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A review by the_ya_assassin
Read Swoon Repeat 2021 by Austin Siegemund-Broka
4.0
I received an eARC from Netgalley and Penguin Group in exchange for an honest review.
This collection of previews was very modern and contemporary. I will be picking up several of the books from this collection because I enjoyed the previews so much! Most of them were LGBTQ+ and had diverse main characters. Normally I don't do reviews like this, but since it was only previews in this book, I tried my best to give reviews of each singular book included.
Here's a quick run down of the books in this ebook:
- [b:What's Not to Love|44044099|What's Not to Love|Emily Wibberley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600706240l/44044099._SY75_.jpg|68484114]
- [b:From Little Tokyo, with Love|55115173|From Little Tokyo, with Love|Sarah Kuhn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605801772l/55115173._SY75_.jpg|84328437]
- [b:Perfectly Parvin|55835951|Perfectly Parvin|Olivia Abtahi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605867658l/55835951._SY75_.jpg|70603137]
- [b:Some Girls Do|53802072|Some Girls Do|Jennifer Dugan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1604597893l/53802072._SX50_.jpg|84120878]
- [b:The Passing Playbook|42969261|The Passing Playbook|Isaac Fitzsimons|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612548191l/42969261._SY75_.jpg|66793068]
- [b:Heartbreakers and Fakers|55336511|Heartbreakers and Fakers|Cameron Lund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602530454l/55336511._SY75_.jpg|67819619]
- [b:The Summer of Lost Letters|55655115|The Summer of Lost Letters|Hannah Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605810460l/55655115._SY75_.jpg|82107141]
- [b:Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions|48735098|Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions|Navdeep Singh Dhillon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620226865l/48735098._SY75_.jpg|74102054]
So I'll start off with What's Not to Love. I really enjoyed this preview! It is super relatable to me because the main character, Alison Sanger, is competing against a boy over grades. I can already see her and Ethan's relationship blossoming. So excited to see them go from enemies to lovers - I was definitely swooning! I will definitely pick this up when I have the chance!
Secondly, From Little Tokyo, With Love was culturally interesting. I would love to pick it up and explore more about the asian society in California. It made me angry when Rika's Aunt told her she couldn't fight for her judo, despite all her hard work to make it to the top. I'm so glad she found a way to still participate in the parade! I am curious to see why Grace reacted so violently to seeing Rika though. Her missing mom, possibly? And how will Hank Chen play into the story?
Next, Perfectly Parvin - I wasn't a big fan of this one. I've seen in on several sites but it was very contemporary and LGBTQ+ forward. The character on the cover, Parvin, looks to be in her junior or senior years. In the book, she's going into her freshman year. Parvin has caring parents and I'd actually like to see more of them. It is kind of a funny story and Parvin is the classic freshman girl. I probably won't pick this one up.
Then, Some Girls Do. Ruby has a rough home life, that much is obvious, but she is a witch at school. However, I AM interested in Morgan and her progression in track. I ran track in high school, so I'd be very interested to see how she does. Also, why did she have to change schools so quickly? What happened? I also had several lol moments already, such as when Morgan said this: "Yeah, hell hath no fury like a suburban mom late for her latte." I will definitely pick this one up.
Next, The Passing Playbook. This one was . . . weird for me to read. I totally support people who are trans, because that's who they want to be, but I'm not comfortable with reading it. I did read this preview still though. I was honestly surprised that Spencer was trans, but I guess it made sense. This whole collection is almost ALL LGBTQ+. Spencer is nice and sweet, but I HATE Justice. He is such a mean guy. Spencer deserves better than him. The best part about this preview - definitely Theo. He's a mini-genius. But alas, he is not the main character, so I will not be picking up this one.
Next, Heartbreakers & Fakers. This one was very confusing at first. I didn't like the time jump really, but I do understand why it was needed. Olivia is pretty cool though. I hated Kai. Penny was an idiot teenage girl, but I can respect her for how she thought too. THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T DRINK Y'ALL! Despite it being confusing, I'll still probably pick this up because I LIVE for drama and I want to know what happens between Jordan, Olivia, Penny, and Kai - will they work their problems out or will they remain broken up?
Then, The Summer of Lost Letters. "but honestly, who wouldn't at least consider a whether a storm heralded a serial killer?"This is one is very intriguing, but also VERY wordy. I started skimming simply because it had so many large paragraphs (maybe this is just because it's an ebook edition though). I was fascinated by the idea of finding the letters and then Abby going to Nantucket for the summer to solve the mystery of who sent them. It is REALLY fast-paced though - we're already in Nantucket in the second chapter. I will definitely pick it up because I see something between Noah and Abby, and I'm super curious to see if Abby finds out more about her O'Ma's secret Edward.
Finally, Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions. This one . . . wasn't all that great. It was very confusing with all of the fanfiction references and the names and such. It was definitely culturally-influenced, which I would've enjoyed . . . if I had known what it meant. It has POC characters, so if that's what you're looking for, this is it. There is some foul language too, which surprised me. I probably won't pick it up, despite my interest in what happened to Goldy - I think he got drunk and was in a car accident, but I'm not completely sure.
