Book Reviews by Genre: Fiction

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is an amazing book to read. It is a fantasy book with some adventure in it. It is the third book in a seven book series. The story will make a lot more sense if you read the books in order. This book is not predictable and does not have a cliffhanger. However, there are some parts of the book that will leave you on the edge of your seat in suspense. Some of the characters are relatable to the reader but the story isn't at all. This was one of the best books I have ever read!
Reviewer Grade: 8th

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is another great book to read.
It is the second book in a seven book series. I recommend reading the books in order, so the story makes a lot more sense. For people that enjoy fantasy and adventure books this is a great book for you! This book is full of surprises and cliff-hangers to the reader. The story isn't relatable to the reader however some of the characters are. This is another great book I have read this year!
Reviewer Grade: 8th

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is a great book to read. This is the first book in a seven book series. If you like fantasy and adventure books this is a great book for you! This book is completely unpredictable with many twists and turns. Some of the characters are relatable to the reader but the story isn’t relatable at all. This is one of the best books I have read all year!
Reviewer Grade: 8th

At first, Raesha thinks she is an ordinary girl. She has a sweet, affectionate boyfriend and her best friend Asia. She loves horses, just like her mother did, before she passed away due to cancer. Everything seems normal until one day, a new girl moves into town, accidentally hurts Raesha's dog, flirts with her boyfriend, and steals her best friend! She suddenly fills with hatred and jealousy towards the new girl and the rest of her friends.
Then, having no one to support her, she starts despising herself until she does the unthinkable.
This story is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. The characters are very well developed and makes you attached to each and every one of them.
I was definitely able to relate to the main character, and many readers might relate with some situations in the book. I especially enjoyed the poetic style of the author, giving the story a nicer flow. I highly recommend you read this book. You won't regret it.

I first picked up this book when I was in maybe 6th grade and I absolutely hated it, I had no clue what it was about and why it was an "adventure" book that didn't really have a lot of action in it. Having picked up this book again this year (and actually finishing it this time) I can honestly say this story made me want to reevaluate how I have lived my entire life. The story follows a boy named Santiago as he searches for his personal legend, in other words, the reason he is alive, his purpose. This is a book that makes you want to go out and chase your dreams no matter what, and it is beautifully written. The novel takes you through the ups and downs of life and proves that sometimes your hard work is worth it in the end, whether you accomplish what you set out to do out not. I think this is a book where the messaged can’t be fully realized until your a little bit older, but to anyone struggling with what they want to do in life or even just where to start, this book is amazing, it made me feel like anything is possible. Just read it, I promise it’s good.

Reviewer: Grade 11

In the midst of desperately trying to find a historical fiction novel to read for my English class, I picked up Lisa See’s book and immediately fell in love. This book is told through the main character, Lily, as she recalls her past as an older woman. As a young girl, Lily was promised to her laotong, Snow Flower. To be a laotong in China means to be best friends, to be closer than sisters, and to never leave each other’s sides. As Lily grows up throughout the book, she recalls her stories of love and loss that shaped her entire life, most importantly in regards to Snow Flower. This book gives an important look into the lives of woman in early China, about the standards they were held to as far as their appearance goes, and the strict rules they had to follow just to live a "fulfilled" life. For anyone who is interested in learning more about the Chinese culture or simply reading a beautiful story of love and friendship, I highly recommend. (Not gonna lie, I cried at the end, this book is actually amazing).

Reviewer: Grade 11

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy is a dystopian novel set in modern day. It follows the main character Cassie as she survives alone during the alien invasion of planet earth. I read this book in 8th grade and to this day it continues to be one of my favorite takes on the dystopian “genre.” I think what makes this book interesting to read in the fact that the author does not shy away from showing how awful Cassie believes her life is. Instead of focusing on hope and the characters figuring out how they are going to single handedly save the entire human race, Yancy instead makes his characters sarcastic, selfish, angry at the world and just overall very “human”. It makes the book feel less cliche and as realistic as the alien invasion of earth can I guess. For anyone who wants to read a dystopian novel (minus *most* of the cheesy romance and heroics) and I definitely recommend.

