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3.5/5
The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore and the Secret Traps is the second book in the young adult Charlotte Sycamore series by Kate Maddison. The Charlotte Sycamore series a young adult steampunk adventure series set in Britain. I didn’t realize that this book was the second book in the series until I was already a little ways into the book, but even though I was a bit confused I was already having so much fun that I just wanted to continue. So I went on to goodreads and read the summary for book one and checked out a few of the reviews and then I dived back into the second book. It has been so long since I have read a steampunk book, and Charlotte totally made me want to read more! This book was a ton of fun!
In The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore and the Secret Traps, we meet up again with our main character Charlotte who is living in Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Charlotte kind of has a robin hood thing going as she steals medical supplies from the palace to help the poor, so there is that secret identify aspect of the story that added lots of fun to the plot, but there is also a mystery element for our gang of characters to try and solve.
My favorite aspect of the book, by far were all of the cool gadgets! There is a time traveling machine, robot animals and so many cool techy things. It made the story so much fun and made me want to dive back into more steampunk stories. I will say that I don’t really love this cover for the books. I think the cover of book one has an old school Nancy Drew vibe and is better at depicting 16 year old Charlotte. I like the design of this cover, but I think that the woman pictured on it seems to be a bit too old for the character. What do you think? If you are a fan of young adult steampunks with a bit of clean romance, I think The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore and the Secret Traps is a really cool book. I’m bummed there have not been any additional books published since this one.
The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore and the Secret Traps is the second book in the young adult Charlotte Sycamore series by Kate Maddison. The Charlotte Sycamore series a young adult steampunk adventure series set in Britain. I didn’t realize that this book was the second book in the series until I was already a little ways into the book, but even though I was a bit confused I was already having so much fun that I just wanted to continue. So I went on to goodreads and read the summary for book one and checked out a few of the reviews and then I dived back into the second book. It has been so long since I have read a steampunk book, and Charlotte totally made me want to read more! This book was a ton of fun!
In The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore and the Secret Traps, we meet up again with our main character Charlotte who is living in Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Charlotte kind of has a robin hood thing going as she steals medical supplies from the palace to help the poor, so there is that secret identify aspect of the story that added lots of fun to the plot, but there is also a mystery element for our gang of characters to try and solve.
My favorite aspect of the book, by far were all of the cool gadgets! There is a time traveling machine, robot animals and so many cool techy things. It made the story so much fun and made me want to dive back into more steampunk stories. I will say that I don’t really love this cover for the books. I think the cover of book one has an old school Nancy Drew vibe and is better at depicting 16 year old Charlotte. I like the design of this cover, but I think that the woman pictured on it seems to be a bit too old for the character. What do you think? If you are a fan of young adult steampunks with a bit of clean romance, I think The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore and the Secret Traps is a really cool book. I’m bummed there have not been any additional books published since this one.
A Different Me is a young adult contemporary fiction by Deborah Blumenthal. I thought this was a good read. It deals with a very common theme of teenage insecurities and I think that Deborah Blumenthal does a fantastic job giving us great insight into our main character, Allie's head. I really enjoyed getting to know Allie and seeing her inner dialogue, and watching her go on this journey of self discovery, self acceptance and coming of age. If you are a fan of realistic coming of age stories that deal with some of our societal pressures to look a certain way, then I think you will really enjoy A Different Me.
I loved Allie. I found her to be very relatable and I found her story to be an important one for teens to hear. Allie, just like everyone, has deal with insecurities growing up. In her case, Allie is insecure about her nose. She mentions early on that she has always wanted a nose job. The topic of teenage plastic surgery is such an intense topic that people have very different opinions on. Setting aside personal opinions, I thought it was fascinating to see everything from a teenagers perspective. My only wish for this story is for Allie's parents to have been a little more involved in the decision making process for the nose job. I think more could have been done in that regard with their conversations.
I also felt like this book was a little slow at times. I thought it either could have been a little shorter, or that there should have been a little more meat added to the action events of the story. But other than that, I did enjoy this book. I found it to be interesting and very thought provoking. I enjoyed seeing Allie interact with the other kids at her school and seeing whether her decision was going to have the results she wanted it to. Overall this was a super interesting peek inside of teen's mind. If you are a fan of journey's of self discovery and coming of age stories, A Different Me is a modern take on the classic coming of age tale.
