Category: Book Reviews

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age Recommendation: 14+

Synopsis:Does growing up have to mean growing apart?

Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon’s growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart – until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision – one that will change both of their lives forever.

My review: This book was incredible, and heartbreaking. It’s a wonderful picture of how beautiful, and painful, growing up can be. I was a huge fan of Hinton’s first novel The Outsiders and this book was just as amazing.

Does growing up have to mean growing apart?

Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon’s growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart – until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision – one that will change both of their lives forever.The characters were realistic, and very well written. Hinton is an amazing writer and her descriptions of the characters is one of my favorite things about her writing. You can see a clear picture of every character, from their face to their personality, it’s not hard to get to know these incredibly written characters. The main character, Bryon, is an interesting mix of traits. He’s a liar with a moral compass, a player, and a boy who’s quickly turning into a man. Mark is a boy living for the moment. He’ll do almost anything to make a little money, and stealing anything is his favorite game.

And as a little bonus in this section, fans of The Outsiders, like myself, will be pleased to see the return of Ponyboy Curtis.

The plot was very believable, and fast moving. I love too see how one seemingly small action can set an entire story in motion, and change a person down to their core. I don’t think there is too much else I can say without giving spoilers.

Content Warnings:

Magic: Not present.

Violence: Many references and mentions of violence, but no descriptions, blood or gore. A character is shot in the head, but we don’t see any blood/gore. A character is jumped and a fight follows. One character is beaten to unconsciousness, but this scene is quick, without gore. A story is told of a boy being beaten nearly to death. No description.

Sexual Content: A few kisses are seen on page, these are short and not described.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Age recommendation: 12+

Genre: YA Romance

Synopsis:

New town, new friends, new guy . . . and an old bucket list.

After her dad is sentenced to prison time, seventeen-year-old Lucy Nelson and her mother move across the country to start over in the town—and farmhouse—where her mother grew up.

Once settled, Lucy is determined to keep her mind off anything “real” and decides to pass the time by reading a stack of her mother’s childhood books, which has sat in her grandmother’s home for decades. When Lucy finds her mom’s old summer bucket list shoved between the pages of a worn copy of Anne of Green Gables, she’s eager to write her own list to escape her inevitable summer boredom. Feeling brave, she fills it with challenges she’d never normally do and also adds the one thing that her mother had never crossed off the original list: Visit Susan’s grave.

When Lucy befriends Mira and her handsome cousin, Jack, she begins to feel almost normal as they help check off her list. When she asks her mother about Susan, she refuses to talk about her. As Lucy falls for Jack, she yearns to tell him the truth about her dad and her old life but lies about everything instead. When her friends see through the lies and her mom reaches her breaking point over questions about Susan, Lucy must learn to trust her friends, try to bring peace to her mother, and to somehow find the courage to forgive her dad.

My Review:

I have loved every book in this series, (Love, Lucas), and this one was not a disappointment. As with all the earlier books in this series, Sedgewick paints a picture of brokenness, and pain, and then throughout the book, healing from that brokenness.

So let’s break it down. Starting with the premise.

If this wasn’t by Chantele Sedgwick, I don’t think the blurb would have caught my attention. In my opinion the blurb was too long and gave to much information, but the actual premise of the story wasn’t bad. Lucy’s Dad has been arrested, and her and her Mom move back to her Mom’s home town to escape the rumors that now surround there family and get a new start. But her Mom still has baggage around this town, but she won’t talk about it.

I think that’s a pretty solid premise.

Next, the Characters: The main character, Lucy, was very relatable. She was socially awkward, a book worm, and a girl who was not excited to leave her old friends to find new ones. Lucy had a lot of pain, and handled it in a way that was believable, and relatable.

Jack is a cowboy, that does not fit the cowboy stereotype. I was happy with that, as I am not a fan of cowboys in general. Jack is quiet, highly sensitive, socially awkward, and has never had a girlfriend. He’s adventurous though, and not afraid to try something new every now and again. I loved him.

Mira is outgoing, extremely talkative, and definitley has her ‘gang’. She, like the others, has gone through a lot of pain, and she doesn’t always cope with that pain in the best ways.

The plot was well done. No one fell in love too quickly, and the mystery was solved at a believable pace. that’s about all I can say without giving spoilers.

This was a very satisfying ending to the series. All of the characters had distinct endings to their story lines, and the future looks bright.

Content:

Violence: Not present.

Sexual content: Two characters kiss a few times. This is not drawn out or overly described.

