🌟 A Book Named After Me!!! 🌟 STARRY EYES by Jenn Bennett 😊😊😊

Title: Starry Eyes
Author: Jenn Bennett
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: April 3, 2018
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.

But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.

What could go wrong?

With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.

And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?

Let's get this out of the way before I delve into all the reasons you're going to want this book. Sure, this book appears to be named after me, but that's not why I loved it so. (It doesn't hurt, though!) And, yeah, Jenn Bennett is my new favorite young adult contemporary novelist, though I love all of her books, including the adult-themed Roaring Twenties series. (I haven't read the Arcadia Bell series yet because my library doesn't have it on audio and I do all my backlist reading via audio. Someone get on that, please.) Of course, Jenn also gets some of the best YA contemporary covers, too. Like, this book is set at the end of summer, but that cover just screams lovely fall camping weather to me. Which was kinda perfect at the time I was reading this.

But those aren't the reasons I enjoyed the hell outta this book. Allow me to enumerate why this is now my favorite Jenn Bennett book of all time:

1. The Maps - Have you ever read a story and continually had to flip back to a description to understand where places were in relation to one another? Not so with Starry Eyes because Jenn -- yes the author -- has created maps for each section of the book. (It's one of the character's hobbies, so it's totally relevant and completely adorable.)

2. The Awkward - So, in this story, the awful has already happened -- we don't have to read about the communication breakdown that led to friends who were becoming more suddenly becoming bitter enemies. BUT, we do get to see all the awkward as they find their way back to becoming friends on one ill-fated camping trip. And it is so incredibly awkward at times that I wanted to reach into the book and give everyone involved a big ole hug.

3. The Genuine - Zorie and Lennon talk. Like, a lot. And it's real and it's weird and totally inevitable but also totally adorable. And then that fight out in the woods? That is amazingly accurate, the way it went down and the aftermath. Jenn doesn't write down to her readers; she writes on their level. So much so that while I'm reading, I feel a resurgence of all those emotions and I have to tell myself to calm down. But she captures it beautifully.

4. The Sex Positivity - Gawd, I think Jenn Bennett probably writes the best, most sex-positive stories in YA. Her characters always talk about it before jumping into bed...or wherever they happen to be. ;) They're always careful. And there's no fade-to-black to escape the awkwardness. It's the same here. But these characters have known each other for ages and I think it felt even more meaningful because of that. Basically, I just adore the overall message Bennett is dropping.

5. The Family - The familial situation in this book is beyond different. It's diverse but it's also full of drama. And yet, the parents remain involved in their kids' lives. Regardless of what happened between Zorie and Lennon, they're all still friends on a deeper level. (Well, most of them.) And the love is obvious. Even when the biological link isn't.

I read this back in November and I've been waiting for it to release so I could immediately download a copy of the audiobook and re-read that way. I just loved this story so much! It was lovely and profound but also left me feeling content and cozy in the knowledge that I made it past young adulthood and all this awkwardness. :P I can't wait to read it again!

GIF it to me straight:

About the Author:

Jenn Bennett is an award-winning author of several young adult books, including ALEX, APPROXIMATELY and STARRY EYES. She also writes romance and fantasy for adults. Her books have earned multiple starred reviews, won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award, and been included on Publishers Weekly Best Books annual list. She lives near Atlanta with one husband and two dogs.

Find Jenn:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr

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Labels: 2018, contemporary, favorite authors, favorites, jenn bennett, reviews, simon schuster, starry eyes

IT ME: ALEX, APPROXIMATELY by Jenn Bennett

Title: Alex, Approximately
Author: Jenn Bennett
Series: n/a
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new arch-nemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

Do you ever get a book and then put off reading it for eons because you're so afraid it won't live up to your expectations? That was me with this book. I adored Jenn Bennett's YA debut The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, going so far as to name it as my favorite contemporary of 2015. So, to say I had high expectation for Alex, Approximately would not be an exaggeration.

