Tag Archives: young adult books

Jun 1 2018
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Tackling the TBR [35]: June 2018

tackling the TBR

It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how the system works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

June 2018 TBR Tackler Shelf:

I don’t have a very concise reading list this month (clearly). I’m in the middle of a massive personal library reorganization, trying to prep for my Overflowing Bookshelf Challenge (it’s currently linked to my ongoing tracker on Goodreads, but I’ll be putting together a feature on here within the next couple weeks). Basically, I have too many books that have jumped up into “high priority” status so, instead of picking a focus like I should, I’m just going to set lofty goals and fail to achieve them. :P Right now I’m torn between kicking off this new challenge and trying to maintain my Incomplete Series Challenge. I think I’m going to wrap up a bunch of series this month, which will free me up to dig into my collection going forward.

  • In the top row are books I’ve already started reading, along with ones on deck for my Incomplete Series Challenge.
  • In the middle row are ARC commitments, along with a few buddy reads I’ve signed up for.
  • In the bottom row are books I’ve selected as starting points for my Overflowing Bookshelf Challenge (Scott!! I know, I know, I changed my mind again on Demon Apostle. I’m going through a book crisis and can’t make up my mind what I want to do).

The titles that immediately jump out at me are Empire of Ashes and the two Murderbot books – I’m stoked to dive into those. I’m also excited to finally have the Word and the Void by Brooks in the lineup because they were recommended to me YEARS ago by a friend (thanks, Jonathan!! I’m finally reading them). I recently watched the two seasons of Shannara and, issues with the execution of the show aside (the second season was much better), the overall concept and ideas kind of reinivigorated my enthusiasm to get back to that series. Word and the Void is first in the chronological reading order, so here goes nothing.

Do you have any reading priorities or challenges you’re tackling this summer? I’d love to hear your game plan! :)

by Niki Hawkes

May 23 2018
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Book Review: The Siren by Kiera Cass

Title: The Siren

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: N/A

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Love is a risk worth taking. Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again. Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. And though she can’t talk to him, they soon forge a connection neither of them can deny…and Kahlen doesn’t want to. Falling in love with a human breaks all the Ocean’s rules, and if the Ocean discovers Kahlen’s feelings, she’ll be forced to leave Akinli for good. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart. -Goodreads

The Review:

No one is more surprised than me how much I freaking loved this book.

Cass and I have a bit of a hit or miss relationship where I’m either 100% on-board fangirling… or throwing the book in disgust. Luckily, The Siren fell into the former category – something I wasn’t led to expect based on some brutal early reviews I read for the book. I have a theory as to why it caused such harsh reactions for fans of Cass’ work:

The book is less about the romance, where the main love interest is kept on the periphery for most of the book, and more about the relationship girl has with her sisters, mother ocean, and (most importantly) her heart. It’s a book filled to the brim with inner conflict as Kahlen struggled to come to terms with her lot in life and find her place in the world. I can see how most readers (misled by the romance-heavy nature of her previous series) might have gotten bored with the plot as it drifted further and further from the love story. As someone who is kind of sick of seeing the same recycled romance in YA, The Siren screamed to me something profoundly different and I enjoyed the shit out of it.

I think this is one I might actually want to reread. Certainly it deserves a spot in my collection (coveted and limited space at the moment). I don’t think it’s a book I could recommend with confidence because it’s a very specific, atypical YA that doesn’t fit the mold, but it definitely fit the bill as the refresh I needed in the genre.

Recommendations: I wouldn’t recommend this necessarily for fans of Cass’ other work because it satiates an entirely different craving. Instead I’d probably hand it to the lovers of those tragic “girls in pretty dresses in a slightly dystopia era” series (which I call “elegant dystopia”). I’d also hand this to someone expressly tired with typical YA romances.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 13 2018
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Book Review: Unraveled by Kate Jarvik Birch [and Blog Tour!]

Title: Unraveled

Author: Kate Jarvik Birch

Series: Perfected #3

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Ella isn’t anyone’s pet anymore, but she’s certainly not free. After exposing the dark secrets about NuPet’s breeding program, forcing them to repeal the law that allowed genetically modified girls to be kept as pets, she thought girls like her would finally be free. She never dreamed that it would backfire. NuPet may have convinced the public of their intentions to assimilate pets back into society, but Ella knows it’s a lie. They aren’t planning mass rehabilitation…they’re planning a mass extermination.  Now, with the help of a small group of rebels, Ella and Penn, the boy she’d give up her life for, set out to bring down NuPet for good. But when her group gets implicated in a string of bombings, no one is safe. If she can’t untangle the web of blackmail and lies that extends far beyond NuPet’s reach, she won’t just lose her chance at freedom, she’ll lose everyone she loves.

The Review:

I’m a fan of this series. Kate Jarvik Birch is such a lovely writer, and Ella’s story is one I won’t soon forget.

