YA – Page 3 – andrea's galley

A Pho Love Story — Loan Le

“There’s so much in your life that you can’t control.… So maybe you can use this chance to do something for yourself.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A, it’s clean
Content Warnings: Discusses racial discrimination and xenophobia. Mentions war and death.

“A Pho Love Story” follows Linh Mai and Bao Nguyen, the children of two immigrant Vietnamese families who own rivaling pho restaurants. They’re on their last years of high school and are just trying to find themselves—Linh loves art and Bao loves writing, but those don’t sound like acceptable careers in their culture. Will they follow their dreams, and perhaps forget their family’s rivalry for a moment? Might they even become friends? Or more?

“A Pho Love Story” is a multicultural, sweet, high school romance story that lives up to all of its potential. Just reading the premise I knew I would be moved, and oh was my heart warmed. But here’s the thing: I knew exactly how it was going to pan out. Hence the low-ish rating.

Ignoring its predictability, this was an very entertaining read. Loan Le is an amazing writer and I can’t believe this is her debut novel. Well, she’s also an editor at Atria Books, so perhaps her love and devotion to books made her an amazing rookie.

I would recommend “A Pho Love Story” to readers who enjoy multicultural books and clean love stories. Also, if you’re just looking for a somewhat predictable, feel-good read, this book is for you.

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“But in anything you love, isn’t there always some bit of sadness, some essence of suffering? That, to me, is what makes art worth it.”

Tweet Cute — Emma Lord

“It’s weird, how you have no idea how far you’ve come until suddenly you can’t find the way back.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A, it’s clean
Content Warnings: Deals with teenagers under a lot of pressure, grandparent sickness, and high school bullying.

“Tweet Cute” follows Pepper and Jack, two high school seniors that are under waaay too much pressure. Pepper is the captain of the swim team and the social media manager for her family’s massive food chain business. Jack lives under his twin’s shadow, who’s the captain of the dive team, but the one thing he has that his brother doesn’t is the authority to manage his family’s small restaurant’s Twitter account. When the two Twitter accounts go into full-on feud mode over a grilled cheese sandwich recipe, Jack and Pepper aren’t aware that they’re actually fighting against themselves. Until they are. And things get messy.

This book felt exactly how it felt like to be a teenager: everything was the end of the world and people-pleasing tendencies were at their all-time high. But I loved it. It’s clean, so no spicy content there, but it’s sweet, with its own happy ending and all.

The amount of plot twists we get is almost troublesome, but since the book is written in two points of view—Pepper’s and Jack’s—we also know things that the other doesn’t, making it all a bit more exciting. It’s like you’re in on a secret that you know will come out, you’re just not sure when.

And can we talk about how this was Emma Lord’s debut novel? That’s crazy. It’s so so good, I can’t wait to get my hands on the 2 other books she’s published since (and the 4th book that’ll be published by early 2023).

I would highly recommend “Tweet Cute” as a gift for a young reader. It’s fast-paced but will keep you on your toes. It’s a love story but it also touches deep and relevant subjects for their age, like finding yourself and what you love, standing up to your parents—in a respectful way—to let them know maybe the path they’ve chosen for you isn’t the one you’d like to chose for yourself. I would highly recommend this YA read.

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“A stolen day. The kind of day that ends too fast but stays with you much longer.”

See You Yesterday — Rachel Lynn Solomon

“I’ve wanted you for weeks. But I don’t just want you in September. It’s not enough. I want you in winter, too. I want you in spring and in summer. I want you the whole fucking year, and then I want you in September all over again.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Discusses bullying and sexual harassment, and describes panic attacks.

“See You Yesterday” follows Barrett and Miles, two freshmen university students who are inexplicably stuck in a time loop. Barrett is passionate about journalism, and suffered through high school due to just that, while Miles is a Physics major who’s the son of two professors. With a bit of a bumpy start, will this pair find a way out of reliving their first day in university over and over again, or will they find a way into each other’s hearts instead?