Overall, a great collection of swoon worthy reads with diverse characters and different tropes that will having readers do what we do best - READ.
This collection of previews was very modern and contemporary. I will be picking up several of the books from this collection because I enjoyed the previews so much! Most of them were LGBTQ+ and had diverse main characters. Normally I don't do reviews like this, but since it was only previews in this book, I tried my best to give reviews of each singular book included.
Here's a quick run down of the books in this ebook:
- [b:What's Not to Love|44044099|What's Not to Love|Emily Wibberley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600706240l/44044099._SY75_.jpg|68484114]
- [b:From Little Tokyo, with Love|55115173|From Little Tokyo, with Love|Sarah Kuhn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605801772l/55115173._SY75_.jpg|84328437]
- [b:Perfectly Parvin|55835951|Perfectly Parvin|Olivia Abtahi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605867658l/55835951._SY75_.jpg|70603137]
- [b:Some Girls Do|53802072|Some Girls Do|Jennifer Dugan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1604597893l/53802072._SX50_.jpg|84120878]
- [b:The Passing Playbook|42969261|The Passing Playbook|Isaac Fitzsimons|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612548191l/42969261._SY75_.jpg|66793068]
- [b:Heartbreakers and Fakers|55336511|Heartbreakers and Fakers|Cameron Lund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602530454l/55336511._SY75_.jpg|67819619]
- [b:The Summer of Lost Letters|55655115|The Summer of Lost Letters|Hannah Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605810460l/55655115._SY75_.jpg|82107141]
- [b:Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions|48735098|Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions|Navdeep Singh Dhillon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620226865l/48735098._SY75_.jpg|74102054]
So I'll start off with What's Not to Love. I really enjoyed this preview! It is super relatable to me because the main character, Alison Sanger, is competing against a boy over grades. I can already see her and Ethan's relationship blossoming. So excited to see them go from enemies to lovers - I was definitely swooning! I will definitely pick this up when I have the chance!
Secondly, From Little Tokyo, With Love was culturally interesting. I would love to pick it up and explore more about the asian society in California. It made me angry when Rika's Aunt told her she couldn't fight for her judo, despite all her hard work to make it to the top. I'm so glad she found a way to still participate in the parade! I am curious to see why Grace reacted so violently to seeing Rika though. Her missing mom, possibly? And how will Hank Chen play into the story?
Next, Perfectly Parvin - I wasn't a big fan of this one. I've seen in on several sites but it was very contemporary and LGBTQ+ forward. The character on the cover, Parvin, looks to be in her junior or senior years. In the book, she's going into her freshman year. Parvin has caring parents and I'd actually like to see more of them. It is kind of a funny story and Parvin is the classic freshman girl. I probably won't pick this one up.
Then, Some Girls Do. Ruby has a rough home life, that much is obvious, but she is a witch at school. However, I AM interested in Morgan and her progression in track. I ran track in high school, so I'd be very interested to see how she does. Also, why did she have to change schools so quickly? What happened? I also had several lol moments already, such as when Morgan said this: "Yeah, hell hath no fury like a suburban mom late for her latte." I will definitely pick this one up.
Next, The Passing Playbook. This one was . . . weird for me to read. I totally support people who are trans, because that's who they want to be, but I'm not comfortable with reading it. I did read this preview still though. I was honestly surprised that Spencer was trans, but I guess it made sense. This whole collection is almost ALL LGBTQ+. Spencer is nice and sweet, but I HATE Justice. He is such a mean guy. Spencer deserves better than him. The best part about this preview - definitely Theo. He's a mini-genius. But alas, he is not the main character, so I will not be picking up this one.
Next, Heartbreakers & Fakers. This one was very confusing at first. I didn't like the time jump really, but I do understand why it was needed. Olivia is pretty cool though. I hated Kai. Penny was an idiot teenage girl, but I can respect her for how she thought too. THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T DRINK Y'ALL! Despite it being confusing, I'll still probably pick this up because I LIVE for drama and I want to know what happens between Jordan, Olivia, Penny, and Kai - will they work their problems out or will they remain broken up?
Then, The Summer of Lost Letters. "but honestly, who wouldn't at least consider a whether a storm heralded a serial killer?"This is one is very intriguing, but also VERY wordy. I started skimming simply because it had so many large paragraphs (maybe this is just because it's an ebook edition though). I was fascinated by the idea of finding the letters and then Abby going to Nantucket for the summer to solve the mystery of who sent them. It is REALLY fast-paced though - we're already in Nantucket in the second chapter. I will definitely pick it up because I see something between Noah and Abby, and I'm super curious to see if Abby finds out more about her O'Ma's secret Edward.
Finally, Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions. This one . . . wasn't all that great. It was very confusing with all of the fanfiction references and the names and such. It was definitely culturally-influenced, which I would've enjoyed . . . if I had known what it meant. It has POC characters, so if that's what you're looking for, this is it. There is some foul language too, which surprised me. I probably won't pick it up, despite my interest in what happened to Goldy - I think he got drunk and was in a car accident, but I'm not completely sure.
Overall, a great collection of swoon worthy reads with diverse characters and different tropes that will having readers do what we do best - READ.