Book Reviews

I chose this book because I had heard so much about the story and wanted to see if the rest of the book was just as haunting. The plot of the main story involves a small town gathering for an annual ritual that seems innocent at first but ends with a shocking twist that I truly did not see coming. What I enjoyed most was Jackson's ability to make the mundane feel terrifying, however some of the shorter sketches felt a bit unfinished compared to the other in the bunch.

I picked up this book because the title made me curious about what happens after the school bell rings, and I know PPLD recommends it often. This book tells a story of ten short sections about different students from the same middle school all walking home in the same direction. I really liked how the stories were funny and relatable, but they also had some deeper moments that made me think about my own friends. My favorite part was seeing how the characters' paths crossed in small ways, though I wish some of the stories were a little longer because I wanted to know even more about the kids! It didn't quite end the way I expected, which was a cool surprise.

I chose to read this book because I loved the beautiful cover art and I had seen it on several PPLD reading lists for students. The story begins when a robot named Roz opens her eyes for the first time and discovers she is alone on a remote. She has to learn how to survive by observing the animals, but the island's inhabitants aren't so sure about their new "monster" neighbor. I was surprised by how much emotion a story about a robot could have, and it made me think a lot about how we treat nature. I really related to the way Roz felt like an outsider trying to fit in, and it’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read lately.

Even though it was written in the 90s, the premise of Parable of the Sower intrigued me because it was set in our near past of 2024. That its themes focused on the end of the world being brought about by climate change and wealth inequality was also eerily prescient enough for me to want to read how Octavia E. Butler thought things would play out in the “future.” Perhaps part of me wanted some amount of optimism; but ultimately, it’s just a depressing examination of current failures.

The first half of Parable of the Sower really paints a picture of some scarily accurate predictions for the state of society today. Even if people deny the effects of climate change, this book shows an even more extreme world that could be in our future if we do nothing to reverse it. Of course, climate change is really the exacerbating force that drives the wealth disparity present in this book into apocalypse territory. The depressing part of this book is how the only realistic solution is to give up and start over.

With the onslaught of awful things that happened in this book, it lost its entertainment appeal as the hits kept coming. Perhaps it was my desire for escapism—that it would give a way to fix these broken things that we currently have no control over—that ultimately wasn’t met. And while I agree the current system should probably be demolished and built from the ground up with empathy (or even “hyper-empathy”), I still think there are things we can also do to fight what’s happening. Even if this book predicted a lot of bad things , I hope we can work to make some good.

A gauntlet of eerily prescient bad news for modern times, I give Parable of the Sower 3.5 stars out of 5.

An amazing book that was absolutely thrilling, enticing, and heart-wrenchingly emotional! One of my all time favorites and it will always be near and dear to my heart. It's full of adventure, growing from trauma, and making new connections with people you never would have expected. In a whole world of fantasy this book was absolutely fire (see what I did there :) !!!

It was the most perfect, cheesy romance imaginable! While being unfortunately highly unrealistic, Poppy and Alex's story was so silly and fun to go along with. Honestly a refreshing read that wasn't too heavy but had enough weight to have a good plot!

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is one of those iconic literary texts that evaded my entire educational career. Remedying this, I have finally sat down to read this famous book, and I think more people would benefit from its narrative if they’re encouraged to read it as well. While the events are fictitious, the world Harriet Beecher Stowe paints with her words is probably closer to reality than most people at the time realized, thus educating people (mainly Christians) about how their beliefs should not be aligned with slavery in any way.

First and foremost, the format of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is still entertaining. The story itself is strong because it shares so many similarities with things happening in the lead-up to the Civil War. Things that most people of the time were likely ignorant of. We may take these events as common knowledge after all the history books that have been written about slavery, but to those in its contemporary era who didn’t know this was happening, it’s quite an enraging piece of literature that spurs one to action. The trick with reading it today is making sure to actually engage with the original material.

Partly because of all the adaptations of this work, some themes and characterizations are lost as people associate with the versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin that ultimately form negative stereotypes for African Americans. I went into this book expecting these things but was pleasantly surprised to find that these characters really shined in their depiction of humanity. That there’s hope to defeat such an ugly beast of humanity’s greed makes me wonder if any other modern works will be written that expose things in a way to get the masses mad about what’s currently happening in our world.

