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10 Books I So Must Read (But Will I?!?!?) Before 2020 Ends

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All I ever seem to do is say “Oh! I’m going to read that soon!”

And quite frankly by this point I’m starting to side-eye myself. Although in my defence there is a lot to read and I only have two eyes (a disgrace) and I’m notoriously bad at balancing both writing and reading. But I finished off reading two books today and felt a little bit energised as I stared down my TBR pile thinking, “I will conquer u before this year ends.”

I won’t. But I felt like I could for 1 minute. And I think that’s beautiful.

Since my current reading-goals-count is at 184 (and yes I’m aiming for 200), this definitely leaves me time to read some of the books I’ve been planning to all year. (I’m ignoring the fact I need to read like, 100 more books before the year ends to catch up but 😪 I’ll stay realistic here and aim for 10.)

10 Books I So Must Read Before 2020 Ends

(Hold me accountable. I’m such a liar to myself and mood reader 😭😂)

The House in the Cerulean Sea

Basically 100% of bookstagram is yelling at me to read this and my SHAME only grows under the fact I haven’t yet. I actually do admit to be intimidated 😂Everyone loves it to pieces. If I don’t…I will be a monster. So lowkey anxious over this one, but I will read it so I can face the world again. (I better love it though 💀.)

You Should See Me In A Crown

Now considering I preordered this and then it took MONTHS to come and I sat there like, “Where 🤨is my book🤨” and then proceeded to not read it as soon as it hit my mailbox…yes I look slightly ashamed. It’s also TINY and I love tiny books. I can read them in one day and feel powerful. So here’s to finally achieving that.

Kingdom of the Wicked

Because why not 👀Admittedly I’ve only read Stalking Jack the Ripper from this author (and I didn’t finish the series yet because I’m horrible at finishing things. But I will!! Someday!!) but I’m seeing it all over the book community and I must KNOW. Plus I have it out from the library who wants it back. Now.

The Court of Miracles

Another one the library demands back. (Look, the sooner libraries learn that I borrow books and wish to keep them 😪the sooner we’ll get along better.) It does have a LOT of mixed reviews, and considering I’ve never seen or read the original Les Mis (it’s a retelling apparently) I’m a little worried. But it has a heist?!?!?! I love heists.

The Lucky Ones

I meant to read this ON release day 💀 Am I writing this post just to drag myself? It would seem so. It just sucks to want to read everything all at once and yet not be able to?! I’m tired of it. Demand time to pause.

Grown

I’m putting this here because I actually started it on audiobook! And then…I got 35% in and decided to switch to ebook. I absolutely love Tiffany D Jackson books (this will be my third from her this year 😭🙌🏻) but this one is just harder to read because it’s about grooming. These kind of stories need to exist but it’s hard to listen than to read for myself? So yes. Will finish though. (Also seriously drop everything and read Let Me Hear a Rhyme and Monday’s Not Coming. I am forever floored by these books.)

House of Dragons

So hilariously, I have this book on my “immediate TBR” bedside table stack and — still haven’t read it. But for some reason it’s excellent for photos and just appears in so many of them on my bookstagram account. I will read it though 😌 Soon. Also dragons! I mean, what could go wrong!

Please Don’t Hug Me

Not only is this title a law I wish the world abided by, I have been psyched to read this since I ordered it!! I’m forever mad how I end up prioritising ARCs and library books over books I buy. I mean?! I bought it because I WANT IT. Let me read it, brain!!! Also this is an autistic book by an autistic author (and Australian too) so basically everything I ever wanted.

These Violent Delights

Again with books I preordered and am excited out of my mind for…and still haven’t read?! Disappointed in me. But also this is queer dark academia and I’ve heard it’s so deeply twisted. Perfect 😙👌🏻It is a little bigger than I anticipated and my weak self is considering trying an audiobook? But I will read it…soon.

The Memory of Souls

I’m currently reading this so this is only half cheating to put it on the list. BUT! Hear me out. It’s like 700 pages long. And I’m listening to the audiobook which is approximately 700 years long. I only listen to about 1 hour (or a bit less) of an audio per day so who knows when I’ll finish. But I’ve not been so hyped for any book except this one for a long, long time. I’m ECSTATIC okay  😍😍😍 Three chapters in and it’s gifting me life with the gang all together of Janel, Kihrin, Thurvishar and Taraeth!! They breath and I go, 10/10 would do anything for you.

what are you definitely reading before 2020 ends?! 👀

 

2020 New YA Releases Because You Need More Books!! [Ft. August – November Books]

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It’s new YA book release update time!

Sometimes I think about why I spend hours writing these types of posts, and I come to the conclusion that it’s split between (a) I love writing lists of books and admiring the covers and pretending I could read them all, and (b) if I don’t do this I have no clue what’s coming out and I’ll live out life oblivious and confused 😌👌🏻 So I write new release list posts! You are welcome!

I’ll be listing books I’m excited for that are releasing from August, September, October, and November, 2020 😍and then I’ll likely be petting my laptop screen and angstily wishing I could read them NOW. Because I obviously have nothing else to read.

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➢ 2020 New YA Releases January, March, April
➢ 2020 New YA Releases May, June, July
➢ Why It’s Perfectly Acceptable To Have An Enormous TBR Pile

Also hello I am debuting my new macaron border 😌😙 it is so beautiful

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed | Goodreads

I have not heard much about this one apart from it being very very good!! And also hard hitting. It’s set against the backdrop of the 1992 Rodney King Riots so I am super intrigued for this one 👀

Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.
Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.
As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.
With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them? 
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Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko | Goodreads

I am on the cusp of finishing an early copy of an audiobook and afjdklsad I LOVE THIS ONE. It has all the feels of an adult epic fantasy (such deep, gorgeous world building) and plenty of sharp characters and clever plot twists. 😙 This is what I want when I ask for a good fantasy!

Nothing is more important than loyalty.
But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? With extraordinary world-building and breathtaking prose, Raybearer is the story of loyalty, fate, and the lengths we’re willing to go for the ones we love.  
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Prelude for Lost Souls by Helene Dunbar | Goodreads

I always love al of Helene’s books so I am just EXCITED for this 😍 Plus it has music which is something I crave in books and it’s a bit of fantasy woven with queerness. Waiting anxiously for my preorder tbh.

Seventeen-year-old Dec Hampton knows there are no coincidences in St. Hilaire, New York, the spiritualist community he’s longing to leave. So when the train of Annie Krylova, the piano prodigy he’s captivated by, breaks down outside of town, he’s forced to take her sudden entry into his life seriously… just like the unexpected reappearance of Tristan, the childhood friend he’d assumed – and hoped – was imaginary.
Despite everything Dec has learned about Annie on the internet, he’s unaware that she has her own figurative ghosts to deal with. She has a family she supports but rarely sees, and a recently deceased teacher whose final communication charged her with a seemingly impossible task: find the rest of The Unfinished Prelude, the mysterious piece of music that catapulted her to stardom.
Dec and his best friend Russ, a talented, but complicated medium, offer Annie their help. But when Annie’s quest for the remainder of The Prelude becomes an obsession and it’s clear that Tristan is involved, Dec finds himself increasingly at odds with his plan to leave St. Hilaire. Even worse is the growing tension with Russ who, in trying to help Dec and Annie, begins to embrace dark and potentially life-threatening forces, including an enigmatic and manipulative ghost. 
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They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman | Goodreads

When something is pitched as “One of Us Is Lying with a dash of The Secret History” and “a slick, taut murder mystery” I am just HERE for it. My dark academia soul has needs.

In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.
Freshman year Jill’s best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.
Now, it’s Jill’s senior year and she’s determined to make it her best yet. After all, she’s a senior and a Player–a member of Gold Coast Prep’s exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill’s year. She’s sure of it.
But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham’s innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn’t kill Shaila, who did? Jill vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy.  
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Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar | Goodreads

I am just instantly caught by the pitch of “blends Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy” 😩✨💛 I have needed this all my life. Plus it’s #ownvoices!

The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.” But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago.
Sheetal’s quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens–and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.
Brimming with celestial intrigue, this sparkling YA debut is perfect for fans of Roshani Chokshi and Laini Taylor.  
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The Memory of Souls (#3) by Jenn Lyons | Goodreads

I honestly am DYING for this book!! It’s one of my most anticipated of the year after I fell in love with book 1 (The Ruin of Kings) and developed a deep and loving obsession 🥰This is adult fantasy too, by the way! It’s going to be everything I need and I am going to softly scream my way through 600 pages.

What if you’re the one who has to die?
Now that the city of Atrine has been destroyed and Relos Var’s plan to free the dark god Vol Karoth has been revealed—the end of the world is closer than ever.
To buy time for humanity, Kihrin, Janel, and Thurvishar must convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual that will strip the vané of their immortality—a ritual that certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the ones bringing the news.
Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with the horrifying possibility that his connection to Vol Karoth is steadily growing in strength. How can Kihrin hope to save anyone when he might turn out to be the greatest threat of them all? 
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Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger | Goodreads

I actually have read very very little Indigenous American books, so I really want to read this one! It sounds beautiful and magical and I love the alternate reality bend to it?! Plus — murder mystery. PLUS it has illustrations!!

