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howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)
DNF @ 63%
I really, really, hate to do this, but I have to put this book down. I've been working on it since November 1st (so, just over a month), and I'm only at 63%, despite many other books having come and gone in the last month. I just can't seem to get attached enough to the story or the characters to finish it.
The book alternates perspectives between Zivah, a young healer, and Dineas, a rebel soldier, both of whom have been cursed with the rose plague. The illness leaves its victims in one of two states: rosemarked - which leaves the individual with red scars, a dormant and contagious illness, and inescapable death within a few years - or umbermarked - which leaves them with brown scars, fully healed, non-contagious, and free to live out the rest of their happy little lives. Zivah is the former, Dineas is the latter, and together, they set out on a task to spy on the army that has invaded and conquered their homes.
There's nothing wrong with the book - the writing is easy to read and finely done, the characters are decent, and the story is fairly interesting - but with all the YA fantasy that I read, occasionally I meet one that, while not a bad book, just isn't bringing anything new to the table, and that is certainly the case for Rosemarked.
I only give star ratings to books that I've DNFed if I make it pretty far into them, and I feel like 63% is far enough. I don't think I've ever given 3+ stars to a DNF title before - usually, it's 2 stars or less - but I genuinely believe this book could be incredible for many people. I'm just probably not one of them! I am totally open to the idea of trying this author's future endeavors, for what it's worth.
I really, really, hate to do this, but I have to put this book down. I've been working on it since November 1st (so, just over a month), and I'm only at 63%, despite many other books having come and gone in the last month. I just can't seem to get attached enough to the story or the characters to finish it.
The book alternates perspectives between Zivah, a young healer, and Dineas, a rebel soldier, both of whom have been cursed with the rose plague. The illness leaves its victims in one of two states: rosemarked - which leaves the individual with red scars, a dormant and contagious illness, and inescapable death within a few years - or umbermarked - which leaves them with brown scars, fully healed, non-contagious, and free to live out the rest of their happy little lives. Zivah is the former, Dineas is the latter, and together, they set out on a task to spy on the army that has invaded and conquered their homes.
There's nothing wrong with the book - the writing is easy to read and finely done, the characters are decent, and the story is fairly interesting - but with all the YA fantasy that I read, occasionally I meet one that, while not a bad book, just isn't bringing anything new to the table, and that is certainly the case for Rosemarked.
I only give star ratings to books that I've DNFed if I make it pretty far into them, and I feel like 63% is far enough. I don't think I've ever given 3+ stars to a DNF title before - usually, it's 2 stars or less - but I genuinely believe this book could be incredible for many people. I'm just probably not one of them! I am totally open to the idea of trying this author's future endeavors, for what it's worth.
"We were, for whatever reason, the lucky ones who survived when no one else had. Pretty girls covered in blood. As such, we were each in turn treated like something rare and exotic. A beautiful bird that spreads its bright wings only once a decade."
Let me start this review by saying that I wanted to love this book. I honestly went into it expecting it to be amazing. Everyone I know who had read it gave it 4+ stars, so that must mean it's flawless, right? Sadly... I must have missed something, because I almost DNF'd this about a dozen times.
PLOT ➳➳
This book starts off by following Quincy, who is a "final girl"; this term is derived from horror films, and refers to the last girl standing. Almost a decade prior, Quinn and her friends were savagely attacked by a mass murderer while on a weekend cabin trip, and only Quinn survived. The biggest problem? She has no memory of anything that happened between the moments before the attack and the moment she was rescued.
Maybe part of my problem with this book was the fact that I went into it expecting it to pick up with some sort of action right from the start. Nope! The first 60% of this book had me beyond bored. It turns out that the bulk of the plot for the first while is just Quinn coping with what happened to her, getting to know her asshole public defender boyfriend, her Super-McSteamy-cop-who's-clearly-in-love-with-me-but-of-course-I-don't-want-to-sleep-with-him-who-me-nope-no-way-teehee savior Coop, finding out that the oldest "Final Girl" has just mysteriously committed suicide, and meeting the middle "Final Girl", Sam, who is established as being Pretty Freaking Strange from the get-go.
The second half of the book is a slew of twists and turns that mostly just didn't make a whole lot of sense and/or felt super predictable. I think I guessed both of the "big twists" 30% in? And one of those big twists, when I finished the book, made me realize... why was it even there? What sense did it make? It was this huge build-up and yet it ultimately added nothing of value.
CHARACTERS ➳➳
Alright, y'all already know I'm a sucker for good characters; I'll ignore a poorly developed plot all day long if there's some good, solid character development and at least one likable starring role. Sadly, this book was not having ANY of my nonsense.
• Quinn is awful. I mean genuinely, 100% awful. She is so self-contradicting it's pathetic, and she just makes one terrible decision after another. I rolled my eyes so many times I'm surprised they didn't fall out of my head.
• Jeff, the public defender boyfriend? Also awful. He spends most of the book demanding Quinn to fit into his little box of Perfect Survivor Girl Who Never Dwells on the Traumas of Her Past™, and every time she slips outside of it and shows any form of weakness, he strikes.
