A new student review of Teresa of the New World by Sharman Apt Russell

Lucy posted a new student review of Teresa of the New World by Sharman Apt Russell. See the full review.

Teresa of the New World

A new student review of Devin Rhodes Is Dead by Jennifer Wolf Kam

snehayamsani posted a new student review of Devin Rhodes Is Dead by Jennifer Wolf Kam. See the full review.

“The connection between us shattered, like tiny invisible shards of glass falling softly onto the asphalt.”

 

I really liked this book, to be honest. The book explores the ups and downs of friendships—something I am sure we have all experienced—and artfully crafts the relationship into a mystery, resulting in the death of Devin Rhodes. This is further illustrated as Kam writes the novel in short before-and-after chapters describing the events that led up to and from Devin’s death, building the suspense in each chapter till the very end. Kam’s writing in this novel was well thought out as she explored friendships, pulling the reader in immediately.

 

And Cass. Cass was probably the best thing in the book because I could feel her guilt and confusion toward her relationship with Devin. For me, it struck a chord because my best friend moved a few years ago. After the move, she changed and we grew apart. I felt particularly close to Cass as she wishes for the old Devin to come back repeatedly through the novel. It is something we all feel, no doubt.

 

This book deserves a 5 out of 5.

 

A new student review of The Geneva Project - Truth by Christina M. Benjamin

joythean posted a new student review of The Geneva Project - Truth by Christina M. Benjamin. See the full review.

Honestly, I didn't enjoy reading this book that much.  Although the idea for this novel was very interesting, the approch that Christina M. Benjamin just didn't speak to me.  The relationships seemed a bit forced, and the magic aspect of the novel didn't work well with the plot.  It was as if this element was shoved into the story at the last minute.  It just didn't flow smoothly with the rest of the novel.  The characters were pleasant, but they didn't catch my eye as much as I hoped they would.  In my opinion, many events that happen in the novel were very abrupt and didn't flow together with the other events that occurred before and after it.  It was just  a bit choppy.  On the other hand, the writing style was very nice and easy to read.  It made this entire experience much nicer than I expected it to be.  I had really high hopes for this novel, but it fell a little flat.

A new student review of Black Ice

sumrsilentmusic posted a new student review of Black Ice . See the full review.

I have to admit, I didn’t really go into this book with an open mind. I didn't have high expectations for the book, especially since I knew Becca Fitzpatrick had written the Hush, Hush saga. Yet this book surprised me. It was better than I expected it to be.

 

First, and probably most surprisingly, there wasn’t an instant love connection between the characters. There was instant attraction between Britt and Mason, but Fitzpatrick managed not to write their romance into something unbelievably contrived, which is a compliment considering the premise seemed unnatural to me. Their interactions were enjoyable and Mason was definitely swoon-worthy, if the reader could get past the fact that he was a criminal and he thought he could save the world by himself.

 

Just because their romance wasn’t contrived doesn’t mean that other aspects of the book were the same. Specifically, the way Britt and Korbie found themselves in the clutches of Mason and Shaun seemed far-fetched. Mason basically freezed Britt and Korbie out and told them that they aren’t invited into the cabin, and they still invited themselves in. I felt the girls were incredibly unaware and selfish to enter the cabin at this point. I understand that they were in dire circumstances; yet If someone blatantly tells you not to come into a house, I would think there must be a valid reason for them to do so.

 

The most disappointing aspect of this novel is the writing of the characters. Fitzpatrick has set her book up with characters that have the potential to be dynamic and intriguing, but I did not feel she fully delivered on that potential. Instead, I felt led as a reader to believe things about her characters. For example, it seemed she was trying to say that Britt was dependent on men when she didn’t need to be. Britt asked her dad for gas money before she left for her trip. Then, later in the novel, she said something along the lines of “I depended on the men in my life to rescue me.” I wish Fitzpatrick would give her readers more credit. As a reader, I don’t need to be told these things if the characters are described well enough through their actions. I don't like when an author explicitly explains characterizations. Additionally, Britt’s characterization doesn’t make sense to me. Why does she depend so much upon the men in her life? In order to be realistic, all character traits have to stem from something. It seems to me that Britt is given this character trait solely to illustrate her development as a character. Her character development doesn’t read organically to me.

