Hello Readers,

I am back with another reading roundup. Last year I tried to read 50 books in a year, and while I was close to making that goal I fell short (I only read 42!). So this year I thought I would set the same goal for myself. This year, I decided to just release my book reviews quarterly. To sum up this quarter of the year in one word, I would say unknown. These first few months marked so much confusion and uncertainty. From the inauguration of the president to me getting college decisions back I was in a constant state of uncertanity. This means one thing: I read a lot of my comfort genre, romances. I hope these book reviews give you the comfort reading them gave me. 

January

Stefi and the Spanish Prince by Donna Freitas

This book was such a fun read! As the title suggests, this book is about a girl falling in love with a prince. So if there’s one thing about me, it's that I love the drama (as long as it's not totally out of left field) and this book had a lot of it. The book starts off with a bang, by readers finding out that Stefi’s boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend! Also the Spanish Prince Xavi just found out that he is a prince! One really fun aspect of the book is that it is set in Barcelona, this adds pizazz to the whole thing. Sometimes books about a relationship between a royalty and a commoner can seem unhinged, but Stefi and the Spanish Prince doesn’t. Stefi has her own goals and ambitions. At the same time, Xavi thinks logically about his responsibility to the throne and his heart. The romance of the book works in tandem with the lives of the characters. If you love reading about summer romances, this is the book for you.

February

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi 

I started reading the Legacy of Orisha trilogy last year, and this was the last book [insert me shedding a tear]. I loved reading this trilogy and it was unlike anything I have read before. The world building throughout the entire trilogy has just been spectacular! Children of Anguish and Anarchy was a good ending to the trilogy. I felt like the ending was one that made sense for the personality and density for each character. However, there were a few things I wished were different. For example, the book created a whole new set of characters which at times felt disconnected from the overall story of the trilogy. If you have enjoyed reading the Legacy of Orisha series, then definitely read the final book! If you like fantasy and haven’t read the trilogy, go check it out from your local library right now!

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This book was so good! I read The Kite Runner for school, but this is definitely something I would have chosen myself. This book is a story that follows the life of Amir as a child in Afghanistan, and then as an adult in America and is set as Afghanistan begins to experience war. This is a book that focuses a lot on relationships and is definitely more character driven than plot. I honestly could talk about these books for hours. The symbolism, the plot twist (but like all good twist they make sense and are breadcrumbed), the ending just *chefs kiss*. There are many wonderful quotes from the book, so of course I have to share one of my favorites, “And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir” (11). You may not get the quote now, but read the book and it will absolutely destroy you. If you like books that explore identity, guilt, redemption, and adolescence this is the book for you!

With Love, Echo Park by Laura Taylor Namey

This book really felt like a love letter to Echo Park. While it is a romance, it also is a story about community. With Love, Echo Park follows Clary, a teenage girl as she finds her life changing in unexpected ways. One detail in the book I adored was that Clary, and her family are florists. I often found myself looking up the different flower varieties mentioned in the book to visualize the bouquets being made. Fun fact, my favorite flowers are Cafe Noir tulips! This book has the boy next door trope which I found adorable. The only thing to keep in mind before picking up this book is that it is more of a realistic fiction book than romance. 

Class Act by Kelsey Rodkey

Class Act was a great read! I’ve read books by Kelsey Rodkey and liked them, but this one is definitely my favorite out of the books I’ve read of hers so far. Class Act follows a girl Ella who decides to run for class president at her new school, and she gets help by the flirt of the school. I loved the character building in this book. I feel like these were characters that I could meet in real life. The character of Ella is fun, passionate, and flawed. If you love watching classic high school dramas on tv, chances are you would like this book.

Queens of New York by E.L Shen

This book is one of the best representations of a girl friend group that I’ve read in a long time. Shen makes this beautiful analogy in the book about how the trio of girls are like the aspects of a dumpling, that’s what hooked me. Add in the fact that one of the characters loves Broadway, and you know that this book would be amazing. It's easy while having multiple points of views that the plot of the book seems to be missing huge gaps or that it is repeated, Queens of New York has none of these problems. The characters all have distinctive personalities that complement each other, and are extremely well developed. This is the type of book that feels like reading a diary, it's fun, happy, complex, sad, and sometimes infuriating just like life. I’ll admit when I picked up this book I didn’t expect to cry, but I did. This book is the perfect read, if you’re craving something that screams GIRLHOOD. 

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Let me go ahead and give Talia Hibbert her flowers because this book executed the ex-friends to lovers perfectly. When I read this troupe, I often feel like the love interest actually hate each other, or the beef was never valid. However, in Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute it is obvious that they still like each other and the beef made sense! In addition the character’s moms are friends which adds a level of pizzazz. Besides the romance aspect of the book, the character development is amazing and the humanity of the characters really shine through. Also as an ambitious girl, I loved that the main character Celine is too! 

March

Plus One by Kelsey Rodkey

Okay, you might notice a trend. Once I have an author I like, chances are I’ll be reading everything they have written. This book was good! It was a fun read about a girl named Lahey that tries to find a date to her cousin's Sweet Sixteen. If you’re looking for a book full of shenanigans, this one's for you. 

“The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde

I have a confession, this was my first time reading (well more like finishing) a work by Oscar Wilde. “The Importance of Being Earnest” is such a fun play. I read it for my English class and I am glad I did. I definitely want to read more works by Wilde. This play explores the role of classism in Victorian England and the impact it has on marriage, and responsibility. My favorite line in the whole play is when the character Gwendolen disses another character by saying she has never seen a spade. Once you read the play, you too will think the line I’m referencing was fire.  

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang

The fake dating trope and me go together real bad. If there’s one troupe in a romcom that I will have me kicking my feet it's going to be the fake dating trope, and This Time It’s Real was no exception! So the plot of this book is basically that the main character Eliza writes an essay describing this perfect relationship, the problem she is not dating anyone. So, Eliza decides to fake date an actor Caz. Liang did her big one with this novel. After I finished the book, I was shocked there wasn’t another chapter.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is so beautifully written. This novel is a historical fiction book that follows a teenager in the 1950s understanding her sexuality while simultaneously finding her place in the world as a Chinese American. This book is so nuanced, and is able to truly spark a dialogue about America’s past, and future. This book made me smile, cry, and experience so many other emotions. I read this book for English class, and it engaged some of my classmates that usually don’t do the readings, which I feel like speaks a lot to Lo's ability to write characters.