I loved this book right up until the end. The conflict and rising actions were pristine, but the turning point and the resolution weren’t worth it, at least not for me. Yes, we get a happy ending, but really? Like that? I don’t know. This book went from a 4-star to a 2.5-star read real quick.

I really like the characters tho. Especially Barrett. It isn’t often that we see a mid-size main character, one that isn’t extremely overweight or has the perfect body. Just a curvy, regular, young adult. Much like myself. Much like a good chunk of the population. Apart from weight representation, we also got to see mixed-race, double-identity crises, a character with same-sex paternal figures, and characters living through a religion that isn’t highlighted ofter enough in YA book, Judaism. It wasn’t the characters or even the concept of the plot that let me down, it was more about how the ending was executed.

I would recommend this book to any reader looking for a “Groundhog Day”-style book, with a time loop where two strangers are stuck reliving the same day and they have no clue why.

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ARC — The Charmed List — Julie Abe

“This summer’s going to be perfect. This is going to be the summer when my Anti-Wallflower List becomes a reality.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 0 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Mentions cancer, deadly car crashes, and death of parents, and deals with bullying and shame.

“The Charmed List” follows Ellie Kobata and Jack Yasuda, two ex-best friends from magic-aware families in the summer before their Senior year of high school. How they went from best friends to strangers, we’re not so sure, but what we’re sure about is that when Ellie thought about the perfect summer roadtrip it never included Jack—but that’s how things turned out. Driving through California on the way to a magic convention, will Jack and Ellie be reunited, get honest with each other and finally talk about what drew them apart? Or will this be the awkwardest summer ever?

This book has it all—from a summer bucketlist, to a roadtrip, to a friends-to-enemies-to-friends-again-to-lovers dynamic, and a close proximity trope for sure. And of course, it had magic. I loved how this book made it feel like you were in on a secret, like small magic was a simple, everyday thing that few were lucky to experience consciously but many did see it in their lives—describing it as luck or love or happiness.

Some of my favorite things about Julie Abe’s writing was how flow-y it was, the story was well-constructed and used some flashbacks here and there that really made the narrative stand out and be unique amongst so many other magic YA books that I’ve read.

I would recommend “The Charmed List” to anyone looking for a funny, YA romance that centers around lost friendships and magic, and that’ll give you all the summer vibes. It isn’t an explicit romance by any means, all we get is a simple kiss at the very end (they’re kids, that’s fair), so I would highly recommend this book to be given as a gift to young readers. It truly is a lovely, magical book.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 05, 2022

“And, I’ve realized, I don’t have to be all one thing or the other. And just because someone else has slapped a label on me, it doesn’t mean that I have to accept their definition of who I should be. My list was never about standing out and getting attention, but to make myself someone I admire. And I don’t need a bottle of luck or a charm to change my life.”

Today Tonight Tomorrow — Rachel Lynn Solomon

“Maybe that’s the definition of nostalgia: getting sappy about things that are supposed to be insignificant.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romantic Comedy
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Deals with racism, discrimination, and antisemitism.

“Today Tonight Tomorrow” follows Rowan Roth and Neil McNair, two rivals and overachievers—hence why they end up being valedictorian and salutatorian—through their last day of high school. Set in Seattle, we accompany them through Howl, a sort of Senior sent-off that takes them all through the city. When Rowan and Neil realize they have more in common than they originally thought, and they realize the only way they’ll win Howl is by working together, will they overcome their past rivalry or will their stubbornness damn them?

I loved this book so much. Seattle felt like the Vancouver of the United States to me, and Vancouver is one of my absolute favorite cities. My biggest regret is that I lived relatively close to Vancity and I didn’t visit it half as much as I should’ve. This book gave me the opportunity to explore a city I’ve never been to and I loved every second of it.

The romance was childish, just like it should be in every YA book. Rowan’s and Neil’s banter was fun and funny and light. This book served as an escape from my everyday, adult life, and I am so grateful for it.

I would recommend this book to readers who like the enemies-to-lovers trope and to those who like exploring new cities, through all their quirkiness and glory.

