Category Archives: Book Review and Content

Review: The Year Without a Summer by Arlene Mark

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , ,
Year Without a Summer by Arlene Mark

The Year Without a Summer
Arlene Mark
Sparkpress
Published August 16, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Year Without a Summer

Explosive volcanic eruptions are cool, really, cool. They inject ash into the stratosphere and deflect the sun’s rays. When eighth grader Jamie Fulton learns that snow fell in June in his hometown because of an eruption on the other side of the world, he’s psyched! He could have snowboarded if he’d lived back in 1815 during the year without a summer.

Clara Montalvo, who recently arrived at Jamie’s school after surviving Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, has a different take all this. She is astounded–and disturbed–by Jamie’s frenzied enthusiasm for what she considers an obvious disaster. The teens’ battling arguments cause science class disruption and create academic trouble: Jamie’s headed for a failing grade in science, and may not even graduate from eighth grade; Clara’s scholarship hopes are dashed.

And school isn’t the only place where Jamie and Clara are facing hardship: as they quarrel whether natural disasters can be beneficial, their home lives are also unraveling. Uncertainty about Jamie’s wounded brother returning from Afghanistan and Clara’s unreachable father back in Puerto Rico forces the two vulnerable teens to share their worries and sadness. As their focus shifts from natural disasters to personal calamities to man-made climate changes, the teens take surprising steps that astonish them. Ultimately, through hard work and growing empathy for each other, as well as for their classmates’ distress over the climate change affecting their lives, Jamie and Clara empower themselves and the people they touch.

My Review

In reading THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER, the thing that stands out to me most is the way it models activism among youth. As Clara and Jamie learn more about natural disasters, what causes them, and as their family members experience the fallout from these disasters, they begin to wonder what they can do to help others in need. They ask questions. Do online research. Ask their friends and family members for help. I loved the way that journey is explored within the story.

I also loved that the story tied in real natural disasters, from Hurricane Maria to Tambora, the volcanic eruption in 1815. And that it explored what how people were resilient in spite of those disasters. It made for an interesting exploration of those topics.

On the whole, the only thing that disrupted my reading sometimes is that in a couple of scenes, Clara’s assessment of a complex emotional situation seemed possibly too mature. Like, I believe that her experiences would have made her grow up faster than her classmates in some ways. But there were a couple of instances where I found myself pulled out of the book because I wasn’t sure if even a mature eighth grader would think the way she did.

Other than that, though, I enjoyed the story and am really glad I read it. I love that it tackled issues but also centered the story on friendships and community.

Content Notes for The Year Without a Summer

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Clara is Puerto Rican. Jamie is white. His brother serves in the military.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Thoughts about kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of the war in Afghanistan. Brief descriptions of devastation caused by a hurricane, earthquake and volcanic eruptions.

Drug Content
One character takes powerful pain meds for injuries. Jamie wonders if it’s okay for the injured person to take so many pills.

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 THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

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Honestly Ben (Openly Straight #2)
Bill Konigsberg
Arthur A. Levine Books
Published March 28, 2017

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Honestly Ben

Ben Carver is back to normal. He’s getting all As in his classes at the Natick School. He was just elected captain of the baseball team. He’s even won a big scholarship for college, if he can keep up his grades. All that foolishness with Rafe Goldberg last semester is over now, and he just needs to be a Carver, work hard, and stay focused.

Except…

There’s Hannah, a gorgeous girl who attracts him and distracts him. There’s his mother, whose quiet unhappiness he’s noticing for the first time. School is harder, the pressure higher, the scholarship almost slipping away. And there’s Rafe, funny, kind, dating someone else…and maybe the real normal that Ben needs.

My Review

I’ve had OPENLY STRAIGHT for years, but I finally read it recently. While I was looking up links for my review, I noticed that it had a sequel– HONESTLY BEN.

