Category Archives: YA

The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co 2) by Jonathan Stroud

Stars: 5 out of 5

I really like this series so far, and that must be worth something coming from someone who doesn’t usually read YA books. Yet this is how YA should be – smart, interesting, with engaging characters and a developing plotline that evolves from book to book.

The characters are engaging and feel like real people, even if Lucy can come across as rather snotty and judgmental at times, especially when she describes other women they encounter. But I think that stems from deep insecurities she has about her appearance and her worth as a woman. After all, she has never been valued as anything other than an Agent, so that’s what she tries to build her whole personality around.

Lockwood is charming and charismatic as ever. And he is smart. He is the brains of this company, even if George is the one who does all the research. And as it often happens with very smart people, he has no patience for those who are a bit less smart them him, or who fail to do what he wants them to do. Thus why he was so irritated with George throughout this book and failed to see that his friend was getting more and more enthralled by the mirror.

All in all, I love the dynamics within this group. They feel like excellent partners, but more then that, they are becoming good friends, even sort of surrogate family to each other. 

The world depicted in this series is fascinating, in a gruesome and depressing kind of way. The adults live a state of constant fear, and the children are robbed of their childhood and forced to confront the horrors of the Visitors. Let’s be honest, the Rat House was terrifying. I like that we discover more and more details about what it means to live day to day with the Problem, and how people cope and adapt. I also like the little hints we get in each book that there is something bigger going on behind the scenes.

I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series as soon as possible to learn more about Lockwood’s sister, and the mysterious Orpheus society and its ties to Marissa Fittes.

The Archived (The Archived 1) by Victoria Schwab

Stars: 4 out of 5

Another book scratched off my oh so long TBR list. This one has been languishing on it since 2014. 

I really liked it. The world is interesting. The existence of an Archive where all the memories of people who die are kept is fascinating. Though I would like to know who created it and for what purpose. Since technically, the Histories just kind of stay there and should never “wake up”, and should never escape into the Outer world. Yet they do, and they go bad every single time. I wonder why? 

And I definitely could relate to Mac’s pain and her struggle to come to terms with Ben’s death. I understand that she blames herself, no matter how absurd that is. I think for her the grief of loosing her little brother compounded with the grief of loosing her grandfather, with whom she was a lot closer than with her parents. Grief can make you do some stupid things. I also understand how having to keep her job as a Keeper secret isn’t exactly conductive to creating strong friendships. Honestly, I don’t envy Mac her life. It’s lonely, having to lie to everyone all the time. Having to put on a mask for others and never ever show them your real self. 

All in all, I was also pretty okay with our protagonist, though I question her grandfather’s decision to pass his mantle of Keeper to an 11 year old child. This is not just irresponsible, its downright cruel. Not to mention that a child, at least in  normal family, would not have the freedom of movement necessary to do this job. Are you seriously telling me that Mac’s been sneaking out of the house at all kinds of hours of day and night and coming home with cuts and bruises, and nobody noticed? Her parents didn’t sound the alarm? Her teachers didn’t suspect child abuse and call child protective services?

I understand that they might pay less attention to Mac after the tragedy that struck them with Ben, locked in their own grief as they are, but she’s been a Keeper for 4 years before then. Are you telling me that her parents never called her on her lies? Never questioned why she is hurt so often? That was the thing that was the hardest to suspend my disbelief on.

This book also suffers from the usual YA trope where the characters simply don’t talk to each other about important things. A lot of the problems Mac had to deal with were created or made worse by her unwillingness to confide in others. She could have told Wesley about what’s happening in the Archives. He isn’t stupid. He’d figured out that the uptick in woken Histories wasn’t normal. She could have told him about Owen and asked for his help. Instead, she chose to lie and stubbornly try to deal with the situation on her own. Well, we know how that turned out.

We also have the incompetent adults trope that made me roll my eyes a couple times while reading this book. It’s so old and tired that it gives me the hives now. It would honestly make for a much better story if the adults and young adults worked together. Then again, we might not even have a story, because if Mac’s parents paid enough attention to her, she wouldn’t be a Keeper, because she would have been grounded the first time she’d snuck out at night and came back with bruises and knife marks. Oh, and in therapy.

