#young adult book recommendation

[reedreadsbooks]

Book Review: Dreadnought by April Daniels ✨🏙️⚡️

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

(5/5)

After Dreadnought, the world’s greatest superhero, is killed in combat, closeted trans girl Danny Tozer inherits his powers and is transformed to have the body she’s always wanted to have. Now she has to deal with having superpowers and being an out trans woman, all the while hunting down the supervillain who murdered her predecessor.

This book was phenomenal, and I’m kind of at a loss for words to describe how much I liked it.

To start, I love the world of this book. This is such a classic superhero story. Daniels uses the conventions of the genre without making things feel like a parody and subverts tropes just enough to make the story distinct.

I also really love Dreadnought as a trans narrative. This book doesn’t shy away from transphobia. Between Danny’s parents, kids at her school, and other heroes she meets, we get a pretty broad and realistic representation of the types of abuse a young trans woman might face. There’s also so much trans joy in this book. It was really nice to see Danny come into herself, and it was cathartic to watch her realize that no one could take her transition away from her. This is the type of story that will give trans kids hope for the future.

I would recommend this book to literally everyone. In fact, I plan on recommending this book to literally everyone. But because that’s not helpful, I’ll be more specific and say I highly recommend this book to fans of Andrew Joseph White. Obviously, it’s very different from his work, genre-wise, but I think the themes are really similar. If you like Hell Followed with Us and The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth, I can definitely see you liking Dreadnought.

[booksinmythorax]

So you're an adult who wants to start reading for fun, but you don't know where to start

I'm a librarian, and I hear at least once a week from people who sheepishly tell me that they'd love to start reading for fun (for the first time or after a long break). Here's my best advice broken down into bullet points, but start here: there is no shame in being a beginner.

-Think about what you do enjoy and start from there. So you're not a book person. Do you like movies? Television? Podcasts? Music? Tabletop games? Video games? What other media do you like and what does it have in common? Make a little list and Venn diagram that shit.

Maybe you're into stories about fucked-up families (Sharp Objects, Succession) or found families (lots of realplay TTRPG podcasts, Leverage, Avatar: The Last Airbender) or fucked-up found families (various Batman media, Steven Universe, The Good Place). Maybe you mainly watch or listen to stuff for the romance (Taylor Swift music, The Best Man, Heartstopper) or the sci-fi horror (The Magnus Archives, M3gan, Nope) or the romantic sci-fi horror (Welcome to Night Vale). And hey, maybe you're not a fictional media person at all. What do you like? What do you want to know about? World history? True crime? Home improvement? Birdwatching? Gardening? Various animals and their behavior? Human psychology? Cooking? If it's a thing, there are books about it. Start there.

Think about why you started to dislike reading. Did an adult snatch a book you thought looked cool out of your hands and say "Don't read that, it's below your reading level/above your reading level/a comic, not a real book"? Did school give you an endless parade of miserable, bleak books and tell you they were universal stories about the human condition? Or did it maybe only give you stories with saccharine, unearned happy endings, or only show you stories about straight cis wealthy abled white kids, or keep you from reading entire books at all in favor of endlessly dissecting tiny passages out of context? (For some vindication, check out "How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading" by John Holt.) Did you have an older sibling or a friend who was better at reading? Did adults put you in competition with that other kid and make you feel like shit about it? Were you in a situation where you were good at reading in one language, or even more than one, but required to read in another that you were still learning? Did this make you feel like you were "behind schedule" or like you shouldn't read at all? Or was reading just harder for you than it seemed for other people? Did reading give you headaches? Did the letters or numbers seem to float around on the page? Was it hard for you to focus for long enough to get through a whole book? Did you need to learn to read differently than the kids around you could? Did adults punish you for this instead of helping you? (Look, I'm not a doctor, but if any of these apply to you, consider going to an optometrist, a psychologist, and/or a psychiatrist to talk about these things if they're persistent and interfere with your life.) Or maybe you're burned out on reading. Maybe you did an advanced degree in literature or writing or history or some other reading-heavy discipline and you're just tired. Maybe your professors or classmates got snobby about what constituted "literary" works and their good opinion didn't line up with what you actually enjoy. You get to be sad and angry about these things, if they happened to you. They're also clues to how to move forward if you'd like to read more, or enjoy reading more.

