Boundaries Blurred by Love

Where You Are by J.H. Trumble

Because this is an author I have actually met, when they told me this was their favorite, I decided to read it next. I can see why she likes this one best.

This book is told from two perspectives, and it is done well. There was never a time when I had to look back at the beginning of a section to be reminded who was telling the story. There were two distinct perspectives, and it gave more depth to the story.

First, we have Robert. He's a senior in high school. His father is dying, and he is not bothered by this. He is bothered by how his father's sisters treat his mother as though she was less than they are, and Robert too. Robert is gay, and his boyfriend, Nic, doesn't seem to be a genuinely caring person for anyone but himself. Robert has, however, found a friend in his calculus teacher, Mr. McNelis.

Next, we have Andrew. He's a calculus teacher, who happens to be gay, with a two-year-old daughter, and a decent relationship with his ex-wife. He has a couple of little shithead students (don't we all?), and a coworker who'd really like to date him. Depending on how you look at it, it's unfortunate that he becomes close to Robert.

I say it could be unfortunate because a relationship with Robert could cost Andrew his career, even though Robert is old enough for their relationship to be consensual. On the other hand, Andrew could have found true love with Robert.

This book pulled my heartstrings, but I loved it.

Serial Killer's Daughter

Twisted by Hannah Jayne

Bex, formerly Beth Anne, has recently moved to a new town, in with her new foster parents. Her grandmother recently passed away, and she was put into the system. She didn't have anyone else. Why? Her mother is dead and her father is a serial killer. A serial killer who wants his daughter to believe that he isn't guilty, but takes off one day and she doesn't hear from him again.

So here Bex is, ten years after her father left, trying to live her new life where no one knows her. She makes friends, meets a boy. One night during her first week, Bex and her friends are going to the beach for a bonfire. They don't quite make it as they see something fishy on the way there-- a teenaged girl, dead in the sand, with her ring finger removed. This was her dad's signature. That and giving his daughter something that belonged to his victims.

A few days later, a box shows up on the porch for Bex. It is assumed that it is a gift from her new boyfriend, but he says he didn't get it for her. Other things pop up showing that her dad is back. Then the detective who worked the case all those years ago shows up, asking Bex to try to lure her father out. It is the detective's hope that they will be able to get him this time. Bex is not so sure.

This was not such a bad read. There was some suspense. What irked me is that Bex never said anything about who she was. I'd like to think her foster parents would have helped her navigate the situation, but we will never know because the author didn't work that angle.

A Teen You've Got Mail

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

This is the book that came in my April Lit-Cube, the theme of which was You've Got Mail. If you've seen the 1998 movie, you know that Meg Ryan's character has been instant messaging Tom Hanks' character, and they have a thing for each other. Unfortunately, Tom Hanks' character is the owner of a big bookstore (think Barnes and Noble) who is trying to put her little bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner out of business. In life, they dislike each other. On the internet, they are smitten. This book is very similar.

Bailey "Mink" lives on the East Coast with her mother. She has been messaging back and forth with someone named Alex, who happens to live in the same California town as Bailey's dad. They are both film buffs, so Alex tries to convince Bailey to come visit her dad so she can meet Alex and they can watch North by Northwest together on the beach,

Bailey not only visits her dad, she moves in with him, but she doesn't tell Alex. She wants to scope out the situation first to see if Alex is even worth pursuing. In the meantime, Bailey gets a job at a cheesy museum and meets the infuriating security guard named Porter. Porter's family is kinda famous--they're all surfers, which is a big deal in their town. Porter drives Bailey nuts, but then she kinda falls for him.

Since I told you what this is like, by now you've figured out that Alex is Porter. It's no secret really, as this is mentioned in the blurb on the book jacket. At any rate, it takes Bailey a while to figure this out.

I liked this. It was a cute story, and, despite everything else I have going on with work and grad school, I managed to devour this book in no time at all.

Set in my Hometown

Don't Let Me Go by J. H. Trumble

I decided to read this book because it was written by a new friend of mine. I was working in a library, and she mentioned having written a few books while teaching a lesson to an English class. Intrigued, I came home and looked her books up on Amazon.

