THE BLACK QUEEN by JUMATA EMILL A REVIEW BY ALEXA DUNCAN How far would you go if the one thing you ever wanted in life was taken away from you? That’s the root of The Black Queen by Jumata Emill, only with way more murder, teenage angst, and drama. The book follows…
ALL MY RAGE by SABAA TAHIR A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN Gentle readers, please pardon my prolonged absence. I am back now, however, and ready to review a YA book for you. Today’s book is very long overdue and it is All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. Tahir is a…
SYNC by ELLEN HOPKINS A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN Ellen Hopkins, a long-time master of YA literature, has been in the game for many years, starting with her much celebrated, much maligned novel, Crank. Since then, Hopkins has been writing hard-hitting stories for young adults that refuse to shy away from…
HOMEBODY by THEO PARISH A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN Knowing who we are isn’t always easy…until it is. This is the thesis statement of YA graphic memoir, Homebody by Theo Parish. Told from the perspective of a high school and college-aged Theo, Homebody is a story about discovering who you are, who…
NO RULES TONIGHT by KIM HYUN SOOK AND RYAN ESTRADA A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN South Korea has been in the news a lot lately, what with a botched martial law attempt by President Yoon, the subsequent protests, and impeachment. All of this happened (and is still happening) in a…
TO KILL A SHADOW by KATHERINE QUINN A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN Imagine Stephen King’s The Mist meeting a YA fantasy novel. You’ll get To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn. Eighteen-year-old Kiara Frey is a headstrong girl from a nowhere village, and when she gets picked by the royal guard to…
THE FRAGRANT FLOWER BLOOMS WITH DIGNITY 1 by SAKA MIKAMI A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN “Two rival schools unalike in dignity,” reads the back copy of the first volume of The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity. This romance manga clearly takes its cues from Romeo and Juliet, boasting rival schools,…
THAT’S NOT MY NAME by MEGAN LALLY A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN Waking up half-dead in a ditch with no memory of how you got there, then being taken home by a man who claims to be your father is a little scary to say the least. This is exactly…
TO THE BONE by ALENA BRUZAS A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN Imagine living in a place you’ve never been before–so few people have–where you are unwelcome, unwanted, and…you’re starving. Everyone around you is starving, too. This is the reality for Ellis, a teen girl living in the American colony of…
YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE TONIGHT by KAYLNN BAYRON A REVIEW by ALEXA DUNCAN When you’re the final girl–the girl destined to make it out alive at the end of the horror movie–there’s only one thing you need to do: survive. That’s exactly what Charity is paid to do at Camp…