Book Review: Lemon Drop Falls by Heather Clark

Book: Lemon Drop Falls by Heather Clark

Genre: MG contemporary

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

We (me and a couple friends) were lucky enough to go the launch of this book awhile back. And I actually picked it up and read (most) of it during the readathon. Proud of myself for not waiting years to actually get to it (See last week's Top Teen Tuesday! LOL!)

This is the story of a girl who's mom died when she was about 11 years old. We go back and forth seeing how things were before, and how things are now.

Before, her mom was very organized, having plans A, B and maybe even C, for everything going on. Our girl had friends and everyone was happy (mostly. There was a little friend struggle beginning.)

After, our girl is stressed out trying to make things run as smoothly as her mom did so her dad won't feel the need to move and change everything about their lives. Her friends have seemed to abandoned her and she is very worried about everything. Her dad decides they need to go on a camping trip, though she feels like how can they do that without her mom.

While on the trip, she decides to do something a little bit crazy and during that moment, she realizes so many things about how she can continue to deal with life without her mom.

The lemon drops refer to a tradition they have in their family to encourage talking out your feelings. Deal with the sour and then you'll get to the sweet. 

So, it's the story of the struggle of our girl dealing with her mom's death and the stress and anxiety that it causes with her and their family. It's sad. But also very beautiful. And so perfectly done. I really loved it.  

Book Review: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Book: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola  Yoon

Genre: Contemporary YA

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Here's another book that's been on my TBR for a long long time. I took it with me on my recent trip and read it while sitting on the beach. PERFECT!

I really do love this author's style. So very engaging and easy to read and totally so easy to love the characters. 

This one was about a kid who's about to head off to an interview that he does not want to deal with. He wants to do his own thing but his parents of course think otherwise. So he's begrudgingly off to get his hair cut (he has a ponytail... which I LOVE! Don't cut it off dude!) and then to the interview.

Meanwhile our girl, who is from Jamaica, is trying to talk to someone to figure out if she can stop her family from getting deported. She has a lead with a lawyer she thinks might actually help. She's out in the city (they are in New York I think, yes.) and feeling very frantic about her situation.

So their paths cross, and they have time to kill, so they hang out. And they learn about each other and fall instantly in love. But it's very complicated, so they know of course that nothing is going to come of it. But we as readers have hope that they might work it out somewhere. Our dude has hope too. Our girl is like, yeah, no. 

Lots of stuff happens in that day. And we get it from both their points of view, plus some views of some of the random people they come across in their travels. And also from people in their back stories. I thought it was a brilliant way to tell a story. So great!

So in the end, this author remains on my favorites list! If you haven't read her stuff yet, go for it!

Book Review: My Life as a Potato by Arianne Costner

 Book: My Life as a Potato by Arianne Costner

Genre: MG contemporary

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

What a fun cute story! I really enjoyed this one about a middle grade kid who feels like he is cursed by potatoes! And that seems to be confirmed when he ends up having to be the mascot at his new school where the mascot is... A POTATO! 

Turns out he kind of has a knack for this sort of thing, but still he doesn't want anyone to know. So ends up lying to get away with it all. Which makes him feel bad towards his friends. 

It also turns out he's becoming popular at this new school. And he sometimes finds himself wanting to help the underdogs, but remain popular. Which as we all know, is sometimes a conflict of interest. 

So how does he solve all this issues?

I fell in love with this character from the very first page and I love it when that happens. Rooting for him all the way! He's an adorable kid, I know this! LOL. A truly funny story with lots of heart. Awesome.

(This one read a little bit older than some of the other MG books I've been reading lately... which probably contributed to the fact that I enjoyed it a lot. But not TOO much older. It was pretty spot on, really, perfect for grabbing all sorts of audiences.)