Just to be upfront, this is an LGBT, young adult book. Not something I would normally seek out, but not something I am opposed to either. Nothing was terribly graphic, which is something I appreciate whether the characters are gay OR straight. There was some language, but as someone who spends all of her waking hours with teenagers, it was nothing I don't hear on a regular basis in the halls at the school where I teach.

Another thing I liked about this is that it obviously takes place around here. In fact, the movie theater where my son works is mentioned by name. The references to music and bands was a nice touch too.

Now to the story...Nate is about to be a senior in high school. He has been out for about a year. He is madly in love with Adam, who is heading to New York to perform in an off-Broadway play. When I say Nate is madly in love, I mean he doesn't think he can exist without Adam, yet he won't let Adam throw away this opportunity.

Several months prior, some asshole football player and his friends assaulted Nate at a New Year's Eve party. Nate took a while to heal, but Adam was by his side through it all. This is part of why Nate is so co-dependent.

When Nate Skypes Adam, Adam always seems distracted, and his roommate, Justin, is doing everything he can to come between the two of them. He succeeds for a while, and Nate has to find his way without Adam. He makes a new friend, Danial, and even becomes romantically involved with a younger guy named Luke.

I am not going to say more about the story than that.

There are a lot of flashbacks, which I liked, and I just really liked the characters. I felt like I knew them when I was reading the book, and that is one of the things I like most about reading.

So, check this one out.

Secrets and Lies

Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate

So much about the cover of this book is misleading. First, the back says that there are seven students, seven deadly sins, and one secret. Not all of the seven deadly sins are covered. Second, in the blurb on the back, it implies that these seven students are unlikely allies, that was misleading. Two of the characters are sisters, three of them are best friends, one is the former boyfriend of another character. Unlikely, to me, implies that they aren't friends, and that just isn't the case.

Despite the misleading cover, however, I enjoyed this book. It starts out with a school assembly, where everyone is told that a teacher is having an affair with one of the students. Administration doesn't know who either person involved is, but they are going to find out. One of the seven students is the person who reported this scandal, and he knows who the student is, but not the teacher, and he wants to talk to her. One of the students is the student involved (and it is easy to figure out early on), and she starts to self-destruct.

There's more to this than just the school sex scandal though. One of the students is the school slut, who finds herself falling for one of the other seven students after they work on an English project together. Another student feels that she is being left out of things going on with her best friend, and ends up outing her ex-boyfriend. One student is the ex-boyfriend who falls in love with a social outcast.

These lives overlap, and their stories were interesting to read. This book was real in a way that a lot of young adult books try to be, but fail.

A Fairy Tale Retelling

Bellamy and they Brute by Alicia Michaels

Can we just be done with the fairy tale retellings already?! Don't get me wrong: I LOVE fairy tales, but this is getting out of hand.

I got this in my March Lit-Cube. I was bummed that it was ANOTHER Beauty and the Beast themed one, which is weird because that is my favorite fairy tale. Part of it was because it hadn't even been six months since they did a similar theme, and, frankly, this box wasn't worth my money. That is another story for another day.

Anyway, so there's this girl named Bellamy. Her mother died of cancer two years previously, so Bellamy lives with her dad. They own a bookstore, and her dad is trying to get his appliance repair company off the ground. In an effort to make some money this summer, Bellamy answers an ad to babysit a couple of children who live in the mansion on the hill.

Bellamy is hired on the spot, and is told to avoid the third floor. That sounds easy enough. Then she sees these rose petals that no one else can see, and ends up on the third floor. Yeah, that wasn't predictable at all. Anyway, she meets the inhabitant of the third floor, who is the older brother of the children she babysits. He fell off the face of the Earth because he has a disease that disfigured his face.

One night, Bellamy is asked to work late. She encounters some ghosts who lead her to the third floor. Apparently, only Bellamy and Tate, the third floor guy, are the only ones who can see them. Another day she stays late, and they have a similar encounter with the ghosts. On the third encounter, they realize that the ghosts just want their help; they want justice.

That's when this book becomes a murder mystery that Bellamy and Tate have to solve. Meanwhile, they fall in love, and she sees the "real" Tate.

I wish I loved this more. The curator of Lit-Cube described this as "The best young adult book I have read in 2017 so far." I respectfully disagree. This was merely ok.