Reviewer: Grade 11

Ghostly Echoes is the third book in the Jackaby series. It covers the death of the resident ghost of 926 Augur Lane, Jenny Cavanaugh. She was murdered ten years ago, and her fiancé (a scientist involved with some suspicious
people) disappeared. She has hired Abigail and Jackaby to investigate her death. But when a similar crime happens, they realize Jenny's case is connected.
Because of the fact that this not only deals with the murder of a liked character, but also includes peeks into Jackaby's past and how he became the seer, this is the darkest book in the Jackaby series. But it also has plenty of humor, mainly in the bantor between Jackaby and Abigail. They feel like The Doctor and their companion from Doctor Who, if they had to take up the role of Holmes and Watson for a day. This also tackles a whole new part of the world building. This always had folklore involved, but now it includes mythology.
As good as this was, there were some problems. I feel like this book series needs more details; I can't see the character's faces all that well. Also, it is implied that Jackaby has feelings for Jenny, which I think needed much more foreshadowing. I only got close friend vibes from them in the first two books. And the side characters still needed some development; they were important parts in the book, but they didn't make much of an impact on me.
Overall, I think this was the best book in the series thus far, and sets up the events for the fourth (and final) book well.

I decided to choose the book because it looked like it would tell a great story and it did. I liked the book due to its great lessons inside about the imperfections of our minds, but the greatness of them too. The part I enjoyed most was the journey f the main characters and how they didn't change their personalities and stayed focused on the topic. The part I didn't really enjoy was that the story went kinda slow. The book was pretty predictable, but the lessons and thoughts behind you need to think more about to get, so it was still entertaining to read. It was an amazing book to read and I definitely recommend it.
Reviewer Grade: 10

I loved this series. It's a really good imagination of censorship taken to the extreme. Kiiro Yumi really put thought into the character dynamic and the resolution of the series was highly satisfying. In a distant future, the Japanese government starts to ban books they find bad for society, so the libraries must put together a military force in order to defend the right to information. Kasahara has been dreaming of joining this task force since she was in high school and a mysterious member of this task force stopped the Media Betterment Committee from taking a book from her. She dubs this man her "prince" and is on a quest to find him through the Library Forces. The main romances in this story are sweet, but are subtle enough to not totally take over the storyline. I suggest you read this book if you like strong female characters, romance, and fight scenes. Nothing is really explicit in the book, though there are scenes where characters get injured.

Throne of Glass does not fulfill the promises it makes on the back of its dust jacket. Celaena is an assassin, the best assassin in the world, who got a life sentence of hard labor in a mine. But Celaena is nothing like an experienced or smart assassin. She’s reckless, overly arrogant, easily frustrated, and vain; she would rather gape at herself wearing fancy dresses in the mirror, sleep in, eat candy, get angry over her lack of skill at billiards, or read all night than worry over a competition that she knows her life depends upon. A good protagonist could have some of these features, but it is just illogical for someone in her position. In fact, the book soon starts skipping over the competitions entirely to focus more on Celaena, who does nothing to seem either cool or likable. She never acts like an assassin or like her supposed inspiration character, Cinderella. Celaena has very little to no humility, grace, or compassion. Celaena is neither a compelling assassin nor a charming Cinderella.
Reviewer Grade: 9

The First Four Years is the last book in the Little House series. It does not read like a Little House Book. The style is completely different, which is probably because it was an unfinished manuscript which Rose, Laura’s daughter, never edited. A notable difference is that Laura never refers to Almanzo by his name; instead, she affectionately calls him “Manly.” Another thing that differs vastly here from the rest of the Little House books is the sheer amount of tragedy and hardship. At the end of the book everything goes wrong in a cascade of unfortunate tragedies. This book reminded me of Laura’s The Long Winter but without the rewarding change in fortune. The very end manages to be optimistic, but in real life things did not immediately get any better for Laura. However, if you are at all interested in the life of the remarkable Mrs. Wilder, this book is worth the read. I would recommend it not as a Little House book, but as more of an autobiography of the real Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Reviewer Grade: 9

Jason Reynolds (author) + Guy Lockhard* (narrator) = Magic

Castle Cranshaw, aka Ghost, has been running from things his whole life: his violent father, the consequences of altercations at school with a bully, and most of all, the anger that's been building up inside him. So Ghost has a ton of natural talent, which he puts to use when he inadvertently impresses the coach of a local track team. After the coach begs him to join, and Ghost reluctantly agrees, he begins to see that he might be happier if he runs towards something instead of away from everything.