A well-written exposé on the evils of slavery, I give Uncle Tom’s Cabin 4.5 stars out of 5.

The Outsiders is a great book for many reasons. One of the reasons is the personal development. The Outsiders follows the story of Ponyboy Curtis as he is faced with many challenges. The action and emotional moments in the book kept me interested the whole book. I recommend this book because it shows how you can overcome challenges just like Ponyboy.

This book follows the adventure of a misfortunate scholar named Humphrey Van Weyden. During a trip by boat he is knocked over board and finds himself saved and in the service of the unfeeling tyrannical captain Wolf Larsen. Throughout the book Van Weyden philosophically debates with his counterpart Wolf Larsen on kindness and intellect versus survival of the fittest. Van Weyden is eventually forced to confront Larsen and make his way back to civilization.

The book spends most of its narrative highlighting the absolute differences between the two main characters. Due to this focus the books story tends to be slower and sometimes repetitive. The book provides an excellent example of how environment shapes character and what beliefs are most important when confronted by challenge. The book has a compelling concept that unfortunately suffers from an excess of dialogue and not enough story progression or narrative.

There are nonfiction biographies about famous people, then there are books like Blonde, which fuse fictional narration techniques with mostly biographical details of a person’s life. While not entirely historically accurate, it is intrinsically entertaining. In fact, I would deem that Blonde is perhaps the most entertaining version of Marilyn Monroe’s life to be put to the page (given that you're listening to the abridged version like I did). It might be too over-erotic in places, but the trauma of being deemed and treated like a sex symbol for decades really comes into focus in this intimate portrayal of Norma Jeane.

Blonde is interesting in the way that it almost feels like an autobiography from Marilyn’s perspective. The almost breathless whispering affectation comes across and has such a well-thought-out explanation as to really convey Monroe’s internal monologue through these words. The progression of her life feels completely out of her control, but her ability to adapt and make the most of what she wanted to get out of it. That her endless stream of male suitors feels more like a used doll passed down the line instead of something she actively pursued really highlights how little autonomy women of the era had—even women as well-known as Marilyn Monroe.

Trying to make Monroe’s life into something more puritan would have been a disservice to the effect she had on society. While this could have been done in a less explicit manner, it drives home the central themes of the book. From a modern context, even 26 years after its original 2000 release, Blonde shows how oppressive the patriarchy was/is. Objectification has not improved in the meantime, even if the #MeToo movement has made voices calling out abuse more prevalent. In the end, Marilyn’s life is tragic, and the contextualization in Blonde merely brings this into uncomfortable focus.

An intimate and semi-fictional account of Marilyn Monroe, I give Blonde 4.5 stars out of 5.

I recently read "What the Woods Took" by Courtney Gould and I loved reading it. Each chapter left me wanting to keep reading and know what happens next. I loved the plot twist with what happens with *spoilers* Hannah. Gould did a great job, in my opinion, building the relationships that the main characters were building throughout their time in the forest, she also did well with Devin and Sheridan's relationship. I think it was well written and the descriptions made me feel like I was actually there. The scenes where the main characters were fighting the mimics and trying to survive were amazing. I loved reading "What the Woods Took" and highly recommend it if you are into thriller books.

Caraval circles around two sisters, Scarlett and Donatella, or Tella. These sisters live on an island called Trisda that their father governs. They also have a shared interest; they both have dreams of seeing the magical performance of caraval, where it is said that the audience participates in the show. During caraval, some go mad, some get lost in the beauty and extravaganza, some simply go for the adventure, yet most go for all three. Caraval is run by the magical caraval master, Legend, who's identity has remained a mystery by most people. The point of caraval is to play with the mind of the people involved, yet it is all supposed to be only a game. Scarlett and Tella fear they aren't able to travel to caraval due to the fact that their father doesn't allow them to leave their island, yet a chance arises when a sailor gives them an offer.

This book was so magnificent. I don't know if I've read a book and needed it into a movie so much. It was a magical experience and although I am now on the third book, and final, book in this series, I do think this one was my favorite for sure. I will admit that I usually get pretty picky about my characters in book, I liked most of them in this one. Overall a great, attention grabbing book.

As my children get into longer books (and can pay attention to audiobooks), I’ve appreciated some of the stories that they have chosen. One such book was Jacky Ha Ha by James Patterson. The story of a goofy kid trying to find her purpose—or at least who interacted with adults who saw her promise—was an amusing coming of age tale. The problem with the narrative was mostly around the negligent father figure who was absent for most of the story. This subplot was my main qualm with the book.

