Genre: YA Contemporary

ARC Review:  Turning by Joy L. Smith

ARC Review: Turning by Joy L. Smith

Blurb: In this raw, searingly honest debut young adult novel, a former aspiring ballerina must confront her past in order to move forward from a devastating fall that leaves her without the use of her legs. Genie used to fouetté across the stage. Now the only thing she’s turning are the wheels to her wheelchair. […]

Posted February 26, 2022 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 2 Comments
ARC Review:  All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle

ARC Review: All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle

Blurb: The Bachelor meets Gilmore Girls in this laugh-out-loud young adult romance about a girl who joins her mother on a reality dating show for single parents—only to fall for a contestant’s son. Cara Hawn’s life fell apart after her father cheated on her mother and got remarried to a woman Cara can’t stand. When Cara accidentally posts […]

Posted February 12, 2022 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 6 Comments
ARC Review:  You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen

ARC Review: You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen

Blurb: In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stirs, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.  Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack […]

Posted February 6, 2022 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 8 Comments
ARC Review:  Roxy by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

ARC Review: Roxy by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Synopsis: From the team that brought you the New York Times bestselling Dry comes a riveting new thriller that proves when gods play games, even love is a lie. The freeway is coming. It will cut the neighborhood in two. Construction has already started, pushing toward this corridor of condemned houses and cracked concrete with the momentum of the […]

Posted November 9, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 2 Comments
Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott

Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE LUCKY LIST by Rachael Lippincott Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!   About The Book: Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org  White Whale Bookstore Pre-order! Signed, Personalized, and Enter […]

Posted June 1, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Blog Tour, giveaway, Review / 3 Comments
ARC Review:  Made in Korea by Sarah Suk

ARC Review: Made in Korea by Sarah Suk

Synopsis: Frankly in Love meets Shark Tank in this feel-good romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school. There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful […]

Posted May 17, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 6 Comments
E-galley Review:  The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

E-galley Review: The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

Synopsis: Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End in this gripping, evocative novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into the future, whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death, from the acclaimed author of SLAY. Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the […]

Posted April 5, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 5 Comments
Review:  List of Ten by Halli Gomez

Review: List of Ten by Halli Gomez

Synopsis: A harrowing yet hopeful account of a teen living with Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder . . . and contemplating his own mortality. Ten: three little letters, one ordinary number. No big deal, right? But for Troy Hayes, a 16-year-old suffering from Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, the number ten dictates his life, […]

Posted March 21, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 4 Comments
Very Late ARC Review – Pride:  A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Ibi Zoboi

Very Late ARC Review – Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Ibi Zoboi

Synopsis: Pride and Prejudice gets remixed in this smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic, starring all characters of color, from Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award finalist and author of American Street. Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying […]

Posted March 6, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Review / 2 Comments