Reviews of Teen Books by Genre: Fantasy

A fascinating and dark book. The premise is enjoyable. I adored the thought of a home for kids who went to other worlds. The kids could be summed up in one word: PTSD. And they were perfect, with complex backstories and hopes and dreams. The world's were even better, from the silent Hall of the Dead to the Moors, a world hovering between the lightning strike and the resurrection. I couldn't put the book down. In fact, I wish it was longer so I could spend more time in the rich world with its people. From a dapper mad scientist to a girl who ran on rainbows, they are all unique. And I love them for it. I love their interactions and their longing for the world's they had seen. The question was, who would murder to go back to the place they considered home.
Reviewer Grade: 10

When I started Hearts in Atlantis, all I knew about it was that it was written by Stephen King and there was a movie of the same name that was likely based on it. As I began to read, I found myself enthralled by the coming-of-age story that presented itself. I had no idea it connected to the Dark Tower series, but that detail was almost ancillary, a neat little connection into a bigger picture. Having made it half-way through the book, I wanted to follow the main character’s development into adulthood but, then the story suddenly stopped.

Instead of following a story that had engaged me, the focus shifted to a completely different character, only loosely tied to the events in the first half of the book via one of the characters, who was now in college. Almost in a fractal fashion, this story was half as long as the first, with each successive story growing shorter and shorter, while still being connected to the first narrative in some way, no matter how loose that connection might have been. Finally, the story returns to the main character of the first section, but only stays long enough to say goodbye.

I absolutely loved the first story in this “collection,” and by its strength alone, I would recommend this to anyone. However, the second half of the book felt too disjointed to be interesting, especially with all the emotional energy I had invested in the first story. Sure, they were somewhat interesting in their own ways, showing the relentless march of time toward the modern era, but they simply lacked that fantastical little spark from the first story (incidentally, the same spark that was connected to the Dark Tower series).

A great story with almost unnecessary add-ons, I give Hearts in Atlantis 3.5 stars out of 5.

Katherine Arden's The Girl In The Tower is just as good, if not better, than the first book, The Bear and The Nightingale. Filled with more Russian Fairy tales, atmospheric literary prose, rich and strong characters, and the same enchanting setting of Medieval Russia, this book picks up right where the first one left off. It follows the story of Vasya, now a grown up woman she, instead of conforming to the role woman in her day usually play, of marriage or life in a convent, chooses instead a life of adventure. Leaving her home and traveling the vast Russian Wilderness while dressed as a boy, she soon is called upon to defend the city of Moscow and finds the threat greater and more deadly than she imagined. While fighting this threat, only she can stop, she is also forced to protect her secret as she comes upon her brother and attracts the attention of the Grand Prince of Moscow.

Part of what drew me to this book is the fairy tales, yes, but also the historical setting of Medieval Russia. Katherine Arden does a masterful job of weaving fantasy elements with real life historical details only a great historian would discover. Blurring the line between history, fantasy, and reality this book and, more importantly this series, is contemporary historical fantasy at its best. It is a sketch not only of real life in Medieval Russia, but also displays the power of story and demonstrates the importance of fairy tales and the lessons they can teach us.

For many years, I have heard of Terry Pratchett, but have never read any of his work. This came to light in 2015, when Pratchett died, and many fans of his work came forward to express their condolences. At that point, I hadn’t considered reading any of his work, but the outpouring of love for the recently deceased author made me reconsider. Consequently, I added some Pratchett books to my “to read” list and eventually chose The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents for my first foray into the written world of Terry Pratchett. I certainly picked well, as it won the Carnegie Medal in the year it was written.

I was a little worried that I would be lost coming into the Discworld series at anywhere other than the beginning, but since this book was written for children, it made it simple to ease into the universe Pratchett created. What I found most amusing about The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents was how self-aware and tongue-in-cheek it was. Talking animals are by no means a new concept in children’s literature, but Pratchett managed to show how ridiculous this idea was in the real world while also providing a somewhat solid explanation for how it happened.

The one aspect of this book that stood out the most was how British its humor was. I almost felt like I was listening to a Monty Python skit or an Aardman Animation movie as I worked my way through this audiobook. For those who appreciate British humor (or, I guess humour, as they spell it over there), I would highly recommend this book, as it’s certainly witty and made me chuckle on quite a few occasions. This humor overcomes the fact that the plot is a little confusing to follow in places as it jumps between different characters, but overall it’s a solid story.

