Book Review: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?

TITLE: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have the Answers to When You Work in the White House.
AUTHOR: Alyssa Mastromonaco
PUBLISHED: March 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Memoirs, Politics
PREMISE: Obama's former Deputy Chief of Staff writes about her time in the White House and what it's like to work in politics.
MY REVIEW: I'm honestly not sure how to rate this one. There's nothing really wrong with it. The writing is engaging, it explains things really well, there are some good stories in here. It's just...I feel like the book didn't know what it wanted to be.
Part of it was a memoir, another part of it was life advice. It just kept switching and it was jarring when it would switch. That aspect of the book, I could have done without. But for the most part, I did enjoy it. It just was all over the place sometimes and needed a bit more focus. There were some excellent stories in here about Obama though. Those were fun.
This is one of those niche kind of books, you either are going to be interested in it or you aren't. I was, so I liked it.
WHO SHOULD READ: those interested in politics
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five funny stories about Obama

Book Review Catch Up Part 3: The Second Half of July 2018

Last of the review catch up posts, I promise. Here are all the things I read in the second half of July.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding Book 1 by Alexandra Bracken
Category: Middle-Grade
Published: September 2017
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Enjoyable read, as usual, from Alexandra Bracken. Turns out this is going to be made into a movie, so I read it just in time.
Rating: Four out of Five snarky demons

Another Country by James Baldwin
Category: Adult
Published: 1962
Genre: Contemporary
Read mostly because it was on the Great American Read list. I'm kind of slowly going through the ones I haven't read. Not all of them, because there are some I'm just not interested in, at all (Atlas Shrugged, for instance). But most of them I will be reading....at some point.

Robots VS Fairies anthology by various authors
Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Published: January 9th, 2018
Fun short story anthology that had stories featuring either robots or fairies.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five short stories that I wanted to be whole books

Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley by Emily Chang
Category: Non-Fiction
Genre: Social Commentary/Feminism
Published: February 6th, 2018
A deep look into the sexism of the tech industry. How bad it is, how we got there, why it persists, and how we can change the culture. The book is good and interesting...it's just draining, hearing about all these incidents and seeing all the indifference from some of the people in the industry.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five informative, but sad books

Kat Holloway Book 1: Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley
Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Published: January 2nd, 2018
Okay historical mystery. Didn't really impress me, but didn't really fail me either. It's good for if you just want some Downton Abbey-esque feelings with a dash of mystery.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five nosy maids getting shit done

Veronica Speedwell Book 3: A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Published: January 16th, 2018
This series continues to be delightful. If you like slow burn romances, heroines who don't give a fuck about society's expectations, and snark, seriously pick this series up.
Rating: Four out of Five awesome snarky heroines

The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Category: Play
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 1953
I started to read this one, and it turns out I actually already have read it...way back in school. I just apparently forgot that. Oh well. If nothing else, it was a good refresher.

Comics read:
Captain America original 1940s series on Marvel Unlimited
Heavy Vinyl vol. 1

Book Review Catch Up Post Part 2: First Half of July 2018

Here are some of the things I read in the first half of July:

River of Teeth Book 1 by Sarah Gailey
Category: Adult
Genre: Alternate History
Published: May 2017
This is a short novella that takes an interesting what if idea and just runs with it. The result is a really fun and fast adventure story. Need to get my hands on the second book.
Rating: Four out of Five hippos (the reference will make sense when you read it)

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Category: YA
Genre: Verse/Contemporary
Published: March 6th, 2018
Contemporary verse novel about a girl finding her voice through slam poetry. I liked most of it, but the ending with the mother left a lot to be desired for me. If it wasn't for that, this would be five whole stars from me, because it's beautifully written.
Rating: Four out of Five let down endings

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Category: Adult
Genre: Contemporary, literary fiction
Published: January 9th, 2018
Everyone and their mother has been raving about this book and honestly...I don't get it. Half of it was good, the other half...not so much. Also I was really not into the way it stereotyped people a lot.
Rating: Three out of Five side-eyes

Caraval Book 2: Legendary by Stephanie Garber
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Published: May 29th, 2018
Oh Caraval, I have so many mixed feelings about this series. I gave the debut a four out of five, but after much reflection...I would probably rate it lower now. I enjoy this series, it's very readable and everything. There's nothing really bad in it...it's just not really good either. If you like it, I get it. I like it too. But...I also fully acknowledge that quality wise...it's not the best.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five generic, but enjoyable fantasy reads

