. You know God always listens to a mother’s prayer.”  
  • Zora’s father says “the only person ruling this house is Jesus.” 
  • Zora is at a community event where she feels like she has to keep standing up to greet people. “I stand up, sit down, and then stand up and sit down again. You would think I am at a Catholic church service.” 
  • The royal wedding is held in a chapel in Landerel. 

Jackpot

Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas ‘n’ Go who also takes care of her younger brother. Every. Single. Day. When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she—with some assistance from her popular and wildly rich classmate Zan—can find the ticket holder, who still hasn’t claimed their prize. But what happens when have and have-nots collide? Will this investigative duo unite. . . or divide? 

Told from Rico’s point of view, Jackpot highlights the difficulties of living in poverty. Many readers will sympathize with Rico’s struggles and relate to her insecurities. Rico is an interesting, well-developed character who believes poverty has stolen all her opportunities. In contrast, Zan has never had to worry about money. Despite this, Zan feels his only option is to work for his family’s company.  

In the end, both characters realize, “Everyone has choices. Are some of them hard? Yes. But if you want something bad enough. . .” Rico and Zan’s relationship gives both of them a new perspective and the bravery to take control of their lives.  

Even though Rico and Zan are completely opposite from each other, they each have universal teen conflicts that readers will connect with. Neither character allows others to see their true selves. Zan has closed himself off because he is afraid others will take advantage of him due to his family’s wealth. On the other hand, Rico’s life has been so consumed with work — schoolwork, her job, and caring for her brother — that she has no friends. In addition, Rico feels inferior to her wealthy classmates. Being friends with Zan teaches Rico that not having money doesn’t mean you’re not as worthy as those who do. 

Many teen readers will connect with Jackpot because of the interesting characters and universal themes. While readers will sympathize with Rico’s situation, Zan is the real star because his quirky behavior is humorous and endearing. Even though Rico and Zan are realistic characters, the conclusion is not quite believable. Despite this, Jackpot’s focus on class will leave readers thinking about how one’s class affects every aspect of life. In the author’s note, Stone explains that Jackpot reinforces the idea that “there’s a whole lot more to people than how much — or how little — is in their bank account.” Readers who want another book that explores classism should check out I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal and Class Act by Jerry Craft.  

Sexual Content  

  • Zan goes to see Rico at work. As he’s leaving, he “yanks” her forward. Rico collides “with his chest—then he’s wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me off my feet. . .” Afterwards, she is “legitimately hot all over.”  
  • ​​​Rico’s grandfather was “a white guy. . . he had a one-night stand with an . . . escort he’s pretty sure was black, then ten months later, my mom was left on his doorstep.”  
  • Rico’s mom got pregnant when she was in college. “She spent a month in Spain and came back pregnant. . . she didn’t know about his wife and kids. . .” 
  • Rico’s friend Jessica says, “Timberlake’s old news, but I’d totally have his babies if I weren’t so bent on having Ness’s [her boyfriend].” Later, it is revealed that Jessica and Ness are sexually active. 
  • Rico goes to a friend’s house where she’s surprised to see Zan. When Zan sees her, she describes how “he rushes over and scoops me up in what I can only describe as THE HUG. . . he holds me by the shoulders and basically eats every inch of my body.” 
  • After getting drunk, Rico wakes up next to Zan. Even though they are both fully dressed, Rico thinks that they hooked up and she just can’t remember it. An older woman tells Ric
  • o that after her first marriage broke up, she met Lionel. “Lionel really knew his way around a lady, if you catch my drift.” 
  • While Rico is working, an adult buys a Playboy magazine from the convenience store. 
  • Rico’s brother asks if she’s had a wet dream. He explains what he means. “They’re dreams where you’re doing it with somebody, duh. Mason’s big brother has them all the time and he pees out sticky stuff in the bed, so that’s why they’re called wet.” 
  • Jessica and her boyfriend are kissing when someone tells them to “get a room.” 
  • Rico and Zan pose as a couple in order to look at houses for rent. As part of the ruse, Zan tells the real estate agent that they “’had a little too much fun after winter homecoming, if you catch my drift.” Zan winks and pats Rico’s belly. 
  • Rico has an emotional moment and begins to cry. To comfort her, Zane “draws me in to him. The more I cry, the closer we get until I’m curled in his khaki’s lap like a toddler, sobbing into the neck of his perfectly pressed polo shirt.” After snuggling for a few minutes, Zane says, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you should probably get off my lap now.”  