The titular character in Jacky Ha Ha frames the story as an acceptance speech years in the future, where she no longer suffers from the stuttering that gained her this nickname. The presence of mentors at her school who saw her clowning as a potential for improv and acting is the engagement I want from those who are teaching my kids, so I appreciate that push to have Jacky try things that might make her embarrassed or push her outside her comfort zone. These days, it seems rare that someone outside the family would show an interest in mentoring a child who is frequently in detention, so I like to think that people like that still exist.

Unfortunately, the familial conflict revolved around Jacky suspecting that her father was having an affair. The number of evenings he was outside the home, leaving the large family of kids to fend for themselves for dinner was honestly grossly negligent. The explanation for his absence in the end wasn’t the satisfying twist it was meant to be because it still glossed over the fact that Jacky had made this whole scenario up because he wasn’t there to actually parent these kids. Overall, that left a sour taste as it was such a crux to the plot.

A good story about mentoring troublesome kids, but with some troubling parental neglect, I give Jacky Ha Ha 3.0 stars out of 5.

When I was first introduced to the book, The Other Half of Church, I thought it might cover topics similar to Thinking Fast and Slow where the authors would explore how neuroscience affects the religious experience that comes with attending / participating in church. While there was some discussion of these ideas, most of this text focused on the feeling of belonging that we get when we’re part of a group of like-minded individuals. This “hesed” appears to be vital for a healthy church, but it doesn’t really dive deep enough into the brain science that the early chapters promise.

Perhaps my expectation was that The Other Half of Church would get into how individuals can make snap judgements that can determine their initial desire to be included in a particular church, but then get deeper into the relational part of life with Christ by a focused attention on the Scriptures and prayer. A few of the early chapters address some of this, but about half-way through, the book pivots into how the larger organic church (not the individual) needs to deal with that feeling of belonging.

The discussion of the “hesed” was truly a useful topic to cover. Some chapters even dealt with shame and how it’s not necessarily a bad thing when correcting others to align them with the collective “this is who we are” mentality that comes with hesed. Ultimately, the church thrives on these feelings, which themselves are spawned from the way our brain makes connections with communities. However, I don’t think it quite addresses how that belonging can sometimes be a trap for churches looking to expand or enliven their congregations if they don’t address some of the cultural understandings of the modern church and how they might drive potential members away.

A useful primer on “hesed” and the feeling of belonging, I give The Other Side of Church 3.5 stars out of 5.

Determining he is not hallucinating or going crazy when he experiences his rare edition of The Great Gatsby showing him words like "murder" and making strange noises, Daniel Freund is thrown into a self-led homicide investigation in his own neighborhood. One problem: the death occurred three years ago and was deemed an open-and-shut suicide by the local police. Daniel must work together with retired detective Israel Abramovitz to prove his notion that his neighbor was actually murdered.

This book is a fairly short read and even without much background information, readers are gripped by a realistic main character and an easily followed mystery. David Finkle's writing style just might be one of my favorites...ever. It is witty to the max and frank, with resigned humor in every metaphor. I appreciated that this book includes only the mystery and excludes anything unrelated (like coinciding personal events or emotions of the main character). The end leaves readers satisfied and with a memorable impression--I even looked David Finkle up afterwards to see if I could read anything else of his.

10/10 recommend if you like The Great Gatsby, murder mysteries, candid humor, and just an overall good read.

I’m skeptical of any franchise that feels the need to explore the world of their original, highly successful franchise with a prequel. Often, it adds nothing other than some background that ultimately doesn’t matter because we all know how things start with the original stories. That being said, after watching and enjoying the movie adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), I figured I would give the book a shot. Once again, Suzanne Collins broke my expectations with some of the best writing and continued world-building in literature.

Following the rise of the main villain of the Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes provides engaging and well thought out plot twists that show the reader the specific circumstances that led to the rise of Coriolanus Snow. That I was actually rooting for this kid all the while knowing what he would eventually become is quite a feat to pull off. Foreshadowing aside, there was the same heart in this book that made one empathize with Katniss in the original trilogy. Unfortunately, despite being given the chance to stop the Hunger Games entirely, Snow instead uses them to build his career.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes excels in showing that even among the elite, there is a vast difference between the haves and have-nots. Perhaps this is the whole point: it’s a metaphor for the culture wars we’re fighting to distract us from the class war we should be fighting. Who cares if someone is from District 12 or District 1 if the formerly entitled individuals from the Capitol are basically in the same situation? The trouble is that once someone like Snow has a taste of the good life, he’ll do whatever it takes to get it back.

