high schoolers Archives - Hsinju’s Lit Log

ARCs, Book Reviews, Fiction

HEAT WAVE by TJ Klune | ARC Review

20th August 2023
HEAT WAVE (The Extraordinaries #3) by TJ Klune
- Publisher: Tor Teen, July 19th, 2022
- Genre: Sci-Fi, Young Adult, LGBTQ+
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 376 pages
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

I started reading Heat Wave some time last summer and got stuck about a third into the book when I ran into elements of mind control. This is primarily a personal preference, but I have to admit that mind control is one of the things I’d rather not read about.

The first two books of The Extraordinaries trilogy (The Extraordinaries & Flash Fire) were such a fun and wild ride as we follow Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz along their adventure. I love these precious babies! If you also love fierce, disaster queer teens, you’d especially love the epilogue of this series like I did.
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ARCs, Book Reviews, Fiction

FLASH FIRE by TJ Klune | ARC Review

13th August 2023
FLASH FIRE (The Extraordinaries #2) by TJ Klune
- Publisher: Tor Teen, July 13th, 2021
- Genre: Sci-Fi, Young Adult, LGBTQ+
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 374 pages
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

This review contains MAJOR spoilers (in spoiler tags) for The Extraordinaries (book 1). There are no spoilers for this sequel.

Cute Mutants meets One Last Stop (kind of) but achillean.

First and foremost, I love how queer this book is! There are mentions of different gay cultures, discussions of safe sex, etc. It is written by a queer author for queer teens. Also, I love the friend group so much! The ever chaotic Nick (17, gay, ADHD), his hot boyfriend Seth (17, bisexual), Jazz (17), and Gibby (18, lesbian). I also love some new Extraordinaries, especially the drag queen Miss Conduct. She brings having super powers as an analogy for being queer to the next level.
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ARCs, Book Reviews, Fiction

I KISSED SHARA WHEELER by Casey McQuiston | ALC Review

3rd May 2022
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, read by Natalie Naudus
- Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners, May 3rd 2022
- Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
- Format: Audiobook (ALC)
- Length: 9h 25m (320 pages)
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

Chloe and Shara are both so terrible, and I love them dearly.

When Shara Wheeler disappeared after prom, her nemesis (kind of, they are fighting for valedictorian) Chloe Green (lesbian), boyfriend Smith Parker, and neighbor Rory Heron embark on a journey of tracking her down. What do they have in common? They all kissed Shara. In the small-town Christian high school run by Shara’s father, Chloe has to figure out this puzzle Shara left behind without being caught, and maybe she will find out more about Willowgrove, too.
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ARCs, Book Reviews, Fiction

BLAINE FOR THE WIN by Robbie Couch | ARC Review

12th April 2022
BLAINE FOR THE WIN by Robbie Couch
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, April 12th 2022
- Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 336 pages
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

I couldn’t put down Blaine for the Win and finished it in two sittings. The vibe of it reminds me of TJ Klune’s The Extraordinaries (my review) but without superpowers.

Blaine Bowers (~16, achillean) cannot believe he got dumped by Joey Oliver (gay). On their one-year anniversary. At the fanciest restaurant ever. Joey said he didn’t want to date the mural painter who isn’t the kind of Serious Guy he needs to become President of the United States one day. Blaine will win him back by showing that he can ditch his mural painting gigs and be serious… by signing up to run for senior class president? Enlisting the help of his best friends Trish MacIntosh (sapphic, Black) and Camilla (sapphic) as well as the not-friend-only-acquaintance Danny Nguyen (bi, Vietnamese American) for an insider perspective from the student council, Blaine is ready to prove himself to be worthy of Joey. As the race kicks off, is winning Joey back still going to be Blaine’s goal?
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ARCs, Blog Tour, Book Reviews, Bookish, Fiction

Blog Tour: The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

26th May 2021
The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver
- Publisher: PUSH
- Release Date: June 1, 2021
- Genre: Young Adult
- Page Count: 235 pages
preorder links on author’s website! | content warnings on author’s website | author’s playlist on Spotify

Hi, I am Hsinju (she/they/他), a queer Taiwanese book reviewer and blogger currently residing in Illinois. Today (May 26th, 2021) is the first day of Hear Our Voices Book Tours for Mason Deaver’s sophomore novel The Ghosts We Keep, a story about the nonbinary, gay 16-year-old Liam “Lee” Cooper (he/they) struggling with the death of their older brother Ethan.
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