Review: A Blind Spot For Boys by Justina Chen (ARC)

A Blind Spot For Boys by Justina Chen
Little, Brown BYR, 336 pages
US Release Date: August 12, 2014
Format/Source: ARC via Around the World Tours - thank you!

Shana has always had a blind spot for boys. Can she trust the one who's right in front of her?

Sixteen-year-old Shana Wilde is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it's time to end the plague of Mr. Wrong, Wrong, and More Wrong.

Enter Quattro, the undeniably cute lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don't just fly; they ignite. And so does Shana's interest. Right as she's about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind. Quattro is quickly forgotten, and Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see. So they travel to Machu Picchu, and as they begin their trek, they run into none other than Quattro himself. But even as the trip unites them, Quattro pulls away mysteriously... Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen.
---------------------------Goodreads Summary

Notable Quote

"…I was holding out for true love. Anything less than that just seemed to make sex meaningless. And I, for one, did not want to be meaningless to anybody."

While I don’t think A Blind Spot For Boys is the most original or best contemporary novel out there, this is one of the highest compliments I can give a book: A Blind Spot For Boys made me consider my life and the relationships in my life and how I approach them; and it made me take action in bettering and purging some negativity. And there isn’t much more praise I can give a book that strikes me so deeply and affects me so much that I actually alter my own real life because of it.

A Blind Spot For Boys is a strange mix of being cliché and original. I’ve not really seen a book take on the tragedy of a parent losing his vision, and I thought it was a refreshing (for lack of a better word) spin on the family woes. That was an element that really made me consider how lucky myself and family is, and I started to project wondering how I would feel if that was happening to someone I love.

But then the insta-attraction of how she met Quattro, and how he kept popping up, and how he was just so imperfectly perfect. Or that Shana was just that hot girl who couldn’t help flirting…it made her a little hard for me to like. And I’m not saying there aren’t people like that—I’ve been told on occasion I’m like that—but there was an arrogance in her that I wasn’t fond of. And then he kept popping up at just the right time…it was a bit predictable.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, though. I really loved Quattro, and I liked him and Shana together. I didn’t buy into their Boy/Girl Moratoriums, but it’s a fun element nonetheless. I thought the development of their friendship into a maybe-relationship was at a great, realistic pace, and I supported a lot of it.

I was a little back-and-forth about Shana not being able to let go of a 6-week relationship. On one hand, I understand—at that age, anyone who you care for who cares for you back for a day is The World to you, and it takes heartbreak nine times over to get it when it goes away. But the more we discover about this relationship, the less I liked it—I found very little for her to cling to. I’m not saying we’re all sane in love (at 16 or 60), but as a reader, I needed something to connect to and understand why it was so hard for her to let go. And I never got that.

However, my favourite element was definitely all the other hikers on the trip—even the crappy gamer husband. They definitely saved this story from falling into just a cliché contemporary book about two people finding each other and getting past their past. Each of the secondary characters were so unique and fun, I couldn’t help but adore them. And when they were all interacting together…it was so great, and I felt like I was right there struggling up the trails with them. My heart jumped, my face couldn’t stop smiling, I felt like I had their backpacks and burdens on my back.

And I have to admit, the family element was a nice surprise. Not that it was there, since it’s pretty obvious it will be—but the struggle of watching a parent couple keep it together and face a new tragedy together. And her brothers, who are a small part but no less important…it was nice to see a functional family that had their own problems. Not to the extent of calling them dysfunctional, but the average struggles exacerbated by an unusual circumstance. It reminds me a lot of my own family, and it was good to see it in a young adult novel.

A Blind Spot For Boys could have lost me and a lot of readers to a cliché, but its original elements really stand out and make this book so much more than it seems. And while I won’t list it among my favourites, I will say there are parts that really yanked at my heart and made me rethink my own life against it. And that’s as high a compliment I can give.

3.5 stars

Review: Roomies by Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr (ARC)

Roomies by Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr
Little, Brown BYR, 288 pages
Expected US Release Date: December 24, 2013
Format/Source: ARC via Around the World Tours - thank you!
Challenges: New Adult Challenge, Contemporary Challenge, Stand Alone Challenge

It's time to meet your new roomie.

When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they've never met.

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.
----------------------------Goodreads summary

Notable Quote

After a few days passed and the sting of it all started to fade, I realized something: if two or three of the most important people in your life are telling you something and you are resisting it with everything you have, there is a distinct possibility that what they are saying is true. That you are wrong and just don’t want to admit it.

