First Impressions: The Emperor's Riddle by Kat Zhang

Title: The Emperor's Riddle
Author: Kat Zhang
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: On a visit to relatives in China, eleven-year-old Mia is having a rough time. Her mom is boring, her brother is getting weird lately, and one day, her beloved Aunt Lin completely disappears! Could the ominous man who visited the apartment the night before be at fault? There's a painting, a map, and a mystery, and even her brother Jake is willing to pitch in and help. Will they find the treasure - and more importantly, will they find Aunt Lin?

First Impressions: Hmf. This was not entirely satisfying. While I loved the detailed setting and the changing relationship between brother and sister, the mystery itself felt mostly like a game with a lot of coincidental discoveries. When I got to the end, I was surprised that this wasn't something cooked up by the aunt to liven up their visit.

Best For: Readers who want a virtual trip to China - not just the tourist destinations, but the everyday life.

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First Impressions: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Title: When Dimple Met Rishi
Author: Sandhya Menon
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Dimple is always at odds with her traditional Indian family, so she's shocked when they actually allow her to go to a six-week coding convention. But when she arrives, all is made clear, because she meets cute, nerdy Rishi - the guy her parents intend her to marry!

No way, not even. Arranged marriages are so last-century! Except that Rishi actually thinks it's a good idea. And Dimple's horrified to find herself kiiiiind of falling for him. What's a modern, forward-thinking Indian girl to do?

First Impressions: What a sweet froth of a book! I love the way both characters are coming at this thing from different angles and how they both have to navigate love and respect for their families and traditions with the things they want out of life.

Best For: Readers who love a rom-com and who might identify with Rishi and Dimple's struggles as they navigate their own identity with the background of a non-White, non-Western culture.

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First Impressions: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Title: The Upside of Unrequited
Author: Becky Albertalli
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: At seventeen, Molly can claim twenty-six crushes but not one first kiss. When her twin sister Cassie sails confidently into her own first romance with equally cool and confident Mina, Molly feels even more left behind. She's struggling with anxiety and feelings about her weight, and It doesn't help that her friends are trying to push her into romance with cute Will (spoiler: he's not worth it) and away from dorky Reid (spoiler: he is). With their moms finally able to get married, it's going to be a summer of changes.

First Impressions: Gaaaaaaaaaaaah I loved this book with all of my heart. There's so much here about how growing up and falling in love changes all your other relationships, and it's not really good or bad, it just is.

Best for: Readers who want stories about family and sisters, are encountering (or remember well) this bittersweet feeling, and enjoy a romance that is not with the obvious partner.

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Not Acting My Age

First Impressions: The Other F-Word by Natasha Friend

Title: The Other F-Word
Author: Natasha Friend
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Hollis's life is kind of a mess right now. One of her moms died of cancer six years ago, she's entangled in a weird hookup situation with a classmate (and getting nasty texts from his ex), and honestly she can't take one more thing. But then Milo, who was conceived via the same sperm donor as Hollis, reaches out to her and their other half-sibs. Hoping to learn more about their shared father, they all wind up learning a lot more about themselves.

First Impressions: Ugggghhhh this was so good! Hollis's story was so complex and I loved that her hooking up with a classmate wasn't a terrible thing in itself, it was the reasons why. So good. Milo's story was a little less compelling but still very readable.

First Impressions: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Title: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Sal feels like a stranger to himself. He's punched two classmates (in fairness, one called him a pinche gringo, and the other called his father a homophobic slur), his friends' lives are coming apart at the seams, and he has no idea what to write for his college applications. Then he discovered his beloved grandmother is dying. As he makes his way through his senior year trying to work out what it all means, he'll have to come to terms with the messy, happy, sad, confusing, glorious business of living.

First Impressions: Awwwwwwwwwwww this made me cry. No plot but really about coming to terms with death and life and growing up.

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By Singing Light

First Impressions: American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Title: American Street
Author: Ibi Zoboi
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Fabiola and her mother are almost out of Haiti for good. But her mother is detained at the airport in New York, and Fabiola has to go on alone to a new life on Detroit's west side with her aunt and cousins. America is very different from Haiti, but Fabiola draws strength from her ancestral vodoun religion, and capably takes the lessons from her first home into her second.

First Impressions: Arrrrrgh I want to clutch this book to my heart. Fabiola is so strong and struggling, and I love that neither Haiti nor Detroit are glorified nor demonized.