American Panda by Gloria Chao
Category: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Published: February 6th, 2018
Cute and fluffy contemporary about a girl finding her way while dealing with controlling parents.
Rating: Four out of Five satisfying reads

Magic Misfits Book 1: The Magic Misfits by Neal Patrick Harris
Category: Middle-Grade
Genre: Contemporary/Adventure
Published: November 2017
Yes, NPH wrote a book. It was...just okay. The thing with middle-grade books is that there are two kinds: ones written with a general audience in mind...and one just written for tweens. This was written for tweens and they should be happy with it. I am not a tween, therefore, I was not really the target audience for the book.

Graphic novels read:
Generation X (2017) series (yes, the whole thing, I recently got a Marvel Unlimited subscription and have been putting it to use)
America Vol. 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez
Runaways (2017) Vol. 1

Book Review Catch-up Post Part 1: June 2018 Reads

Yeah...I'm woefully behind on reviews on here. I have been reading...I just haven't been terribly motivated to post reviews. So I'm going to do a catch up and try to get back into the swing of reviewing/posting stuff this month.

Here are the rest of the books that I read in June:

Rebel Mechanics Book 3: Rebels Rising by Shanna Swenson
Category: YA
Genre: Steampunk/Historical Fantasy
Published: April 2017
Rating: Three and a half out of Five steampunk outfits
Okay ending. Everything tied up a little too quickly and neatly for my taste. A bit of a let down after how great the second one was.
Rating for series: Three and a half out of Five

Tyranny of Petticoats Book 2: The Radical Element by various authors
Category: YA
Genre: Historical Fiction/Historical Fantasy, Short Stories
Published: March 13th, 2018
Rating: Four out of Five awesome female leads
If you've read Tyranny of Petticoats, this is just more of the same. Lots of good stories in this one.

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Category:YA
Genre: Contemporary
Published: January 23rd, 2018
Rating: Three and a half out of Five
I like the overall message in this book, and there were some beautiful passages of writing in it. But the story overall...just fell a little flat for me for some reason.


The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Category: Adult/Classics
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 1905
This was...interesting. It was a bit slow for my taste, but overall I liked it. I find that Wharton's books tend to subvert expectations and I really like that aspect of her books.

Numair Chronicles Book 1: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Published: February 6th, 2018
Rating: Four out of Five
I adore the Tortall books and pretty much everything Pierce writes. So it was a given, I was going to read and enjoy this. However, even as I enjoyed it...I think the series is unnecessary as most prequels are. It gives good insight to Numair's character...but that's honestly about all it does. But this was mostly just build-up, I think I suspect the next book will be where everything I actually care about happens. Such as Numair meeting Alanna and co.

The Collected Poems by Langston Hughes
Category: Classics
Genre: Poetry
Published: This edition, was published in 1995. It includes all of Hughes poems written over the the years, going as far back as the 1930s.
Still very new to poetry, so I can't comment on the quality. But I personally loved these. I also found some that were written over fifty years ago that are still relevant today. Part of me thinks it's because Hughes was just that good and part of me also thinks its because our society has not evolved as much as we like to claim.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Category: Classics
Genre: Non-Fiction/Philosophy/Politics
Published: 1513
If you're into history, you'll probably like this. As a lot of it is Machiavelli talking about politics and drawing from examples of history to back up his ideas. I just honestly found it dull.

Graphic Novels read:
Ms Marvel Vol.s 7 and 8
Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1
Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2

Book Review: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scary Tales

TITLE: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scary Tales
AUTHOR: Kiersten White
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
PUBLISHED: July 2017
GENRE: Fantasy, Fairy-tale mash-up
PREMISE: A retelling of various fairy-tales with some twists here and there...
MY REVIEW: I should probably give a bias warning: Kiersten White is a favorite author of mine. I've yet to read a book of hers I haven't enjoyed at least somewhat. Her stuff just kind of speaks to me, and this book is no exception. It is basically a fantasy parody with mash-ups of fairy tales with a slight horror bent. For instance, Goldilocks and the three bears. In this version, Goldilocks is a zombie hunter and the bears were actually zombies. Her breaking into the house was totally justified, guys!
There's Snow White, who turns out to be a mind-controlling monster (hence why the queen really put her into the coffin). Red Riding Hood turns out to be a vampire and so on. It basically just twists fairy-tales in unconventional ways and ties all of the tales together. It's all told with an hilarious narrator.
Because of the parody element, this probably won't appeal to everyone. But I personally loved it. If you know of tweens or anyone who enjoys middle-grade who is skeptical of the whole princess thing, they will probably like it too.
WHO SHOULD READ: fairy-tale mash-up fans, those who like fun twists on familiar stories
MY RATING: Four out of Five fun twisted fairy-tales

