Review: Impossible Music by Sean Williams

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Impossible Music by Sean Williams cover shows a silhouette of a boy with an ear bud cord wrapped around his face and wrists.

Impossible Music
Sean Williams
Clarion Books
Published July 2, 2019

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

About IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC

Before the stroke that left him deaf, music was Simon’s life. Now, his band breaks up and even his future college career studying musical composition is in jeopardy. How can a deaf student study music?

The only bright spot in all of it is a fierce girl Simon meets at Auslan class, where he learns sign language to communicate. G seems just as angry to be there as Simon feels, and the two strike up a friendship that inspires Simon to find new ways to pursue music. He begins developing ideas that would allow Deaf and hearing audience members to experience music in the same way, desperately hoping to impress a music professor in a composition program that Simon hopes to enter.

My Review

The concept of IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC totally hooked me. I love books about angsty musicians, so I knew I’d like Simon. I like fierce female characters, so I suspected I’d like G and Simon’s little sister, Maeve, also stole my heart. She’s strong and sometimes pushy, but you really get the sense that underneath that is a lot of love for her family.

In terms of the plot, this must have been a tough book to write. I felt like it dragged sometimes, but I don’t think that actually had to do with the pacing of the plot. I think it had more to do with the stakes. Simon’s goal is to find a way to celebrate/study/participate in music as a young deaf man. If he fails, he’ll be very sad. It’s not that that isn’t compelling. But I didn’t feel like the stakes ratcheted up as the story progressed.

I like the way the story braids together Simon’s love for music and his love for G. In lots of ways her emotional journey seems to be a mirror of his, sometimes revealing things to Simon that he wasn’t ready to face about himself. But she also calls him out on things he’s not ready to face, too. They make a good pair.

Readers who liked THE SCAR BOYS by Len Vlahos will like the gritty, emotional writing and the “diary of a band boy” style of the story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Simon and G are Deaf. IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC is set in Australia.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently. I struggled with the amount of swearing in the book, I think because it really felt gratuitous to me.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Simon and G spend nights together, and it’s hinted that they’re having sex but not explicitly described.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to a suicide attempt.

Drug Content
Simon and his friends drink alcohol, which is legal at eighteen in Australia.

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

Review: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

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Spin the Dawn
Elizabeth Lim
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published July 9, 2019

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About SPIN THE DAWN

Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

My Review

Wow wow wow!!! I was pretty much hooked on the idea of this book from the description: Project Runway meets Mulan because that’s so different than anything I’ve read. And the book absolutely lives up to that description.

I love Maia so much. There just aren’t enough stories featuring strong women who SEW. Ha. I like that she isn’t a typical heroine– good at fighting or amazing at words, or super smart. She’s determined, loyal, honest, and hardworking, which aren’t always headliner qualities. But she definitely deserves her place in the center of the story.

The beginning of the story dragged a little bit for me, particularly the contest where she sews for different challenges. I can see how that was important to the story, and I thought maybe some of the characters introduced in those chapters might reappear later in some critical way. But it seemed more of a self-contained part.

Once Maia started her quest to make the three impossible dresses, things sped up considerably. Some parts happened really fast, which heightened the tension, but left me wanting more story in those moments.

On the whole those were small issues, though. I loved the setting and the cultural details and the wide array of characters. This is a must-read for fans of FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie C. Dao (or readers who are looking for a lighter story in a similar setting) and THE CRYSTAL RIBBON by Celeste Lim.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The setting has an Asian feel to it. Edan is described as having bronze skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point a couple undresses and a brief, vague description shows that they have sex. During the time Maia dresses as a man, some people assume she’s romantically involved with another man, something which Maia calls a forbidden romance.

Spiritual Content
Maia’s people worship many different gods and goddesses, but the story primarily references one goddess, Amani, who once had dresses made from the sun, moon, and stars.

Maia and a companion visit a monastery and meet monks devoted to the service of Amani. At one point, she has an encounter with the goddess.

Edan is an enchanter, a person born with magic but who trades freedom for greater power.

On her journey, Maia battles ghosts and a demon, a monster who was once a human until he was transformed as punishment for his crimes.

