I don’t think i’ve ever done a mini review post before, bringing together some smaller reviews from books i’ve read recently. Admittedly, these are books that i just don’t have too much to talk about, but i want to let you all know about them and give them the time they deserve. So here are a few reads i’ve read recently and what i thought!
You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
I had been so excited to finally get my hands on a copy of Leah’s debut novel. In reality, it took me quite a while to get through and i didn’t find it incredibly enjoyable. Whereas the writing is good, the representation of the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly illness within younger teens was outstanding, there was just something that felt a little off to me.
I don’t know if i found this book to have too many tropes, and i have to admit i cannot stand YA books that end in a prom, which this book did, but i just didn’t connect with it as much as i wanted to. The characters are well written, and the plot is well spaced. However there are some points that i just feel are irrelevant to the story or didn’t need to be there.
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
Again, this was quite a hyped book for me. I was excited to pick it up and was saving it in a pile of books for when i need a little pick me up. When i first found out this was a Grease retelling, including LGBTQ+ characters, i figured it was right up my street. And that it was.
The writing in this debut was stunning, hilarious, sassy and incredibly hard hitting at times. There were a few lines later on in the book i definitely had to take a step back and think about! The plot rolled perfectly between subplots, the entire dynamic of the characters worked well and everything just felt easy to read but entertaining.
I usually forget about my YA contemporary rom-coms pretty soon after i’ve read them, but this one has stuck around.
I was toying with the idea of a full review for this book as it was gifted by the publisher, but due to the controversy surrounding it, i just wanted to add my thoughts.
I was incredibly excited to get my hands on a copy of How It All Blew Up and it was one of my most anticipated books of 2020. The story sounded wonderful and i really enjoy a book about travel, something that did not disappoint. This is the story of Amir, a gay teen living in America with his Muslim parents. However, Amir isn’t out to his family and doesn’t feel like he can tell them, so runs away to Europe to live his best gay life.
Admittedly, it’s a little far fetched, but was a whole lot of fun with some really interesting and wild characters. It shows Amir being thrown in to the deep end of gay culture and his experience with how that’s changing him as a person.
Overall i really did enjoy the story, it was an easy read, a little bit fun and just enough camp-ness to keep this queer happy.
I think i’ll leave them there, and potentially write another mini review post in the near future. These are books that i don’t think i have fully formed thoughts on, but wanted to share them with you as books that i have actually enjoyed recently. Let me know if you are picking up any of these, or if you’ve already picked them up, did you enjoy them or not?
The Little Contemporary Corner 