Young Adult

Review of Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl

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Owl in Love
By Patrice Kindl

Star Rating: 
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Number of Pages: 224owl-paper-lg

Date Started AND Finished: October 26, 2015

Synopsis:(From Amazon)
Part bird of prey, part teenage girl in love, and now part stalker, Owl Tycho’s life is complicated. It becomes even more so when an inept new shape-shifter appears on the scene. Funny, smart, and supernatural, Owl is a young woman worth getting to know.

Review:
Owl is both unique and odd, while suffering through many symptoms of a regular teenage girl, she is also has to deal with being an owl and the complications that come to her because of that.  Through finding human friendship and realizing that sometimes your undying love isn’t actually love, Owl’s struggles are quite similar to the average teenager.  Unfortunately, while Owl’s parents being old school witches does explain why she has been able to successfully live in the human world as a shapeshifter, the way in which they don’t seem to know or care about the way of regular people (because as witches, they are apparently a class that stands apart from a traditional human), and that detracts quite a bit from the overall story, until towards the last third of the novel.  While the story did take a few chapters to draw me in, especially due to the oddness of Owl’s parents, once I was further along I couldn’t put it down.

Author Bio: (From Amazon)
Patrice Kindl’s first novel, Owl in Love, was an ALA Notable Book for Children, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and an SCBWI Golden Kite Award Honor Book. She lives in Middleburgh, New York.

Check out Patrice Kindl’s Amazon page.


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Review of Love on Laird Avenue by Cindy A Christiansen

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Love on Laird Avenue
By Cindy A Christiansen

Star Rating: 
Genre: Romance
Number of Pages: 211

Date Started: 10/22/2015 (rough guess)
Date Finished: 10/24/2015 (definitely when I finished it)

Synopsis:(From Amazon)laird
Tatum Stewart is trying to make it on her own
without her over-protective father. She starts a new computer consulting business and buys a new bungalow on Laird Avenue in Sugar House, Utah. She has no idea that the forces of evil are working against her that is, Burke Woods. His grandfather owned the home during Prohibition, and Burke wants the valuables stashed in her basement. Tatum’s dream home soon turns into her worst nightmare requiring her to hire the local renovation expert, Ryan Bulldarren. Who knew he would come with his own protection manual when he buys her a Bullmastiff dog as her new security system and sets about sabotaging her dates. Can these two quirky individuals figure out what Burke’s up to before it’s too late? Can they manage to keep their relationship strictly business?

Review:
This book is one of the best romance novels I have ever read, and I didn’t want it to end.  While Tatum was originally annoying and hard to relate to the reasons why made a lot of sense, and it was great seeing her overcome her problems and hangups while trying to become a responsible adult.  While Tatum was a bit hard to like it was impossible not to love Ryan from the start.  Ryan has some legitimate problems that he could have fixed, but his brother and father didn’t realize the amount of strain they put on him by demeaning his intelligence instead of looking for a reason Ryan couldn’t seem to do certain things well.  Together Tatum and Ryan learn that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself, and sometimes an unlikely ally can turn out to be one of the most inspiring people you have ever met.

This book is so incredibly real.  I absolutely love Christiansen’s explanation of Ryan’s life and the tribulations he has had.

MILD SPOILER AHEAD!

Christiansen makes having a disability relatable in a way that not many others could.  There are many people who have likely been in situations like Ryan growing up, and there are probably still thousands of people who have never been diagnosed with learning disabilities and are instead thought of as lesser of a person.  Ryan overcoming his disability and learning how to cope is inspirational to those who may be in similar situations or know people who have been.  Most realistic of all is the fact that Ryan could very well be a real person, who really went through this and learned, finally, how to live life to the fullest.

I really think this novel could have an amazing novella follow up, and I’m sure anyone who reads it would know exactly what I’d like to see!

christiansenAuthor Bio: (From Amazon)
Cindy A. Christiansen writes sweet romance with humor, suspense…and dogs! With over thirty health issues and two autistic children, she struggles to write but finds it cathartic. She loves going where only her characters can take her. She loves dogs and always includes them in her books and features them on her covers. She donates time and money to organizations that help abused and abandoned dogs.

