pages:  304 | source: physical, gifted 
publication date: January 14th, 2025
tags: young adult, coming-of-age, contemporary, romance, asian, lgbtqia+, adoptee
rating: 7.3/10

B O O K S H O P *    |    G O O D R E A D S    |    S T O R Y G R A P H    
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 First Love Language follows high school senior Catie as she has to move for the summer from San Diego to Salt Lake City after her mom loses her job and they have to move with her very Mormon aunt. This coming of age debut was incredibly sweet and offered a closer look into exploring themes of adoption, family, and one's cultural identity. 

Catie wasn't expecting her summer to take the turn it did, especially when the opportunity to learn her first language arises through the form of an exchange of lessons between her and her new coworker Toby. While he will help her reconnect with her Taiwanese heritage and language, she'll give him dating lessons to help him score a date with his longtime crush - the only catch is that she's never dated anyone in her life. Armed with only her late father's annotated copy of The Five Love Languages, Catie has to come up with an entire curriculum to prove she's an expert on love, while learning more about a part of her past and identity she had always been left in the dark on.

Reading this book felt like a love letter to adoptees which is reflected in the author's note as well. Pulling on personal experiences, Stefany Valentine dives into what it means to be adopted and the emotional process of deciding how to find the answers to one's birth parents. Through Catie's perspective, we get to understand the joys that come from finding long lost relatives as well as the pain of discovering all the time lost as a result. Her story offers a gentle hug to readers who might be experiencing or have experienced the similar journeys all while offering a lighthearted element of first loves.

On that note, I did wish that we could have spent more time in the "love department" because I was initially intrigued by the use of The Five Love Languages. While Catie uses her father's copy to come up with dates for Toby, she begins to realize that love is so much more than what she initially thought. I loved their interactions together as they tried to keep things platonic and professional all while tiny seeds of romance are being planted. In some ways, Catie's lessons with Toby begin to help her come to terms with all she's discovering about her birth mother and family, allowing her to find love and support that she's always yearned for.

First Love Language is a lovely debut that offers readers to develop a deeper understanding of the adoptee experience while getting a glimpse into first love and lost identities and I would definitely love to see what the author comes out with next!

thank you to Colored Pages Book Tours, Viking Books, and Stefany Valentine for the opportunity to read/review/participate in this tour - All thoughts are 100% my own.  Please click on the banner to check out the other stops on the tour!

Hello there! Welcome to the day six, the final day, of Bookmas! I'm a little in shock that I managed to keep up with the posting schedule and this was just a good reminder overall of how much fun blogging can be. Hopefully we'll be able to carry that energy into the new year and stay a little more consistent in 2025.

We're wrapping things up with a favorites list - I was browsing through and found that despite reading a lot of good books, only a handful really stuck out as favorites overall so I'm excited to share the list! 

      

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the starless sea by erin morgenstern

This book is truly a love letter to storytelling. It's just full of beautiful prose and overlapping storylines that weave themselves together to create such a masterful tapestry that leaves you filled with so much wonder for the world. I read this all the way in the beginning of the year and still find myself thinking and theorizing about the different connections - this is definitely one of those stories that will stick with you for a long time and will present something new every time you reread it.

favorite line: Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does, somewhere, sometime. In one form or another.

the bride of death by f.m. aden

I feel like I've spoken about this book so much but it truly was the most unexpected favorite that left an absolute chokehold on me while I was reading. If I haven't raved about this enough, the story follows Zerryn who finds herself in a competition to become the bride of Erlik Kahn. The story incorporates Turkish mythology into the classic fantasy trope of enemies to lovers with so much gentle yearning I could literally feel my heart crying. 

favorite line: Can you imagine what it's like, when an immortal with no perception of care gains an impossible attachment?

      

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when among crows by veronica roth

Tor has been absolutely killing it with their short stories. Last year, I read The Salt Grows Heavy and it became one of my favorites and this year When Among Crows filled that hole in my heart for a macabre fairytale-esque story. Veronica Roth manages to pack so much magical politics and set up an entire society in the Chicago underworld to support our characters as they journey to find Baba Yaga. This also has a soft spot in my heart for the most gentlest of romances between two characters that just makes me want to give them a big hug.

favorite line: Eternity is long. Time enough for hearts to soften.

dragonfruit by makiia lucier

Makiia Lucier has officially solidified herself as one of my comfort YA authors because Dragonfruit has everything I love about YA fantasy. From dragons, a journey, and the sweetest relationship amongst all the characters, this was just a lot of fun to read. There is one particular scene that I'm still not over and feel slightly betrayed by but other than that, this felt like a warmest hug and I just adore it.

favorite line: To the adored child, send them on journeys.

lady macbeth by ava reid

If I read an Ava Reid book, it's pretty much guaranteed to make it on my favorites list. Ava Reid just has a way with storytelling that feels like stepping into a mystical world and this one is no different. I've always loved the play Macbeth and seeing the events unfold through Lady Roscille's eyes as she enters first as an innocent bride to Macbeth and then her journey of self-preservation as he ascends to power felt more empowering and enraging. We get to explore the imbalance of power between the two and how magic and madness weave together to bring about Macbeth's downfall. My only complaint is that this ended too quickly - Ava Reid can I please have a tiny extension, I simply need more time with these characters!!

favorite line: Perhaps it is not cleverness that seeps through the generations but cruelty. One cold creature weaning another.

