Tag: genre: young adult

• Book Review: “Lady Renegades” by Rachel Hawkins (ARC)

  Posted at 4:45 am by Laura, on March 19, 2016

  Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins

  Publisher: Putnam
  Publishing Date: April 5
  Genre: young adult, contemporary, fantasy
  ISBN: 9780399256950
  Rating: ★★★

  Read my reviews for Rebel Belle (book 1) and Miss Mayhem (book 2) before continuing with this review!

  Overwhelmed by his Oracle powers, David flees Pine Grove and starts turning teenaged girls into Paladins—and these young ladies seem to think that Harper is the enemy David needs protecting from.  Ordinarily, Harper would be able to fight off any Paladin who comes her way, but her powers have been dwindling since David left town, which means her life is on the line yet again.

  Now, it’s a desperate race for Harper to find and rescue David before she backslides from superhero to your garden-variety type-A belle.

  After several weeks of what proves to be a boring, average summer, Harper and Bee begin to wonder just how immediate and threatening David’s powers actually are. They don’t need to wonder for long, because Paladins begin attacking Harper one after another, all claiming David sent them to kill her. Harper and Bee need Blythe’s help to find David before his powers get out of control and Harper’s dwindle away.

  The comedic elements in the trilogy were a bit lost in this final installment (bummer!) and replaced with a quest (road trip) and more magic (thanks, Blythe). Harper’s so caught up in her anxiety — losing her powers, losing David — that a lot of her more humorous one-liners and observations took a backseat. Secondary characters took on the funny lines, so it’s not all doom-and-gloom suddenly in this energetic, Buffy-esque trilogy.

  I’m not quite sure what I expected from Lady Renegades, except that it wasn’t this…and yet it was. I could guess the ending off the bat, but I’m here for the journey. The journey part is what deviated from my expectations. Getting from A to B took some random pit-stops in bizarre places with strange people, with surprises here and there to the plot and general story arc. And while it was odd…it worked. For that, I’m pleased. What is absolutely guaranteed, in this book and the others, is Ladies Kicking Butt. *applause*

  These three girls pile into a car for two weeks and travel across the south to little podunk towns, bars, flee-markets, and motels in their quest to find David. Each stop reveals more clues, which all point in the direction Harper hopes it wouldn’t. Time is ticking before the start of senior year — if Harper actually gets to experience senior year with rogue David on the loose — and Harper’s not sure what the future has in store for her or Pine Grove.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from GP Putnam’s Sons BFYR for review!

  .

  This qualifies as book 2 of 5 of the “Flights of Fantasy” Challenge, hosted by Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books and Rachel @ Hello, Chelly.

  Posted in books, Flights of Fantasy, Reviews 2016 | 1 Comment | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, flights of fantasy, genre: contemporary, genre: fantasy, genre: young adult, review

• Book Review: “Blackhearts” by Nicole Castroman

  Posted at 4:45 am by Laura, on February 25, 2016

  Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman

  Publisher: Simon Pulse
  Published: February 9
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction, romance
  ISBN: 9781481432696
  Rating: ★★★

  Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything.

  Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of one of Bristol’s richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. There’s just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back.

  Following her parents’ deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao—where her mother was born—when she’s stuck in England?

  From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay.

  Before he was Blackbeard the pirate, Edward “Teach” Drummond was a young sailor whose father, a wealthy Bristol merchant, wanted nothing more than a claim to the aristocracy. Teach is determined to defy his father and set sail again, but a run-in with a maid in the house, Anne, compels him to stay. When it becomes apparent she would love nothing more than to sail away from England as well, their circumstances become even more complicated.

  As I was reading this, I couldn’t help but feel this was a mash-up of BBC’s Poldark and Amma Asante’s Belle. Good things to compare it to, I promise. Teach’s temperament is very much like Poldark’s (plus, sailor. And tricorn hats. Swoon), and Anne’s complex social hierarchy, with her race and her inheritance, mirrors Dido’s. Toss in the Blackbeard element — that this is an origin story, as very little is known about Blackbeard’s life prior to his final years at sea — and you’re in for a PBS special in book form: slow-burning, rich, and complex.

  I want to gush about my favorite part of the book, but I can’t because it’s the ending. It’s satisfyingly unsatisfying; it leaves the reader hanging on such a pivotal movement that you can’t help but wonder what happens between that scene and Blackbeard’s appearance in historical documentation.

