Category Archives: By Genre

Review: The Rift Uprising by Amy S. Foster

Book Review and Content, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Rift Uprising (The Rift Uprising Trilogy #1)
Amy S. Foster
Harper Voyager
Published October 4, 2016

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About The Rift Uprising
Seventeen-year-old Ryn Whittaker is a Citadel: an elite, enhanced soldier specially chosen to guard a Rift, a mysterious and dangerous portal to alternate Earths scientists cannot control or close. Trained from the age of fourteen, Ryn can run faster, jump farther, and fight better than a Navy SEAL—which is good when you’re not sure if a laser-wielding Neanderthal or an axe-wielding Viking is trying to make it through the Rift and into her world.

But the teenager’s military conditioning and education have not prepared her for the boy who crosses through—a confused young man, seemingly lost and alone. Because while there’s an immediate physical attraction, it’s his intelligence and curiosity that throws Ryn off balance. The stranger asks disturbing questions about the Rift that Ryn herself has never considered—questions that lead her to wonder if everything about her life and what she’s been told these past six years has been a lie. Are the Rifts as dangerous as her leaders say? Should her people really try to close them . . . or learn how to travel through them?

My Review
One of the things that was too much fun about this book was all the nerdy pop culture references, especially the sci-fi ones. It created an in-on-the-joke feeling, and I laughed out loud at several of them.

Ezra pretty much had me at hello. I liked the way he turned out to be a critical player in figuring out what was going on with the Rifts and the people controlling them. Ryn took a little bit for me to warm up to, but I loved the way each of her teammates had a distinct voice and approach to relationship with her. I want a whole spinoff story about Henry. Tell me that’s happening, someone!

I thought the whole Immigrant village thread made an interesting parallel to some current social issues and fears, but didn’t find it overly preachy. Generally I am a bit of a pansy where it comes to sci-fi, and I like my sci-fi pretty light. I would definitely not call this story light sci-fi, but I found the characters so compelling and the science-y elements easy to follow, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I’ve read a couple of indie books that tried to do something like this, and The Rift Uprising is my favorite so far.

If you liked Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray or These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, you should check out The Rift Uprising.

Recommended for Ages 17 up.

Cultural Elements
Ryn and her team appear to be Caucasian. One team member, Henry, is gay. Ryn meets Ezra, an Arab-American non-practicing Muslim.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Ryn and her fellow Citadels experience Blood Lust—intense rage only sated by attacking and physically harming the person they felt attracted to—whenever they feel aroused. This means they’re unable to have sex. Ryn sets out to find a way to undo the programming which makes her this way. (Spoiler about this below.)

At one point, Ryn battles a sexy vampire and things get pretty lustful, which she makes use of as a battle strategy.

A few scenes show intense kissing and nudity/touching between a boy and girl. One scene gets pretty explicit.

Spiritual Content
Ryn believes learning about the Rift would either make someone extremely devout or a complete atheist.

The immigrant camps allow all religions, but no “fundamentalist” practices. Women aren’t allowed to wear a burqa for instance. Ryn states she feels that practice to be misogynistic.

At one point, while waiting at the Rift, the team play a game where someone ranks three people—one to have sex with, one to kill and one to marry. Violet refuses to play because other players sometimes name deities, and she feels it’s disrespectful.

Violent Content
Graphic descriptions of battles against aliens and other humans in multiple scenes.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party. Ryn makes an offhand comment about a suspicion her brother may be smoking marijuana.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Spoiler
Ryn learns she and the other Citadels were made to watch explicit videos which aroused them and then beaten. The goal was to form an association between pain and arousal, which was meant to create Blood Lust.

 

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Review: Unblemished by Sara Ella

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Unblemished
Sara Ella
Thomas Nelson
October 11, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Unblemished
Eliyana has always recoiled from her own reflection in the mirror. But what if that were only one Reflection—one world? What if another world existed where her blemish could become her strength?

Eliyana is used to the shadows. With a hideous birthmark covering half her face, she just hopes to graduate high school unscathed. That is, until Joshua hops a fence and changes her perspective. No one, aside from her mother, has ever treated her as normal. Maybe even beautiful. Because of Joshua, Eliyana finally begins to believe she could be loved.

But one night her mother doesn’t come home, and that’s when everything gets weird.

Now Joshua is her new, and rather reluctant, legal Guardian. Add a hooded stalker and a Central Park battle to the mix and you’ve gone from weird to otherworldly.

Eliyana soon finds herself in a world much larger and more complicated than she’s ever known. A world enslaved by a powerful and vile man. And Eliyana holds the answer to defeating him. How can an ordinary girl, a blemished girl, become a savior when she can’t even save herself?

