Tag Archives: friendship

Review: Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

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Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove
Rati Mehrotra
Wednesday Books
Published October 18, 2022

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About Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

To learn what she can become, she must first discover who she is.

Katyani’s role in the kingdom of Chandela has always been clear: becoming an advisor and protector of the crown prince, Ayan, when he ascends to the throne. Bound to the Queen of Chandela through a forbidden soul bond that saved her when she was a child, Katyani has grown up in the royal family and become the best guardswoman the Garuda has ever seen.

But when a series of assassination attempts threatens the royals, the queen ships Katyani off to the gurukul of the famous Acharya Mahavir as an escort to Ayan and his cousin, Bhairav, to protect them as they hone the skills needed to be the next leaders of the kingdom. Nothing could annoy Katyani more than being stuck in a monastic school in the middle of a forest, except her run-ins with Daksh, the Acharya’s son, who can’t stop going on about the rules and whose gaze makes her feel like he can see into her soul.

But when the queen hurriedly summons Katyani and the princes back to Chandela before their training is complete, tragedy strikes, tearing Katyani from the only life she has ever known. Alone and betrayed in a land infested by monsters, Katyani must find answers from her past to save all she loves and forge her own destiny. Bonds can be broken, but debts must be repaid.

My Review

Okay, I stayed up WAY too late reading this book and then finished it the next morning as soon as I had a second to sit down. It’s a super immersive story packed with magic and intrigue. I loved the characters, especially Katyani and Daksh.

Outspoken and fierce, Katyani had me from the first page. I loved the complex relationship she shares with the royal family and of course with Daksh and the way so many things change as the story unravels. The plot moves quickly with high stakes– definitely the thing that kept me reading. That and the romantic tension between Katyani and her love. I really invested in that thread of the plot, and couldn’t stop until I knew how it resolved.

I’m seeing a lot of reviewers on Goodreads calling the setting of this book an alternate medieval India, which makes sense. The story world felt rich and easy to lose myself in.

I think readers who enjoyed THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN by Roshani Chokshi will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Characters are described as having brown skin and are Indian-coded.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to the Goddess. Some characters have spirit energy and magical ability. Characters battle monster or ghost-like enemies.

Violent Content
Situations of peril, battle scenes, and some brief torture.

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 NIGHT OF THE RAVEN, DAWN OF THE DOVE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

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

Dark Room Etiquette
Robin Roe
HarperTeen
Published October 11, 2022

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About Dark Room Etiquette

Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything—until he’s kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he’s been living is based on a lie.

Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he’s been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.

But as time passes, the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, and Sayers begins to wonder if he can escape . . . before he loses himself.

My Review

My feelings about this book range from strong to very strong. At the beginning, Sayers isn’t a very likeable guy. Sure, he’s not the one actively tormenting another boy in his class. He’s just the one standing by, watching it happen. He’s spoiled, rude, and unaffected by other people’s pain. We get to know this version of him over the first quarter or so of the book.

Then he gets kidnapped by someone who seems to be deeply unwell. At first Sayers refuses to cooperate with his abductor. But as time goes on and escape continues to be an impossibility, he does what he must in order to survive.

The book feels like an exploration of what trauma does to someone. Both in the way it breaks someone down, and in the way that it leaves permanent marks on that person’s life, even after the traumatic event is over.

I’m not at all an expert on trauma or how it affects anyone. I’ve watched someone close to me grapple with past trauma, and some of the things Sayers does and says were familiar to me because of that experience. I liked that the whole story wasn’t an exploration of the trauma itself. I liked that Sayers formed different relationships and that his relationships operated differently as he began to piece things back together. He valued different things. He wanted different things. But he also wasn’t capable of some of the things he’d been capable of before.

So there were lots of things I liked, but it was a hard book to read. I think the hardest part was witnessing the breakdown Sayers endures during his captivity.

Readers who enjoyed A LIST OF CAGES will enjoy DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE. I think fans of WHAT UNBREAKABLE LOOKS LIKE by Kate McLaughlin should check this one out.

Content Notes

Content warning for drug use, bullying, torture, assault, murder, suicide, and references to sexual assault.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
One significant minor character is Latine. Sayers’ best friend is bisexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
A classmate discusses her faith openly. Later, Sayers prays with a girl.

Violent Content
Sayers witnesses a boy bullying another student. A boy takes another boy into the woods, clearly intending to harm him. Sayers’ abductor hits him and keeps him chained or locked up, sometimes starving him and another person. Sayers discovers bodies of boys who were murdered. He witnesses someone die by suicide. He learns that someone sexually assaulted another person.

Drug Content
At the beginning of the book, Sayers prefers drugs that will make him feel amped up. Late in the story, he smokes weed, using it to calm himself down.

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 DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Mystery of the Smuggler’s Cove by Paul Moxham

Book Review and Content, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , , ,

The Mystery of the Smuggler’s Cove
Paul Moxham
Published January 31, 2013

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About The Mystery of the Smuggler’s Cove

Are you up for a thrilling adventure?

