The Silenced by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

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I could not put this book down!

Hazel feels like a loner in her school. She’s placed with Becca and her popular friends for a group homework assignment. They decide to research the local condemned school for troubled teens that closed about thirty years ago when it caught on fire; the school is supposedly haunted. Becca, Amber and Simon play a prank on Hazel and then she falls off a roof and breaks her arm. Before she fell, she heard whispers and followed them out onto the roof. Once Hazel is home, she feels different and notices that she’s acting strangely and doesn’t like the same colors or foods that she did before the visit to the school. She also feels angry all the time. Hazel decides to investigate the history of the school and what she finds shakes her to the core.

Likes/dislikes: I was pulled right into the story and didn’t want to put it down. I love the character development and Hazel’s, Quint’s, and Deidre’s stories. Hazel’s life is hopeful, Quint deals with abuse from his family and Deidre’s life is tragic. I appreciate the content warnings the author put in the front of the book. I enjoyed the added supernatural elements tremendously. The author provides her research notes about the real schools for troubled teens that she based this story on.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 40 swears, no f-words.
Violence: R for physical and emotional abuse by parent and at the school for troubled teens. Death
Ethnicity: Hazel is from Puerto Rican and Polish descent, Becca and Quint are white. Amber is half Thai and half white. Simon is half Jewish and half Afro Latino. Varying ethnicities were at the school for troubled teens.

The House No One Sees by Adina King

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Emotionally cleansing!

Penny relives her childhood when her mother calls her. She leaves her friends without telling them where she’s going. When Penny arrives at her mother’s place and finds her overdosed, she’s thrown back to when her mother was a good parent, before her accident and the opioid addiction that followed. Penny remembers the teasing from classmates when she didn’t have clean clothes or a decent lunch from home. She remembers being taken from her mother and living with her loving grandparents and seeing them giving her mother a chance to do better. Penny’s mother didn’t kick the addiction; it took over her life and Penny’s. Penny learned that she has a light inside that has helped her throughout her life and she meets a kind teen boy and makes good friends. She’s finally seen.

Likes/dislikes: Emotionally cleansing. Hotlines for help of many kinds at the end of the book. Words of affirmation, hope and encouragement.
Mature content: PG for mother using drugs.
Language: R for 53 swears, 21 f-words.
Violence: PG for death by drug overdose.
Ethnicity: White and brown skin mentioned.

This Song is (Not) For You by Laura Nowlin

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Updated cover!

Ramona and Sam created the band, April and Rain. Tom soon joins them. They each live their own unassuming lives and just want to enjoy their music. The three friends bond and learn from each other as they get through high school, meet their goals and make their future plans. Not everyone understands them but they understand each other and are true friends unconditionally.

Likes/dislikes: The author shows an authentic portrayal of dyslexia. The high school band and unconditional best friends are refreshing. The tidbits of wisdom from Ramona are helpful to her friends.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 25 swears and 7 f-words.
Violence: Pg for bullying.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

Thirsty by Jas Hammonds

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Love who you are, even when you make mistakes.

18yo Blake is poor compared to her rich friends and she works at a country club full of entitled people. Blake wants to fit in more than anything and she realizes that she relaxes when she drinks. Alcohol becomes Blake’s crutch in all social situations because she believes that she’s worthless which stems from years of bullying. Blake’s girlfriend Ella ensures her that her drinking isn’t a problem but when their best friend Annetta and Blake’s brother keep trying to help her stop her drinking because of the consequences she’s dealing with, Blake gets angry. Blake spirals into alcoholism and she’s faced with some very tough choices.

Likes/dislikes: Strong character development. Realistic fiction that packs a punch. I appreciated how the author portrayed Blake, her problems, and her family in such a true manner.
Mature Content: R for on page sex.
Language: R for 165 swears and 79 f-words.
Violence: PG for vandalism.
Ethnicity: mostly white with a mix of Blacks, biracial, and Filipino characters.

The One That Got Away With Murder by Trish Lundy

Posted on by lynndellwatson

I could not put this book down!

Lauren just moved to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania to get away from the horrible experience she had during her junior year in California and will be starting her senior year in high school soon. She’s seeing Robbie secretly and uses their time together to escape the guilt of harming her ex-boyfriend in California and disfiguring him permanently. When school starts up, Lauren learns about Robbie’s past and she becomes afraid of him. Robbie and his brother Trevor are both suspected of killing their girlfriends. The more Lauren learns about the murders, the more danger she gets pulled into!

