Love Month Recap

So... Love Month this year didn't quite work out like I had planned.  My initial plans were to read a lot more than I did but of course, life happened and got in the way. Or rather death did. My dad passed away at the beginning of February and not unsurprisingly I didn't feel much like reading or blogging. I still don't, not really. But things have to get back to normal eventually. So I thought I'd share with you some of my thoughts on the four books that I did read in February with LGBT characters or story lines.

Openly Straight by Bill Konisberg

This was the first book I read for the Love Month event.  I'm not entirely sure what put this book on my radar but I'm so glad that I read it.  Openly Straight by Bill Konisberg is about a teenage boy who is out and proud in his hometown in Colorado.  His family and school are supportive, he's well-known for being openly gay, for being an advocate for gay teens etc.  But when he gets accepted into a private all-boys school on the East Coast, he decides that ... for once, he just wants to be himself.  Himself, that is, without his sexuality colouring how everyone views him. Everything seems to be working out okay until he falls in love with his new best friend while out there...

I really loved this one. Loved the main character's voice and this exploration of his past and his experiences coming out and being gay that is explored through a writing assignment. It's also hilariously funny and really not to be missed. I am so looking forward to the sequel, Honestly Ben, which was recently published.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate

Next, I read Noteworthy by Riley Redgate and I couldn't have loved it any more than I did.  ...I'm not entirely sure what put this book on my radar? Perhaps it was listed on a list of books containing bisexual characters?  In any case, I decided that I had to read this book and I did and I loved it. It follows Jordan Sun during her junior year at a private performing arts high school. In order to save her place in this performing arts school Jordan ends up desperately auditioning for a men's acapella group just to keep steady.  And she gets in which means pretending to be a guy.

There was so much to love about this book.  I loved the explorations of friendship, identity, sexuality and love.  I thought the author wrote very well on the elements of coming from a poorer economic background, the fact that Jordan is Chinese-American, other members of the Sharpshooters being from diverse backgrounds, Jordan's father being disabled, Jordan's realisation of her own bisexuality.  It was a book about a boarding school and friendship groups, getting over first heartbreak, becoming more confident in oneself, but also a really great look into gender roles and norms for both men and women.  I loved it.  Plus,  a capella!

Three by Hannah Moskowitz

I'm not entirely sure what to make of Three by Hannah Moskowitz. I'd read other books by the same author before which made me take notice of this book. That, and the premise. I'd never come across another YA book that dealt with polyamory as this book does. So I picked it up incredibly intrigued by the story line ... and while I do find it interesting that this book is available and all, I did feel some disappointment over it.  There were quite a few typos and grammatical errors like it could been copy-edited better. But also ... it was pretty subtle. The story is that this girl moves some place new, and becomes attracted to this boy, he kisses her. Then she finds out that he is in a long-term relationship with another girl and that they are poly-amorous. The main character decides to give it a go at being in a relationship with him and also possibly her and that is the bulk of Three.  ...if I'm honest, I wanted more.

I had expected there to be a sexual relationship between the characters and there isn't. I expected there to be more of a connection between the two girls in this relationship ...but there really wasn't.  So I finished this book and it was so decidedly ...average that I almost don't have much more to say about it? What I'd like to read is a book that isn't too afraid to go to places most YA books wouldn't go. And I felt like this book mostly played things safe. Which was therefore boring to me. Shame.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli


Finally, I picked up The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli. I loved the author's debut book, Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda about two boys falling in love and I had incredibly high hopes for this one... and while I did enjoy it, it didn't quite live up to Simon Vs expectations. This premise of this book centres around Molly, a girl who has a million unrequited crushes.  She just never seems to take that step towards telling her crushes how she feels. That is, until her twin, Cassie meets a girl and introduces Molly to a cute new boy.  Will Molly be woman enough to tell her crush how she feels?!

So ... yeah. This book was cute, sure.  And there;s plenty of diversity here, from sexuality and race and mental health.  But I didn't really gel with the characters or the relationships.  And in fact, I kind of hated how the author sort of stood on her soap box and ranted through the characters about a myriad of things... even when I agreed with the character's point of view I just didn't love the lecturing, self-important tone.  And when the conversation about the social construction of virginity came about I just rolled my eyes. It was too much and there was no subtlety to it. It felt like being hit over the head with all these social messages and being scolded for outdated beliefs about sexuality and the rest of it. Have a message, sure. But don't be so patronising, please.

Still. That isn't to say I didn't also enjoy the story. I just wished I'd have enjoyed it more than I did.

Those are the books I read during the month of February. But at least I also still have a lot of great-sounding LGBT books still on my TBR pile...

Have you read any great LGBT stories lately? 

February TBR

Do you guys remember several years ago I used to hold a month-long event on this blog called Love Month? It was basically a celebration of romance in YA and I would read lots of different types of romances and have giveaways and interview authors and have guest posts and everything? Do you remember? No? That's okay.

It was something I really enjoyed doing but it was also a lot of work.  And it got to the point where I'd get blogger burn-out trying to cope with all of the expectation that I put on myself.  But also, every year since then I've wanted to do it again, even unofficially.  So this year I thought I'd just go for it.  None of the other times I did Love Month had a theme but most of the books I read for previous Love Months didn't include that many LGBT romances either.  So for this year's Mini-Love Month event, I thought I'd only read books involving an LGBT story line.  Because why not?  Unless you're an author of an LGBT story line or you're just a fan of LGBT books and want to volunteer to be interviewed or provide a guest post, I won't be doing much else in February except read and review some (all?!) of the following books.  But it should still be fun anyway. At least for me!  Here are some of the books I'm hoping to get to during the month of February...

