Teen Book Review: No Matter How Loud I Shout by Edward Humes

No Matter How Loud I Shout – Edward Humes

A Book Review by Katelyn Aune

 

No Matter How Loud I Shout is a compelling and captivating nonfiction book containing a plethora of first-hand accounts of events taking place in Juvenile Courts and Detention Centers in Los Angeles, California. The opening chapter starts by describing the Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall in all its poor quality and unmet standards. Then it begins to tear at the morality of the juvenile justice system: how unfair and fickle it truly is. It supports these theories with real stories of children and how they ended up working within the gangs roaming the streets of L.A.

Very rarely am I interested in the non-fiction genre, but this book did an amazing job of getting and keeping my attention. The way the book is written builds a suspense like no other, making even seemingly mundane details of the story jump out at you. He also does a good job of keeping his message and tone fluent. It’s difficult to create a steady flow in your story when all it is is a collection of eye-witness accounts, but Humes does it wonderfully. For example, in the first chapter we see the numbed mind of an intake officer shuffling through profiles second guessing whether certain inmates belong there or not, and then we flow into the next chapter where a HRO (high-risk offender) awaiting trial reads off a poem to his peers wondering why he was doomed to be held there, and not allowed to be a father. The connection in this example being both people wondering where a person belongs. This way of storytelling rids the story of any choppiness that could possibly make the book difficult to read and draw conclusions.

Each story exposes or informs the reader of a certain flaw of the juvenile judicial system. Each character has a very big part to play in each story too, which makes them very memorable as you begin to associate them with how the judicial system treated them or vice versa (their behavior inside the court system.) Carla, a young straight A student, represents the breaking of the juvenile criminal stereotype, Enias, a HRO in the center, reveals the humanity so many of the inmates still have. These are just a few of the many characters that make this book so emotional and drive readers to want to keep reading.

I picked up this book because I had a momentary interest in law, and even as that interest has faded I remained occupied in the pages of this book. I recommend this story to anyone interested in law or true crime. I would also suggest it to anyone with an interest in books centered around suspense and action. This story will certainly not fail to keep you intrigued with endless surprising true stories of juvenile criminals as they navigate through L.A.’s corrupt and broken bureaucracy.

Although, not the whole story will leave you hopeless and doubting the stability of America’s government. He reminds us through the story with various success stories too that good is out there, and that occasionally the system prevails and can change children’s lives for the better.

Reading this book has opened my mind to the intricacies of juvenile court. It has aided in the formation and extension of my own opinions and has also instilled a great sense of sympathy for the children entering these centers. This book was super interesting to read and analyze and I look forward to reading more of Humes’s works as the year progresses.

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Teen Book Review: If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

A Book Review by Mina Nguyen

If You Could See the Sun is a relatable slowburn,  academic rivals-to-lovers read. Alice Sun is the ideal student: smart, ambitious, and a leader. Alice Sun thrives on academic validation, constantly ranking the top of her class. It’s the only way she feels seen at her elite Beijing international boarding school among the richest, most influential teens. Her only competition is Henry, but she’s sure she can beat him. However, this plan becomes complicated when she begins to turn invisible. When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, she sets a plan in action. Using her invisibility, she’ll monetize her classmate’s scandalous secrets, but she needs Henry’s help. But as the tasks escalate, turning from petty scandals to crimes, Alice must decide if these crimes are worth the money she’s making to remain at school.

This is a great debut novel. The romance is nuanced and well-developed, especially for such a short read. All the characters, even the side characters, were flushed out and well-rounded. Every character had a personality, and the side-characters had a purpose rather than to progress the development of Alice. Alice is an extremely well-written character. She’s relatable, and the author does a good job of making her realistic. A lot of readers would relate to her character. This book has some fantasy elements through her turning invisible, and Liang does a great job of using the fantasy element in a contemporary read. It falls into the book naturally, and there are no plot holes. The author does a good job of integrating it into the book naturally. I also appreciated the perspective of the elite and the constant scandals to stay at the top. Liang also does a great job of explaining the feelings of imposter syndrome and basing self-worth through academics and how it can mentally affect students negatively. I can definitely see myself easily picking up future books by this author. This was an incredible debut novel, and I can’t wait to see what she writes in the future.

 

Read-Alikes:

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe-Gong My Mechanical Romance by Alex Farol Follmuth /Today, Tonight, Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon /Not Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach

Put If You Could See the Sun on hold today!

