In the novel Emma by Jane Austen, readers follow the story of a young girl named Emma who is intelligent, beautiful, but also ignorant living in England. This is a coming of age story and does an excellent job of portraying the transition from a girl to a woman, or the growth of maturity. Along with her friends Harriet and Mr. Knightley, readers witness the fun adventure and characters Emma meets as she grows up.
This book follows two patients with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the respiratory system and limits contact with other patients due to fear of cross infection. Stella gets readmitted to the hospital due to lung issues, where she meets rebellious Will. Stella is not pleased with his disregard to hospital rules. Will is awaiting his eighteenth birthday so he can break free of his mother’s control over him medically. He refused to take the medicine and do the trials his mother wanted him to. Stella then convinces Will to take his meds and that sparks their romance.
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover is an intense romance novel that narrates the new and exciting life of Lily who has moved to Boston to start her career. She meets a guy named Ryle, and truly her whole world turns upside down. She also has to face the reemergence of a childhood friend and lover, which makes the story a whole lot spicier. This book had me hooked by the very first page, and I couldn’t put it down.
Cemetery Boys is an amazing novel that follows the story of Yadriel, a Latinx, gay, and transgender teenager, as he becomes determined to prove himself as a real brujo to his traditional family. But doing so, he accidentally summons a spirit who just so happens to be the resident “bad boy” at his school and follows Yadriel around. By helping the ghost of his schoolmate, Julian, this would be the perfect opportunity for Yadriel to prove he deserves being a Brujo in his community.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a historical fiction novel set in San Francisco in the 1950’s, where high-schooler Lily Hu goes through her queer awakening. Lily Hu is the “model” Chinese-American daughter, who gradually comes to realize her sense of identity as she befriends her math classmate and heads off towards a lesbian bar. Caught in the overwhelming feelings of confusion and exhilaration, the threat of risking old friendships and even her father’s deportation looms over her.
Beatrice, Samantha, and Jefferson Washington are all the children of King George and their family is the current rulers of America. America was kept as a monarchy rather than turned into a democracy, and Beatrice is to be the new queen when she succeeds her father. Their stories become wrapped up when Samantha and Beatrice want the same man, Samantha’s best friend, Nina, falls in love with her twin Jefferson, and Jefferson’s ex-girlfriend, Daphne, is still obsessed with Jefferson.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a story about Lily Hu in 1954 Chinatown. She’s stuck between complications with Red-Scare paranoia affecting her family, and her friend Shirley trying to set her up with Will, a boy from school that she has zero interest in. But everything gets turned upside down when Lily meets Kathleen Miller and realizes that there’s an obvious reason why she isn’t interested in Will.
These Violent Delights is the first novel in Chloe Gong's historical fiction series of the same name. Set in 1926 Shanghai, a blood feud between two rival gangs tears the city apart until they lose control. When a contagious sickness runs rampant through Shanghai and turns the population mad, the teenage heirs of the two gangs must work together to save their city. Gong's retelling of Romeo and Juliet is unique and well-done.
The Night Circus tells the story about the magical circus that travels around the world. It has no schedule or warning, it simply appears, stays for a while and performs shows, and then up and leaves. One of the main focuses of the story however, is between two magicians in the circus, Marco and Celia. It is sort of like a Romeo and Juliet situation, their parents hated each other and they were forced to be enemies in the circus, until they fall in love.
Our Violent Ends, by Chloe Gong, is the sequel to These Violent Delights and a continuation of the retelling of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. After Juliet’s supposed betrayal, Roma is on a spree of vengeance while Juliet tries to maintain her role as heir within the Scarlet Gang. But as both Gangs face blackmails that threaten to release more monsters, a collaboration of the heirs is proposed and the two back where they started.
