The Princess Trials

The Princess Trials

by Cordelia K. Castel

Zea-Mays Calico has lived her life as a Harvester and dreamed of a day with the Red Runners will finally take over Phangloria and make all things equal across the land. For years, she has watched the Nobles and the other higher Echelons reap the rewards of the work of the lower groups and she wants to share all the wealth equally.

When Zea finally steps up and takes action against a Guardian who threatens another Harvester, the head of the local Red Runner league really notices Zea and recruits her for a new mission.

Join the Princess Trials, get close to the Prince, explore the castle, and find all the hidden passageways so that the Red Runners can attack and take over the kingdom.

But things don't go as planned and everything turns topsy-turvy as Zea makes her way to the Oasis and then has to survive something much more dangerous than the Guardians... The other girls in the competition.

Final thoughts: This has moments of decent scattered among a LOT of copying from The Hunger Games and The Selection. It's hard to read this with any sense of joy once you see all of the parallels and almost point for point plot theft at some points. I wanted to like it more but I just can see past the duplicate story lines.

Rating: 3/5 (barely)

Podcast of my rant here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shayanasls/episodes/2020-05-27T15_20_56-07_00

Not Your #LoveStory

Not Your #LoveStory

by Sonia Hartl

It was just supposed to be a special day for her mom. Macy Mae had saved and saved to be able to take her mom to a live Royals game. It was just supposed to be a great day.

And it seemed great at the time.

Even after accidentally spilling a drink on her seatmate, his subsequent t-shirt removal, and a few sparks, the day went pretty well.

Unfortunately, Macy Mae had no idea that her special day with her mom was going to be completely blown out of proportion when the woman sitting behind them decided to use this "meet-cute" between Macy and that boy into a way of earning instant Internet fame.

Within hours of getting home, Macy Mae has been all over the Internet and the news, and speculation is running wild about her and her #baseballbabe. Soon, her YouTube channel is blowing up and getting trolled. Her identity is doxxed and leaked out to the world. And Macy Mae gets everything she always thought she ever wanted, but never knew how to achieve.

But there's a cost.

Local boy Paxton finally seems to be ready to step up and talk to Macy Mae about more than just movies, but now she's Internet famous and her fame is dependent on dating #baseballbabe.

Final thoughts: This is a fictionalized version of the July 2018 #PlaneBae incident that took over the Internet for a few days. While the meet-cute incident is different, the players are much the same with a woman behind posting to improve her Internet presence and the boy playing it up for his own fame. Neither seems to care about the girl in this instance or how this all affects her life. This is a realistic and somewhat scary tale of what the Internet does far too well... make assumptions and run with them. This is not so much a YA novel as it is a NA (New Adult) novel, as Macy and all of the characters are post high school.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Pixieland Diaries

Pixieland Diaries

by Christina Bauer

Calla is a faeling. This means that she has human parents who abandoned her because she was born with magic. She was born with magic because her parents lived just a little too close to the realm of Pixieland.

So, being "just" a faeling means that Calla has been fostered by the fae, raised by the fae, taught by the fae, but she doesn't have the evil intentions her parents hold dear and all she really wants to do is play pranks on others.

Well... that and stare at Darius "Dare" the Winter Court's heir apparent.

Unfortunately, being 16 and looking 9 mean that he doesn't ever stare back at Calla.

And it also means that people don't believe that she's anything more than a pest.

She'll show them...

Final thoughts: Nope. Not for me. Calla is an unlikable character who behaves like she's on a triple espresso dosed with speed and a ton of sugar. It seems like the writer may have been too since there are sooo many errors in this thing. Even for an ARC, this is riddled with things like the names changing between sentences, spelling mix-ups (i.e. not to drag instead of not to brag) and, in the middle of a sentence there was an apostrophe-s just sitting there. No reason at all. Just  's.  WHY???? The plot is random with things popping out of nowhere. The characters are bare. Why is she writing in her diary the entire time? Stuck in a void and unable to do anything at all? Write in her diary. HOW? About to go into battle! Stop everything so she can write in her diary!!!

And, the thing I hate most SPOILER ALERT!!!! When she finds out she's not a tiny pixie, but a full elf with the bod to match (the glamour she didn't even know she had being stripped away), suddenly Dare is more than a little interested. Tiny, flat pixie... ignore. Boobs and curves? Go for it!!!  Same person but changed appearance and suddenly he takes an interest. Ummm. No.

Rating: 2/5 (and that's pushing it)

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Kissing Lessons

Kissing Lessons

by Sophie Jordan

Hayden is the most notorious girl in school, even when she really hasn't done anything to deserve that distinction. Her home life is crap and her looks are too good, so she has to face each day as if she's taking on the entire world. Boys claim that they've known her. Girls slut shame her. And Hayden just tries to get through to graduation so that she can leave town and never see her mother or their tiny town again.

Unfortunately, leaving town means getting money and with Hayden basically having to pay for everything on her own, saving is hard. When Emmaline approaches her with cash in exchange for lessons on how to be so confident with guys, Hayden can't afford to say no... even when Emmaline's older brother and hot jock, Nolan, tries to push her away.

Hayden gets in deeper than she ever thought when she starts to fall for Nolan and the possibility that maybe not everyone in the world is out for themselves.

Final thoughts: I liked parts of this book and Hayden started out strong, but like Sandy at the end of Grease, she changes herself in strange ways that don't fit in with how her character behaved throughout the rest of the book. Things feel unfinished and rushed by the end. There are so many areas that were never discussed and others that were just obviously placed for the moment of the plot and then forgotten. I didn't feel the ending was organic to the rest of the story and I definitely didn't feel like things were resolved well.

Rating: 2/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.