The Tea Dragon series by Kay O’Neill || series review

✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧

Titles: The Tea Dragon Society, The Tea Dragon Festival, The Tea Dragon Tapestry
Series: Tea Dragon, #1-3
Author & illustrator: Kay O’Neill
Publisher: Oni Press
Category: middle grade
Genre: graphic novel, fantasy, LGBTQIA+
My Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads page

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Synopsis of Tea Dragon Society

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Heartstopper, Volume Three by Alice Oseman | book review

✧ This short review is spoiler-free! ✧

Title: Heartstopper, Volume Three
Series: Heartstopper, #3
Author: Alice Oseman
Published: Feb. 6, 2020
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Category: young adult
Genre: contemporary, LGBTQIA+
Pages: 384
My Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads page

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | book review

✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧

“History, huh? Bet we could make some.”

Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue

Title: Red, White & Royal Blue
Series: standalone
Author: Casey McQuiston
Published: May 14, 2019
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin 
Category: adult
Genre: contemporary, romance, LGBTQ+
Pages: 421
My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)
Goodreads page

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Synopsis

A big-hearted romantic comedy in which the First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker | Book Review

Title: Mooncakes
Series: standalone
Author: Suzanne Walker
Illustrator: Wendy Xu
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: YA fantasy, graphic novel
Pages: 256
My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 stars)
Goodreads page

This short review is spoiler-free!

Synopsis

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Check, Please!, Book 2: Sticks & Scones by Ngozi Ukazu | Book Review

Title: Sticks & Scones
Series: Check, Please!, #2
Author and Illustrator: Ngozi Ukazu
Publisher:
Genre: YA, contemporary, sports, romance, LGBTQ+
Pages: 336
My Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads page

This review is short and spoiler free!

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender | ARC Review

Title: Felix Ever After
Series: n/a
Author: Kacen Callender
Release date: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: young adult, contemporary, LGBTQ+
Pages: 386
My Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads page

This review has no spoilers.

Synopsis

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.

When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle….

But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you deserve.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan | ARC Review

Title: Verona Comics
Series: n/a
Author: Jennifer Dugan
Release date: April 21, 2020
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: young adult, contemporary, romance, LGBTQ+
Pages: 352
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This review is spoiler-free.

Synopsis

Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life.

Ridley is barely holding it together. His parents own the biggest comic-store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t stop disappointing them—that is, when they’re even paying attention.

They meet one fateful night at a comic convention prom, and the two can’t help falling for each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them nearly impossible…unless they manage to keep it a secret.

Then again, the feud between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety spirals, Jubilee tries to help but finds her focus torn between her fast-approaching audition and their intensifying relationship. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give?

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review

“If you can’t trust people with nose rings
to be open-minded, who’s left?”

Title: Wayward Son
Series: Simon Snow, #2
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: young adult, fantasy, adventure, LGBTQ+
Pages: 356
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This review has no spoilers.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee | Book Review

“I’ve always been of the mind that subtlety
is a waste of time. Fortune favors the flirtatious.”

Title: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Series: Montague Siblings, #1
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: young adult, historical, LGBTQ+
Pages: 513
My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 stars)
Goodreads page

There are no spoilers in this review.

Synopsis

A young bisexual British lord embarks on an unforgettable Grand Tour of Europe with his best friend/secret crush. An 18th-century romantic adventure for the modern age written by This Monstrous Thing author Mackenzi Lee—Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the 1700s.

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Witty, dazzling, and intriguing at every turn, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is an irresistible romp that explores the undeniably fine lines between friendship and love.

[ This synopsis is from Goodreads. ]

Bloom by Kevin Panetta | Book Review

Title: Bloom
Series: standalone
Author: Kevin Panetta
Illustrator: Savanna Ganucheau
Publisher: First Second
Genre: young adult, romance, LGBTQ+, graphic novel
Pages: 368
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This is a short, spoiler-free review!