A rare prequel that expands its social commentary from the original books, I give The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 4.5 stars out of 5.

Some of the best science fiction ever written has its basis in reality. These “what-if” scenarios often pull from actual processes and procedures that help ground them while still being entertaining. Knowing that Michael Crichton always digs deep into the science of his stories, it’s no wonder that The Andromeda Strain is an engaging examination of what happens when an unknown pathogen comes to Earth and wreaks havoc on the biosphere in odd and mysterious ways. Of course, the core of this story is the safety steps it takes to combat a terrifying virus.

This book mostly splits into two stories: one about the tragic effects of the titular “Andromeda Strain” and one about the purification rituals the scientists need to perform in order to come up with a way to counter it. Half is hazmat suits performing autopsies to learn what happened, and half is multi-layer clean-room (and extreme contingency) protocols to ensure this deadly virus cannot escape the facility meant to research it. Both parts of this book are engaging in their own way, with their twists and reveals that drive the story forward.

My singular qualm with this book is that there’s all this build-up and tension as more details are revealed, only for the climax to be anticlimactic. That there’s ultimately no need for a vaccine or protocol to keep the population safe makes it feel like all that work was ultimately wasted. Still, I really enjoyed The Andromeda Strain for the peek into extremely competent individuals following highly detailed rules meant to keep everyone involved (and even the whole world) safe from the alien virus. It might come across as stiff and more non-fiction than many would like, but I’d almost consider this book as an early example of today’s hard sci-fi.

A journey of competence that lacks some payoff, I give The Andromeda Strain 4.5 stars out of 5.

I love historical fiction. That is why I loved the book refugee. The reason why it was not a five star is because it was hard to follow all three stories but other than that, it was a great and wonderful book. Refugee helped me learn about the historical event through three different stories. I loved comparing all of the stories and their timelines. Refugee is a very clean book for all teens.

I love Edenbrooke so much, when I read it became one of my new favorite books. The main character is belittled in regard to how perfect her sister is, and she just lives in the shadow of her sister. Edenbrooke is the perfect example of a main character finding her own story. The romance is real and makes you not want to stop reading. The plot is loveable which makes you fall in love with the book. It is simple but beautiful, Julianne Donaldson did a fabulous job.

Continuing the story of the Hero association infiltrating the Monster HQ, the Class S heroes have been shown to demonstrate their value of power against the Dragon level monsters all while keeping a really good dialogue between the two sides. The art style, as always, is phenomenal especially on the fight scenes. The story so far has been so good now that we get introduced to more characters and lore behind the Monster King Orochi's origins.

While the Arthurian legend has always fascinated me, I wasn’t entirely sure how much of what I knew was just condensed through other adaptations and interpretations and what was in the original story. I finally took it upon myself to read through this huge multi-volume set to find out what it’s actually about. To say it disappointed me would be an understatement. Perhaps it’s the prose, or the translation, or just the story structure, but I have never been so bored by a piece of literature since I forced myself to read Ulysses .

Early on, Le Morte D’Arthur had enough recognizable events to keep me engaged. The origins of Arthur’s birth. The Sword in the Stone. Lady of the Lake and Excalibur. Then, things fell apart. So much of the focus in this book was on random battles and jousts that I could hardly believe the famous stories that were gleaned from this tome even existed in this form. After a while, I was just forcing myself to sit through it just to say that I’d covered the source material.

Considering this is the earliest story (aside from the Bible) that I’ve read all the way through, it can be forgiven for being obtuse and unfocused. I’m more glad that the salient story beats have been distilled in Cliff Notes and other adaptations so that I don’t have to dive in and tackle this unwieldy story again. My curiosity wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, but my masochism forced me to finish it. Ultimately, if you’re also curious to read the original manuscript that inspired so many drama-filled tales of chivalrous knights, I’d say just pick up something that covers all the good bits and ignore the original.

An overly long book that doesn’t even seem to focus on anything it’s known for, I give Le Morte D'Arthur 2.0 stars out of 5.

