The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I relistened to this book on Audible with awesome dual narrations by Fiona Hardingham as Emily, Shaun Grindell as Damon. I found this 2nd time around gripping, haunting and relevant as the GAME becomes clearer and sicker. Teens will find this a great story packed with suspense and a lesson about the mistakes that can be made.
I received this ARC at ALA Philadelphia in January. I loved the mystery, drama and how the reader sees Damon's perspective and Emily's in the alternating chapters. I was totally surprised to learn about The Game(s)and was glad Emily and Damon both figure out (together) what happened to Ashlee. The PTSD that Emily's dad suffered from alienated her mom but Emily still believed and loved her dad. Damon was fighting his own demons with the loss of his dad and the final night he can't remember with Ashlee. I couldn't put this book down, it had the right amount of mystery to drag you in and keep on turning those pages. The only thing I think teens in the US will not enjoy is the dialect the author and her characters use; I found it foreign (and I understood all the words, phrases, etc.) and American teens will notice as well.

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Trust by Kylie Scott

Trust by Kylie Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well I just learned while reading reviews on this YA romance that it is considered "new adult" (from a Goodreads reviewer "What is the NA genre? New adult (NA) fiction, also rendered as new-adult fiction, is a developing genre of fiction with protagonists in the 18–30 age bracket!") I have never read anything by Kylie Scott but I will certainly be in the near future because this 2017 book was awesome! Edie runs into a convenience store for snacks and becomes a drug-crazed tweeker's hostage (and boy is she brutalized!) and if not for another teen (trying to save her) in the store, Edie and this guy, John, become the latest news story. How this encounter changes both of them is real, funny, gritty, and makes them both stronger (in different ways). As their friendship deepens, they realize no one can really understand what they went through and they begin to look out for one another and spend more time together. Edie and John are great protagonists, their friends Anders and Hang are supportive, while I found Edie's mom too annoying and suffocating, and I was horror filled that John's parent's aren't even around!!! As they traverse their friendship and life, with each 0ther, and their friends and supportive therapist, I rooted for them to overcome their trauma, continue their undeniable bond of trust, and become something more and deeper!

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What To Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just loved Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum so as soon as I knew she was writing another YA novel, I pre-ordered it and dove right in. I read this wonderful, serious, funny, definitely sad book in one day, but the SAD was integral to the story of Kit Lowell sitting at David Drucker's lunch table. Kit is popular but grieving the death of her dad and really can't deal right now with her friends' company, sympathy, etc.(not that she tells them this). Kit sitting with David (OMG, their growing friendship was palpable, sweet, engrossing) changes his (and Kit's) life. David and Kit were such authentic characters; you rooted for them, wanted to punch them (you will see), and you hoped & prayed their friendship was string enough to survive reality that is HS life. The book is told in alternating chapters by Kit & David and really spoke to me about them as real teens. David was such a great character, being on the spectrum of autism (which he doesn't really think he has) and totally supported by his family was so nice to see in YA literature. But I really liked the way Buxbaum let us see David's thoughts (and desires) about Kit. She becomes the reason he really tries to be more normal- his sister is away at college & they do a lot of FaceTime- Miney helps & supports David. Due to his sister's deep abiding love- David keeps a notebook on his thoughts of his classmates, who to talk to, and who to stay away from. He has been bullied by Justin & Gabriel since middle school and this is detailed in his notebook too. But as he comes to wonder & rely on seeing and talking to Kit everyday at lunch (his sister tells him to text Kit too) you see his awkwardness but since he is so intelligent and his sister has tried to drum normalness into him, David becomes so much more to Kit and to the reader. You feel his loneliness, his yearning, his intelligence as he begins to look Kit (and others) in the eye, uses his headphones less, look around as he walks in the school halls. I really enjoyed the new David with clothes and haircut (just as everyone else does, but Kit already saw that David) and I loved David's honesty when he told Kit she was beautiful and in his thoughts how he loved her just as she was (with or without makeup, nice clothes, smiling or crying) I just could not put this book down, Kit and David are two protagonists I really enjoyed getting to know, teens will like the HS drama, develop empathy for those who are different and despise the horrible bullying for teens like David.

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This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston

a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32333615-this-is-our-story" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is a #yabookchat discussion Sunday 12/4 at 9pm EST and this book is the ultimate mystery. Read this book and join our chat! Kate Marino has been secretly texting Grant Perkins until the morning he is shot by one of his friends. The title is APT, all 4 friends give the SAME story, OUR STORY. As Kate works part time in the DA's office, she is devastated with Grant's loss, his friends sticking to their story, and as she learns more and more through transcripts, videos of the friends, and others who were with the boys the night before at a party at the hunting lodge, she takes her camera and takes hidden photos of the boys as they gather together, argue and fight. What are they hiding? Kate will be beyond surprised as she finds out more and more about the case, and the boys. It was beyond creepy when the murderer narrated a chapter in bold black type (I never figured out who it was). What will the DA and Kate uncover? A gripping whodunit with suspense and hostile witnesses.

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