Book Review: Before the Devil Breaks You

TITLE: Before the Devil Breaks You
Book 3 in the Diviners series
AUTHOR: Libba Bray
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: October 2017
GENRE: Historical Fantasy/Paranormal
PREMISE: The Diviners all come together for their training as their lives become more difficult and the enemy comes closer and closer...
MY REVIEW: I think I've been pretty up front about the fact that I adore this series. So it probably won't come as a surprise to any of you, that I adored this book.
As with the other books, the characters in this series are the best. I love how they all come together. I love the snark, I love how their personalities clash and also mesh well. I love the setting in this. Far too many historical novels that take place in the twenties focus on the glamour part of it. This book does that, but also points out all the gross stuff that went on during this time as well such as deep racism that still existed well after slavery had ended, sexism, classism, and a whole bunch of other funky things we tend to try and brush under the rug when we go on about the "good old days".
This was a phenomenal continuation. There were twists I wasn't expecting (and some that downright broke my heart, even though the twists were damn good), and it leaves on a big question mark. I'm sure we'll probably have to wait awhile for the next book in this series as well and I'm honestly okay with that. Just please, publishers: stop changing the damn covers.
WHO SHOULD READ: Libba Bray fans, those that have read the first two books
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five almost perfect books (it was a tad slow in the beginning, that's the only reason it's not getting five full stars from me)

Book Review: From a Certain Point of View

TITLE: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View
AUTHOR: various
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: October 2017
GENRE: Science Fiction
PREMISE: A collection of short stories that retells A New Hope from various side characters points of view.
MY REVIEW: Star Wars books are always a bit of a mixed bag. I have had much better luck with the newer books then with the older ones, but that still doesn't mean everything is guaranteed to be good. This short story collection, is a big like the Star Wars books: a mixed bag.
I do really like the idea of it. It basically goes through the movie A New Hope and just kind of gives different viewpoints of it. For instance, we get a story from the captain of the ship Leia escaped on, there's one from Aunt Beru, one from a paperwork person on the Death Star (a particular favorite of mine), a stormtrooper, heck there's even one from the monster in the trash compactor.
It's a wide and varied collection. Some I really loved, most were just shrug sort of stories. But it was a great writing exercise idea. I vote we do another one of these for each of the other movies.
WHO SHOULD READ: Star Wars fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five solid short story collections

Book Review: Stay With Me

TITLE: Stay With Me
AUTHOR: Ayobami Adebayo
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: August 2017
GENRE: Contemporary
PREMISE: A couple talks about the difficulties in their marriage.
MY REVIEW: This book was honestly just a case of not for me. I didn't click with it at all. I didn't personally find it engaging, but did see why others liked it. The writing is beautiful, the story is interesting. It just personally fell flat for me.
Part of it is just personal taste I think. Books dealing with marriages just don't really interest me that much. I will say, it's a very quick read. You can probably finish it in like two days. There is a lot going on and it's very dramatic.
It just wasn't for me.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Americanah, An American Marriage fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good books that weren't for me

Book Review: The Girl in the Tower

TITLE: The Girl in the Tower
Book 2 in the Winternight Trilogy
AUTHOR: Katherine Arden
PUBLISHED: December 2017
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: Leaving where The Bear and the Nightingale left off, Vasya disguises herself as a boy and winds up helping to save Moscow...
MY REVIEW: I feel like The Bear and the Nightingale was one of those books that kind of came out of nowhere. I remember very little buzz when it came out, but then it slowly got all this good word of mouth and became a big thing and after reading it, I totally understand why. It's really good stuff.
This second book is also really good stuff. In fact, I think it's actually better then the first book. The plot doesn't waste time recapping things, it just goes full on and it's a wild and engaging ride from beginning to end. There are all sorts of things that happen with Vasya and you get to see more of Russia. It's just really good, guys. I don't want to give too much away, because a lot of it kind of spoils the ending of The Bear and the Nightingale.
If you loved the first book, I pretty much guarantee you'll like the second one. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read The Bear and the Nightingale, epic fantasy fans, Tamora Pierce fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five great main characters