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“I’ve given this boy the messiest parts of me, and he’s done nothing but convince me he’ll be careful with them.”

ARC — Epically Earnest — Molly Horan

“What did he say?” (…)
“He said, ‘End Act I.’” (…)
“And that means what exactly?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure. A start? The promise of Act II?”

Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Abandonment of a baby and harassment.

Inspired on “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, “Epically Earnest” follows Jane Grady, a high school senior who found her fame when she was just a baby, as she was abandoned at a train station and found in a Gucci bag, becoming #bagbaby. In a coming-of-age story, Jane is stuck between trying to find her biological family or moving on with her life, as she crushes on a girl who’s out of her league.

I loved the quotes in the beginning of every chapter, I loved the relaxed narrative that didn’t try to be overzealous, but mostly I loved the characters Molly Horan portrayed. In this queer story, we get to see how complicated it can be to just be a teenager—finding young love, starting to make life-changing decision… “Epically Earnest” is a short, sweet read. Actually, too short if you ask me. That’s why I only gave it 3 stars. It’s really well written, but I felt like there was just so much unresolved or under-explained.

I would recommend “Epically Earnest” to anyone looking for a short, sapphic or queer romantic comedy that’s not only a romance book, but that goes a little more in-depth into character development and family relationships.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Clarion Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 21, 2022

ARC — Together We Burn — Isabel Ibañez

“Because it isn’t about my not wanting you, (…) I do, damn it. I do. So stay and talk to me, because if I can’t have more, then let me have less.”

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Mentions parental death, violence, and animal death.

“Together We Burn” follows Zarela Zaldivar, a known flamenco dancer who’s the daughter of a famous Dragonador (so like, a matador but with dragons instead of bulls), as she tries to keep her family business afloat after her father is injured during one of the shows. To do so, she’ll need some help, and so in comes Arturo Diaz de Montserra, a dragon hunter who immediately sets it off with the wrong foot with Zarela. But after another accident takes place, Zarela starts to think that perhaps these aren’t accidents at all, but someone looking to bring the Zaldivar family down. Will Zarela and Arturo overlook their differences and work together to save things they both hold dear? Will truths be uncovered?

You know when a book captivates you right from the first line? Well, this was it. Isabel Ibañez wrote “My mother died screaming my name,” and she had me. I read this book in one sitting.

I loved the Spanglish aspects of this novel since Spanish is my native language. I loved the characters and the love story that was woven into the adventurous parts of this fantasy novel. And it wasn’t only Zarela and Arturo, no, I loved the side characters and, well, just from the premise of the book I knew animal cruelty would be involved, so keep that in mind, but it certainly wasn’t overly gruesome or as sensationalized as it could be. Ibañez simply writes it as it is, in this world of fantasy. The only think I didn’t like about this book (other than the animal cruelty) was that it could be overdramatic at times–which I guess is to be expected of a YA novel, but oh well.

I would recommend this book if you like the enemies-to-lovers trope, if you know and appreciate Spanish culture, or if you’re looking for a relatively short but entertaining fantasy standalone book. The world-building was complex but it didn’t feel forced. This was truly a masterpiece.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

“He’s all of the warm and sultry flavors of Santivilla. I hold smoke and fire and sweet wine in my mouth. We catch on fire under a million stars. Together we burn.”

Publication Date: May 31, 2022

Heartstopper, Volumes 1-4 — Alice Oseman

“There’s this idea that if you’re not straight, you HAVE to tell all your family and friends immediately, like you owe it to them. But you don’t. You don’t have to do anything until you’re ready.”

Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQIA+, Graphic Novel
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Deals with topics like homophobia, biphobia, outing someone, anorexia, eating disorders, anxiety, etc.

The “Heartstopper” graphic novels, volumes 1 through 4, follow two characters, Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson, and their group of friends. Charlie and Nick both attend an all-boys high school, but have had radically different high school experiences. While Charlie was outed as gay and bullied, Nick was a semi-popular rugby player with a bunch of superficial friends. After they’re assigned seats beside each other for one of their classes, they become friends. Well, Charlie develops a huge crush on Nick, but Nick’s straight, so that shouldn’t be a problem… right?