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.
There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.
Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.  
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Vicious Spirits (#2) by Kat Cho | Goodreads

This is the sequel to Wicked Fox which I adored last year and am just so excited for more!! The first book was so angsty but also fun but also full of banter 🥰basically my perfect paranormal.  This is a companion novel though, so same world but different main characters.

As Vicious Spirits begins, Miyoung and Jihoon are picking up the pieces of their broken lives following the deaths of Miyoung’s mother, Yena, and Jihoon’s grandmother. With the support of their friend Somin, and their frenemy, Junu, they might just have a shot at normalcy. But Miyoung is getting sicker and sicker by the day and her friends don’t know how to save her. With few options remaining, Junu has an idea but it might require the ultimate sacrifice and, let’s be honest, Junu isn’t known for his “generosity.” Meanwhile, the events at the end of Wicked Fox have upended the forces that govern life and death and there are supernatural entities lurking in the background that will stop at nothing to right their world.  
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Darius the Great Deserves Better (#2) by Adib Khorram | Goodreads

Another sequel!! Darius The Great Is Not Okay was a total favourite last year too, with Darius and his family travelling to Iran to meet family properly, and Darius figuring out friendship, diaspora and his depression 🥺I really loved the rep too! And I think this one will explore more of his queer journey.

Darius Kellner is having a bit of a year. Since his trip to Iran this past spring, a lot has changed. He’s getting along with his dad, and his best friend Sohrab is only a Skype call away. Between his first boyfriend, Landon, his varsity soccer practices, and his internship at his favorite tea shop, Darius is feeling pretty okay. Like he finally knows what it means to be Darius Kellner.
Then, of course, everything changes. Darius’s grandmothers are in town for a long visit while his dad is gone on business, and Darius isn’t sure whether they even like him. The internship isn’t what Darius thought it would be, and now he doesn’t know about turning tea into his career. He was sure he liked Landon, but when he starts hanging out with Chip–soccer teammate and best friend of Trent Bolger, epic bully–well, he’s just not so sure about Landon anymore, either.
Darius thought he knew exactly who he was and what he wanted, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe he deserves better.
In this companion to the award-winning Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Darius suddenly has it all: a boyfriend, an internship, a spot on the soccer team. It’s everything he’s ever wanted–but what if he deserves better? 
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Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles | Goodreads

I’ve heard that this is a Phantom fo the Opera Retelling and that’s all I need to know to want it!! Plus it’s giving me distinct Caraval vibes 🥰 I also haven’t read enough Filipino authors so I am excited for this.

In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.
As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.
The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost
The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told
The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide
Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed. 
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Honourable mentions…

Dear Justyce (#2) by Nic Stone | Goodreads

A long awaited sequel to Dear Martin!! It’s talking about discrimination and the American justice and prison system, also told in letters again.

Shortly after teenager Quan enters a not guilty plea for the shooting death of a police officer, he is placed in a holding cell to await trial. Through a series of flashbacks and letters to Justyce, the protagonist of Dear Martin, Quan’s story unravels.
From a troubled childhood and bad timing to a coerced confession and prejudiced police work, Nic Stone’s newest novel takes an unflinching look at the flawed practices and ideologies that discriminate against African American boys and minorities in the American justice system.
In the stunning and hard-hitting sequel to the New York Times bestseller Dear Martin, incarcerated teen Quan writes letters to Justyce about his experiences in the American prison system.  
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Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson | Goodreads

Basically if Tiffany D. Jackson writes it — I want it. Immediately. I rate all her books 5-stars and they throw me off a cliff every time?! She is such an excellent writer and her concepts are!! incredible!! I cannot stop fangirling!

Korey Fields is dead.
When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom.
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.
Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?
All signs point to Enchanted. 
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These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever | Goodreads

My weakness for Dark Academia knows no end alright 😩👌🏻this one promises to be super dark (it’s also adult) and it’s pitched as a queer and obsessive The Secret History — so basically yes and I need it.

When Paul and Julian meet as university freshmen in early 1970s Pittsburgh, they are immediately drawn to one another. A talented artist, Paul is sensitive and agonizingly insecure, incomprehensible to his working-class family, and desolate with grief over his father’s recent death.
Paul sees the wealthy, effortlessly charming Julian as his sole intellectual equal—an ally against the conventional world he finds so suffocating. He idolizes his friend for his magnetic confidence. But as charismatic as he can choose to be, Julian is also volatile and capriciously cruel. And admiration isn’t the same as trust.
As their friendship spirals into an all-consuming intimacy, Paul is desperate to protect their precarious bond, even as it becomes clear that pressures from the outside world are nothing compared with the brutality they are capable of inflicting on one another. Separation is out of the question. But as their orbit compresses and their grip on one another tightens, they are drawn to an act of irrevocable violence that will force the young men to confront a shattering truth at the core of their relationship.
Exquisitely plotted, unfolding with a propulsive ferocity, These Violent Delights is a novel of escalating dread and an excavation of the unsettling depths of human desire.  
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A Deadly Education by Namoi Novik | Goodreads

SEE!! DARK ACADEMIA. I honestly am deprived and need so so much more. This one is more of a magic school where you have to fight to survive, let alone graduate. And tbh I am here for that kind of stress.

Lesson One of the Scholomance
Learning has never been this deadly
A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) — until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets. There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate… or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.  
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Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas | Goodreads

I have this preordered and have been excited for ages!! Latinx trans #ownvoices rep with GHOSTS (I tell you I really love ghosts) and it just sounds both fun and heart twisting and good 🥺✨I cannot spell CEMETERY ever though.

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.  
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Fable by Adrienne Young | Goodreads

I know I’m behind, but I’ve not read any of this author yet and I was luckily given an eARC of this so I am EXCITED. The cover is also super stunning 😍and I just love the title! It captivated me.

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.
But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.
Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men. 
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None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney | Goodreads

I’m particularly excited for this because it’s an Australian author who’s made it to the US!!!! And her previous thrillers were all phenomenal. (Particularly the genderbent Sherlock trilogy 😙). I also suddenly love thrillers?! This cover is not Great though. 😂

In 1982, two teenagers—serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell—are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can’t crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case—a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers—things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.
Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma. 
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Lazarus by Maryanne Melloan Woods | Goodreads

I just kind of need this book after the pitch of “Margo and Hank have a profoundly deep relationship; the only hitch is that Hank has been dead for two months.” I neeeed more ghost stories! Plus it’s a murder mystery?! They are a team of detectives!

Margo and Hank are two teens in tiny, god-forsaken Lazarus, Nebraska. They have a profoundly deep relationship; the only hitch is that Hank has been dead for two months. Somehow he has remained in limbo— no doubt due to the sheer force of their love, and unfinished work to be done.
When the pair get tangled up investigating the latest local murder— with Margo doing the everyday detective work and the late Hank spying on suspects unseen—they discover nothing and no one in Lazarus are as they seem. The investigation becomes more dangerous, and it’s up to Hank to protect Margo—as much as a ghost-bodyguard-boyfriend can. While clinging to each other, the teens uncover the sinister secrets of the people they’ve known all their lives, reopen the cold case of Margo’s mother’s death, and learn how to face their past—and how to move on.  
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Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam | Goodreads

I’ve read two books by Ibi Zoboi and loved them so really keen for her next work! Plus #BlackLivesMatter books are always incredibly needed, and this one looks like it’s going to take a good look racial profiling. Also told in verse!

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.
Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?
With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both. 
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The Lost Book Of The White (#2) by Cassandra Clare | Goodreads

You know my undying love for Shadowhunters!! Although I confess Chain of Gold wasn’t so much for me this year but I LOVED the Red Scrolls of Magic so I cannot wait for the sequel. Softly dying that they changed the covers though so this won’t match mine. 💀

Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway.
Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter.
Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon and the wound is glowing, so they have that to worry about too.
Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—to the very realm of the dead. Can they stop the threat to the world? Will they make it back home before their kid completely wears out Alec’s mom? 
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Honourable mentions…

We Were Restless things by Cole Nagamatsu | Goodreads

I’ve seen this pitched as for fans of Maggie Stiefvater and that, plus this cover, is all you need to sell me thank you.

Last summer, Link Miller drowned on dry land in the woods, miles away from the nearest body of water. His death was ruled a strange accident, and in the months since, his friends and family have struggled to make sense of it. But Link’s close friend Noemi Amato knows the truth: Link drowned in an impossible lake that only she can find. And what’s more, someone claiming to be Link has been contacting her, warning Noemi to stay out of the forest.

As these secrets become too heavy for Noemi to shoulder on her own, she turns to Jonas, her new housemate, and Amberlyn, Link’s younger sister. All three are trying to find their place—and together, they start to unravel the truth: about themselves, about the world, and about what happened to Link.

Unfolding over a year and told through multiple POVs and a dream journal, We Were Restless Things explores the ways society shapes our reality, how we can learn to love ourselves and others, and the incredible power of our own desires.

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Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco | Goodreads

I am half here for the cover, but also!! I did like Stalking Jack the Ripper (guiltily, I haven’t read the rest of the series yet) and I think historical fantasy with murder mystery aspects are fantastic.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.
Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…
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This Is All Your Fault by Aminah Mae Safi | Goodreads

If it’s gay and about saving an indie bookstore, then obviously it is the kind of quality content I look for in my life. It’s also set over the course of ONE day, so those kind of books are pretty compelling and fast!