I listened to this audiobook, and it was excellent. I really struggle with middle grade fiction, as I oftentimes have trouble identifying with the characters (I mean, middle school was a loooooooong time ago), but Reynolds took me right back to the thick of it. In a good way. The day-making/ruining things your classmates would say, interactions with adults in positions of authority, and not really being sure about who you are and what you want in life - Reynolds nails it all. Moreover, Ghost is just a straight up likable character, even as he makes poor decision after poor decision. We really get to see him grow over the course of the novel, and even as he does the wrong thing, his heart is usually in the right place. I loved his relationship with his mother, and later, with Coach. There aren't always positive adult relationships in fiction for young people, and so it was nice that Ghost had so many adults that he could turn to. The secondary characters were just as dynamic, and also had very serious problems of their own to deal with. I'd read a book about any of them. Shoot, I wanted to adopt most of them. As a runner myself (although I'm not competitive and do longer distances), I really liked that the book was about track as it's not a sport we read or hear a lot about. There's a bit about fartleks that was pretty hilarious, and I think runners (Land Sharks, anyone?) will find a lot to love here.

If you are looking for a book to listen to or read with your kids, this is a great one. There are loads of teachable moments, and it is ultimately a heartwarming tale of self-discovery. I couldn't get enough of it - 5 stars.

*Shout out to Guy Lockhard - he narrated the other Jason Reynolds book that I've listened to (All American Boys), and he is a fantastic narrator. It seems like Reynolds thinks so as well, because it looks like Lockhard will be narrating Reynolds' recently released book about Spiderman Miles Morales. I may have just put that on hold...

I think that this book is amazing and shares a wonderful message about how a boy has always wanted hunting hound dogs and when he saw an opportunity to get one holds on and wont let go. The author shares wonderful stories of his life with the dogs and then when one dog dies the other won't eat drink or rest and sleep it uses the last of its strength to crawl up to the other dogs grave and when it dies they bury the other dog there. And red fern then grows on top of it and red fern symbolizes that an angel puts red fern on top of the special things who die. And red fern is very rare.

I’m not sure which is more boring in a book: a plot that doesn’t go anywhere, or a main character who is perfect. Unfortunately, Fire with Fire has both. I’ll first start with my qualms about the plot. This story started way too late, as it didn’t get interesting until halfway through.
Even when it did finally get interesting, it suddenly became bogged down in committee. Seriously? Didn’t we learn anything from the Star Wars prequels?
Adding politics to a story about traveling across space merely makes it tedious. This is also not to mention how heavy and clunky the exposition is, with almost every chapter being filled with information that isn’t important, and the jumps between chapters needing way more explanation.

Secondly, let’s take a look at “Mr. Perfect,” Caine Riordan. Aside from the egregious fact that the POV switched between 1st person and 3rd person within most of the paragraphs of his section (with no italics or indication that we were suddenly in Caine’s head), I felt this character was just the author’s way to show how smart he is. With the expansive repertoire of high-value vocabulary words and a character that always knows what to do all the time and has all the correct answers, I ended up not caring about any of it by the end. And I haven’t even mentioned the blatant and pervasive misogyny either.

Even the rest of the supporting cast was so flat and one-dimensional that I probably couldn’t tell you who they were or what their defining characteristics were (aside from that one mysterious guy who LOVED olives and feta cheese). Most of the time I was reading this book, I kept wondering, “Wait . . . what?” as what seemed to be major plot points were introduced then almost immediately forgotten until hundreds of pages later. I’m not sure how this book managed to get a series tacked on to it, or how it was even nominated for a Nebula Award, but it gives me encouragement that I could write something way better than this.

Antiquated sci-fi tropes in a recently written book, I give Fire with Fire 2.0 stars out of 5.

For the last few years, Brandon Sanderson’s name kept coming up amongst my writer friends. I had never heard of him, but they had been fans of his writing for some time. In my goal to read all the unread books I own, I found that I had obtained a Brandon Sanderson book many years ago as a prize during my first National Novel Writing Month. Even with the daunting page count, I decided to give Warbreaker a read. All I can say is that it was refreshing to finally read a fantasy book written by someone who genuinely knows what they’re doing.