An instant children’s classic with loads of British humour, I give The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents 4.0 stars out of 5.

This is the last book in the Harry Potter series (I’m not including ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ since J.K. Rowling didn’t write it). Please do NOT read the books out of order, if you do you will have no idea what is going on in the book. You have been warned! I loved this book it is SO AMAZING!!!!!! This is a fantasy and a action book at will keep you on your toes the whole time. Please read it!

Reviewer grade: 8th

This is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series (total of seven books).
Please read the books in order or you will be totally lost. I love this book and it is a great book to read. Like all of the books in the Harry Potter series this is a fantasy book. This book will hold your attention to the every end. If you haven’t read this book yet please do, you won’t regret it!

Reviewer grade: 8th

A perfect winter read! A beautiful atmospheric retelling of the fairytale Jack Frost set in a wintry town on the edge of the Russian wilderness in Medieval Russia. Plus a strong independent female protagonist who risks everything to save her family from the evil forces all around her! What's not to love! Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale is a must read! This novel has it all mystery, magic, adventure, and love! With well developed characters and beautiful, atmospheric, lyrical writing that makes you almost feel the cold wind on your skin and see the snow flakes falling this book cannot be passed up! I cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out, The Girl in The Tower!

He was bigger than anyone else in Francesca's class. He was funny looking and he smelled weird. Why, oh why did he have to be nice to her and get her bag for her that the bullies had thrown into the stinging nettles? When the bullies chased them both to Nick's house, why hadn't she run somewhere else? Ugh, she would never live this down at school. A.F. Harrold's novel, The Song From Somewhere Else, will enchant readers age 9 - 12 with a story of another world, just waiting to be discovered.

Black Water is the fifth book in the series Pendragon by D. J. MacHale. The story is engaging and tells of the protagonist's, Bobby Pendragon, endeavor to save a world by the name of Eelong. Saint Dane, the antagonist, allows the cat inhabitants of Eelong to spread mysterious plague, which could destroy their own civilization. The book excels at depicting the universe of Halla and creating a society that could function in today's world. The characters and their self-doubts are communicated to the reader in depth, and the book continues to expand the universe of the series. It also seems to show the problems with racism and oligarchy through the book's deeper meaning. The only problem that I have with the book is that it doesn't include or really expand upon the side characters much. I saw ample opportunity for the author to do this, and the book felt somewhat blank without it. I would recommend this book to people who like science fiction or adventure, as the book is filled with many of those elements.

Grade: 8

I chose to read this book because it was featured on a list of horror books.
I wouldn't really call it horror but I really enjoyed reading it even if it wasn't what I expected. It's about a fast-food worker named Sam who lives in Seattle and is a necromancer, though he doesn't know it. There is another powerful necromancer in the area who wants to find and destroy Sam. I loved all of the characters, particularly Sam's sidekick Ramon and the evil necromancer Douglas. This book is a perfect balance of humor and dark fantasy and I aboslutely loved it. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the ending. So much was just left open and it left me unsatisfied and wanting more. That aside, however, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes horror and fantasy and is looking for a laugh. This is totally one of my favorite books!
Reviewer grade: 10

The book Stranger, by Rachel Brown, tells of a post-apocalyptic town called Las Anclas and its citizens. The people in the world have been affected by a solar storm, which has caused them and the environment to develop mutations called "The Change." These effects can either harm or benefit the people.
The story is told through the perspectives of many other characters, and it gives a lot of insight and information on the characters pasts and thought.
This allows for excellent foreshadowing, which is one of the biggest strengths in the book. The novel describes the dystopian world mainly through the eyes of a young teenage boy named Ross Juarez, which develops the plot, romances, and details of the town and its people well. The book also places action nice and evenly throughout the story, so that it can focus on the story telling and background of the town and characters in other parts.
Overall, the book Stranger has been one of my favorite reads, and I'd recommend it to people who like dystopian worlds, action, and adventure books.
Grade: 8

Taj is an aki - a sin eater. Aki are shunned by regular folk, except for when the regular folk need a sin removed from their body. Sins take the shape of smoky somewhat corporeal animals (they can do harm), and are eaten by the aki, which then causes the aki to get extremely sick and leaves a semi-permanent or permanent tattoo on their body. Taj, as a very powerful aki, is recruited by the palace to eat the sins of royalty. While there, he discovers the royals are more corrupt than he could've dreamed, and he decides to do what he can to stop their nefarious plans.

