Shine by Jessica Jung (Shine book 1)

 

“What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?

For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy right?

Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.” - taken from Goodreads.com

First of all, the author Jessica Jung is a K-pop legend and former lead singer of the Girls Generation. To me, this book felt authentic. If what Rachel and the other female trainees at DB Entertainment went through in the book really occurs, the K-Pop industry must really be cutthroat. It did take me a couple of chapters to get into the story, but once I was in, I was hooked. I couldn’t put it down to see where Rachel’s story would go. Pleasantly surprised by the ending, I cannot wait to see where the next book goes.

Book two, Bright, is due out in October of 2021. 

Visit Jessica Jung’s website.

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Gilded Wolves, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“They are each other’s fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope.

Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost — one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact rumored to grant its possessor the power of God.

Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all.

As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined.

A tale of love and betrayal as the crew risks their lives for one last job.” - taken from Goodreads.com

Continuing after the devastating events at the end of book one, our characters find themselves in Russia. Once again, I found the story slow to start with but it did pick up as new characters and places were introduced. All of the reveals and plot twists that transpire by the time the story ends will have fans clamoring for the final book in the trilogy. 

The trilogy will conclude with book three, The Bronzed Beasts, due out on September 21, 2021.

Visit Roshani Chokshi’s website.

A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

 

“For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I love this author's first book but her second was even better. Lila’s life has been turned upside down. Her grandmother recently died, her boyfriend of three years dumped her right before prom, and her best friend has decided to take a gap year and spend it as a volunteer in Africa and didn’t tell her. When Lila breaks down over the stress, her parents sent her to England for the summer to spend it with a cousin. This book was phenomenal! Lila doesn't want to leave Miami but it doesn't take long for her to find her place in England and to move forward from past hurts and discovered an unimaginable future. A definite read!

Visit Laura Taylor Namey’s website.

Fangirl, Vol. 1:The Manga by Sam Maggs

 

“The manga adaptation of the beloved novel by #1 Bestselling author Rainbow Rowell!

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life. Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath just can't let go. Now that they’re in college, Cath must decide if she’s ready to start living her own life. But does she even want to if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Cath doesn’t need friends IRL. She has her twin sister, Wren, and she’s a popular fanfic writer in the Simon Snow community with thousands of fans online.  But now that she’s in college, Cath is completely outside of her comfort zone. There are suddenly all these new people in her life. She's got a surly roommate with a charming boyfriend, a writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome new writing partner ... And she's barely heard from Wren all semester!” - taken from Goodreads.com

This graphic novel adaptation of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl novel and spot-on. Only the first half of the book is portrayed, so fans will be left eagerly awaiting the next installment.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Inheritance Games book 1)

 

“She came from nothing. They have everything. Let the games begin.”

“Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why--or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch--and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes.

Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a con-woman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I picked up this book because it was the reading selection for a book group that I am in. I'm absolutely glad that I did. Full of mysteries, secrets, and puzzles, the reader follows Avery Grambs as she tries to discover why Tobias Hawthorne left his billion-dollar fortune to her instead of giving it to his own family. It also doesn't help that it seems someone is out to kill her and she doesn't know who to trust. Without giving too much away, readers will be shocked by the ending reveal and we'll have to wait until book two to find out why Avery inherited the vast Hawthorne fortune.

The story will continue with book two, The Hawthorne Legacy, to be published on September 16, 2021.

Visit Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ website.

Admission by Julie Buxbaum

 

“It's good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer. She's headed off to the college of her dreams. She's going to prom with the boy she's had a crush on since middle school. Her best friend always has her back, and her mom, a B-list Hollywood celebrity, may finally be on her way to the B+ list. It's good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer--at least, it was, until the FBI came knocking on her front door, guns at the ready, and her future went up in smoke. Now her mother is under arrest in a massive college admissions bribery scandal. Chloe, too, might be facing charges, and even time behind bars. The public is furious, the press is rabid, and the US attorney is out for blood.

As she loses everything she's long taken for granted, Chloe must reckon not only with the truth of what happened, but also with the examination of her own guilt. Why did her parents think the only way for her to succeed was to cheat for her? What did she know, and when did she know it? And perhaps most importantly, what does it mean to be complicit?” - taken from Goodreads.com

This story is based loosely upon the real-life Varsity Blues college admission scandal. Chloe, the daughter of a famous actress, is struggling to bring up her poor SAT score. She isn't a great student like her brainy younger sister, Isla. Told between then, leading up to, and now, after her mother's arrest, readers will follow along on Chloe's journey to discover what she knew, suspected, or was utterly blindsided with. A compelling story about Chloe's journey to adulthood.

