Sunday 12 February 2017

BOOK REVIEW | The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Title: The Upside of Unrequited
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series or Standalone: Companion novel to Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Genre: Contemporary YA
Publication Date: 11/05/17
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher (Balzer & Bray)/NetGalley
Star Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis ->
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.
Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back. 
There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. 
Right?

Becky Albertalli's first book, Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, was one of my favourite books of 2015. It was hilarious, adorable, gripping and filled with Harry Potter references. I mean, what more could you possibly want in a book? When I heard that she was coming out with a companion novel I may have peed my pants a little. Not only would we get another refreshing, authentic story, but we'd also (hopefully) get a glimpse of our precious Simon. AND WE DID. *SQUEALS* Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself so allow me to further discuss the brilliance of Becky Albertalli and her delightful upcoming book, The Upside of Unrequited.

The first thing to note is that Albertalli absolutely RULES at including diversity in her books effortlessly and without making a fuss. Our main character Molly is a fat, Jewish introvert with two mums and she just happens to take Zoloft for her anxiety. This was the main thing that I loved about this book as an anxiety sufferer myself. I loved how it wasn't focused on Molly struggling with her anxiety. She was already past that and was on meds for it and the story wasn't centred around it. She just happened to have anxiety and this gives a lot of hope to readers out there struggling with anxiety, that you can still live a totally normal life and there is hope! Molly also has a twin sister who is a lesbian, one of her mums is a person of colour and there's a pansexual character included in there too! 
Becky's writing is super authentic and genuine. You can always count on her to deliver an honest and positive story. There was no fat shaming from her family and friends (except for her grandma oMG don't get me started on how angry that made me) and I loved that Molly was comfortable in her own skin. She was happy, and I think she's an excellent fictional role model for young adults out there.
Now, you can't have a Becky Albertalli book without an adorable romance, and this one certainly delivers. It was so refreshing to have a chubby love interest because NEWSFLASH - MOST TEEN BOYS DON'T HAVE ABS. The friendship and eventual romance between Molly and her love interest was SO delightful. 10/10. 
Now, you may notice that I gave this 4 stars, which might seem odd after hearing me gush about it for the last 20 years, but to me, this just wasn't AS GOOD as Simon. There was something utterly special about that book that I can't quite put my finger on, and this one fell just slightly short. There was also a little bit of really annoying drama towards the end that angered me, but overall, this was a wonderful story and if you loved Simon, chances are you'll love Molly and her story as well. 

Thanks again to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy for review! :)



Saturday 4 February 2017

BOOK REVIEW | Noteworthy by Riley Redgate

Title: Noteworthy
Author: Riley Redgate
Series or Standalone: Standalone 
Genre: Contemporary YA
Publication Date: 02/05/17
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher (Amulet)/NetGalley
Star Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis ->
It’s the start of Jordan Sun’s junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she’s an Alto 2, which—in the musical theatre world—is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody’s falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it’s no surprise when she gets shut out of the fall musical for the third year straight. Then the school gets a mass email: A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshiped ... revered ... all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

This book doesn't come out until May *cries*, so I'll just give you a list of reasons why you NEED to buy this book when it comes out. (But before I do, I would just like to mention that the cover seems a little juvenile for the content of this book, and I wish it had a better one, so keep that in mind. This book is a lot more mature than it seems!)
1. As my dear friend Kirsti (from melbourneonmymind) put it, this is pretty much the book baby of the movies She's the Man and Pitch Perfect. If that doesn't have you sold....... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2. The diversity! Our MC is Asian American and coming to terms with the fact that she may be bisexual and what that means for her. Other diverse characters include A Sikh character, a gay character, characters with different body types, plus lots of discussion around transgender people, as our MC encounters a website specifically for trans people on tips and advice and there's a great, respectful discussion around it. There are also different characters living on different socio-economic levels and Jordan's father is also a paraplegic and is in a wheelchair and has chronic pain and one of the Sharpshooters has anxiety!
3. It's HILARIOUS. The banter is incredible and you'll be that person who giggles involuntarily in public.
4. THE BROMANCE. The 7 other guys that make up the Sharpshooters are such wonderfully developed, complex characters that I grew to love and adore. They are honestly friendship goals and I love them so much.
5. There's also a rivalry going on between two A Capella groups and I love that the main 'villain' has a lot of depth and complexity to his character.

6. It's an #ownvoices book. Enough said.
7. There were certain passages that sent chills down my spine for their relevance and honesty.

ARE YOU CONVINCED YET? I could literally go on forever, but alas, my obsession with this book is already at an all time high, so I'll stop for now. JUST GO AND PRE-ORDER THIS WONDERFUL BOOK.


Wednesday 1 February 2017

BOOK REVIEW | OUR OWN PRIVATE UNIVERSE

Title: Our Own Private Universe
Author: Robin Talley
Series or Standalone: Standalone 
Genre: Contemporary YA
Publication Date: 31/01/17
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher (Harlequin Australia)/NetGalley

Star Rating: 2 stars
GOODREADS

Synopsis ->
Fifteen-year-old Aki Hunter knows she’s bisexual, but up until now she's only dated guys—and her best friend, Lori, is the only person she’s out to. When she and Lori set off on a four-week youth-group mission trip in a small Mexican town, it never crosses Aki's mind that there might be anyone in the group she’d be interested in dating. But that all goes out the window when Aki meets Christa.

This books definitely has a lot of pros, but unfortunately there were an equal amount of cons for me. The diversity in Our Own Private Universe was ON POINT. The main character is a person of colour and is bisexual, there are other bisexuals in the book (and one that thinks she might be pansexual), an out-and-proud lesbian, and the book takes place in Mexico so there are minor latinx characters as well. I love the fact that it's not only diverse, but the characters in the book explore important topics that are relevant in the world today such as health care in developing countries and gun control. Safe sex is also explored and researched by the main character in this book, making this an excellent 'role model' book for teens exploring their sexuality. I also loved how the entire book took place during a religious mission trip, but religion was never shoved in your face. I LOVED that. 

Moving on to the cons. There was a TON of petty YA drama in this book that really annoyed me. I am honestly just over petty drama in YA in general and it sucked that a book with such promise stooped to that level. The three main characters just kept lying about everything and bitching and fighting and it was so frustrating and not at all what I wanted out of this reading experience. I mean, I get that that's what a lot of teenagers are like, but it seemed like such a downer on what I wanted to be an awesomely positive book.

So I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Loved the diversity and the fact that it was #ownvoices, but the petty YA drama let it down for me.