Two Ya Don'ts

I read two YA books last week and just realized that they both start with the word Don't. So here we are. It's a theme now!

Don’t Let It Break Your Heart (by Maggie Horne) 

This is about a lesbian who has come out but is still facing microaggressions from former friends and is enmeshed in a deeply codependent way with her ex-boyfriend, also her lifelong best friend.  A new girl comes to school that both she and the ex are immediately attracted to, and complications ensue. They definitely act like messy teenagers but in a relatable way.  I liked that the focus was less on the romance and more on our main character, Alana, determining what it means to be an out lesbian and what does (and doesn't) have to change in her life. Really good!

Don’t Be a Drag (by by Skye Quinlan) 

This is about a girl with anxiety and depression who goes to spend her summer with her drag queen brother and enters a drag king competition. This worked less well for me - the characters seem to change personalities between chapters, there are some time jumps where we are told about an incident rather than shown, and the romance doesn't really work that well, although I did like the ending and what the author is attempting. There are a lot of references to fanfic which is the hallmark of a fic writer going mainstream, and it does indeed read on the level of good fanfic.   (That said, in the first chapter the author is in a first class pod on an airline later revealed to be Southwest, an airline with no first class at all. So maybe it's an editor problem...)