BOOK REVIEW - BEATING HEART BABY BY LIO MIN (YOUNG ADULT FICTION)

 

Title: Beating Heart Baby

Author: Lio Min
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
Edition: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook; 352 pgs
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Source: Publisher
Purchase: Amazon - B&N - BAM! - Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  My thoughts and opinions are my own.  The links above are non-affiliate links; I do not earn anything from them.

The Summary

Lio Min’s Beating Heart Baby is an “achingly romantic” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock.

When artistic and sensitive Santi arrives at his new high school, everyone in the wildly talented marching band welcomes him with open arms. Everyone except for the prickly, proud musical prodigy Suwa, who doesn’t think Santi has what it takes to be in the band.

But Santi and Suwa share painful pasts, and when they open up to each other, a tentative friendship begins. And soon, that friendship turns into something more. . . .

Will their fresh start rip at the seams as Suwa seeks out a solo spotlight, and both boys come to terms with what it'll take, and what they'll have to let go, to realize their dreams?

(Goodreads)

Praise for Beating Heart Baby:

"This book is alive with ache, grief, hunger, love, pain and awe. . . . It should be read for the reasons all good books should be read: because it’s beautiful and moving, nuanced and humane. Most of all, because it’s fun." —Los Angeles Times

"Min's exploration of coming out and owning your story as an artist is particularly exhilarating and nuanced. . . It's an epic tale of queer validation, filtered through the light of the California sun and Sailor Moon, and an essential read for anyone searching for a blueprint of their soul." —BookPage, starred review

"A lyrical, rhythmic, and promising debut, this queer romance is a hit." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A luminous homage to music, art, and the power of found family. . . This achingly romantic novel features racially diverse and variously queer characters, each of whom is given ample space to develop." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"At times incredibly romantic, at times wildly devastating, this debut about identity, belonging, kinship, fandom, and starting over is one of the best books you'll read all year." —BuzzFeed (Best Book of the Summer)

"There’s a magic to this book I just can’t put into words. . . . If you like angst, pining, anime, music and found family, Beating Heart Baby is the book that will make you cheer, weep, laugh, and pine for your own internet friendship transforming into a happily ever!" —TheNerdDaily.com

"Blistering, deeply emo, and shimmering with the messiness of intimacy, Beating Heart Baby is a dizzying, occasionally infuriating, gleefully sexy, and utterly heartfelt exploration of identity, culture, and finding home within your art and in yourself. Brimming with music, profoundly specific internet, and the magic of cooked food with chosen family, Lio Min’s debut is as much a salve as it is nourishment." —Mary H. K. Choi, author of Yolk

"A stunning heartbreak of a novel that will mean so much to so many. I couldn’t put it down—following the always tender and often romantic journeys of these beautiful boys. A story about how love can shape you and open up the entire world. Lio Min is a superstar to watch." —Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know

My Review

Beating Heart Baby is a must-read.  Period.

I had to sit on this review for a bit because, frankly, this book gutted me in all the best possible ways.  There is so much love within the pages of this book: self-love, familial love, platonic love, romantic love.  The depth that Lio Min plunges, that they are able to translate into written words, is masterful.  This is ultimately a story about finding joy in spite of pain, and I fell in love immediately.

This is not only a queer ode, but an ode to music, art, and anime.  Showing the deep connections that people can make even through a computer screen, Min hones into the heartbeat of their main characters, giving the readers a view of events from both Santi and Suwa's experiences. There is a before and a now and an after which circulates throughout the story, highlighting the circular nature of human existence.  

This sounds like a lot for a YA novel, but I would argue that A) the general population consistently underestimates teenagers and B) that the experiences felt and relayed in this book do transcend the YA genre.  This will connect current teen readers, those Gen Z kids, with their Gen Y or Gen X parents.  But this will also tap into the Millennial experience - this generation who started without the internet at their finger tips, but developed the language that Gen Z lives out now.  How disembodied intimacy started in the early chatrooms, LiveJournals, and MySpace forums, and has developed into a way people often connect and create relationships in this vastly digital landscape; where those that search can find connection.

