I have a chronic illness, so it was super easy to relate to what the characters were going through! I felt like this book was empathizing with me; I could tell the author truly understands what it’s like to have to readjust your whole life and start all over with "You Version 2.0" (a slow, crappy downgrade).
But I don’t want it to sound like this book is only a touchy-feely kind of story—it’s also hilarious! I especially loved the scenes with Spencer from Animal Control; he’s super funny! Priya and Brigid’s relationship is #goals, and their Discord group chats are amazing!
Teen Wolf meets Emergency Contact in this sharply observed, hilarious, and heartwarming debut young adult novel about friendship, chronic illness, and . . . werewolves.
Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but the fallout from undiagnosed Lyme disease sends her back to her childhood home in New Jersey during her sophomore year-and leaves her wondering if she'll ever be able to return to the way things were.
Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of "oof ouch my bones," a virtual support group that…
We need more books with disability and chronic illness reps! This is a great one, a Beauty and the Beast retelling that just might be my favorite version of the story.
The two main characters, Anwen and Leon, are both likable and sympathetic. They’re each broken in their own way, one cursed to live as a bear (he really hates that fuzzy tail!), and the other scarred across her face and with mobility issues. Their banter is fun, and they’re clearly equals—a great match.
I also like that Anwen is a sorceress and has another love interest. She’s a strong-yet-soft female lead. A wizard’s counsel, an Otherworld, and a snarky shape-shifting sidekick are other excellent additions to the “tale as old as time.”
The only one who can free him is the girl he’s hurt the most.
Cursed for a youthful accident which maimed a young woman, Léon Beauregard roams his mountain as a bear, clinging to the scraps of his humanity. Too bad it’s not working. Every day he loses a little more of himself to the bear and his stupid fuzzy tail. But when Léon comes across Anwen, an enchanter scarred from an accident she doesn’t remember, she promises to free him, because she believes no one deserves this sort of punishment, no matter their crime.
This book has a good chronic-illness rep and a well-written neurodivergent character! It’s an exciting heist/escape story that I saw advertised as being similar to another book I love (and it was!).
Aside from diverse characters and plenty of action and suspense, this book also has excellent world-building. I really want to read more about the world of Teshovar, where magic-users are hunted and their powers “silenced” by a mysterious evil ruler. There’s a nice twist at the end, too!
The Great Akithar is the most famous stage magician in a realm where real magic is outlawed. Over the past decade, Akithar and his troupe have built a reputation–and a home–in the dense coastal city of Klubridge. Every night, he thrills audiences with his controversial performances. Backstage, Akithar hides a secret more dangerous than any of his engineered illusions.
Far inland, an ancient and mysterious tyrant dispatches an elite band of mage hunters to crush magical insurrection. When their hunt brings them to Klubridge, they suspect that Akithar’s magic might be more than mere stage…
One bite on her hand, and Mel has a million problems slipping through her fingers.
After a wild animal attack, Melanie Caldwell ends up sick and disoriented. She and her friends think she just needs to go to the doctor. Then she’s kidnapped on the day of the next full moon, and discovers in the worst way that monsters are real . . . and that she has become one of them.
All Melanie wanted was to get a boyfriend and graduate college. Now she has to somehow deal with agonizing monthly transformations, a secret organization stalking her, friends and enemies trying to discover her secret, and hunters looming on the horizon.
