This book surprised me as far as good pacing and witty banter. It seemed like an average enemies-to-lovers book, which it is, but something about the characters' deep discussions and interests intrigued me. The main characters, Rowan and Neil, have been high school competitors for years to become the top of their class, never before stopping to consider that their passion to be the best hindered the discovery of similarities between them. Rowan and Neil had great chemistry and I could easily understand the pressures and concerns they had as newly-graduated high school seniors. Some reviews argued that the author tried to address too many issues in one book (misogyny, anti-Semitism, veganism, etc.), but my opinion is that there isn't a limit on how much you can advocate for equality in one book! Try this one out, it might surprise you.
Grade 12

I appreciated a more realistic, but equally heartwarming, romance novel to break up the many cookie-cutter books of the genre. In The Kiss Quotient, the main character Stella seeks advice to find a romantic partner. It's only a matter of time before the man who agrees to help makes her reconsider who she is looking to impress. Stella's witty lines and her experience with Asperger's were interesting to read about and made me appreciate the romantic scenes even more because not every party or conversation went as expected. It was also cool to follow a main character that is self-confident and extremely brilliant. Nothing particularly stuck out to me as negative about the book, but it was fast-paced and surface level which just isn't my favorite kind of book.
Grade 12

This book was real easy to read and for me to get interested in. It is a story about a girl who had real life problems. The book tells the story of her after she gets out of school and how she just keeps running into problems. Like her parents get divorced, I could relate to her on this because my parents got divorced when I was 7. I like reading about real life stuff because it makes me feel like I am not alone with my things. I hope that the author writes a sequel to this book.
-an almost 9th grader

Normal People by Sally Rooney beautifully follows Marianne and Connell’s on again off again relationship. I really loved this book and I felt as if I was there growing with the characters. This story does not follow much of a plot, it is more about watching Marianne and Connell grow and develop as people. Rooney addresses mental health and abuse and the way Marianne and Connell were always there for each other literally makes me scream. The story begins when they are in high school with Connell being a well liked soccer player and Marianne being pretty much the opposite. It follows them through college and all their ups, downs, mistakes, and triumphs. This is a fairly easy read and I was able to finish it in no time at all.

They Both Die at the End is a perfect book for both tweens and teens! Set in a futuristic time where the "Death-Cast" can predict your death, two teenage boys, Mateo and Rufus, meet through an app that leads you to your last friend. Both of them are on their death day, wanting to live memories they never got to and they learn how much of a gift it is to find love, even in your last hours. Though Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, they connect in a way they never could with anyone else and live the short life they wanted together.
I loved this book because it was deep and meaningful. It gave thought to so many things and made a day last an eternity. I stayed up all night reading this book because I just couldn't put it down, it was entrapping how the author put down their last moments together as a story with so many lessons to learn from. I picked this book because it was different than what I normally read and because I wondered how the author would put it together, knowing that the title gave it all away. I was not disappointed at all! If anything, I was only sad and disappointed about how it ended, otherwise, the book was fantastic. Even though the title of the book is a complete spoiler, by the end you never see it coming and it is so sad when you realize the book is over. The ending was very predictable but it will surprise you even though you know it will happen. It was an amazing book about their story of gay love and I ended up crying at the end because it was so beautiful. The author made the boys very relatable and emotional in a way that truly hooked you into the book. This is one of the best books I've read this year and I would certainly recommend that you read it too!

You've Reached Sam is a story about a high school girl named Julie grappling with the recent death of her boyfriend Sam. One day, after a week of Sam's death, Julie decides to call Sam to try and hear his voice for one last time. And to her surprise, he actually picks up. For some reason, Julie and Sam have this special connection even after death, but both Sam and Julie are aware that their time together is running out, and the phone calls won't last forever.
The plot of this story and its elements of fantasy intrigued me at first, but when I actually started reading, I was very underwhelmed. If I'm being honest, Julie as a character was very irritating. I understood that she was dealing with grief from losing a loved one, but when I read the flashback scenes, I slowly understood that Julie was always selfish and irritating from day 1. Adding onto an unlikeable main character were the "antagonists" of the novel. Liam and Taylor were some of Sam's childhood friends and we're told that they never really liked Julie in the first place. But after Sam's death, both of them blame Julie for what happened to Sam and are just overall cruel and unnecessarily racist to Julie's Asian friends. To be honest, Liam and Taylor were horribly written "villains." I could not understand why they were the way that they were, and it would have been much more interesting to hear their backstories with Sam and why they hated Julie so much. Sadly, Thao barely does any of this, and I wish he took the time to delve into Liam and Taylor's stories as well. Adding on, while I appreciated the representation of Asian and Asian-American characters in this novel, I feel like Thao barely did any research when writing about Sam's Japanese background. He talks about cherry blossoms and temples, and pretty much very basic facts about Japanese culture, and I wish he delved deeper into Sam's background, especially because Japanese culture has many interesting beliefs and traditions surrounding death that not many people have heard about. Adding on, I also didn't really like the way Thao incorporated scenes of discrimination against Asian people throughout the novel. To me, these scenes seemed very random and rushed. While I understood what Thao was trying to do, I feel like these scenes could have been more naturally incorporated into the plot, instead of seeming like these scenes were just there for added diversity.
Overall, this book to me was very overhyped. I didn't find myself shedding a single tear during this entire novel, even when every review was raving about how heartbreaking the story was. While the plot and the diversity of the characters excited me at first, I was left feeling very disappointed and I wish Thao did much more with all the potential that the story could have had.

