#AmReading YA

Technically, You Started It
Lana Wood Johnson
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

A hilarious, snarky, and utterly addicting #ownvoices debut that explores friendship, sexual orientation, mental health, and falling in love (even if things might be falling apart around you).

When a guy named Martin Nathaniel Munroe II texts you, it should be obvious who you're talking to. Except there's two of them (it's a long story), and Haley thinks she's talking to the one she doesn't hate.

A question about a class project rapidly evolves into an all-consuming conversation. Haley finds that Martin is actually willing to listen to her weird facts and unusual obsessions, and Martin feels like Haley is the first person to really see who he is. Haley and Martin might be too awkward to hang out in real life, but over text, they're becoming addicted to each other.

There's just one problem: Haley doesn't know who Martin is. And Martin doesn't know that Haley doesn't know. But they better figure it out fast before their meet-cute becomes an epic meet-disaster . . .

The chances of meeting one Martin Nathaniel Munroe II were slim to none, but Haley happened to know of TWO Martin Nathaniel Munroe II, because their parents wanted to name them both after their grandfather. Not very original, and also, very confusing, but the situation created the perfect storm for a fun mistaken identity type romance.

I had heard this book was amusing, but it was laugh out loud funny for me. These two shared some epic banter, and both were witty and possessed a sense of humor I appreciated. Once I started reading, I honestly had to keep going. I was so captivated by their exchanges, which ranged from the most banal to the most bizarre and included some really personal and touching things too.

I was a little leery of a book comprised of only text messages, but Johnson really impressed me with everything she was able to accomplish with the format. First and foremost, I must commend her on how well written both characters were. Their voices were truly distinct. I am not one to trash the formatting of an eARC, but this one had ZERO formatting, and yet, I could tell, with ease, when Haley or Martin were speaking. That right there says a lot for how well these characters are crafted.

Seriously, this is both characters texting each other

I also liked the way the more serious discussions evolved. They never seemed forced or oddly out of place, but rather, each fit well with events that had arisen outside of the texts.

In this day and age, many people begin their relationships online, and that's sort of exactly what happened here. With no face to face communication, Haley was able to get to know THIS Martin  free from all her prior misconceptions about him. I think that allowed her to really speak freely and interact with him without any bias, and what an opportunity she would have otherwise missed.

Overall: This was a wonderfully amusing, fun, and touching story, which delighted this character-driven reader.

The Year They Fell
David Kreizman
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Imprint
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

When a horrible tragedy unites five very different high school seniors, they discover the worst moment of your life can help determine who you really are in the powerful YA novel, The Year They Fell.

Josie, Jack, Archie, Harrison, and Dayana were inseparable as preschoolers. But that was before high school, before parties and football and getting into the right college. Now, as senior year approaches, they're basically strangers to each other.

Until they're pulled back together when their parents die in a plane crash. These former friends are suddenly on their own. And they're the only people who can really understand how that feels.

To survive, the group must face the issues that drove them apart, reveal secrets they've kept since childhood, and discover who they're meant to be. And in the face of public scrutiny, they'll confront mysteries their parents left behind--betrayals that threaten to break the friendships apart again.

A new family is forged in this heartbreaking, funny, and surprising book from award-winning storyteller David Kreizman. It's a deeply felt, complex journey into adulthood, exploring issues of grief, sexual assault, racism, and trauma.

"Teen drama abounds in this story about loss and love." --Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will find the characters relatable as they navigate the challenging time from senior year into adulthood following tragedy." --School Library Journal

They bonded in pre-school, but over the years, the "Sunnies" slowly, but surely, grew apart. However, their parents remained friends and vacationed together each year. It was that yearly vacation, that would forever change the lives of these five teens, and also, lead them back to one another.

I was reading this on emoji day, and when prompted to describe my current read using only emojis, I replied as follows: 🛩️😭😭😭😭😭

I shed quite a few tears while reading the first part of this book. To have so many interconnected people simultaneously suffer such a huge loss, tears were inevitable. But, I got to spend a year with these characters, and though the undercurrent of pain and loss was always there, they also experienced a lot of growth, happiness, and hope.

Each character had something they needed to come to terms with in addition to the loss of their parents.

• Archie was the adopted black son of white parents, who was trying to decide if he should seek out his biological mother. 
• Harrison lived his whole life according to his mother's exceedingly high standards, and was now left adrift without her guidance. 
• Josie had reinvented herself after she was sexually abused, but her abuser's reappearance had her shaken. 
• Jack was always made to feel as though he was never good enough, and he struggled with the guilt that he was unable to protect his sister. 
• Dayana saw herself as an outsider, and being the only one, whose parents survived, reinforced those feelings. 

But, it was together, that they worked through their past and present. It was together, that they recognized their strength. It was together, that they celebrated their hopeful futures. I mourned all the years they lost with one another, but I loved seeing these characters reconnect. They were so much stronger together than apart, and I was glad they finally realized that. 

The tears I shed in the beginning of this book were due to the profound sadness I felt for these teens, but those tears at the end, they were happy tears. The ending was filled with so much hope and joy, and I deemed it a payoff worthy of all my tears. 

**ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.

Do you have a favorite epistolary novel?
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