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"She'd seen what his soul was made of. And she liked it" (pg 367).
STORY:
First, I really liked the cover (and the controversial "iced coffee" back cover) and the rom-com flare though I've to say I got tired of the constant kissing. You have to drizzle kisses into a story like sprinkle cheese, not too much. On another note, I just loved Dimple's name; it's so cute.
There's not much focus on the actual coding that takes place (it's lampshaded by Dimple herself). Instead, living up to parents' expectations, back-and-forth with Dimple/Rishi, and a dance contest takes up the bulk of the book. If you don't mind the lack of coding, you will probably enjoy the non-linear plot.
Also, I was amazed at YA fiction characters communicating about sex before having it, and even putting it off to a later date.
I like chick-flick, cliche romance, but I'm not so naive to think young couples always stay together. I mean Dimple made some valid points about not wanting to be in her first relationship forever and never experience anyone else.
Or, hey, they could've broken up and got back together years later a la "The Sun is Also a Star."
CHARACTERS:
Disclaimer: Yes, we know Dimple "took over too much", can't keep her fists to herself, and basically played yo-yo with her relationship. And thought she was a special snowflake. It's understood.
Dimple is a brash character that still is likable in some portions of the book. It's really hard to pull off characters like her because they usually come off as edgy jerks. However, that's not entirely the case here. If some of her narrative thoughts could've been tweaked a little, I think more readers would have liked her.
Rishi is a cinnamon roll. It's super-refreshing to have a male (romantic) lead, in a genre filled with angsty bad boys who can't communicate, that speaks his mind and is kind in a gentleman sort-of-way. I actually wanted him to find another girl who suited him better. Dimple, of course, wanted the best for him, but she forced him to make decisions often.
OVERALL:
I didn't hate this story. I rather liked some of the details and descriptions and diverse characters. Whoa. That's a lot of "d" words. Anyway, I don't feel as strongly as others, so I recommend you read it.
STORY:
In The Sweetest Sound by Sherrie Winston (272 pages), Cadence Jolly is tired of adults giving her "motherless child" pity. She's also trying to break out of her perpetual shyness enough to own her beautiful voice. In a fit of frustration and later regret, Cadence films herself disguised singing on Youtube. Of course, now her church choir is trying to find the little girl with the big voice, and Cadence doesn't know if she will be able to own up to it.
CHARACTERS:
The cast is very diverse with Cadence and her family being African-American, Faith, a Dominicana, Zara, bi-racial (black mom/white dad), and Mei-Mei and Sophie, Chinese.
Some of the best singers (and def your faves) started singing in church, and Cadence is no different. Cadence was very shy but prideful, and I actually like that combination. She was also an avid reader, always mentioning classic books, and wanted to be a writer.
I couldn't stand Faith. At all. Little girl be happy for your friend!
Zara wasn't memorable but at least she was sweet.
Cadence's dad was well-meaning but overbearing. Still, he was okay in my book. I didn't care about his little romance though.
Random note: I kept reading Sofine as So-Fine. :p
OVERALL:
This book was a little dry. Too much poetry and way too much irrelevant junk. It was really hard for me to push through and finish it.
I don't like giving stars, but this one is about a 2.5. Still, I'm sure it will make some kid's day.
SN: THAT COVER! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
Cadence has the cutest pixie cut!
"You know, church is like that. Sometimes the pastor is talking and all you can think about is eating pancakes when he is done. But sometimes he says something and, just like that, it feels like he's talking absolutely, positively to you!" (pg 17)
In The Sweetest Sound by Sherrie Winston (272 pages), Cadence Jolly is tired of adults giving her "motherless child" pity. She's also trying to break out of her perpetual shyness enough to own her beautiful voice. In a fit of frustration and later regret, Cadence films herself disguised singing on Youtube. Of course, now her church choir is trying to find the little girl with the big voice, and Cadence doesn't know if she will be able to own up to it.
