Autoboyography - Book Review

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Author

Goodreads Choice Nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction 2017

Audible Best of the Year Finalist 2017

ALA Rainbow List Finalist

30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalist 

Vulture Best Queer YA Novels

Fangirl meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this funny and poignant coming-of-age novel from New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren about two boys who fall in love in a writing class—one from a progressive family and the other from a conservative religious community.

Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.

My Review
Page Count: 407 pgs/9 hrs., 19 mins. 
Narrator: Deacon Lee, Kyle Mason
Genre: YA Comtemporary, LGBTQ, Romance
Stand-Alone Novel

I listened to the audio book. The narrators were excellent. 

I really loved this book. I noticed on Goodreads that some people said that there were some issues with the writing, but I found the story line so endearing that those issues didn't bother me. This book made me feel so many things, that it is hard to process them all at once. I definitely think that this is a book that will stick with me for a long time. 

This book touches on very important issues pertaining to the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS/Mormon) and homosexuality. One of the protagonists has to come to terms with his sexuality while he tries to reconcile how he feels with the Church's teachings that he has believed for his entire upbringing. 

Tanner and Autumn's friendship is wonderful. She is part of the LDS church, but she accepts Tanner completely. They have a sweet, easy way about them, and their friendship perseveres despite some of the conflicts that arise. 

Tanner's parents are WONDERFUL. They accept him and love him unconditionally, and treat him like a person, not a project to be fixed. It was so nice to read about happy family dynamics. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It took me through a roller coaster of emotions, and I feel like I learned a few lessons along the way. Go check it out!

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Always and Forever, Lara Jean - Book Review

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Author

Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.
Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My Review

Page Count: 325 pgs./9 hrs, 5 mins.
Genre: YA Contemporary
Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Book 3

I liked this book a lot more than P.S. I Still Love You. The character development really grew in this book, and Lara Jean grew a lot as a person. The family dynamics in this book are wonderful, and I enjoy reading about a happy home. 

Always and Forever, Lara Jean deals with real teenage issues, such as college, long-distance relationships, growing apart, and finding yourself. Lara Jean has to deal with rejection as well as learn how to balance life at home and life at school. 

I appreciated that the author took a more mature approach with Lara Jean in this book. Her relationship troubles are more realistic, and the relationships weren't all sweet smiles and immature issues. This was a very satisfying and enjoyable conclusion in the Lara Jean trilogy. Lara Jean's and Peter's relationship went to a new level, and I enjoyed Peter a lot more than in the last book. He really matured in this novel. 

The narrator for the audiobook, Laura Knight Keating, is very enjoyable to listen to, and she captures Lara Jean perfectly. Go check it out!

Other Books in the To All the Boys I've Loved Before Series

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her, these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved.

When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only.

Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control. 

P.S. I Still Love You

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.

They were just pretending. Until they weren’t. And now Lara Jean has to learn what it’s like to be in a real relationship and not just a make believe one.

But when another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him suddenly return, too.

Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE, Lara Jean is about to find out that falling in love is the easy part.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before Movie

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Dear Martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher

Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning New York Times bestselling debut, a William C. Morris Award Finalist.

Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.

Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.

My Review
Format: Audiobook
Length: 273 Minutes | 4.5 hours
Genre: YA Literature, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction
Series: N/A
Content Warning: profanity, language, fighting, racial slurs, racism, police brutality

This book is so powerful. I absolutely love that the protagonist, Justyce McCallister, starts his journey to be like Martin Luther King Jr. by writing letters to him. Overall, this was a short, but beautiful, powerful read, and I highly recommend it!

The Good: 

• The format. This book is written in prose as well as letters that Justyce writes to MLK. The letters really complemented the storytelling and supported the character development. 
• Justyce. Justyce is a very likable character. He has flaws, but he tries to do the right thing, even if it is hard...just like Martin. His growth in this novel is phenomenal.
• The narrator is excellent. He did a great job of making the story come to live and giving each character their own voice.   
• The story does not shy away from hot topic issues such as police brutality and racism. 
• The characters were well developed. Nic Stone did a great job of bringing forth their personalities, humor, flaws, and all. They were depicted as normal people. There were a few extreme characters (you will know when you come across them in your reading), but overall these are characters that I might encounter in a normal day, which was refreshing and made the book more authentic and realistic. 

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Turtles All the Way Down

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher

It’s quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see.

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.
   
Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. 

In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

My Review
It is really hard to put all of my thoughts into words. Turtles All the Way Down is a book that makes you think...and think...and then think some more. This book contains some of the best descriptions of anxiety I have ever read. The character development was pretty good, especially Aza's character. She grew so much in this novel, and it was wonderful to see. I also enjoyed Daisy's character. Even though she was very wacky at times, she was human. She loved Aza, but also got frustrated with her because her mental illness affected Daisy too. Don't let the synopsis fool you. It reads as if the main plot is about finding Davis's father, Russell Pickett; however, this book is really about Aza's mental illness and her struggle in daily life. 

As someone who suffers from anxiety, sometimes this book was hard to read because the descriptions were things I have felt or experienced. Sometimes this book feels like you are in the middle of a panic attack. Your heart races, you can't get your thoughts together, sometimes you feel like you are dying, and you feel EVERYTHING all at once. I have seen a lot of reviewers state that they did not like that the book made them feel that way, but I am glad it did. This is such a raw, rare glimpse into how anxiety works, and it is hard to understand if you've never experienced it. John Green did such a good job writing this novel in a way that makes readers FEEL anxiety and how it can take over every aspect of your life. This book made me feel understood, and it made me feel like it is OK to feel the things I do because that is how mental illness affects everything. 

Aza talks about "thought spirals." Basically, your thoughts keep spiraling, getting tighter and tighter with no end, which is something that I experience very frequently. “The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely.” This is exactly what my anxiety feels like! I am in constant battle with my negative thoughts, and most of the time they win. Reading about Aza's thoughts and struggles  makes me and my thoughts feel validated, and I know that I am not alone in this battle against mental illness. 

I also like that John Green addressed mental illness medications in this book. Unless you are someone who has had to take medication for mental illness, Aza's attitude toward her pills might be a little hard to understand. I do have to take medication for my mental illness. Sometimes I take it every day because it does make me feel better. Sometimes my mental illness wins, and I don't take it for days. Some days I simply don't want to take it because I am tired of having to take medication that helps lessen my mental illness but doesn't cure it. Aza feels this way in the book, and it was so refreshing to see such a realistic portrayal of this. 

Again, I am just in awe at how accurate the depictions are in this book. My respect for John Green has increased because of this and because he put his heart into the book. From what I understand, he struggles with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and, because of that, this book feels so incredibly personal. 

Please go read this! You will not be disappointed. 

Favorite Quotes
"To be alive is to be missing."

"Love is not a tragedy or a failure, but a gift." 

"I, a singular proper noun, would go on, if always in a conditional tense." 

"One of the challenges with pain--physical or psychic--is that we can really only approach it through metaphor. It can't be represented the way table or a body can. In some ways, pain is the opposite of language.” 

"You pick your endings, and your beginnings. You get to pick the frame, you know? Maybe you don't choose what's in the picture, but you decide the frame.” 

"Your now is not your forever."

My favorite: “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn't.” 

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