Hi friends, happy Friday! I hope you’ve all been doing well.
I have been a little late on reviewing all the books I’ve read and, if I don’t want, nor can review every single book that I read, today, I have decided to come back with a new edition of mini reviews to review more than one book. These all are wonderful, young adult contemporary debut that had my heart from page one and that I added to my TBR, somehow knowing I would love them and… I’m so happy to say that I was right.
All of these books are 2019 debuts and… well, damn, this year will be amazing, I can feel it.
There are no spoilers in these reviews.
You’d Be Mine, Erin Hahn
You’d Be Mine is exactly the kind of contemporary book that I love. It seems like it will be this soft, sweet, adorable book, yet when you get into it, you realize it actually packs a LOT of emotions and harsh topics just as well and I loved it SO much.
Told in two POV, I really enjoyed Annie and Clay’s stories as individuals and as they came together, too, these two lovers of country music, Clay the superstar and Annie, reluctant to follow her parents’ footsteps into the spotlight. They’re both characters battling with their past, their own demons, finding ways to grow and fight back alone and, together too. I adored them individually and together as a couple and SWOON, they had such amazing chemistry.
The music setting, concerts, country music, travelling and everything else really got my heart too and made me want to sing along with them, go on tour with them and, in these harsh, complicated, realistic moments they had to deal with real life, hug them, too. Heartwarming, adorable, beautiful, promising debut. I’ll be looking forward to everything Erin Hahn writes next.
? For more about the book, musical inspirations and about the author, check out my interview with Erin Hahn!
My rating : 4,5 drops !
Thank you to Wednesday Books, MacMillan International for the ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.
Trigger warnings: drinking, drug abuse, blood, death of parents, mention of suicide, dead bodies.
Diversity: One main character is Puerto Rican (Jason), one side-character is in a f/f relationship.
Opposite of Always, Justin A. Reynolds
Opposite of Always sounded like the kind of book I’d fall in love with: a boy falling in love, hard, only to lose her… then finding himself reliving their first meeting, over and over again as he tries and fails to save her. Heartbreaking? Yes. Count me in, I thought.
Jack was such a great main character, one I’ll forever have fond feelings of. His narration, down to earth, funny and endearing, made me smile more than once and made me grow fond of him immediately. The way he cared, the way he never, ever gave up, made me root for him and for Kate, too, as we followed their relationship building up over and over again, making me fall for them every time.
Despite the synopsis, this book leaves a big, big place to parents and to friendships, something that I deeply appreciated, too. I adored the friendships, how complex they were, how realistically they were painted, too. I also loved how present the parents were, how adorable they were together, just as well. The only thing that made me drop a star is the fact that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ending of the book, but still… if you’re looking for a book with amazing, diverse characters, a book to smile, laugh and cry, I 200% recommend this one.
My rating : 4 drops!
A million thanks to HarperCollins, Katherine Tegen Books & Edelweiss for sending me a digital ARC of this book. this did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.
Trigger warnings: absent parents, sick cell disease, racism, a number of scenes are set at a hospital, death of a loved one.
Diversity: the cast of characters is mostly POC. Franny is Puerto Rican, Jillian is from Côte d’Ivoire.
Small Town Hearts, Lillie Vale
Small Town Hearts is one of these books I’m thinking back on, months after I read and… I’m just feeling HAPPY about it and, friends, this is the best feeling.
The entire setting of this book was made for a marshmallow like me. The small town, sea-side, colorful houses, bike rides and sandcastles just… made me so, so happy and dreaming of summer in the middle of winter and the café setting, the cakes, baking and everything else just warmed my heart and my belly as I got really hungry okay. Read this with snacks.
Babe is such a great main character, too, I absolutely loved how she grew and found herself on her own in this story. She had always been part of a trio, surrounded by her friends and as her friends will set off to college, everything will inevitably change. I loved how she slowly found herself, I loved how complex the friendships were as they fell apart and reconstructed. The romance had my heart as it slowly built and grew and made me swoon and Levi was adorable and ugh, I loved this. Definitely recommending it if you’re looking for a soft, sweet, adorable summery kind of book to read.
