Category Teen Books

May 6 2015
Image

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

angelfallTitle: Angelfall

Author: Susan Ee

Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1

Genre: Teen Post-Apocalyptic

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: It’s been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back…

The Review:

I haven’t been so excited for the beginning of a post-apocalyptic series since I picked up Partials by Dan Wells two years ago… and trust me, I’ve read a LOT of books from this genre between then and now. Angelfall just had an X-factor that immediately grabbed my attention and held it from start to finish. So much so that a hundred pages into the first book I was already online ordering the next two in the series. It was one of those books that made me a believer early on, and I’m kicking myself for not picking it up sooner.

The biggest thing that stood out to me about Angelfall was how incredibly well it was written. Susan Ee has a way with words and descriptions that allowed me to completely lose myself in the story. All of the interactions between her characters seemed so organic and natural, and that’s part of the reason why I think the book flowed so well. For everyone I’ve ever heard complain about insta-loves in YA, this would be an excellent series for you – the relationship development in Angelfall was gradual, based on shared experiences between the characters and a combination of little moments… i.e. my favorite kind of love story.

The other thing that stood out was the concept and how it was executed – this is a post-apocalyptic world where angels (of all things) are responsible for its destruction. Now, up until this point I haven’t had any interest in the angel trend permeating the YA market because it always seems to come across a little cheesy (as it did occasionally in Daughter of Smoke and Bone). What Ee managed to do was take all of the traits indicative to angels and make them kind of badass. The creatures in her novel were dangerous, and you could feel that deadly force emanating from the pages with each new conflict. It was awesome. And if the great concept wasn’t enough, add to that heart-wrenching back story to Penryn and her family (which added a ton of interesting depth and dynamics the story) and you have one robust, well-rounded novel that is sure to knock your socks off.

I was certain this was going to be a 5-star read across the board, but right at the very end the story took a left turn that I did not enjoy as much as everything that came before it. Since that’s just a personal preference kind of thing, I will have no problem recommending Angelfall as killer read to anybody who loves YA post-apocalyptic is much as I do. Now gimmie the next one.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 24 2015
Image

Book Reviews: The Fire & Flood Series [So Far] by Victoria Scott

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott
Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott

The Fire & Flood Series
by Victoria Scott
3/5 stars

The Overview:  [I’m only including the overview for the first book to help avoid spoilers for those who haven’t yet started it] Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can’t determine what’s wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She’s lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she’s helpless to change anything. Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It’s an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother’s illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there’s no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race. The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can’t trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

The Review:

There are a lot of things about this series I really like – the fact that the plot revolves around a competition (which always sparks my interest), the constant change of settings as the characters raced through different ecosystems, and the animal companion “Pandoras” that each contestant received at the beginning of the race. Any one of these would have prompted me to pick up Fire & Flood, so I just consider a bonus that all of them are present. I also liked Victoria Scott’s writing voice, even though it was a bit heavy-handed to start out with. She’s really cheeky, and made me laugh several times throughout with her humorous, semi-unconventional approach to storytelling.

So, while there were many things I enjoyed about the series, I have to admit that it required a strong “just go with it” attitude and definitely would not hold up to close scrutiny: the characters sometimes jumped out of character or acted inconsistently with past behavior for no other reason than to advance the plot, the framework for the race itself (and the people running it) felt underdeveloped, the settings, while exotic, were a bit under realized, and there were occasional issues with visualization, where time lapses were unrealistic, spaces and objects got bigger or smaller, and characters and Pandora’s all but vanished from scenes until they became relevant again.

As you can see, there were a LOT of issues, but they oddly didn’t seem like a big deal to me while I was reading, maybe because the things I liked about the book were done well enough to compensate. It occurred to me after I was done reading that having inconsistencies within the plot, while not ideal, means there is ample opportunity to surprise your reader. And surprised I was – these books definitely took some twists and turns you don’t see very often in today’s cookie-cutter YA novels. THAT if nothing else might make this series worth reading because it made them unique.

