Summary from Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Delilah is finally united with Oliver—a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy tale. There are, however, complications now that Oliver has been able to enter the real world. To exist in Delilah’s world, Oliver must take the place of a regular boy. Enter Edgar, who agrees to take Oliver’s role in Delilah’s favorite book. In this multilayered universe, the line between what is on the page and what is possible is blurred, but all must be resolved for the characters to live happily ever after. Check out our Youtube channel on the right! The Sno-Isle Libraries Teen Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/snoisleteens Twitter: @dontkillabiblio Tumblr: http://booksandthebeasts.tumblr.com/ Alise has her own channel for acting! https://www.youtube.com/user/lilylixi
0 Comments
Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers. When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose. Summary by Goodreads After interviewing Ten author Gretchen McNeil, I decided to read another of her books--this time, the first of the Don't Get Mad series, the second book of which comes out in a few months--I can't wait!
This book is dark and suspenseful, almost more so than Ten, in fact, because it's set in such a nonchalant setting instead of a stormy, dark island with no one around. I enjoyed that it was set in a Catholic school, though a bit cliche at times. I think the characters in this book are a little bit static, but overall pretty relatable and their emotions were conveyed nicely through Gretchen's writing style. Fabulous job :) As for plot, it actually moved a tad slowly in the middle, but really fast at the beginning and the end. There seemed to be a lot of unrelated subplots that occasionally distracted from the overall goal, which can get frustrating, but my suspicion is that these subplots tie in to later books--oh, and definitely don't read this if you don't like cliffhangers! Can't wait to see how this one is resolved. However, as far as this book goes, it's a solid eight out of ten! Read on for further commentary/some spoilers! Thanks for reading! -Mallory It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury. But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine? I first want to mention that this book takes place in our (the Bibliomaniac's) high school, so we're all familiar with the places mentioned in the book.
This novel is definitely suspenseful and keeps you at the edge of your seat. The first time I read it, I was alone at home and it was raining outside and I. was. freaking. out. To think that these events were happening to my fictional classmates and were at a place that I was familiar with. The book is very fast-paced and the people are dying one after the other so you're never bored. The second time I read this, I searched and found all the Easter eggs and references that I didn't the first time around and made all the connections that the reader doesn't make until the end of the book. So overall, reading this book was enjoyable for me both times around. -Alise Read more for a small Q&A with the author and to know why I would give this a 7 out of TEN! A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. This book has a 4.29 star rating on Goodreads and a number that high is really rare to see, but this book definitely deserves it. Now, some may be put off by the cover and think it's a junior reading level book, but it's definitely YA which means everyone can and should read it. It falls into the LGBT genre and if you're interested in reading something from this genre, this is a great book to start with. The story is about the relationship between two friends rather than heavy controversial issues though it does bring the problem to our attention, but doesn't make it the core of the story. It is, in the simplest terms, a story about two friends growing up and discovering themselves (and the universe, of course).
The story is told from Ari's point of view though it could be argued that both boys are equally the main character. The boys themselves are complete opposites of one another, yet the same in their boyish fun. They spend their days during the summer at the pool and live in a Mexican prevalent society in El Paso, Texas where the two of them don't exactly fit in, Dante for not being "Mexican enough" and Ari for just not caring about anything or anyone. This, if nothing else, brings them together. It's a very character-driven book rather than plot-driven which is possibly the reason why it's so appealing. Read on for more discussion of the characters and spoilers -Alise My mother always called it the eventuality. Not the maybe, or the probably. ‘It’s going to happen,’ she would tell me calmly. ‘I even know when. It’s a twist in my stars. It’s written there, and we have to accept it. My mother, Joanne Nielsen Crowe. She has a name, she’s not a was. Avicenna Crowe’s mother, Joanne, is an astrologer with uncanny predictive powers and a history of being stalked. Now she is missing. The police are called, but they’re not asking the right questions. Like why Joanne lied about her past, and what she saw in her stars that made her so afraid. But Avicenna has inherited her mother’s gift. Finding an unlikely ally in the brooding Simon Thorn, she begins to piece together the mystery. And when she uncovers a link between Joanne’s disappearance and a cold-case murder, Avicenna is led deep into the city’s dark and seedy underbelly, unaware how far she is placing her own life in danger. Goodreads Summary NOTE: Australian YA fiction is beginning to become popular in America!
