Young Adult Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: White Dove by Ryan Gordon

★★½

White Dove by Ryan Gordon is a young adult horror novel about Zuri Bailey, a 17-year-old with more problems than face most high-schoolers, who suffers from a violent and mysterious attack in her past. As she comes to terms with the encounter, she witness more violence: a murder in her town of Dover Point. Battling personal issues and trying to take care of her family, Zuri find that the murderer is more terrifying than she even realized: a supernatural force is on the prowl.

Gordon is at his best when he’s expressing the emotional complexity of his teen characters. […]

Review: Roots Entwine by Victoria Bastedo

★★★★

Doing one small thing can make a world of difference, if it’s the right thing.

Roots Entwine by Victoria Bastedo is an entertaining and heartfelt young adult fantasy adventure.

15-year-old Joaquin is different. When just a baby his family decides to keep him hidden from the people in town. Joaquin can hear a man’s heart beating a half a mile away. He can see in the dark. His smell is enhanced. But his gift comes at a price, including severe pain and near-coma sleep. Even death is possible if overused. Joaquin is a Phoshat. Kallum is seeking people to […]

T B Markinson2019-01-24T19:45:15+02:00February 21st, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Action and Adventure Book Reviews, Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: TJ’s Last Summer in Cape Cod by Garfield Whyte ★★★★

TJ’s Last Summer in Cape Cod A sexy summer saga of growing up and falling in love

The stumbling journey of young love is often the core subject of great stories, and this amusing and compelling novel by Garfield Whyte certainly falls in that category. It is the story of growing up, making mistakes, and defining your identity as a teenager faced with all the temptations and troubles of adulthood.

TJ initially seems like your average teenage boy – easily influenced by older male role models, hungry for knowledge and eager for experience with women. Uncle Peter, on the other hand, is a wild and passionate […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2016-02-25T05:21:00+02:00February 15th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: My Ladybird Story by Magus Tor

★★★½

John Bird is your typical suburban American kid in many ways, and yet secretly, he knows he isn’t. His dad tries to beat it out of him with sports, and his words cut almost as sharply as the taunts his schoolyard bullies chant at him every day: “ladybird.” Everyone knows John is different, but nobody knows why, exactly. It’s only when newfound kindred spirit Aureus enters John’s life does he start to understand “himself” in My Ladybird Story: The growing pains of a Transgender by Magus Tor.

The author has a wide variety of other titles available, mostly romance […]

James Grimsby2019-01-22T15:38:11+02:00January 28th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: LGBTQI+ Book Reviews, Romance Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Dodger’s Doorway by Alessandro Reale

★★★½ Dodger's Doorway by Alessandro Reale

In many ways, Dodger is a typical teenager. He suffers from bullying at school, struggles to fit in, and tries to act like he doesn’t care about trouble at home. But Dodger is slowly drowning under the stress. What’s worse, he knows he could make things better if he would only stand up for himself, but Dodger cannot summon the courage to face his fears…until he stumbles upon a magical portal to the alternate realm of Storyworld, that is.

Dodger is pushed into the unsettling role of hero in a world of magic and mayhem where fairy tales have […]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T03:51:30+02:00January 4th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Mystery of the Moonfire (Book 2 of the Spectraland Saga) by Brian Tashima

★★★½ Mystery of the Moonfire by Brian Tashima Life can be weird sometimes when you’re a teenager, but not as weird as seventeen-year-old Joel Suzuki. He’s a pretty average guy, he’s in a band, just got a record deal, he has some good friends, and he has (mostly) fond memories of living in a weird place called “Spectraland” too – a world apart from the Earth he’s living on now. They might have stayed memories, too, if an old friend hadn’t have come to one of his gigs to deliver grave news about the fate of his old home: not only is his clan in trouble, but […]

James Grimsby2016-03-04T03:52:40+02:00December 31st, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Tim Curious by Roddy Thorleifson ★★★★★

Tim Curious: A Murder Mystery of the American Revolution, by Roddy Thorleifson, is a wonderful young adult historical fiction novel that’ll charm readers of all ages.

Young Tim Euston wanted to fight with George Washington, but he was considered too short and sent away. Can he support Washington’s troops another way? One incident rapidly changes Tim’s life. One night in January, a man attacks Tim’s fourteen-year-old sister. Tim rushes to her aid, but he’s arrested for robbery. The only adult who could testify on Tim’s behalf is found dead. A man is found guilty of the murder, but […]

T B Markinson2016-01-13T10:02:17+02:00December 18th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

My Daylight Monsters by Sarah Dalton

My Daylight Monsters is the prequel novella to Sarah Dalton’s Young Adult Mary Hades series. Though the book is called a prequel, Dalton recommends in the beginning of the book to start with this short work, and it establishes Mary Hades as a riveting, exciting, and sensitive young adult heroine.

My Daylight Monsters finds 17-year-old Mary Hades being institutionalized after having “visions” of zombies and skull-headed monsters. As she’s in a mental institution, there’s always a nagging sense that Mary might actually be crazy – to the reader, and to Mary herself. Woven into this narrative are an interesting cast […]

Henry Baum2015-10-28T10:01:22+02:00October 28th, 2015|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|