How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan

How The Met is a compilation of various stories about love by David Levithan. It's pretty cool to see how these were written if you read the before note from him in the book. It started in his physics class when he was bored and wrote a Valentines' story for his friends. They liked it so much that it became a tradition. Also some of his other novels started as Valentines' stories, like Boy Meets Boy. 

I really liked the style of this book and all the different little stories. They all weren't love stories, but stories ABOUT love. Some stories were better than others, but my favorites were Flirting With Waiters, Lost Sometimes, What a Song Can Do, Starbucks Boy, Princes, the escalator, and The Good Witch. I think my favorite one out of all of them was Princes. That one was really sweet and realistic. 

I loved how all the stories had characters of different sexualities, so there were some gay ones and some straight ones. Also as I was reading Lost Sometimes, I was like, "I could have sworn I've read this before" and it turns out I had! It was part of 21 Proms, a compilation of 21 prom stories also edited by David Levithan.

David Levithan, I love you so much. All your stories are so wonderful. 

I recommend this one if you aren't in the mood for a long story, that way you can just read a story or two. 4 out of 5 stars.

Shine by Lauren Myracle

When Cat hears that her former best friend was attacked in a hate crime, with the words "Suck this, faggot" written on his chest, she is determined to get to the bottom of it. It was no secret to anyone that Patrick, her friend, was gay and that homophobia may have had a big part in the act. As Cat asks questions to try to figure out what happened, she learns how to confront her past and become a stronger person.

People in this world are so cruel. It made me sick when I read the things that the characters said, because I know that some people are like that. I like to think of myself as an advocate for gay rights, and this harsh reality of a southern town was hard to read. Hate and intolerance are ugly things, and I hope that hate crimes and harsh words like the ones spoken in the book will eventually cease to exist. Shine touched me on so many levels and had me feeling angry at some times and heartbroken at others.

I liked how the characters were presented in this book, like there aren't any "good" or "bad" ones. They are all very human with their flaws. Even Cat isn't perfect, because she's quick to assume and not very assertive at first.

The plot was drawn out nicely, giving little details and clues to what truly happened. The story becomes even darker when the prominent aspect of meth is introduced. I think there's a lot more to this book than it seems.

The only objection I have to Shine is the romance aspect. I think it seemed a little convenient and the story would have been fine without it. Also, the ending. I like justice, and I guess in a way it was justice, but it was more like karma justice than law justice.

Another thing I'd like to add is how beautiful the cover of this book is. I love the dark shack and bare tree and ominous sky, and then that one beautiful burst of color, which is the flower. I think it really portrays the book perfectly.

Shine is a heartbreaking story with a lovely heroine and a sad mystery. I recommend this one if the plot sounds interesting to you. 5 out of 5 stars.

Rage: A Love Story by Julie Anne Peters

Rage is a love story, as the title suggests. But this isn't your ordinary boy-meets-girl love story. First of all, it's a girl-meets-girl love story. But it is so much more than that. As the story begins, we meet Johanna, the patient, reliable, go-to heroine. She's in love with Reeve. Reeve is the opposite of Johanna. She's dangerous, alluring, and mysterious. The story proceeds, and we find ourselves learning about Reeve's abusive family, which leads her to abusing Johanna.

I wanted to love this story, I really did! And I did love it in a way. I don't know what it was about the writing, but there was just something that made it hard for me to get into the story. I found Johanna to be a bit weak, because of all the shit she puts up with. All her friends and family try to warn her to keep away from Reeve, because they don't want to see her get hurt. Johanna ignores them, and chooses Reeve over them. She abuses Johanna, but Johanna claims that Reeve really loves her, she's just scared. Johanna is blind, and loves Reeve. She'll do anything for her, whether it's losing the people and things that are important to her, skipping school, or losing her job. I also don't know how much she sees into Reeve's character. All the time she describes Reeve, it seems mostly physical, not about what's inside. I personally think she's in love with the idea of Reeve, not Reeve herself. You have to understand that the situation that she lives in majorly influences this though. Her life is hard, and it's understandable that this is the type of person she is. The characters are very realistic though. It's easy to understand them and see that they're not perfect at all.

I liked the idea of the book, how it was a love story, but it was a lot more than that. It's about relationships, abuse, loss, and family. There were moments I liked, but I found this book a bit difficult to read because I didn't find myself relating with Johanna very much. I liked it because it was unique. Honestly, how many books about abuse are there? And how many of those have LGBT protagonists? And how many of them are teen girls? So this book fills that little spot.

The ending was a bit of a let-down, but I'm glad it was how it was because it was realistic. I wouldn't really classify this book more as a LGBT book, but more as an abuse book. It's about both, but I think it's more the latter.

Rage isn't a happy book, it's a darker one. It's about abuse. Everyone is either the victim or the abuser, or both. It's painful and sad to think about, but possibly a necessary read.

I also felt a bit confused with the end, like I was missing some parts. Such as what was in Robbie's case and the hospice. Everything just seemed a little bit cut off, with no folow up.

I really wanted to like this story, but I'm going to have to go with 2.5 out of 5 stars on this one.

Absolutely Positively Not by David Larochelle

Steven is questioning his sexuality. He knows he's not gay, because why else would he have Victoria's Secret models on his wall or sit with the jocks at lunch? But then again, he does spend a lot of time eyeing Coach Bowman and looking at male underwear catalogues. Throughout the story, Steven learns what it means to be a guy and to be true to himself.

First of all, I'm going to put aside the fact that parts of this book were very stereotypical and unrealistic. I am noting that, and that I am not going to go into detail about it.

I absolutely loved this book. It made me laugh on quite a few occasions because it was just TOO funny. Steven is hilarious and someone I would want as my best friend. The writing is witty and the characters are easy to understand. This is an adorable story about coming out. I wished that the pages never ended because I was totally absorbed into Steven's words. I loved Steven's personality and how brave and positive he is. I found myself cheering him on in all the "illegal" things he does and when he was trying to get his driver's license.

I also enjoyed how there wasn't any messy romances in the plot line, so that didn't take away from the story. It distinguishes this novel from being about a gay romance to being about coming out. And that is such a refreshing change.

The one thing that I was disappointed about was Coach Bowman. I would have really liked for Steven and him to have talked at the end of the story instead of Bowman just disappearing from the plot line.

I loved this book because it made me smile and laugh and put me in a good mood. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a hilarious story about a not-sure-if-he's-gay guy.This fantastic novel definitely deserves 5 out of 5 stars.