I went from barely reading anything the past three weeks to three books in one week! It might not seem like a lot, but it is. I’m still too far back from my Goodreads reading goal to redeem myself but at least the race is close!

“Everything Everything” by Nicola Yoon

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My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Goodreads Link

SO CUTE! This was a cutesy romance! It was fairly predictable, a good story line, and witty main characters. It touches on more sensitive subjects like domestic abuse and loss of family members but overall, it’s about teenagers falling in love and overcoming obstacles.

I loved Maddy as a character. For someone so secluded from the world, she is smart and perceptive. Her mom and her nurse are the only ones she is allowed to see and the way she was portrayed, I felt her loneliness with her. Going outside meant potentially dying but staying inside was its own kind of torture and witnessing her struggle made it more real.

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“More Happy Than Not” by Adam Silvera

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In the months after his father’s suicide, it’s been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again–but he’s still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he’s slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron’s crew notices, and they’re not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can’t deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can’t stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard?

Goodreads Link

This book was HEARTBREAKING and WORLD SHATTERING and ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS! More Happy Than Not is going up there with Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. 

Aaron had recently tried to kill himself (after his father committed suicide) and had been hospitalized for it. But now, he is trying to be happy in his own life. As the story unravels and you realize everything Aaron has been through, you can’t help but love his character.

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“When the Moon Was Ours” by Anna Marie-McLemore

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To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.

Goodreads Link

When the Moon Was Ours is magical realism at its finest. This was also HEARTBREAKING AND BREATHTAKING AND ALL THINGS IN BETWEEN. The magical elements in this world are as real as the most mundane of things in our world. This had the same feel to it as The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender which I also loved but I think I enjoyed this more.

Miel is known as the girl who came from water because the townspeople found her inside a water tower when she was little. Sam is a transgender boy who is coming to terms with himself and who he wants to be known for. Their friendship is unique and strong and one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in literature.

Like I said before, the magical elements are so real, I had no trouble believing it all. Miel growing roses out of her wrist, Sam painting moons and hanging them on trees to bring light to the darkness, Aracely taking lovesickness away from bodies, the Bonner sisters being four separate bodies but one entity.

Both Miel and Sam were wonderful, well developed and well-rounded characters with strengths and flaws. This was also the first book I’ve read about a transgender character never mind the first about a South Asian transgender character. The struggle Sam goes through in this book opened my eyes to issues I had known about before but never really thought about on a deeper level.

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Have you guys read any of these?