Best Books of 2018

It's the last day of 2018, we made it! WHOO!

Below is a list of my top ten favorite books from 2018. They're not in any particular order, and they will only be ones that I read in 2018. I'm only numbering them to make sure I stop myself at ten, ha... ha.... I like books.

Rather than recap the entire book summary, I'm going to include the book title, author, location for my book review, and why it made the list.

Pardon any formatting weirdness, my struggles were very, very real today. Anywho, here's the list!

1.  Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier

My book review is HERE.

This has become my new book to recommend all the time when people ask me for a book to read. I find myself thinking back to how much that world lent itself to the story of Nan, Toby, and Char. I still appreciate how well the story was told while not shying away from the tragedies of the world. Marvelous.

2. The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas

My book review is HERE.

I tend to run away from creepy books, and while this book is pretty chilling, I ran right to it. The depth of the character, the magic of the world, and having that sensation of is this character really their friend, or are they a foe, as the whole thing is a mystery slowly being uncovered.

3. Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

My book review is HERE.

Previously, I had tended to shy away from books that were only told in poetry. Sometimes I find the nuances of poetry to be a little tedious, but after a friend strongly recommended reading this book, I find myself considering books of poetry more often. Plus, the story told in this one is heart wrenching and kept me cheering for Xiomara the entire story.

4. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

My book review is HERE.

I loved this book so much. The world building is so fantastic, the character development, plot development, and interactions between all the characters felt so authentic in such a different world than what we know. I also frequently recommend this book to people.

5. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

My book review is HERE.

Where did all these giant robot statues come from? How does the world stay connected through social media, the news, and online communities? It's a little suspenseful but in the best ways, and I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel.

6. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

My book review is HERE.

I normally go out of my way to avoid reading a mystery novel, but I tend to make exceptions when my favorite authors tackle the genre. I was very glad I made that exception, and the sequel is coming out for this soon, and I loved the main character as she felt very flawed and realistic, like a real person.

7. The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas

My book review is  HERE.

I read a lot of comic books, I usually prefer reading superhero stories in that format. This book was another exception, and I have no regrets. I loved the exploration of the gray area in this book between heroes and villains while Abby (main character) didn't have any powers but still played a very important role in all of the chaos. It was pretty great.

8. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

My book review is HERE.

I'll always consider the fantasy genre to be my 'home zone' of favorite books. That being said, I tend to be very hypercritical about which ones I recommend or allow to be my favorites because there are just so many. This one definitely makes the cut since it's such a sympathetic telling of sirens who eat people. ...right!?!?

9. The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones

My book review is HERE.

This book does deal with the sensitive subject matter of abuse and different themes within abuse. However, I think it covers the topic well while giving it the gravitas it deserves, and still balances it with a story about daemons. It's also an interesting coming of age story in the middle of a daemon war. 

10. Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner

My book review is HERE.

A break down of nerd culture, female struggles within nerd culture, and struggles in general with the online, internet community. I really liked this story because the main character goes through hell, and then some, while also trying to figure out how girls act versus how guys act. In retrospect, it is kind of a gender breakdown, and there is a point in the book where Cam is just herself, with some tweaks to be a 'boy' when she's in her disguise. I also recommend this book to people. 

Happy reading, and I hope you find wonderful books to read next year!

The Brilliant Death

The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta

Quick funny story; I was on the fence on whether or not I wanted to stop reading this book, then I tried to explain it to a book buddy, and I couldn't do it. Nothing I said about the book made sense, and we both knew I had to give up.

On that note, an amazon summary, "Teodora di Sangro is used to hiding her magical ability to transform enemies into music boxes and mirrors. Nobody knows she’s a strega—and she aims to keep it that way.

The she meets Cielo—and everything changes.
A strega who can switch outward form as effortlessly as turning a page in a book, Cielo shows Teodora what her life could be like if she masters the power she’s been keeping secret. And not a moment too soon:  the ruler of Vinalia has poisoned the patriarchs of the country’s five controlling families, including Teodora’s father, and demands that each family send a son to the palace. 
If she wants to save her family, Teodora must travel to the capital—not disguised as a boy, but transformed into one. But the road to the capital, and to bridling her powers, is full of enemies and complications, including the one she least expects: falling in love." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Let's recap why I picked this book up in the first place. It has a sweet cover, it promises to discuss themes of gender, and also involves magic. Which, it does have a sweet cover, it does involve magic, but ....I don't know if it really discusses themes of gender.

Alright, so Teodora is the second daughter in the di Sangro family; one of the five ruling families of Vinalia. As the second daughter, she's not really expected to be married off to another family for alliances, or be a leader like her brothers. However, she does help the family in the way of taking out people who are a hazard to the family with her magic. Teodora or "Teo" as her family calls her, transforms people into objects, so the people go 'missing'.

One day, her father receives a letter that carries the spell of death. He's immediately bed-ridden, barely alive, and the letter demands that the di Sangro family to send the next head of the family to the capital. I need to rewind a little bit. No one really knows that Teo has magic, that she is a strega. Before her father received the letter, she met the messenger for the letter, a strega. The strega can shape shift into what's inside a book that they carry around. One thing leads to Teo turning her older brother into an owl when he tries to hurt the second brother. Then the second brother, Teo, and the strega start venturing to the capital together. ...but the older brother as an owl comes back and kills the second brother. So Teo and the strega still venture on to the capital... but one big problem. The head of the family is supposed to be a boy. So Teo has to turn herself into a boy.

