Penguin Random House

Shhh, just excuse the terrible pun while I say this book had an incredible amount of heart. 

It’s a love letter to being a minority teen (by an #ownvoices author too) and it’s a call out micro-aggressions and it’s an encouragement to kids navigating sex and friendships and high school and stereotypes and the true trauma that are origami paper cuts.

(Look not that it’s pertinent to the review, but I do origami and use a hot glue gun for some of my crafts and the amount of cuts and burns I have…dude. If you can order coordination off eBay, I would.

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Australia for the review-copy! This is out February 19, 2019!

➸ it’s also like a total hug to queer teens everywhere

You can tell how passionately the author feels about it and wants to boost and protect queer kids. The love in this novel is immense. Jack does a heck of a lot of call outs to micro-aggressions towards the lgbtqia+ community in his columns, including addressing straight people fetishing m/m sex and smacking down slut-shaming culture. And it wasn’t preachy? Jack was so heartfelt and loving the whole time…he’s just such a good egg.

 

 

➸ so yeah there is a lot of sex in this book

Jack ends up running a sex-advice column on his best friend’s blog and he’s partially doing it because everyone in his school  judges him and gossips about him. He’s a very openly gay teen who loves parties and makeup and sex and he is not ashamed of it. But he’s sick of being gossiped about (like??? yes) and slut shamed. It becomes his way of controlling the gossip and also helping out other queer kids who want advice on relationships and sex. I mean, it’s a lot more sex than I usually read lolol, but the emphasis on safe/consensual sex was really important. And I loved that the book took a moment to talk to the asexuals about how not wanting sex doesn’t mean you’re broken.

 

 

➸ the stalker plot line was intense and terrifying !!! like!!! super terrifying

It’s like a reverse-Simon VS the Homo Sapiens Agenda. While Simon had a cute anonymous boyfriend online…Jack has a stalker sending him threatening notes on pink pretty paper. And it’s frikkin’ creepy ok. The unravelling of it all was terrifying and seeing Jack wither into an anxious mess of stress at the threats and online abuse and blackmail was horrible. Like this sparkly, kind teen turns into this muted anxious shadow and my heart b r e a k s. Writing = EXCEPTIONAL.

 

 

➸ the friendships were also my favourite thing!!

It’s about sex, not romance, so the friendships in this book are the most important relationships aND I LOVE THEM. We have Jack, our glittery flamboyant sparkle, who takes no crap from anyone and just wants to be likeable and enjoy his life. Then his best friends are Ben, who is intensely good at fashion design and hat making, and he’s black and gay and holding out for his OTP of ever. And Jenna, who is badass and an amateur reporter and made of sharp corners, who lets nothing and no one mess with her best friends. They are EPIC together. I love them !!! so much.

 

 

➸ it discussed so so many important things in a nuanced and vulnerable way

Seriously, amongst the sparkly happy tone, it really went in to talk about:

✧ stereotypes and how Jack knows he fits the “glittery flamboyant” stereotype, but he’s being himself and that’s also ok.
✧ it unpacked how we can sometimes diminish our own pain (“oh yeah I’m being blackmailed horribly but at least…I’m not dead!”) and like positivity is important! It’s good and fulfilling. But don’t discount yourself just because someone has it worse. Also his BFF Jenna wouldn’t let him get away with being apathetic about it. Like just because Jack isn’t being beaten up in hallways doesn’t mean it’s not worth calling out other micro-aggressions he faces.

 

The only things I wasn’t thrilled about was that (1) it didn’t call out the neglectful parenting from Jack’s mum, and I reeeally didn’t think it was ok. And (2) why the frick are these kids SMOKING. That is CANCER and somebody needs a cigarette slapped out of their hand. And (3) the ending almost felt so easy after all the agony we went through the entire book? But like these are tiny tiny things and probably won’t bother most!