My Review
I feel like I went into this book with a grudge. I think I’ve read too many Christian novels where Joshua is basically a Jesus character and too perfect and somehow I always find the romance in those stories to be hard to buy into.

But actually, that was a huge misconception about this book on my part. Joshua is a relatively average guy (even if he does seem pretty perfect to El). I think the best part about this book is easily the voice. It’s different than a lot of other books in that you’re in El’s point-of-view so deep that it’s like her reactions are immediate. At first I had to get used to this, but once I did, I found I really enjoyed her sort of oddball girlishness, and she’s so easy to like that even if I’d struggled with the way the writing is, I probably would have stuck with the story to the end.

I liked how the fantasy story world and the real world intersect in the book with the portals to different places and the way they connect. All of Eliyana’s life, others have protected her, and suddenly, she must make decisions for herself and find her own strength.

The romance between characters definitely took some directions I didn’t expect. I liked that Joshua isn’t perfect and that there’s way more going on there than he lets on. In some ways I’m not a huge series reader, but I’ve already got the sequel to Unblemished on stand-by and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. If you liked The Storm Siren Trilogy by Mary Weber or Tandem by Anna Jarzab, you want to add Unblemished to your reading list!

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
The characters seem pretty homogeneous culturally.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing. El learns that her mom had her when she was sixteen.

Spiritual Content
Two forces shape the world El lives in. The Verity—a force for good, which inhabits the Vessel who’s supposed to rule. The Void, a force for evil, which can inhabit someone and make them soulless, sort of bad zombie soldiers.

Each person can possess one in a series of gifts, like the ability to heal, transform, paralyze others, etc.

Violent Content
Battles between El’s team and the cruel king’s soldiers. Not a lot of gory description, but some characters die or get injured.

Drug Content
El attends a party where she sees several teens drinking.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Memoir, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, Poetry, , , , , , , ,

Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson
Nancy Paulsen Books
Published August 28, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From Goodreads
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

My Review
After reading her novel-in-verse Locomotion, I knew I had to read Brown Girl Dreaming. I loved the descriptions of character and emotions in each poem. It’s easy to feel the family connections and the love of places, especially her grandmother’s home in South Carolina.

It’s funny—I think there’s this idea that reading and writing always come easily to people who grow up to be writers. Sometimes that’s really not the case. As a little girl, Jacqueline’s relationship with story far exceeds her ability to read or write, something that I think gives a lot of hope to young readers who struggle. There’s a strong element of courage that runs through the whole story. I loved feeling the connections between family members and the strength each one carried and how those relationships affected Jacqueline in her life and her quest to understand her place in the world.

Brown Girl Dreaming would be a great pick for a child struggling with reading, both because of the way it’s told and the struggle in the story itself. It’s also a great place to begin introducing the Civil Rights movement to younger readers.

Recommended for Ages 8 up.

Cultural Elements
Jacqueline Woodson writes about growing up as a young African American girl in South Carolina and later in Brooklyn in the 1960s.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Jacqueline’s grandmother brings her and her siblings to services to learn about being a Jehova’s Witness. They attend classes and go door to door to spread their faith.

Violent Content
She learns about a woman who fell down stairs and died.

Drug Content
Her grandfather smokes cigarettes.

Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days #1)
Susan Ee
Hodder & Stoughton
Published May 23, 2013 (Originally published 2011)

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Since angels of the apocalypse swarmed the skies, humanity has been on the run. With their supplies running low, Penryn and her small family risk their lives to scavenge for food and find themselves in the middle of an angel battle. When angels carry Penryn’s sister away, she’ll do anything to get her back, even form an alliance with one of the enemy.

Angelfall is dark and twisty. Penryn not only battles outside evil, but also struggles to cope with her mother’s mental illness and the voices she hears which tell her to do things that sometimes put Penryn and her sister in danger. I liked Penryn’s fierceness and her intelligence. Her determination keeps her going even when the odds stack steeply against her. I liked Raffe, the angel with whom she forms an alliance, too. He definitely has that quiet, wounded-warrior thing going on, but as he and Penryn get to know each other, he also consistently acts honorably toward her, and uses his strength to compliment hers.

