Tag Archives: young adult books

May 6 2015
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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
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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 23 2015
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Mini Book Review: Invaded by Melissa Landers

Invaded by Melissa Landers

Title: Invaded

Author: Melissa Landers

Series: Alienated #2

Genre: Teen Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe…until a threat to both their worlds reunites them. Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her. Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life. The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

The Mini Review:

After reading an advanced copy of Alienated in fall 2013, I knew it would be torture to wait for Invaded’s release in February 2015… and it was. I sent requests to the publisher, I stalked other book bloggers for potential giveaways, and tried (and failed) to make it to several book events where Melissa Landers was going to be. But it was all in vain, so I ended up waiting… and waiting… and waiting.

And after all that waiting, I am pleased to report that Invaded was well worth the wait. :-)

The first book was a lot like what I would imagine Rory Gilmore going through if she had to host a (hot) alien exchange student – loads of fun, plenty of quick wit, and a sweet love story. It was absolutely delightful – I loved it! And what I loved about the second book is that it took all of those charming elements and put them on Aelyx’s (i.e. the hot alien) home world, L’eihr. It was total cultural immersion into this different world, and I enjoyed exploring every bit of it. The only reason Invaded didn’t receive a total five-star rating is that I missed a bit of the romantic element (which is understandable considering our characters are on two different planets), but even that really wasn’t a big deal because the book was still highly entertaining without the love story being the primary focus.

Overall, Melissa Landers is my kind of author – she makes me fall in love with her characters, want to visit her world, and makes me laugh while doing it. I am definitely committed to read anything she publishes in the future (including her new book Startflight coming out this fall), but rest assured, the wait for the next Alienated book is already physically painful…

Until Midnight by Melissa Landers

Before picking up Invaded, I happily reimbursed myself in the story by reading this Alienated novella: Until Midnight. It had everything I loved about Alienated, all packed into a Christmas-themed short story. It provided a transition between the two novels that I felt was… much-needed is not quite the phrase, perhaps much-appreciated? It brought forth a conflict between Aelyx and another character regarding Cara that definitely added to my overall positive experience the story. My only gripe is that the conflict presented did not get completely represented afterwards in Invaded, but I loved it more for the sentimentality anyway. Also, since I read this novella right before Invaded, I discovered it supplemented some of the romance I mentioned missing from the sequel. Until Midnight is definitely worth your time if you’re a fan of the series.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 6 2015
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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
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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

Apr 2 2015
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March 2015 Reading Recap!

 

Review Recap
I am knocking all of my reading goals out of the park this year, and that’s in no small part because of my “Read the best books first” mantra. Are you getting sick of hearing about that yet? I talk about it all the time because it has drastically improved my reading experience. In any case, here’s a look at my fantastic month in reading, reviews, and posts.

Books Read:

See… I told you I had a kickass month in reading. I can’t decide if my favorite was the conclusion to the Chemical Garden trilogy by Lauren DeStefano or Havoc by Ann Aguirre… It’s like comparing apples to oranges – they were both so good! I also loved Legion, Invaded, Abaddon’s Gate… Okay, I’ll stop. This “Read the Best Books First” thing is really working out for me.

Books Reviewed:

The Winner’s Crime Marie Rutkowski
The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkowski – 0/5 stars (DNF)
The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons – 1.5/5 stars
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter – 3.5/5 stars

The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon
Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey
Legion by Brandon Sanderson

The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon – 4/5 stars
Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey – 4.5/5 stars
Legion by Brandon Sanderson – 5/5 stars!

Overall, I’m quite happy with all of my reviews. I have a tendency to think everything I write is total crap (as most writers do), so the fact that I actually like everything I wrote this month is something to celebrate. :-)

Waiting on Wednesday Features:

Out of this line up, I am probably most excited for Soundless… but they are all going to be amazing, I’m sure. I also featured a bunch of upcoming releases in one of the TTT posts listed below.

Top Ten Tuesday Features:

Top Ten Fall 2015 New Releases I’m Excited About!

Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR!

Other Fun Stuff:

I don’t have much in the way of adventures this month – I missed out on two or three amazing ones because I got sick. But I did have a few days off to soak in some puppy cuteness:
11039197_10203666015440192_3603732129280434817_nyou’re welcome.

How was your month in reading?

by Niki Hawkes