Blurb:

Stevie Rosenstein has never made a true friend. Never fallen in love. Moved from city to city by her father’s unrelenting job, it’s too hard to care for someone. Trust in anything. The pain of leaving always hurts too much. But she’ll soon learn to trust, to love.

Twice.

Drew and Shane have been best friends through everything. The painful death of Shane’s dad. The bitter separation of Drew’s parents. Through sleepaway camps and family heartache, basketball games and immeasurable loss, they’ve always been there for each other.

When Stevie meets Drew and Shane, life should go on as normal.

But a simple coin toss alters the course of their year in profound and unexpected ways.

Told in dual timelines, debut author Jennie Wexler delivers a heartbreaking and hopeful novel about missed opportunities, second chances, and all the paths that lead us to where we are.

Review:

The story, told in dual timelines, follows two best friends and musicians, Drew and Shane, who make all their decisions by flipping a coin. When a new girl named Stevie shows up at school (also a musical prodigy), they both want to ask her out. So they decide who will pursue Stevie romantically and who will step aside by doing what they always do to make a decision: tossing a coin. What’s interesting about this story, however, is that the first part of the book shows us the result if Drew wins, and the second part portrays the result if Shane wins the toss and how differently the events play out in each situation. The first and second halves are not at all repetitive as the events in the timeline don’t occur the same way the second time around.

The story illustrated how one small decision can change the trajectory of our entire lives and how such a decision branches off into many other ones, thus altering our life in unforeseeable ways. In this way, I found the story to be exceptionally thought-provoking. It causes us to wonder how much of what happens to us is really left to chance and how much is the result of a past decision. I thought it also illustrated how we often can’t really predict or even control the incidents in our lives.

What this really brought home for me is the importance of the choices that we make — and well as those we don’t make — and how those choices affect others in our life. It’s the kind of story that leaves the reader questioning at the end (but in a good way).

Where It All Lands is an exceptionally compelling read that’s not only gripping but kind of heartbreaking in places (the story opens during a scene of a funeral — and we don’t find out whose funeral it is until much later in the book). Readers who go into this expecting a fluffy YA romance may be disappointed as it’s more of a sci-fi speculative story with a romantic undercurrent.

Additionally, there are many hard-hitting themes in the book, such as bullying, challenging family dynamics, parental abandonment, divorce, death, and grief. Hence, parts of the story were pretty heart-wrenching. And though there is undoubtedly a romance aspect to the story, I feel that at its core, the theme of friendship is at the forefront of the narrative.

All in all, I found Where It All Lands to be a riveting coming-of-age journey about the “what-ifs” in our life and feel that it’s well worth the read.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book.

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It often takes me quite a while before I get into a book, but the utterly compelling central character in this one sucked me right in. The writing flowed so well that I was deeply immersed in the story before I knew it.

The novel is told from the point of view of Dane, a senior in high school, who is overcome with grief after the death of his father from cancer one year prior. To add insult to injury, his mother began dating his father’s former business partner and best friend Chuck shortly after the funeral, which Dane sees as not only disrespecting his father but also her forgetting him and moving on.

Additionally, Chuck’s “evil” son, Eric, seems to delight in tormenting Dane. To help him deal with his depression (and his new family dynamic), his mother has shuffled him through a plethora of therapists, most of whom have proven ineffective.

Dane is also infatuated with Ophelia, the girl next door who he believes is way out of his league. This is despite the fact that she seems to be regularly dropping odd, almost flirtatious hints that only manage to confuse him further.

What we end up with then is an in-depth character study of a complex young man who has a difficult time coping with life and communicating with the people who are close to him. In the process, he is searching for answers to some pretty tough questions while trying to maintain his sanity through it all. Through that process, the novel examines some pretty hard-hitting themes such as grief, depression, suicide, first love, relating to others, lack of parental support, insecurity, and the meaning of life. It also looks at the pain, difficulty, and at times, anguish in simply growing up.

