Category Archives: By Genre

Review: The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kibuishi

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,
The Stonekeeper's Curse (Amulet #2) by Kazu Kibuishi cover shows a girl in a hooded cloak with an amulet around her neck. The amulet is floating and glowing. An anthropomorphic fox stands beside her. At the bottom of the cover, a robot faces a hazy image of a city.

The Stonekeeper’s Curse (The Amulet #2)
Kazu Kibuishi
Graphix
Published September 1, 2009

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About The Stonekeeper’s Curse

A MYSTERIOUS WORLD FULL OF NEW ALLIES… AND OLD ENEMIES!

Emily and Navin’s mother is still in a coma from the arachnopod’s poison, and there’s only one place to find help: Kanalis, the bustling, beautiful city of waterfalls. But when Em, her brother, and Miskit and the rest of the robotic crew aboard the walking house reach the city, they quickly realize that seeking help is looking for trouble…dangerous trouble.

My Review

I feel like this series is really growing on me. I liked the first book, but I think this one was a smoother read. The first book had a lot to set up and introduce, but this one picks up right where the first one left off and immediately throttles forward.

I’m starting to feel like I’m getting to know the characters better, too, which is fun. I like both Em and Navin, and I’m really interested to see where each of their storylines take them. This seems like a series that would be the most enjoyable if you read them all in order, but I think there are enough clues to what happened in the first book that you could probably enjoy this one individually.

Will I continue with this series? Yes, I think so. I can get the books from my library pretty easily, and I am enjoying reading them. My nephews have already read this one, so I’m really just reading them for my own enjoyment at this point, and to broaden my experience with graphic novels.

I think these are great books for fantasy readers and anyone looking for a compelling fantasy story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
I think Emily and Navin are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Emily battles the amulet for control of its power. As she uses it more, the stone’s power grows and so does its desire to take over and control her.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Cartoonish battle scenes.

Drug Content
None.

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Review: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Book Review and Content, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,

Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
Naxos Audiobooks Ltd.
Published September 21, 2022 (Original story first published 1868)

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About Little Women

Grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. The four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war, and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another.

Whether they’re putting on a play, forming a secret society, or celebrating Christmas, there’s one thing they can’t help wondering: Will Father return home safely?

Why I Read Little Women

Last year I read two different books that retold LITTLE WOMEN in their own ways. One was set during World War II, and the other was a contemporary novel about a girl named Jo who felt trapped by her family’s obsession with the story of LITTLE WOMEN.

In BELITTLED WOMEN, the contemporary story, one character stated some things about Louisa May Alcott that I didn’t know, so before I wrote up my review, I checked online, looking for information about whether the book’s assertions were true. And it looked like they were. I also found a book called MEG, JO, BETH, AND AMY by Anne Boyd Rioux that I really wanted to read. The book gives some biographical information about Alcott’s life and why audiences have loved the story so much through the decades.

Anyway, I realized that first, if LITTLE WOMEN retellings are going to be a thing, I want to read the original. Plus, I really want to read the book about the author’s life and the public’s reception of the story over the years. So anyway. That’s how I came to listen to this 21 hour audiobook narrated by Laurel Lefkow.

My Review

I grew up watching the movie version of LITTLE WOMEN starring Winona Ryder as Jo, so I went into the book familiar with the basic story. There are a lot of differences, obviously, since nobody can take a seven or eight hundred page book and turn it into a two hour movie without cutting and rearranging quite a bit. The thing that struck me immediately was how young the characters are at the beginning (which makes so much sense since it’s marketed as a book for middle grade readers. At the start of the story, Amy is 11, Beth 13, Jo 15, and Meg 17. And for a large portion of the novel, those are the ages they remain. The second part of the novel kind of skips ahead to when they’re older. By the end they’re all adults.

Overall it’s a sweet story about the relationships between sisters and then their transitions to adulthood and marriage. There are some statements in the book that didn’t age so great– Alcott talks several times about a woman’s perfect place being a wife and in caring for her home. But in a scene in which Amy chastises Laurie for being idle, she also says that she disagrees with the idea that young men must act out and sew wild oats. She suggests that if we expected them to act more mature then many of them would meet those expectations– which sounds to me a lot like some of the things I’ve heard in conversations about consent and modesty.

I’m glad I read the book, finally. Considering my love for sister stories, I don’t know why it took me so long to read the classic novel that’s literally most widely known for that exact thing. Those scenes between the sisters were some of my favorite parts of the book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A girl sits on the knee of her fiancé and later her husband.

