Reading, Writing, and Me

All Of This Is True: A Novel by Lygia Day Peñaflor (May 15)
Overview: When bestselling author Fatima Ro's new book hits the shelves, of course her biggest (and best) fans are going to want to read it... until they realize its the thinly veiled story of the past few months of their lives complete with details that got their best friend Jonah beat into a coma. In the media frenzy that follows, the girls each take their turn at telling their own sides of the story. Overall: 5

Characters: 5 Peñaflor has written quite the cast to fill her larger than life story, and they all play their roles perfectly. We probably get to know famed author Fatima Ro best, even though we never get to really see her side of the story beyond excerpts from her second novel. But the girls work together to shape the image of the young, intelligent, open minded author who welcomed them into their lives with accuracy. By the end of the novel, the reader realizes they would have fallen for Fatima's tricks too.
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August and Everything After  by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski (May 1, 2018)
Overview: Quinn comes to her Aunt's house on the Jersey shore to escape her past and her future. After an incident at the end of high school, she's lost her mom's trust, and she has no clue what the future has in store. One day, while working her second job at a bar, she meets Malcom, a young musician relaunching his career after tragedy stopped it in his tracks. Though she's recovering from her losses and Malcom is struggling with sobriety, they are pulled together and intertwined when Quinn becomes part of his band. Though they only complicate each other's stories, it is in the strain and confusion that they both find their new paths forward. Overall: 5 

Characters: 5 I absolutely adored these characters. Quinn makes for a great narrator. I particularly love how the author shows so clearly the way different aspects of her life meld together to shape her ideas and decisions. Her wonderful relat…

Royals by Rachel Hawkins (May 1)
Overview: Daisy is thrown on a whirlwind journey from the sticky Florida heat to the chilly Scotland summer when her sister gets engaged to the future king of Scotland. While Ellie will be the princess, Daisy and her family must accompany her sister as she gets ready to marry her fiancé, Prince Alex. For Daisy, it means leaving her best friend behind and falling into Prince Sebastian, Prince Alex's younger brother's, friend circle, better known as the Royal Wreckers, and learning to deal with the tabloid trauma. Can Daisy make it through a summer as a Royal? Overall: 4 

Characters: 4 I had the best time reading about Daisy. She is hilarious, making her the perfect guide for a book that can't take itself too seriously. I also loved her supportive parents and her perfect older sister. I also thought her choices with the younger Prince Sebastian made for another interesting layer of the story, though I almost wish we'd had a chance to delve …

Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler (462 pages)
Overview: Four years of high school is a long time, and it starts at freshmen orientation. During this event, one orientation group of new freshmen decides to write letters to their future selves to open at graduation. This book chronicles their journeys through all four years of high school as they work towards becoming the people they want to be. Overall: 3

Characters: 3 I found the characters to be the most disappointing part of the book. Each is simply a trope with a plot line to match. Gregor is a band geek with braces and a fear of talking to the girl he pines after for four years. Then there's Zoe, daughter of famous movie star and trainwreck, who gets sent to live with her aunt, and Whitney who struggles with her relationship with her sister and her queen bee popular friends. Finally, Jake, who recently came out as gay is struggling with his best friend abandoning him, and Mia, an unconventional smart girl who learns to conf…