I'm going to stop there. I did make it halfway through the book before giving up. However, I found there was too much going on within the book. You had the power struggles between the families, the internal power struggle within the di Sangro family, the other family members didn't feel like fully formed people so when they suddenly had to matter for a plot point it didn't seem believably significant, you also had the strega being a secretive yet magical people who are thought to not exist but are being prosecuted by the church, and then you also have Teo standing up for women's equality? It was an overwhelming amount of stuff in such a compact space that it didn't seem like any particular plot had any time to really breathe. PLUS, one of the weird things about Teo, when she does magic, she's randomly able to speak an old language? Also, her magic kind of talks to her? It seems sentient, like Teo can ask for it to turn someone into something vague, and then it completes the request in whatever way it wants to? Eh? I also don't think there was anything strongly in favor of discussing gender. I can see that it may have been going towards being able to love an individual regardless of gender and that it could have been breaking down how physical characteristics don't define a person? But I probably would have had to read the entire book to get there.

The book was a little too chaotic with not enough detail at the right moments, and I was trying very hard to get it, but it wasn't meant to be.

Happy reading!

Carols and Chaos

Carols and Chaos by Cindy Anstey

I've previously read SUITORS AND SABOTAGE by Cindy Anstey. I guess these two books are actually in kind of a series of sorts? But, I really don't think you have to read these in order. I read book 3 (Suitors and Sabotage) and didn't miss anything? I also think in Carols and Chaos, that there are some familiar characters from the previous book, but I easily could have read this without reading any of the other books.

An amazon summary, "1817. The happy chaos of the Yuletide season has descended upon the country estate of Shackleford Park in full force, but lady's maid Kate Darby barely has the time to notice. Between her household duties, caring for her ailing mother, and saving up money to someday own a dress shop, her hands are quite full. Matt Harlow is also rather busy. He's performing double-duty, acting as valet for both of the Steeple brothers, two of the estate's holiday guests.

Falling in love would be a disaster for either of them. But staving off their feelings for each other becomes the least of their problems when a devious counterfeiting scheme reaches the gates of Shackleford Park, and Kate and Matt are unwittingly swept up in the intrigue.

Full of sweetness, charm, and holiday mischief, Carols and Chaos―a standalone companion novel to Suitors and Sabotage―is perfect for readers who like their historical fiction with a side of romance and danger." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Kate is a lady's maid at Shackleford Park and Matt is the valet for the Steeple brothers (the stars of last book). Kate and Matt enter a flirtation of sorts, where they both know it shouldn't go past flirtation, but they find each other very tempting. ...and by tempting, I mean like people gossip over a kiss, and there are lots of things in their world that are very defined by etiquette and their roles within a situation define how they act.

Anyways, as Kate and Matt have a flirtation, Matt's friend Johnny gets swept up in a flirtation of his own. He's trying to woo Camille, and he's desperately trying to find gifts to give to her younger sisters to stay within the confine of their roles without being too forward. However, Johnny sold a tin ring to a fellow in town, and it turns out the schilling he received was fake. So Johnny sets off into town to find the 'thief' who traded him a fake schilling for his ring.

...but Johnny doesn't come back in the morning.

Matt being concerned for his friend, and Kate being a local who knows everyone, set off into town to find Johnny, or really, what happened to Johnny.

Carols and chaos indeed.

That's enough summary.

I enjoyed this story; it was a fun romantic romp but also tons of like scooby doo levels of "I hope we solve this mystery!". It was in the same vein of Suitors and Sabotage, the world building was still great, the tone was still good, and I loved the romance even more in this book. The end kind of wrap up was simply adorably and I liked it. I liked it better than Suitors and Sabotage and it also felt more realistic? I don't know, I really liked Kate's mother for reasons I still don't understand. ... yeah, that's all I got!

Happy reading!

The Shadow Queen

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Did you want another re-imagining of a classic fairy tale? No?
TOO BAD.

An amazon summary, "Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic of his own—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman—and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This is a re-imagining of Snow White. As such, it comes with that weird sense of "I know how this story should go" and the constant looking for clues as to how it's similar to the original tale, but, really, I feel like this book could have easily been it's own book without the premise of being a re-imagining of Snow White. There were enough original/unique elements, and a few that were largely ignored about the original tale, that this really could have been it's own story.

That being said, Lorelai is Snow White in this case. The whole turmoil starts when Lorelai's stepmother takes over the kingdom when Lorelai was a small child. She manages to escape the castle with her younger brother with the help of the Captain of the Guard and unfortunately her father, the king, dies. The other thing about Lorelai, she's one of two magic users in the kingdom (they have a funky name of them but I'm not going through the pages to dig it out). The other magic user is her stepmother. Her stepmother uses her magic to gain control and keep control of the kingdom.

Lorelai, her brother, and the captain of the guard are doing small rebellions around the kingdom to fight back for the people. To work on crafting the best plan to take back the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Kol is the prince of a neighboring kingdom, who has been kicked out of school...again. He's throwing parties in the castle, making the most of his time before his parents come back from their tour of the war front with his older brother (heir to the throne), and he's punished again. ...but that changes when his parents and older brother are killed on the war front. The war front is their kingdom of people who can turn into dragons, against armies of ogres who wield magic. One of the first things Kol does as King, is determine he needs the help of a magic user to vanquish the ogres. He goes to Lorelai's kingdom to seek the help of the queen to get rid of the ogres, but the queen's help comes at a terrible cost, one that Kol agrees to pay.

That's enough summary.

