Book Review: How to Hang a Witch

TITLE: How to Hang a Witch
Book 1 in a series
AUTHOR: Adriana Mather
PUBLISHED: 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl who is a descendant from one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials moves to Salem, Massachusetts....
MY REVIEW: Sigh, I wanted to like this one so badly. Really, I did. I honestly should of. It has witches, Salem Witch Trials, girls banding together...this should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately the author did every YA cliche in the book, so what should have been a fun ride, turned into a boring cliched mess.
Literally every bad YA trope is in here: girl moves to new town and is automatically hated for no real reason, adults are all incompetent and honestly should not be in charge of children (especially that principal who basically victim blamed the main character for being bullied), girls can't be friends nonsense, love triangles, insta-love, obvious villain being obvious, and so much more. I honestly lost track of how many times I rolled my eyes while reading this.
This book was just...lazy. I've read this book a million times and I've read books that do the premise better. The writing is okay, and I guess the plot gets the job done. But I was just so bored throughout it that I can't even call this an enjoyable cliche read. It's just..dull. With nothing new to really say or do.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that don't mind lots of cliches
MY RATING: Two and a half out of Five cliche boring books

Book Review: Sleeping Giants

TITLE: Sleeping Giants
Book 1 in the Themis Files series
AUTHOR: Sylvain Neuvel
PUBLISHED: April 2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Science Fiction
PREMISE: Over a series of interviews/documents we learn the story of a group of scientists that study an alien artifact found by accident...
MY REVIEW: This is a book that has been slowly, but surely gaining a lot of popularity. I've been seeing it make the rounds and have now finally gotten to it and I have to say: it is pretty damn good.
I will warn: it is very slow. It's sort of like Illuminae where everything is told through documents or interviews. But unlike Illuminae it's got a lot of science in it. So reading it can...sometimes be a bit of a head scratcher. But it is worth it in the end. Characters develop and the story unfolds into something pretty awesome at the end.
So it definitely is a slow burn of a book. But if you stick with it, I promise it is worth it to get to the end. If you're new to sci-fi, I say this is a good one to try first. It's more character driven and less interesting in showing off science babble, so I suspect it might be a good gateway book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sci-fi fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five random alien robot hands laying around

Book Review: Rebel Genuis

TITLE: Rebel Genius
Book 1 in the Geniuses series
AUTHOR: Michael Dante DiMartino
PUBLISHED: October 2016
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In a world where artists have the ability to create life with art, a boy joins a group of people rebelling against the queen...
MY REVIEW: I admit, I had probably too high expectations for this one. In my defense, when you tell me that one of the creators of Avatar: the Last Airbender has written a book...I'm going to have high expectations. Because I freaking loved Avatar.
Unfortunately...this one was one of those that had a great world....but not such an original plot. I could honestly predict what was going to happen from the first chapter and that's...not good. The author does try, but it really misses all that heart and subverting of tropes that Avatar had. Which kind of makes me think, DiMartino is mostly responsible for the world-building aspect of Avatar and not the writing. Which is fine, we all have our strengths. I did love the world in this.
I just didn't really love the plot and found the characters...lacking to say the least. It's like a movie where you can see what the writer/director was going for...but there's no feeling behind everything so you can't really connect with it. It's not bad...I suspect younger readers will very much enjoy this one, but for anyone whose looking for more depth or original plot...this one is probably not going to be for you. I honestly can only shrug sadly at this. It was just underwhelming.
WHO SHOULD READ: Younger fantasy readers
MY RATING: Three out of Five I wanted more from this feelings

Book Review: Timekeeper

TITLE: Timekeeper
First in a new series
AUTHOR: Tara Sim
PUBLISHED: November 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy/Steampunk
PREMISE: A boy works on the clock tower in his neighborhood, in the meantime he falls in love with the clock spirit.
MY REVIEW: This was a very unique book. It is MM romance set in an alternate England where time is controlled and it's just an endlessly fascinating world.
I love the writing in this one. Sim's prose are lovely and her imagination with this world is great. The romance is also very sweet. It's written in a very fairy-tale like way that appeals to me a lot and reminds me of Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Which considering my love of Gaiman is many points in the author's favor.
If you're looking for a cute romance with an imaginative fantasy setting, I highly recommend this one. Looks like it's also going to be a series. To which I say, bring it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those looking for more LGBTQA reads, steampunk fans
MY RATING: Four out of five clocktowers