Overall, I liked the first two books enough to want to finish the series. They struck a good chord with me and I admit I was surprised at how forgiving I was willing to be. It just goes to show that you don’t necessarily have to have a full arsenal of writing strengths to be a successful author and to produce entertaining books – you just need to do what you do best to the best of your ability… sometimes that really is enough. Where Scott was most successful, in my opinion, was creating a story that was a lot of fun to read – that’s hard to do with than a dystopian genre, but somehow she managed. Fire & Flood probably wouldn’t be my first recommend of the genre, but I feel it has enough positive attributes to entice a lot of readers. If you do pick it up, take my advice: just go with it. :-)

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 6 2015
Image

Book Review: The Novice by Taran Matharu

noviceTitle: The Novice

Author: Taran Matharu

Series: The Summoner #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Rating: 2/5 stars

The Overview: When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy. There the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. Fletcher is put through grueling training as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs. He must tread carefully while training alongside children of powerful nobles. The power hungry, those seeking alliances, and the fear of betrayal surround him. Fletcher finds himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with only his demon Ignatius for help. As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands. The Novice is the first in a trilogy about Fletcher, his demon Ignatius, and the war against the Orcs.

The Review:

Two things got me through this book: 1. The sense of obligation I felt towards the publisher and NetGalley for being kind enough to approve me for this title and 2. All of the “keep reading” reviews on Goodreads who claimed the first part of the book is worth trudging through because of the school for demon summoners!! Those were frankly about the only two things that would have kept me reading under any other circumstances. I did not enjoy The Novice nearly as much as I thought I was going to and honestly wish I hadn’t spent so much time on it.

It had all of the elements that, on paper (no pun intended), should add up to a killer novel, but I think it was published before it was developed to a high level. I know firsthand the frustration of working on a story for years, trying to get it perfect, but at some point you really do need to just throw in the towel and work on something else until your writing ability matches your taste level (Ira Glass – On Being Creative, YouTube). The Novice read very much like a first book (my apologies to the author if it wasn’t), so I can’t help but wonder how much better it could have been with more experience. Maybe I’m just projecting my own writing experience onto this product, but I thought it needed a lot more work before it was ready to be published.

I hinted at above that I was interested in the school, and would like to add that I thought the concept for the demons was the coolest idea out of the whole thing. Each kid gets a demon to call their own and proceeds to learn how to channel magic through it at the school. The demons themselves came in all shapes and sizes and I found particular pleasure in finding out what kind each of the students ended up with. For me, these were all the selling points of the novel, the problem is, we don’t see a glimpse of these great ideas until almost a third of the way through the book (that’s about 100 pages, folks). If I were in this author’s critique group, I would have strongly suggested reworking the story to get to the school a LOT sooner. The interesting thing is, the basics of the story are quite similar to those of what I’ve been working on for my own novel (just replace demons with dragons), so I’ve spent a lot of brainpower on exactly the issue of getting the character to the school quickly. I’m not saying my way is better, because obviously I don’t have a book published yet, but it was interesting for me to see “what could’ve been” had I not decided to restructure (tossing out about 90 pages) to get my character to the school immediately. Food for thought…

Anyway, while I appreciated the concept behind the story and a few ideas within it, I will not be recommending this one anytime soon. It felt like it needed a pacing makeover, more depth of character, and more focus on the elements that make it special (e.g. the school and the demons). I feel like I had to work to get to the “exciting” parts and when I finally did the payoff wasn’t enough to justify the effort.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 3 2015
Image

Trilogy Review: The Chemical Garden by Lauren DeStefano

Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Fever by Lauren DeStefano
Sever by Lauren DeStefano

The Chemical Garden Trilogy
by Lauren DeStefano
4.5/5 stars

The Overview: [I’m only including the overview for the first book to help avoid spoilers for those who haven’t yet started it] By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape.