Being a former band kid, the fact that marching band was a big part of this book was so comforting.  The family that is developed in a world where you have to rely on one another to hit your mark, to play you assigned part, to be able to come together to create music, is different than any family you develop in other groups.  Music has a way of bringing people together that not many other art forms contain.  The quote that is at the center of this story, "The worst thing about music is that other people get to hear it", comes from singer Mitski, but in the book comes from a fictional anime, "Mugen Glider", that has large significance to both main characters.  This quote really exposes the fear of creation at the center of this book. While it works to bring people, often strangers, together, music is also deeply personal, exposing all the emotions poured into that act of creation.  Musicians know, whether playing your own original music, or being a conduit for others', that music itself transports you.

Lio Min grabs you and immerses you in this love story that Santi and Suwa are going through.  You feel transported into their minds with each point of view.  The feeling of creation through music and art is titular, and does become the beating heart of this novel.  Again, a must read.  Period. 

Final Rating

About the Author

photo by Bao Ngo

Lio Min has listened to, played and performed, and written about music for most of their life. Their debut novel Beating Heart Baby is about boys, bands, and Los Angeles. They've profiled and interviewed acts including Japanese Breakfast, Rina Sawayama, MUNA, Caroline Polachek, Christine and the Queens, Raveena, Tei Shi, Speedy Ortiz, and Mitski.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads

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BLOG TOUR - LOVELESS BY ALICE OSEMAN - YOUNG ADULT FICTION [REVIEW + GIVEAWAY]

 

Book Information

Title: Loveless

Authors(s): Alice Oseman
Publication Date: March 1, 2022
Edition: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook; 432 pgs
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Purchase: Amazon - Kindle - Audible - B&N - BAM! - iBooks - Kobo - TBD - Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.  My thoughts and opinions are my own.  Please note the purchase links above are affiliate links.

Tour Schedule

Week One

2/28/2022 - Nonbinary Knight Reads - Review/IG Post/TikTok Post

2/28/2022 - BookHounds YA - Excerpt

2/28/2022 - Rajiv's Reviews - Review/IG Post

3/1/2022 - @badlandsbooks_ - Review

3/1/2022 - Nerdophiles - Review

3/1/2022 - @booksaremagictoo - Review/IG Post/TikTok Post

3/1/2022 - Kait Plus Books - Excerpt

3/2/2022 - Dana's Book Garden - Review

3/2/2022 - Reading Wordsmith - Review/IG Post

3/2/2022 - @thebookishfoxwitch - Review

3/3/2022 - popthebutterfly - Review/IG Post/TikTok Post

3/3/2022 - Emelie's Books - Review

3/3/2022 - patrickfromperks - TikTok Review or Spotlight

3/4/2022 - @emmreadsbooks - Review/IG Post

3/4/2022 - onemused - Review/IG Post

3/4/2022 - A Bookish Dream - Review/IG Post

Week Two

3/7/2022 - Midnightbooklover - Review

3/7/2022 - Eli to the nth - Review

3/7/2022 - The Bookwyrm's Den - Review

3/8/2022 - YABooksCentral - Excerpt

3/8/2022 - Utopia State of Mind - Review/IG Post

3/8/2022 - Two Points of Interest - Review

3/9/2022 - Not In Jersey - Review/IG Post

3/9/2022 - More Books Please blog - Review/IG Post

3/9/2022 - @drewsim12 - Review/IG Post/TikTok Post

3/10/2022 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers  - Review/IG Post

3/10/2022 - Celia's Reads-blog - Review/IG Post

3/10/2022 - @coffeesipsandreads - Review/IG Post/TikTok Post

3/11/2022 - Zainey Laney in all 3 - Review/IG Post/TikTok Post

3/11/2022 - My Fictional Oasis - Review

The Summary

For fans of Love, Simon and I Wish You All the Best, a funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of a girl who realizes that love can be found in many ways that don't involve sex or romance.

From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it's okay if you don't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone . . . since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection.

