Always The Almost
– Edward Underhill –
Wednesday Books
Published 14 February 2023
♥♥♥♥♥
Always the Almost is an uplifting and heartwarming YA novel.
Tag: LGBTQIA+ (Page 1 of 7)
Pearl of the Sea
– Anthony Silverston, Willem Samuel, Raffaella Delle Donne –
Catalyst Press
Published 31 January 2023
♥♥♥♥♥
Pearl of the Sea is a beautiful graphic novel that will have great appeal to a wide range of readers.
Defend the Dawn
– Brigid Kemmerer –
Defy the Night #2
Bloomsbury YA
Published 20 September 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Defend the Dawn is the second book in the Defy the Night series and all I can say is I definitely need book 3, right now. Talk about a cliffhanger of an ending.
Aces Wild: A Heist
– Amanda DeWitt –
Peachtree Teen
Published 13 September 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
What a fantastic novel. Aces Wild combines heists and all the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, plus behind the scenes of what makes a casino run. You’d be right to think Ocean’s 11, but we also get a fantastic diverse cast and strong friendship themes.
Dancing Barefoot
– Alice Boyle –
Text Publishing
Published 30 August 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Dancing Barefoot is an utterly delightful YA novel about friendship, love, self discovery and fitting in. Authentic, richly detailed and genuinely just good fun, I loved every page of this novel and can’t wait to add it to my school library shelf.
Wildbound
– Elayne Audrey Becker –
Forestborn #2
Tor Teen
Published 30 August 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Wildbound is the sequel to Forstborn and it is the perfect follow up to this YA fantasy. Romance, war and a fight for justice and freedom. I adore fantasy duologues and Wildbound has all the elements of an epic fantasy.
Home Field Advantage
– Dahlia Adler –
Wednesday Books
Published 7 June 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Home Field Advantage is a jovial sports novel with queer romance and a powerful message about coming out and standing up for what’s right, wrapped in a bright, bubbly story.
I think I start every sport novel review with a statement about how much I l sports novels, so I’ve put this a bit further down in my review just for a change. My stance remains, though. I love sports novels. I can never find enough to satisfy my own cravings or that of my readers, so this is an automatic buy for my school library. It’s a great sports novel. Romance – check. Game suspense – check. Team drama – check. Strong, determined athletes – check, check. We have two athletes who take centre field in this story. Jack, female quarterback on the boys team, hated by her team mates and determined to prove herself. And Amber, cheerleader, firmly in the closet and totally crushing on the new quarterback.
Forging Silver Into Stars
– Brigid Kemmerer –
Forging Silver Into Stars #1
Bloomsbury YA
Published 7 June 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Forging Silver Into Stars is just the most beautiful fantasy novel, with romance, betrayal, intrigue and wildly swinging emotions. I don’t know how she does it but Brigid Kemmerer’s writing just gets better and better. I don’t know how to put my love for this novel into words, so instead I’ll just go about shoving this book into the hands of readers and demanding they read it.
Forging Silver Into Stars returns readers to the world we first fell in love with in A Curse So Dark and Lonely. While Forging Silver Into Stars introduces us to new characters, never far from the action are Grey, Lia Mara, Rhen and Harper.
Café Con Lychee
– Emery Lee –
Quill Tree Books
Published 10 May 2022
♥♥♥/♥
I fully expected to love Café Con Lychee. LGBT+ romance, enemies to lovers relationship, food, food and more food.
Theo and Gabi are enemies. Despite playing on the same soccer team, they know to keep their distance (except when Gabi is accidentally crashing into Theo on the soccer field). Their parents both run restaurants in town that compete for business. When a new café in town opens, Theo and Gabi unexpectedly and kind of against both their wishes, team up to fight to protect their families’ restaurants. What ensues is carefully timed, almost a disaster plan to get their classmates on board and brings Gabi and Theo together in way they just didn’t expect.
Blaine for the Win
– Robbie Couch –
Simon Schuster
Published 12 April 2022
♥♥♥♥
I was looking for something fun and uplifting when I picked up Blaine for the Win. And, having just read Heartstopper books 1 to 4, this was the perfect follow up book.
When Blaine is dumped by his boyfriend rather than receiving the expected invite to the family holiday, he is devastated. Worse is being told the reason is because he isn’t serious enough. Sure, maybe most guys aren’t painting murals or eternally running late, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t serious. To prove his point, Blaine decides to run for student body president, as his ex-boyfriend’s replacement and his ex-boyfriend’s new boyfriend’s opponent (it’s complicated). His two best friends make the best campaign team and he finds an unexpected ally in Daniel, the boy he literally crashes into.
