Caution! This story throws you right into the grisly slums of Ketterdam where thieves and crime lords run the show and the magical Grisha are forced to hide. In the midst of gang rivalries and petty thefts, six teens unite to pull off their greatest scheme yet. Their game is one of ruthless tricks and fast hands. It’s deadly, but the reward is high. This book is very character focused, while still managing to have superb worldbuilding and an intense plot filled with turns on every page. As these morally gray teens enact their heist, their tragic pasts and interpersonal relationships unfold, making it easy to fall in love with each one, even someone as twisted and monstrous as Ketterdam’s infamous Kaz Brekker.
Chiamaka and Devon are the only black students at Niveus Academy. Chiamaka comes from a well-off Nigerian-Italian family and she is destined for greatness. She walks the halls of Niveus in Jimmy Choo heels and her Head Girl badge proudly on her blazer. Devon is a musician from a poor neighborhood where he is bullied for being gay. At Niveus, he’s a nobody until the anonymous Aces appears and seems dead set on making senior year a living nightmare for him and Chiamaka. The two have never spoken before, but they must join forces to uncover the truth about Aces. A twisted, heart-racing thriller filled with gossip, lies, and betrayal while delving into the insidious elements of systemic racism. It has been described as Gossip Girl meets Get Out. I could not put this down once I started.
This book perfectly blends cute and sexy. The romance in this book has everything you need — a hate-to-love story featuring Chloe Brown, a spunky, computer geek with fibromyalgia and an addiction to chocolate, and Redford Morgan, a soft-hearted, artistic motorcycle-riding hero with flaming red hair. What makes this pairing such a delight is how healthy and supportive it is. Both Chloe and Red have painful pasts, but when they each forge a road to recovery to be the best they can for one another and themselves. There’s so much sweetness here, it will make your toothache, paired with banter, revelations about disabilities and relationships, and some steamy scenes for mature readers. It’s simply irresistible.
This book holds a majestic story of fantasy, grief, generational curses, racism, and trauma. I’m not familiar with King Arthur legends myself, but Deonn brings them to life with wonderful and unexpected twists. As Bree joins the underground society of the Legendborn, she unravels the truth about her mother’s death and comes to terms with her own powers and what they really mean. This book brings you close to Bree and her journey as she accepts the loss of her mother while also rising against the racist institution of the Legendborn society. The worldbuilding in this book is complex, so don’t be worried if you have trouble with it. I did too. But keep reading and you will find a refreshing fantasy tale of a resilient girl who embraces her grief and connects to the past to prepare for the war ahead.
Sixteen-year-old Kiku has never given much thought to her Japanese heritage. But when she takes a trip to San Francisco to visit her grandmother’s old house, she is sent back to the 1940s to a Japanese internment camp. Without warning or explanation, Kiku becomes stuck in the past and lives through the injustices of racism and xenophobia. She learns about the conflict between the generations of Japanese Americans, those who immigrated to America, and those born here. She faces the confusing and hard choices the Nikkei had to make – to fight for freedom or fall in line to see another day. Along with Kiku’s journey comes a lesson about memory and how important it is to connect to the tragedies of the past so that we don’t repeat them again. This is a story of making light when there is darkness and finding hope where hopelessness lies in every corner. This book is beautifully illustrated with images that tug on the reader’s senses to capture Kiku’s dark, but enlightening experience.
