trauma

MARS 30th Anniversary Edition 1

by Fuyumi Soryo

coming June 16, 2026

(4 / 5)

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for providing a free review copy of this book! All opinions are completely my own.

I had never read this manga before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What I really wasn’t expecting was how intense it would be and how much it doesn’t shy away from some very serious topics. While it’s very much a high school drama, the characters had quite a bit of depth to them. Rei was an especially intriguing character. There were parts of him that were scary and reckless, but there was also something vulnerable about him beneath the surface. I feel like Kira and Rei are very different from each other, but they seem to bring out something good in each other. I also really liked the artwork! This edition includes the first two volumes of the manga, so at this point I feel pretty invested and want to know what will happen next.
CW: sexual harassment, suicide, previous death of a family member

Lights Out

by Jenni Fletcher

(4 / 5)

I want to thank Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books, and NetGalley for providing a free review copy of the book. All opinions are completely my own.

Lights Out is a fake dating romance story that takes us into the world of Formula 1 racing. I have to admit that I knew very little about the sport going into the book but found it very accessible since our narrator, Maisie, also didn’t know much about it. The car races really brought a lot of excitement and energy to the story. The book was a quick, easy, fast-paced read that was hard to put down. I liked the chemistry between Maisie and Gio. There were some situations along the way that I didn’t really like how one or both of them acted, but I was glad to see that most of it was reflected on and discussed later in the story. They both had their issues, but I also felt like it made them feel human. It was also nice to see Maisie working through some of her fears from past trauma and addressing her mental health. Overall, the book was a fun read that I enjoyed.

February 25, 2026 by danimae1981 Fiction Kindle New Adult Romance Young Adult 0

A Latte Like Love

by Michelle C. Harris

coming March 17, 2026

(3 / 5)

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the free review copy of this book! All opinions are completely my own.

This one is a tough one to rate. At first I really enjoyed the book and was easily pulled into the story. But somewhere along the way it lost me. I think a lot of it was that the book just felt so much longer than it needed to be, especially since not a lot seemed to be happening with the plot. The biggest conflict was in a flashback, so it felt pretty anticlimactic when I reached the epilogue. The epilogue itself was very long, rehashing things that had already happened from a different perspective. For me, it just felt a little repetitive. As for the relationship between Audrey and Theo itself, I was rooting for them, but then things really seemed to move alarmingly fast, especially considering Theo’s mental state. A lot of the story centers on Theo’s recovery after an accident and coming to terms with significant scarring. I was glad to see growth in Theo’s character over the course of the story, though Audrey didn’t really seem to develop very much. In the end, the book had a lot of promise but just didn’t quite deliver for me.

February 12, 2026 by danimae1981 Fiction Kindle Romance 0