Review: This Song is (Not) For You by Laura Nowlin

Publication Date: January 5^th 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Length: 224 pages

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Bandmate, best friend or boyfriend? For Ramona, one choice could mean losing them all. 
Ramona and Sam are best friends. She fell for him the moment they met, but their friendship is just too important for her to mess up. Sam loves April, but he would never expect her to feel the same way--she's too quirky and cool for someone like him. Together, they have a band, and put all of their feelings for each other into music.
Then Ramona and Sam meet Tom. He's their band's missing piece, and before Ramona knows it, she's falling for him. But she hasn't fallen out of love with Sam either.
How can she be true to her feelings without breaking up the band?

You know when a book has so much potential and just fails to deliver and you want to wrap it up in blankets and weep for the lost possibilities? Yeah, that.
It’s a nice enough idea that attempts to tackle a different romantic story to your usual YA fare. There’s Ramona – hyperactive, always cheerful, and in love with her two bandmates. Sam – quiet, shy, and definitely in love with Ramona. And Tom – asexual, kind of in love with both Sam and Ramona, and feels disconnected and depressed in regard to most other things. See?! Look at all this potential! But instead of actually living up to that, it glosses over it all and leaves you feeling grumpy and let down.

Having an asexual character made such a refreshing change, but unfortunately it really isn’t handled very well. The love triangle just ends up feeling like a bit of a mess. The entire thing is built so that you feel as though there will be some big revelation or confrontation, but it never comes. Everything builds and builds, and you keep waiting and then suddenly, it’s done. It leaves you feeling frustrated, and like the main point of the story was never really reached. I like fluff in my stories, but I also like a bit of substance, and sadly this story was really lacking that.

I want to see more diversity in the romances we see in YA fiction, I want to see more relationships that incorporate more than two people – that represent asexual people. But I want to see them done right, and sadly this book really doesn’t.

Review: The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks

Publication Date: August 1^st 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Length: 400 pages

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark  for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Annabelle Aster doesn’t bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more peculiar is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds.
Annie and Elsbeth’s search for an explanation to the hiccup in the universe linking their homes leads to an unsettling discovery—and potential disaster for both of them. Together they must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and yet somehow already did.

So that blurb left me pretty eager to get stuck into this one, time travel, a feisty heroine and a murder mystery? I was definitely intrigued.
Which is why it was such a shame that the first half of the novel (for me) didn't live up to the promise of the blurb (it's an entirely different kettle of fish for the second half though). The pacing was a little off, there was too much extraneous detail, too many plot threads that weren’t going anywhere fast enough and were building up to several twists and reveals that were unfortunately obvious for me.

I kept putting the book down and having to really push myself to pick it back up again – my motivation was shot. There was so much attempting to be crammed into this 400 page novel. As soon as I started to become invested in one story line, we’d skip to another one (either a new one or a previously introduced one) and there was just so much happening without enough time given to develop it thoroughly.

But then at around the halfway point everything starts to pick up and I found myself becoming more invested in the story and enjoying it immensely. It was wonderful seeing all the characters converge and the threads start to make more sense as they tie together and provide a much more cohesive whole.

I began to care more about the characters and I loved seeing how the time paradox kicked in and watching events from the first half of the book play out again from different angles with different pieces of fore knowledge in the second.

The pacing also works much better in the second half – I found myself desperate to know how it would end, what would happen and breathlessly awaiting the final showdown as the baddies close in on our heroes. There were even a few gasp out loud moments of twists that I hadn’t seen coming which were very well played.

It was a strange mix of things, both good and bad, that luckily picked up so that I really enjoyed the second half and ended up thinking about the story several days after finishing the book. I've found myself feeling melancholy and wanting to go back and revisit the quiet of Annie's kitchen and the solitude that accompanies El's cabin and her back forty. Given that the story and I started on such a wrong foot it's surprising how much I ended up loving the second half. But I did, and it's one that I'm sure I'll come back to. Be warned though, the first half hides the brilliant story that emerges in the second, so if you find yourself growing tired and disenchanted, stick with it, Annie is a fascinating character that you'll grow to love and root for.

Review: This Book is Gay by James Dawson

Publication Date: September 4^th 2014
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Length: 271 pages

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Former PSHCE teacher and acclaimed YA author James Dawson gives an uncensored look at what it's like to grow up as LGBT. Including testimonials from people 'across the spectrum', this inclusive book explores everything anyone who ever dared to wonder wants to know - from sex to politics, how to pull, stereotypes, how to come-out and more. Spike Gerrell's hilarious illustrations combined with funny and factual text make this a must-have read.

This is an incredibly important book for everyone not just those whose sexuality is covered in the book.

James tackles a breadth of subjects and topics within sexuality so that no matter who you are and how well informed you may already be, you will learn something from this book. It acts like a sort of guidebook for those thinking about their sexuality, coming to terms with their sexuality, and those who may already be out and secure with it. The breadth of topics covered is staggering: common definitions and labels, stereotypes, biological theories, coming out dating, homophobia, sex, marriage, children, religious opposition, transphobia and HIV/AIDS. For such a slim volume it does a huge amount.

He gives clear, honest and open advice on all of these topics as well as pulling stories and thoughts from survey’s he has conducted with people from around the world and the result is a patchwork of support and advice that shows anyone reading this book that you are not alone. It gives snapshots into so many lives and it’s wonderful to see so many different views collected into one book, providing a thought provoking and engaging read.

Sex-Ed is woefully lacking in so many parts of the world, and almost non-existent for anyone whose sexuality doesn’t fall into the straight category. It leaves so many people isolated, confused and ignorant about things that should be taught as freely as straight sex-ed is taught, and this book is a fantastic step in the right direction to right this imbalance.

The only reason that this book doesn’t have a full five stars from me is because there are quite a few topics glossed over – for example I didn’t feel that there was nearly enough page space devoted to Trans, and I think the idea of being asexual was mentioned once? For a book that was supposed to be inclusive I felt that it leaned very heavily on Gay/Lesbian and didn’t look very far outside that circle. That’s fair enough if the book was just going to focus on that, but to act as though the book was all inclusive and then to only focus heavily on being gay or lesbian felt a bit frustrating.

It also felt as though the aimed for age of the reader was a bit all over the place. This is an important book, one that needs to be read by pretty much everyone regardless of their gender or sexuality or age, and there were some points that felt like they were aimed for much younger readers and then others where it shifted abruptly to more adult language. It didn’t quite strike the right balance for me as a book aimed at a wide group of people. It was an admirable attempt at a very tough job, but it didn’t quite hit all the right points for me.

This is a hugely important book, for those needing help, advice and reassurance for the things they are going through. For people who are curious. For people who are willing and open to being educated. The world has been so homophobic for so long that it is a relief to see books like this appearing on shelves. Funny, informative and engaging, this is one that I will be getting everyone I know to sit down and read.