ya romance – Bookmarked!

Boy Meets Boy

Today I came from the Flips Flipping Pages book discussion for June, David Levithan’s “Boy Meets Boy,” which was chosen by this month’s moderator Orly in celebration of Pride Month, and came right on the heels of the historic decision on same-sex marriage laid down by the Supreme Court of the United States.

(I was going to say this is my first David Levithan, but a search on this blog revealed that back in 2009 I apparently read (and enjoyed) a lesser-known work of his: “Marly’s Ghost,” a clever take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol, set around Valentine’s Day and with teen characters. )

Continue reading “Boy Meets Boy”

Vendetta

I had loved The Godfather when I read it two years ago, so my curiosity was piqued when I got an ARC of “Vendetta,” a mafia-themed YA romance, which I had especially reserved for a session at a nail salon (I swear, one of the best places to get reading done!)

The debut novel of Catherine Doyle, “Vendetta” (the first in the Blood for Blood series) is set in the small town of Cedar Hill, where Sophie Gracewell’s life takes an exciting turn when a family of five Italian boys move into the abandoned mansion in her neighborhood.

Continue reading “Vendetta”

Linger

My copy of Linger by Maggie Stiefvater has been sitting on my shelf since Christmas (it was a present from friends at Scholastic), and I’ve been meaning to read it for the longest time.

You guys probably know that I often run in the opposite direction of paranormal romances, but I read Shiver last year, and thought the series showed promise. When I learned last week that Forever, the conclusion to the trilogy is coming out this month, I made quick work of reading Linger, and the two dozen or so pending book reviews will have to wait, because I didn’t expect to get so caught up in this book.

Continue reading “Linger”

Of Vampires and Werewolves

It’s a well-known fact that I harbor no love for the Twilight saga. To put it succinctly, among a host of other reasons, I am not a fan of the teen paranormal romance genre in general, I find Stephenie Meyer’s writing abhorrent, I prefer vampires who don’t sparkle (and pasty-faced Rob Pattinson doesn’t do anything for me, either, not that I would spend good money on any of the movies), and I consider Bella Swan one of the worst characters I’ve ever read in print (Twi-hards, please don’t spam me with hate messages!).

That said, I didn’t have high hopes for the Twilight graphic novel, which my boss lent me to review. I was curious for two reasons: local bookstores are having price wars to drive the sales of the books (there are even billboards for the book!); and I wanted to see how it was adapted visually, given its base material.

I also had a chance to review Maggie Stiefwater’s Shiver, which, despite my apprehensions, turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Continue reading “Of Vampires and Werewolves”