 

The story is intense and well written and impossible to put down. It managed to be this cute and glittery story about friends and sex and being true to yourself, AS WELL as having this super intense creepy stalker storyline going on in the back that absolutely made my skin crawl. Jack is loveable and amazing and his voice is important.

 

Jack Rothman is seventeen. A solid student with a talent for art, he likes partying, makeup and boys. Sometimes all at the same time. His active, unashamed sex life makes him a red hot topic for the high school gossip machine, but Jack doesn’t really care too much about what the crowd is saying about him. His mantra is: ‘It could be worse.’
And then it is.
When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for his best friend’s website, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters. His ‘admirer’ is obsessed with Jack – they know who he’s hanging out with, who he’s sleeping with, who his mum is dating. And while they say they love Jack, they don’t love his lifestyle. They want him to curb his sexuality and personality. And if he won’t, they will force him.
As his stalker starts to ratchet up the pressure, it’s up to Jack and his friends to uncover their identity, before their love becomes genuinely dangerous.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Booktopia | Penguin

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tell me a book you’ve read that was cute and fluffy…but also unpacked darker themes?? and is this one on your TBR? what did you think of it?

Ok so Two Can Keep A Secret was EXCELLENT and exactly what I want a thriller to be!

Usually I’m tentative about thrillers and One of Us Is Lying, while I admire it for being super-famous, it didn’t click for me. However this one?! Miiiiine. It had the small town vibes, an autumn-y Halloween aesthetic, and siblings dynamics that I adored. It took time to develop the characters and there was muuuuurder. Obviously. It is literally a murder mystery. But someone must be Captain McObvious here and I volunteer.

And no joke: I obsessed over solving the case whenever I wasn’t reading! I was invested!

 

Thank you to Penguin Australia for the review-copy! This was out January 8, 2019!

➸ I really cared about the characters!

That’s what I want out of a book ok. Make me CARE. (Which is hard with my stone cold little rock of a heart.) But the book balanced unwinding this twisty murder mystery AND developing both the narrators (Ellery and Malcolm) into dimensional and complex humans who need a hug several times during the course of the book. Or two hugs, in Malcolm’s case. Kid had it rough.

✧ Ellery: She just moved to Echo Ridge (while her mum is in rehab) and she and her twin brother, Ezra, are staying with their estranged grandma. Ellery has a bushel of curly hair, possibly Latinx complexion (her dad is unknown), and a deep love of murder mysteries. Her brother is the chill sweetheart who frequently has to say things like: “NO MURDER BEFORE BREAKFAST, ELLERY.” And I loved them so much. (I wish Ezra had been more developed though. He’s queer, but his storyline is just a sliver.)
✧ Malcolm: His older brother is the aggressive epic jock dude, who was heavily suspected in his girlfriend’s murder several years ago. Never arrested. But Malcolm lives in that shadow, despite his mum having remarried this rich flashy lawyer and now Malcolm’s actual step-sister is like the QUEEN BEE of highschool which gets Malcolm a little school cred. (He also plays IN THE BAND so like…not that much cred.) Malcolm is a little nerdy and dorky and Soft™. I absolutely adore how his relationship with Ellery was really slow-burn, despite the shortness of the book. Also he has an epic platonic relationship with Mia and they are!! so nice !!! (Mia is also Korean-American and the book discusses how it feels to be part of a minority in an overly white town.)

I lowkey suspected Malcolm of murder at one point but like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I SUSPECTED EVERYONE. SUREFIRE WAY TO BE RIGHT AT THE END.

 

➸ The plot had me super invested.

I think because I cared about the characters so easily! I wanted to know if these string of missing-girls was connected. It reminded me of Sadie when they called out how missing girls need to be taken seriously, not just called a statistic. It’s twisty and there’s lots of theories with Ellery playing detective (but she’s not obnoxious about it). I called one of the twists about her mother’s past! I’M PRACTICALLY SHERLOCK. Nevermind that I was so wrong about the actual murderer. Lmao. Minor detail.

