D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

This book is about two women, D’vaughn and Kris, who sign up to be contestants on a wedding reality show called Instant I Do. They’re paired together and they have to convince their family and friends that they’re getting married in six weeks. This is a quick, fun read that’s well written. The main characters are given new tasks each week for the competition and they keep the story moving at a pretty good pace.

I liked both of the main characters. D’Vaughn is a closeted, school guidance counselor and Kris is an influencer from a big, loving family. I love how fully formed each character is. These women are just living their lives and, ya know, lying to their families about being engaged while maybe falling for each other. Everything was done realistically. From D’Vaughn’s coming out to the way the siblings interact. I really enjoyed it.

4 stars

Don’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

This book is about two boys who are best friends and attend a boarding school together. Shy, anxious Andrew writes dark fairy tales to cope with the world and artsy, brash Thomas illustrates them. One night Andrew follows Thomas into the woods behind the school, which are off limits, because he thinks he’s been secretly meeting up with Andrew’s twin sister, Dove, there. What he sees is even more shocking, Thomas’ drawings have come to life! They vow to fight them each night to protect the school, but how can they stop them?
The descriptions and writing in this are amazing and beautiful. I could picture the monsters so vividly that they could’ve walked off the page (Kindle), but I’m happy they didn’t! I figured out the twists before the end, but this was still a good read. A bunch of topics are covered in this book such as: mental health, sexual orientation, bullying, child abuse, homophobia. and obsession. If any of those bother you, this may not be the book for you. Otherwise, I recommend it to fans of spooky horror.
I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wish You Weren’t Here by Erin Baldwin

This is about two frenemies, Juliette and Priya, who have been stuck with each other for their whole lives. They called a truce, so they’re nice to each other and won’t talk about each other to their friends, but they still aren’t fans of each other. All Juliette wants to do is spend summer at Fogridge Sleepaway Camp, a place she can be herself. She’s already sad that it’s her final summer there and then Priya shows up.

I like both of the main characters, especially as we learn more about them and they learn more about each other. The side characters are all well done and nobody is “just there.” I’ve never had a summer camp experience, but I can see that resonating with a lot of people. The romance was well done and not rushed.

I’d recommend this to anyone who likes books about being at summer camp, former or current theater people and readers who like lgbtq+ books.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. The book comes out on June 4, 2024.

Les Be Honest by Sarah Robinson

Les Be Honest is about a woman named Yasmeen trying to open a lesbian bar that also does haircuts. I really liked that concept. She meets and unexpectedly falls for the property manager, Tyler, along the way. They face some opposition and drama and try to work through it. It just felt very dragged out at times.

I honestly thought I was going to like this more, but I just ended up having issues with it. The main character over explains a lot and (it might be me) is stuck on what race everyone is. She’s been to her Filipina friend’s house, the old people are the “palest of the pales,” her gf is “melanin deprived.” I don’t know if the author didn’t know how else to describe the other characters or what, but I was like ok… Also, the sex/fooling around scenes were cringey.

I really like Yas’s relationship with her family. It was very cool to see a family who was accepting of an openly gay family member. Her friend group was cool too, especially Isa. She was amazing. That was the highlight of the book for me.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This is a 2/5 stars from me.

Femme (Lorimer Sidestreets) by Mette Bach

Femme is a hi/lo book for struggling readers that I received for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It’s about a girl named Sofie who isn’t doing very well in school. She’d rather spend time on the internet, play Candy Crush and hang out with her boyfriend, Paul. When she’s paired with smart over-achiever (and out lesbian) Clea she finally starts applying herself and things change for her.

I feel like the book tries to tackle a lot of subjects in a short amount of pages and just kind of touching on each of them, which has been my issue with all of the Lorimer books that I’ve received. Some of the issues that are talked about in this book are expectations (personal, parental and societal), labels (from society and oneself), bullying/cyberbullying, friendships, coming out, relationships and graduating. The bullying here is basically done and over with once they find out who did it. It’s not quite realistic.

I do like how the relationship between Sofie and Clea develops. I think that part of the book was well done and realistic.

Love is Love by Mette Bach

The characters in this book, with the exception of Jude, are ridiculous. The book starts off with Emmy hooking up with a classmate because she thinks it’ll make her popular (it doesn’t) and arguing with her mom, who sends her to live with family in Vancouver. Emmy lives in a closet at their house and her snotty cousin, Paige, introduces her to Jude, who she instantly falls for.

There are a lot of issues in the book and none of them really get resolved. It’s mentioned that Emmy’s taking anxiety medicine, but she “comfort eats,” over-analyzes everything and stalks Jude online. As someone with anxiety, I don’t think that’s anxiety. Then there’s her cousin, the stereotypical mean girl, who keeps misgendering Jude and saying he’s bad and crazy. Nobody ever explains what bad things he does or has done and it’s just really rude.

I feel like more could’ve been done with this story. I do like that Emmy was accepting of Jude.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Rainbows, Unicorns, and Triangles: Queer Symbols Throughout History by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

This is a short read (40 pages) aimed at children, but I learned a few new things. The book provides a short summary of each item with illustrations.

I think this will be a great addition to any classroom or library looking to add some diverse books.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.