The beauty of the Perfected series was Ella’s inner story. I’ll always hold Perfected (book 1) on a pedestal for how much the innocent love story within touched me. It’s where Ella learned to see herself as a person, and a person of worth at that. Tarnished (book 2) will stick with me for the pit it put in my stomach. It’s where Ella learned the ugly cruelty of the world, but used those experiences to find and shape her convictions. More poignantly, it’s where those convictions blossomed into hope for a better world, and turned into determination to make her vision reality.

Unraveled, this final book of the trilogy, is where Ella, molded by her experiences of love and hardship, stands strong on her own and fights for vindication. Because it’s her choice.

I fully loved the journey and appreciated what each installment brought to the story. Admittedly, some of the events and dynamics in Unraveled required some suspended belief, but because the strength of the series is in the beautifully conveyed concept, I was able to put aside the need for super-realistic and just enjoy the action-packed ride to the end. This is one of those series where delivery makes a difference, and the author’s lovely writing always had me on board. Overall, these beautiful hardcovers get a permanent home on my shelves. :)

Recommendations: Perfected was a trilogy of unforgettably poignant moments that fits snugly into what I’m calling the “elegant dystopia” genre, where pretty dresses and fancy lifestyles are underscored by ugly realities (you know what I mean if you’ve read any… it’s one of my favorite weird sub-genres). Each book offers something different, the first of which landed in my conservative list of all-time favorites.

I’d like to thank Entangled Teen and Kate Jarvik Birch for the chance to read and review an early copy of Unraveled. :)

About Kate Jarvik Birch:  Kate Jarvik Birch is a visual artist, author, playwright, daydreamer, and professional procrastinator. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be either a unicorn or mermaid. Luckily, being a writer turned out to be just as magical. Her essays and short stories have been published in literary journals including Indiana Review and Saint Ann’s Review. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and three kids. Author Website: katejarvikbirch.com Author Twitter: @katejarvikbirch Author Facebook Author Goodreads Author Instagram 
Buylinks: https://entangledpublishing.com/unraveled.html

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 10 2018
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Niki’s Book Journal [March 2018]

Niki’s Book Journal [March 2018]

Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed when the “To Be Reviewed” pile starts getting out of hand? I always have the best intentions, but I’m at the point where I have almost 50 unreviewed titles from just the last 6 months. It’s stressing me out! And we’re not even going to talk about all the books I’ve neglected to review beyond the 6 months. My usual solution is to stamp my foot down and say “That’s it!! I’m going to write a review every single day until I catch up!” which is promptly followed by review writing burnout where I don’t feel like doing any more for a couple of months. It’s a vicious cycle.

But I think I may have constructed a solution.

Some amazing (or horrible) books require a lot of time and effort to sit down and review properly, but oftentimes it’s the simplest, most straightforward books that don’t get reviewed because I can’t come up with much to say about them. My new book journal review format will hopefully offer a solution to that problem by giving me a place to log my smaller reviews. Then WHAM! They’ll go live whenever the mood strikes me. Here goes…

Nexus by Scott Westerfeld

Nexus by Scott Westerfeld & Co. [Zeroes #6] 3/5 stars

This was a fun trilogy that I think will appeal to fans of Sanderson’s Reckoners series. It has a very Heroes (the show) feel where kids are born with abnormal abilities. I’ll definitely give the authors kudos for coming up with “powers” I’ve never seen before, such as controlling a crowd’s energy, electronics manipulation, and “throwing” vision (to name a few). They were extremely odd, but oddly interesting at the same time. I’ll most remember the series for it’s diverse cast of characters (with different ethnicities and sexual orientations, something I love seeing more of in books). I also liked the overall plot progression. This final novel offered a nice story arc that seemed a lot grander than the self-induced problems the characters faced in the first book and I appreciated how everything played out. Overall, this trilogy is a fun read, especially if you’re in the mood for something kind of different. It didn’t knock my socks off, but it definitely entertained.

Red Tide by Marc Turner

Red Tide by Marc Turner [Chronicles of the Exiled #3] DNF at 54%

I didn’t put this book down because it was a bad read. I put it down because it was taking me well over two weeks to get to just the 50% mark and I just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to get into it knowing that it’s meant to be a six book series and there’s not a single peep that the author’s even working on the next book (for more of a reference, all 3 of the released titles came out between May 2015 and September 2016 and it doesn’t look as though he’s shared any updates on his website since). So I was finding it difficult to really care what was going on with no continuation in sight. If the author announces another book, I’ll happily pick this back up where I left off (until then…). For what it’s worth, I liked the story, the world building, the interwoven plot lines, and even the characters (who are extremely one-dimensional). It wouldn’t be the first fantasy series I recommend, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, either.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Girl of Fire and Thorns Stories by Rae Carson 2.5/5 stars

This compilation of three short stories would’ve been exponentially more enjoyable had I read it with the series instead of waiting several years. Considering how little I remembered of the side characters, the first two stories were entertaining enough and I’m sure they added a bit of good backstory. However, the final book (Hector’s story) didn’t really give me any of the feels I wanted even though it was the one I was most looking forward to. I’d long ago learned my lesson about waiting too long to get back to a series, but this experience just helps reinforce how important momentum is to my reading feng shui.

Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine

Lord of Misrule (Morganville #5) by Rachel Caine 3/5 stars

This is yet another book I would’ve enjoyed more had I continued right away. Alas, I’m grateful for the few subtle drop-in reminders of events in previous books to get me back up to speed for the rest of the series (which I’m planning to continue in a timely manner). I’m always impressed at Caine’s writing and thinks she has some of the better-developed characters in the genre. I know every time I pick up a Morganville book I’m going to be entertained. The storyline for Lord of Misrule specifically felt a little more erratic than previous books. It’s definitely functioning as a setup novel and ended without one whit of resolution (which is good motivation for me to keep reading…thank the book gods for completed series). Overall, I’m excited to dive back into this series.

Thanks for following along! What do you think of this new reviewing format for middle-of-the-road titles? :)

Feb 20 2018
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Coming Soon: Unraveled by Kate Jarvik Birch (+COVER REVEAL!)

Let us know what you think of the cover for Unraveled (Perfected, #3) by Kate Jarvik Birch, which releases April 3, 2018!

This cover reveal is brought to you by Entangled Teen.

Nik’s Notes: I am soooo excited for the conclusion to one of my favorite YA series (Perfected even made my top 10). I signed up for a cover reveal and blog tour because I’m incredibly passionate about this series (it’s weird, and I like weird). I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, and I think the publisher did an awesome job on the cover! That vibrant green will look beautiful on my shelves next to the other two. :)

About Unraveled:

Ella isn’t anyone’s pet anymore, but she’s certainly not free.

After exposing the dark secrets about NuPet’s breeding program, forcing them to repeal the law that allowed genetically modified girls to be kept as pets, she thought girls like her would finally be free. She never dreamed that it would backfire. NuPet may have convinced the public of their intentions to assimilate pets back into society, but Ella knows it’s a lie.

They aren’t planning mass rehabilitation…they’re planning a mass extermination.

Now, with the help of a small group of rebels, Ella and Penn, the boy she’d give up her life for, set out to bring down NuPet for good. But when her group gets implicated in a string of bombings, no one is safe. If she can’t untangle the web of blackmail and lies that extends far beyond NuPet’s reach, she won’t just lose her chance at freedom, she’ll lose everyone she loves.

Want to read more? Pre-order your copy of Unraveled (Perfected, #3) by Kate Jarvik Birch today!

add-to-goodreads

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Entangled Publishing

About Kate Jarvik Birch:

Kate Jarvik Birch is a visual artist, author, playwright, daydreamer, and professional procrastinator. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be either a unicorn or mermaid. Luckily, being a writer turned out to be just as magical. Her essays and short stories have been published in literary journals, including: Indiana Review and Saint Ann’s Review. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and three kids.

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 3 2018
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Book Review: Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Title: Fragile Eternity

Author: Melissa Marr

Series: Wicked Lovely #3

Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Overview: Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone – but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he’d ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen. Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who’d always terrified her – but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she’d ever imagined. In Melissa Marr’s third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos. -Goodreads

The Review:

Okay, let’s keep it real. We all know I’ve had trouble getting into YA lately, but I needed something light to listen to while doing yoga. It turned out to be a rather insightful experience, however, because reading Fragile Eternity help me pinpoint a little better why YA just hasn’t been hitting the spot lately (and I don’t think it’s because I’m getting too old for it, thank the stars).

You see, I’m in a reading point in my life where I’m looking for more world building and event-driven novels. Good character development is important, but I need more than a strictly character-driven “are they going to end up/stay together” story to grab and keep my attention. As many YA plot structures are romance-centric, this would explain why I’m not loving them like I used to. Something keeps me reaching for them, and I genuinely like what I read, they’ve just been getting lower ratings because I’m in the mood for something more robust. Fragile Eternity was solely a romance/character-driven plot with a ton of introspection, communication, and zero world building and action. Nuff said.

Don’t get me wrong, the story was on par with Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange (which were also character driven), and I absolutely loved both of those (they’re among the strongest teen paranormal works, in my opinion). So if you love those, you’ll love this… unless you’re having a reading crisis like me. Although it would seem all of the interesting things about this world have been revealed by this point, so maybe Fragile Eternity was slightly weaker because it just maintained the status quo. Overall, it was a light read filled with plenty of teenaged angst, and I’m looking forward to half paying attention to the final two as I do yoga, lol.

Recommendations: This highly character-driven YA Paranormal Romance is something I wish I’d continued shortly after reading (and loving) the first two books. Wicked Lovely is one of the strongest in the genre and I still recommend it with gusto to older teens (and up). If you’re in the mood for a story as lovely as it its unique, this is the series for you.

Other books you might like:

 by Niki Hawkes