"The Opposite Books" Tag

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Hello, everyone! This is The Opposite Books tag created by minhaestante over on Youtube. I was tagged by Stellah in The Little Book Nerd’s Life.

The first book in your collection and the last book you bought.

The earliest book I have in my collection right now would be Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. I loved and still love the Ramona books to death. Those books are hilarious and heart-warming and the perfect series to hook a young mind to reading. The last book I bought would be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I found it at Goodwill and jumped in joy. Jane Eyre is fantastic and one of my absolute favorite classics.

A cheap book and an expensive book.

Let’s see… I have bought A LOT of books from used book stores so I don’t know which one the cheapest is. My copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was only $0.25. The most expensive book would be Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan; it was $19.99 dollars of pain and disbelief. I regret buying that book to this day; it was highly disappointing and I refuse to take it as a legitimate conclusion.

A book with a male protagonist and a book with a female protagonist.

For male protagonist, I will choose I Hunt Killers series by Barry Lyga. These books are about Jasper Dent, the son of the most notorious serial killer in the world. Jasper is set on clearing his name when murders, very similar to the works of his imprisoned father, starts again in their area. These books are intelligent, violent and downright scary at times. I see Jasper as almost a teenage version of Sherlock (from the BBC show, not the books). For a book with a female protagonist (which is more than 90 percent of YA books these days)… I’m just going to go with a childhood favorite, Junie B. Jones. I have read every Junie B. Jones book, and if Barbara Parks chose to write more, I would still read them.

A book you read fast and one that took you long to read. 

A book that I read fast… I think that would be the Twilight series which took me roughly a week and a half to read in the sixth grade. A book that took me a long time to read would be Game of Thrones; I love that book but it took me almost two months to get through that whole thing.

A book with a pretty cover and one with an ugly one. 

I love the cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. It’s a YA Sci-Fi, about Marguerite, whose physicist parents have made a machine that can take you to parallel universes.

 

 

 

Winger by Andrew Smith. I like this book, but the cover is awful. The boy has a bloody napkin stuffed in his nose!

 

 

 

A national book and an international book. 

By national, I’m assuming it means United States (since that’s where I am). I guess I’ll go with Hunger Games since it is supposed to be a future United States. For an international book, I would choose Written in Stars by Aisha Saeed. It’s about a Pakistani-American teen names Naila whose very strict parents takes her back to Pakistan after they find out she has a boyfriend. I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did.

A thin book and a thick book.

Hmm… the thinnest book I have read would be The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson. It takes place during the post-Reconstruction era in America, and follows the journey of a biracial man having to choose between being black in a openly racist society or passing as white and betraying his heritage. The thickest book I own (as in the book with the most pages), would be A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin.

A fiction book and a non-fiction book.

Seeing that 98 percent of what I read is fiction, I’ll go with my go to answer and say Harry Potter. One of my favorite non-fiction that I’ve read back in middle school is Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah. It’s about her experience growing up in China during WWII, in a family that considers her bad luck because her mother died two weeks after giving birth to her.

A way too romantic book and an action book. 

I think, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi had too much cringe-worthy romance without needing to. Needless to say, I do not like those books. For an action book, I will say The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. It’s sci-fi/Fantasy in a world that has been taken over by aliens who look like humans. It follows Cassie who for a long time believes she is the only human left on the planet.

A book that made you happy and a book that made you sad.

I think a lot of the times, the same book makes me both happy and sad. In the Afterlight, the conclusion to the Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken, made me feel both extremely happy and very sad. It was the perfect conclusion, but as with all my favorite book series, I never wanted it to end.

Want to do this tag? Go right ahead.

Review: "Clockwork Princess" by Cassandra Clare

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~o~Rating~o~
5 tp

Warning: Clockwork Princess is the third book to the Infernal Devices

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

Danger and betrayal, love and loss, secrets and enchantment are woven together in the breathtaking finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

~o~Review~o~

I finished the conclusion to the Infernal Devices and I’m still not sure how I feel about this book. Reading this book was definitely an emotional roller coaster. All in all, I think Clare did a wonderful job concluding this series. The ending, for me, was unexpected but I liked it

The book starts with Tessa preparing for her wedding with Jem. The threat of Mortmain is still hanging over the Shadowhunters but they haven’t heard of him in a while. I love books where you get to explore the minds of the side characters as well as the main characters because it gives them a certain depth. This is something I really liked in this book and this book series in general.