? For more about the book, inspirations and CAKE, friends, read my interview with the author, Lillie Vale!
My rating : 4,5 drops!
A million thanks to Swoon Reads & MacMillan International for sending me an ARC of this book. this did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.
Trigger warnings: manipulative friendship, mention of casual drug usage (weed, not shown on the page), alcohol consumption (on page), alcohol abuse.
Diversity: bisexual main character.
Did you read any of these books? Do you want to?
Did you read some 2019 debuts just yet and if so, which one(s) were your favorites so far? Let me know in comments!
I just finished You’d be mine and totally loved it ?
Ahh so happy to hear this! 😀
After exams I am totally in for these books ❤
YAY! I hope you’ll love all of them! 🙂
You look at the cover and title and “You’d Be Mine,” can be fool you.
Nothing about it says it will touch on emotions and challenging topics.
Just goes to show you can not judge a book by its cover.
Agree! It was much deeper and tackling harder topics than you expect it to be, at first 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
My pleasure. Happy Sunday
Thank you so much! Have a lovely week! 🙂
Thanks. You too.
Wonderful reviews! I’m so glad to see so many diverse books coming out this year. I love that diversity isn’t a trend, it’s just…part of how books are being published, at least in the YA world. It gives me so much hope for the future of books <3
Thank you so much, Christine! I agree and I hope this continues on and on, it’s so important. <3
Great reviews, Marie <3 All of these are on TBR. Small Town Hearts might end up being my next read.
Oh thank you so much, Nia! <3 I hope you'll love all of them <3
Wonderful reviews! All books sound so great.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Small town hearts is definitely going on my tbr …because the cover is gorgeous and because i am familiar with the authors work from wattpad
YAY I’m so happy to hear this! I hope you’ll love the book 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
I just finished Opposite of Always as well and felt the same way! i loved that it wasn’t solely focused on his romantic relationship but ALL his relationships and how one can affect the others. You’d Be Mine and Small Town Hearts are definitely in my TBR now. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you loved the book as well! I appreciated the friendship so much and loved how they all linked together, too. <3
I hope you'll give the other two books a try 🙂
Thank you! <3
These all sound perfecccct!
I am especially into the sound of Small Town Hearts. Friendships changing is a very particular sort of pain that I feel like we don’t talk about enough. Yes, break ups are the worst but there is also something so lonely and displacing about a friendship that is changing, or maybe ending altogether. Suddenly seeing your friends lives changing around you while yours is staying the safe can trigger some serious insecurity, and I’m always up for reading stories about that.
I 200% agree, I need to read more books about this topic and focusing on friendships breakups, too, as painful as it is to read. It’s happened a lot and it’s good to see it tackled in stories, too. <3
I hope you'll give Small Town Hearts a try! and thank you so much, Lydia <3
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m obsessed with each of these covers! Right now the only one on my official TBR is Small Town Hearts, since I already got it out from the library. I just barely started it, but I already see that I need to set aside time to read this one so I can get immersed in the story.
As for 2019 debuts, hmmm. I think I’ve read books that were debuts for the authors into the YA genre, but I’m not sure if I read any book that was an author’s first published work. But in terms of 2019 releases in general, I read 2 graphic novels that I really enjoyed! One is Bloom by Kevin Panetta and the other is Kiss Number 8 by Colleen A.F. Venable.
I get that, these covers are all stunningly beautiful, really, I can’t get over them haha <3
I hope you'll love Small Town Hearts, it is such a great story!
And ahh, graphic novels! I don't read a lot of them, but I've read and really loved Bloom! I need to check out the other one, thank you so much for your recommendation <3
Ahh, this post made my contemporary heart so happy. 😉 Wonderful reviews, I’m looking forward to reading all three of these!
I thought of you while drafting these reviews, actually, I know we share the same contemporary heart ahah <3 I hope you'll love all of these! Thank you! <3
Aww! Yes, we do hehe <3
These reviews were awesome, Marie! I totally agree about Small Town Hearts – that setting absolutely got me, and the romance was so soft and sweet! I’m actually planning on binge-reading You’d Be Mine, and since it’s one of my most anticipated books of the year, I’m so glad that you liked it! Awesome post!