Set over the course of one day, this smart and voice-driven YA novel follows three young women determined to save their indie bookstore.
Rinn Olivera is finally going to tell her longtime crush AJ that she’s in love with him.
Daniella Korres writes poetry for her own account, but nobody knows it’s her.
Imogen Azar is just trying to make it through the day.
When Rinn, Daniella, and Imogen clock into work at Wild Nights Bookstore on the first day of summer, they’re expecting the hours to drift by the way they always do. Instead, they have to deal with the news that the bookstore is closing. Before the day is out, there’ll be shaved heads, a diva author, and a very large shipment of Air Jordans to contend with.
And it will take all three of them working together if they have any chance to save Wild Nights Bookstore.
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Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston | Goodreads

Fairy tales with monsters and dark woods?! I love this premise 😭I always have, so this one is an immediate must-read for me. I also love that this author writes in so many genres! A talent.

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.
Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.
As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.
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Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald | Goodreads

This is pitched as “a queer YA perfect for fans of Wicked Saints” so call me INTRIGUED. I also won’t lie. I am here for this cover.

Emanuela Ragno always gets what she wants. With her daring mind and socialite schemes, she refuses to be the demure young lady everyone wants her to be. In her most ambitious move yet, she’s about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn’t care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn’t want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she’ll have it all.
But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In the city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has given themselves up for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She’s kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years.
When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back…and kills her. Now Occhia has no one to make their water and no idea how to get more. In a race against time, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the secrets of the watercrea’s magic and find a way to save their people-no matter what it takes.
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Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz | Goodreads

An #ownvoices Puerto Rican fantasy with DRAGONS!! That’s all we ever really needed okay 😭💛 I really miss dragons in books (they are not cliches, they are perfect 🤨🙌🏻) so hanging out for this.

Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.
But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.
Experience the World Cup with dragons in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which riders and their steeds compete in an international sports tournament.
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The Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey | Goodreads

Basically food 🥺💛I really want more foodie YA and this is here for it. Plus I think it’ll have an enemies-to-lovers sort of romance and it’s #ownvoices for Cuban rep!

Teenage master of Cuban cuisine, Lila Reyes, is eager to inherit her family’s Miami bakery along with her sister, Pilar. But between spring and graduation, Lila’s abuela dies, her best friend abandons her, and her long-time boyfriend dumps her. Fearing Lila’s emotional health, her parents defy her wishes and entrust her summer to family and their Winchester, England inn. Even though she’s given a space to cook at the inn, she longs for Miami, the seat of her Cuban roots. Being a Miami Cuban baker is her glorified past and destined future, forged by years of training by her loving abuela.
Days into her stay, Orion Maxwell barges into Lila’s inn kitchen with a delivery from his family’s tea shop. A nuisance at first, opposite ingredients soon learn to blend. Orion befriends Lila, introducing her to his mates and devouring her food––comida Cubana.
Orion entertains her with his mental collection of superstitions and sweeps her onto his vintage motorbike. He wraps cold, underdressed Lila in his wool cardigan and becomes her personal tour guide. His mum’s early-onset (FTD) Dementia gives Orion a unique outlook––he never asks too much of the world, accepting what he can’t control. Lila soon discovers this British boy brings empathy to her loss because he’s living his own.
Before long, Lila can’t control the route of her own heart as she begins to fall for more than a new love. England has charmed her. And a special opportunity in London tempts her. As her return ticket looms, Lila feels impossibly caught between two flags. Hearts aren’t supposed to split like this––between a beautiful boy and a beautiful family. Between exploring an uncharted future in a rich new place, and honoring Abuela’s treasured legacy.
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I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan | Goodreads

More thrillers 👀I am developing a love for them. Also I really adored this author’s last book (Keep This To Yourself) so I’m just expecting more of that quality and thrill!

In her small town, seventeen year-old Delia “Dee” Skinner is known as the girl who wasn’t taken. Ten years ago, she witnessed the abduction of her best friend, Sibby. And though she told the police everything she remembered, it wasn’t enough. Sibby was never seen again.At night, Dee deals with her guilt by becoming someone else: the Seeker, the voice behind the popular true crime podcast Radio Silent, which features missing persons cases and works with online sleuths to solve them. Nobody knows Dee’s the Seeker, and she plans to keep it that way.When another little girl goes missing, and the case is linked to Sibby’s disappearance, Dee has a chance to get answers, with the help of her virtual detectives and the intriguing new girl at school. But how much is she willing to reveal about herself in order to uncover the truth? Dee’s about to find out what’s really at stake in unraveling the mystery of the little girls who vanished.
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Honourable mentions…

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong | Goodreads

It’s pitched as “an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths” and omgggg do I need it. Plus I’ve seen people raving about it already…and I might have preordered. 😌#ownvoices Chinese rep!

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
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Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Cho | Goodreads

Hires a fake!! Boyfriend!! I do think this one will be fun, plus it’s #ownvoices and I really liked the author’s previous book!

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.
Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.
But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda. 
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How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (#3.5) by Holly Black | Goodreads

OKAY BUT IT’S MORE CARDAN BOOKS AND I CAN’T STOP BEING SO SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye 😭💛and here we get MORE. Also it’s ILLUSTRATED.

An illustrated addition to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince, from award-winning author Holly Black.
An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.
Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.
Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone . #1 New York Times bestselling author, Holly Black reveals a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan. This tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.
This new installment in the Folk of the Air series is a return to the heart-racing romance, danger, humor, and drama that enchanted readers everywhere. Each chapter is paired with lavish and luminous full-color art, making this the perfect collector’s item to be enjoyed by both new audiences and old. 
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Ruinsong by Julia Ember | Goodreads

This is a queer phantom of the opera retelling?! I cannot express how much I need this right now. I’ve only read one novella by this author, so I’d love to read more!

Her voice was her prison…
Now it’s her weapon.
In a world where magic is sung, a powerful mage named Cadence has been forced to torture her country’s disgraced nobility at her ruthless queen’s bidding.
But when she is reunited with her childhood friend, a noblewoman with ties to the underground rebellion, she must finally make a choice: Take a stand to free their country from oppression, or follow in the queen’s footsteps and become a monster herself. 
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The Cousins by Karen M. McManus | Goodreads

I’m absolutely obsessed by her last two books so this is just INSTA NEED. I suppose I should look at the blurb briefly but like 😌👌🏻I love that feeling when you have an author you just will read on their name alone.

Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they’ve never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they’re surprised . . . and curious.
Their parents are all clear on one point–not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother’s good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it’s immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious–and dark–their family’s past is.
The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn’t over–and this summer, the cousins will learn everything. 
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Master Of One by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett | Goodreads

This has A HEIST!! I repeat A HEIST!! And the pitch is “Sinister sorcery. Gallows humor. A queer romance so glorious it could be right out of fae legend itself” so hello I have been sold so completely.

Rags is a thief—an excellent one. He’s stolen into noble’s coffers, picked soldier’s pockets, and even liberated a ring or two off the fingers of passersby. Until he’s caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer.
But Rags could never have guessed this “relic” would actually be a fae himself—a distractingly handsome, annoyingly perfect, ancient fae prince called Shining Talon. Good thing Rags can think on his toes, because things just get stranger from there…
With the heist and intrigue of Six of Crows and the dark fairy tale feel of The Cruel Prince, this young adult fantasy debut will have readers rooting for a pair of reluctant heroes as they take on a world-ending fae prophecy, a malicious royal plot, and, most dangerously of all, their feelings for each other.  
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A Curse of Roses by Diana Pinguicha | Goodreads

This is a Portuguese historical fantasy so consider me thoroughly intrigued. And it seems it’ll have a lot of flower content which is my aesthetic!

With just one touch, bread turns into roses. With just one bite, cheese turns into lilies.
There’s a famine plaguing the land, and Princess Yzabel is wasting food simply by trying to eat. Before she can even swallow, her magic—her curse—has turned her meal into a bouquet. She’s on the verge of starving, which only reminds her that the people of Portugal have been enduring the same pain.
If only it were possible to reverse her magic. Then she could turn flowers…into food.
Fatyan, a beautiful Enchanted Moura, is the only one who can help. But she is trapped by magical binds. She can teach Yzabel how to control her curse—if Yzabel sets her free with a kiss.
As the King of Portugal’s betrothed, Yzabel would be committing treason, but what good is a king if his country has starved to death?
With just one kiss, Fatyan is set free. And with just one kiss, Yzabel is yearning for more.
She’d sought out Fatyan to help her save the people. Now, loving her could mean Yzabel’s destruction.
Based on Portuguese legend, this #OwnVoices historical fantasy is an epic tale of mystery, magic, and making the impossible choice between love and duty… 
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tell me which ones you’re most excited for!

 

Disability Pride Month | 10 YA Books With Disabled Characters You Need To Read!!

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Since July is Disability Pride Month and it’s almost over…I need to leave you with some recommendations!

Did I mean to write this post much, much earlier in the month? Why yes. But look 😌😚 it’s here now and I do like to claim that quote on how a wizard is never late, but arrives precisely when they mean to (credits to Gandalf, who makes some good points).

