Where Fiction and Reality Meet
Title: The Friend Scheme Author: Cale Dietrich Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Length: 352 Pages Category: Young Adult/Teen Romance At a Glance: While there were some sweet and hopeful moments among the drama in this book, I also wish I could say I liked it more. Rating: 2 Stars Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: High schooler Matt's... Continue Reading →
Title: The Fell of Dark Author: Caleb Roehrig Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Length: 384 Pages Category: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy At a Glance: Excellent world building, a creative use of historical figures, and an abundance of danger and intrigue come together to make The Fell of Dark one of the best books I've read so far... Continue Reading →
Title: Frankenstein Builds a Boyfriend Series: Fangville High: Book One Author: Dylan James Publisher: Deep Hearts YA Length: 142 Pages Category: Young Adult, Fantasy Rating: 4 Stars At a Glance: Dylan James put a lot of heart and imagination into Frankenstein Builds a Boyfriend. At times sweet, funny, and delightfully quirky, the story is not... Continue Reading →
Title: Date Me, Bryson Keller Author: Kevin van Whye Publisher: Penguin/Random House Length: 336 Pages Category: Young Adult Romance At a Glance: Date Me, Bryson Keller is one of the finest Young Adult novels I've read in quite some time. It's funny, poignant, heartfelt and genuine. I loved it all the more for its honesty... Continue Reading →
Title: Only Mostly Devastated Author: Sophie Gonzales Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Length: 272 Pages Category: YA/Teen Romance, Contemporary Romance At a Glance: Only Mostly Devastated succeeds in every single way it aimed to. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: Will Tavares is the dream summer fling—he’s fun, affectionate, kind—but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever... Continue Reading →
Title: The Gravity of Us Author: Phil Stamper Publisher: Bloomsbury Length: 320 Pages Category: Young Adult/Teen At a Glance: All in all, this was a super fun story, and a great own-voices debut from Stamper. I hope to see much more from him in the future! Reviewed By: Jules Blurb: Cal wants to be a... Continue Reading →
Title: We Are Lost and Found Author: Helene Dunbar Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Length: 304 Pages Category: Young Adult At a Glance: We Are Lost and Found is not a teen romance. It is wholly character driven, deals with myriad heavy subjects that make it less than a light read, and I was so drawn in... Continue Reading →
Title: That Feeling When Series: #lovehim: Book One Author: S.M. James Publisher: May Books Length: 343 Pages Category: Young Adult Romance At a Glance: That Feeling When is a boy meets boy-boy loses boy-boy gets boy back story. It’s the parts around and in between those occurrences that make this such a sweet and angsty... Continue Reading →
Title: We Contain Multitudes Author: Sarah Henstra Publisher: Little, Brown Books Length: 385 Pages Category: Young Adult At a Glance: This book isn’t going to be for everyone. But, I LOVED it. I hope some of you are willing to give it a try!! Because the pay off is so worth it. Reviewed By: Jules... Continue Reading →
Title: Keep This to Yourself Author: Tom Ryan Publisher: AW Teen Length: 320 Pages Category: Young Adult, Murder Mystery At a Glance: Keep This to Yourself is some outstanding Young Adult fiction, a fantastic whodunit, and comes highly recommended for its taut and suspenseful delivery. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: It's been a year since the... Continue Reading →
Title: This Is Kind of an Epic Love StoryAuthor: Kheryn CallenderPublisher: HarperCollinsLength: 304 PagesCategory: YA, ContemporaryAt a Glance: Though nowhere near on par with the two books it's compared to, This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story nevertheless won me over on its own merits, neither over promising nor under delivering.Reviewed By: LisaBlurb: A... Continue Reading →
Title: Jordan vs. All the Boys Author: John Goode Publisher: Harmony Ink Press Length: 180 Pages Category: Contemporary, Teen Fiction At a Glance: I have said this before but it bears repeating: John Goode is able to tap into the emotions, fears, and dreams of teenagers like no other Young Adult novelist. Reviewed By: Sammy... Continue Reading →
