YA Friday: Midnights

Midnights is the tenth studio album by American songstress Taylor Swift.

We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears. We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t – right this minute – about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.

This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching – hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … we’ll meet ourselves.

Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.

1. Lavender Haze

The love life-inspired opening track captures the feelings of a honeymoon-style relationship and is inspired by the classic 50’s phrase of the same name.

Inspired by a line from a Mad Men episode, Swift wrote this song to convey the desire to focus on the passion of love rather than be swayed by others' negative remarks.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love With the Universe, book cover

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love With the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

When her twin sister reaches social media stardom, Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s camerawoman. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers, and her fate begins to shift in the best way possible.

Most notable is her bunkmate and new nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy Moon has ever seen.

Moon is certain she hates Santiago and that he hates her back. But as chance and destiny (and maybe, probably, close proximity) bring the two of them in each other’s perpetual paths, Moon starts to wonder if that’s really true. She even starts to question her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.

Could this summer change Moon’s life as she knows it?



2. Maroon

The second song has similarities to Swift's earlier song, "Red." While “Red” describes a love that was “burning red,” this track is a more grown-up version of a love story. It shows that shades of red were a constant in the relationship, but maroon is a brownish crimson color; it is not a straightforward red but allows for complexities and honesty.

Destinations Unknown, book cover

Destinations Unknown by Bill Konigsberg

The first thing I noticed about C.J. Gorman was his plexiglass bra.

So begins Destination Unknown. It's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is. C.J. isn't just out--he’s completely out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night.

A connection occurs. Is it friendship? Romance? Is C.J. the one with all the answers... or does Micah bring more to the relationship that it first seems? As their lives become more and more entangled in the AIDS epidemic that’s laying waste to their community, and the AIDS activism that will ultimately bring a strong voice to their demands, whatever Micah and C.J. have between them will be tested, strained, pushed, and pulled--but it will also be a lifeline in a time of death, a bond that will determine the course of their futures.



3. Anti-Hero

The third track can described by Taylor herself as:

"...one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before. I struggle with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized and I, not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person. This song is a real guided tour throughout all the things I tend to hate about myself, and it’s all those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we are gonna be this person, so I like “Anti-Hero” a lot because I think is really honest."

The book below was selected purely based on the Knives Out movie reference in the lyrics and music video. Check out this YA Friday blog that shares books featuring Anti-Heroes.

The Inheritance Games, book cover

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.



4. Snow On The Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)

The fourth track features vocals from Lana Del Rey and is about falling in love with someone unexpectedly at the same time they start to fall in love with you. The heart-warming lyrics are part of a light modern pop track that compliments the duo's heavenly vocals.

Taylor has said the following about the song:

"The song is about falling in love with someone at the same time as they’re falling in love with you, in this sort of in this cataclysmic, faded moment where you realize someone feels exactly the same way that you feel, at the same moment, and you’re kind of looking around going, “Wait, is this real? Is this a dream? Is this for real? Is it really happening? Kinda like it would be if you were to see snow falling on a beach."

And They Lived . . ., book cover

And They Lived . . . by Steven Salvatore

Chase Arthur is a budding animator and hopeless romantic obsessed with Disney films and finding his true love, but he's plagued with the belief that he's not enough for anyone: he's recovering from an eating disorder and suffers from body dysmorphia fueled by his father, and can't quite figure out his gender identity. When Chase starts his freshman year of college, he has to navigate being away from home and missing his sister, finding his squad, and contending with his ex-best friend Leila who is gunning for the same exclusive mentorship. If only he can pull together a short for the freshman animation showcase at the end of the semester.

Then Chase meets Jack Reid, a pragmatic poet who worships words and longs to experience life outside of his sheltered world. But Chase throws everything into question for Jack, who is still discovering his sexual identity, having grown up in close-knit conservative family. Jack internalized a lot of homophobia from his parents and childhood best friend, who unexpectedly visit campus, which threatens to destroy their relationship. Chase will have to learn to love--and be enough for--himself, while discovering what it means to truly live.



5. You're On Your Own, Kid

The fifth track follows a youngster who yearns for their love but ultimately realizes that they are on their own. As the “Kid” grapples with the fact that their love “never cared,” they begin to move on toward the end of the song and figure out who they are.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, book cover

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.