Anyway! I’m really excited to talk about some of my favourite books with disabled characters!! Earlier this month I wrote a post on 5 Things I Want To See More Of In Disabled YA Books, and I poured a lot into that post, so thank you so much to everyone who read and commented! My advocacy posts aren’t perfect and I definitely aim to learn more — being disabled is such a vastly different thing to different people and it’s hard to succinctly talk about it and encompass all angles. Plus I am more knowledgable in neurodiversity and autism. But I am trying to learn more!!!

Before we go on though…a quick list…

Things To Remember (When It Comes to Disabled Books)

  • #ownvoices books SHOULD be supported and recommended first and foremost!! Of course abled authors can write good rep 🥰 but the fact that disabled authors are rarer in YA is an issue that needs fixing.
  • When I talk about “disability pride” it absolutely does not erase disability suffering and struggles.
  • We absolutely need books about disability suffering!! But I want to see #ownvoices authors write these.
  • Please don’t recommend me books where the disabled character dies while I’m talking about disabled pride. (Especially if that book is by an abled author. 😑)
  • I think it’s fair to point out that the book community doesn’t support disabled YA like they do other diverse books and would love if we all worked on this!!
  • Two people can have the same condition and one may consider themselves disabled, one might not.  We should respect both!
  • We need to be careful about language we use to talk about disabilities in books. Things like “she overcame her disability” and “he was amazing despite being disabled” and “this disabled character really inspired me for still doing cool stuff” ARE all really abled. It’s like you really can’t think of anything worse than being disabled and 🥴 let’s stop with that. Disabilities are not a flaw. Just say: “I loved the epic stuff this disabled character did!”

Other Posts You Might Like

➸ 10 Things I Want To See More of In YA Books About Mental Health
➸ How To Tell If A Book Has Good Autism Rep
➸ How To Keep Supporting Diverse Books (All The Time!)
➸ YA Books About Anxiety

…Sick Kids In Love by Hannah Moskowitz

This was one of my favourite reads of last year just for being SO funny, soft, relatable, aching and lonely and loving — and absolutely crammed full of incredible disability rep. The hard parts. The wonderful parts. (It’s also #Ownvoices and you can just TELL because it really unpacks a lot of everyday ableism too.) Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis and Sasha has Gaucher Disease. They’re also both Jewish! There’s a lot of pain in this book, and it’s not romanticised. 😭💛The whole thing hurts, but it also is full of love.

 

…A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Bernard

This is narrated by Steffi who has selective mutism and ends up partnered with the Deaf boy at school since they both know BSL (British Sign Language). Their quiet love story just filled my whole heart. As far as I know, it’s not #ownvoices for either, but there’s such care and respect in both characters. I really related to Steffi’s severe anxiety too 😭It’s also nice because it’s full of romantic “firsts” but not conventionally. Steffi and Rhys are flawed, but their disabilities aren’t their flaw.

 

…A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Okay this one will leave you BROKEN on the floor and as you cry softly into your hands, you will absolutely thank me for recommending this book to you. It’s about two boys who were once foster brothers and find each other again…and how their lives basically unravel. Adam has ADHD and Julian has dyslexia and PTSD. There’s a lot of trauma and darkness here, but also unlikely friendship and just two boys trying to fit into a world that rejects them.

 

…Brave Enough by Kati Gardner

I’m going to say this one wasn’t totally for me stylistically, buuuut I still want to recommend it because it’s #ownvoices for amputee rep and that’s SO rare in YA and this needs to be celebrated! The story follows Cason as she goes from upcoming amazing ballerina to an amputee. The love interest is a cancer survivor but is now dealing with a drug addiction. It also deeply unpacks what it is to go from living a full able-bodied life to not having that anymore. The pain and loss of it, and how to find yourself again.

 

…A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen

This one is about Spencer who has Tourette’s! I can’t vouch for the rep and I don’t think it’s #ownvoices, but it did feel really respectful and realistic, showing the highs and lows of managing severe Tourette’s. It starts off when Spencer is pretty young and then grows up with him as he has an on-and-off-again pining romance with the girl next door. It’s been ages since I’ve read it and my brain is a SIEVE but I sit here and remember the part where Spencer tried a new medication and the side effects gave him such bad depression with suicide tendencies and he was just crying as his step-mother held him and held him. 😭That scene will forever stay with me. JAfdklsad read this one.

 

…The Art Of Not Feeling by Laura Tims

Samantha went through a horrific car accident and now uses crutches to walk and is in excruciating pain all the time. She meets Eliot who is literally her opposite — he can’t feel pain AT ALL. Which you don’t think of as a disability (wouldn’t it be lucky to not feel pain?!) but it is. Pain is a defence against us hurting ourselves to death?! And Eliot doesn’t have that. (I also lowkey headcanon him as autistic 🥰😚because I can.) But this book!! It’s also FUNNY. You know that moment when banter and quips just light up your whole world? Sam and Eliot had that connection. It’s so good and SO underrated.

 

…Meet Me In Outer Space by Melinda Grace

This is an #ownvoices story about auditory processing disorder and I’ve honestly never read this in any other book! I was falling out of my socks with excitement to read this. It’s also set in college, so sitting in that nice upper-YA pocket that doesn’t get enough attention either. But but anyway!! This one has a lot of learning to self advocate for yourself. Because “invisible disabilities” often get ignored or the person is expected to just deal anyway.

 

…When My Heart Joins The Thousand by A.J. Steiger

This is #ownvoices for autism rep and the love interest has a severe disability where his bones are so fragile they’ll break all the time. He walks with a cane too. It’s also Upper-YA because they’re both teens but figuring out how to be adults, how to support themselves, how to fit into a world that is too harsh and fast and not understanding. I kind of just 😭love this book and softly want to support these two kids as they do their best.

 

…Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

This is such a favourite of mine! It’s full of such incredible diversity rep 😍 It’s #ownvoices for Muslim and POC characters, and Adam has just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (I don’t believe that part is OV). He’s figuring out treatments, but also how to tell his family, since his mother died from this and he doesn’t want to put his dad and sister through that again. Adam is the most loyal and soft and kind boy you will ever see 😭 Zayneb also narrates half the book and I LOVED HER; her refusal to be quiet and take discrimination, and her love of her family and culture and life. These two. Love them.

 

…The Boy Who Steals Houses by meeeee

You know I always feel guilty adding my books to lists. What is this selfish self-promo!! I softly yell to myself. But then… look if I spent 10 years trying to get published, I should be able to talk about my book on my blog when it is #ownvoices for autism and severe anxiety rep and 😭 I’m proud it got published when so many times I thought it wouldn’t. So here it is! It features two autistic brothers (in different places on the spectrum) and it’s so deeply about unconditional love and found-family and how abuse can shape you. It is even more, deeply, about waffles. Truly a quality piece of book.

 

tell me some books you love with disability rep!! I have read so few this year so I really need more recs! 💛

Disability Pride Month | 5 Things I Want To See More Of In Disabled YA Books

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When was the last time you read a YA book with disability representation?

We talk about diversity so much in the YA book community and I cannot stress how good and crucial it is, how different it is from even 10 years ago. The strides we’re making? The ownvoices authors bringing telling their stories? The diversity advocates who won’t stop championing marginalised books and authors no matter how tired they are?! This is incredible.

But whenever I see the book community talking about diversity, we talk about POC, Black and queer books…but yet?

Me: 👀waiting for them to talk about disabled books and authors👀

Here’s the thing about most marginalisations: they’re seen as undesirable and shameful. Being queer is still illegal in so many countries. Black people are murdered for the colour of their skin. Slurs are spat at immigrants and biracial kids struggle to fit into multiple cultures. Nothing about these things are easy or should be talked about less. Talk about them MORE.

It’s just…we don’t seem to talk about disabilities in that as well? Not to mention how often disabled rep isn’t even intersectional. I sit here and cannot think of a YA book by a Black autistic writer published by the Big 5 in the last few years. 😐(Hopefully I’m just wrong though!)

When was the last time you read a book by a disabled author? What was the last book you read with a disabled main character? Are you struggling to…think of any?

I’m autistic. Not all autistics consider themselves disabled, but I am. I’ve read 7 books out of 105 with disability rep this year. 1 of those had an autistic character.

Now some of this blame is always going to lie on us, as readers! I mean, have I actively searched and bought as many disability books as I could have? No. But have I also been reading a lot of books published by the Big Publishers and been trying to keep up with new releases and found they do not care about representing disabled characters at all?! *deep breath after that long run-on sentence* Well, yes. Seems you have to search for underrated books if you want disability rep. 😳

Today I’d like to talk about some things I wish I saw more in books with disabilities!

July is actually Disability Pride Month and I’m feeling bad it’s taken me so long to get a post together! But…ya know…busyness and mental illness over here 🙂👌🏻 I also would like to do a rec post…so hopefully I’ll get that up someday soon too. I’m excited but nervous to be writing this post because I do not know everything and I’m learning everyday to be a better ally as well as advocate.