  And while this story is very much about Teach, it’s also an interesting story about Anne. Everything she represents. Historically, women do not have a voice. We know nothing about them, except the daily activities the educated women mentioned in their journals or letters (if they’re surviving). That’s such a slim margin of women in history, too. Toss in the fact Anne is mixed race in a time when everyone who was non-white was considered beyond inferior (I know we’re still struggling with race today, but bear with me), that anyone bearing a resemblance to Anne was typically a slave — and we’re really beginning to touch upon the lost voices in history. Anne represents those lost voices, and Anne represents mixed races and cultures today.

  This book is for the historical romance reader. While it’s not particularly covering a momentous time in history, the heart of the story lies in the everyday trials of a young man struggling for independence, and a young woman seeking a sense of belonging, and how these two individuals found each other.

  (And, of course, PIRATES.)

  This fulfills book 2 of 10 library books in 2016. 

  Posted in books, Reviews 2016 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, genre: young adult, review

• Book Review: “The Forbidden Orchid” by Sharon Biggs Waller (ARC)

  Posted at 6:15 am by Laura, on February 22, 2016

  The Forbidden Orchid by Sharon Biggs Waller

  Publisher: Viking Children’s
  Publishing Date: March 8
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780451474117
  Goodreads: —
  Rating: ★★★★.5

  Staid, responsible Elodie Buchanan is the eldest of ten sisters living in a small English market town in 1861. The girls’ father is a plant hunter, usually off adventuring through the jungles of China.

  Then disaster strikes: Mr. Buchanan fails to collect an extremely rare and valuable orchid, meaning that he will be thrown into debtors’ prison and the girls will be sent to the orphanage or the poorhouse. Elodie’s father has one last chance to return to China, find the orchid, and save the family—and this time, thanks to an unforeseen twist of fate, Elodie is going with him. Elodie has never before left her village, but what starts as fear turns to wonder as she adapts to seafaring life aboard the tea clipper The Osprey, and later to the new sights, dangers, and romance of China.

  But even if she can find the orchid, how can she find herself now that staid, responsible Elodie has seen how much the world has to offer?

  Elodie Buchanan’s father is a plant hunter, which means she only sees him once a year, and nine months later yet another sister is born. While some of the sisters are resentful of Papa — leaving their mother behind with yet another baby to care for in their small English village, one wrapped around a power-hungry deacon’s finger — Elodie can’t help but admire him and all he represents: adventure, beauty, and freedom. But when he does not return home from China and holes up in a tiny flat in Kew, Elodie takes matters into her own hands. If her father does not venture to China once more to gather a rare and valuable orchid before another threatening plant hunter does, the Buchanan women will be sent to the workhouses. It’s up to Elodie to stow away on a clipper ship, witness the aftermath of the China Wars, experience a culture wholly unlike England, and find the orchid before it’s too late.

  I’ll admit I had a few concerns before reading Waller’s sophomore novel. First, I adored A Mad, Wicked Folly, and sometimes it’s hard to beat out your own debut. Second, everything that China represented in the 1860s (poverty, opium, just how utterly terrible the English left them) felt unappealing. It’s just not something I want to read about, even though I know about the terrible history. Plus, ugh, another opium story / another girl-dresses-as-a-boy story? Third, as someone who doesn’t know much about plants or gardening, I thought I would find that aspect of it to be a bore.

  Let me be the first to tell you that every last scene, sentence, and word was worth it. All the hopes and joys, devastation and heartbreak, beautiful and terrible — all of it was worth it.

  Elodie is such a fascinating character. Every visit home her father would bring her books. He believed girls should have proper education just like boys. One Christmas, he brings home Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, and the way Elodie makes sense of it with her faith is encouraging and astounding. One does not negate the other. In fact, she’s able to make science and religion walk hand-in-hand — and the scene with her standing up to her deacon’s ignorance cracked me up. So yes, plants are discussed extensively in here, but it’s just as beautiful to read as it was to read about Vicky and her art. (Plus, also, I had no idea there was such a job as plant hunting. Of course there would be such a job, but that it could be so dangerous, and like a race! Fascinating.) Elodie is frustrated by the freedom a man’s life holds, but she also feels duty-bound to her mother and sisters. That torn feeling is understandably on her mind constantly, but not once did it feel like Waller was projecting 21st-century feminism into a 19th-century mind. I love it when a character stays true to the time!