Book Review: Of Fire and Stars

TITLE: Of Fire and Stars
AUTHOR: Audrey Coulthurst
PUBLISHED: November 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance
PREMISE: A princess gets sent to her betrothed's country as a murder happens. Along the way she hides her magic and falls in love: with her betrothed's sister.
MY REVIEW: I first heard about this book fairly early last year and I pretty much wanted to read it as soon as I heard it. Princesses in love? Mystery? Fantasy? Yes! I'm happy to say...this mostly delivered.
The world built here is great. The characters are fully developed and the romance is a sweet slow burn sort of romance. It was just fun. There were tropes, no question. But I didn't mind. Honestly my only real issue is...it's really white. The author does throw a bit of a bone on diversity but it feels like an afterthought, like she realized it (or someone pointed it out to her) and added in token diverse characters later.
Other then lack of diversity and a somewhat rushed ending, I really enjoyed this one. It's one of the top debuts from last year in my opinion. It probably would have been in my top ten if I'd gotten to it last year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Ash by Malinda Lo fans, fantasy fans, those looking for fantasy LGBTQA reads
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five princesses being awesome

Book Review: Bound by Blood and Sand

TITLE: Bound by Blood and Sand
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Becky Allen
PUBLISHED: October 11th, 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A slave girl gains a magical power that may save her community...
MY REVIEW: This was another of those books I kind of went into blind. There's been very little buzz about it but the idea of it sounded so interesting, I had to pick it up. Plus, hello gorgeous eye-catching cover.
This is definitely a case of loved the concept, loved the author's writing style, details...could have used some work. I was rather confused about how this world worked. The author did try but the way things were explained...didn't make much sense. I'm not sure if that was me or the author. Could be a bit of both. But the story was interesting and not an idea often done in YA. It doesn't ignore the dark realities of slavery, so it gets pretty grim in some places. But it was an interesting read. Also, I have to point out: no love triangle. Yes, writers, you can do a YA book without them.
So...some small things didn't always work in this one. But considering this is a debut and one of the more memorable books I've read this past year...it wasn't bad. At least worth a check out from the library.
WHO SHOULD READ: Dark fantasy fans, those looking for diverse reads
MY RATING: Four out of Five desert worlds

Book Review: The Immortals

TITLE: The Immortals
Book 1 in the Olympus Bound series
AUTHOR: Jordanna Max Brodsky
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: February 2016
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Mythology tie-in
PREMISE: A woman turns up dead and Selene DiSilva, formerly the goddess Artemis, goes on the hunt for her killer....
MY REVIEW: This was a book I went into totally blind. I had heard very little about it, found it randomly on a list somewhere and I picked it up at my library. Sometimes books like this backfire on me (there can sometimes be a good reason a book is not getting much buzz), but in this particular case, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise of a read.
Basically this book deals with gods being immortal and dealing with a world that has forgotten them as they live on but also are dying out. I love what the author has done with the mythology here. That combined with a actually rather good murder mystery...made for a really interesting read.
Brodsky did a great job on this. If this is her first book, we're in for some good stuff in the future from her. This is one of my favorite debuts this year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Adult Percy Jackson fans, mystery/thriller fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five lady PIs getting things done

Book Review: A Shadow Bright and Burning

TITLE: A Shadow Bright and Burning
Book 1 in the Kingdom on Fire series
AUTHOR: Jessica Cluess
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: September 20th, 2016
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl with magic hides in a world where women aren't supposed to have any, but then is discovered...
MY REVIEW: I'll be honest: a majority of the reason I picked this up was because I loved the cover. So pretty. ;stares at it again; Luckily the book mostly lived up to the pretty cover.
I say mostly because while it is definitely readable and entertaining....there wasn't much that was new here. The author does sort of twist the chosen one trope around a bit, but not by much. The world is interesting...but also not very fleshed out. I hope it's because it's a first book and most of this was concerned with Henrietta's training. Romance wise...this book was okay. The romance wasn't the best, but also not like Twilight levels of bad. It was just kind of there because there's some unspoken rule that if you're going to do YA fantasy, you have to have romance.
I know this sounds like I didn't enjoy it. But...I did while reading it. As I said, it's very readable and goes by very quickly. If you just want a fun historicalish fantasy to read in an afternoon, this is not a bad pick.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical Fantasy fans, those that like the chosen one trope
MY RATING: Four out of Five people with powers