And if I mess up in this post or use the wrong language, and if you feel comfortable correcting me, please do. 💛

 

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE 👀

➸ 10 Things I Want To See More Of In YA Books About Mental Health
➸ YA Anxiety Book Recommendations
➸ How To Keep Writing When You Have a Mental Illness
➸ What It’s Like To Write An #Ownvoices Novel

 

1. More #ownvoices Authors!

This should be such an obvious request — yet I look at my disability list of books I’ve read and am kind of mind-blown about how few are from #ownvoices authors. This needs??? to change??? desperately???

The more I learn about disabilities, the more I realise I don’t know, and the more cautious I am to call a book “good rep” when I haven’t lived that disability. I personally know how to watch out for problematic tropes and harmful stereotypes. But what about accuracy? And details? I want to sink into reading more #ownvoices stories so I KNOW I am reading their truths. (That is not to say disabled lit is meant to exist to educate ableds or those who haven’t lived it! But it’s so important to see accuracy on page.)

This also makes me think of how inaccessible publishing can be for disabled authors. Those who write very slowly, can’t go to conventions or do interviews, those who need translators or special writing equipment, those who can’t stay focused or find the energy to finish writing or need extra mentoring to translate their atypical thinking. 😕 I think there’s room for publishing (also agents and editors) to better accommodate their disabled authors.

2. Disabilities affecting the story.

One trope I see crop up a lot is: a fantasy adventuring featuring a disabled character…but the disability is barely mentioned and honestly doesn’t affect the story at all. NOW this isn’t inherently bad because having a disability isn’t a competition. Having ADHD that you’ve learned to work with is going to be different to someone in a wheelchair — it will affect the story differently. But often times I see abled authors doing this and it can feel (at least to me) they are slipping in some rep without having to do much work. This is not always the case, but it’s something for abled authors to think about. We can still enjoy these types of books, but maybe we shouldn’t hold them up as Golden Disabled Fantasy Examples.

I really really want to read books where the disabled character gets to have adventures too and is disabled the whole way through. Fantasy stories with wheelchair users. Paranormals with kids with cerebral palsy. Deaf romances. Vision impaired teens in epic fantasies. Magical realism that centres on mental illness. Weave it throughout the whole book and let it impact the character so sometimes they have to sit down instead of run, sometimes they have to leave a sensory overloading situation, sometimes they have a huge miscommunication and they struggle with it.

You know why? Because every time we have a book about a character LIVING with their disability and STILL having an adventure is a huge boost to a community who has been told for centuries that they’re undesirable and should be invisible and quiet if they have to exist at all.

I can’t say how often I hear someone say to me, “I can’t even tell you’re autistic!” but they’re also like: why do we have so many misunderstandings, why can’t you change your schedule for me, why do you repeat yourself a lot, why did you forget this and this, you’re obsessing over something again, why are you so blunt, why did you–

I wish people understood more what autism is and I bet most disabled people wished the same too. We need more visibility and we need people to understand. Or to accept as is, without understanding completely. I think books could help with this so so much.

3. Disabled characters who stay disabled.

Out with any cure tropes! But also out with the autistic kid ending the book hugging everyone. Out with the mentally ill character finding love and feeling good forever. Out with the Deaf teen learning to lip read better solely to make communication easier for everyone else. Out with disabled characters having a secret superpower to make up for their disability. (Can I say how harmful this last one is?! Autistics don’t need to be savants to be worthwhile. People with chronic illness don’t need to be psychics. Blind people don’t need to have super-hearing.)

We literally need books bursting with disability pride. With characters who struggle but also love who they are. With characters who learn to cope better, but STILL have their disability. With people who find love and safe spaces and make the world work for them.

The disability isn’t always the problem. It’s that the world doesn’t accommodate it.

4. Disabled Intersectionality!

Because hey guess what? You can be autistic and Black and queer! Or pansexual and chronically ill! Or have ADHD and POTS and be biracial! Again, I’d really love to see #ownvoices authors tackling this 🥰 but we need so much more championing of stories that aren’t just about straight/white/boys. It’s genuinely not “too much” to be intersectional with diversity. Did you know a huge percentage of autistics also identify as on the lgbtqia+ spectrum? Did you know a lot of neurodiverse Black kids go undiagnosed?

There are soooo many stories out there. I wish they were on our shelves.

5. Disabled character starring!

I do understand why many abled authors write side-disabled characters instead of making them star. I kind of agree with the decision too. It’s one thing to be inclusive, another to be in the head of a disabled character and act like you know how it feels — if you haven’t lived it. I’m NOT saying non-ownvoices authors shouldn’t ever write disabled POVs. There’s research and sensitivity readers out there to help. It is worth discussing if that takes away places from #ownvoices authors. (But not today lol.)

It’s definitely more common to see a disabled side character instead of a main character. Most often: It’s the carer’s POV. Maybe the love interest is disabled. Or the Main Character has the sibling with cancer. Again, these stories aren’t inherently problematic it’s just….[deep sigh] there’s so much to unpack here. Usually the main character has huge themes of how GOOD they are to go out of their way to accommodate the disabled character. There’s always a power imbalance. Without the abled main character, the disabled character has no agency or story of their own. They can’t DO something they wanted without help which can be taken away at any time if the abled character gets hurt or mad. Etc. Etc.

None of this is to say the carer of a disabled person should not feel pain or be upset. Look, it’s hard being disabled but it’s also hard having someone you love going through ruinously difficult times. It’s just hard. For example: supporting someone through a meltdown is super emotionally exhausting and sometimes physically painful. But the thing is…it’s worse for the disabled person. And the focus is so very often NOT on them, but rather on the carer’s suffering. Maybe because people think that’s more relatable.

But we need to do better in books. Disabled teens deserve better when reading YA. They don’t deserve to feel like burdens.

This is one I find difficult to talk about eloquently because I have had people label my book (The Boy Who Steals Houses) as slotting into this category — Sam takes care of his older autistic brother Avery and often stresses out about his own suffering.

Full disclosure: Sam is autistic too. He is undiagnosed but never once asks himself if he is autistic too. But he’s over there consumed and obsessed with Avery (obsession is an autistic trait), he struggles to express himself (autistic trait), he sensory seeks the whole book (in tins of buttons, messing with the textures of Moxie’s sewing, his countless rituals in how he steals houses, collecting and stimming with keys, the clothes he chooses, the sensory overload meltdown he has in the finale which mirrors Avery’s at the club). There is a neon sign pointing to Sam’s autism, but I didn’t use the word and I think many people won’t know. I wish I had said it on page! Or at least made Sam think about it. But I’m learning and growing (and making mistakes and pledging to do better) too. I wish I’d taken a more nuanced and introspective view on Sam vs Avery displaying autism in two different ways. But the fact is: the book is about two autistic brothers struggling to care for each other. It’s not about an abled boy resenting his autistic brother.

I think we need more books with disabled starring characters so readers stop seeing them as unrelatable or confusing or rare.

About 15% of the world experiences disability in their lifetime. That’s…not rare. And it shouldn’t be invisible — especially not in books.

We also should be able to talk about disability pride without wiping out disability struggles, but also without any underlying messages of “you’d be happier if you were abled”. PLEASE.

 

I hope I’ve left us with something to think about.

I don’t intend to write posts that make people feel harried or guilty. I want us to think and then work on doing better. ME TOO, OKAY. I will do better with what I read and promote and consider. I think publishing has some achinly deep gaps in how it cares and promotes disabled books. It hurts? But the more people triumph diversity, the more rep we can call for and the more rep we can get. 💛And I have lots of disability books I want to write too 😍 Someday!!

Make sure your diversity advocacy includes disabled books and authors 🥰

tell me some disabled books and authors you love! or some on your TBR! and do tell me your thoughts on all of this because I’d love to discuss 💛

 

2020 Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag [Wherein I Do, In Fact, Freak Out]

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It’s time to freak out!

Specifically, over books. But I have been proactive this year and I’ve been freaking out since March, 2020, and I think that’s very sweet of me to have practised with such dedication. But since I just hit 100 books and it’s June, it’s time for the…

Let’s be real in that 2020 has not been….great. From being stressful (and horrifying) regarding worldwide events to everyone’s mental health going through the meat grinder…it’s been a lot. I’m personally not super well as I write this — and I’m trying to balance getting better vs working on self acceptance regarding my mental health.

I feel like I’ve done nothing this year since I didn’t have a book release. BUT I have signed with a new agent (which is HUGE and I am so so happy). I have outlined a new book. I have ferociously and continuously edited another book that 👀 who knows 👀maybe has a chance out there in the world 👀 fingers crossed. I’ve kept my dog alive (he has severe pancreatitis). Anxiety is beating me up, but I’m still HERE. 🥺💛

I’m constantly sorry I’m not more active as a blogger, but I AM on instagram as my main platform now. I’m not quitting the blog, but I do feel I have less to say and contribute.

You might also like

Open Here To Grab The Tag Questions For Your Own Blog
Note: I’ve used a few different ones and made up some haha. But these are the original questions:

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019
2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
5. Biggest disappointment
6. Biggest surprise
7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)
8. Newest fictional crush
9. Newest favorite character
10. Book that made you cry
11. Book that made you happy
12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)
13.What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
14. Favorite book community member

1. HOW MUCH HAVE YOU READ?

I laugh because I actually lowered my goal from 200 to 150 this year in an effort not to stress as much. Good news is: I haven’t been stressing as much! Being 20+ books ahead makes me feel relaxed? I no longer feel I have to read EVERY day. I even have read more thicker books. So I’ve successfully self-tricked myself into a better reading year. Althooough, I legitimately am not aiming for 200. I want to write in July and not be anxious about reading less.