  China is also not romantisized whatsoever, which was a relief. The beauty of the land untouched by war is, of course, observed and appreciated. Elodie learns a lot about Chinese culture through Ching Lan, a girl who joins the expedition to assist with translation and medicinal purposes. The subtle differences between Western and Eastern culture are exposed in such exquisite ways — the concept of honoring one’s family and yet still wanting to be independent and making one’s own choices, the ritual of tea, the way you treat another human to raise their station. But of course, the opium is a huge topic in the book as well. Not a moment of randomly dropping in opium dens just because — there’s a purpose. China was destroyed and the English made these poor people addicted to the drug. It’s prevalent, and it circles back around several times on Elodie’s journey. The meaning behind it only increased the story further.

  Finally, the girl-dressed-as-boy bit doesn’t last long. It didn’t feel unnecessary, but that, plus the marriage Elodie had to commit to, didn’t feel forced either. Every second of her situation is a plan gone wrong and her figuring out how to be strong and overcoming it. Her circumstances are less than ideal, but not hopeless. Especially with Alex by her side. He’s always there, but she’s the one doing the thinking, the reacting, the burden of the work. This YA was (blessedly) a Plot A Save the Family, Plot B Self-Discovery & Empowerment, and Plot C Romance. Budding and off to the side, just as Elodie was sorting out her priorities as well.

  Waller has convinced me, with this book, that I can read a dark period of history (China Wars) and come out not only knowing so much more (plants, opium, just how tied up women were) but also enjoying the experience of something I was once wary about (adventuring through China for a plant). It’s a cultural, historical journey with a compelling story, a fascinating protagonist, and a complex situation. It was such a joy to read a text so rich and full of life!

  Thank you, Sharon, for sending me a galley for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2016 | 2 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, review

• Book Review: “Into the Dim” by Janet B. Taylor (ARC)

  Posted at 6:00 am by Laura, on February 16, 2016

  Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

  Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
  Publishing Date: March 1
  Genre: young adult, contemporary, historical
  ISBN: 9780544602007
  Rating: ★★★★★

  When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing.

  When Hope sees footage from the earthquake destruction responsible for her mother’s death, she begins to question her sanity and her eidetic memory. She accepts her aunt’s offer to stay with her in Scotland, and immediately understands why her mother was secretive and an amazing historical scholar: she comes from a secret society of time travelers. Hope is sent back in time to Eleanor of Aquitaine’s court to retrieve her mother, lost in time and decidedly not dead in the twenty-first century. But time travel comes with a price to pay, and Hope’s loyalty is torn when the bigger picture of her journey and its consequences come to light.

  When they said this was going to be Outlander for the YA market, they weren’t kidding. Heck, Gabaldon even blurbed it! While Outlander relies on chance and Celtic magic, Into the Dim‘s time travel is more scientific than supernatural. Similar to Stiefvater’s books’ obsession with ley lines, Taylor incorporates ley lines and Tesla into the history behind time travel, and all the technology (both high-tech modern and low-tech ancient) that comes with it. It’s an amazing journey, one that I could read repeatedly. It felt real. Like one could actually go back in time!

  Hope reminded me of Hermione, without the bossy attitude. She is a know-it-all, but mostly because of her eidetic (photographic) memory. She knows facts, she knows dates, she has images and maps imprinted in her brain. But for all her knowledge, she still needs to use common sense and wit, and she grows so much throughout the course of the book. There’s knowing something by rote and recall, and knowing something through experience and instinct. Her intellect allows the narrative to give the reader the backstory and history lessons throughout in such a way it doesn’t feel like info-dumping. It shows the reader more about Hope’s character and talent while also informing the reader of the era.

  There are moments in the book when it feels like her relationships with some of the male leads will go down the love triangle trap. There’s potential for one to exist, but Hope is not the kind of character to think about that sort of thing, or dwell on the “what ifs” when bringing her mother home is far more important. In fact, a potential love triangle is only apparent to the reader, just like a third party observer. Hope clearly likes one guy, you’re not sure if he likes her or is luring her in to a trap, and there’s another guy Hope needs to work alongside to get the job done but he’s either of the protective nature or harboring feelings as well. Who knows. I’m just thrilled the “love interest” storyline takes a back seat in this thrilling, action-packed, fascinating book.