But all in all, I actually really enjoyed the story while I read it, and all those questions didn’t really bother me until AFTER I had finished the book and started thinking about it. And I will definitely read the next book in the series to see if we get more answers about the Archives.

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co 1) by Jonathan Stroud

Stars: 5 out of 5.

I watched the Netflix series based on these books and liked them, so I decided to check out the original works as well. Especially since there was a lot less backstory and worldbuilding in the tv series then I would have liked. Well, I’m glad I picked up the books, even if they are technically YA. This is quality storytelling, and I loved every minute of it.

I also noticed that while the tv series follow the first book almost word for word when it comes to the events that happen, they are a lot less effective at describing the character motivations. I honestly thought that Lockwood was a pretentious ass when I watched the series. And an ass who constantly puts others in danger to boot. Well, I’m glad to say that he isn’t like that in the books. Reckless, yes. Excitable – definitely. But also brilliant, smart, and with nerves of steel. I actually liked his character in the book while in the tv series I found him mildly irritating at best. 

Same goes for George. The way he is and the way he behaves in the book is much more natural than how they portrayed him in the series. And I’m not against race-swapping characters, but they could have found an actor who fit George’s description a bit better. After all, the fact that he is overweight and not particularly handsome weights heavily on his character and his behavior. That’s where a lot of his insecurities come from. And that opportunity was completely lost in the tv series.

Also, is it me, or is the book a lot more scary and more… cinematic, shall we say? I mean the Red Room episode in the series just made me shrug, but when I was reading about it in the book, I literally had shivers. That whole night in the most haunted house in England was extremely well-written. And showed all the team members at their best, especially Lockwood and Lucy. The whole Annie Ward story was also better presented than in the TV series, in my opinion. 

I also loved that we get a lot more backstory on the Problem and more examples of the Visitors, as well as how everyday life is in a world where nights aren’t safe, and ghosts that the majority of the population can’t see can still seriously harm and even kill them. I would like to know more about this. I also would like to know if this Problem is only local to England or if it spread to the rest of Europe as well. It was mentioned that it had started in London and was slowly spreading into more rural parts of the country over the last fifty years, so maybe it hasn’t made it across the Channel just yet. 

I’m sure I will get answers to at least some of my questions if I continue with the series, which I most certainly will!

One Dark Window (The Shepherd King 1) by Rachel Gillig

Stars: 5 out of 5

This book is dark and poetic, cruel and poignant, horrifying and fascinating. I loved every page of it, which is rare for a YA book. So I would say this is a YA book done right. No over emphasis on “feelings” and love triangles, but just good old-fashioned storytelling at its best. 

The world in this book is fascinating – it’s dark and unforgiving, but has a strange poetic beauty to it as well. This is a single kingdom that is cut out from the rest of the world by a wall of mists that turn anyone who wanders into their midst without a charm insane. And they also slowly choke the land, advancing closer and closer to human habitations, killing the crops and blocking out the sun. Oh, and some citizens get the fever and acquire magical abilities, which in this kingdom is a certain death sentence not only for the infected, but for their family as well, if they hide them from the King’s justice.

Oh, and magic in this world has a price. Any sort of magic, even the Providence Cards, exact a bloody price from the user. Nothing is free, and the reckoning always comes. I loved that! I’ve read too many books were magic is seemingly effortless and free for the caster, as if creating something out of nothing is a perfectly normal occurrence. Having magic exact a price is a refreshing change. That way there is a balance – a magic user can do terrible things in this world, but the price to pay would be just as terrible.

I also really liked the characters, especially Elspeth. All her actions and reactions made sense. She wasn’t the Chosen one, or a special snowflake. She was real and very human, and very very flawed. And she was lost and battling her own personal Nightmare, a loosing battle, I must say. I also liked how she slowly changed in this book from only caring about staying safe and hidden to actually embracing a dangerous cause. Yes, she’d done it at first because she wanted to be cured of her affliction, but by the end of the book she gives in to the Nightmare, fully knowing that she would be lost, for the hope that by her actions she can save others.

