[Review] Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 1 September, 2020

Publisher: Macmillan Publishing

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/LGBTQIA+/Romance

ISBN: 97811250250469

Edition: Hardback (also available in audio and eBook)

Rating:★★★★★

Review Written: 29 July, 2021
Warnings: Blood, Transphobia, Death, Deadnaming, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma

Summary:  

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave. 

See more by Aiden Thomas on his website.

Picture Book Round Up - Mid-2021 Edition

 Regularly I read a number of picture books for work. Sometimes they're a hit, and sometimes they're a dud. Here are some that I've read so far this year that I think are fantastic additions to anyone's collection.

All pictures are from Goodreads unless otherwise stated.

[Review] A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 5 March, 2019

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Adult Fiction/Contemporary/Literary

ISBN: 9780062699763

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Hardback and eBook)

Rating:★☆☆☆☆ (1.5)

Review Written: 27 July, 2021
Warnings: Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Grief, Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Abortion, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Self harm, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting

Summary:  

This debut novel by an Arab-American voice,takes us inside the lives of conservative Arab women living in America.

In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her community.

See more by Etaf Rum on her goodreads page.

[Review] Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

 

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Legendborn #1

Release Date: 6 October, 2020

Publisher: Simon Schuster Audio

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Science Fiction/Retellings

ISBN: 9781797113463

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Hardback and eBook)

Rating:★★★★★

Review Written: 22 March, 2021
Warnings: Racism, Death of a Parent, Grief, Death, Slavery, Rape, Blood, Gore, Sexism, Bullying

Summary:  

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight. 

See more by Tracy Deonn at her website.

[Review] How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Thorne Chronicles #1

Release Date: 8 October, 2019

Publisher: Daw Books

Genre: Science Fiction/Fairytale Formula/Space Opera/Fantasy

ISBN: 9780756417499

Edition: Paperback/Audio (also available in Hardcover and eBook) Rating: ★★★★★

Review Written: 22 March, 2021
Warnings: Confinement, Violence, Kidnapping, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Xenophobia, Blood, Cursing, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Summary:  

Now in mass market, the first in a duology that reimagines fairy tale tropes within a space opera--The Princess Bride meets Princess Leia.

Rory Thorne is a princess with thirteen fairy blessings, the most important of which is to see through flattery and platitudes. As the eldest daughter, she always imagined she'd inherit her father's throne and govern the interplanetary Thorne Consortium.

Then her father is assassinated, her mother gives birth to a son, and Rory is betrothed to the prince of a distant world.

When Rory arrives in her new home, she uncovers a treacherous plot to unseat her newly betrothed and usurp his throne. An unscrupulous minister has conspired to name himself Regent to the minor (and somewhat foolish) prince. With only her wits and a small team of allies, Rory must outmaneuver the Regent and rescue the prince.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a feminist reimagining of familiar fairytale tropes and a story of resistance and self-determination--how small acts of rebellion can lead a princess to not just save herself, but change the course of history.

See more by K. Eason at her website.

[Review] The Invisible life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

 

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 6 October, 2020

Publisher: Tor books

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

ISBN: 9780765387561

Edition: Hardback (also available in audiobook and eBook)

Rating:★★★★☆

Review Written: 22 March, 2021
Warnings: Suicidal Thoughts, Death of a Parent, Grief, Toxic Relationships, Mental Illness, Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Rape, Sexual Content

Summary:  

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

See more by V.E. Schwab at her website.

[Review] Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Supernatural Investigations #1

Release Date: 19 January, 2021

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction/Supernatural/Spooky/Mystery

ISBN: 9780062975164

Edition: Hardback (also available in audiobook and eBook)

Rating: ★★★★★

Review Written: 22 March, 2021
Warnings: Racism, Hate Crimes, Kidnapping, Grief, Bullying, Medical Trauma, Death

Summary:  

Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good.

So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organization holds the key to locating Quinton—if only she can wrap her head around the idea of magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures all being real.

Now she must compete for a spot against kids who’ve known about magic their whole lives. No matter how hard she tries, Amari can’t seem to escape their intense doubt and scrutiny—especially once her supernaturally enhanced talent is deemed “illegal.” With an evil magician threatening the supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she’s an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t stick it out and pass the tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.

See more by B.B. Alston at his twitter.