When I first read the premise of this book, immediately I tried to recall how I introduced myself to my first college roommate. Did we email incessantly? Did we talk at all? First year of college seems like it was ages ago (in reality it’s only 8 for me), but I barely remember contacting my roommate before we eventually moved in together. Times were different back then, sure; this was back when Facebook was still thefacebook.com, and you still had to have a verified college email to join it and you were only in your college network. ANCIENT, I know. I know I emailed my roommate before (I’ll call her Emcee for the sake of this); and Emcee and I discussed the usual fridge/microwave situation. We may have even discussed colours (though I doubt it, since hers was every shade of purple possible whereas I was strictly blue. I don’t think we’d have coordinated to look like a bruise). But beyond that? Emcee and I remained a mystery until we shared a 10x10 cube.

After reading Roomies, I think that may have been the best idea! Sure, neither of us are as extreme as EB or Lauren (we were both from California (me from Southern California, her from NorCal), but we definitely would have meddled in each other’s lives.

The point of this ginormous walk down my memory lane is that Roomies made me reminisce like crazy. Which is hilarious, since my first roommate and I weren’t (and aren’t) particularly close…we’re Facebook acquaintances at best, and have been since second year of college. But there was such an edge of familiarity throughout all of EB’s and Lauren’s correspondence that made me miss all my college days and friends. Dormmates and roommates and friends alike.

Both girls had endlessly dramatic summers, and I was so swept up trying to keep up with both of them. I wanted to be able to give each of them advice at the same time as listening to what the other was saying with everything I had. I love that both girls are different – but going through such similarly opposite things. Family, but one has an endless amount while the other lacks it. Boys, the problems and fresh starts. Leaving, which could mean growing up or just moving (or perhaps a bit of both). I sincerely wish I’d had this book when I was going through college, because I think I could have found a few sorely needed friends within it.

So, here’s something I’m a bit ashamed to say: I’ve never read any books by either Sara Zarr or Tara Altebrando. I own several by both-but never actually read. So it might not mean much when I say I can’t tell who wrote what parts, but that’s the truth of it – both girls are distinct from each other, but the style is so flawless throughout the entire book I would never have thought two people wrote this book. I still have no idea if one took the character of the other, or if they worked on both together…there’s a fluidity in each that makes you fly through the pages.

And I do have to say, having read Roomies, I definitely want to read those books by Sara and Tara now – I’ve heard how amazing they both are, and this just reinforces what I’ve heard, for sure.

While I was reading this book, I know it’s a solid 4.5 star – though I can’t quite pinpoint why it’s not 5. Perhaps because it is quite serious; there are some funny parts, but it’s so dramatic and insular upon itself that I think I would have liked a few more parts to lighten it up. For them to really become friends through good, rather than through their problems. I know that’s how a lot of us bond together, but sometimes I just wanted them to discover they both like to rock climb, you know?

I did love their little Yes/No/Maybe to what they were bringing to college in most of their emails. Such a fantastic little touch that really gave a great movement to the story in such little bites.

Roomies was spectacularly done, with that new friendship to keep you riveted and the same raw familiarity of struggling to connect and understand a person in your life. There’s emotion and connection, both on the pages and when you read, and I can’t help but think this is one of the better reads of 2013…and perhaps ever.

4.5 Stars

Review: Reality Boy by AS King (ARC)

Reality Boy by AS King

Little, Brown BYR, 368 pages
Expected US Release Date: October 22, 2013
Format/Source: ARC, via Around the World Tours - thank you!
Challenges: SARC 2013, Contemporary Challenge

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.
-------------------Goodreads summary

Notable Quote

I want to talk to her about my plastic-wrapped heart and how I think she's unwrapping it, but I think it's stupid. Anyway, it's more than my heart that's wrapped. My mouth is wrapped. My brain is wrapped. That's how it works when you grow up in the land of make-believe. To survive, you wrap and wrap and wrap until you're safe. 

Knowing this was my first AS King, I expected to be absolutely blown away by this story. Ask the Passengers has been touted as A Book That Will Change You, everyone I know looks back on reading Everybody Sees the Ants with reverence…so I thought Reality Boy would be at the same level. And now, at the end…I was blown away, but in an entirely different way than I thought I’d be.

