What Kind of Girl – ARC review

Author: Alyssa Sheinmel
Publication date: February 1, 2020
Genre: young adult, contemporary
My rating: 4/5 stars

What Kind of Girl is one of those books that, regardless of your opinions on its execution, you have to acknowledge is vitally important for its willingness to openly address difficult social phenomena that society likes to sweep under the rug. It is a heavy read, but in a necessary way, not the maudlin sort of sob-story that is an inherent risk of writing about so many serious issues that teens face today.

“Doing something when you’re scared is braver than doing something when you’re not.”

Reverie – ARC review

Author: Ryan La Sala
Publication date: December 3, 2019
Genre: young adult, fantasy, LGBTQ+
My rating: 2.5/5

“Kane shoved down his curiosity, knowing it was useless to expect a drag queen to do anything other than exactly what she wanted.”

When I heard that a book existed where the “evil queen” trope has been transfigured into “drag queen sorceress,” I just knew I had to read it. And it’s a YA fantasy being compared to Inception and full of fabulously queer characters? It sounded like such an exciting idea. But you know those books that you have so hyped up in your mind because they sound so fresh and original, but then you find out that “fresh” is just a euphemism for “unpolished and awkward”? Yeah, that’s how this one ended up.