There were a couple of moments in the story that required a heavy dose of willing-suspension-of-disbelief. Though Raffe’s other injuries heal super-quickly, the place where his wings have been severed remains raw and open. There’s some plot armor happening there, and we sort of accept it as, hey, angels clearly have different bodies than we do. Later, when Penryn and Raffe conceal themselves among humans, Raffe hides his wounds and the fact that he weighs far less than a man his size would with little trouble. I was pretty willing to buy into the necessary setup of the story, so those things didn’t trip me up too much. Another hurdle for Christian readers may be the secularized story of angels. Angelfall does reference verses about angels in the Bible, but in this story, angels are cut off from God, with only one leader claiming to be His mouthpiece.

For readers interested in urban fantasy and fans of Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods series, Angelfall is a sure win. (It’s also quite a bit cleaner in terms of content.) The angels vs. humans element might also appeal to readers of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but the style of Angelfall is much more urban, if that makes sense. Less artsy, more adventure-ish.

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Cultural Elements
Penryn’s sister Paige is in a wheelchair due to an accident. Penryn and her family are Asian-Americans.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used fairly frequently (maybe once per chapter or so?)

Romance/Sexual Content
Raffe and Penryn crash a party of sorts in which girls seem to be serving as escorts or prostitutes. The girls wear provocative dresses. Some kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Raffe and the other angels have a story that begins in the Bible (Raffe references this in a conversation with Penryn), but it diverges. Angels seem to be cut off from God. Raffe himself makes a comment about not having spoken with God in a very long time. One angel seems to serve at God’s mouthpiece, but there’s some doubt about whether or not he’s speaking truth. There’s a sense of hopelessness or abandonment. A demon forms an alliance with some of the angels. A swarm of demon-like creatures sweep through a forest attacking anyone in reach.

Raffe speaks to Penryn about the history of angels who took humans as lovers and the judgment they faced. He made a commitment to prevent his kind from ever experiencing that again, though it seems not all of his angel brethren feel the same.

Violent Content
Battles between humans and angels and angels vs. angels. Gangs control the streets and murder people. Penryn’s mother stabs a dead man. Starvation has led some to cannibalism. A scorpion-like monster feeds on energy from humans in a really creepy scene. Later it attacks a girl.

Drug Content
None.

 

Review and Giveaway: Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Spindle Fire
Lexa Hillyer
HarperCollins
Published April 11, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Spindle Fire
Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood–and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape . . . or the reason for her to stay.

Spindle Fire is the first book in a lush fantasy duology set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines.

My Review
Strangely, this is the second book I’ve read lately that’s written in third person point-of-view with present-tense action. I liked the storytelling but the verb tense didn’t seem to fit as well as in Defy the Stars.

The characters were a huge win. I can’t think of a single character I didn’t like—even including the villains. I will keep on rooting for Gil because he’s awesome. I loved the scenes from his perspective, and his descriptions of how Isabella interacted with him were so deep and emotive.

As far as plot, I wasn’t sure what to expect before I started reading. I knew it had elements from Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty but was having a hard time seeing exactly how those two stories would stack together well. I thought the mash-up was a success. The villain(s) reminded me of both stories, and Aurora’s journey definitely reminded me of the 2010 film version of Alice in Wonderland in the way she had to find her true self through the adventure in the Borderlands.

This has a bit of a darker edge to it than some other fairytale-inspired stories, but I liked it a lot. I think fans of Forbidden Wish or The School for Good and Evil will find Spindle Fire to be a worthy addition to the genre. I’m so glad I had a chance to read it and can’t wait to read the sequel and find out how the rest of the story ends.

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Cultural Elements
Both princesses have fair skin. One reference says the Aubin prince has darker skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A few kisses between a boy and girl. In one scene it’s unclear what happens, if anything, beyond kissing.

One of the faeries tithes (collects) sense of touch. She is rumored to have many lovers, both men and women. Another of the fae remembers playing a card game involving stripping with this faerie who happily gave up most of her clothing. It’s kind of a brief in-passing sort of comment.

Spiritual Content
A prince and princess take refuge in a convent. They make a disparaging comment about the god the nuns serve. The nuns rebuke them. At one point Isabella wishes to pray and realizes she doesn’t know how. She admires the nuns for their courage and care for young orphaned girls, who are not especially valued in her culture.

The fae (fairies) tithe an ability from someone in exchange for what the person wants. For instance one might take luck from someone in exchange for information.

The princesses learn of a rumor about two sister fae who fought until one killed the other.

In the Borderlands, a magical place, illusions which might look like innocent children lead naïve travelers to their deaths.

Violent Content
A few brief battles with soldiers and fae opponents. The crew of a whaling ship attempt to kill a narwhal.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About Lexa Hillyer

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Lexa Hillyer is the co-founder of Paper Lantern Lit, former YA editor, and author of Proof of Forever. Lexa is also an award-winning poet: Her first collection, Acquainted with the Cold, won the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize as well as the 2012 Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Reviews. Her poetry has been anthologized in Best New Poets 2012, and has appeared in several journals. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their daughter.