Physical Books

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley
Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

The Robin Talley was a leftover review book from early last year, or the year before? SORRY. The Adam Silvera is obviously fairly new and I bought Wildthorn in a library sales age ago.  I think I also have Hero by Perry Moore in my loft. I'm not sure, so I won't count it here just yet.

Netgalley Books

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley
Noteworthy by Riley Redgate
Dreadnought by April Daniels

There are some mighty intriguing upcoming books with LGBT story lines, yo. I am excited. I also really wanted to keep the number of books I've requested from Netgalley to an absolute minimum until I have enough time to read and review the other books I've requested (8 of them which are over 3 months old!) but I literally could not resist any of these four books above. I have no regrets.

E-Books I Own

Girl Hearts Girl by Lucy Sutcliffe
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
Openly Straight by Bill Konisberg
Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall
As I Descended by Robin Talley
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

What can I say? I've been stock-piling this collection of LGBT YA reads for awhile! Mostly because despite this month in which I'm focusing on just LGBT YA reads, reads involving these story lines are something I want to read year-round as well. Which is why I've been buying these books on the regular. I think I'm most looking forward to reading a lesbian retelling of Macbeth in As I Descended. MORE LGBT retellings, that's what I say. But also If I Was Your Girl too.  I've heard good things.

Potentials

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
The Before Now and After Then by Peter Monn
Run by Kody Keplinger
Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee

I really think that I have enough to work with in the previous three categories but I thought I'd share with you some of the titles highest on my wish list. Which isn't actually because I want to read them more than the others on my list, these are just the cheapest on my list. Hush. No judgement. I only buy cheap e-books. Because I'm a cheapskate. The Sara Farizan and CB Lee books would probably be at the very top because they're also by POC authors and I feel like that's important too.

Will you be reading any LGBT books in February?

REVIEW: Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

I've had a copy of Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg on my shelves unread for absolutely ages.  I'd read and really enjoyed a previous book by Eulberg and thought it quite cute and fun.  And as I quite enjoy retellings of Pride and Prejudice, I thought I'd give this one a go.  And while I definitely left Prom and Prejudice on my shelves for far too long, it was exactly what I was expecting it to be when I did finally pick it up. 

In Elizabeth Eulberg's version, Lizzie Bennett is a scholarship student at Longbourn Acadmey.  And all the girls are all absolutely obsessed with prom.  It's a huge fashion spectacle and all the wealthy and snobby girls at Longbourn don't look very kindly on the 'charity cases' like Lizzie and her friend Charlotte.  That is except Lizzie's wonderfully kind and beautiful roommate, Jane. So when Jane gets all excited about the arrival of Charles, the boy she was flirting with before he left for a semester abroad, Lizzie agrees to tag along to the reception being held for the returning students. 

For months, Lizzie has been picked on by the other students, she's been made fun of and laughed at, she's been humiliated and had sticky liquids thrown at her. So she's not best pleased at this reception party when she meets Charles's friend, Will Darcy, especially when he's very snobby and stand-offish as well.  And when she overhears what Darcy has to say about her, she's completely made up her mind about what sort of person Will Darcy is.  And so the story begins. 

And Prom and Prejudice was hugely fun! I could definitely picture a school full of wealthy teenagers in New York to turn prom into this massive deal that's covered by fashion magazines and making it a very exclusive event with designer labels and all.  With a few simple changes, we really do have this fun P&P retelling which works very well in this high school setting.  In fact, there are so many different conversations had between characters that just made me smile because it worked so well.  Especially between Colin and Lizzie and Lizzie and Wick, the ex-Pemberley boy who had been kicked out of school by the impossible Will Darcy. 

The decision to make Lizzie and Jane into roommates instead of sisters means there is some distance when it comes to Lydia's disgrace in the second half of the book, I feel like it works well enough not to raise any eyebrows.  I especially love how Eulberg chose to place importance of the piano into the storyline and the ways in which Lizzie's eyes are opened to Will Darcy. 

This is a very cute story, one in which a lot of the magic and romance comes from the original Pride and Prejudice, but it's such a fun and light-hearted retelling that I feel most fans will be able to appreciate.  I certainly did.  It was a very sweet way to spend a few hours on a cold, miserable evening!

REVIEW: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

I've had Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler on my shelves unread for years. That's right, years.  I'd heard such good things about it, which is why I bought it, but I put off reading it for so long and now that I have read it, I cannot remember a single reason for the delay. 

I knew the rough storyline of the book beforehand - two best friends, Anna and Frankie, are on holiday in California one summer and make this plan to meet a boy a day and have this beautiful summer romance.  Except there's something Anna has never told Frankie - that she has had a summer romance, the previous summer with Frankie's brother and Anna's other best friend, Matt.  Matt wanted to be the one to tell Frankie, only before he could do so, Matt died. 

Now it's a year later and everything has changed.  Frankie and Anna are still friends, of course, but Frankie is dealing with the death of her brother and the ways in which her parents are not dealing.  She's changed for a shy, nice girl into someone who goes after what she wants and is interested in boys and her appearance more. And Anna is quietly suffering the loss of her best friend and the boy she'd been in love with ever since she could remember.  It's hard keeping such a huge thing secret from Frankie, but she feels as though it was something that Matt would have wanted her to do. 

I think when I originally heard about Twenty Boy Summer, I really just thought it would be this cute, light-hearted contemporary romance without much depth to it.  And then with the element of loss that plays into the story right from the beginning, I began to worry that this book would feel heavy and weighed down with the death of Matt.  But wonderfully, Twenty Boy Summer fits nicely between the two.  Yes, there is a very cute summery romance that happens, but alongside that are two best friends grieving and coming to terms and moving on with Matt's absence as well as managing their friendship and how they've let Matt's death change them over the past year.