Magic: Not present

Other concers: Mentions of a character who committed suicide, another who overdosed on drugs. One character is said to have drowned, though none of these events happen in the story, they are only mentioned.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Mythological Novel

Synopsis: Haunted by the myth of Cupid and Psyche throughout his life, C.S. Lewis wrote this, his last, extraordinary novel, to retell their story through the gaze of Psyche’s sister, Orual. Disfigured and embittered, Orual loves her younger sister to a fault and suffers deeply when she is sent away to Cupid, the God of the Mountain. Psyche is forbidden to look upon the god’s face but is persuaded by her sister to do so; she is banished for her betrayal. Orual is left alone to grow in power but never in love, to wonder at the silence of the gods. Only at the end of her life, in visions of her lost beloved sister, will she hear an answer.

My Opinions: I loved this book. I found it very interesting, if a little bit odd.

Things I liked: The story and the characters were so well done. I really understood Orual and related to her. Psyche was nearly perfect, beautiful, gentle, and kind. The setting intrigued me right away.

Things I didn’t like: There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like, but I will say one thing: I am confused. I assume Lewis has a deep meaning behind this book, and there is definitely something there, but I can’t quite grasp it.

My Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy

Series: The Songkeeper Chronicles

Synopsis:

Who Will Keep the Song Alive?

Every generation has a Songkeeper – one chosen to keep the memory of the Song alive. And in every generation, there are those who seek to destroy the chosen one.

When Birdie’s song draws the attention of a dangerous Khelari soldier, she is kidnapped and thrust into a world of ancient secrets and betrayals. Rescued by her old friend, traveling peddler Amos McElhenny, Birdie flees the clutches of her enemies in pursuit of the truth behind the Song’s power.

Ky is a street–wise thief and a member of the Underground—a group of orphans banded together to survive . . . and to fight the Khelari. Haunted by a tragic raid, Ky joins Birdie and Amos in hopes of a new life beyond the reach of the soldiers. But the enemy is closing in, and when Amos’ shadowed past threatens to undo them all, Birdie is forced to face the destiny that awaits her as the Songkeeper of Leira.

My Opinions: I really enjoyed this book! It was an easy read, a little lighter than what I have been reading lately, but I don’t mind that.

Things I liked: I like how the world was set up, and how music plays a huge role in the magic system of this book. It’s just cool to me. I also really liked the characters. Birdie, Ky, and Amos were relatable, and human. They weren’t doing impossible things all the time, in fact, often they were failing.

Not a whole lot of good things happened in this book. Some people might call it depressing or boring, and I would understand. By the end of the book we haven’t really accomplished that much. I didn’t really like that fact (so i guess it is in the wrong category), But I didn’t hate it either. It just was.

Things I didn’t like: There were a lot of POV switches. That’s not the end of the world, but I didn’t see a point in some of the switches. You could have accomplished the same things as effectively, and maybe more effectively, by keeping in just one perspective.

All in all I liked this book, it was interesting and easy to read. I think I will probably continue the series.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Christian

Synopsis:

Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.

Thalli is different than others in The State. She feels things. She asks questions. And in the State, this is not tolerated. The Ten scientists who survived the nuclear war that destroyed the world above believe that emotion was at the core of what went wrong—and they have genetically removed it from the citizens they have since created. Thalli has kept her malformation secret from those who have monitored her for most of her life, but when she receives an ancient piece of music to record as her community’s assigned musician, she can no longer keep her emotions secreted away.

Seen as a threat to the harmony of her Pod, Thalli is taken to the Scientists for immediate annihilation. But before that can happen, Berk—her former Pod mate who is being groomed as a Scientist—steps in and persuades the Scientists to keep Thalli alive as a test subject.

The more time she spends in the Scientist’s Pod, the clearer it becomes that things are not as simple as she was programmed to believe. She hears stories of a Designer—stories that fill her mind with more questions: Who can she trust? What is this emotion called love? And what if she isn’t just an anomaly, but part of a greater design?

My Opinion: I really enjoyed this book! (I mean… It got five stars so that is kind of a given…)

Characters: Thalli is our MC, she is a seventeen year old who grew up suppressing her emotions. The others in her pod didn’t have them, and she knew she shouldn’t either. I related to Thalli on some levels, and on others not so much, but I got very attached.

Berk is a boy from Thalli’s pod. He left the pod a few years ago to be trained as one of the next Scientists. When Thalli is taken and scheduled for her Annihilation, Berk convinces his superiors to post pone it, saying that he wants to experiment on her. It doesn’t take long for the feelings of both Berk and Thalli to move beyond that of childhood friends.

