Sophie Reads YA: Lucy Powrie

Bookishly Ever After

Waiting On Wednesday: Bookishly Ever After (The Paper & Hearts Society #3) by Lucy Powrie

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Lucy Powrie

Waiting On Wednesday: Read with Pride (The Paper & Hearts Society #2) by Lucy Powrie

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2020 Contemporary Romance Challenge

Review: Read with Pride (The Paper & Hearts Society #2) by Lucy Powrie

10:00

Read with Pride
Series: The Paper & Hearts Society #2
Author: Lucy Powrie
Published May 28th 2020 by Hodder Children's Books

Goodreads Synopsis
The much anticipated second book in The Paper & Hearts Society series by Booktuber Lucy Powrie. Will you be the next recruit for The Paper & Hearts Society book club? For fans of Holly Smale and Super Awkward.
Olivia Santos is excited for her last year at secondary school. But when a parent complains about LGBTQ+ content in one of the books, the library implements a new policy for withdrawing books. Olivia is distraught - she's demisexual and knows how important it is for all readers to see themselves represented.
Luckily, she's the mastermind behind The Paper & Hearts Society book club, and she knows exactly what to do: start a new club, find ways of evading the system, and change the policy for good!

With two book clubs to run, exams to prepare for, and a girlfriend, just how long will it be before Olivia burns out? After all, creating a book club and trying to get the #ReadWithPride hashtag to get noticed is going to take a lot of energy.

Sometimes, when you're in too deep, it's up to your friends to look out for you...
Goodreads

Review
I was late to the party for The Paper & Hearts Society, but fell in love with the cast of characters as soon as I read it, so knew that I needed Olivia's story when it was released. In Read With Pride, we follow Olivia Santos as she navigates year 11 and all the difficulties that entails. After being supported by her friends when she told them she was demisexual, and finding Cassie returned her feelings, she didn't think anything could bring her down, but her school has brought in a new, archaic policy, basically restricting pupils from reading LGBTQ+ books after one parent complained. Olivia knows how important it is for everyone to see themselves represented in books, and soon she plans to change the school policy. While doing so, she starts a new book club, Read with Pride, and meets so many others in school who are against the policy, and want to be open about their sexualities without feeling ashamed. Juggling both her book clubs, her revision and exams, and her fledgling relationship, Olivia soon finds herself spiralling out of control.

The only real negative I have about this book is the lack of time we see The Paper & Hearts Society together. They definitely take a back foot in this book, though Cassie is still important. I love how Cassie and Olivia are together, but there were a few moments that were so full of angst that could've just been solved by a quick conversation, and the unnecessary drama would've gone. That being said, I can kind of see why that was there, because it highlighted Olivia's burnout even further. The new cast of characters were wonderfully diverse, and seemed so real and true to modern teens. All of them come together to fight for a noble cause, but honestly become the best of friends, and we couldn't ask for any more. This book was perfect, especially for LGBTQ+ teens, and I'm even more excited for book 3!

Dates Read:
May 31-June 5, 2020

Rating
4 Stars

2020 Beat the Backlist challenge

Review: The Paper & Hearts Society (The Paper & Hearts Society #1) by Lucy Powrie

10:00

The Paper & Hearts Society
Series: The Paper & Hearts Society #1
Author: Lucy Powrie
Published June 11th 2019 by Hodder Children's Books

Goodreads Synopsis
A brand new series from Booktuber Lucy Powrie - about what happens when you give up on trying to fit in and let your weird out! It's time to join The Paper & Hearts Society ...

Tabby Brown is tired of trying to fit in. She doesn't want to go to parties - in fact, she would much rather snuggle up on the sofa with her favourite book.

It's like she hasn't found her people ...

Then Tabby joins a club that promises to celebrate books. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING - especially when making new friends brings out an AWKWARD BUZZING feeling all over her body.

But Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed have something that makes Tabby come back. Maybe it's the Austen-themed fancy-dress parties, or Ed's fluffy cat Mrs Simpkins, or could it be Henry himself ...

Can Tabby let her weird out AND live THE BEST BOOKISH LIFE POSSIBLE?

Perfect for fans of Holly Smale and Super Awkward.
Goodreads

Review
I have wanted to read this book for so long, but never got around to buying a copy until recently, and as soon as my copy arrived, I dove right in. In The Paper & Hearts Society, Tabby has moved into her grandma's for the summer, while her parents are packing up their old home ready for the permanent move from Cheltenham. While there, and with nothing else to do, she joins the book club she learns about while picking up her favourite book, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and meets Olivia, Cassie, Ed, and Henry, and soon becomes fast friends with them. However, the way her once 'friend' Jess treated her before she left, and is continuing to torment her online, has taken a toll on Tabby, and she doesn't quite trust herself with the group, not to mess it all up. As she gets closer and closer the Society, and joins them on a road trip to the literary sites of Bath, Stratford, and Haworth, she can't imagine life without them.

This book was just so funny, and also had heartfelt moments too. I adored the main cast, with Ed being my favourite, but everyone was perfect. Okay, Cassie rubbed me up the wrong way at first, but once we learnt more about her, it was easy to see what she had been a bit standoffish at first, and to forgive her. Tammy was a wonderful main character for this story, and I really felt for her with how Jess had been treating her, and how that affected her when she met new people, who were already a well formed group. I loved seeing her with both her family, and her new friends, and though I knew from an early start that something she did would come back to bite her, I really felt for her when the issues all came to a head.

The book is so inclusive too, with a range of sexualities and ethnicities being represented, and I especially loved the inclusion of Olivia's demisexuality, which I've seen will be explored further in book 2, Read with Pride, which I'm desperate to read now. Lucy has always had a keen eye on YA, especially with the UKYA chats she used to run, and I'm not surprised her writing is perfect! Bring on book 2!

Dates Read:
March 28-29, 2020

Rating
4 Stars