Book Review: Anger is a Gift

TITLE: Anger is a Gift
AUTHOR: Mark Oshiro
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary
PUBLISHED: May 22nd, 2018
PREMISE: Moss' life gets turned upside down when his school starts getting metal detectors and a heavy police presence...
MY REVIEW: Some of you may know Mark Oshiro from Mark Reads or Mark Watches or his general Mark Does Stuff website. I've been a fan of his for awhile now. I used to actually comment on his readalongs/watchalongs but stopped and now mostly just lurk. So I was pretty excited to hear that he had written a book.
I am pleased to say: it is great. There are a lot of comparisons being made to The Hate U Give and that is definitely apt. This takes a lot of the issues brought up in that book (as well as the book Dear Martin) and builds on it in a wonderful way.
This book does not play. To quote Mark himself: shit gets real. Very fast. There's a bit in the middle and end that is especially gut-punching. Basically, this book is just damn good. Read it. Especially if you need something to tide you over until THUG movie or Angie Thomas' new book in February.
WHO SHOULD READ: THUG fans, Dear Martin fans, Adam Silvera fans
MY RATING: Five out of Five tear stained tissues

Book Review: To Kill a Kingdom

TITLE: To Kill a Kingdom
AUTHOR: Alexandra Christo
PUBLISHED: March 6th, 2018
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling
PREMISE: A retelling of the little mermaid where the mermaid actually becomes human so she can kill the prince...
MY REVIEW: I admit it, I was a bit skeptical going into this. Mermaid books and me, really do not get along as a rule. But to my surprise...I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is a tad generic. Sorry, but retellings of the Little Mermaid happen all the time. So I can't give it higher then four stars. But it is still a very readable and entertaining book.
My favorite part about this book, hands down, were the side characters. Particularly the Prince's crew. They were an utter delight. They snarked at each other, supported each other, it was all great. It gave me a lot of Six of Crows chosen family vibes. That's my weakness. So that had a lot to do with my enjoyment of the book. I always say: if your plot is not going to be the most original out there, make sure your characters are awesome so people want to stay and read it. And the author succeeded in that quite a bit.
This was just a fun, but also kind of angsty, entertaining read. It did exactly what it set out to do, and I think the author did a fairly good job on it. The fantasy debuts this year are doing a much better job then last year, I must say. I still say it needs to do better on the diversity/LGBTQ plus rep though. I'm hoping the success of Children of Blood and Bone (which I still need to read) gets the ball rolling on the diversity front at least.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the Little Mermaid, dark fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five solid retellings

Book Review: Gunslinger Girl

TITLE: Gunslinger Girl
AUTHOR: Lyndsay Ely
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: January 2nd, 2018
GENRE: Dystopian
PREMISE: A girl escapes her home life and goes on a journey to a town where she becomes a sharp shooter for entertainment...
MY REVIEW: These James Patterson imprint books have been a real mixed bag for me. Much like how James Patterson's books are, now that I think about it. This latest book is no exception. I do give the author many points for creativity factor and readability factor. But story-wise...it was just okay all across the board.
The world-building is really interesting and where I see most of the creativity. She also writes nicely and cleanly and manages to spin a fast-paced tale. But other then those things...nothing much about this stood out for me. The characters were all the usual types that you see in YA these days. The story was okay...but not what I'd call a must read. Even the writing, which I mentioned was nice...is just okay. Everything is just...okay. Nothing, aside from some creative world-building, really stands out in this book.
So I don't know how I feel about this one to be honest. I enjoyed it as I read it. There's nothing particularly bad about it or anything. It's just...very average. I basically finished it, shrugged, and then promptly moved on to the next book in my pile. But I've seen some people love this. So...I don't know. I say check it out from the library, and see if it's for you, before buying it.
WHO SHOULD READ: James Patterson fans, dystopian fans, Hunger Games fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs

Book Review: The Dangerous Art of Blending In

TITLE: The Dangerous Art of Blending In
AUTHOR: Angelo Surmelis
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: January 30th, 2018
GENRE: Contemporary
PREMISE: A boy tries to survive high school and an abusive household all while dealing with his growing knowledge that he is gay.
MY REVIEW: First I'm going to give several trigger warnings for this book. The character's mother is incredibly abusive, both physically and emotionally. He also faces major bullying and there's lots of homophobic language used throughout the story by people. If all of that is triggering for you...maybe wait to read the book. I mean it started to piss me off while reading it and I'm not even gay, nor have I ever been abused. But the people in this book (not the main character or his love interest, but like the bullies and the mother and basically every crappy person enabling them in that town) just made me so freaking angry. If you have any sort of empathy...it'll probably make you angry as well.
Which is probably what hindered my enjoyment of this. But I also recognize, this book was not written with me, a het-leaning demisexual woman, in mind. It was written for gay teens. To give gay teens hope. To show them they can survive and it gets better and all of that. This is a daily reminder: just because something does not speak to you. Does not mean it won't speak to anyone else. Not every book/movie/TV show is written for just you. Which I think is a good thing. It means we get more variety in our entertainment.
So personally, I had a hard time enjoying this one. But I also see that story-wise it's good. The writing is powerful. For people who need this kind of book in their lives, I definitely recommend it.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of things like Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, The Miseducation of Cameron Post fans, etc.
MY RATING: Four out of Five powerful stories that weren't for me, but still good

Book Review: The Hazel Wood

TITLE: The Hazel Wood
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Melissa Albert
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: January 30th, 2018
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girls mother disappears and finding her requires looking into an old book of fairy tales....
MY REVIEW: This is a book that will probably not be for everyone. Hence all the mixed reviews on Goodreads. It's a very quirky type of story with whimsical writing and a slow pace. If you loved the prose in stuff like Strange the Dreamer and The Raven Boys, you'll probably love this. If you wished those had moved a little quicker...it might not be your thing.
Luckily, it was my thing. I love dark fairy tales. This had that in spades. The best parts in the book happen near the end, where there's a pretty good twist. It's not a mind-blowing twist (I kind of saw it coming early on) but when it happens, it changes things and gets very meta and look, I like meta things okay?
This is not a perfect debut. There are pacing issues, and a lot of conveniences and what not. But it is the first fantasy debut in a while that really spoke to me and didn't feel like a redo of something I'd seen before. I loved it. I can't wait for more.
WHO SHOULD READ: Alice in Wonderland fans, fairy tale fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five really promising debuts

Book Review: The Wicked Deep

TITLE: The Wicked Deep
AUTHOR: Shea Ernshaw
PUBLISHED: March 6th, 2018
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
PREMISE: In Penny's town, every year a trio of witches come back from the dead and possess girls and then proceed to murder three boys...
MY REVIEW: All the stuff in this book is what I wanted from How to Hang a Witch and did not get. It didn't help that book that I was reading these at the same time and that really showcased just how cliche How to Hang a Witch was. Yes, this book has its fair of YA tropes (like insta-love) but this takes those tropes, subverts them, and does it in a fun and not boring way.
This is a very atmospheric book for starters. That's what really helps it. It gives you that spooky summer feeling (I highly recommend reading it on a hot day) that kind of reminds me of the Fear Street series by R. L. Stine. The witch characters are also great. There's a twist around the last third of the book that actually managed to surprise me.
It was just a fun and wild ride from beginning to end. It's not a perfect book, and there is stuff that reminds me of other things I've read. But I always say if you're going to do tropes, do them in a fun and entertaining way. And this book did exactly that. If How to Hang a Witch left a bad taste in your mouth, like it did with me, read this one to remind you that witch stories definitely can still be fun.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Hocus Pocus, Fear Street fasn, Charmed fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five fun witch stories

