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Sash from Sash & Em
I run a blog with my best friend, Em - we love Young Adult literature.
Kids who have superpowers isn’t exactly a new concept in Young Adult (or in books in general for that matter) – but wow – was I pretty impressed with the execution of this book. I feel as thought Alexandra Bracken took the whole “superpowers are bad and the government is locking us away” and worked it into something that felt fresh. I was completely consumed in almost every single moment of this book – and that my friends, is a great thing – to be able to lose yourself in a book. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was about The Darkest Minds that made me love it so much but I think that the snarky dialogue had something to do with it. I love me some electric dialouge.One thing that irked me though was the way that Ruby would describe some things. I can’t remember exact examples but sometimes when she would describe something, she would liken it to something that had me thinking “Hey wait a minute, if she’s been locked up since she was 10 years old with no interaction in the outside world plus she’s not really allowed to talk to anyone, how would she know about that?” Those kinds of thoughts pulled me out of the book and reminded me that I was actually reading a book – but thankfully it only happened 2-3 times.
For me, the most interesting thing about this book is how it shows both good and bad sides of human nature. We see people who are so selfless even in such a dire situation and we see people who are willing to sellout others in a heartbeat if it means surviving another day. It makes you think – what would you do? How far would you be willing to go to survive? And even, would you lead a revolution if it meant being killed? Thought provoking questions that make you take a look at yourself and wonder if your mind would be one of the darkest.
Overall, I really enjoyed this thrilling book and can’t wait to read its sequel, Never Fade.
This review can also be found at Sash & Em: A Tale of Two Bookies.
After seeing Allen Zadoff at the Teen Author Carnival earlier this year, I decided I'd like to read something that Mr. Zadoff wrote. When I found our My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies was available in audiobook format, 5.5 hours long, and narrated by one of my favorite voice actors Macleod Andrews - paired with the fact that I had a 5.5 hour drive - I knew this was the one to read. Did I like it? Yes, I did.It's a bit different from what I normally read - don't get me wrong, I definitely read my fair share of contemporary but this one is set in a place that I'm not familiar with - the theater world. I *did* take Theater Arts I in 9th grade but I absolutely hated it, mainly because I don't like to be on stage - that's probably what made me like Adam and the other techies so much. Adam was a likable guy, though a little socially awkward. And I loved seeing him take the reigns and shine when it was his time. He was humble and willing to do what it took to make the high school production a success, and I admired him for that.
I also love seeing Young Adult books with boys as the main characters, especially coming from a male author. It's interesting to see what teenage boys are thinking about and getting in their brains, if only for 300 or so pages.
Overall, I really enjoyed this quick read and will definitely be reading Allen's latest book, Boy Nobody.
PS - note to the publishers out there, seriously, if Macleod Andrews is the voice actor I will 100% listen to the audiobook. This is the 4th audiobook I've listened to with him as the voice actor. He's amazing.
Fangirl
You know that awkward moment when all your friends (and the rest of the world it seems like) love something and you’re just like – oh, yeah..not really my thing. I feel like this happens to me A LOT with books. The people whose opinions and tastes I respect the most LOVE something – and it makes me sad when I don’t like it. And here’s yet another example – though this one does have a twist – and that is that I can appreciate it and I understand why people love it; it just wasn’t my type of book.First things first – Rainbow Rowell is a wonderful writer. I adore her writing style but unfortunately the actual content of her books just don’t jive with me (so far!). It happened with : Eleanor & Park and now again with Fangirl. While my issues with Eleanor & Park were mostly character-based (please don’t get me started on Eleanor), the main problem I had with Fangirl was that I felt like absolutely nothing happened. There was no plot. Yes, I know that not all books are plot based but there are many character-driven books that I love – Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – tons of contemporary YA novels aren’t plot-driven – but I felt like things actually happened in them. And, yes, I realize that things happened in this book but I mean that I don’t feel like anything happened in a substantial way – Cath’s moment of realization never really hit me. I found her boring and plain – I would have much rather read about her twin sister, Wren’s college experience. She was a vibrant character – she had spunk. So did Cath’s roommate. So did Levi. Everyone in this book was interesting except Cath.