Look at me! Being HEALTHY. (Well😂I’m still a raging overachiever.)

2. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING?

This is a question I add in each year for an excuse to make pie charts. I do love pie (who doesn’t?!).

As usual, I show gross favouritism by reading mostly contemporary and fantasy. Sci-Fi was so small it didn’t get rated on the left pie (sorry, scifi). My star ratings are also pretty much same-for-same as 2019, which I’m a little sad about because I considered 2019 a crappy reading year and I thought I was doing better this year. 😂

3. Best book you’ve read so far in 2020

I haven’t had a ton of 5-stars, but I have some new soul favourites and this is making me very happy.

 

4. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2020

Unless I count rereads, I haven’t been reading sequels this year?! But this is alright because The Chorus of Dragons has fast become my favourite adult epic fantasy series to exist in this dimension. It is SO GOOD. Clever, witty, diverse, dark. 😚When I settle down with pure joy to a 700 page book, you know it’s good.

5. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to

I have The House In the Cerulean Sea, but The Sound of Stars and Seasons Of the Storm (covers = GOREOUS) are both still on their way. I don’t have Chosen Ones because Australian book prices are absolutely obscene and I can’t bring myself to pay $40 for it 😂 Library maybe? I haven’t read anything from her since Allegiant and…lol. But I’ve heard good things about this!

6. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

I am utterly dying for them. DESPERATE I tell you. Also why is it that books you don’t have are way way more interesting than books you do have.

7. Biggest disappointment

Look is anyone going to be shocked if I say A Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes? 😂I’m not even sure it counts here because I had NO expectations and they still managed to be left on the ground.

I didn’t even hate Corovirus Snow’s teenhood because he was so ridiculously bland. It’s not even an ambitious or cunning rise to power. I don’t know what it is? 500 pages and I’m so tired.

 

8. Biggest surprise

I definitely am pointing to Hold Back The Tide! I just didn’t expect to be so addicted to it and then left in tattered ruins by the edge of the loch, waiting for monsters to come eat me too. It was just brilliant with a dash of horror and a Stranger Things vibe but set in Scotland. With LOCH(ness?)MONSTERS.

 

9. New Favourite author (debut or new to you)

Oh I have read so many excellent debuts already! A Song Below Water is this gorgeous magical realism about sirens and gargoyles (and other mythological creatures shapeshifting into human) with Black Girl Magic and such a tight sister bond. SO good. Then Only Mostly Devastated made me laugh AND cry and that’s ridiculously ambitious of it. I approve. (Seriously the cutest though!) I also adored A Dress For The Wicked which is this historical alternate reality where fashion is power, and it was both refreshing and ambitious and clever. And lastly The Fascinators! Magical contemporary where it’s our world but…everyone can do magic. And it had complex messy friendships, queer rep, and this lovely storytelling style that felt like home.

No pressure but go read them all.

10. underrated gems you’ve discovered recently

Taking Down Evelyn Tait is a #LoveOzYA delight. So much mischief and epic banter (also friends to lovers!). And definitely Let Me Hear A Rhyme. It’s so good and I need the whole world to read it asap. It’s a love letter to Black teens and New York and music and it deals with grief with such raw aching. And laaaast off (I cannot make myself do one book per category apparently) Beneath Cruel Fathoms was just SO good! It’s all Norse mythology and sea aesthetic, with perfect banter between a merman and a lonely lady. I just kind of fell in love?!

11. rereads this year

So I have reread quite a lot this year already and no regrets 😭💛 Rereading is so comforting, plus I hate the feeling that my favourites can only be enjoyed once. And when it’s been 5+ years, it’s practically a new book anyway if you have a brain like swiss cheese. 😌Also I rediscovered Holly Black’s backlist and JUST how much I’ve been influenced by The Darkest Part of the Forest in my own writing ajfdkslad I love it so much I cannot breathe.

Rereading After The Game surprises no one. The only one I wish I hadn’t reread is History Is All You Left Me unfortunately. Did not age well with me and I dropped the star rating. 😭

12. Book that made you cry

So I thoroughly teared up for Felix Ever After, but for good reasons?! Just there were some really affirming lines and raw confessions that really stole my entire soul. 😭 I will stop crying eventually but not today.

And also More Happy Than Not came along to remind me that I picked it up CHOOSING TO SUFFER and suffer I did 😭How dare you. I am NOT happy, sir, change the title. (Also I love it to bits and its truly a work of art.)

 

13. Book that made you happy

This is kind of cheating but…my Holly Black rereads! I just rediscovered how deeply I love her backlist, from the cons and schemes of the Sharpe brothers in the Curseworker trilogy, to the magic and dark whimsy of The Darkest Part of the Forest.

It was like being enchanted by a fairy wood and remember why I love telling stories. This year has felt thin for inspiration so I really appreciated this re-fuel.

 

14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

I’m obsessed with the cover of What I Carry and also Deeplight! These aren’t 2020 releases but still!! How dare they 😍will stare forever thank you.

Have I read either of them? No. Let’s not get carried away with high expectations for me.

15. goals for the rest of the year

  • I really want to draft a new book and conquer my blank-page-new-book fear. I haven’t done anything from scratch in years so it’s getting ridiculously daunting.
  • I WANT A BOOK DEAL— [muffles self]
  • I refuse to aim for 200 reads but I also want 200 reads for 2020.
  • I’d like to keep this rhythm of actually getting some eARCs read on time.
  • Keep diversifying my reading lists. More Black authors. More trans authors. More sapphic romances. More #ownvoices.
  • I want someone to make me a cheesecake. 🥺

| What about you? |

time to tell me all your half-yearly news!! are you behind or on track with your Goodreads goal? what have been your highlight reads of 2020 so far? have you done much writing?

 

Book Genre Tag | Can You Pick A Favourite Genre!?

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Do you have an ultimate favourite genre?

I want to say yes but I do go back and forth between contemporary and fantasy 😩 Cannot pick for sure and it pains me. But today I really want to talk about the best of both — aka contemporary fantasy. Or urban fantasy. Magical realism. Paranormal?! ALL those. I never know the exact difference so I’m lumping them all together as just contemporary fantasy today while I do the…

This tag is created by Violet And The Never Ending TBR over on booktube, so I hope it’s alright that I’m blogifying it. I only have two braincells left and one is twirling slowly as it thinks about naps and the other is just went through the dryer on a high speed and is covered in lint. Thus I have summarised my life right now. 😌👌🏻 Am fine.

1. One of your favourite stand alone books

I’ll say The Darkest Part of the Forest because I just reread it and realised how deeply, deeply I ADORE it. It also has really influenced my writing and I didn’t even realise?! I hadn’t read it in nearly 5 years. Faeries, dark magic, complex growing up feels, queerness, messy kids and aching hearts and rotten ruinous forests!!!! It’s just everything I need.

2. One of your favourite series

Obviously I slam The Raven Cycle down on the table for this — it is my life. I feel like I haven’t talked about it as much lately, but this series means genuinely everything to me. It’s not just the magic (both lovely and darkly insidious) but also the characters who just ache and love and wonder and break together, and how they hurt each other but hold each other, and how they are creatures of wild magic without words to explain it. I am obsessed. I can’t 😭

3. What is a trope that you like in this genre

  • the odd magic!! the love of the peculiar!!
  • soft ghosts 😌I swear there aren’t nearly enough in YA altogether.
  • magic doors to other worlds!!
  • the contrast of like a dark old magic vs doing modern things (ancient faeries wearing genes and ordering a frappe ok, this will forever be my thing)

4. What is a trope you don’t like in this genre

  • the tendency to have absolutely no plot to speak of 😂I live for flowery prose but omg pull yourself together, kids, and find an actual plot and goals before I draw you up a 5-year plan myself. 🤨
  • genuinely despise alpha-male romances
  • characters coming into powers and just *snaps fingers* they’re instantly great warriors and ready for battle. I hate training scenes but would prefer them to everyone being insta-perfect at fighting.

5. A disappointing book in the genre

I do try to keep my disappointments to myself more these days? Just in respect for being an author myself and knowing how much it sucks to stumble on someone dissing your book. But uuugh there have been a complete this year. At the end of the day, I am still a bookworm of fierce and flaily emotions and I hate being disappointed!!

6. A book that’s on your TBR that you want to get to soon

Definitely these!!

 

7. An intimidating book or series

Going to say…The Night Circus. It’s intimidating for two reasons: (1) I absolutely freaking ADORED The Starless Sea this year. It’s rivalling for best of 2020 already…I can’t say how deeply I loved the world and just related to Zachary Ezra Rawlins. I will cry on your coat right now. It was just exquisite. So the Night Circus has THAT to live up to. And (2) I’ve heard it’s a bit confusing? And I am sitting here realising I don’t know what it’s actually about apart from circuses and, hopefully, nighttime. Plus it’s not a small book and I’m intimidated by anything over 300pgs, let’s be real.

