Althea and Oliver by Cristina Moracho // WOW.

Althea and Oliver, by Cristina Moracho
Publication: October 9, 2014, by Viking BFYR
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 366
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

What if you live for the moment when life goes off the rails—and then one day there’s no one left to help you get it back on track?
Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.
Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good.

My Thoughts:

MY FELLOW REVIEWERS, I have a difficult question for you to answer: what are your issues with this glorious book? I have owned Althea and Oliver by Cristina Moracho for the longest time ever—perhaps since it was released. I think I remember purchasing it a few weeks after it was initially released because I needed another Eleanor and Park in my life. This is a riskier, wilder, but exactly the same real example of the Eleanor and Park that we readers all know and love. This is the story of two best friends who are so close that no one else understands them the way the other does, and how they need to rely on each other for so much. There is so much negativity, debates going around about how the author handled rape (which I do have my opinion on, I'll get into it) and how the book was boring. But honestly? I didn't see barely any negativity—this was just a great read that I'm so happy to own in my book collection.

Sometimes anticipation goes down the drain. That happens quite frequently with me. Sometimes, anticipation is totally worth it. I decided to read Althea and Oliver on a road trip where I brought all hardcovers, all books that scream "SUMMER" and "SUMMER COLOURS." Obviously, yellow is a summery colour, so I just grabbed this one and went with it. I was super excited to read it. Thankfully my expectations were correct. This book just WOWed me. I am still shocked with the ending to this very day, weeks later. I am shocked with the way that Moracho handled the romance, how she didn't take Althea and Oliver, two best friends who are as close as two peas in a pod, that she didn't take them and implanted them into each other—make them a fictional couple who are so in love and are starstruck with why or how they did not notice the other person years ago. This went in a complete different direction and I promise you, if you decide to read this, you will agree with me: you never have read a book that ends like this.

Fluffy at times and all, where Althea and Oliver just cannot stop obsessing over each other as they are separated at two different parts of the country, this has a very complex set of themes and ideas that Cristina planned out perfectly. This is not fantasy—the fact that Oliver sleeps for weeks and wakes up out of nowhere—Oliver's condition, Kleine-Levin syndrome is not fake. I searched it up after being so mesmerized with the topic, and it is a real illness that's rare, yes, but that exists with many people. This is not a book about a boy having experienced something tragic and is undergoing amnesia. Oliver sleeps, out of nowhere, and loses the bits of his life that would be important to him if he was able to see it, or in fact, live it.

This is where the rape issue comes in. Many have deducted high ratings because of what happened between Althea and Oliver at one point of the novel, before he heads to New York City to be watched and monitored by that ultra-cool doctor of his. No one really mentions it, but Moracho hints at male sexual violence, in a way. Althea sleeps with Oliver, but he doesn't remember any of it, his first time, when he wakes up, because he was half-awake, or however Oliver's mother likes to call it. Althea should know half-asleep Oliver from fully-awake Oliver—I even noticed. Oliver didn't really give consent, and after he woke up, he was pissed at Althea, which creates this horrible tension in the novel, and next thing Althea knows, her first love is in New York City, being treated for his condition without saying goodbye because he's too upset at Althea.

"There are days that I remember, totally ordinary days when I was so happy just to be driving around in the car with you, just to have you there, and everything you said was funny and everything I said was clever and every song that came on the radio was exactly the song I wanted to hear" (327).

It looked like rape to me—but I wasn't so annoyed. I just hated how Althea denied it—she thought that she was perfect and the best, never doing any wrong. Don't get me wrong—I loved Althea as a character, but she was too arrogant, too much of a trouble-maker for me to believe that she didn't mean it or whatnot. I see that many people are thinking the exact same thing as me. From the two, I loved Oliver and his story much more, comparing to Althea's. And this was never mentioned, but I wonder if Althea just went to NYC to find Oliver to apologize. She was a crazy man-freak who really didn't put that much emotion into her love for Oliver as Oliver did, you know? It was really, really interesting to see the twist on this story that people stereotypically see the opposite of.

