Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of the best books I have ever read! It is an amazing book for tweens and older, with a slight romantic touch to add to the book that mixes very well with the mysterious game the characters play. Inheritance Games is about a teenage girl, Avery Grambs, who grew up with very little money to her name. Soon she learns that she has inherited most of the multi-billionaire, Tobias Hawthorne's wealth and land, and has no connection to the family entirely. At first, her incredible luck might seem extremely fortunate but to keep her newfound wealth she must live with Tobias's remaining complex and tricky family, while solving one last riddle left by Tobias Hawthorne himself, to figure out why she, not the other Hawthorne's, inherited his riches. You will get hooked on this game of affection and jealousy as the elaborate characters figure out what they value more; money or friendship.
I wholeheartedly adored this book! It had so many plot twists and turns so you can never guess what might happen next and it was full of intricate clues and riddles that are soo entertaining and surprised you every time. I picked this book because I wanted a mystery that was more centered around the teenage crowd than the adult theme of missing persons or other crimes and this book did not disappoint! It was so well written and devised, that I truly felt as if I was in the book with Avery and the Hawthorne brothers. I enjoyed the mystery because it was written so well that every time I reread this book I see so many new aspects and clues in the story. It is one of the best mysteries I have read before and it was filled with surprises. The author wrote the book so well and every character was relatable and had so many ups and downs like real people. The emotions and feelings that were put into the characters and the book were interesting and engaging until the end. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because it will be a great read!
This book was super great! I love scary books and especially movies. I wish that R.L. Stein would make every book into a movie. It was so easy to read and I read it in a few hours. It is all about a family that moves into this house that was literally next to this swamp called fever swamp in Florida. The main character Grady can't sleep because he hears howling all night long. Grady does a lot.of exploring and finds a lot of crazy things. He finds a mutilated rabbit, a dead deer. He meets someone from the area named Will. Grady keeps exploring when he finds and hears things that aren't right, and the ending....it totally shocked me. It was so good.
-an almost 9th grader
This book was good, but kind of old. It is a book about a girl named fern and she saved a pig from being killed. She named him Wilbur and he became kind of like her pet. Wilbur became bff's with a spider named Charlotte. I did like how the author described everything. It was very sweet how she made you feel like Wilbur and Charlotte were real and they were really friends. I did get nervous before the ending of the story for how it would end up.
-an almost 9th grader
This book was real easy to read and for me to get interested in. It is a story about a girl who had real life problems. The book tells the story of her after she gets out of school and how she just keeps running into problems. Like her parents get divorced, I could relate to her on this because my parents got divorced when I was 7. I like reading about real life stuff because it makes me feel like I am not alone with my things. I hope that the author writes a sequel to this book.
-an almost 9th grader
This book was pretty good. It was a little harder to get into than I thought it would be. The plot of the story was all about these animals on a farm, and how they wanted to have equality with the farmer. It is an old book that was written in 1945, but I thought it was really crazy how it is similar to some of the modern day issues the world is facing. My big sister has read it and we talked about it a lot, I think it is a better book for adults than for teen agers (I'm 14). The ending was not what I expected.
- almost 9th grader
Normal People by Sally Rooney beautifully follows Marianne and Connell’s on again off again relationship. I really loved this book and I felt as if I was there growing with the characters. This story does not follow much of a plot, it is more about watching Marianne and Connell grow and develop as people. Rooney addresses mental health and abuse and the way Marianne and Connell were always there for each other literally makes me scream. The story begins when they are in high school with Connell being a well liked soccer player and Marianne being pretty much the opposite. It follows them through college and all their ups, downs, mistakes, and triumphs. This is a fairly easy read and I was able to finish it in no time at all.
In this story (which holds heavy resemblance to the "Gone" series by Michael Grant), a small town is trapped within a invisible and impenetrable barrier (or dome if you prefer), leaving the inhabitants to fend for themselves against the lack of resources and each other as a power struggle appears in the midst of the crisis.