The Love Hypothesis is a cute romance novel that takes place in an academic setting. Olive, our protagonist, is a PhD STEM student attending Stanford, and Adam, her love interest is a professor at the college. I was initially a little hesitant about this book because while the age gap between Olive and Adam isn't concerning, their power dynamic is. Conveniently, however, it is revealed that Adam is not one of Olive's professors and manages another section of students. Even though Adam and Olive were never really "teacher-student," it still made me a little uneasy, especially since the two attend the same college. The novel basically establishes its plot through Olive and Adam having a fake relationship together. Adam needs this fake relationship to convince his higher-ups that he's not leaving Stanford and has put down roots, in order to unfreeze funds needed for his research projects. Olive, on the other hand, needs a fake relationship to convince her best friend Ahn, that she has no feelings for a boy she had gone out on a couple of dates with, after realizing Ahn is interested in the same boy herself. In order to persuade Ahn to pursue her feelings, Olive strikes up this fake-dating deal with Professor Adam Carlsen, thus leading the two of them into a real future together.

The Love Hypothesis, in my opinion, has everything critical for a good, cheesy, romance. The fake-dating trope, many sweet situations, and a love interest who seems cold and cruel on the outside, but turns out to be a softie just for Olive. While the novel may have the right ingredients for a swoon-worthy romance, however, there was something missing. Olive as a protagonist was a very 2d character and was someone I could not find myself relating to or even being interested in. While it was refreshing to see a female woman lead pursuing a career in STEM, there was nothing else all that interesting about Olive. I also didn't like the author's choice of using the topic of sexual assault only as a plot device, in order to bring the story forward and the characters closer.

On the other hand, Adam was a classically written love interest. Strong on the outside, and soft on the inside, he had all the criteria needed for a typical male lead in a romance novel, and while it may seem overdone to some, I think Adam was a great portrayal of such traits.

Overall, The Love Hypothesis was an interesting romance novel, and I enjoyed its academic setting and some of the scenes involved. However, there were a couple of aspects of the story that could have been tweaked to make the story more enjoyable. In my opinion, many romance-lovers would probably enjoy this novel, but I found myself wanting more.

The fact that Everly has a clock heart that sometimes stalls is the perfection metaphor for this book. Although it's a very enjoyable book with many redeeming qualities, it's clunky and certain decisions baffled me.

The main plot of the book is that Everly's family was killed when she was young by Markham, who tried to kill her as well. She only survived because of her uncle building her a clockwork heart. Overall, the plot is solid. She intentionally gets arrested to get close to Markham, and ends up on the isles near the dangerous thornwoods.

Character wise, Everley flip flops between being an interseting and bland protagonist. Just saying that she wants revenge and is angry at her would be murderer isn't exactly compelling. However, when the story takes the time to explore how she's closed herself off, her character is actually pretty good. Sadly, this only happens about three times. Jamison (Everly's love interest) is almost always bland. He only gets angry (or feels any non supportive emotion) once. Yet, all of this is par for the course with YA novels, it's time to talk about what sets this book apart.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)
Markham is the lost prince of Everly's favorite fairy tale. He accidentally mortally wounded his wife and is banished to the mortal releam with eternal life. The only reason he killed Everly's family is becuase her father tried to keep him from the forest where his love lies in a magical coma. Sounds interesting? It is, but there are two major problems. One: most of the characters completly ignore that he killed two innocent children and tried to kill a third. It's almost comical how Everly shouts about his war crimes while everyone kisses his feet. I just wanted everyone to see his true colors so the dissonance would end. I got my wish in the worst way possible. Two: turns out all that complexity was a lie. He actually just wanted power and no longer cared about his wife. Pure evil villians are wonderful. Sympethetic villians are also wonderful. However, you can't just set up a complex villian for half the book and wimp out last second.

That's enough negativity though. Let's talk about what this book does right. There's just this sense of whimsy throughout the book. Maybe this shouldn't be a surprise, (Everly has a clockwork heart after all) but when there's also a dark/oppressive atmosphere, it doesn't seem like it can work. The book really shines once they arrive at the other world. The imagination in those scenes really made me smile. I mean, the fairy alone could have carried the book.

If you're looking for a nice fantasy read, pick up Before the Broken Star. However, if you're looking for something truly complex, that will make you think for hours afterwards, try something else.

This is one of those books that gets better in the days after finishing it. Of course, the white-washed love triangle was a little stale, but I love a good romance in an unfamiliar city. The beginning of the story had so much potential, but I was slightly let down by the end. The last few chapters, which should be the best as each character frantically interacts to find their resolutions with others, just felt rushed. Here's where it gets good though. I love how the main character naturally found a true friend in her first days in Italy. I love how they find parallels around the city to her mother's own adventures there. Finally, I love how her mother's story, though rocky, helped Lina find her own path. If any of this sounds intriguing, try this book!
Grade 12

XOXO features a teenage Korean-American girl, Jenny, who plays cello and one night meets a mysterious boy named Jaewoo at her uncle's karaoke place. They end up going to a festival and Jaewoo leaves and never texts Jenny again. Jenny goes on but moves in with her grandma she never met in South Korea and finds Jaewoo is actually a k-pop star who goes to her new school. Throughout the novel Jenny and Jaewoo grow close and learn about the struggles of balancing the expectations that come with talent and love. I enjoyed the concept of k-pop mixing with the famous-common person trope as that is what drew me in initially, but the novel was very predictable and surface level. Throughout the book the characters didn''t have much character development, there's no plot twists, and the only interesting part and pro of the novel is the concept.

Grade 12