Devan’s lived with her father and stepmother Tracie, but when her dad dies, her life is in for a huge change: she’s being sent to live with her mother. The mother who she knows nothing about except that she lives in Los Angeles. The mother she knows only as the infamous, best-selling novelist Reece Malcolm.

When the plane lands and Reece is there, things get a little awkward. There’s no instantaneous mother-daughter bond. There’s little small talk, aside from their light conversation about getting a burger at the “world’s best burger place.” But it’s the tiny details Devan picks up on that help her work through not just the transition, but that help her come to figure out who her mother is and what their relationship may be. Both of them, for example, go for the diet coke. Details like this one are important in the story, but not because of what they are. The details are important because they are what define Devan and ultimately, what define the relationship between Devan and Reece.

Another surprise awaiting Devan in Los Angeles is Brad. He’s Reece’s boyfriend, who just recently moved in with her. Brad is about as opposite as you could get from Reece, too. And it’s not that he’s better than Reece or that he’s a better parental figure to Devan. He’s just different, and he is the kind of good person that Devan deserves in her life. Especially as she comes to understand her mother.

What complicates things even more for Devan is knowing the story of how she herself came to be. As Devan grew up, she heard snatches of stories, of her father cheating on Tracie with someone named Reece Malcolm. And Devan, never knowing her mother, couldn’t quite make heads or tails of things when she discovered a dedication to her inside a book authored by Reece Malcolm. Devan had never assumed it to her from her mother to her. She’d never known her. But with pieces falling into place, things almost become more uncomfortable and confusing for her.

But Amy Spalding’s debut The Reece Malcolm List isn’t just about Devan discovering the depths (or non-depths) of her mother. It’s about Devan coming to accept who she is and coming to find her place in a new environment so wildly different than the one she left in the midwest. It’s also about Devan learning how complex every person in her life is — not just her mother.

First, it’s New City School. Where Devan had always been passionate about musical theater, the places she lived in small midwestern towns didn’t always give her opportunities to perform. But now? She’s auditioning at and performing at a school in the city dedicated to the arts. She’s among the best of the best here. And while it could be intimidating, given her background, is anything but — Devan is a go getter. This is evident not only in the confidence she has when it comes to performance, but it’s evident, too, in the way she seeks out any and everything she can about her mom. Sure, some of the methods are questionable (she snoops email when it’s right there for her to do so) but it doesn’t change that driving force she has to figure things out on her own.

The other thing — maybe even a bit of a bigger thing to Devan — is the sudden attention she’s getting from the boys at her school. First, there’s Sai. He’s new to New City, too, and he’s from St. Louis, so they’ve got that in common. Then there’s Travis. He’s sweet to her, too. Both boys have their perks and their drawbacks, but what matters is not so much who she ends up with, but instead, the way that romance blooms in Devan’s life. I can think of few YA books that have approached the teen romance with such authentic awkwardness. Devan doesn’t fall head over heels. Devan doesn’t fixate on the way that a boy’s stare or hair or hands or body makes her feel. Rather, she’s much more internally focused about how it feels to actually feel something for another person. It’s not smooth, nor is it easy. It’s not cut and dry and even reading it, Devan offers us this sort of vulnerability of putting herself out there in a way that makes her feel uncomfortable and weird. But isn’t that what a first romance is? Uncomfortable and weird? Spalding nails it, and even though I’m not a big romance person, I thought the way it worked with the story and the way it worked for Devan personally had a great payoff.

The Reece Malcolm List gives us a great voice in Devan. At times, there are small cross-outs through the narrative, and each chapter begins with a list of the things Devan’s learned about her mother. Devan’s a tiny bit sarcastic, but it’s not in an unnatural or forced manner. In fact, it’s funny the way her sarcasm works when she interacts with her new peers and even more so when she interacts with Reece and Brad. Not to put her in a box, but Devan’s voice was reminiscent of a performing artist, the kind of person who likes being on stage and being seen and heard through a character. Which is to say that, we are seeing her as one thing on a whole, but it’s through these small details like the cross outs, like the lists, like her fixation on the little tiny things, where we crack this character and understand her at a deeper level. It mirrors precisely what she herself is doing to figure out who her own mother is. It takes some digging because it’s not laid out there on the surface for us to just have.

Fans of musical theater will eat this novel up, without question. There are references to tons of shows, and obviously, performance plays a role in the book itself. It’s how readers discover Devan, how Devan discovers her mother, and how both Devan and her mother discover Devan herself. More than that, though, this book is written in a way that leaves a reader feeling really satisfied. Where there are novels that tackle grief through the lens of working through grief, Spalding doesn’t do that here. In fact, despite the story appearing to be a novel of grief, Devan tells readers from the beginning that while she’s sad to have lost her dad, it wasn’t the end of her life. And indeed, it’s not — we get to see her really take control of her own future here, even though she’s forced into a world completely foreign to her. Just when it seems like Devan has a grasp on Reece Malcolm and on her life, we’re given even more depth and more surprises. Those discoveries keep this story fresh and the final one — arguably the biggest thing Devan discovers about Reece — might be the one which brings Devan the most peace with her new life, her new mother, and what the future holds for them all.

