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erinarkin20
The Unfortunates is the new YA horror story by Kim Liggett and if you haven’t read any of her books yet, you should definitely fix that! I loved Blood and Salt by her so when I heard about this book, and then saw it at ALA, I grabbed it.
Grant Tavish is the son of a senator and after being involved in a fatal accident, he really just wants to face the consequences he believes he deserves. Unfortunately for him, because of who his father is, he won’t have to face anything, and he is going to get away with no repercussions.
It is clear that Grant is struggling with what happened and how his friends and family just gloss over what he did, and he makes a decision to take care of his punishment himself. Following a family tradition, Grant decides to tell his parents he is going to follow in his father’s footsteps and complete a cave excursion on the Appalachian trail. What he doesn’t tell them is that he is never coming back.
The second Grant starts going down, the cave system collapses, and he is trapped with a group of other teens who found him dangling on his rope. As Grant and the others do what they need to do to get out, they face challenge after challenge and have to work to find the surface. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned.
There isn’t a lot I can tell you about the actual story as I don’t want to give anything away. What I can say is that I enjoyed this story. It had an unexpected ending (well until I got closer to the end) and Liggett brought this story together in a way that kept me guessing on who was really going to make it. Also, can we talk about that cover for a second - It is pretty fantastic!
I also thought Liggett did a great job of sharing Grant’s feelings about the accident and his role in it. His distaste for the way his friends just avoid the topic and the fact that his father is just glossing over what happened was clear. Grant really just wanted someone to hold him accountable and no one in his life was really doing that which in turn, made him feel even worse about what happened and the situation he is in.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a pretty quick read and had a great story. If you are looking for something that will keep you guessing around what is really going on, definitely check this one out. I will be looking forward to whatever is next from Liggett, that’s for sure!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Grant Tavish is the son of a senator and after being involved in a fatal accident, he really just wants to face the consequences he believes he deserves. Unfortunately for him, because of who his father is, he won’t have to face anything, and he is going to get away with no repercussions.
It is clear that Grant is struggling with what happened and how his friends and family just gloss over what he did, and he makes a decision to take care of his punishment himself. Following a family tradition, Grant decides to tell his parents he is going to follow in his father’s footsteps and complete a cave excursion on the Appalachian trail. What he doesn’t tell them is that he is never coming back.
The second Grant starts going down, the cave system collapses, and he is trapped with a group of other teens who found him dangling on his rope. As Grant and the others do what they need to do to get out, they face challenge after challenge and have to work to find the surface. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned.
There isn’t a lot I can tell you about the actual story as I don’t want to give anything away. What I can say is that I enjoyed this story. It had an unexpected ending (well until I got closer to the end) and Liggett brought this story together in a way that kept me guessing on who was really going to make it. Also, can we talk about that cover for a second - It is pretty fantastic!
I also thought Liggett did a great job of sharing Grant’s feelings about the accident and his role in it. His distaste for the way his friends just avoid the topic and the fact that his father is just glossing over what happened was clear. Grant really just wanted someone to hold him accountable and no one in his life was really doing that which in turn, made him feel even worse about what happened and the situation he is in.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a pretty quick read and had a great story. If you are looking for something that will keep you guessing around what is really going on, definitely check this one out. I will be looking forward to whatever is next from Liggett, that’s for sure!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell was a book that caught my eye when I was wandering around ALA and when I read the summary, I immediately added it to my to read shelf. I love a good re-telling and it’s the first one I’ve read that is a Robin Hood story.
The Robin Hood in this story happens to be a sixteen-year-old girl named Silvie. When her brother, John, becomes the sheriff of Woodshire, she feels powerless to stop the abuse he heaps on the local commoners. When she finds out that he plans to marry her off to one of his friends, Silvie has to make a choice. Stay and live a life she doesn’t want or run away with her best friend and be who she wants to be.
I thought Cornwell did a great job of building out who these characters are. I got just enough back story regarding the relationship between Silvie and John to understand her reasons for not wanting to stay under his thumb. I also thought that she revealed enough about John along the way to make me really not like him, leading right up to, and after their confrontation.
I thought the other characters were well done too. Bird is Silvie’s best friend and they have grown up together but in different roles. Where Silvie is from a noble family, Bird is the son of the huntswoman and despite their differing backgrounds, they became close growing up. It is clear there is still misunderstanding between them due to their backgrounds, but I was happy to see them overcome these challenges and be able to depend on each other throughout the story. There are a number of other characters that added so much more to the story – Mae Tuck and Little Jane are just two of them.
As the daughter of a nobleman, Silvie has lived a comfortable life and has never wanted for anything…at least materially. Unfortunately, she doesn’t always agree with John’s methods with the commoners and when she leaves, she finds herself taking from the stores within the Abbey to help the people in the city. And she keeps doing it. It’s fair to say that Silvie struggled with this at first but it was great to see her grow into something more than a nobleman’s daughter. She learned how to survive and take care of herself and those around her.
The world that Cornwell has developed a world was great. The forest and the abbey were so well described that I could picture them in my mind. I really enjoyed Cornwell’s writing style and her ability to pull me right into the story alongside the characters was fantastic.
If you are looking for a quick read packed with action, great characters, and an interesting story, definitely consider picking up The Forest Queen. Based on this book, I will be picking up more books by Cornwell.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Robin Hood in this story happens to be a sixteen-year-old girl named Silvie. When her brother, John, becomes the sheriff of Woodshire, she feels powerless to stop the abuse he heaps on the local commoners. When she finds out that he plans to marry her off to one of his friends, Silvie has to make a choice. Stay and live a life she doesn’t want or run away with her best friend and be who she wants to be.
I thought Cornwell did a great job of building out who these characters are. I got just enough back story regarding the relationship between Silvie and John to understand her reasons for not wanting to stay under his thumb. I also thought that she revealed enough about John along the way to make me really not like him, leading right up to, and after their confrontation.
I thought the other characters were well done too. Bird is Silvie’s best friend and they have grown up together but in different roles. Where Silvie is from a noble family, Bird is the son of the huntswoman and despite their differing backgrounds, they became close growing up. It is clear there is still misunderstanding between them due to their backgrounds, but I was happy to see them overcome these challenges and be able to depend on each other throughout the story. There are a number of other characters that added so much more to the story – Mae Tuck and Little Jane are just two of them.
As the daughter of a nobleman, Silvie has lived a comfortable life and has never wanted for anything…at least materially. Unfortunately, she doesn’t always agree with John’s methods with the commoners and when she leaves, she finds herself taking from the stores within the Abbey to help the people in the city. And she keeps doing it. It’s fair to say that Silvie struggled with this at first but it was great to see her grow into something more than a nobleman’s daughter. She learned how to survive and take care of herself and those around her.
The world that Cornwell has developed a world was great. The forest and the abbey were so well described that I could picture them in my mind. I really enjoyed Cornwell’s writing style and her ability to pull me right into the story alongside the characters was fantastic.
If you are looking for a quick read packed with action, great characters, and an interesting story, definitely consider picking up The Forest Queen. Based on this book, I will be picking up more books by Cornwell.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.