6. Midnight Rain

On the sixth track, Taylor Swift sings about ending a relationship in order to focus on her singing career more. It then ends, with their relationship being forgotten, as if it never happened.

Where She Went, book cover

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

It's been three years since the devastating accident... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star, and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.



7. Question...?

The seventh song is about someone seeking clarity and the answer to all her questions from a former friend and lover and how unfortunate circumstances lead to a heated encounter.

Melt With You, book cover

Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan

Fallon and Chloe used to be best friends, but last summer, they hooked up right before Chloe left for college, and after a series of misunderstandings, they are now not speaking to one another. A year later, Chloe’s back home from school, and Fallon is doing everything in her power to avoid her--which is especially difficult because their moms own a business together, a gourmet ice cream truck where both girls work.

When their moms have the opportunity to make a presentation to some venture capitalists in Texas--something that could seriously expand their business and solve all their money problems to boot--it's up to Fallon to work a series of food truck festivals across the country. But she can't do it alone, and Chloe is the only one available to help. As tensions heat up again between the two, will Fallon be able to keep her cool?



8. Vigilante S**t

The eighth track follows a woman who seeks revenge on her lover, presumably someone who has committed a crime. Taylor and the subject of the song ostensibly obtain their revenge following a breakup instead of getting “sad” or “even.”

Murder for the Modern Girl, book cover

Murder for the Modern Girl by Kendall Kulper

A ravishing young mind reader stalks the streets at night in kitten heels, prowling for men to murder.

A soft-spoken genius toils away in the city morgue, desperate to unearth the science behind his gift for shape-shifting.

It’s a match made in 1928 Chicago, where gangsters run City Hall, jazz fills the air, and every good girl’s purse conceals a flask.

Until now, eighteen-year-old Ruby’s penchant for poison has been a secret. No one knows that she uses her mind-reading abilities to target men who prey on vulnerable women, men who escape the clutches of Chicago “justice.” When she meets a brilliant boy working at the morgue, his knack for forensic detail threatens to uncover her dark hobby. Even more unfortunately: sharp, independent Ruby has fallen in love with him.



9. Bejeweled

The song describes the narrator’s frustration with her lover, who does not value her as she deserves. In retaliation, she goes out for a night on the town. Despite her lover no longer being enchanted by her, she knows damn well that she can dazzle any room that she steps into.

I'll Be the One, book cover

I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.

When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.

But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.



10. Labyrinth

The tenth song finds Taylor breaking apart. Then she finds comfort in a person and wonders how they do it due to her being very broken. Taylor says in the pre-chorus that she is scared of elevators due to them going up really fast, and the song is about falling in love very quickly. Taylor sings at the start about how she is still getting over someone, then Taylor sings in the chorus about falling in love and how did it happen when she was broken.

The Feeling of Falling in Love, book cover

The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver

Just days before spring break, Neil Kearney is set to fly across the country with his childhood friend (and current friend-with-benefits) Josh, to attend his brother's wedding—until Josh tells Neil that he's in love with him and Neil doesn't return the sentiment.

With Josh still attending the wedding, Neil needs to find a new date to bring along. And, almost against his will, roommate Wyatt is drafted.

At first, Wyatt (correctly) thinks Neil is acting like a jerk. But when they get to LA, Wyatt sees a little more of where it's coming from. Slowly, Neil and Wyatt begin to understand one another… and maybe, just maybe, fall in love for the first time…



11. Karma

On the eleventh track, Taylor confronts an ex-lover and warns him about the consequences of his actions. Considering the way both acted during the relationship, Taylor is relieved that karma will do her justice and may not be so kind to her ex-lover.

On the importance of karma in her life, Taylor mentioned it is the most important life lesson to be learned.

Instant Karma, book cover

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer

Chronic overachiever Prudence Barnett is always quick to cast judgment on the lazy, rude, and arrogant residents of her coastal town. Her dreams of karmic justice are fulfilled when, after a night out with her friends, she wakes up with the sudden ability to cast instant karma on those around her.

