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betweentheshelves
What this book has going for it:
-Dragons. Need I say more?
-Cast of very diverse characters. One of the teams has all queer characters on it. Such great representation throughout this book.
-No main romance plot! How often can you say that in YA fantasy?
-Magical tournaments and just magic in general. This was a unique spin on that, and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book.
All of those things combined make this a great read! However, at times, the plot had too much going on, I felt. There were things I wished were saved for a second book that could have cleared up the plot a bit. For me, it felt like the plot lost its way halfway through the book, and then came back in the end.
An overall enjoyable read that I would recommend to any dragon fans! A good readalike to Fireborne if you enjoyed that book!
-Dragons. Need I say more?
-Cast of very diverse characters. One of the teams has all queer characters on it. Such great representation throughout this book.
-No main romance plot! How often can you say that in YA fantasy?
-Magical tournaments and just magic in general. This was a unique spin on that, and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book.
All of those things combined make this a great read! However, at times, the plot had too much going on, I felt. There were things I wished were saved for a second book that could have cleared up the plot a bit. For me, it felt like the plot lost its way halfway through the book, and then came back in the end.
An overall enjoyable read that I would recommend to any dragon fans! A good readalike to Fireborne if you enjoyed that book!
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This isn't exactly what I was expecting, but in a good way! This book is heavily about sexual assault, harassment, rape, and the ways that teenage girls aren't believed. Especially teenage girls of color, when there are power imbalances involved. Yang does such a good job with these topics, and there are parts of this book that made me so angry because I know this happens in real life.
I wish we got to see more interaction between Dani and Claire. They live together, but they're kind of just orbiting each other's lives. Also I wanted more of Dani's mom! She played a pretty big part at the beginning of the book, and then kinda just disappeared until the end. I wanted to see more of her and Dani's relationship, since we got to see Claire and her mom's.
The pacing also felt a bit off at times. The resolution felt rather abrupt, and there were sections that it was difficult to tell how much time was really passing. While I'm okay with open endings, I just wanted a little more at the end of this book. I wanted to see a little more growth from both Dani and Claire.
That being said, the discussions about racism and sexual harassment in here are just so powerful. I absolutely recommend it for that reason!
I wish we got to see more interaction between Dani and Claire. They live together, but they're kind of just orbiting each other's lives. Also I wanted more of Dani's mom! She played a pretty big part at the beginning of the book, and then kinda just disappeared until the end. I wanted to see more of her and Dani's relationship, since we got to see Claire and her mom's.
The pacing also felt a bit off at times. The resolution felt rather abrupt, and there were sections that it was difficult to tell how much time was really passing. While I'm okay with open endings, I just wanted a little more at the end of this book. I wanted to see a little more growth from both Dani and Claire.
That being said, the discussions about racism and sexual harassment in here are just so powerful. I absolutely recommend it for that reason!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing, Vomit
Read this and other reviews at between-the-shelves.com!
After her ex-boyfriend, Javier, mysteriously disappears, Alanna Blake is recruited by the FBI because of his connection to AntiAmerica--a terrorist organization dedicated to creating anarchy. In order to save herself and Javier, Alanna must use her own hacking skills to trick the government officials who are following her. But little does she know that someone's just a step ahead of her--and she might be too late to save Javier.
The author, T.K. Falco sent me a copy of this book to review, and it was the perfect quick read to add to my December reading list. Full of suspense, I was immediately sucked into Alanna's attempts to save herself and the ones she loves. Throughout the book, we get a fuller picture of Alanna, giving the reader better insight into why she's so desperate to get out of the clutches of AntiAmerica. We're slowly given important information, but it makes the reader fell just as thrown into this whole situation as Alanna does.
The one aspect that I wish would have been made a bit clearer to me as a reader is exactly what time period this is supposed to be set in. At first, I thought it might be a futuristic novel, but now I'm not quite sure. Being thrown into the situation like Alanna works to make the reader more sympathetic towards Alanna, but I could have used more information in order to better orient myself into this world that Falco has created.
Readers who like spy novels combined with mystery and suspense will definitely enjoy Falco's book. With so many twists and turns, you won't know what to expect next.
After her ex-boyfriend, Javier, mysteriously disappears, Alanna Blake is recruited by the FBI because of his connection to AntiAmerica--a terrorist organization dedicated to creating anarchy. In order to save herself and Javier, Alanna must use her own hacking skills to trick the government officials who are following her. But little does she know that someone's just a step ahead of her--and she might be too late to save Javier.
The author, T.K. Falco sent me a copy of this book to review, and it was the perfect quick read to add to my December reading list. Full of suspense, I was immediately sucked into Alanna's attempts to save herself and the ones she loves. Throughout the book, we get a fuller picture of Alanna, giving the reader better insight into why she's so desperate to get out of the clutches of AntiAmerica. We're slowly given important information, but it makes the reader fell just as thrown into this whole situation as Alanna does.