Graphic Novel series Review: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat

TITLE: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat
AUTHOR: Kate Leth
ARTIST: Brittney L. Williams
Volumes: 1: Hooked on a Feline
2: Don't Stop Me-Ow
3: Careless Whiskers
PUBLISHED: between 2015 and 2017
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Patsy Walker, fresh from returning from hell itself, tries to adjust to life again.
MY REVIEW: I started this series about a year or so ago after falling in love with the Jessica Jones TV show. Trish was my favorite, and this does involve her in...a slight way. Be warned, this Hellcat is very very different from TV Trish Walker (and yes, I have...feelings about what season 2 did with her. Lots of feelings. Not all of them positive). Honestly, if you're going to delve into the comics for any of the Defenders shows, just know they're all pretty different. Accept for Daredevil. He is as much of a disaster in the comics as he is on the show.
This series is a very light and fluffy series and honestly, I kind of love it for that. You don't need to have much comics knowledge going into it. It's pretty separate from the Marvel comics. You might want to know who some of the side characters such as She-Hulk or America Chavez are, but it is not necessary to understand the story.
This was a sadly short-lived series. Though really these days, a year and a half is a pretty good run for solo titles that are not A-listers like Captain America and such. If you're looking for a cute all-ages type of comic to dive into that doesn't require much vast knowledge of the Marvel universe, this is a good one to start with.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jessica Jones TV show fans, Marvel fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five cute series that I miss

Book Review: How Dare the Sun Rise

TITLE: How Dare the Sun Rise
AUTHOR: Sandra Uwiringiyimana
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: May 2017
GENRE: Memoir
PREMISE: A woman tells the story of how she and her family became refugees and came to the United States.
MY REVIEW: So full disclosure, I actually listened to this via audiobook. I actually really recommend doing this. The narrator is great and listening to this story is like the author telling you the story herself and it makes it that much more impacting.
Warning: this woman's life was hard. There are sad things going on in this book. It talks frankly about genocide, racism, poverty and all sorts of tough issues. It is not an easy book to read. But along with all of that are some beautiful moments. The strength of Sandra and her family is amazing. Seriously, where the hell is their movie?
If you're looking for a super happy memoir...this one ain't it. There are some incredibly sad things in here. But if you want inspiring people, absolutely read this.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of memoirs, fans of In the Country We Love: My Family Divided
MY RATING: Four out of Five inspiring stories

Book Review: Renegades

TITLE: Renegades
Book 1 in the Renegades series
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
PUBLISHED: November 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Superhero, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: In a world where superheros and villains are all over the place, Nova infiltrates the superhero group known as The Renegades, with the hopes of taking them down from the inside...
MY REVIEW: When I heard that Meyer was doing superheros, I was both really excited and super nervous. This was different then her usual retelling thing, so this would be a test to see if she can do other things and I'm happy to say: she absolutely can. Renegades was a highly enjoyable read.
This has all of the things I've come to associate with Meyer: lots of action, fun characters, snappy dialogue, interesting setting, and just a nice breezy pace. The set-up for the world is nicely done. The characters...could use some work, but it's a first book so I'm expecting that we'll get much more development for things down the road. There's twists galore and even a romance I actually don't mind because it's actually realistic about the chances of the romance in this world and the circumstances that the characters are in.
Personally, I loved this one. Meyer completely sold me on it and I can't wait for the next books in this series. It does what it set out to do: entertain. No, it's not ground-breaking or super duper unique. But not every book has to be that. I honestly think people have forgotten that things don't have to be super amazing to be a enjoyable read. Sorry, I made the mistake of reading Goodreads reviews again. I really have to stop that. They just put me into rant mode.
WHO SHOULD READ: Marissa Meyer fans, superhero fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five fun books

Book Review: Long May She Reign

TITLE: Long May She Reign
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Thomas
PUBLISHED: February 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Mystery
PREMISE: A girl becomes a queen suddenly, when all the people who were in line for the throne before her are killed at once.
MY REVIEW: You ever wonder what Designated Survivor would be like if it were a fantasy instead of in a contemporary setting? Well, this book, basically answers that question. Because that honestly is all this book is: a gender-flipped Designated Survivor in a fantasy setting.
There's nothing wrong with it. It has a decent plot going, some nice character growth, and all the usual trappings of a YA fantasy. It's just really generic, so there's nothing really to set it apart from all the other several YA fantasy books out there.
If you like Designated Survivor, and that premise intrigues you then this is a good one to pick up. But if you're not interested in this...you probably won't miss out on anything by not reading it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Rhiannon Thomas fans, Designated Survivor fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five generic fantasies