The story is told from Lorelai and Kol's points of view. The dual narration plays really well off of each other, and offer unique enough views of the world that I didn't get bored reading either of them. I also enjoyed Kol's two-hearted nature of having of dragon's and human's heart. I was upset about Lorelai and her stepmother having the only magic in the world... but it also played it out okay? I wish there had been more magic users though, not to add a third huge power, but just to offer further perspective on the magic of the world.

I also really loved how Lorelai was compassionate, and that plays through every page she graces. The story was well written, but, because it's a re-imagining of Snow White, I also don't want to make it a recommended book. I think it changed the original story too much, there was no themes of dwarves, and it wasn't dark enough for the content presented. There were some seriously bad things going on and happening, and yes there was horror, but there was still almost too much hope. The tone didn't match with the contents of the story. It was a nice book.

Happy reading!

Courtney Crumrin

Courtney Crumrin Series by Ted Naifeh

I own all seven of these books. The photo is something I set up to take. Pretty sweet, RIGHTTTT 

I read a couple of these books back when I was in school (10+ years ago). I'd always been curious as to how they ended, so I took the plunge and bought all seven of them. No regrets.

An amazon summary of book 1, "Courtney Crumrin grumbles about everything, but now she's really got something to grumble over. Having run out of credit cards, her parents are moving to the wealthy suburb of Hillsborough, to live rent-free with their creepy old uncle Aloysius. Courtney is now an outcast among her rich, snobby classmates. And if that weren't bad enough, the musty, decrepit old mansion that she now calls home is occupied by stranger creatures than just her parents or Uncle Aloysius. They crawl about the house, just out of sight. They crunch bones in the corner. They climb up on the bed and watch Courtney while she sleeps. Mom and Dad don't notice them, but Uncle Aloysius calls them the Night Things." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

I love Courtney Crumrin. She's a quintessential badass who takes on the world, and the night things, with a rough demeanor, but a compassionate heart. Her parents are drowning in a bit of credit card debt, and move their family to live with their Uncle Aloysius. The house is huge, and Courtney has difficulty sleeping the first couple nights until her Uncle comforts her. She doesn't take to the school where the teachers are mean and the kids are all the spoiled brats of the rich. She makes a new friend, but they escape some bullies into the haunted woods, and her new friend doesn't make it out due a being eaten by a night thing.

That's enough summary. The whole series takes on these dark situations with gritty and real consequences while featuring Courtney at the heart of it all. It leads into the discovery that Courtney is not the only witch, and her Uncle is not the only warlock, as Courtney begins to learn about the coven. Dun dun dunnnnn

But really. These books are all graphic novels, they're all very gorgeous, the tone is kind of like hopeful yet morose, and the world/character building are top notch.

I've already reread these books several times, I adore them.

Happy reading!

Stitches

Stitches by David Small

I've previously reviewed HOME AFTER DARK which was also by David Small, but I don't think they're related. Maybe.

Here's an amazon summary, "David Small, a best-selling and highly regarded children's book illustrator, comes forward with this unflinching graphic memoir. Remarkable and intensely dramatic, Stitches tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy who awakes one day from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he has been transformed into a virtual mute―a vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot. From horror to hope, Small proceeds to graphically portray an almost unbelievable descent into adolescent hell and the difficult road to physical, emotional, and artistic recovery.

A National Book Award finalist; winner of the ALA's Alex Award; a #1 New York Times graphic bestseller; Publishers Weekly and Washington Post Top Ten Books of the Year, Los Angeles TimesFavorite Book, ALA Great Graphic Novels, Booklist Editors Choice Award, Huffington Post Great Books of 2009, Kirkus Reviews Best of 2009, Village Voice Best Graphic Novel, finalist for two 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (Best Writer/Artist: Nonfiction; Best Reality-Based Work). Illustrated throughout" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So something the amazon summary didn't explain at all is how the book began by illustrating different styles of communication. The main character grew up sickly, and to treat his sinuses and other ailments, his father used radiation treatment on him to cure it... which caused him to have cancer on his throat later in life. After the surgery, he's mostly mute as he has half his vocal cords left. Themes of communication everywhere!

That's enough summary.

Since this is a graphic novel, most of the story is in the visuals and enhanced by the dialogue, which makes writing a book review a little harder. That being said, here are some thoughts.

I really liked how the mother was portrayed not only from her communication in general, but her small acts of love.

I enjoyed the speculative wonder that the main character portrayed, but I also really enjoyed seeing him learn different lessons, how he dissected them, and then how he acted from what lessons he had gleaned.

I wish there had been more of the father and siblings. I think more of the story could have been shown through more passages with them, but that may have also disrupted the story flow and balance.

One of the last scenes with his mother definitely tugs at the heart strings.

It was a worthwhile read.

Happy reading!

Crown of Feathers

Crown of Feathers by Nick Pau Preto

I read the advanced reader's copy of this book. This book will be published on February 12, 2019. Undoubtedly, there will be some differences between the version I read, and the published version.

I'm obsessed with dragons. I love to read books about dragons in the world, and all the different ways different authors perceive dragons to coexist or annihilate humans.

Now, take that kind of premise, but trade dragons for PHOENIXES! Phoenixi? Plural phoenix. Presenting, Crown of Feathers.

An amazon summary, "An Ember in the Ashes meets Three Dark Crowns in this lush debut fantasy novel about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to join a secret group of warriors that ride phoenixes into battle.

I had a sister, once…
In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.
I promised her the throne would not come between us.
Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.
But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.
Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.
Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.
Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This book is told from alternating narrators. It primarily centers around two sisters (Veronyka and Val), and a soldier named Sev. They live in a country that has been rife with strife over the rocky ascension that sisters tried to make to the throne... but then they both died.

