October’s Book of the Month – Drawn To You by Angel Neean (Author Debut!)

Episode 82 is FULL of spoilers! It’s best enjoyed after reading the book.

 

What started as two friends making art together turns into a gravity that they can’t ignore.

Ashtyn Luke is your typical boy who loves anime and loves creating art even more. It felt like he finally found his groove in his teenage life after his mom got remarried to the best father figure in the world, compared to Ashtyn’s actual father. Then, mentor/role model, Keitaro, gives the aspiring artist an assignment: create an art piece based on the theme of ‘first love.’ Ashtyn’s life is thrown in a new direction as he’s forced to face his feelings for his friend, Alyssa, while still navigating the bitterness towards his biological father.

Alyssa Payne always has a smile on her face, but it hides an anxiety she’s carried since her parents died and her older sister had to raise her. While she keeps her distance from everyone to not get hurt, Alyssa finds other ways to feel a “connection”. But once she gets the assignment to animate a clip based on “first love”, she can’t hide from her feelings for Ashtyn, nor can she hide from the loneliness of her self-inflicted isolation.

 

 

 

Telicia’s Review

This book was SO GOOD! I absolutely loved Alyssa and Ashtyn’s story! Two adorable, intelligent Christian teenagers who love anime and are incredibly talented at drawing and creating animations.

I was already familiar with Ashtyn from his mom Khaliyah’s story in the All or Nothing series, but Alyssa was new to me, and BABY, she had me CRYING!

After losing her parents at five, Alyssa was raised by her sister Amanda. She carried so much guilt, believing she’d robbed Amanda of her childhood. She kept her feelings bottled up, cried alone, and even turned to AI because she didn’t want to burden anyone. I’ve definitely experienced some of those feelings growing up, so her story really touched me.

I loved how Ashtyn noticed something was wrong and opened up about his own pain, making Alyssa comfortable enough to share hers. And yes, that pain involved his sperm donor, Christian. I was actually happy his name wasn’t mentioned in the book!

But the conversation between Alyssa and Amanda? BABY! Finding out that Amanda felt like her life was over at one point, but raising Alyssa actually saved her life, was BEAUTIFUL! When they cried together, I cried too!

Another favorite moment was their first love animation assignment. Alyssa chose her parents and sister, while Ashtyn chose Khaliyah and Airen because their relationship was his first example of true love. I loved that they understood love was so much bigger than romance.

I also appreciated how realistically the book portrayed teenage friendships. Some friends gave great advice, while others were doing things grown folks should only be doing!

And that ending with Alyssa and Ashtyn’s first date and kiss? TOO CUTE!

 

Overall, I loved everything about their story. It was sweet, emotional, and a beautiful reminder that sometimes the people we think we’re burdening are the very people whose lives we’ve made better. My niece did her thing with this one.

5⭐️

Renee’s Review

This book was such a pleasant surprise! Even with characters born from my books, I had no clue how Angel Neesan would tell their story. My goodness! Ashtyn was such a little man in this story. His level of maturity was so needed. Not all children are like that, but some kinda get it early on. He was a young man of God, and it showed in his character, even in how he wanted to be better when it came to his anger around his father.

Then there’s Alyssa, who was my heart because I 100% understood her pain. Feeling like you’re a burden to someone who wasn’t originally supposed to be responsible for you. In her case, the parents responsible for her were no longer alive. It was a accidental abandonment and forced responsibility for those around her. I have been there, and Alyssa’s emotions were accurate. The way she coped was so relevant to today’s kids. I just felt for her and hoped she’d understand how wrong her perceptions of her circumstances were. Kudos to Ashtyn and her big sis, Amanda, for helping Alyssa get what she needed by the end.

For a debut, this was wonderful. It captured the giddiness and innocence of teen romance. We usually get teen dramas heavily laced with overly sexualized thoughts or actions. Not that those perspectives aren’t accurate in people’s lives. I just appreciated that these teens were so sweet with their feelings and thoughts.

5⭐️

Bridgette’s Review

Too Cute!

Sorry for the too cute but it was 😊 Its really hard to see these teens going through these feelings. Feelings they think they can’t share with anyone. I’m glad Lyssa finally opened up. And Ash had the relationship he had with the Lord and listened to Him.

They had me smiling. I thought this was gonna be about a crush between youngsters, but it was so much more! Great read.

5⭐️