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Zan thinks Rico is acting “high strung.” He tells her, “We need to get you some good weed or something.” 
  • Jessica’s mother “drinks away most of her paycheck.” 
  • Rico goes to a friend’s house. The teens there drink alcohol and get “a bit tipsy.” 
  • Jessica wonders which one of the cheerleaders is in “therapy and on anti-anxiety meds.”  
  • When Rico’s brother has a fever, she gives him ibuprofen. 

Language  

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes variations of ass, asshole, bitch, crap, dumbass, damn, hell, pissed, shit and motherfu–.  
  • Lord, God, Jesus, and other religious names are used as explanations often.  
  • When Rico wakes up next to Zan, she thinks, “Might as well have a red letter T for tramp tattooed on my cheek.” 
  • Rico thinks someone is a douche-jackass and a son-of-a-bitch. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Zan is Catholic and goes to mass “when [his] grandma makes [him].” 
  • Rico thinks about God. “The whole God thing has always been a little suspect to me.” Rico’s mom would listen to the “sermon station” but this just made Rico question God’s goodness. “But for as long as I can remember, Mama has prayed without ceasing, and . . . well, I find it tough to believe this God character is so great when we continue to barely scrape by despite how hard Mama works and prays.” 
  • At one point, Rico thinks that God will “smite us [her and Zan] for all these lies we’re telling.” 
  • While at a wedding, Rico looks at Zan and thanks “whatever God is worshipped in this church for the fact that I’m already sitting.” 
  • Rico’s boss has heavy security on his computer. Rico explains, “He got new software just after the store was broken into and trashed by anti-Muslim douchefaces last August.”  
  • Rico goes to Zan’s house to eat dinner with his family. Zan’s father prays, thanking God for the food and his successful business. Then he says, “Lord, we thank you for our young Alejandro [Zan], and for the light that has recently graced his life, pulling him out of darkness—” Zan’s father was talking about Rico. 
  • Zan’s grandmother invites Rico to mass and then asks if Rico is a believer. The conversation gets interrupted before Rico can answer. 

I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Chloe Green wants nothing more than the title of valedictorian, and she’s almost got it in the bag. There’s just one little problem and her name is Shara Wheeler, who happens to be Chloe’s greatest competition and school sweetheart. Chloe and Shara have been competing forces since Chloe arrived at Willowgrove Christian Academy during her freshman year of high school. They have a completely normal academic rivalry, until Shara corners Chloe and kisses her, leaving Chloe angry and bewildered. 

Then, Shara goes missing after prom night and the whole school is enraptured by the perfect Christian girl’s disappearance. Chloe is unfazed, however; she knows there’s more to Shara than meets the eye. Chloe discovers that she isn’t the only person Shara kissed before magically disappearing. Right before disappearing, Shara also kissed Rory, Shara’s next-door neighbor, and Smith, Shara’s boyfriend. Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too. 

I Kissed Shara Wheeler takes the reader on a journey through the rigid conservative Christian values of False Beach, Alabama. Readers will get an in-depth look through the eyes of the residents who have a myriad of complicated feelings about their town and the places they occupy within it. The book is narrated by Chloe, whose perspective is strongly influenced by her liberal, southern California roots, but most of the other characters don’t know life outside of False Beach and their staunchly religious private school. As much as Chloe’s strong-willed opinions drive change, the other characters teach her about the complicated love they have for their home, even when it strives to suppress various aspects of their identities. 

Much of the book’s content discusses sexuality as the characters grow and learn to accept themselves for who they are. The story opens with Shara kissing Chloe, though at this point Shara has never appeared as more than just a conservative Christian girl. In contrast, Chloe is openly bisexual and anti-religious, but it takes both girls most of the book to realize that they have genuine feelings and attraction for each other. Many of the other characters also go through their own reckonings in the book, including Smith and Rory, who discover that their feelings for each other are more than just that of childhood best friends.  