I am completely in love with this book! And if you haven’t read it yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

I don’t even know where to start. I think all the characters tied in to the story very nicely. I liked how Clare wrapped up the stories of the side characters. I felt the ending for the side characters were a little “too” perfect with Gideon ending up with Sophie and Gabriel with Cecily, but I didn’t mind it. I like happy endings, however cliche like. I thought Gideon and Sophie were really cute. I am also glad Charlotte was appointed Consul; she would be absolutely perfect!

Alright, *deep breath* to the trio. Like Tessa, I absolutely LOVE both Jem and Will so much! In most love triangles, the guys will do anything for the girl (which is still the case here) but I love how Will and Jem will also do anything for each other. They’re not just best friends, they’re brothers; they’re more than brothers, they’re blood brothers. Their souls are tied together.

I really liked the scene from Charlotte’s point of view when we see how Will and Jem first met when they were twelve. Jem is all Will had for five years, the one person he had allowed himself to show affection for because he was already dying. (Off topic but when I found out Will actually wasn’t cursed in Clockwork Prince, I felt so bad for him! For all these years he thought no one loved him and he pushed everyone away. Seriously, if I was a Shadowhunter the first I’d do is go after that stupid blue demon). Anyway, we get to see just how much Will and Jem mean to each other which was just so… touching (why can’t I think of a better word?).

After the fighting scene with the automatons, Tessa is kidnapped and Jem is very badly injured. Will, instead of going after Tessa immediately (which is no doubt what most other YA “heroes” would do if the love of their life was kidnapped by a psychotic witch), he sits besides Jem for hours because he knows Jem will need his strength from the parabatai rune. Yes he wants to go after Tessa but he couldn’t stand the chance of his best friend dying even though he had years to grasp that idea. Does that not want to make you bawl?!

Jem on his “deathbed” finally finds out Will was also in love with Tessa and tells him to go after her. Will hesitates because he knows Jem will most likely die without him but he goes anyway.

The scene in the stable when Will’s parabatai rune starts hurting and bleeding was so intense! Jem was dead, I couldn’t believe it! Honestly, I actually started admiring Clare at that point for killing off a well-loved main character. I had started grieving for Jem already. But then we find out, no, he’s not dead. He turned into a Silent Brother. Okay, I’m not going to lie, that did sort of make me roll my eyes. But I did get used to the idea pretty quickly.

I think the final battle between the Shadowhunters and Mortmain was short but enough to satisfy me. I liked that in the end, Tessa is the one who kills Mortmain. I think that was ideal. Her turning into her clockwork angel surprised me, I guess I was underestimating her power. Either way, I loved how she crushed Mortmain with “her” hand. Imagining that scene made me unusually cheerful.

Now, to the Epilogue. That Epilogue killed me, resurrected me with the resurrection stone, then killed me again.

As I understand, the epilogue was very controversial. Something I hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about was how Tessa was immortal and Will was not. I knew that Will was going to grow old and die while Tessa will remain in her youth but I guess I didn’t really grasp the idea until I read the epilogue. One part of me really disliked Cassandra Clare for writing about Will’s death. I didn’t want to witness Will growing old and dying. But I do understand and I praise her for writing it. I don’t think I’ve ever thought reading about a death was beautiful, but Will’s death scene was BEAUTIFUL.

Jem sat down his bow, and came toward the bed, drawing back his hood, so she  could see his closed eyes and his scarred face. And he had sat down beside them on the bed and taken Will’s hand, the one that Tessa was not holding, and both Will and Tessa had heard Jem’s voice in their mind.

I take your hand, brother, so that you may go in peace.