Lots of times when I finish the first book in a series, I’m super excited about the sequel, so I add it to my list, and even then it takes forever for me to read it. This time, though, I bought HONESTLY BEN right away and immediately started reading it. I finished it that same day.

I loved Ben’s character in OPENLY STRAIGHT, so I was really excited that not only was there a follow-up to the first book, but also that the story is told entirely from his point of view. As I read the book, though, I realized he’s kind of a hard character to write from. He spends a lot of time thinking about things, which didn’t always translate very well in a scene. Sometimes I found myself wishing there were more scenes that showed him interacting with someone else and learning stuff by doing it.

I feel like where Konigsberg’s writing really shines the brightest is in scenes with dialog. Those are always my favorite. The characters feel so real, and there’s always some deep thing being unearthed, and often it’s couched in lots of silliness and goofy fun. I love that. Same with scenes where there are arguments or conflict. I found those to be the most compelling.

That said, one of the things I liked about OPENLY STRAIGHT was that it waded into some thoughts about identity and how much or little that is a part of who someone is. How knowing someone’s sexual orientation can change how people treat that person.

In HONESTLY BEN, the story explores the tendency for people to immediately jump to a label for someone based on the current relationship they’re in and how hurtful that can be. I loved that exploration a lot, and I wish there were more books that honed in on that so well.

For Ben, sexual identity is a complex issue. He wrestles with homophobic ideas that come from his family. He wrestles with what his attraction to Rafe actually means. He’s uncomfortable rushing to a label for himself, and frustrated when people around him assume they know his identity better than he does.

I really identified with a lot of the things he went through in the story. I enjoyed it a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ben, the main character is unsure of his identity. He has dated mostly girls, but has romantic feelings for a boy. Rafe is gay and Jewish. Another friend is also gay and genderfluid.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. Kissing between two boys. Brief reference to oral sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Ben’s father is a domineering person who says things that cut Ben and his family members pretty deeply. Some of the boys on the baseball team make jokes about rape and say homophobic things. Ben challenges them.

Drug Content
Ben drinks alcohol and later regrets it.

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

Review: We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

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We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya #2)
Hafsah Faizal
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Published January 19, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About We Free the Stars

The battle on Sharr is over. The dark forest has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan’s Keep, determined to finish the plan he set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, and finally returning magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night’s return.

As the zumra plots to overthrow the kingdom’s darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power into a weapon, to wield not only against the Lion but against his father, trapped under the Lion’s control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat—a darkness that hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of her sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dare not unleash. In spite of the darkness enclosing ever faster, Nasir and Zafira find themselves falling into a love they can’t stand to lose…but time is running out to achieve their ends, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.

Lush and striking, hopeful and devastating, WE FREE THE STARS is the masterful conclusion to the Sands of Arawiya duology by New York Times–bestselling author Hafsah Faizal.

My Review

I started listening to the audiobook version of WE FREE THE STARS last year, but some health stuff happened and I just found it really hard to focus on the story (a me problem, not an issue with the book) so I put it aside for a long time. Recently, I decided I was ready to pick up the story again, so I started at the beginning and listened all the way through.

The story picks up where WE HUNT THE FLAME ends, and it follows three main points of view: Zafira, Nasir, and Altair. I loved the romance between Zafira and Nasir, but I think Altair was still my favorite character. He’s the one who always has some witty or snarky thing to say, and I especially loved the banter between him and Kifah. Kifah might have been my second-favorite character. Ha.

I feel like WE FREE THE STARS strikes a really great balance between the keeping up the momentum of the plot and exploring the relationships between characters. Zafira’s relationships with her sister and her best friend are both deeply important to her, and I loved the scenes that gave us insight into those. I also loved the relationship between Nasir and Altair as brothers and what that bond means to each of them since both grew up isolated.

Though it took me a long time to finally finish reading this book, I am so glad I read it. I loved the beautiful story world and the relationships between all the characters. I think fans of Renée Ahdieh or Sabaa Tahir will enjoy the Sands of Arawiya books.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are coded Middle Eastern. Kifah is asexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
So much romantic tension between Zafira and Nasir. Lots of intense kissing.