I loved Allie. I found her to be very relatable and I found her story to be an important one for teens to hear. Allie, just like everyone, has deal with insecurities growing up. In her case, Allie is insecure about her nose. She mentions early on that she has always wanted a nose job. The topic of teenage plastic surgery is such an intense topic that people have very different opinions on. Setting aside personal opinions, I thought it was fascinating to see everything from a teenagers perspective. My only wish for this story is for Allie's parents to have been a little more involved in the decision making process for the nose job. I think more could have been done in that regard with their conversations.
I also felt like this book was a little slow at times. I thought it either could have been a little shorter, or that there should have been a little more meat added to the action events of the story. But other than that, I did enjoy this book. I found it to be interesting and very thought provoking. I enjoyed seeing Allie interact with the other kids at her school and seeing whether her decision was going to have the results she wanted it to. Overall this was a super interesting peek inside of teen's mind. If you are a fan of journey's of self discovery and coming of age stories, A Different Me is a modern take on the classic coming of age tale.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sources Say is a young adult contemporary standalone by author Lori Goldstein. I thought this book was a lot of fun, park high school hijinks, part revenge competition between exes, and part mystery. Sources Say is about a high school power couple that recently split up. For various individual reasons, they each find themselves running for student council president. When they find out that their ex is running, it makes them each step up their games in a big big way. I really enjoyed this high school election that was also shrouded in a fun mystery.
Sources say is told in multiple points of view, including sisters Angie and Cat, Angie's ex boyfriend Leo and a great cast of supporting characters surrounding them. I loved that there were so many characters because that meant there were multiple different storylines we were following. There is obviously the tension between Angie and Leo as they run against each other, but there was also a good focus on Cat as she ran the school's newspaper as newly appointed editor in chief, as well as the interaction of the strained sister relationship between Cat and Angie. Lori Goldstein managed to pack a lot into this novel, and I loved all of the layers and themes woven in.
Sources Say was a bit immature at times, but I wouldn't really expect anything else from the revenge prank election that it turned into. And it wasn't off-putting to me. I thought all of the characters acted very age appropriate. The mystery of who created the pictures of the "frankengirls" and who was behind the online newspaper- the shrieking Violet were fun additions to the story as well. I wasn't really expecting much of a mystery element when I first started reading the book, but it because a pretty big plotline.
if you are a fan of standalone young adult rivalry stories, I think you will really enjoy Sources Say. I found this to be a very fun and satisfying read. It even managed to surprise me with a few of the reveals!
3.5 stars. I didn't really know what to think when I first started this book. It didn't look like it was going to be my cup of tea and then then main character, Dray runs away and the book completely transforms. I really started to enjoy it. It is a really quick read and by the end of the book a lot happened.
I really liked the girl, Dray. I thought she was a good character and I loved learning about her abilities along with her. It seemed like she really discovered herself throughout the course of the story and she learned to accept herself. I loved the "animal" side to her abilities, but I was a little confused about where her physical abilities stemmed from. The book does not really go into why she is such a natural at fighting and things like that. I thought it came a little too easy to her, but it was really fun to read about her kicking butt!
Her brother, Lurin started to get on my nerves about halfway through the book. I started out a fan of his, because I loved the way he interacted and got along with Dray. But when they got into a fight he turned really immature and never fully got over it That saddened me.
One little thing that bugged me in this book was there was almost no romance or flirting at all in the story. Then, near the end some of the character's liked each other. I thought that it seemed really sudden and I would have liked to see more of a build up toward it, but I did like the pairing.
The beast call gets going to a promising start and then kind of coasts along for a while. Not in a bad way, by any means- things are happening but not at a lightning fast pace. Then, all of a sudden the book exploaded for me! All sorts of cool things were happening. It was like the plot suddenly turned 3D. It reminded me a lot of Wildefire in that regard. (which I thought had some slow parts in the middle and then had a crazy, awesome eventful ending!) I loved the ending, it made the whole book.
Overall, The Beast Call is a good read! I enjoyed it.
I really liked the girl, Dray. I thought she was a good character and I loved learning about her abilities along with her. It seemed like she really discovered herself throughout the course of the story and she learned to accept herself. I loved the "animal" side to her abilities, but I was a little confused about where her physical abilities stemmed from. The book does not really go into why she is such a natural at fighting and things like that. I thought it came a little too easy to her, but it was really fun to read about her kicking butt!
Her brother, Lurin started to get on my nerves about halfway through the book. I started out a fan of his, because I loved the way he interacted and got along with Dray. But when they got into a fight he turned really immature and never fully got over it That saddened me.