But I just couldn't hold out any longer, and you know what? I absolutely loved it. It was quirky and adorable and just all around clever. I really related to Bailey and her status as an evader, her way of avoiding uncomfortable situations by running away or simply pretending it's not happening. But even when she did find herself in an awkward situation -- and Bailey herself was being incredibly awkward -- I didn't find the scenario cringe-worthy. Instead, there was this sense of solidarity because I could easily have found myself in the same situations.

This book was sooo sex positive, too, much like Bennett's last novel. Sex wasn't presented as this insurmountable obstacle, nor was it glossed over in some fade-to-black scene. The awkwardness of first experiences is there but also the open discussion that needs to happen between two consenting adults. Self-pleasure is even presented as a normal, healthy thing. I truly wish there had been books like this when I was a teenager so that I wouldn't have felt so woefully unprepared in those days.

And the relationship that develops between Porter and Bailey is just so genuine and honest. Sure, it has its ups and downs and things aren't perfect 100% of the time, but what relationship is? They have frank discussions about trust and their pasts and how to handle going public with their relationship, and I think it's just such a great portrayal of how a healthy relationship progresses.

This take on You've Got Mail is so unbelievably charming, with the classic movie references and the movie quotes at the beginning of each chapter. But what I especially adored were the forum messages between "Mink" and "Alex". They reminded me of how me and my best friend met online, how we synchronize watching shows together and how well we've gotten to know each other through email and text and miracle of miracles, via chatting on the phone every weekend for hours on end. We're even planning a meet-up this summer. So, I get the sense of camaraderie that Mink and Alex share online but also the anxiety of finally meeting face-to-face.

The only thing I'd change about this book is that summary. It hints at too much. I was constantly waiting to see proof that Porter had discovered the truth; I think it would have been less stressful if I didn't know beforehand that he figures out Bailey's online alias...or even that he was Alex, at least not from the beginning. That's something I like to learn as I read, not know from the get-go.

Even with that looming over my head, this book still managed to be everything I wanted it to be...and more. Bennett easily balances the depth of her characters' pasts with the frivolity of a summer job in a weird museum in a tourist town, along with a swoony romance that is aces above what I usually find in contemporary YA. I already can't wait to read it again. I just hope there's not so long of a wait between this book and her next. ;0)

GIF it to me straight:

About the Author:

Jenn Bennett is an artist and RITA-nominated author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series (Kindling the Moon) and the Roaring Twenties romance series, including Bitter Spirits, which was chosen as one of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2014 and winner of RT Book Reviews Paranormal Romance Book of the Year, and Grave Phantoms—which was awarded RT's May Seal of Excellence for 2015. The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, (aka Night Owls in the U.K.) is her first YA contemporary romance. She lives near Atlanta with one husband and two evil pugs.

Find Jenn:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr

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Labels: adorable, alex approximately, contemporary, favorite authors, favorites, jenn bennett, reviews, simon schuster

{WOW} ALEX, APPROXIMATELY by Jenn Bennett

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...








's Pick:



Title: Alex, Approximately
Author: Jenn Bennett
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: April 4, 2017

In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent half of her junior year falling for a sensitive film geek she only knows online as “Alex.” Two coasts separate them until she moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist trap, the oddball Cavern Palace Museum. Or that she’s being tormented daily by Porter Roth, a smart-alecky yet irritatingly hot museum security guard. But when Porter and Bailey are locked in the museum overnight, Bailey is forced to choose whether she should cling to a dreamy fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex. Approximately.

I absolutely adored The Anatomical Shape of a Heart when I read it last summer. It was the perfect book at the perfect time. I didn't know what to read next and I picked it up on a whim, opened to the middle and fell in love with the passage I read and knew it was going to be my next five star read...and it so was.

So, I think it's fair to say that I've got some exceedingly high expectations for Jenn Bennett's next YA novel. (I also still really, really need to check out her adult stuff.) I love the idea of a geeky online romance and a hate-to-love relationship coinciding without either of the interested parties being made awares. It just sounds like a fun, hot, adorable and problematic situation and I cannot freaking wait!!!

