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Showing posts from March, 2024

Every Time You Hear That Song / Jenna Voris / Book Review

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EVERY TIME YOU HEAR THAT SONG People will hear my accent and just assume I voted a certain way or that I'm uneducated or that I, like, accidentally endorsed a political insurrection on the internet. Darren Purchase doesn't belong in this town. She's reminded of that every time she publishes an article in the school paper that people don't appreciate. She's reminded of that every long hour she works at the gas station up the road. She's reminded of that every time she listens to a Decklee Cassel song and dares to dream of escaping, of getting out just like Decklee did. So when Darren finds out that country music legend Decklee Cassel has died, she can't help but tune in to the televised funeral. She's not the only one. Everyone wants to see what's inside Decklee's long-promised time capsule. Decklee hinted at the contents all her careers--the journals, the letters, the lyrics and never-released songs. So when the capsule

Hearts Still Beating / Brooke Archer / Book Review

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HEARTS STILL BEATING Mara knows she shouldn't be alive. In fact, she isn't alive. She's a Tick... or at least she used to be. She can still feel the virus living in her, but it hasn't been in control since she woke in the facility. Since she started taking the treatments. And now they want to send her back into the world again as part of a resettlement program. Sometimes Rory feels like she's dead, but she knows she isn't. Somehow, she's survived when so many others haven't. Her baby sister. Her best friend... Living on an island far from the infested mainland, Rory still doesn't feel safe. Any day, things could take a turn for the worst. Especially now that Ticks have landed on their shore. Rory doesn't care what the mainland government says. "Cured" or not, they're still Ticks. Even if one of them used to be your best friend. Rory isn't the only one on the island wary of the newcom

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist / Sophie Gonzales / Book Review

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THE PERFECT GUY DOESN'T EXIST Ivy Winslow's parents are gone for the week, and she's got big plans. She's not throwing any wild teen parties, though. She's having movie night with her best friend, Henry. She's writing fanfiction late into the night. She's catching up on her favorite TV show, H-MAD, about teen-models-turned-superheroes. She's going to have the best week of her life... as long as she can avoid thinking about her former best friend (and neighbor) Mack. But Ivy's plans are dashed when she wakes up on the first morning on her own to find she's not alone. Somebody is in her house... Somebody very familiar: superhero and romantic lead Weston Razorbrook, star of H-MAD. And not, like, the actor who plays him. Weston himself is in her house.  Or it's Weston as Ivy writes him in her self-insert fanfics. Weston her sometimes enemy-to-lover. Weston her soulmate. Weston... her favorite barista? Weston

Six Truths and a Lie / Ream Shukairy / Book Review

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SIX TRUTHS AND A LIE When a rowdy Fourth of July beach party goes off with a bang, it isn't just stray fireworks. An explosion off the California coast leaves an oil rig blazing. Chaos. Injuries. Death. And at the heart of the maelstrom stand six Muslim teenagers, strangers to one another--and prime suspects. A quiet loner, an aspiring doctor, a glitzy influencer, a perfect daughter, a beautiful immigrant, and a soccer star: the only thing these teens have in common is that they were at the wrong at the wrong time... and that they're Muslim. Suddenly faced with accusations of terrorism, the Six have a lot to lose. Caught in the crossfire of a political game they don't know the rules to, they'll have to decide what to share--who to throw under the bus--and how much they're willing to give up to secure their freedom and their futures. THOUGHTS The big

Where the Dark Stands Still / A.B. Poranek / Book Review

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WHERE THE DARK STANDS STILL Liska Radost would do anything to get rid of her magic. Magic is dangerous. She knows that better than anyone else. If anyone found out about her magic, she would be driven from the village (at best). But if she loses control of her magic... Well, that's never gone well before. And it's only getting worse. Which is why Liska finds herself heading into the Leszy's forest. Only those who have to travel through the woods dare to cross into it. The woods is full of demons more than willing to kill those who enter. Nobody would dare to seek out the warden of the woods himself. But Liska needs something that he has: the power to grant wishes. She wants to be rid of the curse of her magic, and he'll grant this wish... if she gives him a year of servitude first. And living beneath the canopy of the demon woods won't be easy, especially with a demon as her master.