Ryan and Avery | David Levithan | Book Review

Ryan and Avery is such a charming story! It follows the first ten dates of queer couple Ryan and Avery who meet at a local queer prom. From the moment that the two of them meet on the dance floor there is an undeniable connection between them. It is not all sunshine and rainbows though as they go through their dates. There are several more difficult issues that they are forced to deal with if they are to remain a couple.

Navigating the world around us is never easy but it comes with even more complications if you are not fully out of the closet. This is what Ryan is dealing with. The only person that he has ever been completely open with is his aunt. She is the one who supports him and who also helps him dye his hair blue. I loved their relationship and how protective and loving she was of him. I also enjoyed how she immediately accepted Avery into her life because of how important he was to Ryan.

Where Ryan is gay and has blue hair, Avery is trans and has pink hair. He does not hide himself and wants Ryan to do the same. Even when he faced with transphobia, he refuses to let it take away his joy. Joy is a central emotion through out as we go through the ups and downs of their first ten dates. While tackling homophobia and transphobia, there is also this central string that pulls all the characters together and that is to not be afraid to experience real everlasting joy. It is just so well done. David Levithan does such a phenomenal job when he creates his characters so full of heart.

The fact that Ryan and Avery does not follow a completely linear timeline when going through each of the dates gives the story that much more heart. You also get to see the relationship from each of their perspectives and learn their passions and their fears. These characters grow together and the way their dynamic grows and changes helped keep me invested in their story. In fact, I really want to know what happened after date 10. Are they still together? Are they happy? I sure hope so!

Rating: 4 Stars

The Do Over | Suzanne Park | Book Review

At the beginning of The Do Over, Lily Lee believed that her dream job was seconds away from being handed to her. After all her hard work, everything was finally going her way. Instead of receiving the news that she had gotten the position though, she finds out that she never actually finished college and needs to go back if she has any chance of accomplishing any of her goals. This is the last thing she expected. She also didn’t expect to run into her former college boyfriend on the campus where they fell in love.

In some ways having to return to college was one of Lily’s worst nightmares. In other ways this was the perfect new adventure for her. It a complete moment of culture shock. Things were definitely not the same as they were the first time she was there! Yet, this gave her an opportunity to develop new connections with the other students. It is so heartwarming to read because it gave her the ability to grow as a character.

It really doesn’t take long for Lily and Jake to refined their connection but there is still so much that needed to be worked out. This becomes especially complicated when Jake is actually the TA for one of her classes. Lily does not have it to appear like she is getting favored over her classmates. She also has this deep desire to prove her worth while working through her anxiety and on-going issues with her parents. Thankfully she is not alone as she is trying to figure all of this out. She has her hilarious best friend Mia and her roommate Beth to help her through everything. I loved how Mia wasn’t afraid to call Jake out on how badly he had originally hurt Lily. She wasn’t about to let her best friend go through that type of pain again!

The Do Over gives Lily the chance to figure out exactly what she has possibly missed out on. Going back to school forces her to reevaluate everything especially when her past is suddenly hitting her in the face. It really does become a full circle journey because she is forced to actually look at what she wanted to do professionally and personally. I really enjoyed the way that mental health, imposter syndrome, and immigrant family dynamics were handled in this book. I found them to be so well done and found that they helped create the foundation for the second chance romance. This foundation is so heartwarming and the perfect place for so many of the lessons presented in the story.

Rating: 4 Stars

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday is held by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today’s topic is all about your favorite book quotes. Here are some of mine:

1. “Even when life turns out different than what you’ve planned, it’s always better to try and fail than to wonder what could have been.” –Wanderlove ~ Kirsten Hubbard
2. “The world is a turntable that never stops spinning; as humans we merely choose the tracks we want to sit out and the ones that inspire us to dance.” –With The Fire On High ~Elizabeth Acevedo
3. “Usually we walk around constantly believing ourselves. “I’m okay” we say. “I’m alright”. But sometimes the truth arrives on you and you can’t get it off. That’s when you realize that sometimes it isn’t even an answer–it’s a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced.” –The Book Thief ~Markus Zusak
4. “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” –The Giver ~ Lois Lowry
5. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” –To Kill A Mockingbird ~Harper Lee
6. “Voice is not just the sound that comes from your throat, but the feelings that come from your words.” –A Northern Light ~Jennifer Donnelly
7. “Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” –If I Stay ~Gayle Forman
8. “If we could capture feelings like we capture pictures, none of us would ever leave our rooms. It would be so tempting to inhabit the good moments over and over again. But I don’t want to be the kind of person who lives backwardly, who memorializes moments before she’s finished living in them. So I plant my feet here on this hillside beside a boy who is undoing me, and I kiss him back like I mean it. And, God help me, with the sky wrapped around us in every direction, I do mean it.” –Open Road Summer ~Emery Lord
9. “Books are the mile markers of my life. Some people have family photos or home movies to record their past. I’ve got books. Characters. For as long as I can remember, books have been my safe place.” –The Great Alone ~ Kristin Hannah
10. “The ending doesn’t matter. What matters is how we get there. To face what’s ahead with as much dignity as we can muster and make the most of the time we have left.” –The Witch’s Heart ~Genevieve Gornichec

