Monday Minis
Sorry for letting you all down last week by not writing any Monday Minis! I got my vaccine over the preceding weekend and it killed me. It took me quite a few days to recuperate from the ensuing fatigue and insomnia – great combination, if I may say so. Pretty much everything on the blog this past week was stuff I’d wisely pre-scheduled, but at least I got a bunch of reading done. So back to your regular barrage of books now! All of these are digital review copies I received from the publishers through NetGalley, and as usual all opinions are my own.
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise and Oscar O. Jupiter is an adorable YA graphic novel. Like all my favourite graphic novels, it is queer as hell and super cute. This one is out in August from Oni Press. Annie is a grumpy lesbian in her senior year of high school – and her mum and teachers are on her case because she lacks extracurriculars for her college applications (don’t get me started about how shitty I think THAT system is). So she reluctantly ends up joining the cheer squad – where BeeBee, the only trans girl for miles is basically bullied into being captain to make everyone else look and feel good. But Annie gets more than she’s bargained for when she falls for BeeBee and both of them find their confidence and shed their outward masks of “the rebel” and “the people pleaser” they use to cope. I loved this little story so much and I really hope that we get more installments – it’s perfect for fans of the Fence series!
Some Faraway Place by Lauren Shippen is the third novel to go with The Bright Sessions podcast. This one is Rose’s story. It’s the first novel I’ve read, though I’ve listened to the whole of the podcast and really enjoyed the audiodrama. I feel like the book itself doesn’t work if you don’t have the context of the podcast – though I might feel differently if I hadn’t listened to it and only read the earlier books. The TL:DR is that in this world, there are humans who have special abilities, so-called Atypicals. There are two central places they go for help – a government agency referred to as the AM and a therapist operating largely independently, Dr. Bright. Rose, the main character of Some Faraway Place is in her late teens, dreams of being a chef and comes from a family of Atypicals when she realises that she can dreamwalk. The story follows her as she explores her ability, meets a cute girl, falls in love, through a lot of family and relationship drama and gives a different perspective to quite a bit of the events of the podcast. However, I feel like my enjoyment of this was hampered a lot by having listened to the audiodrama first. I knew about a lot of the twists before they happened and I didn’t think the writing itself was strong enough to work as a novel. Loved the characters and base material, this… not so much. Out from Tor Teen in August!
The Gatekeeper’s Staff is the first in the TJ Young & The Orishas series by Antoine Bandele, out in July from Bandele Books. I got to listen to an audio ARC (which, best thing ever!) – the audio was really well done with sound effects and transitions, one of the best audio adaptations I’ve listened to recently. In its basic concept, it is reminiscent of the Percy Jackson series – boy realises that he is special and goes to magic summer camp where he defeats a major threat. But that’s where the similarities end. This is based on the West African mythology of the Orisha – I loved learning more about them and Nigerian culture, as The Gatekeeper’s Staff is deeply rooted in Black American and Nigerian spaces. TJ has always considered himself the dud of a family where everyone but him has powers, and his older sister is the golden child. When she dies unexpectedly, and they are attacked by the Keepers at her funeral, he discovers that he is not as powerless as he thought and is invited to a magical summer camp. He jumps at the chance to discover his magic and find out what truly happened to his sister. This is a fun story, which also fits nicely into the teen space between middle grade and YA, which is often neglected. TJ is fourteen, and while there is a very soft romance, it is slow and blossoming rather than the full on kind that often shows in true YA. I really recommend this to anyone who is growing out of the age range of middle grade and is looking for their next adventure.