Review: Flip the Script by Lyla Lee

It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.

As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .

. . . she is not the hero.

Have you guys heard of 'self insert' fanfiction? It's Fanfiction written with the intent of the reader being able to insert themselves into the story as the main female lead. It's a biiiiiiig thing in the K-Pop fanfic community - a community that I was part of for a few years of my life. Anyway, I have to admit that for the first 10-15% of this book I honestly thought that this book read like a self insert fanfic, it even had all of the typical tropes (K-Pop pretty boys, fake dating) and I was thinking 'ugh, not this!'.

Thankfully, the book did take a different turn and I really appreciated it. I expected Hana and Bryan to be the endgame couple so I definitely enjoyed the turn that this book took from that. I have to give kudos for that much, this book was not as tropey and cringey as I expected when I first started it. That being said, it was still pretty tropey and cringey.

Look, I am a big K-pop fan. I watch the dramas and follow the groups and read the news. I don't claim to be Korean or an expert on the Korean entertainment industry, but this book very much did read like a very shallow view on it. First there was the constant exposition at the start, explaining the filming schedule and and the airing schedule, which was the epitome of telling not showing. Then, there was the ending which just did not read as realistic, which is fine but it just didn't sit with me.

I didn't really care for a lot of the characters. Sure, Hana was nice, but I'd have liked to see a little more of her complicated feelings, which in theory make up a part of the plot but didn't really come through. Bryan was a golden boy, but he was so uninteresting. The best character by far was Minjee who did come across a little more complicated and there was some slightly deeper personality traits. Still, these three make up the core characters and they just didn't do enough for me.

There's not a lot to say about the writing. It was youthful, the dialogue came across as superficial sometimes but it did keep me reading.

Overall, I did enjoy Flip the Script but I found it super shallow. For a book tackling homosexuality in one of the worlds most judgemental entertainment industries it didn't really tackle it so well, and everything was so easily wrapped up. A quick breezy read, but not one I'll think about past finishing it.  

Book released 31st May 2022 by Katherine Tegen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theater rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.

But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.

Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship.

It has to be said that I have never read this author's most famous book, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, therefore I had no idea what to expect from her with this book.

That being said, I love a good theatre book. I have rewatched Wicked like 300 times on Youtube, and I know all of the good musical songs (even though I can't sing to save my life) and I have always enjoyed a bit of Glee, so this was a fun book that I had to throw myself into blind.

I loved it.

Okay, so maybe loved is a tiny bit of a strong word. After all, Kate in Waiting doesn't really offer anything too out of the box - aside from solid LGBTQ+ representation and inclusivity better than a lot of other books that try and offer it - but it was so fun that I really didn't care at all. I loved Kate and her friends, and whilst at times I didn't like Andy a lot, I've come to the conclusion that had the book been written from his POV I would have felt the same about Kate. The friction between the two of them at certain points was so well written and I love the way Albertalli tackled the tension in their friendship. It was warm and lovely, and having Brandie and Raina in the background through that just improved it.

Every time Noah showed up, I immediately knew that it was going to be a fun scene - I loved him and I am so glad the book ended how it did for him. By far he was my favourite character.

I also really liked the fact that Kate has a lot of confidence issues to deal with, and watching her bloom through this book and get over the baggage that she has was a treat. The back story added some depth that this book would have otherwise been lacking, and it made me care a lot more about Kate than I thought I would to start with.

Overall, I really enjoyed Kate in Waiting - a lot more than I'd expected, in fact. This book is Glee, but with a more natural inclusivity message. It's High School Musical meets High School Musical The Musical: The Series. I loved the characters and the story and the writing was so fun and relatable.

Book released  20th April 2021 by Balzer + Bray

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting.

What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill … or else everyone dies.

Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they’re all connected or who would want them dead. As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they race to answer the biggest question: Who will they choose to die?

