Satisfaction Guaranteed – Karelia Stetz-Waters

Selena and Cade. I have a lot of love in my heart for these two young women. These two imperfect human beings who are oh-so-different, and yet oh-so-meant-to-meet. And what an interesting first meeting they have—at Cade’s aunt’s funeral, where Selena pours her heart out in front of everyone. I knew right then and there that impulsive and emotional Selena and reserved and controlled Cade would have quite a few intriguing moments together.

This is a slow-burn. It’s a book that is meant to be enjoyed slowly, with a few cups of tea (and biscuits, can’t forget those). This is a good thing, because it makes Selena and Cade’s relationship seem to progress naturally and without rush. Even if they only have a month together, and a month is definitely not enough to know everything about someone, it is enough to get a feel of who they are and whether they bring out the best in us. What is beautiful is that Selena and Cade’s differences and shortcomings complement each other.

While I found their relationship to feel natural and progress in a realistic and effective way, I did not necessarily find the storyline itself and some of the characters and scenes to be all that realistic. Sometimes, it felt like the author wrote some characters or scenes or dialogs for humour purposes, than because it made perfect sense to the story or was the right element to include. For example, everyone fawning over Selena was a bit over-the-top, as was Cade’s entire family and the whole Alex business. I’m not saying that these elements could not exist in real life, just that all of them combined in one story was a lot.

The best thing about this story is Selena and Cade’s relationship, which is good because this is a contemporary romance so that’s pretty much the most important element of all, so if you are looking for a cute lesbian romance, you are knocking at the right door and do not hesitate to jump right in (don’t forget the tea and biscuits, though!)

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel – Sara Farizan

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Published: 2014
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, LGBTQIA+, Romance, High School, Friendship, Family

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REVIEW:

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve been in a book slump since the beginning of this whole confinement situation. Sure, I’ve finished a couple of books and enjoyed a few too, but it just hasn’t been the same at all.

Carmilla – Kim Turrisi

Carmilla by Kim Turrisi

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Published: May 7th, 2019
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Pacing: Normal/Slow
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mystery, Paranormal, LGBTQIA+, University Life

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BLURB:

Newly escaped from the stifling boredom of a small town, college freshman Laura is ready to make the most of her first year at Silas University. But when her roommate, Betty, vanishes and a sarcastic, nocturnal philosophy student named Carmilla moves into Betty’s side of the room, Laura decides to play detective. Turns out Betty isn’t the first girl to go missing ? she’s just the first girl not to come back. All over campus, girls have been vanishing, and they are completely changed when (or if) they return. Even more disturbing are the strange dreams they recount: smothering darkness, and a strange pale figure haunting their rooms. Dreams that Laura is starting to have herself. As Laura closes in on the answers, tensions rise with Carmilla. Is this just a roommate relationship that isn’t working out, or does Carmilla know more than she’s letting on about the disappearances? What will Laura do if it turns out her roommate isn’t just selfish and insensitive, but completely inhuman? And what will she do with the feelings she’s starting to have for Carmilla?

Girls of Paper and Fire – Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: November 6th, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books
Recommended Age: 14+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Violence, LGBTQIA+, Sex, Power

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BLURB:

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.

The Summer of Jordi Perez – Amy Spalding

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Distributor
First Published: April 3rd, 2018
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Romance, LGBT, Fashion, Friendship, Summer, Family Relationships, Food, Work

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BLURB:

Seventeen, fashion-obsessed, and gay, Abby Ives has always been content playing the sidekick in other people’s lives. While her friends and sister have plunged headfirst into the world of dating and romances, Abby has stayed focused on her plus-size style blog and her dreams of taking the fashion industry by storm. When she lands a prized internship at her favorite local boutique, she’s thrilled to take her first step into her dream career. She doesn’t expect to fall for her fellow intern, Jordi Perez. Abby knows it’s a big no-no to fall for a colleague. She also knows that Jordi documents her whole life in photographs, while Abby would prefer to stay behind the scenes. Then again, nothing is going as expected this summer. She’s competing against the girl she’s kissing to win a paid job at the boutique. She’s somehow managed to befriend Jax, a lacrosse-playing bro type who needs help in a project that involves eating burgers across L.A.’s eastside. Suddenly, she doesn’t feel like a sidekick. Is it possible Abby’s finally in her own story?