• Sam is boring, and annoying, and she ends every other sentence with “babe”. That’s all I really can say.
• Everyone else is either too minor to mention or their entire existence is a ~twist~ so I don’t wanna spoil anything for you lovely folks.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I wanted to love this book. I tried to love this book. I couldn't do it. I would still encourage anyone who's a fan of adult thrillers to check this book out, because seriously, guys, my entire friends list seems to be head over heels for this book, and if that's the case, I want people to pick it up and read it and hopefully fall in love with it. That just didn't happen for me.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with this ARC! As you can see, my opinions are entirely my own.
Let me start this review by saying that I wanted to love this book. I honestly went into it expecting it to be amazing. Everyone I know who had read it gave it 4+ stars, so that must mean it's flawless, right? Sadly... I must have missed something, because I almost DNF'd this about a dozen times.
PLOT ➳➳
This book starts off by following Quincy, who is a "final girl"; this term is derived from horror films, and refers to the last girl standing. Almost a decade prior, Quinn and her friends were savagely attacked by a mass murderer while on a weekend cabin trip, and only Quinn survived. The biggest problem? She has no memory of anything that happened between the moments before the attack and the moment she was rescued.
Maybe part of my problem with this book was the fact that I went into it expecting it to pick up with some sort of action right from the start. Nope! The first 60% of this book had me beyond bored. It turns out that the bulk of the plot for the first while is just Quinn coping with what happened to her, getting to know her asshole public defender boyfriend, her Super-McSteamy-cop-who's-clearly-in-love-with-me-but-of-course-I-don't-want-to-sleep-with-him-who-me-nope-no-way-teehee savior Coop, finding out that the oldest "Final Girl" has just mysteriously committed suicide, and meeting the middle "Final Girl", Sam, who is established as being Pretty Freaking Strange from the get-go.
The second half of the book is a slew of twists and turns that mostly just didn't make a whole lot of sense and/or felt super predictable. I think I guessed both of the "big twists" 30% in? And one of those big twists, when I finished the book, made me realize... why was it even there? What sense did it make? It was this huge build-up and yet it ultimately added nothing of value.
CHARACTERS ➳➳
Alright, y'all already know I'm a sucker for good characters; I'll ignore a poorly developed plot all day long if there's some good, solid character development and at least one likable starring role. Sadly, this book was not having ANY of my nonsense.
• Quinn is awful. I mean genuinely, 100% awful. She is so self-contradicting it's pathetic, and she just makes one terrible decision after another. I rolled my eyes so many times I'm surprised they didn't fall out of my head.
• Jeff, the public defender boyfriend? Also awful. He spends most of the book demanding Quinn to fit into his little box of Perfect Survivor Girl Who Never Dwells on the Traumas of Her Past™, and every time she slips outside of it and shows any form of weakness, he strikes.
• Sam is boring, and annoying, and she ends every other sentence with “babe”. That’s all I really can say.
• Everyone else is either too minor to mention or their entire existence is a ~twist~ so I don’t wanna spoil anything for you lovely folks.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I wanted to love this book. I tried to love this book. I couldn't do it. I would still encourage anyone who's a fan of adult thrillers to check this book out, because seriously, guys, my entire friends list seems to be head over heels for this book, and if that's the case, I want people to pick it up and read it and hopefully fall in love with it. That just didn't happen for me.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with this ARC! As you can see, my opinions are entirely my own.
"Dad tells me the wood is not a place to play. It is a place for business, and it is more powerful than I could ever imagine. He tells me I cannot forget the rules of the wood. There are three.
Do not travel from the paths.
Do not linger after dark.
Do not ignore the calling."
PLOT ➳➳
Winter's family has long been tasked with guarding The Wood, a magical piece of forestry behind her house that appears normal to non-Guardians... but for Guardians, it is a dangerous, living, breathing place, full of thresholds and doorways to other times and places. The Guardians are given the responsibility of monitoring the wood and ensuring that no wanderers get trapped in it after accidental threshold crossings. After all, the wood after dark is a wicked and hungry place.
When Winter's father disappears mysteriously, the job falls to her, but nothing he told her could have prepared her for the day when a boy showed up intentionally, and refused to go home. She knows she should force him to leave, but he might be connected to her father... Wouldn't you give anything to save the one you loved if you could?
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
This book is beautiful. It somehow manages to perfectly balance being dark, yet whimsical, and Chelsea's writing is light and enjoyable. I found myself wishing the wood was a real place that I could visit (during the daytime, of course), because it sounded so incredible. When dark falls, it turns into a vicious and terrifying place full of creatures that would strike fear into anyone's heart.
Winter is a really enjoyable and authentic MC, and Henry is such a fun friend and love interest. I loved their banter and his complete state of confusion over most of the modern world, as well as the very "real" feeling of Winter's constant dilemma between getting close to him and keeping things on the surface. The only other characters we get to spend much time with are Winter's mother - who is not very fleshed out, admittedly - and her "Uncle" Joe, who I found to be an enjoyable, albeit sketchy character from the first time we met him.
The entire plot is just really captivating and the setting is so beautiful that I found it pretty easy to lose myself in the story, and I was definitely rooting for Winter and Henry the whole way!