All of the comparisons for this book seem to mention One of Us is Lying, which unfortunately I haven't yet had the pleasure of reading (though it is sitting high up on my TBR), so I can't speak for that.

What I can say is that All Your Twisted Secrets just did not hit the mark for me. It started out super engaging, and to start with I was super interested in the plot. High stakes, mysteries, a complete sense of panic... it was so exciting for me and I couldn't wait to see how the characters were going to deal with the situation they found themselves in.

However as the story continued on, my interest in any of the characters and also their safety and fate just... waned? 

The problem with books like this is that they are hit and miss. You have to have really interesting characters and you need to care about them. You need to build 3-D personalities so that you can see the good and the bad in everyone, otherwise you don't care about the 'mean kid' or the 'popular kid' and you do care about the 'nerd' and the 'good girl'. It also means that any plot twists don't seem too out of character. This book also had the added issue that the present day story took place in a locked room so it relied so much on dialogue and character interactions, and yet it still erred on the side of 'telling' and not 'showing'. 

If the interactions had been richer and the characters had been less stereotypes and more real, this book would have held my interest until the end and thus the ending would have hit me harder and made me go 'wow', but unfortunately it just didn't land for me. 

It was a good enough time killer, but I can't say I would recommend it to anyone unless they were looking for a very specific type of book and even then, there are gritty, thrilling contemporary books that I would recommend over this one anyway.

Book released  17th March 2020 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.

Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.

But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.

I read 'Shatter Me' by Mafi like... nine years ago or something, and whilst I never finished the series because I didn't really like the direction it was going, I remember thinking that Mafi really had a way with words. I am very glad that she toned down her style for this book though, it didn't need beautiful prose. That being said, I think she toned down the style a little too much because this book just read as 'I did and I said' - telling not showing.

I hate to say this, because I get the feeling that this book is semi-autobiagraphical for Mafi and I don't want to insult the author in any way, but I simply didn't like Shirin as a character. I get it, she has every right to be angry at the world after how she was treated and people can be awful, but she doesn't allow herself to see other people as people. She is so prepared to be offended at every corner that she doesn't stop to think about how she might be percieved for that. She is described as 'mean' and 'scary' by many characters and doesn't see how that might be an issue.  I feel like if this is semi-autobiographical maybe the 30+ year old Mafi could have fine-tuned some of the characters a little bit.

 I liked Ocean, and I liked his persistance in bringing Shirin out of her angry defensive shell. I wish he had been more fleshed out though. They fall in this deep, all-encompassing love without knowing the first thing about each other which made it hard for me to really get on board with.

I love what Mafi was trying to do here, and she did a lot in raising awareness in me with regards to what Muslims suffered after 9/11. That was such an important thing for me... so why did this so suddenly turn into a romance plot. Why did Ocean's suffering take over Shirin's?
  
Look, I really appreciate what Mafi was trying to do here. I know how priveledged I am in my life and maybe this book didn't hit me where it was meant to for that reason, but it felt derailed and unfocused, like someone's memoirs that need a finetune and for that reason this book seriously disappointed me.

 

Book released 16th October 2018 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Fan the Flame by Anna Priemaza

Lainey wouldn’t mind lugging a camera around a video game convention for her brother, aka YouTube superstar Codemeister, except for one big problem. He’s funny and charming online, but behind closed doors, Cody is a sexist jerk.

SamTheBrave came to this year’s con with one mission: meeting Codemeister—because getting his idol’s attention could be the big break Sam needs.

ShadowWillow is already a successful streamer. But when her fans start shipping her with Code, Shadow concocts a plan to turn the rumors to her advantage.

The three teens’ paths collide when Lainey records one of Cody’s hateful rants on video. Because she’s determined to spill the truth to her brother’s fans—even if that means putting Sam and Shadow in the crosshairs.

My notes for when I read this book are scarce, because I read it in a single bath, refilling the water twice, but they pretty much said this: LumberLegs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah.