 

➸ I do confess I (a) got confused with all the characters, and (b) it didn’t chill me to my bones.

Honestly they’re such small complaints anyway! I felt like this was a Quiet Murder Town (shh that’s now a thing) and I didn’t actually have my heart in my mouth for Ellery’s safety. But I still WANTED TO KNOW so that’s a win. And hey I’m just generally bad at names and there are SO many characters here. And everyone just had these very common-American-names like LIZ, SARAH, MIA, DAISY, BROOKE, OH HELP ME.

It was really satisfying. I just wanted to keep reading and find out all the answers. Sure I didn’t get goosebumps, but I had a thoroughly good time investing in the characters and this odd little town of Echo Ridge. It felt like a sinister contemporary, full of autumn leaves and family secrets, with a background of murderrrr. Perfect.

 

Ellery’s never been to Echo Ridge, but she’s heard all about it. It’s where her aunt went missing at age sixteen, never to return. Where a Homecoming Queen’s murder five years ago made national news. And where Ellery now has to live with a grandmother she barely knows, after her failed-actress mother lands in rehab. No one knows what happened to either girl, and Ellery’s family is still haunted by their loss.
Malcolm grew up in the shadow of the Homecoming Queen’s death. His older brother was the prime suspect and left Echo Ridge in disgrace. His mother’s remarriage vaulted her and Malcolm into Echo Ridge’s upper crust, but their new status grows shaky when mysterious threats around town hint that a killer plans to strike again. No one has forgotten Malcolm’s brother-and nobody trusts him when he suddenly returns to town.
Ellery and Malcolm both know it’s hard to let go when you don’t have closure. Then another girl disappears, and Ellery and Malcolm were the last people to see her alive. As they race to unravel what happened, they realize every secret has layers in Echo Ridge. The truth might be closer to home than either of them want to believe.
And somebody would kill to keep it hidden.

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Penguin Australia

 

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tell me your favourite thriller?! and did you read the author’s first book? (IT’S SO FAMOUS.) and which would you pick in: plot vs characters?

I’ve been waiting for Holding Up the Universe for BASICALLY 74 YEARS.

Give or take, like, a few years…but it feels forever since I had my fragile and delicate destroyed by Jennifer Niven’s All The Bright Places (which coincidentally is one of my top favourited reviews on Goodreads with 400+ likes!) and I was SO READY FOR THIS NEW BOOK!

I’ll be honest: I don’t think it’s as good as ATBP. But it’s a different story, a different feel, and a different message. I don’t want to compare them too much! (I mean, it’s BAD ENOUGH that this poor book has that horrible permanent sticker on the front cover reminding it of its older sibling’s success while it is yet a new hatchling…poor dear.) All you need to know is: (A) I thoroughly enjoyed this, (B) even if I do have a few twitchy qualms, and (C) I am not destroyed! Yay!

HAHAHAH JUST KIDDING. THERE IS MUCH MORE YOU NEED TO KNOW. Read on, dear Algernon. We have much to discuss.

(And OBVIOUSLY this review will have no spoilers. But since it’s such a highly anticipated book across the blogosphere, I figured I should put that disclaimer.)

I loved the message of being seen and finding self-worth.

Doesn’t everyone feel invisible and unwanted on occasion?? So this should resonate with basically 97% of everybody. Bless it. The story is equal parts about Libby (who is known as the “fattest teen in America”) and Jack (who has prosopagnosia, aka face blindness and recognises NOBODY). I adored their dual-narration and I loooooved their story line. NO BORING MOMENTS. Perfect pacing. And Jennifer Niven’s writing is A GIFT TO HUMANKIND ACROSS THE GALAXIES. Her writing always makes me feeeeel all the things.

And the characters? BE STILL MY RAPIDLY BEATING HEART BECAUSE: JACK.

