Becoming a Queen

 

Becoming a Queen

by Dan Clay

 

Mark has always been sure of two things: he is gay and his older brother loves him no matter what.

What Mark isn't sure of is how he will feel wearing a dress. He feels like he will love it with all of his heart but he's not sure that anyone else will. 

Luckily, Mark's brother supports him 1000% with the encouragement to, "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”

Just as Mark is starting to find his footing and figure out who he may be, tragedy strikes and he must start to find himself all over again.

Final thoughts: Poignant, sad, sometimes depressing, and sometimes frenetic, this book has a real 'voice' and is a solid story. Some of the moments were a little odd and others just didn't always read well, but the overall story is well done. This book can be very raw and real and there should be some trigger warnings somewhere, but it's worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Every Single Lie

Every Single Lie

by Rachel Vincent

Living in a tiny town means that there are no secrets, but there are always rumors.

When Beckett finds a tiny, dead preemie in the girls' locker room at her high school, a big secret is revealed and rumors run rampant.

Now the town is suddenly wondering who the mother is, what happened, and if Beckett herself is in the middle of it all.

When a new Twitter account starts sharing details that no one else should know, it gets followers from around the world and peaks the interest of local and national news.

Now Beckett is in the center of a firestorm and feels like no one can be trusted.

 

Final thoughts: Almost too real in today's world. Beckett's life has been pretty harsh during the last year, but it's all realistically built and not unbelievable at all. The boyfriend angle was resolved a little oddly, but the rest was solid.

 

Rating: 4/5

Beautiful

Beautiful

by Amy Reed

Cassie has always been a social outcast.  She's smarter than everyone around her, gets A's without trying, and knows all the answers.

When Cassie's mom convinces her dad to move to a new neighborhood, Cassie knows that this is her chance.  No one knows her.  She can be anyone.  She can become anyone.  She can be Someone.

What she becomes is a drug addict who sleeps with a guy just because being his boyfriend means that she'll always have an identity: Ethan's girl.  She drinks any alcohol around.  She takes acid, smokes pot, snorts coke.

Her world is falling apart and the only way for her to cope is to keep doing it all.

The only bright spot in her life is Sarah: a girl more damaged than her who depends on her to keep her safe and sane.

Can Cassie be the person Sarah needs her to be before it's too late?

Final thoughts: The writer has a unique voice, which was hard to get into initially.  But once I got the rhythm, the book was too powerful to put down.  Cassie's downward spiral was realistic and scary.  I kept wondering when her parents would figure out what was going on.  I kept hoping that her academic intelligence would finally clue in her social incompetence as to how she was ruining her life.

Rating: 4/5

Warning: This has mature themes and issues.  Cassie may be only 13, but she's going through things in this book that would make many adults uncomfortable to read about.