Look, I have an older brother. He also is a Twitch streamer. He also says things which I might deem inapporpriate. Don't get me wrong, he's not a total jerk like Cody, but I did definitely relate to the culture and the issues in this book.

I think the key to this book is the characters, so lets start with them. None of them were perfect (except maybe Legs) but I was a little annoyed by most of them. Lainey... she is so righteous that she sees everything so black and white - good or bad. I get that she tried to confront Cody and always got spoken to like crap, but I think that the way she approached things was way too heavy handed. ShadowWillow was a user, but she was just fighting tooth and nail to make her place in a mostly male run show. Don't get me wrong, I get that... but still, her obsession with follower counts while ignoring the people who really cared for her 'Zzz'  was frustrating. I really felt for Sam, he has his issues and he can't fight them and he feels trapped but he finds his own place as a streamer and his wa sthe only story that turned out the way it should.

The storyline of this book was brilliant. Whilst I didn't always agree with the character's actions, I think Priemaza has really got her claws into the eGaming and Streaming cultures and wrote about them honestly and authentically and whilst I don't want to ruin this for anyone so I may be vague, it was an honest representation of a culture that prides itself on being 'inclusive' but can be so very elitist.

 

Book released 20th August 2019 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Fireworks by Katie Cotugno

It was always meant to be Olivia. She was the talented one, the one who had been training to be a star her whole life. Her best friend, Dana, was the level-headed one, always on the sidelines, cheering her best friend along.

But everything changes when Dana tags along with Olivia to Orlando for the weekend, where superproducer Guy Monroe is holding auditions for a new singing group, and Dana is discovered too. Dana, who’s never sung more than Olivia’s backup. Dana, who wasn’t even looking for fame. Next thing she knows, she and Olivia are training to be pop stars, and Dana is falling for Alex, the earnest, endlessly talented boy who’s destined to be the next big thing.

It should be a dream come true, but as the days of grueling practice and constant competition take their toll, things between Olivia and Dana start to shift . . . and there’s only room at the top for one girl. For Olivia, it’s her chance at her dream. For Dana, it’s a chance to escape a future that seems to be closing in on her. And for these lifelong best friends, it’s the adventure of a lifetime—if they can make it through.

 Ah. Well.

First thing first, I enjoyed Fireworks. I truly did, it was such a throw back to the time of Backstreet Boys and N*Sync and Destiny's Child and that was my time. So that was what sold me on this book.

That being said, I just didn't love this book. It lacked depth that I always find in more 'modern' comtemporary novels. The characters felt so one-dimensional to me, that whilst I enjoyed the story, it was more for the setting and the time as opposed to the characters and the arcs. I feel like this book was carried so well by it's setting and the fact that the target audience for YA books are the people that grew up through bubblegum pop music, that it kind of doesn't aim to be too meaningful or even realistic.

Katie Cotugno is a good writer - no doubt about that - she manages to write in a way that fits the age of the characters, and that in itself is such a big part of writing YA.

Overall, whilst I enjoyed the experience of reading Fireworks, I do not ultimately feel that this book is memorable. It was a good book, I just wouldn't go as far as to call it great.

Book released 18th April 2017 by Balzer + Bray

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: If You're Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

After Zan’s best friend moves to California, she is baffled and crushed when Priya suddenly ghosts. Worse, Priya’s social media has turned into a stream of ungrammatical posts chronicling a sunny, vapid new life that doesn’t sound like her at all.
Everyone tells Zan not to be an idiot: Let Priya do her reinvention thing and move on. But until Zan hears Priya say it, she won’t be able to admit that their friendship is finished.
It’s only when she meets Logan, the compelling new guy in Spanish class, that Zan begins to open up about her sadness, her insecurity, her sense of total betrayal. And he’s just as willing as she is to throw himself into the investigation when everyone else thinks her suspicions are crazy.

