Book Review – Page 3

Review: Being Emily by Rachel Gold

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:24-05:00November 11th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Trans|

Being Emily by Rachel Gold (Bella Books, 2013) They say that whoever you are it’s okay, you were born that way. Those words don’t comfort Emily, because she was born Christopher and her insides know that her outsides are all wrong. They say that it gets better, be who are you and it’ll be fine. For Emily, telling her parents who she really is means a therapist who insists Christopher is normal and Emily is sick. Telling her girlfriend means lectures about how God doesn’t make that kind of mistake. Emily desperately wants high school in [...]

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Review: Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:24-05:00November 4th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Middle Grade, Realistic, Trans|

Happy Release day to Ami Polonksy! Gracefully Grayson, a middle-grade book about a transgender girl is out on shelves today. Find it in a local bookstore (this may entail badgering them to order it) or buy it online! Make sure to give the author a follow on Twitter as well, and wish her a happy release day! by Nadia “I feel like I’m covered in a layer of ice that is starting to melt. I can practically feel it loosening around me.” GRACEFULLY GRAYSON is a story about a transgender girl. Grayson Sender is a 12-year-old, a [...]

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Review: Pantomime by Laura Lam

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:27-05:00October 25th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Club, Book Review, Teen Voices|Tags: Fantasy, Intersex, Non Binary, Speculative|

by Georgie Penney Compared to my usual reading choices, this was the furthest out of my comfort zone that I’ve read in a long time, and I’m so glad that I decided to give it a go. Pantomime starts as the tale of two apparently unlinked young people: the young would-be trapeze artist Micah Grey, and the noblewoman who calls herself Gene who’s about to be married off, should her parents get their way. These boy-girl dual storylines are increasingly common in YA so I assumed something along the lines of a love story, albeit an unusual one. [...]

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Review: My Date from Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy) by Tellulah Darling

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:27-05:00October 22nd, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Fantasy, Queer Guys, Romance|

by Simren Handa In My Date From Hell, book two in the Blooming Goddess Trilogy, Tellulah Darling has crafted a perfectly imaginative and witty novel filled with quirky, interesting characters which appeal wonderfully to the YA market. I laughed numerous times at some of the lively one liners and, overall, thoroughly enjoyed reading about Sophie, Kai, Festos, Theo, Hannah and Pierce. Each character was distinctive in their appeal and as a protagonist, I thought that Sophie was believably vulnerable; a sixteen year old with issues and complications, plenty of snark and feisty charm, battling through the trials of growing [...]

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Review: Camp Carnage by Elliot Cross

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:27-05:00October 21st, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Horror, Queer Guys, Thriller|

In the summer of 1986, Billy Collins is sent to his own personal Hell - summer camp. The remote Camp Genesis offers desperate parents a place to "straighten" out their gay teenagers with the help of the puritanical Katherine Creevey. Besides the typical horsing around, campfire tales and summer games, the Genesis program forces gay and questioning teens into humiliating gender-based lessons. While Billy wants nothing more than to escape Camp Genesis, he can't help worrying that something even more sinister is hiding just out of sight. Unknown to Billy, two campers were murdered three years ago. Just [...]

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On Seasickness and Honest Sexuality in Witch Eyes

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:27-05:00October 20th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Fantasy, gay, Queer Guys, Romance, Speculative|

GayYA is thrilled to welcome one of our new regular contributors Nathaniel Harrington! I'm going to do my best to keep this spoiler-free, which means avoiding talking about the main plot. Briefly, it's really good. The action is engaging, the villains are excellent, and the resolution is satisfying and still has real, long-term consequences for the main characters. Tracey balances the main plot with fantastic characterization, and that's really what I want to talk most about here. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey (Flux, 2011) First, let's talk about the handling of Braden's sexuality. A lot of [...]

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Book Review: Unicorn Hunting by A.R. Hellbender

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:28-05:00October 15th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Fantasy, Queer Girls, Speculative|

Reviewer: Leslie Rewis 3.5/5 stars 152 pages Unicorn Hunting by A.R. Hellbender was a very surprising read. Most of the YA fiction that I have read about queer characters tends to focus more on their coming out and what ensues because of it. If you are looking for a story with a queer character that has a plot line not revolving around coming out, Unicorn Hunting is a good place to start. This is the perfect book for a book lover of fantasy, action, and of course, non-straight crushes. Unicorn Hunting by A. R. Hellbender (BookCountry, 2013) [...]

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Review: Bottled Up Secret by Brian McNamara

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:28-05:00October 14th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: gay, Queer Guys, Realistic|

Bottled Up Secret by Brian McNamara is out on shelves today! We received a review copy through netgalley. Brendan Madden is in the midst of his senior year of high school and couldn’t be happier. He has a great group of friends, his pick of colleges, and he has recently come to terms with his sexuality. One night, he meets Mark Galovic, a gorgeous, younger classmate of his. In a matter of minutes, Brendan is hooked. As the friendship between them grows, Brendan reaches his breaking point when he spontaneously confesses his feelings to him. Brendan is shocked [...]

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Review of Searching for Grace by Juliann Rich

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:39-05:00October 2nd, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review, Teen Voices|Tags: Religion|

At the end of Caught in the Crossfire I was convinced I would not last until Searching for Grace... and the end of Searching for Grace has left me in the exact same state. I believe the email I sent Juliann said something along the lines of "I NEED TAKING THE STAND LIKE YESTERDAY." Like the first book in the Crossfire Trilogy, Caught in the Crossfire, Searching for Grace is an amazingly unique and honest portrayal of a teen walking the line between his sexuality and his faith. As some of you know, I have walked a similar path. The experience [...]

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Review: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:39-05:00September 30th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review, Teen Voices|Tags: lesbian, New Releases, PoC, Queer Girls, Religion|

by Laurel May When I heard this book was about an interracial lesbian couple living in the 1950's I immediately wanted it. I was just blown away by the idea of this story! Now that I have read it, I am blown away by the actual story. What an exceptional book! "Lies We Tell Ourselves" is not an easy read. You only have to look at the time period to understand why that is. This book is set in 1959, after the desegregation of Little Rock School. Here, Sarah and 10 other black students are the first to [...]

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