Review: When You Smile by Melissa Brayden*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: When You Smile
Author: Melissa Brayden
Genre: LGBTQIA+ Romance

Trigger warnings:  Death Of A Parent

Rating: ★★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Open Door) 

Have you ever had a crush on your babysitter? Taryn Ross sure did. Sixteen-year-old Charlotte was sophisticated, thoughtful, gorgeous, and fun. Taryn counted the minutes until they’d hang out. But Charlotte and her family moved away.

Now a transfer student at Hillspoint University, Taryn is ready to officially come out when she runs into a familiar face at a party. Charlie, now a grad student, insists on walking a drunk Taryn home. To the detriment of Taryn’s heart (and libido), Charlie has only grown kinder (and hotter) with time.

Charlie Adler has a five-year plan: finish her MFA without any hiccups, figure out a timeline for her engagement, and become an acclaimed fiction writer. Easy, right? That is until Taryn shows up at Hillspoint and shakes up her world like a snow globe. This Taryn is different: soulful, brooding, and all grown up. Charlie’s never been attracted to a woman before, and isn’t dating your one-time charge against the rules? If only their toe-curling, mind-dulling, body-aching chemistry would calm the hell down.

When You Smile is the latest sapphic romance novel from author Melissa Brayden. This was my first time reading anything from the author but I was very quickly hooked into the story and fell completely in love with both Charlie and Taryn.

Charlie and Taryn were an adorable couple who totally captured my heart and their romantic scenes had me smiling from ear to ear. The strong communication and openness between the two of them was also brilliant to see portrayed within romantic fiction.

Both Charlie and Taryn were wonderful quirky protagonists. Despite the age gap they were both mature and it was great to see their passions (writing and photography respectively) explored within the story too. The portrayal of Charlie’s grief following the loss of her mother, who was a single parent, was a particular strength of the book. The side characters were also a highlight for me, particularly Caz and Sasha who were absolutely hilarious. I also loved Taryn’s parents and the way they instantly welcomed Charlie in like she was one of their own, giving her the family she had missed since the death of her mother.

This was a great book to read in Pride month as it focuses on Charlie’s sexuality awakening when she finds herself attracted to a woman for the first time. It really felt like this topic was generally handled with care and I liked the fact that Charlie and Taryn took their relationship slowly. Taryn had already come out as a lesbian prior to the start of the story but she was also inexperienced in WLW relationships which created a nice dynamic between the two of them. When we got to them, the spicy scenes were also well written and felt really realistic, especially for inexperienced characters, which I really loved.

I will say that I would have liked a little more exploration into Charlie’s sexuality as it felt like it went from ‘I was straight and now I’m a lesbian’, which is ultimately bisexual erasure and my pet-hate in books exploring sexuality awakening.

When You Smile was an easy five star book for me until the final quarter or so of the book. There was a third act breakup which did feel misaligned with the rest of the book and the relationship Taryn and Charlie had. Miscommunication and not working issues out like adults didn’t feel true to the characters we knew Taryn and Charlie to be so the choice to add conflict in this way didn’t sit right with me. I also didn’t like the direction they took Danny’s mum in either, it didn’t fit the tone of the rest of the story and felt like a poor attempt to add a bit of angst to the plot. All of this reduced the book to a four star for me but it doesn’t take away from the many strengths of the rest of the book.

Overall, When You Smile is a sweet and easy sapphic romance. It was my first Melissa Brayden read but won’t be my last.

Review: The Gossip Games by Allie Sarah*

     *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: The Gossip Games
Author: Allie Sarah
Genre: Young Adult Romance

Trigger warnings:  Biphobia & Characters Outed By Others.

Rating: ★★★

The Gossip Games is a Young Adult romance which combines both the fake dating trope and the best friend’s sibling trope. Dean is Gracie’s best friend’s brother and when a rumour about them dating starts up around their boarding school, they dare each other to go along with it to see who would give in and reveal the truth first. This really takes a different spin on the usual fake dating stories and sets The Gossip Games apart from other YA novels featuring that trope.