Hand The Reece Malcolm List over to readers who want a fun and charming contemporary novel that doesn’t come off as saccharine or unrealistic. Spalding has a knack for the teen voice and for capturing humor in a way that’s authentic. I don’t like to call out books as “clean reads,” since everyone’s definition is different, but this is the kind of book that has appeal to younger, as well as older, teen readers. There aren’t content issues to worry about. This book is custom made for fans of performing art, for those who always have a song stuck in their head, and for those who want a story about a non-traditional, yet still functional, family.

The Reece Malcolm List will be available February 4. Review copy received from the publisher.

As Allyson’s time on her trip through Europe comes to an end, she and her long-time best friend Melanie decide to go off-course. Instead of attending the play they’re supposed to as part of the tour, they see a street performance of Twelfth Night. It’s there where Allyson first sees Willem. It’s there where Allyson decides she needs to do something more in her last days of the tour.

It’s there where Willem convinces Allyson to join him for one day through Paris.

Allyson, who always sticks to the rules, decides to do it. And the trip is magical. It’s imperfect — her and Willem have an argument, she gets injured from a stranger — but it sets her heart on fire with possibility. When Allyson wakes up the morning after this adventure and Willem is gone, Allyson’s crushed. But she trudges on back to meet Melanie after a teary phone call with the trip coordinator (who helps her navigate Paris since Allyson doesn’t speak the language) and then, she’s back to America and back to begin her first year at college in Boston.

Just One Day follows Allyson as she adjusts to college life. But it’s not her college life. It’s the one her mother created for her, and it’s the one she dutifully follows. Allyson’s not happy, though. She misses Willem. She wants to know what happens. When she gets to chance to see Melanie again — who is going to college in Manhattan — Allyson feels so out of sorts. Melanie keeps changing and Allyson, well, she feels like she’s in the same place.

That first semester of college is anything but great. Allyson doesn’t get good grades, she’s unhappy, and yes, there is a lot of moping around on her part. It’s when she’s called into the guidance counselor’s office prior to second semester — after a disastrous few days with her mom and dad — that she decides to drop her pre-med track. She takes a risk, and it ends up paying off quite a bit for her.

Although the change is anything but easy, Allyson finds passion. And she knows that she needs to go back to Paris and look for Willem again.

Gayle Forman’s new novel is, of course, superbly written. The sights, the sounds, and the tastes come alive through the prose. Likewise, the story itself and what it accomplishes in bringing about the importance of pursuing your passions for yourself and not for someone else — for taking risks, regardless of the positive or negative outcomes — is excellent. The thing is, it’s not entirely new or fresh, despite the setting. I feel like what this book achieves is what Kirsten Hubbard achieves in her novel Wanderlove and what I feel like Nina LaCour accomplishes in The Disenchantments. That should make it clear this book has a readership, and there will be many fans who fall for the story (and rightly so) and then have additional titles they can then turn to after.

Allyson’s character is moody. She’s prickly and ornery and I really liked that about her. She’s not entirely likable, nor should she be. She’s razzed quite a bit by Melanie for being this way, and even Willem gives her a little bit of grief about it. Her roommates in college do the same, and even Dee, the guy she befriends in her Shakespeare class, gives her some thoughts on this. Allyson is just that way, but it’s enhanced by the longing she experiences for Willem. To be fair, it took a lot for me to suspend my disbelief that his one day with her could cause an entire year for her to basically be a wash with moping about him — but Forman’s book required this on me as a reader a few times. It wasn’t just the longing over the guy from one day, but it was Allyson’s all-too-willing agreement to go along with a stranger in the first place (especially since it took her so long to even skip out on watching a performance with her tour group). It was also Allyson’s ability to change up her classes at the university without her mother once finding out, until it was too late.

I didn’t quite think the characters in this story were consistent. Part of this is because of Allyson: since the story’s in her perspective and she’s in such a transition in her life, many of those in her life will appear to her as different things at different times. Allyson’s mother, though, became problematic. At first, it’s clear mom has a big role in who Allyson is. Mom’s prescribed a life for Allyson based on her own lost dreams; this isn’t speculation, it’s actually there in the book. However, knowing how much her mom wanted to keep an eye on her made me question then how it was even possible for Allyson to get away with changing her classes for an entire semester. How she tricked her mom about it when she visited for President’s Day. The inconsistency in her mother frustrated me because it was her mother who had had such an impact on Allyson’s current life and on her mentality that she simply “couldn’t” do what she wanted to do for herself.

