#AmReading YA

I Wanna Be Where You Are
Kristina Forest
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

"In a world where it's easy to lose faith in love, I WANNA BE WHERE YOU ARE is a brilliant burst of light. A dazzling debut." ― Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out

When Chloe Pierce’s mom forbids her to apply for a spot at the dance conservatory of her dreams, she devises a secret plan to drive two hundred miles to the nearest audition. But Chloe hits her first speed bump when her annoying neighbor Eli insists upon hitching a ride, threatening to tell Chloe’s mom if she leaves him and his smelly dog, Geezer, behind. So now Chloe’s chasing her ballet dreams down the east coast―two unwanted (but kinda cute) passengers in her car, butterflies in her stomach, and a really dope playlist on repeat.

Filled with roadside hijinks, heart-stirring romance, and a few broken rules, I Wanna Be Where You Are is a YA debut perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon.

Chloe aspired to be a ballet dancer, and was thrilled to hear that one of her ballet idols was opening a dance conservatory. Her mother had forbidden her from attending the New York auditions, but when the fates intervened, and her best friend helped her lie to her mother, Chloe was on her way to DC to take her shot. But, as with all the best laid plans, the universe, or rather Chloe's neighbor and former friend, Eli, threw a monkey wrench in them. Things may have gone awry, but this was a road trip, which resulted in so many wonderful and promising things for Chloe.

If you think the person on the cover of this book looks happy and full of joy, you should have seen me, when I was reading this book. My eyes were smiling, my heart was warm, and I was definitely sporting a perm-grin, because this was such a sweet, charming, and heartwarming story.

Chloe was a most wonderful character. She was hardworking, a loyal friend, and a dutiful daughter. The more I learned about her backstory and her somewhat complicated relationship with her overprotective mother, the more I rooted for her. She may not have gone about it in the right way, but it was time for Chloe to exercise her autonomy. And, this road trip was so important for her. Yes, the audition was a B I G step towards her future, but so much more occurred as she made that trek along the east coast.

Chloe believed she lost something, when she injured her ankle, and though she was dancing again, she didn't fell as though she would ever be back at her pre-injury level. While on this trip, Chloe was able to reconnect with some old friends. Each one of them helped Chloe rediscover and reignite something that she lost within herself, and as she recovered those pieces, she was also able to recover her dancing mojo. It was amazing to witness that transformation, and it may have resulted in me doing some sort of YES declaration.

Eli was an interesting match for Chloe. It was a lot of fun watching these enemies with a lot of history evolve into more. I liked that Forest slowly revealed parts of Eli to us, because with each new revelation, I found myself more and more interested in seeing this move from enemies to friends to more. The romance was a slow burn, and it was sweet and adorable, and it made me smile so, so much.

This book was near perfection for me. My only issue was with the ending. It was cute and sweet, but I really needed a jump ahead. There were a few important things left up in the air, and I had so much invested in the future of Chloe and Eli, I just needed a little bit more to be totally satisfied.

If you love seeing people reach for their dream - read this book.
If you like road trip books - read this book.
If you enjoy a good enemies to more romance - read this book.
If you want to laugh and smile and get the warm fuzzies - read this book.

Ordinary Girls
Blair Thornburgh
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Retelling
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Mlynowski, this heartfelt and humorous contemporary take on Sense and Sensibility follows two sisters—complete opposites—who discover the secrets they’ve been keeping make them more alike than they’d realized.

For two sisters as different as Plum and Ginny, getting on each other’s nerves is par for the course. But when the family’s finances hit a snag, sending chaos through the house in a way only characters from a Jane Austen novel could understand, the two drift apart like they never have before. Plum, a self-described social outcast, strikes up a secret friendship with the class jock, while Ginny’s usual high-strung nature escalates to pure hysterics.

But this has always been the sisters’ dynamic. So why does everything feel different this year? Maybe because Ginny is going to leave for college soon. Maybe because Plum finally has something that she doesn’t have to share with her self-involved older sister. Or maybe because the girls are forced to examine who they really are instead of who their late father said they were. And who each girl discovers—beneath the years of missing their dad—could either bring them closer together…or drive them further apart.

From the opening, where Plum lamented how she had never been good at beginnings, I found myself totally engrossed with her storytelling and this tale. There was something about Plum's voice, that made me want to get to know her better, and I could not the resist the charm and allure of her quirky world.

This was a tale of two sisters - one very dramatic, the other quite pragmatic. They had their ups and downs with each other, but their relationship was the heart and soul of the story for me.

I adore the exploration of the sibling bond, and this one was indeed, very special. Plum had always felt overshadowed by her sister. She thought Ginny was more attractive, popular, intelligent, and likable, and she was often tired of being compared to her sister. However, via flashbacks and tender and humorous interactions between the two in the present, I got to bask in the beauty of their sisterly love. I had so much fun at their movie nights, and greatly enjoyed their shared love of Romantic period literature. Yes, literary references abound in this novel, and they were so well placed, never failing to delight me.

During the time of this story, the family was under more stress than usual. The house was falling apart, cash flow was becoming an issue, and Ginny was often in a state of hysteria involving her college plans. Plum found an escape from the chaos via the oddest source - Tate Kurokawa, one of the "loud sophomore boys" she usually tried to avoid. Their odd friendship was one of the most precious parts of the book for me. I wore a stupid grin on my face almost every single time they shared the page, and could not get enough of their sweet and awkward encounters.

One of the biggest things plaguing this family was their grief. They had lost their father a decade ago, but still hadn't really come to terms with that loss. This pain of it ran deep and it festered within the family, finally coming to a fever pitch at one point during the book. It was quite a profound moment, and I found it very moving.

Ordinary Girls was a delightful tale filled with interesting family dynamics, sisterly affection, first love, and two young women finding their own sense of self. It was charming, witty, amusing, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and throughly entertaining.

Every time I see the title of this book, I start singing this song.....

**ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.

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