Allie Sarah has done a fantastic job of creating some characters which are far more complex than we often see in YA fiction, which is no mean feat in a debut work. There were other characters which were under-developed but I think this was down to the battle between a lack of page space and the very large number of characters introduced throughout the story, many of whom weren’t really relevant to the overall narrative. I understood the need to world-build somewhat given that it is the first book in the Trinity High Series but it ended up coming across like random characters were being thrown into scenes simply so we’re aware of them prior to a feature in a later story in the series. I’d rather the focus have been more on fully developing the characters that were relevant to this story and a choice made to only introduce other characters as and when they were relevant in later books.

We have strong bisexual and gay representation in the supporting characters and the book explores teenage experiences of coming out in a brilliant way. There is a storyline surrounding a character being outed by a member of their family, which is worth noting if that content is likely to be triggering for you as a reader. We also see a real diverse range of family types which is an important inclusion in the story. There is some good mental health representation through Gracie experiencing panic attacks and my heart melted for the incredible way Dean supported her through them.

I liked Trinity High as the setting for the book – despite the baffling lack of teachers supervising anything the students seem to do – and will be really interested to see how the school is further explored in later books in the series. On top of this, I also thought the Ashcroft family dynamic was a really interesting one and it added a unique element to the story. I would have loved further exploration of the inner-family workings and relationships as all interactions between the Ashcroft adults and teenagers seems rushed but hopefully this is something that can be further explored in later books in the series. With the next book focusing on Jesse, I did wonder if we were going to see a book focusing on each of the Ashcroft teenagers and I do think this would be a lovely direction to take the series in.

The romance between Gracie and Dean was very sweet and a good exploration of first love. Outside of the fake dating plot, their love story is a good example of a slow burn romance and I was really rooting for them. It did feel at times like their romance would have been more fitting in 14/15 year old characters rather than 17/18 year olds as it was quite juvenile at times. I’ve spoken before in previous YA reviews about my passion for the inclusion of sex in YA romances where fitting to the story and I do feel like it was missing from The Gossip Games, particularly given the age of the characters and the number of times in the story that they’re away together without adult supervision. Potential exploration of a first sexual relationship was suggested at the very beginning of the story as the fake dating stems from rumours that Gracie and Dean are sleeping together and Gracie briefly mentions being a virgin in response to this but it’s the last time that sex is really mentioned at all. Whilst this may have been intentional to market the book at younger YA readers, I think a book focusing on the lives of characters on the cusp of adulthood naturally navigates itself towards the older end of the YA demographic who are at a point in their lives where they’re starting to explore sex and relationships. It is therefore important that these themes are also explored in the books they’re reading and a story like The Gossip Games could have been a good platform for this so it is a shame it was completely missed out.

The Gossip Games is a short novel and in trying to keep it short and sweet I think we do miss out on getting an in-depth exploration of some aspects of the story. The fake dating plot is introduced to the story really quickly and it probably would have worked better to have at least a few chapters worth of character development and build up first. Time could also jump forwards suddenly in the middle of the chapter – moving the story on by days or weeks at a time – and this on top of the frequent paragraph breaks mid-conversation to change character perspective really effected the overall flow of the story and made it hard to follow at times.

The writing style and plot points could be quite juveniles at times and some aspects of the plots – such as the storyline involving Blake – were very predictable. I did find some interactions between Dean and Gracie frustrating as they seemed to realise their feelings for each other and then convince themselves they were just friends repeatedly over the course of the story. We had repeated kiss scenes which were clearly just for them and not to further their fake dating story, yet they kept returning to the idea that they had no feelings for each other at all. Although some of this could be put up to teenagers experiencing love for the first time and not knowing what it all means, it did become quite repetitive and I was begging them to just hurry up and realise their feelings.