Visit Julie Buxbaum’s website.

Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm book 4)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read any of the books in the Graceling series, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you. Characters from the previous books do play roles in this latest installment.

Please visit the Recaptains blog if you need a refresher on the first two books.

“Four years after Bitterblue left off, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla; and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.

But when Bitterblue’s envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth–putting both Bitterblue’s life and Giddon’s heart to the test when Bitterbue is kidnapped. Giddon believes she has drowned, leaving him and Hava to solve the mystery of what’s wrong in Winterkeep.

Lovisa Cavenda is the teenage daughter of a powerful Scholar and Industrialist (the opposing governing parties) with a fire inside her that is always hungry, always just nearly about to make something happen. She is the key to everything, but only if she can figure out what’s going on before anyone else, and only if she’s willing to transcend the person she’s been all her life.” - taken from Goodreads.com

Only four years may have passed since Bitterblue but it has been EIGHT since the last book was published! It’s been a long wait but it was so worth it. Bitterblue is once again the main character but this time she shares the storyline with Lovisa Cavenda, a teenage girl from Winterkeep who discovers the horrible secrets that her political parents have been keeping. Swept up in a deadly game of intrigue and underhanded information, Lovisa must decide where her loyalties lie before it’s too late.

Fans of the previous book will be a little disappointed that some of our favorite characters from past books are only briefly mentioned. 

Visit Kristin Cashore’s website.

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

 

“Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?” - taken from Goodreads.com

I adored this book as much as the author's previous novel, American Panda. Chloe Wang is so desperate not to return home from college for Thanksgiving without a boyfriend that she resorts to renting one. Enter struggling artist and college dropout, Drew Chan, aka Chloe/Jing Jing’s boyfriend, Andrew. The main reason Chloe has pulled out all of the stops is to keep her uber traditional Chinese parents from marrying her off to the super-rich and super self-centered Hongbo. Soon Chloe finds that her plan has worked a little too well when she realizes that she is falling for Drew, a boy who her parents would never approve of. How will Chloe keep her web of lies from unraveling?

This seems to be an authentic look into what American born Chinese children face when their new cultures and traditional parents collide. A truly great story. 

Visit Gloria Chao’s website.

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer

 

“Chronic overachiever Prudence Barnett is always quick to cast judgment on the lazy, rude, and arrogant residents of her coastal town. Her dreams of karmic justice are fulfilled when, after a night out with her friends, she wakes up with the sudden ability to cast instant karma on those around her. Pru giddily makes use of the power, punishing everyone from public vandals to karaoke hecklers, but there is one person on whom her powers consistently backfire: Quint Erickson, her slacker of a lab partner and all-around mortal enemy. Soon, Pru begins to uncover truths about Quint, her peers, and even herself that reveal how thin the line is between virtue and vanity, generosity and greed . . . love and hate.” - taken from Goodreads.com

Beatle fans, prepare for your time to shine. Prudence Barnett is a chronic overachiever who has had to endure marine biology with laid-back Qulint Erickson. Unhappy with the grade on their final project, Pru attempts to find a way to improve her grade with or without Quint’s help. When a fall in a restaurant leaves her with a slight lump on her head, Pru soon realizes that she has the power to impart bad Karma on those around her she feels are deserving, except for Quint. As she begins to further research for their project, Prudence soon learns that she has vastly underestimated Quint Erickson. She soon finds herself not only involved with the local marine animal rescue center but with Quint himself.

A fun, uplifting story about how not everything is what it seems and the true meaning of karmic justice. 

Visit Marissa Meyer’s website. 

Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Dash & Lily book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the Dash & Lily series, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“Dash and Lily were feeling closer than ever...it's just too bad they're now an ocean apart. After Dash gets accepted to Oxford University and Lily stays in New York to take care of her dogwalking business, the devoted couple are struggling to make a long distance relationship work. And when Dash breaks the news that he won't be coming home for Christmas, Lily makes a decision: if Dash can't come to her, she'll join him in London. It's a perfect romantic gesture...that spins out of Lily's control. Soon Dash and Lily are feeling more of a gap between them, even though they're in the same city. Will London bring them together again--or will it be their undoing?   - taken from Goodreads.com

Without spoiling too much, Dash and Lily are going to be apart at Christmas time, that is until Lily devises a plan to surprise him in London. Since nothing ever goes according to plan, can our favorite Christmas couple figure out their post high school plans in time to enjoy their holiday?