I didn’t immediately take to this story, while I was reading nor immediately after. It mostly made me incredibly sad. It was like watching a helpless, misunderstood boy from the sidelines who I wanted to reach out and help so badly, but could do absolutely nothing. I cringed, I wanted to cry for him, I wanted to punch people who would call him Crapper and not understand the toll it was taking on him. I really wanted to kill his psychopath sister and try to force her to see how she was wrecking absolutely everyone and everything around her.

I don’t like having strong negative emotions like that as I read – sure, occasionally, and that’s fine, that means it’s an evocative book. But I have a tough time dealing with it when it’s all the time, and I didn’t like that. I wanted something to at least give me hope, I wanted something to lift me. Hannah was a fair try, and she was a shimmer in an otherwise bleak world – but even she had her problems. Yes, that’s what made her work with Gerald so well, but it did nothing to ease all my seething. Probably the only parts that really worked that way for me were Gersdays. The entire concept of Gersday was fantastic, I loved that it’s his own world but still shows off a very human, creative side of him. Hallucinatory and damaged, yes, but still! It was good.

I also liked that they wanted to run away with the circus; and I loved that somehow, it wasn’t at all cliché. It just worked, and I thought it was a fun little destination and change in setting for Hannah and Gerald.

Oddly, this is one of the few books I’ve read in awhile that made me want to dive into the symbolism. I don’t know if it’s just my literary training – maybe none of this is supposed to be symbolic at all – but I felt like there were a lot of moments that really meant more than they appeared. The circus, the constant appearance of Disney characters in Gerald’s Gersdays, all his classmates in his Special Ed class, pretty much every time Lisi appeared in a flashback scene. Like I said, I have no idea if there is supposed to be more meaning, but I like that this book feels heavier than it really is.

I mentioned that this book blew me away, but in a much more subtle fashion than expected. As I look back and try to recall the points I want to review 3 weeks after actually reading it, I’m struck with how important this feels. Reality Boy needs to be read, to understand what can really be behind people’s actions; to see what can really spark anger and violence. Gerald is a real character, with nothing held back. He’s raw and emotional and incredibly representative of a niche we don’t often see in YA. Even though I actually don’t think I like him much, the development and how much depth his character has is something that stuns me. I feel like I remember more to him every time I look back.

Reality Boy presents a unique, interesting plot that actually relates to a lot more of us than we originally think. While I don’t think it’s quite for everyone yet, I do hope that one day it will be because there’s a lot to learn and be guided by within it.

4 Stars / 5

Review: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
Little, Brown Young Readers, 272 pages
US Release Date: June 4, 2013
Format/Source: ebook, via author's PR team - thank you!

Challenges: SARC 2013

Danny's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.

Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn't know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.

When he gets a letter from his mom's property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother's memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.
-------------------Goodreads summary

Notable Quote
"Sometimes healing isn't about our bodies."

When You Were Here is an intense read, you guys. I have to be frank with you, because I feel like I need to warn everyone. You will cry. Your heart will get tugged and pulled and crushed right along with Danny. You will hope and learn to hope and open yourself up again, just like Danny.

I will say though that I personally have never gone through what he has (thankfully, and I know I’m so incredibly lucky to be able to say that). And I think because I couldn’t connect to these huge, tragic emotions on a personal level, it gave me a certain level of disconnect. Don’t get me wrong: Daisy’s writing is filled with things that made me feel every emotion ever. But there was still a certain amount of third-party syndrome for me, that gave me the feeling of being told a story rather than being a part of it. And I know that’s completely my own personal thing, but it did make me feel a little less towards this book.

However. Daisy Whitney’s writing and this story still made me feel SO many things, right to the very core and into my soul and the depth of my heart’s capacity. Reading this story made me want to tell everyone I’ve ever loved or had feelings for just what they meant to me, because who know when I won’t be able to. It made me want to reach out and connect and let myself love freely because it could all be ripped away or changed in an instant. And that’s a pretty strong reaction to a book.

I was a bit surprised at how quick of a read this was for me! Like I said, it’s heavy and intense and there’s such a range of emotions you go through that I feel like it would be one I have to set down, take deep breathes as I read through, give myself a minute to recover. But I read this in just over a day (factoring in work, commutes, that pesky thing of having to sleep and eat to live, etc.) and was super surprised that I was flying through it all.