Book Review: Beginners Welcome by Cindy Baldwin

Book: Beginners Welcome by Cindy Baldwin

Genre: MG contemporary

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This is the story of a mom and daughter trying to recover from the death of their husband/father. Our girl has not only lost her dad, but her friends have drawn away from her too. She's so sad. And her mom is really truly not functioning. In the midst of this, she escapes one day to the mall and befriends an old guy who is there playing the piano in the courtyard. She talks him into teaching her piano, and this happily brings back some good memories of her dad and makes her feel like life is good again.

Except the problem is, her mom would be SO MAD if she found out! 

So it's all quite a problem. She wants to enter a contest at the end of the year, and she needs this guy's help to do it. But she also doesn't want to cause her mom more trouble.

Oh, and then there's the matter of her dad's ghost that just won't leave them alone!

It's all quite a sad story, but with a hopeful feeling. And how you can find friendship in the most unlikely of places. I quite enjoyed it!

Book Review: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Book: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Genre: YA contemporary

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

So yeah, this is totally my kind of book. I really really enjoyed it, everything about it. 

A quick summary: We've got our girl whose family runs a very popular famous burger store... and our guy whose family runs a tiny local deli. When the burger people tweet that they are doing a new grilled cheese sandwich, the deli store gets upset because it appears to be a recipe someone stole from them!

And so a twitter war ensues. And our guy and our girl are the ones doing the tweets. But they don't know that each of them are... until they do of course.

Meanwhile, they are getting to know each other at school and they are intrigued. Our girl has always thought the guy was just a doofus goof off, but she is starting to learn otherwise. Our guy has thought the girl was just a "robot" going through all the motions and blending in way too well for a new girl... but he is starting to learn otherwise.

Yeah, it's one of THOSE kinds of stories! 

Scattered throughout are awesome descriptions of crazy baking things our girl comes up with... because she also runs a baking blog with her sister. And wow, but I wanted recipes to be included! Even though there is no way I could ever eat this stuff and stay on my dumb diet! 

So yeah...there's lots of underlying craziness and interesting twists to go along with this basic story. And I loved it. The banter, the social media aspects, the food... everything. So much fun.

And relatively clean too. Sheesh, I feel like YA books these days think they need ALL THE THINGS to make it... I don't know... competitive? Edgy? Relevant? Whatever. This one didn't need it and I especially loved that about it. 

Frankly in Love by David Yoon

 Book: Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Genre: YA contemporary

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This is the story of Frank Li (frankly... get it?) who is dealing with the dilemma of being Korean, but also being American. He has Korean parents who have come over to the US to live the good life here. They run a store and all is well, and yet... it is not. Frank, as many kids do, feels torn between the two cultures. 

They have "gatherings" with other Koreans in the area, his parents friends, and he has grown up bonding with the kids... who he calls the Limbos. They understand each other well, experiencing all these same things. And yet they are only friends at the gatherings.

He has to deal with the racism by people toward him, but also with the racism his parents have toward others. And when he falls in love with a white girl from school, he decides to hide this from his parents, especially considering what happened with his sister. (She married a black guy and his parents disowned her.)

In order to "hide" his girlfriend, he and one of the other "limbos" decide to fake a relationship. Because their parents are SO HAPPY at the idea that THEY are dating. Yeah. 

And then everything just really gets messed up and complicated!

Meanwhile, he's trying to bond with his dad, and that also gets messed up and complicated. 

It's such a heartfelt book...very funny in parts, very sad in other parts. It covers all the range of emotions for sure. I loved his parents...and fell for them hard despite their issues. Of course I loved seeing the Korean culture so readily displayed, and I even learned more Korean! Bad words even! LOL!

Yeah, this book has quite a pile of cursing. As I've mentioned before, I can usually handle it, if the character seems to warrant it. But sometimes I felt like it was way over the top for these characters. Almost like they were trying to prove their American-ness or something. Sigh. 

But despite that, I really enjoyed this one. I wanted all the best for the characters. I got weepy at the end. I ached and rejoiced with everyone!