  Science, history, intrigue, and packed with an awesome punch of a twist at the end — all these things will keep you on the edge of your seat at work and buried under the covers with a flashlight at night. I could not put this down!

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from HMH BFYR for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2016 | 2 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, genre: sci-fi, genre: young adult, review

• Book Review: “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys (ARC)

  Posted at 4:15 am by Laura, on February 1, 2016

  Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

  Publisher: Philomel
  Publishing Date: February 2
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780399160301
  Rating: ★★★★★

  In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are  Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer toward safety.

  Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

  Four young adults’ journeys to escape East Prussia and survive the war intersect in January 1945. Three of them — Joana, Emilia, and Florian, all of different backgrounds with secrets of their own — seek asylum across the waters. The fourth, Alfred, is a Nazi sailor attempting to justify assisting the “lesser races” as they flee the Russians. But when they meet on the Wilhelm Gustloff, secrets are no longer safely hidden, and spilling the truth may be their only chance at surviving the destruction of the ship.

  Just as Between Shades of Gray, this book made me weep, reflect, weep, ponder, and weep some more. I’m once again left speechless, with slightly more coherent thoughts developing each day after finishing this book. Instead of trying to convince another reader with quotes, I’ll leave quick trails of thought.

  HISTORY. Sepetys captured yet another Eastern European horror rarely studied in school or discussed in WWII reflections. This book is full of the devastating facts of the war in Europe, and how caught in the middle Eastern Europeans were between Germany and Russia. Like with BSOG, she takes survivors’ true accounts, changes names and snippets of their situations, and provides an informative history book that will no doubt be used in classrooms. History is important. We cannot let atrocities like these continuously happen.

  WRITING. Sepetys is not a lush writer. There’s no need for exaggeration or embellishment. She provides the facts; the reader develops the emotions. She writes one line about an emaciated cow on the side of the road with burst, frozen utters — your gut clenches in this simple, painful horror. She writes one line about orphan children being passed from one group to the next so refugees can board the ship — you wonder at what point in your fight for survival you would exchange children like currency. She writes one line about a mother tossing her baby over the ship, aiming for a lifeboat, and the baby drowns in the waters — you sense the desperation, fear, and sorrow. She writes one line about Polish families refusing to leave their lands, with graves pre-dug in their gardens and a plan in place to lie in them and take their own lives when they hear of the Russians marching through — you’re a goner.

  STORY. A thief, a nurse, a Pole, and a sociopath. They represent so many of the lives lost in the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Though the book covers the month of January, it’s within the few days of boarding and setting sail that all the truths come to light. As panic rises, as their fate becomes inevitable, chaos outside and within explodes.

  Sepetys wrote another heart-wrenching nonfiction book masked as fiction. I cannot stress enough how important it is to read Salt to the Sea, to read Between Shades of Gray, to reflect on your life and the lives lost after reading. Sepetys understands the nature of humanity on such a deep level. I trust her completely.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from Philomel for review.

  HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER: Joana is Lina’s cousin from BSOG!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2016 | 8 Comments | Tagged advance reading copy, ARC, book review, books, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, review

• Book Review: “Walk on Earth a Stranger” by Rae Carson

  Posted at 5:45 am by Laura, on January 28, 2016

  Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

  Publisher: Greenwillow Books
  Published: September 2015
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction
  ISBN: 9780062242914
  Goodreads: 3.91
  Rating: ★★★

  Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

  She also has a secret.

  Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

  When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

  Georgia was the place to be for gold miners before word got around that California was filled with the precious metal. Leah Westfall’s family were just fine in their town — until someone got a whiff of her secret and murdered her parents. To protect her secret and run from the one person her parents trusted, Leah disguises as a boy and sets off on the Oregon Trail to California. Passing for a boy comes fairly easily on the trail, what with Leah comfortable with hard labor and harsh conditions, but some secrets can be too burdensome to bear alone.

  This is most definitely more historical fiction than fantasy. Leah — Lee, as she’s called by friends and as a boy — may be able to sense gold, and that sense comes in handy a few times throughout her travels on the harsh trail, but even without her uncanny ability the story still stands. She’s a hardworking, strong, determined, no-nonsense kind of character, and that’s enough to help her get by on her frightening journey from Georgia to Missouri, to joining her friend and a company to travel with from Missouri to California.