I’ve read a lot of books recently that I would consider “amateur,” but Sanderson proves he’s a professional in this tightly written book. From incredibly interesting and entertaining characters to expertly placed foreshadowing to a fascinating magic system, Warbreaker is fully original while also maintaining the tropes and structure of a high fantasy novel. The twists in the plot continued to grab my attention as the mystery surrounding these characters unfolded. As I read, I had a few qualms with minor points in the story, but Sanderson managed to quash these negative points by the end of the book.

I have stayed away from the fantasy genre for a long time because I know how lengthy some of these book series can be, and I didn’t want to become invested in something that might not even reach its penultimate conclusion.
Fortunately, Warbreaker is well-encapsulated in its own, standalone story.
Sure, there are hints at what the future may hold for some of these characters, but nothing was particularly pressing or “cliffhanger-ish” in this book. Either way, consider me a believer in the fantasy genre, and in Sanderson particularly. Maybe now it’s time I started to dive into his other works.

An original and highly entertaining fantasy story, I give Warbreaker 5.0 stars out of 5.

Certainly well ahead of his time, Robert A. Heinlein remains one of the definitive writers of the science fiction genre, even today. In The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Heinlein covers such topics as artificial intelligence, extraterrestrial colonization, and interplanetary warfare. Even today, most of these subjects are accurately depicted in the narrative, even if some of the technology has advanced past where it was thought to be in 1965. Part of me is almost jealous at Heinlein’s ingenious use of Earth’s gravity well, and I know any attempt I might make to replicate the idea will merely seem derivative in comparison.

As is the case with some of his other works, Heinlein makes many socio-political statements via his writing. His stance on taxes, revolutions, and independent governing bodies is a critical section of the plot in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and I can certainly see the theoretical benefits he puts forth in this context. That being said, his views on polygamy and polyamorous relationships are certainly on display again, with his previous work, Stranger in a Strange Land exploring these themes in greater detail. I can only assume the "free love" culture of the 1960's shaped these opinions.

Overall, the book wasn’t quite what I expected. The initial chapters made me hope the plot would center on the relationships between man and artificial intelligence (AI). If anything, AI is shown to be a powerful tool that can influence society in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend. At the very least, the main character was quite entertaining, if not hard to understand at times with his “accent.” If we do eventually colonize the moon, I can hope we do so peacefully and in a way that doesn’t lead to an uprising of its native inhabitants. After all, I do like living in a Colorado Springs devoid of meteoric bombardment.

A well-thought out sci-fi story decades ahead of its time, I give The Moon is a Harsh Mistress 4.0 stars out of 5.

Caraval is about two sisters who find themselves in a game on the island of Caraval hosted by the world-famous Legend. One sister is intrigued by danger and loves to live on the edge. The other sister is cautious and protects her sister over all else. However, they both agree on one thing: The game of Caraval looks amazing. When they finally get invited to play, however, they start to get an odd feeling that something about this "game" is not quite right. Then one sister goes missing...
I liked this book much more than I expected to. Because of the exciting and suspenseful style, I got through this book in 24 hours. I loved all the characters, as well as all the twists and turns in the plot along the way.
Garber writes in a way that makes this book impossible to put down.
My one complaint about this book is with the last 50 or so pages. I found the ending drab and predictable, unlike the rest of the book.
Overall, however, I strongly recommend Caraval.

This book intrigued me immensely. The main character, Feyre, has believed that the faeries are evil for her whole life. However, when she becomes a faerie's prisoner, she sees their ways in a new light.
I liked the storyline of this book a lot. It is sort of an enhanced version of Beauty and the Beast with a few twists. Maas is a great writer, and she uses intricate details to keep the book interesting.
However, I did not care for the characters very much. Some of them seemed cliché, and none were three-dimensional enough for me to relate to or care about.
I do recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult fantasy because it has a compelling plot, and I have heard that the subsequent books in the trilogy are much better.

A Clash of Kings is the second book in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. After adoring the first book, I was not at all disappointed with the second. The immensely complex fantasy world only continues to grow and develop in this book, as do the characters. George R. R. Martin perfectly juggles all the different storylines, making them all interesting, suspenseful, and fascinating. His characters are so 3-dimensional that characters the reader hates in the first book begin to be shown in a new light. I very strongly recommend this book to anyone that read A Game of Thrones. Every paragraph in this book is so richly embellished and detailed that as I read these books, I felt like I was learning the history of another country.
Reviewer Grade: 11