Book Review: All the Birds in the Sky

TITLE: All the Birds in the Sky
AUTHOR: Charlie Jane Anders
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: January 2016
GENRE: er....I honestly have no idea. Dystopianish, Urban Fantasyish, Magical Realismish? Also maybe sci-fi?
PREMISE: A magical girl and a tech genius become friends in middle-school, only to be separated due to circumstance. Years later, they meet as adults when the world is in trouble.
MY REVIEW: You ever have one of those books where you finish it and go..."what the heck did I just read?" That's kind of me with this book. It's not a bad kind of wondering. This book is good. I actually wound up liking it quite a bit. But damn, if I can't begin to tell you what genre it is. Personally, I feel this book would have been better geared towards the literary crowd then the genre crowd which was who it was largely marketed too. If you love the weird quirky magical realism books, this is definitely for you.
The writing style in this book takes some getting used too, but once you do get used to it, it goes by very quickly. After I got used to it, I wound up enjoying it very much. If you start to read it and are like "what?" I strongly urge you to give it time. It will grow on you. Or it won't. Honestly, I suspect this is one of those books that will either appeal to someone, or it won't. Hence the mixed reviews on Goodreads.
Ultimately I wound up really enjoying this book. I'm glad I gave it more of a chance then I usually do. But as I said, this is a book that might not be for everyone. I definitely recommend checking it out from the library before buying it to see if it's for you, first.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lit fans, those that don't mind alternating POVs, magical realism fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five birds

Book Review: Your Heart Is A Muscle the Size of a Fist

TITLE: Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist
AUTHOR: Sunil Yapa
PUBLISHED: January 2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Realistic Fiction (I'm not calling the 90s historical fiction damn it!)
PREMISE: A group of people's lives intertwine during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests.
MY REVIEW: I remember hearing about the Seattle protests, but still being in high school, I admit I didn't really understand what it was about. It probably didn't help that none of the adults in our school liked to talk about unrest in the US like this. Yay, Midwest Bible Belt education. Sigh.
This book does not fully explain it, but it does go into the events that happened through the eyes of different characters there. This definitely feels like a timely book, considering all the protests going on now. In fact, some o the conversations people have that I remember them saying mirror exactly what people have said about things like the Black Lives Matter protests. This took place sixteen years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?
Prose wise, this book is phenomenal. It's also very strong pacing and story-wise. Overall, it's a very strong debut. About the only poor things I can say about it are that its messaging is not terribly subtle and that its ending is a little too abrupt and not satisfying enough. But other than those minor issues, this is actually one of the better debuts I've read this year.
WHO SHOULD READ: activists, literature fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five thought provoking reads

Book Review: Ivory and Bone

TITLE: Ivory and Bone
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Julie Eshbaugh
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: June 7th
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Retelling, Classic-book referencing
PREMISE: A pre-historic gender bending twist on Pride and Prejudice. Seriously, that's it.
MY REVIEW: I wanted to read this book the minute I heard about its premise above. I mean, look at that, how can you not want to read that? Unless you're one of those who hates Austen. I've heard there are such people. I knew exactly what to expect with this book and it delivered on the expectations.
It strays a bit from the Pride and Prejudice plot. Particularly where the Wickham character is concerned. But it is definitely an interesting take on the tale. It also made me think about Darcy a bit more and how probably if Darcy had been the woman, he probably wouldn't be as well-liked by readers as he is. Sorry, but it's really amazing how when male characters are flawed it's fine, but when female characters are flawed they're considered unlikable. Without reading any of the reviews on Goodreads, I'm more then willing to bet money that there are reviews out there saying this was fine, but they didn't like Mya.
The writing style is a bit...strange and takes some getting used too. But on the whole, I enjoyed this take on Pride and Prejudice. Other then the setting, it's not terribly original. Some of the hunting scenes go on a bit too long as well. I'm not terribly convinced we need a sequel, but we'll get one regardless. It's not a perfect book, but its good points far out weigh its bad points.
WHO SHOULD READ: Pride and Prejudice fans, historical fiction fans, Romance fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five hunting parties

Book Review: The Star-Touched Queen

TITLE: The Star-Touched Queen
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Roshani Chokshi
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: April 2016
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling/Reimagining
PREMISE: In an reimagining of the tale of Hades and Persephone, Maya is cursed with a dark horoscope. This curse leads her to an even darker marriage...
MY REVIEW: Ah Hades and Persephone, you are a favorite to retell aren't you? To be fair, I get it. There's a lot you can do with the tale. But personally, I still wish we could get retellings of other Greek myths. There are so many others out there that would be perfect for YA. But for now, I guess we'll have to deal with Persephone and Hades. It's a good thing I don't mind the myth.
This particular incarnation does an Indian take on it. It draw from Indian mythology and I do love what the author did with it. The world she came up with is beautiful and I adore the author's prose. Maya is a fun and spunky character who has more agency then most Persephone's get. This is a very readable book.
But...it also had pacing issues. The middle dragged a LOT and...honestly at the end of the day, other then the fantastic world the author built and the fact that there's tons of diversity...there's not much to set this book apart from all the other fantasy books going around right now. Especially this year when you have things like Wrath and the Dawn, Rebel of the Sands, E.K. Johnston's A Thousand Nights. So...I liked it a lot. I'm definitely going to be picking up the sequel. But...it is a pretty average book. But it is a good solid debut, so...I don't know. I'm a little split on giving it three and a half or four stars.
WHO SHOULD READ: Hades and Persephone fans, Wrath and the Dawn fans,
MY RATING: I'm going with four out of five horoscopes for now.