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
Here's the tough part. This book was actually a 5-star read for me, hands down, until about the 90% mark. I wish I was exaggerating. Rarely, I find a book that I adore until the ending, but the ending just ruins the whole thing for me. While the ending doesn't ruin the whole story in this scenario, I would have been ecstatic for this story to have ended entirely differently. I won't spoil anything, but the last few chapters felt so rushed; at one point, I actually felt like either Chelsea may have gotten tired of writing and was hurrying to finish, or was facing down a deadline? I'm no writer, so I never try to judge an author's process, but I was just so... disappointed by the end of this book.
Please, though, don't let this stop you from reading The Wood. The story was honestly so enjoyable that it was worth it.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
If you like dark, magical stories that mix a little fantasy, a little magical realism, and a bit of romance together, pick this one up. Chelsea really shone as a debut author, and I can't wait to read more from her. If this book was a series starter, I would be first in line to pre-order the next title - sadly, however, Goodreads says it's a stand-alone. If anyone has heard otherwise, LET ME KNOW! If that doesn't tell you how much I wanted more of this story, I don't know what will. Seriously, just ignore the fact that the ending might bum you out and go grab a copy when it comes out on August 1st!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the lovely folks at Feiwel & Friends for granting me an ARC of this book! All of my opinions are entirely my own.
Do not travel from the paths.
Do not linger after dark.
Do not ignore the calling."
PLOT ➳➳
Winter's family has long been tasked with guarding The Wood, a magical piece of forestry behind her house that appears normal to non-Guardians... but for Guardians, it is a dangerous, living, breathing place, full of thresholds and doorways to other times and places. The Guardians are given the responsibility of monitoring the wood and ensuring that no wanderers get trapped in it after accidental threshold crossings. After all, the wood after dark is a wicked and hungry place.
When Winter's father disappears mysteriously, the job falls to her, but nothing he told her could have prepared her for the day when a boy showed up intentionally, and refused to go home. She knows she should force him to leave, but he might be connected to her father... Wouldn't you give anything to save the one you loved if you could?
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
This book is beautiful. It somehow manages to perfectly balance being dark, yet whimsical, and Chelsea's writing is light and enjoyable. I found myself wishing the wood was a real place that I could visit (during the daytime, of course), because it sounded so incredible. When dark falls, it turns into a vicious and terrifying place full of creatures that would strike fear into anyone's heart.
Winter is a really enjoyable and authentic MC, and Henry is such a fun friend and love interest. I loved their banter and his complete state of confusion over most of the modern world, as well as the very "real" feeling of Winter's constant dilemma between getting close to him and keeping things on the surface. The only other characters we get to spend much time with are Winter's mother - who is not very fleshed out, admittedly - and her "Uncle" Joe, who I found to be an enjoyable, albeit sketchy character from the first time we met him.
The entire plot is just really captivating and the setting is so beautiful that I found it pretty easy to lose myself in the story, and I was definitely rooting for Winter and Henry the whole way!
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
Here's the tough part. This book was actually a 5-star read for me, hands down, until about the 90% mark. I wish I was exaggerating. Rarely, I find a book that I adore until the ending, but the ending just ruins the whole thing for me. While the ending doesn't ruin the whole story in this scenario, I would have been ecstatic for this story to have ended entirely differently. I won't spoil anything, but the last few chapters felt so rushed; at one point, I actually felt like either Chelsea may have gotten tired of writing and was hurrying to finish, or was facing down a deadline? I'm no writer, so I never try to judge an author's process, but I was just so... disappointed by the end of this book.
Please, though, don't let this stop you from reading The Wood. The story was honestly so enjoyable that it was worth it.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
If you like dark, magical stories that mix a little fantasy, a little magical realism, and a bit of romance together, pick this one up. Chelsea really shone as a debut author, and I can't wait to read more from her. If this book was a series starter, I would be first in line to pre-order the next title - sadly, however, Goodreads says it's a stand-alone. If anyone has heard otherwise, LET ME KNOW! If that doesn't tell you how much I wanted more of this story, I don't know what will. Seriously, just ignore the fact that the ending might bum you out and go grab a copy when it comes out on August 1st!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the lovely folks at Feiwel & Friends for granting me an ARC of this book! All of my opinions are entirely my own.
"This is what it means to be a feminist. Not a humanist or an equalist or whatever. But a feminist. It's not a bad word. After today it might be my favorite word. Because really all it is is girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings in a world that's always finding ways to tell them they're not."
A book about a teen girl coming into her own as a feminist and learning how to fight back against the patriarchy and rape culture? ... do you think I could have clicked "request" on this ARC any faster than I did?
✘ PLOT
At Vivian's high school, she's used to certain things being fact: the football players get away with everything, dress codes only affect girls, and sexual harassment is just part of everyday life. When Vivian starts to delve into her mother's Riot Grrrl past, however, she realizes maybe things don't have to be this way - so she forms Moxie, an anonymous school 'zine that invites other girls to band together and fight back.
"Riot Grrrls were into feminism, obviously, but up until this moment in the gym I didn't think of them as feminists so much as super cool girls who took no shit."