Fans of Casey McQuiston’s other books Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop will likely enjoy the fun energy in I Kissed Shara Wheeler. McQuiston balances the serious moments with the characters’ sense of humor. Some readers may find Chloe to be a bit single-minded in her quest to triumph over Shara, but this doesn’t draw away from the story. Ultimately, readers will be able to take away that there is always more than meets the eye, and there is always room to change and grow into the person you want to be. Readers who enjoy I Kissed Shara Wheeler can find more romance by reading Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon or The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith.

Sexual Content  

  • Chloe explains why she’s looking for Shara Wheeler. Chloe says, “Because two days ago, Shara found her alone in the B Building elevator before fifth hour, pulled her in by the elbow, and kissed her until she forgot an entire semester of French.” It then comes to light that Shara has kissed Smith (her boyfriend) and Rory (her neighbor) as well. 
  • No one knows where Shara is, and Chloe comes up with unlikely theories – one being that Shara has “some sugar daddy she’s holed up with or something.” 
  • Chloe writes a letter to her friend about being kissed by Shara. Chloe starts by telling her not to react while reading the letter because “if Madame Clark picks this one up and reads it out loud like she did with Tanner’s ranking of girls’ butt’s I will literally kill you.” 
  • Chloe notes that when she first moved to False Beach, Alabama, she was in freshman bio and noted that “the chapter on sexual reproduction was taped shut.” 
  • Chloe, Rory, and Smith go into Rory’s room to use his computer. Chloe “counts at least three different hand-drawn penises” on Rory’s bedroom wall. 
  • There is a joke school code of conduct that is presumably written by Chloe. Among other details, it includes, “No student may smoke, drink, dance, or have sex, which means half the students are smoking, drinking, dancing, having sex, and lying about it. Pills are fine. If you’re on the football team, just ask Emma Grace’s dad to write you a prescription.” This list lasts for a page. 
  • Chloe notes that once at a party, she “almost got French-kissed by Tucker Price from the Quiz Bowl team in his parents’ saltwater jacuzzi.” 
  • After a trip, Chloe’s two moms kiss. Chloe jokes that they kiss “like they’re on the bow of the freaking Titanic.” 
  • Chloe briefly mentions a situation where “a sophomore sent her boyfriend nudes and he forwarded them to all his friends.” This comes up on chapel day at school and the administration then gave “a very shame-y talk on modesty.” 
  • Chloe’s friend tells Chloe that he’s “a make-out hobbyist . . . I’ve kissed like, all my homies.” He doesn’t go into details. 
  • Shara’s neighbor, Rory, expresses his repressed feelings for Smith to Chloe. He says, “maybe I talked myself into [Shara], because when I looked at her and Smith together, I was so jealous, and she seemed like the right place to put it.” Chloe validates his feelings, telling him, “It would be okay. If you didn’t like Shara. If you didn’t like girls at all.” It is revealed later that Smith has similar feelings for Rory as well. 
  • Chloe finds Shara and Shara kisses Chloe. Chloe thinks that Shara “knows exactly what she’s doing when [Chloe] twists her fingers into the loose wisps of hair at the nape of Shara’s neck and kisses her back, hard. Her other hand grips the tulle where it fans out from Shara’s waist and holds Shara’s body up against hers like see, we’re a match, and it works — Shara sighs and lets go of the rail to slide her palm over Chloe’s cheek.” The description lasts for half a page. 
  • Chloe’s classmate Georgia gets caught “making out in the B Building bathroom” with their other classmate, Summer, and Georgia gets reported to the principal’s office. No other description is given for that kiss. It’s only said that Georgia has been dating Summer and Summer has “known she was bi since last year.” 
  • Smith and Rory kiss and Chloe walks in on their moment. She’s hiding and she describes only what she can hear, saying, “Then, after a few seconds, just long enough for a nervous first kiss, Smith laughs.” 
  • Two of Chloe’s classmates are arguing, and one tells the other that “if she wanted people to believe things she says, she shouldn’t have lied about giving her best friend’s crush a handjob at her birthday party.” 
  • Chloe and Shara kiss in Shara’s bedroom. Chloe describes, “She tips her head forward, and Shara kisses her. Chloe puts her arms around Shara’s neck and kisses her back.” The description lasts for a page. 
  • Chloe and Shara make out. “Chloe doesn’t know how long. It felt like a long time.” The page before, they have a conversation on how they both want to take it slow. Chloe says, “Shara’s hand drops from Chloe’s neck to her shoulder, and then she’s pushing Chloe down on the bed and kissing her, one hand pinning her to the mattress and the other on her waist.” 
  • Chloe fights against the school administration’s policies. For instance, she says, “Freshman year, she adjusted to Willowgrove by making problems on purpose, but nobody showed up to her GSA meeting, and she got suspended for bringing free condoms to school in protest of the abstinence-only sex ed policy.” 
  • Chloe’s classmate Dixon makes a rude sexual comment towards Chloe at the party, citing something he calls the Rachel Rule. He says, “‘It’s a rule the seniors made last year for Rachel Kennedy, who was a huge bitch but still got to come to parties because she had huge boobs.’ He’s looking down now. At her chest, and her wet shirt. He hands clench into firsts at her sides — ever since she sprouted D-cups in tenth grade, a guy staring at her chest has never ended well. ‘So, as long as you keep wearing that, the Rachel Rule says you can stay.’” Chloe does not like this, and she expresses her discontent by telling him that he peaked in high school and, even now, she “still wouldn’t sleep with him.” 

