Different For Boys

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks Tandem Collective and Walker Books for my review copy.

I can’t say that I would know what it’s like to come to terms with one’s sexuality and the prejudice that can come with identifying in whichever way you choose.

Throughout this story, Ant our MC, shows us that he comes from an area where being queer, isn’t necessarily going to be accepted. He has love for his friend Charlie and he can’t define if what they’ve done together counts as losing his virginity. It’s all very secret and Charlie’s homophobic language suggests that he can’t accept this within himself and/or he thinks he wouldn’t be accepted in the outside world. There’s so much internal conflict within him.

Ant is such a sweet human. Even after Charlie loses it at him, basically outing Ant at school, Ant chose to keep Charlie’s secret. Definitely some heartbreaking scenes during that moment and it makes you sympathise with those who may have to deal with such situations in real life. I think our world is very accepting these days, but there will always be someone out there in the community, who will make their hate known for those who are just trying to be comfortable in their own skin and their sexuality.

This is a very short YA story with much self discovery. The ending was a sweet interaction with Ant and his friend Jack. I also loved Freddie who was full of acceptance. What I loved about Ant was his patience throughout all that happened with Charlie. It was an emotional read and is more suited for teenagers and above.

Lessons For Broke Georgia

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was eye opening to how we can get ourselves into sticky situations surrounding money. Our MC Georgia is left with a massive debt when her cheating ex-fiancé racks up thousands of charges on her credit card. Her trust was abused and after finding out all these secrets her ex Basil kept from her, Georgia’s left with figuring her life out. The story covers her navigating life, love and relationships whilst she comes up with creative ways to clear this debt.

I found this read funny but also relatable. It does make you think about how you can be wiser with money and how we can easily mismanage our finances. Georgia really stuck to her guns in not borrowing from others and took responsibility to figure it out. I know when I've been in situations like this, I start to figure out how I should manage my money better.

I really enjoyed the subplot with Georgia's mother who seemed sketchy and randomly disappeared. When she was always asking to borrow money from Georgia or her brother and never seeing that money returned, this led to my assumptions. I thought maybe the mum was a con artist or she owed money to loan sharks, but honestly didn't guess the twist at the end. No one could have seen that coming.

I enjoyed the interactions Georgia had with her brothers and friends. Had quite a few laughs through their conversations. Georgia's dating encounters were also hilarious moments - the poop scene especially! Her ex Basil was a complete mooch and he just felt like he was totally not her type to begin with. I also enjoyed her supportive friends throughout the read.

Overall I had fun whilst reading this and it felt like a friend telling me about their life with all the mishaps and triumphs.