I will say that I found Cath’s Simon Snow fanfiction to be best part of this book. I would 100% love to read those works of fanfiction. And that’s how I 100% know that I do love Rainbow Rowell’s writing; it’s just that this character and this time in her life didn’t work for me. College isn’t as bland as it seemed in Cath’s world and I couldn’t help but think to myself “That was so not my college experience.”.
I know that there will be a Rainbow Rowell book out there for me one day – (maybe it’s Attachments - tons of people have told me try this one) – but I just haven’t found it yet.
This review can also be found at Sash & Em: A Tale of Two Bookies.
There are people in the world who have so much potential but just let everything go right down the drain. People who can’t help but make bad choices. And though they’re witty, kind, and charming – they have issues – they have problems. But they just can’t seem to help themselves. Have you ever known anyone like this? I haven’t and I think that may be why I felt both disconnected and connected with this book and with Sutter Keely. Disconnected in that I genuinely did not understand why he was doing what he was doing. And connected in that my heart ached for him – I wanted him to make the right choices for himself. I can’t recall how many times I wanted to jump into this book and scream at Sutter – tell him how he was going down the wrong path, suggest to him how to get help – that he needed help.Addiction and substance abuse are scary – but these things real – and there are people out there battling them every day. To watch someone self-destruct is a painful and sad thing I think mostly because there is nothing you can do about it – the person is doing it to themselves. Even when loved ones and friends try to intervene, it doesn’t always work – the person doesn’t always listen. I enjoyed this book because it shows the pain and that sadness that accompany these types of situation. The Spectacular Now reminded me that these people are real and these things are happening to them. I think the saddest thing in the book is that Sutter doesn’t even realize what he’s doing to himself.
Though this book isn’t one I’d recommend to everyone, if you like books with a more serious tone to them, pick this one up.
4.5 starsAre you a huge music junkie? Do you listen to music EVERYWHERE you go? You’ve got your earbuds in even if you’re going for a 5 minute walk? Well, you’re going to love this book!
And good news to those who AREN’T listening to music at every spare moment of their day (like me!) – you’re going to love this book too!
This Song Will Save Your Life is about Elise finding something that she LOVES doing and that turns out to be something that she’s good at as well, DJing!. I think it’s important for teens to find something that they’re passionate about – their own special thing – and hold on tight to it. It takes them away from anything else going on in their life and for that little bit of time, they can do the one (or few!) things they like.
Having a passion helps people become who they are and helps them become the people they always wanted to be – for Elise especially – she is independent and confident and happy in her own skin – and that is such an important lesson for teens.
A great contemporary by a wonderful writer.
This review can also be found at Sash & Em: A Tale of Two Bookies.
Losing It (Losing It, #1)
First let’s talk about this “New Adult” thing – basically it’s marketed toward an in between Young Adult and Adult age group. College age and sometimes post-college age. So, the reader are suppose to get main characters that are a little bit more mature in their decisions and life choices. Except, from reading this book I didn’t get the impression that Bliss Edwards was anything other than a 16 year old encased in a 21 year old’s body. It’s not her naivety so much as her immaturity and total sheltered life that have me asking how anyone thought this was a realistic 21 year old? I mean, seriously.I had a lot of issues with this book – mainly that the reader was suppose to be okay with this whole professor/student thing. If he were a grad student acting as a Teaching Assistant to her class, well that I can go with. In my mind Garrick was probably 27-28? Like, what a perv. Plus he’s her teacher – favoritism, anyone? Totally un-ethical.
I guess I picked up this book with something totally different in mind and that’s why I just wasn’t happy with it. That being said, I listened to this one rather quickly and only now looking back on it do I realize that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I though I was while I was listening to it. (Do you ever have books like that? – you think “Wow! I really like this!” while reading it and then you finish and think it over and it’s like BAM – I did *not* like this book as much as I thought I did.)