Title: Zenith Dream Series: Broken Moon: Book Three Author: F.T. Lukens Publisher: Interlude Press/Duet Books Length: 258 Pages Category: Sci-Fi, Teen Fiction At a Glance: These are people who will live on in your heart and mind well after you turn the final page. The story is just that good. I highly recommend not only... Continue Reading →
Title: To Be Honest Series: #lovehim: Book Three Author: S. M. James Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited Length: 412 Pages Category: Contemporary, Teen Fiction At a Glance: While there are some problems with the story, the message it tries to convey is an important one, and the story, overall, is entertaining. Reviewed By: Sammy Blurb: Angus Reid... Continue Reading →
Title: Black Wings Beating Series: The Skybound Saga: Book One Author: Alex London Publisher: Macmillan Length: 432 Pages Category: Young Adult, Fantasy At a Glance: Overall, there’s some really nice world building to enjoy in this story, but it’s home to characters that I didn’t grow to care for in spite of the author’s efforts... Continue Reading →
Title: Jay Bird Author: Thomas Grant Bruso Publisher: JMS Books Length: 23k Words Category: Contemporary At a Glance: Jay Bird had some very nice moments with some beautifully realistic characters and just a touch of romance, but the structural flaws in the timeline and how it affected the plot could not be easily dismissed. Reviewed... Continue Reading →
Title: Jupiter Series: States of Love Author: Rhett Heath Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Length: 69 Pages Category: Contemporary At a Glance: I love this first love, first romance, coming-of-age type book. And, the guys really were adorable. I just wish there had been more to the story. Reviewed By: Jules Blurb: For fourteen-year-old Jacob Thomas, a... Continue Reading →
Title: Cinderella Boy Author: Kristina Meister Publisher: Riptide Publishing Length: 346 Pages Category: Contemporary, Teen Fiction At a Glance: This story was just gorgeous in its attempt to give a tiny window into the life that a non-binary/genderfluid person lives. Reviewed By: Sammy Blurb: Sixteen-year-old Declan is the perfect son . . . except for... Continue Reading →
Title: Running with Lions Author: Julian Winters Publisher: Duet/Interlude Press Length: 266 Pages Category: Teen Fiction At a Glance: Don’t walk…Run! to pick up a copy of this book. You definitely don’t want to miss this wonderful story! Reviewed By: Jules Blurb: Bloomington High School Lions’ star goalie Sebastian Hughes should be excited about his... Continue Reading →
Title: Burro Hills Author: Julia Lynn Rubin Publisher: Diversion Books Length: 240 Pages Category: YA/Teen Fiction, Coming of Age At a Glance: Check this one out, guys. I was sucked in from the first page. Definitely recommend this worthy debut. Reviewed By: Jules Blurb: Jack Burns is a resident—though oftentimes he feels like an inmate—of... Continue Reading →
Title: The Love Interest Author: Cale Dietrich Narrator: Michael Crouch Publisher: Audible Studios Run Time: 10 hours and 29 minutes Category: Young Adult, Suspense/Thriller At a Glance: While initially these characters were fun, after a short while they began to feel more and more over-the-top and borderline ridiculous, but I thought Crouch did a good... Continue Reading →
Title: Love, Simon Starring: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Josh Duhamel, Logan Miller, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Tony Hale, Natasha Rothwell, Keiynan Lonsdale, Miles Heizer, and Jennifer Garner Directed By: Greg Berlanti Distributed By: 20th Century Fox Genres/Categories: Teen Romance, Romantic Comedy, Drama, Coming Out Run Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes At a Glance:... Continue Reading →
Title: The Prince and the Dressmaker Author/Illustrator: Jen Wang Publisher: First Second/Macmillan Category: Young Adult, Fairy Tale, Graphic Novel Length: 288 Pages Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: The graphics are as bright and engaging as the narrative is warm and heartfelt in this story about being true to oneself. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: Paris,... Continue Reading →
Title: Mick & Michelle Author: Nina Rossing Publisher: Harmony Ink Press Length: 230 Pages Category: Contemporary, Teen Fiction, Transgender At a Glance: Mick & Michelle is a nice portrait of one transgender teen in a small neighborhood in New York trying to figure out how to finally start living her true life without upsetting the... Continue Reading →
The Novel Approach Reviews 