What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

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Labels: alex approximately, contemporary, funfunfun, jenn bennett, love/hate relationships, online romance, simon schuster, waiting on wednesday (wow)

{Review} The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

Title: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart
Author: Jenn Bennett
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: November 3, 2015
Source: ARC received for review from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Artist Beatrix Adams knows exactly how she's spending the summer before her senior year. Determined to follow in Leonardo da Vinci’s footsteps, she's ready to tackle the one thing that will give her an advantage in a museum-sponsored scholarship contest: drawing actual cadavers. But when she tries to sneak her way into the hospital’s Willed Body program and misses the last metro train home, she meets a boy who turns her summer plans upside down.

Jack is charming, wildly attractive . . . and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight buses and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who Jack really is—and tries to uncover what he’s hiding that leaves him so wounded. But will these secrets come back to haunt him? Or will the skeletons in Beatrix’s own family’s closet tear them apart?

This book was everything - EVERYTHING - that I could want in a YA contemporary novel. LOVED. IT. The art. The families. The relationship. How sex-positive it is. It. Was. Perfection. This book is absolutely going to make it to my list of favorites…for the year and for all time.

Jenn Bennett has been on my radar for awhile, after seeing so many friends fall for her Roaring Twenties series, which I've yet to succumb to. It won't be long now, though, since I've read and absolutely adored her first venture into YA contemporary. I secretly believe one of my past lives was spent in the 20s, so those books sound right up my alley.

But back to The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, which is actually titled Night Owls abroad. Do you ever find yourself in between books, wondering what to read next? And then a fantastic cover on your shelf catches your eye, but you say to yourself, "No, not that one...not yet. It doesn't release for months and you won't be able to share your feels for ages." And then you flip open to a page and you realize that it doesn't matter, this is the book you've been longing to read. Something about that interaction on page 90 had me captivated, and I had to read this book immediately.

And that feeling of immediacy never left, even if the book itself is languid and unhurried. The romance is a slow-burn, even if the connection between the characters was almost instantaneous. I love how Bex and Jack meet. How they come together. How it takes ages for anything physical to happen between them, but when something does? Man, it is SOMETHING. But I love that even before that happens, there's a very real discussion about sex. This couple is open and honest, at least about what's going on between them, even if it leaves them momentarily raw and vulnerable.

"If we can't talk about it, how can we do it?"

Yes, there are secrets between them at first, like Jack's somewhat secret identity as a graffiti artist. And they've both got beaucoup family issues to cope with. But despite reservations, they both try. They make that effort to find each other time and again. Their connection is crystal clear, as is their shared love of art, the thing that brought them together in the first place. And I love how that aspect was implemented, both as a stratagem for more rendezvous and as an instrument for bonding, not only between the characters but between them and their families.

It is so hard these days to find a good family unit in a young adult novel. A lot of times they're just not involved or overlooked so that the teenage characters can cavort at all hours of the night with no one the wiser. But in this book, parents take notice. They are strict and mete out punishments when deserved. These parents do not abide lying and deceit, and they are quick to reprimand and set ground rules. They are not always perfect, but as a parent and former teenager myself, I can tell you that none are. It was just nice to see them included in a way that really added to the story.

For all of the family drama and running from the authorities and sneaking around, this book really was pretty humorous. The snark and banter were on point. Just thinking about it makes me restless for a re-read. I pretty much adored every single thing about this story, and I'm willing to bet that a lot of other people will think so, too.

GIF it to me straight:

Night Owl just LOVES this book! And so do I! :D

About the Author:

Jenn Bennett is an artist and RITA-nominated author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series (Kindling the Moon) and the Roaring Twenties romance series, including Bitter Spirits, which was chosen as one of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2014 and winner of RT Book Reviews Paranormal Romance Book of the Year, and Grave Phantoms—which was awarded RT's May Seal of Excellence for 2015. The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, (aka Night Owls in the U.K.) is her first YA contemporary romance. She lives near Atlanta with one husband and two evil pugs.

Find Jenn:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr

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Labels: artsy, contemporary, favorites, jenn bennett, macmillan, must-read, reviews, the anatomical shape of a heart, tough subject