Give yourself permission to read whatever you want, in whatever way you want. Wanna start with young adult books? Middle grade books? Awesome. Many of them have stories that are sophisticated and complex. Starting with re-reading the first books you enjoyed reading could help jog your memory about why you initially found it fun. Hell, even picture books are a good start. Have you read a picture book lately? Those things are getting cooler every day. Comics and graphic novels? Those count as reading. Many of them are published for adults, though again, the ones published for a middle-grade or young adult audience are often complex and moving. If you're an anime fan, give manga a shot. The source material for many anime go deeper into the characters and stories, especially now that anime seasons are often truncated to 12 episodes for entire series. (The right-to-left thing is easier to get used to than you think, too.) Romance novels and mystery thrillers and science fiction and fantasy? Those count as reading. Many of the things you might have liked about the books you read as a child or a teenager are present in adult "genre" fiction, and many of the things you might despise about adult "literary" fiction (god, I hate that word, but that's another post) may be absent from those titles. E-books and audiobooks definitely count as reading, and they're often more accessible than paper books for some people. Anybody who tries to genre- or format-shame you is a dick and not worth talking to.

Go to your local library. All right, shameless self-promotion here, I'll admit it. But I promise you, if you walk into a library and say "I'm an adult, I stopped reading a while ago, and I'd like to start back up again but I need suggestions," you will make someone's day. I get asked for my opinion about books approximately once a month. I get asked how to use the printer approximately eighty-five times a day. I love helping with the printer and I'm saying that unironically, but my colleagues and I absolutely adore "readers' advisory" questions. If you come with the answers to the above questions about your preferred genres, formats, and reasons you'd like to read, it'll help the process, but most of us are trained to ask follow-up questions to get you the best possible book match. Do not apologize. You are not bothering us. It is literally part of our job. We want people to know that reading is fun, and you are a people.

[xxsweaterweatherrxx]

Hi!! It's been a while since I've been on here so I don't know if this will reach anyone--BUT. I'm here to promote an online book club I've started! ♡

https://bookclubs.com/clubs/6021847/join/89e066/

It's super new and trust that we will have an exciting TBR list!! For the book tok girlies, this is for you!! We'll have loads of fun in this safe space & great discussions. I've been finding it difficult to connect with people after graduating from uni, so if this sounds like you, join us!!

Share this link if you'd like! <3 I'm in Calgary, AB but this is open to anyone!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

More aroace book recs

Just found this book, and while it hasn’t come out yet it sounds like something out of my wildest dreams (comes out january 29)

Autistic aroace main character and queer side characters

“A great death is in the air” Arlo is lost. He thought he had everything figured out. Go to university, fall in love, get a job. But life doesn't always work like that, and before he has a chance to figure it out, he dies. In the space of a night, Arlo is plunged into a world of blood and immortality and finds a group of people who swear to always have his back. Dying is never easy, and they promise him eternal safety. But something is after him, something no one could have ever predicted. He craves to figure out his purpose before he falls into something he can never come back from.

There’s also vampires

[thatstonerfriend]

I’m not sure if anyone who follows me is big on reading, but I’m just getting back into it (I’m terrible at feeding my hobbies). Anyways, I’m a HUGE lover of young adult books. It’s one of my top favorite genres, I just think the writing in Y.A. is unmatched and transformative.

I just read Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White. When I tell you I devoured this book. The plot, the characters, everything was perfection. The education and insight it gives into the LGBTQ+ world, especially for young adults; it’s amazing. I wish I’d had a book like this growing up. One that made me realize the differences and fluidity in sexuality and gender and how beautiful every aspect of our community can be.

I highly recommend this book if you like Y.A. Fiction with a post apocalyptic feel. Normally I’m not an apocalyptic girly but everything about this from the religious turmoil and family trauma, to the romance and community is utter perfection.

