Young Adult Fiction

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

December 27, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: 05/30/17 | 361 Pages | Contemporary | Delacorte Press

This breakout novel has been dominating the bestsellers list since it came out and it’s popularity is really interesting because you rarely see a debut author without a massive social media following or platform hang on the list this long. I think some of it’s popularity may have to do with it’s elevator pitch. Five high school students walk into detention; the nerdy girl, the criminal bad boy, the homecoming princess, the jock and the outcast—and only five come out alive.

I…I think I may be the black sheep when it comes to this book. It just wasn’t what I expected. I thought it was going to be crime solving teens but the characters don’t actively come together to try to solve the crime they’re accused of until about 80% into the book. For most of the story they’re just like “yeah, that thing was weird” and keep on keepin’ on with their lives and personal drama while off screen lawyers handle the intricate details of the case. This story is more about the characters deepest secrets being revealed than solving a murder.

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Book Review Bundle : Warcross by Marie Lu

December 21, 2017 Leave a Comment

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Book Review Bundle : Little Wrecks by Meredith Miller

December 19, 2017 Leave a Comment

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Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

December 6, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: 05/30/17 | Contemporary | 385 pages | Buy Now !

At school, Eliza Mirk is the weird girl with no friends who never talks. At home she’s the black sheep among her athletic-obsessed family. She doesn’t think anyone can truly understand her until she meets the new boy in school, Wallace Warland. They bond over their love of Monstrous Sea, a popular fantasy webcomic. He’s the first person who gets what it means to have internet friends and be apart of an active online fandom–Wallace and his friends are BNF fan creators in the Monstrous Sea fan community. But what Wallace doesn’t know is that she’s not just any fan, she’s LadyConstellation–the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea.

This book absolutely captivated me, I devoured the whole thing in in one day and I haven’t done that in years. Zappia (who I believe used to be a book blogger) has this amazing handle on the importance of online friendship, what it means to negotiate your online self with your IRL self, the inner workings of rabid online fandoms while also incorporating important themes about mental illness and self care for creative people.

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Audiobook Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

November 29, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: 09/20/16 | Fantasy| 9 hours 52 minutes

I’m slowly learning fantasy just may not be my genre, I read a couple a year and have always been lukewarm on most of them but this book came through on my holds the same week the sequel hit the bestseller’s list so I decided to check it out.

Now, I do remember this book being talked about during BEA 2016 and Three Dark Crowns is pretty much What You See Is What You Get; Three sisters; Mirabella, Arsinoe and Katharine must kill their sisters in order to take the crown and become Queen of their island nation.

What I wasn’t expecting is just how much of a prequel this book is to that major plot point. For most of the book we follow the sisters, who were separated and raised on separate parts of the island territories, as they prepare for Belltane– the official event that means they can start trying to kill each other. I liked getting backstories on all of the sisters but it was just a lot. We have to learn the customs, magical abilities, culture and a host of side characters for three different areas. It felt like reading three books at once.

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They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

November 25, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: 09/05/17 | Contemporary-ish ? | 8 hours 29 minutes

They Both Die At The End is the Final Destination meets The Sun is Also A Star you didn’t know you needed.

It’s a little after midnight in New York City when 17-year-old foster kid Rufus Emeterio and 18-year-old Mateo Torrez get the phone alert from Death Cast, a mysterious service that somehow knows that within 24 hours you will meet an untimely death. When they both find themselves unable to be with their loved ones on their End Days they connect on the The Last Friend app. With less than 24 hours left to live these two unlikely strangers are going to have to try the best last day and they’re doing it together.

I’m a little conflicted over this book. Silvera is an great storyteller; his characters are interesting and he creates this great alternate universe that is only a few ticks off from our own world but you never feel confused or like you are getting an info dump. He just eases you into his imagination perfectly. But there were times when the story felt slow and stagnant and the over earnestness levels were at an all time high. Like at one point these New Yorkers bury a dead bird on the street and later they sing American Pie at karaoke, which if you aren’t familiar is a song with the chorus “Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die.”

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