Riot Grrrl Reads

For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.

Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day.

It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard.

Seventeen-year-old River doesn’t know what to do with himself when Penny, the girl he adores, breaks up with him. He lives in LA, where nobody walks anywhere, and Penny was his ride; he never bothered getting a license. He’s stuck. He’s desperate. Okay . . . he’s got to learn to drive.

But first, he does the unthinkable—he starts walking. He stumbles upon a support group for teens with various addictions. He fakes his way into the meetings, and begins to connect with the other kids, especially an amazing girl. River wants to tell the truth, but he can’t stop lying, and his tangle of deception may unravel before he learns how to handle the most potent drug of all: true love.

Tell Us Something True was an uplifting and fun read, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did! I didn’t love it, but it did hold some important messages and I did think that it was well written, and I cared about the characters too. Here are 3 reasons why I would recommend picking it up today! (which is the day it’s out! it’s almost like i planned this or something...)

1. The characters

The set of characters were what made the book for me, because I cared about each of them so deeply. The protagonist, River, had a really interesting perspective on things, which I found refreshing, and made the book original. I feel like in YA, we don’t really get to read about characters like him, so I found him so much more interesting, because he was so different to me. His story provided the perfect escape.

I loved all the characters, but my favourite was Daphne, one of River’s friends who he meets at the group therapy. She was so strong-willed and determined to get what she wanted, which meant she was so thick skinned and never let people get her down. I admired her courage in tough times and thought some of the things she did were actually pretty inspirational!

2. Important messages

I didn’t go into this book thinking it would teach me anything or change me in any way - I just thought it would be a light, happy book, but nothing special. For the majority of the book, it seemed this way, but the ending was surprisingly emotional! Because I became so invested in the characters and the story, the way everything wrapped up really got to me. I thought the ending was perfect, too!

3. The themes of identity and diversity

These were a little more subtle, but I thought the race of the Mexican characters living in America, was really interesting. River was white, but Daphne was Mexican, and the book explored what life was like for her, and highlighted the obliviousness of River, which I thought was so important! I think it was really well written and even if these themes weren’t always present, I enjoyed reading about it. 

What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?

From the acclaimed author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.

Gwen Castle has never so badly wanted to say good-bye to her island home till now: the summer her Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, takes a job there as the local yard boy. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

A magnetic, push-you-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.

"Tell me that and we'll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that's how you want your story to go and we'll write it straight across the sand."

Dustwalk is Amani's home. The desert sand is in her bones. But she wants to escape. More than a want. A need.

Then a foreigner with no name turns up to save her life, and with him the chance to run. But to where? The desert plains are full of danger. Sand and blood are swirling, and the Sultan's enemies are on the rise...

Imagine a world without books…
In the future, books are a distant memory. The written word has been replaced by an ever-present stream of images known as Verity. In the controlling dominion of the United Vales of Fell, reading is obsolete and forbidden, and readers themselves do not—cannot—exist. But where others see images in the stream, teenager Noelle Hartley sees words. She’s obsessed with what they mean, where they came from, and why they found her.

Noelle’s been keeping her dangerous fixation with words a secret, but on the night before her seventeenth birthday, a rare interruption in the stream leads her to a mysterious volume linked to an underworld of rebel book lovers known as the Nine of the Rising. With the help of the Risers and the beguiling boy Ledger, Noelle discovers that the words within her are precious clues to the books of the earlier time—and as a child of their bookless age, she might be the world’s last hope of bringing them back.

Blood, Ink & Fire is a gripping, evocative tale that asks, who would we be without books?

Kellan Turner is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. But when she speaks up, she is branded a liar. Telling the truth has cost her everything, because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town.

But when news of Kellan assaulting another girl gets out, the cost of staying silent might be more than Romy can bear. All The Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women in a culture that refuses to protect them.

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A transporting debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another.

I was dead for 13 minutes. I don't remember how I ended up in the icy water but I do know this - it wasn't an accident and I wasn't suicidal. They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but when you're a teenage girl, it's hard to tell them apart. My friends love me, I'm sure of it. But that doesn't mean they didn't try to kill me. Does it?

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own. 

Stella Gordon's life is a lie.
She does not belong in Thunder Basin, Nebraska. As the key witness in a murder trial, Stella is under witness protection, living a life she doesn't want. No one can know who she really is. Not even Chet Falconer, her hot, enigmatic neighbour. But against her better judgement, Stella finds herself falling under Chet's spell ...
A storm is brewing. Is Stella really safe in Thunder Basin? And will Chet be her shelter, or her downfall ...? 

My favourite thing about this book was all of the family themes. The book explored the importance of family, and the unconditional love within families. I haven’t found this in Fitzpatrick’s other books, but it was done really well in this one. It could get quite sad at times, but Carmina - Stella’s foster Mum - was always there, which I thought was really important. The book would have been pretty miserable without the constant love of Carmina!

I really liked the direction the book went in. It could have been stuck in the past, trying to build up tension, but the unknown was sometimes forgotten so we could just enjoy what was happening. I liked how fast paced it was, because it meant I was never bored. There was always something happening, and if it wasn’t major, I wanted to read on to solve the mystery about Stella’s past. It made Dangerous Lies a really fun and quick read.

My main problem with this book was Stella, the protagonist. At the start, she was bratty, spoiled, and hideously stupid. Under the circumstances, she was extremely lucky to be in the position she was in, but seemed to be completely taking it for granted. I hated the way she was slut-shaming and putting down complete strangers and just being really rude. This was a bad setup, because it meant I really didn’t care about her at all! Though thankfully, she changed drastically throughout the book.

By the end, I had grown to like her. She had grown out of her immature behavior from the start, and was actually really likeable. She noticed her stupid decisions, and didn’t make them any more. I was actually very surprised, because in Fitzpatrick’s other books (and YA in general), this amount of character growth is rare! She had turned into a very likeable character, which meant I was really invested in what was to happen to her in the ending.

I was disappointed in the way the book ended. With about 20 pages to go, everything wasn’t rounded off at all, and we were no better for answers than we were about 100 pages ago! I was really worried that things wouldn’t be tied up well enough, so I was a little disappointed with the way it ended. It felt very rushed, and I think it needed longer so everything wasn’t just happening at the same time. An epilogue would have been nice too, because I would have liked to see a bit more of Stella’s life and what to come for her.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read! I know that fans of Fitzpatrick’s other books will love this too, because the style is exactly the same, and in my opinion, this one is the best. There were a few things that bothered me, but I liked how everything came together at the end. I’ll definitely be reading more by Fitzpatrick in the future.