The writing is also very engaging. It’s rather poetic at times. I found myself repeating some sentences out loud just because they had a certain hypnotic rhythm to them. I think this adds to the slightly surreal and dreamlike impression that this book gives. A kingdom shrouded by mists where monsters dwell. And sometimes monsters wear human clothing…

I would say that my only complaint is that I didn’t like Elspeth’s love interest as much as any other characters. Ravyn isn’t bad per se… He is just blah. Dark and brooding with a hidden heart of gold – we’ve seen that done a hundred times over. He gets lost in the background any time Elm or Emory or even Ione are in the scene. And honestly, Elspeth had a lot more chemistry with all of them instead of Ravyn. 

Other than that, I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, because there are a lot of unanswered questions left in the story and some rather unpleasant revelations. I also want to know what happened to the Shepherd King to turn him into the monster he became. Oh, and the events at the end of the book 1 definitely need an answer. It’s not a cliffhanger, by any means, it’s just not a happy ending you would expect from YA. Then again, this is not a world that thrives on happy endings.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Seraphina (Seraphina 1) by Rachel Hartman

Stars: 5 out of 5

This book has been languishing on my TBR list since 2013, and I’m glad I joined the Cleaning out your TBR list this year, because I have read some amazing books that I had added on my list way back when, and never got around to reading. Seraphina is one such book.

I don’t usually read YA or romance. I used to love these genders when I was younger, but I grew tired of the tropes, and some typical plot lines in these book usually drive me up the wall, like the inevitable love triangle or a too dumb to live heroine who nevertheless is a special snowflake. 

I am glad to say that none of these tropes are present in Seraphina. This is a very well-written story with an interesting world, fleshed out characters, and a clever plot. This doesn’t read like YA. No, scratch that. This reads like what good YA should be.

I loved Seraphina as a character. She is smart and headstrong, but also vulnerable. She has unresolved issues and a deep sense of worthlessness. I am glad that her journey in this book is of self-discovery, but more importantly of discovering her own worth. She goes from someone who tries to be as ordinary and unnoticeable as possible, to someone who can perform in front of a ballroom full of people and not flinch from the limelight. She goes from hating herself for being half-dragon, to embracing her heritage and feeling a sense of pride. 

I also love that by the end of the book, she finally accepts the other grotesques as part of her tribe, instead of just figments of her imagination that she had to hide in her mental garden. I could feel her joy when she met Lans and Abdo, and even Dame Okra. When she finally allowed herself to feel like she was part of a family.

The central theme of this book is self-discovery and evolution, I think. Selda and Kriggs grow up tremendously through this book as well, and a lot of it is thanks to Seraphina. Even Orma finally makes the decision not to hide his feelings anymore or feel ashamed of his family. Everybody learns and evolves through the events of this book and comes out better at the end of it. Or at least, with a better sense of what their purpose in life is. 

And even though this book leaves our heroes with a lot of uncertainty – a war with dragons looming on the horizon, the Queen’s health in jeopardy, a shaky alliance with other human kingdoms, it also leaves us with a sense of renewed hope. The status quo of the last 40 years has been broken, but hopefully something better will emerge out of it in the end. I also hope that Seraphina will find her place in this world and her worth.

I am excited to see where the story goes from here, so I have already purchased the second book in the series.

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance 1) by Naomi Novik

Stars: 5 out of 5

This is not your ordinary magic academy book. In fact, I doubt Harry Potter would have survived past the first night in Scholomance, because he wouldn’t have been an enclave kid, but just a looser like El. 

In fact, the world of Scholomance is rather bleak and unforgiving. Being a wizard isn’t something to be excited about, unless you have the privilege to be born in an enclave. Eighty percent of wizard children born outside of enclaves don’t survive to puberty, yet alone adulthood. Why? Because they are considered tasty treats for the myriads of mals roaming the world, looking for a snack. And a kid who barely started manifesting his magic doesn’t have the skills to defend themselves from the mals. So the solution was to create the Scholomance – a magical school that would also serve as shelter for those children lucky enough to be chosen to attend. They would have four years to learn and hone their skills. All they had to do was survive the graduation. Sure, people died there as well, but the survival rates were a lot higher than risking it on your own in the outside world instead.