  The evocative writing and developed characters kept me reading, despite the lack of magic in the story. Lee finds being a boy liberating and difficult all at once. People listen to what she says, they let her do what she wants — they trust her mind and body without question. But she doesn’t like to lie, she feels lonely by keeping such a big secret from the women in her company, and she’s not sure who she really is: Leah or Lee. Thankfully her good friend, Jefferson, is there to remind her she can be both, is both.

  Canadians, Germans, a preacher and his wife, the Joyners (a family that hired Lee from the beginning on a flatboat to Missouri — keep your eye on Mrs. Joyner), college students, herders, and veterans all make up the company Lee and Jefferson join in Missouri. They all have their reasons to go to California or Oregon, but they tend to work together for the sake of keeping each other (or even, selfishly, themselves) safe. Everything I remember seeing so early on in The Oregon Trail computer game cropped up, too: cholera, measles, wandering children, stampede of buffalo. You name it, it happened. It made me wonder if I could ever give up everything like those pioneers did for the sake of a new life. I’m not sure I’m made of such tough stuff.

  In the end, this felt like a solid standalone adventure novel. It’s a story about a journey, from start to finish. Every single day of it, from sunrise to sunset, all the joys and troubles, laughter and heartache. A part of me was bummed there was so little magic — I was promised historical fantasy, and this delivered historical. Nothing wrong with that; this is an excellent historical. But it is not historical fantasy. Upon realizing this is part of a trilogy, I’m looking forward to seeing how the remaining cast of characters, and Lee’s gold-sensing abilities, play out in the future books. (I’ve got my eye on you, Mrs. Joyner.) Maybe the fantasy elements amp up later on.

  

  This book qualifies as book 1 of 12 of the “Rock My TBR” Challenge, hosted by Sarah @ The YA Book Traveler, in an effort to read more books off my overflowing TBR bookcase. 

  Posted in books, Reviews 2016, Rock My TBR | 5 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, review, rock my TBR

• Book Review: “Future Perfect” by Jen Larsen

  Posted at 5:30 am by Laura, on January 25, 2016

  Future Perfect by Jen Larsen

  Publisher: HarperTeen
  Published: October 2015
  Genre: young adult, contemporary
  ISBN: 9780062321237
  Goodreads: 3.19
  Rating: ★★

  Every year on her birthday, Ashley Perkins gets a card from her grandmother: lose enough weight, and I will buy your happiness.

  Ashley doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the way she looks. She knows exactly how she fits into her life, wide hips and all. But no amount of arguing can persuade her grandmother that “fat” isn’t a dirty word—that Ashley is happy with her life, and her body, as it is.

  But Ashley wasn’t counting on having her dreams served up on a silver platter at her latest birthday party. She falters when Grandmother offers the one thing she’s always wanted: tuition to attend Harvard University. Ashley wants it—she can’t deny it. But their annual negotiation has upped its stakes—Grandmother wants her to get weight-loss surgery in return for the money.

  As Ashley grapples with the choice that little white card has given her, she feels pressured by her friends, her family, even administrators at school. What’s a girl to do when the reflection in her mirror seems to bother everyone but her?

  Ashley Perkins is valedictorian at an advanced high school, has a wonderful, artistic boyfriend, supportive friends, and a killer resume for college applications. But her grandmother doesn’t see that. All she sees is her granddaughter’s weight, and how it could influence her admission into Harvard. When Ashley receives the tempting note from her grandmother on her birthday — free tuition for four years at Harvard if she gets weight-loss surgery — she grapples with the price of her dreams and her priceless worth.

  Before diving into this, I was looking forward to reading another kind of body book and was curious about its premise. While Dumplin’ was very body positive, embracing all shapes and sizes and health, this one tackles another kind of issue: what if the protagonist does care what others think about her weight?

  I am the sum of my parts. Everything I’ve ever done and everything I’ve ever
  achieved and everything I have ever been. Fat and smart and afraid and
  fierce and angry and brave all together right here, and every piece of the
  puzzle fits the way it’s supposed to and I can’t pretend anymore.