The thing with Twenty Boy Summer is that I kind of built up in my head what it would be like when Frankie finally learns about Anna and Matt.  It's this huge betrayal and you wonder how two people can be best friends and still keep this massive secret from each other.  So in my head, this confrontation is explosive and earth-shattering and there is a bit of that in this book, but it's still a lot more gentle than I was imagining.  I think a lot of the emotion of the story I felt more in the first half of the book than I did in the second half, which is surprising and a teensy bit disappointing. 

Still, I'm really glad that I finally read Sarah Ockler's debut book!  I have others by her on my shelf and I am very much looking forward to the stories that she will tell. 

Falling in love...

I know that for the past two years, I've held my Love month event on the blog.  It was wonderful how much support and enthusiasm my lovely blog readers gave during those two years.  This year, I just couldn't summon up the energy to organise and write so many blog posts and reviews.  So I've left it other very capable bloggers to do their own thing and take Love month in their own directions.  I hope that by now you've found them and given them as much as support and encouragement as you've shown me in the past!

But still.  I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass without some mention of love.  It feels like tradition at this point.  And actually, it's something that I've been coming across lately.  I think it began when I read the wonderfully emotional book by one of my favourite authors... Just One Day by Gayle Forman. 

In it, the main character meets this stranger while on a trip abroad and taking a huge risk, she spends the day in Paris with him walking around, talking and falling in love. It's really rather sweet, and there's this thing that Willem says during the course of that day .. that we fall in love all the time. He says it a lot better in the book, but that idea really stuck with me for a long time after I'd finished the book. 

And I think I do fall in love all the time.  You know that feeling you get when you really connect with a person?  It can be platonic or purely fictional or love + attraction or whatever. I just think it happens more often than people think.

And that got me to thinking of falling in love and staying in love.  I keep thinking back to an old friend from high school.  Her parents had divorced when she was younger and her mom had remarried but hadn't been very happy. And I met up with my friend just as she was starting a new relationship with her soon-to-be husband.  And I will never forget how much she bubbled over with happiness telling me about the man she'd fallen in love. She giggled and got that dreamy look in her eyes and whenever I think of her now, I think of her in that moment. When love completely took over for her.  She said to me once that she had no idea that love could be like that. She'd never seen anyone in her life that had found a love that was so strong and important in their lives.  She wanted to know if I felt it too.  She wanted to make sure that I was just as happy and in love as she was.  And she asked me that question almost a decade ago...

And it occurred me to me the other day, after I remembered all of this, that yes. I am that happy and in love.  Maybe not as overtly or obviously, but after more than 12 years of marriage and a lot of ups and downs, I am still very much in love.  And every single time N makes me laugh or does something silly or sweet or thoughtful those feelings flare up again.  It seems it's a daily occurrence, in fact. Is being in love with someone just this constant stream of moments in which we fall in love all over again?

When was the last time you fell in love?

REVIEW: Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

I've been a big fan of Susane Colasanti over the years.  I like her gentle contemporary YA romances and I've gone out of my way to acquire her books when they've been published in the US.  But, as I've discovered recently, there is a topic that I really don't like in my stories - even if a favourite author writes it - and that topic is when a girl falls in love with her best friend's boyfriend.  And unfortunately, that is the main topic of Something Like Fate.  Which is why I put off reading this book for such a long time.  So while I did enjoy reading this book for the most part, there was also plenty that I didn't much like as well.

Lani and Erin are best friends.  They went through some traumatic stuff a few years ago and Lani feels a huge amount of gratitude towards Erin for her part in saving Lani's life.  She almost feels indebted to Erin.  And even though Lani and Erin have been drifting apart recently, there is still that strong girl-bond between them.  So when Erin starts dating Jason and Lani starts falling for him too, Lani makes a choice that nothing will happen.  That her friendship with Erin is more important.

I always feel like these stories about falling in love with your best friend's boyfriend have very little to do with the boy and everything to do with the friendship between the two girls.  Unfortunately, I never really warmed up to Erin as a best friend.  It feels as though as we're told more about this long history that is shared between them and we don't really see much of it.

I did like that in a roundabout way, there was some sort of commentary being made about palm reading and astrology and psychics and how each of these plays its part with 'fate' and how all of that can be easily misread or believed in such a way that it is easy to twist signs and coincidences into reasons why two people should be together (or apart). I didn't like it at first, I feel like people who believe in fate and things like psychics and so on, like Lani does, are taking away their levels of choice in their own lives. Leaving things like your relationship status, friendships and your own happiness up to some higher power feels lazy and like a character such as Lani has no power over her own life in any meaningful way.

The other thing that bothered me is Lani's belief that other people's happiness and other people's choices and decisions are more important or are worth more than her own. It takes Lani most of the novel to work through this though and I'm happy with the way in which it is resolved.  Lani's friendships throughout the book are many, and I liked that.  It is always nice to see a main character with a varied support network around her, even if all of the friendships don't last.  I really liked her friendship with both Blake and Connor and could understand the ups and downs of Lani's friendships with other characters. 

All in all, Something Like Fate was a cute and entertaining story.  I was surprised by the lengths that Lani goes to in order to avoid her feelings for Jason for the sake of her friendship with Erin.  I did very much like that no cheating takes place, but I felt like the 'mean girls' element towards the end of the story destroyed any hope that I had that friendships could or should be restored.  Still, while I didn't particularly enjoy this story as much, I do still love Susane Colasanti and will continue to look out for her books!