I feel for Danny, so much. He’s kind of surly and very broken and so closed off to everyone, but I just wanted so badly to reach through all the walls he’s built and clutch him tightly to me. He felt so real, all of his pain and sorrow, and I honestly cried for him.  These characters are all written so well, so real, and I felt like I could know them in real life, too. Especially Kana, her personality just leapt right off the page and I felt like I could see all her colours and quirks right here.

I will say that the only character I felt a little lost with was Holland. I know what I’m supposed to feel towards her, but she was so pale compared to Kana and all the other characters. The others had such life to them, and Holland was just…someone I was supposed to take as part of Danny’s story. I wanted just a little more dimension to her. Even though…well, that’s a spoiler, but I know the thing that was supposed to. And it definitely gave her more – it just wasn’t enough for me.

Best part ever though? Sandy Kaufax, the dog. I don’t have a pet, but if ever to convince me to get one, it’s Sandy.

4.5 Stars

(PS. You can read an excerpt here!)

Review: When We Wake by Karen Healey (ARC)

When We Wake by Karen Healey
Little, Brown BYR, 304 Pages
Expected US Release Date: March 5, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Around the World ARC Tours - thank you!

My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027--she's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan's life, she dies--and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity--even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn't all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.
-------Goodreads Summary

Notable Quote

...it creeped me out, and I was worried about what they might do to persuade me, but I was much less concerned about a weirdo cult that expressly didn't want to kill me than I was about a powerful government that possibly did.

You've got to have priorities.

I'm not sure how I didn't realize this would be a sorta-political novel, especially after rereading that summary, but there it is: be prepared for a lot of enviro-speak and politics-based battles and things of that sort. It's not heavy, nor is it a lot to trudge through. In fact, it's actually all pretty fascinating and worked really well into the plot! But it's there, and it was a bit of a surprise for me. I'm actually glad I didn't realize it, because I'm usually really closed off to talk about politics, religion, you know--issues. I've got crazy avoidance tendencies when it comes to those, and I would have missed out on a fantastic novel if I'd fully grasped what was going on!

Something that also took me by surprise was how much fun I had while reading this. The humor here is fantastic - a bit dry, a bit deprecating, a bit sarcastic, but done so well that I was kind of enjoying watching Tegan and Bethari and Joph and Abdi struggle. It takes a pretty decent writer to make me have fun when I'm feeling so many things and stressing so hard about the characters!

I'm a little iffy on all the futuristic elements - mainly, the language. I enjoyed it all, don't get me wrong - and I think this is probably one of the best I've read in terms of likelihood and consistency - but I'm always a little hung up on those things. I start to consider if "ONTD" will really become a slang noun of the future, and before I know it I'm completely distracted or insisting that it's not going to happen. There are a few in When We Wake that I highly doubt would exist, and distracted me a bit, but I enjoyed a lot of others! Given more time, I might try to work a few of the words into my vocabulary (I totally use "frexing," fellow ATU fans!).

My favourite part of the novel has to be the characters - each one is so distinct and has such personality, I really loved them all. I updated my Goodreads status completely in support of Tegan once, because she's got great attitude (and by attitude, I actually mean attitude. Not a good outlook!) and I love how she's got uncontrollable rage going. She's not mean or out of sorts or obnoxious - she's angry and emotional and completely justified in all of it. I really loved Bethari and Joph, though I will tell you Beth was my favies because she's a journalist and I am totally her. There was one specific passage where I had to laugh because it's completely me when I'm trying to dig for info or get answers to questions that have been plaguing me. It was also a little crazy how quickly I came to care for Marie, she was such a fantastic mother figure to Tegan to the very end. Abdi took awhile to grow on me, and he still feels to be the most "typical" of characters. His character arc is pretty easy to guess, and there were no surprises with him. Not to say I didn't like him - I'd still hug Abdi in the dark any day - but all the others were so stellar, so he kind of fell to the background.

And ok - the ending. I can't...I mean. It's not the craziest ending there ever was, but it was still a bit cliffhanger-y and heart stopping! The structure of the novel itself was a lot of fun, how it's Tegan telling her story to us; and I loved when we found out exactly why she is. It ties everything together so well and makes so much sense. But then the end, when...I can't say, of course, but damnit where is Book 2 when I need it?! (THERE IS A BOOK 2, RIGHT?!)

Best surprise ever with this book? Every chapter title is a Beatles song, and I loved that. They were all so relevant to the content, and it was like a fun little soundtrack since I would get the song stuck in my head the moment I read the title!

