[Subdue] Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney - 4 stars

[Pam]

What a great YA contemporary romance. Really nicely done.

Quinn is one of five black students at her private school in Austin, Texas, and of the three we meet she's the only one whose family is (extremely) well-off financially. She has been occupying a very uncomfortable space with some white friends for a long time and has just stepped away from that situation when the book starts. And fair warning: You will want to throat-punch some teenagers while reading this!!! Hoo buddy. The way they casually throw out these very cutting, ignorantly racist remarks is devastating.

Quinn is a great character, and the story is about her facing her fears head-on and learning that expressing your emotions is healthy, and it's all really excellent.

I especially loved how respectful the love interest is of her boundaries and giving her the space she needs to process once they get together. He went from someone I understood but didn't love to maybe my favorite part of the book with that beautiful display of emotional maturity.

I really wanted a little more insight into her father, and I felt like there was a loose end that should have at least been acknowledged with one of her friends, but those are just nit-picks.

From a personal enjoyment standpoint, this is more like 3 stars, just because the characters are very real-feeling teenagers and therefore a little too far behind where I am in life right now, but I can't give this less than 4 stars. And the writing style perfectly hits that line of YA that absolutely works for adults.

Go buy it for any teenager you know who reads romance. Seriously.