My biggest concern came at the end of the book. We know Allyson’s moping about losing Willem, and when she makes the choice to go back to Paris and look for him (after, I should add, she takes a job, stands up to her parents, and makes this trip happen for herself), she realizes he’s a lost cause. He’s been described as a player, and after meeting other people in his life, she’s less-than-thrilled with who he is in reality, rather than what she saw of him that one day. Spoiler alert here — she reunites with Willem at the end of the story. As she’s ready to hit the airport and fly home, after she’s declared how great it is to be independent and make her own choices for herself and not let anyone stand in her way, after she talks about how she doesn’t need Willem anymore because she’s happy for herself . . . she hunts him down, knocks on his door, and walks right in. The moment that Allyson shows she has incredible agency, she gives it away. This is not to say that romance cannot win out in a story. It can. The problem is that she’d just learned how he wasn’t who she thought he was and she’d just figured out that being on her own was good. So then to give it all up right away? It made me annoyed. Compounding this was the fact in every instance Allyson had to make friends, especially female friends, she throws it away or uses them to find this boy. Wren? A tool. Kelly? A tool. Melanie? Well, she was out of the picture by then anyway. It felt like this solution was too clean and easy. Sure it was the romance, sure it was the chance to start it all again with those feelings, but it was at the expense of the agency she had just fought so hard to earn for herself.

This is a good book, despite the flaws, though be warned there are times the story drags a bit. It’s because Allyson’s not always the most fun to read about, especially as she becomes weary about never seeing Willem again. But I comment Forman for writing a flawed but realistic character, and a character who is easy to not like. There were numerous times, especially at the beginning of Allyson’s college career, where I saw a lot of myself in her and I sympathized for the situation she was in. The pressure pressed upon her by her family and by herself to impress her family was palpable.

Just One Day has great appeal for readers who want a story set abroad, set in college, or a story about a girl struggling to find herself. Again, it will have huge appeal to readers who loved the travel or the plot arc in Hubbard’s Wanderlove or LaCour’s The Disenchantments. Those who loved Stephanie Perkins’s Anna and the French Kiss will eat this one up for not only the setting, but the romantic elements. I’m eager to see where Forman takes this story in the companion, Just One Year. I’ve got a feeling we’ll get Willem’s story, which is good since I spent the bulk of the book wondering what was so appealing about him anyway. He’s not the kind of guy a reader can easily swoon over. At least, if they’re into a romance for more than the fact the love interest is a foreigner.

Just One Day is available now through Penguin/Dutton. Review copy received from the publisher.

Alex and Thea look like they have everything they could possibly need at their disposal. After all, they live in Camelot, thanks to Prince Arthur, their mother’s new husband. He oozes money. But money doesn’t buy everything and money maybe doesn’t buy anything in Adele Griffin’s All You Never Wanted.

Alex always had popularity. She was the IT girl. She was the older sister. The one who always succeeded without trying. But now that she’s been thrust into this new life with a new step father and money, she doesn’t feel happy. In fact, she feels like she’s losing a huge grip on reality. Even though she’s privileged to have everything handed to her, she doesn’t like it. Her father’s connections enabled Alex to take on an amazing internship at a well-known magazine. It bores her to some extent, so when she’s given a huge opportunity to do something big at the magazine, she’s almost excited. She’d, in a way, earned that opportunity herself.

Except — and this paragraph is spoiler — Alex ruins it all when she finds herself so nervous and overwhelmed that she pees herself, right there, in front of so many people. It’s a mortifying moment to her, and it’s a mortifying moment to readers as they realize how horrifying and painful something like that could be for someone, especially a teenager. More than that, though, to Alex this is somehow proof that she doesn’t deserve this internship and that indeed, it is only her stepfather’s connections that got it for her. Her own body rejects this. It’s after this moment when Alex changes significantly as a person. She becomes very removed from her own life, and she instead fixates her control over her own body’s functions by not eating.

Thea, on the other hand, is the younger sister. She’s always looked up to Alex, and she’s always yearned for part of what Alex has had in terms of popularity. So when her mother and stepdad are out of town, Thea wants to throw the biggest, most talked about party in Greenwich and invite everyone she wants to be friends with to it. This will ensure her a place on the popularity ladder, of course, especially because now that she’s rich, she’s earned it. Thea also has a little bit of a lying habit. Or maybe lying isn’t the right word for it. She’s a story teller, and she loves the way that embellishing a tale gets her more attention, even if it’s not necessarily for the right reasons. Because, see, money. It will solve anything for her if it has to. But in the midst of this, there’s also the boy Thea wants. It’s not just any boy, though. It happens to be Josh.

