Blurb

Kellan, star quarterback and secret manga artist, has fallen hard for Maddie, a trans-girl and Twitch streamer. They’ve gone to school together for years, but Kellan never noticed her until she started presenting as her authentic self. Now she’s all he can think about, even as the rest of his world is crumbling.

But she’s terrified that he’s deluded, not seeing her for who she really is. Will she take a chance and let him in? Will they be able to overcome a cruel society that would rather erase Maddie than accept her? Or will Kellan walk away when the pressure becomes too much?

Written by #OwnVoices transgender author Riley Rian, “I Love You Just the Way You Are” is a timely coming-of-age novel about opening your heart and discovering the power and magic of love.

Review

The story is about Kellan, a high school quarterback and closeted Manga artist who falls for a trans girl and secret Twitch streamer named Maddie. Maddie has just started presenting as female, and Kellan, who has always identified as heterosexual, has fallen hard for Maddie. Maddie, however, is not convinced and doesn’t trust Kellan’s intentions or his declarations. But Kellan is determined to convince her that his feelings are genuine and that he likes her just the way she is. Not only that, he’ll need to convince Maddie that he will not cave to outside pressure — neither from his peers nor his parents.

This was a beautiful story written by an #ownvoices trans author about the metamorphosis of two young people who have chosen to stand up for themselves and live an authentic life — and obtain happiness in the process. The author did a superb job of illustrating the struggles, anxieties, experiences, and ups & downs of a young trans girl, and I enjoyed journeying along with Maddie throughout the novel. This was not only a lovely coming-of-age story but also a transgender romance one. I loved watching the beginnings of Maddie’s and Kellan’s romance, especially how he finally wins her over and convinces her that his feelings are genuine. It warmed my heart how he defended her and demonstrated his love for her time and time again. In this way, this was a story of self-discovery and self-growth for both of them. This book is all about casting off shame and stigma.

Additionally, I appreciated the real-life insight into transgender transitioning and felt that the novel provided essential insight into the difficulties and challenges that transgender people face. And though there was that aspect to it, it was also a heart-warming love story that brought tears to my eyes.

All in all, I adored this warm and embracing story and felt that not only were Maddie and Kellan relatable characters, but they were also compelling and engaging ones, both with their hidden hobbies/interests and as well as the demons they each are facing. A joyous and hopeful novel that worked on so many different levels for me, and I look forward to what this author will come up with next. Recommended!

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Blurb:

Growing up homeschooled in Berkeley, California, Beatrice Quinn is a statistical genius who has dreamed her whole life of discovering new mathematical challenges at a school like Oxford University. She always thought the hardest part would be getting in, not convincing her parents to let her go. But while math has always made sense to Beatrice, making friends is a problem she hasn’t been able to solve, so her parents are worried about sending her halfway across the world. The compromise: the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy and a detailed list of teenage milestones to check off. She has six weeks to show her parents she can pull off the role of “normal” teenager and won’t spend the rest of her life hiding in a library.

Unfortunately, hearts and hormones don’t follow any rules, and there is no equation for teenage interactions. When she’s adopted by a group of eclectic theater kids, and immediately makes an enemy of the popular—and, annoyingly gorgeous—British son of the camp founders, she realizes that relationships are trickier than calculus. With her future on the line, this girl genius stumbles through illicit parties, double dog dares, and more than your fair share of Shakespeare. But before the final curtain falls, will Beatrice realize that there’s more to life than she can find in the pages of a book?

In this sparkling debut from Serena Kaylor, Long Story Short is a YA rom-com about a homeschooled math genius who finds herself out of her element at a theater summer camp and learns that life—and love—can’t be lived by the (text)book.

Review

This story ticked all the right boxes for me: Enemies to Lovers? Check. Takes place at a summer camp? Check. Story revolves around a Shakespeare play? Check.

Long Story Short was a delightful, light-hearted summer romance filled with sweet characters and plenty of fun, witty banter. I also loved the chemistry between Beatrice and Nik and found these two characters incredibly endearing. They’re a couple you can’t help fall in love with: funny, angsty, sweet, determined, flawed, and authentic. I found their interactions funny, awkward, and exactly as confrontational as they need to be. Likewise, the secondary characters were equally impressive, even Shelby, “the mean girl,” who, as we learn, is quite a complicated multi-layered character.

The story itself is unputdownable and addictive, and I read it in only two sittings. It’s a sweet, comforting, and uplifting novel with a certain quirk and charm and just the right amount of angst. Readers who like a little messy yet heartwarming YA romance will definitely get that with Long Story Short. This charming novel leaves you with an ending that’s like a kiss and sweet tuck in goodnight and left me with a huge smile on my face when I finished the final page.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a review copy of this book.

This story will be released on July 26th, 2022 but is available now for preorder.

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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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