Tag Archives: Must Read

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

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wonderTITLE: Wonder
AUTHOR: R.J. Palacio

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (5)

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION:
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, OWEN WILSON, AND JACOB TREMBLAY!

Over 6 million people have read the #1 New York Times bestseller WONDER and have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face.

The book that inspired the Choose Kind movement.

I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

“Wonder is the best kids’ book of the year,” said Emily Bazelon, senior editor at Slate.com and author of Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy. In a world where bullying among young people is an epidemic, this is a refreshing new narrative full of heart and hope. R.J. Palacio has called her debut novel “a meditation on kindness” —indeed, every reader will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to root for, a diamond in the rough who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

Buy the book HERE! 

MY 2 CENTS:

WRITING (★★★★★): I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It is a truly amazing story with a profoundly important message – Choose Kindness!

I read this book because my son wanted to see the movie and I suggested we read the story first. Within the first couple of chapters, I was hooked. It took us only a few days to finish the book and we were both on the edges of our seats the whole time.

I cried… a lot!

Palacio has a beautiful way of capturing the emotion in what’s happening throughout the story. Her writing style is fluid. Wonder can be easily read by young children and still enjoyed by adults. Not an easy task for a children’s author to manage, but Palacio pulled it off seamlessly.

STORY (★★★★★): Wonder is the story of August (Auggie) Pullman, a young boy who has a congenital facial abnormality. Do to his unusual appearance, he has had to deal with a range of reactions from people he meets and others who just noticing him passing by. Kids he encounters, as well as many adults, are cruel. They use hateful, hurtful language, often displaying their disgust without trying to hide it. However, it is important to know – if you are letting your child read this book – that goodness does win in the end. Readers will learn a valuable lesson on choosing kindness and should find Auggie’s story to be both inspiring and emotionally moving.

It is hard to read a story about suffering, especially the suffering of a child. The way the character of Auggie Pullman has suffered all his “life” is devastating. Yet, he keeps a positive attitude in the face of bullying, ridicule, pain, loss, and humiliation. There are days that I wish I was as strong as he is.

This story started the Choose Kind movement and honestly, I believe it should be required reading in all elementary and middle schools across the country and around the world. We could all learn something from Auggie Pullman.

CHARACTERS (★★★★★): Auggie Pullman is the epitome of kind-hearted and selfless. Not only do I feel that the author gave us a completely fleshed out lead character, she successfully brought to life Auggie’s parents, sister, and the school staff and other children around him. There wasn’t a single character that I didn’t feel I got to know, understand, and relate to.

APPEARANCE (★★★★★): The cover of Wonder is simple and powerful at the same time. I’m not sure who designed it, but the minimalist illustration of August (Auggie) Pullman’s face on the cover is perfect.

FAVORITE QUOTES:

“I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.”

“Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.”

“Kinder than is necessary. Because it’s not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.”

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”

* * * * *

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

You can check out the Movie Trailer here:

https://youtu.be/Ob7fPOzbmzE

Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard

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Finding GobiTITLE: Finding Gobi
AUTHOR: Dion Leonard

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (5)

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Bring home the incredible true story of a friendship so strong that it crosses the globe! You will love the inspiring tale of Gobi, a lost dog who kept pace with an ultramarathon runner, Dion Leonard, across a vast desert. Follow their unlikely friendship through the challenges of an 80-mile race and Dion’s struggle to bring Gobi home for good.

Finding Gobi: The True Story of One Little Dog’s Big Journey is the incredible true story of Dion Leonard, a New York Times bestselling author and athlete, who was befriended by a stray dog while running an ultramarathon through the Gobi Desert. Named for the desert in which he found her, Gobi became Dion’s closest companion for 77 miles of the 155-mile race across China. The scrappy little pup ran mile after mile alongside Dion, through treacherous conditions and across raging rivers. He let her sleep in his tent and share his food, and eventually, his focus shifted from winning to the newfound friendship he and Gobi shared.

