Sarah Welch

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAFantasy

Life and love in a cursed town by the sea

Review by Sarah Welch

The Swan sisters were sentenced to death 200 years ago in Sparrow, Oregon, drowned in the harbor as a punishment for witchcraft. Every summer, however, they return to inhabit the bodies of young girls and lure boys into the same harbor, seeking revenge on the town that destroyed them. Penny, like so many locals, has accepted Sparrow’s fate. But when Bo, a mysterious outsider, arrives on the eve of Swan Season unaware of the danger he faces, Penny knows this is the summer things have to change.

Fans of Leslye Walton (The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender) and Anna-Marie McLemore (The Weight of Feathers) will enjoy The Wicked Deep, Shea Earnshaw’s newest contribution to young adult magical realism.

This novel’s dark whimsy draws readers in as the mysteries of the Swan sisters’ curse—and Bo and Penny’s desire to break it—unravel in a town where drownings have become an annual spectacle and spelled cakes that dissolve unpleasant memories.

Billed as “Hocus Pocus meets Practical Magic,” The Wicked Deep is an enchanting, romantic read. Though Ernshaw’s mortal characters often feel like unfinished sketches, the three sisters at the center of the novel are magnetic, as is the magic that has settled over the town of Sparrow like fog blown in from the sea.

Billed as “Hocus Pocus meets Practical Magic,” The Wicked Deep is an enchanting, romantic read.

RomanceYA FictionYA

FaceTime is so overrated

Review by Sarah Welch

Penny is thrilled to make the 79-mile drive to Austin, Texas, where she’s about to begin her freshman year of college—far away from everything she’s been itching to leave behind. Sam runs a coffee shop near her new campus and lives in the shop’s storage room upstairs. He has plans to become a documentary filmmaker, but first, he has to figure out how to put his past behind him.

When Penny and Sam meet, they swap numbers in case of emergency. But soon they find themselves texting nonstop, growing closer to one another than to the friends they see in real life. But will Penny and Sam’s digital-only relationship be enough to help them through some of the toughest transitions they’ve ever faced?

At first glance, Mary H.K. Choi’s first novel is a lighthearted young adult romance. But dig a little deeper, and her bubbly prose reveals a poignant slice-of-life story built around a diverse group of vulnerable characters dealing with complicated issues. Though the narrative voice feels sprawling and occasionally forced, the character voices crackle as Sam, Penny and their friends relate to each other in a sharp, witty way that readers will recognize and enjoy. Emergency Contact is a bittersweet peek into the lives of two teenagers who come together in the right moment to help each other deal with life’s curveballs.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Penny is thrilled to make the 79-mile drive to Austin, Texas, where she’s about to begin her freshman year of college—far away from everything she’s been itching to leave behind. Sam runs a coffee shop near her new campus and lives in the shop’s storage room upstairs. He has plans to become a documentary filmmaker, but first, he has to figure out how to put his past behind him.

YA FictionYA

The friends along the way

Review by Sarah Welch

Sixteen-year-old Saaket Ferdowsi—but please call him Scott—lacks grit. So while his parents are visiting family in Iran, he hops on a bus to Washington, D.C., in order to visit a Georgetown professor who’s just won the MacArthur Genius Grant for her research on grit. But the friends he makes along the way—Trent, an aspiring U.S. senator, and Fiona, a crossword aficionado—teach him more about “sticktoitiveness” than he ever could have expected.

Arvin Ahmadi’s charming debut, Down and Across, brings a strong new voice to teen literature. Scott’s uncertainty, and his panic over that uncertainty, will resonate with high school readers faced with the impossible task of figuring out what they want to do with their lives. The supporting characters’ efforts to juggle their own aspirations with their unique baggage will feel equally familiar.