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Rich in Color

First Impressions: The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle Van Arsdale

Title: The Beast is an Animal
Author: Peternelle Van Arsdale
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: At seven, Alys first encountered the soul eaters, demonic twin spirits who - well, does what it says on the can. That didn't end well for her parents or any of the adults in her village. Alys and all the other children end up unwanted refugees in a neighboring village that uses them for free labor on the wall built to protect against the soul eaters. But as she grows, Alys chafes under mistreatment and feels a call to the forest, the soul eaters, and the Beast who controls them.

First Impressions: This was horror (why do I keep trying to read horror? whyyy?) but it ended well, and it was pretty grabby and readable. However, it also slid right out of my mind after reading, and my vague memory of the plot was that it never completely coalesced by the end.

First Impressions: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Title: Alex, Approximately
Author: Jenn Bennett
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Bailey Rydell has been crushing hard on Alex, a fellow film geek she met online. They were across the country from each other - until now. She moves to her dad's in California, in the same town where Alex lives. She's hoping to run into him by magical movie coincidence and begin their silver-screen-worthy romance. But so far, all she seems able to do is squabble with obnoxious co-worker Porter Roth. When is she going to get her happy ending?

First Impressions: Of course we all know the big twist in the end, so I appreciated that it didn't build that up overmuch. It was really refreshing that Bailey and Porter were in a relationship by midway through and it was about navigating that newness with each other.

First Impressions: Maid of the King's Court by Lucy Worsley

Title: Maid of the King's Court
Author: Lucy Worsley
Published: 2017
Source: NetGalley

Summary: Eliza Camperdowne is a maid of honor at the court of King Henry VIII, as his marriage to Anne of Cleves is ending and the bold, flirtatious Katherine Howard catches his eye. It's a heady, intoxicating time for a young woman in the highest society in England. But as Eliza and Katherine learn, this is no fairy tale, and women in the King's orbit rarely come out on top.

First Impressions: This really suffered from Eliza being a bystander witness to history. Her own story felt like the B-plot. Mostly she was narrating the affair and then marriage of King Henry VIII and Katherine Howard, with not much change going on in her internally. Still, an interesting glimpse at a much-maligned young queen.

First Impressions: Revenge of the Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen

Title: Revenge of the Evil Librarian
Author: Michelle Knudsen
Published: 2017
Source: NetGalley

Summary: Cynthia has survived the school year, which isn't as easy as it sounds, considering she had a run-in with a demon librarian who wanted to kidnap her best friend to the Underworld. (Oy. High school.) But she defeated him, and she's looking forward to a fun summer at theater camp with her hot boyfriend. Then she arrives at camp and finds demons there too, and not just metaphorical ones.

First Impressions: As snarky and fun as the first one, but with the same deeply (maybe too deeply?) buried dark notes. While it bounces cheerfully from mortal peril to mortal peril, the rockiness of her relationship with her boyfriend is glossed over, even when she's lying to his face. If you're looking for a breezy, snarky paranormal, read it but don't expect more.

First Impressions: Iron Cast by Destiny Soria

Title: Iron Cast
Author: Destiny Soria
Published: 2016
Source: NetGalley

Summary: In an alternate 1919 Boston, where club owners trade in illegal blood magic and enchantments, Ada Navarra and her best friend Corinne Wells live by their wits, running cons and weaving illusions for the entertainment of the elite under the protection of Johnny Dervish. But things start to go south, and Johnny can't save them anymore. That's okay. They've got each other, and that's more than enough.

First Impressions: I enjoy a good alternate history, and I love how the friendship between the two girls (one of whom is biracial) is the most important relationship in the book by far. But the ending suffered from Lord of the Rings syndrome, which made it drag as every last little thread and character had to be wrapped up.

First Impressions: Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler

Title: Sass and Serendipity
Author: Jennifer Ziegler
Published: 2012
Source: Local Library

Summary: Gabby is the sensible sister in the Rivera family, buckling down to her schoolwork and working conscientiously at her job. Daphne is the free spirit, throwing herself into her passions and crushes with abandon. Neither one understands her sister or her way of approaching the world. When multiple crises hit the Rivera family as a whole and both girls on a personal level, they'll each have to learn that a little of their sister's approach to life isn't necessarily a bad thing.