Violence  

  • Chloe finally finds Shara, and Chloe is furious. In her anger, she shoves Shara into a lake. Chloe describes, “with one solid shove, she pushes Shara — prom dress and all — over the railing and into Lake Martin.” 
  • Chloe “punched a mall Santa when [she] was five.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Chloe refers to her classmate, Jake Stone, as “Stone the Stoner.”  
  • Jake Stone was suspended once because he “was caught vaping” in the school bathroom. 
  • Every teacher at Willowgrove has to “sign a morality clause saying they won’t drink, express political opinions or be gay.” 
  • Chloe says that False Beach, Alabama has “the aura of a Mountain Dew bottle filled with dip spit.” 
  • Chloe goes to a high school party and is annoyed that she has to watch a classmate “slobber all over a beer bong.” There is plenty of drinking at this party, including something referred to as an “upside down margarita,” which is a drinking game. The party’s descriptions last for a couple of chapters. 
  • The Willowgrove school district hired a cop to scare the students about drugs, but instead, Chloe notes that the cop “ended up telling us exactly how many ounces of weed you can carry without getting arrested.” 
  • Chloe stays up too late thinking about Shara and has a massive headache the next day. She says, “This must be what a hangover feels like.” 

Language  

  • Chloe notes that Shara’s disappearance is odd. Chloe thinks to herself, “That’s the thing about popular kids: They don’t have the type of bond forged in the fire of being weird and queer in small-to-medium-town Alabama. If Chloe tried to ghost like this, there’d be a militia of Shakespeare gays kicking down every door in False Beach.” 
  • Strong language is used frequently. Profanity includes ass, fuck, idiot, d-bags, shit, megabitch, crap, dick, hell, and douchebag. 
  • Chloe says “Shara Wheeler is the most tragic heterosexual to ever cram herself into a Brandy Melville crop top.” 
  • Chloe describes her classmate’s understanding of her as “the weird queer girl from LA with two lesbian moms.” 
  • Chloe’s friend Georgia has a collection of books at her parents’ bookstore just for Chloe, and she “affectionately calls it Chloe’s Monster Fucker Collection” due to the fact that Chloe likes stories where the headstrong main female protagonist falls in love with the villain, which sometimes happens to be a literal nonhuman entity. 
  • Chloe and her friends identify as LGTBQ+, and they reference their sexualities somewhat often in-text. For instance, Chloe’s friend Benjy is worried about his future college roommate. He says, “My new fear is that he’ll be a hot straight guy. I cannot spend my first year away from home with an unrequited crush on a guy who wears neckties to football games…I don’t have high hopes for the gays of Tuscaloosa.”  
  • Chloe’s classmate is an unpleasant person by all counts. She details why, saying he’s “the type who insists it’s okay for him to make offensive jokes because he’s not actually racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/whatever so he doesn’t actually mean them, but aren’t the jokes so funny.” 
  • Smith asks Ash, a nonbinary student, to “explain the whole nonbinary thing” to him. Ash explains to Smith it’s, “Like if someone yelled your first name [William] at you. You might answer to it, but it wouldn’t feel right, because that’s not you.” Ash and Smith have this conversation for several pages. 
  • Chloe doesn’t want another student named Drew Taylor to be her salutatorian because “he has a YouTube channel about why girls at Willowgrove are sluts for taking birth control pills.” 
  • Chloe’s mom exclaims “Jesus Christ” when she finds out that Chloe has Shara’s expensive crucifix necklace. 