Overall, The Gossip Games is a good debut YA romance which I know teen readers will love. More mature fans of the YA genre may struggle with some aspects of the storytelling as I did, but if you’re just after a fake dating story which is an easy read and features a cutesy romance than this is the book for you. I teetered between rating the book 3* and 4* as I know that many of the issues I had with the story stem from the fact that I am an adult reader of YA fiction and I do know that teenage Chloe would have adored the book. I’m definitely keen to see where Allie Sarah takes the series and do look forward to reading future works by her.

The Gossip Games by Allie Sarah will be published on 18th April 2023.

Review: Lightkeepers by Kennedy Plumb*

    *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: Lightkeepers
Author: Kennedy Plumb
Genre: Young Adult Romance / Retelling

Trigger warnings:  Cults, Forced Self Harm, Verbal Sexual Harassment, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Guns

Rating: ★★★★★

Lightkeepers is a modern retelling of the Disney movie Tangled told through a dual perspective narrative following our two main characters: Zella and Ryder. Seventeen-year-old Zella is trapped in a dangerous cult, kept in isolation in a lighthouse since birth as the first “Child of the Lighthouse” and the daughter of the program’s leader. Ryder is in the foster care system and has been moved around from family to family his entire life. One night, Ryder is seeking shelter and he climbs through the window of a remote lighthouse, straight into Zella’s bedroom. He introduces Zella to life outside the lighthouse and a connection starts to grow between the two of them.

The events of the story take place over the course of a matter of days so the book is fast paced and relatively short. There is a wild twist at the end of the story which I really wasn’t expecting so props to the author. Despite the story taking place over such a short timeframe, there’s still so much character development in both our protagonists and it was a joy to see the characters grow as they spend more time together and start to bring out the best in each other. Despite covering some dark themes, there’s humour woven throughout the story, particularly in the interactions between Ryder and Zella.

Breaking up each chapter is a page sharing something relating to the events of the chapter just gone, utilising a range of different forms of media. This includes documentation about the cult Zella is trapped in, newspaper reports, social media comment streams and little lists Ryder has made. This inclusion is very in keeping with the YA genre and does a wonderful job of supporting world building without taking too much away from the narrative.

I enjoyed the little nods to the Disney film sprinkled throughout the book, such as the use of Eugene as Ryder’s new surname after he’s adopted and the naming of Zella’s cat as ‘Pax’ in tribute to Pascal the chameleon.

Although this may be a retelling of a Disney story, it is quite dark and does covers some difficult subject matter. As a result of this, there are a number of important content warnings I want to signpost people to before reading and you can find these listed at the top of the post.

Both Zella and Ryder are instantly loveable characters who are really genuine and easy to connect with. Between them a beautiful romance blossoms which is the perfect wholesome exploration of first love. Through Ryder’s story we get a really powerful insight into the American foster care system and I particularly enjoyed watching him grow and mature throughout the story.

Our antagonist was ‘Mother’ - aka Zella’s mum and the leader of the cult – and the evil of her character was explored through initially subtle detailing which became more apparent as the book progressed (and as Zella became more disillusioned with the program), building a sense of mounting menace over time. It was a tad easier for Zella to overcome her than I would have liked but it was ultimately in keeping with the genre.

This was my first experience of the world of fairy-tale retellings but I absolutely devoured the story in one sitting and it’s definitely got me hooked on the genre.  

Have you read a good fairy-tale retelling? Leave your recommendations below!

Review: The Davenports by Krystal Marquis*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity..

 Caution - This review does contain spoilers.

Title: The Davenports
Author: Krystal Marquis
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings:  Racism, Violence

Rating: ★★★

In 1910, the Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they're not supposed to.

There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married. . . until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love—unless it's with her sister's suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business—and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen's brother, John. But Olivia's best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can't seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.

The plot of The Davenports focuses on the way that different characters are challenging societal expectations of them, be it due to race, gender or class, when it comes to both their ambitions and who they fall in love with. For example, Helen Davenport is most at home when working on cars and reading books about engineering and she craves opportunity to work in the family business but as woman she is expected to merely marry, bear children for her husband and run a household. And Amy-Rose has ambition to open up her own hair salon and has romantic interest in John Davenport, Oliva and Helen’s brother and the heir to the Davenport business empire, but her status as a servant is a significant barrier in her way.