✘ WHAT I LIKED
- This is, in a nutshell, a YA contemporary about feminism, and that's a topic that most authors aren't willing to touch with a ten-foot pole. Not only does Jennifer Mathieu tackle the issue, she does it with finesse and smoothness.
- INTERSECTIONALITY! Vivian is given a firsthand lesson in the problematic aspects of "white feminism" and learns how to take the extra steps needed to ensure complete inclusion of all women (not just the white girls).
- Growth and development. When we first start the story, Vivian has a few problematic views on things, but she is open to listening and learning. There are even a few times where she admits to bristling a little over things she is taught, but she quickly puts her knee-jerk reactions aside and listens.
We also watch several other characters grow a lot - as in the case with Viv's best friend, who turns her nose up at the thought of feminism in the beginning of the book, but as she learns more about the movement, she steadily becomes more open-minded until she is finally proud to call herself a feminist, too.
- When Viv first starts creating the Moxie 'zines and working towards dismantling the school's patriarchal system, she's so gung-ho about it that she tends to fly off the handle whenever anyone says anything incorrect. I think a lot of feminists have been in her shoes (I know I have, and it took me a few years to learn that I don't have to get angry at every person who hasn't been educated).
While the book doesn't promote turning the other cheek regarding people who willfully ignore sexism (or any other relevant -ism), it does promote giving people the chance to learn and grow, and that is so important! Rome wasn't built in a day, guys, and you can't undo a lifetime of indoctrination in one conversation, but when people are making an effort to learn, the most helpful thing we can do is give them a healthy chance.
- Moxie addresses rape culture head on. So many people don't realize how many ways rape culture affects our day-to-day lives, and I was delighted to watch Vivian not only come to realize how much it affected her and her friends, but to watch her fight back against it. There's even an aspect where she touches on the fact that men, regardless of their stance on feminism, cannot fully comprehend what women go through, and I swear, I almost put the book down to applaud Jennifer Mathieu for having the guts to go there.
"I'm totally sure he's not doing it on purpose, but Seth is a guy, and he can't ever know what it feels like to walk down a hallway and know that you're getting judged for the size of your ass or how big your boobs are. He'll never understand what it's like to second guess everything you wear and how you sit and walk and stand in case it doesn't attract the right kind of attention or worse, attracts the wrong kind. He'll never get how scary and crazy-making it is to feel like you belong to some big Boy Monster that decides it can grab you and touch you and rank you whenever and however it wants."
✘ WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
My only complaint about this book - and the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 - is that the story itself relies so heavily on the feminist aspect that the parts in between, where we're just focusing on Viv's daily life, friendships, romance, etc., fall short a little. The writing felt very young at times, and I actually had to remind myself several times that Viv was a junior in high school, because a lot of her wording and inner monologues just felt more like they were coming from a 14- or 15-year-old, at most.
✘ FINAL VERDICT
Is this book flawless as a contemporary? No. It's a little mediocre on the story-telling aspect. Is this book a brilliant and fun example of what feminism is intended to be, however? Absolutely! Whether you consider yourself a feminist or not, I feel like everyone could learn something from this book - and you might even be surprised by how hard some of the quotes hit home.
Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the ARC! All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
You can also find this review on my blog here!
A book about a teen girl coming into her own as a feminist and learning how to fight back against the patriarchy and rape culture? ... do you think I could have clicked "request" on this ARC any faster than I did?
✘ PLOT
At Vivian's high school, she's used to certain things being fact: the football players get away with everything, dress codes only affect girls, and sexual harassment is just part of everyday life. When Vivian starts to delve into her mother's Riot Grrrl past, however, she realizes maybe things don't have to be this way - so she forms Moxie, an anonymous school 'zine that invites other girls to band together and fight back.
"Riot Grrrls were into feminism, obviously, but up until this moment in the gym I didn't think of them as feminists so much as super cool girls who took no shit."
✘ WHAT I LIKED
- This is, in a nutshell, a YA contemporary about feminism, and that's a topic that most authors aren't willing to touch with a ten-foot pole. Not only does Jennifer Mathieu tackle the issue, she does it with finesse and smoothness.
- INTERSECTIONALITY! Vivian is given a firsthand lesson in the problematic aspects of "white feminism" and learns how to take the extra steps needed to ensure complete inclusion of all women (not just the white girls).
- Growth and development. When we first start the story, Vivian has a few problematic views on things, but she is open to listening and learning. There are even a few times where she admits to bristling a little over things she is taught, but she quickly puts her knee-jerk reactions aside and listens.
We also watch several other characters grow a lot - as in the case with Viv's best friend, who turns her nose up at the thought of feminism in the beginning of the book, but as she learns more about the movement, she steadily becomes more open-minded until she is finally proud to call herself a feminist, too.
- When Viv first starts creating the Moxie 'zines and working towards dismantling the school's patriarchal system, she's so gung-ho about it that she tends to fly off the handle whenever anyone says anything incorrect. I think a lot of feminists have been in her shoes (I know I have, and it took me a few years to learn that I don't have to get angry at every person who hasn't been educated).