4.5 Stars / 5

Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman
Little, Brown and Company, 352 Pages
US Release Date: December 27, 2011
Challenges: Local Library Challenge

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.
-----------------Goodreads summary

Notable Quote

"I won't," I said, and it was true. But it was just true then. "I'll never change my mind."

Reading this book is like getting into that relationship you know is bad for you but you just can't help it. You know it's going to end. Sometime. And probably not well. But you get into it anyway because you can't resist it. Along the way you start to like it, believe that hey, maybe this will end up ok...but it never, ever does.

In a way, I want to call this book predictable; but that's almost the point, isn't it? The fact is, Min and Ed have broken up and what you are reading is her letter to him, what she's writing to put in a box filled with all his things that she's giving back.  You know that box: the relationship box. Filled with all those little nothings and somethings we store of a person we love, the one that makes us smile when we see when we're in love and that makes our hearts ache and throats tear as they scream bloody murder when we're still in love but the other is not.

I was so invested in their relationship I felt like I was right along with Min. I never really got the Ed Slaterton appeal - he's too much like every asshole jock I knew in high school and disliked immediately - but I get her relationship and how she could love him so. Especially when he said the 26 "i'm sorrys" -- definitely got me.  It's the perfect high school relationship, with all the highs and lows and questions and doubts and laughs in between.  Min is funny and a spot-on teenage girl: kind of arrogant and pretentious with big dreams mixed in with insecurity and 'oh my god did i do that right's.  Ed was framed well, since you know he's done something to break up the relationship; but you still kind of like him, in an inexplicable way. He's got moments of sweetness and real thoughtfulness, which only make you hate him more at the end.

I was disappointed in Al, I have to admit. From the beginning I knew what he would function as and what he would end up as, and I felt like he was never expanded to more than that. Maybe he didn't necessarily have to be, but he was easily my favourite, and I wanted more.

I have to mention the illustrations, which were perfect and fit right alongside Daniel Handler's writing style - they're realistic and detailed and almost an entire story in themselves, too. 

The back of this book says "Min and Ed's story of heartbreak may remind you of your own."  I scoffed at that when I first read it because I'm nothing like Min and none of the boys who broke my heart are remotely like Ed; but when I shut the book and saw it again -- it's completely true. This book is filled with all the painful intricacies of heartbreak, how one item can be an encapsulation of everything that went wrong.  And it's a little bit painful, but a lot beautiful.

4 Stars / 5

Review: Winter Town by Stephen Emond

Winter Town by Stephen Emond
Little, Brown and Company, 317 Pages
US Release Date: December 5, 2011
Challenges: Local Library Challenge

Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent's divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she's changed. The former "girl next door" now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, "Old Lucy" still exists, and he's determined to find her... even if it means pissing her off.

Garden State meets Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in this funny and poignant illustrated novel about opposites who fall in love.
----------------------Goodreads Summary

Notable Quote

We don't complete each other -- no two people do. We just highlight what's missing. We're just two incomplete people.

First, can we please talk about the cover? Because I'm so in love with it. The silhouette is beautiful with the snowy background, and I adore that the snow on the ground is hole punches. Beautiful.

Also, it reflects really well to the artwork in the book - they're beautiful and cute and I loved when he mentions Calvin And Hobbes in the book because I always thought his Aelysthia drawings were similar to Calvin and Hobbes. Which means a lot to me, because I adore C&H. I grew up with them, and they're all the background to my computers and it's such a fond memory.

Anyway.  The story is actually fairly simple: two childhood friends, split when the girl's parents divorce, who reconnect every winter when she's back in town.  This year when she arrives, she's changed: darker. hidden. secretive.  But Evan knows the "real" Lucy, and it becomes the struggle of figuring out who they are and what they are together when they're so separate.

Reading this in 85 degree weather, sitting outside on a bench was the absolute wrong way to do it haha. (The woes of living in San Diego.)  The story is a bit dark, to be honest - not a serious dark, but a...thoughtful dark. There are real issues and real problems going on, but they're offset beautifully by a strong voice, a subtle humor, and absolutely adorable and appropriate illustrations.

Despite a bit of "emo"-ness, the readers will enjoy the relationship between Lucy and Evan, and probably relate to several aspects of both the characters. It's a well-crafted winter world that makes you want to curl up under a blanket by the window with a cup of hot chocolate.

3.5 Stars / 5