8. What is another book genre you want to read more of

All of them?! Maybe sci-fi, because I tend to be hit-or-miss with it and therefore avoid it. But then I’m missing so many potential faves?! I really love Illuminae, Gideon The Ninth, and The Knife of Never Letting Go!

9. What book genre intimidates you the most

Adult epic fantasy. I freaking LOVE IT, but it’s intense and my brain is often way too tired to tackle it. I also have particular tastes for it — younger characters, angsty siblings maybe, complex magic systems, super dark… Basically The Ruin of Kings is perfect and I would like another [checks notes] twelve of them. And I also wince at how long it takes me to read a 600pg book so that definitely weighs in to why I don’t read this genre much.

And because I wholly can’t help myself!! I’m leaving you with a few other magical realism/contemporaries that I adore and would love to softly pile into your arms. They all link to reviews. 😍🥰

And I also admit I have a lot of anti-favourites in magical realism. I feel like it’s either the BEST for me, or I absolutely hate it. 😂Eh who needs to have middle ground when you can be hyper all or nothing.

tell me your favourite genre? (if it’s “fantasy” be specific what type though!!) and do you have any modern fantasy ones you love or could recommend me? (and feel free to do the tag if you want to as well!)

 

How To Keep Supporting Diverse Books (All The Time!)

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We need to talk about diverse books.

I’m seriously glad that’s not an out of place sentence on my blog — I do talk about diverse books a lot here and I so fiercely love championing and recommending and supporting them. You know I love #ownvoices authors and intersectional rep. You know if you dare begin the sentence “can you recommend me your favourite book–” I will be piling The Wicker King into your arms. When I write up new release blog posts, I softly laugh when I realise all the highlighted ones are queer.

But I could do better. I love what I’ve been doing, but there are still some big gaps in how I advocate for diverse and marginalised authors.

The world has been hurting for a long, long time, but it’s loud right now. Your newsfeeds and daily lives are likely flooded with it too (no matter your country) because people across the world are rising up to say enough to police brutality, systematic racism, and the murders of innocent BIPOC people. A lot of us don’t know what to say or do (I’m an anxious bookworm, I barely even leave my house and I’m not american?) but it’s not the time to be silent.

One thing I can do (well, all of we bookworms can) is take a look at our reading, our TBR piles, the books we feature on twitter and bookstagram, and do better with supporting Black authors. But also POC and disabled and neurodiverse and queer authors too. Not just stories about racism, but also Black authors writing their joy and magic and wonder too. Not just issue books, but disabled authors writing fantasy and fairy tales too. Not just romances, but queer authors writing adventures and thrillers too.

I thought it could be helpful to give some tips on how to keep the momentum alive of supporting marginalised authors! Even after the Black Lives Matter protests lessen and even when it’s not Pride month anymore. Even the smallest things can really help!

Publishing is not built to support marginalised authors. Let’s be real, when everyone talks about the “queens of YA”, what do we see? A list of white authors. Until marginalised authors get the same publicity and opportunities, we have to help lift them up too 🥺🙌🏻We have to make a conscious effort to diversify our TBR piles.

And seriously!! I could do better with this too. I get the bulk of my books sent to me from publishers or book boxes I work with and most of the time I’m not being piled with diverse titles. I do my best to buy diverse books… but afjdksald I wish I was rich (or just employed 😂) and could support everyone.

So look. We can’t do it all. But we can do something.

What Kind of Things Can We Do?

❤️ When you feature book stacks on social media or in photos, include diverse authors!⁣ Usually I go for colours when I’m doing a book stack, so sometimes it’s not intentional when I’ve got a pile of white or abled authors. But often times I’ve not gone the extra mile, you know? I’m working on this for me!! (Also when you’re doing rainbow book stacks for Pride, do seriously try to make sure there are queer authors on that stack. I know it’s not always easy if you don’t own the right books though. But we can be aware!)

🧡 Make a conscious effort to have your monthly TBR including diverse books.⁣ Even if you only read about 3 books a month, hey just make sure one of those books is by a diverse author! (Ex: we love Cassandra Clare to BITS and she writes fantastic diverse books. Buuut she isn’t a diverse author.) No one is saying you-can-only-read-diverse-authors-forever-more…but your world is so much smaller and bereft if you’re not taking in the world views of diverse authors. We change the world faster by supporting people who challenge the status quo.

💛 Recommend diverse books to other bookworms! Whenever I get a book rec request, I always say The Raven Cycle. It’s my heart favourite, okay!!! I am predictable and happy about it. But you know….I could expand that too. I could make sure I’m rattling off The Wicker King, Felix Ever After, Wicked Fox or Wild Beauty too. I love them! I just need to get into the habit of mentioning them.

💙 When I do book lists on my blog — add in diverse authors.⁣ It’s easy to go for the big famous books in hopes readers will recognise them and relate. But I can mix it up!? This also helps the underrated diverse books get seen. You want magical fantasy? Ok read Shadowhunters…and then A Song Below Water (sirens! gargoyles! mythology!) and then pick up Blanca & Roja (fairy tale retelling! shape shifting! siblings!).

💜 Be vigilant as we write reviews of marginalised books. Are we calling a Black book too unrelatable or too sad? Did we call a book with a queer lead too cliche? Did we call the neurodiverse character too unlikeable? It’s time to take a breath and think about this. Just because the narrative isn’t what you’re used to, doesn’t mean it necessarily needs that 3 star rating and “meh” review. NO ONE is saying you have to love every diverse book. Not all books are good, sure. But if you’re white/cis/straight/abled there is room to be careful how you diminish diverse books in reviews.

❤️ Buy diverse books. Lots of us can’t afford to buy a ton of books (I usually can get 3 per month and I feel RICH doing that 😂but I definitely couldn’t as a teen), but if you can afford to buy some…sometimes branch out and make sure you’re picking up something #ownvoices. Also pro tip: ask your library to buy books.

🧡 Review diverse ARCs when you get them! If you have the funds, consider passing them on to a smaller POC or queer blogger too. That’s not possible for everyone, but could be nice if you can afford it! And if you requested a diverse ARC? Prioritise it 🥰 This can help a diverse author who isn’t getting a push from their publisher so so much.


This isn’t saying you shouldn’t read your fave white authors. I have many, many I love. I adore a lot of books that might be diverse while the authors writing them aren’t. (Though to be real…so many of my favourites are by marginalised authors?! Diverse books are good books, my friend.) But we can do so much if we made an effort to diversify our shelves, our monthly reading, our buying (or librarying). It seriously improves your life too by the way. You know how powerful knowledge is? Books are just pockets of magic and knowledge and I love that about them.

Don’t burn yourself out by doing EVERYTHING all at ONCE. If we are here to be sturdy and strong allies, a good way to start is just by changing the everyday things in our bookish lives.

And hey, there. You’re doing a pretty good job loving books. 😚

 

talk to me about some diverse books you’ve loved this year!! (let’s try and talk about diverse or #ownvoices authors too!!) and which ones are coming up on your tbr pile?

 

 

10 Things I Want To See More of In YA Books About Mental Health

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May means Mental Health Awareness Month!

Which means…I fully intended to blog about it and then waited till the last moment to do so. Procrastination? 😌👌🏻It’s a skill set. I excel. Although if I’m truthful instead of just gently dragging myself — I’ve just been busy this month. Editing. Reading wildly. Wistfully thinking about naps. Being stressed as one does.

But let’s focus up and talk about books!

I’ve been passionate about good mental health rep in YA books for a long, long time. As someone who has their own highs and lows with mental illness, I feel a tug towards characters who deal with the same things and books that lay the stark truths down on the table. I also really, really like to learn more about different neurodiversities and just understand people better.

And I am oh so tired of bad mental health rep. Do you know what that looks like? Stereotypes. Characters with no personality beyond their label. Villains needing an excuse for evil. Characters “cured” after falling in love. Plot twists where it wasn’t an illness at all, they just belonged in a magical world [cue jazz hands]. Horrifying asylums. Characters realising ‘positive thinking’ can cure them.

…I am exhausted writing that list because it’s not even an exaggeration. These happen all the time in YA books. Still. And I do think it often happens out of ignorance — authors don’t think to push past a stereotype or they write a book with no intent to harm, but the research is just shoddy. It’s not an excuse though. Books have to do better because readers deserve better. Mental illnesses aren’t imaginary conditions, so if you’re going to write something you haven’t lived, know what you’re doing.

So today we’re going to talk about…

10 Things I Want To See More of In YA Books About Mental Health

I have been left with cravings here and a void that needs filling! There are so many excellent YA books dealing with mental healths, but…there are also holes. Books DO exist that cover these things. I just want more. So good news — you get to hear my wishlist. 😌

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE 👀

➸ YA Anxiety Book Recommendations
➸ How To Keep Writing When You Have a Mental Illness
➸ What It’s Like To Write An #Ownvoices Novel

…everyone to remember mental illness looks different on different people.

This is cheating for my list a bit, because what I need is for readers and reveiwers to acknowledge this. So so often (and this hurts my soul) I see people denouncing mental illness rep as “bad” because they don’t relate. “My depression looks nothing like that?!” someone rants in a review. 1-star.

