Category Archives: By Genre

Review: Meet the Sky by McCall Hoyle

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

Meet the Sky by McCall HoyleMeet the Sky
McCall Hoyle
Blink
Published on September 4, 2018

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About Meet the Sky
It all started with the accident. The one that caused Sophie’s dad to walk out of her life. The one that left Sophie’s older sister, Meredith, barely able to walk at all.

With nothing but pain in her past, all Sophie wants is to plan for the future—keep the family business running, get accepted to veterinary school, and protect her mom and sister from another disaster. But when a hurricane forms off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and heads right toward their island, Sophie realizes nature is one thing she can’t control.

After she gets separated from her family during the evacuation, Sophie finds herself trapped on the island with the last person she’d have chosen—the reckless and wild Finn Sanders, who broke her heart freshman year. As they struggle to find safety, Sophie learns that Finn has suffered his own heartbreak; but instead of playing it safe, Finn’s become the kind of guy who goes surfing in the eye of the hurricane. He may be the perfect person to remind Sophie how to embrace life again, but only if their newfound friendship can survive the storm.

My Review

One of my favorite things about Hoyle’s debut novel, The Thing with Feathers (my review here)was the way she used Emily Dickinson’s poetry throughout the book. Which means one of my favorite parts of Meet the Sky was the way she used the Tennyson quotes at the beginning of each chapter and also at pivotal moments in the story itself. Honestly, I didn’t realize some of those quotes were written by Tennyson before reading this book. For example, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” I’m not sure who I thought wrote that, but I didn’t realize it was Tennyson. So yay. Learned something new.

In addition, I liked Sophie’s character a lot. I kind of wanted to see more of her interaction with her sister and her mom. We know her sister is different since the accident, but I felt like I didn’t get to experience that firsthand, other than a very brief scene in the beginning of the book.

The story isn’t really about Sophie and Mere’s relationship, though. It’s much more about the hurricane mishaps that force Sophie to reconnect with her childhood crush/friend Finn. I liked Finn and the contrast between his character (risk-taking and adventurous) and Sophie’s (so many control issues).

I read another book recently (Even if the Sky Falls) in which characters are trapped together by a hurricane. I feel kind of funny about it because I live in Florida and have been through probably half a dozen hurricanes, so as I read both books, I kept comparing my experiences to what’s described in the book, and feeling really sensitive to whether something seemed realistic. Which might not be really fair, since one book took place in New Orleans and the other in North Carolina, which are really different areas than where I live.

At any rate, in this book, Sophie and Finn do a bunch of stuff during the hurricane that’s really dangerous, like going outside during the storm. For the story, it made things super dramatic, and I kept wanting to yell at them, like noooo, go back inside! This is bad! I had a hard time with that part – not because I thought it was unrealistic. People do impulsive, dangerous things during hurricanes all the time.

On the whole Meet the Sky is a sweet romance about learning to let go of fear in order to experience love and a full life. I think fans of Jennifer E. Smith and Jenn Bennett will like this one.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white or not physically described. Sophie’s sister Mere has lost some mobility and has memory issues resulting from a traumatic brain injury. She’s a very minor character in the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple references to swearing—things like, thinking words that would make her mother angry.

Romance/Sexual Content
Finn makes a couple of vaguely suggestive comments. Sophie undresses a boy down to his underwear after he collapses in wet clothes and goes into shock. Sophie wakes up in a different shirt and realizes she was undressed and dressed again by someone else. She’s embarrassed, but neither of these instances are really sexual. She doesn’t linger on any details.
Brief kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Finn talks with Sophie about living deep and sucking all the marrow out of life. She has a lot of fears and dependence on control, whereas he seems to take a lot of risks and yet has a lot more peace than she has. She craves his contentment.

Violent Content
Descriptions of a car accident with injuries. Some injuries resulting from being outside during a hurricane.
Also a couple of times, characters break windows or steal things (medicine, food, etc) while they’re stranded during the hurricane.

Drug Content
Sophie’s dad became an alcoholic after the accident that injured her sister. At one point, Finn offers Sophie Jack Daniels (meaning for her to use the alcohol to sterilize a wound) and she recoils, thinking about her dad and how she doesn’t want to be anything like him.