CHARACTERS:
The cast is very diverse with Cadence and her family being African-American, Faith, a Dominicana, Zara, bi-racial (black mom/white dad), and Mei-Mei and Sophie, Chinese.
Some of the best singers (and def your faves) started singing in church, and Cadence is no different. Cadence was very shy but prideful, and I actually like that combination. She was also an avid reader, always mentioning classic books, and wanted to be a writer.
I couldn't stand Faith. At all. Little girl be happy for your friend!
Zara wasn't memorable but at least she was sweet.
Cadence's dad was well-meaning but overbearing. Still, he was okay in my book. I didn't care about his little romance though.
Random note: I kept reading Sofine as So-Fine. :p
OVERALL:
"...Learning to be strong didn't mean changing everything" (pg 259).
This book was a little dry. Too much poetry and way too much irrelevant junk. It was really hard for me to push through and finish it.
I don't like giving stars, but this one is about a 2.5. Still, I'm sure it will make some kid's day.
SN: THAT COVER! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
Cadence has the cutest pixie cut!
STORY:
In X by Ilyash Shabazz (348 pages), There's not much I can say about this book without rambling, but I absolutely adored Malcolm's narrative. I just loved it. I could spread it on thick on whole-grain bread and have a sandwich it's that good. I hadn't expected Malcolm's previous girlfriends to have such a large focus, and I was mad disappointed to not read anything about Betty but I somewhat understand why.
Now, I knew about Malcolm X's adult life, but nothing about his younger years. This was also a fictional retelling of his story, so I'm not sure what parts are fictional or not.
OVERALL:
I adored the first half of the book, though I liked the last half a lot less (I just did not care about Sophia, Sammy, and West Indian Archie).
"'Maybe,' he says. 'If the world was fair. As it is, we got to look out for each other.' He looks at me slant, not smiling, but clearly tempted to. 'If you came from somewhere, you might know that'" (pg 48).
In X by Ilyash Shabazz (348 pages), There's not much I can say about this book without rambling, but I absolutely adored Malcolm's narrative. I just loved it. I could spread it on thick on whole-grain bread and have a sandwich it's that good. I hadn't expected Malcolm's previous girlfriends to have such a large focus, and I was mad disappointed to not read anything about Betty but I somewhat understand why.
Now, I knew about Malcolm X's adult life, but nothing about his younger years. This was also a fictional retelling of his story, so I'm not sure what parts are fictional or not.
OVERALL:
I adored the first half of the book, though I liked the last half a lot less (I just did not care about Sophia, Sammy, and West Indian Archie).
First of all, that cover's beautiful! Love it.
STORY:
In Rosario by J. Kenyarta (ebook; less than a 100 pages), Mia Keys has just released her high school class for the day and lost her wallet. While walking home, she finds three things: her wallet, an old friend of her fiancé, Levi, and that her fiancé is in some serious trouble. Of course, all this rigamarole requires a journey to Rosario in central Argentina.
Rosario is more plot-driven than character-driven. No filler so action starts quickly.
What exactly drove Mia to go all the way to Argentina? Maybe Alejandro's been so ingrained in her life that she just needs to see his lips move one more time or to see his eyebrow twitch before she believes he will be fine. Okay, the romantic in me is talking now.
I know this isn't a romance, but love's the catalyst, right? Mia should've had a flashback/memory of Alejandro, for example, if he was the one who consoled her in his arms after that incident at school or he met her in college and encouraged her to become a teacher because kids need someone like her. Then, I would have been like let's find Alejandro! Girl, go get your man! Because there was a lack of development, I just didn't have an emotional connection to Alejandro or Mia's need to save him.
On the other hand, I think the story's strength is really in its action scenes. One of the best parts is when Mia has a huge realization. It's fast-paced and exciting to read about a narrowly-missed bullet, fun banter, and quick-thinking. Let's go, Mia, action hero!