Anyway, another audiobook, another good voice actor, but unfortunately this book just wasn’t my cup of tea. The most likable character gets a book of their own in the next installment of the series but I just don’t like the world enough to pick it up.
Middle Book Syndrome? You know – the lull in between the first and third book of a trilogy – yeah, Siege and Storm is the anti-thesis of Middle Book Syndrome. The Darkling is as creepy as ever (and I kind of loved it), Mal is soo annoying (seriously – GROW UP), and OOOH – could there be a THIRD love interest? Alina, girl, get your hormones under control. Of course, there *is* always polygamy. Have them all!In my review of the first book, I talked about how I was pulled in by the Darkling and I felt that exact same pull in this book. He’s the most well-written character in the series – he has dimension. I still find myself questioning if he’s good or bad or what his intentions even are – I love that he keeps me guessing.
I could barely put Siege and Storm down and when I was nearing the end of the book, the only reason why I slowed down was because when it was over, well, it’d be over and the third book isn’t available until next year! (Also, HAHA, I say “slow down” but it took me 1.5 days to read this book and during the workweek no less.)
This series is definitely plot driven with mini-quests in each book that are on the path of the mega-quest. I kind of like how the reader is in the know of what the next goal is, without knowing how Alina will achieve the goal – it makes the reader’s curiosity come to a point that they simply MUST know and will definitely be waiting on release day for the next installment. And yes, I’ll be one of those people. Well, played, Ms. Bardugo. Well played.
I should have read this one sooner because oh my gosh, it is so good. I really enjoy fantasy and haven’t had a chance to read any Young Adult fantasy in a while so when I kept hearing great things about Shadow and Bone, I had high hopes. And thankfully they were met, albeit some issues.So, we’ve got Alina, just your regular orphan girl who is secretly in love with her best friend who doesn’t seem to be interested and is off running around with other girls. But then, she’s got a secret power! The thing about Alina is that I do like her but she doesn’t seem overly special or unique to me in any way other than her power. I wanted more personality from her – more spark. But I’m willing to wait for character development to occur in the next two books.
Then there’s the Darkling – alluring, provocative, sexy, tempting. He’s creepy, but I like it. He’s powerful and dark and I can’t help but kind of sucked in by his magnetic pull. Why hello there, Mr. Darkling.
And while this story is about Alina finding her power, it’s definitely a plot-driven book. Though I won’t go into what that specific plot is, since I don’t want to ruin anything for those who haven’t read the book. But it’s fast paced and I could not put it down – I would say I was flipping through the pages but I listened to the audiobook so there weren’t actually pages. And by the way, the voice actor was great. Her voice for the Darkling was sultry and I loved it!
Fans of Graceling by Kristin Cashore should pick this one up – it’s got good, evil, romance, love, and action.
Oh – my – goodness. I haven’t cried at the end of a book since The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I mean, WOW. In this historical fiction filled thriller, we meet Verity who is writing journal entries while captured by the Gestapo. Now, let me be very clear that it WILL take you more than half of the book to get into this book, but other reviewers and readers are not exaggerating when they say that it will pay off. I, myself, was extremely skeptical – this book that was “meh” for over 50% – how could it possible turn around? BUT IT DID.
This book made me bawl like a baby and all I could think of was MY best friend, who I’m lucky to blog with, and what I would do if it were the two of us in World War II. If you don’t come away from this book thinking about your best friend, I don’t know what to tell you!
What can I say about Code Name Verity that hasn’t already been said? I agree with my friends here:
“Code Name Verity is one of those books that will be seared into my brain and heart” – Jamie
“This novel tells such a beautiful, moving tale of friendship that will be staying with me for a long while.” -Alexa
Please please make the investment in this book – it’s so hard to ask someone to give a book more than 50% when you aren’t really into it but I promise, it will pay out. (I have told the truth!)
Every single time I read one of Maggie Stiefvater’s books, I sit there afterward and think, to myself, two things:1. How does she do it?!