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

Review: I Do Not Trust You by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz

Book Review and Content, Magical Realism, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

I Do Not Trust You
Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Wednesday Books
Published on September 11, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About I Do Not Trust You
Memphis “M” Engle is stubborn to a fault, graced with an almost absurd knowledge of long lost languages and cultures, and a heck of an opponent in a fight. In short: she’s awesome.

Ashwin Sood is a little too posh for her tastes, a member of an ancient cult (which she’s pretty sure counts for more than one strike against him), and has just informed Memphis that her father who she thought was dead isn’t and needs her help.

From the catacombs of Paris to lost temples in the sacred forests, together they crisscross the globe, searching for the pieces of the one thing that might save her father. But the closer they come to saving him—and the more they fall for one another—the closer they get to destroying the world.

My Review
Reading I Do Not Trust You was like reading an updated Indiana Jones style adventure. Archaeology and spirituality collide in the unlikely team of M and Ash. I loved the way they drew out the best parts of each other, and the way their relationship developed felt so organic to me. It had all these fits and starts and super funny moments but also super awkward moments. All the stuff a deep friendship is built from.

In addition, the tension between the two of them has a slow, steady burn. I loved that the story didn’t go down the impulsive-crazy-sex path, because so often those scenes feel really artificial and unnecessary. Instead, I felt like they had this natural attraction that grew out of their shared experiences, and I desperately wanted them to have that “I have to know if you like me” conversation to get things out in the open.

It reminded me a little bit of Protector by Jennifer Tubbiolo, which is also about hunting down ancient artifacts. I liked it a lot. Content information below.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Ashwin is described as having very dark hair and brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent use of extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some romantic tension/attraction between a boy and girl.
At one point, Ash and M meet a girl who clearly has some sexual intentions toward Ash. Later, she performs a spiritual ritual naked. (We only see her because Ash tries to stop her.)

Spiritual Content
Ash is a member of a group who worship the ancient Egyptian god Horus. Ash himself possesses a power he refers to as being a god channeler. This means he can use some supernatural power to move objects or manipulate energy.
Another cult has kidnapped M’s father, believing he knows where pieces of their god, Set, are hidden. They believe if they find all the pieces of an idol of their god and bring them together, the god will resurrect. Horus followers believe if the god Set rises, he will destroy the world.

Other religious sites seem to impact the pieces of the idol. M wonders if this has a sort of “many paths to the divine” kind of explanation—maybe different religions are a sort of reimagining of each other. Her friend, a Catholic nun, says she recognizes that other spiritual things are happening which she doesn’t fully understand because they’re outside her own beliefs. She doesn’t offer further explanation, even when M asks whether her friend thinks this means the other gods are evil.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril. (Poison darts and snakes protect one piece of the idol, for instance.) M learns Ash was abused by his parents after seeing terrible scars on his back. Once scene shows a fierce battle between Ash and a spiritual creature in which he’s injured.

Drug Content
A guide tells M that Ash has a history of drug and alcohol use. To earn the guide’s trust, M drinks from a flask filled with alcohol possibly mixed with another drug. Later, M ingests a hallucinogenic powder as part of a spiritual ritual in pursuit of a piece of the idol.

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

Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Scythe
Neal Shusterman
Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published on November 22, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Scythe
Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

My Review
When Scythe first came out, it was pretty near the top of my reading list because of how much I loved the other Neal Shusterman books I’ve read. Somehow or other, I didn’t get to reading it very quickly, and here I am, almost two years later.

I really enjoyed this book. I’m often sensitive to violence in books, so I was a little nervous about that. But I found it to be a lot like the way The Hunger Games handles violence. The characters are disturbed by what’s happening and find ways to fight against it or call it out as wrong. Some things about it reminded me of Unwind, particularly the moral questions surrounding the Scythes’ role as killers.

My favorite thing about Scythe is the way the stakes just kept getting higher and higher. It felt like every few chapters, there would be some new intense twist making me sit straight up in my seat. Sometimes I suspected the twist a little bit before it happened, but even then, the revelation of it was so satisfying and the intensity ratcheted up so high that I had to keep going to find out how it all turned out.

Would I read the second one? Yes. Absolutely.