Since then, the people who are able to wield animal magic, or animages, are under harsh scrutiny... because they're able to bond with the phoenixes. The phoenixes are believed to be mostly dead or in hiding, as one of the sisters used the phoenix army to try to claim the throne. In order to prevent more phoenix riders and keep some semblance of peace, the empire has cracked down on animages.

Enter Veronyka and Val; both animages and also able to wield shadow magic. Shadow magic enables them to be aware of other's emotions and thoughts, while also enabling them to manipulate people. Dun dun dunnnn

Anyways.

So Veronyka and Val are basically rogues roaming the country looking for phoenix eggs as they've both always dreamed of being riders. Every since their grandmother died, they escaped town and have been on their own ever since. Veronyka uses her animal magic to respect and build relationships with animals, to build trust. Val, well Val uses it to control them; to exert her will over them to get them to do what she needs.

Sev has joined the army and constantly denies he is an animage for his own survival. Animages are often pursued not because they're evil, but because of they're abilities. It's something that I kind of just interpreted as the empire being like, "Queens fight and cause crazy bad war? Now there's chaos in the country? MUST BE BECAUSE OF THE ANIMAGES. SMITE." So, there's that. Anywho, Sev meets some other, basically enslaved animages who must help the army, and he's like, "That could have been ME." And so on. His viewpoint also lets the readers see what's going on within the government, what the concerns are, and also gives a humane face to the animages.

I digress. Veronyka and Val manage to hatch one phoenix, it bonds with Veronyka. Val, already being the chaotic person she is, gets even more crazy to the point where she poisons Veronyka's phoenix and kills it. KILLS IT. Veronyka, reasonably traumatized and betrayed, sets off on her own to find a settlement of where phoenix riders are allegedly hiding out.

Story evolves from there. Veronyka ends up pretending to be a boy. It's fine.

Did I like this book? Did I? I know I've been pretty sassy about the summary, but I actually enjoyed the book a lot. I thought it was a good perspective shift between Veronyka and Sev, but there was also some character growth that was super A+.

There was also this weird breeding segment discussion, which was weird, really weird, and added this weird uncanny element of like kind of potential rape depending on how you feel about forced breeding?!?!?!? But, it didn't get really get into the discussion, things just kind of happened so that didn't play out. ...which is fine, I'm not sure I would have liked reading how that played out. It was weird. ...very weird. Especially in that like, here's a half piece of information, draw conclusions, kind of way.

...I'd read the sequel.

Happy reading!

Black Wings Beating

Black Wings Beating by Alex London

Wicked cover art always makes me more susceptible to picking up a book. Sometimes it's a win, sometimes it's a mistake, sometimes it's just eh.

I think this one falls more into the eh category.

BUT THAT COVER ART. So good.

An amazon summary, "The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.

Brysen strives to be a great falconer―while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She’s nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe.

Together the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer. Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power.

In this first young-adult fantasy novel in a trilogy, Alex London launches a soaring saga about the memories that haunt us, the histories that hunt us, and the bonds of blood between us." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

There is a ton to unpack about this story. It gets super complicated, super intertwined, and super like wait what, all within a matter of a few chapters. So instead of doing a summary, I'm going to do a character break down just between the twins. This book also shifts between multiple narrators so it's very easy to lose details.

Brysen has big dreams of becoming a great falconer. Unfortunately, both he and Kylee had a very abusive father. Brysen grew up in an extremely abusive environment from their father, who beat him whenever, well whenever. In the opening chapter, we see Brysen & Kylee's father going after a ghost eagle... and being killed. So like, yay? Right? So, Brysen & Kylee have been saddled with their father's incredible amount of debt, and their mother is kind of a crazy religious lunatic. In all of this, Brysen is trying to become a master falconer to make more of his life. He's also found a boyfriend who he is very intense about. So intense, that when his boyfriend gets in trouble, he automatically offers to go hunt down a ghost eagle to save his boyfriend's life.

Flip over to Kylee. Kylee is always worried about Brysen. She's witnessed him suffer the abuses of their father, and she is also the one who is better with the birds. ...because she may be able to speak something called Hollow Tongue.  Kylee is determined to get rid of their debt and finally be out of their father's shadow. She's very responsible, looking out for her brother, looking out for their mother, and trying to kind of ignore her hollow tongue ability. She's also got a battle boy who is in love with her, and her friend is a spy for one of the families who rule six villages.

Now let's move on to the world. There's basically like three different groups of people who are all vying for power within the world. 

One, everyone's obsessed with birds. Their whole world revolves around birds. Just accept this.

Two, there's a ruling family whose currently in charge of six villages. They're hell bent on maintaining power.

Three, there's  a religious cult who wants people to stop enslaving birds for their use. Because a lot of reasons I didn't pay attention too.

Four, there's another power trying to take over and eradicate everyone who enslaves birds.

They're also all intertwined. Because plot.

Alright, did I like this book? There was just a lot going on, jumping around to different narrators, and half the time I wasn't sure what I was really supposed to be paying attention to.

I liked it? I really liked all the world building and the mysticism were REALLY cool! But like, it was also kind of awful to read Brysen's chapters sometimes since he was a bit thick? But that's consistent for his character. Kylee was also a bit thick, but in like less annoying ways.

I probably wouldn't read the sequel since I'll forget everything I learned about the different powers and intricacies by the time it's published and all the books I'll read inbetween.

Happy reading!

Chaotic Good

Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner

Are you prepared to dive into the weird intricacies of nerd society? What about internet fame and internet trolls? What about some Dungeons and Dragons?

...are you prepared for a portrayal for how nerdy women are treated?

An amazon summary, "Cameron's cosplay creations are finally starting to earn her attention--attention she hopes to use to get into the CalArts costume design department for college. But after she wins a major competition, she inadvertently sets off a firestorm of angry comments from male fans online.

When Cameron's family moves the summer before her senior year, she hopes to complete her costume portfolio in peace and quiet away from the abuse.
Unfortunately, the only comic shop in town--her main destination for character reference--is staffed by a dudebro owner who challenges every woman who comes into the shop. 
At her twin brother's suggestion, Cameron borrows a set of his clothes and uses her costuming expertise to waltz into the shop as Boy Cameron, where she's shocked at how easily she's accepted into the nerd inner sanctum. Soon, Cameron finds herself drafted into a D&D campaign alongside the jerky shop-owner Brody, friendly (almost flirtatiously so) clerk Wyatt, handsome Lincoln, and her brother Cooper, dragged along for good measure. 
But as her "secret identity" gets more and more entrenched, Cameron's portfolio falls by the wayside--and her feelings for Lincoln threaten to make a complicated situation even more precarious in this geek girl anthem from You're Welcome, Universe author Whitney Gardner, complete with fully illustrated comic pages inked by Gardner herself." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Cam loves to create cosplay. She does her research by finding different comic books and creating them at home. She has a blog that she posts about her cosplays to, and her friends (including her) won a cosplay contest while dressed up as a group from Final Fantasy. ...Cam doesn't know much about the game of Final Fantasy but loves the looks. ...cue the nerd rage online.

Meanwhile, in the meat space of her life, her family has just moved into smaller town with one comic book shop. Cam doesn't drive, so she can get to a few places on foot; including the craft store. Cam is on a quest to get accepted into the CalArts costume design department for college. She goes to visit the local comic bookstore for inspiration...but is shuffled over to the "Girls Section" of comic books. She meets one of the skeezier nerds who doesn't really think that girls can also be into comic books. Fed up, Cam leaves. Later on, she gets her first client. She needs some comic books to make sure she gets the character right....so she has to go back to the comic book store. She has a moment of inspiration of sorts and dresses up like a boy. Her twin brother (did I mention she has a twin? He's super fun) loans her some clothes, and surprisingly, none of the guys in the comic book store catch on that she's a woman. They actually invite her to play Dungeons and Dragons with them.

Thus begins Cam's adventures into moonlighting as a man to pursue her passions. Sounds a lot like Mulan, right? ...too much?

That's enough summary.

I ended up REALLY liking this story because I've met all the different nerdier guys this story had in it. I also loved the portrayal of being able to love the same media/story/thing but for different reasons/aspects. There were some aspects of it that felt VERY authentic to teenage life (hello, drama? Yes, party of EVERYONE).

Oddly enough, I think my favorite characters of the story were the parents. They were very loving, understanding, and encouraged their children to pursue their passions. The parents also encouraged both of their children, which was fun because both kids are passionate in different arts.

There was also a couple tense moments where I kept expecting the other shoe to drop so to speak and have a scene get WAY more crazy intense, but it fizzled into more drama rather than something violent. It ultimately felt more realistic that way too.

The only minor hiccup I have with this book was the Marvel characters, where is the love for the DC characters and all of their wondrous costumes? Ehhh? ;)

Happy reading!

The Astonishing Color of After

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Even though this book was published on March 20, 2018, I read an advanced reader's copy. Undoubtedly there will be some differences between the version I read, and the published version.

Also, this book deals with depression and suicide, and perhaps some other topics. If those are topics you do not want to read about, then I suggest skipping this book review.

An amazon summary, "Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.
Alternating between reality and magic, past and present, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a luminous debut novel about finding oneself through family history, art, bravery, and love." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Leigh is half Asian and half white, and her best friend is Axel. Her mother is from Taiwan, and her father is Irish and has started to travel a lot for work. Leaving Leigh's mother at home with Leigh. Axel grew up with Leigh, and came to think of Leigh's mother as his second mom. Their friendship drastically changed the day Leigh's mother committed suicide; one because they kissed, but two because  Leigh withdraws from her usual life, and becomes obsessed with a bird who visits her. She's determined this bird is her mother. The bird also brings her things, clues. Leigh has never known her mother's parents, and begins to wonder why in earnest.

After a few things transpire, she finally convinces her father to take them to visit her mother's parents. Once there, Leigh is determined to figure out what happened between her mother and her grandparents, but there are a few problems, like a language barrier.

Then I stopped reading. I got to page 215 out of 464. I feel like that was more than enough, but I stopped because I couldn't stand Leigh's attitude anymore. I know she's young, I know she's grieving, but I also didn't care much for how she carried herself leading up this point, or in the flashbacks of her memory.

I did really like the shared passion for Art that Leigh and Axel had, but it wasn't enough of a neat feature to get me to finish reading the book. PLUS, I was almost halfway through the book and no closer to understanding why her mother didn't talk to her parents. Which...I can only handle the suspense of "I hope we solve this mystery" for so long with no clues. I was done.

Happy reading!

Broken Things

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

I've previously read Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem, and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I think her work is mostly interesting and usually brings a different element about the more traditional themes of a familiar storyline.

I digress, an amazon summary, "With all the intensity and whiplash turns of Sharp Objects and One of Us Is Lying, this engrossing psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver is an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale of exquisite obsession, spoiled innocence, and impossible friendships.

It’s been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.

Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.

The only thing is: they didn’t do it.

On the anniversary of Summer’s death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This is told between two narrators, some passage excerpts, and also past/present.

