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alertnerd's Reviews (169)

Tokyo Ever After

Emiko Jean

4.0

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Izumi is an average student with a simple life. But when she discovers her father is really the Crown Prince of Japan, her life becomes anything but simple. She flies to Japan to meet the father she never knew and now her life is filled with etiquette lessons, ever-present paparazzi and a handsome personal bodyguard. Feeling like she was never “American” enough to fit in at home, and now feeling like she’s not “Japanese” enough to fit in in Japan, Izumi struggles to find her place and her purpose.

The Princess Diaries comparisons are obvious here. Izumi is a misfit who is thrown into a royal life that she is not prepared for. She screws up (a lot!) along the way and struggles to find her place in this new family.

I struggled a little with the beginning of this book, a lot of Izumi’s conversations with her friends felt a little cringey and forced, but it really picks up once Izumi gets to Japan. The descriptions of the palaces and the workings of the royal family were fascinating and kept me engaged throughout.

The story is also really funny and the romance is swoon worthy and definitely worth the slow build.

Tokyo Ever After is a great story about learning who you are and finding your place in the world.

CW // racism

Thanks to Flatiron Books for this ARC!

Release date: May 25, 2021

Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir

Brian Broome

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad

TW: child abuse, domestic violence, drug addiction, alcoholism, racism, racial slurs, homophobia, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, bullying

In his memoir, Punch Me Up to the Gods, Brian Broome takes us through a disjointed, nonlinear trip through his life. He recounts the kids who used to hurl racist and homophobic abuse at him as a kid, his constant striving for his parents’ love and affection, and his tumultuous adulthood filled with drugs, sex, and alcohol.

All of these stories seem to come back to the same message: society is failing our Black boys. White people force them to grow up too soon, Black culture forces them into rigid, outdated and harmful roles, and the world expects too much out of them.

A lot of Broome’s memories are painful and hard to read, but also so important. The intersectionality of Black queerness is often ignored.

Thanks to BookishFirst and HMH for this ARC!

Content Warnings

Thanks a Lot, Universe

Chad Lucas

5.0

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

TW: suicide attempt, racism, anxiety, bullying

For Brian, navigating middle school with social anxiety feels like the hardest thing in the world. But when he wakes up on his 13th birthday and his dad is gone and his mom has taken an overdose of medication, his life turns upside down.

Ezra is popular, a part of the basketball team and a great musician. When Brian goes missing, he volunteers to help find him, even if that means finally confronting his confusing feelings for him.

I had tears in my eyes for about 90% of this book. All of the boys in this have such big hearts and honestly deserve the world. Everyone in Ezra’s friend group is the sweetest and I loved all of them.

Thanks A Lot, Universe tackles a lot of really tough topics with a lot of care. I hope some kids are able to see themselves in these amazing characters.

Also, Team Brian all the way.

This book is great for fans of King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amulet Books for this ARC!

Release date: May 11, 2021

Content Warnings

Indivisible

Daniel Aleman

4.5

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

#LBYRPartner

Nailing his next audition, acing the ACTs and finding a boyfriend are 16-year-old Matt Garcia’s biggest concerns. But when he returns home from school one day and finds out that ICE has taken both his parents into custody, now he’s responsible for taking care of his 9-year-old sister, running his dad’s store and trying to keep his parents from being deported.

Indivisible is a heartbreaking book about a difficult topic, but is still full of tons of heart and even a little optimism. In the end, it is still able to be hopeful.

Nobody should have to go through the things that Matt has gone through and no kid should have to worry about these things.

This is obviously a very timely and relevant read and it gives a very clear picture of what it’s like for children left behind by inhumane deportation laws.

TW: deportation, racism, anxiety

Thanks to The Novl for this ARC!

Release date: May 4, 2021

Content Warnings

Meet Cute Diary

Emery Lee

5.0

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Noah runs the Meet Cute Diary, a blog dedicated to sharing trans peoples’ meet-cutes. The only problem is, all the stories are fake -- just products of Noah’s own fantasies -- and some of his followers are starting to pick up on that. Enter Drew, the handsome bookseller who Noah had his own meet-cute with. Drew comes up with the idea to fake-date in order to save the blog. Is this really only about saving the blog, or will true love blossom like Noah hopes?

This book was laugh out loud funny. Noah’s voice is super distinct and his impatience for straight white people had me cackling (it also made me realize why so many white people were so offended in all their reviews of this book). He was annoying and bitter and angry and I loved him for it.

This book has pretty much everything you would want from a rom-com; fake-dating, romantic love, platonic love, and an adorable love interest.

Meet Cute Diary is great for fans of Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender and Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant.

TW: transphobia, suicide mention (not graphic)

Release date: May 4, 2021

Thanks to Netgalley and Quill Tree Books for this ARC!

Content Warnings

Between Perfect and Real

Ray Stoeve

4.0

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Dean just came out as a lesbian not too long ago -- the only problem is, Dean’s really a trans guy. After he gets cast as a “nontraditional” Romeo in his school’s play, Dean wants everyone -- including his girlfriend -- to see him as a guy.

Between Perfect and Real is a story about first-loves, discovering yourself, the family you’re born into and the family you choose.

Maybe it’s just because I’m an obsessively organized person, but I really loved the way this book was organized and broken up into the different “acts” to mirror the play Dean was rehearsing for. It really helped the story flow.

I also really loved Dean’s friend group and how Ray Stoeve showed how transphobia can be present even in all-queer groups.

I also appreciated the attempts at discussing race and privilege, but some of those parts felt a little tacked-on after the fact and a little cringey.

This is a beautiful debut by Ray Stoeve, and I can’t wait to see what they put out next.

TW: transphobia, deadnaming (the name isn’t said), slurs, bullying

Release date: April 13, 2021

Thanks to Netgalley and Amulet Books for this ARC!

Content Warnings

The Cost of Knowing

Brittney Morris

4.5

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

After his parents were killed in a car accident, 16-year-old Alex Rufus somehow developed the ability to see the future. All he has to do is touch something and he can see what will happen in the near-future. When he touches an old family photo and sees a vision of his little brother’s funeral, Alex’s whole world changes.

I don’t like to say books are “important” or “must-read” but that’s how I felt after finishing this one. I saw another reviewer describe this as a hard read but a necessary one, and I think that perfectly describes it.

Advertised as Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End, The Cost of Knowing is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring look at what it means to be a Black boy in America.

Thanks to Netgalley and SimonTeen for this ARC!

Release date: April 6, 2021

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet

Laekan Zea Kemp

4.5

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

Of Women and Salt

Gabriela Garcia

3.5

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The different perspectives that this story is told through made it seem more like a series of short stories than one cohesive novel. All the women were connected in some way, but their stories rarely intersected. This made for interesting snapshots in the lives of Latine women living in the US and Latin America.

I felt like Garcia really missed the mark whenever she attempted to discuss race though. Mentioning in passing that Black people were forced into slavery in Cuba in the 1800s with no follow up or even any empathy from the characters was not great. She even had a white Cuban complaining about how she couldn’t do the things she wanted because she was white.

I did appreciate the comment though about how all the actors in Mexican telenovelas are white while the brown actors are usually cast as maids. Everyone knows about the controversy surrounding Yalitza Aparicio’s casting in Roma. Recently there was backlash when Fatima Molina was cast in a novela because she isn’t white.

I look forward to seeing what Gabriela Garcia comes up with next.

Thanks to Flatiron Press for this ARC!

Every Body Looking

Candice Iloh

4.5

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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