While the book doesn't promote turning the other cheek regarding people who willfully ignore sexism (or any other relevant -ism), it does promote giving people the chance to learn and grow, and that is so important! Rome wasn't built in a day, guys, and you can't undo a lifetime of indoctrination in one conversation, but when people are making an effort to learn, the most helpful thing we can do is give them a healthy chance.
- Moxie addresses rape culture head on. So many people don't realize how many ways rape culture affects our day-to-day lives, and I was delighted to watch Vivian not only come to realize how much it affected her and her friends, but to watch her fight back against it. There's even an aspect where she touches on the fact that men, regardless of their stance on feminism, cannot fully comprehend what women go through, and I swear, I almost put the book down to applaud Jennifer Mathieu for having the guts to go there.
"I'm totally sure he's not doing it on purpose, but Seth is a guy, and he can't ever know what it feels like to walk down a hallway and know that you're getting judged for the size of your ass or how big your boobs are. He'll never understand what it's like to second guess everything you wear and how you sit and walk and stand in case it doesn't attract the right kind of attention or worse, attracts the wrong kind. He'll never get how scary and crazy-making it is to feel like you belong to some big Boy Monster that decides it can grab you and touch you and rank you whenever and however it wants."
✘ WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
My only complaint about this book - and the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 - is that the story itself relies so heavily on the feminist aspect that the parts in between, where we're just focusing on Viv's daily life, friendships, romance, etc., fall short a little. The writing felt very young at times, and I actually had to remind myself several times that Viv was a junior in high school, because a lot of her wording and inner monologues just felt more like they were coming from a 14- or 15-year-old, at most.
✘ FINAL VERDICT
Is this book flawless as a contemporary? No. It's a little mediocre on the story-telling aspect. Is this book a brilliant and fun example of what feminism is intended to be, however? Absolutely! Whether you consider yourself a feminist or not, I feel like everyone could learn something from this book - and you might even be surprised by how hard some of the quotes hit home.
Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the ARC! All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
You can also find this review on my blog here!
"Do you remember one year when that player - Leeroy something - actually got drafted into the Stormchasers, even though he always just charged in and messed up his entire team's play? My God, he was terrible."
You read that right, my loves: Marie Lu references freaking Leeroy Jenkins in her writing. I mean, how could I give this book anything less than all the stars?
When I first finished this book, I was leaning towards 4.5 stars and couldn't decide if I should round up or down, but once I let the dust settle a little, I realized this book was honestly 99.3% flawlessness.
PLOT ➳➳
Emika Chen is a hacker and a bounty hunter, struggling to make ends meet by searching out criminals who manipulate the legalities of the worldwide phenomenon, Warcross: an augmented reality game that something like 90% of the world logs into at least weekly. While Emika is incredibly good at what she does, times are hard, and she's about to be homeless when a misplaced hacking move launches her into a very important Warcross game with the entire world watching, and suddenly, she's being swept up into working for the creator of the game himself to hunt down the biggest Warcross criminal yet.
SETTING ➳➳
I loved the world that Marie Lu built in this book, because it's just basically a tweaked version of our own Earth, with a few more technological advancements. The game feels like something that could be an actual possibility over the next few decades, so the suspension of disbelief is really easy to come by when you're reading Warcross. The game itself is magical and incredible, connecting users worldwide in a way that can make them feel as though they're literally in the same room. They can play games, go shopping, or just meander through their daily lives with a little more "fun" than they had before.
CHARACTERS ➳➳
Emika is a really fun narrator. First of all, she's a badass hacker without any of the stereotypical "geek girl" cliches that I've grown to expect from most books involving internet culture. She's not a tomboy, she's confident without being arrogant, she has a social life (and the mentions to her dating life are super sex-positive, which I love, because can we just get over the whole slut-shaming-in-YA idea?); Emika is her own person and she's carving out her place in the world. Even when she develops feelings for the love interest in the story, she never becomes some gooey, lovesick mess - she keeps a good head on her shoulders.
There are a slew of side characters in this book, and while most of them don't become tremendously fleshed out, most of them are pretty likable. Hideo is the only character besides Emika who we really learn very much about, but he's an incredibly enjoyable aspect of the story, despite feeling a little blurry and "grey" for most of the book (I constantly found myself second-guessing his motives).
GAME MECHANICS ➳➳
As someone who has been gaming my entire life, including MMO playing, I loved the explanations of how the game worked, the ins and outs of the teams and their missions, the challenges they faced... It was so much fun and felt so authentic! I loved that, during every challenge Emika and her team faced, it was so obvious that Marie is writing from experience.
THE TWIST (no spoilers!) ➳➳
As you know from the plot synopsis, Emika is hired by Hideo to hunt down the mysterious hacker who has been evading Warcross's security measures for some time now. Obviously, being mysterious means the big reveal is a pretty big aspect to the book, so I won't spoil anything, but what I will say is that I had a LOT of feelings about the end of this book, and it is a huge cliffhanger ending, and now I feel like I'm going to basically fret myself half to death while waiting on the release of book #2.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
This book is pure amazingness, and I recommend it to any YA reader, but especially a YA reader with a love for video games, because this will be right up your alley and I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy it at least a little bit (but probably a lot).