Love month wrap-up

So, this is it! Love month has come to an end. It's been a fun month. Because I'm me, I'm always thinking that I wanted to do more, share more, giveaway more. But February has been a particularly hard month for me on a personal level, so today I'm just grateful that I managed what I could. I hope you've enjoyed it!

Here's a summary of the posts, reviews and guest posts that have happened this past month:


Love month is here!

Reviews:

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott
Kiss Date Love Hate by Luisa Plaja
But I Love Him by Amanda Grace
Love Story by Jennifer Echols
Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate
One Night That Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg
Shug by Jenny Han
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss
Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt
Legend by Marie Lu
Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison
Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Posts:

My Favourite TV couples, part 2
Books and relationships
Transatlantic love
60s Love songs
Falling in love with my best friend
Love story wishlist

Guest posts:

The Road to Love is Rarely Smooth by Jo from Once Upon a Bookcase
Interview with Luisa Plaja, author of Kiss Date Love Hate
Give the gift of books this Valentine's Day by Laura from SisterSpooky: Book Fangirl
If Music Be the Food of Love by Sya from The Mountains of Instead
Tired of Love Triangles? So Over Insta-Love? Here are some books that break the YA relationship mold by Leanna from Daisy Chain Books
My Five Favourite Love Stories by Zoe from Bookhi
Real Love vs. Hollywood Love by Carly from Writing From the Tub
Valentine's Day To Do List by Cath Crowley
Types of Love by Elizabeth Rudnick
My Love Affair with romance by Rosy from The Review Diaries
TV Boyfriends by Jenni from Juniper's Jungle
LGBT in YA fiction by Andrew from The Pewter Wolf
Love Triangles - Good Guys and Bad Boys by Sophie from So Many Books, So Little Time
Love Stories I Wish Had Turned Out Differently by Tammy from The Book Fairy's Haven

Giveaways:

Winner of Kiss Date Love Hate by Luisa Plaja is: Anna from Anna Scott Jots

Winners of The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg are: Jade, Lauren and Stacey

I shall be emailing the four of you very soon, congratulations!

Thank you so much for all the lovely support and encouragement I've had for Love month. Thank you to my guest posters (Jo, Luisa, Laura, Sya, Leanna, Zoe, Carly, Cath, Liz, Rosy, Jenni, Andrew, Sophie and Tammy. I heart you all.), everyone who's left comments or linked/retweeted any of the posts. I really appreciate it.

Love story wishlist

Even though Love month will soon be over, my love for YA love stories will (I'm sure) never end. Here is just a small sample of some of the love stories I'm look forward to continuing or discovering soon...



Emma Hearts LA by Keris Stainton - Oh I love Keris Stainton! Her books are so funny and awkward. I've loved both of Keris' previous books and I'm really looking forward to Emma, especially because this thing where authors use setting really well (like with Jessie Hearts NYC) is a thing that I'm liking. I'm not enamoured of LA as a setting, but I'm sure after reading this book I will be! Published 7 June.


Adorkable by Sarra Manning - AHHH! Atom, when are you doing a cover reveal for this book?! I desperately want to know more about this book. I'm a HUGE fan of Sarra Manning's in general, but I'm insanely excited about her latest YA title, especially as it sounds so wonderful. Get here quicker, 24 May!


Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - No real news on this one, just that it will be published in 2013. I thought Anna and the French Kiss was near perfection and I loved Lola and the Boy Next Door. I have extremely high hopes for future books by Stephanie Perkins!


We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han - I know that this book has already been published in the US. I'm waiting for the UK paperback, and not very patiently either! Over the last two books by Jenny Han I've agonised over Conrad and Jeremiah, just like Belly has. And now I NEED to know what happens between these three. The 24 of April cannot get here soon enough!


Starcrossed: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini - It's funny, when I first started reading Starcrossed, I didn't think I'd be all that bothered by it. And instead, I was BLOWN AWAY and I inhaled the story as quickly as I could because I was so desperate to read more of this interesting story with great characters and a really emotional love story. I can't wait to read Dreamless, published 5 July.


The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting - There's nothing I love more than a good love story between two best friends! And I think the couple and the series that epitomises this wonderful best friend relationship is Jay and Violet in this series by Kimberly Derting. I am GASPING to read this third book in the series, published the 29 March.

These are the books I'm most looking forward to, now I can't wait to hear the books YOU are most looking forward to?

REVIEW: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver is a book I've been dying to read for such a long time! Since that shocking ending to Delirium, in fact. Before THAT ending, I could see in my head how the rest of the series might play out, but then everything changed. I was heartbroken and absolutely bereft at the changes that happened at the end of Delirium, but then I also kind of loved how Pandemonium started off with this fresh start.

This story is told in two parts. Then and Now, which, at the beginning, was difficult to get my head around. It took me awhile to find my place with this disjointed-feeling narrative, but soon I found myself really loving the huge jumps between time periods and also unravelling the mysteries and all the questions that begin building up of what occurs between Then and Now.

Lena was all ready to leave her home and the oppressive society that she grew up in and live her life happy and free to love Alex. But in Pandemonium during the Then, Lena is at the start of her journey in the Wilds without Alex. Without anybody, grieving for the boy she loved and lost and wondering where to go, what to do.

When Lena recieves medical help from a group of members who belong to the Resistance, her path seems pretty clear. Lena really does her best to remain strong, to live with the pain of Alex's memory, but also to move on and to fight for the things that she believes in. During the Then, we are able to see a wider, more detailed description of what it is like to live in The Wilds and the hard work and difficulties that come with it. We meet a bunch of wonderful new characters and we can really see how Lena has grown through her heartache.

