Sarah Nicolas

Dragons are People, Too by Sarah Nicolas
YA paranormal adventure. Diverse elements.
Sixteen year old Kitty Lung is the commander of a stealth mission when her subordinate shifts into a dragon in front of a camera. The number one rule never to be broken. When the President’s son is kidnapped and all dragons are imprisoned, it’s up to Kitty and coworker Sani to figure out who is lying and how to save the dragon race.

A touching teen crush overlaid with worldly intrigue and politics. A fast-paced adventure with an altruistic focus. I enjoyed the adult responsibilities that these teens totally took on and handled. And agree with another reviewer, I really want my own CINDY.… (mehr)

Keeping Her Secrets by Sarah Nicolas
Endless Summer series book 3. YA, LGBTQ romance. Can be read as a stand-alone.
In summer camp, Riya encounters Courtney, her childhood best friend that she once shared a life-altering kiss. All either can think about is the other, but in the world of summer camp and teen challenges they turn to pranks.

A bit heartbreaking, some angst and welcome friendships make this coming of age story poignant, sad and ultimately in love (HFN).
I loved the brother the most. So supportive and true.… (mehr)

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

So, first and foremost I want to say that I really enjoyed this book. It was fun to read and it was mostly light-hearted, and even the conflicts weren't very stressful for the reader. On top of that, it made me smile pretty often thinking back to when I was a kid and had my first crush on a girl, which I haven't really thought about in ages.

However, that's also kind of the problem. It was a little too conflict-free and it was also extremely predictable. There weren't any twists or turns that I could think of, and most of the characters were pretty one dimensional.

But, that doesn't mean that it doesn't do anything right or that there isn't anything in it that's refreshing. I actually found quite a bit that was refreshing about this book. One of the biggest things I found refreshing was the way that the guys and the girls interacted. While the guys often flirted and showed interest, they never acted like they were entitled to or owned a girl, even when they were dating one of them. They also didn't act like jerks when they were rejected. They just accepted it and continued to be friends. It was nice, because a lot of books like to depict guys as being entitled jerks who can't be friends with a girl, let alone accept a rejection from her, which I think often sells guys short and it would probably help if we had more books and other media where they aren't depicted that way. And look! Here, we've got one! Wonderful!

There's a point in the book where someone uses a slur against the main character, Riya. I liked that it wasn't brushed off and she didn't get away with it. A fellow camper told her off, another one put physical distance between herself and the girl who said the nasty word, a few others stood ready to defend Riya, as well. And the counselor who had been in charge of the volleyball game that had been going on cut it off early and sent the campers off to do other things, while having the girl who shouted the slur stay back for a talk. The scene changed at that point, but I like that nobody just blew it off as a no big deal thing, except one person and there were real consequences for her about that, too.

I thought the way they dealt with the coming out of the main character's love interest, Courtney, was a bit of a mixed back. The same with her realizing her own sexuality. I liked that the author had her go on that journey, but I felt that it was a little fast from start to finish, given how short of a time the girls were at camp. Then again, the book takes place almost entirely at the camp, with only the epilogue taking place elsewhere, so I can see why there was a need to speed it up. Not to mention that I think Courtney was aware of a lot of these things about herself in the first place, but had simply been in denial for several years and refusing to think about it.

And, although Riya did have a relatively easy coming out herself (which took place long before the events in the book) and was already comfortable with herself and who she is, I found it a little surprising just how little she was understanding of Courtney's own predicament. Courtney seemed rude and selfish herself with her demands to keep their relationship a secret when she knew it hurt Riya, but actually spent a lot of time trying to see things from Riya's perspective and agonizing over her own behavior and how it affected Riya, just as much as she agonized over her own predicament. Riya, by contrast, didn't seem to spend a whole lot of time in deep contemplation about Courtney's predicament. I think a lot of it was exacerbated by a lack of true communication between them, though, and that was something they were both guilty of in equal parts, I think.

Still, I'm not sure how I feel about Dee being the one to tell Riya that she wasn't exactly being all that reasonable with her expectations of Courtney and how she was pushing her, and making Riya finally realize why her pushing hadn't been fair. It makes sense because she's Riya's best friend and she's the one who will tell you like it is, no matter what, without fear. She's also one of only two people who know that Riya and Courtney are in a relationship. However, there's just something a bit...off, about having a straight character explain to a non-straight character the importance of letting someone come out at their own pace and how unreasonable it is to push so hard for them to come out.

Another thing that I found to be a bit cringey was that Courtney seemed exoticize Riya, who is a character of color, more than a bit. Most of it happened toward the beginning, though, but it sort of tainted my perspective whenever she thought about and admired Riya's body afterward, even during the times when it would've been completely normal and reasonable otherwise.

And, last but not least, the working mom thing. Both of Courtney's parents are rich, high-powered lawyers and we hardly hear from either of them directly. But, the first time we hear anything from them is when Courtney talks to her mom on the phone at camp in the beginning of the book and not only is she awful, doesn't understand her daughter, threatens her daughter with cutting her off of the family money if she doesn't go to the school they want her to and study what they want her to, but it's also revealed that her mother is dividing her attention. She can't even stop and concentrate on her daughter fully long enough to have an argument. I'm sure her dad isn't much better, but I just have to sigh whenever I see the "successful working moms with ambitious careers are bad moms" trope, even if the dad is probably also that way.

I will say that the mother, as well as the father, both redeem themselves in that light when they finally see their daughter perform in the talent show and realize how unreasonable they've been, her mother even crying over how beautiful the performance was and apologizing for the way she'd acted about her daughter's dancing and wanting to make it a career in the past. They lost a little bit of that with their anti-gay bigotry but it looked like almost right away they were capable of changing their minds at some point, given enough time.

Ah, and one more thing I forgot to mention. When I read the synopsis here on Goodreads, I expected an /epic/ prank war. But, actually, it was pretty good-natured throughout, rather exaggerated in the synopsis, and only edged toward concerning a couple of times but never quite got there.

Ultimately, though, I loved the book and loved how it turned out despite the few hiccups, and I think this is definitely a book that I wish I had when I was growing up. I mentioned some definite negatives here, but don't let that stop you from reading the book. Don't let that 3-star rating stop you, either. It's definitely worth the read and I don't regret the time I spent reading it at all.… (mehr)