Take me with you when you go, by David Levithan & Jennifer Niven

I have read plenty of books by both authors and was happy to learn they were co-writing one. They seem to have been friends for quite some time and it’s amazing when two (or more) authors craft a story together.
I feel the need to issue a trigger warning first: this story tackles abuse, so if this is something that might be sensitive for you, maybe pass this one.

This book is written as an email exchange between a brother and his older sister. Epistolary novels always had a special place in my heart and this one is no different. Modernized by the use of emails instead of pen & paper letters, this makes the story more believable, especially for a Young Adult audience…
The story of Bea and Ezra took me by surprise. Their family story is difficult, as their Mom has been dating an abusive man for a long time; however, contrary to most books dealing with this sensitive topic, the step-father is only violent towards the children. There is a twist I did not see coming. I won’t spoil it for you here but I was not expecting this turn of events that changes things for our protagonists. It was something I could relate to, which often creates a deeper bond between the characters and I. Tell me I’m not the only one feeling like this?

This is not an easy read, we (the readers) learn of the events as they are shared in the emails. This is how we both get their backstories and their current lives, away from each other for the first time.
I am often scared that the ending will just feel weird but this time, it seemed like the perfect way to finish the book. This is not a fairy tale, the characters go through a lot (both in the past and in the present, actually).
I loved some of the suportive ones as well, such as Ezra’s boyfriend, or even Franco.

If this is not a trigger, I highly suggest you pick up this book and give it a try. It was hard for me to put it down and even weeks after I finished it, my thoughts still go back to it now and then…

About the authors

David Levithan is known for his gay young male characters, showcasing their struggles and hopes in his stories. He published more than 20 books and has often co-written some.
Jennifer Niven writes about acceptance, about loss, about these difficult feelings and experiences that happen during the teenage years. She’s an advocate for mental health and is not shy to tackle this subject through her characters’ lives.
Both are award-winning celebrated authors in the Young Adult community. Some of their stories have been adaptated for tv or for movie theatres. Some of the most known adaptations include Nick & Norah’s infinite playlist, Naomy & Ely’s no-kiss list, Every Day, Lily & Dash for David Levithan. All the brigth places, from Jennifer Niven, is currently streaming on Netflix; she is also writing the script for Holding up the universe.

Amazon
Chapters-Indigo

Take Me with You When You Go Book Cover Take Me with You When You Go
David Levithan, Jennifer Niven
Young Adult Fiction
Knopf Books for Young Readers
2021
Hardcover
336

Ezra Ahern wakes up one day to find his older sister, Bea, gone. Ezra never expected to be left behind with their abusive stepfather and their neglectful mother. How is he supposed to navigate life without Bea? Bea Ahern already knew she needed to get as far away from home as possible. But a message in her inbox changes everything

I wish you all the best, by Mason Deaver

This book…. was a beautiful read. I got really attached to Ben and their story. Even though I am not part of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I am by association and it is something I want to learn more about because I feel like everyone should feel safe being themselves.
I wish you all the best is the story of Ben, who lives with their parents after their sister left ten years ago. After finally gather the courage to come out to them as non-binary, they are faced with an unexpected reaction: they are kicked out of their home. Their estranged sister (and husband) take them in, and they start a new life at a new school. But trauma is still there, with a lot of other repressed emotions. Ben meets Nathan, who wants to become instant friends…
This book celebrates being different, family trying to do their best, acceptance. I love the passages with the therapist, too.
Cheers to book focusing on characters that are diverse. I really wish books like this one existed when I was a teenager…

About the author

Mason Deaver is a non-binary author and librarian in a small town in North Carolina where the word ‘y’all’ is used in abundance.
When they aren’t writing or working, they’re typically found in their kitchen baking something that’s bad for them, or out in their garden complaining about the toad that likes to dig holes around their hydrangeas.

https://www.masondeaverwrites.com/

Amazon.com
Chapters Indigo

I Wish You All the Best Book Cover I Wish You All the Best
Mason Deaver
Juvenile Fiction
PUSH
14 May 2019
336

When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

Emergency contact, by Mary H.K. Choi

Emergency Contact has been on my “To Be Read Pile” for a very long time. But I had to wait for it to be available at the public library to be able to read it.
Do you know how sometimes you have high hopes about a book but fear of being disappointed? That’s how I was feeling about this one. I found out that either people loved it, or hated it…
I am part of the “I really enjoy reading this story” group, though. The two main characters, Penny and Sam, were relatable in some ways and I grew attached to them. I can totally understand how easier it can feel to be yourself through texts than in-person, as an introvert woman. The characters are quirky and even the secondary ones, like Jude and her best friends, become quite likeable.
I usually enjoy Young Adult books where the parents still have a part in the story, and this is the case in Emergency Contact.
It was a book I enjoyed reading, and the characters were in my thoughts even during my day. That’s usually a good sign of how much I get into a story 🙂

About the author

Mary H.K. Choi is a Korean-American author, editor, television and print journalist.
She is the author of young adult novel Emergency Contact (2018).
She is the culture correspondent on Vice News Tonight on HBO and was previously a columnist at Wired and Allure magazines as well as a freelance writer.

