Category Archives: Book Review and Content

Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée AhdiehThe Wrath and the Dawn
Renée Ahdieh
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Published on May 12, 2015

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About The Wrath and the Dawn
One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

My Review
The Wrath and the Dawn has been on my To Be Read list for SO LONG. I’d heard of it around the time it was published in 2015 because I’m always looking for re-imagined fairytales, but I got even more curious about it after seeing Renée Ahdieh speak on a panel at YALLFest in Charleston in 2016. (She seems every bit as spunky as her heroine, Shahrzad.)

While I think the writing style is a little flowery at times, I LOVE the characters and the story world held some great surprises, like a mysterious magic. One of the most captivating things about The Wrath and the Dawn for me is the way the story follows both Shahrzad and her childhood friend and first love, Tariq’s journeys. Both view Khalid in different circumstances and different ways. The best stories somehow get you to love the antagonist even while rooting for the protagonist at the same time, and this book totally achieves it. Also, the romance is pretty breathtaking.

Fans of fairytale retelling or stories featuring Middle Eastern characters will want this one on their shelves for sure. See below for more details on content.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Characters are Middle Eastern.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief infrequent use of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a man and woman. Hints at sex—descriptions lead into the act between a husband and wife, but fade to black.

Spiritual Content
Some characters possess a magical ability (including an ability to issue a curse) which sometimes requires a blood price.

Violent Content
Reference to the fact that Khalid’s previous wives were murdered. No descriptions of what happened. One scene shows a girl being strangled with a silk cord. Some practice swordfights.

Drug Content
Some brief references to wine with meals.

Review: Everland by Wendy Spinale

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

Everland
Wendy Spinale
Scholastic Press
Published on May 10, 2016

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About Everland
The only way to grow up is to survive.

London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived the destruction and the outbreak of a deadly virus are children, among them sixteen-year-old Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the deadly Marauders—the German army led by the cutthroat Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.

Unsure if the virus has spread past England’s borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook is on the hunt for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the surviving children. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return.

Until one day when they grab Joanna. Gwen will stop at nothing to get her sister back, but as she sets out, she crosses paths with a daredevil named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it might cost Gwen more than she bargained for. And are Gwen, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart the ruthless Captain Hook?

My Review
If I had to summarize my thoughts on this book into one word, it would be: clever. I’ve been curious about Everland for a long time but worried that a post-apocalyptic Peter Pan would be weird or cheesy or something. It wasn’t! I loved the way Spinale used elements from the original story in new ways. Remnants of a German army who call themselves Marauders as the pirates in the story. Children who’ve escaped the warfare to live underground and who call themselves Lost Boys. The lack of girls and adults among the survivors explained by the fact that the disease which killed so much of the population targets females and grown-ups.

The plot moves quickly, and danger lurks around every turn. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t stop. If I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about the story and wondering what would happen next! Bella was probably my favorite character. She’s smart and bold and frank. A bit capricious, as you’d expect, but since she’s a twelve-year-old girl, it’s hard to dislike her.

I loved the steampunk elements of the story, too. The zeppelins and steam trains and Bella’s metal wings. So many cool details made Everland a sharply memorable book. If you liked the Lunar Chronicles (like Cinder) or Spindle Fire by Alexa Hillyer (though Everland is not as dark), you need Everland on your reading list.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Main characters are white. Hook is German. Gwen and the others are English.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple of lines like so-and-so let loose a string of profanity. No actual profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Vague reference to the fact that if Gwen is the last girl, she might be in danger of being assaulted. It’s super vague and no real danger happens on that topic. At one point boys snicker a bit about her joining their group and she comments that she doesn’t even want to know what they’re thinking. One brief kiss between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Hook recalls a childhood memory: he offered his mother an apple, not knowing it was poisoned. She retaliates by destroying his eye. He brands a boy with hot metal. Some brief violence in fights involving knives and gunshots. In one scene, a boy gets attacked by crocodiles. It happens quickly, and the crocs drag him away. At one point, a girl cuts off a boy’s hand and throws it to crocodiles.

Drug Content
Hook drinks from a bottle of rum. Lost Boys drink what appears to be beer.

