[Review] Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Rating: 5 stars

Published: December 5th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis: 

When Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the epic breakup of Paige and Iris, the it-couple at her school, she finds herself in hot water with prickly, difficult Iris. Thrown together against their will in the class production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with the goofiest, cutest boy Claudia has ever known, Iris and Claudia are in for an eye-opening senior year.
When Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the epic breakup of Paige and Iris, the it-couple at her school, she finds herself in hot water with prickly, difficult Iris. Thrown together against their will in the class production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with the goofiest, cutest boy Claudia has ever known, Iris and Claudia are in for an eye-opening senior year.

Smart, funny, and thoroughly, wonderfully flawed, Claudia navigates a world of intense friendships and tentative romance in Foolish Hearts, a YA novel about expanding your horizons, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and accepting--and loving--people for who they really are.

This book was perfection and everything I love in contemporary - normally a genre I don't even read, too! I've always been a bit iffy with books set in HS because of the age gap between reader and characters - I haven't been able to relate to one until Foolish Hearts.

For the last four years, Claudia has been mostly a wallflower at her all girls preparatory school. That is, until she overhears the breakup of the most popular couple in school - Iris and Paige. Suddenly, she's thrusted into the spotlight as she is forced to work together with mean girl Iris and popular guy Gideon in the school performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She's used to spending her time with her only friend Zoe, and her siblings, Alex and Julia. Now Claudia has to navigate the ups and downs of friendships and romance in her final year of high school.

[Review] The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Rating: 2 stars

Published: June 11th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kristen Petersen doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.

Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.

Sigh. 

This book made me tired. Here's why.

On a superficial level, The Friend Zone is about Kristen Peterson, who must fight off a growing attraction to Josh Copeland, who will be the best man at her best friend's wedding. She's in a long-distance relationship with Tyler, who works in the military overseas and who will be coming home soon. Kristen also believes that she and Josh would never work out, because, in the long-run, Josh wants a large family, and Kristen cannot do that, with her big secret: after years of painful, almost life-threatening periods, she's about to have a procedure that will prevent her from having children.

[Review] Slay by Brittney Morris

Slay by Brittney Morris

Rating: 3.5 stars

Published: September 24th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the "downfall of the Black man."
But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for "anti-white discrimination."
Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?

Kiera Johnson leads a double life. By day she's an honors student at her school and one of the only black students at Jefferson Academy. By night she's the creator of SLAY, an mmorpg card-game. She's careful to keep the two lives apart, until one day, someone is killed over the game, causing a public outrage that might just reveal her secret.

[Review] When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis

When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: ARC

Release Date: November 12th 2019 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Eighteen-year-old Devon longs for two things.

The stars.

And the boy she fell in love with last summer.
When Ashton breaks Devon’s heart at the end of the most romantic and magical summer ever, she thinks her heart will never heal again. But over the course of the following year, Devon finds herself slowly putting the broken pieces back together.
Now it’s senior year, and she’s determined to enjoy every moment of it as she prepares for a future studying the galaxies. That is, until Ashton shows up on the first day of school. Can she forgive him and open her heart again? Or are they doomed to repeat history?

TW: suicidal ideation, depression, abuse

I mentioned this before on Twitter but I just am really enjoying contemporaries lately and they're normally not my cup of tea. But they've been tackling a bunch of serious issues and have really well-developed characters.

My latest contemp is When the Stars Lead to You, and it follows Devon, aspiring astrophysicist, who dreams of having the best summer ever. She meets Ashton, and the two have a perfect summer romance, until he disappears from her life without as much as a goodbye. Though Devon is devastated, she picks up the pieces of her heart and mostly moves on, and wishes, a year later, to have a perfect senior year. But when Ashton comes back into her life, as a fellow student of Preston Academy, that might be an obstacle in her perfect year.

[Review] The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Series: Montague Siblings #1

Rating: 5 stars

Published: June 27th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.
But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Because three months later, I still continue to love Good Omens, if you loved the show/book/radio broadcast as much as I did, you're going to love Gentleman's Guide.

Henry 'Monty' Montague, his best friend/long time crush Percy, and his younger sister Felicity, embark on a grand Tour of Europe. Monty initially thinks this would be the perfect time to spend with Percy before he goes off on law school, and to spend the year doing any sort of sordid debauchery. But he is wrong - his father wants him to use the time to mature into a proper lord. However, plans change when Monty steals a small box from the Duke of Bourbon. Now on the run from hired men seeking the box, Monty and his friends have a different kind of tour, one full of pirates, alchemy, and dead people.