(PS. I tried to picture one of my kpop idols in the lead role, but alas, it didn't work. Frank just took on his own form. Speaking of, kpop and kdrama and other such things were mentioned here and there in this book, but still in a degrading way I felt. Maybe I'm just defensive, but why can't people mention this stuff without putting it down? Why? I guess our character Frank didn't want people to think he would stoop so low as to enjoy this stuff himself. And our author probably looks down on it like everyone else. Whatever.)

(PPS. David Yoon is the husband of Nicola Yoon who wrote Everything, Everything, another very popular YA book. This is his first book.) 

Book Review: Miracle Creek Christmas by Krista Jensen

 Book: Miracle Creek Christmas by Krista Jensen

Genre: romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

As you know, I love this Proper Romance line that Shadow Mountain puts out. And this book is no exception. A very fun, and proper romance!

We have our girl, who is new in town, working as the art teacher. And hoping to forget her former life. And our dude, who is a firefighter, recently recovering from being burned in a terrible forest fire. He's a hero in the community, but feels far from it. He wants to hide his scars and retreat from everyone. 

But when he notices that our girl paints very similar to his mom who died when he was a kid, he wants to commission her to paint something for his dad as a Christmas present. 

Their first meeting is hilarious. And from there, things become a fun banter between the two of them, and before he knows it, he is forgetting about his scars. And trying to help her heal her own emotional scars. 

And yet, are either of them actually ready for a relationship?  

It's a fun simple sweet story and I loved it. Others have said this, but I have to agree with them... this one would really make a great Hallmark Christmas movie. I predict that it will end up there some day! So if you love that sort of thing, this book is for you!

Thanks to Shadow Mountain for sending me this book to review. I've currently got quite a pile waiting for their turn so be prepared for more to come!

Here's a cute little trailer if you are interested:

And more about the author:

 Krista writes contemporary romance, historical romance, and fantasy. She has lived in lush Oregon and rugged Wyoming, but Washington is her beloved home state. She likes to choose familiar settings for her stories and is grateful to have such inspirational places to choose from. She is a mother of six, gramma of three, a gardener and cook, loves to travel, laugh, and hike, and lives to make the best of what she’s been given. Find her on Instagram @kristajensenbooks. 

Book Review: Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds

 Book: Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

Genre: YA Contemporary with some fantastical elements

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This book has a Groundhog Day premise... where our main dude continuedly lives a period of four months, over and over again. He resets the day he meets the love of his life, Kate, and it ends a few days after she dies, four months later. He figures his mission is to stop her from dying, which turns out to be quite complicated.

But not only that, he must also figure out some issues with his best friends. He needs to help one deal with the return of his dad from jail. And he needs to come to terms with his own feelings about the other one. 

Every time these four months reset, he does something different, figures out new things, etc. which sometimes change things for the better, and sometimes for the worse.  

I really enjoyed the voice of this story... our dude was fun to get to know... over and over again. He's a great guy and we as readers are really rooting for him to figure this out in the end. It is never explained why this is happening to him, I guess that's beside the point for this particular story. It's just about getting second chances... over and over again, and what would you do if you could. 

Book Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Book: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: contemporary/apocalyptic
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★


Here's one of those books that's been on the to-read list forever it seems. In fact I had both a physical copy and a kindle copy, each not knowing the other one existed. Ha. You know I really wanted to read it!

But it didn't happen until now when the book club voted it as our first read of our 17th year! And in the middle of a pandemic! You'd think we planned it or something.... LOL!

I had heard amazing things about this book, but I have also been scared of it. Some said it was intense and scary and disturbing. So as much as I wanted to read it, I've been hesitant. But what the heck, I just jumped in and you know... ended up really enjoying and in the end, it wasn't hard to stomach at all for me, even if we are in the middle of our own crazy pandemic.

So yeah, this is the story of what happens to a group of people who survive a pandemic. A flu that kills off, what did they say?, like 99% of the world's population. We start with a play in progress and the lead of the play dies right on stage of a heart attack. The little girl in the play witnesses the whole thing. That night, the flu hits their city and the world changes. We end up following the stories of the girl, the actor (who even though he dies in the first couple pages we find out his back story) and the dude who runs up on stage to try and save him. We also follow the stories of the actor's friend and some of his wives. (He had three.)