Although she’s an LDS Christian author, she finds writing about a character’s relationship with God as private as she does bedroom scenes. She chooses to let the morals of her characters speak for them.

She lives with her wonderful family and delightful dogs in West Jordan, UT.

Check out Cindy A. Christiansen’s Amazon page.


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Review of A Little Princess; being the whole story of Sara Crewe by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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Star Rating: 
Genre: Young People, Young Adult
Number of Pages: 2649781435142091_p0_v4_s260x420

Season Read: Fall

Synopsis:(From Amazon)
At Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies, young Sara Crewe enjoys the friendship of her classmates and the staff–much to stern Miss Minchin’s disdain. When Sara is unexpectedly impoverished, she is forced to become a servant under Miss Minchin’s control. To escape her dreary life, Sara imagines herself a princess, and her experiences soon teach her that being a princess on the inside counts more than any outward expression of royalty.

Review:
I love this novel so much.  What’s wrong with being a princess?  Being a princess is hard work.  You have to remain poise and collected no matter what adversity strikes you.  You have to do what is good for all above what is good for yourself.  You must also be kind.  Are those not the attributes many like to see in not just women, but all people in society?  There is a great deal of difference between “princess” and “damsel in distress.”  Sara is an amazing character who, despite everything horrible going on around her, tries to remain strong and trustworthy for those who rely on her.And I still love the 1997 movie just as much, although there are some significant changes to what happens.  Most of the changes between the book and movie adaptation could have been done to make it easier to understand the complete story for a new generation, and to tell the story without having a three hour movie.

500px-Frances_BurnettAuthor Bio: (From Wikipedia)
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was an American-English writer of plays and prose fiction. She is best known for the three children’s novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (published in 1885–1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).

For more information, check out Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Wikipedia page.

 





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Review of As Black as Ebony by Salla Simukka

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As Black as Ebony
Book 3 in The Snow White Trilogy
By Salla Simukka
Translated by Owen Witesman

Star Rating: 

Genre: Mystery, Young Adult

Number of Pages: 208

Season Read: Summer

Synopsis:(From Amazon)As-Black-as-Ebony
After a harrowing summer in Prague, Lumikki Andersson is back in Finland at her prestigious art school, concentrating on graduation. She lands the lead role in the school’s modern-day adaptation of “Snow White” and finds herself facing a new distraction—Sampsa, the boy playing the role of the huntsman, who has an undeniable allure that makes Lumikki conflicted about what, and who, she wants.

As Lumikki starts falling into something more than just her role on stage, a shadow is cast over the production when she begins receiving creepily obsessive love notes. Lumikki can’t ignore the increasingly hostile tone of her admirer’s messages, and when the stalker threatens mass violence at the play’s premiere, Lumikki knows she must discover who is behind the menace and stop the person at all costs.

With a foe who has a heart as black as ebony, does Lumikki have any hope of saving those she loves?

Review:
I was the first to admit that I had been quite disappointed with the second book in The Snow White Trilogy, White as Snow.  It had seemed so short!  The book itself, the mystery within, had been awesome.  Now, the concluding book, is perfection.

Lumikki knows that something is wrong with her.  It has nothing to do with having to become her namesake on stage, though she finds that to be a bit odd.  She has to fight through what she feels in her heart, and what she thinks she remembers from her past.  Someone out there has done a great deal of investigating her, and she doesn’t want that person to harm her or the people she is closest to.  While she thinks of a particular few who might have the potential to stalk her, the truth is far more explosive than anyone likely would have considered, proving that Simukka really does have a knack for incredibly interwoven stories.

simukkaAuthor Bio: (From Amazon)
Winner of the 2013 Topelius prize, Salla Simukka is an author of young adult fiction and a screenwriter. She has written several novels and one collection of short stories for young readers, and has translated adult fiction, children’s books, and plays. She writes book reviews for several Finnish newspapers and she also writes for TV. Simukka lives in Tampere, Finland.

