Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent YA fantasy reads. His Hideous Heart  by Various I was excited to read this because it is a unique idea, and I love Edgar Allan Poe. Unfortunately, all the things that make Poe's stories great are watered down in these new reworking, making them just the same as any other modern day horror. I also have some serious issues with how a couple of them handled the psychology of the stories. I'm especially not comfortable with the apologist attitude of a couple of the stories that changed the murderer to angry girls. Torturous violence and murder is never justified in my opinion.  My favorite is by far the first one, and it's based on a shorter, not as well known Poe. I wish I had stopped there. The Merciful Crow  by Margaret Owen This book was  almost  a new book of my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and everything about the voice. And the SYMBOLISM. I could write a paper on that. The way the symbolism broug...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent realistic YA reads. Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai This, like all of Thanhha Lai's work, is excellent. It is historical fiction set in 1981 and follows a Vietnamese teen who has suffered a terrifying journey to America to find her younger brother who was taken from Vietnam as an orphan in the last wave of civilians leaving before the South fell. Along the way she employs the help of a wannabe rodeo cowboy fresh from high school graduation with a brand new truck and a dream. This is a wonderful tale about found family that covers a parts of the history Vietnam and America we often forget about, including that young Vietnamese people were risking their lives to make their way to refugee camps long after the war ended. Many of them paid until costs for this. Don't Date Rosa Santos  by Nina Moreno I thoroughly enjoyed this. This has the appearance (and description) of being a simple YA contemporary YA romance, but it is actually...

Here are some shorter musings on recently read MG fantasy novels. The Lighthouse Between the Worlds   by Melanie Crowder Melanie Crowder is one of the most underrated MG/YA authors. She continuously writes excellent books, and she has such a range. This is an excellent example of what she is capable of. This book takes place in a multi-verse where the portal between the worlds is a lighthouse on the pacific coast. It is about imperialism, slavery, totalitarianism, and political rebellion. Those are important topics to tackle in a rather short MG novel, but Crowder handles it with finesse. The characters are well drawn and the action is exciting from start to finish. Snow & Rose  by Emily Winfield Martin This is a beautiful retelling of a tale many children are not familiar with because Disney hasn't touched it yet. It is perfect for fairy tale lovers who are new to reading novels. The chapters are short. The illustrations are gorgeous. Both Snow and Rose are layered...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent YA realistic fiction reads. American Panda   by Gloria Chao I bumped this up my TBR list after seeing several really favorable reviews for it in a row. I'm so glad I did. This is an excellent story of the child of immigrants trying to find her place in the world. Mei struggles with how to be herself and the perfect, obedient daughter her parents expect her to be. They have already officially disowned her brother. Mei's journey is one of self-discovery, which is interesting since it is advertised as more fluffy and more of a romance that it truly is. (There is a romance, but it is definitely not the central relationship in the book.) I really loved how much this story was about Mei's relationship with her mom and the complications of relating to each other. Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss   by Kasie West I enjoyed this as the quick, fluffy read it is intended to be. Kasie West is the ultimate at YA romance that is perfect for...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent MG Fantasy reads. Angel and Bavar  by Amy Wilson Writing a retelling of Beauty and the Beast for a MG audience is no mean feat, yet Wilson pulls it off brilliantly here. The themes of "Beauty and the Beast" are such that making them both palatable and relatable for this age bracket is a challenge. In this version the "beast" is a young boy born to fight monsters and hold them back from humanity thanks to a family curse and ancestors who didn't know when enough was enough. The "beauty" is a young girl who can see the magic and is drawn in due to the trauma of her past. Angel and Bavar team up to try and find a way to stop the monsters forever and allow Bavar to live a more normal life. They are drawn to each other out of loneliness and a shared trauma, but they build a real friendship from that and make a great team. This is a retelling that works on every level, and I really enjoyed it. The Book of Boy ...