Thank you SO much to Edelweiss and the people at G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for approving me for this ARC! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
You read that right, my loves: Marie Lu references freaking Leeroy Jenkins in her writing. I mean, how could I give this book anything less than all the stars?
When I first finished this book, I was leaning towards 4.5 stars and couldn't decide if I should round up or down, but once I let the dust settle a little, I realized this book was honestly 99.3% flawlessness.
PLOT ➳➳
Emika Chen is a hacker and a bounty hunter, struggling to make ends meet by searching out criminals who manipulate the legalities of the worldwide phenomenon, Warcross: an augmented reality game that something like 90% of the world logs into at least weekly. While Emika is incredibly good at what she does, times are hard, and she's about to be homeless when a misplaced hacking move launches her into a very important Warcross game with the entire world watching, and suddenly, she's being swept up into working for the creator of the game himself to hunt down the biggest Warcross criminal yet.
SETTING ➳➳
I loved the world that Marie Lu built in this book, because it's just basically a tweaked version of our own Earth, with a few more technological advancements. The game feels like something that could be an actual possibility over the next few decades, so the suspension of disbelief is really easy to come by when you're reading Warcross. The game itself is magical and incredible, connecting users worldwide in a way that can make them feel as though they're literally in the same room. They can play games, go shopping, or just meander through their daily lives with a little more "fun" than they had before.
CHARACTERS ➳➳
Emika is a really fun narrator. First of all, she's a badass hacker without any of the stereotypical "geek girl" cliches that I've grown to expect from most books involving internet culture. She's not a tomboy, she's confident without being arrogant, she has a social life (and the mentions to her dating life are super sex-positive, which I love, because can we just get over the whole slut-shaming-in-YA idea?); Emika is her own person and she's carving out her place in the world. Even when she develops feelings for the love interest in the story, she never becomes some gooey, lovesick mess - she keeps a good head on her shoulders.
There are a slew of side characters in this book, and while most of them don't become tremendously fleshed out, most of them are pretty likable. Hideo is the only character besides Emika who we really learn very much about, but he's an incredibly enjoyable aspect of the story, despite feeling a little blurry and "grey" for most of the book (I constantly found myself second-guessing his motives).
GAME MECHANICS ➳➳
As someone who has been gaming my entire life, including MMO playing, I loved the explanations of how the game worked, the ins and outs of the teams and their missions, the challenges they faced... It was so much fun and felt so authentic! I loved that, during every challenge Emika and her team faced, it was so obvious that Marie is writing from experience.
THE TWIST (no spoilers!) ➳➳
As you know from the plot synopsis, Emika is hired by Hideo to hunt down the mysterious hacker who has been evading Warcross's security measures for some time now. Obviously, being mysterious means the big reveal is a pretty big aspect to the book, so I won't spoil anything, but what I will say is that I had a LOT of feelings about the end of this book, and it is a huge cliffhanger ending, and now I feel like I'm going to basically fret myself half to death while waiting on the release of book #2.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
This book is pure amazingness, and I recommend it to any YA reader, but especially a YA reader with a love for video games, because this will be right up your alley and I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy it at least a little bit (but probably a lot).
Thank you SO much to Edelweiss and the people at G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for approving me for this ARC! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
"The smoke is part of Gomorrah's legend: once upon a time, we were burned to the ground. But we did not die. Instead we kept burning, kept moving, kept growing. The smoke surrounds us, even if we no longer burn."
I am such a sucker for books that offer up synopsis phrases like "traveling circus city" and "carnival of debauchery". Like, SIGN ME UP PLEASE? When I first added this one to my TBR several months ago, literally, all I could think was "I AM SO PUMPED" (and also "please don't be another Caraval").
PLOT ➳➳
Gomorrah is more than just a traveling circus; it is a city, full of over 10,000 citizens, bustling with markets and families, sins of every variety, and at its core, a Freak Show, run by the proprietor's daughter. Sorina is a jynx-worker, but more than that, her abilities are special: she can create illusions of people, complete with their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. These illusions are her family, and life is as grand as it could be for an eyeless "freak" like Sorina - until a mysterious assassin begins picking off her family members, one by one.
CHARACTERS ➳➳
I loved Sorina as a narrator. Though she's only sixteen, she's definitely an old soul, and she is fiercely protective of her family. I loved the idea of her having been born with no eyes (she describes herself in one chapter as having nothing but a plain expanse of skin between her nose and hairline) - that was a character design I hadn't seen before.
Luca, the love interest, is pretty entertaining as well. He's such an immensely flawed character, with his arrogance and general rudeness, but somehow, it works? I just found myself kind of laughing at a lot of the shade he threw. I enjoyed the fact that Sorina put him in his place whenever she could, and that she acknowledged liking him despite his flaws rather than for them. (Plus, no insta-love! *choirs sing*)
There are a lot of minor characters as well, like her family/illusions, her father/the proprietor, and a handful here and there who we get to learn a bit about. Most of them feel like pretty fleshed-out individuals, and I loved how each one of them had their own flair to their designs and personalities (like Tree's beast-like behavior, Hawk's bravery despite her youth, or Villiam's need to dress fancy as hell for everything).
