What Happened on Hicks Road by Hannah Jayne

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Creepy read!

A group of friends drives to Hicks Road one dark night for some spooky fun. When 17yo Lennox sees a blonde girl dart in front of her car and she feels the thump of a hit, she stops the car to look for the girl. Her friends reassure her that it must have been a deer and that they didn’t see anything. Lennox is worried that she’s becoming schizophrenic like her mother and starting to hallucinate. Being new in town, Lennox doesn’t know her friends well at all and when they tell her over and over that she didn’t hit a person, she believes them.

Likes/dislikes: I like how the author created the uncertainty of whether or not the main character is reliable. The setting is wonderfully spooky. The unstable family life of the main character is an interesting part of the story.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied drug use; kissing.
Language: R for 27 swears and 2 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for hit and run.
Ethnicity: Allison has tanned skin. Falls to white.

Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

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Mad Prince Caspian is a great character!

The prophetic High Prince Regent Caspian has drawn and painted pictures of a girl that he sees needs saving. His mother dies and then his aunt Aurora keeps his abilities hidden so the kingdom won’t thinks he’s unstable. 17yo Darling is the girl in Caspian’s artwork and she’s now a young woman trying to liberate her father so she plays the part Caspian wants her to play. At the ball, Caspian announces a tour of the kingdom that he’ll be taking and he plans on his brother Talon and Darling accompanying him. As they travel, their eyes are opened to the true state of their country and citizens and discover plots to take them down.

Likes/dislikes: I like the alternating viewpoints of Darling, Talon and Caspian. The world building is done well. I enjoyed the friction between Talon and Darling and also Caspian’s personality and humor.
Mature Content: PG for kissing and implied sex with no details.
Language: PG-13 for 11 swears and no f-words.
Ethnicity: Darling has deep brown skin. Alvin has an olive complexion. Talon has tan skin. Finn is pale skinned.

Crush by Tracy Wolff

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Second book in the Crave series!

17 yo Grace has just woken up from four months of sleep as a stone gargoyle. For some reason, her gargoyle alter ego isn’t comfortable with Jaxon and his being a vampire. On the morning that Grace wakes up with blood on her hoodie, she thinks she may have drained Cole, the alpha werewolf, of blood – almost to the point of death. She discovers that Jaxon’s evil brother Hudson has somehow taken up residence in her mind. This sequel to Crave is cheesy at times but also full of adventure, action, danger and great world building. The Ludares game, the Boneyard, the Bloodletter’s lair, the Unkillable Beast and the banter between Hudson and Grace make this a fun, interesting read!

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the silly jokes that Jaxon and Grace tell each other. The cheesiness gives humor to the story. The danger picks up in this second book of the Crave series.
Language: R for 179 swears and 57 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody hitting.
Ethnicity: Grace, Macy and Jaxon are white. The bloodletter has light brown skin.

Invisible Son by Kim Johnson

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Accused of a crime he didn’t commit!

17yo Andre returns to his home in Portland, Oregon feeling angry, confused and disgruntled after serving two months in a juvenile detention center for something he didn’t do. He also has to adjust to pandemic life because everything seems to have changed. Andre was framed for robberies when someone placed a backpack of stolen items in his locker and that’s the evidence that sent him away. He has an idea of who did it and he wants to know the truth. When his friend Eric goes missing, the danger builds and secrets are revealed as Andre tries to find his friend and get justice.

Likes/dislikes: The chapter titles are fun since they’re named after songs. The history of our country’s turmoil during the pandemic is represented well. I enjoyed the book and read it straight through. The story reminds me a bit of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, because of the harsh reality brought to life, but with less swearing.
Language: R for 45 swears and 4 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for underage smoking and the mention of underage drinking.
Violence: PG-13 for mention of attempted murder suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is predominantly white with the Black main characters of Andre, Sierra and Eric. Luis is Mexican American.

Royal Blood by Aimee Carter

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Royalty, mystery and scandal in the beginning of this YA series!

17yo Evangeline (Evan) is the illegitimate American daughter of the British king and has been kept out of the public eye her entire life so Britain royals don’t suffer from a scandal. She has bounced around to several boarding schools since her mom was diagnosed with fragile mental health and her grandmother (her only other relative) passed away. When Evan gets in trouble, a British royal advisor swoops in to whisk her away to the Windsor Castle in London for her protection but the royal family is irate that she’s in London, let alone the palace. Evan tries to see the situation from their perspective and even though she’s kind and not to blame for her father’s actions, her stepmother and half sister are cruel to her. She just wants to make it to her eighteenth birthday so she can be on her own and get away from the disdain. As much as Evan tries to blend in and please the royal family, things spiral when a death occurs.

Likes/dislikes: The storyline is interesting. I enjoyed the intense parts. Great characters. Great quote from Queen Victoria.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for attempted sexual assault.
Language: R for 50 swears and no f-words.
Ethnicity: Predominantly white. Gia has dark skin. Louis is Black.

Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

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Will good or evil prevail?

