monday minis

Happy Monday!! We finally have temperatures below 90 this week! 80 is still too hot but I will take it!

Here are a few minis to kick off the week. Let me know what you guys are reading int eh comments!


This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender

A fresh, charming rom-com perfect for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Boy Meets Boy about Nathan Bird, who has sworn off happy endings but is sorely tested when his former best friend, Ollie, moves back to town.

Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings.

Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life.

Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravel—but this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend.
After a painful 
mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after? ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

My thoughts:  This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story has an incredible amount of diversity – PoC main characters, Bisexuality (M/M, f/f, M/f pairings, disability rep – one main character is deaf and uses ASL.

Nathan’s life and relationships were messy but cute. he is still very much in love with his best friend, Florence, who broke up with him and is now dating someone else. Nathan pretends to be cool about it so he doesn’t lose her friendship. Then an old crush comes back and things get even messier. It was high on the angst but in a lighthearted, authentic way. My only gripe is that I think the story needed an epilogue. I don’t need a specific HEA (especially with teens) but I would have loved to see how Nathan and Oliver in the long run.



Jack of  Hearts (and Other Parts) by L.C. Rosen

My first time getting it in the butt was kind of weird. I think it's going to be weird for everyone's first time, though.

Meet Jack Rothman. He's seventeen and loves partying, makeup and boys - sometimes all at the same time. His sex life makes him the hot topic for the high school gossip machine. But who cares? Like Jack always says, 'it could be worse'.

He doesn't actually expect that to come true.

But after Jack starts writing an online sex advice column, the mysterious love letters he's been getting take a turn for the creepy. Jack's secret admirer knows everything: where he's hanging out, who he's sleeping with, who his mum is dating. They claim they love Jack, but not his unashamedly queer lifestyle. They need him to curb his sexuality, or they'll force him.

As the pressure mounts, Jack must unmask his stalker before their obsession becomes genuinely dangerous... ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

My thoughts: After reading a few reviews, I was honestly expecting Caligula level sex in Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts). What I actually found is a very honest and (shockingly for YA) frank discussion about gay sex and sexuality. Yes, it is graphic at times but most of it comes from Jack’s sex advice column and is presented in a educational, non judgmental way. And yes, Jack is gay, not in a relationship, doesn’t want one yet, engages in hook ups and that’s fiiiiiine. But it’s all consensual, safe and written well imo.

There’s a parallel mystery when Jack starts receiving anonymous love letters that aim to shame and then threaten him about his sexuality once he starts his Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) sex advice column.

There’s a bit of a Scooby Gang crime solving but it makes perfect sense in relation to Jack’s situation. Some of the adults blame him for his own harassment and Jack is brought to a low point in order to appease his stalker.

On a positive note – there are supportive adults in this book too (a teacher, Jack’s mom) and while Jack’s light is temporarily dimmed – it never goes out.

While some adults and readers might not want this level of explicitness in their books (& that’s ok), I love when YA is willing to show the reality of teen sex and give solid, relatable information. Some things, such as hooking up with college guys, made the over protective adult in me cringe, but it's a reality and I would rather have information on how to deal with things out there.

The advice column is very explicit and covers everything from threesomes, BDSM, bad sex, preparation and asexuality. The point Jack tries to make in his advice column is that it’s ok to question, to want sex or want to wait – its all about consent, safety and what feels right for you.

The Darkest Star by Jennifen L. Armentrout

When seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher is caught up in a raid at a notorious club known as one of the few places where humans and the surviving Luxen can mingle freely, she meets Luc, an unnaturally beautiful guy she initially assumes is a Luxen...but he is in fact something much more powerful. Her growing attraction for Luc will lead her deeper and deeper into a world she'd only heard about, a world where everything she thought she knew will be turned on its head...

#1 New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns to the universe of the Lux in this brand new series, featuring beloved characters both new and old. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

My thoughts: The Darkest Star is a new Lux spin-off series. I didn't realize that when I picked this up and have only read the first book of that one so most of these characters & some of the plot set up are unfamiliar to me. It wasn't too much of an obstacle but I think being a fan who read all the previous books would have made this more enjoyable.

This has a pretty fun premise and interesting twists but - it also takes awhile to get to anything of importance, and once we do, it's the end of the story. I think the 2nd book will be a lot more fun but if you loved the Lux series then this is very similar (at least to the one book I read) and you should love it.

review: dear evan hansen by val emmich

From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking novel inspired by the Broadway smash hit Dear Evan Hansen.

Dear Evan Hansen,

Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why...

When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend.

Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore--even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he's doing can't be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be?

No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself.

A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher via ALA18

Review:

I had a lot of conflicting thoughts about Dear Evan Hansen. To prevent this from becoming a nonsensical ramble – possible rant – I’m going to break it down into what worked and what didn’t work for me.