I won't give you too much more detail into this book, as I loved not knowing very much about it before I picked it up myself. But there is much to love with this book. It's a lot darker in tone than Delirium - Lena goes through some difficult times and emotions. There is a lot more violence and death and hard realities to be faced, but there is also the sweet beginnings of new love and the hopefulness of better things to come.

This is an amazing, action-filled sequel fit to burst with emotion and surprises! I really recommend it!

Falling in love with my best friend

I've been thinking a lot about relationships in YA love stories during my planning of this month, and what I've come to realise is that the romantic relationships that I love the best are those between best friends. Today I bring you a small list of the books that deal with falling in love with your best friend excellently...

I think friendship is an excellent building block to a relationship, but in having your character fall in love with a best friend, an author really needs to up their game in order to make our hearts beat faster. There may not be as much initial attraction and falling for each other like with other stories, but I find the friend falling for friend story so much more romantic.

These two characters already know so much about each other, they're already familiar with each other's flaws and annoying habits. They were there when all the embarassing and awkward things happened, and yet they love each other anyway. Maybe even especially. All I can say is AWWW. And also, I'm really glad that things worked out OK between ME and MY best friend!



The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting - When I think 'falling in love your best friend' I immediately think of Jay and Violet from The Body Finder! There's something just really appealing about these two characters, especially when they are together. Sure, Violet has a strange and sometimes horrifying 'gift' of finding dead bodies, but she's got her family there for her, and of course, her best friend to get her through it!


Fracture by Megan Miranda - I think the thing that I love the best about Fracture by Megan Miranda (and I do love many things about the book!) is the friendship between Decker and Delaney. My heart absolutely broke and tears flooded out of me when I heard what Decker did in order to drag Delaney out of that lake. That kind of loyalty and friendship and the extreme lengths Decker goes to STILL impresses me. I very much want a friend like Decker in my life. Especially if like Delaney, I end up meeting some rather creepy folk like Troy Varga and end up with an unusual ability to sense when a person will die.


Rockoholic by CJ Skuse - Oh man, Rockoholic is filled with some crazy-wonderful characters! There's Jody's grandfather, Cree the most adorable little girl ever, Jody herself of course. And Mac, lovely Mac who patiently puts up with Jody's crazy ideas and obsessions. Who helps Jody out in tough situations - like when she accidentally kidnaps a world-famous rockstar - and tries to fix things. And even when Jody seems absolutely oblivious to Mac's feelings, he is still there. Oh, I do love Mac and Jody!


Shug by Jenny Han - This is the book I was reading when I first realised my love for best friend love stories. Because at the start of this book, Shug has fallen for her best friend HARD. And I can completely remember being that age, going through the awkward tween years and having that mad, all-consuming crush on somebody who has no clue! And with Shug, everything felt so completely spot-on. But sometimes, it isn't the best friend who ends up with our hearts, is it?


Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers - This book isn't primarily a love story at all, and perhaps the falling in love with your best friend isn't a huge element to the book, but I still loved it. Our main character really needs her best friend, especially as Eddie's father has just committed suicide and she really needs to find out the answers to all of her questions. And even when her quest for answers leads Eddie towards a most awful and slightly creepy photography student, her best friend Milo is STILL THERE.

Do you have any favourite falling in love with your best friend stories?

REVIEW: Midsummer Tight's Dream by Louise Rennison

I'm a big fan of Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicolson series, so I was always going to be a bit excited about this new bunch of books about Georgia's mad Irish cousin, Talullah. Set in a Yorkshire drama school with some equally crazy characters and some hot boys? I'm completely sold.

Though Talullah isn't quite as funny and outrageous as Georgia, she is still adorable. And problems with school and friends and boys and SNOGGING is the same just about anywhere. What does 'see you later' really mean, eh?!

In A Midsummer Tights Dream, Talullah and her friends are back at Dother Hall Performing Academy and everyone's in a muddle. Possible couples are forming up, Talullah isn't sure what the kiss from Charlie means when he has a girlfriend. Plus, Talullah's teacher hates her, the school might be closing down and one of her mates is leaving for Hollywood!

Being Georgia's cousin, she does get quite a few mentions in this book which makes me YEARN to read another Georgia book, it really does. Talullah and her friends are introduced to some Georgiaisms, like the Snogging Scale, which was fun. And I did love to see the Ace Tree Gang add their own crazy kissing things to the scale.

There are owls and gigs and crazy dancing and even some questionable licking going on in this second book in the series. And while I was mostly thinking 'this is OK' all the way through, I have to admit, the book ends in a such a way that makes me want the next book just a little more. I think The Misadventures of Talullah Casey is heading into a very satisfying direction...

Love stories I wish had turned out differently by Tammy from The Book Fairy's Haven

I'm very happy to announce that today's lovely guest poster is Tammy from The Book Fairy's Haven! Tammy is wonderful person and friend, and I'm very pleased that she's here today. She's chatty and friendly and an absolute star. You really must follow her blog if you haven't already!

And she's here talking about such a fun subject! Please do share in comments the love stories that YOU wish had ended differently. Over to you, Tammy...

To find out more about Tammy, please do visit the following websites:

The Book Fairy's Haven ... Tammy on Twitter

So often, I've heard that the power of a novel lies in the ending.

The more unusual, open-ended or unexpected the ending is, the better. When it comes to love stories, it goes without saying that most of us love reading the story that has the happy ending.

I'm certainly no exception to the rule.