Supernatural 

  • Chloe sometimes wishes she lived in another place and time. An example of this is that she wishes she “were a vampire hunter in Edwardian England.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • The book opens with a service at the Willowgrove Christian Church, “where the Wheelers are spending their morning pretending to be nice, normal folks whose nice, normal daughter didn’t stage a disappearing act at prom twelve hours ago.” 
  • Chloe finds the spare key to the Wheeler’s house under a rock with “Joshua 24:15 engraved on it. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Bible quotes are scattered throughout the book. 
  • The students in this book attend “Willowgrove Christian Academy.” Chloe describes a billboard for the academy reading, “Jesus Loves Geometry! A Christ-Centered Education At Willowgrove Christian Academy!” The school also has “chapel days” where the students are required to attend service. 
  • Chloe greatly dislikes her religious school, but she attends the school because of its academics and theater program. She says, “If this was her only option, she could put up with the Jesus stuff.” 
  • Shara wore a somewhat revealing dress at homecoming. Chloe describes, “It was only a blue silk slip with a modest neckline, but it stuck to her like water, and she wasn’t wearing a bra . . . God’s favorite daughter shows one hint of nip.” 
  • Chloe half-jokes that Shara Wheeler’s family “has more money than God.” 
  • Mr. Wheeler is the principal at Willowgrove, and he has a reputation for “telling teenagers they’re going to hell.” He says many religious things to the students, including telling Chloe that “gossip is against God’s will.” This is how many teachers and much of the curriculum work at this school. 
  • Shara expresses in her journal entry that “the loudest Christians I’ve ever met were the worst ones.” 
  • Shara and Chloe go through their notes for their AP European History exam, which involves a lot of religious history. For instance, they reference the “Defenestration of Prague” where “Protestants threw a bunch of Catholic officials out of a castle window in Bohemia. Started the Thirty Years War.” There is a series of notes like this for a couple of pages. 
  • Georgia explains to Chloe that Summer’s church “is more into Jesus the brown socialist than the whole eternal damnation thing.” 
  • Chloe explains that her understanding of Christianity is based on Willowgrove’s variety – “judgmental, sanctimonious hypocrites hiding hate behind Bible verses, twenty-four-karat crucifix necklaces, and charismatic white pastors with all the horrible secrets that money can protect.” 
  • The school finds out that there’s been an admissions scam at Willowgrove, and Benjy sees all the fliers with the information and exclaims, “Jesus wept.” 

Imogen, Obviously

Imogen is straight. She’s the world’s biggest queer ally and is surrounded by queer friends but is a self-described “raging hetero” herself. Her best friend, Gretchen, who has an amazing gaydar, confirms this every day with affectionate nicknames. 

However, Imogen’s world shifts when she visits her childhood best friend, Lili, on Lili’s college campus. Imogen is warmly greeted by Lili and her amazing group of queer friends, and she quickly forgets her anxieties about not fitting in. However, Lili tells Imogen a secret: at the beginning of the school year, she told her friends that she and Imogen briefly dated, to avoid revealing that she’s never been in a relationship before. She apologizes to Imogen and offers to tell her friends she lied, but Imogen tells her not to worry. It’s not a big deal to her if LIli’s friends think Imogen is bi. 