Spiritual Content
Jo and Marmee talk about how reading the Bible and praying can help Jo deal with feelings of anger. Some references to the girls taking time to read or pray.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
The March family does not believe in drinking alcohol except for medicinal purposes. When families give them wine to serve at Meg’s wedding, the family donate them to the veteran’s hospital instead.

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Review: Where There’s Smoke by E. B. Vickers

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Where There’s Smoke
E. B. Vickers
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published December 12, 2023

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About Where There’s Smoke

In this fast-paced thriller, eighteen-year-old Calli finds herself alone after the loss of her father—until a bruised and broken girl shows up on her property, forcing her to face the present, rethink her future, and unearth the skeletons of her own past.

Life has never been easy in the small desert town of Harmony, but even on the day Calli Christopher buries her father, she knows she is surrounded by people who care about her. But after the funeral, when everyone has finally gone home, Calli discovers a girl on her property. A girl who’s dirty and bruised and unable to speak. And petrified.

Calli keeps the girl secret—well, almost secret. She calls her Ash and begins to nurture her back to health. But word spreads in a small town, and soon a detective comes around asking questions about a missing girl from another town. But these only raise more questions–about Ash and about the people Calli knows well. Still, she must ask: is Ash in danger…or is she the danger?

My Review

I love the way the author has chosen to tell this story. It’s got prose chapters from Calli’s perspective, and some short chapters or scenes in poetry in between them. The poems tell several other characters’ perspectives, and they’re a little bit veiled, really anchored in the context of what Calli learns in the scenes from her point of view.

It’s hard to talk about some of my feelings about this book without spoilers, but I’m going to do my best.

One of the things that made a lot of sense but sometimes frustrated me as a reader is the way that Calli waffled back and forth in her theories about what had happened to Ash. Sometimes, minute to minute, she’s convinced this person is totally guilty of harming Ash, and the next minute, she’s certain they’re innocent, and it must be someone else. It makes sense because new things keep happening, and she’s never sure who’s telling her the truth.

I did see some of the reveals in the book coming, but I think they were ones that maybe you were supposed to figure out ahead of time. There were definitely plenty of things I didn’t expect and some things that made me look back at earlier scenes with new eyes.

On the whole, I think the author did an amazing job creating a suspenseful story and including commentary on faith and faith communities in a neutral way that allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the characters separately from religion.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
I think the major characters are white? Several characters are people who fled from a local cult.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Calli references a past dating relationship with a boy. She also wonders if she’s falling in love with another boy.

Spiritual Content
Calli’s dad used to be the Bishop of her local church. Now, her dad’s cousin serves as Bishop. Calli still maintains her faith, and she references some Bible verses in times of need or when she faces tough decisions. Not far from Calli’s hometown is a small, very closed cult. There are rumors of children forced into marriage with much older men and girls who disappear, possibly murdered. Several characters have escaped from this group.

Violent Content
References to domestic violence and sexual assault. (Nothing graphically described or shown on scene.)

Drug Content
Calli finds empty beer bottles in a cabin that should be empty. References to adults drinking alcohol. Calli’s dad preached against drinking any alcohol at all.

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

Review: What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

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

What the River Knows
Isabel Ibañez
Wednesday Books
Published November 14, 2023

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About What the River Knows

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth-century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old-world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents—who frequently leave her behind.

When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

My Review

Last year, the book I read by this author, TOGETHER WE BURN, was one of my favorite books. I’ve enjoyed the other books she’s written, so I went into this book fully expecting it to be amazing. And it really is.

The story is different than I expected, though. I liked how quickly Inez reaches Egypt and her quest there begins. It did feel like she was often at the mercy of other characters or that there were brief lulls in the action.

It really might just be me, though. I started and stopped a lot during my reading, so that might have made the book seem choppier than it is. Once I got to about the 60% mark, I felt a significant uptick in my investment in the book, and I think I read from there to the end in one sitting.

I love how this author creates strong, independent characters and delivers some great connections between female characters. The romance, as in her other books, definitely had me hooked.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book and loved getting to read a book set in Egypt. I think fans of Isabel Ibañez’s other books will not be disappointed in this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Inez and her family are Argentinian. Some characters are Egyptian. Others are British.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to more than kissing. One kissing scene is pretty intense.