One little thing that bugged me in this book was there was almost no romance or flirting at all in the story. Then, near the end some of the character's liked each other. I thought that it seemed really sudden and I would have liked to see more of a build up toward it, but I did like the pairing.
The beast call gets going to a promising start and then kind of coasts along for a while. Not in a bad way, by any means- things are happening but not at a lightning fast pace. Then, all of a sudden the book exploaded for me! All sorts of cool things were happening. It was like the plot suddenly turned 3D. It reminded me a lot of Wildefire in that regard. (which I thought had some slow parts in the middle and then had a crazy, awesome eventful ending!) I loved the ending, it made the whole book.
Overall, The Beast Call is a good read! I enjoyed it.
This is a short Novella that you can devour in one quick sitting. I would suggest this book to people that want a cute short story. I enjoyed it, but it was a bit short for me. I don't normally read novellas for this reason, especially when I like the storyline and characters like I did here, because I always want more! My only complaint here is that I wish the story was longer. (I think it took me under an hour to read)
Aspyn is a good character, but she gave into Damon a little fast in my opinion. She seems like a strong person and I couldn't really get on board with her accepting everything that was thrown at her within the first few hours of knowing this guy. I did however, see where she was coming from. She was feeling some really strong things for Damon and I guess I can see what she did what she did. But it just seemed a little rushed for me. It's not rushed at all for a novella but again, I am used to full length books. (That is the problem with ebooks sometimes, you can't always tell how long they are- and I like to get some idea of length when I go about judging the pacing of the book)
Overall, the story is interesting and I enjoyed reading it. For the length of the book, the plot did not feel rushed. I mean, things flowed at the same rate throughout but when considering other books, it all felt a little fast for me. But that is what the book is- it is just a cute short story about two people. And if that is what you are looking for, I think you might enjoy Snowy Fate.
Aspyn is a good character, but she gave into Damon a little fast in my opinion. She seems like a strong person and I couldn't really get on board with her accepting everything that was thrown at her within the first few hours of knowing this guy. I did however, see where she was coming from. She was feeling some really strong things for Damon and I guess I can see what she did what she did. But it just seemed a little rushed for me. It's not rushed at all for a novella but again, I am used to full length books. (That is the problem with ebooks sometimes, you can't always tell how long they are- and I like to get some idea of length when I go about judging the pacing of the book)
Overall, the story is interesting and I enjoyed reading it. For the length of the book, the plot did not feel rushed. I mean, things flowed at the same rate throughout but when considering other books, it all felt a little fast for me. But that is what the book is- it is just a cute short story about two people. And if that is what you are looking for, I think you might enjoy Snowy Fate.
This book is so much fun! When I was a kid, I used to read the Wayside School books. It was about a school that was built on its side, so instead of being 1 story with all the classrooms on the same floor it was 30 stories with one classroom per floor. And the books would tell stories of all the wacky kids and teachers that went to school there. It was one of my favorite books to read as a kid, and Scary School is just like it! Too funny for words. I loved learning about each of the kids, monsters and teachers at scary school.
Each chapter would focus on a different person and the chapters flowed seemlessly to the next scary school inhabitant. This was done even better than it was in wayside school books. Sometimes thos chapters would be enjoyable but a bit disjointed (not that I ever noticed that as a kid) but here Derek the Ghost perfectly links each monster with the next.
I think Scary School is the perfect read for any kid, or adult! It is so entertaining and there are tons of pop culture references for the older audience and I thought they were hilarious. One in particular that stood out with was with the T-Rex Mrs. T. She showed up in a bunch of chapters, and she even had her own chapter. I enjoyed reading all about the smart dino but then in the end when she busted out a "I pity the fool" mr. T line- I actually laughed out loud. And there are laughs like this on every page. Scary School is fun for everyone. This book is such a hit!
Each chapter would focus on a different person and the chapters flowed seemlessly to the next scary school inhabitant. This was done even better than it was in wayside school books. Sometimes thos chapters would be enjoyable but a bit disjointed (not that I ever noticed that as a kid) but here Derek the Ghost perfectly links each monster with the next.
I think Scary School is the perfect read for any kid, or adult! It is so entertaining and there are tons of pop culture references for the older audience and I thought they were hilarious. One in particular that stood out with was with the T-Rex Mrs. T. She showed up in a bunch of chapters, and she even had her own chapter. I enjoyed reading all about the smart dino but then in the end when she busted out a "I pity the fool" mr. T line- I actually laughed out loud. And there are laughs like this on every page. Scary School is fun for everyone. This book is such a hit!