YA

Audiobook: Check & Mate

Leave a comment

by Ali Hazelwood
Read by Karissa Vacker
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, talk of sex, and off-page sex. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Mallory Greenleaf was once a chess prodigy. Her grandmaster father would take her around to tournaments, and she would play. And win. But then, four years ago, when she was fourteen, she quit. Since then, her father left the family and then died in a car accident, her mother deals with a chronic pain condition, and Mallory has been keeping everything together by working as an auto mechanic. 

Then, her best friend badgers her into playing at a charity tournament, and she inadvertantly beats Nolan Sawyer, the number one player in the world. From there, Mallory gets sucked back into the world of chess, winning a paid fellowship, and she begins winning again. The difference this time? She and Nolan are like magnets. Sometimes repelling each other, but also inexplicably drawn together. 

This one was super fun. I don’t know how it is in Hazelwood’s other books, but she does younger siblings really well. Mallory’s sisters were a lot of fun, and I found myself laughing aloud several times. I liked all the chess stuff (I really enjoyed watching The Queen’s Gambit a couple years ago) and Hazelwood can write tension really well. I like that she’s tackling things like sexism in the chess world, as well as blaming yourself for the mistakes of others, and learning how to let go of having a super strict control on your life. Mallory and Nolan’s relationship was a good one – a lot of push-and-pull, and some great banter, with a really good resolution. 

And Vacker’s narration – she read When In Rome – was absolutely delightful. I do need to listen to her read more books, because I thoroughly enjoy listening to her. 

In short: it was a quick read that was tons of fun to listen to. 

Audiobook: Vengeance of the Pirate Queen

Leave a comment

by Tricia Levenseller
Read by: Krissi Bohn
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Release date: November 7, 2023
Others in the series: Daughter of the Pirate King, Daughter of the Siren Queen
Content: There is a lot of violence, including some that is directed against women. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore.

At the end of my review, for Daughter of the Siren Queen, I mentioned that I wouldn’t mind spending more time with Alosa and her crew. Which is precisely what Levenseller delivered. Sorinda is Alosa’s – who is now the Pirate Queen – assassin, spending her time in the shadows, taking care of the evil men who wish Alosa and her band of woman pirates ill. But, Alosa’s next assignment for Sorinda is different: captain a crew to sail north, looking for spies they haven’t heard from in too long. 

Sorinda reluctantly takes the position – she is much more used to the shadows than the spotlight – and sails north. But what they find is a lot of trouble – first, a beastie that is intent on destroying the ship, and then a hostile people who have been protecting the undead King of the Undersea – who also controls the undead – from being woken for a thousand years. Of course, Sorinda (accidentally) awakens him, after which he is intent on making her his mate. Of course, that won’t happen; Sorinda is much too fiercely independent for such things. But it’s an absolute ride getting there. 

The only real complaint I have about the book is the fact that Sorinda is a Black woman. I get being inclusive, but Levenseller isn’t Black, and even if it’s a fantasy world, it doesn’t mean she gets to write a Black main character. That said, I did like Sorinda as a character: she was fierce and capable, and solved her own problems. The undead king was a LOT for a villain – I thoroughly hated him and was super happy with the end he got. The romance was a bit meh, but I wasn’t reading this book for the romance. Bohn was an excellent narrator, which definitely helped with my enjoyment of this one. 

It’s not a bad continuation of a good series.

Thieves’ Gambit

Leave a comment

by Kayvion Lewis
First sentence: “A Quest can’t trust anyone in this world – except for a Quest.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC piles at work.
Content: There is thievery, kidnapping, talk of killing, and some
mild swearing. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

Ross Quest is not only a member of one of the most notorious crime families, she’s a master thief. The problem is that after 17 years of doing this (she’s only 17 after all), she wants out. She’s got an escape plan, but then her mom gets kidnapped in a job gone wrong and the ransom is a lot more than Ross is able to pay. Enter the Thieves’ Gambit – a game for the best of the upcoming best, run by an international syndicate of thieves. Win, and you get a wish – anything you need. Lose – and you might be dead.

So, Ross decides to play the Gambit, out to win. What she didn’t expect was for her whole world to be turned upside down.

I have a soft spot for heist books and ones featuring teenage super-thieves, and this one scratched that itch. Add in that the main character is a Black girl and that the cast is super diverse, and you’ve got an excellent, fun book here. It made me anxious to read – which is really what you need from a heist book – and the twists and turns kept me on my toes. I really didn’t see the ending coming (though, admittedly, I’m not the closest reader, so maybe it was more obvious than I thought). At any rate, i liked Ross, I liked the way all the participants – there were eight that we followed, and while some got more screen time than others, I don’t feel like it was unbalanced – interacted and worked to go through the challenges. And even though the ending was left a bit open, I was satisfied with where it stopped.

So yeah: super fun, super intense, and a great read.