Most of all, Scott’s spontaneous trip—and the lessons he learns about grit along the way—will likely help young readers relieve their own anxiety about the next steps in their lives.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Sixteen-year-old Saaket Ferdowsi—but please call him Scott—lacks grit. So while his parents are visiting family in Iran, he hops on a bus to Washington, D.C., in order to visit a Georgetown professor who’s just won the MacArthur Genius Grant for her research on grit. But the friends he makes along the way—Trent, an aspiring U.S. senator, and Fiona, a crossword aficionado—teach him more about “sticktoitiveness” than he ever could have expected.

RomanceYA FictionYA

A romantic travel misadventure

Review by Sarah Welch

Teens Ammy and Noah meet on an Amtrak train headed to upstate New York. Ammy is reluctantly on her way to her father’s second wedding, and Noah is attempting to make a grand gesture and win back his ex-girlfriend. When their train breaks down in the middle of a snowstorm, the pair decides to make a bold move: leave the train and make their way through the snowstorm together.

As their simple one-mile journey to the bus station turns into a 24-hour adventure, the two start to become friends (and discover a mutual attraction)—until morning comes and a new discovery leads to disaster.

Author Leah Konen (The Romantics) has created two charming protagonists that young readers will find highly relatable. Although the pair have opposing viewpoints on the realities of love and relationships—Noah with his blind optimism and Ammy with her equally blinding cynicism—sparks quickly fly in this sweet story. However, trouble soon comes when Noah desperately tries to cling to his stale romance and Ammy attempts to close the door to her budding feelings.

Ammy and Noah’s journey from the broken-down train is outlandish, but that’s the point—both kids are taking an uncharacteristic risk. Love and Other Train Wrecks is equal parts inspiring, heartbreaking and fun to read as Ammy and Noah tackle obstacle after obstacle in dogged determination to get where they’re going. Maybe all they really need on this journey is each other.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Teens Ammy and Noah meet on an Amtrak train headed to upstate New York. Ammy is reluctantly on her way to her father’s second wedding, and Noah is attempting to make a grand gesture and win back his ex-girlfriend. When their train breaks down in the middle of a snowstorm, the pair decides to make a bold move: leave the train and make their way through the snowstorm together.

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAScience Fiction

We could be heroes

Review by Sarah Welch

Years ago, when society was overrun by bands of anarchists and supervillains, the Renegades—a group of prodigies with superhuman abilities—emerged to reclaim peace and justice. But by then, their broken promises had cost Nova her family, and she’s spent her entire life training to exact revenge. But when Nova gets to know her enemies (in particular, Adrian, a Renegade boy her own age), she begins to suspect that justice isn’t as black and white as it once seemed.

Marissa Meyer, bestselling author of the fairy tale-inspired Lunar Chronicles series, is sure to please both her die-hard fans and newcomers alike with Renegades. Borrowing heavily from established superhero lore, Meyer has created a society that is utterly reliant on the Renegades to keep them safe from harm—of the everyday and prodigious varieties. Though some of her supporting characters feel a bit derivative, Meyer has done a remarkable job flipping the hero-versus-villain trope on its head and blurring the lines between good and evil. Nova and Adrian should be mortal enemies, but through their seamlessly alternating points of view, Meyer lets readers watch as they form an unlikely friendship and begin to question everything they’ve grown up believing.

The twists and turns in this supercharged story will keep readers on their toes as they try to untangle the complex lines between hero and villain, friend and foe, right and wrong.

 

This article was originally published in the November 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Marissa Meyer, bestselling author of the fairy tale-inspired Lunar Chronicles series, is sure to please both her die-hard fans and newcomers alike with Renegades.

Mystery & SuspenseYA FictionYAMystery

‘Mean Girls’ with a dash of murder

Review by Sarah Welch

Natasha has been dead for 13 minutes when a local man rescues her from the freezing river and revives her. When she wakes up in the hospital, she has no memory of how she wound up there, but she knows it couldn’t have been an accident. Natasha is the queen bee at school, but when her most devoted followers begin acting suspicious, she leans on her childhood best friend, Becca, to get to the bottom of things.

