A reflective novel in verse, about neighborhoods of color dealing with gentrification. It also addresses the loss of third spaces for communities, and made me wish I could go roller skating again. But also at the end of the day, your heart feels like a tulip trying to grow in a parking lot for Jaelyn. Because you want her to succeed, to trust in love, to feel welcome by the world.

I'm such a sucker for this sort of poetry book for teens! I love coming of age, prose poem-y collections like this. I definitely think we'll end up purchasing it.

I loved Under the Neon Lights Arriel Vinson.
A wonderful young adult debut novel in verse.
The plot was great, the characters were engaging.
And writing is freaking amazing!

I stumbled across this on NetGalley and I was immediately intrigued by the cover and premise. I’m so glad I read this, as it’s a beautifully told debut.

💜 What I liked about it 💜

🛼 This is a verse novel that's lyrically exquisite
🛼 I'm not a skater myself, but I'm drawn to stories with this theme and I absolutely loved the focus around the roller rink and the skater community
🛼 There's a lot of focus on gentrification eroding the culture and livelihoods of the Black community, forcing them out of jobs and their homes. As a result, Jaelyn and her friends are having to fight to retain their identity and carve out a new place for them in the community
🛼 It's about finding - and fighting for - your community, even though it's been snatched away
🛼 I adored Jaelyn and Trey together - their relationship was lovely to watch unfold

✨️ What to expect ✨️

✒️ YA verse novel
🤝 Focus on the importance of community
🖤 Young Black love
🤔 Themes of identity and self-worth
🛼 Roller rink setting

'Under the Neon Lights' reads like a poetic love letter to Black joy, change, and community. This is a lyrical coming-of-age novel in verse that truly expresses the heart of Black adolescence, first love, and the bittersweet reality of the changes we go through. Set against the pulse of the community pillar WestSide Roll—an Indianapolis roller rink that feels just as alive as its characters—this story follows sixteen-year-old Jaelyn as she navigates love, loss, and self-discovery.

At the rink, Jae can escape. She can lose herself in the music, the movement, and the warmth of her stable community. But as gentrification threatens her safe haven and her estranged father tries to re-enter her life, she must learn to hold onto what matters while embracing the changes she can’t control. Through tender moments with her romantic interest Trey, the boy who sees her in a way she struggles to see herself, and the painful unraveling of a friendship that once felt unbreakable with Noe, Jae’s journey contains both heartache and happiness.

For readers who have ever had a place that felt like home, Under the Neon Lights is a nostalgic and emotionally rich read. Vinson’s verse is intimate and perfectly captures the ache of growing up while celebrating the deep bonds of family, friendship, and Black community spaces. A stunning debut that reminds us that joy, even in the midst of grief, is a resistance of its own.

Under the Neon Lights was a wonderful Young Adult novel in verse.

I loved the characters! Jaelyn was so fun to follow. She was a real teenager with real problems who has to figure out how to work around her ever changing life. I loved seeing her relationships change with her parents, Trey and Noelle. Jae has to work through a lot of different things in the span of the book. But I felt like the flow of the story was very well done. We work through multiple conflicts throughout the story and we focus on different aspects while going through the larger story of losing WestSide Roll.

I have not read very many books that focus on gentrification and micro-aggressions. This book handled all of these topics with grace and at a level that is understandable by all ages.

I love novels in verse. I think they bring a unique aspect to the book that you cannot get with a traditionally written novel. I think Arriel Vinson does a great job of the breakdown of the book with the poetry throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P Putnam’s Son Books for Young Readers for an eARC of this book!

Searing debut about a teen who finds solace in her local rollerskating rink. On the hard wood of WestSide Roll, with the lights dancing and the music pumping, Jaelyn can set aside the pain of her neighborhood being gentrified, her best friend pulling away, her dad resurfacing after disappearing for a while. There's a charming new boy in town whose attentions are nearly impossible to resist. Just when Jaelyn opens her heart a tiny bit, news that the roller rink will be closing hits her hard. Where is she supposed to find solace now?