Audiobook: Midnight at the Houdini

Leave a comment

by Delilah S. Dawson
Read by Saskia Maarleveld
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Release date: September 5, 2023
Content: There are some precarious situations and a creepy guy who wants to hurt a teen girl. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

Anna has had a perfect life: her dad owns hotels in Las Vegas, so she hasn’t wanted anything. And her best friend, her sister Emily, has always been there for her. But on the night of Emily’s wedding, Anna is trapped in a storm and ends up in the Houdini – a mysterious, magical hotel that she has until midnight to get out of. Or she’ll be stuck there forever.

There’s more to the story, of course: There’s Max, the love interest who has been trapped in the hotel his whole life because his mother, Phoebe trapped them there. Anna’s dad and his friends are trapped there as well and have their own separate plot as we learn about Phoebe and the background of the Houdini.

I read in some promotional material that this was a loose retelling of The Tempest, and once I read that (about a quarter of the way into the book), I could see the similarities. And it made the book much better. I also really liked Maarleveld as a narrator; she kept the book engaging and I delighted in the way she did some of the voices. It was a lot of fun to listen to, and I’m glad I did.

Audio book: The Night in Question

Leave a comment

by Liz Lawson and Kathleen Glasgow
Read by Sophie Amoss, Holly Linneman & Mehr Dudeja
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Release date: May 30, 2023
Others in the series: The Agathas
Content: There is some mild swearing, talk of out-of-wedlock babies, violence (both domestic and other), and talk of murder. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first one, kind of.

Iris and Alice have developed a pretty solid friendship since solving Brooke’s murder four months ago. Their parents and Alice’s old friends don’t really understand it, but it’s harmless, as long as they refrain from solving any other crimes. But at the winter dance, which takes place at the Levy Castle, Alice stumbles upon another crime: Rebecca Kennedy lying in a pool of her own blood, with Helen Park standing over her. While Rebecca’s not dead, she’s severely injured enough to not say what happened, but the evidence is clear: Park stabbed her. Right? 

Well, Alice and Iris think the police are wrong (again) and take it upon themselves to figure out what happened. It takes them on a twisty path involving family (there’s a genealogy project that lurks in the background), old movie stars, the things people will do for money and fame, and will test the bounds of both Iris’ and Alice’s parents. 

I liked The Agathas, but I think this one is better. I liked the twisty mystery, and how all these disparate parts come together in the end. And while there were twists and turns, I never felt like anything was out of left field. Lawson and Glasgow are good plotters, dropping enough hints and foreshadowing that nothing felt out of place. 

And the narrators were fantastic. They all kept me engaged, helped me figure out who was who and kept the mystery from getting sluggish. This is a smart, fun series – who doesn’t love a couple of kids outsmarting the cops and figuring out mysteries? I’m here these as long as Lawson and Glasgow want to write them. 

Audiobook: Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success

Leave a comment

by Jessica Parra
Read by: Karla Serrato
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some kissing. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

Graduation is fast approaching and Rubi Ramos has everything all planned out. She is going to go to Alma college and study pre-law, and do Great Things. The only problem? She’s been waitilsted at Alma. And what she really wants to do is bake. However, for her Cuban immigrant parents who own two bakeries, baking for Rubi isn’t an option. So, Rubi has a plan: she’s going to get a math tutor to help pull her class standing up (who turns out to be really cute), and she’s going to compete in the Bake Off (without her parents knowing) and hopefully win – which comes with a trip to Cuba.

Of course, things don’t go smoothly, and there are bumps along the way.

This was a delightful romp. It’s got a baking competition! It’s got a surfer dude! It’s got immigrant parents! It’s got Cuban heritage! I liked the relationship Rubi had with her parents; they were firm and wanted a lot for Rubi, but in the end weren’t unreasonable about working with what she wanted. I loved Rubi’s friends, and the support system she had. And the whole baking competition – which was quite definintly a reference to the Great British Bake Off – with it’s baking puns and Johnny Oliver judge, was charming and silly.

The narrator was quite good as well, and I enjoyed the time I spent listening to this one. A good, fun, summery YA book.

Audiobook: Darkhearts

Leave a comment

by James L. Sutter
Read by Ramon de Ocampo
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Release date: June 6, 2023
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including quite a few f-bombs, talk of sex, and some tasteful on-screen sex. It will be in the Teen section of the bookstore.

In middle school, David started a band – Darkhearts – with his friends Eli and Chance. They had some success playing gigs in the Seattle area, where they lived, but after a while, David got annoyed with Eli and Chance hogging the spotlight and so quit the band. However, after he left, Darkhearts got huge. Like super huge. And David’s held a grudge ever since because he feels he missed out. 

But, Chance is back in town – Eli died of an overdose, and Chance came for the funeral and to regroup – and wants to reconnect with David. At first, David goes along with it grudgingly, but after a while he realizes something: he really likes Chance. Like really likes Chance. Is he going to be able to get past everything else – Chance’s fame, his own resentment, his father’s concern – and be able to throw himself into this relationship? Does he even want to? 