Then a clue hidden in Priya’s latest selfie introduces a new, deeply disturbing possibility:
Maybe Priya isn’t just not answering Zan’s emails.
Maybe she can’t.

Yes to well represented, well written and absolutely adorable female friendship. Yes to a contemporary book with a main character that makes a series of not-always-right decisions in pursuit of that friendship. yes to authentic dialogue. Yes to plot progression and vibe building and all of the things that kept me hooked to this book.


Yes, yes, yes to Logan and instant connections and funny chats and support and some kind of natural growth for a teen romance.


Honestly, I was expecting a reallu dark mystery, but in reality this book was super absorbing but also light and funny and heartwarming whilst also keeping that more sinister tone of mystery there. 


I loved Zan as a character, honestly I was so hooked on her friendship with Priya that I belived her so much. I believed that Priya wouldn't just ghost her and that something must be wrong because she was so strong and unerring in her own convictions. She was a character that I absolutely adored to read, and I would recommend If You're Out There for that reason, but for many more.

Book released 5th March 2019 by Balzer and Bray

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Together at Midnight by Jennifer Castle

What does it really mean to be kind . . . and why does it sometimes feel like the hardest thing in the world to do? High school senior Kendall, who just returned from a life-changing semester in Europe, and Max, who is drifting his way through a gap year before college, struggle with these questions when they witness a tragic accident in New York City during the holiday season. Racked with guilt, the two accept a dare to perform random acts of kindness to strangers. The challenge pulls these two teens, who have a history together from back home, closer and closer as they explore a vibrant city filled with other people’s stories and secrets.

Kendall and Max can’t deny their growing bond, even though they both have other romantic entanglements and uncertain futures. As the clock counts down on New Year’s Eve, will they find themselves together at midnight?

Usually I’ve always enjoyed Jennifer Castle’s books, and whilst Together at Midnight was most certainly an okay book, it wasn’t what I have come to expect from such a brilliant contemporary author.

The issues that I really had with this book stem from the multiple points of view that this book offers, which really threw me off from my concentration. It just meant that I never really connected to the characters at all... Kendall, Max? Nah, I came away from this book really not caring about them at all. The only characters I did like were the ones who appear in their own Castle novel from a few years ago.

I also felt that the ending of this book was very... lacking. I don't like endings that are nicely wrapped up, nor do I like endings that are so open and rushed like I felt Together at Midnight was.

The thing is, this book will not put me off any future Jennifer Castle books since she has impressed me before. However, I can't say I really enjoyed this book.

 

Book released 2nd January 2018 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Love and Other Train Wrecks by Leah Konen

A twenty-four-hour romance about two teens who meet—and perhaps change their minds about love—on a train ride to Upstate New York in the middle of a snowstorm

One train ride. Two strangers.

Noah is a hopeless romantic. He’s heading back home for one last chance with his first love, whom he broke up with when he went off to college.

Ammy doesn’t believe in true love—her parents being prime examples. She’s escaping from a mom who can’t take care of her to a dad who may not even want her. That is, until one winter night when Noah and Ammy find themselves in the same Amtrak car heading to Upstate New York.

After a train-wreck first encounter between the two of them, the Amtrak train suddenly breaks down due to a snowstorm. Desperate to make it to their destinations, Noah and Ammy have no other option but to travel together. What starts off as a minor detour turns into the whirlwind journey of a lifetime, and over the course of the night they fall in love. But come morning their adventure takes an unexpected turn for the worst. Can one night can really change how they feel about love...and the course of their lives forever?

One of my all time fave books ever is The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, I just adore serendipitous, fateful meet-cutes that lead to two characters feeling connected to one another. That's probably a big contribution to that fact that even though I didn't adore 'Love and Other Train Wrecks', I still enjoyed it on the level of a cutesy love story.

It took me a while to read this book because I knew I needed to be in the mood for it. The mood in this case being a cold october evening, heating on, under my duvet with hot chocolate. I think that all added to my enjoyment of this book.

