Mini Reviews – Contemporary YA

Posted on by Casey smurph

Because I’m being lazy/I didn’t really love any of these/I don’t have that much to say/I just wanted to make this sentence longer/so I added another slash/Sorry/I’m doing my first ever mini review post.

If you like these let me know? I don’t review all the books I read on here because I read a load and only post 2-3 times a week BUT I could be tempted to do more mini reviews.

cover111177-mediumOn the Spectrum by Jennifer Gold

I like Alastair. That’s it, can this book just have Alastair and Michael making pastries together? I would love that so so much more than what we actually got. The main characters is Alastair’s sister and her love interest just doesn’t do it for me. This book is all “I had such a bad view on autism until I actually met my brother.” Which might be great for teens that are uneducated and need an MC that makes silly comments about autism to learn that they’re wrong but again it just didn’t do anything for me.
2/5 stars 
Thank you net galley for a free copy in exchange for a honest review
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It Started with Goodbye by Christine June
This book was good but nothing impressive. The friendships were lovely, the family relationships are done really well and Tate herself is a likable character. Her frustrations, her wants, her happiness, her sadness it was well written and I was feeling all the same things for her.
The thing is it was completely unimpressive, it was cute, had a great story arc, and an adorable romance (email love stories always get me) but it’s incredibly forgettable. I forget everything a few days after I read it and had to think about what the plot actually was, and the side characters? GONE. I liked them but I can’t remember their names for the life of me. This is a quick fun read, but don’t expect it to change your life.
3/5 stars
 Thank you net galley for a free copy in exchange for a honest review
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Geekerella by Ashley Poston
All the con talk was so much fun, one of my favourite things was the cosplay event. This truly is a modern-day Cinderella story, replacing a town wide shoe try on test with a social media reach and hashtag.
The reason why I gave this 3 stars was while I enjoyed it, nothing really blew me away, Elle was a good character, still grieving for her parents and full of nerdiness for Starfield. It was just missing the spark that makes me fall in love with contemporaries and I think that may have been because it did stick so close to the Cinderella retelling. I wasn’t really invested in what happens, I had already figured it out.
This is perfect for a relaxing quick read even though I wanted to reach into the book and slap the step mum and sister multiple times.
3.5/5 stars
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The inconceivable life of Quinn by Marianna Baer

This book was just mehhh like and my brain shut down after 50% because SO BORING, SO MUCH USELESS INFO, CRAP CHARACTERS, LACKING PERSONALITY, ERGH. I nearly DNF’d the thing but alas I just decided to skim read most the pages because I was nearly done anyway. I wasn’t expecting it to have magical realism and would have been fine with it if it was done in a good way, the realism sucked, the characters, sucked, the story was boring and just repetitive, everything could have been condensed right down.For a book that was supposed to talk about teenage pregnancy it really didn’t go into it, I mean maybe if you were impregnated by the ocean you could relate? You do you.

1/5 stars 

Thank you net galley for a free copy in exchange for a honest review

 

I actually thought this wasn’t going to be a whole completion of under 3 star reviews but what can you do? Sometimes there are just crappy stories and I just can’t think of anything more I want to expand on with these books.

The books out of this pile I do recommend are Geekerella and It Started with Goodbye, even though they were unimpressive for me they make great little contemporaries when you’re looking for something easy to read.  

14 thoughts on “Mini Reviews – Contemporary YA”

    1. I mean I don’t despise it as much as Silent invasion so maybe it should be a 1.5 rating XD It was crap but not crap enough for me to truly hate it, If anything I just couldn’t find any emotion besides from STOP IM BORED.

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      1. If it makes you drag your knuckles along the ground in an attempt to continue… then ya definitely 1 star hahaha. There’s many types of 1 star, inane boredom & visceral hate are definitely two kinds. XD

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  2. I can see why you did all of these as mini-reviews (especially the 1 star). “Impregnated by the ocean” hahaha I love it!! Geekerella is a hyped book so I think for that reason I haven’t been as inclined to read it, but I think I will try it eventually – it seems like it would just be an easy read in between reading all my 700 page fantasy books haha. Great reviews!!

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    1. It definitely a great in between book but way to over hyped, I bought it because it was pretty and cheap so don’t regret it but I doubt I’ll be rereading. SHE WAS LITERALLY IMPREGNATED BY THE OCEAN?! I was like what the what I thought this was a teen pregnancy story not a magical ocean baby story xD Thank you ❤

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  3. Noooo. I read these reviews because I saw 2/3 books I have to review myself for Netgalley and aghh. I sure hope I enjoy The Inconceivable Life of Quinn more than you did or writing that review is gonna suck.

    These “meh” feelings just kinda go with most contemporaries. When you’re not in the mood for one there’s a decent chance it’ll be unimpressive and boring. At least for me.

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    1. Definitely agree with you on the Meh feeling coming with most contemporaries but every now and then I read something that completely blows me away or has beautiful writing and it makes up for all the run of the mill reads 😀
      Good luck with Quin, at least now you know it’s going to have magical realism? I went in expecting a contemporary teen pregnancy book so the magical aspect really threw me off, fingers crossed you like it ❤

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      1. Yeah, absolutely! The only books that have done that for me are The Sky Is Everywhere and The Square Root of Summer so it doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but definitely worth it.

        Yeah, I looked back at the blurb on goodreads and now I see hints of it. I never finish reading a blurb, tho. That would have definitely caught me off guard.

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