Review: Rick by Alex Gino

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Rick by Alex Gino

Published: 7th May 2020 | Publisher: Scholastic | Source: Bought
Alex Gino’s Website

Rick's never questioned much. He's gone along with his best friend Jeff even when Jeff's acted like a bully and a jerk. He's let his father joke with him about which hot girls he might want to date even though that kind of talk always makes him uncomfortable. And he hasn't given his own identity much thought, because everyone else around him seemed to have figured it out.

But now Rick's gotten to middle school, and new doors are opening. One of them leads to the school's Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities congregate, including Melissa, the girl who sits in front of Rick in class and seems to have her life together. Rick wants his own life to be that . . . understood. Even if it means breaking some old friendships and making some new ones.

As they did in their groundbreaking novel Melissa, in Rick, award-winning author Alex Gino explores what it means to search for your own place in the world . . . and all the steps you and the people around you need to take in order to get where you need to be. From The StoryGraph.

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The StoryGraph | Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features homophobia, bullying, asexual and aromantic erasure.

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Review: Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Ink Road Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Published: 4th April 2019 | Publisher: Ink Road Books | Source: Publisher
Akemi Dawn Bowman's Website

Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying. What to eat, where to go, who to love. But there's one thing she is sure of: she wants to spend her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.

Then Lea dies in a car accident, and Rumi is sent to live with her aunt in Hawaii. Now, miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, feeling abandoned by her mother, and the aching absence of music. With the help of the "boys next door", teenage surfer Kai, who doesn't take anything too seriously, and old George Watanabe, who succumbed to grief years ago, Rumi seeks her way back to music, and to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.

With unflinching honesty, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible. From Goodreads

Trigger Warnings: This book features death by car accident, familial death, grief, a panic attack, a heart attack, blood.

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My Aro Ace April Reading Challenge TBR

Ad: Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

After the success of F/F February, Ellie of Fae on the Shelf and Imi of Imi Reviews Books are back this month with another month long reading challenge - Aro Ace April. Following a similar set-up as F/F February, the aim is to read books featuring aromantic and/or asexual representation. There is a bingo card to complete, with bingo giving you an entry into their giveaway, and a photo challenge for Instagram! And you can check out Ellie's list of recommendations for the challenge, too.

I really enjoyed F/F February, so I'll be taking part again this month! Again, due to my blogging schedule, the books won't be reviewed on the blog until May, but I will be tweeting about them! But I wanted to share my TBR to help promote the reading challenge, and to maybe give you some ideas of what you can read if you take part. On to my my TBR!

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