Will had opened the blue eyes that had never lost their color, over all the passing years, and looked at Jem and Tessa, and smiled, and died, with Tessa’s head on his shoulder and his hand in Jem’s.

Wasn’t that just the sweetest thing?? I also love how Magnus comforts Tessa after Will’s death. He tells her that the first you love who dies is always the hardest. Poor Magnus, did I mention how much I love Magnus?

Jem finally finding a cure and ending his bonds to the Silent Brothers was understandable. He went to the Silent Brothers for Will and Tessa and because he wanted to live for them. If a cure was found, of-course he would use it. Jem and Tessa ending up together was nice. I believe Will would be happier than anyone else to see the two people he loved the most being happy together. I also feel very sorry for Tessa right now; Jem is now a mortal and he is also going to grow old and die. At-least she has Magnus; he’s someone who can understand her.

 

Review: "A Thousand Nights" by E.K Johnson

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21524446~o~Rating~o~
4.5 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~ 

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

~o~Review~o~

I know, the synopsis sounds quite a bit like Arabian Nights (also known as One Thousand and One Nights) and the two concepts are similar but this story is nothing like Scheherazade’s.

To readers who are looking for typical YA books filled with action and romance: this is not for you. A Thousand Nights is a thought provoking, slightly eerie but beautiful book. It’s like an elegantly written folk tale.

The story is set in a Fantasy world which takes a few traits from the early Islamic era in the Middle East. In this world, djinns (more commonly referred to as genies) roam the earth. Lo-Melkhiin is the ruler of a desert kingdom. Every girl he marries dies; everyone knows this but no one has tried to stop him from marrying because his rule has brought peace to the kingdom.

None of the characters except Lo-Melkhiin have names which, in my opinion, fits the story very well. The book starts off a little slow and full of details but the details were necessary for later chapters.

The two dynamics between the men and the women were also interesting to see. The men of-course believe they hold all the power, not realizing the strength and complexity of the women characters.

The main character is witty, determined, and fiercely loyal. She beautifies herself so Lo-Melkhiin will definitely pick her as his wife and spare her sister. I thought she was a great character. Growing up in the harsh desert land made her strong and confident in her abilities. She has rightfully earned her place as one of my favorite YA heroines.

Review: "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard

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22328546~o~Rating~o~
2.5 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart …

~o~Review~o~

“Words can lie. See beyond them.”

Like a lot of other people, I have very mixed feelings about this book. Standing alone, Red Queen isn’t a bad book, a pretty good one actually. But see, it doesn’t stand alone. Every new book I read, I automatically compare to every other book I have read because that’s how my mind judges books. And comparatively, this book seemed… unoriginal. Not because the plot wasn’t good but because so many books like this already exists. If you’ve read Pawn by Aimee Carter, Red Queen is basically that but with people with superpowers. Maybe mix a little of The Selection in there. It’s also being compared to Red Rising by Pierce Brown, which I haven’t read, but judging by the blurb it seems very similar to this book.

Red Queen combines a few popular tropes together. A Fantasy land with corrupt monarchs who don’t care about the lower classes. Lower class girl is somehow “special” and finds herself mingling with royalty and of-course falling in love with a guy from the upper class (in this case, the prince). And the inevitable rebellion in which, very conveniently, the girl becomes the face of.   

Mare as a whole seemed bratty and selfish. The type of selfish who doesn’t realize she is selfish nonetheless. Characters like Katniss know they are selfish. Characters like Mare have no idea and then get upset at the world for not liking her.

She’s also rash when it comes to big decisions, which isn’t unlike a lot of YA main characters, but it’s her reactions that bothered me. She takes a huge risk and when all doesn’t go according to her plans, she’s all “*gasp* what have I done?!” (This is not a direct quotation). What in all of HADES did she expect?!

And don’t even get me started on the love triangle/square. I disliked all three guys. None of them are appealing and I felt no connection whatsoever. The only guy I felt a bit of sympathy for was Lucas (the security guard).

However, there are pros to the book. The description of the world was well done. You could clearly see the contrast between the lifestyles of the Reds and the Silvers. And I liked the end scenes. The ending is why I’ll continue this series.