This is the funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of Georgia, who doesn't understand why she can't crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She's surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It's not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum -- coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic. Disrupting the narrative that she's been told since birth isn't easy -- there are many mistakes along the way to inviting people into a newly found articulation of an always-known part of your identity. But Georgia's determined to get her life right, with the help of (and despite the major drama of) her friends.

(Goodreads)

My Review

Loveless by Alice Oseman, unlike what the title suggests, is a book all about love: self-love, platonic love, romantic love, and familial love.  At the forefront is a focus on queer love, and the multidimensional experience young adults, especially those who do not fit the societal "norm", move through as they grow into adulthood.

The main character, Georgia, is going away to university with her two best friends, Pip and Jason. With the impending move to university, Georgia is faced with the fact that she has never fallen in love, never kissed anyone, or even had a "real" crush on someone; something that is found odd by both her peers and society-at-large.  Even in Georgia's own mind, as someone who loves romcoms and fanfiction, her lack of experience and feelings are an oddity.  So university is where she is determined to change her status, and find someone to experience a relationship with.

Along the way, Georgia makes some poor decisions based on internalized expectations and societal expectations.  But she also finds herself, with this journey being hard but ultimately not surprising, in a way I think many queer people experience.  This is the part of the book that I loved the most.  Oseman shows the confusion and heartache and relief that comes from a personal discovery such as what Georgia goes through. Throughout Georgia's trials to start a relationship you always see a tiny hint that she knows this isn't for her; that sex/romance aren't what she wants.  And that hint, as Georgia keeps moving forward in her journey, only grows.  I felt that this was very truthful in it's complexity and messiness.  Georgia internalizes much of the stereotypical expectations for love and relationships, which I think is summarized in the book description very well: dating + sex = love.  In her mind, to love someone is to be "in love" with them, wanting sex and all that entails. But discovering that other people actually experience love without sex or romance wrapped up in it, finding the term aromantic asexual, opens Georgia's eyes to who she is and that her identity is valid.

There isn't enough mainstream depictions of aro/ace people that aren't the butt of some joke.  And while the experience Oseman writes about in Loveless is a particular experience and does not speak to all aro/ace people, I found myself relating to many of the thoughts and feelings Georgia experiences.  Reading this in my 30s, and never really seeing my own experiences reflected in media I consumed, made me revert back to being a teenager and how confusing (and still confusing) love can be.  I really appreciate that a book like this was published, even if it is not quite the experience that the individual reader has, because it highlights that love can exist in all forms, and sometimes the "love" that people think of as typical can be toxic depending on the situation.

As I said at the beginning, Loveless is about love in all its forms.  Not only Georgia's journey of self-love, but her journey of platonic love involving Pip, Jason, and her new roommate Rooney.  The realization and actualization that friends can be as important in someone's life as a romantic partner.  Friends can support you, friends can comfort you, friends can accept you.  Having a platonic relationship does not make that relationship less than simply because there is no sex or "romance" involved.  

I will say that some people may find some of the situations and thoughts expressed in the book triggering.  Life is messy, and the aro- and ace-phobia that is shown on page, not only internalized by Georgia, but by a white cis gay man side character, could be harmful for some.  But it is also realistic, as even in queer spaces there is bigotry and discrimination.  Also, some of the depictions of sex, characterized through Rooney, who is identified as a pansexual woman (not explicitly on page), can be triggering, with the notes of self-harm these  experiences invoke.  But overall, I found that Oseman wrote each character as realistically and with as much truth to them as possible.

Loveless by Alice Oseman is a heartfelt, realistic, much-needed portrayal of queer love and discovering who you are and the mess that can happen along the way.  I think everyone will see themselves in some capacity, even if you don't identify as queer, which makes this book perfect for all.  Pick it up at your local bookstore (both the U.S. edition, which was just published, and the U.K. edition are beautiful covers).

 

Final Rating

About the Author

Alice Oseman was born in 1994 in Kent, England. She graduated from Durham University and is the author of YA contemporaries Solitaire, Radio Silence, and I Was Born for This. Visit Alice online at aliceoseman.com or on Twitter @AliceOseman.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

Giveaway

3 winners will receive a finished copy of LOVELESS, US Only.

