YA
Top 10 Books of 2015
Book Review: The Goddess Test
As part of my BookTube Made Me Read It list, I read “The Goddess Test” by Aimee Carter!
Thoughts on Tomes: https://youtu.be/RrQmIBS5t9A Continue reading
Book Review: Twilight Tenth Anniversary/Life and Death Dual Edition
Twilight Tenth Anniversary/Life and Death Dual Edition by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have always loved the Twilight series, and I don’t care what anyone says! Meyer’s writing always draws me in and holds my attention and my heart, and this book was no exception.
The story is almost exactly Twilight again, just with all the genders swapped. Most of the dialogue is the same with a few changes, and almost the entire story is copy and pasted from Twilight. The ending is changed, however, and I found that very interesting! I prefer the ending of Twilight, but seeing this “what if?” ending was like a little adventure into the possibilities of the imagination. I liked it! Continue reading
Book Review: Chivalrous
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was a nice fluff read, but I wasn’t really impressed or entertained. The plot is trite and predictable, the characters are obvious, and the writing tells instead of showing.
This is the story of Lady Gwendolyn, who longs to fight as a knight and sneaks into a tournament. She is wary of romance, because her father is a mean old tyrant, but she learns to love the low-born Sir Allen. Meanwhile, Sir Allen is determined to prove that despite his low birth, he is just as noble of heart as the other knights. Typical Medieval stuff, and utterly unoriginal. Continue reading
Book Review: Winter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? – GoodReads Description
I loved this book so much! It’s the perfect conclusion to the series. I was so involved in this book, and now I’m having trouble pulling my mind and heart out of Lunar world. What is reality? How can I go back to my life after this? Continue reading
Book Review: The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World
The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Amedeo Kaplan has a secret, a dream: More than anything in the world, he wants to discover something — a place, a process, even a fossil — some treasure that no one realizes is there until he finds it. And he would also like to discover a true friend to share these things with.
William Wilcox seems like an unlikely candidate for friendship: an aloof boy who is all edges and who owns silence the way other people own words. When Amedeo and William find themselves working together on a house sale for Amedeo’s eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender, Amedeo has an inkling that both his wishes may come true. For Mrs. Zender’s mansion is crammed with memorabilia of her long life, and there is a story to go with every piece. Soon the boys find themselves caught up in one particular story — a story that links a sketch, a young boy’s life, an old man’s reminiscence, and a painful secret dating back to the outrages of Nazi Germany. It’s a story that will take them to the edge of what they know about heroism and the mystery of the human heart.
This is the story of Amadeo, who wants to discover something that will bring him fame. When he begins working for Mrs. Zender, he hopes to find a treasure of some kind among her dusty old things, but he is also looking for friendship. Egh. I disliked this book intensely, but I can’t muster up enough emotional reaction to it to actually say I hated it.
The plot moves sooooooo slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. Finally, towards the end of the middle, they find the drawing, and finally finally after a long drawn-out bunch of nothing, we find out the mystery of the drawing, which is another long bunch of extra stuff that I didn’t really care about. The end was so incredibly under-whelming. Continue reading
Book Review: Catch the Zolt
Catch the Zolt by Phillip Gwynne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the story of Dom, who is told on his 15th birthday that his family owes an ancient debt to the Italian mafia. When every male family member reaches 15 years old, they are forced to do 6 difficult tasks for the Debt or the Debt will cut off an arm or leg, taking their “pound of flesh” in payment.
I loved that the whole “pound of flesh” thing is from Shakespeare, although the Bard is never mentioned.
Dom is a wonderful character with depth and interest. He has a crush on his best friend, the girl next door. He has a fun dynamic of mutual teasing with his siblings. He trains as a runner, and is obsessed with running. He’s just a well-rounded character, and a great POV for the whole story. Continue reading
Book Review: My Side of the Mountain
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Every kid thinks about running away at one point or another; few get farther than the end of the block. Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going–all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival. In a spellbinding, touching, funny account, Sam learns to live off the land, and grows up a little in the process. Blizzards, hunters, loneliness, and fear all battle to drive Sam back to city life. But his desire for freedom, independence, and adventure is stronger. No reader will be immune to the compulsion to go right out and start whittling fishhooks and befriending raccoons.
I am certainly not an outdoorsy person, but I loved this book so much! What an adventure to live off the land all alone in the woods!
The writing is charming, Sam’s character is full of pluck and resourcefulness, and I was completely involved in every little woodsy adventure. Continue reading
Book Review: Minion
Minion by John David Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Michael Morn might be a villain, but he’s really not a bad guy. When you live in New Liberty, there are no Supers and only two kinds of people: those who turn to crime and those who suffer. Michael and his adoptive father spend their days building boxes—special devices with mysterious abilities—that they sell to the mob at a price. They provide for each other, they look out for each other, and they’d never betray each other.
But then a Super comes to town, and Michael’s world is thrown into disarray. The Comet could destroy everything Michael and his dad have built, the safe and secure life they’ve made for themselves. And now Michael and his father face a choice: to hold tight to their life or to let it unravel. -GoodReads
This is such a fantastic book! A perfect companion novel to SideKicked. This story is told from the perspective of the “bad guys” and criminals, hoping not to be caught by the superheroes. It’s not a sequel to SideKicked though, because all the characters are new. Different people, different city, different story.
I thought it was very interesting that the word “minion” comes from and old French word “mignon” meaning “darling”. It explores the meaning of good and evil and the limits of family relationships, friendships, and romance. Really deep stuff, but told with such an action-filled plot and beautifully complex characters. This book tugged at my soul! Continue reading
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