This paints a grim picture doesn’t it? It’s also a fascinating take on a secluded magical community leaving alongside normal human population, or “mundanes” as they call them. I also loved the explanation why it was so much harder to do magic when surrounded by normal people. The idea of belief influencing the potency of spells is rather unique. 

Oh, and our protagonist is no Harry Potter either. Well, scratch that. She kind of is, I guess? In the sense that she is a chosen one and has a whole prophecy about her. Granted the prophecy goes along the lines of doom and gloom and bringing death to all enclaves. No wonder she is bitter and distrustful. No wonder she is a loner who assumes the worst of people. It also doesn’t help that most of the spells she gets from the school are spells of mass destruction or subjugation, as befitted a Dark Overlord… which she desperately doesn’t want to be. Add all that, and El is a bundle of bitterness with a soft mushy core under all that armor. She is a delight to follow in her slow progression from a loner to someone who finds a purpose and even real friends.

The concept of mana vs malia is also rather unique. I don’t often encounter this conundrum in other books about magic, but if you think about it, it makes sense – you can’t create something out of nothing. So any spell you cast has to be fueled by something. Mana is the fuel you build on your own. Malia is something you syphon out of the world around you – animals, plants… other people. It’s easy to get and you can have an almost unlimited pool of it… if you decide to be evil. Of course, prolonged use of malia corrupts your soul and body, and you risk having your insides rot in the long run, but it gives you a lot of power before that happens.

I found the whole concept of Scholomance fascinating. A school with no adult supervision, no teachers, no vacations. You get in via portal and you get out four years later, if you survive the mals in the school and the Graduation. Between then – the school teaches you by providing books and classes that it thinks you might need. And don’t even think about not completing homework on falling behind on your classes. First, you won’t be allowed in the dinning hall… then accidents will start happen. In other words – you learn or you die. I’d say that staying alive is the best motivation a student could need.

I am glad I was recommended this book. Even though it’s classified as YA, and yes, it has some typical YA elements, it lacks those that I despise the most: inta-love, love triangles, and protagonists too entitled or too stupid to live. This book is smart, intriguing and you can’t help but root for the characters even if El tends to get stuck on her grievances a lot and seems to run in circles before making a decision. But she is what, 16 in this book? So I would give her some slack.

All in all, I am really looking forward to diving in deeper into this world in the next book. And I will certainly check out other books by this author.

City of Stone and Silence (The Wells of Sorcery 2) by Django Wexler

 Stars 5 out of 5.

If anything, book 2 is even better than book 1. Since the backstory and worldbuilding had already been established in book 1, we can jump right into the story here. And what story it is! We thought that just reaching the garden and surviving the Rot had been a challenge. Well it’s nothing compared to what awaits our friends from Soliton when it reaches its destination.

I love the fact that Isoka underwent tremendous character growth in the last book, and it continues here. She went from being this ruthless, unfeeling person who was only out for herself and and her sister to becoming a reluctant leader who actually cares about the people she ended up in charge of.  This change makes her a lot more relatable and, while I’m sure she had that compassion hidden deep down inside her anyway, it is slowly coming out thanks to Meroe. Meroe loves Isoka, but she also constantly challenges her and makes her take a long and harsh look at her actions. And she leads by example. My only complaint about this book is that we don’t get quite enough Meroe awesomeness. 

We also get to really meet Isoka’s sister Tori in this book. In book one, we only got a glimpse of her through Isoka’s eyes, and she seemed exactly what Isoka wanted her to be: a beautiful and innocent upper-class girl far detached from all the filth and violence of the streets. In this book, we get to live in her head as well. And we find out that she is far from innocent and definitely far from detached. The innocence is a façade that she is putting up for her sister and the retainers she’d hired, but underneath is a thoughtful and determined young lady. There is no malice in that act, mind you. Tori knows that seeing her happy and pure off the filth Isoka has to wade through every day makes her sister happy. So she gives her that happiness. Because she remembers the cold and the hunger and the brutality of the streets, and she remembers everything her big sister had to sacrifice to keep her safe.  And she loves her for it. 