They crossed the finish line together—not first, but together—and Dion decided to bring Gobi home to Scotland. Just before they were about to leave, however, Gobi disappeared, setting off a worldwide search for the stray. In a town of more than 3 million people, the search seemed hopeless, but this tale of friendship will surprise and delight you as you find out what happens!

Join the almost too-good-to-be-true story of hope, friendship, and beating incredible odds in Finding Gobi: The True Story of One Little Dog’s Big Journey by Dion Leonard.

Buy the book HERE! 

The Critical Points:
Finding Gobi is the true story of one little dog’s big journey, written by Dion Leonard.

WRITING: I read this book with my 11-year-old son, as part of our mother/son book club. I had never heard about Gobi or the story that went global, but was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed the book. My son enjoyed the book as well. I love the fact that Dion Leonard not only wrote his story, he chose to write a children’s version too. I don’t think my son would have made it through the longer version, but the Young Reader’s Edition was perfect for him.

I highly recommend this book. The young readers’ edition is perfect for readers of all ages from children to those young-at-heart. The sections written in Gobi’s perspective are very endearing and sweet.

STORY: You just can’t go wrong with a true story of a man and his dog. Much less one that carries the reader around the world on an epic adventure of friendship, heartache, and eventually a joyous reunion. Did I give away too much?

CHARACTERS: Gobi and Dion aren’t really characters… they are the real life dog and dog owner. So, I can’t judge the character development as everything that happens in Finding Gobi is true to life.

APPEARANCE: The cover shows a cute image of Gobi, trotting along across a map… showing, through the image, the journey she must have taken.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
“They say it takes a village to raise a child. I think it takes almost half a planet to rescue a dog.”

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/Q6O2HcuYqw8

On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson

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Golden Pond

PLAY TITLE: On Golden Pond
AUTHOR: Ernest Thompson

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (4.75)

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
A comedy for a cast of 3 men, 2 women, 1 boy. This is the love story of Ethel and Norman Thayer, who are returning to their summer home on Golden Pond for the forty-eighth year. He is a retired professor, nearing eighty, with heart palpitations and a failing memory-but still as tart-tongued, observant and eager for life as ever. Ethel, ten years younger, and the perfect foil for Norman, delights in all the small things that have enriched and continue to enrich their long life together. They are visited by their divorced, middle-aged daughter and her dentist fiancé, who then go off to Europe, leaving his teenage son behind for the summer. The boy quickly becomes the “grandchild” the elderly couple have longed for, and as Norman revels in taking his ward fishing and thrusting good books at him, he also learns some lessons about modern teenage awareness-and slang-in return. In the end, as the summer wanes, so does their brief idyll, and in the final, deeply moving moments of the play, Norman and Ethel are brought even closer together by the incidence of a mild heart attack. Time, they know, is now against them, but the years have been good and, perhaps, another summer on Golden Pond still awaits.

Buy the play HERE!

Buy the movie HERE!
MY 2 CENTS: 
On Golden Pond is a classic. The way that Thompson brings these characters to live is simply beautiful. It’s about life, relationships, and the heart.

I love when an author like Thompson can take a simple story, a retired couple spending the summer at their lake house, and turn it into so much more. By the end of the script, you’re emotionally attached to the characters, you care what happens to them, and you long to learn more about them.

The father/daughter relationship between Norman and Chelsea is heartbreaking. In just the few scenes in which they are together, it is obvious how much they love each other… how much they want to be close… and yet, they aren’t. It isn’t until Chelsea brings Billy, her boyfriend’s son, to visit her parents that Norman finally bonds with a child. It’s just said that it wasn’t his own child.

The husband/wife relationship between Norman and Ethel is exactly what I believe my grandparents had. They lived a similar life and were not only each other’s best friends, but they were soul mates. They were perfect together in every way. I believe that Thompson wrote their relationship to be perfect… almost to perfect, but not unbelievable in any way.