Rebecca Lim is an Australian-based author and as of late, Australian YA novels are permeating into the mainstream flow of popular YA and I can see why. Though it's not one the best books I've ever read, The Astrologer's Daughter is definitely intriguing. The author weaves the complex layers together to keep the reader interested and wanting to know how the mystery ends up. There's a constant atmosphere of danger and mystic that makes the book appealing, yet the confusion with all the characters almost ruins it for me. Because it's a mystery with a lot of layers, there are constant characters that are constantly coming and going and there's never something prominent about the character that helps the reader remember who is who. Avicenna and Simon, Avicenna's love interest and probably the second most important character in the book, aren't developed as thoroughly as I thought they should have been. Consequently, their decisions were always unexpected and not necessarily in a good way. Since the book obviously advertises that it incorporates astrology, it does, but beware if you don't know a thing about astrology. Fortunately, I do know some astrology. Even so, I wasn't able to note the significance as Avicenna explained star charts to clients since their "harsh aspects between Mars and the sun conjunct Venus, between Mars and the ascendant, between the moon and Jupiter, between both the luminaries and Mars... Couple those stars with multiple afflictions to natal Mercury..." You get the picture. The author never teaches you anything about astrology or explains any technical aspect to it (sorry if you're disappointed). Thankfully, she does explain the characteristics that are created in the person by their star chart so something does come out of it, but the rest is almost extraneous. But if you can keep track of the characters and their names, I do suggest this book for you because underneath all it's flaws, it really is an intriguing book. Read on for spoilers and more discussion of the characters! -Alise What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once? Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control. Amazon Summary This was recommended to me by my fellow bibliomaniacs, and it does not disappoint. Lara Jean (love the name, by the way) is a very well-developed character that is very family-oriented but still becoming of a normal high school girl.
This sounds a bit like a gushy romance, but I can assure you that it is not--it is written from a very realistic point of view and the main characters are all very relatable. This book is cleverly and amazingly earmarked by its complexity and the emotional depth of the characters. Overall, I'd say around an 8/10 for this book. I am very much looking forward to the sequel, P.S. I Still Love You, coming out May 26th, 2015! Read on for spoilers! -Mallory This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year. Summary from Amazon I was able to make it through middle school by reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants so of course I was more than excited to read this book, but it truthfully is a disappointment to read. I'd give it 2.5 stars out of 5 because kudos for the idea, thumbs down for the execution.
The writing was very disjointed and would jump from one thing to another without finishing developing the first idea. Brashares spent a lot of time developing the future world from which Prenna came and not the present world where the story was taking place. If the novel wasn't discussing what the future is like and explaining what the plot was rather than showing, it was discussing what Prenna and Ethan were planning to do and then the two would not actually do it. Consequently, readers were not able to connect with the characters at all. This could also be due to the fact that Prenna and Ethan were flat as a piece of paper. Though they're lovable, all we see them do is solve the problem, try in vain to not fall in love, and play cards. The plot is very urgent within itself. The two have to save somebody from being murdered so the future wouldn't be so drastic. Instead of doing so, Prenna and Ethan, frolick in the ocean and play cards. Now this would've been a great time to develop their character, but it didn't happen. In their down time (of which they seemed to have a lot), Ethan would teach Prenna how to play card games since this was something she didn't learn in her training to be an early 21st century girl. I think Brashares was trying to make card games a motif and symbolic of the plot, connecting how some were tricky, others were based on luck/chance, and one needed skills to play cards, but it never connected. At the end of the novel, the reader is just left thinking, "well, that's a waste of their time." The plot and setting itself is very intricate and detail-oriented, and this would have been SUCH a terrific novel if it had just been executed better. "I live in the in between. Between what if and what is. It’s how I manage. It’s the only way I know. Everyone has their way. This is mine." When high school cell phone disruption forces a classroom ban, the words on a Post-it note spark a sticky romance between two unlikely friends. Transfer student Talia Vanderbilt has one goal at her new school: to blend in with the walls. Lagan Desai, basketball captain and mathlete, would do just about anything to befriend the new girl. One Post-it note at a time, Lagan persuades Talia to peel back her heart, slowly revealing her treasure chest of pain—an absent mother, a bedridden brother, and an abusive father. In a world where hurt is inevitable, the two teens search for a safe place to weather the storms of life. Together. Amazon Summary ALL THE FEELS for this one. ALL OF THEM. This book really hits it out of the park; it's one of the only book with flashbacks that I actually enjoyed. Most of the time, those drive me out of my mind but the backstory in this book was quite enjoyable, and not distracting but rather revealing of the plot. The romance in this book is PERFECT: slow and ALMOST so slow you want to scream but then beauty returns to the world! And it's so unlikely and random that you feel like it's real life. It's a great new twist on realistic fiction that I loved! Can't wait to read Seeing through Stones, because we find out more about Talia's brother, Jesse. Read on for spoilers! -Mallory :Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come. When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future. Amazon Summary Okay, so I reviewed another of Cat Patrick's books, Just Like Fate, the other day and figured that this is now the only one I haven't yet read I might as well read it. I was NOT DISAPPOINTED again, because obviously Cat Patrick is amazing and my favorite author. She knows how to weave suspense into a story. I think London is awesome, and quite quick-witted. Luke and she are probably some of my favorite of Cat Patrick's couples, after Sean and Lizzie in The Originals. I honestly think that Cat Patrick's debut novel is one of her best because it's really bold. And I love how, in the back, it gives you the source of inspiration. I think that the romance in this story is very well written because even though it's evidently essential to the plot it is still not THE ONLY THING IN THE BOOK like it has been in other, similar books I've read. Overall, this book is a 9/10 for me! Read on for spoilers! -Mallory |
ArchivesHome
November 2015
Categories
All
Request a book review from us on our contact page or social media! |