I admit that Tori was the biggest surprise in this book for me. From the glimpse we had of her in book 1, she’d appeared very shallow and young. But we get to follow a young woman with a heart of gold and spine of steel in this book. I can truly say that both sisters are exceptional. I can’t wait to see them reunited at last and delivering their own brand of justice to those who wronged them.

And I can’t wait to jump into the last book in the trilogy. This is a must read. If you like a thoughtfully created world and wonderfully flawed characters, pick up this series.

Defiant (Towers Trilogy 2) by Karina Sumner-Smith

Stars: 5 out of 5

I remember absolutely loving Radiant, the first book in the series, so I came to this one with a certain amount of trepidation. Often the middle books in a trilogy are the weakest, because they only serve as a bridge between the beginning and the inevitable resolution in book 3. I’m glad to see that this was not the case with the Towers trilogy. The second book expands on the story of the first one and does an excellent job of showing us different facets of this world.

And what world it is! I think this is one of the most unique post-apocalyptical settings I’ve seen in books or movies. A world where the person’s inner magic is the currency by which they are judged. The more magically powerful you are, the better your life will be. The most magically-adept people live in the comfort of the floating Towers, the least magical people are forced to scrape by in the ruined Lower City sprawling under their shadow. And there are different strata within the Lower City as well. It’s a complex and fascinating system. There is even a version of zombies there, and I loved that their existence is given an explanation that makes sense. 

I love it when the world abides by the rules defined by the author, or there is a good explanation when those rules are broken. This is always a sign that the author put a lot of thought into the creation of their world and story, and I respect that. I also love slowly discovering those rules and learning more about the world the characters live in. This book gave me that in spades.

And I think both Xhea and Shai are excellent characters. I love their interactions and their friendship. It’s rare to find a YA book that focuses on a healthy female friendship instead of a romance. We need more of those. That friendship and attachment shines through the entire book even though Shai and Xhea spend most of it apart. This forced separation was used to advance the story. It made both Xhea and Shai confront their fears and insecurities and decide what they stand for. They both discovered that there are lines they are not willing to cross and that there are people they care about. 

We also learned a lot more about the origin of the Towers and Xhea’s black magic. And also about why things are so dire in Lower City despite the efforts of its citizens to make improvements. 

I am very interested to see the conclusion of this story in book 3. So far, this is one of my favorite series.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I’m always eager to discover new voices in literature, especially if they come from other cultures. Those authors always have very unique outlooks at life that you won’t find in our Western civilizations. It definitely broadens my horizon as a reader. So I was very eager to pick up this book when I saw it on NetGalley – a translation of an new Japanese author, and we have a talking cat who saves books? What is there not to like?

Well, the writing, as it turns out. 

The story itself is interesting and rather uplifting – we follow Rintaro, a very shy and introverted high school student, who is trying to deal with the sudden death of his grandfather, who had been his only family for all these years. It doesn’t help that Rintaro is a literal shut-in with severe social anxiety, and that the safe bubble that he’d built in his grandfather’s bookshop is about to burst. Then a talking cat appears and takes him on a fantastical adventure to save books and find his own voice. By the end of the journey, Rintaro finally discovers his own value and decides what he wants to do in life. 

It is a nice coming of age story that would definitely appeal to a younger audience… and a book I would never have picked up if I’d known it was aimed at the younger adult audience. I don’t read YA. This book just reaffirmed all the reasons why I don’t. 

The writing, as I had mentioned earlier, is simplistic at best. I don’t know if it’s due to so many nuances getting lost in translation, as they inevitably do, or if the original was written this way as well. It might have been, if it was intended for a 12+ audience, even if it was classified as General Fiction (Adult) on NetGalley.

