Month: December 2021

Legendborn is the first book in a proposed YA modern fantasy trilogy, following Bree Matthews, a sixteen-year-old high school student who gets into a live-in program at the University of North Carolina. After being attacked by a supernatural creature at a party, she resists Selwyn Kane’s Mesmer, or him erasing her memory. Unable to move on while knowing this information, she finds a way in through her peer counselor, Nick Davis. She proceeds to infiltrate a secret society, while incidentally realizing that she had been mesmered once before, in relation to her mother’s death. Armed with questions and seeking answers, Bree delves into a whole new plane of life.

Now, with such a compelling premise, it was slower a read than expected, mostly due to the egregiously long ‘tutorial stage’. The ‘tutorial stage’ is the segment in the beginning portion of fantasy books, especially ones where the MC is dropped in from a mundane life, where the mechanics and laws of supernatural elements are explained so that the reader can follow the plot. In Legendborn, this lasts for half the book. The actual time spent explaining is just fine, it’s the incredibly pointless romance between Bree and Nick that bloats it so. It turns what could have been gotten through in a fifth of the book into half. While their chemistry and banter are natural and entertaining, it doesn’t change the fact that their relationship is oddly placed and disruptive to the pacing.

To elaborate on that, the romantic subplot detracts from every character’s development, the rich and deep lore that comes with the world, and the main plot itself. Deoni introduces many concepts, such as the different magical societies, or that the scions being awakened cuts their lives short, go underexplored for the sake of another scene where Nick and Bree flirt, or Sel threatens her. Bree herself also suffers from it, losing out on expanding on the promising dynamics between her and her family and friends. All that is left out to establish a love triangle between Bree and the two boys. That could be excused if there was anything unique about the romantic subplots, but it’s a tired repeat of the trope. An exceptional girl who is destined to save the world must choose between the human version of a golden retriever and the most petulant edgelord to ever grace the page. It’s a shame because the platonic relationshi[s and setting are full of potential that went underutilized in the first book. I still hold out hope for when the second comes out.

This would be best for younger teens, who haven’t seen the same relationship play out in two dozen other series before. It’s not a bad or unpleasant dynamic, and Deoni does well with it, but I fount that it detracts from the plot threads where her ideas really shine.

This is My brain in love is a book based around the main character Jocelyn Wu. Jocelyn is in her Junior year of High School. She lives with her parents who owe their own Chinese restaurant, A-plus Chinese Garden. Her family has owned the restaurant for awhile, but one day Jocelyn gets new she doesn’t want to find real. Her father tells her the restaurant is going under, but after they hire new employee Will do things take a turn? Will Domenici comes from another school in the town. He is well matured and is a success student when it comes to school. Most importantly, he is known for his writing. With the help of Jocelyns fathers dumpling skills, they change the menu and start to gain success. Throughout the restaurant, Jocelyn and will however has formed some chemistry along the way.

This book was such an entertainment to read. It had short chapters which were filled with tons of detail. One thing I liked about the chapter were the author, I. W. Gregorio added bold headings of either Jocelyn or Wills name so as a reader we knew whose point of view was being explained. This book starts off with a rough road for all, but as the book goes on the main focus is about love and what it takes to save the family. If you like short chapter, but yet filled with ton of information this book is for you! I highly recommend this book, for it was packed with interesting obstacles, sucking the reader into the story making it hard to put the book down.

“History gorges itself on women raised high and then brought low by men grasping for their power.”

A YA fantasy novel, Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard is a standard fiction read for beginner readers exploring the YA genre. Set in the imaginative world of immortals, Spindles, and Corbloods, Realm Breaker explores the journey of 17-year-old Corayne, an immortal named Domacridhan, 30-year-old Sorasa Sarn, and 17-year-old Andry Trelland as they set out to close a Spindle and to stop an evil force from taking over their world.

Although a great novel filled with an adventurous plot, Realm Breaker was a very repetitive book similar to Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. As a loyal Sarah J. Maas fan, I was not very happy to find such a similar plot line: immortals, assassins, different realms, magic, and royalty were present in this book as well. Aveyard’s writing was not as enjoyable as I remember; I read her Red Queen series when it first released. Even with the Red Queen series the plot dragged on and on and I am concerned that the following books in the Realm Breaker series will do the same. I did not enjoy the pacing either; pages and pages were filled with unnecessary descriptions that dragged the book on for what seemed like forever.

As a romance fan, it’s sad to say that I did not enjoy the slow-burn romance in this novel as well. Again, the plot seemed to drag on with very little space for romantic relationships despite the possible love triangle between Dom, Andry, and Corayne. Romance in YA novels are a very important aspect and I was very disappointed when there was barely any room for romantic scenes as there was for Red Queen. On the bright side, I did enjoy the characters! I always love a good, stubborn female role and Corayne was just that. Sorasa, the assassin, reminded me a little too much of Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass but she was still a great character that added just the right amount of sass to the plot. Andry Trelland was an okay character; I felt like he wasn’t that developed as a character and could have used more time focused around his life but he was still an enjoyable character to read about. Lastly, Domacridhan. He was my least favorite character just because of the uncanny resemblance to another Throne of Glass character. Despite this, I do have to say Aveyard did a great job developing his character and showing the reader how an immortal’s view of life differs from that of a mortal.

Even though I did not enjoy this book, I still think it’s a great read for beginner YA readers who are looking for a book in the fantasy/adventure genre. I don’t believe that books have an age limit but for the sole reason that there are some gruesome descriptions, I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 15. Even though I was not a fan of this book, I do believe that many YA readers will find this book a great read.