As an actress, reading this script has just added two characters to my list of dream roles I’d love to play. If I ever get the chance, in the next few years to audition for Chelsea, I will not let it pass me by, and of course… Ethel would be a dream role when I get older.

As a director, I have to be honest… I think it would be hard knowing how emotionally connected I am with the characters. I think I’d want to be on stage too much to do justice as a director.

APPEARANCE: Plain green cover with black text… Typical Dramatists Play Service cover. I feel like the plain cover allows the reader to use their imagination when envisioning the characters.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES:
“Sometimes you have to look hard at a person and remember he’s doing the best he can. He’s just trying to find his way, just like you.”

“Well, that’s what happens if you live long enough: You end up being old. it’s one of the disadvantages of a long life. I still prefer it to the alternative.” 

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

 

on golden pond movie posterMovie Title: On Golden Pond
Director: Mark Rydell
Stars: Katharine Hepburn (Ethel Thayer), Henry Fonda (Norman Thayer Jr.), and Jane Fonda (Chelsea Thayer Wayne)

STORYLINE: The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage. This summer their daughter Chelsea — whom they haven’t seen for years — feels she must be there for Norman’s birthday. She and her fiancé are on their way to Europe the next day but will be back in a couple of weeks to pick up the fiancé’s son. When she returns Chelsea is married and her stepson has the relationship with her father that she always wanted. Will father and daughter be able to communicate at last? (IMDB.COM)

Watch the official movie trailers here:

https://youtu.be/l-lcl2j3yf0

https://youtu.be/Y85sfYVOS84

Things My Mother Taught Me by Katherine DiSavino

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PLAY TITLE: Things My Mother Taught Me
AUTHOR: Katherine DiSavino

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (4.75)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Olivia and Gabe are moving into their first apartment together. They’ve just packed up all of their belongings and driven halfway across the country, to start a new life together in Chicago. Their moving day doesn’t go exactly as planned, though, and things become slightly more complicated when all of their parents show up to help! Can a two-bedroom apartment contain all of the love, laughs, worry and wisdom that’s about to happen?

This brand-new comedy from the author of Nana’s Naughty Knickers takes a generational look at relationships, and how sometimes parents are passing their best lessons on to their children without even meaning to. Funny and touching, this one will make you laugh out loud and fall in love all over again.

Buy it HERE on Amazon!

The Critical Points:
I don’t usually review plays, but this one just spoke to me! Things My Mother Taught Me has something for everyone! It’s your typical family drama full of unexpected encounters, comical misunderstands, and drama… lots of drama!

WARNING… SPOILER ALERT… WARNING… SPOILER ALERT… WARNING

WRITING: Katherine Disavino, author of Seasonal Allergies and Nana’s Naughty Knickers knocks it out of the park with Things My Mother Taught Me. It is a quick, easy read full of laughs.

STORY: Olivia and Gabe, a 20-something couple move from New York to Chicago… Gabe has hidden an engagement ring in the cushion of his favorite chair, the chair Olivia hates! He has also invited both of their parents to come down for the weekend, so they can share in the excitement of the surprise proposal he is planning. Things don’t go as planned, the moving truck is stolen (along with the $20K ring), and the engagement is cancelled. However, DiSavino doesn’t let it end there… they all live happily ever after when a plastic, cereal box ring gives Gabe hope and Max, the Polish building super, comes to the rescue and saves the day.

CHARACTERS: DiSavino pulls together a beautiful ensemble cast of characters in ‘Things My Mother Taught Me’.

  • OLIVIA KEEGAN – late 20s; energetic; neat; slightly OCD; an architect.
  • KAREN KEEGAN – late 50s-60s; Olivia’s mother.
  • CARTER KEEGAN – 60s; Olivia’s father.
  • GABE LAWSON – late 20s; a writer; good-natured.
  • LYDIA LAWSON – late 50s-60s; Gabe’s mother.
  • WYATT LAWSON – 60s; Gabe’s father.
  • MAX MIROWSKI – late 50s; Polish accent; building super; may be played by a man or woman.

