H.D. Hunter’s Something Like Right is a poignant and uplifting story about navigating love, loss, and self-discovery. With heartfelt prose and deeply relatable characters, Hunter captures the complexities of finding one’s way when life feels uncertain. This book is a beautiful reminder that growth often comes from embracing imperfection.

A touching and inspiring read for fans of contemporary fiction with emotional depth.

Actual Rating 4.5

This work tackled some deep themes, including first love, broken families, overcoming being set up for failure, making the best of difficult situations, and violence, just to name a few. However, I loved how well the author incorporated positive and hopeful aspects and situations in a way that kept the themes from becoming overwhelming and kept the book from feeling hopeless.

The characters were quite strong. I enjoyed their varied backgrounds and reasons for ending up at the school, and how they all took different paths, some of which led to the same place. The characters, even the secondary ones, were complex and easy to emotionally connect to and relate to, which made for an immersive experience.

While there were some things typical of the YA genre present, this book mostly felt YA in only good ways. If you’re interested in a character driven YA novel, then this is worth checking out. My thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In this book, Zay got into his one and only fight and has been sentenced to a year of high school at an alternative school hours away from his home. He feels like this was a convenient move for his mom to kick him out, because his dad was just released from prison. Zay makes the most of his time at the new school, despite the dreary educational environment, making a few friends and falling in love.
Being a teacher in an alternative high school, I was excited to read this one. Unfortunately, there were a few things that didn’t sit well with me. First, Zay getting sent after only one fight--and this being the only mark on his record--does not seem very realistic, along with there only being one alternative high school in the state. What happens to students who don’t have family in the area of that high school? Was there a boarding school option? And it seemed as if local kids went to that high school, so I was confused as to why it was an alternative high school for “bad” kids, if this was the case.
Additionally, I did not appreciate the way Broadlawn was depicted. In my opinion, this continues to spread the idea that kids who go to alternative high schools are given the worst of the worst. I will allow that there probably are alternative high schools out there that do fit the stereotype of Broadlawn. However, we have been trying to change this idea at our school, where it is a choice and a privilege to attend, and where we have some of the best teachers in the district caring for our students who need it most. Watching these students grow and mature throughout their high school years to become engaged members of society, rather than a part of the “pipeline to prison” as Kenny says in the book, is one of the most rewarding parts of my job.

Thank you to NetGalley; RB Media; Recorded Books; Farrar, Straus, & Giroux; H. D. Hunter; and Torian Brackett (audio narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of Something Like Right in exchange for an honest review.

Something Like Right follows Zay as he is expelled from his school district and sent to Broadlawn Alternative School for getting into one fight. His only fight ever. But the universe treats those of color more harshly. Zay must live with his aunt as he finishes the school year at Broadlawn, something he isn't very happy about. At least his aunt tends to care about him. His mother is distant, and his father has returned home from previous incarceration, not the kind of role model Zay aspires to.

Aside from a bad reputation, there is something Broadlawn has that Zay does like: Feven. She is the light to his darkness in the alternative school, and he even finds joy in tutoring her aunt to prepare for a citizenship test. While Zay's attraction falls into the fever of first love, he learns that there is more to friendship, high school, and personal goals than that of romance. 

Zay soon learns that the mere mention of Broadlawn as a school he attends brings others to look down on him, but he won't let that stop him from finding his own way and exploring who he wants to be in life.

This is a brilliantly written novel that demonstrates how broken families are still family, explores first love and the feelings that can accompany such an experience, and finding meaning to one's purpose in exploring new paths in life.

Something Like Right shares the hardships that youth go through when they are expelled, and the kinds of reputations they may have for attending certain schools. This novel is a great demonstration that youth should never be judged by where they have been, but rather where they are going and where they want to be in their lives. Judgement often falls too harsh and too swift. This is an excellent novel for readers who have experienced a similar situation, educators, and young adult readers who want to see an alternative perspective and learn from that.