Book Review: The Glass Spare

TITLE: The Glass Spare
Book 1 in the Glass Spare series
AUTHOR: Lauren DeStefano
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: October 2017
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl gets a dangerous gift and has to leave her life behind as she seeks to get rid of it...
MY REVIEW: I have very mixed feelings when it comes Lauren DeStefano. I think prose wise, she's great. She manages to write absorbing tales. She also has some very interesting ideas. She's just bad when it comes to delivering on that clever premise. She gets a good start but when you get to the ending it's kind of like "really? That's it?" For a prime example of this let down, see The Chemical Garden trilogy. I still roll my eyes at some of the flimsy reasoning that went on in that trilogy.
So with that in mind, I'm cautiously into this trilogy. It is a very nicely done world. As always with DeStefano, the premise is interesting. It's very absorbing and has all those things that on another author, would make me really look forward to the next books.
But this is DeStefano. So...I'm going to read the next books, but...I'm not going to expect much from them. I'm sorry, I've been burned too many times by this author for me to hail this serious as a major break through yet. She's very good at starting series and getting people hooked. When it comes to endings however....yeah. But hey, who knows, maybe this series will surprise me. I really hope it does. But in the meantime, I can't give this more then an average rating because I don't know what the series will come to be.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lauren DeStefano fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good starts, but we'll see how it goes books

Book Review: Foolish Hearts

TITLE: Foolish Hearts
AUTHOR: Emma Mills
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: December 2017
GENRE: Contemporary, Romance
PREMISE: A girl's quiet life is turned upside down after she accidentally overhears the breakup of the school's most popular couple and is thrown into a production of the school's play.
MY REVIEW: This book took me completely by surprise and I love it when books do that. It came in my OwlCrate and I honestly wasn't expecting much from it. But I wound up loving the hell out of it.
So many things about this made me happy: it's diverse, the popular couple that breaks up is actually two girls and no one in the school cares. It takes place at an all girls school and there's no catty "girls can't be friends" nonsense. The male love interest is not a douchebag! I actually wanted her and the guy to get together. That's always a nice change. There's great female friendship and it just rings so many bells for me.
This actually kind of gave me a lot of Becky Albertalli vibes. If you are pining for Leah on the Offbeat to come out like I am, this might be a good book to pick up in the meantime. It's not a groundbreaking book by any means. But it is just a nice breezy contemporary romance with fun characters that give you a good time. I will definitely be checking out more of Emma Mills stuff in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Emma Mills fans, Becky Albertalli fans, those that want cute contemporaries
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five enjoyable as hell books

Book Review: What We Lose

TITLE: What We Lose
AUTHOR: Zinzi Clemmons
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: July, 2017
GENRE: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: Thandi deals with grief and many questions as she loses her mother to cancer.
MY REVIEW: The number one thing I have to say about this book is that it is short. It's under 250 pages. I read it all in one sitting. Sometimes this works out well, sometimes it doesn't. For this one, I do think it worked out well for the most part.
As always with literary books: the writing is gorgeous. The story...I think it had something to say, I just didn't particularly get into it. But I've been having issues connecting with all my books this past month or so, so I don't think that's a reflection on the book at all.
This one was kind of a mixed bag for me. I definitely do see a lot of potential in this author, so I'm excited to see what we get from her in the future. For a first book, I think this was pretty decent. I will warn it can be very sad at times, as it is dealing with grief. So if you are dealing with something like that, I'd maybe wait to read it. Unless you really want a good cry, if so, go for it.
WHO SHOULD READ: literary book fans, those that want books dealing with grief
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five solid debuts