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BLOG TOUR - INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING BY NICOLA YOON - YA FICTION [REVIEW + GIVEAWAY]

Title: Instructions for Dancing

Authors(s): Nicola Yoon
Publication Date: June 1, 2021
Edition: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook; 304 pgs
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Buy: Amazon - Kindle - Audible - Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition - iBooks - Kobo - The Book Depository - Bookshop.org 

Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tour Schedule

Week One

6/1/2021 - YA Books Central - Excerpt

6/2/2021 - Kait Plus Books - Excerpt

6/3/2021 - Jotted by Jena - Excerpt

6/4/2021 - Stuck in the Stacks - Review

6/5/2021 - EveryonesLibrarian - Review

Week Two

6/6/2021 - BookInNeverland - Review

6/7/2021 - Rajiv's Reviews - Review

6/8/2021 - Do You Dog-ear? - Review

6/9/2021 - The Reading Wordsmith - Review

6/10/2021 - What A Nerd Girl Says - Review

6/11/2021 - Emelie's Books - Review

6/12/2021 - Nay's Pink Bookshelf  - Review

Week Three

6/13/2021 - Midnightbooklover - Review

6/14/2021 - Lisa Loves Literature - Review

6/15/2021 - Becky on Books - Review

6/16/2021 - Books and Zebras @jypsylynn - Review

6/17/2021 - Two Points of Interest - Review

6/18/2021 - BiancaBuysBooks - Review

6/19/2021 - A Court of Coffee and Books - Review

Week Four

6/20/2021 - Eli to the nth - Review

6/21/2021 - Books Are Magic Too - Review

6/22/2021 - Amani’s Reviews - Review

6/23/2021 - onemused - Review

6/24/2021 - FrayedBooks - Review

6/25/2021 - Fire and Ice - Review

6/26/2021 - Book Briefs - Review

Week Five

6/27/2021 - Polish & Paperbacks - Review

6/28/2021 - Book-Keeping - Review

6/29/2021 - The Book View - Review

6/30/2021 - The Bookwyrm's Den - Review

The Summary

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star Nicola Yoon is back with her eagerly anticipated third novel. With all the heart and hope of her last two books, this is an utterly unique romance.

Evie Thomas doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.

As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything--including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he's only just met.

Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it's that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?

Praise for INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING: 

A Junior Library Guild selection 

★ “An endearing, affecting exploration of the journey of love. Everything Yoon touches turns to gold and this cinematic supernatural romance will be no exception.”—Booklist, starred review

★ "A remarkable, irresistible love story that will linger long after readers turn the final page."—Kirkus, starred review

★ “Yoon delivers a story of love’s unpredictability and the importance of perspective that unfolds with ease and heart.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “A sweet, genuine love story sure to pull on the heartstrings.”—School Library Journal, starred review

★ “Yoon delivers this captivating story of first love with beautiful prose, clever dialogue that swings between laugh-out-loud funny and wildly insightful, clear respect for the complexity and nuance of her teen characters’ perspectives and emotions—and just enough magic to make it all truly unforgettable.”—BookPage, starred review

(Goodreads)

Excerpt

Chapter 2

(Former) Favorite Romance Genres

Contemporary

1. Enemies to Lovers—Asking the perennial question will they kill each other or will they kiss each other? I’m kidding. Of course they’re going to kiss.

2. Love Triangle—Everyone loves to hate love triangles, but actually they’re great. They exist so the main character can choose between different versions of themselves: who they used to be, and who they’re still becoming. Side note: If you ever find yourself choosing between a vampire and a werewolf, choose the vampire. See #1 below for more on why you should (obviously) choose the vampire.

3. Second Chance—These days I realize this is the most unrealistic trope. If someone hurts you once, why would you give them the chance to do it again?

Paranormal

1. Vampires—They’re sexy and will love you forever.

2. Angels—They have wings that they’ll use to envelop you or to take you away from this place to wherever you need to be.

3. Shape-shifters—Jaguars and leopards mostly, but basically anything in the big cat family. I once tried reading about dinosaur shape-shifters. T. rexes, pteranodons, apatosauruses, etc. They are as horrifying as you think they are.