APPEARANCE: The cover is cute, but when it comes to theatre scripts, I prefer a plain colored playbook. I don’t like to be shown a photo of the characters, instead I like to use my own imagination to figure out what they look like.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Don’t even try that Casanova bull on me. I just peed in front of your mother. The last thing I want right now is a cuddle from the child that came out of her uterus.” ~ Olivia in Things My Mother Taught Me

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video

Check out this short clip from the
Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse production September-November 2013

https://youtu.be/w4ryseOmQKw

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

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TITLE: Anna Dressed In Blood
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (4.75)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

Yet she spares Cas’s life.

Buy it HERE on Amazon!

The Critical Points:
This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now. I’m not really sure why I hadn’t read it before now. I’ve loved the cover since it was given to me but just never felt compelled to read it. I’m so glad that I finally did. A couple weeks ago, I was in the mood for ghost stories, which is why I started reading 20th Century Ghosts. Well, when that one left me feeling less than excited, I decided to pick up Anna Dressed In Blood which promised a ghost dressed in Blood. I was crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t be let down again.

WRITING: Kendare Blake has a very easy, fluid writing style. Anna Dressed in Blood was a fast read that left very few questions unanswered. It is full of adventure, awkward teens, death, and although it’s not a love story, that’s in there too.

STORY: Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story…
Actually, there is nothing average about this story. It’s a fun coming of age Young Adult story of a teenage ghost hunter who finally finds his tribe.

CHARACTERS: Every character, at least the important ones, are fleshed out to the point where you feel like you know them. Blake has a beautiful way of bringing unlikely friends together and making it feel completely natural. You care for Cas, Thomas, and Carmel and when things don’t go their way, it hurts. Sure, there are some untimely deaths (I won’t tell you who or how), but in a ghost hunting story, there has to be… Don’t worry, she kills the right characters.

APPEARANCE: I wish I knew who designed the cover, but unfortunately it isn’t written on the copywrite page. The cover, which shows Anna standing outside of her Victorian home, is actually foreshadowing what happens in the book. It is beautiful, whimsical, and romantic and perfectly portrays the feel of the story that Blake has created.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
I had a hard time coming up with a favorite quote from this one. Let me explain, typically, I find my favorite quote(s) while I’m reading. Something will just hit me and I’ll love it and either highlight it or write it down. But, with Anna Dressed In Blood, I was so engrossed in the story that I didn’t think about the fact that I needed to find my favorite quote. I was lost in the world Blake had created. Trust me, that’s a very good thing.

So, I had to go back… thumb through the pages to see if I could find a quote that stood out. Of course, I did.

“Until a few weeks ago, none of this was real.”

It’s a simple little quote, and seemingly means nothing without the context of what was around it. However, I like it because its true for any book of fiction you pick up. None of it is real… yet if it is written well, it feels so real. The characters feel like they have come to life on the pages and it is sad and painful when you have to let them go at the end of the story.

OK, one more favorite quote… just for fun:

“But hey, at least we’ll have this strange story to tell, love and death and blood and daddy-issues. And holy crap, I’m a psychiatrist’s wet dream.”

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/c_CXEXBZheQ

NEXT WEEK’S #FRIDAYREADS SELECTION: GIRL OF NIGHTMARES by KENDARE BLAKE The second (and final) book in the Anna Dressed In Blood series.

GIRL

ELEVATION by Stephen King

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elevation

TITLE: Elevation
AUTHOR: Stephen King

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (4)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together—a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences.

Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.

In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.

From Stephen King, our “most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work” (The Guardian), Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Buy it HERE on Amazon!

THE CRITICAL POINTS
The cover says ‘ELEVATION a novel” but it really isn’t a novel. At only 146 pages, small pages at that, I’m guessing ELEVATION can’t be 50,000 words. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d say it’s probably a novella. I read one review that called it a short story, and for Stephen King it is, but in reality its more than that.