Book Review: Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

TITLE: Let's Talk About Love
AUTHOR: Claire Kann
PUBLISHED: January 23rd, 2018
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary, Romance
PREMISE: An asexual girl's life gets hectic as her friends start to drift and she finds a new guy to crush on...
MY REVIEW: This is yet another book published by Swoon Reads I have read and I am kind of enjoying them. I do sometimes think their almost adult teenage characters sound WAY too young (and the issue persists in this book), but I find I am enjoying their books.
Like Queens of Geek, this is just super cute and very inclusive. Again, I love that we're getting more representation for asexual characters. Again, I ask why is there not also representation for demi-sexuals? Even in this book there was a scene where they could have mentioned demi-sexuality was a thing, but it never came up, As a demi-sexual, I find this endlessly frustrating. But the book is still very cute and very enjoyable. Again, it sometimes felt like the characters were too juvenile for people who were supposed to be entering their second year of college, but it didn't hinder the enjoyment of the book at all.
If you just want a cute, fluffy romance to read by the pool or something, absolutely pick this up.
WHO SHOULD READ: those who want cute contemporary romances
MY RATING: Four out of Five cute romances

Book Review: Halsey Street

TITLE: Halsey Street
AUTHOR: Naima Coster
PUBLISHED: January 1rst, 2018
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: A woman returns to her old street to help take care of her ailing father as the neighborhood goes through gentrification...
MY REVIEW: How much you like this book will depend on how much you can deal with flawed characters. I don't mind the flawed character stuff, I did however mind the cheating. Sorry, cheating is not something I'm into. At least here however, it comes and goes very quickly and isn't condoned. So I could deal with it, even if I didn't particularly like it.
The rest of the book I did mildly enjoy. It's a very slice of life type of story that goes into how gentrification can hurt the people who already live in the neighborhood. That aspect of it is very eye-opening. The character stuff was okay. There's a plot about an estranged mother that was good, but never seems to go anywhere until the very end.
For a debut this was rather good. I was reminded very strongly of Swing Time by Zadie Smith, though this book at least didn't have two main plots competing with each other. I do definitely see a lot of promising stuff here and will probably be picking up more of the author's books in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the book Swing Time, Americanah fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five very promising debuts

Book Review: Everless

TITLE: Everless
Book 1 in the new Everless series
AUTHOR: Sara Holland
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: January 2nd, 2018
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In a world where years of your life are used as currency, a girl goes to work in the kingdom of Everless, a place she and her father were banished from years ago...
MY REVIEW: My first book that came out in 2018! I'm sad to say...it was just okay. It pains me to say this was mediocre. I have been waiting for YA fantasy to get its butt in gear like YA contemporary has, but sadly, that has not been happening. There were some good YA fantasy books from last year, but a majority of them were from seasoned authors. Among the new authors, the only stand-out ones from last year for me were Caraval. Daughter of the Pirate King, and Daughter of the Burning City. Three books in all of those debuts we had last year is...not very promising. I was hoping this year would break that cycle.
Alas, this book does not give me much hope that YA fantasy will step it up this year. There is nothing terrible about it. It has decent writing. The world is somewhat interesting. There is plot, characters, twists, etc. My problem with this was the same problem I kept having with a lot of the YA fantasy from last year: it played it really safe (heck, even Caraval and Daughter of the Pirate King played it safe. I liked those books, but they weren't exactly ground-breaking). Everything in this book, I predicted from the first chapter. If you read a lot of fantasy, you can pretty much immediately tell how it's going to go. It's that paint-by-numbers. I could go on about how white and hetero-normative it also is, but I'll refrain. I even can't give much credit for the clever premise. The whole thing about using people's years of life as currency has been done before, in a movie.
I might read the second book. Because, I have had fantasy trilogies suddenly become amazing in the second book (for example: Rebel of the Sands or The Young Elites). I just am sad I didn't like this one. I really really wanted to like it. Again, there's nothing really BAD about it, which is why it will get an average rating from me. It's just...not mind-blowing and like other YA fantasy lately: played it really safe. Playing it safe is not good enough, authors. With the amount of books out there nowadays, you need to be better then just safe.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that don't mind predictable fantasy books
MY RATING: Three out of Five plot ideas I saw coming a mile away