Everyone is entitled to feel what they want about a book and you can hate something all you want. But there needs to be acknowledgement that two depressed people can go through depression differently. Minority rep that isn’t exactly like yours ≠ bad rep.

Especially when there’s other things to consider, like privilege, race, class, co-morbid neurodiveristies, etc. Plus science doesn’t KNOW all there is to know about mental illnesses. There are lists of diagnostic material, but some people don’t fit it neatly and yet still have the mental illness. Humans smh. They are complex creatures.

…fantasy with mental health rep.

Look those of us with mental illness didn’t appear with the invention of the iPhone. We have been HERE, dysfunctional and internally screaming, since forever. 🙌🏻 I want to see fantasy books where mental illness plays a bigger role. But accurate and respectfully. Because I’m over the villain being “insane” and there being the “one slow village pig boy” who the hero saves occasionally to prove they are a good person.

I want to see: anxious dragon riders. Bipolar librarians. Knights with OCD. Witches with panic attacks.

Mental illness can be uncontrollable and wild and diminishing. And they’re not rare. So, so many people struggle with them. So let us have adventures too?!

…more of the small details of life with a mental illness.

The problem with rep that relies on stereotypes is that it feels ingenuine because it skips the details. Yes, some people with depression can’t get out of bed for days on end. But if that’s ALL the book says about their depression, it comes across lacking depth. You know what else depressed people might struggle with? Executive dysfunction. Memory loss. Weight loss/gain due to medication. Hyper fixations. Insomnia. The list goes on.

I kind of want to see this in books more?? Characters who can’t get organised, forget the random things (haven’t changed clothes in a few days but are studying at a famous school), morose exhaustion, illegible handwriting, who are smothered by the guilt of things they used to be able to do but can’t.

…finding friends (not just love).

I am very over the “romance cured my depression” dialogue. You can put that in a blender and make a problematic smoothie with it. But sometimes I feel books jumped the other way and made mentally ill characters do it ALL ALONE. You are going to be a strong independent brave little YA character and need no help…

It’s so sad.

Having friends and a supportive family when you have mentally illness can (and I don’t say it lightly) save your life. Being able to talk, rant, lean on someone, be affirmed that you’re not a burden…these are so amazing. I want to read about characters who have tight, close friendships. Who find good friends. Who’ve had them all along. Literally nothing melts my heart faster than characters who are there for each other — no matter what messes their brains make. 

I read a book recently that gutted me because one character had a severely depressed younger sister. But the character’s arc? “It’s not your job to fix her!” Um. That is true on a basic level. But leaving your sister to suffer alone is one of the coldest takes I’ve ever read in a book. There’s balance. A mentally ill person isn’t someone else’s sole responsibility. But don’t leave people. And don’t tell teens they’re a burden. Literally can’t underline this enough.

…give mentally ill characters plots!

Some mental illness books are “issue books” which means they deal with it and not much else. Which is fine! We need those. (I read How It Feels To Float and it’s about disassociation, specifically, and it was amazing!) But I want to see more books where the mental health rep is there — front and centre and impacting the plot — but also I want to see a plot. Where the finale isn’t a breakdown. Where the character has this complex, full life.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay is an example I love for this. Darius’ depression is a huge part of the book…but the plot is also about visiting his Persian family and healing his relationship with his dad. Iphigenia Murphy is about a homeless girl searching for her mother, but she also is dealing with intense PTSD.

…characters who have mental illnesses for “no reason”.

“You have anxiety? What traumatic experience did you have?” Uhh…maybe your brain is just chemically unbalanced? Maybe it just happened? Mental illness doesn’t always come with One Big Event that triggered it.

I want more of this. This isn’t dissing books where an event lead to a traumatised reaction, brains that struggle to heal, and permanent scars. We need those. But we also need stories about characters who are depressed because they’re genetically predispositioned to it. Where agoraphobia happens after anxiety builds up over years. Eating disorders that come on subtly.

I feel like a lot of people can’t pinpoint the exact moment (or “reason”) their mental illness began. It doesn’t make it any less valid.

…more diverse identities too!

Because middle class white straight people aren’t the only ones with mental illnesses. I’ve been reading way more books lately with intersectional identities and it’s making me happy. But more of this!

Like Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now has a black narrator who has OCD and alopecia. In The Wicker King, August is black/biracial with anxiety. The Weight Of Our Sky is about a Malaysian with OCD. Moss, from Anger Is A Gift, is black, gay and anxious. Radio Silence has an anxious, queer, black narrator with queer mentally ill secondary characters too!

I also quietly seethe when people say “woah isn’t that a bit much diversity?” NO. People like this exist. I preferably like to read #ownvoices books when its representing several identities, but these kind of books aren’t just here “for the cookies” (what does that even mean?!).

…labels on the page to combat stigma.

Some people are against being labelled and I can respect that. Each to their own. But I believe it’s empowering to have language to describe yourself. Instead of internally crying, “I’m crazy I’m crazy” — you can have the language to say “no I have a panic disorder”.

I read a lot of books where it’s not explicitly stated what the character is dealing with. This leaves me feeling like…either (1) the book is anti-labelling, or (2) it doesn’t want to explicitly say so it can deny later in case the rep was bad. Then the an author can pull the “actually I never said they had bipolar” card and deny bad rep.

Sometimes the characters just doesn’t know themselves, which is fine!! Figuring out what’s going on with yourself is not easy!! But there are a lot of times when good rep could be given exact labels and actually raise awareness for what it’s truly like. You can’t walk away from a book feeling like you understand personality disordesr better if the book DIDN’T SAY that’s what it’s about. I always felt Turtles All The Way Down was an INCREDIBLE #ownvoices narrative of OCD. But the actual term “OCD” was never never used on page, just in John Green’s interviews. This chaffs at me because a teen could read this, relate, and still walk away having no idea how to get more information about themselves.

Use ur words.

…more #ownvoices stories.

This is probably an obvious and a given, but I just…!! Want to loudly say we need these stories. I also feel so hard for authors who do bare their souls on page and write about their experiences. It isn’t easy to have your personal life ripped apart by readers, your vulnerable moments offered up for critique and analysation. I’ve written something personal and true to my life only to have a reviewer call it “unrealistic”. It’s hard.

Kind of think #ownvoices authors are badass.

…happy endings.

I say this without diminish books where the endings are devastating too — because as hard as it is to have a story end in death or irreversible damage, those stories are still important. You can’t just say something is too ugly, too painful, and shouldn’t be talked about. That’s HOW we get stuck in a cycle of mentally ill people hurting themselves. It’s not always written for shock value.

THAT saying…gah, but I love a story layered with hope amongst the pain and ashes. It makes my heart swell with so much happiness. I can’t even describe. There is so so much room for YA books where characters with mental illness don’t get cured but do get a goodly-ever-after.

tell me what you’d like to see more of in YA books about mental health? and what books have your favourite rep!!

 

2020 New YA Books For Your Interminable TBR Pile!! [Ft. May, June, July Releases]

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And I’m BACK with more books for your TBR pile!

2020 has truly been blessing us with some incredible releases…and look, we’re not even quite halfway through the year yet?! Good books (and chocolate tbh) are keeping this planet together, I take no arguments on this. It’s being a brutal year for so many with the pandemic — so more than ever I think so many of us are grateful to sink into a good book.

And it is being tough on authors for trying to promo their books! So I don’t even feel bad for smothering you in releases I’m excited about. These books need our love 🥺💛I’m featuring new Young Adult releases from May to June, because there are a lot here. And you’re welcome.

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➢ 2020 New YA Releases January, March, April
➢ 8 Types of TBR Piles
➢ Why It’s Perfectly Acceptable To Have An Enormous TBR Pile

The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulous| Goodreads

Anything pitched as “for fans of Maggie Stiefvater” immediately has my WHOLE heart. But this is also queer and full of magic and seems like it’ll have a complex/tight friendship group!!

Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia—and their time together in their school’s magic club—to see him through to graduation.
But as soon as senior year starts, little cracks in their group begin to show. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia is growing more frustrated with their amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy magickers over the summer, putting a target on all their backs.
With so many fault lines threatening to derail his hopes for the year, Sam is forced to face the fact that the very love of magic that brought his group together is now tearing them apart—and there are some problems that no amount of magic can fix. 
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The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall | Goodreads

Always here for pirates!! I swear, they just make my heart glow. This one is also sapphic and the pitch says it’s unpacking colonialism AND it has magic.

Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.
Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself. 
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Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo | Goodreads

I love this author’s writing!! (Her first two books are gorgeous.) This one is told in verse about two sisters who didn’t know each other existed.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…
In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
Separated by distance – and Papi’s secrets – the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.
Papi’s death uncovers all the painful truths he kept hidden, and the love he divided across an ocean. And now, Camino and Yahaira are both left to grapple with what this new sister means to them, and what it will now take to keep their dreams alive.
In a dual narrative novel in verse that brims with both grief and love, award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
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The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton | Goodreads

This looks so FUN!? I am also really here for restaurant settings in books because…yes thanks. Also it’s about knights! But modern! And taking down the patriarchy!

Kit Sweetly slays sexism, bad bosses, and bad luck to become a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant.
Working as a wench―i.e. waitress―at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.
Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first. 
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