  Ashley’s passionate and determined and hard-working, destined for greatness.I was on board with her anxiety before her birthday, the tension and build-up and pacing that would become Turning Point 1 in the novel. But after receiving the note (and everyone getting all up in her business with their opinions on what she should do with her own body and future), her ultimate decision in Turning Point 2 seemed a bit lackluster. I’m not sure the Ashley at the beginning of the book would’ve gone in the direction Ashley at the end of the book did, but is that the character growth? I don’t know. Nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to do with your life, especially when you’re a teenager, but Ashley’s reasons for going to Harvard pre- and post-note almost seem unimportant. Surely someone with her resume could also receive scholarships, right?

  I guess I’m just unsure about the delivery of the ending. It could be inspirational; it could be a cop-out. I’m on the fence about it.

  What was completely unexpected was how integral her friends’ lives (and their own journeys they tackled) were in the book. Jolene, transgender, and Laura, a free-spirit artist, have a lot on their plates. I was interested in each of them, but to the same degree and intensity I was interested in Ashley. So whose story am I supposed to invest most of my time in? Is this book about finding your own direction in life, regardless of what people say? If so, I think it was halfway to meeting that goal. I really wanted to read about Ashley. Save Jolene’s powerful story and Laura’s interesting one for other books to let all these voices ring properly.

  Again, I’m unsure. There are good things in here, and moments of greatness (like that quote! YES!), but I think too much was attempted for one book. Body perception and health is quite the issue, and Ashley was a strong character. I wanted more.

  This fulfills book 1 of 10 library books in 2016. 

  Posted in books, Reviews 2016 | 0 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: contemporary, genre: young adult, review

• Top Five Books of 2015

  Posted at 5:05 am by Laura, on December 20, 2015

  

  The most difficult post: selecting five fantastic books from the 66, as of December 20th, I read this year! Thankfully, the season rewind helped me narrow down my favorites from the year even further.

  

  

  

  A Madness So Discreet || Daughter of the Forest || Into the Dim

  A MADNESS SO DISCREET by Mindy McGinnis is, by far, the best YA book I read this year. Historically set, a close analyzation of mental illness and suffrage, and a thrilling mystery throughout. Also? No romance. YA can be successful without romance, folks.

  DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST by Juliet Marillier because I can’t get enough of Marillier and she needs to be on every top list ever ever ever.

  INTO THE DIM by Janet B Taylor is not available to the public yet (not till March!), nor have I posted a review for it yet (not till February!), but wow. This was the answer to a YA Outlander, with a more scientific/less-fantasy spin.

  

  

  Under a Painted Sky || The Royal We

  UNDER A PAINTED SKY by Stacey Lee grabbed me from the very first line. Simply written, an unusual (“unusual” in that it’s rarely written about) point in American history, with a variety of characters and backgrounds. An absolute joy to read — and I can’t wait to read Lee’s future work!

  THE ROYAL WE by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan is purely my candy choice. It’s fun, it’s funny, and it was an immediate winner for this royal-phile. You could call it my guilty pleasure, if you want. I loved it.

  Honorable mentions: The Lake House by Kate Morton, The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

  Which books made it to your Top Books of 2015 list?

  Posted in books, Update Post | 9 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: fantasy, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, genre: young adult, top five books

• Book Review: “Everything, Everything” by Nicola Yoon

  Posted at 2:17 pm by Laura, on December 16, 2015

  Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

  Publisher: Delacorte BFYR
  Published: September 2015
  Genre: young adult, contemporary
  ISBN: 9780553496642
  Goodreads: 4.03
  Rating: ★★★.5

  My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

  But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

  Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

  Maddy is allergic to everything. She only interacts with her mother and Carla, her nurse. Everything other contact must go through a decontamination chamber for an hour and not be sick/have been around sick people, cannot touch Maddy, and cannot introduce new foods or clothes or fabrics to Maddy. No open windows or doors. Shaded spaces. Cleanliness. But then a family moves in next door, and Maddy’s interest in the world outside reawakens. Her curiosity over this noisy, rather abusive family is heightened when their son, Olly, manages to find a way to interact with Maddy. He clearly wants to find a way out of his own cage, and Maddy is the answer. For Maddy, Olly is her answer, too.

  I was drawn far more to Maddy’s experience of the world — seeing everything through her eyes and wondering how much of her life was a ticking clock — than the romance. The romance was a great way to propel her out of her house (talk about an even faster, heart-pounding ticking clock!), but I was not drawn to the romance mostly because I wasn’t drawn to Olly. It seemed real enough, sure, and they discuss whether she loves him because she genuinely loves him or because he’s the only one she’s interacted with — but even still, if it weren’t for the romance, for that enticing slice of the Outside, Maddy wouldn’t have left her home.