Oh thank you so much, Jordyn, you’re so sweet! <3
I can't wait for you to read You'd Be Mine, I hope you'll love it just as much as I did <3
I love these mini-reviews, especially the notes on diversity and trigger warnings! Thanks so much, Marie!
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Oh you’re so welcome, I think it’s so important to mention these aspects of a book in reviews 🙂
Thank you!! 🙂
I’m not normally one who reaches for contemporary, but all of these sound great! I’m especially intrigued by you’d be mine because of the great reviews it’s been getting so far. Also , I originally wasn’t planning on reading the opposite of always but I love its cover so much and the premise sounds integrating
Interesting ** hahaha
Ahh this makes me so happy, I LOVE contemporaries and I’m so happy if I could turn you into a contemporary lover haha 😀
You’d be Mine was amazing, I hope you’ll give it a try! And yes, the premise of Opposite of Always is quite unique, I loved how it was handled, too 🙂
I hope you’ll give these books a try! And thank you so much for your comment, Caitlin <3
Thanks for the reviews! I totally plan to read you‘d be mine and hope that I will get to it soon.
Oh you’re so welcome, thank you for reading! I hope you’ll love You’d Be Mine 🙂
I can’t believe i’m saying this, but i kinda wanna read Small Town Hearts… could be the pie on the cover… haha 😀
Ahhhh I get that, that pie… it just looks so yummy 😛
I hope you’ll give this book a try sometime! 🙂
I have all these on my TBR!! And I’ve preordered Opposite of Always and Small Town Hearts but apparently Book Depository wants to take forever to send them to me. *pouts* ?I really love some heartbreaking contemporaries and some super fluffy cute ones. Like what is life without both. ?And I’m particularly looking forward to the foodie parts in Small Town Hearts haha.
Oh nooooooo I’m sorry Book Depository is taking so much time, this has happened with my last pre-order as well, so frustrating. I hope you’ll get them soon and will love them!
AND YES if you love food and cakes you’ll love Small Town Hearts. It has all the cake ??
I love Opposite Always too ????
Ahh yay, this makes me so happy to hear 😀
I loved your reviews! I’ve been meaning to read all of these, so I’ll have to pick up a copy soon!
Oh thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed them 🙂 I hope you’ll give these books a try and will love them 🙂
OMG You’d Be Mine sounds so cute and deep and wonderful!!! Also, yes to parents and friendships, so kudos to the second book!
Wonderful post, darling! xx
Thank you so, so much my sweechie! <3 <3
I read and loved all three of these (Opposite of Always was my highest rated). You’d Be Mine had a lot more depth than I was expecting, and that is what really put it over the top for me. Small Town Hearts was fun and adorable and I think it addressed something a lot of people experience – outgrowing friendships, but let’s be honest, it was all about the summer boy for me. Opposite of Always just hit all the marks for me. It was funny and touching and the story swept me away.
YAY, I’m so happy you enjoyed all of these books as well! Opposite of Always was such a great book, I get why you loved it so much 🙂
Great reviews Marie! I really liked how you’d be mine dealt with the darker side of fame and that really hit me well. I’m also super excited to read opposite of always 🙂
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you liked it as well and hope you’ll love Opposite of Always 😀
Lovely mini reviews, I really enjoyed reading them! I’ve read You’d Be Mine already and I loved it! I also ordered Opposite of Always and I’m excited to read it. The synopsis of Small Town Hearts sounds amazing and I really want to read it now! ?
Thank you so much!! I hope you’ll love Opposite of Always and Small Town Hearts, both were such great reads 😀
You’d Be Mine is ready to read. Opposite of Always is awesome because it’s about all his relationships. Great reviews Marie! ?❤️
YAY! Thank you so much! 😀
You are an angel for adding the Goodreads buttons. ♡ Definitely going to read Opposite of Always!!
Oh you’re so welcome! <3 I know I always need these when I read reviews, to go directly on goodreads haha. I hope you'll love Opposite of Always! 🙂