It's one thing to read about gentrification, racial micro-aggressions and a community of folks being pushed out. It's another to be placed into the heart and bones of someone who's experiencing it from the inside. Under the Neon Lights is a revolution of feeling, frustration and the sheer will of overcoming injustices to the heart.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Usually, I know how romance books end, especially when it comes to YA. For this one, I wasn’t sure, but I had the best time regardless.

I have to point out how much I adored the format and flow. The author conveyed strong emotions, vivid imagery, and unbreakable bonds as well as any fully fleshed narrative novel. This was all poetry and lyric, and I couldn’t put it down. Every relationship was given the same amount of passion, whether familial, friendship, or romantic. Whatever these last few YA books have been doing to me, I’m not mad at it. I’ve been feeling things so deeply lately, and this one had me crying a little bit. The emphasis on community and importance of third places got me in the soul. Seeing the FMC navigate all these changes out of her control and growing despite uncertainty… It showed so much strength and resilience. A reminder that although change can be devastating and scary, you can’t stay stagnant. Latch on to the good things and people who’ll move forward with you.

Don’t even get me started on Jaelynn and Trey. It’s been a while since a couple made me swoon from start to finish, and I’ve been reading a lot of romance lately. Their connection in particular was heartwarming and melt-worthy. Vinson creating that kind of bone-deep romance in the form this book took made me love the story even more. A physical copy will be bought and loved on.

This was my first time reading a novel in verse. When I first started reading this arc I thought something was wrong with the font. After a few chapters, I got use to the format and loved the story. It has me wanting to buy a pair of skates again! It gave Cascade vibes in ATL and reminded me of usher skating during his concerts.

The verse format introduced a lyrical quality that enhances the emotional depth, allowing readers to be immersed in the experience of first love with Trey and Jaelyn as well as the lows of impending loss as gentrification threatens to close the rink. It always sucks when a place you love to hang out at closes down due to changes within the neighborhood. They don’t understand how that can be a safe haven for certain cultures. Some times is can do more harm than good. This book definitely showed how it impacted the community.

Under The Neon Lights detailed a sense of community, a connection to black culture, and Jaelyn’s personal challenges, including a strained friendship and an absent father who decides to come back around as she got older. If you grew up skating or having your birthday parties at skating rinks you’ll relate to this book heavily! Let me go get a pair of skates and get back to it!

I loved the nostalgia, the way the author built a strong sense of place, and the message about gentrification. Fantastic.

Under the Neon Lights is a YA debut novel by Arriel Vinson written in verse. Jaelyn goes to the skating rink every Saturday night. She has the time of her life there every week. All her problems are nonexistent when she’s skating around her favorite rink, Westside Roll. She even meets a boy there that she really likes and really likes her. Everything is looking up until her best friend seems to be distant, the neighborhood experiences changes by developers and her home every Saturday night, Westside Rink, announces it will be closing. It feels like her world is crumbling. This story really captured the feeling of being a teenager and how scary and daunting changes can be. It’s a coming of age novel that had me reminiscing about being a teenager at the skating rink. The verse format was new to me but I really enjoyed it. Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the eARC.

The way I wanna grab some skates and head out to the nearest rink is nasty work! 😂 But, friend, you did that! Under the Neon Lights by @arriwrites was everything I expected and more. The way she highlights the importance of third spaces and the harm caused by gentrification to community traditions and culture is evident and impactful with every page turned. My love for R&B kept me fully engaged; any time a song was mentioned, I found myself singing the lyrics. But the romance between Jaelyn and Trey had me rooting for them the moment Trey ran into her at the rink. Trey, in my opinion, is like many young Black boys navigating the fallout of trusting someone they shouldn’t and the loss of community that some face due to these fallout. I enjoyed seeing Trey find his community in Jaelyn’s life and with the community at the rink. I also appreciated the commentary around friendship and how often we get jealous when our best friend finds new friends, even when it doesn’t mean that we are losing each other. We just can’t always be everything to each other. Different life problems call for different friends. Thank you to  Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

i love a young adult novel in verse! This is a masterful debut! Vinson is a great writer.
I loved the story and themes. As someone who loves to skate and has fond memories under the neon lights, this is a great summer read