There is also conflict between societal expectations regarding who each character should marry and who their heart is actually with. For example, Ruby’s parents want her to marry John Davenport to secure their financial future but her heart is with a man called Harrison Barton and John’s heart is with Amy-Rose, despite the class barrier that exists between them. The way that the relationships in the story overlap is a really interesting component to the story and it’s something which I think sets The Davenports aside from other YA historical fiction novels.

Through the character of Olivia Davenport and her love interest Washing DeWight, The Davenports explores the social movement against the Jim Crow Laws. Despite being the daughter of a former slave and having experienced racism herself, Olivia seems to have been raised in a way where her privilege sheltered her from the true reality of the oppression experienced by Black Americans and her understanding of and passion for the civil rights movement builds throughout the novel. Education about slavery and the early push towards race equality in America seems to be missing from history classes across the world. Whilst I feel that ultimately change is needed within the education system in reflection of this, I do feel like YA books could be a valuable vehicle for educating young people on these topics in addition to this and characters such as Olivia could be powerful in facilitating this.

The chapters alternate between four perspectives: Olivia, Helen, Amy-Rose and Ruby. Early on in the novel I started to find myself wondering if the book would work better focusing on the story of one of the characters rather than alternating so many perspectives. Although I typically enjoy what dual perspective narratives can bring to a story, when it comes three or four perspectives it can get a bit much and this was unfortunately the case with The Davenports. As soon as you started to settle into the story of one of the girls, the chapter would change and our focus would be completely shifted. I found this to mean that I didn’t have chance to forge the connection I desire to build with the characters I’m reading about and therefore I didn’t find myself rooting for them in the same way as I would have wanted to. Whilst all of the perspectives were interesting, utilising the opportunity for a series with each novel focusing on a different character/love story would have allowed us to explore each character in greater depth. Although I do appreciate that this could have been complicated given that the overlap of relationships was central to the plot.  

Despite all four romantic relationships going from strength to strength as the novel progresses, the final chapters see the couples face significant turbulence in their relationships, resulting in break ups (some stated, some implied). These break ups were orchestrated quickly and rather messily in some cases and whilst I appreciate that a bit of a ‘will they, won’t they’ plot is likely to entice readers to the sequel, suddenly putting all four relationships on the rocks seemed like overkill. Only one conflict is resolved by the end of the book and getting such little resolution made the book feel like it ended prematurely and this left a bad taste in my mouth, despite me having generally enjoyed the rest of the story. I’m not saying we should have had happily ever afters all round, but I felt that at least another one or two of the relationship conflicts should have had at least some resolution before the book ended. It was this lack of resolution that moved the book from a 4* to a 3* read for me.

I did find it interesting that this story is a YA novel despite the characters being either adults or on the very cusp of adulthood. To fit within the genre, aspects of the story such as sex were really glossed over and this was something that missed the mark for me. One of the later chapters of the story closes by implying that Olivia loses her virginity to Harrison but it’s not made clear and I think this was a big misstep by the author. Becoming intimate with a man is something which plays an important part in Olivia’s character development and coming of age story and therefore I felt it deserving of more attention than it was given. Yes, attitudes to sex and relationships before marriage would have been different at the turn of the twentieth century but that is surely all the more reason to dedicate page space to exploring Olivia’s thoughts and feelings surrounding the event. This may be personal preference due to my own passion for sex-positivity within literature but I think it’s important that sex scenes aren’t shied away from in YA novels if it’s right for the plot of the story and should instead be explored in a way which is suitable for the YA audience. Rather than implying sex was had and then swiftly moving on, I felt it would have been more appropriate to grant the scene the attention it deserved and this did impact on my overall view of the novel.

Overall, I felt that the concept of the story was really interesting but unfortunately the delivery of it fell flat. I feel the plot would have been better executed through the structure of a series with one book per character and this would allow us to explore each character’s story in the depth it deserves and would also remove the apparent necessity to focus the ending on providing an unnecessary cliff-hanger.