All the stars to Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book was absolutely perfect! It has a ghostie meet-cute, trans characters, m/m romance, and is set over Halloween and Día de los Muertos. It made my heart explode with cuteness and stress (!!!), and I seriously can’t recommend it enough.
“I hope you aren’t afraid of ghosts.”
I first heard about Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour during Penguin Teen Canada’s fall preview event this past summer. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Nina LaCour’s books from friends, but I’ve never actually read one . . . until now. The way this book was described—a beautiful story full of ghosts and grief—piqued my interested a lot, and I knew I needed to read it.
“She was here, in the daylight. She is breaking all her own rules. She is going to finish what she started.”
Friends, I did it: I finally read a book that takes place in the woods that didn’t scare my pants off! Sure, it made me uncomfortable at times, but it didn’t give me nightmares (yet). Instead, Some Kind of Animal by Maria Romasco Moore used a creepy setting to create thriller centered around the love two twin sisters have for each other.
“I’ve lived with ghosts my whole life, but this is the first time I’ve ever felt haunted.”
Every time I read a creepy book set in the woods, I think to myself, “this is it, this is the last time I read a book set in the woods!” And yet, as soon as I see another story with an eerie forest setting, I toss everything aside and run straight for it. That’s exactly what happened with Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters, and while my sleep schedule might regret it, the rest of me does not.
“How to keep a fire burning. How to stitch a fight up until it’s only a scar. That’s the kind of thing you learn with a mother like mine. Mostly, though, you learn how to be loved without any proof.”
I finished reading Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power just over one week ago, and after screaming into the void because OMG, IT’S JUST SO GOOD (!!!), I am finally ready to write actual words about how truly wonderful this book is.
In April I put together a list of books to read if you love reality TV, and I wish I waited to put it together because Followers by Raziel Reid is perfect for fans of the Kardashians, any of the “Real Housewives” series, or teen dramas such as Gossip Girl or The O.C. I devoured this book, and it left me reeling.
If you had the option to clone yourself, would you? I know, it sounds wild, but having two versions of yourself means you could do and be so much more, right? Well, that’s what Lucille Harper, the main character in Half Life by Lillian Clark, thinks. But what we want isn’t always what we get.
Do you ever wonder if there is another version of yourself living in a parallel universe? And if so, how their life is playing out differently from yours? This is exactly what Again Again by E. Lockhart explores. In her latest book, we see how one girl’s life changes across different timelines based on the choices she makes.
“The weird thing about being a victim is, no one expects it to be them. Victims are always someone else, somehow tragically naive who foolishly trust the wrong person. I’d never make bad decisions like that. I was always careful. And yet, it wasn’t enough.”
I’ve always said the hardest book reviews to write are for the books I absolutely loved, and this sentiment applied to The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly by Meredith Tate. I devoured this book in three sittings, and was totally immersed in the story from beginning to end. It’s easily one of the best YA contemporary thrillers I’ve ever read, and deals with incredibly important topics.
Before we get any further, I’ll note that the author has a list of content warnings for this book on her website.
literarylizard.com 