Divine Rivals is a fantasy story about Iris Winnow and Rowan Kitt, two aspiring journalists who begin as enemies in the workplace but later become much, much more after Iris' letters, who she had believed were being sent to her brother, Forest, who was at war, ended up in Rowan's hands.

Divine Rivals is truly one of the best love stories I've ever read. The world in which the story is set it is amazing, and the book executes the enemies-to-lovers trope perfectly. The words the author used to describe everything are extremely immersive, and it makes you feel as if you're actually in the story yourself. The story itself is spellbinding and heartbreaking, and I am very excited to read the sequel.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was how confusing all of the myths and legends about the war are. Other than that, this book was fantastic. Five stars.

This book is a collection of answers to crazy hypothetical questions. Randall Munroe, a former NASA robotics engineer, that is also a cartoonist explores many hypothetical and unique situations like what if you went swimming in a spent nuclear fuel pool or how many printers would it take to keep up with all the Wikipedia edits? This book is just endless joy to read with its charm and humor. I have read and re-read this book countless times and if you are a nerd that has interest in math and science I couldn't recommend any single book higher.

Hayla Swinton is the funniest gurl in her class but due to her being overweight she judges herself. During a school assembly, they have a talent show where Leo a very funny comedian performs. After that she falls head over heels for him. He is a scholar fit very popular guy Hayla finds out that he performs at his dad‘s family, friendly pub , but he doesn’t know what to perform so Hayla starts making up material and slipping it into his locker. She goes to the open night at the family friendly pub that his dad owns and watches him, little does she know Leo put her name down to perform that night she gets up stage very nervous is going well so far until she sees Leo and her best friend Chloe flirting with him this leads to her getting very embarrassed saying I’m done and walking off stage when Leo’s dad walks up, he reaches for the microphone, but Hayla gives him a big hug. The next couple of days were torture for her and her three best friends got in a fight brcause Chloe flirting with Leo. Leo finds out that Hayla was the one who was writing all of the comedy he wants to reform to be the comedy comedian of the teen comedian of the year. But Leo is just using her after her friends. Telling her this she still doesn’t believe them, but then she sees him kissing another girl after they thought they had a connection. This causes Hayla to also join the teen comedian of the year contest.

I chose to read this book Becuase it shows no matter how you look you can do what you love and I was in the mood for a rom-com because it was very funny.I dint like how fast everything was moving though

Celaena Sardothian is an assassin who is summoned to the council because she’s giving a once in a lifetime chance to become the Kings champion to win her freedom from the work camp she was trapped in for being an assassin if she can defeat 23 killers, thieves and warriors in a competition she will be released from this prison. It goes through many different plot twists throughout the book and a love triangle between the crown, Prince and the captain of the guard. I read this book because I like fantasy and it was a lot of drama happening and I liked that I didn’t like how it ends on a cliffhanger

If you are a person who adores fantasy or is looking for an unforgettable book series, i highly recommend reading warrior cats. The main character is a housecat named rusty who lives a comfortable life under human care. One night, he spots cats from a clan known as thunder clan. The 4 clans are unrecognized by anything other than the cats themselves and have social structure that keep the clans aligned. The cats were known as graypaw, lionheart, whitestorm and the clan leader, BlueStar. After recently receiving a prophecy of fire saving thunder clan through rusty, they quickly take him in as he gains the clan name Firestar. (After becoming leader due to bluestars death.) Firestar quickly befriends Graystripe, and their bond stays ever strong even after Graystripe begins having splits loyalties between clans. He uncovers secrets of the forest, as clans turn on one another, and clans begin to lose hope of peace after devasting impacts on the forest. But his kittypet roots surface back up and causes more discrimination and drama to this series.

This book has me so invested because of how many layers this book has, it has friendship, love, death, emotional trauma, bad pasts that come back to bite you and deep impact on the reader. You will fall in love with the amount of characters there are and all the mixed personalities within this book. The book describes seemly real life scenarios through the lives of these cats and has genuinely moved me greatly by how touching they are. There are characters that miss out on opportunities as a clan member, people who go crazy and turn more vile, elders who have seen it all, and kits who never got to meet their parents.
The author's sense of detail and imagery when making this book is beyond amazing, i can picture exactly what the characters are like and make you feel you are living inside the book.

overall this is an amazing book series to read if you enjoy animals, deeply rooted backstories, and characters that keep you guessing then this is a wonderful book and personally my favorite series ever. This is a family friendly book, and I recommend for all ages. This is a very long book series so if you fall in love with these books, you should never run out of books to read!