From beginning to end, this was just so enjoyable. I finished reading this in one sitting, one sitting full of laughs, but mostly constant page-flipping because I was just so intrigued with Moracho's writing. The writing was lyrical, poetic and so real. It screamed out summer, fall, and all of the seasons because as we got to know Althea and Oliver more and more, time passed by and they were caught with different things in their lives. The story starts off in North Carolina, a new favourite setting of mine where it's basically summer all year long, and then progressed into NYC, my favourite city in the entire universe.

This book is the anthem for the power of books. Althea and Oliver is completely original, taken place in the 90s where we read about mixtapes (which are currently trending again), times with no cell phones and a different life that I, myself, hadn't ever experienced because of my age. I just want to listen to The Backstreet Boys and jam, thinking about this powerful story that caused me to think about relationships, life and just... everything.

Althea and Oliver is mesmerizing, addicting and powerful. It contains a variety of messages, some that pop up to some people, and others that intrigue other people. It's all about the perspective that you look at these characters, and how you treat life. It's philosophical, real, and has no inch of fantasy that will make you doubt anything that happened in the plot. I couldn't stop reading, and my mouth still has an "O" shape out of shock. That ending—that was unbelievably great.

What is the latest book you have read where a boy and girl are just friends? What is a YA book that takes place in the 90s?

Batch by Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison // Magnificent Recipes!

Batch, by Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison
Publication: May 3, 2016, by Appetite by Random House
Genre: Cookbook
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

Joel and Dana’s journey into preserving began with an innocent lesson in making jam. Almost a decade later, WellPreserved.ca is an extraordinary resource for both beginners and experts alike. Their much-anticipated first cookbook showcases seven different preserving techniques—waterbath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, fermenting, cellaring, salting & smoking, and infusing—and takes readers on a trip to the market in twenty-five ingredients. Within each ingredient chapter, you’ll find multiple preserving recipes using the different methods. From apples, pears, peaches and rhubarb, to asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes, and covering a variety of meat and fish, Batch teaches you everything you need to know to get the most out of your kitchen.
With their signature approachable and fun style, Joel and Dana showcase techniques for a variety of skill levels, explain how to batch your recipes to make two preserves at once, give you multiple options for preserving in ten minutes or less, and serve up mouthwatering center-of-the-plate meals that take your preserves from the pantry to the table. With personal anecdotes, creative and incredible recipes, and beautiful photography and illustrations, Batch will show you how to incorporate preserving into your life and your community.

My Thoughts:

I discovered Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison's Batch after receiving it for review from Appetite by Random House, and WHOA, I must say that I am so impressed with the outcome of the recipes, the authors' organization throughout the recipe book, the unique recipes found, and how much effort was put into this cookbook, making it unique from others and certainly one that I will use over and over again. EVERYONE NEEDS THIS. Just as the synopsis says, "Batch teaches you everything you need to know to get the most out of your kitchen," I certainly believe that this statement is true towards the whole cookbook, and I will recommend it to any beginner cooks who are looking for healthier alternatives than your regular dishes fried on a pan with loads of oil and nasty stuff. In this case, the authors provide readers/cooks with their expertise, sharing tips on how to make different vegetables and yummy ingredients have this chef flair that will make you want to eat the whole pot/pan/dish that you created the meal with.

The first dish I tried was the tomato sauce mixed with lemon juice and peppers. WOW. My mom and I usually created tomato sauce using just a bushel of tomatoes, but the authors were fabulous with giving this good ol' Italian dish their own flair with lemon juice. I really preferred eating my spaghetti with that sauce, compared to the regular tomato one, since I'm not a big fan of tomato sauce as a whole. Here is a photo of my creation:

My creation!

You see, this is a splendid summer cookbook. You could definitely create some of the dishes included here during any time of the year, but I have sticky noted many that seem perfect for the barbecue this summer. I love how there is a big focus on flavour and preservation and sauces, because many cookbook authors/chefs seem to just focus on the food itself, but the sauces/dips certainly play a humungous role in how you taste the dish. 