We bounce around in time from the present day when the plague breaks out... to 20 years in the future to what the survivors are doing. Some of them we follow what happened during those 20 years, but mostly we bounce from present to future and back again.

I really enjoyed the matter-of-fact writing. It was so easy to read and very fast paced. It did get a little intense in parts when the "bad guy" became a factor to survival.  It reminded me so much of The Walking Dead, but without the zombies. You know, where you have to deal with the crazy communities and leaders that had sprung up as a means to survival. And living and eating isn't necessarily the hard part, but staying away from the crazies is more what it's about.

Great story. Great life lessons. Great thoughts on what it means to be a family. I really enjoyed it.

Book Review: Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

Book: Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★


This is the book written based on the musical. I keep wondering... did the book or musical come first.. .but it's the musical. Since we'll be seeing this musical in a few weeks, I thought knowing the story beforehand would be helpful. I've had it in the house for over a year, but finally got to it this past month.

It's a story about a kid who is suffering from pretty bad depression and anxiety. His therapist wants him to write encouraging letters to himself, so when the story opens, he is struggling with getting his latest letter written. At school, he finally writes and prints it off, but another dude nabs it from the printer and won't give it back.

This dude, Conner,  just happens to be the brother of the girl he likes... and a dude that is quite the outcast himself. Evan and Conner had a run in at lunch that very day, I can't remember why now, but after that, Conner ended up signing Conner's cast (because he had just broken his arm recently, yeah.)

ANYWAY. 

Turns out that Conner goes home and commits suicide that night. And when they find Evan's letter in his pocket, everyone thinks that Evan was his friend and that he was calling out for help to Evan.

And thus starts a whole crazy thing where Evan continues this charade of actually being Conner's friend. He ends up with a relationship with Conner's whole family, including the sister. He starts a campaign for Conner... and everyone is all on board. And suddenly he is popular and getting seen.

It's like a complete about face. He suddenly feels like someone.

Until it all blows up... and then he's back to facing his problems yet again.

Well, it's such a sad story actually. But I think it's popular because it really says some pretty deep and profound things that kids (all people actually) feel about how they fit and connect in this world. And people relate. And it makes you want to take a look around you and realize that there are people everywhere that feel invisible... and how all we need to do is reach out and be friends. 

I think that's the reason. 

I haven't listened to the music yet to prepare, but I know everyone just loves it so much I look forward to seeing it. I hope it leaves me with a hopeful feeling. I'm a little nervous that I will walk away depressed and sad. I really don't need that, you know.

Have you seen this musical or read the book? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Book Review: The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

Book: The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This is an author you know you can go to whenever you want a fun, sweet, heartfelt coming of age story. Which is pretty much what I always want, so there's that.

In this one, we have our girl who's mom passed away several years before due to an overdose. Her mom gave her and her dad trouble a lot, and our girl only remembers the bad times, and has just a vague memory of the good. 

So when the dad gets remarried and goes on a honeymoon, our girl ends up staying with her maternal grandma, someone they have totally lost touch with, and in so doing, she reconnects with her mom's family and learns all about her mom...thanks especially to a childhood friend (who she can't even remember) who has now grown up into a way cute boy. It just so happens that his dad was really good friends with her mom and he has tons of pictures of them, and knows all the stories.

A perfect summertime romance. I really enjoyed it. 

Book Review: Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

Book: Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

So I've decided this author is one of my favorites and I need to catch up on on ALL her books. Seriously. I love her writing and her stories and her way of dealing with both an intense romance along with some real life issues. So good. 

So this one is about a girl who is frustrated because she has been judged because of a past deed where she choose poorly and now has messed up how everyone looks at her... which used to be the smart and perfect honor student. Also, she has to deal with her sister who has come home from college pregnant and the whole family is trying to deal with the consequences.

