Category Archives: Young Adult

Review: Sweet Like Sugar Cane by Leah T. Williams

8 June, 2026 8:00 pm , 2 Comments ,

Sweet Like Sugar Cane
The Prequel to Neither Out Far Nor In Deep—Gwen’s Story
Leah T. Williams
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 1, 2025
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Before she became the mother struggling to understand her American-born son in Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, Gwendolyn Richards was just a girl in St. Kitts trying to figure out who she was.
She had her best friend Sharon, her father’s quiet wisdom, her mother’s firm and loving hands, and Lenwell Turnbull whose eyes found hers across every school assembly. Life moved to the rhythm of sugar cane fields, market mornings, and the island’s radio reading out the names of the dead.

Then everything changed.

In one season, Gwen will discover the electricity of first love and learn that some things cannot be rushed, like yam vines, like grief, like growing up. She will face heartbreak she never saw coming and changes that will alter her world forever.
Sweet Like Sugar Cane is a lyrical, tender coming of age story set against the vivid backdrop of Caribbean island life. It is a story about the sweetness of first love, the bitterness of loss, and the bittersweet reality of becoming someone new.
Perfect for readers who love Jamaica Kincaid, Edwidge Danticat, and stories about Black girls finding their strength in the most difficult seasons of their lives.

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance

Review: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

4 May, 2026 9:14 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Sunrise on the Reaping
The Hunger Games, 0.5
By Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: March 18, 2025
Genre: YA Dystopia
Rating:

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy, Young Adult

Review: Red Winter by Annette Marie

24 April, 2026 7:25 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Red Winter
Red Winter Trilogy, #1
By: Annette Marie
Publisher:Dark Owl Fantasy
Publication date: Oct. 21, 2016
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Romance
Rating:

Emi has spent her entire life hiding from the creatures that hunt her. The savage earth spirits are determined to kill her before she can become the living host of a goddess, so she stays hidden—until the day she saves the life of one of her hunters.

Shiro isn’t the harmless fox spirit she thought he was. He’s mysterious, cunning, unpredictable…and now hers to command. He’s sworn to pay his debt to her, but he doesn’t know who she is. If he finds out, he’ll kill her.

But she can’t send him away—not yet. Her future isn’t what she thought. The lies surrounding her fate have begun to unravel, and she needs answers before time runs out—answers that lie in the spirit realm. Shiro can take her there…if she dares to trust him.

And only then will she find out how deep the gods’ treachery runs.

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Posted in: YA Fantasy, YA Romance

Review: The Candy Cane Kiss by Maggie Dallen

20 December, 2024 1:08 am , Leave a Comment ,


The Candy Cane Kiss
Briarwood High #6
By: Maggie Dallen
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: November 1, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Holiday Romance
Rating:

Fake kisses shouldn’t taste so sweet.

When the new star quarterback at Briarwood High winds up in the hospital over Christmas break, he’s sure that’s as bad as it can get.
He’s wrong. His day is about to get so much worse. First he’s stuck with that irritating new girl from school who’s currenly dressed as a holly jolly Christmas elf as she volunteers on his floor. Then his ex shows up and asks his permission to bring her new boyfriend to his family’s Christmas party, and then…well, then he makes it all a million times worse by kissing the closest girl at hand, who just happens to be that weirdo candy striper with a penchant for Grandma cardigans and candy-cane striped tights. She also happens to be the only girl at Briarwood who doesn’t like him. He couldn’t have chosen a worse fake girlfriend if he’d tried. So the question is…if this relationship is all wrong, why does it feel so right?

Lola is a self-proclaimed freak and a military brat just waiting to graduate so she can take the first bus out of Briarwood. She’s also more than a little obsessed with all things retro. Including swing dancing. The only problem? Swing dancing requires a partner. Where on earth is she supposed to find a willing dance partner in the sea of conformist mediocrity that is her new high school? Fortunately for her, the arrogant jerk in the hospital bed needs her more than she needs him if he stands any chance of winning back his ex. So yeah, she’ll help him. For a price. But the closer they get, the more she hates the idea of handing him over to his perfect ex, and the more she has to wonder. Will she be the one paying the price…with a broken heart?

