Tag Archives: Competition

Review: The Trouble with Robots by Michelle Mohrweiss

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,
The Trouble with Robots by Michelle Mohrweis

The Trouble with Robots
Michelle Mohrweiss
Peachtree
Published September 27, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Trouble with Robots

Evelyn strives for excellence. Allie couldn’t care less. Together, these polar opposites must work together if they have any hope of saving their school’s robotics program.

Eighth-graders Evelyn and Allie are in trouble. Evelyn’s constant need for perfection has blown some fuses among her robotics teammates, and she’s worried nobody’s taking the upcoming competition seriously. Allie is new to school, and she’s had a history of short-circuiting on teachers and other kids.

So when Allie is assigned to the robotics team as a last resort, all Evelyn can see is just another wrench in the works! But as Allie confronts a past stricken with grief and learns to open up, the gears click into place as she discovers that Evelyn’s teammates have a lot to offer—if only Evelyn allowed them to participate in a role that plays to their strengths.

Can Evelyn learn to let go and listen to what Allie has to say? Or will their spot in the competition go up in smoke along with their school’s robotics program and Allie’s only chance at redemption?

An excellent pick for STEAM enthusiasts, this earnestly told narrative features a dual point of view and casually explores Autistic and LGBTQ+ identities.

My Review

What a fantastic, fun book! I’ve never been part of a robotics team, but this book makes the experience very accessible and highlights the fun as well. I really liked the characters and their individual personalities. It wasn’t hard to keep track of who was who once I got a few chapters into the story, because each one was so different than the others.

I really liked both Allie and Evelyn’s characters. They both wrestled with some heavy issues, but they had good support. As they took the risks of opening up, they were surprised by the way their friends came alongside them and accepted them as they were, while still asking for healthy boundaries and accountability.

The scenes showing the team working together were a really bright spot in the book. Once they all figured out how to come together, the whole story seemed to kick up a notch or two. I loved the way the stakes kept getting higher, and I was definitely on pins and needles as they went to that last competition. I loved how the lessons they’d learned about working together and supporting one another became even more critically important in those final scenes, too.

All in all, THE TROUBLE WITH ROBOTS was such a fun book to read. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’m really glad I had a chance to read it.

Content Notes for The Trouble with Robots

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Allie’s parents were killed in a car crash, and she’s being raised by her grandmother. She doesn’t feel attracted to anyone romantically. Evelyn is autistic and raised by her two moms. She also is attracted to both boys and girls. Other members of the robotics team identify as LGBTQIA+.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two boys on the robotics team are dating.

Spiritual Content
Allie has conversations in her mind with her parents when she misses them most.

Violent Content
A boy at school picks on other kids, calling them names and threatening to beat them up.

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 THE TROUBLE WITH ROBOTS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Chase by Bradley Caffee

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

The Chase (The Chase Runner #1)
Bradley Caffee
Mountain Brook Ink
Published June 15, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Chase

Win the Chase. Be the hero. Or die trying.​

The chaos and anarchy following the Great Collapse nearly brought the world to its knees until the unchanging Law brought order and peace. Generations later, the twelve alliances of the World Coalition come together once a year to allow their best and brightest young people to compete in the Chase. The prize? A chance to pass exactly one new law.

The son of two former Chase runners, Willis Thomson is the top trainee in the Western Alliance. With the expectations of the world and his heritage driving him, he leads his elite Red Team as they prepare for his moment to become a coveted Law-changer.

Perryn Davis, the new leader of the Blue Team, struggles to survive as she competes as one of the designated losers. She knows that losing means genetic recoding, a process that cannot go on indefinitely, and longs to age out of the program before it kills her.

When a mysterious new racer with knowledge of the outside shows up at their orbiting training center, the natural order of the Western Alliance trainees is upended. In a world where too much knowledge is dangerous, Willis and Perryn find themselves in a race to save their lives and uncover the hidden underbelly of the peaceful World Coalition.