It's also about a boy who's father has been caught embezzling money from all his clients and because of that... the dad tried to commit suicide, failed, and is now disabled and dependent on his wife... and this boy... his son. Everyone now hates him (the boy) because they think he knew what was going down and they blame him for what has happened. So the boy has gone from really really popular, to no one talking to him.

So these two come together since they have to do a group assignment together... and they start learning more and more about each other and that the judgments everyone is putting on them aren't quite right. 

I really enjoyed this romance... and also all the underlying crazy things these kids deal with because of other people's choices mostly. It's really good. 

Book Review: Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Book: Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Genre: YA contemporary-ish sort of
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This is the story about what might happen if suddenly there is no water coming out of your taps when you turn them on. This is what happens to this family, and these kids. One day, no water. It is contained to an area in the LA country  but a lot of people are affected. 

First everyone goes to Costco to buy water, or in other words, to fight over the water there. That makes people last a day or two. Then they hope to figure out a way to turn the ocean water into drinkable water. But that fails too.

Our two heros... the girl and the boy next door, end up together trying to stay alive. They pick up a few other stragglers on the journey and together they make a band of unlikely survivors. Our boy is from a family that actually HAS prepared for such an event, though it targets them in the neighborhood which is also not a good thing.

But these kids end up trying to find the bunker that our boy's family has built, and yet... that is not easy either and they come up against one obstacle after another after another after another.

Oh man, it's disheartening to see a portrayal of how fast society will come screeching to a halt should something like this ever happen. Martial law was declared within days and so so many people suffer and die. It's really eye opening.

And wow, but by the end of it I knew it would be awhile before I took my casual drinks of water for granted. And still, nearly a month after reading it, whenever I guzzle a huge tall glass of water I think... wow... this water is AMAZING! I was even having dreams about being thirsty! 

So, I loved it even if there were harsh moments in this story. It was very page turning and nonstop "action" ie. things that happened from second to second to keep you on the edge of your seat. It was fabulous. 

P.S. Neal Shusterman is coming to the local library in a couple of weeks. I'M SO EXCITED!

Book Review: Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

Book: Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Contemporary YA romance
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

So, we have Hugo who is about ready to set off on an adventure riding a train across the US just when his girlfriend breaks up with him. But sadly, everything is in her name and it's nontransferable. Problem. Solution: to ask any random girl with the same name as his ex to step in and go on the trip with him.

And so that's when Mae comes in and fills the spot. And you can probably guess what happens from there. But for both of them, so much is going on at home that they can hardly be in the moment. Hugo has to figure out what he's doing about school, and Mae is very worried about her sick grandma, and about getting into to film school in California.

So yes, this is an insta love sort of story, if that bothers you, but I enjoyed it just fine. It's another travel across the US story (just like the previous one I reviewed) and so I enjoyed THAT again too. (going by train seems so fun. I want to do this!) Anyway, that seems to be a thing suddenly!

But as with all Jennifer E. Smith books, the romance is fun and very swoony and sweet. She is similar for me to Kasie West in that regard. Cute teen romances. But there's always some depth too. Another great one!

Book Review: A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

Book: A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
Genre: Contemporary YA
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

This one is about a girl who is struggling with some tragedy that has made her nearly unable to function. When the story begins, she runs out and away from a diner she's at, and just keeps on running. After many miles, she decides she just wants to keep on running. So spontaneously, she finds herself running across the US just to... get it all out I guess.

Her friends and her brother are masterminds so they start a gofundme and raise money for her... her grandpa comes to get her in the motor home, so he is her guardian.. and suddenly. she becomes famous and is met by people at every stop she goes to.

All along the way, as she runs, we get the flash back story as to what happened. Though, it's not until the very final pages do we get to the tragedy, so by then we are guessing what happened, and it sort of made me crazy.

So on one hand, I enjoyed the running journey, seeing the country and meeting the people... I would actually love to do this someday, only not running. But you know, driving the back roads and see the small towns and awesome countryside. It would be amazing.