My Review

If you are a romance lover, a contemporary lover, or just a book lover, run and get a copy of Nicola Yoon's Instructions for Dancing. I fell in love with Evie and X from the get, and once you start to read their story, you won't put the book down.

Evie and X (short for Xavier) have the the cutest darn meet-cute I've read in a while.  Bumping into each other at a dance studio that X's grandparents own, and then being partnered for the L.A. Danceball, a ballroom dancing competition that if they win will help the studio out immensely, all seems to be fated.  And in a way it is.  You see, Evie has the power of vision (to her immense surprise), and this led her to the dance studio in the first place. 

Evie has gone through a lot, her parents divorce and finding out her dad cheated (hence the divorce), and has stopped believing in love because of it.  And now, through her visions, she sees the entirety of a relationship of a couple when they kiss, and, unfortunately, the relationship never has a happy ending.  This is what makes her and X's story so irresistible, both to the reader and to Evie.  Because, love, well love can sock you right in the gut and you can't always stop it.

Nicola Yoon writes the most likeable, real characters.  The way she crafts Evie, with her struggles and her joy, and her  cynicism, and her big big big heart, she just lifts off the page.  X has his own struggles, but his big personality and unfailing belief in the world, both in reveling in the good and accepting the bad, makes him swoon-worthy.  And while the main characters are my favorites, I love the entire cast from the best friends to the parents.  These characters are real with faults and dreams, and they sing on the page.

I definitely prefer my romances to be character-driven, so check that off, but Nicola also has this adorable plot focusing on ballroom dancing that I just love.  Fifi, the dance instructor, is a firecracker, and made me laugh every time.  The reason Evie and X agree to the competition pulls at the heart strings.  You want them to win, so that X's grandparents get to continue their dream.  Love, in all it's forms, is center-stage in this book.

Once other character I'd like to mention is Los Angeles itself.  Nicola always does an amazing job of bringing the city her books are set in to life.  I love when I get to meet L.A. as a local, and not a tourist, which is so often how the city is portrayed in the media.  There's a little love story to L.A. wrapped in the pages, which I adore.

Irresistible, Instructions for Dancing goes by in a flash.  The realities of love, the highs and the lows, the euphoria and the heartbreak, are all here in the pages, lovingly crafted by Nicola Yoon.  Another fantastic book from one of the Queens of Romance; do yourself a favor and pick up a copy immediately.

Final Rating

About the Author

Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Instructions for Dancing, Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Two of her novels have been made into major motion pictures. She’s also co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House young adult imprint dedicated to love stories starring people of color. She grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the novelist David Yoon, and their daughter.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

Giveaway

3 winners will receive a finished copy of INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING, US Only.

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WHAT I READ: FEBRUARY

This month was a slower reading month for me, compared to January.  I read only 4 books total, but I'm blaming the fact that February is shorter than the other months (flimsy excuse, I know, I know.).

I also spanned the age bracket this month, which is always fun, reading: 1 adult book, 2 YA books, and 1 middle grade book.  I'm trying to make sure I read more widely, not just genre and content, but age group as well.  I don't know about you, but I find different things to enjoy/relate to dependent on what age group I am reading in.

The genres were pretty consistent with my favorites: contemporary, fantasy, and sci-fi--my three favorites.  If I'm having a hard time getting into reading, I definitely reach for a comfort read, which is typically sci-fi/fantasy.  Do you have a comfort genre that helps with difficult reading months?

Overall, I really enjoyed each of the books I read this month, and I recommend them for everyone to read!

 The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The first book I read this month, and it blew me away!  It felt like a warm hug, as I was reading it.  All my Goodreads review says is, "This was beautifully perfect".  And it really was.  I could live in this book, it was just so full of love, family, and the strength we have within ourselves.  A battle of injustice with a hero who is initially seen as normal/average/unremarkable; he ends up being anything but, and saves the day using his mind and his heart.

This was a 5 STAR for me.

"A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours."