Batch is a lovely cookbook that I would certainly recommend to all beginners, amateurs and food lovers or chefs. We need to promote it, because it has a gorgeous cover and amazing content that is difficult to find online, or in any other cookbook that is out there. I would adore to sit in Joel and Dana's kitchen and just taste and sniff the gorgeous smells of spices, sauces and meals found in this book and beyond.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is your favourite cookbook? What is your favourite sauce/dip?

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix // The Best Ending Possible

My Best Friend's Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix
Publication: May 17, 2016, by Quirk Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Horror
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act . . . different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

My Thoughts:

Horror stories make me giddy, excited and really creeped out. REALLY CREEPED OUT. But for me, the "being creeped out" part is the absolute fun of it all. It makes me so happy, so excited and so obsessed with the book that I'm reading, showing that the purpose is being put to good use. Most likely, the author's purpose of writing any horror fiction story is to entertain readers with a genre (especially in YA) that is rarely seen because some people cannot take it. I was definitely entertained with Grady Hendrix's first YA-based novel, My Best Friend's Exorcism. I couldn't stop reading, especially towards the end, and I knew, from the start, that it will turn out to be absolute perfection. Well, I wouldn't call it perfect at all, since Hendrix did take a long time to get to the actual exorcism, the part that I knew would occur and that I was looking forward to the most. 

My Best Friend's Exorcism has the best setting ever: the late 1980s. I am a teenager, so I seriously have limited knowledge of the time where my parents were teenagers, except for the cheesy disco music that they still like to "ooh" and "awe" over constantly. From the gorgeous cover, mimicking a high school yearbook, to the actual references made in the novel, 1988 seems fantastic. Hendrix seems to have so much experience with this era, having lived in it as well, and it's something new for us YA readers who are either used to reading about (a) the future, where everything is scientific and eerie, (b) the past, especially real historical times or (c) the present. There's nothing about 1980 in any YA book, except for Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I would love to applaud Grady for this great premise.

It seems right to have this kind of book placed in the 80s era. That is the era where people were superstitious (not that they currently aren't), where unimaginable things were believed in, where people didn't have the technology that we are fortunate to have today, minus Abby's creepy Mickey Mouse telephone. Me imagining these characters' wacky hair and outfits is so intriguing. The setting of Charleston, South Carolina, which today is still known as one of the most haunted places in the world is just my favourite thing about the story itself... and of course, the aftermath of everything that happened to the two best friends (and protagonists).

"You know, Abby, this is one of those things that's broken, and it's not getting fixed. Some mistakes are forever, and you committed one. Welcome to the rest of your long, lonely life" (301).

This is all about what the title screams out at you: an exorcism of a best friend of someone. Well, that someone is Abby Rivers, who is our protagonist. In the beginning of the story, Hendrix explains Abby's past and how she met her best friend, Gretchen. We quickly skip along Abby's child and soon meet her sophomore year in high school where she notices Gretchen's personality changing, and how harshly her parents treat her. The only explanation behind all of her weird antics and sayings? A demon named Andras.

AGH. The possession that Gretchen experienced in the novel is no surprise—we knew that it would happen, but we obviously did not know how. I wish there was more "horror," more freaky moments in this story minus the ending where things really shape up. I felt that a lot of the story was filler, trying to get us to know the characters really well—perfectly, perhaps—but I didn't need that. Abby spent so much time making excuses for Gretchen, trying to not realize that what was really happening was not an illness or anything like that, but a demonic possession somehow. Rape came into question, but the real answer was something supernatural that could definitely make you cringe. People have described this book as gory, as a little too much, but I would disagree with that in some points of the story. We honestly only got into the real fast-paced stuff in the last fifty pages. I would rate those fifty pages 5 stars, but everything else seemed like a three star rating. I had issues with a lot of things, but most of that was because of the plot. 

