"Universal Love" is 11 short stories set in the near future, showing how people use technology to navigate relationships. In one story, a widower signs up for a program to re-create his deceased wife, only to find out his daughters downloaded a fictitious history from romance novels. Another story has testimonies of why people use on-line dating services. A third story explores the relationship of two robotic children who try to act like human children, even to the point of having real life problems and addictions. An interesting look at technology and how it could be in our not far future of how we relate to each other. One constant remains, and that is our need for human interaction, no matter the media we use to get it.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater tells the story of Blue, a teenage girl in a family of psychics. Blue doesn’t have the family gift, but on St. Mark’s Eve she sees a phantom boy--Gansey, one of the boys who attends Aglionby Academy. As a non-psychic, there are only two reasons Blue would see someone: she either kills or falls in love with him sometime in the course of the next year. One other little problem: Blue has been told her whole life that she’ll kill her true love with a kiss. Despite this, Blue still finds herself drawn in by Gansey and his world of the Raven Boys at Aglionby Academy. It only took me a day to finish The Raven Boys, proof it’s a good page turner. The plot pulled me in and left me wanting to read the second book in the series. I’ve read better books this year, but it’s by no means bad or even close to the worst book I’ve picked up in 2020. I don’t really have anything negative to say about this book, so if you’re considering reading it, just go for it.

Roald Dahl's Matilda, is a good short read. The concept of a heroine rising to action is decently intriguing. However, the book feels very lackluster with its characters being so one dimensional. While the characters are great for its intended audience, creating some depth to characters can always benefit a novel. Overall, the book is great for younger reader and those looking for a short book that has a lot of fun packed into it.

The Betrothed is set in a fantasy kingdom called Coroa where Hollis Bright, a noble, is trying to catch the king's eye and become the next Queen of Coroa. The King soon picks her, and Hollis is shoved into this new lifestyle as future queen, which becomes a lot more extravagant and challenging than she first thought. The King of Isolten is soon to be visiting Coroa, and Hollis uses this to prove that she can be queen. That is, until Isolten refugees comes to Coroa seeking saftey, her plan stops when she meets them and Hollis leaarns that being future queen is not her ideal future.

I do not enjoy romance novel's very much, but I really liked this one. Cass mixes many plots together to create this really cool story. It has romance, action, and mystery. This book was really well written and I soon became connected to Hollis and the other characters when the story began. The book left off at a very suspenseful point and I hope there will be second book. This book is somewhat different from the other books the author has written such as The Selection, but if you are a fan of Casses books, or like
princessy, fairy tale type books, then I would give this a try.

Cinderella is dead is about a girl in a society where women are expected to behave like Cinderella in the beloved (well, they're forced to love it) fairy-tale: wait until you're somethingth birthday and then you must go to a ball to be chosen by a boy/man/grandpa who you will be forced to obey for the rest of your life. Those who refuse are executed. When our main character falls in love with another girl instead of waiting to be chosen at the ball, she decides it's time for a change.

I saw this book ages ago on Netgalley and while I love the cover (and don't be afraid to chose a book by it's cover, kids!), I'm pretty over anything to do with Cinderella as I feel as though I've read around 8 million re-tellings in the last five years or so. Then, I heard some folks from Bloomsbury talk about this book at a recent conference, and I was sold! Unfortunately, though, there was way too much Cinderella in it for me to truly enjoy it. The worldbuilding and plot waffled between being creative and a bit silly. The characters were one-dimensional and the romance unearned. That said, I think the book's audience, younger teens, will enjoy it, so I'll definitely be recommending it.

This is the perfect book for younger teens who just can't get enough of Cinderella or who are looking to make the jump from middle grade to young adult fiction. For this older reader, the coolness of the author's innovation with the Cinderella fairytale was outweighed by bland characters and forced romance. 2 stars - it was ok.

Thanks to Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley for the eARC which I received for an unbiased review. You can put Cinderella is Dead on hold today!

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water follows a nun who joins a group of bandits trying to protect a religious relic from those who would destroy it. It's a novella, so that's really most of the book, but Zen Cho crams a ton of character development and plenty of plot into this short little read. The two main characters are so well drawn, and I absolutely fell in love with them. The banter between the bandits is loads of fun - I laughed out loud on multiple occasions. There are plenty of fight scenes. I got to learn the word wuxia (think Chinese martial arts heroes). It's very rare that I want a book to be longer, but I so wanted more of this. I'll be checking out Cho's backlist work, Sorcerer to the Crown. 4 stars - that was very good.

Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected on Water is available now - put your copy on hold today!

The Hunger Games is about a girl named Katniss who becomes a tribute in the hunger games. The hunger games is a battle royale. A battle royale is a game where two tributes from twelve districts fight for their lives to be the last person standing. The Hunger Games is a punishment because there was a rebellion. While being dragged off to prepare for battle, Katniss must process the thought of life or death.

This was one of the best books I have ever read. There was never a dull moment and it kept me intrigued the whole time. This book is full of adventure and definitely brought out some of my emotions such as, sadness, happiness, and anger. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great and fast book to read.

Keeper of the Lost Cities is about a girl named Sophie Foster who has never fit in with her family or classmates. One day Sophie learns that she is an elf and a very powerful one as well. Sophie is then taken to the Lost Cities where the other elves live. To keep her human family and herself safe, she must leave everything and begin her new life in the Lost Cities. Sophie is enrolled at Foxfire, a very prestigious elven school. There she must re-learn many things, and if that isn't enough, someone is out to get Sophie and the secrets hidden inside her mind. This book was really popular with my classmates in sixth grade. I have just now gotten a chance to read it and I really enjoyed the book. This is the first book in the series and the author ended the book with me wanting more. I personally think the book is well written. It took me on the adventure with Sophie in a different reality. Some names in the book such as the school name and things that were considered top secret had some really plain names compared to the characters names and names for stones or chemicals. Other than that, it was a really good book. This book may be better for older elementary or middle school readers, but if you're curious about reading it, I would give it a try. Don't let the size of it intimidate you.

Keeper of the Lost Cities is about a girl named Sophie Foster who has never fit in with her family or classmates. One day Sophie learns that she is an elf and a very powerful one as well. Sophie is then taken to the Lost Cities where the other elves live. To keep her human family and herself safe, she must leave everything and begin her new life in the Lost Cities. Sophie is enrolled at Foxfire, a very prestigious elven school. There she must re-learn many things, and if that isn't enough, someone is out to get Sophie and the secrets hidden inside her mind.

This book was really popular with my classmates in sixth grade. I have just now gotten a chance to read it and I really enjoyed the book. This is the first book in the series and the author ended the book with me wanting more. I personally think the book is well-written. It took me on the adventure with Sophie in a different reality. Some names in the book such as the school name and things that were considered top secret had some really plain names compared to the characters names and names for stones or chemicals. Other than that, it was a really good book. This book may be better for older elementary or middle school readers, but if you're curious about reading it, I would give it a try. Don't let the size of it intimidate you.

Obsidian Tower still fills Readers with Mystery….and Dread…..

4 Stars. Bit dramatic for my taste.

This book is about a young woman living in a world of magic, where the world is divided up by people who have different kinds of magic. Ironically, she lives in the section of people with life magic, but she possesses the magic to kill… An outsider, rejected by her parents, she was made the warden of the Obsidian Tower by her grandmother, who saw promise in her. I loved this book for the magic, and the realistic fear of people passing her, afraid to touch her. Lonely she is, she keeps going because the Obsidian Tower needs her.