BOOK REVIEW | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series? No, but there are books about other characters in here!
Pages: 303
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: I checked out the hardcover edition at my local library!

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Goodreads 

BOOK REVIEW | Taming the Rebel by Dawn Klehr

Title: Taming the Rebel
Author: Dawn Klehr
Series? Endless Summer trilogy, written by different authors
Pages: ???
Publication Date: August 14, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Source: I received a galley of Taming the Rebel via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you!

Rebel Hart should be at home taking care of her father after his breakup with his boyfriend, not tromping through the woods at summer camp. He’s had his heart broken beyond repair, and the way she sees it, there’s only one person to blame—the boyfriend’s son. So when that infuriatingly gorgeous quarterback turns up at the same camp, she plans to make him pay.

Justice Brody isn't happy about trading training camp for actual summer camp. But if he wants to stay on the football team, he has to show that he can be drama-free. He welcomes the anonymity that comes with summer camp…until he realizes the one girl who knows him better than anyone is there, too. Rebel is off-limits, impossibly beautiful…and trouble with a capital T. Still, he can’t stay away. And even as Rebel exacts her revenge, in several very embarrassing and painful ways, neither can she.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains pranks, adult language, and kisses that will make you wish for a summer romance of your own.

Author's Website | Amazon | B&N |Goodreads

BOOK REVIEW | When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Title: When Dimple Met Rishi
Author: Sandhya Menon
Series? No, standalone
Pages: 380
Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: I checked out When Dimple Met Rishi at my local library!

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

Author's Website | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Goodreads 

I Haven't Been Reading Diversely.

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'm going to be doing something a little different, a discussion post. I normally don't do these because I always forget to say something, or my points aren't as eloquently put as I would like. Alas, I decided to do this one because I think it is an important issue! Here goes....

So... I have something to admit. I have not read a lot of diverse books, whether that be featuring  LGBTQ+ characters, disabled characters, characters of different ethnicities and races, and so on. I have read some, but I don't think enough to warrant having favorites. I think the reason for this is just the fact that I don't openly try to read diverse books. That is something I am trying to fix and I'm trying to read more diversely, but as a mood reader it is hard for me to say "I'm going to read this book" even though I want to support the cause. What is a bit sad is that people still have to openly seek to read diversely in order to do so. The books I'm reading right now could be considered diverse in one facet, but it seems more like a selling point where the author/publisher/whatever is saying "lookie here! I don't just write about white characters with the perfect life! Buy my book!!" instead of being organic.  

My opinion is that every book should be diverse in some way, because our world is diverse. I can't imagine a life without my disabled mom, my sister who is a sexual assault and harassment survivor, my best friend who has depression and PTSD, my other best friend from Bangladesh, and my other Lutheran best friend who goes on mission trips. All of these people are a big part of who I am, all of these people are diverse in one way or another. And having all of those things in my life is normal. But the fact that I read a book and there is a good chance that there is a character that is white, happy, and has  healthy friends, life, and experiences, is startling and saddening.

Let's look at the books I'm reading right now, and see how diverse they really are.

BOOK REVIEW | Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicolas

Title: Keeping Her Secret
Author: Sarah Nicolas
Publication Date: August 22, 2016
Source: I received Keeping Her Secret in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

Two girls. One Kiss.

The last person Riya Johnson expected to run into at her new summer camp is Courtney Chastain—her childhood best friend and the girl who broke her heart after a secret, mind-blowing, life-altering kiss. She definitely didn’t expect to be sharing a bunk bed with her for four long weeks.

Courtney has what every girl wants—she’s beautiful, rich, and the object of every boy’s desire at Camp Pine Ridge. Too bad none of them make her feel an iota of what Riya’s kiss did all those years ago. But Courtney needs to uphold appearances at all costs—even if it means instigating an all-out prank war with Riya as her main target.

Neither girl can stop thinking about the other…but that doesn’t mean they can give up past hurts and take a chance on a future together.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains drinking, sexual situations, and a fairy-tale romance sure to make your heart melt.

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

Book Traveling Thursday: Diverse Book

Hey guys and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni and today I am participating in one of my favorite weekly memes, Book Traveling Thursdays. The goal is to pick a book that goes along with the theme given and showcase some of our favorite and least favorite cover editions of that book. This is a weekly meme hosted by Catia at The Girl Who Read Too Much and Danielle at Shelfies Above Selfies!

This week the theme was a diverse book. This could be taken many ways. A novel could be diverse because it has a diverse cast of characters, has a main character that is of different ethnicity or race that what is common, or features a character or more in the LGBTQ+ area. There are a ton of areas that a novel could be diverse, but I picked a book I (kind of) recently read with a racially diverse character.


That book is....

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon! This novel was a debut novel of 2015 and I absolutely adored it. Maddy, the main character, is racially diverse because she is Afro Asian and not your stereotypical white girl. To be quite honest, I don't remember the last time I have read a novel that had either an Asian or African American main character, let alone a combination of both. That definitely needs to change!

English Cover (pictured above)

Modern Greek Cover

This cover is beautiful. It was the very first thing that truly stood out when I heard this book and drew me in to reading it. Even when I showed the book to my friends, who don't read that often, they commented on how stunning the cover was as well. I love the use of negative space on the second half of the cover. To me, this cover speaks to me and draws me into the story. I feel like it accurately represents the story as well, because Maddy is literally allergic to everything. 

German Cover

Danish Cover

Spanish Cover

Favorite
Besides the original English cover, I completely love are all the covers that look similar to the original! Every edition has different illustrations, and it is so much fun to inspect them! Other than those three, I also like the Spanish version. The saying says, "Is it true that love changes everything?" The quote fits so well with the book and while it isn't my absolute favorite, I still really like it!

Least Favorite

My least favorite definitely has to be the Czech edition of the book. It has a completely different feel than the other covers and I don't really see how this edition pertains AT ALL to the storyline. If I saw this cover next to the English one, or any others for that matter, I would think that they were two completely different books. 

That's a wrap for today! What cover is your favorite? If you participated in this meme, don't be shy and leave your link down below. I'll be sure to check it out! :)

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!