Category: YA - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

Ableism, Ableism

27/5/2026

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

If Maddy leaves her home, the world could very well kill her. She's allergic to so many things and never knows what could trigger her. So she lives inside with her mother, never leaving, never seeing the world - that is, until Olly becomes the boy next door when his family moves in. He soon becomes her guilty secret. Will being with him be the very thing that destroys her?

This is your typical YA novel with a plot that certainly matches the genre, and I always enjoy it when authors use different formats and diagrams to add to the story they are telling us. It's a decent debut, but I know Yoon's work improved after this (I adored The Sun Is Also a Star). Unfortunately, this book is ableist AF. I won't say more because that'll take me into spoiler territory... anyway, perhaps skip to the other books Yoon has written.

Papa-paparazzi

9/2/2026

All Your Wishes (Two Hearts #2)
by Laura Sieveking

Piper's parents are both movie stars and her life is the complete opposite of normal. But normal is exactly what she needs right now, so she's happy to be spending six months attending a regular high school while she stays with family friends who are keeping her identity a secret. Soon she's crushing on a popular boy who's supposed to be a bully, but she is sure there's a different side to him...

A tale as old as high school. There's nothing new here and it's a fairly average book, but these kinds of stories are always going to be popular, no matter the decade. The selling point for me is the fact that this series is aimed towards Australian tweens and written by Australian authors - cheers for that, Scholastic. Oh and how about those gorgeous sprayed edges? The target audience is going to love it.

A Lady Knight's Tale

29/11/2025

Lady's Knight (Lady's Knight #1)
by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Gwen, the blacksmith's daughter, has grown up on tales of knights and chivalry and aches to prove herself. She masquerades as a man to win a single joust and intends to stop there. Lady Isobelle of Avington, who is the prize for the jousting tournament's winner, desires to escape her fate. A lady knight may very well be the answer to all her problems. But Gwen will need some persuasion...

A quirky and adorable YA/romance that is so sweet you'll definitely need some tea to wash it down while you read (er...when you're not too anxious to turn the page, that is - Kaufman and Spooner sure put my emotions through the wringer). Sure, it's aimed at a younger audience than us Millennials, but if you have always secretly wanted a mashup of Tamora Pierce novels and A Knight's Tale, this is the book you're been looking for. It's a little light on worldbuilding and it's not perfect... and honestly, I didn't care about any of this. It's a lot of fun.

A Ghost of a Chance

2/2/2025

Girl Haunts Boy by Cesar Vitale

Shortly after she steals a ring from a museum, Bea meets her timely end when a streetcar strikes her down. She regains consciousness as a ghost a century later and finds herself haunting her old house - which Cole has just moved into. Cole doesn't believe in ghosts and he's definitely not in the mood to share a bedroom with one. But maybe he and Bea aren't as different as they seem.

This is your typical YA ghost romance fare. The way it was written reminded me of the kinds of stories I inhaled back in the late 1990s and early 2000s - but I have to admit that some of them, just like this book, badly needed more depth. Bea also didn't seem authentically 1920s. Her dialogue felt forced whenever Vitale peppered it with older phrases. This all said, it was a sweet, short read.

In the Beginning

28/11/2024

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Tori Spring exists. The world exists around her. Apathy keeps her from seeing anything real in her school or her supposed friends - and she doesn't care that maybe something should be different. Then strange pranks start happening at school, enacted by the mysterious so-called Solitaire. Tori has no interest in Solitaire at first. But soon she realises it might have everything to do with her.

I was very disappointed in this book, having read some of Oseman's other work. It definitely reads like a first novel penned by a teenager. I suppose some of my reaction is due to my experience of teen depression and suicide ideation being quite different from Tori's... but also because this book was in dire need of more editing and redrafting (and apparently I read the newer version!). I'm not saying it had to be as slick as other YA novels published in 2014, but I did expect a certain quality.