Give it a try, you might enjoy it.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

Something that kept bothering me is the fact that Mare is supposed to be this powerful Red who makes electricity but she never had any inclination of it before. She can suddenly feel electricity buzzing wherever she goes but where was that sense when she lived in the Red village? She mentions once that she wasn’t around electricity much but that doesn’t mean she was completely without it. And since she had the ability to create electricity, wouldn’t that mean she could just create some? (I know she did that one time when the lights were off at her house but that was just once in what? Seventeen years?) Shouldn’t she have at least figured out she wasn’t completely normal? Just doesn’t make any sense.

Review: “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo

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23437156~o~Rating~o~
5 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Kaz’s crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

~o~Review~o~

OH MY GOSH THIS WAS SO GOOD I CAN’T EVEN! I loved EVERYTHING about this book. The characters. The setting. The plot. The dialogue. The writing. EVERYTHING!

Six of Crows has been getting a lot of hype lately in the book community so I decided to take a risk and buy it (which isn’t something I usually do unless I really like an author). And if you can’t tell already I LOVED IT.

This book takes place in the Grisha world from the Grisha Trilogy also by Leigh Bardugo but you do not have to read the trilogy to read this book. I haven’t read the original series (I started to a while ago but didn’t get far) so I went into this world blind and not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.

Six of Crows has five different perspectives of five VERY different characters and every one of them was written wonderfully. Usually when you have more than two or three point of views, some of the characters start to seem flat and unnecessary but not here. I fell in love with all the characters in this team of misfits even though some of them are far off from being good people. Bardugo did a great job explaining their background and the events that brought them to Ketterdam.

The romance in this book is more teasing than anything else. It’s not a big part of the plot; it’s there but barely. The writing is great! One of the best I’ve seen in YA fiction. The setting is descriptive but never bores you. It’s action packed without any dull moments. Basically, it’s what they call “a page turner”.

READ IT!

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

Me, usually when reading books: *frustrating sigh* would you guys please quit kissing and go defeat the giant army out to get you?

Me, during this book: Guys, I don’t care who comes to kill you next, WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST GET TOGETHER. Are you seriously going to make me wait until SEPTEMBER to find out what happens?!

Can I just say that Nina and Matthias are SO CUTE! And Inej and Kaz! And Wylan and Jesper!

Inej had better come back in one piece. And Nina better not go crazy. And Wylan better get his face back. Well… I guess I’ll hibernate until September.

~o~ Disney Princess Tag ~o~

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I came across this tag over at The Little Book Nerd’s Life and it looked fun. I love Disney princesses so this is perfect! My favorite, of course, is Mulan. This tag was created by Soudha at Of Stacks and Books. Alright then, onwards!

1. Snow White – Name your favorite classic:

The one and only The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It took me two reads to love this book and I think it fully deserves its place as a classic must-read.

2. Cinderella – A book that kept you reading way past your bedtime:

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. I couldn’t put this book down until I finished it. It was a great ending to the trilogy.

3. Aurora – Name your favorite classic romance:

 Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy, in my opinion, is the wittiest classical female character and Mr. Darcy is… well, Mr. Darcy. Need there be another explanation?

4. Ariel – Name a book that’s all about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams:

I think most YA books are about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams. Because I can’t help myself and not include Harry Potter in something, I’ll go with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. They are all fighting for a greater future for the next generation so their children could live the dreams that they couldn’t

5. Belle – Name a book with a smart and independent female character:

June Iparis from the Legend series by Marie Lu. June is smart, independent, strategic and one of the bravest protagonists I’ve read about.

6. Jasmine – Name a book with a character who challenged the social conventions in his or her world:

Naila in Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed. Naila is a Pakistani-American teenager with strict, traditional parents. When her parents find out she’s been dating someone, they take her back to Pakistan under the ruse of a vacation and forces her into an arranged marriage. Naila is a very strong and willful character who doesn’t let her world’s society define her.

