Tag Archives: Try Your Worst

New Releases: September 23, 2025

Middle Grade

The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

New York Times #1 best-selling authors Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro collaborate again on a new adventure in which Nico di Angelo teams up with his half-sister Hazel Levesque to protect . . . monsters?

Nico di Angelo is feeling antsy. It’s been almost three months since he and his boyfriend, Will Solace, returned to Camp Half-Blood from their journey to Tartarus, and there hasn’t been a demigod quest or a conflict with monsters in all that time. So, when Nico’s half-sister, Hazel Levesque, asks him and Will to join her at Camp Jupiter on the West Coast, he shadow-jumps at the chance to get away and do something.

In her Iris-message, Hazel had said that she needed the boys’ help with an “issue” with some “new guests.” What she didn’t say was that she’s providing a haven for a group of monsters who escaped the Underworld! Apparently, the self-proclaimed “mythics” learned from Nico and Will themselves that they have options and don’t have to be evil. But their integration into the Roman demigod camp isn’t exactly going smoothly.

As Nico and Will endeavor to build bridges between the refugees and the demigod campers, the mythics start disappearing from camp, one by one. A mysterious dark force is at work, and its plan is to punish all monsters for their past crimes. Things only get worse when Hazel learns that she is closely connected to that force . . .

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | Old Town Books

Continue reading New Releases: September 23, 2025

Fave Five: LGBTQ Enemies-to-Lovers, a Guest Post from Try Your Worst author Chatham Greenfield

Today on the site, I’m delighted to have a guest author writing the Fave Five: Chatham Greenfield, author of Try Your Worst, which comes out tomorrow! Before we get to Chatham’s recs of Fave Five: Queer Enemies-to-Lovers YA Books, here’s a note from the author:

I would say that there’s nothing I love more than enemies-to-lovers romances, but I would be lying. I love one thing more: queer enemies-to-lovers romances.

When I was writing Try Your Worst, I was fortunate to have so many amazing queer enemies-to-lovers YA novels to turn to. There’s just something special about seeing two people realize that the line between hatred and love is blurring, only for it to dissipate completely.

From sprawling soccer fields, to high school journalism programs, to sweaty summer camps, queer YA certainly brings the angst-turned-swooning. Here are just five of my recent favorites.

Wish You Weren’t Here by Erin Baldwin

This sapphic romance marries enemies-to-lovers with one of my other favorite tropes: forced proximity. Two rivals are forced to share a cabin at summer camp and the results are, like everything Baldwin writes, laugh out loud hilarious.

Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa

I’m such a fan of the way Jonny Garza Villa balances pain with lightness, and this book is no exception. This rivalry-turned-romance is set on the backdrop of Mariachi competitions and it’s so satisfying to watch the love interests find their harmony.

We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller

In We Got the Beat, Miller takes enemies-to-lovers back a step and serves up a delicious friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romance. As a fat lesbian who was a journalism nerd in high school, I felt so seen by this sweet story.

Caught in a Bad Fauxmance by Elle Gonzalez Rose

It’s got fake dating, it’s got family hijinx, AND it has the signature Elle Gonzalez Rose heartfelt humor. Caught in a Bad Fauxmance is a delectable hat trick of an enemies-to-lovers romance that’s near impossible to put down.

You Don’t Have a Shot by Racquel Marie

No one writes teenage angst quite like Racquel Marie does. The banter and tender moments are plentiful in this one, and it’s fun to watch the characters come together on the backdrop of a heated soccer rivalry.

Chatham Greenfield is a young adult author born and raised in Florida, which is why their stories often take place in humid seaside towns. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, they were selected as a fellow in the inaugural class of LitUp by Reese’s Book Club. You can find them wherever there’s air conditioning, wrapped up in a blanket, reading a gay love story. Connect with Chatham @chatgreenfield on socials and at chatgreenfield.com.

Happy Jewish American Heritage Month 2025!

Happy Jewish American Heritage Month! We’re celebrating as we do with books starring Jewish protagonists, and for more recs, check out previous years’ posts!

Children’s

Just Like Queen Esther by Ari Moffic and Kerry Olitzky (text) and Rena Yehuda Newman (illustration)

Atara loves to wear her crown – to the library, to the dentist, even to her swim lessons. It gives her confidence, and shows the world that she is a girl, not a boy, like everyone thought at first. But when Atara reads the story of Queen Esther, on the Jewish holiday of Purim – she realises that you don’t need a costume to express who you really are…

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Jewish American Heritage Month 2025!