One Wedding & Some Drama

21/9/2024

Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment by Arushi Avachat

Arya should be happy - her sister is back and planning a wedding to really nice guy. But the more time they spend together under one roof, the more the tension rises. Meanwhile, Arya is trying to get ready for college and fulfil her student government responsibilities, but the boy who won the role of president over her is so annoying. How could he be anything but an enemy?

This book's main strength is how it explores and handles female relationships, particularly familial ones. I always like to see this kind of thing done well. It also helps that the plot is engaging, perfect for YA readers who want spades of character growth alongside the expected romance. There is no absolutely no need for familiarity with Bollywood movies to enjoy Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment (I think the only one I've seen all the way through is Lagaan!). And enjoy it I did.

Tropetastic

20/9/2024

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzales

Ivy is a huge fan of a fantasy TV series but she doesn't expect to wake up with one of the characters in her bed. Weston is somehow real - and he thinks they're soulmates! Now Ivy has to find a way to hide his presence from everyone, especially her neighbour and ex-BFF, Mack. But maybe this isn't a story about soulmates. Maybe it's a story about mutual pining...and maybe Mack is Ivy's costar instead.

Gosh, this was cute. And I love seeing another bi girl with a similar haircut to mine on a book cover! As for the story, it's fun and amusing. The teen angst and drama ring true and you can't help but like every character. I did feel that this could have been something more, but sometimes you just want an uncomplicated YA novel to breeze through. As a bonus - I've discovered another Australian author!

Ho-Hum Climb

25/2/2024

Crimson Climb (Star Wars Disney)
by E. K. Johnston

Qi’ra learned long ago not to have dreams, so being left behind on Corellia while Han Solo gains his freedom won't be the end for her. She will rise and keep rising; she will step over bodies in order to do so. She will never give her complete self to anyone or any cause - but she will let Dryden Vos think she has completely embraced her position beneath him in Crimson Dawn.

I was disappointed with Crimson Climb, because much of it felt superfluous. Disney has released a few YA novels like this, covering the pasts of various characters, and the authors have played it safe, avoiding engaging plots in favour of exploring characterisation. Which does work sometimes, as Johnston has proven with her previous work. But other times, tedium sets in. I understand that Qi'ra has a detached personality through necessity, except that Johnston also managed to make the whole text feel detached as well. Then there's the ending, which wouldn't have been quite so bizarre if anything in the book before that point had matched it (Qi'ra spends most of the story navigating her way through underworld politics and suddenly it's an Indiana Jones adventure? What!?).

This could have been so much better. Alas, it is not.

Queen's Gambit

28/12/2023

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Mallory Greenleaf is struggling to keep her family afloat when she wins a match against the World No 1 player, Nolan Sawyer. Suddenly, everyone in the world wants to see her play again. That's a hard no - until Mallory loses her job. Now she's playing chess for money. That's it. That's all. And she's definitely not looking for a lasting connection...especially not with Nolan Sawyer.

This is a cute story and the chess angle made for interesting reading. I did find myself cringing a bit, however, whenever Hazelwood attempted to appeal to Zoomers - writing for the generation below you can be done, but this felt really forced (pop culture references don't fix everything). Well, maybe it won't feel that way to Hazelwood's intended audience. She is very popular on TikTok. *shrug*

Somewhere in Regency Time

26/12/2023

Pride and Prejudice and the City by Rachael Lippincott

Audrey, at seventeen, has been dumped, waitlisted for her dream college instead of getting in, and lost the spark she desperately needs for her art. But then she catches a coin that sends her back to 1812 - and into the path of Lucy, a gentleman's daughter who hides her true self and is destined for a loveless marriage. Audrey desperately wants to go home... but what if there's a reason she's there?

Oh my goodness. How cute was that! I'm glad I took a chance on this book - I nearly didn't, because the title is legitimately awful (though apparently it's also published with "Pittsburgh" instead of "the City", which is... marginally better) and it's also weird because this book might have a Regency setting, but that's where the resemblance to Jane Austen ends. Anyway, this sapphic time travel romp was a blast and I'm ever more delighted by the glorious amount of bi rep in books these days.