But Imogen can’t stop thinking about Tessa, one of Lili’s friends. And Tessa is constantly flirting with Imogen. Maybe. Imogen isn’t sure. After all, Tessa is flirty with everyone. But she does know that she should probably stop talking to Tessa like this because it’s not fair to lead her on. After all, Imogen is straight. Or. . . is she?

From the author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda comes another brilliant journey of self-discovery and acceptance. Imogen, Obviously features a cast of funny, witty, and loveable characters that show that there’s no one way to be queer. Some teens will relate to Imogen’s long journey of discovering her sexuality amidst the rationalizing and denial that comes with the journey. Others will see themselves in her younger sister, Edith, who always knew she was different and proclaimed that she liked girls when she was seven. Still, others will recognize the darker side of this book, which tackles the uglier side of being queer. Biphobia is discussed, specifically, the pressure that many bisexual people face to “pick a side” as well as the downside of having labels be a prerequisite for being “queer enough” to truly belong in queer spaces. These complex issues are handled in a nuanced way, allowing room for discussion and growth.

While these issues are given the gravity they deserve, the book overall is still lighthearted. This atmosphere is kept alive by the characters – Lili’s college friend group and their antics are quintessential. Their warmth and immediate acceptance of Imogen as one of their own will make readers feel as if they themselves can also belong in that group.  Imogen, Obviously is a romcom perfect for teens that are looking for a story that is cute and heartwarming, but also thought-provoking and relatable. Readers who want more books that cast LGBTQ+ characters in a positive light should add the following books to their reading list: All the Invisible Things by Orlagh Collins, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, and All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson.

Sexual Content 

  • Imogen and Tessa visit a sculpture of the world’s largest scissors and take a few pictures. Imogen posts a picture to Instagram with a scissor emoji for the caption. Gretchen texts her jokingly asking, “Who are you scissoring?” Scissoring is a term used to describe lesbian sex. 
  • Lili’s friends Kayla and Declan have an inside joke where they pass a sausage in a plastic bag back and forth between them. Many sexual innuendos are made with this joke, such as when Imogen texts Gretchen, “I don’t even want to tell you what I’m about to do with a German sausage” with no context and Gretchen responds, “IMOGEN. What are you about to do with a tiny German sausage???”  
  • Imogen and Tessa make out in Tessa’s room while Tessa is partially undressed. Imogen describes, “My words melt away when I see her. Tessa in an undershirt, white with short sleeves, the straps of her sports bra faintly visible underneath. Nothing on bottom but boy shorts.” 

Violence 

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Imogen goes to a party with Lili and her friends. Imogen has an alcoholic drink for the first time.

Language 

  • Profanity such as “fuck” and “shit” are used as exclamations, but rarely.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Holding Up the Universe

Holding Up the Universe follows the love story of two teenagers who are grappling with their own perception of identity. Jack Masselin is a popular boy who secretly struggles with a neurological disorder; Libby Strout is known as an overweight girl, once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen” after an incident from her childhood was covered by local news. Jack and Libby realize they have more in common than they thought, but both teens struggle with understanding themselves and learning how they present themselves to others. Over the course of the book, the characters gain confidence in themselves, and learn how to trust their intuition and interact with peers.

Seventeen-year-old Jack has a reputation as being a popular “playboy” and has various other popular friends, such as Dave Kaminski and Seth Powell. Jack is also in an “on-again, off-again everyone-assumes-we’ll-end-up-together-forever” relationship with Caroline Lushamp, one of the school’s most popular cheerleaders. Jack embraces his own arrogance and confidence as he considers himself to be “charming,” “hilarious,” and “the life of the party.” However, Jack secretly struggles with prosopagnosia, which prevents him from being able to recognize faces. Jack is terrified of being excluded, so he tends to go along with what the “popular” kids are doing in order to remain in their good graces. Throughout the story, Jack learns how to tell others about his condition, and learns various “tricks” to manage his condition.

After her mom’s death, sixteen-year-old Libby lost control of her weight. The media negatively represented the Strout family after Libby had to be airlifted out of her home following a panic attack. After being dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen,” Libby was homeschooled for several years, but now she’s ready to return to public school. Shortly after re-enrolling, Libby is bullied for her weight and consistently receives hurtful remarks from peers. Despite the mean statements, Libby remains confident in herself, almost becoming empowered by their hate. 