I started reading this graphic novel series because I saw a Netflix series was being produced about it and I just really wanted to get my hands on the novels before seeing the series. And so I did. And I must say I did not love it as much as I thought I would, at the start. The first two volumes are somewhat childish and superficial. Honestly, my rating for this series was very markedly bumped up to 4 stars thanks to the third and fourth volumes, where the interactions between characters started to become deeper and more realistic.

I loved the characters and I loved loved loved the art. The drawings are doodly and flowy. These books were a very fun read that was only enhanced by its Netflix series. I can’t even begin to explain how much more I appreciated that series thanks to the graphic novels. The real motion series almost goes scene by scene as compared to the graphic novel. It was truly a religious experience.

I would recommend this series to anyone trying to get into graphic novels, since these are easy, quick reads. Also, if you like queer romances, close proximity tropes, and books that face difficult topics like mental illness, bullying, and eating disorders, then grab these graphic novels. I can’t wait for Volume 5.

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“Love can’t cure a mental illness.”

ARC — I Kissed Shara Wheeler — Casey McQuiston

“How can that be possible, to feel estranged from a place where everyone loves you? To owe your life to a place and still want to run?”

Genre: YA, LGBTQIA
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Homophobia, religious bigotry, and bullying.

“I Kissed Shara Wheeler” follows Chloe Green as she tries to solve her archnemesis’, Shara Wheeler’s, disappearance. Joined by Rory, Shara’s neighbor, and Smith, Shara’s long-term boyfriend, Chloe is set to find Shara and beat her to Valedictorian fair and square—if only her feelings of burning hatred won’t get in the way.

If you’re only reading this because you liked “Red, White, and Royal Blue”, don’t. Yes, there is queerness in this book too, but the plot is nothing like Casey McQuiston’s debut novel, and I say that as a fact, not as a good or bad thing… just a thing.

I gave this book 4 stars because I liked the writing and the ending, but the getting there was a bit boring and I was never able to empathize with Chloe Green, the main character of sorts. I was tired of the whole Shara-scavenger-hunt when I was 20% into the book but they don’t find her until well past 60%. So I guess you can see how this book was a bit boring for me. I had read the summary of the book but still, I was not expecting Casey McQuiston to write a mystery YA book.

I would recommend this book to actual YA readers, not new adults who read YA. “I Kissed Shara Wheeler” is a bit childish, but it’s entertaining and engaging, so don’t hesitate to grab it off the shelves as its release date is today!!!

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: May 03, 2022

“Love God first, love Shara Wheeler second.”

“Because this is what Shara does (…) It’s like… little hints. She can’t just let you in. You have to figure out your way there.”

ARC — How to Be the Best Third Wheel — Loridee de Villa

Genre: Romance, Comedy, YA
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warning: As provided by the author… “WARNING: This book may cause a loss of brain cells from facepalms, premature wrinkles from periodic cringing, irregular and rapid heartbeat from character ships, occasional uncontrollable swooning, and many relatable moments. The author takes no responsibility for damage to books or electronic devices if you hurl yours across the room.” Which I found hilarious.

“How to Be the Best Third Wheel” follows Lara as she comes to the realization that she’ll be the biggest third wheel this year: all 3 of her best friends at school are in relationships now. She compiles a useful guide with funny rules (stated at the beginning of each chapter) about how to survive just this: being the third wheel. As her school and social dynamics change, and she’s forced to tutor her archnemesis, she goes through all the typical teenage crises—including falling in love herself.

So, I have to set the record straight. I gave this book 3 stars as a YA romance book, but as a YA fanfic or Wattpad novel? I’d probably give it 5 stars. This fic is quirky, funny in a childish way, and plagued with clichés—but that’s something the author warns us about on the very first page.

I would recommend this book as a gift to a very young reader. If you’re looking for a book that’s a romance but is completely clean, with only a few innocent kisses here and there, then look no further: “How to Be the Best Third Wheel” is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.