Princess Princess Ever After

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Diamond Comics Distributors
First Published: September 20th, 2016
Publisher: Oni Press
Recommended Age: 10+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Graphic Novel, Middle Grade, Fairy Tale Retellings, Lesbian, Fantasy, Humour

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BLURB:

When the heroic princess Amira rescues the kind-hearted princess Sadie from her tower prison, neither expects to find a true friend in the bargain. Yet as they adventure across the kingdom, they discover that they bring out the very best in the other person. They’ll need to join forces and use all the know-how, kindness, and bravery they have in order to defeat their greatest foe yet: a jealous sorceress, who wants to get rid of Sadie once and for all.

Past Tense – Star Spider

Past Tense by Star Spider

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: April 10th, 2018
Publisher: Harper Collins
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Family, Mental Illness, Friendship

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BLURB:

Julie Nolan is a pretty average girl with pretty average problems. She’s been in love with her best friend, Lorelei, ever since they met in grade three. Only Lorelei doesn’t know about it — she’s too busy trying to set Julie up with Henry, her ex, who Julie finds, in a word, vapid.

But life gets more complicated when Julie comes home to find her mother insisting that her heart is gone. Pretty soon it becomes clear: Julie’s mom believes that she has died.

How is Julie supposed to navigate her first year of high school now, while she’s making midnight trips to the graveyard to cover her mother with dirt, lay flowers and make up eulogies? And why is Henry the only person Julie feels comfortable turning to? If she wants to get through this, Julie’s going to have to find the strength she never knew she had, and to learn how to listen to both her mom’s heart and her own.

Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir

Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: September 8th, 2015
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Graphic Memoir, Young Adult, LGBT, Summer Camps, Friendship

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BLURB:

All-girl camp. First love. First heartbreak. At once romantic and devastating, brutally honest and full of humor, this graphic-novel memoir is a debut of the rarest sort.

Echo After Echo – Amy Rose Capetta

Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: October 10th, 2017
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Plays, Mystery

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BLURB:

Zara Evans has come to the Aurelia Theater, home to the visionary director Leopold Henneman, to play her dream role in Echo and Ariston, the Greek tragedy that taught her everything she knows about love. When the director asks Zara to promise that she will have no outside commitments, no distractions, it’s easy to say yes. But it’s hard not to be distracted when there’s a death at the theater—and then another—especially when Zara doesn’t know if they’re accidents, or murder, or a curse that always comes in threes. It’s hard not to be distracted when assistant lighting director Eli Vasquez, a girl made of tattoos and abrupt laughs and every form of light, looks at Zara. It’s hard not to fall in love. In heart-achingly beautiful prose, Amy Rose Capetta has spun a mystery and a love story into an impossible, inevitable whole—and cast lantern light on two girls, finding each other on a stage set for tragedy.

Spinning – Tillie Walden

Spinning by Tillie Walden

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: September 12th, 2017
Publisher: First Second Books
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 11+
Pacing: slow/fast
Genres &  Themes: Young Adult, LGBT, Graphic Novel, Memoir, Sports

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BLURB:

For ten years, figure skating was Tillie Walden’s life. She woke before dawn for morning lessons, went straight to group practice after school, and spent weekends competing at ice rinks across the state. It was a central piece of her identity, her safe haven from the stress of school, bullies, and family. But over time, as she switched schools, got into art, and fell in love with her first girlfriend, she began to question how the close-minded world of figure skating fit in with the rest of her life, and whether all the work was worth it given the reality: that she, and her friends on the figure skating team, were nowhere close to Olympic hopefuls. It all led to one question: What was the point? The more Tillie thought about it, the more Tillie realized she’d outgrown her passion–and she finally needed to find her own voice.