If you liked Unwind, I suspect you’ll love Scythe, too. It will also appeal to fans of Scorch by Gina Damico.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
In this futuristic story world, all races are pretty mixed. Certain characters are described as “leaning” toward a particular race or other. Scythes are mandated to kill across a diverse population or else face punishment.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A couple of references to sex in suggestive comments.

Spiritual Content
Most religions appear not to exist anymore. One group remains, worshipping sound and living monastic lives in secluded communes.

Violent Content
Vivid descriptions of deaths. Some are painless or quick. Others are crueler. This is meant to show the difference in the ways Scythes carry out their jobs. Some use more compassionate means and others seem to revel in causing pain. Rowan struggles with these attitudes, realizing he could in fact become the kind of monster who enjoys killing.
Scythes are allowed to end their own lives, and some do in the course of the story. One suicide happens off-scene. Rowan witnesses another. Sensitive readers may find scenes like this too intense.

Drug Content
Some Scythes use poisons or drugs to end a life, usually as a way to do it painlessly.

Sadie Blog Tour Q&A with Courtney Summers

Author Interview, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Courtney Summers writes gripping stories that tend to stick with you long after the last page is closed. When I listened to her speak at YALLfest in 2016, her commitment to give girls a strong voice really stuck out to me. When I had the opportunity to participate in this blog tour with Wednesday Books, I jumped at the chance to talk more with Courtney Summers about her latest book, Sadie. I’ll introduce the book and then move straight into what I learned from the author.

About Sadie by Courtney Summers

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Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.

Q&A with Courtney Summers

Do you have a favorite scene, quote, or moment from Sadie?

My favorite scene is a spoiler, but my favorite quote is this: “I wish this was a love story.”

What gave you the idea for Sadie?

One of the things that inspired Sadie was the way we consume violence against women and girls as a form of entertainment. When we do that, we reduce its victims to objects, which suggests a level of disposability–that a girl’s pain is only valuable to us if we’re being entertained by it. What is our responsibility to us? I really wanted to explore that and the way we dismiss missing girls and what the cost of that ultimately is.

Can you talk a little bit about how you created the setting for Sadie?

 Sadie is set in various fictional towns and cities across the state of Colorado and Sadie, as a character herself, was integral in creating those places. I had to make sure to put her in environments she could not only respond to, but would reveal her headspace and past to the reader.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?

When I first started Sadie, I was extremely skeptical of West– he had to prove himself to readers over the course of his narrative and given the nature of his job, I was curious to see where writing him would take me. I really loved the way his arc unfolded. I wasn’t necessarily surprised by it, but more gratified by it than I realized I would be.

What was the hardest part of the story to write?

There wasn’t a particular part that was harder to write than any others—writing a book like Sadie requires occupying a dark emotional headspace all the way through, so it was all a bit tough to write in that sense.

Sadie is told through two points of view: Sadie, as she looks for her sister, and West’s podcasts as he follows her story. Did you experience more difficulty writing one or the other, or did you like writing in one form more? How much of the novel did you write in chronological order, and how much did you jump around?

I enjoyed both of them. Writing Sadie’s perspective was very familiar to me because all of my books feature an intensely close first person, female point-of-view. Writing West’s perspective, the podcast format, proved a little more challenging. Not so much because of the way it was written (scripts) but because each episode had to propel Sadie’s narrative forward and give us a different way of looking at the things she went through.

So far, I’ve only ever been able to write in chronological order!

Was this how you always envisioned the book or did it change as you wrote it?

Regina Spektor said something really interesting about writing songs that I’ve always loved and related to as an author. She said, “[A]s soon as you try and take a song from your mind into piano and voice and into the real world, something gets lost and it’s like a moment where, in that moment, you forget how it was and it’s this new way. And then when you make a record, even those ideas that you had, then those get all turned around and changed. So in the end, I think, it just becomes its own thing and really I think a song could be recorded a million different ways and so what my records are, it just happened like that, but it’s not like, this is how I planned it from the very beginning because I have no idea, I can’t remember.”

I feel something similar when writing– the heart of my idea remains intact, but the way it takes its ultimate form is always a little different (or even a lot different) than I might have been expecting, which makes it difficult to recall the starting point. But that’s okay as long as the heart is still there and you’re satisfied with and believe in what you’ve created.