What are some of your favorite book quotes?

Royal Blood | Aimee Carter | Book Review

Royal Blood is the first book in the Royal Blood series by Aimee Carter. It follows Evan, a young American girl, who is the bastard child of the current King of England. She has never actually met her father but constantly has the sensation of him being around with the protection that he provides. This protection usually shows up as she is trying to cause trouble and get kicked out of boarding school. Her goal is to finally be able to go home to her mother. Things don’t go as planned with her last episode of trouble though and suddenly she finds herself in London meeting her father for the first time.

From the moment Evan enters England, it seems like trouble is bound to follow her. She finds herself the center of the English tabloids and the prime suspect of a murder. She really is thrown right in the middle of things! Other around her aren’t sure exactly what to think about her at first but, she slowly starts earning their trust. Much of this is due to her reaction to being accused of murdering the individual who had tried to sexually assault her that same night. You can feel the fierceness that is a core part of Evan’s personality.

A good majority of this book involved the murder mystery. Unfortunately it wasn’t as engaging as it could have been. While I wanted Evan to clear her name, I honestly started not to care who actually was the murderer. I was more engaged in the dynamics between the characters and learning the history between King Alexander and Evan’s mother. There was so much more there than Evan ever knew about. She had created a story in her head that was missing so many important pieces. These pieces led to many needed conversations regarding mental health and therapy.

Given the fact that Royal Blood involves a royal family, there are alot of secrets that are uncovered. Things look picture perfect on the surface but behind the scenes the affairs, the lies, and the blackmailing is abundant. This is what kept me engaged in the story. I enjoyed learning all the details regarding each character. I still feel like there is more information out there though especially involving the character of Kit. Hopefully more is revealed in the second book of the series, Royal Scandal.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

Soul Boom: Why We Need A Spiritual Revolution | Rainn Wilson | Book Review

Soul Boom: Why We Need Spiritual Revolution feels a bit like a manifesto written by Rainn Wilson. Most people, myself included, know him as Dwight Schrute from the hysterical and loveable show The Office. Reading this book introduces a different side of him and also opens the door for a larger discussion on spirituality and the future of our western world.

Rainn Wilson grew up as a member of the Baha’i faith and has done his research regarding a variety of other religious and spiritual ideas. He explains that this research has helped him deal with his internal demons and depression. This personal journey is one of the main reasons for his belief in the need for a spiritual revolution. He also feels that it is needed due to the full social disconnect which is happen within our society.

He writes that the disconnect from community has allowed people to get disconnected from one another. Being cut off from each other has led to a multitude of diseases both physical and mental. It has also led to a strong belief of individualization within our society where everyone is trying to get ahead and leave others behind in the dust. We have forgotten how to look out for each other, how to help each other, how to build a community together.

This book is not a call to ignore the hypocrisies that can occur within organized religious. In fact, in many ways it calls out the posturing done by many individuals who call themselves religious. Or how religion keeps failing because of the way it is being directed, misguided, and used for power and control. However, Rainn Wilson still believes in the good in religion and the way it can heal, inspire, and bring society together.

Although, I referred to Soul Boom as a manifesto, it does not come across as preachy. Instead it comes across as an attempt to inspire individuals to connect with each other. It has humor and popular culture references. It provides a space for thoughts to be provoked and discussed. It opens the door for real and meaningful conversation regarding interconnectedness between all religions. I’m not saying that it has all the answers to fix our society but, I did feel like it brought forth some things to pause and think about.

