monday minis: Feelings, wo-o-o feeeeeelings...

I am on such an amazing reading roll right now! I’m catching up on the TBR pile, everything has been at 4.5 stars but my last batch were super emotional and gut punchy.

I can’t even begin to dive too deeply into them because it will drudge it all up again – but they were worth recommending so they get the mini treatment insread.

via GIPHY

Heels Over Head by Elyse Springer
Source: KU

Jeremy Reeve is one of the best divers in the world, and he’s worked hard to get where he is. He intends to keep pushing himself with one very clear goal in mind: winning gold at the summer Olympics in two years. That medal might be the only way to earn his father’s respect as an athlete.

Brandon Evans is everything Jeremy isn’t: carefree, outgoing, and openly gay. With his bright-blue eyes and dramatic tattoos, he’s a temptation that Jeremy refuses to acknowledge. But Jeremy can’t ignore how talented Brandon is—or that Brandon has no interest in using his diving skills to compete.

They’re opposites who are forced to work together as teammates, but Jeremy’s fear of his own sexuality and Brandon’s disinterest in anything “not fun” may end their partnership before it begins. Until a single moment changes everything, and they help each other discover that “team” can also mean family and love. ~ Goodreads

My thoughts: One of the better NA and M/M novels I’ve read in a long time. Super emotional hate to love romance between two divers (one closeted the other out and proud). I loved the different approaches to training for the Olympics, life goals, a look at homelessness and financial struggles, the idea of a chosen family, and the inclusion of an awesome female friend that isn’t just hanging around as window dressing. Things got pretty ugly with the romance and TW for homophobic slurs from Jeremy’s family and even Jeremy as he grapples with his sexual identity.


You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour, David Levithan
Source: Um…not sure lol From one of the book cons

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, You Know Me Well is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time. ~ Goodreads

My thoughts: Told in the alternating chapters of Mark and Katie – both gay – and both on a quest for love – You Know Me Well is about unrequited love, fear, changing friendships. This was a whole heap of awkward, painful coming of age drama. It was awkward, beautiful, honest and bittersweet. Really well done.


The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Source: Own

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true? ~ Goodreads

My thoughts: Damn people! You have a very different definiton of a happy book than I do! I mentioned on twitter that I had been reading (excellent) books that were leaving me a little sad and asked if this was upbeat and everyone is like YES! It’s amazing. Fair enough – it was amazing but also…sad. Or at least not the solid HEA – swoon that I was hoping for. BUT – if you are looking for  a story where one day, one person can change a life in ways you never imagined, then read The Sun is Also a Star. I actually liked it more than Yoon’s debut Everything, Everything. Recommend to fans of Gayle Foreman’s Just One Day.

So if you're looking for an ALL the feels kind of book, these three should do the trick.

P.S. Highlight for SPOILERS - for the last two - they do not end with traditional HEA's. No one dies or anything, and they have hopeful endings but YAY! happily ever after endings. END SPOILER