#AmReading YA

Just Our Luck
Julia Walton
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

From the author of Words on Bathroom Walls--now a major motion picture--comes a romance in the spirit of Dear Evan Hansen about overcoming anxiety--and about finding love and friendship in unlikely places.

Bad luck follows lies. That was the first rule for life that Leo's Greek grandmother, Yia Yia, gave him before she died. But Leo's anxiety just caused a fight at school, and though he didn't lie, he wasn't exactly honest about how it all went down--how he went down. Now Leo's father thinks a self-defense class is exactly what his son needs to man up.

Leave the Paros family alone. That was Yia Yia's second rule for life. But who does Leo see sitting at the front desk of the local gym? Evey Paros, whose family supposedly cursed Leo's with bad luck. Seeing that Leo is desperate to enroll in anything but self-defense class, Evey cuts him a deal: she'll secretly enroll him in hot yoga instead--for a price. But what could the brilliant, ruthless, forbidden Evey Paros want from Leo?

Sharp, honest, and compulsively readable, Just Our Luck is as funny as it is heartwarming. Readers will root for Leo as he takes charge of his own destiny.

Who knew a punch in the face could be so life changing!

After getting into a scuffle at school, two things happened. Leo was forced to have lunch every day with the boy who hit him, and his dad signed him up for self defense classes. Though he couldn't escape the mandatory lunch time talks, He was able to replace the self defense class with hot yoga, and that was where his journey began. 

This book was such a delight to read! I adored Words on Bathroom Walls, but wasn't sure what to expect from Just Our Luck. What I found a funny and heartwarming story of love and acceptance and finding your place in this world. 

I immediately fell in love with Leo. He lost his mother when he was quite young, and his Yia Yia had been the center of his world. When she died, he was left on his own, as his father never quite recovered from his wife's death many years ago. Leo leveraged a lot of the advice his Yia Yia left him with, but things were still difficult for him. That's part of why it was so wonderful to see him coming into his own. 

Leo not only struggled with anxiety, he also had trouble adopting the "norms" expected by his manly father and a good chunk of society for that matter. Leo was a quiet boy, who liked to knit, crochet and take pictures, to his father's dismay. He also cried "too much" according to his dad, but Leo was ok with it. He was a sweet and beautiful soft boy, who absolutely owned my heart. I loved that he was not ashamed to show emotion or his love of crafts, and it was so satisfying that people began to really "see" him and appreciate him for who he was. Leo grew and changed in the best ways. He gained more confidence, and this led to a chain reaction of great things for him. He made new friends, worked through his grief, made inroads with his father, and even found a little romance in his life. 

One friendship worth mentioning was between Leo and Drake. At first glance, Drake was sort of a meathead, but like all Walton's characters in this book, he was actually quite complex. The bromance between these two did not come easy, but it was so lovely watching it grow. Drake went from being one of Leo's tormentors to being one of his champions. It was definitely something special to see. 

Walton put all her characters on a journey in this story. All the main players experienced some sort of growth and change, and it was a joy to be part of their evolution. In the end, this story was about loving and accepting yourself and finding those people who will love and accept you for who you are. I hope many people get the opportunity to meet Leo, because he was such a special character and someone worth cheering for. 

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily
Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Series: Dash & Lily, #3
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Knopf 
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

For Dash and Lily, it's beginning to look a lot like...distance! Just in time for the series release of Dash & Lily on Netflix comes a new helping of love--this time across the pond as best-selling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan send Dash and Lily to England.

Dash and Lily were feeling closer than ever...it's just too bad they're now an ocean apart. After Dash gets accepted to Oxford University and Lily stays in New York to take care of her dogwalking business, the devoted couple are struggling to make a long distance relationship work. And when Dash breaks the news that he won't be coming home for Christmas, Lily makes a decision: if Dash can't come to her, she'll join him in London. It's a perfect romantic gesture...that spins out of Lily's control. Soon Dash and Lily are feeling more of a gap between them, even though they're in the same city. Will London bring them together again--or will it be their undoing?

I don't know about any of you, but I was ecstatic when I learned we were getting a new Dash & Lily book. Once again, we caught up with this duo during the holiday season. This installment took us to England, where Dash was studying at Oxford. It was their first reunion after several months of separation, and because this was Dash and Lily, it did not go smoothly. 

I consider it a special treat to have the opportunity to revisit these characters and check in on the state of their relationship, which continued to change along with Dash and Lily. Though part of the story involved the distance between them, and how they were coping with the separation, a bigger focus was on their impending futures. 

Moving from high school to college can be a challenge for a lot of people. Many leave home for the first time, leaving behind the life they were accustomed to and the people they loved. It's also a time, when people realize that maybe what they wanted in life has changed. Dash and Lily are both dealing with a combination of these issues in different ways, and it was fantastic that these things were explored in this installment. Seeing these two start to see their futures take form was exciting and rather satisfying for me. 

It was also fantastic to celebrate the holidays with one of my favorite couples. I have grown to love Christmases in NYC, but Levithan and Cohn treated me to an incredible time in England. I attended many events and shared some great meals with people Lily and Dash hold dear. A good time was had by all. 

I feel like I will forever ship these two, and I hope the authors have more adventures in store for them. I will keep my fingers crossed, that we get to attend a wedding with these two, AND that they are the bride and groom. 

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