Pru giddily makes use of the power, punishing everyone from public vandals to mean gossips, but there is one person on whom her powers consistently backfire: Quint Erickson, her slacker of a lab partner. Quint is annoyingly cute and impressively noble, especially when it comes to his work with the rescue center for local sea animals.

When Pru resigns herself to working at the rescue center for extra credit, she begins to uncover truths about baby otters, environmental upheaval, and romantic crossed signals—not necessarily in that order. Her newfound karmic insights reveal how thin the line is between virtue and vanity, generosity and greed, love and hate . . . and fate.



12. Sweet Nothing

This song discusses Taylor’s memories of her relationship that ultimately turned out to be much more despite the expectations and outside pressures. As a phrase, sweet nothings can be words of affection exchanged by lovers.

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet, book cover

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp

Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father's restaurant, Nacho's Tacos. But her mom and dad have different plans—leaving Pen to choose between disappointing her traditional Mexican American parents or following her own path. When she confesses a secret she's been keeping, her world is sent into a tailspin. But then she meets a cute new hire at Nacho's who sees through her hard exterior and asks the questions she's been too afraid to ask herself.

Xander Amaro has been searching for home since he was a little boy. For him, a job at Nacho's is an opportunity for just that—a chance at a normal life, to settle in at his abuelo's, and to find the father who left him behind. But when both the restaurant and Xander's immigrant status are threatened, he will do whatever it takes to protect his newfound family and himself.

Together, Pen and Xander must navigate first love and discovering where they belong in order to save the place they all call home.



13. Mastermind

The closing track details Swift's relationship's origin story. In the lyrics, she seems to recount the night she met Alwyn at the 2016 Met Gala, how her heart was set on him, and how she planned for them to end up together.

She Gets the Girl, book cover

She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.

Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she’s not a selfish flirt. That she’s ready for an actual commitment. And while Alex is the last person Molly would ever think she could trust, she can’t deny Alex knows what she’s doing with girls, unlike her.

As the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.



14. The Great War

The fourteenth song and first bonus track off of the 3am Edition compares a romantic relationship to war, depicting a conflict within the relationship. Despite the devastation, Swift offers a hopeful message as the couple emerges from the tension, committing to stay together through challenging times. This track sets a heavy tone for the album, reflecting Swift's deepest fears and darkest thoughts that trouble her during sleepless nights.

Lovely War, book cover

Lovely War by Julie Berry

It's 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She's a shy and talented pianist; he's a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it's immediate and deep--and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.

Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who's played Carnegie Hall, he's a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that's before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who's already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.

Thirty years after these four lovers' fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.



15. Bigger Than The Whole Sky

The fifteenth song and second bonus track off of the 3am Edition explores the theme of losing someone significant despite spending only a brief time together, pondering what could have been different. Taylor Swift leaves the nature of the loss open to interpretation, suggesting it could signify a miscarriage or the loss of a loved one prematurely.

Turtle Under Ice, book cover

Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario

Rowena feels like her family is a frayed string of lights that someone needs to fix with electrical tape. After her mother died a few years ago, she and her sister, Ariana, drifted into their own corners of the world, each figuring out in their own separate ways how to exist in a world in which their mother is no longer alive.

But then Ariana disappears under the cover of night in the middle of a snowstorm, leaving no trace or tracks. When Row wakes up to a world of snow and her sister’s empty bedroom, she is left to piece together the mystery behind where Ariana went and why, realizing along the way that she might be part of the reason Ariana is gone.



16. Paris

The sixteenth song and third bonus track off of the 3am Edition is the third Taylor Swift song to feature a city in the title, following "London Boy" and "Welcome To New York." The lyrics delve into being deeply in love with someone, focusing solely on them and creating romantic adventures out of everyday moments, while disregarding distractions like gossip and paparazzi.

Just One Day, book cover

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there's an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.



17. High Infidelity

The seventeenth song and fourth bonus track off of the 3am Edition follows Taylor Swift's exploration of cheating and infidelity. In this song, Swift delves deeply into the dynamics of an unstable relationship and the profound pain caused by infidelity, affecting both the cheating partner and the one being cheated on.

Dark and Deepest Red, book cover

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore

Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.

Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there’s more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.



18. Glitch

The eighteenth song and fifth bonus track off of the 3am Edition examines a relationship that unexpectedly transitions from friendship to romance, feeling so improbable that it's likened to a glitch. Drawing possibly from Taylor Swift's own experiences where their relationship began casually before becoming serious, the song explores the unlikely nature of love evolving from friendship.

Bone Gap, book cover

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?

Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.



19. Would've, Could've, Should've

The nineteenth song and sixth bonus track off of the 3am Edition employs morbid and religious imagery to express regret over a youthful relationship that left her deeply wounded. The track reflects on Swift's relationship with John Mayer when she was nineteen and he was thirty-two, a dynamic criticized for its significant age difference. With over a decade of hindsight, Swift regrets the relationship due to its power imbalance, loss of innocence, and lasting trauma.

Blood Water Paint, book cover

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father's paint.

She chose paint.

By the time she was seventeen, Artemisia did more than grind pigment. She was one of Rome's most talented painters, even if no one knew her name. But Rome in 1610 was a city where men took what they wanted from women, and in the aftermath of rape Artemisia faced another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost.

He will not consume
my every thought.
I am a painter.
I will paint.

I will show you
what a woman can do.



20. Dear Reader

The twentieth song and seventh bonus track off of the 3am Edition adopts the perspective of an advice columnist, with Swift offering life advice to the listener. She advises caution, reinvention, and standing firm against those who would take advantage. However, there's an underlying tone of mistrust, as the narrator warns against blindly following the advice given. The song encapsulates themes of self-doubt, mistrust, and pain explored throughout the album, providing a fitting conclusion with its portrayal of isolation and desperation.

Begin Again, book cover

Begin Again by Emma Lord

As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: Transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, major in psychology, and maintain her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure despite the nerves that have recently thrown her for a loop. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together.

But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge to her community college. Her roommate Shay needs a major, and despite Andie’s impressive track record of being The Fixer, she’s stumped on how to help. And Milo, her coffee-guzzling grump of an R.A. with seafoam green eyes, is somehow disrupting all her ideas about love and relationships one sleep-deprived wisecrack at a time.

But sometimes, when all your plans are in rubble at your feet, you find out what you’re made of. And when Andie starts to find the power of her voice as the anonymous Squire on the school’s legendary pirate radio station–the same one her mom founded, years before she passed away–Andie learns that not all the best laid plans are necessarily the right ones.



21. Hits Different

The twenty-first song and a bonus track of of the Til Dawn Edition depicts Taylor in an unfamiliar state of heartbreak, emphasizing that this experience "hits different" than before. Unlike previous songs where she rejected former lovers here she struggles to move on and desires her ex back.

Always the Almost, book cover

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year’s resolutions: 1) win back his ex-boyfriend (and star of the football team) Shane McIntyre, and 2) finally beat his slimy arch-nemesis at the Midwest’s biggest classical piano competition. But that’s not going to be so easy. For one thing, Shane broke up with Miles two weeks after Miles came out as trans, and now Shane’s stubbornly ignoring him, even when they literally bump into each other. Plus, Miles’ new, slightly terrifying piano teacher keeps telling him that he’s playing like he “doesn’t know who he is”—whatever that means.

Then Miles meets the new boy in town, Eric Mendez, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns, cares about art as much as he does—and makes his stomach flutter. Not what he needs to be focusing on right now. But after Eric and Miles pretend to date so they can score an invite to a couples-only Valentine’s party, the ruse turns real with a kiss, which is also definitely not in the plan. If only Miles could figure out why Eric likes him so much. After all, it's not like he’s cool or confident or comfortable in his own skin. He’s not even good enough at piano to get his fellow competitors to respect him, especially now, as Miles. Nothing’s ever been as easy for him as for other people—other boys. He’s only ever been almost enough.

So why, when he’s with Eric, does it feel like the only person he’s ever really not been enough for...is himself?



You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)

A From The Vault bonus track initially only available on The Late Night Edition of the album is speculated to reflect Swift's perspective on her breakup with British actor Joe Alwyn after their six-year relationship.

All My Rage, book cover

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.



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