Author: Claire Kann
Release: January 23rd 2018
Publishers: Swoon Reads 
Pages: 288
Genre: Contemporary | Romance | LGBT
Links: Goodreads | Book Depository

Alice had her whole summer planned. Nonstop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting—working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual). Alice is done with dating—no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood

Review

This novel was such a cute and light read. And it warmed my heart to finally read a contemporary romance with a black girl as the main character. I honestly don't think I've ever read a book with a POC as the main character. I wish I could teleport back in time and hand my 12 year old self this book. It would have been a major confidence boost having a protagonist I could relate to in some ways. Little things like struggling with hair is something a black girl struggles with on the daily and Claire Kann was spot on in her description. 

Another aspect I loved is that it tackled the issues of dating while being asexual. I'll have to be honest that before this book I didn't know too much about it but I definitely got something educational out of it. This is what I mean when I say we want more diverse books! I would never have understood how frustrating it would be meeting someone you like and them not understanding what asexual is before this book. It made me so much more open minded about it and it's interesting to see dating from that perspective as it so completely different to my views. 

The characters were so different from what I was used to and in a way more realistic. Like the tensions between Alice and her two best friends who were dating. I can totally understand how that would be hard in real life to balance the friendship as well as the relationship without leaving somebody out. The whole time while I was reading it I could just imagine it as a good TV series.

Another plus is that we had an interracial couple. Not very often in YA would we have an asian love interest and that was really refreshing. I really loved Takumi's personality and the slow build up of their relationship was SO cute! If I could describe their relationship in a few words it would be rainbows, unicorns  and cupcakes haha. 

I think this read is more of a 3.5 hearts. It's more than satisfactory, it's honestly a cute read you would take on a holiday.

Author: Nicola Yoon
Release September 1st 2015
Publishers: Corgi Books 
Pages: 307
Genre: Contemporary | Romance
Links: Goodreads | Author's Website | Book Depository

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Spoilery Mini Review

This year I have set a little bit of a goal for myself reading wise - books that have more diverse characters. Growing up I've never really had characters that I could relate to wholly because I never read books that had protagonist that was a POC. But now with movies such as Black Panther that has sparked a huge debate regarding this topic I think its time I join the discussion and expand the type of novels I read. Everything Everything was a perfect start to my little challenge because it a) was an easy read and b) got me out of my reading slump. 

Now where to begin?

The first thing I noticed about this novel is the format of it. It's super creative and hardly ever do I read books that have cute little visuals. I loved every little bit of it like the graphs at the beginning to the emails, to even her little recipe to creating a bundt cake. I even loved the titles, its very rare that books that have fun titles instead of the usual, boring chapter 1, 2, 3...

Bet that mad ya yawn didn't it??? ;)

Maddy was a unique character and it was interesting to see her relationship with her mother and nurse, Carla. If I'm completely honest I feel like Yoon grappled with some philosophical ideas but I was still looking for more depth. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in Maddy's scenario and only have your mum and nurse as your only friends. I know she had online friends but that's no substitute for real life friends and I can't imagine what it would be like being so closed off to the world. It would have some serious effect to your mental health and the novel could have explored this a little more. 

Olly was a good love interest and I liked that he had a quirky side. I wish we could have gotten more insight to his character and the relationship with his family and the whole abuse thing with his mother and father. But at the same time it was more effective having it from Maddy's perspective. We were limited to seeing things from her window but in a way that was more impactful because it's what you don't see behind closed doors. And I think that was the hidden message behind it. 

The romance was pretty cute but a little rushed in my opinion. But to be honest the trip to Hawaii was super cute and exactly what the book needed to further their relationship. I mean how are they going to get anywhere by basically doing sign language across the window and IM chats. 

The plot twist...

I personally thought it was predictable and could see it coming from when I started reading it but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book. Again I feel like Yoon could have gone into more detail with Maddy's emotions. If I found out that my mum was lying about a disease I had regardless of her mental issues, my anger would sky rocket. Maddy was way too calm for my liking. But I guess every person reacts differently and Maddy dealt with it in her own way.

The ending was super cute though I'm not going to lie. Yoon left it at a good spot where it was kind of wrapped up in a nice little bow. I wanted a little more like maybe a 1 year later epilogue like where are the characters now sort of thing but I think I like that you're kind of left wondering what happened. 

All in all I think I'll give it: