A new student review of Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banash

Star360 posted a new student review of Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banash. See the full review.

Silent Alarm is unlike any other book that I’ve ever read. First of all, Banash deserves major credit for undertaking the difficult project of telling the story from the perspective of the shooter’s sister. Alys was both a bystander and a victim, which added depth to her otherwise simple character. She was a violin prodigy, which I found to be cliched, but her talent helped underline Luke’s jealousy. As for Luke, I was satisfied with his character development. To keep the reader intrigued, Banash avoided making him a stereotypical monster, but she didn't make him a martyr, either. In doing so, the reader is able to see him not as an evil robot, but as a human whose inability to deal with his psychological issues led him to commit an atrocity. 

     

Supporting characters, while few, provide a strong backbone to the story. Though the novel is told in first person, the insight of characters like Riley, Luke’s best friend; Grace, the violin tutor; and all the journalists adds dimension. They remind us of how we act when school shootings happen, and they gently show us that maybe parents and siblings of the shooter shouldn’t be judged as harshly as they often are. As for the flow of the book, it was cohesive and sharp. Banash makes a wonderful use of parentheses and italics to illustrate Alys’s confused mind.

     

The reason this book didn’t get five stars from me is partly because of the first line, “Life changes in a second.” Maybe it’s just me, but there are way too many “life” metaphors out there. I prefer a subtle comparison rather than one plopped immediately on the page. The last three pages were also a bit of a disappointment. While it contained the required elements of hope and forgiveness,  it seemed to drag on thanks to a lack of action or dialogue. Besides those details, Silent Alarm is definitely a book to check out or keep on your home shelf. Mature teens and fans of Laurie Halse Anderson will enjoy this gritty, realistic drama.

A new student review of The Monsters' Anonymous Club: Don't Play with Dead Things by J.L. Lipp

nictaf posted a new student review of The Monsters' Anonymous Club: Don't Play with Dead Things by J.L. Lipp. See the full review.

Monsters' Anonymous Club: Don't Play with Dead Things was an awesome book. J.L. Lipp wrote an excellent book filled with excitement, fun, and many plot twists. One aspect I really liked about this book was the rich descriptions in it. For example: “Kimmy ate four hot-dogs, two helpings of potato salad, three ears of corn and a huge piece of cherry pie. And she didn’t even get a stomachache!” I felt the characters could have been developed further, but they were described adequately. I would recommend this book to anyone aged 8 and above.

A new student review of Charis: Journey to Pandora's Jar by Nicole Y. Walters

Pie posted a new student review of Charis: Journey to Pandora's Jar by Nicole Y. Walters. See the full review.

My opinion on this is amazing it's amazing because it's just like the book Pandora's Jar, but in a diffrent way because a 12 year old girl is looking for Pandora's Jar and tring to set hope free, and turn the wrong that Pandora did into right. I really hope this author will right a series about this because it's one of the books I could read over and over again. Another reason is that the other Pandora's Jar series ended at 7 it's pretty cool to have a back up series of a 12 year old girl trying to set the wrong that Pandora did to right with the help of other godds like Mr.P. It really is a really interesting book to read and I highly recomend people to read this book. It's so amazing that even my mom is reading itr and she likes it already. Another reason why it's amazing is because there is sections like Monday and so on so it tells you what she did on Monday about  the Jar thing. It also has alot of Charis's feelings in it. One exempla is that a lot of the time she thought about her mission and the Gods and everything and she thought that it's all so stupid. Why am I doing this?

A new student review of Key to Kashdune by Claudia White

Jordan posted a new student review of Key to Kashdune by Claudia White. See the full review.

If you like reading fantasy and adventure like I do, you will enjoy Key to Kashdune. I liked Key to Kashdune because the people on Kashdune change into animals. There is a wide variety of interesting and exciting characters that you will meet along the way. Claudia White made the community of Kashdune come to life. She did a great a great job of describing the details for the island of Kashdune.

A new student review of Winter Falls (Twin Willows Trilogy) by Nicole Maggi

josiscra19955 posted a new student review of Winter Falls (Twin Willows Trilogy) by Nicole Maggi. See the full review.

I liked Alessia because she is strong. Alessia is also very likable. Another thing I liked was the shape shifting and romance. It has strong and likable characters. It is a pretty much good story overall.

A new student review of Fabrick by Andrew Post

emma365 posted a new student review of Fabrick by Andrew Post. See the full review.

Fabrick's author chose to create a completely new world.  However, instead of using the new atmosphere to consistently recreate interest, the author vaguely described some of the planet's culture.  I found that he could have explained things better rather than simply having Flam (who is half-hazard and flippant) explain things.

Also, the chapters often changed perspective without an explanation as to the new character and setting.  I often found myself confused.