At first, I was a little surprised to only have six titles that really stood out as favorites for me this year but these really sum up my reading taste and preferences pretty accurately. I do have a bunch of honorable mentions so maybe I'll try to whip up a list for those sometime in January because I did read a bunch of solid 3.5-4 star stories that I still want to spotlight.

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy holiday season! I had a lot of fun with Bookmas this year and will definitely try to continue this momentum of drafting/posting consistently into 2025. Let me know what your favorite reads of the year were, I'd love to know!

Hello everyone! I can't believe we're on the second to last post for Bookmas - December has really flown by and I'm more than ready to curl up on my bed and just sleep throughout my winter break. 

         
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eliza, from scratch by sophia lee

I've been watching Sophia on YouTube for years and have always admired her ability to phrase her thoughts in reviews so see the actual cover and synopsis of this book feels so surreal and exciting. This combines the heartfelt experiences of falling in love and exploring one's culture through food which just promises to be the sweetest story ever.

         
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katabasis by r.f. kuang

I am literally so excited for this because anything R.F. Kuang writes I will absolutely read. This is inspired by Dante's Inferno and knowing I know that she is going to have such an interesting twist to the classic. The story follows a student who has to journey into the depths of hell in order to bring her esteemed professor back from the dead which is the perfect set up for a captivating story.

fable for the end of the world by ava reid

I am a self-proclaimed Ava Reid stan and anything she writes I'll read - even if I don't typically reach of dystopians as a genre. Set in a half-sunken town where a massive corporation controls all of society, we get to follow Inesa when she finds out her mother just sacrificed her into the Lamb's Gauntlet to pay off her debts. Now a part of this life or death competition, she has to evade a skilled assassin and hope to make it out of the games alive.

gifted and talented by olivie blake

So far, I've been pretty indifferent about most of Olivie Blake's novels that I've picked up but something about her synopses just sound so compelling. Gifted and Talented follows three incredibly talented siblings who are trying to find out who will be the heir to their father's massive technology empire. Each with skills of their own and secrets/insecurities to hide, the inheritance will solidify their future in society and if there's anything I love in a good story it's hidden motives and lots of scheming which I hope this one will have!

king of envy by ana huang

I don't have many comments other than I'm still hopeful that another Kings of Sin book will hit the same way King of Wrath did for me. Granted, I've only read the first 2 books in the series but we're still keeping our fingers crossed. I think this follows Vuk who has been such an interesting and elusive character so I'm definitely intrigued to see how his story will unfold.

         
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the listeners by maggie stiefvater

I had no idea Maggie Stiefater was coming out with an adult novel and one that's set in WWII is such a throwback for me since I used to love historical fiction novels set in that time period and haven't picked up one in a while. The Listeners is set in a luxury hotel that is now part of a ploy to invite the elite Axis diplomats to enjoy some relaxation before springing a trap. With different political machinations in place, the main character has to navigate her role as the general manager in order to get everyone through safely.

a forgery of fate by elizabeth lim

It's just industry standard at this point that Elizabeth Lim has the most gorgeous covers. Inspired by Beauty and the Beast, this follows a con artist who agrees to a marriage contract with a dragon lord in order to protect her family. With the unique ability to paint the future, she has to join her new husband at his palace under the sea and and assist him in infiltrating the Dragon King's inner circle and paint a future that could upend both the mortal and immortal realms.

anatomy of a betrayal by grace d. li

I really enjoyed Grace D. Li's debut novel Portrait of a Thief and her sophomore work is inspired by the persecution of Chinese American scientists while exploring the theme of being "American enough." Two graduate students find themselves on opposing sides when one is accused of spying for the Chinese government and the other one has to catch her in the act. This sounds so incredibly interesting and dives into a period that I haven't read too much about.

the nightblood prince by molly x. chang

I'm a little hesitant to add this to the list because I still have a lot of mixed feelings about Molly X. Chang's debut work. However, the plot just sounds like such a fun time. The synopsis includes a vampire army and the classic love triangle trope where the main character is torn between two powerful princes while juggling a prophecy that will name her Empress of All Empresses. So many important choices rest on her shoulders and how will she ever choose - just keeping my fingers crossed that it'll just be a silly goofy run read.

We're almost to the end of Bookmas and if anything, it's proved that if I really set a schedule, I could 100% follow through. I hope you've been enjoying the last few weeks of December as we get closer to the holidays - let me know what new releases in 2025 you're excited for and I'll see you back on Christmas Eve for the last day!