Bird

Bird by Crystal Chan

So....this book was definitely a coming to terms with grief, discovering yourself, and fighting for what you believe in all jammed pack in this heart wrenching story.

If you can't handle bawling at books, then you might want to pass on this.

For everyone else, this book was soooo good.

There were a lot of moments where I almost couldn't handle the overwhelming FEELS the book invoked within me. FEELS EVERYWHERE.

......so there's that.

FEELS.

An amazon summary, "Entrenched secrets, mysterious spirits, and an astonishing friendship weave together in this extraordinary and haunting debut.

Nothing matters. Only Bird matters. And he flew away.

Jewel never knew her brother Bird, but all her life she has lived in his shadow. Her parents blame Grandpa for the tragedy of their family’s past; they say that Grandpa attracted a malevolent spirit—a duppy—into their home. Grandpa hasn’t spoken a word since. Now Jewel is twelve, and she lives in a house full of secrets and impenetrable silence.

Jewel is sure that no one will ever love her like they loved Bird, until the night that she meets a mysterious boy in a tree. Grandpa is convinced that the boy is a duppy, but Jewel knows that he is something more. And that maybe—just maybe—the time has come to break through the stagnant silence of the past." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Jewel was born into a grieving family; on the day she was born her older brother, John (nicknamed Bird), died by jumping off of a cliff as he believed he could fly.

Since that day, her Grandpa hasn't spoken a word and Jewel has lived amongst a family that doesn't seem to love life anymore - that just takes each day and tries to survive to the next.

It's the summer; Jewel has no friends and no one to play with until John arrives. He's about the same age as her and is visiting his Uncle for the summer.

Jewel slowly becomes friends with him as they accept things about each other that haven't been accepted by others before (like how John wants to become an astronaut and Jewel wants to be a geologist).

 Jewel constantly struggles with her distant parents and silent Grandpa - although her Grandpa seems to be convinced that John is not good news.

As Jewel learns more about who her family used to be, her heart aches for a brother she never knew, and thus unfolds the story of Bird.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Happy reading!

Don't Even Think About It

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mylnowski

Do you ever get to the point in your reading stack where you've just read a lot of books with depressing subject matter?

I do. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not really afraid to read anything that is too sad/intense/about cancer/etc. as I usually have a lighter, fun waiting for me.

This was one of those books.

There were some more serious bits to it, but when the tagline on the back reads, "Secrets. Scandals. ESP." It's usually going to be funny, takes itself so seriously that it's funny, or an unintentional train wreck.

Luckily, it was somewhere between funny and takes itself so seriously that it's funny.

Confused? An amazon summary, "Contemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have).

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper. 

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
 So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

"Smart and frequently hilarious."--Publishers Weekly, starred


“A tour-de-force comic narration that will leave you gasping in awe—if you ever catch your breath from laughing.”—E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars


“Hilarious, moving, and utterly ingenious.”—Robin Wasserman, author of The Book of Blood and Shadow and The Waking Dark “Sarah Mlynowski does it again with a fresh, fun, and fabulous story filled with secrets, surprises, and a sixth sense. Don’t even THINK about passing up this hilarious read!” —Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club “Finally, someone understands that if you develop powers as a teenager, it’s not the government you have to watch out for—it’s your best friends. Funny, realistic, heartfelt, satiric, and unpredictable.” —Ned Vizzini, New York Times bestselling author of It’s Kind of a Funny Story" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So, in case you missed it, the premise of the book revolves around a homeroom full of kids getting the flu shot at lunch one day and develop...an odd side effect.

Telepathy.

The book is a bit weird as the narration follows around everyone in the class to an extent; it portrays it as there's roughly 20 kids who had the vaccine that gives them telepathy, but there are about 8 characters the book actually likes to focus on.

Yet, the book has an aggravating habit of switching to speaking in third person directly to the reader then flipping to watching the scene unfold with a little commentary to the reader. It's odd and disconnecting from the book.

The book goes through the unfolding of the telepathic powers, the different quirks of how their telepathy seems to work, and then centers around five people having intense drama and FEELINGS towards each other.

Like high school, just less secrets.

Through the book I found it irritating that characters would pop up to provide a tidbit of information or to reveal a quirk of the power before being completely forgotten again. Or to prove a point of how confusing it is to be shunned from a group of very....well-connected people.

All in all, the book had funny moments, a few moments where the narration threw me out of the story, and an ending that led me to wonder if there would be more books (is this the first book in a series?).