Spiritual Content
The Sisters of Old provided magic to all the people of Arawiya. Some characters have magical ability.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Multiple battle scenes. References to torture.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: One for All by Lillie Lainoff

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One for All
Lillie Lainoff
Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
Published March 8, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About One for All

An OwnVoices, gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, in which a girl with a chronic illness trains as a Musketeer and uncovers secrets, sisterhood, and self-love.

Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone in town thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl”; even her mother is desperate to marry her off for security. But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion.

Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for a new kind of Musketeer: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a swordfight.

With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels for the first time like she has a purpose, like she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her first target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He’s kind, charming, and breathlessly attractive—and he might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to lean on her friends, listen to her own body, and decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.

This debut novel is a fierce, whirlwind adventure about the depth of found family, the strength that goes beyond the body, and the determination it takes to fight for what you love.

My Review

I’ve been wanting to read this book since before it came out! I wasn’t able to get a pre-release copy, but a group that I write editorial reviews for sent me a copy a while ago, so I cleared my schedule and sat down to read it!

The setting swept me away. I loved getting lost in the beautiful descriptions of places and lovely dresses and parties. Tania also spends a good deal of time practicing fencing, so I loved getting to read about some of the technical side of that. I thought those descriptions were easy to follow (and I know nothing of fencing) and well-paced.

The characters are charming, too. I loved the girls Tania joins at Madame Treville’s establishment. They each bring different talents and sensibilities to the team of Mousquetaires. Also, I loved reading about them getting to know one another and building relationships with each other. I kind of wish we had gotten to know Henri a bit more, but it makes sense that the story would focus on the four girls.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Though I can’t speak for the accuracy of the representation, I can say as a reader, Tania’s experience was very accessible. Her illness intruded into her life in some ways, but it didn’t define her. Sometimes it meant she had to work hard to compensate for her limits as best as she could, and other times it meant she leaned on people she could trust. I thought that seemed like a great balance, and it kept the story from being dominated by her symptoms and Tania centerstage.

On the whole, I loved it. I would definitely read more by Lillie Lainoff, so I’m excited to see what she writes next. I think readers who enjoy historical fiction like THE RING AND THE CROWN by Melissa de la Cruz will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Tania is disabled and has POTS.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief profanity in French used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to girls’ reputations and the harm that rumors about them being taken advantage of or being caught in a romantic position could do. References to an assault that happened before the story began.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Tania and her sisters in arms take lessons in fencing. Some situations of peril occur. Some brief battle violence, no graphic injuries.

Drug Content
References to social drinking at parties and dinners.

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 this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Blood and Feathers by Beth Revis

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Blood and Feathers
Beth Revis
Scripturient Books
Published on July 6, 2022

Amazon | Kindle Vella | Goodreads

About Blood and Feathers

Sine is the spare, not the heir, to her father’s kingdom near the lands of wild magic. Her family guards the wall that keeps the monsters out.

Rigby was born on the other side of the wall, one of the monsters who wears a human face.

Sine will do anything to keep the wall up and protect her people. Rigby will do anything to tear the wall down and break the bonds that hold his people back, no matter who he must betray…or sacrifice.

In this epic fantasy novel by NY Times bestselling author Beth Revis, the bonds of family, friendship, and love are tested as the truth of magic–and the price paid for it–is discovered after generations of deceit. Originally uploaded on Kindle Vella.

My Review

I started reading BLOOD AND FEATHERS when about half the episodes were published on Kindle Vella. The story immediately hooked me. It’s my favorite thing that I’ve read by Beth Revis so far, so I continued reading as each new episode came out, all the way to the end.

