Tag Archives: young adult

Fire Blessed by Crystin Goodwin

Last fall I read UnBlessed by Crystin Goodwin and, while I recommend it. I refused to tell you about it. 

I didn’t want to ruin the experience.

Now I have read the sequel, Fire Blessed, and I’m still not telling.

I can’t tell you how it was that the author took a story that sucked me in so completely, expanded it and made the next installment even better without spoiling it for you.

I can’t give away just how the characters, that I wished had more substance in the first book, are fleshed out in this one. (But now there are characters of such complexity that I can’t decide if I love them or hate them.)

I can’t hint at the scheming going on behind the scenes. If you haven’t read UnBlessed you must come to it at it’s proper time. (But oh the scheming!)

And I can’t possibly tell you exactly how it leaves you at the end. (But I’m ready for book three!)

What can I tell you?

I can tell you that I’d absolutely recommend that you read it for yourself!

Would I recommend it? Start with UnBlessed (or it just wouldn’t be right) and have this one at hand for as soon as you reach the last page!

 

Will O’ The Wisp by C.S. Boyack

I want to say that reading this book is akin to watching a horror movie, but my actual knowledge of horror movies is severely limited because they scare the bejeebers out of me.

This is some of the best cover art I’ve seen in a bit, it fits the book absolutely perfectly. In fact my heart started pounding again just looking at it.

So you tell me.

If a book…

-Says, per the book blurb, that ” It involves a strong element of suspense…” (Or translated into layman’s speak- your elevated vitals will have you feeling like you just ran a marathon while reading this book).

-Has a main character and sidekicks that have you yelling at them “What are you doing?!? WHY? Why would you do that… no… what?!! Have you no sense of self-preservation!?”

-And was a non-stop page turner despite the fact that you wished for more character development in some cases and a bit better plot flow in others.

Does all that make it like a horror film?

I think it may be the next blockbuster.

It’ll probably be great.

I’m never watching it.

Would I recommend it? It was scary and icky and Dear Lord had I read this as a kid I would never have gone into the woods at night again – but wow was it a page turner. I think if horror is your thing this could be the book for you. But if you, like me, would rather get off the couch and actually run to elevate your vitals, you might want to take a pass on this one.

Rosie's Book Review team 1

 

This honest review was given in return for a free copy of the book from its author.

The Immortals by Tamora Pierce

My first introduction to Tamora Pierce was in her Beka Cooper series. (You can read a review/movie rant here where I sort of talk about Terrier.) I was hooked and then delighted to discover another two dozen books by the same author, many set in the same world. I had reading to do!

Last year I binge read The Song of the Lioness Quartet and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then, last week, feeling under the weather, I got all four of The Immortals books from the library and promptly devoured them.

The Beka Cooper books (Terrier, Bloodhound and Mastiff) are, so far, still my favorite – as an adult. The Song of the Lioness quartet I enjoyed, but would have loved as a kid. The Immortals? The Immortals main character can talk to animals. I’d have been over the moon to have discovered this when it was written!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would I recommend it? These are the kind of fun, strong, female character books that I can’t wait to introduce my own girls to. When I hand the first of these to them I’ll be crossing my fingers that at least one of my girls will like it as much as I do!

 

Akarnae by Lynette Noni

The evening I finished Akarnae I sat down in front of the fire to write, unordered thoughts swirling in my head.

Do I go with the, “It’s like Harry Potter mixed with X-Men and The Chronicles of Narnia” quote?  Can I describe the pure awesomeness of Alex without giving things away? Characters, focus on characters. No friendships? The ways it’s better than typical young adult fantasy? The fun alternate world? The fantasticness that it is the first of a series…

Stymied by my enthusiasm, I decided to start at the beginning – the title.

People are going to need to know how to pronounce the title so they can find it and then tell all their friends about it.

I pulled the book out and started skimming through the first chapter knowing the phonetic spelling was hiding in it somewhere. Soon the skimming turned to reading, the pronunciation forgotten, and before I knew it I’d read the first quarter of the book again. 

Would I recommend it? Just in case that wasn’t clear, let me tell you again. The evening I finished the book I sat down and accidentally re-read the first quarter of the book- after reading the entire thing in less than two days.

I really liked this book and, because I know you’re still wondering, it’s pronounced Ah-kar-nay.

Now you can go find it, tell your friends about it and then, this is the really important part, after you read it tell me so we can sit down and talk about all the things that make it awesome!

 

The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

When I read Divergent I could understand why the books have gained such a following. But I also knew that while I enjoyed both the characters and the writing, I didn’t love the plot. No, actually it wasn’t the plot, it was the gimmick that was the crux of the plot. No… Awww heck. I try not to ever give much for details on a book but I give up. It was the serum induced sleepwalking, zombie soldier thing. I’m just not into mass serum induced invasions. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with it, it’s just not my thing. Maybe you’re cool with sleepwalking soldiers, and in that case I think you’ll probably really enjoy the book.