Spiritual Content
There used to be people who could create magic. Now, the magic only remains in artifacts, which transfer some of their magic to someone who touches them.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Several characters carry guns. In a couple of scenes, people fire their guns at others. References to domestic abuse.

Drug Content
One character was formerly addicted to alcohol. He still occasionally drinks. Others drink alcohol recreationally.

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

Review: Fall of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Fall of the School for Good and Evil (Rise of the School for Good and Evil #2)
Soman Chainani
HarperCollins
Published May 2, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Fall of the School for Good and Evil

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL is the #1 movie now streaming on Netflix—starring Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Sofia Wylie, Sophie Anne Caruso, Jamie Flatters, Earl Cave, Kit Young, and many others! 

What rises . . . must fall. Two brothers. One Good. One Evil. In exchange for power and immortality, they watch over the Endless Woods and rule the School for Good and Evil. Yet all School Masters must face a test. Theirs is loyalty. But what happens when loyalty is corrupted? When the bonds of blood are broken? Who will survive? Who will die? And what will become of the school and its students? The journey that started a hundred years ago throttles towards its end. This final chapter in the duology that began with the RISE OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL brings the tale of the twin School Masters to the brink of war and a shocking conclusion that will change the course of the school forever.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book was that it took me back to the world of the School for Good and Evil and gave me a chance to revisit some of the characters I loved from the first book. I loved seeing what Kyma, Marialena, and James Hook were up to and watching them pivot based on new information or circumstances that came up.

The story-slash-plot isn’t as densely packed in this book as I thought it was in the first one. The story also had a very large cast of characters, so at times, I struggled to keep the details straight about who was doing what. It was also a boy-heavy cast. I think there were something like two or three girls with a presence in more than one scene, so really not that many, considering the number of boy characters included.

I’ve only read the first book of the School for Good and Evil series, so I don’t know if that series centered a lot more around female characters as a whole, and this duology is more male-centered in order to counter-balance that. That would make sense, though, and be a nice way to broaden the appeal of both series.

All in all, I enjoyed revisiting the world of the School for Good and Evil and getting the complete story of the School Master. I’ve been thinking of listening to the series on audiobooks next year, so it’ll be interesting to go into those books with the backstory in mind. I’m curious what references to it I might find.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
At least one character is described as having bronze or brown skin. One character briefly indicates he might be attracted to both boys and girls. Another boy indicates he is only attracted to other boys.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Rafal and Rhian have the ability to breathe a bit of their souls (and their magic) into another person. Both use this ability, which one recipient refers to as a kiss.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic.

Violent Content
Thematically, the story gets a bit dark at times– very true to the vibes of some original fairy tales. In one scene, some characters are left to be devoured by a cannibal who shows up wearing the literal faces of his past victims. Some leaders collect armies who agree to fight for them. Some scenes reference battles. One character has the ability to turn whatever he touches into gold, including people.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of FALL OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL in exchange for my honest review.


Review: Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel by James Howe, Andrew Donkin, and Stephen Gilpin

Book Review and Content, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel
James How and Andrew Donkin
Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published August 30, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel

Celebrate over forty years of the modern classic BUNNICULA with this graphic novelization!

Beware the hare!

Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household—a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits…and fangs! Could this innocent-seeming rabbit actually be a vampire?

My Review

I remember my teacher reading the Bunnicula series to us in elementary school. At the time, Chester was my favorite. I’m not sure if that was true of the first book or if it’s because of what happened later. I didn’t feel as connected to Chester’s character in this version of the story.

The fun antics, tension, and humor were all well-represented in the graphic novel version of the book, though. I enjoyed getting to see some of the scenes play out visually. There are definitely moments where the panels perfectly capture the absurdity or fun of the story.

A few of my daughter’s cousins are really into graphic novels, so when I saw that there was going to be a graphic novel version of Bunnicula, I knew I wanted to check it out with them in mind. I bought a paperback copy of the book and will see if it interests them to read. I enjoyed reading it myself. It was really fun to be back in a story centered around pets and peppered with silliness.

All in all, I’m happy that I read this one, and I look forward to sharing it with my nephew and niece.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Main characters are a dog, cat, and bunny owned by a white family with two sons.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Chester the cat is convinced that the family’s new pet bunny is a vampire. He reads about vampires and tries some vampire repellant tricks from famous stories, such as garlic. The family finds vegetables that have been completely drained of their juices and have gone completely white.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.