After all, what could possibly be the point of living and experiencing the journey through the heroine's eyes only for it all to end in devastation?

Having to witness the protagonist and her love interest going through the antagonism, the sizzling attraction, the blow-outs, the kiss and make-ups and the adrenaline-fueled moments is one of the main reasons that keep so many of us glued to the pages of a book (the other being plot, character development and writing).

Of course, we expect things to go horribly wrong for the couple, but we accept that because we expect it to end in a way that will leave us all gushing with the sweetness of it all.

But sometimes... just sometimes, things don't quite work out that way.

And as much as I admit to appreciating a book with an unexpected ending, there's also a fair amount of stories that I wish had turned out much differently.

And today, as part of the love month feature on Michelle's blog (thank you so much for having me Michelle), I thought I'd share a few of those stories (not just relegated to books) that I wish had ended up with a different ending.

Warning: this post may contain possible spoilers.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden was one of the most gut-wrenching reads I've ever read to date. Anyone who has read the book and who knows how it ends, will know why. Tackling the subject of consensual incest, Tabitha Suzuma has written one of the most beautiful novels I've ever come across.

The strength of this novel lies not in its shock factor, but rather in the fact that Tabitha creates such a desolate home environment that brother and sister duo, Maya and Lochan's growing relationship not only seems believable, but also justifiable.

Both of them are written with such sensitivity, that regardless of your feelings about the controversial topic at hand, you just can't help but root for the two of them - another aspect which makes this such an unbelievably powerful and heartbreaking read.

That there was ever a chance for these two was something that I knew would come into question, but what I wasn't expecting was that the little hope that I had for them, would be shattered in the way that it was.

I cried for days, because never in my entire life, have I ever wished that there could have at least been a fighting chance for two beautiful souls who never knew anything but the broken home in which they had to survive on a daily basis.

The ending is one of the most poignant endings that I've ever read in a novel, which I do understand, is what gives this novel such a packing punch. But still, I often wonder... just what would have happened if things turned out differently for them?

A year and a half after reading Forbidden, I still think... could they have really made it? And if so, would the additional obstacles they would have had to face, be worth the effort?

I'd like to think that it would have.

For those who haven't read the book yet, you can check out my review of Forbidden on my blog.


One Day by David Nicholls

One Day is another one of my favourite books. If there ever were two characters who managed to drive me nuts and have me gunning for them at the same time, then it would have to be Dexter and Emma.

Their story starts during the 1980's on a 15th July. Following one night together (that night being graduation), their paths separate, although they do keep in touch. We as the reader are then given a glimpse of that one day every single year to find out what they've been up to and to see how they've grown.

Throughout the years that follow, the two dance around one another, snippets of their growing relationship slowly revealed, while we're left to fill in the blanks.

Between the moments of bubbly happiness, bitter antagonism, growing apart, finding new partners and losing each other along the way, the reader is finally given a bit of a reprieve when it seems as if they're going to get the ending that they so deserve.

Of course, being a David Nicholls book, this was not to be and suffice to say, I closed the book in the midst of choking on tears. One of the most beautifully written, witty and poignant reads, One Day is probably one of those books that, despite my love for the book and its original ending, still has me wishing that Em and Dex had more time than what they were given.

One Day review


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Probably one of the most subtle and understated books I've read, this coming-of-age dystopian novel left me feeling rather desolate.

The sinister undertones of the novel had me guessing for quite some time as to just what was going on. I knew there was something off about the characters, but it wasn't until the nature and purpose of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy's existence were revealed that I realised just how hopeless their situation was.

And what hope do you have to hold on to, when you're living in a world where you have to prove you have a soul? Because at the end of the day, even if that were the case, the outcome would still be the exact same.

And this is what grabbed me the most.

We have 3 young people, purposely created to harvest their organs in order to give others a better life, while they themselves don't really stand a chance of carving out a little piece of Heaven for themselves. And having finally figured that out, I knew that there just wouldn't be a way for Kathy and Tommy to make it.

To this day, I still feel that sense of loss.

Never Let Me Go review


And on a movie related note....



Phantom of the Opera

From the moment I watched The Phantom, I was team Erik all the way. There's something about a sinister, beautifully broken and tragic figure that leaves me absolutely weak in the knees - and the Phantom is the very embodiment of this.

In fact, I'd say he is the very reason I adore characters who are so dark, brooding and mysterious. Even better? Is the fact that he's so musically gifted, and well, I've always had a thing for book/movie boys who could produce exquisite music through song or music instruments.

Tsk. I just can't imagine what Christine saw in Raoul.

And finally...



Labyrinth

It's David Bowie in tight, stretchy breeches. As the Gobling King. Ok, so he drugs girls with peaches, but at least he sends them a dream and serenades them.

Surely we could look past this little issue?

Why would you not want to be Queen to the Goblin King? I mean really now... (yes, I have a HUGE crush on him).

Sigh. Why could Sarah not just have sent her brother home and stayed with Jareth? I would totally have done that.

Also, did I mention how sexy David Bowie is as a fae-type creature? I certainly wouldn't mind if he sang "As the World Falls Down" to me in a ballroom full of masked and fantastical souls.

*Heads off to daydream about The Goblin King* (Someone needs to write a YA story with a sexy Goblin King - authors, are you listening?)

Right, so now that I've revealed just how obsessed I am with the Phantom and David Bowie, I'd (and I'm sure Michelle too) would love to hear about love stories you wish had a different ending.

REVIEW: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Oh, this book. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins was utterly sweet and adorable. And whilst I preferred Anna and the French Kiss, this book still made me incredibly happy and I felt very emotionally connected to the characters right from the start.