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Teen Book Review: The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

A Book Review by Mina Nguyen

            The Do-Over is a groundhog day, modern day rom-com perfect for Taylor Swift fans. Emilie Hornby plays by the rules. She’s a strategic planner and even has a checklist for the ideal man. On Valentine’s Day, Emilie makes sure everything goes according to plan. She’ll give her gift to her boyfriend, and her boyfriend will give a gift to her. They’ll go out to eat, and she’ll confess her love. However, Valentine’s Day is a dumpster fire after she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, so Emilie escapes to her grandmother’s house for comfort and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s at home and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And again? And again. Emilie is stuck in a time loop, and she can’t figure out how to get out of it, reliving her boyfriend cheating on her. However, she runs into Nick everyday, literally, in the most unfortunate ways. Emilie can’t strategically plan her way out of this one.

I loved this book. This book is probably one of my top books of 2022. Emilie is extremely relatable. She’s a girl who has high expectations of love, and she knows she deserves it, so she makes a checklist for all the qualities she looks for. However, her checklist might not work in terms of love, and it was so fun to see her figure this out. Also, in the beginning of each chapter, Emilie makes a confession, which is a creative way for readers to know more about her without stating it directly into the book, if it doesn’t relate to what is happening in the storyline. I found this book to be funny, and I remember laughing a few times. Lynn Painter knows how to write the perfect humor in a rom-com. There were also a lot of original moments between Emilie and her love interest; it wasn’t tropey for those who like to avoid tropes and want something original but fun. I read this entire book in one sitting. I can not praise this book enough. It was magical, funny, and perfect. Also, there are Taylor Swift references throughout the entire book. And, there is a pretty good playlist at the end, which sold me on this book. I don’t think I’ve ever read a Lynn Painter book I didn’t love. All her writing is incredibly well-written with the right amount of character development and romance with a little bit of humor.

 

Read-Alikes:

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Soloman If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Put The Do-Over on hold today!

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Teen Book Review: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

A book review by Mina Nguyen

 

Love on the Brain is a witty, workplace enemies-to-lovers, young adult swoon-worthy STEM rom-com contemporary read. Bee Kongiswasser is a Marie Curie fan. Besides loving Marie Curie and maybe being her #1 biggest fan, Bee is also a neurologist which means she deals with jerks all day as a woman in a STEM field. In order to combine her love of Marie Curie and STEM, Bee created a secret twitter account to attack the issues of how women in STEM are treated in the workplace with the motto of “What would Marie do?” In order to pursue her dream job at NASA, Bee must work with her arch nemesis, Levi Ward, who has hated her from the first moment he saw her at grad school. When her equipment doesn’t show up and emails go unanswered, she blames Levi, her “co”-lead. After confronting him, she realizes that Levi might not be the one behind the problems. As Bee continues to warm up to Levi, she realizes that Levi might not hate her as much as she believes, and she might have to ask herself what she would do.

Love on the Brain was one of my most anticipated reads of the year after absolutely loving The Love Hypothesis, and this book delivered. I loved everything, from the comical moments to the stolen glances and touches. This book was great! Before discussing the romance, I want to talk about the phenomenal research Hazelwood put into this book. Hazelwood does a great job of incorporating STEM into her books. She clearly devotes research into accurately finding information about Bee’s workfield. Hazelwood clearly makes Bee’s job a part of her life rather than just having her life singularly revolve around romance. Her great research allows her characters to have personalities and flaws, which make them relatable characters whose lives don’t revolve around romance alone. I also found this book commercial and it had me laughing a few times. The side characters are well-developed and are just as interesting as the main characters.

The romance in this book was top tier. The tension was off the charts! Hazelwood writes great romance, not because of the tropes she incorporates but because of the natural way the characters fall for each other. Their relationship progresses very naturally for a contemporary romance following the enemies-to-lovers trope. I also love the conversations the characters have about the fear of trusting another person after Bee’s engagement failed to make it to the wedding altar. The issues of trust in romantic relationships were well discussed. There were also a lot of cute moments that were super original and that I’ve never read before in a romance book, which is rare for contemporary romances.

All in all, this book was great and I loved every moment of it. It was light-hearted and fun with great relationship development. It definitely met my expectations as one of my most anticipated reads for 2022. I recommend this book for anyone in need of a quick read with great characters and an even better romance!

 

 

Read-Alikes:

Amazon cover image

The Love Hypothesis by Ali HazelwoodNot Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn SolomanMy Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol FollmouthAs if on Cue by Marisa Kanter

Put Love on the Brain on hold today!

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