My Review

THE CHASE had some elements that I really enjoyed and some things that I struggled with, so I’m a little bit torn in writing my review.

I liked the concept of the race. It reminded me a little bit of THE HUNGER GAMES, where the hopes for the future are pinned on a chosen few of the kids, and the world is broken up into allied areas under one central government. It also reminded me a little bit of DIVERGENT in the way the runners were split up into teams caught in a high stakes competition.

One of the things I struggled with was the way the characters related to each other. There were some relationships that seemed nuanced and layered– like Jez’s relationship with Willis. It was clear that she had some feelings for him that he didn’t recognize, and that it caused a lot of tension. I loved that and the way it was present but not overly highlighted.

I kind of didn’t understand Willis and Perryn’s relationship, though. It’s clear he’s attracted to her, but I wasn’t totally sure I understood why? It kind of read like he felt sorry for her or was attracted to her as a damsel in distress? Their relationship seemed kind of simplistic or shallow to me. I wasn’t sure I understood the connection enough to invest in hoping they eventually got together.

On the whole, I think the concept of the race is interesting. I wish the relationships between characters and some of the characters themselves had more complexity. Some of the issues the story raised were unexpected and interesting. I could see fans of Andrew Klavan reading and enjoying this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Lots of name-calling and insulting. No profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some obvious attraction between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One of the team leaders verbally and physically abuses other runners. The person in charge of the teams also verbally abuses runners. One runner threatens and hits another. Runners try to sabotage and even kill each other.

Runners who don’t perform well are forced to undergo a medical procedure.

Drug Content
A couple of runners are drugged against their will.

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

Review: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman

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

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
A. F. Steadman
Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published May 3, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

Skandar Smith has always yearned to leave the Mainland and escape to the secretive Island, where wild unicorns roam free. He’s spent years studying for his Hatchery exam, the annual test that selects a handful of Mainlander thirteen-year-olds to train to become unicorn riders. But on the day of Skandar’s exam, things go horribly wrong, and his hopes are shattered…until a mysterious figure knocks on his door at midnight, bearing a message: the Island is in peril and Skandar must answer its call.

Skandar is thrust into a world of epic sky battles, dangerous clashes with wild unicorns, and rumors of a shadowy villain amassing a unicorn army. And the closer Skandar grows to his newfound friends and community of riders, the harder it becomes to keep his secrets—especially when he discovers their lives may all be in graver danger than he ever imagined.

Soar into a breathtaking world of heroes and unicorns as you’ve never seen them before in this fantastical middle grade debut perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson and Eragon series!

My Review

I feel like I’m always nervous when a debut novel is compared to really big books or series like Eragon or Percy Jackson. It feels like a lot of expectations for the author to live up to. It also doesn’t feel like a fair comparison since one of the things that makes a series like Eragon or Percy Jackson so memorable are that they had a freshness to them that other books don’t have when they’re compared to being like ones that already exist. However, that soapbox aside, I was ready to give SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF a chance.

I think my favorite thing about this book is the relationship Skandar has with other characters. I loved the way he related to his sister and to Bobby especially. They challenged him to go beyond what he thought he could do, and they supported him even when it wasn’t easy. He learned to trust and support them in return, too.

Skandar’s unicorn, Scoundrel’s Luck, is also a cool character. He’s strong-willed. He has really specific ideas about how he and Skandar should approach the challenges they face in training. Also, he’s pretty adorable in a this-is-a-dangerous-creature-who-could-eat-you kind of way. Ha!

For the most part, the plot of SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF moves at a steady clip, but there are some moments where things stall a bit. There were also a couple moments where things that seemed like they would be really big obstacles resolved easily. Mostly that didn’t bother me. I think there could have been more tension if those things, like breaking into the prison, were a bit harder or more tense.