And he’s Alex’s boyfriend.

All You Never Wanted is told through both Alex’s perspective and Thea’s. But it’s not exactly that straightforward, either. Thea’s story is told through first person. We know exactly what she’s thinking and what her motivations are. In fact, it’s pretty clear the entire reason that Thea’s story is in first person is because of how much she is dying to be First Person. Alex’s perspective in the story, though, is not told the same way Thea’s is. Hers is told through a third person limited point of view, so we actually get very little insight into her. It feels as though Alex’s story is removed from the reader’s mind all together, and this, too, makes perfect sense. With how much Alex is removed from her own life, it is only natural she’s also removed from Thea’s and from the reader’s. This shift in perspective and point of view is jarring to read, and it takes quite a while to sink into the writing because of this, but Griffin is masterful in what she does on a grander level by choosing this style of story telling.

What looks like a story about power and money and sibling rivalry is even deeper than that, though, which is why I think this book has the potential to get some serious attention — there’s a great post over at the Someday My Printz blog to talk a little more in depth about that. This is a relatively short book, clocking in at about 220 pages, but it is packed. And the longer I let this book settle in my mind, the more there is to unravel.

Thea is a thoroughly unlikable character, but that doesn’t mean she’s not sympathetic. In fact, I think her unlikable factors are what make her sympathetic all together: she wants what she cannot have, and it comes from being the younger sister to a girl who has always had it. The money factor, for Thea, is the key to overcoming this. Except, we know it’s not from the outside and Thea herself seems to know this, too, which is why she develops a story telling alter ego named Gia. I don’t toss the word around lightly, but Thea is a bit of a pathetic character, and it’s obvious to everyone, including herself and the reader.

Alex, on the other hand, despite being so hard to read, is easier to like. Beyond the fact she rejects the privilege and beyond the fact she’s carrying this horrifically embarrassing secret as her shame, Alex is a volunteer for a local organization that helps other people get through tough times. It’s here she meets Xander, a boy who shows her that she can enjoy herself (and her body) for no other reason than it’s what she’s allowed to do as a person. As good as Xander is for Alex on that level, he shows her something else, too: that sometimes people are just jerks and that’s how it goes. See, Alex has been mentoring someone at the organization whose dream is to become a weatherman. All she wants to do is let this boy meet his hero, the local weatherman. But despite how much Alex tries to get in touch with this guy, he keeps rejecting her. And Alex refuses to pull her connections to make this meeting happen, knowing that those connections left her feeling empty herself. She wants so much to help another person and to make them happy for no other reason than she wants to do it.

I haven’t talked much about Josh and his role in the sibling rivalry because for me, it was one of the less interesting elements of the story. Griffin’s book is really a study in character, and while he’s an impetus for this, there’s not really a romantic flavor to the story as a whole. Rather, he’s a tool to see how far Thea will go to get what she wants and he’s a tool for Alex to realize that there are better people out there who will love her for her and her flaws. I also have talked a whole lot about the ways that Alex and Thea work through their own challenges with one another. That’s because, well, it’s a sibling story and the way it’s resolved is, I think, very smart. One of these girls is driving the car and the other isn’t, but it’s not necessarily the way it’s written down in the book (oh the metaphor of the car and the driver and the five minutes here and afar here are so, so smart).

All You Never Wanted is not necessarily a fast-paced read, despite being short. The changing in perspective and the writing itself are literary markers. But, being literary doesn’t detract from how much teen appeal there is in this title. What Griffin does that few seem to be doing anymore is posing this novel around really teen problems. There’s nothing huge that happens, nothing superbly earth-shattering. There is a shift in family. There is a gain of status through wealth. But this story isn’t necessarily about that. It’s about sisters and about popularity and about what it means when you don’t feel like you fit in anymore. More than that, the way this book zooms in on a one-time embarrassing moment like Alex’s at the internship is absolutely authentic and realistic to the teen experience. This is Alex’s biggest shame in her life — as adults, we look at something like this and think shake it off, but for a teenager, it’s absolutely the worst thing in the world that could happen to them. And that it’s then wrapped up in the privilege, in the way your body can betray you and at times feel like a foreign object.  Then there is the entire party subplot and what Thea does that sends Alex reeling. Again, it’s a small detail but it has huge consequences for the story and their relationship on a grander level.

This is a smart little book. I’m disappointed it hasn’t gotten more attention because this is one that will stick with readers long past its conclusion.

Pass All You Never Wanted off to readers who like stories of power and privilege, but who are looking for something literary and thought-provoking. The patience pays off in this read. Readers who love Sara Zarr or Siobhan Vivian’s complex and challenging characters will be rewarded here.

All You Never Wanted is available now. Reviewed from a library copy.