Zyla  Kai, Kristina Forest
Zyla  Kai, Kristina Forest
List: $27.50 | Sale: $19.25
Club: $13.75

Zyla & Kai

Author: Kristina Forest

Narrator: Tashi Thomas

Unabridged: 13 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/07/2022


Synopsis

A fresh love story about the will they, won't they—and why can't they—of first love. 

While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a storm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months. And honestly? Their break up hadn't surprised anyone. Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer, and they couldn't have been more different.
 
Zyla was a cynic about love. She'd witnessed the dissolution of her parents' marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only aim was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.
 
Kai was a serial dater and a hopeless romantic. He'd put a temporary pause on his dating life before senior year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.
 
Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla's and Kai's perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up... Or did they?
 
Romantic, heart-stirring, and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter. 

About The Author

Kristina Forest is an author of romance books for young adults. Her novels include I Wanna Be Where You Are, Now That I've Found You and Zyla & Kai. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at The New School, and she can often be found rearranging her bookshelf.  


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mai on April 04, 2025

Black History Month 2025 #9 Valentine's Day 2025 #5......more

Goodreads review by Monte on November 06, 2022

For the children, this is lovely. I'm sure they'll eat up the story and find it was a fun time. Sadly, my childhood is over and I just didn't vibe fully with all aspects of this book. I don't think it's bad, just that it was okay. As someone that is usually begging for books to be a little longer, I......more

Goodreads review by Ms. Woc Reader on January 17, 2025

This was a very cute slowburn story about first love. Zyla and Kai are two teens heading into their senior year of high school. They both have gotten jobs at an amusement park through a family friend and end up working the game booth together. Zyla is cynical about love while Kai is always searching......more

Goodreads review by Toya (thereadingchemist) on June 02, 2022

The first 75% of this book was thoroughly enjoyable and really captured the all consuming emotions of being a teenager and dealing with difficult life situations such as loss of parents, messy parents, and the pressures of high school. I also LOVED that that Kai is so open about being a Black teenag......more

Goodreads review by aarya on February 12, 2022

2021 Winter Bingo (#SnowInLoveBingo❄️): Star 3.5 stars I’m so disappointed that I didn’t love ZYLA & KAI as much as the author’s previous two books. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe I just had the wrong expectations? The blurb makes this sound like an epic, angsty love story… it is n......more


Quotes

PRAISE for Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest:

The Children’s Book Council Children’s and Young Adult Favorites



"A first love story with all the feels." — Kirkus Reviews

“Romantic, heart-stirring and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter.” — BookRiot

★ “A sweet, funny, and heartfelt story about falling in and out of love, and what happens next…" — STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

★ "Populated by a compassionate, fully fleshed-out cast, variously queer characters, and depictions of loving blended Black families, this joyous novel excels in its heartfelt portrayals of open communication, mental health prioritization, devastating heartbreak, and tender first love." 
— STARRED REVIEW, Publisher's Weekly

★ "...explorations of the side characters and their zoomed-out perspectives, along with chapters focused on Kai’s and Zyla’s experiences, demonstrate the unexpected ways human lives are interconnected and how relationships are a culmination of experiences, perceptions, and assumptions. Reminiscent of Nicola Yoon’s works, it’s a smart, thoughtful take on a romance, ultimately imparting the value of self-reflection, positive communication, healthy coping skills, and forgiveness."— STARRED REVIEW, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
 
"Forest delivers an emotionally mature and reflective contemporary romantic novel with her latest.  Hopeless romantics who enjoy angst and self-reflection will relish this story of miscommunication. Fans of Elise Bryant won’t want to miss this tale of first love gone awry."— Booklist