A Taste for Love

Liza Yang is trying to make peace with the fact that her mother will never be proud of her no matter what she does.  None of her accomplishments are enough to sway her mom, who is always comparing Liza to her perfect older sister.  Neither parent accepts Liza's desire to go to culinary school even though cooking is their livelihood.  Her dad makes amazing savory dishes and her mom is the most celebrated baker in Houston's Chinatown.  None of that matters.  They want her to get a degree in something "stable."

Her mom's matchmaking attempts are the worst, though!  She's always after Liza to date an Asian boy.  Maybe as a reaction to this, Liza never has.  All her boyfriends have been pretty much the opposite of what her mom wants, and she has kept them all a secret to avoid a confrontation.  It's not that she's completely against dating Asian guys.  It's just that her mom picks all the worst ones to force on her!

Every year her mom hosts a junior baking competition with a local culinary school, and this year Liza decides to volunteer to help out to prove how serious she is about baking.  Liza is surprised by her mom's strangely positive reaction until the first day of the competition.  Instead of the normal mix of contestants vetting on their baking skills, every single competitor is an Asian male close to Liza's age.  Liza is beyond furious!  She can't believe her mom would turn the baking competition into a dating competition.  

Liza actually recognizes two of the competitors.  One is her best friend's new boyfriend, Ben, and the other is Ben's snobby cousin James.  Liza's first impression of James is not good, so she's surprised to discover he actually has baking skills and even more surprised to find herself attracted to him.

Will Liza prove to her mom how serious she is about baking and maybe even date a guy her mom approves of?  Or will this year's competition be an epic disaster?

Jennifer Yen's debut novel is a cute homage to Pride and Prejudice set in the delicious world of baking.  Readers will salivate for all the delicious Asian pastries and food and enjoy the romance and comedic mishaps.  Yen is a Houstonian, so there is plenty of authentic local flare here as well.  I just wish we could all agree, once and for all, that clumsiness is not a personality trait.  It's time to move on from the clumsiness-makes-her-relatable trope.  Otherwise, this is a cute and fluffy romance to sit back and enjoy.  Recommended for grades 8 and up for some profanity.  This may also be more relatable to older readers since Liza and her friends are graduating high school and getting ready for college.  

Among the Beasts and Briars

Cerys is safe in Aloriya.  It's been that way for centuries since the first king made a bargain with the Lady of the Wilds.  Now each ruler wears the golden crown whose power keeps the dark wood at bay.  That power keeps them all safe, but it also keeps them close.  Venturing into the forest means death if you are lucky.  If you aren't, you could be transformed into a bone eater who hungers for flesh and power.

Cerys knows about this first hand.  When she was a child, she lost a dear friend and her own mother to the forest.  She never saw her friend again, but her mother returned as a monster who would have killed her own child.  Cerys also escaped with a new ability.  Instead of destroying her, the forest gave her the ability to make plants grow or even manipulate their appearance.  It's a good gift for the daughter of the palace gardener.

Now the king is dead, and his daughter Arwen is preparing to take the throne.  Arwen and Cerys only grew closer after the day they lost her brother and Cerys's mother to the forest, and Arwen leans on Cerys for support. 

But on the day of Arwen's coronation, everything goes terribly wrong.  Ancient creatures come out of the forest and begin infecting everyone with the bone eater disease, including Cerys's father and best friend Arwen.  She flees into the forest with only the fox from her garden as a companion.  In her fear, she holds the fox too close, and he bites her to escape.  The magic in her blood transforms into something new.  Now, he is a human, almost.  There is still a bit of the fox about him.  Their only hope is to travel through the forest to find the Lady of the Wilds, return her crown, and beg for help.  

There are other creatures in the forest who want the crown and who hunger for blood and violence.  Will Cerys and fox find the Lady of the Wilds before they become victims of the forest themselves?

This new novel by Ashley Poston is right up my alley!  I love and dark and creepy fantasy and this book did not disappoint.  I only felt like the ending was a bit rushed.  I wish we could have seen more of the final climactic battle.  Fans of dark fantasy will love this.  Recommended for 8th grade and up due to violence and brief profanity.  Also, that cover is a work of art.  Beautiful!

Love Is a Revolution

Nala and her cousin Imani have been best friends and practically sisters their entire lives, especially after Nala moved in with her aunt and uncle after it became clear she couldn't live with her mom anymore.  But lately, things have become strained between the two girls.  Ever since Imani joined Inspire Harlem, it seems like she doesn't care about anything else, including Nala.  She feels abandoned all over again, and she can't control the jealousy she feels when her cousin seems to prefer her new friends.

Nala tags along to meetings sometimes, but she just doesn't feel the same devotion to community organizing and activism Imani does.  It's at one of those meetings where she first meets Tye, and he is the best-looking guy she's ever seen.  He's also super involved with Inspire Harlem.  That's how a little lie to keep the conversation going quickly spirals out of control until she is lying about pretty much everything.  

Her regular visits to the retirement community to visit her grandmother are suddenly a job where she has a major project.  It's also why Tye thinks she's a vegetarian and she has to forego burgers when she's with him.  The one true part of herself she's shared is how difficult her relationship is with her mother, but is that enough truth for a stable foundation?

I am of two minds about this book.  There is something to be said for realistically flawed characters, but all the female teens in this book are pretty annoying and generally judgemental.  It takes a long time to get to the lesson of self-acceptance, and even longer for Nala to be honest with Tye.  I've ranted before about how much I hate the lying-to-get-the-girl/guy trope.  While I appreciate the fact that Tye seemed more comfortable once Nala told the truth, I think the end was completely ridiculous.  No one with any kind of self-respect would want to be with someone who lied about her entire personality.