[murasaki-cha]

My mom seeing my copy of Assistant To The Villain: Oh this is the book you got yesterday, what's it about?

Me: Oh it's a fantasy romance with lots of comedy. I love it so much, I just finished it yesterday.

My mom: *teasingly* Oh does it have any spicy scenes~?

Me absentmindedly: God I wish

My mom who doesn't really know how much romantasy na I read: What?

Me realising my mistake: ....What?

[caffeinated-bibliophile]

Tell me, please: what was the last really good YA book that you read?

[lovebooksforeversblog]

Books recommendation 📚😇😊🥰

[ariays]

An important message:

Hello fellow YA book lovers and YA/Teen TV shows enthusiasts,

I am here to recommend you a show and book series that is soooo good but is criminally underrated. 

It’s called Lockwood & Co.

They recently released the series on Netflix. So if you have any spare time and nothing to do during the weekend, I’d suggest you to give it a try. It’s a very binge-able and easy watch. Very entertaining for everyone from all walks of life. Unlike other teen shows out there that claims to target young adults, this one is very family-friendly. You can watch it with younger kids or with your parents without having to worry about any inappropriate scenes coming up.

You might think it’s cheesy or childish from your first impressions of the poster or trailer/teasers but let me assure you that it’s not. It’s a fun action/adventure story that has a lot of heart and the accompanying soundtrack is AWESOME. 

If this post manages to reach you or if the show did reach your radar but you are still hesitant about starting it, please do give it a try. This week is a crucial week as its the last week of tracking that would help determine on whether the show can be renewed for a second season. 

For those of you who like a little bit of romance in your shows, this one has a great subtle ‘blossoming relationship’/slow-burn romance between two characters. It’s very subtle so if you prefer no romance, it shouldn’t bother you. But if you like romance, those subtle scenes will make you crave for more. It also has a trope, which is personally my favourite, the found family trope. 

At the same time, I would also like to recommend the original book series which the show was adapted from. It is a five book series written by Jonathan Stroud. The first book was first published in 2013. It was actually during the heyday of BookTube but sadly, this series seemed to have slipped under BookTube’s radar. Even today, I don’t think I have ever seen any popular Booktubers talking about it. Which is so unfortunate. Because this book series deserves the same hype and love as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.

So if you are a book reader and is looking for a new book series to read, I would highly recommend this series. It’s fun with great humor and just purely enjoyable. 

So please give it a try! Also binge the show by this weekend if you can! & let me know your thoughts!

[powells]

🌊 SALTY SUMMER READS 🌊

[sapphicbookoftheday]

Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

Today's sapphic book of the day is Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell!

Summary: "In this daring tale of female agency and revenge from a New York Times bestselling author, a girl becomes a teenage vigilante who roams Victorian England using her privilege and power to punish her friends' abusive suitors and keep other young women safe.

Adele grew up in the shadows--first watching from backstage at her mother's Parisian dance halls, then wandering around the gloomy, haunted rooms of her father's manor. When she's finally sent away to boarding school in London, she's happy to enter the brightly lit world of society girls and their wealthy suitors.

Yet there are shadows there, too. Many of the men that try to charm Adele's new friends do so with dark intentions. After a violent assault, she turns to a roguish young con woman for help. Together, they become vigilantes meting out justice. But can Adele save herself from the same fate as those she protects?

With a queer romance at its heart, this lush historical thriller offers readers an irresistible mix of vengeance and empowerment."

[interpretive-dance-off]

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Watercolor design. The front of a green station wagon driving through the bleak cold Appalachia mountains lined with naked trees, a portly pastor with red hair and beard at the wheel, a teenager with a pink pixie cut smoking a cigarette in the passenger seat, a male teen in the back looking anxious and a female teen with a unibrow scrolling through her phone. [END OF IMAGE DESCRIPTION]

GET PUMPED

[justabooklovingmetalhead]

4 stars

Ironically, i forgot this one had major mental health themes, and started reading it to distract myself from anxiety. This was a bad idea. I finished the book anyway, it was fun.