Climate is a poetry book that explores the difficulty and the beauty of navigating life. Hanson uses an extended metaphor to represent how our emotions are like weather and our overall wellbeing is like climate. I loved this book because it delves into the importance of recognizing each of our emotions. It gives the powerful perspective that maybe our ultimate goal should not be happiness, but the delicate balance of peace.

When Chloe learns that her birth mother unexpectedly has another child, the last thing she expects is for her mother to name her next of kin for guardianship of her new sister. Not hesitating to say yes, Chloe learns that she does not meet all the requirements, and must enlist in a foster care program where she and another perspective guardian must work together to care for their siblings.

This book was very cute. It is a romance following two adults in their young twenties trying to care for their siblings amidst dealing with the foster care system. I’m lucky enough to have never needed to be in the foster care system, but I thought that the thought and care that the author implements regarding these situations was very sweet. Some parts of the book however seemed very convenient to the point that it did not seem realistic. So many coincidences happened in the main character’s favor that it was a little hard to believe. Other than that, this was a very easy read, and I really enjoyed the romance story.

Born during the time of apartheid in South Africa, comedian Trevor Noah tells the story of his childhood as a mixed boy in a time where having bi-racial parents was considered a crime.

This book was incredible! I had to read it as a summer reading assignment, and while books for school are rarely interesting, “Born a Crime” blew me away. For starters, Trevor Noah tells a story of inequality and injustice and writes of horrors I can barely imagine, and yet he writes with so much humor that it is very digestible. The life he lived and the way he grew up is so very different to me that it was at some points hard to fathom, but I felt like it opened my eyes in so many ways. The fact that apartheid only ended in the nineties is heartbreaking to me, but Trevor Noah talks about firsthand experiences living through the aftermath. While I knew vaguely who Trevor Noah was, his memoir filled me with the utmost appreciation for him, and his story will be one that sticks with me for a long time.

Five years ago, Wendy Darling and her brothers went missing in the woods. Six months later, only Wendy was found, and her brothers were never heard of again. It's the story that has haunted both the little coastal town of Astoria and Wendy's family. Now, as an 18-year-old ready to head to college, Wendy is intent on starting a new life away from the tragedy.

Unfortunately, her plans are interrupted when children from the town start disappearing.

Naturally, the police link this new string of disappearances to Wendy's case and begin questioning her. But despite their urgency, Wendy doesn't remember anything from the six months she went missing. To add to it all, one day, she stumbles upon an unconscious boy in the woods. Except the boy is not just any boy - he's Peter Pan, a figure who Wendy thought only existed in the tales her mom used to tell her and her brothers when they were little. But Peter Pan is in danger, and unless Wendy confronts her past - plus whatever sinister being lies in the woods, they might lose the missing children for good.

I think my favorite thing about this book is its unique setting: it's realistic, but there's also a little bit of magic intertwined in it thanks to Peter Pan. I also loved the spooky descriptions of the woods and personally think it helped add suspense to the story. The beginning of the book pulled me in instantly, and the end wrapped everything up quite nicely (it also left me feeling a bit emotional). However, the book began to get repetitive towards the middle - a lot of it was Wendy and Peter being tortured, Wendy questioning what was happening, and Peter trying to distract her while also not being of much help. I found Peter's character quite irritating at times (although he was funny), and Wendy herself was kind of flat; a lot of the side characters also felt like afterthoughts. I did find myself rooting for Wendy and Peter's relationship, however; they developed a genuine emotional bond that didn't feel forced, and I liked the parts where they helped comfort each other through all the emotional baggage and trauma they went through. It's also an interesting clash of two completely different worlds - a girl who's legally an adult and a boy who isn't supposed to grow up - although this wasn't really explored much in the book. The author also did a good job portraying Wendy's mental warfare (i.e. her guilt and PTSD from her past), and her character arc and journey to healing were well written. Overall, Lost in the Never Woods was a creative story with a very raw portrayal of trauma (and overcoming it), and although it has its faults, the book did leave a strong emotional impact on me, and I can't say I didn't enjoy it.