Photo Credit: Karoliina Ek

 

 


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Review of Schooled in Magic by Christopher Nuttall

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By Christopher Nuttall
Star Rating: 

Genre: Young Adult
Number of Pages: 310

schooledinmagic

Synopsis:(From Amazon)
Emily is a teenage girl pulled from our world into a world of magic and mystery by a necromancer who intends to sacrifice her to the dark gods. Rescued in the nick of time by an enigmatic sorcerer, she discovers that she possesses magical powers and must go to Whitehall School to learn how to master them. There, she learns the locals believe that she is a “Child of Destiny,” someone whose choices might save or damn their world … a title that earns her both friends and enemies. A stranger in a very strange land, she may never fit into her new world …

…and the necromancer is still hunting her. If Emily can’t stop him, he might bring about the end of days.

 

Review:
I will rarely ever say this about a book, but I finished this book only so that I could write an honest review of it.  This novel is completely horrid; it is unoriginal, redundant, and unpleasant to read.  Emily, the protagonist, seems to hate life and has no reason for living, which makes it pretty hard to like her or empathize with her in any way.  Even when something crazy starts happening to Emily, she merely thinks that she didn’t have much of a future anyway.

Constantly the new world Emily is drawn into is likened to computer and computer programming (binary).  In order to explain all of the random bits that Emily seems to know, and to connect her and the computer analogies, we are told, not shown, that Emily is a “nerd” and that she sometimes plays Dungeons and Dragons, a cliche.  The entire novel seems to have been written as a way for the author to complain about everything he dislikes, stating more than once how stupid cheerleaders are, and how there are bullies everywhere.

Emily, when brought to a new world, both wants to copyright her “inventions” but also intends to introduce things as if they were created by her, such as bras and typewriters.  The school Nuttall “invented” is very similar to Hogwarts, having moving staircases and classrooms, the same general classes, and a headmaster who lets Emily (think Emily= female Harry Potter for this novel) get away with nearly killing a princess.  The book had some original notions, such as the school being set on top of a ley line, but overall there was too much borrowed from other stories to make this one stand alone.

If you want to read a book about going to a magical school, I highly recommend you can this and go find a copy of Harry Potter.

 

Christopher NuttallAuthor Bio:
Christopher Nuttall has been planning sci-fi books since he learned to read. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chris created an alternate history website and eventually graduated to writing full-sized novels. Studying history independently allowed him to develop worlds that hung together and provided a base for storytelling. After graduating from university, Chris started writing full-time. As an indie author, he has published eighteen novels and one novella (so far) through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Professionally, he has published The Royal Sorceress, Bookworm, A Life Less Ordinary, Sufficiently Advanced Technology, The Royal Sorceress II: The Great Game and Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling with Elsewhen Press, and Schooled in Magic through Twilight Times Books.

As a matter of principle, all of Chris’s self-published Kindle books are DRM-free.

Chris has a blog where he published updates, snippets and world-building notes at http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/ and a website at http://www.chrishanger.net.

Chris is currently living in Malaysia with his partner, muse, and critic Aisha.





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Review of Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

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Briar Rose
By Jane Yolen

Star Rating: 
Genre: Young Adult
Number of Pages: 224

Time Started: 9/12/2015 10 pm
Time Finished: 9/13/2015 11 pm

Synopsis:(From Amazon)
Ever since she was a child, Rebecca has been enchanted by her grandmother Gemma’s stories about Briar Rose. But a promise Rebecca makes to her dying grandmother will lead her on a remarkable journey to uncover the truth of Gemma’s astonishing claim: I am Briar Rose. A journey that will lead her to unspeakable brutality and horror. But also to redemption and hope.

 

Review:
The last book that gripped me like this was The Book Thief.  I was drawn in and couldn’t wait to know more as the story unfolded.  I, like many others, love fairy tales.  The title “Briar Rose” was what caused me to pull this down off the bookstore shelf.  The synopsis sounded quite interesting, and really gave me no indication of what I was in for.  If you’re looking for a book that makes history relatable, and showcases how trauma can manifest itself, look no further.

Briar Rose is a hybrid retelling of Sleeping Beauty, which manages to entwine the past of a woman into the fairy tale.  The constant showcase of bits and pieces of Becca’s grandmother Gemma’s version of the story works to seamlessly mix the past with a warning for the future.