Telepathy can be a nightmare in high school....and also might reveal that the school nurse used to be a stripper. Who knew?

Happy reading!

The Falconer

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

This was a weird book to me.

I enjoyed the story of the book, but the narration of the main character seemed to hiccup everywhere. Like there was difficulty processing the overall situation and to take it all one thing at a time was kind of funky.

....how about an amazon summary, "Debutante by day. Murderess by night. Edinburgh's only hope.

Edinburgh, 1844. Beautiful Aileana Kameron only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. In fact, she's spent the year since her mother died developing her ability to sense the presence of Sithichean, a faery race bent on slaughtering humans. She has a secret mission: to destroy the faery who murdered her mother. But when she learns she's a Falconer, the last in a line of female warriors and the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity, her quest for revenge gets a whole lot more complicated. The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller blends romance and action with steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The world is set in an alternate earth and thinking about it in that way makes it a lot easier to accept some of the concepts presented.

Although, based on the amazon summary, I don't know why you wouldn't assume that... (sometimes I fail at making assumptions based on the text and auto-assume they're creating a new world....shh....).

Anyways.

Aileana spends as much as she can creating pieces of technology (that have a variety of functions) to aid in her seeking out faeries to kill.

A year ago, Aileana was found next to her mother's body, covered in her mother's blood, and has been gossiped about all throughout her year of mourning.

Her Father has been away on business trips since her mother's death and seems to be trying to create as much distance (both emotional and physical) as he can between himself and Aileana.

Aileana has a....rambunctious pixie who lives in her wardrobe and mends her clothes. She also has....an upper class fae by the name of Kiaran who trains her how to fight.

Kiaran teaches her the difference between human myths and actual fact about the fae. He teaches Aileana the best way to kill what kind of fae, what materials do the most damage (LOL NOT IRON (which I thought was neat)), and what to watch out for in a fight. They go out hunting together, with Aileana constantly after the fae who murdered her mother.

That's enough summary for me.

So the narration of Aileana was weird in the sense of when something happened, it would matter for that moment, but didn't seem to have a lasting impact on her until someone else brought it up again.

Which, I guess was kind of neat since she's very up front about how her life is driven by her need for vengeance.

So maybe it makes sense?

To me it disrupted the flow of story a bit. Then again, I assumed it was a different world for a bit and didn't really connect the 'alternate Earth' dots. So....there's that.

I'm a bit upset that it left off with such a MASSIVE cliff hanger. As I was reading it, I noticed the pages left kept dwindling when there was so much more story to accomplish.

That was annoying.

BUT, it does make me more than ready to pick up the sequel in this trilogy.

Mission accomplished?

What I always want to know when I come across a book involving the fae is what kind of fae they are.

They're the mean, ruthless, vicious fae that prey on humans like ancient myths levels of awful. It was a bit fascinating, yet could be very gruesome. Nothing felt too explicit (like uncomfortable gory) but there were a few winces from me as battles raged across the pages. The lore the book presents is interesting and I really want to see how it plays out in later books based on what we're given so far (legacies and what not).

Happy reading!

The Islands of Chaldea

The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones, finished by Ursula Jones

If you haven't read anything by Diana Wynne Jones by now, PLEASE go read another one of her books. She was an amazing author who always struck me as under-appreciated.

One of her most known books to me is Howl's Moving Castle which was adapted into an animated film.

Sadly, Diana Wynne Jones died in 2011 before she could complete this book.

Luckily, her sister, Ursula Jones, is also an author and managed to finish the book from what Diana had already written and the author's notes. Probably with a bit of her own ingenuity as well.

As a fan of Diana Wynne Jones, it was nice to read her last book with its rich story speckled with humor.

An amazon summary, "The Islands of Chaldea is a new novel of magic and adventure by the renowned fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones, who left behind many acclaimed and beloved books upon her death in 2011, including the internationally bestselling Howl's Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci books. The Islands of Chaldea was completed by Diana Wynne Jones's sister Ursula Jones, an acclaimed novelist and actress.

Aileen comes from a long line of magic makers, and her Aunt Beck is the most powerful magician on Skarr. But even though she is old enough, Aileen's magic has yet to reveal itself. When Aileen is sent over the sea on a mission for the King, she worries that she'll be useless and in the way. A powerful (but mostly invisible) cat changes all of that—and with every obstacle Aileen faces, she becomes stronger and more confident and her magic blooms. This stand-alone novel is a perfect introduction to the novels of the beloved Diana Wynne Jones." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So that Amazon summary talked about almost everything except for the book. Like what?