Twelve-year-old Joe Mitchell is excited to explore the caves on the beach where his family is spending their summer holiday. He and his sisters, Amy and Sarah, soon discover that the caves shelter a mysterious group of men who appear to be up to no good. Before they can raise the alarm, the kids need to find out what the men are up to and where they plan to send their cargo without getting caught themselves.

When word reaches the kids that one of the police officers in town works with the bandits, they realize getting help will be harder than they anticipated. They must to figure out who the traitor is and alert a trustworthy officer as well as rescue an ally who runs afoul of the smuggling ring before the men disappear into the foggy night forever.

My Review

I really enjoyed the sweet sort of 1950s feel of the story. It’s got a simplicity to it that felt refreshing, honestly. The kids are just having a summer holiday and wanting to explore and be kids when they discover evidence of a smuggling ring.

Though I enjoyed the simplicity of the spare storytelling style, some scenes went by too quickly, where I wanted to linger and really see things play out more completely. I liked each of the four kids– Will, Joe, Sarah, and Amy– but I sometimes mixed them up. There often weren’t a lot of details about them as individual characters.

One of the things I liked though was that the story is a quick read. It felt exactly like the kind of thing I might have read on vacation as a kid, so I enjoyed that kind of nostalgic sense to it and the fact that I read the whole book in under two hours.

On the whole, I thought it was a fun read, and I’m glad I read it. I would have enjoyed more detail in certain parts, but overall the story had a nice pace to it.

I think younger middle grade readers, like ages 8-10, would enjoy this shorter, fun summer adventure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 10.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
The bad guys tie up the good guys but make it clear they don’t intend to harm anyone.

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 MYSTERY OF THE SMUGGLER’S COVE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

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

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega
Crystal Maldonado
Holiday House
Published February 2, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.

People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it’s hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn’t help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. And be quieter.

But there’s one person who’s always in Charlie’s corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. Popular. Athletic. Totally dope. So when Charlie starts a tentative relationship with cute classmate Brian, the first worthwhile guy to notice her, everything is perfect until she learns one thing–he asked Amelia out first. So is she his second choice or what? Does he even really see her? UGHHH. Everything is now officially a MESS.

A sensitive, funny, and painful coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, FAT CHANCE, CHARLIE VEGA tackles our relationships to our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.

My Review

I have so many thoughts, and I’ve had days to try to organize them, but I’m still sifting. I feel like that’s always a good sign with a book. Sometimes simple books that don’t require thought afterward are fun, but I definitely prefer books that leave me with things to think about or emotions to process.

First, the relationships in this book. Wow. Charlie has a complex relationship with her mom. Her mom says gross and deeply critical-slash-toxic things to her about her body and her habits. It feels like she’s regurgitating the harmful things she’s been told about being fat, which is both wrong and terrible, but also made me hurt for her. The story isn’t about her, but that underlying hurt made Charlie’s mom a complicated character and helped us see why Charlie had big feelings about her mom.

Relationships Make the Book

Charlie’s relationship with Amelia. Also wow. I loved Amelia, and I loved some of the components of Charlie and Amelia’s friendship. I loved that as different things happened in the book, I felt like I got to observe them and see not just Charlie’s perspective, but I felt like there were subtle cues about when she was wrong, too. That balance is really difficult– if things are too subtle, they’ll go unnoticed, but if they’re too bold, the story feels forced. So I think the balance there was expertly managed.

Additionally, I loved the first love component of FAT CHANCE, CHARLIE VEGA, too. The heartbreak. The challenges to trust. Charlie’s moments of self-reflection. Also, Charlie’s experience of falling in love for the first time, and having to figure out how to navigate all those first-love challenges herself.

All in all, I think this one will stick with me a long time. I loved so many moments in the story, and I think the character relationships are absolutely amazing. Readers looking for a first love story, add this one to your list. Fans of PRETTY FUNNY FOR A GIRL by Rebecca Elliot should check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Charlie is Puerto Rican and plus-sized. Her best friend Amelia is Black and pansexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. References to touching over clothes. Charlie’s friend Amelia makes plans to have sex with her boyfriend. He breaks up with her when she decides she can’t go through with it.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Charlie and Amelia drink alcohol in one scene.

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 FAT CHANCE, CHARLIE VEGA in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Mordizan by Alyssa Roat

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Mordizan (Wraithwood #2)
Alyssa Roat
Mountain Brook Fire
Published March 15, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Mordizan

The bane of Mordred, the son of Mordizan, and a millennia-old prophecy—together they may provide what Brinnie needs to defeat the world of magic’s greatest threat.