Though there are certainly some dark and weighty topics in the novel, the author does a brilliant job of balancing them out with plenty of humor, wit, and banter. Dane is quite a sarcastic and amusing character, and I enjoyed getting to know him as the story progressed. His comments caused me to cackle out loud on more than a few occasions. I especially loved seeing his transformation from heartbroken and overwhelmed to stepping up and taking control of his life.

But at its core, this is an intense coming-of-age story about grief and figuring out how to cope. In this way, it ends up being poignant and heart-wrenching in many places. Simultaneously heartbreaking and heart-mending, The Tragedy of Dane Riley is a poignant tale about finding oneself in the midst of chaos. This gem of a story is as thought-provoking and hopeful as it is emotional and sobering, and I enjoyed every single moment. I’ll definitely read more by this author.

A huge thank you to Netgalley & Wednesday Books for providing a review copy of this book.

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This is a contemporary YA story that follows three teens: twin brothers, Ellis and Tommy, and a girl named Harlow, who is best friends with Ellis but enemies with Tommy. A lot is going on here with these three characters: Harlow is determined to save her small hometown of West Finch from falling into the ocean, as it’s slowly getting was washed away by the town’s seasonal storms. One of the twins has lost a leg from an accident, and the other is bi. One of them suffers from crippling depression and attempts suicide, and the other ignores his problems, hoping they’ll disappear. One is a track star, the other an artist.

This was quite a riveting character study, even though I found all three of them mostly unlikeable, and their relationships are overall unhealthy. But the fact that each of them was extremely complex and multi-layered, however, kept me eagerly reading the story. The complicated and odd dynamics between them sucked me right in. There were also so many compelling themes in this story, such as the pain that results from knowing someone too well, a complicated love triangle, disability, nature conservancy, climate change, depression, the need to “fix” others, and being emotionally shut off from those around you. I did enjoy the conversation and realistic portrayal of depression/mental health issues in the story and thought the author handled them exceptionally well.

Now I will say that I was not a fan of the ending, though, and felt mostly unsatisfied when I finished the book. It was more of a “non-ending” than an ending. Still, I thought this was a compelling story and well worth the read. The novel’s small-town vibe really worked for me, especially the colorful secondary characters. Ending notwithstanding, I found this to be a moving and emotionally searing novel about the deep bonds of family and friendship that is well worth the read.

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The Cost of Knowing is a young adult novel that follows sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus, a black teen, and his twelve-year-old little brother Isaiah whose parents were killed in a car accident a few years prior. Alex isn’t quite like other kids because ever since the accident, he has the gift of psychometry – that is to say, he can see the future whenever he touches an object or a person. For instance, if he touches an ice cream scoop at work, he sees himself using it to scoop ice cream a few minutes later. If he touches his car, he sees it wrecked and underwater a few years from now.

He also saw his childhood best friend’s death a few years prior, so since then, he lives in pretty much a constant state of anxiety surrounding his gift. This burdensome ability also makes it challenging for Alex to maintain relationships because since he foresaw his friend’s death, he’s generally avoided touching the people he cares about, which isn’t always easy to accomplish and has led to additional complications for Alex. For instance, it’s caused conflict between him and his girlfriend, who isn’t aware of Alex’s “gift” and doesn’t understand why Alex won’t hold her hand.

But one day, his world turns completely upside down when, after picking up an old family photo, he sees the funeral of his little brother, Isaiah. Alex knows that the events of his visions cannot be prevented — what he sees has always come to pass. So now, Alex is determined to be the best brother possible during Isaiah’s remaining days and to do everything in his power to ensure that his days are safe and happy.

Though this is the story of two brothers, at its core, the book is also about what it means to be a young Black man today. In fact, the author dedicates the book: “To all the Black boys who had to grow up too early.”