There's original three girls; Summer, Mia, and Brynn. Summer was murdered one summer, and Mia, Brynn, as well as her boyfriend or friend depending on who you ask, Owen, were the top suspects for her murder. The town turned against the surviving girls and accused them of murder, but nothing could be proven. 

The story unwinds to reveal the very close relationship all three girls seemed to share, and also where Mia and Brynn wound up five years after Summer died.

There was also a book that they were all obsessed with, but Summer was the most obsessed with it. However, there's something that kind of triggers them into going back and really trying to figure out what happened to Summer.

That's enough summary.

The book was interesting and all that jazz, but there was a huge theme right at the beginning, so this isn't a spoiler, but the book they were obsessed with ended mid-sentence and drove them nuts. They were obsessed with why the book ended they way they did, and were trying to write a sequel.

But like, my people, I kind of feel like this book was written in angle that kind of really broke into the premise of ending a story mid sentence and also what a story really is... the rest of it was good, like mystery, murder, solving a cold case crime thing and seeing all the horror that negative press can harm someone's life... but like they didn't need the philosophical, but what do stories, MEAN kind of moments. 

It was interesting, I wasn't expecting who the actual villain was, and the pacing of the book was pretty great. 

...but that philosophy angle. But why.

Happy reading!

Beneath the Citadel

Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

The thing is, the back of the book has an excerpt from the book. One of the characters makes a remark about maybe being immortal...as they're sentenced to death. ...but I did mark this book as unreadable, as I gave up halfway through.

Also, that cover. It's all cool like. I'm a sucker for a good cover.

An amazon summary, "In the city of Eldra, people are ruled by ancient prophecies. For centuries, the high council has stayed in power by virtue of the prophecies of the elder seers. After the last infallible prophecy came to pass, growing unrest led to murders and an eventual rebellion that raged for more than a decade.  In the present day, Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, is determined to fight back against the high council, which governs Eldra from behind the walls of the citadel. Her only allies are no-nonsense Alys, easygoing Evander, and perpetually underestimated Newt. Cassa struggles to come to terms with the legacy of rebellion her dead parents have left her, and the fear that she may be inadequate to shoulder the burden. But by the time Cassa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final infallible prophecy, it may be too late to save the city—or themselves." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE 

Alright, so this story has five rotating narrators. It sets itself up as interesting as the city is controlled by prophecies. The high council catches people and they're never seen again. ...seems really Minority Report, right? Right. 

The story unfolds where four of the narrators have been captured by the council and are being sentenced to death. They're stuck in jail, and they slowly start to show different abilities and strengths as they start to escape. Then, on their way out of escaping the prison, they run into a man. He tells them a bunch of basically impossible things and sends them on their way.

They escape, they talk a lot about their parents and the efforts of the rebellion. But, I was tapped out. All of them thought about themselves as if they were a subject matter in school to be evaluated and they had to write a report. When they started talking about their sexuality in clinical terms in an off handed manner, that's when I put the book down. I'm all for diversity, and having a broad spectrum of characters, representation is legitimately great, but, it's kind of awful when they feel like dull, lifeless cardboard cutouts of something that could be good.

I wish the characters had been more realistic, because the rest of the story seemed like it was going to be interesting.

Happy reading!

Suitors and Sabotage

Suitors and Sabotage by Cindy Anstey

I'm going to get oddly specific for a moment, but did you ever watch the roughly six hour mini series version of Pride & Prejudice? I cheated and looked it up on imdb; it came out in 1995, and it's basically the show where I fell in love with Colin Firth. Because, Colin Firth. C'mon people!

Anyways, this book reminds me a lot of that, just with less siblings and suitors. Kind of.

An amazon summary, "Two young people must hide their true feelings for each other while figuring out who means them harm in this cheeky Regency romance from the author of Love, Lies and Spies and Duels & Deception.

Shy aspiring artist Imogene Chively has just had a successful Season in London, complete with a suitor of her father's approval. Imogene is ambivalent about the young gentleman until he comes to visit her at the Chively estate with his younger brother in tow. When her interest is piqued, however, it is for the wrong brother.

Charming Ben Steeple has a secret: despite being an architectural apprentice, he has no drawing aptitude. When Imogene offers to teach him, Ben is soon smitten by the young lady he considers his brother's intended.

But hiding their true feelings becomes the least of their problems when, after a series of "accidents," it becomes apparent that someone means Ben harm. And as their affection for each other grows―despite their efforts to remain just friends―so does the danger. . .

In Suitors and Sabotage, author Cindy Anstey delivers another witty young adult historical fiction novel that is the perfect mix of sweetly romantic and action-packed." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This definitely takes place back in the days of seasons in London, so somewhat ambiguously around the 18th century I would say. They actually have dates in the book, but I rigorously ignored them because I'm awful. ...well really, because I hate reading anything that resembles a diary format because I will never believe that anyone can remember pages and pages of dialogue. I just cannot. I digress, it's mostly irrelevant.

Imogene has just returned from her season in London and has managed to snag a gentleman suitor, Ernest. Ernest has requested to visit the Chively estate with his younger brother Ben, to see if himself and Imogene would be a match for marriage. Imogene's best friend, Emily, has also come to stay. There are other family friends about and siblings and what not, but lets concentrate on the main characters.

Imogene is very shy but Ben manages to start bringing her out of her shell. Ernest is well, rather straight forward but also desperately trying to win over Imogene's heart. Meanwhile, Emily has fallen rather entranced with Ben and is very convinced of his affections, but Imogene wonders if Ben's affections are actually for herself, or rather if she actually loves Ben and not Ernest.

During all of this, a series of slightly unfortunate events begins to occur, and Imogene and Emily blame it on Imogene's brother and the family friend, but the incidents are not always in line with their usually modus operandi (MO).

That's enough summary.

This book was very, well dramatic but undramatic. There wasn't a lot of action despite the various incidents, but there was a lot of waffling hearts and wondering about the world at large. It was actually a very serious and sympathetic book with points of light hearted humor but also kind of slice of life moments. I also thought it was very interesting that we learned about all the young adults parents in the manner of reading how they were treated, besides the few times that Imogene pointed out her father was not really all that great.

The setting and scenery were all very well included, and the tone of the writing definitely placed you in the 18th century somewhere (I know they literally told us, but again, I must stubbornly ignore or else I would not have read the book). 

There were a few points where I definitely rolled my eyes and wondered why I was still reading the book, but when I finished the book, I definitely had that like deeply satisfied Cheshire cat grin on my face since I knew I had read a great story.

There was no sex, no fist fights, no anything over the top action dramatics, but it was still a good story, very wholesome. Which is probably why it reminded me so much of that Pride and Prejudice mini series. It was good.

Happy reading!

City of Ghosts

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

This book was published on August 28, 2018, but I read the advanced reader's copy. Undoubtedly there will be some changes between the version I read and the published version.

Who's up for a ghost story? With a character who happens to have odd parents who write stories about ghosts and history? And whose daughter can see ghosts but they don't know? Wikkity what?

An amazon summary, "Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn't like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead . . . and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost.

So things are already pretty strange. But they're about to get much stranger.
When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And when Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift," she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil -- and herself.
And she'll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Cass can see ghosts because she nearly drowned in a river, but when she nearly drowned she got a new best friend. A new ghost best friend, Jacob. Since she nearly drowned, she can feel the pull of the veil; the veil is the division between the living and the dead. When there's a ghost nearby, she feels a tap tap tap from the veil, and it's like an itch she has to scratch. When she crosses the veil, Jacob goes with her, and they witness the how the ghost died.

Cass is all set to go to the beach with her parents, per their tradition... but due to her parent's rather odd career of writing ghost/history novels, they're flying to Scotland to film a new TV show. Cass is going with them, and she's a little nervous about going to one of the most haunted places in the world. However, while she's out and about exploring with her parents, she's sucked into the veil. Jacob manages to pull her out, but there's a lingering haunting song from one of the ghosts that's bothering her. She meets someone else who can also cross into the veil, and the girl teaches her about releasing ghosts from the veil. She refers to herself and Cass as "Inbetweeners". ....which is kind of lame, but whatever, I digress.

That's enough summary.

I liked Cass's personality for the most part, but I was kind of irked about the general mystery surrounding Jacob. For Jacob being Cass's best friend and able to read her mind, he kept a TON of secrets from Cass, and he still continues to keep those secrets. I imagine there will be sequel stories, where we will find out more about Jacob, but I'm just a bit miffed at how little was offered about him.

I also found the parents career to be a little TOO convenient to set up the plot of why Cass would go to Scotland and specifically to all those super haunted places. It was just too easy of a set up and kind of didn't feel natural at all. And, why on earth would you bring your cat to Scotland for a week? Why? Makes zero sense to me. They should have kenneled the cat or asked someone to look after it; I find it kind of perturbing that they're like, NAH, THE CAT GOES WITH. Like....what? It just seems a bit implausible/unreasonable to me.

Overall, I did find the story quite interesting, I think it took a little while to get there though. There was a long lead up to the pitch, and even during the pitch I had a few moments wondering how much longer the high stakes drama would last.

If there's a sequel, I don't think I'm going to read it.

Happy reading!

Witch Born

Witch Born by Nicholas Bowling

Even though this book was published on September 25, 2018, I read the advanced reader's copy. Undoubtedly there will be some changes between the version I read and the published version.

Another gorgeous cover. Yessssssssssss.

An amazon summary, "Alyce's mother has just been burnt at the stake for practicing witchcraft. With only a thin set of instructions and a witch’s mommet for guidance, Alyce must face the world that she’s been sealed off from -- a world of fear and superstition. With a witch hunter fast on her trail, she’ll need the help of an innkeeper and a boy looking to discover the truth behind his own mother's past.

But as her journey continues, another war rages: a hidden war of the supernatural, of the living and the dead. Good and evil are blurred, and nobody’s motives can be trusted. And Alyce finds herself thrown unwillingly into the conflict. Struggling to understand her own powers, she is quickly drawn into a web of secret, lies, and dark magic that could change the fate of the world she is just coming to know.
This dark, twisty, and thrillingly original debut will leave readers entranced in its suspenseful plot and rich prose." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The opening scene is literally Alyce's mother being accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Alyce has hidden in a cellar below the house, and as the accuser opens the door, Alyce stabs him and tries to run. She makes her way to London with a letter from her mother to find a gentleman who will help her. However, she winds up half starved and homeless on the streets. Alyce is muttering to herself in the streets and well, disgusting from living on the streets for a while. People from the insane asylum find her, and pick her up before locking her up.

While Alyce is locked up, a couple strangers try to pick her up from the asylum, Alyce doesn't know who they are, but she makes an escape. She winds up back on the streets, starving, tries to steal but fails miserably, and a young gentleman comes to her rescue. He takes her to an inn where the innkeeper takes care of her and nurses her back to her.

The story really begins is when she starts trying to figure out who is trying to capture her and why. The witch hunters and the two randoms from the insane asylum who tried to pick her up. What are they after and why? The letter? Alyce herself?