Although the story is original and compelling, there are places where the writing leaves something to be desired.  The repetition and disconnect between Becca and her two sisters is a bit jarring, and their lack of depth and characterization at times makes the story seem forced.  While Becca is our protagonist, we learn little of her besides her love for her grandmother.  Several times, as if thrown in haphazardly, Becca says that she is good at something or capable of something, explaining why, instead of showing us, and often about unimportant things, such as the ability to read a map and give directions.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and intend to keep it around for years to come, hoping that someday friends or family members will get the enjoyment out of it that I did.  I found it quite gripping and hard to put down.  Due to some content that younger children simply wouldn’t understand I would recommend reading ages 6th grade and up.

If this is a book you have read and have fallen in love with you absolutely must read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.  I will say that this one did not pitch me into the emotional upheaval that The Book Thief did, perhaps because the protagonist is too far removed from the past.  Both of the novels mentioned above will bring you into the world that Becca’s grandmother experienced, and you will be taken for quite a ride.

 

Author Bio:
As Jane Yolen’s biography listed on amazon is at least triple what the synopsis of the story is, you can instead learn about Jane at her Amazon page here.








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Review of The Subtle Beauty by Ann Hunter

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Crowns of Twelve Book 1
By Ann Hunter
Star Rating: 

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Number of Pages: 170

Season Read: Summer


Synopsis:(From Amazon)
A cursed prince. A vain beauty. Glory is the seventh daughter of Balthazar, High King of the Twelve Kingdoms. Glory hopes that – of all her sisters – she can escape the fate of a loveless marriage. But on the night she plans to elope with the royal falconer, her world comes crashing down: Her father announces Glory’s betrothal to Eoghan of the Blood Realm – a prince no one has ever seen. The prince is said to be a recluse, cursed and deformed by the gods for the sins of his power-hungry father. Yet when Glory is trapped in Blackthorn Keep she discovers that not everything is what she expected. An insulting gryphon, a persistent ghost, and a secret plan to usurp the prince keep Glory reeling. Can she overcome her vanity to learn that what you want isn’t necessarily what you need—and save the cursed prince?

 

Review:
The very beginning of the novel was hard to grasp, seeming unimportant and hard to get through.  Although the setting is done quite well, it seems that the Celtic vibe Hunter is aiming for is lost the further in one reads.  Once the fairy tale characters begin to appear, it becomes a bit easier to understand, and to empathize with Xander.  I actually really enjoyed our “bad guy”, Sylus, because although warned, Xander does decide to visit him anyway.  Is Sylus really the bad guy, or does he simply let others find the darkness in themselves?

Once deeper into the story, it’s hard not to care for Glory’s attempted suitor, Colin.  Poor Colin leaves his job and ventures to save Glory, so that they can live out a life they had planned, but he shifts and changes throughout the way.  When Glory is brought to Blackthorn Keep she realizes that although she wanted desperately for Colin, in the end, perhaps she is better off there.  Despite Colin’s actions in trying to save Glory, it’s hard to forget just how cruel she had originally been to him when he faces horrible consequences.  The relationship between Colin and Glory is an excellent representation of infatuation, where looks provide the sole basis of love.

I like that Glory isn’t a like-able character, but most will be able to relate to her.  She has personality, and she grows throughout the book, much like many of us do in life.  Glory learns that her father has more of an understanding and reasoning for what he does than she is aware of, and that getting everything you want isn’t the answer to happiness.

There are lots of fun fairy tale retellings hiding throughout this book, and while I don’t want to say exactly what, I will say that oh, Beauty and the Beast, but perhaps reversed.  There are more ways to be a beast than merely appearances.

If you love fairy tales, fantasy, intrigue and surprises, you definitely need to find a copy of this book!

 

Author Bio: (from Amazon)
Multi-award winning author, Ann Hunter, is the creator of the young adult fantasy series Crowns of the Twelve (including the novels The Subtle Beauty, Moonlight, Fallen, with A Piece of Sky, Ashes, and The Rose In The Briar to follow). She likes cherry so
da with chocolate ice cream, is a mom first and a writer second, has a secret identity, and thinks the Twilight movies are cheesier than cheez whiz (which is why they are her guilty pleasure!)

She lives in a cozy Utah home with her two awesome kids and epic husband.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT HER HOMEPAGE:
https://www.facebook.com/authorannhunter

AND MAILING LIST:
http://eepurl.com/VZsFn

 

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