17yo Corayne and her mismatched crew are reeling from the battle to close the Spindle as they observe dead Galland soldiers and sea serpents surrounding them. As they move on, forty Ibal soldiers approach and tell the crew they have orders from their king to take Corayne to him, and the crew travels along because they’re staying together. The group has no idea what to expect when they meet the Ibal king. Erida continues to take kingdoms by force with the help of Prince Taristan and wizard Ronin, both of whom are occupied by the demon What Waits, and when she kills a fifteen year old princess, she gains another kingdom. A new Spindle is found and when Corayne reaches it to close it, she discovers a trap. Will evil or good conquer the realm?

Likes/dislikes: I love the world building and the character development. I enjoyed the intensity of the conflicts. I appreciate how this book and series feel like an epic fantasy.
Language: R for 10 swears and 2 f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for passionate kissing; implied sex, no details
Violence: R for bloody deaths
Ethnicity: Andry has brown skin. Sorasa has bronze skin. Charlie is pale skinned. Sigil has copper skin. Bronze skinned soldiers. Pale skinned wizard. Corayne has golden skin. Valtik the witch is white. Olive toned, bronze skinned and fair skinned raiders. Black skinned immortal. Prince Oscovko is white.

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace

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Wonderful sequel to Belladonna!

Fate kills Lord Wakefield then nonchalantly blames Elijah Hawthorne in a room full of witnesses who watched Elijah give the Lord a drink that’s later found to be laced with cyanide. Fate reveals that he’s Death’s brother and has never forgiven Death for taking his one true love and now he wants revenge. Signa and Death are trying to help prove Elijah’s innocence by finding the true killer. The situation grows much more complicated and truths are revealed that surprise everyone. Signa begins to doubt who she really is when memories surface from a past life and she’s unsure of her fate.

Likes/dislikes: I love the world building with the wonderful descriptions and the prose. I enjoyed Blythe’s spunk. Signa’s strength and kindness is an inspiration.
Mature Content: R for descriptive sex.
Language: PG-13 for 27 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG for death by poison.
Ethnicity: Signa is white. Death is fair skinned. Fate has bronze skin. Blythe is white. Everett has brown skin.

Neverwraith by Shakir Rashaan

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Stand by the people that love you!
Yasir has moved to Oakwood Grove to live with his uncle. He had to leave Atlanta, where he lived with his Nana. He doesn’t know why he was forced to leave, other than his Nana telling him he was in danger. Now that Yasir is in Oakwood Grove, he’s dealing with new problems with bullies coming out of the woodwork. He feels changes in himself and he’s trying his best to get a grip on life and keep calm. When some of his past is revealed, Yasir starts to wrap his head around the importance of standing by the people he loves.

Likes/dislikes: The slang is difficult to get used to. The story didn’t pull my interest until the last third of the book. I was relieved when the characters stopped saying that everything will be revealed later and finally started explaining what was happening to the main characters.
Mature Content: PG-13 for underage drinking
Language: R for 92 swears and 5 f-words.
Ethnicity: The characters are predominantly Black. Taylor has tawny skin. Kendyl is Afro-Latina. Ms. Tyler has beige skin.

Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris

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Fun read for supernatural fans!
18yo Raven is on a band trip with her Atlanta high school band and she’s surrounded by friends. When something attacks the bus out of the blue, the passengers have no idea what’s happening. Raven is the lone survivor and is taken to a hotel where she can recover. She discovers that her rescuer, who she calls Pretty Boy, wants to erase her memories from the attack. Raven avoids losing her memories and discovers that her rescuer is the 23yo vampire Prince Khamari and he’s taking her to the Slayer Academy to teach her about the skills that she never knew existed.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the humor. The mystery surrounding the attack and the Slayer/vampire society was interesting. I like Prince Khamari’s character because he’s the most complex character in the book.
Language: R for 227 swears and 20 f-words.
Mature content: R for sex with some details.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Raven is Black. Deidra is white. The chosen one is a white man. Khamari has mahogany skin.

Frenemies With Benefits by Lydia Sharp

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Will they keep up the charade or fall in love?
18yo Jessica is graduating from high school in Pittsburgh and she’s shy and innocent but wants to break through her inhibitions and insecurities. When Ben jokingly offers to help her, she shrugs him off but eventually reconsiders. They’ve been sort of enemies within the same friend group for the past year and Jessica isn’t sure why Ben wants to help her. When they fake date, she sees the side of Ben that he’s kept hidden from her – smart, kind and gentlemanly. Can they continue with this charade without falling for each other?

Likes/dislikes: I like that the publisher states where to check for content warnings/elements of concern before the reader starts the book. The banter between Jessica and Ben is funny and clever. I enjoyed the cute romance parts.
Mature Content: R for detailed sex.
Language: R for 261 swears and 104 f-words.
Violence: none.
Ethnicity: Andrew is Brazilian. Rayna has olive toned skin. Jeremy has dark brown skin. Jessica has porcelain skin.