7. Pocahontas – Name a book whose ending was a roller coaster of emotions:

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken: the last book to The Darkest Minds series. You know when you’re reading a really good book and you want it to end to know what happens but at the same time you never want it to end? This book was definitely that.

8. Mulan – Name a book with a kick-ass female character:

Katsa from Graceling by Kristen Cashore. Katsa is good at everything! Bow and Arrows? No problem. Sword fight? She can fight you with her eyes closed. Brawling? You better pray she only knocks you unconscious with no permanent damage.

9. Tiana – Name a book featuring a hardworking, self-made character:

Artemis Fowl from the infamous Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Artemis made his own reputation as the criminal mastermind that he is at age ten. His reputation wasn’t a very good one but there’s no doubt he worked pretty hard to get there. His extraordinary intelligence doesn’t hurt either.

10. Rapunzel – Name a book that features an artist:

Both main characters, twins Noah and Jude, in I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson are phenomenal artists. They’re prodigies: Noah in painting and Jude in sculpting and designing.

11. Merida – Name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship:

11870085

I had to think about this one for so long because YA books so rarely have mothers who are present in the characters’ lives. The award goes to Hazel and her mom from the one and only The Fault In Our Stars by the great John Green. Hazel loves and respects her mom and actually listens to her. And her mom does the same.

12. Anna and Elsa – Name a book that features a great relationship between siblings:

Penryn and Paige from Angelfall by Susan Ee. Penryn would go to the ends of the Earth to protect her little sister. I mean, she infiltrated a den of evil angels of the Apocalypse for the small chance of finding her alive.

Review: "Passenger" by Alexandra Bracken

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 ~o~Rating~o~
4 tp

~o~Goodreads synopsis~o~

passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

~o~Review~o~

“The only way out is through.”

My expectation for this book was very high. I mean, I have declared Alex Bracken as my favorite YA author because the Darkest Minds books. So when I started reading this book and didn’t have that gripping feeling of finishing it as soon as I could, I was slightly disappointed. But as I said, my expectations were unnaturally high and that doesn’t in any way mean Passenger was a bad book. It’s a good book. It just isn’t the masterpiece I was expecting it to be. Which, again, isn’t very fair to expect anyway.

It took me a while to get into the book. The first half of the book is mostly world-building and character development, which is great don’t get me wrong, but it’s also dull. I was left confused for the first hundred pages or so and kept wondering what was going on. Now, even though I did have to sludge on through a few chapters because of the heavy description, it’s a known fact that Alex Bracken is a fantastic writer. (Well…known to me at-least). Once I got past the first few chapters, it got A LOT better. I loved reading about the different time periods they traveled to.

Passenger is written in two perspectives: Etta and Nicholas. Etta is a violin prodigy with an eccentric mother who has a very strange ways of showing affection. She has no other family, her mother never talks about Etta’s father. The only other present person in her life beside her mother is her violin instructor: an elderly woman named Alice. Etta is your typical YA female protagonist: smart, stubborn, doesn’t take no for an answer, determined, doesn’t listen to authority figures, prideful and thinks she can do anything alone, etc. But as far as protagonists go, she’s actually pretty cool. She’s confident but isn’t ashamed of accepting help when she needs it.

Nicholas is a black man (or boy, I guess. He’s about 20ish) living in the very racist society of the 1770s. The two perspectives actually sounded like two different people which is a rarity in YA fiction. Nicholas grew up as a slave and his freedom was later bought by a captain of a ship. Coming from a society that judged him openly for his skin color, all Nicholas wanted was complete independence and a ship that he could own.

Their relationship is gradual and doesn’t overpower the plot which is a huge bonus for Bracken. And sadly, Nicholas is one of the only African-American main love interests I’ve encountered in YA so far.

It might seem boring at first, but it does get better. Read it! And if you haven’t already, pick up The Darkest Minds books which are also by Alexandra Bracken.

Review: "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien

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~o~Rating~o~
5 tp

~o~Goodreads Summary~o~ 

They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated bibles, each other. And if they made it home alive, they carried unrelenting images of a nightmarish war that history is only beginning to absorb. Since its first publication, The Things They Carried has become an unparalleled Vietnam testament, a classic work of American literature, and a profound study of men at war that illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart and soul.