Likes/dislikes: I could not put the book down! It was so interesting and the suspense continued to build as I read the story. Two mysteries, with a third added in, made the book intense.
Mature content: R for on page sex, repeated underage drinking, smoking, and drugs.
Language: R for 105 swears and 53 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death, mention of murders, arson, and abduction.
Ethnicity: a mix of white, brown and black characters.

Something Kindred by Ciera Burch

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Magical realism within a small town mystery!

17yo Jericka travels with her mother to her hometown of Coldwater, Maryland to see her dying grandmother. Jericka’s grandmother left her children when they were young and her mom hasn’t seen her since; she’s still extremely hurt and angry but willing to help her own mother deal with her situation. Coldwater has a history, and a not-always-believed legend of Echoes; ghosts that project their grief onto the living that make women want to leave the town. These ghosts are from the schoolhouse for freed slaves being burned many years ago due to prejudice. While Jericka deals with her family, boyfriend, new friends and the mysterious town, she learns a lot about herself and what she wants in her future.

Likes/dislikes: I expected the book to be more spooky. Jericka wants others to be open, honest and straightforward but she isn’t that way with others. I enjoyed getting to know Jericka’s family. The mysterious echoes add an interesting element to the story.
Mature content: PG-13 for mention of sex, no details and underage drinking
Language: PG-13 for 32 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG for mention of domestic abuse.
Ethnicity: Jericka and her family are Black and the community of Coldwater is mixed with Black and white people.

Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Sibling loyalty!

17yo Amir is accused of murder and his 16yo brother Marcel is determined to prove Amir’s innocence. One of their classmates was murdered in her home and Amir has been placed under house arrest under suspicious circumstances. Living in New Orleans, Amir and Marcel both attend a private school because their family wants the best for them. Being Black, they’re a minority in their mostly white, rich high school. When the girl is murdered, the white community immediately blames Amir but when horrible secrets are revealed, the tables turn.

Likes/dislikes: The bad grammar representing the local community in the book is annoying but necessary to setting the story. I like the strong loyalty between the brothers, Marcel and Amir. The mystery was enjoyable to read.
Mature Content: PG-13 for drugs, underage drinking, talk of hooking up.
Language: R for 154 swears and 64 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death and violence.
Ethnicity: White and Black community.

Snowglobe by Soyoung Park

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Unique dystopian novel! 3.5 out of 5 stars.

17yo Jeon lives with her twin brother, mother, and grandmother in the extremely harsh environment surrounding Snowglobe. The main job for residents is producing power by running on giant hamster wheels for ten hours each day. Jeon is asked to leave her home and family to be a replacement for the Snowglobe star Goh Haeri. Jeon is thrilled because this means her family will be taken care of and her mother will no longer have to work but can stay home with grandmother instead. Jeon arrives in Snowglobe excited and happy but things aren’t adding up and when she discovers secret passages by accident, her existence is threatened.

Likes/dislikes: Strange concept that’s hard to grasp and become engrossed in. I enjoyed the mystery behind Goh Haeri. The story has an interesting and unique concept.
Mature content: PG-13 for underage drinking.
Language: R for 49 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG for death.
Ethnicity: predominantly Korean

Diary of a Confused Feminist by Kate Weston

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Teenagehood dealt with humor and love.

15yo Kat wants to become a feminist but constantly struggles with the frustrations of teenage life. She deals with these struggles with the help of her three best friends and her loving and understanding parents. Kat wants to embrace maturity and she does her best despite bullies and boy problems. Humor helps her with her frustrations. Her parents help her with the anxiety she tries to hide.

Likes/dislikes: This book is humorous. Encompasses dramatic nature of teenage hood and the stress of life that feels overwhelming at that age. Contains good messages and awareness of mental health.
Language: R for 110 swears and 14 f-words.
Mature content: PG for implied sex on page, self-pleasuring.
Violence: PG for bullying.
Ethnicity: Black and white

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Alternating timelines in this engrossing mystery!
15yo Sana moves into a decrepit large house in Africa with her father. The other residents say it’s haunted and this makes Sana curious. She asks the other residents questions about the house and its past and she explores everything and every place in the house. In the attic, Sana discovers a diary and she reads until the ending. What she finds, haunts her and she hopes there’s more of the story to unravel.

Likes/dislikes: The book is slow and builds the setting and characters until the second half when the mystery piqued my interest and grabbed my attention. I found it fascinating that Sana was a conjoined twin but she’s the only one who survived and now Sana sees and hears her dead sister. I loved discovering the background of the haunted home that is the setting for this story.
Mature Content: G for kissing.
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Indian and African with some white.