WRITING: It’s Stephen King, so the writing is spot on.

STORY: Elevation takes ordinary people and puts them in an impossible situation. So basically, its your typical King story. I loved that there were two main stories going on here, the first being the communities lack of acceptance of the new lesbian couple that moved to town, and the second being Scott Carey’s inexplainable weight loss. At first glance it doesn’t seem that these two stories make sense together, but in the end everything comes together.

There wasn’t a lot of backstory. We don’t find out what brought Missy and Deirdre to town other than the affordable restaurant space. We don’t find out what causes Scott’s drastic weight loss. We don’t even find out what happens after everything comes to a head and he loses those final pounds, not really anyway. What we do find out, and the message behind this story, is how a single act of kindness can change everything. I won’t go into more details, if you want to know what I mean… read the book.

CHARACTERS: There are four main characters, with a few smaller characters sprinkled throughout. Again, not a lot of backstory and even less character development. Yet, somehow, it works for this book. As readers, we come into the lives of these characters for only a brief moment. We are the proverbial fly on the wall. It’s a very voyeuristic reading experience and at times you feel guilty for watching, but by the end you care for the characters you know so little about and, if you’re like me, you just might cry.

APPEARANCE: The cover is beautiful, but you won’t understand it until the end.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES:
“Not a wind, not even a high, exactly, but an elevation. A sense that you had gone beyond yourself and could go farther still.”

“Gravity is the anchor that pulls us down into our graves.”

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/ciWORKbC3O4

Shadow of Okeaous by W.M. Martin

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shadow

TITLE: Shadow of Okeaous ~ Be the Light
AUTHOR: W. M. Martin

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (4)

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
When a teenage runaway named Maggie Bennett is drawn to the small but odd town of Thieves, she is unaware of what adventure awaits her. Maggie must journey to a world beyond the one she knows to undertake the trials and train to became a Guardian, all while an ancient and malefic presence is secretly haunting her every step, and it desires, more than anything, that which it once held. Journey along with Maggie as she learns about the world of the Veil, her place within it, and the Fallen hordes who want to watch it burn.

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS
First let me say, I purchased this book directly from the author at an author event. I always enjoy meeting authors and talking about not only their stories but their process. W.M. Martin wrote this book with his daughters. Through telling bedtime stories that they participated in, they brought this book to life. I was inspired by his story and how excited his wife and children were when I spoke to them.

WRITING: Shadow of Okeaous ~ Be the Light is a self-published fantasy novel. Like most self-published novels, my own included, there are a few typos, editing issues, and formatting errors. However, none of these issues let me to put the book down. I will say, fantasy isn’t my favorite genre. Therefore, it did take me a bit longer to get through the book than I had hoped.

STORY: The story is perfect for children, young and old. However, some of the vocabulary could be challenging for younger readers. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this ‘Harry Potter’ like story and am looking forward to reading the next one.

CHARACTERS: Maggie Bennett comes from a long line of strong women and although she doesn’t know it in the beginning, she discovers just how powerful she really is throughout the novel.

For me, there were a bit too many characters. I did get lost from time to time wonder who everyone was, but the main characters; Maggie, Elliot, Nancy, Lucy, Alice, and a few of the others, were very well-developed and easily recognizable throughout the story.

APPEARANCE: The cover, which was designed by Gabriela at BROSEDESIGNZ did a beautiful job bringing Maggie Bennett to life.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
“A single light can pierce the deepest darkness. Be the light.”

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken

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legacy

TITLE: The Darkest Legacy
AUTHOR: Alexandra Bracken

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (4)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
The long-awaited new novel in the New York Times best-selling Darkest Minds series, now a major motion picture.