~o~Review~o~

They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.

No review that I write will, in any way, justify what this book is. In an interview, Tim O’Brien said that a true war story should capture “your heart and stomach and the back of the throat”. And it did.

I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.

Tim O’Brien is a veteran from the Vietnam war. The Things They Carried reads like a memoir, it even has a character named Tim O’Brien in the book, but it is categorized as fiction because the author has stated that most of the stories in the novel are not true. That said, the stories are so real it’ll take you to Vietnam with this group of drafted soldiers who are fighting in a war they don’t want to be in.

The novel is written in a series of short stories that seem unrelated at first but intertwine as the book continues. Some of the lines O’Brien writes are so incredible that you want to put the book down and just process his words.

It took him twenty years after the war to write this book and it’s clear how much he still thinks about those days. This is an excerpt taken from his interview:

I think young people, in particular, need to understand the complications and the ambiguities of these things, and to hear it from someone who has not only gone to a war, but devoted a lifetime to suffering from it.

This is a horrible review for a wonderful book. Take my word for it if you will and read it.

Here’s a link to the interview I keep bringing up if anyone cares to watch: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics-jan-june10-obrien_04-28/

 

Review: "Lies We Tell Ourselves" by Robin Talley

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20579291~o~Rating~o~
5 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept separate but equal.

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

~o~Review~o~

“Colored people aren’t the same as whites. They aren’t as smart. They haven’t accomplished the things we have. They aren’t as good as we are.”

I’ve been reading too many sad books back to back. This can’t be healthy.

This book was horrifying in the sense that everything that happens in the book no doubt had also happened to someone in real life during this time period. Lies We Tell Ourselves takes place in a Virginia city where schools were ruled to be integrated for the first time. We learn in school how chaotic this time period was, and we celebrate in class when we learn about the end of segregation. But we rarely focus on the huge emotional toll it took for those few black kids who first went to attend a former all-white school. They had to dodge taunts every minute of every day; it was physical and emotional torture. The teachers were just as racist as the students even if they were less direct about it.

This book brings to light two big issues: racism and prejudice against LGBT+ groups. As if being black wasn’t bad enough during this time, Sarah Dunbar also had very “unnatural” and “sinful” feelings for girls. Sarah’s strength is inspiring, especially her ability to keep her head high when her world is falling apart.

Linda’s story is also a heartbreaking one. She struggles with forming her own opinions of black people with an abusive father who is very set against racial integration.

I wanted to jump into the book and give both girls a big bear hug. Read it!

Review: “The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender” by Leslye Walton

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~o~Rating~o~
5 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~ 

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.
That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

~o~Review~o~

“To many, I was myth incarnate, the embodiment of a most superb legend, a fairy tale. Some considered me a monster, a mutation. To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel. To my mother, I was everything. To my father, nothing at all. To my grandmother, I was a daily reminder of loves long lost.”

Wow. Just wow. I don’t know how to describe this book. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is just as the title suggests: it’s a strange and beautiful book. And filled with the sorrows spanning three generations starting with Ava’s grandmother. I loved it!

The writing is wonderful. Every character was given a thoughtful back story. Every single one. Though the title only mention Ava, the book is mostly third person because the story also follows everyone who is around Ava. To understand her story, you’d first have to understand the stories of her ancestors and neighbors.

“Love, as most know, follows its own timeline. Disregarding our intentions or well rehearsed plans.”

This book is categorized as Magical Realism. Ava is born with wings. But despite all the magical elements, the characters’ stories feel very real. The love stories were heart breaking and not at all like a typical Young Adult novel. Some parts of the book was actually painful to read because of how well Lesley Walton describes the sadness that comes with love and losing loved ones.

“And that might just be the root of the problem: we’re all afraid of each other, wings or no wings.”

It’s also a tale about what it means to be different. And the Roux-Lavender family was very strange indeed.

This book is magical. Stunning. And all the synonyms of “wonderful” in the dictionary. Go read it!