ANYWAYS.

Aileen is working on becoming a wise woman; a woman who can work magic. Her aunt is currently a wise woman and has raised her since Aileen's mother died trying to give birth to another child. Aileen undergoes her trial to see if she is a wise woman yet, but she has failed it this time.

Her father has been trapped by a barrier that was erected years ago that separates the island of Largo from the other three islands. Friends and family have been cut off from each other; the trade being cut off with Largo has devastated the islands economies, and the King has hatched a plan to get the barrier destroyed.

Aileen's Aunt is a very clever woman that sees through many strategic moves and manipulative actions people do. She's an advisor of sorts to the King; she's called upon to help bring down the barrier in utmost secrecy. It has been foretold that a group with a man from each island is present, it can bring down the barrier. Aileen's Aunt has been charged with leading the group across the land and gathering the necessary men from the other islands. They have one from Skaar and one from Largo already; but they'll need to pick up the other two along the way.

Their small group gets onto a boat where they open their bags to discover their clothes have been laced with poisons (the queen is potentially trying to kill them as she packed their bags), the sack of gold the King was to give them to aid in their travel had only a layer of gold on top but the rest was filled with rocks, and Aileen's Aunt doesn't care for it one bit.

There are many different colorful characters they run into along the way, the magic of the world is enchanting (pun intended), and I enjoyed ugly-pug's wiley nature the most (haha).

All in all, a good read. I might have to pick up some of Diana Wynne Jones' earlier books again.

Happy reading!

Unforgotten

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

I read the first book in this series[?], Unremembered, HERE.

If you want the first book to remain unspoiled, I suggest reading no further.

For a sequel, I felt like this book delivered a lot of elements that I was looking forward to and expecting based on the first book.

An amazon summary, "Some memories are better left forgotten...

After a daring escape from the Diotech scientists who created her, Seraphina and Zen believe they are finally safe from the horrors of her past. But new threats await them at every turn as Zen falls prey to a mysterious illness and Sera’s extraordinary abilities make it more and more difficult to stay hidden. Meanwhile, Diotech has developed a dangerous new weapon designed to apprehend Sera. A weapon that even Sera will be powerless to stop.　Her only hope of saving Zen’s life and defeating the company that made her is a secret buried deep within her mind. A secret that Diotech will kill to protect. And it won’t stay forgotten for long.

Packed with mystery, suspense, and romance, Unforgotten is the riveting second installment of Jessica Brody’s Unremembered trilogy, and delivers more heart-pounding action as loyalties are tested, love becomes a weapon, and no one’s memories are safe." AMAZON LINK OF YAY WAT

The book begins with Seraphina and Zen living in 1609. They've managed to stumble across a small family to live with and earn their keep by doing chores. People are unnerved by Seraphina a bit because there's something that doesn't quite seem right. Seraphina and Zen are slowly practicing on overcoming her instinct to run away from danger and instead fight back. Seraphina finds herself being more in love with Zen every day....but of course that's when things start to go wrong.

One day Seraphina wakes up to find that Zen is feeling a bit under the weather. Zen shrugs it off and they head into town for the family to sell their wares. While there, Seraphina is accused of being a witch. Her locket is taken from her as 'a sign of the devil' and she's put in jail. After her stint in jail, the towns folk drag her out and tie her up to burn at the stake. Seraphina keeps telling herself that Diotech won't let her die; she'll be rescued before their investment can go up in flames. She's utterly convinced that she'll be saved as the flames start to lick her feet...

....that's a good enough summary [/cue evil laughter].

Anywho, the book played into a lot of themes from the first book and I loved it's exploration of trying to answer of 'What does it mean to be human?' and Seraphina's constant struggle to retain (or gain if you will) her humanity.

The science in it was a little....far fetched for me but not SO far fetched that I found it unbelievable. There were more neat things going on with memories in a nice, not amnesia way. There was definitely a moment where I sobbed a bit because of some memory stuff but I won't spoil it for you. [For those of you that read it, hint: child. That is all!]

I thought it was a great follow up sequel, AND A MOMENT OF SPOILER, the love triangle that starts to take shape makes sense from a corporate greed standpoint. It was pretty much thrilling to have it be that and not a wishy-washy woman prancing around driving the plot.

So.

Happy reading!