This was so incredibly delightful. The characters, the depection of a teenage boy band, the cool things they went. David’s best freind, Rachel. The fluidity of his sexuality, and the total non-issue that it was. The romance – and while it kind of followed the beats of a romance novel, I appreciated David’s growth over the whole thing. De Ocampo was a fabulous narrator as well; pulling me into a story that I may have dismissed in print. 

Highly recommended.

AudioBook:Harvest House

Leave a comment

by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Read by Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Charley Flyte
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments involving danger for young indigenous women, instances of racism, some mild swearing, and mention of murder. It’s in the YA section ( grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

It’s the fall, and since the play at school has been canceled, Hughie Wolfe has been looking for something else to do with his time and talents. Enter Sam, who talks Hughie into volunteering at the Harvest House haunted house. This sounds like a good idea until the person in charge decides to set up an “Indian” burial ground and lean into the legend of the “Indian Maiden” ghost at the crossroads. This makes Hughie, who is Muskogee (I think; at least that’s what is sticking in my head and I don’t have the book to check), angry, and so he and his friends decide to investigate the legend and see what truth lies behind it.

It’s part high school drama set in a small Kansas town, nearby Lawrence – Hughie is a sophomore, so there is some drama with bullies and he has his first date with Marie, who is Ojibwe, in addition to the drama about cutting the funds for the drama department – part ghost story. Hughie’s chapters are interspersed with Celeste’s, who is the ghost of the crossroads and whose mission is to protect indigenous girls from the predator that lurks there.

I liked a lot of this book. I liked that it’s an indigenous story set here in Kansas, I liked Leitich Smith’s portrayal of indigenous kids in a non-reservation environment. She really leaned into the racism – so many instances of racism by white people towards the native kids, and in ways they didn’t even think about. I felt like she didn’t go hard enough in the ghost story and backed away from a truly macabre ending, but it is a young YA book, so I can’t really fault that. The narrators were good, though I thought it was dragging by the end, and I sped up the listening speed just so I could finish.

I’m glad it’s out there, though, and I hope it can find its audience.

Don’t Call Me a Hurricane

Leave a comment

by Ellen Hagan
First sentence: “‘Grab your board,’ Isa shouts, throwing open the screen door letting sunshine and cool breeze into our living room.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work
Content: There is mention of teenage drinking and some intense moments with a natural disaster. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Eliza’s life hasn’t been the same in the five years since the hurricane hit her island off the Jersey shore. Sure, her family’s still living there, still scraping by, but the island itself has changed. Developers have come in, and bought up houses, knocked them down, in the name of progress. The latest example? They want to build out the marshland. And Eliza – and her friends – don’t want to lose that much of their island.

It also doesn’t help that a new boy – Milo – is from New York City, is one of those rich summer-only island visitors and that Eliza seems to be falling for him.

This one had all the elements I like: it’s about the ocean and island living! It’s got a strong female character! It’s a novel in verse! There’s a strong environmental message! But it fell completely flat. Not so flat that I didn’t finish it, but flat enough that I found myself skimming the chapters, just enough to get the information. I wanted to like this one so much more than I actually did. Not sure where it went wrong: Eliza is a good character and Hagan does a good job of showing the trauma after a natural disaster (though she did amp up the stakes by almost killing Eliza’s brother in the storm), but I just didn’t connect with it.

Audiobook: Forget Me Not

Leave a comment

by Alyson Derrick
Read by Natalie Naudus
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is homophobia, overt racism, mention of teenage drinking, and swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Stevie and Nora are in love. They have been secretly dating for two years – secretly because they live in a conservative town, in conservative families, who – they know – would kick them out for being gay. So, they date in secret and have made a plan to get out and go to California, so they can live together, out in the open. 

But, as they were together in the woods one day, Stevie has a bad fall, with a bad head injury, and after two weeks in an induced coma, she woke up with no memories of the past two years. Which means she has no memory of her relationship with Nora.  

When I first started listening to this one I thought it was super contrived: who loses just two years of their memories? But the more I listened, the more I got it. Derrick is exploring some interesting things here. Like: if you were acculturated to believe you were straight, and forgot about your discovery of your sexuality, will you be straight or gay? It’s gay, of course, but I thought it was fascinating how Derrick got there after the accident. Also: I felt so much for Nora – the one person who knew everything, and yet couldn’t say anything. I also found it interesting the way Derrick portrayed the parents. Stevie’s dad is a Fox-news watching mechanic, so I formed Opinions about him. He didn’t do much to refute that, until the end. I’m not sure I believe it, but it’s there. It was a fascinating exploration. 

It helped that Naudus is an excellent narrator, keeping me engaged and propelling the story forward. This one would be a good book for a book group; there’s a lot to think about and discuss here. And I quite liked it.