That synopsis was nearly impossible to write because this book was short on plot, but more on that in a minute.
I went into this book really wanting to like it - the setting (alternate-Nigeria) is fairly unique in YA, and I was really excited to read a fantasy loosely set in an African country. I thought the premise of sin-eaters was super cool, and I was eager to learn more about it.

Unfortunately, the premise was the best thing about the book. The book has a lot of promise (and I was reading an advanced reading copy, so some of these issues could've been rectified), but doesn't deliver on much. The first 35% of the book is worldbuilding, but a lot of the worldbuilding could've been incorporated into the plot instead of being presented as what more or less amounted to an info dump. Even worse, the worldbuilding doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense. For example, the "sins" are determined by lawmakers, which, just...how? And then...the magic follows the lawmakers wishes? Is it even magic? I'm not really sure. More will likely be revealed in the next installment as this book ends on a massive cliffhanger, but unless it gets amazing reviews, I probably won't be there to check it out.

Another issue for me was the lack of character development. We learn a lot about Taj, but little about anyone else, and so when side characters died, I found myself feeling pretty apathetic. There was also immense potential for development of the villains, but all was unrealized. A lot of plotting and scheming had to be happening behind the scenes, but as Taj was neither privy to nor interested in it, we don't get to see the villains' machinations, which could have been really interesting. Part of this, I think, was to hide a twist at the end, but as that twist could be seen from about a mile away, I don't think the decision to keep the villains' motivation a secret was worth the payout.

There's not a lack of action in this book, so I can see a certain reader really enjoying it. For me, there was too much wasted potential - the action and the cool worldbuilding didn't make up for the absence of plot and character development. This book could've been great, and I wish that it had undergone a few more drafts in the writing process. As it was, it was just ok. 2 stars.

I received an electronic advanced reading copy from Netgalley and Razorbill for review consideration. This in no way impacted my opinion or the content of my review. Beasts Made of Night will be available on 31 October. Put your copy on hold today!

This is the second book in the Red Queen series. Please read the series in order to avoid serious confusion. The genre of the book is dystopian and the book itself is full of action. Also there is lovey-dovey elements that seem to happen in every book where the main character is a teen girl. Like Red Queen the book is unpredictable and of course has a cliffhanger at the end.
Another one of my favorite books that will hold your attention from start to finish.

Reviewer grade: 8th

An amazingly written book Red Queen will keep you on your toes. It is a dystopian book (a relatively new genre of books) and is filled with action and betrayal. It is the first book in a four book series (and the books are huge). Even though it has a lot of action in the book, it does have some lovey-dovey elements since the main character is a teenage girl. Completely unpredictable and does have a cliffhanger at the end. This is one of my favorite books of all time.

Reviewer grade: 8th

The Ask and the Answer is the second book of Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series. In this continuation, we see the original characters Todd and Viola venture farther from home as they try to outrun the lies of their previous lives. This book is a wonderful mix of brilliant, sad, courageous, and painful. As soon as I finished this book, all I wanted to do was pick up the next one. Ness's writing style is unique, and the characters are relatable and real. The events that transpire throughout The Ask and the Answer provoke a wide range of emotions, which makes it engaging. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has read the first Chaos Walking book, which is called The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Reviewer Grade: 11

Partly due to the success of The Hunger Games , the Young Adult genre swerved into the survival/sci-fi/dystopian genres that also allowed The Maze Runner to have a ready and willing audience. With this being the case, I’d almost say The Maze Runner has more utopian sensibilities since the narrative encourages teamwork for survival, instead of a “winner take all” emphasis presented in The Hunger Games that valued selfish ambitions over communistic altruism. Plus, if you put 50 teenage boys in a box with no adult supervision, I think the logical conclusion would be more along the lines of Lord of the Flies instead of solving a deadly maze.