Violent Content
Maia loses family members to the civil war in her country. At the palace, Maia becomes trapped in a fire, clearly an act of sabotage by a jealous competitor. At one point, a man crushes her hand. Another threatens her with a sword at her throat, making reference to assault. She battles humans, ghosts, and a demon on her journey.

Drug Content
Other tailors in the contest drink alcohol. Later, Maia drinks with a group of travelers and suffers a terrible hangover the next day.

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

Review: Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg

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

Past Perfect Life
Elizabeth Eulberg
Bloomsbury YA
Published July 9, 2019

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About PAST PERFECT LIFE

Small-town Wisconsin high school senior Allison Smith loves her life the way it is-spending quality time with her widowed father and her tight-knit circle of friends, including best friend Marian and maybe-more-than-friends Neil. Sure she is stressed out about college applications . . . who wouldn’t be? In a few short months, everything’s going to change, big time.
But when Ally files her applications, they send up a red flag . . . because she’s not Allison Smith. And Ally’s-make that Amanda’s-ordinary life is suddenly blown apart. Was everything before a lie? Who will she be after? And what will she do as now comes crashing down around her?

My Review

Ally starts the story with this cute life in a small town. She and her dad don’t have money, but they share daily rituals that show how close they are and how much they love each other. Taco Tuesday, movie night, Packers games. Things like that. The Gleason family makes up the larger part of Ally’s inner circle. I think those characters had the most spark and variety in them. The banter between Rob and the rest of the group made those scenes a lot of fun to read.

I felt like the story stalled out a little bit around the 3/4 mark. Ally’s kind of just trying to get by and biding her time until she comes up with another idea. I think that was a necessary moment in the story, but I felt like it dragged on longer than it needed to.

Other than that, PAST PERFECT LIFE is a pretty smooth read. I’m a sucker for a story that touches on themes about the importance of family and community, so this book definitely scratched that itch for me.

Overall, I’d say PAST PERFECT LIFE is perfect for fans of IN ANOTHER LIFE by C. C. Hunter or WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Characters are white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Ally’s family is Catholic and goes to mass on Christmas.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content 
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of PAST PERFECT LIFE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

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

Vanishing Girls
Lauren Oliver
HarperCollins
March 10, 2015

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Book Depository

About VANISHING GIRLS

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara’s beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged.

When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it’s too late.

My Review

I read VANISHING GIRLS in the middle of a suspense binge. I like that it blended suspense elements with psychological elements. Nick is a complex character. She wants to be close to her sister, but has a lot of feelings of guilt and resentment toward her.

Weirdly, VANISHING GIRLS is the second suspense book I read this summer where the main character works at a theme park. (The other is TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET in which Ellery works at a horror-themed park.) I had some parts of the plot related to the theme park figured out pretty quickly. Other things took me completely by surprise.

One big twist didn’t make sense to me. It’s one of those moments that turns your whole perception of the story on its head. I love those kinds of moments. I love looking back through the big moments earlier in the book to see how the new information changes what was really happening there. But one moment didn’t seem to fit with the new reality. So I got kind of caught up on that.

On the whole, I think VANISHING GIRLS is an interesting book, and some of the issues it deals with are big issues. I definitely appreciate that and think it’s awesome that this novel addresses an issue that most people don’t want to talk about. I think I like PANIC by Lauren Oliver better, but it ‘s a different kind of story– more community-oriented whereas so much of VANISHING GIRLS is about what’s happening in Nick’s head.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Characters are white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A girl and boy kiss. References to sex. A girl and her boyfriend kiss while both are topless. He asks her to have sex with him, but she refuses.

References to child pornography. Someone finds an image of a teenage girl posing topless.

Spiritual Content
Dara and Nick’s aunt believes in energy and crystals and seances. The girls don’t buy into her beliefs.

Violent Content
Some brief descriptions of a violent car accident. A man threatens a teenage girl.

Drug Content 
Several scenes show teens drinking. Dara has a history of smoking pot and experimenting with other drugs like mushrooms and cocaine.

Note: This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog.

Review: Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

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

Field Guide to the North American Teenager
Ben Philippe
Balzer + Bray
Published January 8, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Field Guide to the North American Teenager

Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.

Yet, against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris. Be it loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making. He even starts playing actual hockey with these Texans.

