This is all your fault

Three female teens take the lead in Safi's (Not the Girls You're Looking For, 2018; Tell Me How You Really Feel, 2019) latest novel to save their jobs at Wild Nights Bookstore and Emporium, which is about to go under. Safi's use of a close third-person point of view works surprisingly well, as the chapters alternate among the three characters, capturing the varied personalities of each: how lovesick and pressured biracial Rinn feels; the more thoughtful interior to the rough exterior Daniella shows the world; and the inner turmoil of Imogen, who's seen as the girl continuously on the verge of a mental breakdown. Their only commonality? Their love for Wild Nights. For a story taking place over the course of one day in the vein of Empire Records, a lot is packed in here that isn't essential to pushing the story forward. There's no denying that each brooding, sarcastic, and honest voice is entertaining, but each can also feel long-winded. Readers who appreciate strong character arcs and character-driven stories with clashing personalities will eat this right up. Grades 8-12. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

A trio of unlikely friends rally their Chicago community to save a beloved independent bookstore in Safi's (Tell Me How You Really Feel) quirky offering. When the staff of Wild Nights Bookstore and Emporium discovers that the shop is closing in just two weeks, they each try to find a way to prevent its going under, from flipping $9,000 worth of Air Jordans to crunching suspicious inventory numbers and breaking the strictly enforced "no photography, no phones" rule. The store unites its teenage co-workers: bubbly bookstagrammer Rinn Olivera, who is biracial (of Mexican and German descent), is perpetually camera ready; sarcastic bleached blonde Daniella Korres, who is white, secretly shares poetry online; and Lebanese American Imogen Azar is adept at hiding her inner turmoil. As they're pushed to their limits with planning, mourning the loss of an institution while assisting customers, and dealing with an entitled popular author, each begins to appreciate and better understand the others, seeing beyond superficial assumptions. Using a rotating third-person perspective, Safi writes an energizing, character-driven celebration of belonging, acceptance, and sisterhood with a clear nod to the importance of community spaces. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lauren MacLeod, the Strothman Agency. (Oct.) Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly.

"Three young female employees work together to stop the Wild Nights Bookstore and Emporium from closing"--

Set over the course of one day, Aminah Mae Safi's This Is All Your Fault is a smart and voice-driven YA novel that follows three young women determined to save their indie bookstore.Rinn Olivera is finally going to tell her longtime crush AJ that she’s in love with him.Daniella Korres writes poetry for her own account, but nobody knows it’s her.Imogen Azar is just trying to make it through the day.When Rinn, Daniella, and Imogen clock into work at Wild Nights Bookstore on the first day of summer, they’re expecting the hours to drift by the way they always do. Instead, they have to deal with the news that the bookstore is closing. Before the day is out, there’ll be shaved heads, a diva author, and a very large shipment of Air Jordans to contend with.And it will take all three of them working together if they have any chance to save Wild Nights Bookstore.