But I was very much losing patience by the end as to what happened. And what this girl's future was. I was pretty convinced she had actually committed a crime. (Wrong) And was headed to court herself.

Anyway, so I won't give it away what happened... but when we do find it out, the whole thing suddenly became a bit political, which as you know, rubs me the wrong way too.

So, this is a hard one! I really enjoyed reading it. The writing is fantastic and the journey engaging. (I don't think I've read any other books by this author, which kinds of surprises me.) But the dragging out of the "thing that happened" and then making a statement bit... was just... eh.

Have you read it? I'd love to know what you thought!

Book Review: One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

Book: One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus
Genre: YA mystery
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This one got a lot of buzz last year, so we decided to read it for this month's book club book.

It's about four kids who end up in detention together one day when a fifth kid suddenly collapses with a massive allergic reaction and dies. And now the investigation is all centered on them.

We get the story from all their points of view, which at first was a little much, but it didn't take me long to get into the groove and remember who was who and which was which.

We have:

Copper: the all American star baseball player
Bronwyn: the honor student and classic piano prodigy
Nate: the drug dealer outcast
Ally: the seemingly airheady beauty queen princess

And the guy who died: Simon. And his big claim to fame is that he runs a gossip column type app that dishes all the juicy stories on everyone in the school.

Mix this all up with the mystery of Simon's death, add in some interesting parental figures and siblings, plus some really fantastic secrets that EVERYONE has and you have this fun and page turning story.

And it was very engaging and lots of fun to read. As is usually the case with me, I wasn't that into the actual mystery (and really it didn't seem like this was the main center of the book either) but was very into the relationships of these four kids with each other, with their families, and with their other friends. Really lots of great characters here and lots of modern day struggles addressed. I look forward to discussing it at book club this week.

Book Review: Maybe This Time by Kasie West

Book: Maybe This Time by Kasie West
Genre: YA contemporary romance
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★


Another Kasie West book! Yes! You know I'm on it whenever she comes out with one!

This one is about a girl who works for a florist and she has to help at all the local events in the small Alabama town they live in. She'd really rather be working for the seamstress that makes alterations for people, so she can get experience for her dream job as a fashion designer. But that's not to be.

The books takes us on a year's worth of events, starting with Valentine's Day and ending with New Years. The interesting thing about this particular year of events is that the dude who caters the events (the dad of her good friend) is getting mentoring from a very famous chef who's been on TV. And he has brought his son to work along side with him too.

Well, our girl and this son don't hit it off too well. At first. They clash at all the events and banter and bicker like crazy. But of course, as it goes, they start seeing each other differently which in turn makes them both learn a ton about themselves.

So basically, the typical fun contemporary YA romance, with this interesting twist on the fact that our two heroes only see each other at these events throughout the year. And enough stuff happens to make the relationship blossom.

It was exactly what I needed!

Book Review: Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

Book: Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Genre: MG contemporary
Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

We read this one for book club way back in June I think, so I'm not sure I can even remember my thoughts!

But basically, it's about a 4th grader student who loves to read and gets bugged when her favorite book series is banned from the library because some mom deems it inappropriate. Sort of accidentally, she starts to loan out this series, and then she finds out what else is on the banned list and with the help of her friends, she acquires more and more books from that list, and loans them out.

Soon she is running a pretty popular library from her locker.

And then she gets found out and gets in trouble and has to defend herself at the community meeting. Which, being a girl who doesn't speak up much, is quite the growing experience.

I enjoyed the book, but as is usual with these sorts of things, I get annoyed at the obvious agenda pushing. But, you know, that was the point of this book basically, to get kids aware of the issue and interested in reading a list of "banned" books ie books  they think of has "bad" in some way and thus more appealing to read. 

I also had an issue with the fact that the things this girl did I could not picture a fourth grader doing. She seemed so much older so that was distracting to me.

