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To help make sure that I can keep up with reviews and cut down on burnout, my Review Roundups will consist of a handful of books I’ve read recently. Usually, these will consist of stand-alones or sequels in a series I’ve already started reviewing. ARCs will still get their own posts, so these will either be new releases or backlist titles.
Enjoy the mini-reviews!
This Winter
“When people know you’re mentally ill, most people either want to ignore it completely or they treat you like you’re strange, scary or fascinating. Very few people are actually good at the middle ground.
This Winter
The middle ground isn’t hard. It’s just being there. Being helpful, if help is needed. Being understanding, even if they don’t understand everything.”
Title: This Winter (Osemanverse #4)
Author: Alice Oseman
Published: HarperCollins Children’s Books, October 15, 2020
Pages: 102
Intended Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Romance, Fiction
Sub-Genre/Tropes: High School, Friends to Lovers, Holiday (Christmas), Hurt/Comfort
Representation: LGBT, Mental Health
Pacing: Fast
Moods: Emotional, Hopeful, Lighthearted
Content Warnings: Eating Disorder, Mental Health
Spice Scale: 🫑
I used to think that difficult was better than boring, but I know better now…
I’m not going to think about the past few months, about Charlie and me, and all of the sad. I’m going to block it all out. Just for today.
“Happy Christmas, ” I say.
The festive season isn’t always happy for Tori and her brother Charlie. And this year’s going to be harder than most.
I’ve read the Heartstopper comics 3 times now, but this was my first time reading the companion novellas. It felt a little weird to be reading a Christmas novella in the middle of June, but This Winter was so heartwarming that I didn’t ultimately mind.
I loved the different POVs, especially Tori’s perspective in addition to Charlie’s which only made me love their relationship more. Oseman did a great job at portraying complex family drama while still maintaining the “comfort read” feeling that Heartstopper invokes. As always, Nick Nelson was a wonderful person, as were his dogs, who can always make a bad day seem at least a little better.
I loved seeing some of the events between the comic volumes and getting a glimpse into Tori’s head makes me look forward to finally reading Solitaire.
Nick & Charlie
“You’re… it’s hard to explain. It’s like, if you had to provide evidence for soul mates, everyone would pick you two.”
Nick & Charlie
Title: Nick & Charlie (Osemanverse #7)
Author: Alice Oseman
Published: HarperCollins Children’s Books, August 6, 2020
Pages: 159
Intended Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Romance
Sub-Genre/Tropes: Established Relationship, Miscommunication
Representation: LGBT, Mental Health
Pacing: Fast
Moods: Emotional, Lighthearted
Content Warnings: Mental Illness, Eating Disorder Mention
Spice Scale: 🌶
CHARLIE: “I have been going out with Nick Nelson for two years. He likes rugby, Formula 1, dogs, the Marvel universe, the sound felt-tips make on paper, rain and drawing on shoes. He also likes me.”
NICK: “Things me and Charlie Spring do together include: Watch films. Sit in the same room on different laptops. Text each other from different rooms. Make out. Make food. Make drinks. Get drunk. Talk. Argue. Laugh. Maybe we’re kind of boring. But that’s fine with us.”
Everyone knows that Nick and Charlie are the perfect couple – that they’re inseparable. But now Nick is leaving for university, and Charlie will be left behind at Sixth Form. Everyone’s asking if they’re staying together, which is a stupid question – they’re ‘Nick and Charlie’, for God’s sake!
But as the time to say goodbye gets inevitably closer, both Nick and Charlie question whether their love is strong enough to survive being apart. Or are they delaying the inevitable? Because everyone knows that first loves rarely last forever…
I was a little nervous to read Nick & Charlie because I didn’t want to see one of my comfort couples in any sort of danger of breaking up, but it ended up being a very sweet read that left me with the same warm and fuzzy feeling as the Heartstopper comics. The prose was a nice change, filling in some narrative style gaps from the comic (like inner monologues).
Nick and Charlie’s relationship was as soft and sweet as always, even as they navigated their fears of the future of their relationship. Like in Heartstopper, Oseman did an amazing job at depicting Charlie’s anxiety in a complex and realistic way. My favorite part was Charlie sending the photos to Nick. I’ll definitely be adding this into the rotation of my annual re-read of Heartstopper.
Kate in Waiting
“I am so platonically in love with Anderson Walker, it makes my brain hurt.”
Kate in Waiting
Title: Kate in Waiting
Author: Becky Albertalli
Narrated By: Bebe Wood
Published: Balzer + Bray, April 20, 2021
Pages: 387
Intended Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Romance
Sub-Genre/Tropes: High School, Love Triangle, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Theater, Tight-knit Friend Groups
Representation: LGBT, POC, Jewish MC
Pacing: Medium
Moods: Funny, Lighthearted
Content Warnings: Underage Drinking, Bullying, Body Shaming, Homophobia, Transphobia
Spice Scale: 🫑
Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theater rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.
But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.
Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship.
Although I didn’t like the overly casual and slightly dramatic narrative style at first, I really ended up enjoying Kate in Waiting. I loved Kate and Andy’s friendship, and the banter between Noah and Kate was absolutely adorable.
Reading it honestly felt like I’d been transported back to my high school in both good and bad ways.
I loved the theater references and the unflinching portrayal of teenage messiness. I might be in the minority here, but the amount of cursing was refreshing for me. I have never read a YA novel that used so many f-bombs unapologetically, and it was one of my favorite things because as a theater teen, we absolutely cursed that often. However, I could have done without so many references to F-girls and F-boys.
While I don’t always look back at that time in my life with fondness, Kate in Waiting definitely reminded me of the joy I felt being a high school theater kid.
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