It seems that Grady Hendrix has experience with writing things about Satan and demons. I scrolled through a list of his other books, and they all seem to be horror stories. I'm surprised that he rolled this one down a little—I hope it's not for the reason that this was written for an young adult audience. Everything was just plain old high school drama that we constantly see in contemporaries these days. We see the characters experimenting with drugs, sneaking out, lying to their parents, having fun, partying—it's nothing new, in that way. And when I look at all of the events from that perspective, it makes me wonder if the world really changed at all from the 80s, if this is Hendrix's view of teenagers during that time. I guess the yearbook cover really did hint at "HIGH SCHOOL" all along.

"I love you, Abby. You're my best friend, and my mirror, and my reflection, and you are me, and you are everything I love and everything I hate, and I will never give up on you" (322).

Cheers for the mega adorable friendship between Gretchen and Abby. I WANT SOMETHING LIKE THEIRS. Girl power? Yes. Romance? No. Thank goodness for that extra detail, too. Not every YA book needs romance, and I feel that some authors need to take that into consideration when they write books these days. People, like myself, prefer books that are unique over those that have been written over and over again, it seems. 

My Best Friend's Exorcism's ending, as well as its setting, were the best parts of the story. Your jaw will drop when you discover who will take the hands of the exorcism and sew everything together. Yay for independence (Abby's character) and yay for a beautifully mended friendship between two girls who come from different families and different lives, but have always tried their best to stay/stick together. This contained a ton of filler that was just meant for readers to get to know the characters better, but you will see—it's a little too much. I'M SO EXCITED FOR HORRORSTÖR NOW.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is the most recent YA horror book you've read? What do you think of Horrorstor, if you have read it? What are some other YA exorcist stories?

The Boy I Love by Nina de Gramont // Not What I Expected At All!

The Boy I Love, by Nina de Gramont
Publication: September 2, 2014, by Atheneum BFYR
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, LGBTQ
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

Sixteen-year-old Wren has been content to stay in her best friend Ally’s shadow. It doesn’t bother her that Ally gets the cutest guys, the cutest clothes, and even a modeling gig—Wren is happy hanging with the horses on her family’s farm and avoiding the jealousy of other girls. But when Tim, the most intriguing guy in school, starts hanging out with Ally and Wren, jealousy is unavoidable, but not the kind Wren expects. Because even though Ally is way into him and Wren hasn’t flirted, not one little bit, it becomes increasingly clear that Tim prefers Wren’s company above anyone else’s.
Tim’s unexpected devotion comes at the exact time Wren’s home life is about to be turned upside down. But at least there is Tim...always a gentleman and ever dependable. But as his own seemingly perfect world comes spiraling down around him and he tells Wren his biggest secret, Wren must decide what she’ll really do for love.

My Thoughts:

Here is a fact about my reading habits that I just love: I love reading books that are good, and that are underrated. Nina de Gramont's The Boy I Love perhaps could make you expect this to be the cheesiest, most predictable book that you will ever read in the history of books. The cover is extremely cheesy, if I do say so myself. Forget about all of those negative thoughts pushing you away from reading this. Forget about the HATERS, you know? But honestly? I don't even see too many haters hating on this satisfying, utterly enjoyable story, because there is this one FREAKING PLOT TWIST that turns the table around and has you addicted for the rest of the book because you know that what you expected to happen will not happen at all. But of course, there is that single voice in your head telling you, "Who knows?" as you read. Nina de Gramont is now an instant-buy for me. I already own two other books by her, and I will hunt for everything. *hears thunder in the distance showcasing my seriousness*

The Boy I Love has this table-turning title and cover. We see a beautiful cover model sitting by a campfire, looking like an Abercrombie model. Most girls want to poke his chest, I bet. I wouldn't blame them. This guy is supposed to be the male protagonist of this story, named Tim. Wren, our female protagonist, basically falls head over heels for him in a way when she meets him in her new school, that she transfers to alongside her best friend, Ally, who also has her own personal demons. Ally wants to become a model, but her parents do not let her follow her dreams. We haven't seen that story before, right? *giggles* Ally has a huge crush on Tim, who prefers to spend time with Wren.

