January 2018 Wrap Up

1. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli 5/5

“Sometimes it feels like everyone knows me except me.”

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.

I knew that I was most likely going to enjoy this book. I heard about this book my senior year of high school. (When I was still deeply in the closet). I didn’t let myself read that much LGBT literature. After a while I forgot about it until I saw the trailer for the movie. I wish that I had read this book my senior year. This book was perfect for getting out of a reading slump. I will say that I had overly high expectations for this book and I tried not to be unfair with it. I feel like every LGBT+ can relate to this book in someway. It discusses coming out, falling in love and what it’s like to be gay so beautifully. This book is one of the reasons that I still read YA and that’s because everyone can relate to it in some way. I am a little wary that the movie looks different than the book but I think I’ll still like it.

Read the book before you see the movie.

2. Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1), Leigh Bardugo 4.5/5

“A different kind of knight, one who'd chosen to protect the girl the world wanted to destroy; one born to slay dragons, but maybe to befriend them, too.” 

Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.

Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn't know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.

Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

Before reading: WAIT, they’re making an entire series involving DC superhero’s? 

After reading:

That was to much fun. I have been waiting for a series like this ever since the Dark Knight Trilogy. I love everything that has been happening with Wonder Woman recently. I’m glad that younger girls will have a feminist superhero that can hold her own. I was worried that this book was going to be somewhat slow paced and it wasn’t. It’s a little slow in the beginning but it definitely picks up. There wasn’t anything about this book that I was particularly displeased with. All the characters had depth to them and they drove the plot home. There’s also the fantastic ending that I won’t go into but it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I cannot wait to read the rest of the books.

Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons #2), Marie Lu 4/5

“The world will always have liars, traitors and thieves. But there were still those who are good at heart.”

Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.
The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.
One by one, the city's elites are being executed as their mansions' security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family's fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he's forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city's most brutal criminals.
Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce's only hope.
In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.

They should really make these books into movies. These would have been much better than the superhero movies that are out now. (Wonder Woman was actually a good movie). I think it’s interesting that they’re writing the books from a teenager perspective. I also like the fact that different authors are writing different superhero’s. This book was very different from the Wonder Woman book and that’s not bad. It was a lot creepier and more to the point. 

4. Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1), Neal Shusterman 3.8/5

“Hope in the shadow of fear is the world's most powerful motivator.”

Two teens must learn the “art of killing” in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

There are so many good things about this book. The writing is good, the plot is good, the characters are well written but this book is depressing. The first half of the book is mainly about death and killing people. I only cried about a few times. I didn’t think that I was even going to consider reading the second book. Then I read the second half of the book it got more interesting. I will definitely try to read the second book.

5. The Firebird, Susanna Kearsley 4.5/5

“Hiding the person you are,' he said, 'won't make you happy. I never hide who I am. What I am.” 

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable. Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

After the last book I knew I needed a pick me up. Susanna Kearsley's writing style is gorgeous. It's probably one of the best that I've read. She weaves romance and historical fiction so beautifully. It might not be completely accurate but it's still good. Her books are long and slow paced but I find myself not being able to put them down. 

6. Are You Sleeping, Kathleen Barber 4/5

The only thing more dangerous than a lie...is the truth.

Josie Buhrman has spent the last ten years trying to escape her family’s reputation and with good reason. After her father's murder thirteen years prior, her mother ran away to join a cult and her twin sister Lanie, once Josie’s closest friend and confidant, betrayed her in an unimaginable way. Now, Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, and that’s where she intends to stay. The only problem is that she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past—starting with her last name.

When investigative reporter Poppy Parnell sets off a media firestorm with a mega-hit podcast that reopens the long-closed case of Josie’s father’s murder, Josie’s world begins to unravel. Meanwhile, the unexpected death of Josie’s long-absent mother forces her to return to her Midwestern hometown where she must confront the demons from her past—and the lies on which she has staked her future.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I don't read psychological thrillers because they're often really slow and I start not to care. I could not put this book down though. The only reason I didn't read it faster is because I refused to read it at night. To be honest it's not that scary. It's incredibly addictive. It's definitely a lot like the podcast Serial but with more story.

DFTBA

-AB