Similar to another 1000+ page book of King's, Under the Dome has a multitude of interesting and developed characters, a driving force for the majority of the plot, and a heavy lead up that concludes well enough, but a little underwhelming. Watching all the people within the town slowly morph to party, if you will, was great. The mystery of the dome is, of course, speculated throughout the story and gives a small sense of mystery while the conflict continues on. After the climax, however, things slow down to a pretty lackluster conclusion. I feel there could have been something more climatic in the final 50-100 pages of the story. I'm not mad at how it ended, but I felt it could have done a bit more that what it did. Even with that, it was a great book, even with the extensive length.
Reviewer's Grade: 11
Rhythm of War is the final book in the Stormlight Archive series. A year after the singer invasion, the war has only just begun, and it's already looking bad. The singers have seized Urithiru, leaving the Radiants in in the tower unconscious, except for two, one who always survives, and one who steals food to be awesome. Set from the perspective of Navani, who has to try to stall for time before the tower's spren, the Sibling, is fully corrupted and the tower itself turns against humans. Even the shield is a liability, because the required nodes can be used to corrupt the Sibling, but without them, the shield will fail and leave the Sibling's heart open to be corrupted. Rhythm of War is an exciting, suspenseful conclusion to the Stormlight Archive, and probably in my top 3 books. And I read A LOT of books. 👍
They Both Die at the End is a perfect book for both tweens and teens! Set in a futuristic time where the "Death-Cast" can predict your death, two teenage boys, Mateo and Rufus, meet through an app that leads you to your last friend. Both of them are on their death day, wanting to live memories they never got to and they learn how much of a gift it is to find love, even in your last hours. Though Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, they connect in a way they never could with anyone else and live the short life they wanted together.
I loved this book because it was deep and meaningful. It gave thought to so many things and made a day last an eternity. I stayed up all night reading this book because I just couldn't put it down, it was entrapping how the author put down their last moments together as a story with so many lessons to learn from. I picked this book because it was different than what I normally read and because I wondered how the author would put it together, knowing that the title gave it all away. I was not disappointed at all! If anything, I was only sad and disappointed about how it ended, otherwise, the book was fantastic. Even though the title of the book is a complete spoiler, by the end you never see it coming and it is so sad when you realize the book is over. The ending was very predictable but it will surprise you even though you know it will happen. It was an amazing book about their story of gay love and I ended up crying at the end because it was so beautiful. The author made the boys very relatable and emotional in a way that truly hooked you into the book. This is one of the best books I've read this year and I would certainly recommend that you read it too!
I read this book because my mom wouldn't stop talking about how she LOVED this book when she grew up. It was pretty funny. It is a book about.a kid in the fourth grade that has a little brother. And the little brother was just SO cute that everyone, not just his parents gave all of the attention to the brother. That part I can kinda understand. I have a little sister and for real babies usually get all of everyone's attention. It made him feel like a nothing. I liked the book because I could definitely relate to it, and it was pretty easy to read. I think it would probably be better for like middle school kids or younger to read. But it was good.
I have never really been good at reading long books, but my sister kept talking about the Harry Potter books and so I read the sorcerer's stone, and it was so good. I have a hard time actually picturing what's going on in the books, but the way that JK Rowling writes made it easy. The book is all about a fantasy world full of magic and wizards and spells and witchcraft. I literally wish I went to Hogwarts. If I did I would be a ravenclaw. I am really good at riddles.
Reviewer's Grade: 9
You've Reached Sam is a story about a high school girl named Julie grappling with the recent death of her boyfriend Sam. One day, after a week of Sam's death, Julie decides to call Sam to try and hear his voice for one last time. And to her surprise, he actually picks up. For some reason, Julie and Sam have this special connection even after death, but both Sam and Julie are aware that their time together is running out, and the phone calls won't last forever.