Review: Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly deVos

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

Fat Girl on a Plane
Kelly deVos
Harlequin Teen
Published on June 5, 2018

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About Fat Girl on a Plane
FAT.

High school senior Cookie Vonn’s post-graduation dreams include getting out of Phoenix, attending Parsons and becoming the next great fashion designer. But in the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin. It doesn’t help that she’s constantly compared to her supermodel mother—and named after a dessert.

Thanks to her job at a fashion blog, Cookie scores a trip to New York to pitch her portfolio and appeal for a scholarship, but her plans are put on standby when she’s declared too fat to fly. Forced to turn to her BFF for cash, Cookie buys a second seat on the plane. She arrives in the city to find that she’s been replaced by the boss’s daughter, a girl who’s everything she’s not—ultrathin and superrich. Bowing to society’s pressure, she vows to lose weight, get out of the friend zone with her crush, and put her life on track.

SKINNY.

Cookie expected sunshine and rainbows, but nothing about her new life is turning out like she planned. When the fashion designer of the moment offers her what she’s always wanted—an opportunity to live and study in New York—she finds herself in a world full of people more interested in putting women down than dressing them up. Her designs make waves, but her real dream of creating great clothes for people of all sizes seems to grow more distant by the day.

Will she realize that she’s always had the power to make her own dreams come true?

My Review
I want to say the thing this book does best is give this 360 degree look at the way the world treats people based on their weight. The truth is, it does an amazing job at exposing these sometimes ugly truths, but the writing and the characters are also pretty spectacular.

Cookie is a strong woman. She’s competent, capable, and talented. But she’s not perfect. Wounded by prejudices she’s experienced, she allows herself to judge others based on the same system she abhors being applied to herself. Ultimately she learns that achieving her weight goal doesn’t change everything in the way she expected. Turns out being skinny isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, either.

I want to say so many things that would spoil the story because they were elements or plot moments that I thought were fantastic. Early on we’re told this isn’t a Cinderella story about a girl who loses weight and lives happily ever after, and it’s true—this is not that story. It’s much more about a girl looking for the path to her best self and her best life. That journey changes her inside even more than it changes her outside. And perhaps above all, that’s the story’s real power.

You know me—I wish Fat Girl on a Plane didn’t have some of the sexual stuff or profanity in it that it does, because those simply aren’t the things I enjoy reading. See the content information below for more details. I thought the characters and story were powerful and nicely done, though.

Recommended for Ages 18 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white. For half the book, Cookie is overweight. The other half of the book shows moments from her weight loss journey and more significantly, the difference in the way people treat her at her different sizes.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent use of extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between man and woman. Two relatively brief scenes showing sex but including some details.

Spiritual Content
Cookie attends some church events. (I loved the conversations with the priest in the story—he’s a funny, practical guy.)

Violent Content
Two young men get into a fist fight. Cookie experiences some bullying, cruelty, and some unwanted sexual comments.

Drug Content
Cookie drinks alcohol in a couple of scenes. In one instance, she’s overseas and over the legal drinking age.

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

 

Review: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

Book Review and Content, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Fawkes
Nadine Brandes
Thomas Nelson
Publishes on July 10th, 2018

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About Fawkes

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.

Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.

But what if death finds him first?

Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did it. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

My Review

Nadine Brandes’ latest YA book was an incredible allegorical take on the conflict during the Protestant Reformation. It zeroes on just one of the many conflicts that went on at that time, and presents it in a new way with a fantasy slant.

What I loved:

  • Color magic
  • Emma. She is such a brilliant, fierce character.
  • The romance. This is exactly how YA romances should be—a balance between two characters, where they support each other and help each other grow.
  • That ending (!)
  • All the heart in this book.

So many YA books these days lack warmth and heart, so it was refreshing to get to read a book where characters cared deeply, loved fearlessly, and were genuine.

What I didn’t love:

  • It took a long time to get started. I wasn’t properly “hooked” till about 2/3 through.
  • All the indecision. Thomas would voice a belief in one thing, and then flip-flop about it in the next scene. It was very frustrating that it took him so long to find conviction!
  • Some of the sentences used very modern vernacular, and it threw me off. It didn’t happen too often, but when it did, it was jarring.