I really liked Lola as a character. I loved her wacky fashion sense and her originality, while at the same time you can see how vulnerable she is underneath the outrageous costumes she wears. She's a loyal friend and daughter and feels the pressure of her unusual family.

Lola is also still smarting a bit at the events that occurred so long ago with her neighbours - Calliope, the talented and snooty ice-skater and her adorable twin brother, budding inventor, Cricket. And despite Lola's musician older boyfriend, good job and seemingly perfect life, when Cricket returns, everything in Lola's life turns upside down.

This book was so good. I really loved how reading this book made me feel as though I were there in San Francisco, seeing everything happen through Lola's eyes. I could just really believe and relate to her story. Her two over-protective dads are wonderful, and I felt rather relieved to read a story in which parents are portrayed in a positive and supportive light. I thought Lola had a great relationship with both of her parents, which felt refreshing as well as heartwarming. I also thought it was rather fun to see Anna and Etienne appear in this book as older friends around to give Lola some advice and to be a sort of relationship guide.

And in terms of Lola's lovelife, at first I was pretty conflicted. I really liked beginning-of-the-story Max. Being older, and a musician, him having a literary tattoo and being very patient with Lola's dads. But of course, in walks Cricket. And oh god, I love that Cricket is so very NICE and NERDY as well as HOT. What a winning combination. I thought the build-up to their relationship was really sweet, especially as we can see how inexperienced and awkward Cricket really is and how much he really wants to be with Lola.

The conflicts between them were suitably conflicted and angsty and drawn-out. There seems to be some pressure from Lola's dads and family members on both sides on who should be with whom, but I love that both Lola and Cricket make their own decisions here. There is also a rather sweet and important message about being OK with who you are. All in all, a really sweet and romantic read which I thoroughly enjoyed!

REVIEW: Empress of the World by Sara Ryan

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan was a bit different that I expected it to be. It was an interesting story and I really enjoyed getting to know this brilliant cast of characters, but sometimes I felt let down a bit by the structure of the novel between narrative and diary entries.

Our main character, Nicola, has been sent to a summer camp for gifted youth. She's interested in becoming an archaeologist and has signed up for classes at the Institute. On her first day, she meets a group of people that quickly become friends throughout this eventful summer.

We have Katrina, this wonderfully outgoing computer nerd, Isaac, the nice guy with a huge crush on Katrina, and of course, there's Battle. Battle who is this beautiful girl who is smart and cool and slightly mysterious. Nic finds herself immediately attracted to Battle, which begins Nicola's questions about herself and her sexuality as she examines her feelings for Battle and the people around her.

I really liked Nicola as a character and narrator. I thought Battle and Katrina and Isaac were all believeable and realistic characters. I could definitely relate to the feelings of first love as being confusing and overwhelming. I especially loved this thing between Nic and Battle. It was very sweet and beautiful as Nic and Battle spent more time together and Nic realised how much she was attracted to Battle physically but also towards her as a person and her personality. I loved the beauty of how this this relationship builds up.

My only issue with this as a story, is sometimes Nicola's diary entries that she writes as a way of making sense of the world in an archaologist's way really breaks the flow of the narrative. Especially after a really sweet and tender moment between Nic and Battle - going between that and a journal entry felt jarring. The diary entries left me feeling distanced from the story and towards the end, after a big conflict, I couldn't quite find myself again inside these character's heads and hearts. Still, the first half of the book more than made up for the second and I'm very glad that I read this book!

Love Triangles - Good Guys and Bad Boys by Sophie from So Many Books, So Little Time

Today we have one of my favourite blogging buddies, Sophie from So Many Books, So Little Time here on the blog (Hello Sophie! *friendly wave*)

Sophie is here today talking about LOVE TRIANGLES. Do you love 'em, do you hate 'em, let us know in comments! Thanks Sophie, over to you...

To find out more about Sophie, please do visit the following links:

So Many Books, So Little Time ... Sophie on Twitter

If you read YA on a regular basis then you’ll be very familiar with the love triangle; in fact, you may even be hard pushed to find a popular YA novel without one. I’d been thinking about love triangles a little before the lovely Clover announced that she’d be hosting another brilliant Love Month and so when I received her email, I knew immediately that it’d have to be my topic.

I began thinking about how there is always the good guy who is possibly the sweetest person in the world and worships the ground the heroine walks on and then there is the bad/dangerous guy. He is disinterested, angsty, occasionally insulting and almost positively the cause of many tears. And usually, the bad boy walks away with the heroine. Not always, but very often, and I was just thinking about why that is because I usually end up shipping the bad guy, too...

There’s just something extremely attractive about them. They are often darkly beautiful with smouldering eyes and a deep voice as smooth as melted chocolate. And I want one. That’s what these characters do – they make you want to be a part of their world in a way that the sweet guys just don’t. These poor YA protagonists don’t have a chance really.

The first triangle to spring to mind is Clary, Jace and Simon from Cassandra Clare’s fantastic Mortal Instruments series. Simon feelings for Clary were obvious from the first time we see them together, and so is Clary’s purely platonic love for him. Though my heart ached for him, I wanted Clary to have Jace because he’s awesome. Actually, he’s incredibly damaged, removed, snarky and rude and yet I absolutely adore him, as does Clary. Clare does it again in the Infernal Devices with Tessa, Jem and Will. Once again, I’m in love with the bad boy. Will is very much like Jace; he has Romantic sensibilities and is very dark and damaged yet it’s he who captures me. Even in the beautiful face of the badly suffering, sensitive and funny Jem. But as there’s still one more book to go in the trilogy, we don't quite know which boy Tessa will choose...