 

The character interactions also felt lacking. The relationship between Calvin and his dad had so much potential to be interesting, but at the end it just felt contrived. Something so completely interesting as a dad pushing his son to a breaking point was reduced to a plot twist. The relationship between Britt and Mason, although it has the clichéd Stockholm syndrome label, could be given a more interesting layer. Instead, it just turned out that Britt simply perceived Mason’s motivations wrongly, and she forgave him for all his misdeeds once she found out the true reasoning for his actions. The only character relationship I found interesting was Britt and Korbie’s friendship cycle, but I still felt it was used as a plot development.

 

Additionally, I think this book needs more editing. Korbie and Britt listen to mixtapes, but they also aspired to having Katy Perry makeovers when they were ten. Some of her sentences are extremely awkward. For example, she once described Mason to “wag his head at the snow” (228). Not to mention, Fitzpatrick is repetitive at times. She explained how well Britt read the travel guidebooks in preparation for her backpacking trip three different times.

All in all, Fitzpatrick’s novel didn’t read as poorly as I was expecting it to, given the subject matter. However, it didn’t bring anything new to the genre either. She could have given much more depth to the characters and to their relationships, but instead I felt many aspects of the book served as plot developments. I guess that could be entertaining if you don’t think too hard about it.

A new student review of Standing (The Waterblaze Trilogy) (Volume 1) by China Dennington

hannmarr23705 posted a new student review of Standing (The Waterblaze Trilogy) (Volume 1) by China Dennington. See the full review.

Standing might be a good book for someone aged 9-11 who likes dystopian themes. Personally, I didn’t enjoy this book and wouldn’t read the next two books. Something I didn’t enjoy is that the main character’s thoughts are written so bluntly and obviously. Another thing I didn’t enjoy is that the places and characters/animals aren’t described very well and I didn't feel like I could picture the setting as well because of it. I did enjoy how creative the general idea for the story, but the execution wasn’t as desirable. Also, some of the parts confused me and I had to read parts again to fully understand the idea.

    I give this story 2/5 stars. Some themes I noticed were action and adventure.

A new student review of The Walk On by John Feinstein

winner231 posted a new student review of The Walk On by John Feinstein. See the full review.

The Walk On is a very well written and very intriguing book. The games in the book are very well described. It lets you know the characters and get hooked on conflicts between players and coaches. There is great vocabulary describing each play and you can tell Feinstein worked hard to emphasize each moment in the book. You won't want to put this book down. I give it 41/2 stars out of 5.

A new student review of The Kingdom Lights by Steven VS

bygflower posted a new student review of The Kingdom Lights by Steven VS. See the full review.

To explain this book in one word... chaos.  Steven VS creates a fantastic place full of magic not unlike Harry Potter's world, but the book as a whole didn't keep me entertained and made my head spin because of excessively changed viewpoints and an incredibly complicated storyline. The beginning and middle were very confusing, and the end chaotic. It seemed to me that it was trying to be similar to Harry Potter, with a school for magic, and a bully, but the way it was written did not satisfy me. It's a shame, because it has the potential to be a great fantasy novel. The Kingdom Lights has a storyline with incredible promise, but the changing viewpoints and excessive description took away from what could have been a brilliant book.

A new student review of Haw by Sean Jackson

JesusFreak posted a new student review of Haw by Sean Jackson. See the full review.

When I began reading this book, I was immediately pulled into Lucas’s world. Though very gory, the author described the state of the world in this book perfectly. The descriptions he used were enough to give me an idea of what it would be like to live in a devastated world, yet they weren't so long that they bored me.

The characters weren’t your average heroes; they were damaged people living in an imperfect world. Though damaged, they were likable and relatable. The author set up the characters and kept me on the edge of my seat through the use of dual points of view.

I was a bit confused about what the author called "citoyens." A bit more elaboration on who they were may have made it less confusing for me.

All in all, this book is a swift read for those who like dark, apocalyptic worlds.

A new student review of Cock-A-Doodle-Oops! by Lori Degman

Boomer123 posted a new student review of Cock-A-Doodle-Oops! by Lori Degman. See the full review.

I did enjoy the book mostly because it had animals in it.  The pictures were illustrated very well.  

 

The book is short and I read it in about 10 minutes.  I thought it was a chapter book but it’s more of a picture book for 1st or 2nd graders.

If you like funny books about farm animals then you should read this book.   

A new student review of True Son

Katiedid.Break posted a new student review of True Son . See the full review.

      I loved the book; it was an epic conclusion to the Psi Chronicles. The author didn’t rush the ending and let the events unfold naturally. Krumwiede made it seems that Psi was really possible. There is more than one antagonist, who give Taemon a run for his Psi.  The concept was amazing and executed nearly flawlessly. There were many twists and turns that keep the reader engaged. And the ending happened the only way it could have.