First Impressions: It was really, really hard to like either of these girls at times. Gabby could be nasty and judgemental, Daphne could be so utterly thoughtless that I wanted to reach into the book and shake her. But it also really captured the sister dynamic and evoked the novel that it was based on (Sense and Sensibility, in case you couldn't tell). I think the two love plots got a little shortchanged at the end though.

First Impressions: Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren Steven

Title: Prisoner of Ice and Snow
Author: Ruth Lauren Steven
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Valor is the best shot in the whole kingdom. So when she fails to assassinate the crown prince, only she knows that she missed on purpose. She had to get caught, because that's the only way she's going to the horrific children's prison, Tyur'ma, which is already holding her twin sister. After all, just because nobody's ever escaped it before doesn't mean two sisters can't do it now.

First Impressions: Okay I liked the premise, and the escape plan, but the revelation of what was Actually Going On felt a little thin, and something about this horrific prison for kids (that everyone's just okay with) rubbed me the wrong way.

First Impressions: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Title: Rebel of the Sands
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Published: 2017
Source: Local Library

Summary: Amani needs to get out of her tiny, dead-end town before she becomes her uncle-in-law's next wife. She thinks a shooting contest is her ticket out, but after a series of catastrophes, she ends up running away with a mysterious stranger named Jin. They set off across the desert, headed for the city, but get sidelined along the way and find themselves in the camp of the rebel prince, where revelations about both Jin and Amani await.

First Impressions: Hmmm. Well I really liked the middle east/wild west mashup of the setting, but the character development and love story were both unconvincing.

First Impressions: Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: Fiendish
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: 2015
Source: Local Library

Summary: Trapped underground by magic for ten years after the town turned on her family, Clementine finds herself set free when a boy named Fisher stumbles on her prison. Now she has to reconnect with the remaining family and friends she remembers, and more than that, she's going to find out what happened on that night ten years ago.

First Impressions: Wow, the atmosphere in this! I don't think it would stand up to a lot of close scrutiny plot-wise, but Clementine is very tough and really knows herself for a girl trapped underground for 10 years.

First Impression: El Deafo by Cece Bell

Title: El Deafo
Author: Cece Bell
Published: 2014
Source: Local Library

Summary: Deaf* since a childhood bout with meningitis, Cece tries to navigate friendships, school, and her own identity, all of which are complicated by her large and cumbersome hearing aids.

First Impressions: This was a nice graphic memoir, much more slice of life than plot-based. Interesting to see the older technology (late 70s-early 80s), and I like the way she visualized her sonic experience of the world, with blank speech bubbles and fading words.

*This is the term the author uses in biographical materials.

First Impression: The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati

Title: The Weight of Zero
Author: Karen Fortunati
Published: 2016
Source: Local Library

Summary: Cath knows in her heart that she won't survive another brush with Zero, which is what she calls the depressive episodes of her bipolar disorder. With that in mind, she creates a bucket list for herself, including having sex. But to accomplish that, she needs someone to have sex with. Enter Michael. She thinks he'll be perfect for the job - nice, sweet, forgettable. Certainly nobody she'll ever fall in love with or be sad to leave behind when she dies. Or maybe he is?

First Impressions: For something with such a dramatic topic, this was a very quiet book, but I liked the slow, realistic progression of her path back to life.

First Impressions: The Forgetting, This Savage Song, Goldenhand

Title: The Forgetting
Author: Sharon Cameron
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Every 7 years, a fog sweeps across Nadia's fortified town and erases everyone's memory. In order to pick their lives back up, the citizens of the town write everything down in books that they keep locked to their bodies. Anyone who goes missing during the Forgetting is presumed dead or lost.

Nadia has a secret. Unlike everyone else, she remembers what happened before the Forgetting. She remembers secrets, horrors, and even entire people that she was supposed to forget. She's kept her secret for years, but the Forgetting is coming again soon. Will she remember this time?

First Impressions: This was pretty enjoyable while I was in it, but when I closed it, I was like, "well that was a pretty cookie cutter dystopia."

Title: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab
Published: 2016
Source: Local Library

Summary: In a city of monsters, August is one of the worst. Others eat blood or flesh, but he consumes souls, especially souls marred with sin. He hates himself, but it's how he survives, being a threat looming over the heads of his father's enemies. Kate Harker is the daughter of one of those enemies, and it's his job to keep tabs on her in her prestigious private school. But she's much more than he was prepared for - and the secrets both their families have been keeping are also much more.