The plot: (I will try to keep this spoiler free) The plot of this book was fairly slow moving, not super action packed but still interesting. One of the big plot twists I guessed right away, but that didn’t bother me. (I wish I had been wrong….*crying*)

I will definitely continue this series. Maybe not right now, but eventually. (My TBR is so long…)

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian, Christian

Synopsis:

What more can you sacrifice than your life?

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least…that’s what the Council—and the world—thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

My Opinion: Oh my. The things that series put me through. Wow. Just wow.

I loved the characters, plot, and message of this series. It was so well done. Parvin was relatable, human, but I still admired her. She showed us that even when she was weak, there is someone greater who gives her strength. The journey she took throughout these books was amazing, and honestly, even though the story is fake, I found her faith inspiring.

The plot was very well done. There were extreme challenges the characters had to overcome, but it didn’t seem impossible. (Ok, some of it might seem impossible, but in those situations, they gave the credit to God, and not to themselves.)

I am very satisfied. That was amazing.

Why do I want to go read it again?

My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

Genre: YA fiction, dystopian, Christian

Synopsis:

What happens when you live longer than you wanted to?

Parvin Blackwater wanted to die, but now she’s being called to be a leader. The only problem is, no one wants to follow.

The Council is using Jude’s Clock-matching invention to force “new-and-improved” Clocks on the public. Those who can’t afford one are packed into boxcars like cattle and used for the Council’s purposes. Parvin and Solomon team up to rescue the people. Instead, they find themselves on a cargo ship of Radicals headed out to sea. What will the Council do to them? And why are people suddenly dying before their Clocks have zeroed-out?

My Opinion: Oh the emotional trauma this book put me though. This whole series, really. Anyhow, my opinion. I love. Do I really need to say anything else? Okay, maybe I should.

This book started out fairly slow, and honestly, depressing. I am not complaining about that, just stating the fact. Towards the middle and the end though, it picked up, and was a lot higher action. I loved this book start to finish, even if it hurt me at times. It was so good.

Well, Nadine Brandes, you have impressed me yet again. I was not disappointing. I had very high expectations… and they were exceeded!

My Rating: ⭐‌⭐‌⭐‌⭐‌⭐‌

Genre: YA fiction, dystopian.

Synopsis:

Three hundred sixty-four days, seven hours, and sixteen—no, fifteen—seconds left to live. Like everyone else on the east side of the Wall, Parvin Blackwater has a clock counting down the days until her death. At only seventeen, she has only one year left.

When the authorities find out she has been illegally sharing a clock with her twin brother, she is cast through the Wall—her people’s death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about God, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. If she can get the word to them before her time runs out.

My Opinion:

Mild Spoilers Ahead.

I loved this book so much. I connected with Parvin right away, and was sucked into the story. I loved watching Parvin grow and mature throughout the story. I laughed reading this….I also cried…like a lot. It was cool to see Parvin’s relationships with Jude and Willow grow as well. I loved the friendship. They stuck with Parvin even when she was making dumb choices. They were so loyal. I loved watching it happen. I also really liked the Dystopian world. The idea of having clocks that count down to the day of your death really intrigued me. At first it sounded like a good idea, but slowly, the story starts to show why it is good that God hasn’t granted us that knowledge. I really liked the culture differences between High Cities and Low Cities, and between the East and the West. Also, the albino’s own dystopian community was intriguing and interesting.

If your a fan of Dystopian or Fantasy novels, I highly recommend! If you’ve read it, what did you think?

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre:YA Fiction/Contemporary Romance

Synopsis: Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating—and also surprising when some classmates, including Beau Watson, take time to learn ASL. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will derail her pursuits. But when people in her life—deaf and hearing alike—ask her to question parts of her deaf identity, Maya stands proudly, never giving in to the idea that her deafness is a disadvantage. 

My Opinion:

Amazing. That is my opinion. I read this book in one evening, and even though it was a fairly slow moving story, I still couldn’t put it down. Maya was well written and an understandable character. Her emotions made sense, and even if I didn’t always like her, I always understood her. Because I am not deaf and don’t know anyone deaf, I can’t judge the authenticity of the story, but (to me) it seemed well researched.

The only thing that bothered me was the speed at which Beau and Nina learned ASL. ASL isn’t exactly a simple language, but Beau and Nina picked it up really fast. If they were really dedicated then it is not unbelievable. Just a little bit unrealistic.

If you like sweet, clean, contemporary romance, I strongly recommend this one. If you have read it, what did you think?