LOVE TRIANGLE? I think we all predicted that when we started reading. There is this one secret that could change the way you look at the whole book and I could never spoil it here, or else the whole book is ruined. When this was revealed, I was ten times more addicted and intrigued to the novel than I originally was. Honestly? If this stayed a cutesy romance, I still would've enjoyed it because Nina de Gramont is just a good writer. She creates relatable characters who certainly do not live in a perfect world where relationships always work and they certainly are not able to always follow their dreams. This is absolute realism.

I love the setting of this story: North Carolina. I've travelled through the state when I head on road trips to Florida, and it honestly is one of my favourites to travel through. I love the summer-year-round atmosphere and the nature. It's been a while since I've read a book set in the Carolinas (I honestly don't remember the last one, or if there has been one in the past) and it just made me giddy. I love the summer feeling that this book inherited. You could read it any time of the year and instead of seeing snow outside of your window, you could imagine green grass, scorching temperatures, an alligator in your river (haha) and a bonfire. That's summer. This book could seriously be called, in other words, summer.

This headed in a direction that I never imagined was possible. I keep saying this, but Nina de Gramont took us to a different world. I loved how each of the characters had their own problems (not that I would wish anyone to have problems), including Wren's issues with her parents, Ally's dream issues and Tim's issues that I will of course, not reveal. That is what contemporary should always feature.

Wren was just a fabulous protagonist. She was fearless, real, selfless. Her friends and family came first, and when everyone kept coming to her with their problems, Wren kind of forgot about her own issues and eventually, all of that came splattering at her. That frequently occurs to people in the real world, and it touched me. TIM AND WREN EQUAL FRIENDSHIP GOALS. Tim is your perfect example of a good boy best friend. I wish I had one of those. 

Nina de Gramont experiments with a lot of examples of friendship. Ally and Tim both have to share Wren at different points of the book, and Nina showcased the difference between girl friendship and boy and girl friendship. They each had each other for different reasons, to hold different secrets, but in the end, friendship occurs for the same reason: for loyalty. Whoever said boys and girls cannot be friends are so wrong. This is a perfect example of how that actually works.

The Boy I Love by Nina de Gramont is a book that has been sitting in my bookshelf for quite some time now, and when I decided to read it on a road trip, it was the perfect book. It shouts summer, bonfires and mistakes. It screams out romance, but that wasn't a main idea of the story whatsoever. The most important thing? Friendship. Nina illustrates the theme of girls not having to love boys for romantic reasons, but that they could love them as friends. Aw. My heart is fluttering. PLEASE READ THIS, SECOND-GUESSERS.

What is a book that features boy and girl friendships? What is your favourite contemporary novel that does not feature romance?

The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman // What a Twist!

The Cost of All Things, by Maggie Lehrman
Publication: May 12, 2015, by Balzer and Bray
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Fantasy
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets We Were Liars in this thought-provoking and brilliantly written debut that is part love story, part mystery, part high-stakes drama.
What would you pay to cure your heartbreak? Banish your sadness? Transform your looks? The right spell can fix anything…. When Ari's boyfriend Win dies, she gets a spell to erase all memory of him. But spells come at a cost, and this one sets off a chain of events that reveal the hidden—and sometimes dangerous—connections between Ari, her friends, and the boyfriend she can no longer remember.
Told from four different points of view, this original and affecting novel weaves past and present in a suspenseful narrative that unveils the truth behind a terrible tragedy.

My Thoughts:

I finally took the time to read this pretty. The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman is a book I have been wanting to read since getting it autographed at BEA last year, and I never expected it to head in this kind of direction. What a twist! I would definitely call this a part love story, part mystery, and I love the themes that Lehrman presented out to us readers. Mixed with different perspectives, that of our protagonist, Ari, her boyfriend who passed away, Win and their friends, Markos and Kay, who are all affected by the same thing in different ways, this is the perfect summer read that heads in a different direction than what we initially suspect will occur. Now I am suspecting that everyone around me is a hekamist, which, in this setting of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they exist, and each character undergoes some kind of spell.