TO SPOILER LAND.

The story evolves into a rivalry between Queen Elizabeth of England and Queen Mary of the Scotts. So Queen Elizabeth is secretly a witch and works with the coven. Queen Mary has lost her way from the coven and dabbles in necromancy. Andddd Alyce turns out to be the child of Queen Elizabeth, the "virgin queen". So the world knowing about Alyce being Queen Elizabeth's child would be pretttttty dang bad. But, there's also a mystery of why Queen Mary would want Alyce at all. To prove to the world of Queen Elizabeth's lie? Or, is there some hidden power about Alyce? Dun dun dunnnn

In summary, I didn't find this story to be particularly compelling. There were some interesting points made throughout, but I wish the magic in the world made more sense. There were a lot of kind of mystery moments of magic happening, but it just wasn't well explained. I also found Alyce's strongest personality trait to just be...confusion. She wasn't the greatest at solving the mysteries, she kind of followed her nose directly into danger constantly, and in understanding to how she was brought up, she found the world quite strange... which only made the confusion intensify. I finished reading the book, but I'm not sure I got a whole lot from the story.

Happy reading!

West

West by Edith Pattou

West is the sequel to EAST, which I have previously reviewed. If you don't want East spoiled, then I would recommend not reading this review.

As I mentioned in my East blog post, East was one of my favorite books growing up. Looking back on it, I think East was one of my favorite books because the main character Rose, is an outstanding human being. She's very brave, tough, and musters her way through every situation presented to her. She's really rather remarkable overall. So I was pretty excited to read the sequel and have more adventures with Rose.

An amazon summary, "In the sequel to the beloved high fantasy East, Rose sets off on a perilous journey to find her true love when he goes missing in a thrilling tale of danger, magic, adventure, and revenge.

When Rose first met Charles, he was trapped in the form of a white bear. To rescue him, Rose traveled to the land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon to defeat the evil Troll Queen. Now Rose has found her happily-ever-after with Charles—until a sudden storm destroys his ship and he is presumed dead. But Rose doesn’t believe the shipwreck was an act of nature, nor does she believe Charles is truly dead. Something much more sinister is at work. With mysterious and unstoppable forces threatening the lives of the people she loves, Rose must once again set off on a perilous journey. And this time, the fate of the entire world is at stake." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

After the events of East, Rose and Charles have been happily married, have a bairn (baby) together, and Charles has gone on to become a professional flauto player. Rose and Charles are going to visit her family, but have to arrive separately. Rose travels with their bairn, Winn, and arrives through some kind of tricky situations, but Charles, Charles' ship has been destroyed. Some of the passengers have survived, and some have claimed to see Charles, but Charles is nowhere to be found. Rose leaves her bairn with her family, and sets off with Neddy and Sib to find Charles.

The storm that took Charles' boat isn't the only peculiar disaster; there's also a sweating sickness that's starting to spread across the land and is taking people's lives. Regardless, Rose, Neddy, and Sib set off to find Charles and follow a chain of clues before Rose uncovers that trolls are involved again. Rose goes off on her own to pursue a lead and runs into a troll prince from another troll kingdom who seems to be working with the troll queen from East. The troll prince shape shifts into a snake and bites Rose, leaving her poisoned in a cave where she confronted him. Luckily, she is retrieved by the man she got information from, and he helps nurse her back to health as best as he can.

That's enough summary.

This book took, what felt like, 80 years of reading time for me to finish. I still loved having the story told from different narrators so I could see what was going on with the different family members in different parts of the world, but the book was so long and full of some extra details that really just inhibited the momentum of the plot. Literally, I got to around page 360 before it became tolerable for me to sit and read it for a long period of time again. With all that being said, it's a very enriched story because it includes so many different details. While I appreciate that aspect, it just significantly hampered my attention span. I really liked the last third of the book, but it took so long to get there, that I really can't give this book a recommended books mark.

I need to go into spoiler land. Do not read further if you don't want the book spoiled. Just assume at this point I've signed off with, "Happy reading!"

So. Winn. Winn was dosed with something by the troll queen to start to give him arts so that he would eventually rule the world in her stead. Rose and Charles put a stop to that by killing the troll queen, but Winn will probably still have arts. So will Rose. Because SIB is apparently a human raised by fae in a different part of the world which is how she learned to listen to the wind and started to teach Rose those arts. I find many things upsetting about this, as it's all laying the groundwork for more books in this series. On the one hand, I might find them enjoyable, but on the other hand, if it's going to take another 10 years to get the next book, and it will be just as long to read, I'm out. I'm kind of also annoyed that we got to see MORE supernatural elements dealing with the arts in the world (the three weavers/sisters/fates, whatever you want to call them), but it's still referred to as arts. I just find that incredibly annoying that they're not just referring to it as magic. It didn't bother me in East, but I think with so many more examples presented to us in West, it actually bothers me now. Especially because Sib doesn't refer to what she does with the wind as arts. So what the heck is Sib doing?! MAGIC??? Again, something pretty petty to be annoyed about, but I just am.

I did enjoy the book overall, but I also found some stuff kind of annoying in this book versus the last book. Like, we still see Rose's mother have so many superstitions or charms to deal with the world, but we already saw that very heavily in East so I wish we had seen other aspects of her character in West. I also don't think we had any chapters from Arne in this book, and he was one of my favorite voices to read in East. I don't know, there was SO MUCH BOOK as it is, that I don't really want to encourage more book, but maybe just more editing. Eh?

Happy reading!