Rating: 4 Stars

Breaking All The Rules | Amy Andrews | Book Review

Breaking All The Rules is all about going against the rules to find your own happiness. It begins when ad exec Beatrice Archer throws a dart at a map and moves to Credence, Colorado. She is determined to get out of the rat race of LA and to get away from people who will never respect her. She also wants to get away from all the rules she has forced herself to follow and spends her day in Colorado binging television shoes, eating pie whenever she pleases, and drinking beer for breakfast. She discovers just how comfortable sweatpants are; and finds the perfect distraction and ally in local cop Austin Cooper.

This book is such a good time! While Bea thinks that breaking the rules is answer to all of her problems, that is only the beginning of her journey. She is on path to self discovery and realizing that all the bumps along the way are just a part of life. One of these unexpected bumps comes in the form of Austin. Their first meeting is such a meet-cute moment – even if he does put her in a jail cell! Right from that first meeting, he is beyond enthralled with Bea even when she hasn’t showered in days and is eating ice cream in her bunny slippers. I loved them together.

Part of Bea’s growth as a character is finally figuring out exactly what she wants. Even though she’s determined to break all the rules, there is still a strong pull to who she was before and what she thought she wanted to accomplish. She also finds herself questioning her relationship with Austin because there is an age gap between them. Actually, she doesn’t just question it, she obsesses over it and finds herself believing that she is a bad influence and that he would be better without her. That was a little annoying but also easy to understand as you get to know the character of Bea more. I loved that although Austin may have been hurt by some of Bea’s actions, he never fully gave up on her.

Breaking All The Rules is set in the small town of Credence, Colorado which is not a new setting for author Amy Andrews but you don’t have to be familiar with it to enjoy it. It is such a welcoming little town with residents who embrace new comers with a smile. Plus, it appears to have the most delicious pie! Each time Bea described a piece of pie that she was trying, I wanted to try it too. I could definitely see myself living in Credence, befriending Bea and Austin, and being the one to help pet sit their adorable snaggletooth cat named Princess. I hope we see them appear in another one of the books that are set in Colorado.

Raing: 4 Stars

**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

Canadian Boyfriend | Jenny Holiday | Book Review

Canadian Boyfriend caught my attention on Netgalley but unfortunately it did not fully live up to my expectation as a reader. I think I was expecting more of a romcom type of read and instead I found some of what I was reading to be a bit cringy. Alot of this had to do with the “huge secret” that was hanging over the two main characters. I didn’t think it was that big of a secret and something that could have been brought up towards the beginning of the two characters getting to know each other.

What was the secret? It was the fact that a younger more naïve Aurora had created an imaginary boyfriend named Mike who lived in Canada and played hockey in order to have an excuse to get out of the social expectations of high school. Why was this a big deal? Well, the imaginary boyfriend was based off a brief encounter that Aurora had with a traveling hockey player named Mike. She never expected to cross paths with him again but suddenly finds herself teaching his daughter to dance and developing a friendship with him. So she keeps their past connection a secret even though their original encounter was such a brief moment in time.

Even with the cringy feeling associated with this big secret, I did enjoy watching Aurora develop as a character and fully deal with her toxic experience as a ballet student. Little by little she developed an inner strength which helped her realize that she wasn’t the same person that she was then and that she could set healthy boundaries.

The boundaries between Audra and Mike continuously get more and more blurred the more time they spent together. While I did like their dynamic, I never felt that Mike was one hundred percent ready to move forward. In many ways, it felt like he was just going through the motions especially when it benefited his daughter. I did appreciate that he was going to therapy and trying to address his own trauma but, he still had work to do as was evident by his reaction to the “huge secret”. I enjoyed the friendship between Audra and Mike but, their relationship left alot to be desired.

Canadian Boyfriend did a really good job at portraying personal reflection and the benefit of therapy for each of the characters. I wish that Mike and his daughter had participated in therapy together; or at least his daughter was able to voice her opinion on what was going on between Aurora and Mike. She was also affected by the unexpected loss of her mother and I think that was an important part of her characterization and her dynamic with both Mike and Aurora. Overall, there was so much promise in the premise of the story but, it just didn’t flow in the right direction for me.

Rating: 3 Stars

**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City | Elyssa Maxx Goodson | Book Review

Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City is such an important piece of glittery work that is so needed right now. Parts of the American world is going crazy right now targeting the LGBTQIA+ community especially transgender individuals and drag performers. This book provides a history that declares that drag is not a new phenomenon but instead started in the 1860’s. The main focal point is the history of drag in New York City which has changed and reinvented itself multiple times. This was such an interesting read!