Following a physical altercation between Jack and Libby, they are required to engage in an after-school Conversation Circle with the school counselor, Mr. Levine. During these meetings, Jack and Libby get to know each other and help each other in a variety of ways. Libby encourages Jack to seek an official prosopagnosia diagnosis from researchers at Indiana University, and Jack slowly realizes he is falling in love with Libby. By the conclusion of the Conversation Circle meetings, Jack and Libby discover how important their identity is, and that it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks about them. They come to terms with this realization and manage to develop deeper relationships with those around them.

Jack and Libby narrate alternating chapters which occasionally include flashbacks. At times, the back-and-forth perspectives between the two characters can be confusing, but the author weaves them together so seamlessly, it allows the reader to see the emotions of both characters within a specific event. The author effectively uses flashbacks by including them during relevant parts of the plot, such as referring to the day that Libby was airlifted from her home. 

Jack and Libby are relatable in their own ways. Jack is terrified of being excluded, while Libby understands that people will hate her for her weight and chooses to ignore their comments and trust herself. Because Jack is obsessed with what others think, he can sometimes be annoying. Instead of talking to his friends and accepting help from others, Jack believes he should manage everything independently. Despite this, the relationship between Jack and Libby is sweet, and has a lovable moment when Jack is able to recognize Libby without having to use “identifiers.” 

Overall, Holding Up the Universe is well-written and enjoyable to read because it’s paced appropriately and has a plot that readers can connect to. The author effectively utilizes descriptive language to manipulate the emotions of readers to the point that it feels like they are experiencing the events through the characters’ eyes. Holding Up the Universe tackles complex topics that may not be suitable for younger readers, such as fat-shaming, bullying, depression, and peer pressure.

Holding Up the Universe speaks on empowerment, acceptance, and overflowing love, which makes it a feel-good read, but readers still learn about struggles common in high school. The overall theme of the novel can be identified as “seeing and being seen,” since the main characters struggle with identifying others and being respected for who they really are. If you’re ready for another story that explores the importance of accepting yourself, Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn and Mosquitoland by David Arnold should be added to your must read list.

Sexual Content 

  • There are multiple references to blow jobs and girls being undesirable as a sexual partner.
  • Libby is eager for her first kiss and talks about being hopeful to find a boy to “claim her body.” She also is fascinated by the anecdote about a woman losing weight by having “marathon” sex.
  • Jack discovers that his father is having an affair with a teacher.  Jack sees “a new, unopened email from Monica Chapman . . . and then I open it. And wish I hadn’t.” Jack then drafts a reply which reads “Dear M. If Jack is angry, it’s because of us . . . Maybe I should stop being so selfish. If I really loved you, I would end my marriage or at least come clean to my wife.”
  • On a date, Jack invites Libby to dance with him. Jack is “at first aware of every eye in the room on us, but then all the faces fade away, and it’s just Libby and me, my hands on her waist, all that woman in my arms.”
  • At a party, Caroline tries to coerce Jack to have sex. After removing her shirt, Caroline says, “I think I’m ready for it. . . with you . . . unless you don’t want to.” They do not have any form of sexual contact because Jack realizes, “I don’t love Caroline. I don’t even like Caroline.”

Violence 

  • There is a game known as “Fat Girl Rodeo” where players non-consensually jump on the back of a “fat girl” and try to hang on as long as possible. After Libby enrolls in high school, she becomes the target of the game. Jack jumps on her in the cafeteria, and Libby manages to “summon all the strength [she has] to peel him off like a Band-Aid.” Once Jack is on the ground, she punches him in the mouth. Jack’s “jaw feels knocked loose, like it’s somewhere in Ohio. I give it a rub to make sure it’s still attached, and my hand comes away covered in blood.” 
  • Jack sticks up for someone being bullied. When the group doesn’t back down, Jack “runs right into the herd of them . . . one lands in the dirt, and suddenly they’re not laughing anymore.” The bullies argue with Jack, and then Jack begins to throw punches. “Maybe because I’m angry. At everyone. At myself.” Jack continues to punch the bullies that come at him “even when his hand feels broken, even when he can’t feel his knuckles anymore.” This scene lasts four pages.
  • After a misunderstanding at a party, Moses Hunt tracks down and begins punching Jack. Moses’ “fists are coming at me too fast to duck, too fast to move. Over and over his fists make contact with bone, or maybe he’s not the only one swinging.” This fight lasts three pages.

