The Thing About Lemons by Tasha Harrison

Pages: 320 

Publisher: UCLan Publishing

Released: 1st of June 2023 

Ori Reynolds has just made the biggest mistake of her life. One that’s resulted in:

1) losing all but one of her friends,

2) feeling like the World’s Most Terrible Person,

and

3) having all her fun summer plans cancelled.

And, as if things couldn’t get any worse, she now has no choice but to go on a road trip with her estranged grandad Claude to his home in the French countryside.

Talk about life giving you lemons!

However, while Ori scoffs at her mum’s suggestion to “make lemonade”, her sour situation is about to turn significantly sweeter than she could ever have imagined…

What I Have to Say 

I tried to read this book with an open heart, because people make mistakes and it can be hard to move on from. Love is complicated and falling in love with the wrong person can be really difficult. But even though she didn't intend to kiss him, Ori was scheming to "get to know Jackson better" behind her friend's back. The fact that this led to cheating, was really not surprising. (This is all on page one, by the way.) 

So after not warming to Ori at all, she spent most of the book wallowing in her teenage drama. I read a lot of YA, so I don't use the term "teenage drama" lightly. This was just too much angst and self-pity for me. And then she very quickly moves on to the next boy she decides to have a crush on, after deciding really quickly that Jackson is not for her. I just felt if he was so easy to move on from, why did she kiss him in the first place?! 

So yeah, to say this book wasn't for me was a massive understatement. I just did not get on with it at all and would advise other people to stay away unless you can get really into teen drama. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and UCLan Publishing for providing me with this copy for review. 

Hexed by Julia Tuffs

Pages: 400

Publisher: Orion Children's Group 

Released: 8th July  2022 

Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Sex Education - Jessie Jones has just discovered she's a witch. Too bad there isn't a hex to make slimy Callum Henderson and his friends disappear ... yet. A feisty, funny YA series about discovering your place and your power.

New girl, new school, new life on stupid island - thanks Mum. All Jessie Jones wants is to keep her head down, avoid school douchebag Callum Henderson, and coast - middle-of-the-road-like. But when strange powers start to manifest during crippling period pains, flying under the radar seems highly unlikely.

Can Jessie embrace her new-found witchiness, control her erratic powers and work out a way to bring down Callum and his cult of toxic masculinity? 

What I Have to Say 

This was such a fun easy read. Classic teenage witch tale, with added feminism! I loved Jessie's character and her voice. It was really easy to get into a just an enjoyable reading experience. I love that she didn't just want to use her powers for personal gain, she wanted to do it to get revenge on the slimy boys who made the school unsafe for all the girls around her! 

The only complaint I had with it was that everything felt too easy. I was waiting for everything to fall apart on her as she was using her powers without thinking of the consequences, I was waiting for her to learn her lesson and swear never to do it again, And there were consequences, but they didn't seem to really sink in and register with her. There wasn't a moment of "oh god what have I done". 

All in all though, I really enjoyed reading it and can't wait for the next. Look out for a review of that one, coming soon! 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Orion Children's Books for sending me this copy for review.