The Darkness Outside Us, by Eliot Schrefer, is an amazing combination of sci-fi and romance, with elements of trust and betrayal, and life and death.

This book starts out as just your classic futuristic sci-fi set in space when 17-year-old Ambrose goes on a mission to rescue his sister who is stranded on the planet Titan. Ambrose soon realizes that he is not the only person on the ship when he meets his shipmate Kodiak. Ambrose and Kodiak come from opposing countries that are at war with each other. 

Set in the future, The Darkness Outside Us tells the story of Ambrose and Kodiak as they build trust in each other and take on the challenges of their mission (and trust me, there are many).

Despite the seemingly typical beginning, there are many unexpected twists and turns which make this novel a thrilling page-turner that will keep you guessing until the end.

“If I’m going to die, I’d like to actually live first. And then I’ll die.”

Five Feet Apart is a book about two teens dealing with cystic fibrosis (CF). Stella and Will the main characters basically live at the hospital. All they dream about is being able to live a normal life. With all the health issues they miss out on school trips, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Having CF they become good friends helping each other out with treatments, but with cystic fibrosis they have to stay 5 feet away from each other so they don’t cross contaminate. This is challenging for the two as they fall in love with one another. Stella has her life all together and organized she even made an app to help with timing for her medicine. On the other hand Will doesn’t take his treatments seriously but Stella changes him for the better and he starts doing treatments.

This book is an amazing read and has readers understand why life is worth living. if you like books about life changing obstacles and love triangles such as two people not being able to be together I’d recommend this read. as I read this book personally I felt trapped in the reading and did not want to put the book down. A neat thing in the book was every chapter was switched between Will or Stella with their story. I liked how it swapped roles each chapter instead of one person sharing someone else’s story.

Hello LA Readers! I thought you might be interested in this:

2022 Morris Award Finalists

We have several of these titles and I’m happy to get the others if you are interested in checking one of these out!

“Nothing ever really happens. Or, more accurately, nothing new ever really happens.”

Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King follows the existential crisis of a sixteen-year-old girl, Sarah. This “crisis” comes after a series of unfortunate events involving her parents, her brother, a trip to Mexico, Vicky “The-Grand-Prize-Winner”, and her art teacher.

This book was a very enjoyable read that perfectly captured the naive perspective of a child navigating difficult circumstances. It illustrated how the truth is often hidden in plain sight because of a lack of understanding of a situation; a lack of maturity. This book also switched between the perspectives of Sarah and her mother, which further helped to explain the situation that Sarah is in. This change in perspectives also helped to bring awareness to the stories of two different types of victims, and emphasized how even though these two characters live together, they’re victims of two different situations.

I would highly recommend Still Life With Tornado to people who don’t mind being upended by a story or caught off guard by characters. This book is also good for those who enjoy a slow reveal of the truth and short impactful chapters.

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when rich people move into the hood, where it’s a little bit broken and a little bit forgotten, the first thing they want to do is clean it up.”

Pride by Ibi Zoboi is a young adult “Pride and Prejudice remix” that follows the character Zuri Benitz, a seventeen year old Black girl in Brooklyn, New York, after the rich Darcy family moves into the big house across the street. Zuri immediately finds herself with a great dislike toward one of the two sons, Darius Darcy, but she seems to be alone in her opinion of him. And while the new neighbors distract her, Zuri can’t help but notice how her neighborhood is changing before her eyes, the victim of gentrification. Pride follows the structure of Pride and Prejudice while also introducing a few new topics as well that are unique to Zuri, e.g. gentrification, Black pride, grief, and more. I thought these topics were such a great addition, but I wished that they had been delved into a little bit deeper––they alI felt like they were touched on at a very surface level, and left me wanting more. I was very satisfied with the retelling aspect, though, and enjoyed searching for comparisons between it and the original Pride and Prejudice story; it kept me thoroughly engaged as I read. I thought that Zoboi’s retelling was a great take on bringing representation into a well-loved novel––one that originally has none, and turns Jane Austen’s nineteenth century love story into a contemporary tale about a Black girl from ever-changing New York––who is proud of her culture, family, and home––as she navigates her first love. A recommendation for anyone interested in modern takes on classics!

“The sooner you let people be who they want to be, the better for all.”

The Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee is a historical fiction novel about a young Chinese-English girl named Valora Luck who journeys on the famous Titanic voyage in search of her twin brother Jamie and a new life as an acrobat in America. 

Although the Titanic is one of the most renowned tragedies in history, I found The Luck of the Titanic to be a surprisingly uplifting novel (initially). There was never a slow moment in the plot of Valora’s story, but I found that the characters and their relationships were really the backbone of the novel, which is something I really enjoy in a book. Even beyond the delightful romantic relationship, there were friendships, mentors and their mentees, and of course, Valora and Jamie’s relationship. Their “twinship” fueled the book with its entertaining dialogue and unconditional sibling love. A strong point of the novel was the characterization of Valora specifically. Throughout her journey, her perseverance towards her goal never wavered, yet she still valued other people in her life selflessly. Further, Lee touches on important themes such as racism, grief, and Chinese culture and tradition in a way that is sensitive and didn’t overpower the plot, which I appreciated. 

While The Luck of Titanic was not intricately written nor a milestone in literature, I found it to be a great quick read that was enjoyable yet thought provoking. Readers who appreciate strong female characters who challenge prejudice and books that are mostly propped up by deep and meaningful character relationships and identities, I would recommend The Luck of the Titanic as a lovely quick read. Or, if someone’s just looking for a feel-good historical fiction novel with a nice, happy cry at the end, this book is for them.