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Teens gather for a party and consume alcohol and weed. Jack drinks beer. After drinking several shots, he declares “my esophagus burns like I just inhaled gasoline.” Jack also smokes a joint “because maybe this is the secret of life . . . maybe this will give me answers. Instead, I end up coughing like an old man for a good five minutes.”

Language 

  • Insults and taunting such as “whore” are used toward the girls.
  • There is frequent swearing throughout the book, both casually and as insults. Profanity includes ass, bastard, bitch, bullshit, damn, douche, fuck, goddamn, hell, pissed, and shit.
  • Phrases such as OMG and oh my god are used occasionally.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Donut Go Breaking My Heart

Sheyda is a behind the scenes girl. She loves helping in the kitchen of Doughlicious, the donut shop run by her best friend’s family. And Sheyda loves designing stage sets while others perform in the spotlight.

Then lights, camera . . . surprise! Tween heartthrob Cabe Sadlier is filming his next movie in Doughlicious! Sheyda’s outgoing BFF, Kiri, is sure this will lead to stardom and perhaps a date with Cabe. But somehow it’s Sheyda who gets picked for a small role in the film.

To make matters worse, Cabe seems spoiled and rude. Too bad he’s so cute. Can Sheyda overcome her stage fright, get to know the real Cabe, and find her own kind of stardom?

Told from Sheyda’s point of view, Donut Go Breaking My Heart, is the perfect book for middle school readers who are trying to navigate their tween years. Sheyda is a relatable and likable character who often feels invisible because of her shyness. Since Sheyda doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, she often keeps her thoughts and emotions to herself, especially when it comes to her best friend Kiri. To Sheyda’s surprise, she finds herself really liking Cabe. But she doesn’t want to upset Kiri, who thinks Cabe is her ticket to stardom. Sheyda’s understandable conflict will keep readers engaged.

Donut Go Breaking My Heart sprinkles in friendship drama and family fights which give the story depth. Young readers will find plenty of sweet moments between Sheyda and Cabe, and these moments will keep readers engaged even though the story has a typical romance plot. Many of the conflicts are caused by Sheyda hiding her true feelings. However, Cabe helps Sheyda learn the importance of speaking up for herself. As Sheyda and Cabe’s relationship evolves, they both learn about themselves. One of the best aspects of the story is that both characters learn the importance of not judging someone based on their appearance.

Middle-grade readers who want a cute, clean romance will find many sweet moments in Donut Go Breaking My Heart. The story teaches the importance of communicating your feelings instead of trying to hide them. Plus, Sheyda’s story will encourage readers to step out of their comfort zones and try something new. For another story that revolves around friendship and crushes, check out Pugs and Kisses by J.J. Howard.

Sexual Content

  • Kiri pretends to sprain her ankle so Cabe will help her walk. As they leave a theater, they are surrounded by reporters. To get publicity, Kiri “beamed up at [Cabe], and then kissed him on the cheek.”
  • Cabe asks Sheyda to run a scene with him. As Sheyda looks at the script, she’s freaked out because there is a kissing scene. During the scene, her “heart was melting. . . And suddenly the rest of the world was dropping away because Cabe’s lips were moving toward mine. Then they met mine, and the world stopped existing entirely. . . His lips were so soft. . . I wanted the kiss to last forever.” Then the kiss was over.
  • After Cabe and Sheyda share their feelings about each other, Cabe “took my face in his hands. His mouth met mine in a soft, sweet kiss. I tasted the faintest trace of icing on his lips. . .” 

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None

Language

  • Omigod is used as an exclamation often.
  • Darn is used once.
  • At first, Sheyda thinks Cabe is a jerk.
  • Sheyda meets an actress who is known as “the wicked witch.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None
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