A new student review of Black Spring

bookgirl1289 posted a new student review of Black Spring . See the full review.

Black Spring is beautifully written and has a plot that will make you want to keep reading even if you know how Wuthering Heights ends (I read a summary of Wuthering Heights because I was really curious about what happened in it, but you can understand this book just fine even if you don't know the story). Some things in this story are the same, but the magic element and strange traditions of the northern plateau make the story different in an interesting way, and there are characters in Black Spring that are much more likable.

Croggon is a wonderful writer and describes the landscape so vividly that it seems terrifying and real. I think she has improved on the original character of Cathy, making it somewhat easier to understand Lina’s actions. Anna, a servant girl who is raised along with Lina, is a great character who tells most of the story, and she makes Lina seem less selfish and more doomed by fate. One of the things that I didn’t really agree with was the idea that Anna thought that Lina wouldn’t have been so selfish if she had not been persecuted as a witch. I don’t think that had much of an effect on Lina since she spent her childhood in the southern country. The Heathcliff character (Damek) is more mysterious, and we don’t find out much about his thoughts or feelings, so I didn't have much sympathy for him at all. But I think the whole obsession/revenge story works better in a fantasy setting because it’s more believable than in real life.

A new student review of Tidal

mikaylamoody68 posted a new student review of Tidal . See the full review.

This book in my opinion had a good plot. There are alot of twists in this book as well but I also got bored throughout the book. Every now and again I felt like putting the book down and to not pick it up again. As soon as I was about to i would get drawn back in . When i got to the end of the book I became in love with the story

A new student review of Alfred C. Bogeyman

sschu5 posted a new student review of Alfred C. Bogeyman . See the full review.

This was a great book! It was about a kid who stands up for his brother. I like that Adrian does that for Sam. It is very kind to do that for anyone especially someone related to you. It had a lot of suspense; I like that in a book. I hope you find this book is as good as I did!

A new student review of Through the Zombie Glass

R. Mae posted a new student review of Through the Zombie Glass . See the full review.

The Plot:

I’m a big fan of fast paced plots and this one really was. The action was heavy and the characters moved smoothly through it.There was this moment when Alice lights herself with the fire that kills zombies. The fire completely covers her body. Gena Showalter describes Alice moving from one zombie to another, floating over the ground and brushing her fingers along them.  It was flawless, and absolutely perfect. Her writing style totally inspires me. Thankfully, the romance didn't totally overpower the story. It just added to it.

 

The Characters:

You know, even though Alice Bell was going through a completely depressing situation, she refused to cave into the darkness. She continued to fight with that kick-butt, stubborn attitude. Through all her troubles she didn’t let anything bring her down. She was desperate to protect the people she loved. The character arch Alice went through practically drove the book. She had to fight her inner self, Zombie Alice, to become fully alive. It was a physical and mental thing. Alice’s boyfriend Cole seemed weird to me. It’s just a personal opinion. I like him, I like how protective he is. I like the sense of power that the author describes emanating off him. That's all cool. It’s just that the guy is a little messed up. He doesn't really appeal to me. He is over protective and super serious all the time. He gets on my nerves. I liked Gavin. He seemed more realistic. His attitude always made me smile, and I really liked the friendship he and Alice developed. That brings me to Kat. Kat is pushy, she makes her friends do things that scare them. She likes to talk, laugh, and pretty much have fun. She reminds me of myself. Except the fact that she is sick. It surprises me Alice isn’t more desperate to find an antidote or something for her best friend's sickness. Alice knows Kat is going to die soon, yet she does nothing about that. I can’t understand it.

 

The Setting:

Unlike the first book, barely any time is spent at school or in homes. Most of the time it’s training in Cole’s barn, fighting in the woods, or another place just as interesting. The scenes seemed awfully depressing sometimes, but not to the point of annoying. It was more on the side of realistic and understandable. Not all of life is happy-go-lucky. I mean, they are fighting zombies!

 

The Standout:

In most books, the romance is overpowering. A lot of people say that is how love works. For some reason though, over powering love exists for the main characters. How do you think all the side-kicks feel about that? Author Gena Showalter wrote this story differently. Almost every character had another half of themselves. Kat has Frosty, Reeve (Alice’s Friend) has Bronx, etc... It goes on and on. Each of them have a unique relationship. It was very realistic and gave the depressing setting a little light.

