#aleema omotoni

[authorsshipzutara]

Aleema Omotoni ships Zutara.

Explore her works on GoodReads and StoryGraph.

Website: https://www.aleemaomotoni.com/

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases! (September 5th, 2023)

___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

___

New Standalones/First in a Series:

Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Everyone's Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni

Suddenly A Murder by Lauren Muñoz

There's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer

Midnight At The Houdini by Delilah S. Dawson

Phoebe's Diary by Phoebe Wahl

All That Shines by Ellen Hagan

Yaqui Delgada Wants to kick Your Ass by Meg Medina & Mel Valentine Vargas (Illustrator)

Death is My BFF by Katarina E. Tonks

The Library of Shadows by Rachel Moore

The Girl That Time Forgot by Victoria Lee

See You On Venus by Victoria Vinuesa

For Girls Who Walk Through Fire by Kim DeRose

House of Ash & Bone by Joel A. Sutherland

Eleanor Jones is Not A Murderer by Amy Doak

New Sequels:

Storm of Olympus (Daughter of Sparta #3) by Claire M. Andrews

The Celtic Deception (A Jump in Time #2) by Andrew Varga

The Fallout (Holo #2) by Kristy Acevedo

Every Star That Falls (Suicide Notes #2) by Michael Thomas Ford

___

Happy reading!

[chanelslibrary]

🌙𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰🌙

Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

At an elite boarding school in the English countryside, Nigerian cousins Iyanu and Kitan are thrown into the middle of a schoolwide conspiracy when everyone’s juicy relationship secrets are released, Burn Book style, the week before the annual Valentine’s Day Ball.

This book’s vibe is a retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream mixed with Dear White People which I actually really liked! A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays (I named my cat Hermia!!) and I loved how the author wove in issues that teens deal with nowadays such as blackfishing, bullying, peer pressure, sexual identity, cultural identity, etc. I buddy read this book with @bookswithjaybraggs and it was fun to chat with her about the mystery in this book, and speculate ‘who did it?’ This book was a fun, cute YA mystery with a side of romance that imparted knowledge about how to navigate tough situations.

Read if you love:

🔎Mystery

🎭Retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

🌈LGBTQ+ rep

👥Dual POV

✊🏽Black/Brown rep

[darknessandchocolate]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || November || 14 || New release

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Everyone’s Thinking It

By Aleema Omotoni.

Design by Corina Lupp

Cover art by Otesanya.

[teenageread]

Review: Winners & Liars

Why leave your entire estate to your children when you can turn it into a competition? That’s the premise Aleema Omotoni runs with in this very Knives Out-style mystery, where Derin and a group of her school peers are invited to compete for their late professor’s fortune after he unexpectedly cuts his own children out of the will. The students are put through a series of challenges—testing their physical abilities, intelligence, and how well they retained what they learned from him. But while everyone else is focused on winning, Derin quickly realizes something deeper is going on, especially after receiving a note that suggests foul play. So alongside the competition, she’s also trying to solve the mystery of the professor’s death—and uncover how her own past might be connected to it all.

As a mystery, some elements are fairly easy to figure out, even with the twists Omotoni throws in. That said, the balance between the competition and the investigation is well done. It keeps the pacing steady and prevents the ending from feeling rushed. I liked that the reveals—both about the killer and Derin’s personal connections—were separated, allowing each to have its own moment rather than cramming everything into one big twist.

One aspect that felt unnecessary, though, was the 18th-century aesthetic layer. The costumes, corsets, and overall “period” vibe didn’t really add anything meaningful to the plot. It seemed like it was there purely for visual flair or to limit technology use, but even that wasn’t consistent since they did have access to their phones in private. It ended up feeling more like a gimmick than a meaningful world-building choice, and honestly got repetitive the few times it was emphasized.

Derin herself is an enjoyable protagonist—she’s witty, determined, and easy to root for in both the competition and the mystery. However, I do think her character lacked some emotional depth. There were opportunities for stronger connections—whether through friendships, romance, or even her relationship with her grandparents—but they never fully developed. As a bi character, Derin had multiple potential romantic dynamics hinted at, but the story kept everything at surface-level flirting instead of exploring any of them further. Because of that, it felt harder to fully connect with her on a personal level.

Overall, this is a fun, fast-paced mystery with a strong concept and engaging structure. While some elements feel underdeveloped—especially character relationships and certain stylistic choices—the core idea of a competitive inheritance mixed with a murder mystery makes for an entertaining read.

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Everyone's Thinking It

Author: Aleema Omotoni

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2023

Genres: fiction, mystery, contemporary, romance, LGBT+, retelling

Blurb: Within the walls of Wodebury Hall, an elite boarding school in the English countryside, reputation is everything, but aspiring photographer Iyanu is more comfortable observing things safely from behind her camera. For Iyanu's estranged cousin Kitan, life seems perfect. She has money, beauty, and friends like queen bee Heather...but as a Nigerian girl in a school as white and insular as Wodebury, Kitan struggles with the personal sacrifices needed to keep her place - and the protection she gets - within the exclusive popular crowd. Then, photos from Iyanu's camera are stolen and splashed across the school the week before the Valentine's Day Ball...each with a juicy secret written on it. With everyone's dirty laundry suddenly out in the open, the school explodes into chaos, and the whispers accusing Iyanu of being the one behind it all start to feel like déjà vu. Each girl is desperate to unravel the mystery of who stole the photos and why...but exposing the truth will change them all forever.

[short-gremlin]

i must personally thank aleema omotoni for including the bengali rep i so desperately needed, i love you