2. She can’t possible outdo that.
While I don’t think I’ll ever know the answer to number one, I have come to grips with the fact that she will, indeed, end up topping her last book with the most recent one.
There is just so much to love about this series as a whole – the romance (OMG, there is a KISS in this book. THAT KISS.), the mystery, the originality. But it’s the characters that really get to me – especially Ronan. He’s so complex for a teenager and if you’ve read the last line of The Raven Boys, I know that you’re dying (like I was) to read The Dream Thieves and learn more about Ronan (don’t worry, because you definitely learn more about him).
This series took a turn that I didn’t really see coming (although I’m not entirely sure what I thought the direction would be) and I’m most interested to see how Ronan’s story melds with the overall quest for Glendower (some was explained in this book but I want more!). And I’m also interested in how the other characters will factor in – and what their fates will be!
Here is the perfect song for this book (in my opinion):
What you got what you got in your hand? – a father said to son
I got the whole world here Daddy between my fingers and my thumb
Well you take care of it please – it’s the only one
-Dave Matthews Band, “Raven”
Side note: I think this would make a GREAT TV show!
This review can also be found at Sash & Em: A Tale of Two Bookies.
Maggie Stiefvater, how do you continue to outdo yourself? You one-up each of your books every time a new one is published.I'm not really sure what I thought this book was about - birds? Psychics? Without bothering to even read the synopsis, I jumped right into the world of Blue Sargent and her raven boys.
This book is unique in so many different ways - the characters, the setting, the plot - all of it. I can't begin the describe the type of rapture I was in while listening to this audiobook, which was narrated by Will Patton (Remember the Titans!). Side note: he was such an amazing voice actor and the perfect person to bring this book to life. I think his interpretation of the characters and the book made it feel more real than just reading the book would have done. His voice is dark and creepy, but at the same time, it's not. I'm not sure how to explain it.
Back to the actual story part of this - this is the first book in a four book set and so there is so much mystery surrounding the overall quest that I'm interested to see how Maggie opens the mystery slowly to allow some information to trickle out without giving me the whole thing. Often times, I don't like figuring these out before they're revealed to me, and I think this In The Dark feeling is one that is integral to the success of this series.
I was so happy that I picked up a galley of the next installment, The Dream Thieves, at BEA because I just had to know what was going to happen next - THAT LAST LINE!
Maggie's writing is beautiful and haunting, and everything that I loved about the Wolves of Mercy Falls series is found here - plus more.
I just couldn't get into this one. I'm not really sure what it is - I think the writing felt disjointed.
Heart-racing, action packed, and had me begging for more
My first thought after finishing this book (in one sitting): WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
Unlike anything I’ve read in the past few months, Reboot was so gripping and thrilling that I was unable to put it down until it was done. I found myself flying through the pages, racing to the end and at the same time, not wanting it to end. I mean, just – WOW.
In post-apocalyptic Texas (every other state in America was destroyed due to a virus), reboots are teenagers who come back to life after dying and are then given to the government as bounty hunters except the reboots don’t actually get anything out of it. Ugh, can you imagine following every single order, always listening to someone else, never getting what you want to do – especially as a teenager? Yuck!
What I thought most about during this book (and what frustrated me) was how these reboots are treated so..inhumanly – not only by the government, but by their [former] families. Not an ounce of pity or kindness was given to these teens. Supposedly these reboots don’t feel any emotion, but do you think they act emotionless because of their situation or because that’s how they really are? I mean, if I was treated poorly and like an animal, I would probably just act emotionless out of a survival/defense mechanism.
Which brings me to Callum, sweet Callum. A 22, and such a endearing boy. From the very first scene, I was drawn to his sweet disposition. Every scene with him is filled with this tension – you want to protect him, you want him to grow, you want him to kick butt even though you know he’s a 22. For some reason, he reminded me a lot of Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth. I think it was their kind hearts and adoration they held for their girls.
Reboot is one that fans of Divergent by Veronica Roth are going to want to pick up for sure. It’s heart-racing, action packed, and had me begging for more.