If you haven't had a chance to pick this up yet, make it a priority because you won't be disappointed.  I have already ordered TJ Klune's other books because I want to devour all he has written.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

One of the challenges I've set for myself for 2021 is to read more BIPOC books, whether it be author or character (hopefully both).  I've heard really great things about Binti, so I got the ebook to check out.  It was interesting, and quick (didn't realize it was only 98 pages), but I definitely felt it was missing things.  There are more books in the series, and the premise/world-building/characters were enough to make me interested to continue.  But it wasn't quite what I thought.  Definitely going to continue to see if it becomes one of my faves.

This was a 3 STAR for me.

"Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself — but first she has to make it there, alive."

I think this is a good introduction, but wasn't as fully fleshed as I would've liked, but as there are additional books, recommend checking it out if you like sci-fi!

Spin with Me by Ami Polonsky

I had the opportunity to review this book through Rockstar Book Tours (check Jaime out; I love working with her!), and it was beautiful/adorable/impactful; a perfect middle grade introduction to love and gender identity!  Here's my full review, so please check that out to learn more.  Polonsky has a very deft hand when creating the plot and characters, making you feel what both Essie and Ollie are going through.

This was a 4 STAR for me.

"From the author of the critically acclaimed Gracefully Grayson comes a thoughtful and sensitive middle-grade novel about non-binary identity and first love, Ami Polonsky's Spin with Me.

In this elegant dual narrative, Essie is a thirteen-year-old girl feeling glum about starting a new school after her professor dad takes a temporary teaching position in a different town. She has 110 days here and can't wait for them to end. Then she meets Ollie, who is nonbinary. Ollie has beautiful blue eyes and a confident smile. Soon, Essie isn’t counting down the days until she can leave so much as she’s dreading when her time with Ollie will come to an end.

Meanwhile, Ollie is experiencing a crush of their own . . . on Essie. As Ollie struggles to balance their passion for queer advocacy with their other interests, they slowly find themselves falling for a girl whose stay is about to come to an end. Can the two unwind their merry-go-round of feelings before it's too late?"

This is such an excellent book for both adults and kids, one that can be read together as a family even!  And a great addition to the ever expanding LGBTQ+ world of middle grade books!

Into the Dark (Star Wars: The High Republic) by Claudia Gray

I am in love with this multi-media idea that Disney Lucasfilms Press is doing! The 3rd book (kind of...all the books/comics go together in a way you could technically read them in any order) of The High Republic project, I was so excited to be a part of this blog tour through Rockstar Book Tours (again, check them out)!!  Diving into a little known time period in Star Wars history, we get to learn all about the peak of The Jedi Order in the universe.  Excellent entry for veteran Star Wars author Claudia Gray, it was not only a great Star Wars book, but a great sci-fi/action book!  Check out my full review here!!

This was a 4.5 STAR for me.

"Long before the Clone Wars, the Empire, or the First Order, the Jedi lit the way for the galaxy in a golden age known as the High Republic!

Not everyone who hears the call to adventure wants to answer it....

Jedi Padawan Reath Silas loves adventure—reading about it, that is, not living it. Content to spend hours browsing the Jedi Archives on Coruscant, Reath dreams of being one of the great scholars of the Jedi Order. But Reath's master, the well-respected and virtuous Jora Malli, has other plans: she's taken a post at Starlight Beacon, the Republic's shining new outpost on the edge of known space. As her Padawan, Reath must join her, whether he likes the idea or not. (And he most definitely does not.)

So Reath reluctantly boards the ship that will take him and a few other Jedi to the dedication of Starlight Beacon, where Master Jora waits for him to start their new adventurous life on the frontier. But trouble in hyperspace leaves the ship and other nearby vessels stranded, with only an eerie abandoned space station reachable for shelter. And the secrets hidden there will not only bring Reath to a crossroads but, if left unchecked, could plunge the entire galaxy into darkness..."

This made me super hyped to jump into all The High Republic books/comics; Star Wars fan and sci-fi fans alike will really love this one!

So there you have it, all the books I read in February 2021.  Have you read any of them, and if you did, what did you think about them?  If you haven't gotten to read any, which are enticing you?  

Let me know what you read in February in the comments, and happy reading!

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