Diverse Reads
Dawn by Octavia Butler
This book is incredibly strange.
I can’t fathom how Butler conceived any of this. Butler is definitely joining my list of authors who must possess entire worlds inside their minds because this was a wildly imaginative ride.
…Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim
Spice Road is a well-constructed evenly-paced YA fantasy that feels ideal for teens just getting into YA fantasy. The story follows Imani, a fierce monster-slaying soldier, in the magical Arabian-inspired city Qalia.
The book jumps into the plot immediately as Imani is informed that her missing brother may be alive in Alqibah, a faraway city on the other side of a vast and dangerous desert. Imani sets across the desert with her rival and an untrustworthy charming Djinn.
I found myself getting more invested in the world as our characters enter Alqibahl and witnesses the political upheaval between the Alqibah people and the ruthless pale-faced colonizers
Spice Road features some YA fantasy classics; brooding boys, a love triangle plus a dash of enemies to lovers that is all the rage right now
The lore behind the world is kept simple and we learn just enough to understand the story’s stakes. This book moves at a fast pace– making this a fun quick read for newbies to YA fantasy
This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang
This Time It’s Real is a fun contemporary YA following Eliza Lin who writes an essay about her fake boyfriend—only for it to go viral. So she finds the perfect boy, C-Drama star Caz Song, to play the part.
I. Only. Want. To. Read. The. Fake. Dating. Trope. In. YA. I think it works best from this perspective because high school exists in its own little world where things like who you are dating can feel big and life-changing.
I love books that take place outside of the United States and it was fun exploring and learning more about Bejjing through Kaz and Eliza. I also liked that this book featured positive and supportive parents
Last year I read No Filters and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado which also featured a teen girl lying to the internet. It’s interesting seeing how each author depicts teenagers and their relationship to our social media-saturated world. This book is much lighter with the repercussions, which is odd because the stakes are so much higher in this book; Eliza gets writing and job opportunities based on this no-so-truthful essay and Caz is lying to his very diehard fans.
Overall, this is an easy recommendation if you want a YA romance that is also about finding your place and building better relationships.
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson
I don’t think I’ve read (for lack of a better genre description) Women’s Fiction book in YEARS and I really need to get back into it because I enjoyed a lot about this book.
…You Got Anything Stronger by Gabrielle Union
In this ambitious follow-up to her 2017 memoir, actress Gabrielle Union offers a new crop of essays on identity, trauma, love, and family. There is a self-help bent to parts of this book that I never completely got on board with but overall this follow-up offers fun stories and that catching-up-with-your-wildest-friend over coffee feeling from the first book.
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