Flowers in the Attic is about the horrible life of four siblings. Before their lives were turned upside down, their father provided for them, but when he died, the mother decided to take herself and four children to her parents house. The mother was exiled by her parents for her marriage to her husband, so going to her parents for help was her last resort. When arriving at her parents house, the mother decides to hide away her children to gain back her dying fathers favor to inherit his fortune. Until the grandfather dies, the four children will be locked away in the attic and hidden from the world. This story is told through the oldest daughter Cathy’s perspective, and follows her journey with her three other siblings while living in their grandparents' attic. This was a very depressing and disturbing book with a lot of twists and turns nobody would have seen coming. If you like sad stories that do not leave your mind easily, this is the perfect book for you! Personally, I do not recommend this book if you are not prepared for a very disturbing story.

Reviewer Grade: 11

This is the first book of an awesome Apocalyptic trilogy. This book starts out with a high school football player named Tucker Pierce, who lives a quiet life on Pemberwick Island,Maine. He is also perfectly fine being the backup for a kid named Marty on the team. As a game goes on, Marty seems to be having the best game of his life, when he scores a touchdown and just drops dead. The narrator describes the whole story in past tense, and describes that as "the first death". This is the start of a "real page turner" of a story. As that week goes on, Tucker and his friends (Quinn and Tori) find out that a U.S. military branch invades his island.This story goes on to describe how The trio find out what the heck is going on, and in three books! It is a very good book, and I strongly recommend it. Just don't read it if you do not have access to the other books, because you have to read the whole series.

Jane Smith is a defense attorney, trying to defend a probably guilty client of three murders. Gripping, well paced with great character development.

I'm open to a lot of visual styles for graphic novels. It can be what elevates a mediocre story to something profound, but it can also tonally clash with the message and leave a muddled mess. Storytelling in this format is a challenge to pull off and few have been able to do so successfully. I Am Not Okay With This unfortunately falls into the other camp here. Even if this were just a novel without the "graphic" part, there's not much to recommend it.

Filled with cliches about what it's like to be a teenage girl, I Am Not Okay With This suffers from the "men writing women" trope. None of the interactions felt believable or realistic. Instead, they seemed forced through what a man thought these interactions should be based on minimal or merely pop culture research. None of it had the feel of anyone who has lived as a teenage girl in similar situations—psychic powers notwithstanding. This was why it leaned so heavily on the tropes commonly associated with girls in puberty and the male fetishes that go along with it.

I wasn't sure if this was trying to be edgy by focusing only on heavy subjects like sexuality, bullying, and suicide, but the simplistic art style felt too childish to accomplish any of these goals with any level of gravitas. There wasn't even a satisfying conclusion to anything, which would only be frustrating if this book wasn't such a quick read. I'm sure it's less of a time commitment than watching the Netflix show, but I still probably wouldn't recommend it (even if I haven't seen the Netflix show to compare against).

A mismatched graphic novel obviously written by a man, I give I Am Not Okay With This 2.0 stars out of 5.

I love Ruth Ware but this was so disappointing I didn't even finish it, and I really tried. I was just so frustrated with the format and the characters that I no longer cared about the conclusion.
The back and forth format was really repetitive and annoying, and the characters all felt thin. The main character only had two modes, panic attack or despair, but the way it was written it was impossible to have empathy for her.
Her anxiety became very formulaic. The supporting characters were all very predictable, which is not good in a whodunit. I really hope she's back on her game with the next one as I liked every one of her books until now.

Five Total Strangers begins with our protagonist, Mira on a plane ride back home just before Christmas. There is a large winter storm approaching and all flights are cancelled, so in desperation Mira and some other college - age passengers rent a car in an attempt to reach their destinations. Woven between the main plot, we read letters sent to Mira from a mysterious person she met while in the hospital around the time of her aunt's death. The person's letters take a very... stalker-y tone... and they appear to have never reached their destination. As the story goes on, the sender grows more and more desperate alongside the distress of her party.
The story has well written language and description, and it was easy to visualize the setting and the mental state of the protagonist. However, it is supposed to be a sort of mystery? It's hinted that there is a saboteur among Mira and the four strangers, but it was fairly easy for me to figure out who it was early in the book, which made the "twist" at the end feel over dramatized and the red herrings obvious. Basically, the book tries to sell "I don't know who to trust and there's nowhere to go!"but it didn't really meet my expectations. The main character Mira has no real agency, which makes sense, because she's trapped in a snowstorm, but at the same time, the book doesn't really analyze the sense of powerlessness in a situation out of your control. Mira just kind of feels uneasy and goes along with whatever the rest of the characters say, and the book doesn't really address this.
Also, the end was unrealistically soon after the climax in my opinion. After the "twist," the rescue came so quick that it made me wonder, "why could this not happen sooner?..." It just felt irrational compared to the rest of the story, and this narrative whiplash lowered my opinion.
Despite my qualms with the story (it might just be over-analysis on my part) I enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained for at least a day, and the author was decent at evoking dread by constricting the escape routes of the story's environment. I'd recommend this book if you enjoy quick thrillers for a snowy day.

