Review: Running by Natalia Sylvester

Fifteen-year-old Cuban-American Marianna Ruiz’s father has been a politician Mari’s entire life, but when he runs for president, Mari’s family is subjected to a new level of exposure, and Mari starts to see her dad with new eyes. A novel about privacy, waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.

Review: Oh this book is so much a coming of age story about identity, family and heart all dressed up in one man’s campaign for president. I loved it. I love the fact that politics has become something we can talk about in Young adult fiction. I felt like this writer assumed I had prior knowledge of the electoral system and the political playground as a whole and I love it when I feel like an author doesn’t have to talk down to me. More politics in fiction please!

Mari was a great character to spend this book with because she is at that stage of life when she has her family loyalty and that is as strong as it has ever been but she also wants to be her own person and has her own ideals and values and sometimes those go against the family values. I loved watching her trying to overcome these struggles and find a balance at the same time as forming her own identity. 

There is an awful lot about friendship in this book as well. Friendships where you wouldn’t think to find them and friendships weathering the test of time. We have all been through those times when actually a friendship isn’t what it used to be and it can be painful to acknowledge that or throw away your preconceived ideas about where your loyalties lie. 

Identity is such a key theme in this book, racial ideaty, family identity and identity as a woman coming of age in today’s society, Throw into that mix some political identity and some gender identity and wow Mari has a lot on her plate. It was tough to read at times but overall this book has something for everyone and is definitely something I wish I had read when I was struggling with my own conflicting identities when I was her age!

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Review: Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas

A slow-burn romance in a cutthroat kitchen! There’s more to becoming a top chef for 17-year-old Isabella Fields than just not getting chopped … especially when the chances of things heating up with an intriguing boy and becoming a food star in the kitchen are both on the chopping block.

Aspiring chef Isa’s family life has fallen apart after the death of her Cuban abuela and the divorce of her parents. She moves in with her dad and her new stepmom, Margo, in Lyon, France, where Isa feels like an outsider in her father’s new life. Isa balances her time between avoiding the awkward, “why-did-you-cheat-on-Mom” conversation with figuring out how a perpetually single woman can at least be a perpetually single chef.

The upside of Isa’s world being turned upside-down?

Her father’s house is located only 30 minutes away from the restaurant of world-famous Chef Pascal Grattard, who runs a prestigiously competitive international kitchen apprenticeship. The prize job at Chef Grattard’s renowned restaurant also represents a transformative opportunity for Isa who is desperate to get her life back in order—and desperate to prove she has what it takes to work in a haute kitchen. But Isa’s stress and repressed grief begin to unravel when the attractive, enigmatic Diego shows up unannounced with his albino dog.

How can Isa expect to hold it together when she’s at the bottom of her class at the apprenticeship, her new stepmom is pregnant, she misses her abuela dearly, and things with the mysterious Diego reach a boiling point?

Review: Oh this book had a little bit of everything and so therefore I ended up falling in love with Isa and her story. 

Isa is a great character to spend time with because she is at the stage in life where you think you have your identity as part of a family figured out and then you realise you really don’t. I love the fact that Isa is from Chicago with a French mother, a Cuban grandmother and is there in France with her father to pursue her dreams of being a chef-what a great mix for a novel. 

As if the pressure of family life and chef life wasn’t enough. This author has added in a possible love interest for Isa who is very much an annoyance to her and a hindrance to her career. I loved watching the relationships in this book grow and change. Isa is such a strong character and so seeing how her relationship with her dad evolves and has evolved, as well as the relationships with Margot and Diego and what will happen with those-just magic!

This story also deals with some excellent issues surrounding gender identity. It’s like every aspect of being 16 and one’s identity has been put into a pot and shaken up. I love how the role of women in haute cuisine is explored. The role of a daughter vs the role of a son and how gender bias can work both negatively and positively. Overall this book shows that there is still a gender bias, particularly in this industry and whether things work negatively or positively for you personally, that bias must be addressed. 

Of course I loved all the food in the book. It isn’t always delicious sounding but it is always very intriguing and definitely put me in the mood to be in the kitchen, or perhaps just enjoyed a French Omelette with a nice Cafe Au Lait. I really enjoyed this book. I did the audio and the narration was excellent. High recommend!

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Notewrothy by Riley Redgate

A cappella just got a makeover.

Jordan Sun is embarking on her junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts, hopeful that this will be her time: the year she finally gets cast in the school musical. But when her low Alto 2 voice gets her shut out for the third straight year—threatening her future at Kensington-Blaine and jeopardizing her college applications—she’s forced to consider nontraditional options.

In Jordan’s case, really nontraditional. A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshipped…revered…all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

Jordan finds herself enmeshed in a precarious juggling act: making friends, alienating friends, crushing on a guy, crushing on a girl, and navigating decades-old rivalries. With her secret growing heavier every day, Jordan pushes beyond gender norms to confront what it means to be a girl (and a guy) in a male-dominated society, and—most importantly—what it means to be herself.

Review: How much fun was this book? Tons! I loved the premise behind this book before it was even published, the idea of combining an A Capella group with a bit of hidden and mistaken identify sounded like so much fun and it really was just that. I'm trying to think of another way to put it so I don't continue to use fun over and over again. It was entertaining, it was thought-provoking, it was real, it was just an excellent read. Not just for the YA audience but for anyone. 

Let's start with Jordan. I loved her as a character because she was so determined. She is at this posh school for the arts and she knows it is a privilege for her to be there, unlike some of her fellow pupils, and so she is willing to do what it takes to make a success of herself and make her family's hardship worth it. I mean whatever it takes. I loved the fact that she builds relationships with people quickly and gets on with most adults and the rest of her cohort. 

There are some other really likeable characters in this novel too. The A Capella group that Jordan, as Julian, joins is full of characters, diverse characters and I really enjoyed seeing how they interacted with each other, as well as how they reacted to each other. There are other A Capella groups on campus too and they also bring interesting characters. I really liked Jordan's adviser too and I hope that that is the kind of teacher I am. 

The storyline is great. It is fast paced and your will definitely find yourself turning pages over and over again as you read this. There is of course a singing competition, which provides a certain level of intrigue, then there is whether Julian is going to be found out. And of course there is some relationship drama, Jordan has more than a few skeletons in her closet. There are also some scenes of real, difficult family dynamics, throughout the book, and not just involving our main character and that really grounds this book and makes it more relatable to just the average Joe who doesn't attend a fancy arts school!

I loved this book, as I say I don't think that this is just for a YA audience, I think that this book would appeal to anyone with a sense of humour and a reader who wants the good guy to win for a change. This is quite a difference read from this author's previous novel and so don;'t be expecting the same thing, but do be expecting something wonderful!

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