Another theme that I liked that Skandar’s story explored has to do with loss and grief. His mother died, and he misses her a lot. His dad struggles with depression and Skandar feels pressure both from his mom’s memory and his dad’s health to succeed as a unicorn rider. Another girl in his training class also lost her dad. Both she and Skandar face rumors about their parents or things they tell themselves about their parents that they discover may not be true. Then they have to wrestle with what those things mean.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF. I liked the characters, and I found it easy to invest in the quest to stop the Weaver. I also loved the emotional themes about grief and finding the courage to be yourself. This is a great adventure series for readers who enjoyed THE RAVEN HEIR by Stephanie Burgess or THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND by Catherine Doyle.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Little description of some characters. Some characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Characters with a bond to a unicorn have the ability to use magic through that bond.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Descriptions of decaying animals. Descriptions of kidnapping. Some combat in competition and training situations. Combat in life-threatening situations.

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 this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Don’t Hate the Player by Alexis Nedd

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

Don’t Hate the Player
Alexis Nedd
Bloomsbury YA
Published June 15, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Don’t Hate the Player

By day, Emilia is a field hockey star with a popular boyfriend and a mother obsessed with her academic future. But by night, she’s kicking virtual ass as the only female member of a highly competitive eSports team. Emilia has mastered the art of keeping her two worlds thriving, which hinges on them staying completely separate.

When a major eSports tournament comes to her city, Emilia is determined to prove herself to the male-dominated gaming community. But her perfectly balanced life is thrown for a loop when a member of a rival team—Jake—recognizes her . . .

From an exciting new talent, this sweet and charming YA romance will win the hearts of gamers and non-gamers alike.

My Review

Okay, to start with, the voice in this book is simply fantastic. The dialogue is funny and nerdy and I absolutely loved it. It was a super entertaining read.

DON’T HATE THE PLAYER follows two points of view: Jake’s and Emilia’s. Emilia’s chapters are all in first person, and Jake’s are a combination of third person narrative or chat logs from online conversations with his teammates. I liked that format a lot. The only time it felt a little strange to me was in the prologue, because it’s kind of recapping something that happened in the past between Jake and Emilia. Once I realized that all of Jake’s narrative sections were going to be written that way, I think it made more sense, but it was maybe just not what I expected from the opening? Like I said, once I got into the book, that opening made a lot more sense.

I liked a lot of the characters. They were each so unique that I could tell who was talking, and I loved that. I also loved the way their relationships with Emilia changed through the story. There’s a scene toward the end with her parents that I just LOVED.

One of the things I noticed is that I don’t think there are any good white girls in this book. It’s possible that I only noticed this because I read DON’T HATE THE PLAYER right after reading HANI AND ISHU’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING and I noticed this same thing in that book, too.

That’s not a criticism. I think books are allowed to have zero good white girls. It was just a thing I noticed and wanted to sit with, you know? To think about what it’s like to read and enjoy a book that doesn’t include/feature a positive representation of myself. I think that’s a good thing to think about. I tried to think about how I’d feel about books if the only girls who looked like me acted like mean girl bullies. (Which is not the case for white characters by any stretch of the imagination, of course.) Anyway, it gave me some time to think about how critical good representation is when there aren’t a huge ton of stories featuring a particular community.

Another thing that I felt like this book did really well was to dive into some of the conversations about gaming behavior, specifically predatory and cruel behavior toward girls and female-presenting players. It doesn’t get deep in the gross stuff, but the story does not shy away from what it’s like to be a girl gamer. Additionally, I loved the way DON’T HATE THE PLAYER showcased the different relationship dynamics between players on team Unity and players on team Fury.

All in all, this book has a LOT to love. Reader who enjoy witty banter and rich characters will definitely want to give this one a read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Emilia is Puerto Rican. Her best friend is Black. One minor character is transgender and a couple more are gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content – Trigger warning for sexual bullying.
Kissing between boy and girl. Emilia recalls receiving unwanted sexual pictures in her messages. She also received messages saying people wanted to rape her.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
See above for bullying content. Most of the violence described in the book is video game violence. Emilia and Jake each play on a team of five who battle each other, trying to guard treasure and kill the opponent’s players using weapons and magic attacks.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz

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

Blazewrath Games
Amparo Ortiz
Page Street Kids
Published October 6, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Blazewrath Games

Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.