As Alex attempts to protect his brother, we witness how the boys have to deal with the realities of racism, stereotypes, and constant microaggressions, especially given that they live in a primarily white neighborhood. We see their continuous fear and anxiety of being targeted as criminals because of the color of their skin. The author illustrates nicely how people can be racist without believing they’re racist and addresses several themes such as the effects of trauma, systemic racism, intergenerational trauma, intimacy, grief, fear, guilt, toxic masculinity, mental health, Black history, ignorance, privilege, power, and more. Additionally, there was the compelling theme of Black ancestral pride in which the legacy of Alex’s ability is explained through the lens of familial history and heritage. I also enjoyed the underlying theme of the necessity of working through our traumatic experiences.

I loved the beautiful relationship that developed between the two boys. Up to this point, they were mostly estranged because Isaiah spent all of this time hiding in his room (as it turns out, Isaiah has his own secrets). It warmed my heart to see the boys open up to each other and experience joy together. They even discover that they have the same musical tastes, a scene which brought a smile to my face.

Though at times heartbreaking, The Cost of Knowing is also uplifting. It’s a gripping and magical book that’s relevant, moving, and poignant. Though the narrative does examine several serious themes, the powerful and addictive plotline, as well as the relatable characters, made this a page-turner for me. I loved this brilliant book and give it 5 Stars.

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Blurb:

In Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
• Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
• Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
• Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
• Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
• Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she’s not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong?

Review:

This was such a fun book! The story follows a bisexual high school girl named Darcy who, for the past two years, has secretly run a relationship advice service from Locker 89 — an abandoned locker at school to which only she has the combination. One day she gets caught red-handed retrieving letters from the locker by a stuffy upperclassman named Alexander Brougham. In return for keeping her secret, Darcy agrees to help him win back his ex-girlfriend. Of course, things don’t go smoothly, especially when her own love life stirs up a conflict of interest between her “Agony Aunt” duties and her friend Brook, a friend on whom Darcy harbors a secret crush. As it turns out, Darcy has made some poor decisions — selfish decisions — which, if came to light, would no doubt ruin her friendship with Brook forever.

I really appreciated the conversion about bi-phobia, both internalized and external, once Darcy begins having feelings for Alexander. She begins to ask herself whether she’s can still call herself queer if she dates someone of the opposite sex. Would falling in love with a guy erase her as a bisexual? Could she even call herself bisexual in such a case? There was a lot of compelling discussion around this topic in the book, and it illustrated how painful and damaging bi-phobia can be — and how it can even be perpetuated by the Queer community.

The book also delves into many other important themes such as romantic relationships, friendship, being part of the queer community, family, and coming out. There was also plenty of horrible decisions leading to much drama, which was a lot of fun. But though Darcy does mess up horribly and makes some pretty terrible decisions, she’s quite an admirable character overall. She takes her role as a relationship advisor seriously. Thus, she spends a lot of time researching relationships, helping her provide better advice to her “clients” (even though she’s never been in a relationship herself). Darcy actually gives quite impressive and well-researched advice, tacking such topics as consent, boundaries, communicating your feelings, sexual identity, appropriate expectations, and not allowing others to take advantage of you or belittle you.

I also loved how diverse the cast of characters was. Our main character, Darcy, was bisexual, the male hero was heterosexual, Darcy’s friend/love interest is a lesbian, and several supporting characters were trans, non-binary, and gay.

All in all, this novel was a delight to read. I loved the way it combines the bitterness of adolescence with the sweetness of friendship and young love. The characterization in this book is really powerful, and I thought that this novel is populated with wonderfully complex, dynamic, and empathetic characters, displaying the perfect balance of heartbreak and hope.

The plot itself was phenomenal, and I loved the premise of giving out secret relationship advice via a school locker. But this was much more than an enjoyable story. Perfect on Paper makes us think about who we are and how we want to live our lives and does in a way that’s skillfully presented and eloquently narrated, ending up being a tale of courage, love, and carving your own place in the world.

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