Here are some shorter musings on recently read books.   In a Perfect World  by Trish Doller Caroline is a character is very much aware of her own privilege, which was nice. She moves to Egypt when her mom takes on work in a clinic there (like Doctors Without Borders). She does have some opinions on Egypt and Islam that are stereotypical, but they are almost immediately corrected in most cases. (That I could tell.) The descriptions of Egypt are amazing. This is a book where the world is a really solid place. All in all I think I would have liked it much more if it had been a friendship story and not a love story. I like Adam as a character A LOT, but felt the romance was one too many weighty things in a story that was already exploring a lot. As a bonus though Caroline has one of the best YA parent couples of all time. Her mom and dad are amazing as parents and as a partnership. Lucky in Love  by Kasie West After having less than enthusiastic reactions to West's pre...

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Dragon's Green  by Scarlett Thomas This is the first book in a new series. The world suffered from a global earthquake that took out the Internet and changed everything. There is also magic, a school for special children, secret societies, and a quest. The group of kids the story centers around is wonderful. They each have a talent and a special thing to do. It reads as a real life RGP. The writing is good though a trifle stilted in some places. You can tell the author thinks she knows how one is supposed to write for/talk to children, but is a little rusty on actual practice in this area. But overall, it is a fun engrossing read. It is definitely a great recommendation for fantasy obsessed MG readers. Ghosts of Greenglass House   by Kate Milford Fans of the first Greenglass House book will be happy to see most of their favorite characters return here. In a many ways the plot rehashes a lot of what was done in t...

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG reads. Hello, Universe  by Erin Entrada Kelly I expected to like this one more than I did because of how much I enjoyed Kelly's previous two novels. I just found it really hard to get into the rhythm of. The book is told from the perspective of three different characters: two in third person limited, one in first person. That drove me kind of nuts. Even getting past that, I found the story hard to get into. It is slow moving and the pacing could be better. That being said, it is still a good book from recommending to those who are looking for books on friendships, family issues, and dealing with bullies. Kelly is a talented writer so even when I don't love love one of her books, it is still worth reading. Stef Soto, Taco Queen  by Jennifer Torres This is a short, quick MG read that any middle schooler experiencing the utter embarrassment of having parents will be able to relate with and understand. (So all of them.) Stef is st...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent YA reads. Iron Cast  by Destiny Soria I have very mixed feelings about this one. The prose definitely drew me in as a reader and the concept was interesting and carried out well. I love books that feature strong female friendships and this one is a stellar example. But I thought it was a little too long and despite it being technically excellent, I found that it lacked a certain heart that kept me from falling in love with it. It was more of an intellectual appreciation of the writing skill and that always distracts me from fully loving a book. I don't want to be thinking about that WHILE I'm reading. My Unscripted Life  by Lauren Morrill I haven't liked any of Morrill's books as much as I liked her debut, [book:Meant to Be|11721314],  but this one comes the closest to recapturing the feel of that book. It is fun, fluffy, and romantic. There is a good bit of a wish fulfillment fantasy type story. That is not a criticism...

Here are some shorter musings some recent MG reads. Bounce   by Megan Shull This book is a fun spin on the old wish-for-a-different-life Christmas story. Frannie is having the worst Christmas ever when her parents decide to take off for the holiday and her brother and sister throw a major party in the house. Frannie wishes for a new family. When she wakes up, she's living someone else's life. And then it keeps happening. Christmas day over and over as someone else each time. The novel is fast paced and during her adventures Frannie faces her fears and becomes a little less afraid of the world. I think I would have liked this book more if I felt Frannie's character were better developed. I found myself far more invested in the girls whose lives she inhabited than I did her even at the end. As a mother, I found her parents to be the absolute worst as well. The Harlem Charade  by Natasha Tarpley This is a good, entertaining mystery for MG readers. It has a lot of history...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent YA reads.   Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge There are some aspects of this one that I really loved-the politics, the world-building, Paris. I also rather liked the fraught relationships between the four main characters and how those developed. Other than Paris, I wasn't really enamored of the other three main characters though, and found myself wanting to smack them more than hope for good things for their lives. As this is a reworking of Romeo and Juliet with necromancy, there is a lot of angst and misunderstanding. I was prepared for that. I was not prepared for this 400 plus page book to only be the first half of the story. There's going to be a sequel. And I don't think Romeo and Juliet needs to be extended to 800 pages of angst and misunderstanding. And even Paris let me down in the ability to make good decisions department in the end so I'm more than a little annoyed with all of them. Also the end INFURIAT...