Images from Goodreads

My reading has not been lackluster, but these posts sure are. Not sure what is going on with me. Thanks for reading them anyway!

[66] You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, recommended on Currently Reading “Season 3, Episode 1: We’re back – with a new look!”

Synopsis: Liz Lighty needs financial aid to pay for college, but doesn’t get the amount required, so she applies for her school’s prom court with hopes of being crowned queen and receiving the associated $10,000 scholarship. But Liz is an outsider who doesn’t focus on social rank, so she has a lot of work ahead of her. When a new student shows up and also wants to be queen, Liz finds herself distracted and falling for her, even though court rules specifically say you can’t have a same sex date at prom.

Review: This is supposed to be an adorable love story about two young women, one (Liz) who is still coming to terms with who she is and finding out where she fits in… but it was hard for me to believe the story. Are high school kids really so current and woke? Maybe? I hope so! This was cute, and I am glad a YA story about a queer Black gal is out there, but this book was not for me. Although I thought the pop culture references were fun!

Recommend? Nah

[67] Followers by Megan Angelo
Fiction / Literary, saw on Goodreads

Synopsis: In 2016, Orla Cadden uses her writing job at Lady-ish to make her roommate Floss famous, in hopes that it will be the ticket to quit and write a book. At first it seems like it will be – then everything goes wrong. In 2051, Marlow is miserable living her on-screen, sponsored, corporate life, and wants to get out of it. As Marlow learns more about her past, Orla and Floss keep moving forward, toward a disastrous event called the Spill that changed everything about the way people share their social lives and who they follow.

Review: I really enjoyed this book! I put it in my TBR  after seeing it on Goodreads, and had no idea it had a futuristic sci-fi (kind of, but not really) portion – I love that. We’ve got two story lines here, and they are both interesting. In 2016, you are wondering how the hell Orla and Floss are going to be involved in the Spill, and in 2051, you’re wondering if Marlow can escape the weird Truman Show experience she lives in and find out the truth about her past, and the world’s past. There’s nothing groundbreaking about the writing but I enjoyed the story so much, it’s a five-star read for me. And the book really makes you think twice about how much you share online, or share in places you think are private, but are still electronic and may not be.

Recommend? Yes!

[68] The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe
Fiction / Literary, recommended on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live “Episode 53: Spring 2020 Book Preview”

Synopsis: Michael moves in with his aunt and cousin at age 11, and becomes friends with his next door neighbor Bunny during high school. Michael doesn’t have any friends – he spends most of his free time meeting up with random men online – and is ecstatic to have finally found one in Bunny. Bunny is 6’3″, athletic, and wonders if she’ll ever have a boyfriend. When separate rumors circulate about them, their friendship forever changes.

Review: This book is about some effed up stuff (trigger warning: violence), but I loved it. The writing is superb. The characters feel so human and flawed and well-developed, that you have to keep reading to see what happens because you’re so invested in them. Especially Michael. This poor kid. You just want him to survive high school and get on with his life (and you know he does, because he is telling the story and directly speaks to the audience and references that he’s telling it from the future). This is definitely a character driven novel, but hang in there for the plot because it will really get you thinking. I don’t want to give away what happens, because it does not happen until one third through the book. And I hate hate hate it when book descriptions give too much away, ugh! Hence, my reviews being so sparse.

Recommend? Yes!