The plot of this story and its elements of fantasy intrigued me at first, but when I actually started reading, I was very underwhelmed. If I'm being honest, Julie as a character was very irritating. I understood that she was dealing with grief from losing a loved one, but when I read the flashback scenes, I slowly understood that Julie was always selfish and irritating from day 1. Adding onto an unlikeable main character were the "antagonists" of the novel. Liam and Taylor were some of Sam's childhood friends and we're told that they never really liked Julie in the first place. But after Sam's death, both of them blame Julie for what happened to Sam and are just overall cruel and unnecessarily racist to Julie's Asian friends. To be honest, Liam and Taylor were horribly written "villains." I could not understand why they were the way that they were, and it would have been much more interesting to hear their backstories with Sam and why they hated Julie so much. Sadly, Thao barely does any of this, and I wish he took the time to delve into Liam and Taylor's stories as well. Adding on, while I appreciated the representation of Asian and Asian-American characters in this novel, I feel like Thao barely did any research when writing about Sam's Japanese background. He talks about cherry blossoms and temples, and pretty much very basic facts about Japanese culture, and I wish he delved deeper into Sam's background, especially because Japanese culture has many interesting beliefs and traditions surrounding death that not many people have heard about. Adding on, I also didn't really like the way Thao incorporated scenes of discrimination against Asian people throughout the novel. To me, these scenes seemed very random and rushed. While I understood what Thao was trying to do, I feel like these scenes could have been more naturally incorporated into the plot, instead of seeming like these scenes were just there for added diversity.
Overall, this book to me was very overhyped. I didn't find myself shedding a single tear during this entire novel, even when every review was raving about how heartbreaking the story was. While the plot and the diversity of the characters excited me at first, I was left feeling very disappointed and I wish Thao did much more with all the potential that the story could have had.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a fictional autobiography written by Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong. It is written in the form of a letter from a Vietnamese-American son to his illiterate mother.
To me, it was a surprise to hear that this novel was a work of fiction. The scenes constructed were so raw and real and written with so much emotion, that I automatically figured that this was a memoir. However, I later discovered that this book was fiction, with a couple of truths sprinkled in. I really loved the format that Vuong decided to use in this book because the letter format felt very lyrical and poetic at times. The book was refreshing and easy to follow, as opposed to the topics discussed in the book. As an Asian-American myself, there were many topics addressed in the novel that I could really sympathize and relate with, and while the subjects addressed could get pretty heavy and difficult to read through at times, I was grateful that Vuong took it upon himself to shed some light to many real issues and experiences. While I personally enjoyed the lyrical writing and could sympathize with the difficult subjects, I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. There are many scenes in the novel that could be triggering and too much to handle, and even I felt like I had to put down the book a few times to get a break. I would recommend that before anyone decides to read this book, they should look up the content and trigger warnings. However, those that do decide to start this novel will definitely not be disappointed.
The Love Hypothesis is a cute romance novel that takes place in an academic setting. Olive, our protagonist, is a PhD STEM student attending Stanford, and Adam, her love interest is a professor at the college. I was initially a little hesitant about this book because while the age gap between Olive and Adam isn't concerning, their power dynamic is. Conveniently, however, it is revealed that Adam is not one of Olive's professors and manages another section of students. Even though Adam and Olive were never really "teacher-student," it still made me a little uneasy, especially since the two attend the same college. The novel basically establishes its plot through Olive and Adam having a fake relationship together. Adam needs this fake relationship to convince his higher-ups that he's not leaving Stanford and has put down roots, in order to unfreeze funds needed for his research projects. Olive, on the other hand, needs a fake relationship to convince her best friend Ahn, that she has no feelings for a boy she had gone out on a couple of dates with, after realizing Ahn is interested in the same boy herself. In order to persuade Ahn to pursue her feelings, Olive strikes up this fake-dating deal with Professor Adam Carlsen, thus leading the two of them into a real future together.
The Love Hypothesis, in my opinion, has everything critical for a good, cheesy, romance. The fake-dating trope, many sweet situations, and a love interest who seems cold and cruel on the outside, but turns out to be a softie just for Olive. While the novel may have the right ingredients for a swoon-worthy romance, however, there was something missing. Olive as a protagonist was a very 2d character and was someone I could not find myself relating to or even being interested in. While it was refreshing to see a female woman lead pursuing a career in STEM, there was nothing else all that interesting about Olive. I also didn't like the author's choice of using the topic of sexual assault only as a plot device, in order to bring the story forward and the characters closer.