Book Review: These Vicious Masks

TITLE: These Vicious Masks
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas
PUBLISHED: February 9th, 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: When her sister mysteriously disappears, a girl discovers she and her sister have unique gifts...
MY REVIEW: Remember the Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross? Well, this series definitely brought that series to mind. They're very much alike in terms of setting and plot.
Writing style, character, and tone however, they are different. This one has a humorous tone that was appealing The characters are snarky and as we all know, if your character snarks, I'm pretty much going to love them. There were many fun plays with dialogue in this one so reading it was a breeze.
It's not the most spectacular thing I've ever read. Again, it's very similar to the Steampunk Chronicles, so it's not terribly original. But, it is enjoyable. I may or may not give the sequel a look.
WHO SHOULD READ: Steampunk Chronicles fans, X-Men fans, Historical Fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five debutante gowns

Book Review: Rebel of the Sands

TITLE: Rebel of the Sands
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Alwyn Hamilton
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PUBLISHED: March 8th, 2016
PREMISE: In the land of Miraji, a young girl gets caught up in revolution when she comes across a mysterious man in a sharp shooting contest.
MY REVIEW: I admit it: I picked this one up mostly due to the cover. I mean look at that thing. It's gorgeous. It's even prettier in person because the gold is all shiny. Seriously, kudos to the cover artist. Unfortunately the book itself...doesn't live up to the cover or how awesome the premise: a fantasy-western sounded.
The writing is competent entertainment wise. The author has lots of action happening, the setting is vividly described. This is a very fast-paced book. It's just, as with most of these things lately, the details make it fall apart. The world-building is shaky to say the least, the characters are...okay. They get you interested, but they don't feel very developed. The romance was out of nowhere and honestly a little lack luster.
This was a competent book. It was just a very paint-by-numbers sort of book. The only thing that set it apart from all of the other fantasy YA books out there was the western-fantasy aspect of it. Other then that setting...this was a very typical YA adventure book. It's not a bad book. It's just nothing really to rave about either. It's a decent enough debut, but ultimately that's all it is: decent enough.
WHO SHOULD READ: those looking for light fantasy adventure
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs

Book Review: A Study in Charlotte

TITLE: A Study in Charlotte
Book 1 in the Charlotte Holmes series
AUTHOR: Brittany Cavallaro
PUBLISHED: March 1rst, 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery
PREMISE: In modern times, the ancestors of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet up in a boarding school and must clear their names of murder.
MY REVIEW: I confess, I wasn't expecting much from this book. While I was excited about the idea of a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes, I was also wary because I read a previous YA book, Lock and Mori that tried to gender-flip Moriarty and...it didn't go well.
But this book did everything Lock and Mori didn't do and it's all the better for it. First, it's not a total retelling. These are ancestors of Holmes and Watson in a world where Holmes and Watson were real. So the characters are not forced to be in the roles of Holmes and Watson. They get to be themselves. It also does not force a romance just because now one of them is a girl. But it also does not ignore the fact that Charlotte is female, so she faces a lot of crap that Sherlock Holmes never faced.
It's also not just a redo of A Study in Scarlet so there are new plot elements and you're actually surprised by the way some things go down. The way the author weaves in details from the original series (that I'm reading through this year, so it's pretty fresh in my mind) is pretty clever. The writing is average, and the pacing could use work, but as a whole, this was a solid debut. The author made it work and I look forward to spending more time with Charlotte.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sherlock Holmes fans, retelling fans, mystery fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five boarding school mysteries needing solving