Book Review: One Dark Throne

TITLE: One Dark Throne
Book 2 in the Three Dark Crowns series
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake
PUBLISHED: September 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: The battle for the throne continues between Katherine, Arsinoe, and Mirabella....
MY REVIEW: Three Dark Crowns was one of my favorite reads from last year. Sequels can either make or break a series. I'm pleased to say, this sequel made it.
No, this series is not ground-breaking. Dark fantasy books in YA are a dime a dozen these days, thanks partly to Game of Thrones. But this series delivers on entertainment value. The plot keeps you guessing. The author is not afraid to have characters be flawed or unlikable. It's got all that good stuff about Game of Thrones, but without the rape and torture scenes. Sadly, there are no dragons. But there is a bear.
Normally, I am not a fan of series extending beyond what the author originally planned. But in this series case...I actually am all for it. Especially with where this second book left off. I can't wait for the third book. In this case, extending the series actually makes sense. It's when it doesn't make sense that I start to get frustrated.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Three Dark Crowns, Game of Thrones fans, dark fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five thrones

Book Review: The Ship of the Dead

TITLE: The Ship of the Dead
Book 3 in the Magnus Chase Trilogy
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLISHED: October 2017
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure
PREMISE: Magnus and his friends go on a quest to try and prevent Ragnorak from coming...
MY REVIEW: Do I even need to review these books anymore? Probably not. I'm sure you all know what I'm going to say and how I'm going to rate this.
In short: another fun one from Rick Riordan. It tied up the series nicely. I love the way it ended. There was some great character stuff here and there. It all comes with the humor I've come to expect from this series. I'm a little concerned about why Anna and Percy are sad. I am now really nervous for the last Apollo book, coming in May.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read Magnus Chase books 1 and 2, Rick Riordan fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five Lokis
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four out of Five

Book Review: Piecing Me Together

TITLE: Piecing Me Together
AUTHOR: Renee Watson
PUBLISHED: February 2017
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
GENRE: Contemporary
PREMISE: A girl enrolls in a mentorship and things at the rich private school she goes too get a little complicated...
MY REVIEW: This is one of those surprise books. I went into it, not really knowing what to expect from it and didn't have many expectations and it wound up being really damn good. If you are looking for something to read after The Hate U Give, I highly recommend this one. It does not deal with police shootings, but does touch a bit more on privilege and other things that THUG talked about but did not completely focus on.
One of my favorite things this book does is that it talks about how you can be racist without realizing it. THUG did touch on this a bit, but this one goes into it more. I also love how this emphasized communication. Not everyone at Jade's school was purposefully trying to hurt her. They genuinely thought they were doing good. When she pointed out they weren't, instead of getting super defensive (like I see WAY too many people do in conversations about privilege) they actually listened and corrected their behavior. Seriously guys, it's that simple. When someone calls you on shit, apologize and correct your behavior. That's all people are asking you to do. Why is that so damn hard???? I love that the characters in here actually LISTENED. I think we do a whole lot of communicating and discussing of issues. I don't think we do enough listening and correcting of our behavior.
Anyway, I really liked this book. It's not mind-blowing or anything. But it is a good story that gives a lot to think about. If you're looking for more food for thought after reading the THUG, definitely pick this one up.
WHO SHOULD READ: tweens who maybe aren't ready for THUG but need its lessons, THUG fans, contemporary fiction fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five people actually listening

Book Review: Royal Crush

TITLE: Royal Crush
Book 3 in the From the Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess series
AUTHOR: Meg Cabot
PUBLISHED: August 2017
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
GENRE: Contemporary
PREMISE: Olivia's adventures as a princess continue as her school enters a sports competition while she juggles school crushes of her classmates and her own personal crush...
MY REVIEW: This review will be short because my opinion on this series hasn't changed much. It's just freaking adorable.
Is it necessary? Not really. If you were happy with where Cabot left things off in the original Princess Diaries series, you will not miss much if you don't read this (or Royal Wedding). But it might be fun to read this series if you want to know what Mia and co. are like as adults. Also you get to learn some fun new info like the fact that apparently Grandmere shot Nazis. I want that movie, Disney.
If you've read the first two books, this is more of the same. It has all the cuteness of the first two. There are some great fun moments, and we get a sweet ending with Olivia and Khalil. I don't know if there's going to be more in the series (I haven't found any announcements of any sort) but I welcome them if they do come. As for Cabot, she is apparently going to be writing a graphic novel series with DC about Black Canary in middle-school. I am so here for that. Also apparently she has an adult book of some sort in the works. No word yet on what it is. ;crosses fingers for an Insatiable series continuation book;
WHO SHOULD READ: Meg Cabot fans, those that have read the first two books, Princess Diaries fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five cute books