While the premise was interesting and allowed for a constant and steady pacing of inciting events, I felt there was not enough explanation in this first part of the trilogy, with very few questions being answered by the end and a lot of hand-waving to push the characters forward to a conclusion. In fact, having seen the movie adaptation, I was hoping the book was better suited to explain the ending, but it was equally as confusing. That being said, there were key elements in the book (like the telepathy) that didn’t make it into the movie.

Overall, the few main characters in The Maze Runner were interesting and unique, even if it took some of them two years to even figure out the simplest parts of the maze. Still, fear can be a huge hindrance toward progress, so I guess I understand their predicament. Additionally, despite using a euphemistic system of swears as part of the characters’ unique jargon, I couldn’t help but think that this book would have been a lot more inappropriate for a young adult audience if the actual swear words were used instead.

An interesting premise with engaging characters, I give The Maze Runner 3.5 stars out of 5.

This takes place in the same universe as Bardugo's other series, The Grisha Trilogy, but with different characters. It follows Kaz Brekker, a criminal prodigy who is offered to pull off the heist of a lifetime: to break into the Ice Court (which has never been breached) to rescue a hostage. He puts together a team of five other outcasts, which includes Inej Ghafa, a silent spy, Nina, a Grisha, Matthias, a convict, Jesper, a gunslinger, and Wylan, a runaway, to help break into the Ice Court. Keep in mind, my description of the characters is incredibly weak and do them no justice.
While the heist itself is brilliantly written and thrilling to read with twists and turns, this is a very character driven story, and these are incredibly well written characters. They each have their own voices, thoughts, feelings, way of expressing emotions, motivations, and backstories.
They are so complex and feel so real. While this book takes a while to get into (due to some confusing terminology) I got the hang of the world building reasonably well, it just took a bit. This is a very unique world, and along with the characters, makes for a strong, compelling, beautifully written read that makes me desperate to find the next book.

The first installment of James Dashner’s post-apocalyptic trilogy, entitled “The Maze Runner” has been hailed by critics around the globe as a ground-breaking and masterfully crafted novel. Dashner managed to exceed the status quo with his alluring and mysterious story. Now with the second installment to the series having been released, readers are begging the question, “Does ‘The Scorch Trials’
live up to the expectations set by Dashner’s previous novel?” Well, after having read and thoroughly reflected upon the novel, I am pleased to say that this book did a wonderful job of transitioning the narrative forward!

The narrative picks up where the last left off, with Thomas and the rest of the ‘Gladers’ having discovered that they bear participation to a sick experiment, hosted by leaders of a post-apocalyptic world. Thomas must come to terms with this truth, while also trying to discover more information about the strange reality he is now confronted with.

One of the most signature characteristics of Dashner’s novels are the unpredictable plotlines. It always seems that there is information hanging above the reader’s foresight, with twists and turns following each turn of the page. The grand puzzle of the Maze is yet to be solved in its entirety, so as the narrative continues, readers are left to form their own speculations.
However, that’s not to say that Dashner doesn’t leave clues for readers to catch. His use of foreshadowing is masterful, and its application in his writing makes for a wonderful reading experience.

I would certainly recommend continuing onto this read from the last, as the world first introduced by Dashner in the last novel is expanded upon in wonderful and creative ways. Whether you enjoyed the first installment for its enthralling plot, or its mysterious narrative, you’ll be pleased with Dashner’s continuation of the story, as it has brought a whole new level of masterpiece to his trilogy.

Reviewer's Grade Level: 10

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment" by James Patterson is about a group of kids (called the Flock for their avian abilities) who were experimented on, but escaped. When one of their own is kidnapped, they go on a mission to get her back. I found the concept of this book interesting, and the characters had a lot of potential, but I feel there was an element missing from the story. Max, the protagonist, didn't seem to develop throughout the book. Nor did her love interest Fang. There were parts of this story that didn't make sense plot-wise either. But, I don't regret reading it
-- it's a fun adventurous story with lots of humor. I'd still recommend it regardless.

Carve the Mark" is by Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series.
I really liked the Divergent books, but I felt this book wasn't quite as gripping as her previous work. The plot was slow-moving, especially in the beginning. I also found the world confusing, it was difficult to keep track of it all. The characters, I felt, were also a little one-dimensional. It had potential, but I felt it didn't live up to it. I'd recommend reading the Divergent books instead. Grade: 11