Anyway. I can’t speak for the accuracy of the portrayal of drag, but you can tell Quinlan loves it from how they write about the subculture- the way their love of it seeps into their writing is palpable throughout the book. I thought  the portrayal of mental health stuff was good- and the way every character is messy in some ways and fucks up sometimes makes for a cohesive plot. There was one misunderstanding plot line that stuck out to me, but overall the interpersonal conflict was internally logical and compelling. The characters are all so loveable- for a book where the main plot is fueled by pettiness, the way you root for every character is admirable. I thought the cast was a really great size, large enough to be interesting and small enough that i never got lost. I think the writing itself wasn’t always the strongest (mostly with, like. Word choice), not the worst I’ve read but not the best either.

I’d recommend people looking for a book that: deals with the messy side of mental health, is full of drag queens and kings, a rivals to lovers plot line, a fun summer read, or queer found family in general.

[lexxwithbooks]

📖: 𝑹𝒖𝒃𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒅 (𝐸𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛-𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑒 #1) 💎⏳

✍🏽: 𝐊𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐢𝐞𝐫

[authorsamanthapicaro]

Release day is almost here for Recipe for Confidence!

🍰aspiring graphic designers

🍰secrets from family and friends

🍰bakeries

🍰New Jersey setting

🍰Setback Cakes, unique cakes that celebrate setbacks

🍰aromantic and asexual rep

🍰autistic rep

Preorder ebook $1.99 on Amazon or Kobo

Preorder paperback $9.99 on Barnes and Noble

The ebook version of Recipe for Confidence releases on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble on May 17 as planned. The paperback on Barnes and Noble will still release that day as well.

Paperback version of Recipe for Confidence on Amazon will be delayed to May 19.

Please feel free to Share in Stories or via Messages with whoever you think would love this book, or tag them in the comments!

Plot:

Bryn Caputo dreams of being a graphic designer. The problem? She is not confident enough in her abilities to tell her parents or friends despite wanting to major in it after graduation. She seeks honest feedback by using her skills to help her peers as well as her aunt’s bakery, which specializes in Setback Cakes. Setback Cakes encourage accepting setbacks and not giving up, further motivating Bryn to chase her dreams.

There are plenty of setbacks Bryn has to overcome, such as past mistakes in the past that contributed to her lack of self-assurance and her overprotective parents. Juggling her job at the bakery, school, and graphic design projects is a challenge but gives her a sense of purpose she has never felt before. As the Setback Cakes face backlash and her secrecy threatens her personal relationships, Bryn is more determined to seek approval and hone her skills. But she discovers that the most important approval must come from within.

(Image: book cover for Recipe for Confidence in center of light pink background. Surrounding it are pieces of black text reading bakery, family drama, cakes celebrating setbacks, aroace rep, autistic rep, and aspiring graphic designer. There are graphics of the aromantic flag, asexual flag, rainbow infinity symbol, a cupcake with a cherry on top, and a laptop that is open).

[bookaddict24-7]

RECO OF THE WEEK!

An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

Synopsis:

"It's 2003, several months since the US officially declared war on Iraq, and the American political world has evolved. Tensions are high, hate crimes are on the rise, FBI agents are infiltrating local mosques, and the Muslim community is harassed and targeted more than ever. Shadi, who wears hijab, keeps her head down.

She's too busy drowning in her own troubles to find the time to deal with bigots.

Shadi is named for joy, but she's haunted by sorrow. Her brother is dead, her father is dying, her mother is falling apart, and her best friend has mysteriously dropped out of her life. And then, of course, there's the small matter of her heart--

It's broken.

Shadi tries to navigate her crumbling world by soldiering through, saying nothing. She devours her own pain, each day retreating farther and farther inside herself until finally, one day, everything changes.

She explodes.

An Emotion of Great Delight is a searing look into the world of a single Muslim family in the wake of 9/11. It's about a child of immigrants forging a blurry identity, falling in love, and finding hope--in the midst of a modern war."

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Check out my review on Goodreads here.

Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads here.

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Have you read this book? Would you recommend it?

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Happy reading!