 

The Moral:

I am a Christian. I don’t like to hide my faith. In the first book the author wrote that she wanted to show the fight between good and evil, that she herself was a Christian. Now, that promise did not withstand. Yeah, in the first book she mentioned church a few times, but it didn’t even fit with the story. the characters' morals seemed askew in this book.  Not only were there very few Christian morals, God wasn’t even mentioned. There wasn’t actually sex, but the characters got pretty close. I’m not sure where the line is, but I think they crossed it. I do like that there wasn't swearing. That made me happy. The fight between the light and the darkness is cool, but as I said, this book didn’t really represent Christianity or how I view it.

A new student review of Horatio's One Wish by Joshua Kriesberg

princessLA posted a new student review of Horatio's One Wish by Joshua Kriesberg. See the full review.

I like this book because I admire the main character, Horatio. He was brave because he wanted to find his best friend Rollic. Horatio was a good friend. I would recommend this book.

A new student review of Of Beast and Beauty

JesusFreak posted a new student review of Of Beast and Beauty . See the full review.

    When I started this book, I found it very boring.  I read ten chapters and it still didn’t pick up.  Around chapter nineteen was where it started to get exciting for me.  I could see Isra and the monstrous, Gem, begin to fall in love.  There were multiple twists that were revealed as well.  Perhaps if the author hadn’t dragged on the sentences as much it would have been entertaining throughout the entire book.
    One of the things I liked about this book was that the idea was intriguing.  I’d heard the story of Beauty and the Beast before, but this book twisted the story into something almost completely different, but with the same concept.
    Another thing I liked about this book was the cover art.  It was beautifully made, and I loved how they didn’t show the girl’s face on the cover so that you could use your imagination to see what she looked like.
    I recommend this book for those who like love stories and mystery.

A new student review of The Osiris Curse

read_write_eat posted a new student review of The Osiris Curse . See the full review.

This was my first Steampunk book, and it was a truly enjoyable experience. Despite not having read the first book in the series, The Lazarus Machine, I caught on quickly and to my knowledge, the sequel was not so much a continuation of the first installment as it was a new adventure for Tweed and Nightingale. The book alternated in points of view- which I have often seen as either hit or miss- and this was definitely a hit! The change in viewpoint helped to build suspense in the story. My one gripe regarding the book is that the romance seemed to distract from the mystery and friendship between Tweed and Nightingale. But overall, The Osiris Curse was an action-packed, suspenseful book that kept me up for much of the night and got me hooked onto Steampunk fiction.

A new student review of Affinity

sabol posted a new student review of Affinity . See the full review.

Amanda Murphy grips you in the inception of her novel, drawing you in within the first couple sentences. She embellishes her story with vivid descriptions and in-depth character development. Although the enigmatic Phoenix, Avi’s love interest, adds mystery to the plot, I found it to be predictable at times with typical high school drama.  Overall it was enjoyable to read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a fun adventure. 

A new student review of Heart Beat

swimmer1430 posted a new student review of Heart Beat . See the full review.

Elizabeth Scott is one of my favorite authors and she writes great YA contemporary novels. However, her latest book, Heart Beat, was not the one for me. I think Elizabeth Scott writes better "light" novels, as opposed to the heavy and dramatic ones. Heart Beat was a tough read because it's so sad - Emma's mother is brain dead and would not be alive except for the life support keeping her heart beating. Meanwhile, Emma is in a downward spiral and doesn't care about school, her grades or her relationships. What I disliked about the book was that there was no plot. The entire novel was Emma being angry at her stepfather for keeping her mother on life-support. They literally have the same argument four or five times which was redundant. The only part of the plot that progressed was her relationship with Caleb and I still thought it could have been developed more. Overall, I'm disappointed in the lack of both character and plot development - both would have made this novel much better.

A new student review of People Who Said No: Courage Against Oppression by Laura Scandiffio

MIZZIQ posted a new student review of People Who Said No: Courage Against Oppression by Laura Scandiffio. See the full review.

This book made me aware of people and situations I had not heard of and brought to life others of which I had only a little knowledge. It presented facts in simple meaningful ways, but it also caught my interest as it took true stories and added specific fictional situations. The stories enabled me to put myself in that same situation and ask the questions "would I have done that? Would I have been brave enough to stand up for what I believe in?"