About Courtney Summers

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Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario, 1986. At age 14, she dropped out of high school. At age 18, she wrote her first novel. Cracked Up to Be was published in 2008, when she was 22 and went on to win the 2009 CYBIL award in YA fiction. Since then, she’s published four more critically acclaimed books: Some Girls Are, Fall for Anything, This is Not a Test and All the Rage, as well as an e-novella, Please Remain Calm which is a sequel to This is Not a Test. Her new novel, Sadie, is available now wherever books are sold. #findsadie
In 2016, Courtney was named one of Flare Magazine’s 60 under 30.

Review and Blog Tour: The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm

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


I’m super excited to be part of my first ever Rockstar Blog Tour. Yay! When I saw the invitation to review The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm, I really couldn’t resist. I had so much fun reading the first book about Ellie and her grandfather-trapped-in-a-teenager’s-body that I absolutely had to find out what happens to them next in this book, The Third Mushroom. Read on for my review, some information about the author, other stops on the tour and a chance to win your very own copy of the book!

The Third Mushroom
Jennifer L. Holm
Random House
Published on September 4, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads  | Audible | iBooks | TBD

About The Third Mushroom
Ellie’s grandpa Melvin is a world-renowned scientist . . . in the body of a fourteen-year-old boy. His feet stink, and he eats everything in the refrigerator–and Ellie is so happy to have him around. Grandpa may not exactly fit in at middle school, but he certainly keeps things interesting. When he and Ellie team up for the county science fair, no one realizes just how groundbreaking their experiment will be. The formula for eternal youth may be within their reach! And when Ellie’s cat, Jonas Salk, gets sick, the stakes become even higher. But is the key to eternal life really the key to happiness? Sometimes even the most careful experiments yield unexpected–and wonderful–results.

My Review
I loved The Fourteenth Goldfish with its zany characters and love for science, so when I saw this sequel, The Third Mushroom, I pretty much HAD to read it. Ellie’s grandpa still cracked me up with his goofy blend of grandpa-slash-teenage-boy-ness. I loved the way he referred to hormonal issues as “The Puberty” and his cute relationship with the librarian.
There’s one part (I don’t want to give away what happens) that’s super sad. I wasn’t prepared for it, and it brought back the memories of my own similar experience. Those scenes were tough to read because they were so moving, but overall, there’s a positive message through it. (I’ll add a spoiler section to the end since it might be something you’d want to know about before reading if you’ve got a sensitive kid who’s just been through what Ellie’s experience.)
I also liked the way the story addressed the shifting relationships Ellie experiences. I so remember that stuff happening in middle school and how disconcerting it could be.
Science again plays a fun and interesting role in the story, as Ellie and her grandfather enter a science fair together and learn about various scientists who’ve made important contributions in the past. The end of the book includes a short list of resources to learn more about the scientists and discoveries mentioned in the book, which I thought was a nice touch as well.
Overall, if you enjoy spunky, fun stories, The Third Mushroom is a great pick. You can find my review of The Fourteenth Goldfish here.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
Ellie and her family are white. Her best friend is a boy named Raj, who dresses as a goth.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Ellie goes on a date with a boy and holds his hand. She feels a little disappointed that she’s not more excited about the whole thing, and the possible romance kind of fizzles out.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Ellie learns a bit about the invention of penicillin. She and her grandfather discover a compound that seems to have some regenerative capabilities. See spoiler section at the end of the post for more details.


Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning if you click the link and purchase items from Amazon.com, I will get a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. This helps cover the costs of running my blog.

About Jennifer L. Holm

Website | Twitter | Facebook |  Goodreads

Jennifer L. Holm is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling children’s author and the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE. Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on two graphic novel series — the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series and the bestselling Squish series. Her new novel is THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH. She lives in California with her husband and two children.

