young adult LGBTQ

51471309

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

As Yoshinaga and Hasegawa become better friends, we get some more insight into what other LGBT kids go through in Japan when we meet Sakura, who got outed by his cousin; who continues to bully him and in this humble reviewer’s opinion, needs his throat punched for what he puts Sakura through.

This volume is an emotional rollercoaster. We have fake boyfriends, fake girlfriends, bullies, love confessions, and my main takeaway from it is that high school sucks ass and I don’t miss it one bit. I got called a dyke then being bi (and still now by guys who are salty I won’t mess with them) and it sucks to deal with when you barely know who you are and don’t have many friends.

It also sucks that Yoshinaga has to lie to protect himself but I give this book props for giving him a bunch of people who love and support him. That’s a relief. 4 out of 5.

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.

Lee is half fae with a magical voice. When she sings, she can control people; a talent she has only used so far to steal little things here and there. After escaping her abusive step-father, Lee is torn between wanting to know more about who she is and heeding the warnings of her late mother’s friend, Sonja; who knows the fae were responsible for Lee’s mother’s death. But the fae are very interested in Lee’s magical voice and their promise of answers may be more than Lee can resist.

This book is classified as a Young Adult LGBTQ fantasy but it didn’t feel like a YA novel; if that makes any sense. There’s this maturity to it. I had to keep reminding myself that Lee is 15 not 25. She describes things in beautiful detail, she’s put into some really tough situations, and despite having zero clue what to do half the time, she makes some mature decisions.

The fairy world is described well and the technique and word choices expect effort from the reader. It’s not dumbed down and doesn’t pander. Lee is a nice kid and a real character just trying to do the right thing in a world full of bad choices; all culminating to a bittersweet ending. Despite being the second in a series, this book stands firmly on it’s own and is a welcome diversion from most YA I’ve read. I give this a 4 out of 5.

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