But it was all in all a cute story and very fun for any reader to embrace.

Book Review: A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard

Book: A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★ ★ ★


This is one of those books that I just randomly picked up at the bookstore (using a gift card) and bought just because it sounded good. About a deaf boy and girl who doesn't talk (selective mute they call it) falling love. Cute, yes?

And yes, it was. Mostly. Sigh.

So the voice (ha! voice!) of this character was great. I related to her so much. She has massive anxiety, and while my anxiety isn't massive, it's there, and so everything she talks about I'm like... yep. That's it. Especially the negative self talk. And the physical pain of anxiety. I've never understood why anxiety has to manifest itself physically. You'd think it would just be in your head and make you wring your hands or something. But no, it's also very much in your gut. Ugh.

ANYWAY. So I really liked her. I didn't understand what makes a person not talk at all though. I do get the not talking in certain situations. But to totally freeze up. It's very intense. So because of that, she has learned BSL (this book takes place in Britain, they have their own version I guess) and so when the new boy who is deaf shows up at school, she is assigned to help him.

And they click right away because he is awesome. Sweet and happy and jovial and friendly and all the good things. Beautiful too of course.

So this is just their falling in love story. Quite simple really. And her trying to deal with getting better, which she slowly is. Doing all sorts of things and talking to all sorts of people!

He has his struggles too and has to overcome his insecurities with his own disability.

Anyway, I enjoyed it all except the part where teenage sex is described in much more detail than I would have liked. If they decide to "do it" whatever, but I'd rather most of it be left up to imagination, you know. The whole story was sort of sweet and nice and romantic, and those scenes just seemed like too much for the tone of this book. It jarred me a bit. You know? Sigh.

Other than that. I liked it all!

Book Review and Blog Tour: Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde

Book: Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: ★ ★ ★


This is the story of Addie and her struggle with really severe OCD. There's a lot in this book that a person struggling with such an ailment will relate too. It sounds overwhelming and hard, that's for sure.

Just a bit after the story opens, she is put into an inpatient psyche ward for kids. There she meets other kids all struggling with different mental health issues. One of them is a dude named Fitz, who she finds very interesting. One of those things is that he gets her crazy and witty sense of humor, because our Addie is quick with the puns and jokes like no other! And Fitz has a comeback to everyone of them!

That was a very fun thing about this book, all the jokes that reference books and movies and pop culture. It made me wonder if all the readers will even catch them. I probably missed a lot myself. But I did catch a lot too. So fun.

So the story continues in the hospital and Addie learns a bit about Fitz, but not everything. She can tell something more is going on with him. After they get to know each other pretty good, he confesses to her that he needs her help to break out. She decides (fairly easily I might add!) what the heck... and helps him. Actually, all the kids end up helping and their teamwork is pretty impressive. :)

The first part of the book inside the hospital was a little slow for me. There's a lot of talk about her OCD and her frustration with how nothing helps and how sometimes she gets sick of people trying to help, even though she knows they have her best interests in mind. A lot of talk about how it is living with it. Like I said, I figure people who suffer with, or deal with people suffering with, these intense things will totally relate.

But the book picked up quite nicely during the breakout and the adventure they have afterward. Except that part is also very sad when we learn more about Fitz and what caused him to want to breakout in the first place and a little more of his back story. So sad.

So while Addie narrates this story and we learn a lot about her, it's more about Fitz and the things he's gone through and going through. There's a lot of profound thoughts scattered throughout that hit me hard and made me think. If I was a book marker upper, I would have marked a lot of things! But it just makes you appreciate your life and how even though we all have struggles, some of us are pretty blessed with the easiness of our life. Know what I mean? And I think we tend to forget that sometimes. So it also made me understand the plight of kids/people with mental illnesses. Ah, it's so hard!

Anyway. I enjoyed it! Slow a bit at first, but really quite engaging that last while. Things aren't too hunky dory at the end either, but that being said, it's a very hopeful look on mental health issues.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for the opportunity to read and review this book!