This was a great book of growth and growing pains. After not having a relationship with his father and constantly bumping heads with his mother, Zay takes his frustrations out on a bully (well deserved) but it lands him temporarily expelled from school. To not fall behind he moves in with his aunt and uncle to attend a school for essentially bad ass kids. Once there he realizes it’s not all bad… he learns a lesson on falling in love, he learns about his parents and he learns he’s passion. Great self discovery book for a teen.

I picked this netgalley arc purely on that cover ! I think it’s so great!

The story was really good too.

Follows Zay who just got kicked out of school to go to a reformatory school for a semester as he is trying to find his way through a new school to get back to his regular school he meets new friends, crushes and guides to help him figure out what he wants and forest want with his life.

This was well done. I loved a bunch of flawed characters trying their best and this one had that all the characters had many things they were going through but all had this layer of charm it was hard not to root for everyone.

Thanks to netgalley and recorded books for an alc

"It's easy to choose the pain we have grown to know. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like pain. Just feels like going home."

This book was a delightful surprise! Right of the bat, I was instantly captivated by the story. The author's writing style was both straightforward and evocative. It didn’t take long for me to get invested in the characters and the plot.

Something Like Right follows Zay as he navigates through his life which has recently took an unexpected turn after a single fight. I liked him from the start and I find myself rooting for him as the story progresses. This book also features a strong supporting cast of characters, each with distinct personalities and personal struggles— making them feel real.

The audiobook narration really elevated my reading experience. The narrator captured the emotions perfectly, making me feel for these characters and what they're going through.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for a solid ya contemporary, then you should definitely check this out. Perfect for fans of Lamar Giles and Angie Thomas!

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ALC of this book

This book was a fast engaging read that I highly enjoyed, we go through the journey of Zain a teenager who comes from a broken home & his coming-of-age story.

Zain is not very good at handling his emotions but how can you be when you have had no proper guidance with this due to not having a strong connection with your mother (who suffers badly from depression that she isolates and keeps a distance)

Zain feels alone and that no one will ever understand him when he finds out his father has been released from jail and moving back into the family home, Zain feels anger and confusion over why his mother would do this, feeling all this he gets involved in a fight which ends up with him being sent to a reform school for delinquent teens. Here he feels more alone and more misunderstood but finds a connection of friendship with Kenny a funny cocky student, but within days of him being at this school Zain experiences how a girl called Devon made him want to be better, see things better and become better... ( puppy love)

First love can lift you up and have you feeling like you can rule the world but can also confuse or destroy you.

But by the end of the book Zain is starting to feel, see and experience things differently.... growing up to reframe his mind and also to realise life is in the moments you share not the emotions of Baggage that can pull you apart.

Funny quick read that I highly enjoyed

*I listened to the audiobook.

Zay, a biracial teen, gets into his first (& only) fist fight at his school, causing him to finish of his school year at Broadlawn Alternative School.
Throughout this book, he deals with race/class issues, broken families, all the while being relatable - so much so, I wish I had this book when I was a teen. We also see Zay's character growth, his first love, him/his family healing, and second chances. A very well-rounded book that I absolutely loved.

* This was my first ever Torian Bracket narrated book, and I like his style. He's extremely talented with all the different character voices (Kenny's voice is my fave)

** Thank you RBmedia|Recorded Books for the Audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A moving coming of age YA story featuring a biracial teen boy sent to a new school after getting in a big fight. The book touches on class, race, broken families and unrequited love. Good on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Kacen Callender. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this story! A beautiful coming of age story about Zay who always has good intentions, but sometimes those good intentions put him in complicated situations. I really loved seeing Zay grow to learn more about himself, befriend people that he wouldn’t expect, and even experience his first love as a kid. Even with his first love with Feven, he learns that sometimes even that may not go our way. Going into an environment that he was enthusiastic about really allowed him to become a flourishing young man and figure out what he wants to do in life. I loved that he was able to also come to an understanding with his parents in the end. It seemed like they were young and naive, especially his mom. Even though what she did in the past was absolutely wrong, I’m happy her and Keith could reconcile. I think no matter what they did Zay would have been able to come to terms with the dynamics and understand them. Overall I really enjoyed this book!

I also really loved the narrators. He did an amazing job and made the story so engaging!