Book Review: The Girl From Everywhere

TITLE: The Girl From Everywhere
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Heidi Heilig
PUBLISHED: February 16th, 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy/Sci-Fi (time travel)
PREMISE: A girl and her father time travel on a ship in an effort to save her mother's life...
MY REVIEW: If you read the summary from this book and looked at Passenger by Alexandra Bracken and went "hey wait a minute...aren't those the same ideas?" you're...kind of right. This book does also feature time traveling via ships. But that is where the similarities between the two new series end. This book takes the similar idea into a whole different, and honestly...kind of better direction. Sorry, Bracken, but it's how I feel. I still like Passenger though.
This was a pretty great debut all around. The writing is strong, the characters are well developed. You can tell the author did her research. The settings leap off of the pages. It's very fast-paced and it keeps you guessing. There's...not much of a cliffhanger at the end, but there are enough unanswered questions that I will definitely be picking up the second book.
So...yes, it's a little like Passenger. But it's different enough that you don't feel like you're just reading the same book over again. Some parts of this were a bit rough (and I could have done without the love triangle nonsense), but overall this was a pretty decent debut.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Passenger, Inkheart Trilogy fans, time travel fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five magic ships

Book Review: Sword and Verse

TITLE: Sword and Verse
Book 1 in the Sword and Verse series
AUTHOR: Kathy MacMillan
PUBLISHED: 1/19/2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl is torn between helping the people of her country and the prince she's fallen in love with.
MY REVIEW: Sadly, this one was a disappointment for me. Maybe it's my own fault. I let the buzz get to me and the premise presented in the summary makes it sound like the most epic thing ever. Unfortunately, the book does not live up to the promised epicness.
A large part of the problem is that this is presented as a fantasy book but, like so many before it, it chooses instead to focus on a boring romance instead of the fantasy part which is probably why most of us picked it up in the first place. The romance between Raisa and her prince is predictable, has been done several times before, but for some reason is about eighty percent of the focus. The result is a very dull fantasy book.
If you want a romance that just happens to be set in a very light on the fantasy, fantasy book. This book will probably be for you. But I for one, wanted a fantasy book and this one did not deliver that very much. There is a plot in it about a rebellion, but it is constantly pushed aside in favor of the romance and that got very annoying, very quickly. The fact that this world isn't very developed and the characters are predictable makes this a passable, but honestly not very original read. The author got the story done. I'll give her that. I can see some people who really like romantic fantasy liking this. It's readable. It's just...safe and ultimately a very forgettable in a book section that has dozens of books like this out already.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those looking for a romance that happens to be set in a fantasy world
MY RATING: Three out of Five could have been betters

Book Review: Shallow Graves

TITLE: Shallow Graves
AUTHOR: Kali Wallace
PUBLISHED: 1/26/2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Breezy has an unusual gift of telling when someone has murdered someone else. She discovers there are other people with unusual gifts like hers...
MY REVIEW: This is yet another book that had stuff happen at a super fast pace. Seriously authors, are you racing or something? Fast paced plots aren't anything new, especially in YA. But the past few books I've read from 2016 I feel like we went from a light jog race to a full long distance speed run or something. I'm not saying have super slow plots, but maybe slow it down, just a little?
Because like with the other books I read recently, I spent half my time going "wait, what?" and having to go back because the details came so fast I missed some. Other then that, this was an interesting book. The writing style reminds me a lot of Nova Ren Suma's style. So it plops you right into the middle of the story and it is at times jarring. There were some beautiful sentences in it, but the writing isn't quite as polished as Suma's yet. With time though, I can see this author going places. There was some great imagination here.
As a debut, it's not bad. It's a bit rough around the edges and I suspect the way its written won't appeal to everyone. But it's interesting, I'll give it that. Honestly, when pressed I'm not sure how I feel about this book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Nova Ren Suma fans, dark paranormal book fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five graves

Book Review: This is Where it Ends

TITLE: This is Where it Ends
AUTHOR: Marieke Nijkamp
PUBLISHED: 1/5/2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: A group of students find themselves in the middle of a school shooting where the shooter is all too familiar...
MY REVIEW: I wanted to like this one a lot more then I did. The author is part of the We Need Diverse Books Group, a group I love and whom is doing excellent stuff. That is probably why diversity wise, this book is excellent. If there is one thing I hope people take away from this, and the many other diverse titles popping up, it's that it is in fact very easy to have diversity in a story. Yes, even a book set in a small town.
I think my issue is mostly just the execution of it all. Namely with the shooter, and why he was doing what he was, and then how things ended. I also wasn't thrilled with the multiple points of view. I suppose I can see why the author chose it, I just don't care for the method. Especially when the characters don't sound that different so I have to keep track of who's speaking.
This wasn't a bad book. There were some insights in there. It's just that some of the details didn't really mesh well. I think with some more polishing and working on things like subtlety Nijkamp could go on to write some great things, there was a lot of potential here.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of hot topicy sort of books, realistic fiction fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five could have been better shrugs