The one aspect that I wish would have been made a bit clearer to me as a reader is exactly what time period this is supposed to be set in. At first, I thought it might be a futuristic novel, but now I'm not quite sure. Being thrown into the situation like Alanna works to make the reader more sympathetic towards Alanna, but I could have used more information in order to better orient myself into this world that Falco has created.
Readers who like spy novels combined with mystery and suspense will definitely enjoy Falco's book. With so many twists and turns, you won't know what to expect next.
Virginia (Vee) Miller is looking forward to her summer on the road with her high school rock band friends, now known as Your Future X. What she doesn't know when she decides to join their tour is that her ex will be there; and those wounds definitely haven't healed yet. Now, Vee and Cam are forced to work through the problems that ended their relationship while the entire world is watching.
The structure of this novel is absolutely what works the best. Told in a then/now format, Pennington slowly reveals the beginnings of Vee and Cam's relationship, switching back to now to create even more intrigue. It made the plot more interesting, making the reader desperate to get to the end to figure out what put an end to what seemed like an incredibly compatible relationship. What may have been a predictable plot in a more straightforward novel becomes more interesting with this structure.
Having two points of view also helps in giving the reader a fuller picture of the relationship; if we got only Cam's or only Vee's point of view, we would be likely to be biased toward one or the other. The inclusion of both their voices makes the reader feel empathy for both sides of the relationship. They both have reasons for doing what they do.
With a cast of extremely relatable characters and an immersive plot structure, fans of summer romance and rock bands will find a home in Pennington's story.
The structure of this novel is absolutely what works the best. Told in a then/now format, Pennington slowly reveals the beginnings of Vee and Cam's relationship, switching back to now to create even more intrigue. It made the plot more interesting, making the reader desperate to get to the end to figure out what put an end to what seemed like an incredibly compatible relationship. What may have been a predictable plot in a more straightforward novel becomes more interesting with this structure.
Having two points of view also helps in giving the reader a fuller picture of the relationship; if we got only Cam's or only Vee's point of view, we would be likely to be biased toward one or the other. The inclusion of both their voices makes the reader feel empathy for both sides of the relationship. They both have reasons for doing what they do.
With a cast of extremely relatable characters and an immersive plot structure, fans of summer romance and rock bands will find a home in Pennington's story.
Couldn't Keep it to Myself:Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution
Diane Bartholomew, Robin Cullen, Dale Griffith, Nancy Birkla, Nancy Whiteley, Brenda Medina, Wally Lamb, Tabitha Rowley
This is a powerful collection of stories, each one just as engrossing as the next. Definitely an out of the box read for me, but one that was still enjoyable nonetheless.
Review originally posted at between-the-shelves.com!
Thanks to Macmillan and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this to review! I haven’t really been into vampires since I read Twilight back in my high school days. Oh, and I took a vampire class in college. That was pretty cool. We looked at the evolution of the vampire in both literature and film, and I feel like this book would have fit right into that class!
Usually, I’m not a huge fan of short story collections because I can’t really get too invested in any one character before jumping into another story. However, I’ve read two collections this year that have really surprised me: this one and A Phoenix First Must Burn. That one is outstanding too, if you are looking to check out some short stories!
My favorite story in this book was probably the one by Samira Ahmed, featuring an app and software for new vampires. It was hilarious, and I thought it was so clever. I also really enjoyed the story by Victoria V.E. Schwab and Mark Oshiro. These three were definitely standouts for me in comparison to the other stories.
But, you can’t really go wrong with any of the stories in here. I also enjoyed that the editors put information about vampire myths between each of the stories and included discussion questions after each. So not only are you completely entertained by the plethora of vampire stories, you get to learn some things too!
If you’re a fan of vampire stories, this is definitely a book you’ll want to add to your collection.
Thanks to Macmillan and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this to review! I haven’t really been into vampires since I read Twilight back in my high school days. Oh, and I took a vampire class in college. That was pretty cool. We looked at the evolution of the vampire in both literature and film, and I feel like this book would have fit right into that class!
Usually, I’m not a huge fan of short story collections because I can’t really get too invested in any one character before jumping into another story. However, I’ve read two collections this year that have really surprised me: this one and A Phoenix First Must Burn. That one is outstanding too, if you are looking to check out some short stories!
My favorite story in this book was probably the one by Samira Ahmed, featuring an app and software for new vampires. It was hilarious, and I thought it was so clever. I also really enjoyed the story by Victoria V.E. Schwab and Mark Oshiro. These three were definitely standouts for me in comparison to the other stories.
But, you can’t really go wrong with any of the stories in here. I also enjoyed that the editors put information about vampire myths between each of the stories and included discussion questions after each. So not only are you completely entertained by the plethora of vampire stories, you get to learn some things too!
If you’re a fan of vampire stories, this is definitely a book you’ll want to add to your collection.