Therefore, I'm going to feature contemporary over here. What little I've read. *sigh*
I have nothing against the genre ... just, when you've led as difficult a life as I have, the cutesy Contemporary seems too superficial, and the feelsy Contemporary must be taken in small doses. Spoiler alert: Almost every book below is a feelsy.
So, in no particular order:
First off, we have The Brother I Remember, a book which I did a critique swap on and the only critique I had for it was "You need a better title." The author, regretfully, did not heed my advice. Nevertheless, it's a touching story about a girl's repaired relationship with her brother after tragedy strikes. Also, ice dancing. p="">
Second off ... Okay, I will confess, this book DOES have fantasy elements. But the main story is contemporary and the "fantasy" part of it is the book that the main character is writing. Which may or may not be creeping into reality. A ... cousin? of mine wrote this book, and it's only available in paperback, but it's really good.
This is a suspense romance that is written by another cousin of mine - to be specific, the cousin who did the original covers for the Bookania Quests. It's really fun, and I enjoyed my read of it even though I was still deep within my hoyden stage. I'd probably rate it higher now than I did then. Also, it's only available on kindle. (these cousins of mine)
(And, yes, her last name is Ingalls. Her husband is descended from Laura Ingalls Wilder's aunt and uncle)
(And, yes, her last name is Ingalls. Her husband is descended from Laura Ingalls Wilder's aunt and uncle)
Probably the only "cutsey" story on here. I read this on-whim towards the end of last year in a mad-dash to reach my reading goal for the year. It's a fun take on Cinderella, and very twisty. I quite liked it.
One of the books that I read for Indie e-Con this year, this was a lovely modernization of the Good Samaritan. Very well done and realistic - my only complaint is that the book climaxed in the middle, so the second half kind of dragged. Still a lovely story.
Ugh. My poor heart on this one. While it needs a better cover, and there was some editing that made me wince, this story utterly tore out my heart and crushed it on the floor in a million pieces.
Fun fact: My grandparents used to be foster parents. As such, this was another touching story that very much pulled at my heartstrings and felt very personal. Ugh.
And, finally ... well, this is a stretch of the term "Indie." The author is traditionally published, but this particular short story is her newsletter subscription story, so Imma gonna make it count. I've not read the main series that it goes with, but this story ... and I was actually babysitting the son of a single-mother coworker when I read it, so ... yeah, it got personal.
Annnnnd there we go. My shelf of Indie Contemporary. How about you, what's the best indie contemporary that you've ever read? Read any of these?
Aw, normally I’d be the first to agree with you on the “needs a new cover,” but in this case I just love the simplicity and child-like feel of the cover on Because of Austin. :)
ReplyDeleteThe only one of these I’ve read is Bound, but I do have the paperback. :)
Some of my favorite indie contemporary books are Family Reunion and England Adventure by Kelsey Bryant. I loved their style and themes - not too cutesy OR feelsy in my opinion - but relatable, happy (while still hitting deep issues), full of character growth and development, and awesome cousin relationships. :)
My issue with BoA is that its title can't be read in thumbnail. It's not a bad cover, it just needs a bit of clean-up.
DeleteI haven't really read any indie contemporary . . . but I also haven't really read much traditional contemporary either, so. The Cove sounds fun, though.
ReplyDeleteOut of these, I've only read Bound, but it was AMAZING! GAH!
ReplyDeleteAlso, my favorite Indie contemporaries include:
Dandelion Dust, by Faith Potts
Sleeping Handsome, by Rebekah Eddy (it's a fairy tail retelling but still contemp.)
Enjoy The Poodle Skirt, by Kate Willis
Oh, I absolutely adore Becoming Nikki!!! Really, really liked Bound, too! And totally agree with Angela on Dandelion Dust...
ReplyDeleteAnother of my favorites (contemporary/fantasy crossover) is A.J. Sky's StormBreathers series.
After this post, I went and read Throwing Stones and WOW. Totally took over my afternoon and made me late getting ready for an event. Books over looks though, am I right? ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Ugly Sister Strikes Back look soooo good! That's going straight onto my (very long) TBR list :)
ReplyDeleteGrace Louise || www.gracelouiseofficial.blogspot.co.uk/