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
The setting is fantastic! Gomorrah is a city brimming with magic and it shows in the smoke and smells of burning that have never faded since the attempts to burn it to the ground many years in the past. There are endless references of a religious nature that kept reminding me of the old Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah, plus a handful of them made some pretty strong points regarding our own modern world:
"It's not fair that the Up-Mountainers get to storm our Festival and then call us the criminals. They get drunk, and they buy drugs, and they pay for all sorts of sins and call us the sinners for giving them the business they want."
I will say, if you're a religious person, you may find offense in some parts of the book, because there's a distinct "us versus them" mentality between the citizens of Gomorrah and the religious people of the Up-Mountains.
I also loved the mystery shrouding the murders of Sorina's family members, and while I had a feeling I knew who the killer would be, I didn't quite expect it to go the way that it did in the end.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
I think my only real complaint was with Sorina - she references herself more than once as "The Girl Who Sees Without Eyes", but I never really understood why she could see while being eyeless. She chalks it up to her jynx-work, but it was almost like one of those things where it was written off as "because I said so", if you know what I mean.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I had so much fun reading this book! I loved the representation in it: there's a tremendously diverse cast of characters, plus one of Sorina's illusions/sisters is a lesbian, and one character is very openly demisexual. I felt like all of the rep was done really well and never felt like a prop or "checking off the diversity boxes" to me.
I would totally recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy stories, especially those revolving around a carnival setting! I can't wait to read more from Amanda Foody in the future.
Thank you so much to Harlequin Teen and Edelweiss for providing me with this ARC! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
You can also find this review on my blog!
I am such a sucker for books that offer up synopsis phrases like "traveling circus city" and "carnival of debauchery". Like, SIGN ME UP PLEASE? When I first added this one to my TBR several months ago, literally, all I could think was "I AM SO PUMPED" (and also "please don't be another Caraval").
PLOT ➳➳
Gomorrah is more than just a traveling circus; it is a city, full of over 10,000 citizens, bustling with markets and families, sins of every variety, and at its core, a Freak Show, run by the proprietor's daughter. Sorina is a jynx-worker, but more than that, her abilities are special: she can create illusions of people, complete with their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. These illusions are her family, and life is as grand as it could be for an eyeless "freak" like Sorina - until a mysterious assassin begins picking off her family members, one by one.
CHARACTERS ➳➳
I loved Sorina as a narrator. Though she's only sixteen, she's definitely an old soul, and she is fiercely protective of her family. I loved the idea of her having been born with no eyes (she describes herself in one chapter as having nothing but a plain expanse of skin between her nose and hairline) - that was a character design I hadn't seen before.
Luca, the love interest, is pretty entertaining as well. He's such an immensely flawed character, with his arrogance and general rudeness, but somehow, it works? I just found myself kind of laughing at a lot of the shade he threw. I enjoyed the fact that Sorina put him in his place whenever she could, and that she acknowledged liking him despite his flaws rather than for them. (Plus, no insta-love! *choirs sing*)
There are a lot of minor characters as well, like her family/illusions, her father/the proprietor, and a handful here and there who we get to learn a bit about. Most of them feel like pretty fleshed-out individuals, and I loved how each one of them had their own flair to their designs and personalities (like Tree's beast-like behavior, Hawk's bravery despite her youth, or Villiam's need to dress fancy as hell for everything).
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
The setting is fantastic! Gomorrah is a city brimming with magic and it shows in the smoke and smells of burning that have never faded since the attempts to burn it to the ground many years in the past. There are endless references of a religious nature that kept reminding me of the old Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah, plus a handful of them made some pretty strong points regarding our own modern world:
"It's not fair that the Up-Mountainers get to storm our Festival and then call us the criminals. They get drunk, and they buy drugs, and they pay for all sorts of sins and call us the sinners for giving them the business they want."
I will say, if you're a religious person, you may find offense in some parts of the book, because there's a distinct "us versus them" mentality between the citizens of Gomorrah and the religious people of the Up-Mountains.
I also loved the mystery shrouding the murders of Sorina's family members, and while I had a feeling I knew who the killer would be, I didn't quite expect it to go the way that it did in the end.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
I think my only real complaint was with Sorina - she references herself more than once as "The Girl Who Sees Without Eyes", but I never really understood why she could see while being eyeless. She chalks it up to her jynx-work, but it was almost like one of those things where it was written off as "because I said so", if you know what I mean.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I had so much fun reading this book! I loved the representation in it: there's a tremendously diverse cast of characters, plus one of Sorina's illusions/sisters is a lesbian, and one character is very openly demisexual. I felt like all of the rep was done really well and never felt like a prop or "checking off the diversity boxes" to me.
I would totally recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy stories, especially those revolving around a carnival setting! I can't wait to read more from Amanda Foody in the future.
Thank you so much to Harlequin Teen and Edelweiss for providing me with this ARC! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
You can also find this review on my blog!
"Maybe it's better to have gotten it right and been happy for one day instead of living a lifetime of wrongs."