All In is the third book in The Naturals series. It takes place in Vegas instead of Washington D.C. and is actually focusing on a main secondary character instead, Sloane. The Naturals investigate a series of murders that take place in casinos around Las Vegas and learn that they may run deeper than they thought.

I really liked this book in the series. I liked how we got a story focusing on a secondary character instead of just focusing on Cassie like in the first two books. However, this book was longer than the other books and got a little bit boring in some parts, which is why I rated it a three stars. It was a really good and interesting story though and I’m looking forward to continuing the series!

House of Roots and Ruin is an intriguing sequel to the popular novel House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin Craig. The previous novel primarily focused on the Thamus girls, with a particular emphasis on Annaleigh, as they delved into the mystery surrounding the death of their sister, Euliea. In contrast, the story in House of Roots and Ruin revolves around Verity, the youngest Thamus sibling.

The plot begins with Verity's journey to the mainland, where she visits Chantiule and Bloem. During her stay there, she receives a commission to paint a portrait of Alexander, the son of the wealthy Laurent family. However, as she spends more time in the family's mansion, she senses an underlying air of uncertainty and becomes curious about the family's enigmatic past.

As the narrative progresses, Verity uncovers several buried secrets that the family has been hiding, leading to betrayal and sparking chaos within the manor. She grapples with accepting her ability to see ghosts, which she had initially rejected. However, she eventually learns to harness her gift to uncover the Laurent family's secrets.

House of Roots and Ruin is an engrossing novel that captivates readers and keeps them on the edge of their seats. The author successfully weaves together a complex and suspenseful plot that explores themes of betrayal, loss, and family dynamics. The book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys House of Salt and Sorrows and those who are fans of the mystery and fantasy genres.
The book in question is an enthralling and captivating read that is a perfect choice for anyone who is just starting in the fantasy genre and wants to try out some mystery books. The plot of the book is structured in a way that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat as it advances with each chapter. The book is full of unexpected twists and turns, which adds to the overall excitement and thrill of the read.

One of the notable aspects of the book is how the story moves back and forth yet still manages to stay in line with how the story ends. This aspect of the book keeps the reader engaged and intrigued till the very end. The book is well-written and easy to follow, making it a perfect shallow swim for anyone new to the genre.

The book balances fantasy and mystery perfectly, making it a thrilling and exciting adventure for readers. The book's overall quality and the balance of its elements make it a perfect recommendation for anyone looking for a great read in the fantasy-mystery genre.

8th grade

After all the events that took place six weeks ago, Cassie Hobbes is back to solving cold cases for the FBI. However, when a new killer arises and is showing techniques just like her friend Dean’s father, Cassie is thrown into a whole new world of detective work and solving cases.

I thought this was a great sequel to the Naturals series. Jennifer Lynn Barnes did a great job at revealing new plot twists and describing the specific ways that the Naturals work. I also enjoyed the way she kind of dumbs the cases down and makes it easy for teenagers or any reader to understand.

As someone who generally stays away from science fiction books, I was pleasantly surprised by this venture outside my comfort zone. Elijah Baley is the main character, living thousands of years in the earth's future. In this time period, robots have become commonplace and other planets have been commonplace. Tension has grown between earth dwellers and the residents of the other planets (referred to as spacers). There are also concerns about the increasing number and sophistication of robots. Elijah, though less extreme than many of his colleagues, is not immune to this prejudice, and is less than happy when he has to team up with R. Daneel Olivaw, a spacer robot, to solve a homicide.

The characters are not deep or complex, but they are consistent and interesting. All characters have a purpose in the story, and most of them change in some way by the end. Elijah is likable, perhaps especially so because he's allowed to fail. He's shown to be incorrect in many of his initial beliefs, and makes many false assumptions, but he retains good qualities throughout it all. R. Daneel is an interesting take on the robot archetype. Though he's shown to be effective in his job and capable of change, he lacks essential human qualities that Elijah must make up for. The side characters all have clear motivations, personalities, and are interesting without being obtrusive.

The plot strikes a balance between complex and easy to follow. There are a great deal of plot twists and dead ends, but the story takes its time and allows the reader to process everything. I hope I re-read this book one day, so I am able to look for clues to the culprit that I might have missed the first time around.

I have no overt critiques. The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it's not a deep philosophical experience. There are tcertainly hemes, but the book focuses more on excitement and intrigue than anything else. I would reccomend this book to sci-fi fans, and anyone looking to get into the genre.