While I can’t say I loved this book as much as some of Brandes’ other work, it was still a great novel that is well worth the read. (That ending, people! It slayed me–in the best way. 😉 )

Recommended for Ages 14 and up

Cultural Elements
Infrequent use of the word “negro” in keeping with the time period. Characters also described as African. Mention of slavery, and mistreatment of Africans. Thomas sees an African for the first time, and is startled. MAJOR SPOILER: one main character is revealed to be of African and English descent. END SPOILER.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some name-calling, and mention of “wh—houses” as a reference to prostitution. 

Romance/Sexual Content
Mention of prostitution. One non-detailed kiss. Mention of mistresses.

Spiritual Content
Faith isn’t explicitly mentioned, but the battle between Keepers and Igniters is implied to be allegorical take on the Protestant Reformation (including a brief mention of Luther). Spoiler: White Light could be interpreted to be a reference to the Holy Spirit. End Spoiler.

Violent Content
Semi-graphic descriptions of stone plague, injuries, executions. Some are fairly disturbing.

Drug Content
Characters consume wine and ale. Some minor characters are drunk. 

Note: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

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

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1)
Brittany Cavallaro
Katherine Tegen Books
Published on March 1, 2016

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About A Study in Charlotte

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.

My Review

A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE has been on my reading list since before it hit the shelves. (I wasn’t cool enough to get a review copy, but I got a free audiobook version from the first week of Audiobooks Sync summer program.) So I’ve finally had a chance to read it.

Sad, terrible disclaimer: I’ve never read the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I kind of wish I had read them before reading this book. I feel like I would have gotten more of a kick out of the moments which must be a nod to the classic original stories. But I very much enjoyed reading the book even without that insider fun.

I liked that both Jamie and Charlotte have some big flaws (Jamie’s anger management issues and big emotions; Charlotte’s addictions and inability to see past her analysis of a situation) which somehow make them a stronger team. While it’s not really a character-driven story, the relationships between characters evolve quite a bit as the story unfolds. Jamie must give up the idolized version of Charlotte from his childhood, and faces an opportunity to build a relationship with his dad (who has his own flaws) and step-family.

While I wish the language had been cleaner, I really enjoyed reading A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE. The murder mystery kept me on the edge of my seat, and the complex relationships and intriguing cast of characters led me to devour the book from beginning to end. This is a series I want to see through to the end.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Charlotte is (of course) from London. Other characters from Connecticut.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some lusty comments from Jamie – things like noticing a girl’s curves or wondering who’s having sex. A boy makes lewd comments to and about a girl. Later we learn he sexually assaulted a girl (we don’t learn any of the details other than that she was not sober and did not consent.). Brief kiss between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of a fist fight between two boys. A boy is discovered murdered by poison and snake bite. Someone attacks a girl and shoves a plastic jewel down her throat. A bomb explodes and injures some people. An unknown virus threatens to kill a boy if he doesn’t find the antidote quickly.

Drug Content
A girl takes Oxycodone and smokes cigarettes. Teens drink vodka at a weekly party. References to drug rehab and cocaine use in the past.

Review: The One by Kiera Cass

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

The One (The Selection #3)
Kiera Cass
HarperTeen
Published on May 6, 2014

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About The One
The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.

My Review
I picked up The One because I needed a light read, and this The Bachelor meets Cinderella fit the bill. Sometimes the dialog gets a bit superficial, and a few times America comes off as selfish. She criticizes Maxon about his complex feelings for the other candidates when she harbors her own feelings for her childhood bestie, Aspen. But where The Elite left me frustrated by that hypocrisy, America finally faces the truth that she’ll have to choose between the two boys in The One. And not just choose between them—but face the fact that her secret-keeping might destroy any hope of happiness in her future.

The writing is a bit different, but I think this series might appeal to readers who like books by Melanie Dickerson or Victoria Aveyard. See below for content notes.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
One of the girls America competes with is black and another is Asian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used maybe eight or ten times.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point, America invites a boy into her bed. They stop short of having sex, not wanting their first experience to be an impulsive moment. But they do spend the night together.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Rebels attack and kill citizens. The king pressures the remaining Selection candidates to condemn criminals to harsh, violent punishments.

Drug Content
None.