On the other hand, Adam was a classically written love interest. Strong on the outside, and soft on the inside, he had all the criteria needed for a typical male lead in a romance novel, and while it may seem overdone to some, I think Adam was a great portrayal of such traits.
Overall, The Love Hypothesis was an interesting romance novel, and I enjoyed its academic setting and some of the scenes involved. However, there were a couple of aspects of the story that could have been tweaked to make the story more enjoyable. In my opinion, many romance-lovers would probably enjoy this novel, but I found myself wanting more.
My mom told me about this book because she said me and my friends reminded her of this book. I really liked this book because of how close they all were. And because of all of the adventures they all take but they are still best friends. I thought the idea of this book was epic because even though they were not the same size, they pants somehow looked perfect on all of them. And they used the pants to stay close. And tell each other about their adventures. It was very easy to read and imagine like I was right there with them.
The fact that Everly has a clock heart that sometimes stalls is the perfection metaphor for this book. Although it's a very enjoyable book with many redeeming qualities, it's clunky and certain decisions baffled me.
The main plot of the book is that Everly's family was killed when she was young by Markham, who tried to kill her as well. She only survived because of her uncle building her a clockwork heart. Overall, the plot is solid. She intentionally gets arrested to get close to Markham, and ends up on the isles near the dangerous thornwoods.
Character wise, Everley flip flops between being an interseting and bland protagonist. Just saying that she wants revenge and is angry at her would be murderer isn't exactly compelling. However, when the story takes the time to explore how she's closed herself off, her character is actually pretty good. Sadly, this only happens about three times. Jamison (Everly's love interest) is almost always bland. He only gets angry (or feels any non supportive emotion) once. Yet, all of this is par for the course with YA novels, it's time to talk about what sets this book apart.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
Markham is the lost prince of Everly's favorite fairy tale. He accidentally mortally wounded his wife and is banished to the mortal releam with eternal life. The only reason he killed Everly's family is becuase her father tried to keep him from the forest where his love lies in a magical coma. Sounds interesting? It is, but there are two major problems. One: most of the characters completly ignore that he killed two innocent children and tried to kill a third. It's almost comical how Everly shouts about his war crimes while everyone kisses his feet. I just wanted everyone to see his true colors so the dissonance would end. I got my wish in the worst way possible. Two: turns out all that complexity was a lie. He actually just wanted power and no longer cared about his wife. Pure evil villians are wonderful. Sympethetic villians are also wonderful. However, you can't just set up a complex villian for half the book and wimp out last second.
That's enough negativity though. Let's talk about what this book does right. There's just this sense of whimsy throughout the book. Maybe this shouldn't be a surprise, (Everly has a clockwork heart after all) but when there's also a dark/oppressive atmosphere, it doesn't seem like it can work. The book really shines once they arrive at the other world. The imagination in those scenes really made me smile. I mean, the fairy alone could have carried the book.
If you're looking for a nice fantasy read, pick up Before the Broken Star. However, if you're looking for something truly complex, that will make you think for hours afterwards, try something else.
The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a fictional account of Offred, who is a handmaid that lives in a dystopian society. A handmaid is a woman whose purpose is to have a child. Offred is conflicted with her job; she is separated from her lover, Luke and her child, thinking that they are dead but hoping they are alive. The new government slowly took away power from females until the females are essentially powerless. I chose the book because my Aunt recommended it to me. One thing I liked about the book was that the ending was essentially left to the reader's judgment. As a male, it gave me helpful insights to events that are happening right now that I never would have thought about.
“Looking for Alaska” is a book about Miles Halter, who is searching for the “Great Perhaps” in his life. So, to find the “Great Perhaps” he enrolls in the Culver Creek boarding school. While at school he makes new friends and grows out of his shell into the real world. One of the friends that he makes is Alaska Young, who is a hurricane unto herself and she pulls Pudge (Miles) into the real world and eventually makes him face the truth about how bitter the world can be. But she also captures his heart, making everything feel worse once tragedy strikes. But once tragedy strikes, nothing is the same anymore.