The Review:

I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the lines I became addicted to the type of story that I’m affectionately referring to as “girls in pretty dresses in a slightly dystopic era” genre (I should really come up with a better catchphrase). It seems like a weirdly specific subgenre to like (I blame the Selection by Kiera Cass), but I have absolutely LOVED almost every single book I’ve read so far within it (see my “Other books you might like” list below). I can’t even tell you why I love it – maybe I get a vicarious kick out of being pampered and doted on through these characters, but the real substance comes with the realization that even in the glamorous life, things are never as perfect as they seem…

This trilogy was remarkable and unique in a couple of different ways. For example, the vast majority of YA novels include a love triangle as one of the primary conflicts of the story. While there were two men involved in this series, and some people might consider it to be a triangle (I don’t), the story was always ever about Rhine and her struggle to find her brother… her male counterparts were ultimately incidental to that struggle. It was wonderful because it showed female lead who’s whole world didn’t revolve around a boy, and who proved capable and resourceful enough on her own. Because of this, I’m calling the love story in this trilogy atypical, and in fact found myself more emotionally invested in Rhine’s relationships with the other captive women than I did the main love interest. It’s worth mentioning that I genuinely liked the male interests in the story, I just appreciated that they weren’t the ultimate focus of the book.

So, now that we’ve established how much I loved story and the character, let’s talk about the main reason why I’m still gushing about this trilogy in particular – the writing. Oh my gosh, the WRITING! It’s breathtaking, beautiful, lyrical, and poetic without being pompous and convoluted. This trilogy is more than a dystopian, it’s a work of art. I don’t usually reread passages simply because I think they’re beautiful, but I found myself doing just that several times throughout. The fact that she was often writing about tragic events with such beautiful language only makes it more poignant. The aspiring writer in me wants to be Lauren DeStefano when I grow up. Because of her beautiful writing voice, I am 100% committed to reading anything she publishes in the future, I don’t care what the subject matter is. I’ve already ordered a copy of Perfect Ruin – I can’t wait!

Overall, The Chemical Garden Trilogy is now among my all-time YA favorites and I can definitely see myself rereading it one day. My overall rating for the series is 4.5/5 stars, but for the individual books is as follows:

Wither – 5/5 stars!
Fever – 4/5 stars
Sever – 4.5/5 stars

Other books you might like:

While I enjoyed Matched, it is not one of my all-time favorites… more books like this need to be written!

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 27 2015
Image

DNF Q&A: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkowski

the winners crimeTitle: The Winner’s Crime 

Author: Marie Rutkowski

Series: The Winner’s Trilogy #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 0 stars

The Overview: The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement… if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret. As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

The DNF Q&A:

This is a reviewing feature I’ve been eyeballing on one of my favorite book blogs There Were Books Involved for a couple years now because I think it’s an excellent way to talk about an unfinished book fairly. I’m incredibly grateful because Nikki (the brains behind the blog, who has a most excellent name)  kindly allowed me to steal the idea and questions for my own blog. As my list of “amazing books to read” continues to grow, I find I have less and less time and patience to devote to the books I’m just not enjoying. I never would have considered DNFing a book ten years ago, but then I came across a quote, “Read the best books first, for you might not have the chance to read them all,” and have since made it my personal mantra. Life’s too short to read books you’re just not enjoying. So let the Q&A begin!

Did you really give The Winner’s Crime chance?

Absolutely! That is, if reading more than half the book before deciding to put it down is “giving it a chance.”

Have you enjoyed other books in the same genre before?

Yes – in fact some of my all time favorite books in this genre share a lot of similarities to the Winner’s novels, most notably:

I just didn’t think this book stacked up.

Did you have certain expectations before starting it?

Well, all of the five stars “Oh my God, the FEELS!!!” reviews flooding the blogosphere certainly didn’t help me dive into this book with no expectations. I will say that I also had issues with the first book that placed me in the minority, so I was already skeptical that I would like this one as much as everybody else.

What ultimately made you stop reading?

Ultimately it was the inconsistency of character that made me put this book down. I started out liking Kestrel, and still think she is a great character, but I’ve never been able to perceive Arin as a complete person – mostly because his passages seldom focused on developing his own character, but rather on how his world centers around Kestrel. I think his entire persona in this book can be summed up by a quote on page 212, “Arin’s unruly mind didn’t care for that logical explanation.” And it was this complete lack of logic and individual thought that made him feel like a subpar character and ultimately frustrated me enough to stop reading. He just didn’t ever feel real, and as the entire plot structure hangs on the reader giving a shit about the relationship between him and Kestrel, I found it wanting.