Visit the Other Stop on The Third Mushroom Blog Tour

Week One:

9/3/2018- Beagles & Books– Review

9/4/2018- BookHounds YA– Excerpt

9/5/2018- The Story Sanctuary– Review

9/6/2018- Rhythmicbooktrovert – Review

9/7/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review

Week Two:

9/10/2018- For the Love of KidLit– Interview

9/11/2018- YA Books Central– Interview

9/12/2018- The OWL– Review

9/13/2018- Book-Keeping– Review

9/14/2018- Two Points of Interest– Review

Enter to Win a Copy of The Third Mushroom

Three winners will each receive one copy of The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spoiler Alert – super sad scenes

I mentioned above that something happens in the book that’s sad and was hard for me to read because I didn’t expect it and it brought back my own memories of a similar event. What happens is that Ellie’s cat gets seriously injured. The family isn’t sure what happened, but they suspect he was hit by a car. Desperate to help him, Ellie asks her grandfather to inject the formula they’ve discovered into the cat near his damaged spine. It’s too late for the poor furry little guy, and shortly after that, Ellie and her family make the difficult decision to put him to sleep. She grieves for the loss, feeling alternately lost, hurt, angry, etc. Ultimately, she ends up rescuing another cat who’s about to become homeless and realizes she still has love to share and another cat needs her.

It so reminded me of my own experience losing a cat – I particularly identified with feeling like the heart was missing from my home. I hated being home in an empty house without a cat. Which is how I started visiting an animal shelter just to see kitty faces. And how my next cat won me over. You can see a picture of both my rescue cats on my Instagram.

Anyway – normally I don’t post spoilers, but if you’ve been through the experience of losing a pet recently, this part of the book will either be healing or too much. It happens near the end of the book, and is only the focus of a few scenes, but like I said, it’s pretty moving.

Review: A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

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

A Touch of Gold
Annie Sullivan
Blink
Published on August 14, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About A Touch of Gold
King Midas once had the ability to turn all he touched into gold. But after his gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, Midas relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.

Kora spends her days locked in the palace, concealed behind gloves and veils, trying to ignore the stares and gossip of courtiers. It isn’t until a charming young duke arrives that Kora realizes there may be someone out there who doesn’t fear her or her curse. But their courtship is disrupted when a thief steals precious items from the kingdom, leaving the treasury depleted and King Midas vulnerable. Thanks to her unique ability to sense gold, Kora is the only one who can track the thief down. As she sails off on her quest, Kora learns that not everything is what it seems—not thieves, not pirates, and not even curses. She quickly discovers that gold—and the power it brings—is more dangerous than she’d ever believed.

Midas learned his lesson at a price. What will Kora’s journey cost?

My Review
I can never resist an unusual myth or fairytale retelling, so when A Touch of Gold caught my eye, I knew I needed to get ahold of a copy. I found it to be a cool reimagining of a familiar tale.

Right at the beginning, I wasn’t too sure about the book, though. The prologue is long and kind of confusing. It kind of sets up the story by recounting the story of Midas and introducing Kora, but I think a lot of that information could have been included in the early chapters instead. That would have made the opening read more smoothly for me.

Once I got into the story, though, I liked it a lot more. I wasn’t sure about Hettie, Kora’s lady-in-waiting, who at first seems super selfish and complains about EVERYTHING. Eventually she finds some things to be happy about and even stops seeming quite so selfish, which was great. She definitely grew on me as the story progressed.

I worried a little bit as I passed the halfway point, that A Touch of Gold was going to be a straightforward, boring story where it came to the romance. And then, boom! PLOT TWIST! Everything changed. It wasn’t an unpredictable move, but it was a really satisfying one. I loved the story even more after that point.

All in all, I’m glad I read this one. A Touch of Gold proved to be a quick read and an entertaining one at that. If you’re like me, and you can’t resist a retelling that’s a little more unusual, then resist no more – get you a copy of this book.
You might also be interested in A Touch of Gold if you liked Whisper of the Tide by Sarah Tolcser or Goddess Tithe by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Kora’s mother was Sunisan. (I’m not sure what ethnicity this maps to, but I didn’t look much beyond a quick Google search. The original story about King Midas would have taken place in Asia in what’s now Turkey.)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between a young man and young woman.

Spiritual Content
Dionysus cursed Kora’s father so that everything he touched turned to gold. He was told he could reverse the curse by washing everything he’d turned in a river. He only partially completed this task and bears some consequences.
Violent Content
A ruthless pirate called Captain Skulls collects human skulls on his ship. A couple scenes show beheaded bodies. Kora and her friends start a brawl in a tavern to distract their enemies.
Pirates battle Kora’s companions. Some brief descriptions of peril, fighting, and injuries.

Drug Content
Kora and her friends go into a seedy tavern.