Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Let me be clear, Gwendolyn. I would rather be swallowed up into the bowels of hell and enter an arrangement with the fallen angel Lucifer than date Jordy Miller again.”

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

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Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listeners copy. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. This was very nearly a five-star book for me, but the third act conflict didn’t really work for me, so it’s a four now. This made me very sad because the rest of the book was so much fun. What we’ve got here is your standard “I dated a first-class prick this one time until he cheated on me and now he wants to date me […]

I wish I would have known Chloe was based on Paris Geller and Kat Stratford before I read this.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

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As nearly always happens with me upon reading a book that generates such strong opinions in both directions, I am puzzled by the negative reactions here. I’ve seen so many people saying they hate Chloe as a main character, and I’m like, why? She’s just a teenaged girl. Granted, one that is inspired by, among others, Paris Geller and Kat Stratford, so she’s a bit more intense and difficult than your average teenager, but she’s still just a kid, and kids make dumb choices. I […]

“I care about you, okay? I like you, even though you’re prickly as hell and looking at me like you wish I would vaporize, and you think ketchup is a vegetable.”

Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

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Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for the ARC! It hasn’t affected the content of my review. I was slightly skeptical of this book going in, as I always am with YA these days, but I couldn’t resist the premise. I’m really glad I gave in to my impulse on this one, because this book was really cute, and surprisingly emotionally harrowing at the same time. The premise here is that Atherton’s star quarterback died in a drunk driving accident over the […]

Yes, Darcy, you are queer!

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 2 Book 5/30 I haven’t read a really solid, really good bordering on great contemporary YA novel in what feels like a really long time. Actually, I just scrolled back through my GR reading challenges, and the last really good/great YA contemporary I read was Concrete Rose back in January 2021. So it has been a while! Perfect on Paper isn’t life-changing or anything, it’s just a really well done YA novel, a classic of the form. It certainly […]

Ranging from Excellent to Mediocre

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

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None of these books fit into my reviewing theme this year (revisiting series I’d never finished), but I wanted to review Clap When You Land anyway because it is excellent, and I decided to throw the other three in as a bonus. Clap When You Land: 5 stars. Plot: Camino lives in the Dominican Republic with her Tia and sees her father every summer, when he comes back from New York City to visit. When his plan tragically crashes and everyone aboard dies, she discovers […]

A super fun YA love story.

Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon

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At the bookstore, I glanced at the inset of this novel and shrugged. Frankly in Love was great, but it felt like a fluke. Could David Yoon make another fake setup work? Yes, my friends. He totally did. Instead of a fake-dating scenario, we have a nerdy boy trying to impress a pretty girl by faking being in a metal band (like his older brother) and hiding his nerdy modeling habit and SFX video-making by dressing like a rockstar (again, like his brother). Of course, […]



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