Altogether, the story was fairly interesting and humorous, but it could be made a lot better if it were to be given more content or events as is typical for adventure based novels.

A new student review of The Author or The Characters' Short Living Story by Facundo Raganato

Gwendolyn posted a new student review of The Author or The Characters' Short Living Story by Facundo Raganato. See the full review.

The Author or The Characters' Short Living Story by Facundo Raganato is unlike any book I have ever read. In the case of this story, the characters can think, feel, and fight back with the author, who is their creator. Although it is a difficult work of spiritual and psychological fiction to summarize, Raganato creates a visually frazzled world that translates into written word in an oddly coherent way. It opens with a plot line that is not clearly defined to the reader, but keeps the read compelling with its wonderfully dynamic and three-dimensional characters. It is a book that reaches out to its reader. 

    

This story shows an author's relationship with his characters in a very literal sense. Although this novel remains quite vague and mysterious, I felt that I was inside the story with the characters as I was reading. The Author or The Characters' Short Living Story has a way of sharing just enough information to keep the reader interested, while leaving the right amount of mystery to make the reader never want to look up from the page. 

   

Although the pace of this story felt a bit slow at its start, it picked up quickly as I adjusted to its concept and structure. A few sections throughout the book had brief lulls. This was particularly felt in scenes in which I really wanted to find out what happened to the characters. However, the majority of the book kept me thoroughly engrossed. 

    

Seeing as I read from an uncorrected proof, there were a few grammatical errors and missing words and letters I came across while reading. I expect these will be edited before the book is published. However, there was a small selection of sentences in this novel that seemed oddly phrased but not grammatically incorrect, and their structure didn't flow with the rest of the writing. Some passages of writing felt estranged from the main writing style; others fit the tone of the book perfectly. 

 

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed Facundo Raganato's The Author or The Characters' Short Living Story, and would recommend it to any imaginative and contemplative soul in search for something new to read. It is a completely fresh written work, incomparable to anything I have ever read. 

 

A new student review of Contract City by Mark Falkin

jotaf posted a new student review of Contract City by Mark Falkin. See the full review.

Personally, I didn't really like Contract City. Some of the things that I didn't like about it were that the storyline was really hard to follow and it got really slow during most of the book. Also, I really thought that it ended terribly; there was a huge jump in time right when there was a lot of action going on. Maybe if there had been one more chapter between the second to last chapter and the last chapter it would have been better. Also, something happened in the end that I didn't really think should have happened. Most of the people in this book were drinkers and smokers, which was another thing I didn't like about this book. Lastly, I didn't like that I couldn't really understand most of the personalities of the characters, including Sara, which was disappointing because she was the main character.  The book started to get better about two thirds of the way through the book because it started to speed up and added more action; unfortunately, it bombed with me before and after that.  I would give this book a two and a half star rating if possible, but since it is not, I will give it three stars.

A new student review of Fat & Bones by Larissa Theule

crabby posted a new student review of Fat & Bones by Larissa Theule. See the full review.

If I was expecting anything resembling a normal set of stories when I began this journey, let me tell you: I was very, very wrong. I was expecting, as one might, a conventionally cute collection of stories about animals on a farm, and I wasn’t especially excited about it.

 

As soon as the meat cleaver came out, however, I was in love.

 

This may sound a bit harsh for a kids’ book, and true, it may have been vaguely terrifying at times, but that’s what made this story so incredibly splendid: it’s tremendously imaginative but never sugarcoated, managing to be playful and clever as well as grim. The characters are diverse, intriguing, and often unexpected, like a clumsy spider or the brutish old fairy who takes him prisoner. Terrific plot twists run rampant throughout. The writing is lovely, not to mention the illustrations, which are quite marvelous and do well to reflect the peculiar spirit of the book.

 

If I haven’t already made this apparent, I adore this strangely enchanting book. I know it will delight those who enjoy stories that possess a bit of grit alongside a wealth of creativity, deviating from the Disney-esque norm of modern fables. The world of Fat & Bones is sure to entrap many a fascinated (and slightly petrified) reader to come.

A new student review of Akarnae by Lynette Noni

I_Am_Luna posted a new student review of Akarnae by Lynette Noni. See the full review.

I really liked Arkanea by Lynette Noni. I liked the creativeness she put into creating the setting, characters, and food. It was very descriptive, but not to the point where it bored me with details. The characters were developed nicely. I enjoyed finding out more about Medora and its history. I did not like how she didn't explain Medora. It may have made more sense if more details were included.

The setting was so well described, I could imagine myself there. There were times that I thought I could see exactly what was happening extremely clearly. The characters felt like they could be real people, that is if they didn't have their special gifts. I could imagine this book becoming very famous. It is a great piece of literature and I hope it is widely read.