Stop trying to make fetch happen:

From the Goodreads summary - “From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking novel” 

From the publisher forward – “From The Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders to The Fault in Our Star and Eleanor & Park, we know that millions of readers of all ages can be united by a single powerful coming-of –age story. this year, that story will be Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel. This novel will define a generation, and together we will make it a modern classic. Dear Evan Hansen is not just a musical, and the novel is not just a book; Dear Evan Hansen is a movement…”

Honestly, this type of hype and publisher spin just pisses me off. Dear Evan Hansen is good book. It has important things to say. it occasionally does that very well. Some of it not so well. It’s not original or groundbreaking. Sure, not this particular story, but mental illness, coming of age, isolation…It’s been done both better and worse before.

Evan Hansen: I liked Evan. He does some despicable things. Like lying to a grieving family about knowing their son, Connor They find a letter addressed to Evan – assume it was a suicide note to his best friend (Evan). Evan let's them believe it, rather than telling the truth. It was a note that Evan was writing to himself as an assignment for his therapist and Connor had stolen it from Evan at school.

Despite that, I understood how Evan got into this mess. He suffers from severe, debilitating anxiety and a somewhat distant relationship with his overworked, single mom. So when the note brings Connor’s family comfort and they wrap him in their love and family as he spins tales of a friendship that has never existed – well, I got it. I don’t approve of it – but I got it. And I think Emmich did a wonderful job of portraying Evan’s anxiety and treatment but also how mental illness touches those around him.

Connor: Connor has a pov as something of a ghost or maybe his spirit before it passes. He’s dead but can travel around and sees his family grieving & hears Evan's lies while telling the reader about the events led up to his suicide.

Connor is a fascinating character. He has a reputation as a violent, drug addicted, unhinged, loner at school. Through Connor’s pov, we see that not every story was true – at least not to the extent that the stories are embellished and grow into urban legends.

But…are they true? I could never figure out if Connor was an unreliable narrator or not. His side certainly seems plausible. Maybe he is just misunderstood or lonely but those very close to him, like his sister, felt threatened and scared and we did see him act violently towards Evan at school.

Mental health: So, this is where I had the most trouble with this book. And I get that every reader brings their own experience to a book so I’m not knocking anyone who finds comfort or their truth here but while I felt Evan’s & to some extent Connor’s experiences were raw, honest and on point – that narrative took a nosedive toward the end..

Most of these books have a hook - something other than the mental illness to inspire growth and meaning for the main character, in this case, Evan. But they come at the cost of other people and a topic that should be handled better.

For example – when the truth about Evan comes out – the book flashes forward and we see that Evan has successfully come out the other side. Yes, with therapy and coping mechanisms but he was barely living day to day in the beginning but the reader doesn’t see how he got there?

And Connor’s mental state is diluted down to his depression and suicide being over the loss of a relationship? Which, I can see how it was devastating for him and what led to him to give up but it’s never really explained what was going on with Connor. I just felt like the violence was pushed aside somewhat to latch onto the lost love narrative.

Final thoughts: I think Evan Hansen brings up a lot of interesting issues. Is it worth letting a lie stand if it helps others? It also addresses social media and instant celebrity/validation, mental illness and how it effects the entire family and relationships – which is one of the best things about this book.

Evan’s single mom and Connor’s parents are struggling and in so much pain. They make mistakes when dealing with their children. It’s nuanced, painful, and done so well. I wish that this was the focus or at least there was follow through instead of a shift to wrapping things up neatly and quickly.

I'm not a fan of using a cutesy premise and sacrificing one characters pain/arc to show *life is worth living!* for the main character. Portraying something that causes so much pain to others and then kind of sweeping it all under the rug to get to a happy ending and say see! It was bad but worth it! I couldn't help but wonder about the aftermath to Connor's family after learning that everything they so desperately wanted to know about their dead son was a lie. That's not shown. Or how Evan healed.

We're just supposed to believe that this was a mistake but it helped everyone grow so worth it and that's just not my jam anymore.

I can see why readers find this story inspiring but it wasn't for me.

Ok – so that was a long and rambling anyway lol Sorry

Whatever Wednesday: TBB Asks - october fall 2.0

Favorite Fall Color?

Apple Cider HOT or COLD?

Caramel Apple: Yes or No?

Pumpkin Doughnut or Apple Cider Doughnut?

Long or Short Cardigan?

Favorite Football or Fall Party Food?

Orange or White Pumpkins?

Hayride or Bonfire?

Favorite Fall Baked Good?

Most Anticipated Fall Activity?

I almost didn't do this months prompt. The sad truth is – I live in FL and it’s still 90 degrees so I can’t enjoy fall.

But if were to answer each question - there wouldn't be an either/or - I love EVERYTHING about fall. All the colors, all the food, all the decor, all the activities. (except football)

I am feeling defiant though, so I’m baking a pumpkin pie today. And it was 57 the other morning so I pulled out a sweater to wear (with shorts lol) for approximately 30 minutes before I got too hot.

I hate winter but boy do I miss fall!


What are your fall favorites?