Bestselling author Sarah Pinborough (Behind Her Eyes) delivers a psychological thriller perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. 13 Minutes takes a haunting look at the dark side of teenage friendships and all the bullying, backstabbing and betrayal that go along with them. The novel’s two main characters, Becca and Natasha, are as vulnerable as they are conniving, and their need for belonging motivates their ploys and manipulations in a fascinating look at the impact high-school politics has on young psyches.

Pinborough’s sharp prose drives the novel through a series of incredible twists and turns. Just when readers think they’ve got it all figured out, she pulls the rug out from under them, reminding them that the right answer isn’t necessarily the obvious one.

Though marketed to young adults, this book will appeal to adults of all ages. Any reader will surely recognize some aspect of Natasha and Becca’s dynamic in their own social circles.

Natasha has been dead for 13 minutes when a local man rescues her from the freezing river and revives her. When she wakes up in the hospital, she has no memory of how she wound up there, but she knows it couldn’t have been an accident. Natasha is the queen bee at school, but when her most devoted followers begin acting suspicious, she leans on her childhood best friend, Becca, to get to the bottom of things.
YA FictionYALGBTQ Fiction

Living fully in your final hours

Review by Sarah Welch

BookPage Teen Top Pick, September 2017

In an alternate present-day New York City, Mateo and Rufus both receive the same call from Death-Cast in the early morning hours, letting them know they’ll be dead by midnight. The two teens have never met, but when they connect on the Last Friend app, they set out to help each other pack the experiences of a lifetime into one last day and form a deep bond that soon goes beyond friendship.

Adam Silvera, bestselling author of More Happy Than Not and History Is All You Left Me, delivers a thought-provoking story about two boys who seize one final opportunity to change their lives. The premise—that we should embrace every day because we don’t know many we’ve got left—may be trite, but Silvera’s take on the cliché is anything but. He renders every moment of their last day with such honesty that readers will feel as though they’re experiencing the same terror, anger and even joy Mateo and Rufus feel as they prowl the city together.

It’s a risky move, letting the reader know from the get-go that the main characters won’t make it. But these protagonists are impossible to hold at arm’s length; Mateo’s crippling shyness and Rufus’ temper are sure to resonate with readers. Both boys are hyperaware of their own shortcomings, but they’re also bound and determined to overcome their insecurities and live as their ideal selves during their final hours. They Both Die at the End is impossible to put down, and it’s sure to inspire readers to think about the people they want to be.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Adam Silvera on They Both Die at the End.

This article was originally published in the September 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In an alternate present-day New York City, Mateo and Rufus both receive the same call from Death-Cast in the early morning hours, letting them know they’ll be dead by midnight. The two teens have never met, but when they connect on the Last Friend app, they set out to help each other pack the experiences of a lifetime into one last day and form a deep bond that soon goes beyond friendship.

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAFantasy

Saga of a princess bride

Review by Sarah Welch

When ruthless Emperor Sikander announces his impending visit to Shalingar, Princess Amrita knows she’ll be required to marry him. Though her heart breaks to give up her family, her home and her first love, she knows it is a worthy sacrifice to protect her people. However, when the visit takes a tragic turn and Amrita finds herself losing much more than she’d bargained for, she sets out on a desperate journey to save what is left—and maybe undo the past.

Aditi Khorana’s second novel, The Library of Fates, is a lovely coming-of-age story rooted in Indian folklore and infused with romance. The primary strength of the novel is the deep, lush world Khorana has built, vividly painting the beauty of Shalingar and juxtaposing it against the political turmoil of the empire.

Princess Amrita is admirable in her utter selflessness, yet still relatable in her teenage ideologies and naiveté, as she seeks out her destiny and shoulders the safety of her entire empire in the face of devastating loss. Though not quite fully developed, the mystical characters who guide Amrita—an oracle, a vetala and members of the cave-dwelling Sybillines—are colorful additions to the rich tapestry of the novel.