But the night of the prom, Norris screws everything up royally. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life—along with the people who have found their way into his heart.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book is Norris’s voice. I’m a total sucker for witty banter, and he’s full of quips and side comments. Some tender moments completely sneaked up on me, too. His conversation with his mother about his mistakes had me in tears. I couldn’t help asking myself how many moms have exactly that conversation with their black sons. It shouldn’t be that way.

I felt like Aarti and Madison had really similar voices, so that sometimes I couldn’t tell them apart. I also didn’t totally follow the sharp turn where Norris ends up apologizing to Aarti toward the end. (Sorry, trying not to include spoilers.) They start a conversation where Norris feels pretty righteous in his anger and then suddenly Aarti flips the situation and he feels like he’s the bad guy. Not that he did nothing wrong, but I guess I didn’t feel like the story supported Aarty’s view of what happened.

I loved Norris’s relationships with Liam and Eric. They felt like real friendships, and added a lot of depth to Norris’s character, too, because we got to see things like loyalty and dedication.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading THE FIELD GUIDE TO THE NORTH AMERICAN TEENAGER quite a lot. The fast-paced dialogue and banter between characters combined with lots of heart and tough lessons about love and growing up made it a great read. Perfect for fans of THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN YOU IS ME by Lily Anderson.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Norris is a black teen from Canada. His mom is from Haiti. Aarti’s parents are Indian immigrants to the US. They share a bond over the pressures of being minority kids who are also the children of immigrants. Norris’s best friend Eric is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used regularly but not super frequently. One instance of a slur used.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between girl and boy. A couple brief mentions of Norris feeling aroused in response to something. Norris’s best friend makes a comment about whether his boyfriend might intend for them to have sex and wondering if he’s ready for that. No descriptions of anything beyond kissing but Norris carries condoms with him just in case he might possibly need them.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Someone slaps Norris.

Drug Content 
Scenes include teens drinking alcohol. Norris makes some mistakes while drunk which land him in some trouble.

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Review: Finale by Stephanie Garber

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Finale (Caraval #3)
Stephanie Garber
Flatiron Books
May 7, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Book Depository

About FINALE

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…

My Review

I’m not gonna lie, when I first read CARAVAL, I wasn’t sure I would actually finish this series. I liked the book a lot. The story world was amazing and different. I liked the game elements. I liked that Scarlett did so many things to protect her sister and learned to risk loving someone.

But I wasn’t sure I would like Tella, the girl who wasn’t interested in anything serious and seemed so shallow. Then I read LEGENDARY and actually, I think I grew to like Tella more than Scarlett! Oops.

So reading FINALE, sometimes I wanted to rush through Scarlett’s scenes and get back to what was happening with Tella because omg was she actually going to figure out how to win Legend’s heart or what?! The suspense was intense. Ha.

I read a review of FINALE awhile ago that kind of made me wonder if I’d enjoy it. The reviewer said that there really wasn’t much in the way of the game and that it was really more of a love story. I can see why she said that. I liked the battle between the Fates and the sisters and all the things Tella goes through to try to figure out how to actually kill an immortal being.

Some of the story got a bit dark. Some things the Fates would do were kind of creepy. I guess the series as a whole has had an edge of darkness to it, so maybe this won’t surprise you if you’re familiar with the earlier books.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading FINALE so much. I had a lot of trouble sleeping the nights I was reading it, so actually, it was nice to have something so captivating to read while I was awake.

If you’re looking for a twisty, realistic fantasy romance, I recommend this trilogy. You definitely want to read them in order, though. Check out my reviews of CARAVAL and LEGENDARY for more of my thoughts on the books.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Julian and Dante have bronze/brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between girl and boy. At one point, a girl and boy go to bed together, meaning to have sex, but he stops before they’re even undressed.

Spiritual Content
Powerful immortal beings called Fates have escaped their prisons and now fight for power. If they rule, they’ll punish humans pretty severely. Legend has his own magic and seeks to use it to conquer the Fates. The only way to kill them is to make them mortal. And the only way to do that is to make them fall in love.

Violent Content
Some of the Fates do pretty ugly/horrible things. One sews the mouths of her victims closed. Another forces them to drink poison which turns them to stone. One ties their limbs to ropes, turning them into human marionettes.

Drug Content 
Some scenes show characters drinking alcohol.

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