I could not put this book down. The format of the book is so fun and it cuts out useless parts of the book. Also, the way it separates the ‘before’ and the ‘after’, was a very smart way to organize the book. The writing was pretty good and felt honest about how teenagers live their lives. Sometimes something would happen very suddenly in the book but the book would keep going, so I would have to reread parts to fully understand what just happened. You get to see into Pudge’s mind and even though he is a jerk sometimes, you do get attached to him and the people that he cares about. Personally, Pudge was a very relatable character and then Alaska was the person that I want to be. Dr. Hyde was one of my favorite characters and I think that he was a good teacher. The plot and the pranks were very well thought out and I did not see the event coming ( the one that separates the ‘before’ and ‘after’). I think that the event was also very well thought out because of how common it is but also how you never think that it will happen to you, showing a life lesson, technically. Overall, this is a great novel, with uncensored teens, a few life lessons and great characters.
House of Leaves is a story within a story within a story. In short, it is a collection of writings, put together by an amateur tattoo artist after retrieving the notes from a dead blind man's apartment, notes about a documentary that may or may not have existed, a documentary that details one family and their house that is far bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It is a desperate mess, a mile-high pile of unreliable narrators' unreliable writings collapsing in on themselves. It is a horror, not about a haunted house or a monster in the dark, but about the things that haunt us and the monsters inside our minds. It is a book that pushes the idea of what a book can be. It is gibberish, illegible, unreadable. And it is one of the most gripping books I have ever read.
I was glued to this book when I got it. It was one of the first real horror books I have ever read, and yet it betrays every idea of what horror should be. It is long and rambling and pretentious, going off on random tangents and strange digressions at the drop of a hat, but it still made my skin crawl. After I first bought the book, I quickly realized that I could not read it when my parents weren't home. It's something about the abruptness of horror after so long without it, or maybe its the unsettling words before that put you in the headspace where every shadow looks like a death omen. It's likely also something about the way the book chooses to directly address the root of all fears. It isn't about a house invasion, it's about the primal fear that comes when the comforting becomes unsafe. It isn't about surviving in a dangerous or extreme environment, it's about the bone deep terror of being somewhere you don't belong. It isn't about a monster, it's about the monstrous things this world has to offer, and how that monstrosity can creep into our very bones. This can be seen in the way the horror of the book is never named or explained. There is no ritual or legend, no handy expert or trusty guide. Even if a character manages to escape the horror, the horror still exists, because it has always existed.
Despite the beautiful prose, rich imagery, and startling effect this book creates, there are definitely some problems. The main issue is the inherently illogical structure and plot of the novel. This is obviously intentional on the authors part, since the book, and its characters, are meant to be a challenge to understand. The book is filled with rambling, nonsensical footnotes that can take up pages at a time. Words will go in different directions, appendices will stretch on for hours, entire chapters will be devoted to academic nothingness. This strangeness also weaves its way into the plot. While the documentary's story is mostly straightforward (although it, too, dissolves near the end) the ramblings of the amateur tattoo artist bringing the story together are crude, strange, abrupt, and often incomprehensible. There is a lack of catharsis, of any sort of understanding of most of the characters, and this can be very confusing and frustrating.
All in all, this book was a difficult yet rewarding read. I'd definitely recommend it for older readers, and would instruct any attempting to read it to get the physical version, read however feels comfortable, and go to the appendices when directed. I'd also recommend it for any lovers of horror, mystery, or a story in unique format.
Reviewer Grade: 12
Oathbringer is the third installation in the amazing Stormlight Archive. With their homeland overrun by "Voidbringers" (or is it...🤔), Dalinar Kholin and co must find a way to end this Desolation without being wiped from Roshar, and without the help of the Heralds of the Almighty, or the Almighty himself. Urithiru, the city of the Knights Radient, has a new, unwelcome occupant that is mimicking acts of violence that happen in the tower city. The city conceals more knowledge that no one knew, including an unpleasent fact about humanity's orgins on Roshar, their "homeworld".