Category: Young Adult

ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: At Midnight edited by Dahlia Adler

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: At Midnight edited by Dahlia Adler
Book Review: At Midnight edited by Dahlia Adler

If you know me, you know that I’ve adored fairytales since childhood. I love reading them, which means that retellings are up my alley. When I saw that Titan Books were publishing an anthology of fairytale retellings with a bunch of authors I love? Yeah, I was sold.

I’ll admit that I’ve not read the entire thing cover to cover. But I am OBSESSED with this anthology. I want to eke out the reading experience as long as possible, so I decided to review this book after reading a few retellings.

But one of my favourite things about this collection is that it contains the original tales too! Most of the stories in this are pretty well known, but a few aren’t as well known. The fairytales being included means that if you want to immediately compare or just reread a favourite after, you can! This is a reasonably chunky anthology, and the original stories are included, so that’s why.

Now I’ll go into more detail on some of the stories.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: If I Can Give You That by Michael Gray Bulla

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Book Review: If I Can Give You That by Michael Gray Bulla

I wasn’t big on contemporary YA when I was younger, as I associated it with those sad books. You know the kind I mean. And those books generally don’t appeal to me. But though If I Can Give You That gives off similar vibes, something about it had me curious. This wasn’t an easy read topic-wise, but it was fast to get through, and I’m glad I’ve read it.

Seventeen-year-old Gael attends a local LGBTQA+ support group for teens at the urging of his best friend, but as a trans teen in a conservative school, he didn’t plan to say much. That’s until he meets Declan and winds up absorbed by his friendship. As their relationship deepens, Gael starts to discover himself. Still, back at home, things are getting worse with his mother’s declining mental health and his dad trying to get back in touch. Gael must decide whether lowering his guard is safe or will make things worse.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Burying Eva Flores by Jennifer Alsever

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Book Review: Burying Eva Flores by Jennifer Alsever

I love a full-cast audiobook, so when I saw a YA thriller with a full cast set a listen now on NetGalley, you bet I instantly went and downloaded it. I knew it was going to be a thriller with some supernatural elements, but let me tell you, I couldn’t have guessed how wild this book was going to get.

This book is essentially a Courtney Summers book that took a detour through Death Note. If that doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will.
Eva Flores is missing, presumed dead, and everyone thinks Sophia did it. In this book, told through a blend of story, texts and interviews, we discover why Sophia hated Eva, what was going on in their lives and the magical notebook that allowed Sophia to mess with Eva’s life in revenge.

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Adult, books, monthly recap, Reading, Young Adult

Monthly Recap – February 2023

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Monthly Recap – February 2023
Monthly Recap – February 2023

Back in 2021, I was attempting to do monthly recaps. I’d sum up how many books I’ve read this month and write some mini-reviews.

It’s been a while since I’ve done one, and I’ve decided that this is something that I want to get into. I like the idea of talking a little bit about various books so you can get an idea of what I’ve been reading.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: HappyHead by Josh Silver

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Book Review: HappyHead by Josh Silver

Late last year, I was invited to attend the Rock the Boat showcase, and as part of that, I was sent a package of books. These were mostly releases of books already out by authors at the event. Still, it also included an ARC of Happyhead. It wasn’t a book I’d heard of before, but it sounded good. And I was right.

In this book, we follow Sebastian, a boy who is offered the opportunity to become happier by attending a radical retreat for teenagers. He’s not sure if he wants this, but he’s not given much choice. At least he can make his parents proud. But at the retreat, he meets the enigmatic Finn, and the other boy has him questioning what’s truly going on at this retreat. But the deeper into the programme, they discover that there might be no escape.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Out of Character by Jenna Miller

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Book Review: Out of Character by Jenna Miller

I’ve had this book for a while, and I’ve been very excited to read it with it being about a queer teenager who rps. But I decided to wait until HarperCollins had come to an agreement with the union. But now they have, and this review is only a few days late, ha! I was lucky enough to get a physical proof of this from the Harper360 blogger email, so thanks to the team there.

In this book, we follow Cass, a 17-year-old fangirl of the Tide Wars books who’d proudly describe herself as a fat lesbian. But what people don’t know is that she likes spending her free time roleplaying with her friends online. It might be nerdy, but it’s her escape from the world, whether she’s stressed over her parents fighting or how difficult it can be to date the resident cool girl. Her roleplay is becoming an addiction, though and as well as that, she thinks she might be falling for her online bestie, Rowan. As her lies build up, she has to decide whether, to be honest about everything and lose her safe space or be honest and watch everything change.

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Adult, book tag, books, Young Adult

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Heroines

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books4 Comments on Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Heroines
Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Heroines

I’m doing a Top Ten Tuesday two weeks in a row! Bookish tags are great when you’re low on ideas but still feel excited to talk about books. When I saw what the theme for this week was while writing up last week, I knew I had to do this too. I love reading books with great heroines, so I’m excited to list some of my favourites for you all!

The Top Ten Tuesday tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now held over on The Artsy Reader Girl. It’s a weekly tag where everyone is given a bookish prompt for bloggers to curate a top ten list. You can then share your blog post on The Artsy Reader Girl’s post for that week. Just make sure you check out and comment on other people’s blog posts too!

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Tell Me No Lies by Andrea Contos

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Book Review: Tell Me No Lies by Andrea Contos

When looking for a fast, entertaining read, a YA thriller can be everything you’re looking for. I love picking them up myself, so I was delighted to receive a copy of Tell Me No lies from Scholastic. This book came out in November, so if you’re interested, you’ll be able to pick up a copy of this book now.

Nora and Sophie Linden are sisters, but they aren’t friends. They’ve been struggling to get along for years, but the night Sophie saw her boyfriend Garrett leave with her sister before he disappeared, things worsened. Now Sophie has started receiving messages from someone claiming to be Garett promising revenge, and she’s determined to find out what her sister isn’t telling her. With both of their lives in jeopardy, Sophie and Nora must decide whether they can trust each other again.

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Adult, books, Reading, Young Adult

Books That Match The Ship – Izuleo

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books2 Comments on Books That Match The Ship – Izuleo
Books That Match The Ship – Izuleo

I’m big on shipping. To become obsessed with something, I need to find a ship that appeals to me. And when I do, I like finding similar ships in books to think about my favourite characters in those situations.

So, why not make a book rec post out of this?

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

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Book Review: The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

You know when you start a book, and you’re not sure if it’s for you, but you can’t put it down within a few chapters? That was me with The Black Queen. This was a book that I was lucky enough to be sent an early finished copy of by Scholastic. The summary sounded fascinating, but the murder doesn’t happen for a few chapters. Once Nova is found dead, you’re stuck in the web that Emill has created, but you won’t want to be free until the final page.

Lovett High is a school where segregation is key, and the white students rule all. They’ve never had a black homecoming queen until Nova Albright. But Tinsley McArthur wants her to step down. When Nova refuses, Tinsley is caught threatening to kill her the night she’s murdered. All fingers point to the killer being Tinsley, including that of Nova’s best friend, Duchess. The only way for Duchess to find out what really happened to Nova is to work with Tinsley to find proof. As they do, they reveal secrets about their town that they never expected.

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