Amazon.com | https://amzn.to/2Wlc8h0
Indigo Chapters | Emergency Contact

Emergency contact Book Cover Emergency contact
Mary H.K. Choi
Young Adult
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
March 27th 2018
Hardcover
394

For Penny Lee high school was a total non-event. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him. 

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

The “Slammed” trilogy, by Colleen Hoover

I have a confession to make: I try to only read book series once all the titles have been released. I HATE having to wait for a sequel and LOVE reading them back-to-back so I stay inside the story until its end.
Luckily, as a person living in Québec, I have access to our wonderful banQ and can borrow a ton of books for free (!).. I borrowed all the Colleen Hoover’s books I could find, that were available; I borrowed Point Of Retreat, not knowing it was the middle book of a trilogy. So I had to wait another week to go grab Slammed. It happens quite frequently in my bibliophile life 😉

Slammed is about Layken, an 18yo young adult who moves with her Mom and younger brother after the sudden death of her Dad. She is not pleased to be uprooted while she is still grieving. Luckily, she is closed with her Mom and her sibling. Layken is pretty independent and knows she needs to grow up in order to help her Mom in this difficult new situation.
On moving day, she meets her neighbor: the handsome Will, and his younger brother. Will is a few years older, and there’s an undeniable connection happening between them. He brings her into his universe: slam poetry.
However, there would not be a story if it was that easy, right?
We follow them as they navigate their relationship.

I also loved the secondary characters: Eddie, Layken’s instant new best friend; her boyfriend Gavin. The two younger brothers are hilarious, as well. And suffice to say that as a Mom myself, I was really touched by Julia.
This book made me mad, sad, it made me laugh out loud and I could not put it down. It was infuriating at times but that’s the point: it made me feel. And sometimes, that’s all that you need from a book…

The other books in this trilogy:

Point of retreat
The second book takes place after the end of Slammed. A lot of changes happened between the two books but we meet again the characters we got attached to in Slammed. Something about Will’s past will resurface… will Lake & Will fight for a future together?

This Girl
Happens right after Point of Retreat. Now that Layken & Will are happy, Lake wants to know as much as possible about Will. This book is told in his point of view and has two timelines: the one happening in Slammed (but this first book is from Layken’s POV)

About the author

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times and International bestselling author of multiple novels and novellas. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. She is the founder of The Bookworm Box, a non-profit book subscription service and bookstore in Sulphur Springs, Texas.

Indigo | Slammed book
Amazon.ca | https://amzn.to/2JuKvAe
Amazon.com | https://amzn.to/2Fi4ddc

Slammed Book Cover Slammed
Slammed
Colleen Hoover
Fiction
Simon and Schuster
18 September 2012
Hardbook
317

Eighteen-year-old Layken struggles with holding her family together after her father dies, until she develops a relationship with her new neighbor, Will, who has a passion for poetry slams and gives her a new sense of hope.

Mud Vein, by Tarryn Fisher


I discovered Tarryn Fisher via the book series she co-wrote with Colleen Hoover, Never Never. These two are best friends in real life and if you’re on Instagram, I urge you to follow them both. They’re honest, funny and unapologetically themselves. Plus, #girlsquadgoals !

There were two things I wanted to know badly: an explanation regarding the title, and what the cover actually meant. I won’t spoil anything but know that both are talked about in the book.

The book tackles trauma in a way that I have never read before. It made me cry, tightened my throat at several occasions but also made me smile and hope for a good outcome. Tarryn Fisher’s writing is unapologetic and raw which makes her voice even more unique, to me.

Another fact that instantly drew me in even more is the use of music in the storyline. And not any kind of music: songs that are part of what I call my “life soundtrack”. They play a pretty big role between the two main protagonists and I absolutely loved it.


About the author

Tarryn was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. She immigrated to America with her parents when she was 13, and spent the next eighteen years in South Florida where she earned her degree in Psychology, wrote her first novel, and had two children. In 2012, on a whim, she moved her family to Seattle, Washington where she currently makes her home safely away from the sun. Tarryn is the founder of Guise of the Villain, a fashion blog, and has written ten published novels. Tarryn is a Slytherin.

Amazon.ca | https://amzn.to/2FgAP79
Amazon.com | https://amzn.to/2U3DZnW

Mud Vein Book Cover Mud Vein
Tarryn Fisher
Fiction
CreateSpace
1 January 2014
Hardcover
284

When reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat...and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found. With her survival hanging by a thread, Senna soon realizes this is a game. A dangerous one. Only the truth can set her free.