Visit the other stops on the Spindle Fire tour!

Week 1:

4/3: Lost In Lit – Bookish Inspirations
4/4: Ex Libris – Review
4/5: The Irish Banana Review – Makeup Inspirations
4/6: Reads All the Books – Review
4/7: In Wonderland – Guest Post

Week 2:

4/10: Book Scents – Review
4/11: The Fake Steph – Q&A
4/12: Swoony Boys Podcast – Review
4/13: The Bookkeeper’s Secret – Mood Board
4/14: The Story Sanctuary – Review – you are here!

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Review: Dream Magic by Joshua Khan

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Dream Magic (Shadow Magic #2)
Joshua Khan
Disney-Hyperion
Published April 11, 2017

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Dream Magic

People throughout Gehenna are disappearing, even the feared executioner Tyburn. Many of the nobles believe the kidnappings to be the work of the northern trolls, raiding south for the winter, and when Baron Sable and others head off to fight them, Castle Gloom is left guarded by only the squires.

Lily is struggling with her growing necromantic powers. The castle fills with ghosts, drawn like moths to a flame by the brightness of her magic. Zombies roam the country, some left over from those raised in SHADOW MAGIC, others awakened by Lily. Families are troubled by the returning dead, so Lily tries to incorporate them into day-to-day life, much to the resentment of the living.

Then Lily is attacked in her own castle by a mysterious sorcerer known as Dreamweaver, a young man determined to conquer Gehenna using jewel-spiders, strange crystalline creatures whose bite doesn’t kill, but sends victims to sleep. Lily soon discovers that Dreamweaver is harvesting dreams to fuel his magic.

Lily enters the realm of sleep known as the Dream Time, in an attempt to awaken all the captive dreamers. Instead she finds herself trapped within a dream, one where her family is still alive. With the help of Thorn and the ever loyal Hades, she must somehow overcome the evil Dreamweaver by using his own magic against him – and reclaim her kingdom.

My Review

This is one of those books I wanted to review because it sounded so original. I had not read SHADOW MAGIC before reading this one, but I had no trouble following the plot and characters of DREAM MAGIC, the second book in the series. I absolutely loved the writing. It’s dark, for sure—I mean, Lily’s magic interacts with the dead. Zombies, ghosts, and trolls fill the pages of the story. But it’s also cheeky and off-beat and fun! Maybe a little bit of a Nightmare Before Christmas kind of tone, though obviously a completely different story. (It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that movie, so don’t quote me on that.)

Both Thorn and Lily had me from their earliest scenes. I loved his courage and her determination to bring justice and fairness to every one of her people. There’s a gentle romantic pull between them which was really fun, too. Their struggles to figure out what their roles are in the midst of their crazy world felt real and compelling.

Another thing I really enjoyed were the illustrations at different places in the book. I liked getting to see drawings of some of the critical moments, and character depictions brought the story even more to life.

Thorn and Lily’s ages (Thorn is twelve and Lily thirteen) make this more of a middle grade read, but the writing struck me as more like young adult. I guess it’d be considered upper middle grade, but I think it’d have strong appeal to young adult readers as well. Definitely a great fit for fifth and sixth grade readers especially.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 up.

Representation
DREAM MAGIC takes place in a fantasy landscape without a lot of racial descriptions. Some of the names sounded reminiscent of Asian culture. The biggest and most interesting social conflict in the story relates to Lily’s magic. Rumors of curses on women with magic leave people with strong prejudice against any woman who uses magic. Lily faces some harsh criticism and fear simply for being a female with magic. The conflict is well-grounded within the story. Other groups like trolls and zombies face discrimination as well. Lily and Thorn advocate fair treatment and acceptance for all creatures.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild and in context. For instance, a couple uses of Hell refer to the actual place. One use of damned refers to those cursed.

Romance/Sexual Content
A brief kiss between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Lily, a necromancer, rules a kingdom closely associated with death. She possesses powerful magic that controls the dead and can summon ghosts and interact with undead creatures. Other kingdom rulers possess different types of magic—one controls wind, another light, etc.

Thorn possesses the ability to summon a giant bat monster named Hades to help him in battle. He doesn’t control Hades’s actions, but it’s clear he does have some influence and a relationship with it.

Violent Content
Battle scenes. Some creepy stuff related to zombies falling apart and such. Lots of spiders!

Drug Content
Brief references to drinking ale at a celebration.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.