All of the famous (in the YA world) love triangles are from paranormal series: The Hunger Games, Twilight, Vampire Academy. And don’t get me wrong, I was very invested in each of these and the protagonist chose the guy I wanted each time; and in these examples, not always the bad boy. I’m reluctant to be specific in case I give something away for those who haven’t finished/read the series yet! I struggled to think of triangles in contemporary YA and of the two I came up with, one fit the paranormal good/bad guy decision and the other was even more difficult for the protagonist because of them both being brilliant heroes.

The first is Jenny Han’s Summer trilogy; the book that began my thoughts about love triangles as with the first book I found it nearly impossible to reach a decision on which boy to champion by the end of the novel. I still couldn’t decide in It’s Not Summer Without You. Now, at the time of writing this, I’ve haven’t yet read book three, though the paperback is on pre-order, so I have no idea how the triangle plays out. I constantly switch between damaged, enigmatic Conrad and fun, loyal and completely besotted Jeremiah who is the reasonable choice, and yet I just can’t commit. I really do feel for Belly. This is perhaps the hardest love triangle I’ve ever come across.



This, however, is one of the easiest for me: Georgia, Dave and Massimo from Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. I began reading this series before I even knew what a love triangle was and as the later books came out and I remained a Georgia fan-girl, I began to take sides. First there was the gorgeous Sex God himself, Robbie, but I soon realised that was just too serious for Georgia. Then came the Italian-American Luuurve God, Massimo, but Georgia just confused him, to be honest. Who was left? Dave the Laugh, a boy funny and ridiculous that he had to be with Georgia (well, I think so, anyway!). unlike lots of YA love triangles, there wasn’t a bad guy. All three boys were awesome and I would quite happily go out with any of them. But I guess you’ll just have to read this painfully funny (seriously, you will have cramp from laughing) series to find out who she chooses.

As you can probably tell, I love a good love triangle whether the protagonist ends up with the good guy or the bad boy. The only thing that matters to me is that she gets the guy I want her to!

Thanks for having me, Clover!

LGBT in YA fiction by Andrew from The Pewter Wolf

Today I have the great pleasure of introducing Andrew of The Pewter Wolf to the blog! I first 'met' Andrew through Twitter and have since run into him at bookish events. I love his enthusiasm for books and for music and I do love reading his blog. If you haven't followed The Pewter Wolf, I must insist that you do that.

To find out more about Andrew, please do visit the following websites:

The Pewter Wolf ... Andrew on Twitter

I have been trying to write this blog for the past few days now. I had an idea that I liked and plans on how to write it. But when it came to writing it, I found it extremely difficult to ACTUALLY writing it!

I want to talk about LGBT in YA fiction. Now, as a young gay man myself, I should be able to say “There should be more LGBT in YA” and I do agree with that statement. But the thing about that statement is that I’m there that there should be more and it should be more obvious, and that in itself is my problem.

The reason I am in two minds over this is because, when a book has a lead gay character, it shouldn’t be seen as a big deal, right? So, why, I hear you ask, should I be writing this blog post about it?

Because, there are people out there who are LGBT. And reading YA is a connection. To show that they are not alone. And to those who are straight and don’t “get” that what it’s like.

However, now this is where it gets a little tricky for me. I don’t want LGBT novels in YA forced upon me. I don’t want it to be made a big deal. I don’t want to see on the blurb or on the cover, in giant bold lettering, “THIS IS A GAY LOVE-STORY!” or “THIS IS AN ACTION-THRILLER WITH A TRANSGENDER MAIN CHARACTER!”

Because, we don’t see that in straight novels. And, also, because this shouldn’t effect the plot, right?

For example, when The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was released, was the fact that Lisbeth Salander was bi made the book a bigger success? No, it was because it was a really good crime novel. Did the fact that Lis was bi affect the plot? No. It was who the character is.

This is the same with Huntress by Malinda Lo. I read this, knowing that there will be two lesbian characters. But while I read this fantasy story, I read two characters who slowly fell in love with each other. It didn’t matter that these two characters were women. That’s because the author wrote an interesting plot and an engaging characters.

There, of course, will be people who won’t be comfortable reading LGBT. I remember when JK Rowling revealed that Dumbledore was gay after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released. The amount of news outlet and people’s reaction over this news was a mixed of both positive and negative. This is also true with Malinda Lo’s debut novel, Ash. When it was reviewed by US newspapers, it was called "a lesbian retelling", “...and one such development could send readers reeling. Parents will want to read the final chapter before handing this book over to their teens” and “conventional”.

But with books, no one is forcing you to read a book that handle subject matter that you feel uncomfortable. I, personally, feel uncomfortable reading several issues like self-harm and rape, but it’s my choice whether to read a book that handles this subject matter or not. Most of times, I refuse to read the book. It’s my choice. If I feel uncomfortable reading a book, then I would stop reading it.

Now, I completely understand that authors get their characters and they know, from the word go, if a character is gay or straight. The same way the author knows if the character is white, black or of racial descent. And I’m not asking for the authors to change a character’s sexuality or the colour of their skin to please us.

I’m just asking if we could have more LGBT novels which are compelling and have engaging characters.

And as for love (seeing as this is Love Month) is that everyone deserves love. Love isn’t a physical thing, but something deeper that crosses boundaries. Whether that be gender, racial descent or sexuality.

So, to everyone who’s in a relationship, I hope you enjoyed Valentine’s Day and enjoy the rest of the year with your loved one. If you are single, treat yourself and love yourself.