But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.

How to Train Your Dragon meets Quidditch through the Ages in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which dragons and their riders compete in an international sports tournament.

My Review

The comparison to HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and Quidditch definitely fits this book. Once Lana joins the Blazewrath team, lots of chapters take place on the field, describing the game and her team’s efforts to win.

Because Lana isn’t a dragon rider with a shared bond and closeness to any of the dragons, they are all pretty minor characters. I thought it was cool that different regions had different types of dragons, and that the dragons themselves had lots of varying abilities and behaviors.

I liked Lana– she’s smart and determined. She pursues the truth about the Sire no matter the risk to herself, and she stays bold and committed even in the face of danger.

I liked a LOT of things about the book. It’s a wild adventure, and full of Puerto Rican pride and the love of found family. I think fans of DRAGON WARRIOR by Katie Zhao will like the high adventure and alternate contemporary setting. Readers who are interested in but not quite ready for LOBIZONA by Romina Garber should add THE BLAZEWRATH GAMES to their bookshelves.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Lana and her teammates are Puerto Rican. A couple minor characters are gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some flirting, but nothing beyond that.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some scenes show brief but graphic violence, including a throat being cut. References to torture and execution. The Blazewrath game includes combat-style play which can result in serious injury.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor

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

The Code for Love and Heartbreak
Jillian Cantor
Inkyard Press
Published October 6, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About The Code for Love and Heartbreak

From bestselling author Jillian Cantor comes a smart, edgy update of Jane Austen’s beloved classic Emma.

Emma Woodhouse is a genius at math, but clueless about people. After all, people are unreliable. They let you down—just like Emma’s sister, Izzy, did this year, when she moved to California for college. But numbers…those you can count on. (No pun intended.)

Emma’s senior year is going to be all about numbers, and seeing how far they can take her. When she and George, her Coding Club co-president, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born—a matchmaking app that goes far beyond swiping, using algorithms to calculate compatibility. George disapproves of Emma’s idea, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first.

Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other and her own feelings defy any algorithm? Emma thought math could solve everything. But there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.

My Review

As a contemporary romance, I really enjoyed CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK. I tend to like smart heroines, so it was a pretty strong possibility that I’d love Emma going into the book. And it turns out, I totally loved her.

I’m also a pretty big fan of sister relationships, so I loved the relationship between Emma and Izzy. I loved that they were so different from each other and that sometimes that caused sparks to fly and other times, they needed each other in ways that only sisters truly do.

As an update of Jane Austen’s EMMA, though, I have much more mixed feelings. I missed some of the dynamics in some of the relationships. I missed the Miss Bates of Austen’s version, in all her sweet, trying chattiness. I missed the connection between characters– the Westons and Frank (Sam) Churchill, and between Jane and Miss Bates.

In fairness, I don’t know how someone could bring all those relationships and the complexities they add AND tell CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK without adding like 100 more pages. Which I probably wouldn’t have minded once I was into the story, but I imagine the average reader might not feel quite the same! Ha.

All in all, I think this is a super cute romance with smart characters and interesting relationships. Fans of friends to lovers or of sister stories will find lots to love here. I think the story will appeal to fans of WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU by Marisa Kanter and TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW by Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Some minor characters are gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Couples hold hands. A group of senior class boys who make a bet on who can have sex with an underclass girl first. This behavior is pretty strongly condemned. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Emma remembers a party her sister threw that someone brought alcohol to. She hid upstairs and didn’t participate in the party.

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

About Jillian Cantor

Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Website

Jillian Cantor is the author of award-winning and bestselling novels for adults and teens, including In Another Time, The Hours Count, Margot, and The Lost Letter, which was a USA Today bestseller. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Cantor lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.