The Cost of All Things makes you want to rethink every single action you perform. You wake up, you have to rethink that. You take a step, you have to rethink that. It's so interesting how Maggie Lehrman mixes in different themes, such as death and grief, into multiple perspectives that all revolve in this plot. There's a lot of magical realism and fantasy here, too, but as I just mentioned the word "realism," it feels real. Sometimes, contemporary + magic do not flow together well, but in this case, I couldn't have asked for a better combination. A big motif here is being careful for what you wish for. 

I read this two weeks ago, and I am still in awe. This was just a great story that is captivating, intriguing, and I found myself unable to stop reading once I began. I actually read this while on a road trip, and it went really well for the seven hours that I was stuck in a car, driving through the middle of nowhere I like to call Canada. While reading, I felt like I just wanted to transport to the summer town of Cape Cod and be friends with all of the characters. This was a summer read, but I honestly feel like anyone could pick it up at any time of the year to just jump into that summer mood and feel.

"We swayed back and forth. Dancing. In the dark and wet, the two of us together. It's my favorite memory of Ari out of a thousand memories. It's the one I keep on hand, the talisman. That was the girl I loved" (34).

The main character here is Ari, who just lost her boyfriend, Win, in a freak accident that she cannot even describe or believe. She heads to a hekamist to forget about all that happened, to forget Win. She is warned to not take the spell if having already been affected by another in the past, and she has, in the past, been affected by a memory spell already: to forget about the death of her parents. We learn about Win's side of the story, the side of the story of his best friend, Markos, who is undergoing his own personal demons, and the perspective of Ari's best friend, Kay. Each have taken a spell (kind of) to forget or change something in their lives. The most prominent thing, though, is the death of Win, and how each character chooses to move on.

The main issue I had here was that I was unable to sympathize, emphasize or relate to any of the characters. Yes, they are teenagers as I am, but the fact that this was a novel based on some aspects of fantasy seemed to stir these characters away from seeming normal to readers who are learning about them. I would have liked that more down-to-earth feel, you know? I did like each of the characters, all in all, it's just that the realism did not affect their actions or words. 

I can just squeal about the cover of this all day long, and how much I loved the romance of this novel. It wasn't heavy, of course, because at the time where these characters are speaking, Win is already dead and it's the aftermath of all events, but Ari and Win seem to go back in time frequently and speak of events that they had with each other. It's heart-warming, knowing that there are two fictional characters who have had such a connection. Ari and Win seemed to intertwine in a way that many fictional couples don't get a chance to... even in a trilogy. I would not be able to state that their relationship was fast-paced, because it was over—agh, I'm just simply out of words.

This is a book that many would enjoy because it is so original and brilliant. I just would want everyone to give it a go and see how fantasy could mix with a real story so well.

The Cost of All Things contains so many themes that makes our emotions fall in a waterfall. I laughed, cheered, and felt my heart drop when the worst things occurred. The characters aren't relatable, but for me in this case, I paid attention to the fact that the book wasn't boring at all. I am seriously looking forward to more Maggie Lehrman, more poetic, lyrical writing and more good books like this. I know so many people who would need a book like this in their life. Three cheers for twisty, suspenseful mysteries that make you smile!

*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What are some books that are contemporary mixed with fantasy (YA, please!)? What is the latest book with a twist you have read?

Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall // Satisfying and Quick, Though Not As Good As Her Others

Been Here All Along, by Sandy Hall
Publication: August 30, 2016, by Swoon Reads
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, LGBTQ
Pages: 240
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

Gideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having his choice of colleges. They do NOT include falling head over heels for his best friend and next door neighbor, Kyle. It’s a distraction. It’s pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn’t know what to do.
Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong…

My Thoughts:

This is extremely cute and fluffy, just like everything Sandy Hall has previously written. I admire Sandy SO MUCH for taking a risk with this new release (that will be out in a month!) by writing a LGBT romance. In her past two novels, we experience a straight boy-girl romance and I swooned. This time? I could say I completely began swooning again because Hall's writing is just adorable and satisfying. Once you begin reading her work, you feel obligated to finish it in the same sitting that you began it. I would pick this one to read during a time where you're just seeking a quick, nice story that will make you smile. If you don't end up smiling during the time you've been reading this, you're a very mean person. Seriously. Been Here All Along is a story that really has been there with you all along, because somewhere deep down, you have been seeking a story about two gay/bisexual best friends who unexpectedly fall in love.

Something lovely that Sandy Hall does time after time is write without an instant romance. I really thank her for that. I find that these days, books that are imprinted and are stamped with the genres "contemporary" and "romance" seem to almost always have instalove. I honestly rather have a love triangle than instalove. Just like with Signs Point to Yes, we have a relationship between two people who have known each other for the longest time, since childhood. That's something believable. As usual, Sandy Hall's writing is completely believable, and I couldn't stop reading and creating a film in my head, clear images of what each character—Ruby, Gideon, Kyle and Ezra—looks like and how their personalities actually come to life. 

This, as mentioned before, is about a pair of characters, Gideon and Kyle, who have known each other since they were five. Gideon is legitimately your perfect character (somehow even too perfect, which I'll get to later), who cares so much about schoolwork and organization. Kyle has his own schoolwork issues of his own (which was a true highlight of this story), and he is dating the most popular girl in his senior class, Ruby. He reveals to her that he is bisexual, and soon after that, Gideon realizes that he is developing feelings for his best friend. 

I felt so bad for this pair of characters, friends. SO MUCH SADNESS. Hall really explores the LGBT world well and explores the struggles of people realizing their true feelings. I really loved how this was a gay romance, instead of our average straight thing. I occasionally read LGBT romances, and this is seriously a great one, minus Gideon's character, who I really disliked.

Gideon and I would not be great friends. He has the personality of people who annoy me in reality: the uttermost craziest perfectionists. I am an overachiever, I am a true perfectionist, I love school... but I do not take my adoration of work to the extent that Gideon did in the book. He keeps complimenting himself and thinks that he's perfect, minus the whole gay thing. His family was too perfect, unlike Ruby's family, who is having issues with money, or Kyle's family, having to deal with Kyle's learning disabilities. Every family had something to debate with, minus his. And his personality is so annoying and ugh. His character didn't go well with my likings. Kyle, on the other hand, was adorable and I loved how Hall explored his personal demons. She took it to a real, eyesight level where we were able to see the initial, middle and ending steps of him discovering what is going on with him. Yay. 

I really don't have much more to say about this book other than the fact that it's really short and enjoyable. Sandy Hall writes about a high school experience for the first time, and she did it pretty well, minus occasional cheesiness. We have our popular group, our nerds, the cheerleaders and football players. Of course, there is also a huge dilemma on the subject of drama, which gets a little out of hand. I am in high school, and I would like to admit that the experience really isn't like what the book is about. I've read many books similar to this (with similar drama, I mean) and it isn't anything special or different, to be honest. I truly do wish it turned out to be a longer, more broad (and explored) story, because it HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE 500 PAGES. It just... stopped and ended up with a predictable ending, nothing major.

Been Here All Along explores a friend-to-couple romance, that throws away the cheesy, predictable instalove romance that don't really end up swoon-worthy in the end. I hated Gideon, but loved Kyle and the rest of the side characters who made this quick, enjoyable story up. Most of all, Hall, as always, explores some themes that many authors never choose to touch on—like learning disabilities, perfectionism and LGBT romances with your best friend. This is so, so real and I could just picture Kyle and Gideon in their New Jersey town right now, speaking Elvish and watching Lord of the Rings.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is your favourite LGBT romance? What do you think of fluffy romances with best friends?