SN: A minor nitpick with the Spanish. Isn't it more likely they would call Mia an estaoudinese than americana? Also, some words needed accent marks, like, sí without the í is "if" (sí=yes, si= if). They're in Argentina, so I'm surprised there were no mentions of vos/sos.
CHARACTERS:
Mia's definitely for justice, honesty, and non-violence whenever applicable. It's great that she upholds integrity so highly, but just once I wanted her to have a raw reaction like cursing out Alejandro for putting her through all this. She's just too perfect, but I suppose that's the nature of action heroes. Like, if you walking away from explosions without a scratch, then you're not human. I'm looking at you, American blockbusters. Back on topic, I don't really know much about Mia besides her skills and job. It's cool to have a soft-spoken hero that can hold her own though.
Levi's kind of just there to guide Mia along.
Gianna was a textbook villain.
OVERALL:
Go ahead and read this!
If you need a quick read while in the doctor's office or a novella on a rainy day, then here you go. No convoluted plotline just good action.
STORY:
"It's my belief that we don't always need to feel the heat on our hand to know the fire burns[...] Sometimes, seeing others in pain is all the motivation we need to not do, or sometimes, to do something (location 400)."
In Rosario by J. Kenyarta (ebook; less than a 100 pages), Mia Keys has just released her high school class for the day and lost her wallet. While walking home, she finds three things: her wallet, an old friend of her fiancé, Levi, and that her fiancé is in some serious trouble. Of course, all this rigamarole requires a journey to Rosario in central Argentina.
Rosario is more plot-driven than character-driven. No filler so action starts quickly.
What exactly drove Mia to go all the way to Argentina? Maybe Alejandro's been so ingrained in her life that she just needs to see his lips move one more time or to see his eyebrow twitch before she believes he will be fine. Okay, the romantic in me is talking now.
I know this isn't a romance, but love's the catalyst, right? Mia should've had a flashback/memory of Alejandro, for example, if he was the one who consoled her in his arms after that incident at school or he met her in college and encouraged her to become a teacher because kids need someone like her. Then, I would have been like let's find Alejandro! Girl, go get your man! Because there was a lack of development, I just didn't have an emotional connection to Alejandro or Mia's need to save him.
On the other hand, I think the story's strength is really in its action scenes. One of the best parts is when Mia has a huge realization. It's fast-paced and exciting to read about a narrowly-missed bullet, fun banter, and quick-thinking. Let's go, Mia, action hero!
SN: A minor nitpick with the Spanish. Isn't it more likely they would call Mia an estaoudinese than americana? Also, some words needed accent marks, like, sí without the í is "if" (sí=yes, si= if). They're in Argentina, so I'm surprised there were no mentions of vos/sos.
CHARACTERS:
Mia's definitely for justice, honesty, and non-violence whenever applicable. It's great that she upholds integrity so highly, but just once I wanted her to have a raw reaction like cursing out Alejandro for putting her through all this. She's just too perfect, but I suppose that's the nature of action heroes. Like, if you walking away from explosions without a scratch, then you're not human. I'm looking at you, American blockbusters. Back on topic, I don't really know much about Mia besides her skills and job. It's cool to have a soft-spoken hero that can hold her own though.
Levi's kind of just there to guide Mia along.
Gianna was a textbook villain.
OVERALL:
Go ahead and read this!
If you need a quick read while in the doctor's office or a novella on a rainy day, then here you go. No convoluted plotline just good action.
"Without Monday, I felt ruined too" (pg 25).
Okay, the alternating timelines are either going to endear you or annoy you. Sometimes, it's utterly frustrating to understand the full picture of a previous event. But for me, I didn't mind. I enjoyed the mystery aspect, and the slice-of-life elements of Claudia's life, her family, Michael (for the most part), and dance. The ending was dark and chilling. I felt like I had a gut-punch.
Anyway, I generally enjoy light-hearted reads, but this is a realistic fiction that deserves to be on your shelf.