HE IS A PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL OF BAD DECISIONS. Seriously, such bad decisions. Stahp, Jack. He has prosopagnosia, which is face-blindness, which is actually a disability I’ve researched a lot and am quite interested about. I really felt for Jack. He doesn’t want anyone to know he can’t recognise faces, so he compensates by being “untouchable” like nothing and no one can hurt him with all his swagger. Plus I relate hugely to him, not because I have prosopagnosia, but just because I relate to (A) Jack having social anxiety, and (B) when he walks into a room he can’t recognise people so it’s basically like being surrounded by strangers all the time, and I struggle to read faces so Jack’s drowning feeling of “WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE, WHAT DO THEY THINK, WHAT’S GOING ON” was relatable to me and so so so well written.

Plus Jack has SWAGGER and an afro that he calls his LION’S MANE and the dude is just downright #FABULOUS.

 

Buuuut…I struggled to care about Libby.

She has a very self-righteous attitude and she makes DUMB DECISIONS TOO…but Jack is 100% aware of his, while Libby just denies/justifies hers. How is this fair??? It is not??? Jack and Libby BOTH assume people are going to make their lives hellish (#socialanxiety) but Libby deals with it by ALWAYS assuming the worst of people…even when they’ve done nothing but be nice to her. Ask first. Accuse later, maybe?? But HEY! Libby was seriously brave and intent on spreading messages of self-love and her sassy clap-backs to bullies were AMAZING.

BRIEF LIST OF OTHER THINGS I LOVED

• SUPERNATURAL REFERENCES!! Which gives me life, honestly.
• There is so much dancing. DANCING. The only time I’ve ever danced in my life is when I walked through a spider web, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it. They rocked the dancing here.
• So much diversity! Of size, ethnicity (Jack is biracial), mental illnesses, and disabilitites.
• #HAIRAPPRECIATION. I’m not even sorry. I have a deep love of fabulous hair.
• Hate to love romance. My FAVOURITE romance trope.
• I HAD AN EMOTION. I actually got totally squished with emotions. At one stage it was SO INSUFFERABLY CUTE that I had to stop reading and just squee. Also there are times when I had to stop reading and HOWL.

 

BRIEF LIST OF DISLIKES, UNFORTUNATELY

• Well, Libby. Which I feel bad about, but seriously…sometimes I didn’t feel like shipping them?
• Not really sure what everyone’s motivations where. Like why wouldn’t Jack tell his parents he was face-blind?? His family was having Big Issues, but STILL. And why wouldn’t Libby go to the principal when she was bullied? She told another girl to go to the principal for being bullied??? And why would Libby BULLY HERSELF and then turn around and speak about self-worth? She legit wrote nasty things about herself in the bathroom. I just…I don’t…understand???
• Sometimes Jack’s face-blindness didn’t make sense. For instance, he can’t recognise his family’s faces. Yes. But he kept saying things like “the man I assume is my father walks into the room” WHICH MAKES NO SENSE. I can freaking tell which member of my family is coming down the stairs without seeing them. He has “identifiers” like hair and weight and voices and physical features like sticking-out-ears…so it seemed silly that he KEPT underlining he couldn’t recognise his family.

This book is still a precious little universe * of wonder and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.

Sure I had quibbles, but I love love loved it and I just wanted to stay devouring it forever. Jack and his precious #FABULOUSNESS rates as one of my top-favourite-contemporary-boys. And any book that wants to talk about self worth is DOING GOOD IN THIS WORLD, THANK YOU. It hit me in the feels several times and just…HOLD ME. ** I love this book.

 

* See what I did there? HUH? HUH? GET IT?
** And see what I did there? I’m on a title pun ROLL right now, go me.

THANK YOU TO PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven was published October, 2016.

Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby’s ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for every possibility life has to offer. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything. 
Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone.
Until he meets Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them in group counseling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel. Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours.

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have you read a Jennifer Niven book?! what do you think?! tell me someone else here has serious fictional-hair-appreciation because i need to flail hairily. also: do you ever find yourself loving one character but not the other, so not shipping them so much?