The Library of Fates is a perfect read for the lazy days of late summer. Khorana will take readers on a page-turning journey with a surprising yet wholly satisfying resolution.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The Library of Fates is a perfect read for the lazy days of late summer. Khorana will take readers on a page-turning journey with a surprising yet wholly satisfying resolution.

YA FictionYA

Suffering in silence

Review by Sarah Welch

Matt is on a mission of bloody revenge; he’s bent on making the jocks pay for driving his sister away and determined to save his single mother from a dead-end job. But he’s got to be sharp if he wants to succeed, and that means conquering his hunger. Food will only dull his senses, making him soft and disgusting. But hunger? Hunger gives him unconquerable strength and superhuman senses.

Sam J. Miller’s first novel, The Art of Starving, is a gut-wrenching and powerful read about a high school boy clamoring for acceptance—from his wealthy classmates, from the boy he has a crush on and from the sister he fears he’s lost.

As Matt turns to food deprivation in order to gain control over something in his life, Miller paints his descent into the eating disorder in terrifying relief. As Matt’s pain goes unnoticed by most—those who do see it are too lost in their own trials to provide the support he needs—it becomes all too clear how easily we can overlook each other’s suffering.

Like Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (and more so the recent Netflix adaptation), The Art of Starving teeters on the edge of romanticizing tragedy. However, Miller’s novel offers as much relief as desperation, and Matt’s journey will feel familiar and hopeful to any reader who’s experienced the precarious scramble for self-acceptance.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Matt is on a mission of bloody revenge; he’s bent on making the jocks pay for driving his sister away and determined to save his single mother from a dead-end job. But he’s got to be sharp if he wants to succeed, and that means conquering his hunger. Food will only dull his senses, making him soft and disgusting. But hunger? Hunger gives him unconquerable strength and superhuman senses.

RomanceYA FictionYA

A charming romantic comedy

Review by Sarah Welch

As the daughter of the most in-demand wedding planner in town, Louna Barrett is an expert on romance. When it comes to love, however, tragedy has left her closed off to the possibility. But when a client’s obnoxious yet charming brother, Ambrose, joins the wedding-planning team, he encourages Louna to give epic love another chance.

Bestselling author Sarah Dessen is known for her captivating stories of self-discovery, resilience and first love. In Once and for All, she creates a rich cast of characters and a vivid backdrop, deftly portraying not only budding romances but also evolving friend and family relationships. The real magic of the novel is the tug of war between the whimsy of Louna’s summer job orchestrating lavish weddings and her grief for her lost first love.

While there are Easter eggs sprinkled throughout for longtime fans (an appearance from Auden West, visits to Jump Java), Once and for All stands on its own, promising to delight first-time Dessen readers as Louna learns to believe in second chances.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

As the daughter of the most in-demand wedding planner in town, Louna Barrett is an expert on romance. When it comes to love, however, tragedy has left her closed off to the possibility. But when a client’s obnoxious yet charming brother, Ambrose, joins the wedding-planning team, he encourages Louna to give epic love another chance.

YA FictionYA

‘The Great Gatsby’ reimagined

Review by Sarah Welch

When Bannerman Prep invites Tanner McKay to leave his public school and join their world-class debate team, he sees it as his big chance to catch the eyes of Stanford recruiters and to set himself on the path to success. But when the debate teacher partners Tanner with “The Duke,” that clear-cut path no longer seems quite so straight and narrow.

The Duke is untouchable: He’s a straight-A student who rarely cracks a book; he’s adept at pulling strings and calling in favors; and he’s a notorious host of elaborate parties in the city. But the Duke isn’t all he seems, and soon his carefully crafted identity begins to unravel.