If it was just Arin though, I think it would’ve been okay. But when Kestrel – one of the coolest female strategists I’ve come across in the genre – failed to attack her problems regarding Arin with any sort of strategy, that was when I found my deal breaker. I feel like if she’s going to be that amazing at strategizing, it should apply EVERYWHERE in the book, not just when the author needs to advance a plot line. As it was, the conflict between the two main characters felt just as unnecessarily forced and drawn out as it did in the first book. I would have found it so much more satisfying had they worked together to solve their problems instead of needlessly perpetuating them. 

Was there anything you liked about The Winner’s Crime? 

Yes – I liked the secondary characters and really enjoyed the story before the protagonists fell out of character. I am genuinely interested to see what happens in this world and how the dynamics play out… I just don’t think I have the patience to actually see it through. I also still really like Kestrel and was fascinated every time she put strategy into play.  

Would you read anything else by this author? 

That’s a good question – it depends a lot on what type of story she writes next and if I’m in the mood to risk it at the time… I feel a little burned at the moment.

So you DNF’d the book – would you still recommend it?

Absolutely! I realized going into this sequel that I am BY FAR in the minority on how I feel about it. Chances are, if you liked Throne of Glass, you will also really enjoy this one. I’m actually more disappointed that I didn’t like it as much as everyone else than I am about the book itself.

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 3 2015
Image

Book Review: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

The Glass ArrowTitle: The Glass Arrow

Author: Kristen Simmons

Series: N/A

Genre: Teen Dystopian

Rating 1.5/5 stars

The Overview: The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.

In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning.

The Review:

I was warned about this one. One of my favorite book bloggers posted a review explaining why she did not enjoy this novel… and I read it anyway. To be fair, I’d already been approved for a digital arc, so I was kind of already committed to reading it, underwhelming review or not. It turns out, my fellow book blogger was totally right… this was not a very strong book.

I really love the idea for it – women living in the wilds, on the run from hunters who’s goal is to capture them and sell them to the city as breeding stock. You see, evidently the women who live in the city are incredibly infertile, so the wilds women are high commodities. I thought it sounded fascinating, and reminded me of some of the other similar books I’ve read and loved recently (Wither by DeStefano, The Jewel by Ewing), but it just did not deliver. All of the books in that specific sub-genre require a bit of the “just go with it” attitude, but the plot structure and world building for this one just had so many things wrong with it that it was hard to read. For every rule she gave on how the society functioned, I could think of a couple of reasons why it wouldn’t work. And the thing is, I wasn’t actively looking for inconsistencies, they were just so blatant that my brain couldn’t help but point them out.

It wasn’t just the illogical nature of the plot that took away my enjoyment of the book (although that was the main thing). I also thought the book suffered from poor pacing and a bit of repetition. I don’t think there were enough plot points to sustain an entire novel and probably would have liked it a lot better had it been a short story. The plot points that were there still have me a bit perplexed – very little of the story had anything to do with the overall arc and climax of the book. It almost felt like I was reading three different books in one (or short stories –  bam!) and none of them related to each other very well… It was weird.

Eventually I got fed up and just started skimming during the last fifty pages of the book. But I did finish it, which I thought ironic considering how many issues I had with it. It made me go back and really think about what compelled me to keep going. It wasn’t what the author was writing, but rather how she was writing it that kept me reading. I enjoyed the style and thought Simmons had a lovely voice. She made me care about the main character and I had no trouble immersing myself into her perspective. I would love to see this author tackle something that requires a lot less world building and concept so she could focus on the element that, in my opinion, she does very well.

Overall, I was really underwhelmed by this title and it was a bit of a struggle to get through it. I was really excited about the concept and the writing style, but don’t think it ever lived up to its potential. I don’t see myself hand-selling this one anytime soon. Maybe it’s just me though – go check out the “this is her best book yet” five-star reviews on goodreads before making any rash decisions. ;)

Other books you might like (better):

by Niki Hawkes