Book Review: Meg & Linus

  Meg & Linus by Hanna Nowinski

Released: April 17th, 2017
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Format: ARC, 323 pages
Read: March 2017

Description from GoodReads: Meg and Linus are best friends bound by a shared love of school, a coffee obsession, and being queer. It’s not always easy to be the nerdy lesbian or gay kid in a suburban town. But they have each other. And a few Star Trek boxed sets. They're pretty happy.
   But then Sophia, Meg’s longtime girlfriend, breaks up with Meg. Linus starts tutoring the totally dreamy new kid, Danny—and Meg thinks setting them up is the perfect project to distract herself from her own heartbreak. But Linus isn’t so sure Danny even likes guys, and maybe Sophia isn't quite as out of the picture as Meg thought she was. . .

Review: This book was exactly the way I thought it was going to be. That's not a bad thing, necessarily. It sounded like the main focus would be on relationships, whether platonic or romantic, and it was. I figured it would have complex and flawed characters that didn't fit in the stereotypes put on them, and it did. I guessed that it would be an easy read, and yeah, it was. 

   Everyone needs books like this, where you worry about the characters, but you know they're going to be fine in the end. This book makes a good "break" novel. When you need a break from super-dramatic books, this one is here for you.

   This book also dealt well with more than a few issues. The sexualities of the main characters wasn't their identity, but it did dip casually into the bullying they had faced. It also, I feel, pretty accurately described the feelings after a breakup. I mean, I don't think most people meddle in their best friends love life instead of dealing with their issues, but apart from that, it seemed realistic.

   Some of the dialogue can be a little off, but I can let it slide, since the author is German.

Rating: 8/10

Read if You Liked: Queens of Geek, most books published by Swoon Reads, meddling

Optimistically yours, Ola <3

Book Review: Signs Point to Yes

Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall

Released: October 20th, 2015
Read: January 2016
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Format: Paperback, 228 pages
Series: n/a

Source: Bought

Description from GoodReads: If only Jane’s Magic 8 Ball could tell her how to get through the summer. With her “perfect” sister, Margo, home for her “perfect” internship, Jane is not going to be able to spend the summer writing fan fiction, as she had planned. And her emergency babysitting job requires Jane to spend the whole summer in awkward proximity to her new crush, Teo, a nerdy-hot lifeguard with problems of his own. With his best friend out of town, Teo finds himself without anyone to confide in…except Jane. Will Jane and Teo be able to salvage each other’s summer? Even the Magic 8 Ball doesn’t have an answer…but signs point to yes.

Review: This adorable book is just as cute on the inside as the amazing cover. Its got a wonderfully complicated, but-if-they-just-told-each-other romance, with other small plots that sort of get solved.
   Margo, who unsurprisingly, is not "perfect", barely gets her issues resolved. Teo's issues sort of get swept under the rug after he realizes he's in love with Jane (spoiler alert?). Not even the romance gets completely solved.
   If you just read it as a sweet and simple love story, and not over-analyze the plot holes, it's a lovely book! Jane is a typical teenage girl, with an annoyingly perfect older sister, and a crush. A great summer romance.

Rating: 7/10

Read if You Liked: Say You Will, The Fault in Our Stars, easy reads, cute romances

Optimistically yours, Ola <3