I love the symmetry of it. BLOOD AND FEATHERS is told from two perspectives: Sine, who wants to protect her kingdom and her brother Jude most of all. And Rigby, who will do anything to protect his sister and his people. From the beginning, those desires are in direct conflict with one another, so everything that happens to benefit one creates a challenge for the other. I couldn’t stop reading– I really wanted to see what would happen if they ever ran into each other and shared information.

There are also great side characters in this book. Princess Sine decides that she needs her ladymaids to also be combat trained, since she’s found a threatening note which seems to indicate she’s in danger. As she pursues companions with training, she builds a really cool team of allies that I loved so much.

I felt like this story kept me on the edge of my seat. Even though I’ve reached the end, I am still thinking about it, and I really want to know what is going to happen next. The way it ends pretty much promises a follow-up, so I will definitely be on the lookout for that.

Content Notes for Blood and Feathers

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Some characters are described as having bronze-toned skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Magic keeps Sine’s kingdom safe, but it comes at a high price.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Multiple scenes showing battles. Some gruesome descriptions of magic rituals.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill

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The Stars Between Us
Cristin Terrill
Wednesday Books
August 2, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Stars Between Us

There’s always been a mystery to Vika Hale’s life. Ever since she was a child, she’s had an unknown benefactor providing for her and her family, making sure that Vika and her sister received the best education they could. Now, Vika longs for a bigger life than one as a poor barmaid on a struggling planet, but those dreams feel out of reach. Until one day Vika learns that her benefactor was a billionaire magnate who recently died under suspicious circumstances, and Vika has shockingly been included in his will. Invited to live on a glittering neighboring planet, Vika steps into a world she can hardly believe is real.

The only blight on Vika’s lavish new life is the constant presence of Sky Foster, a mysterious young man from Vika’s past who works for her benefactors. She doesn’t like or trust Sky, but when she narrowly escapes an explosion and realizes someone is targeting the will’s heirs, Vika knows Sky is the only one who can help her discover the identity of the bomber before she becomes their next victim. As Vika and Sky delve into the truth of the attacks, they uncover a web of secrets, murder, and an underground rebellion who may hold the answers they’ve been looking for. But Sky isn’t who he seems to be, and Vika may not escape this new life unscathed.

In THE STARS BETWEEN US, Cristin Terrill sweeps readers away to a Dickensian-inspired world where secrets are currency and love is the most dangerous risk of all.

My Review

I’ve read both of Cristin Terrill’s other books, and I enjoyed them both– her debut more than the second book, but both still good. So, when I saw she had a new book coming out, I knew I needed to read it. I loved the sci-fi elements of her first book, and the suspense/mystery elements of the second book, and THE STARS BETWEEN US looked to combine them both. Seemed like a sure win to me! Plus, I admit, the description “Dickensian” definitely left me intrigued.

I think my favorite thing about the book is that I felt like Cristin Terrill wasn’t afraid to play around with the usual stereotypes and push them further. We’ve all seen the strong-willed, pushy heroines, and the lovestruck heroes.

In THE STARS BETWEEN US, Vika is not only pushy and driven. Sometimes she’s straight up unkind. In the moment, she feels sure of her accusations and her words. Later, she often realizes how her words sounded and the ways she may have been wrong.

I loved that Sky was unapologetic about his feelings for Vika. Sometimes he seemed embarrassed or afraid, but he never apologized for loving her, and I loved that. He tried to do what she asked, not assume that he knew more than she did or that he could do something else and she’d understand later. He gave her space. I liked that.

The plot of the story kept me hooked all the way through. I had a list of suspects and really enjoyed the back and forth game of trying to figure out who the saboteur was and why.

All in all, I’d call this my favorite of Cristin Terrill’s books so far. I think fans of STARFLIGHT by Melissa Landers or ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA by Diana Peterfreund will really enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity and pseudo profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Explosions. One boy attacks another.

Drug Content
Alcohol is served at fancy dinners and parties.

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 THE STARS BETWEEN US in exchange for my honest review.