New York City is a city filled with history for multiple reasons including drag queens. The drag queens of the past have helped the drag queens of today because without their bravery and commitment to their art, it may have never moved forward. These performers were resilient and desperately wanted to perform their art. I will be honest with you that my knowledge of drag was pretty limited prior to reading this book. I now feel like I have a stronger foundation and understand of this often glittery world.

The drag world has always been political and it has had a strong influence on the city of New York. Even if it was tucked away in some back corner it was still having an influence. New York City also had an influence on the drag culture. What was going on in the city impacted what exactly the drag queens were doing for a performance. Like I said, drag has always been a political art form, and New York City was the perfect place to represent that.

Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City is very well researched and holds so much information. Every page has an important piece of history not only for the Queer community but American society overall. I highly recommend that you check it out. Hopefully you’ll learn something new just like I did!

Rating: 5 Stars

Her Good Side | Rebekah Weatherspoon | Book Review

Her Good Side is an adorable YA contemporary romance. Bethany Greene and Jacob Yuen are each having dating troubles and decide they should try to figure them out together by fake dating. No feelings involved and they both get more experience for the real thing. Except their spending alot of time together and starting to see each other in a new light.

Bethany has been called a late bloomer by several people in her life. She is believed to be inexperienced and wants that to change so that she can finally have a boyfriend. Meanwhile Jacob has been dumped twice in two months and wants to prove that he can hold onto a relationship. I loved how the dynamic was created between Bethany and Jacob. Their banter, their growing friendship, and the way they understand each other in ways that no one ever has was written so well!

High school can be so cringeworthy and Rebekah Weatherspoon does such a good job of writing those type of moments. As Bethany and Jacob experiment with their fake relationship there are several awkward moments. There are also several sweet moments. I loved how they trusted each other during their fake dating “experiments”. Neither one pressured the other and was understanding if they needed to stop. This sends such a good message to the reader, especially a younger reader.

Her Good Side not only has good messages about trust and relationships it also has fantastic representation. Bethany is black, has two moms, and tries her best to be body positive. Meanwhile, Jacob is Asian American, and is parents love tattoos. They’ve each had their teenage struggles and can come together to be a stronger unit. Watching their relationship evolve is honestly a beautiful thing. It will leave your heart warmed and a smile on your face.

Rating: 4 Stars

The Wishing Game | Meg Shaffer | Book Review

Since she was a little girl Lucy Hart has been playing The Wishing Game. Her childhood hasn’t been the best as she always felt neglected by her parents. The one thing that always kept her company was The Clock Island series. Her dedication was so strong that when she was thirteen she ran away from home to the island where the author lived. It was her dream to get away from her rough life and instead be the sidekick of her favorite writer. Jack Masterson This is not exactly how things panned out but, she remained a fan of his writing even when he stopped writing all together.

These days she is twenty-six years old, a teachers aid, and enjoys spending time with an orphan named Christopher. She has even introduced him to the Clock Island series! She wishes to adopt him but that doesn’t seem possible with her current living situation and finances. That is until one day she receives an invitation to return to the island where Jack Masterson, and potentially win the only copy of his newest book.

Lucy is one of four contestants each of whom once had run away to meet “The Mastermind”. They are now all adults but the pull that this author has on them is stronger than ever. I swear that this entire story was a love letter to the power of children books or books in general. It pulled me right in and kept me intrigued with the various challenges that were put in place for them. Each character had some sort of fear, and ultimately the goal of this competition is not just to win the copy of the new book but to face their fears.

The other part of the story that kept me intrigued was the dynamic between Hugo Reese and Lucy. The two characters had a brief encounter when she was first on the island and Hugo recognizes her immediately. I really enjoyed the way they played off each other and the deep concern both of them had for Jack Masterson. Hugo is the illustrator for the Clock Island series and has stayed by Jack’s house helping support him. There is something there between Lucy and Hugo but it is hard to put a label on especially with them being so focused on the competition.

The Wishing Game is just mystical and magical. It feels real even in a suspended sense of reality. I must applaud Meg Schaffer for creating a world I wanted to go to with characters I could root for. Every aspect – the characters, the relationships that are formed, the island – each pull you in even deeper. Like I said before, this truly feels like a love story for children’s books who are always there for children in need. With the way that everything wrapped up, I feel like there is potential for a sequel and honestly hope that there will be. I’d love to go back into this world again!

Rating: 4.5 Stars