I believe that Stolen Nights was a fantastic book. I was absorbed in the story and unable to remove the book from my sight. I finished it in two days.
Stolen Nights was an amazing book to the very end and was able to satisfy me enough to not complain about the story (which I usually do). Leanh, the main character who told the story, allowed the reader to feel what she was feeling from her point of view and what it felt like to be left out in the dark by the person who you love the most.
This is an amazing cookbook. Because every recipe was written by a different author, there is a refreshing variety that you don't get from many other cookbooks. The downside of having recipes from all over is sometimes the ingredients that are called for aren't easy to attain. The essays in the front of the cookbook are pretty well rounded and very easy to understand. Some of the recipes are more suited to have multiple people cooking, as I found out while trying to make the chicken chorizo casserole. Overall it is a great healthy cookbook and I would recommend to anyone looking to make their diet a little more green.
In another captivating novel, Friesner makes you understand what having love forced upon you feels like. While a great story, younger readers may find the courtship and romance awkward. I loved it for the quick and witty humor, and cannot wait for her next book.
I liked this book. The plot, though it began slowly, morphed into an intriguing story that I followed and enjoyed a lot. The suspense and mystery combined with the humor of a teenage coming-of-age story and a bit of romance was wonderful.
Laila was also a likable character. She was intelligent and interesting, with a touch of haughtiness reminiscent of her royal life. I thought that she was very well-developed, as were Bastien, her mother, and the people from her home country, like Amir. The American characters were somewhat one-dimensional, even though I grew to like Ian and Emmy, friends that she had in the U.S.
The ending was a proper one for this book, even though it might not have fully satisfied some. I thought that the writing had just the right amount of descriptiveness and told a compelling tale through first-person narration.
The Tyrant's Daughter was a story that I will not forget easily. It was honest, realistic, and unique, and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to read a deeper, more thought-provoking story. Though it is a young adult book, I think that adults could benefit from reading this just as much as teenagers would.
This is a great book to read if you are into demon slaying and magic. I would suggest this to all of my friends, beccause most of them would read it thanks to all the action in it.
This book was amazing, as it was easy to relate to the characters, and it put a perfect twist on society’s obsession with perfection; but there was one thing about the book that was misleading. When I first saw Perfect Summer, two things popped into my mind: 1) This book was going to be like Uglies by Scott Westerfield, and 2) this book was going to focus on Summer, Morgan’s best friend—I was definitely wrong about the second thing. I really thought the title was misleading because the book really did not have anything to do with Summer. Instead, it focused on Morgan and her brother Josh (the confusion was cleared though as I read the summary on the back of the book). As I read the book, I fell in love with it: King does a great job portraying the dislike of RADs—children with disabilities—in the futuristic society, comparing it to society in the 1960s where children with disabilities were looked down upon. Honestly, King’s book reminds me of a mix between The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and The Uglies. I would recommend this book to anyone 12+, as there is some mature content in the novel.
Around The World by Matt Phelan was a magnificent and articulate read. The graphics were picturesque and expressive in a sketchy way, with almost cinematic angles. Matt Phelan’s particular style painted beautiful watercolor scenarios of these three separate adventurers’ experiences. Even without considering the dialogue, this story contains many art pieces worth marveling at. I have admired Phelan’s work for quite some time, including but not limited to another of his graphic novels, The Storm in the Barn. Being an individual who finds history fascinating, along with greatly appreciating different styles of artwork, I was swept away with the authors efforts on this graphic novel.
My personal favorite was Nellie Bly’s story. She seemed to be a rather intriguing reporter, challenging some of the many gender roles that existed in her era. A quote that she repeats throughout the graphic novel is “If you want to do it, you can do it. The question is: Do you want to do it?” and I think that this very precisely represents what makes these three adventures so inspirational. These three different individuals possessed the same determination and strive. This book was exceedingly educational and led me to research Bly’s, Stevens’, and Slocum’s lives more thoroughly.
I thoroughly enjoyed Phelan’s interpretation. I think that he offered a different perspective on Stevens’, Bly’s, and Slocum’s stories that can not be found in any other rendition. The author added a unique view of their journeys, focusing on their motivations. I think that this personal and imaginative approach makes the story more intimate and capturing to the reader. Around The World efficiently binds these three intrepid historical figures together, forming an entertaining, engrossing, and evocative book of determination and adventure. I was highly impressed with this read and would most definitely recommend it!
I did not like this book because the the characters speak in old English, but the author narrates the story in modern English, and the clash between the two made the flow of the book choppy. I liked the storyline. It was interesting to follow the journey of a boy trying to prove himself, only to come home and find that his home has forever been changed. This could’ve been better, if the writing style of the dialogue was consistent with that of the narrative. I had trouble trying to get through the story and I skimmed most of it.
I do not recommend this.
This book is genuinely worthy of being called a “romp.” While full of fun scenes (Gemma’s memorable fighting scenes were a wannabe-Katniss’ dream) and studded with swoon-worthy romantic moments, the novel lacked the emotional depth to be anything more than a quick read to waste the afternoon on. The romance was of the sappy, overdone variety that plagues young adult fiction, with the central, ridiculous notion that our two teenage characters (who know nothing about each other) are in love and meant to be together. Parts of it were sweet, but more often than not I was left palming my forehead. This book didn’t leave me with any moral questions or new ideas, although I did spend a considerable amount of time wondering how some of the more comical typos came about. It was pure, thoughtless fun, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Still, readers looking for a text with a bit more intellectual grit should turn their attention elsewhere.
The text read more like an uncorrected proof than a published novel. I appreciate Melissa Pearl’s potential, but her prose fell flat when trying to inspire any feeling in me. Even if a character was on their death bed, Pearl’s characters simply didn’t have the emotional range to illicit more than a yawn in the reader. The plot was exciting (though keep in mind I’ve always been a personal fan of the time travel trope), but the occasional holes in the textual fabric were distracting enough to be irritating. There is little to no exploration of the theory for this kind of time travel, which was a big issue for me. I would’ve liked a little more explanation of the time travel lore/community that Gemma acknowledges in passing. There’s a significant amount of suspension of belief required in this plot, and it might’ve felt more legitimate if it had been more fleshed out. Because, seriously, our main character turns into gold dust and travels back in time at her father’s request? Also, there’s a moment in the dialogue where Harrison knows things about the time travel in Gemma’s family before she mentions them. I’m sure it was just a mistake the editor missed, but it pulled me out of the narrative and made me cringe. By far the most egregious part of the plot, however, was the ending. The book ended with no resolution or even an attempt at a full story line, with such an obvious ploy for a sequel that I was tempted to throw the book across the room in frustration. But, of course, I couldn’t, because I read this on my laptop. And I really like that.
Overall, a three star effort with two star results.