Five years after the destruction of the so-called rehabilitation camps that imprisoned her and countless other Psi kids, seventeen-year-old Suzume “Zu” Kimura has assumed the role of spokesperson for the interim government, fighting for the rights of Psi kids against a growing tide of misinformation and prejudice. But when she is accused of committing a horrifying act, she is forced to go on the run once more in order to stay alive.

Determined to clear her name, Zu finds herself in an uncomfortable alliance with Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi who could either help her prove her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. But as they travel in search of safety and answers, and Zu grows closer to the people she knows she shouldn’t trust, they uncover even darker things roiling beneath the veneer of the country’s recovery. With her future-and the future of all Psi-on the line, Zu must use her powerful voice to fight back against forces that seek to drive the Psi into the shadows and save the friends who were once her protectors.

From #1 New York Times best-selling author Alexandra Bracken comes a harrowing story of resilience, resistance, and reckoning that will thrill loyal fans and new readers alike.

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS
I was bound to read The Darkest Legacy at some point. I LOVED the first four books in the series and was just waiting to get through a stack of other “to read” books on my desk before I cracked the spine on this one… also, I didn’t read much in November since I was busy with NaNoWriMo. With that said, let’s get into the book…

WRITING: There is no doubt that Bracken is a talented writer. She has an amazingly creative mind and she is successful at painting a picture with her words. With that said, I think that this books felt a bit rushed… not as much detail… in some spots and too much mundane detail in other spots.

STORY: I had a hard time accepting that the final book in the series was from a completely different perspective. The story didn’t seem to have a really driving force. Zu is a speaker for the government, there is a staged bombing set up by who knows who, Zu goes on the run with two completely new to the reader characters and along the way discovers that Ruby and Liam are missing. Zu’s focus becomes finding Ruby and Liam… even though they haven’t been in the book at all. MORE HERE

It was around page 300 that I started caring about what was going to happen in the book, but not until the last six or seven chapters that the book really started to have the same feel as the previous books in the series. It was those last few chapters that pulled at my mind, tugged at my heart-strings, and made me remember exactly why I loved the series and why I’ll probably pick up anything Alexandra Bracken writes just to see what she comes up with next. No, it wasn’t my favorite of her books, but read it for the ending… I wasn’t disappointed and I don’t think you will be either.

CHARACTERS: I’m not going to lie, I missed the interaction between the main characters within the previous books on this series. It was hard to get into reading from Zu’s perspective at first and I didn’t really feel anything toward Zu, Priyanka, or Roman at first. It wasn’t until about 300 pages in that I actually started caring for the characters, what was going to happen to them, or how their story would end. That isn’t to say that Bracken didn’t do a good job with character development, she did. I just think there could have been more relationship development to make the reader really invested in the characters more.

APPEARANCE: Like the other books in The Darkest Mind series, I think this one is beautifully done. I wish she had kept with a similar style, but seeing as she changed voices from Ruby’s perspective to that of Suzume “Zu”, I suppose a change in look was needed as well. It isn’t my favorite of the covers, but it gets the job done. Even if I hadn’t already intended to read it, I would have picked it up at the books store and at a minimum checked out the back blurb.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES:
“I was still on my feet. There was still breath in my lungs. I wasn’t fine, but I was strong. And I was going to use every ounce of my power to get us the hell out of here.”

“I’m going to remind you that heroes frequently die, but the morally mediocre people almost always live to see another day. Don’t do anything that’s going to piss me off.” ~ Priyanka

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/O29tr8b-33U

The Selection by Kiera Cass

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Selection

TITLE: The Selection
AUTHOR: Kiera Cass

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (4.75)

 

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Fall in love—from the very beginning. Discover the first book in the captivating, #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series.

Prepare to be swept into a world of breathless fairy-tale romance, swoon worthy characters, glittering gowns, and fierce intrigue perfect for readers who loved Divergent, Delirium, or The Wrath & the Dawn.

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape a rigid caste system, live in a palace, and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and competing for a crown she doesn’t want.