Look, this isn't the deepest of reads. The writing isn't outstanding - Leah Konen does have an authenticity in her dialogue that is sometimes missing, but as far as writing style goes it doesn't stand out. The characters were neither awful or awesome, they just were...

That being said, I still really enjoyed this book, and I can't really even say why because nothing was outstanding, but I found myself smiling as I read it from start to finish and being happy when the ending was tied up in a nice little bow. It was a quick, fun, cute, shallow read, and it isn't winning any literary awards, but it was super fun while it lasted.

Book released 2nd January 2018 by HarperCollins

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review:: Here so Far Away by Hadley Dyer (DNF)

Feisty and fearless George Warren (given name: Frances, but no one calls her that) has never let life get too serious. Now that she’s about to be a senior, her plans include partying with her tight-knit group of friends and then getting the heck out of town after graduation.

But instead of owning her last year of high school, a fight with her best friend puts her on the outs of their social circle.  If that weren’t bad enough, George’s family has been facing hard times since her father, a police sergeant, got injured and might not be able to return to work, which puts George’s college plans in jeopardy.

So when George meets Francis, an older guy who shares her name and her affinity for sarcastic banter, she’s thrown. If she lets herself, she’ll fall recklessly, hopelessly in love. But because of Francis’s age, she tells no one—and ends up losing almost everything, including herself.

You know what?

I'm not even bothered that this book is about a seventeen year old girl dating a twenty nine year old man, even though age gaps that big in YA books always make me squirm.

No, the issue that I had with this book was that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect with any of their characters, not even enough to second guess the poor life decisions they were making.

I'm sad to say that this book was a DNF at around 35%, however I've seen many complimentary review of this book. It just didn't connect for me.

Overall Rating:DNF

Book released 20th March 2018 by HarperCollins

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

Seventeen-year-old Evan Panos doesn’t know where he fits in. His strict Greek mother refuses to see him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend Henry has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer.

Tired, isolated, scared—Evan’s only escape is drawing in an abandoned church that feels as lonely as he is. And, yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. But it’s his best friend Henry who’s now proving to be irresistible. It’s Henry who suddenly seems interested in being more than friends. And it’s Henry who makes him believe that he’s more than his mother’s harsh words and terrifying abuse. But as things with Henry heat up, and his mother’s abuse escalates, Evan has to decide how to find his voice in a world where he has survived so long by avoiding attention at all costs.

I so wanted to enjoy this book more than anything. The premise - a confused boy struggling with abuse - sounded so interesting and heartbreaking so I opened this book expecting my heart to break. It didn't.

It sounds awful to say this, but I feel like the way Surmelis wrote Evan and his romance with Henry was too heavy-handed. In fact, I might even go as far as to say it's almost dangerous. Let me remind you that abuse is not romantic, it's not something you can just fix with a kiss and it goes away. Evan has had a tramatic childhood, and in barrels his friend Henry with his obsession with Evan, and he barely gives the boy time to breathe. Henry has moodswings that are almost scary, and whilst sometimes he has his moment, I just kept thinking that I can see no way that Evan is going to come out of the other end of this any less broken than he was at the start of the book.

Now that I have that off my chest, I'll elaborate a little more on why this book did not work for me.

When I first started reading YA books, I was in my early teens and all-consuming romance plots seemed great for me. Now, ten years down the line I am twenty-six years old and as much as aI still love true love and whatnot, I hate seeing a character who is nothing woithout it. This whole book was for me about how his budding relationship was going to heal Evan, his entire development was based on that.

It's annoying because this book had so much more potential.

I'm sure younger readers may not see the same issues that I saw - I am well aware that I am now growing out of the target audience for YA novels and my opinions may differ from that demographic - but for me, this book just didn't hit the spot, I'm afraid.

Book released 30th January 2018 by Balzer and Bray

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review