When I read Insurgent I had come to terms with the whole, we inject people with serums to get them to do crazy stuff, thing and thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Then I read Allegiant and found I was wearing cranky pants.

Because, suddenly, in the third book, we’ve introduced chapters from a second point of view. So, already I feel like perhaps this is a precursor to a plot twist that wasn’t thought out very well. Why now? Why wasn’t this alternate view scattered throughout the series? Then I read more and became glad it was contained in the last book. Because adding it in was irritating and odd but what was awful was that the two characters didn’t have distinct “voices.”

I love switching between points of view in a novel. I love “hearing” the inner workings of a new mind, getting new views, more insights. This was more like getting new eyes on the same mind. To the point where if there wasn’t enough character dialogue with names involved, I’d have to recheck who was narrating.  After flying through the first two books in days, I found this maddening to the point that it took me over a week to read the third book!

And the plot, which I had respected but hadn’t loved (it’s just that serum thing…), got… loose? Thin? Stretched? Simplified?

The world blossomed in Allegiant! The last book opened up back stories, future possibilities, more characters and character insights, it pushed characters to their limits and it filled in blanks from the first books but, judging by the first two books, I don’t think the author did it the justice that she could have.

It was disappointing.

Would I recommend it? No! Because the last one was so annoying it ruined everything!

Wait.

Hold on.

Let me just give these cranky pants back to my brother (they are obviously his) and think on this some more.

…

I think that if you’re ok with serum induced, sleepwalking, zombie soldiers you should for sure read the first two. I really liked the characters and watching what happened to them as their world pushed them. And then, because you can’t just leave it hanging, you should take a big breath, brace yourself, focus on the people and how they react under pressure and read the last one.

But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

“There’s a right way to do things and a wrong way, if you’re going to run a hotel in a smugglers’ town.”

There is a right way to do things and a wrong way… And to write a book that is engaging, wonderfully cozy and mysterious that spans just a handful of days while never leaving the premise of a snowbound hotel is great. But to do all that and have readers feel as though they’ve opened the whole world beyond the hotel as well…

That’s the right way to write a book, the really right way!

Would I recommend it? The day after I finished the book I dropped it off with my favorite young readers. This one is a new addition to my short list of favorite young adult novels!

UnBlessed by Crystin Goodwin

I could tell you…

I could tell you about the world. The magic of the elements and the animals. The ceremonies and the changes. The extensive history of the people.

But I’d hate to ruin the way the author unfolds it for you.

I could tell you in great detail the why’s and wherefores of the characters whom I loved and those who, upon reflection, I wished had been a little more fleshed out.

But I don’t want to introduce any prejudice. I want you to be as taken with the people as I was.

I could tell you what I absolutely loved and what left me wanting.

But I won’t.

I could even tell you just how it leaves you hanging at the end to send you running off to Amazon to see if her next book has yet been published.

I could tell you all of that.

But all that’s really important.

All I really feel you need to know.

Is that I have three young girls who all require breakfast in the early morning.

And the night I sat down to read (and eventually finish) this book I was left with far, far, less than the recommend eight hours of sleep a person is supposed to receive.

Far, far, less.

Would I recommend it? It was my turn for the morning shift with the girls and it was still totally worth it.

Rosie's Book Review team 1

This honest review was given in return for a free copy of the book from its author.

Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass

I love historical fiction but often I feel like I read a different spin on the same time and place over and over and…

Mind you, I’m not complaining, I still love it.

But a book written about post WWII soviet controlled Germany, from a German view point ? That was something entirely new.

Would I recommend it? This is a young adult novel and, as most young adult novels do, it contains a main character of an age that is full of angst, invincibility and self importance.  He is crafted so well that I could imagine sitting in a room and talking to him – except I wouldn’t want to.  However, he is so perfect in his irritating-ness that I’m still planning on shoving this book at all my friends and family that I know enjoy a young adult novel because it was really that good.

 

 

The Infernals and The Creeps by John Connolly

When you read these books, as you should, I highly recommend starting with The Gates. Not only will the books make more sense, as books in series are wont to do when read in sequential order, but then when the author berates readers for reading out of order as he provides/reminds the reader of  important details in the footnotes, you can giggle and smirk because you are not one of those readers yet still get the benefit of the reminder.

Brilliant.

Would I recommend them? Yes.

I did mention the footnotes and my love of them but I didn’t tell you about the chapter titles. Here is my favorite from The Creeps:

“In Which We Go on a Date – Well, Not “We” as in You and I, Because That Would Just Be Awkward, but We Go on a Date with Other People. No, Hang on, That’s Still Not Right. Oh, Never Mind Just Read the Chapter.”