Then America meets Prince Maxon—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS
I didn’t make the choice to read this book, my daughter did. She picked it out of a hundred other books in the school library while deciding which book to write her book report on. She isn’t a big reader, and I knew automatically that she wasn’t going to finish such a large book on her own. So, we made it our latest Mother/Daughter book club selection and read it together. To be honest, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did.

WRITING: Kiera Cass’s writing style is very easy to grasp. She is fluid, moving from one scene to the next perfectly. It’s almost as if she were writing the story for screen, rather than a book shelf. She keeps her language simple, so that younger readers would easily understand the story and everything going on within the world she has created.
Her world building is left more to the reader’s imagination than laid out through her descriptions and although I can see how some readers might not like that, I personally love it.

STORY: The story is not unique, as girls we’ve all read Cinderella… A prince falls in love with a common girl who is poor with nothing to give but her heart. However, The Selection puts a twist on the classic and brings in a more modern reality show ‘The Next Bachelor’ feel. At first, I didn’t think I would enjoy this, but it turned out to be a fun twist leading to a lot of character development and choices right away.

I also feel like this book has a lot of good life lessons for the younger female readers to include, how to stand up for yourself (see favorite quote below).

APPEARANCE: I’m not sure who designed the cover, as the cover artist’s name wasn’t listed on the copyright page, but it is truly stunning.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE:
My favorite quote comes from a conversation between America (the lead) and her friend Marlee. America basically asks Marlee how to handle the other girls – we all know someone who falls into this category – the MEAN GIRLS.

Marlee’s response, and my favorite quote, is: “I ignore it. I know one girl at home who gets so irritated when she can’t bother you, she just ends up sulking. So, don’t worry,” she said. “All you have to do is not let them know they’re getting to you.”

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/jVIQrgBcMro

Four by Veronica Roth

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Four

TITLE: Four
AUTHOR: Veronica Roth

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (4)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Fans of the Divergent trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth will be thrilled by Four: A Divergent Collection, a companion volume that includes four pre-Divergent stories plus three additional scenes from Divergent, all told from Tobias’s point of view. This collection also makes a great pick for fans of the blockbuster movies who want to delve deeper into the character played by Theo James.

Readers first encountered Tobias as “Four” in Divergent. His voice is an integral part of Allegiant. Readers will find more of this charismatic character’s back story told from his own perspective in Four: A Divergent Collection. When read together, these long narrative pieces illuminate the defining moments in Tobias’s life. The first three pieces in this volume—”The Transfer,” “The Initiate,” and “The Son”—follow Tobias’s transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, and the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions. The fourth story, “The Traitor,” runs parallel with the events of Divergent, giving readers a glimpse into the decisions of loyalty—and love—that Tobias makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.

Also includes three additional scenes from Divergent, told from Tobias’s point of view!

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 
THE CRITICAL POINTS

WRITING: Veronica Roth takes us deep into Four’s perspective with this one, and she doesn’t disappoint.

STORY: Four, the 4th book in the Divergent Series is actually a set of novellas. What it reminded me, after the disappointment of Allegiant, is that I really enjoy Roth’s storytelling and the world she created within the Divergent Series. Seeing her world through Four’s eyes was a great way to wrap up the series and give her readers the closure we didn’t get with Allegiant.

I won’t give anything away, but I will say even if you were disappointed with Allegiant, you have to pick up Four! Give Roth another chance and read these awesome novellas. It’s a fast-paced read, I think I finished it in one night… maybe two. You won’t be disappointed.

If you’ve already read Four, what did you think? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

APPEARANCE: The cover blends well with the rest of the Divergent series books and fits the story VERY WELL! I love the imagery as well as the meeting behind the Ferris wheel.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES:

“One thing I know: For helping me forget how awful the world is, I prefer her to alcohol.”

“Dead people can be our heroes because they can’t disappoint us later; they only improve over time, as we forget more and more about them.”

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

NOT YET RECORDED