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Posted in: YA Romance, Young Adult

Sneak Peek Wednesday: The Queen’s Crown by Jennifer Anne Davis

8 November, 2023 7:05 pm , Leave a Comment ,


The Queen’s Crown
(League of Rulers #1)
Jennifer Anne Davis
Publisher: Reign Publishing
Publication date: Oct. 19, 2023
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Eighteen-year-old Princess Sabine Ludwig of Bakley thought her biggest problem was finding a man remotely interesting to dabble with while trying to fill her days with something other than knitting or drinking tea. But when her dear sister is brutally murdered in a foreign kingdom a week before she’s to be married, Sabine suddenly wishes for boring, ordinary days again.

Seeking retribution, Sabine decides to take her sister’s place and marry the mysterious king of Lynk. It’s the only way she can hunt down and find the killer. It’s the only way she can get revenge. When she finds the king far more appealing than she’d intended, it becomes difficult to keep her wits about her and remember why she’s there.

Thrown into a world of lies, power struggles, and seduction, Sabine must learn to navigate through the foreign kingdom’s dangerous court as she seeks her sister’s killer. The closer she gets to discovering who it is, the more she questions who she can trust—including herself.

 

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Posted in: Excerpt, YA Fantasy

Review: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

16 September, 2022 3:22 pm , 1 Comment ,

With the Fire on High
Elizabeth Acevedo
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Publication date: May 7, 2019
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

 

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary

Review: Ashes by M.K. Harkins

10 June, 2022 9:08 am , 1 Comment ,

Ashes
(Modern-Day Fairy Tale #1)
by M.K. Harkins
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: May 27, 2022
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Rating:

If she thought college applications were complicated, just wait until she catches feelings for the newest celebrity in town.

Ashley Adams doesn’t have time for haters. Already too busy dealing with dead bodies after her stepmother purchased a mortuary, she is ready to put the lid on her judgmental peers and finally bury her high school experience. But her focus is shattered when a charming pop-star-turned-student needs her help evading his crazed fans.

The last place heartthrob Harry James wants to be is back in school. Sentenced to finish his senior year after a case of accidental arson, the singer longs to return to the stage. But he never expected to meet a girl who could see through the fame to the real person inside.

Surprised by the chemistry between them, Ashley is shocked when Harry gives her the cold shoulder. But with his publicist forbidding him from dating her, Harry must choose between fame or love.

Can Ashley and Harry survive the turmoil threatening to tear them apart?

Ashes is a fun and snarky standalone YA romance. If you like captivating characters, emotional twists and turns, Fairies and Cinderella retellings, then you’ll adore MK Harkins’ fast-paced tale.

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Posted in: YA Romance

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

3 November, 2021 2:31 am , 1 Comment ,

Labyrinth Lost
(Brooklyn Brujas #1)
by Zoraida Córdova
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date: Aug. 1, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

The only way to get her family back is to travel to a land in between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic.

At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she’s not sure she can trust, but who may be Alex’s only chance at saving her family.

 

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Posted in: YA Fantasy , Tagged: ,

Review: Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

15 February, 2021 9:24 am , Leave a Comment ,

Aurora Rising
(The Aurora Cycle #1)
by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date: May 7, 2019
Genre: Young Adult SciFi
Rating:

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

 

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Posted in: YA Sci-fi , Tagged: ,

Review: Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

25 January, 2021 2:39 am , 2 Comments ,

Midnight Sun
(The Twilight Saga #5)
by Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: Aug. 4, 2020
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Rating:

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?

 

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Posted in: YA Fantasy, YA Romance , Tagged:

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