Gateway Reviews

THE L.O.V.E. CLUB "Has anyone in history ever truly understood a teenage girl in crisis?" Three years ago, Elle disappeared from Calendula, shattered the friend group she left behind. Without the "E" to keep them together, the L.O.V.E. Club broke apart. Liberty and Vera moved. O was left behind, crushed by the weight of her grief, her abandonment, her... confusion? Because she doesn't really remember the details of what happened. Because she can't. But with senior year on the horizon, Liberty and Vera are back. And something wants these girls together again. Pulled back to the hangout where they used to stay up late playing video games, these girls meet to find a game waiting for them, already loaded on the console. An impossible game. A game created by Elle. A game that doesn't give them a chance to decide before dragging them in to play. THOUGHTS I...

PREDATORY NATURES When Lara Williams is offered the chance to spend her gap year working on a luxury train, she jumps on it. She needs to get away, from her life and her mistakes. She needs a chance to reinvent herself, and there's nothing like getting paid to travel. Unfortunately, her ex-friend Rhys also got the job. Which Lara doesn't know until they bump into each other on the train. Until it's too late. Even with the Rhys complication, the train is everything Lara could have hoped: a luxe escape from her routine, demanding customers and all. But when the train pulls into a dark station on the first night of the journey to let on two strange passengers (and attach the two mysterious carriages they insist on traveling with), things take a turn for the... botanical? Because these carriages are full of rare and beautiful plants, as rare and beautiful as the extremely odd (and extremely wealthy) siblings who have come aboard with...

LOVE AT FULL TILT Lia Baker knows Fableland lore like the back of her hand. So she isn't surprised when she wins a spot in the legendary theme park's fiftieth-anniversary scavenger hunt. She's more surprised she convinced her mom, who struggles with severe anxiety, to let her go to the park at all. With her best friends by her side, Lia is prepared for the best week ever. Not just because it is her first time actually setting foot in Fableland and not just living vicariously through the films and online forums (though that's part of it). This scavenger hunt comes with a cash prize for the winner, an eye-boggling number that would mean Lia would be free to chase her dreams (even if that means leaving her mom's crushing oversight and losing her parents' support). So Lia can't afford any distractions. Not even a really cute one like Mason. Teaming up with him is just practical . He grew up in these parks. He knows th...

LEGENDARY FRYBREAD DRIVE-IN The road to Sandy June's Legendary Frybread Drive-In might not always be where you expect, but it's always where it needs to be, just around the bend on every rez or around the corner from every Native hangout. The menu serves up traditional eats and childhood snacks you haven't had in years. The Legendary grandparents are always about, ready with wisdom and hard-earned advice. Live music and movie screenings keeps the night alive. Sandy June's is a place where anything can happen, where family can reunite after long years apart. Where young people can take refuge. Where generations can come together. Where new love can blossom, and new stories can be told. THOUGHTS This frybread drive-in is a magical place. The setting really is the star in this collection. When it comes to the stories themselves, well, they were rather... b...

IF WE SURVIVE THIS Flora has always been prepared for the Worst Case Scenario. Her OCD has made sure of that. But she never expected to be faced with an actual zombie apocalypse. Planning for and living through the end of the worst are two entirely different things, but it turns out Flora is a lot more resilient than she ever thought. But with her mom dead, her dad missing, and the Los Angeles suburb where she and her brother have been sheltering being slowly overrun by the "rabids," Flora knows the only way forward is to get up and get out. And change isn't easy, especially when she doesn't know what to prepare for. The dangers of the world have changed. Nothing is as it used to be, and Flora doesn't even know what kind of dangers she and her brother might face. But with a cryptic radio signal, potentially from their father, guiding them out into the wilderness, Flora has to keep it together long enough to make it to s...

KILL CREATURES The last person Nan expects to show up to the anniversary vigil is Luce. It's Luce's  vigil, after all. She went missing, along with Edie and Jane, a year ago. She's been missing this whole time. Everybody thought they died out in the canyon. Everybody knew that to be true, even without the bodies. Especially their best friend Nan. Because Nan's the one who killed them. But with Luce suddenly back, Nan's whole reality gets tilted. She was ready to say her final goodbyes. She was ready to wipe her tears away, to hug their families a final farewell. She was ready to put this past year, and all the lies she told with it, behind her. In the face of everyone's joy at Luce's return, Nan feels something... worse. Because she knows those girls were dead, and Luce was first. THOUGHTS The atmosphere of this book is immersive, but aside...