A new student review of The Alien Mind by Virginia Jennings

riggley posted a new student review of The Alien Mind by Virginia Jennings. See the full review.

This book is adventurous. My opinion is that if you ike adventure and sic-fic then you shoould read this book. The sic-fic and fiction stuff that's in the book are ailens and time travel. The book has a bunch of fiction things in it. I can relate to Rivi because I help people like Daniel. I would recommend this book to other people.

A new student review of Extracted (The Lost Imperials Book One) by Sherry Ficklin

jotaf posted a new student review of Extracted (The Lost Imperials Book One) by Sherry Ficklin. See the full review.

I really liked Extracted.  It was very interesting and exciting.  One thing I liked is how well the author developed the characters. One thing I didn’t like about it, though, was that every chapter swapped from Lex to Ember and Ember to Lex, which made it very confusing for me.  This book was sometimes predictable, but most times I couldn’t guess what would happen next.  Good descriptions were used.  I feel there were some editing problems on the editor’s part because some of the words that weren’t in quotations looked like they should have been.  I would recommend this book for ages 12 and up, because the content was a little on the mature side.

A new student review of Cranwood by Jenni Bryer

Kaitlin101 posted a new student review of Cranwood by Jenni Bryer. See the full review.

I thought Cranwood was really good. If you like romance and not knowing what's going to happen next in characters' relationships, then you'll love this book. It also is great for those who like mystery, because you never know what will happen next. The author did a good job; I thought it was beautifully written. She kept my interest throughout the entire book. So overall, it was the type of book where you start reading and you just want to get lost in the book.

A new student review of Get Psyched by Janet McLaughlin

puggles88 posted a new student review of Get Psyched by Janet McLaughlin. See the full review.

I really enjoyed the book "Get Psyched." The book was so descriptive I felt like I was part of it. I felt like the book had so much going on it; never got boring or dull. At certain times throughout the book I felt like I could relate to the characters' emotions. I think most people would enjoy this book because it is a mix of genres like mystery, action, and romance. I would recommend this book to anyone!

A new student review of Finnikin of the Rock

vbobrocks posted a new student review of Finnikin of the Rock . See the full review.

Melina Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock will take the reader on a fast-paced adventure through a beautifully created fantasy world.  Finnikin and the rest of the unique cast of characters are believable and keep the novel moving and advancing, while adding depth to the story line through their mixed emotions and constant action.  Not only are the characters excellent, but the writing is also well-done.  The style complements the plot and is a perfect difficulty level for seventh to ninth graders.  Although the very beginning is a little slow, it improves quickly.  Anyone who enjoys fantasy won’t be able to put Finnikin down until they’ve read it all.

A new student review of Undead Heart

tlang posted a new student review of Undead Heart . See the full review.

The story line is amazing, but the details are lacking. I could not picture the characters at all. I do not know what hair color Larry has or even his brother; furthermore, I don't have a clue about their height.  I feel that well developed characters make a story come alive.   With that, I gave it a 3. However, the story line is just great. This is the first book in a series as well. 

A new student review of Will in Scarlet

nictaf posted a new student review of Will in Scarlet . See the full review.

I really liked Will In Scarlet, although I didn’t like the few bad words it had.  It was exciting, scary, and hopeful all in one.  The author used interesting words to entice you to read this book.  Will was a believable character for this genre, as were all the other characters.  I would recommend this book to ages 12 and up.

A new student review of Jade Dreams (Sacred Stones) by Wakefield Mahon

tkh2002 posted a new student review of Jade Dreams (Sacred Stones) by Wakefield Mahon. See the full review.

I liked the story of the book, but I feel like the character develpment was weak. Raven, the main antagonist, came out of nowhere. Her backstory was never explained and I think if her character was better developed the book would be much less confusing. I also wish the relationship between Becca and her parents was played out more. Last but not least, I think the ending was rushed. I had so many questions going through my mind and only a few of them were answered by the last few chapters and the epilogue. Despite the issues I mentioned, I do believe this book could be really good. The idea behind the storyline was great and I got a pretty good understanding of the main characters, but not enough to fall in love with the novel. I would really like to see these changes made and get another chance to read it because I do think it could be great.

A new student review of S'nat Wars by Linda Palmer

peterc posted a new student review of S'nat Wars by Linda Palmer. See the full review.

To me this book was good, but it was a little boring at times. At some times the writer just goes off into another world just to explain little things so thoroughly. But I liked how the bodyguard turned out to love the girl and turn it into something different. Just to think about being in a world with supernatural beings would be awesome and to be born with a heredity from your parents with a supernatural talents would be even cooler.

A new student review of A Really Awesome Mess

taterb26 posted a new student review of A Really Awesome Mess . See the full review.

 A Really Awesome Mess dealt with some pretty deep topics. Themes such as anorexia, bulimia, sexual activity, and depression were often brought up. The authors did an okay job with these sometimes difficult to navigate subjects; however, they could've done much better. For this reason, I'd advise people with triggers to tread lightly into this book. At times, the sheer frankness of one of the main characters (Emmy) made me cringe. Towards the end of the book, this problem ceased. But allow me to restate this; tread lightly into this book with the knowledge that the main character's have some potentially hurtful opinions.

 Teenage love seemed as if it were supposed to be a big part of the book, but it didn't really come up all that much, and when it did, I became increasingly frustrated. This may be attributed to the fact that teenage love is an irritating topic in general to me, but it just seemed much more so in this book than any other. I knew that the authors wanted to get at a touching tale of two love-stricken, mentally screwed teens, but I feel that it should have been a bigger aspect to really accomplish that feat. This wasn't so. The opportunity seemed missed in my eyes---the main part of their 'love' that I noticed was how rushed it was.

 Another angle of this book I did not like was the dialogue; it was sloppy and unrealistic. There seemed to be nothing normal said. Real people say mindless things and rant and talk about random things. Everything said by this book's characters was for the sole purpose of progressing the plot. Now, this is a personal opinion, just as every other part of this review is, so other people may not have a problem with this. It was just something I noticed and wanted to point out.

  My last issue with this book was how unrealistic and cliche it was. The officials at Heartland were irresponsible and wishy-washy and completely unlike how it would be in real life. So many things slipped them by and many actions went without consequence. I was a bit shocked at how blatantly played down some things were.

 Overall, this book was a miss for me. I was excited to read about these two teens and become attached to them as I normally do with characters, but it was near impossible for me to like this duo. I couldn't support them and hope for good for them---I tried and tried, I did. Basically, there were so many aspects of this book that could've been turned into something utterly phenomenal, but sadly, they were overlooked.

 Ugh, this book is just oozing with potential.