Problem with this book is that it does a lot of telling and almost zero showing. Everything has to be spelled out for the reader. We are told how Rintaro feels and what he thinks of his few friends or people he encounters, but there is nothing in the writing that shows these reactions. It might also be that the author is Japanese, so he relies on Japanese stereotypes that would be familiar to a younger Japanese audience, but that are rather foreign to us. For example, Sayo, the class representative, came across as pushy, rude, and judgmental of Rintaro every time I read about her… Yet, he admires her for being a straight talker and very dedicated to her duties. And he just takes her verbal abuse like it’s normal. 

Another problem is that I can’t even visualize these characters. What does Rintaro look like? His only distinctive feature are his glasses that he likes to fiddle with. Same for Sayo. She could be any other Japanese high school student from the street and it wouldn’t make a difference. Or Akiba? Heck, the only character who gets a real description is Tiger the cat. Maybe that’s normal for Japanese novels. Maybe relying on common stereotypes is good enough for that audience. Me, it just left me rather bored. I felt like I was following a shadow play on the wall, where characters are blank cutouts. 

So all in all, it really wasn’t my cup of tea, even if it gave me a peak, of sorts, into the life of an insecure teenage boy living in a second hand book store somewhere in Japan. I wanted a bit more than that though, but it was probably just a matter of managing my expectations.

PS: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Witch’s Kitchen by Dianna Sanchez.

Stars: 5 out  of 5

 

I feel the need to add a disclaimer at the beginning of my review – this is a children’s book. Well, a Middle Grade book, but the point is that this is not my usual reading fare. In fact, I stumbled upon this book by mistake: I loved the cover on Netgalley and requested it without looking for the intended audience. Glad I did, because I loved it!

Millie thinks she is a useless witch who can’t do proper magic. None of the spells her mother tries to teach her turn out right. In fact, the only thing she can do and loves to do is cook, much to her mother’s disappointment. But then she is enrolled into the Enchanted Forest School and discovers that there are other kinds of magic then the one her mother uses and that maybe she isn’t as useless as she thought. She also makes some friends and a few enemies and uncovers the truth about who her father really is.

The story sounds simple when summarized like that, doesn’t it? Well, despite its simplicity, this is a wonderful story that touches on some important topics like the importance of friends, the struggle to meet expectations and the desire to fit in, the difficult choices one has to make when deciding to follow a different path in life. It also talks about things like bullying at school and split families.

Oh, and you can really tell that the author loves cooking just as much as Millie does. The descriptions of most of the dishes Millie made in this book had me salivating and running for the fridge, though sadly, I didn’t have anything as good there to treat myself with.

Millie is a wonderful protagonist. She is shy and very self-conscious because all her life she considered herself a failure, a disappointment and a source of shame for her mother. She has zero self-esteem because she’d been mercilessly bullied and ridiculed by the other witch apprentices because of her inability to cast any “normal” witch spells. But that rather brutal upbringing didn’t turn her into an embittered hag. She managed to remain a very sweet girl who loves making others feel better with her cooking skill.  I like how she more self-assured once she makes some friends in school. Growing up is a hard and often painful process during which you can learn some rather unpleasant truths about people you considered your heroes when you were a child. I like that Millie stands up to her mother and decides to undertake the dangerous journey into the Logical Realm (aka our world) to find the truth about her father.

The Magical Realm of the Enchanted Forest is delightfully fleshed out. Yes, it’s a bit simplistic because it’s a children’s book, but it’s still full of depth and colors and different magical inhabitants, friendly or otherwise. I loved the School and the different creatures that teach there , and I kinda wish the book spent more time there, a bit like the Harry Potter books in Hogwards. I mean the caretaker is a giant tree! The whole school is located on its branches. And the Headmistress is a dragon. I would have loved to see what other classes were taught there, because the few that we saw seemed really interesting. Not that I’m disappointed with Millie’s journey into the Logical Real either, but talking about that would be a huge spoiler, so why don’t you find out about it for yourselves?

I don’t have kids, but I think A Witch’s Kitchen would be an excellent book to read with your middle grader on those fall evenings when the air turns colder and the sun sets earlier and paying outside is out of the question. I think there is something to enjoy in this story for both children and adults. So go on, buy it! You won’t regret it!

PS. I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.