More than a year has passed since Brinnie left Wraithwood, never expecting to see it again. But when Mordred captures her sister, she is thrust back into the world of magic. She flees to Wraithwood, where she learns of a prophecy located in the dark wizard capital of Mordizan that reveals the identity of “Mordred’s bane,” something that could destroy Mordred for good.

Brinnie agrees to a rendezvous with Mordred to exchange herself for her sister, going undercover at Mordizan as a spy to find the prophecy and Mordred’s bane. There, she weaves a complicated web of secrets, lies, and tenuous friendships. She makes an unexpected ally in Marcus Vorath, son of the Master of Mordizan, who fears the implications of Mordred’s growing power. But in Mordizan, friends and foes may be one and the same.

In the midst of court intrigue, battle, ominous new depths to her power, and searching for Mordred’s bane, Brinnie struggles to draw the lines. How far is she willing to go to destroy Mordred? And how much of herself is she willing to give up along the way?

My Review

The pacing of MORDIZAN picks up a lot as Brinnie gets closer to learning Mordred’s plan and what she needs to do to stop him. I got caught up in the unfolding of the story and especially in Brinnie’s relationships with Marcus and Lana.

Marcus is an interesting character. I couldn’t decide whether to trust him or not for a long time through the story. Sometimes he seemed too interested or too good? At other times he made strange choices. Like, when he knew he and Brinnie were being followed, he took her to see his mother’s grave. Which, yes, showed Brinnie’s closeness to him, but since his mother had been caught trying to help prisoners escape, she was branded as a traitor. So he took her to the grave of a “traitor” while he knew he was being followed? Seemed like a bad choice, so I was confused by that.

Another thing I loved, though, were some of the things that got revealed in this book. Connections between characters that I didn’t see coming. Items of power that I couldn’t ever have predicted. There were so many moments where I sat straight up while I was reading because I was so into the book as things unfolded.

I am really excited about reading the final book in this trilogy, which I think comes out next March. I’m hoping for a little bit of romance and an epic showdown between Brinnie and her allies and Mordred.

I think readers who like Arthurian or Arthurian-adjacent stories will really enjoy this fresh spin on the legend. Great for fans of CITY OF BONES by Cassandra Clare.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Brinnie’s mentor encourages her to give herself over to forces of darkness. Brinnie recognizes those as evil entities and refuses to connect herself to them. She has some nightmares in which she has apparently surrendered to those dark forces.

Violent Content
References to torture. One scene briefly shows a man being cut by a captor in an attempt to coerce Brinnie to agree to do what Mordred wants.

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 MORDIZAN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Vanquishers by Kalynn Bayron

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The Vanquishers
Kalynn Bayron
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published September 20, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Vanquishers

In the world of the Vanquishers, vampires were history . . . until now.

Malika “Boog” Wilson and her best friends have grown up idolizing The Vanquishers, a group of heroic vampire hunters who wiped out the last horde of the undead decades ago. Nowadays, most people don’t take even the most basic vampire precautions–the days of garlic wreaths and early curfews long gone–but Boog’s parents still follow the old rules, much to her embarrassment.

When a friend goes missing, Boog isn’t sure what to think. Could it be the school counselor, Mr. Rupert, who definitely seems to be hiding something? Or could it be something more dangerous? Boog is determined to save her friend, but is she ready to admit vampires might not be vanquished after all?

No one ever expected the Vanquishers to return, but if their town needs protection from the undead, Boog knows who to call.

Inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Watchmen, this adventure launches readers into an exciting new series.

My Review

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It hit all the notes I was hoping for. It had unforgettable friendships, silly antics, spooky shadowy things, and super hero vibes.

The history of the community with vampires had a great setup. Vampires used to be a real threat, so people adjusted by vampire-proofing their properties and learning social rules, such as not ever inviting a stranger into your home. Though Boog and her friends roll their eyes and barely tolerate their parents sticking to their anti-vampire habits, it made for a great way to introduce all that history and setup into the story without it feeling bulky or weird.

I really liked Boog and her friends, Jules, Cedric, and Aaron. They made a great team, and they were a lot of fun together. I also loved their families and the way they had regular get-togethers and stuff. It added to that post-pandemic feel, too, because it made me think of how we kind of settled into seeing a few “safe” families during the pandemic. We had our bubble, and Boog and her family had theirs.

The only thing I felt was a little bit heavy-handed was in the way the story dealt with one of the characters. It felt like there was an awful lot of emphasis on how creepy the guy was. I wish that had been a little bit more subtle. It was kind of a minor thing in terms of the whole story, though, and once everything came together, I didn’t really care about the way that character was handled.

THE VANQUISHERS is a fun, spooky story packed with fantastic friendships. I think readers who enjoyed THE DARKDEEP by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs should check this one out for sure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Boog, Cedric and Aaron are Black. Jules is Latine and nonbinary.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Vampires exist but haven’t been seen since a team called The Vanquishers destroyed the last known group of them.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A couple tense, spooky moments.

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 VANQUISHERS in exchange for my honest review.