This was such a wonderful, nostalgic summer story. It reminded me of all those parties I went to in middle school at the roller rink in the best of ways. Jaelynn was such a relatable character. I loved how the book really showcased how overwhelming change can be when it’s happening in multiple parts of your life. I loved seeing her relationships with her friends and family grow and evolve, especially with Trey and her dad. I thought Trey was absolutely adorable and I LOVE how hard he fell for Jaelynn. I also enjoyed the atmosphere of the roller rink and the sense of community it brought. Reading this one was such a good experience and I’m so happy I did.
CW: racism, gentrification, divorce, illness

Thank you to Penguin Teen for a digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

I enjoyed this novel in verse quite a bit! The story revolves around Jae--a teen who loves to roller skate, loves her community, and is maybe falling in love with a boy named Trey. Readers follow along as she navigates some complicated family and friend relationships, as well as deals with the emotional fallout of the closing of her community's beloved skating rink. Jae also meets a sweet boy names Trey who will be by her side as she figures things out and they slowly and sweetly fall for each other. I appreciated the way the book showed the impact of gentrification in a way that teen readers will understand and will be adding a copy to my classroom library!

I read anywhere between 75-100 books a year on average, and I already know Arriel Vinson’s Under The Neon Lights will land very high in my top reads of 2025. This coming of age (that’s how it felt for me) story is written in a refreshing style that is relatable and timely with the resurgence for skating, lyrical and descriptive that still flows like a novel. I can’t remember the last time I literally clapped so much while reading. Jae and Trey are beyond adorable and their banter is top tier. The author did a brilliant job of writing characters dealing with age-appropriate issues that don’t all have instant fixes. Their lives are so much more than two young people falling for each other, though the moments that capture Jae and Trey’s sweet tumble had me smiling AND clapping, even when they were navigating conflict. Made their story so much realer for me, and I imagine other readers will have similar sentiments.
!00% 10/10 recommend, and a physical copy will definitely be added to my bookshelf.

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. Thank you so much for the advance review copy!

This novel in verse was an absolutely incredible YA read. Not only was the narrative compelling and the characters relatable, Vinson's way with verse, imagery and line breaks will have any young adult hooked to continue reading. With an educated view on gentrification, and Vinson's incredible writing talent, I'd recommend this book to any middle-school to high-school-aged kids and beyond. Loved it!

A moving coming of age debut YA novel in verse about a young teen roller skater and her love of the local rink where she spends a lot of her time trying to forget about problems at home, her gentrifying neighborhood and where she also spends time with friends and a new love interest. Great on audio and perfect for fans of the books Love radio or She gets the girl. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Under the Neon Lights is a fantastic YA coming of age story. In her debut novel, Arriel Vinson puts forth a story of community, love, friendship, and banning together for what you believe in. It is a sweet YA novel that shows the ugly realities of gentrification and it's affects on minority communities.

Under the Neon Lights is the story of sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman, who happily spends her Saturday nights at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. At the rink, Jae loses herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves. WestSide Roll is also where Jae meets Trey; the cutest boy she's ever seen. And before she knows it, she's spending more and more time with him.

While developing a relationship with Trey, Jae is also dealing with her absentee father trying to squirm his way back into his life. And her relationship with her best friend Noelle is not what it used to be. To make matters worse, Jae gets the devastating news that WestSide Roll is closing its doors permanently. The gentrification rapidly taking over her predominantly Black Indianapolis neighborhood, filling it with luxury apartments and fancy boutiques, has come for her safe-haven. And this is just one trouble Jae can’t skate away from.

I loved reading this story. The characters are so authentic and real. Each one deals with personal struggles while trying to maintain the positive relationships in their lives and have the freedom to be who they want to be. Seeing the way Jae lets loose in the skating rink is so freeing. We all need a place where we can let loose and be free. But what happens if that place then gets taken away from us? What would we do? This story explores that and more. We see how Jae's relationships grow and change, how a community dealing with gentrification pulls together in times of need, the importance of forgiveness and second chances, and how we truly need one another. Fantastic read!

I enjoyed this coming of age/first love story.
We are able to see how the characters love, grieve, heal, and never give up. We read about the effects of divorce, estranged friendships, parental relationships, the journey to forgiveness, and abandonment trauma.
I would highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.