First Impressions: This is pretty dark stuff, and I liked that the romance was low-key or maybe not even there at all. This was about the monstrous identities of both protagonists.

Title:  Goldenhand
Author: Garth Nix
Published: 2017
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: When she finds old friend Nicholas Sayre possessed with dark magic, Lirael - once a shy Assistant Librarian, now the Abhorsen-in-waiting - must journey back to her childhood home to find a way to save him. At the same time, a young woman from a distant land flees from enemies, carrying a mysterious message to Lirael. Will their paths cross in time for either of them?

First Impressions: So this felt like a prelude or something - it cut off in the middle before anything really happened. I was really frustrated, especially because the two groups didn't even meet by the end.

First Impressions: Defending Taylor, The Scourge, And I Darken

Title: Defending Taylor
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Kicked out of her ritzy private school, Taylor sees her mistakes splashed all over the front page just as her dad is running for re-election. Now she has to try to make her way in a new school, and try not to fall for her brother's friend Ezra, who has himself mysteriously dropped out of college.

First Impressions: While this was a valuable story about mistakes and working through them, I just kept thinking of how tremendously privileged these kids were. While they got a lot of flak from family for their screw-ups, they also kept getting second chances rarely provided to lower-class kids.

Title: The Scourge
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Ani and her best friend Weevil have been captured, tested positive for the dreaded Scourge, and sent to an island hospital colony. Even there, they're scorned for being River People, and given all the worst jobs.

But Ani is smart and savvy, and she knows something's not right. She's going to get herself and Weevil off this island and back home if it's the last thing she does.

First Impressions: So I saw (most) of the twists coming from a mile away, but that's because I know tropes. I think kids might get a little more shock out of it. And Ani was pretty awesome.

Title: And I Darken
Author: Kierstan White
Published: 2016
Source: NetGalley

Summary: In 15th century Transylvania, Lada and Radu are the scorned children of a brutal king - Lada for her gender, Radu for his gentleness. Sent away to the Ottoman Empire as hostages to their father's good behavior, they grow up alongside the captivating Mehmed, the crown prince. As they do, they both find their way into their own identities.

But they'll never stop trying to prove themselves - to their father, to each other, and to themselves.

First Impressions: Very sprawling and epic in scope but it slowed down hard toward the end. Although this is the first in a series, I don't think I'll keep reading it.

First Impressions: The Way to Game the Walk of Shame, The Darkest Hour, P.S. I Like You

Title: The Way to Game the Walk of Shame
Author: Jenn P Nguyen
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: When good-girl Taylor wakes up in genial player Evan's bed with no memory of how she got there, she knows her reputation is ruined. The only option is to convince Evan to pretend to be her boyfriend for awhile. It'll salvage her reputation, give him a breather from his predatory ex, and then they'll break up with no hard feelings! Yeah, that always works out exactly as planned.

First Impressions: This was pretty fun, but there was a real "not like other girls" thing with Taylor that made me uncomfortable. It was really heavily implied that Evan had been hanging out with all the wrong girls (dirty nasty sex-having girls like his ex, who did everything but hum "Barracuda" every time she appeared on the page) and he just really needed a Good Girl to fall in love with. See? Uncomfortable.

Title: The Darkest Hour
Author: Caroline Tung
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: A few years ago, Lucie was a regular Franco-American girl, living her life and waiting for her brother to come home so they can escape their oppressive home life. Then her brother died, and she ran away to Paris to help the war effort any way she could. That turned out to be becoming a spy. But now she has to contend with deception and murky moral decisions at every turn - not only from the Nazis but also from the people she's working for.

First Impressions: The pacing was all off in this one. It felt like it should have been a couple of books, or like it started or ended in the wrong places. Just very confusing. I rarely advocate for something to be a trilogy or duology instead of a single title, but this might have benefited from being broken up in that way.

Title: P.S. I Like You
Author: Kasie West
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Lily Abbott is getting love letters every day in Chem class from a mystery correspondent. They write back and forth, sharing parts of themselves that they've never revealed to another living being. She's convinced they're from adorable, soulful Lucas. Just as long as they're not from her best friend's ex and snotty class clown, Cade. That would be horrifying! Right?

First Impressions: So it was pretty blindingly obvious who the letter writer was, but I like the way it played out. Kasie West does really enjoyable YA romantic comedy that unashamedly goes for the tropes and makes them mad fun instead of tired and stale.