YA Romance – Enby Yourself

Title: Dungeons and Drama

Author: Kristy Boyce

Year: 2024

Genre: YA fiction, YA romance, Dungeons and Dragons, Musical Theater,

Queer shit: mlm side relationship, musical theater, D&D

Vibe Check: Musical theater fan fake dates a D&D fan, not only do they enjoy fake flirting but they find their interests overlap in beautiful and magical ways

Pile of Opinions: Soooo cute!!! Adding this to the list of books I wish I’d had as a teenager along with everything Elise Bryant, Michelle Quach, and Anna-Marie McLemore ever write. I’m looking forward to going back and reading the author’s other books. I love all the characters and everything felt so real and believable and raw in the way only good YA writing can feel. This book had me laughing out loud and getting second hand butterflies and I am here for it. A musical theater fanatic gets grounded and her “punishment” is working at her dad’s gaming store for 8 weeks. She is trying to revive the canceled spring play but gets sucked into the world of D&D. What starts as part of her cover fake dating Nathan so her douchey ex boyfriend stops pitying her and so Nathan’s crush will get jealous and finally give him the time of day quickly turns into an “is this real or just part of the act” as the two start to fall for each other. This felt every bit the teenage dream of exploring the world beyond what is right in front of you and finding friends in unlikely and unexpected places. This book is for Dungeons and Dragons fanatics, musical theater enthusiasts, and readers of sweet romance and young love. I am definitely buying the physical copy when it comes out January, 2024, and will be on the lookout for the author’s other books as well. Let me know if you’ve read this and what you thought in the comments!

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Title: The Boy You Always Wanted

Author: Michelle Quach

Year: 2023

Genre: YA fiction, YA romance, coming of age, Asian-American experience, Family dynamics, multi-generational

Queer shit: I feel like some was mentioned in passing but nothing significant

Vibe Check: Sweet family with some cycles to break, Eldest daughter attempts to do everything because she loves her family, finding your people

Pile of Opinions: Books about complex family dynamics will always get me, especially cross-generational. I couldn’t tell you if I loved the falling in love pieces of this or the family pieces more but they were all beautiful. Francine’s grandpa is in his final months of life and is discouraged because there is no male heir. Though it is modern day and this isn’t as important as it once was, Francine can see it’s important to her A Gung (grandpa). She decides to try to talk her schoolmate into an old tradition of being a stand-in heir to uplift her A Gungs spirits so he can be at peace for the end of his life. This story explores so many relationships and the lengths we will go to for those we care about. Michelle Quach writes YA feminism in a way that just heals my inner teenager and I can’t get enough. I appreciate authors who use their platform to show the reader a look into their family values and cultural background through their stories. Also showing other family values of similar backgrounds, I love hearing their stories. Learning through stories is one of my favorite ways to learn. Francine’s family was both so relatable as I also grew up in a family where we care for and cater to our elderly and majority women are doing the care tasks. Francine works to convince her classmate, Ollie, to be the stand-in heir as his family has known hers for many years and she hopes he will understand the weight of this ask. And also she so doesn’t have a crush on him anymore and this has nothing to do with that. Francine and Ollie are both Asian-American but they show us how different their family’s treat that. Francine has the classic eldest daughter syndrome of doing everything for everyone and Ollie is mostly just trying to get through his days. Francine’s family is entwined in each others’ lives, especially once her grandparents moved in, and Ollie’s family is mostly his dog as his parents work long hours. Watching these two navigate family expectations, as well as high school, shows the depth of their characters and the burdens and priorities teenagers take on from their parents. This was a very heartfelt sweet read. Let me know if you’ve read it and what you thought in the comments. Thank you Michelle for teaching us through stories.

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