Katie A. Nelson’s debut novel, a contemporary retelling of The Great Gatsby, captures the glitz, glamour and mysterious emptiness of its predecessor with very few of the cheap winks and nudges so prevalent in modernizations. Though Nelson’s characters feel, at times, like incomplete renderings, she deftly recreates the high-stakes environment of an elite prep school as well as the fierce competition for social status that will feel familiar to any young reader.

The high-pressure world of Bannerman Prep, the intrigue of Tanner and the Duke’s strange friendship and the lavish social scene all harken back to Fitzgerald’s classic but stand on their own in this compelling new novel.

 

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

When Bannerman Prep invites Tanner McKay to leave his public school and join their world-class debate team, he sees it as his big chance to catch the eyes of Stanford recruiters and to set himself on the path to success. But when the debate teacher partners Tanner with “The Duke,” that clear-cut path no longer seems quite so straight and narrow.

YA FictionYA

Growing up in tandem

Review by Sarah Welch

Molly Peskin-Suso has had 26 crushes, but never a boyfriend. Not even a kiss. She’s just never felt ready to put herself out there. But during her 17th summer, her twin sister, Cassie, falls head over heels for the girl of her dreams, their moms are finally allowed to marry, and not one, but two boys take an interest in Molly. Love, it seems, is all around. But will these new relationships change things between Molly and Cassie? Will Molly be able to take the risk?

Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, has a knack for capturing the all-encompassing emotions of adolescence, and her talents are on full display in The Upside of Unrequited. In a moment when Molly is feeling particularly low, her mother notes that being 17 feels like both the end and the beginning of the world. This becomes a mantra that sets the tone for the book, as Albertalli’s characters revel in the ups and downs of friendship and first love.

The Peskin-Suso twins and their friends are a lovable, diverse group of talented teens, made relatable by the fact that each is rife with his or her own insecurities about growing up and fitting in. The characters’ authentic voices will feel intimately familiar to teen readers and will catapult older readers back to their high school days.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Molly Peskin-Suso has had 26 crushes, but never a boyfriend. Not even a kiss. She’s just never felt ready to put herself out there. But during her 17th summer, her twin sister, Cassie, falls head over heels for the girl of her dreams, their moms are finally allowed to marry, and not one, but two boys take an interest in Molly. Love, it seems, is all around. But will these new relationships change things between Molly and Cassie? Will Molly be able to take the risk?

YA FictionYAHistorical Fiction

Sins of the past

Review by Sarah Welch

In 1921, a rash argument over a pretty girl propels 17-year-old Will Tillman into a hotbed of racial tension in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As he begins to understand what Jim Crow really means, he faces difficult decisions between what is expected and what is right. Nearly 100 years later, 17-year-old Rowan Chase discovers a skeleton under the floorboards of her family’s backhouse. As she investigates the murder, she learns firsthand that history isn’t entirely in the past.

The author of Scarlett Undercover, Jennifer Latham doesn’t shy away from the hard truth in her new historical novel, Dreamland Burning. The two protagonists take parallel journeys as they unwittingly step outside their lives of relative privilege and open their eyes to the grim realities of their respective societies. And what makes these characters so special is that they’re nothing special. Rowan and Will and their friends, even more richly developed in Will’s chapters than Rowan’s, are honest renderings of young people experiencing and navigating injustice for the first time.

Dreamland Burning is a critical look at race relations today, bringing to light the abuses we often pretend disappeared with Jim Crow, but that we must face head-on if we want to continue moving forward as a society. Latham’s prose will captivate readers from start to finish as she moves seamlessly back and forth between Will’s difficult coming of age and Rowan’s discovery of what history left behind.

 

This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In 1921, a rash argument over a pretty girl propels 17-year-old Will Tillman into a hotbed of racial tension in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As he begins to understand what Jim Crow really means, he faces difficult decisions between what is expected and what is right. Nearly 100 years later, 17-year-old Rowan Chase discovers a skeleton under the floorboards of her family’s backhouse. As she investigates the murder, she learns firsthand that history isn’t entirely in the past.

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