  Or discovered all the shocking things after leaving home. *dun dun dun*

  Not only was Maddy’s situation an interesting and unique one — absolutely fascinating, this “bubble baby” scenario — but this book is another good tool to discuss mental illness and the impact it has on everyone outside of the primary individual. YA is loaded with mental illness books through the eyes of the mentally ill, rather than the friend or family member witnessing it and experiencing it from another perspective. Maddy, Olly, Carla, and Maddy’s mother all express and experience love in different ways. It’s amazing how love can inspire or hinder us. Love is worth everything, and everything is worth love. It’s how we act upon it that define who we are in this world.

  Enhanced with the supplementary images, charts, tickets, and IM convos, this novel will send you for a spin across two extremes in environment: experiencing a pristine, glass world, and a world of chaos and vibrancy.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2015 | 1 Comment | Tagged book review, books, genre: contemporary, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

• Book Review: “Velvet Undercover” by Teri Brown

  Posted at 4:45 am by Laura, on November 16, 2015

  Velvet Undercover by Teri Brown

  Publisher: Balzer + Bray
  Published: October 20
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction, mystery
  ISBN: 9780062321275
  Goodreads: 3.71
  Rating: ★★★★★

  Samantha Donaldson’s family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, mathematics, and complex puzzles, hoping to make him proud.

  When Sam is asked to join the famed women’s spy group La Dame Blanche, she’s torn—while this could be an unbelievable adventure, how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes she can’t refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.

  Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known only as Velvet. Deep undercover in the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Sam must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous—and secretive—residents to complete her assignment. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Sam find Velvet before it’s too late?

  Samantha is a knack for languages and mathematics, skills her father taught her ever since she was a little girl. She is approached after a competition by a member of MI5, and offered a position within a secret women’s spy group La Dame Blanche. With her intelligence and skill set, she could be an asset to her country in this endless war. But once Samantha reaches Berlin and is immersed in the kaiser’s court to find and rescue another agent under the codename Velvet, she realizes there are more conspiracies, lies, and hidden agendas than she could ever comprehend.

  Safety of any kind is just an illusion.

  My mind is blown. Samantha Donaldson is a wonderful character to narrate this intense journey. She’s intelligent and quick, similar to Hermione Granger, but she has a sense of warmth and empathy that reminded me so much of Gretchen in Anne Blankman’s Prisoner of Night and Fog. There are several layers and threads and plots in this book, and Samantha’s wicked-fast brain is able to see the evidence before her and tries to bring the clues together like solving a code. Her moments of weakness as a spy are quickly realized — and I was very grateful to see that she did slip as often as she did (we’re only human! And she’s only seventeen!) — and her strengths create heart-pounding scenes and urgently move the plot along. She’s the star of the novel through and through and kept me on the edge of my seat!

  “…people are human beings no matter where they’re from.”

  WWI — its purpose, its beginnings, the endless years, the advancements in warfare technology, and everything that comes with spying at the turn of the century — was an absolutely perfect and frightening setting for this. The future of the world felt palpable as well, with the distrust of the Germans and the rocky foundation of figuring out whom to confide when news begins to travel so quickly. If I were a teacher, I could easily create a whole lesson around Velvet Undercover (WWI); Prisoner of Night and Fog and Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke (Germany 1930s); Book Thief, Code Name Verity, and Between Shades of Gray (WWII); and The Boy on the Bridge (Cold War).

  I feel as if I’m losing who I really am. 

  Imagine being a spy! You could be caught at any moment, tortured and/or put to death instantly. You could find your information rather quickly (in which case, is that good or bad? Is it valid?) or it could take ages and require an immense acting stamina. How do you know the people you’re informing are telling you the truth, that they’re on your side? Or, on the other hand, how do you know the people you’re obtaining information from is on your side? Who is an innocent civilian versus another spy? The blending of information and personalities takes a toll on Samantha, and watching her come apart at the seams (much like Cassie did in Tana French’s The Likeness as an undercover cop) can only give us a glimpse into the true horrors of that position.

  You must read this book.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2015 | 4 Comments | Tagged book review, books, genre: historical fiction, genre: mystery, genre: young adult, goodreads, review

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• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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