This was my first ever Adam Silvera book, and I'd been warned by so many people to prepare myself for ALL OF THE FEELS, but nobody could have really made me understand just how fast and hard I would fall in love with Adam's writing voice. This book made him an auto-buy author literally by the 25% mark, and I don't think any author has ever made my auto-buy list so fast in my life.
PLOT ➳➳
Imagine a world where someone has perfected the ability to predict when someone is going to die. Now, imagine that same world involving a call center whose staff's entire purpose is to call each unlucky soul between midnight and 3am and to inform them that this is their End Day. Now, imagine that some kind soul has created an app, much like a dating service, that allows people to find someone to spend their End Day with so they don't have to face it alone.
Mateo has spent his entire life living inside a bubble; meanwhile, Rufus' bubble was burst when his entire family died right before his eyes. The two teens are vastly different, but when they find that they share an End Day, they decide to spend their final hours together, and show one another what living is all about.
THE BOYS ➳➳
Mateo is this adorable, precious little thing who is just terrified of the entire world around him and I just spent so much of the book feeling sorry for him because he is filled with such an immense amount of regret when he gets his phone call. He's spent his short life too afraid to get out and live, and now that he's got less than 24 hours until the end, it's all he wants to do. He just broke my heart so many times.
Rufus, on the other hand, has gotten out and lived, but he's got his skeletons, too. Despite his own fears and regrets, though, he's solidly determined to make this last day of Mateo's life meaningful, even though they only met today. He's got a heart of absolute gold and I adored the chapters from his perspective. He's got such a fun narrating voice, and the way he viewed Mateo as this pure, innocent soul gave me all the fuzzies!
THE FEELS ➳➳
I expected this book to wreck me, and it did, but not in the ways that I expected. I can't say much, because the title spoils enough of the book, and this is one of those stories that you're better off going into with as little information as possible. Let me just tell you to have a box of tissues on standby, and probably also some chocolate or ice cream or something, and maybe a puppy to hold if you can spare one?
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I had literally not a single complaint about this book. It is so rare that a story is a pure, unadulterated 5-star read for me, but this one achieved that. I would recommend anyone and everyone to pick up a copy of They Both Die at the End. Even if you don't like YA contemporary, or don't like sad stories... get this one. It's absolutely worth your time.
Thank you so much to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for the ARC of this incredible book! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
This was my first ever Adam Silvera book, and I'd been warned by so many people to prepare myself for ALL OF THE FEELS, but nobody could have really made me understand just how fast and hard I would fall in love with Adam's writing voice. This book made him an auto-buy author literally by the 25% mark, and I don't think any author has ever made my auto-buy list so fast in my life.
PLOT ➳➳
Imagine a world where someone has perfected the ability to predict when someone is going to die. Now, imagine that same world involving a call center whose staff's entire purpose is to call each unlucky soul between midnight and 3am and to inform them that this is their End Day. Now, imagine that some kind soul has created an app, much like a dating service, that allows people to find someone to spend their End Day with so they don't have to face it alone.
Mateo has spent his entire life living inside a bubble; meanwhile, Rufus' bubble was burst when his entire family died right before his eyes. The two teens are vastly different, but when they find that they share an End Day, they decide to spend their final hours together, and show one another what living is all about.
THE BOYS ➳➳
Mateo is this adorable, precious little thing who is just terrified of the entire world around him and I just spent so much of the book feeling sorry for him because he is filled with such an immense amount of regret when he gets his phone call. He's spent his short life too afraid to get out and live, and now that he's got less than 24 hours until the end, it's all he wants to do. He just broke my heart so many times.
Rufus, on the other hand, has gotten out and lived, but he's got his skeletons, too. Despite his own fears and regrets, though, he's solidly determined to make this last day of Mateo's life meaningful, even though they only met today. He's got a heart of absolute gold and I adored the chapters from his perspective. He's got such a fun narrating voice, and the way he viewed Mateo as this pure, innocent soul gave me all the fuzzies!
THE FEELS ➳➳
I expected this book to wreck me, and it did, but not in the ways that I expected. I can't say much, because the title spoils enough of the book, and this is one of those stories that you're better off going into with as little information as possible. Let me just tell you to have a box of tissues on standby, and probably also some chocolate or ice cream or something, and maybe a puppy to hold if you can spare one?
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I had literally not a single complaint about this book. It is so rare that a story is a pure, unadulterated 5-star read for me, but this one achieved that. I would recommend anyone and everyone to pick up a copy of They Both Die at the End. Even if you don't like YA contemporary, or don't like sad stories... get this one. It's absolutely worth your time.
Thank you so much to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for the ARC of this incredible book! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
She felt her own solidness, and she felt the tremor of spirits all around her.
Mila smiled.
The house had made its first mistake. You've shown your hand. You're a thing that's alive.
Anything alive can be killed.
✘ PLOT
Curtis is determined to keep his head down, protect his little sister from their mentally ill and unstable father, and work through his own demons just a little longer - just until his eighteenth birthday, when he can take his sister far away from their broken home. When he stumbles upon a copse of trees that triggers voices in his head, the few whole pieces of Curtis' world start to shatter. Nothing can prepare him for meeting Mila - a girl from 100 years ago, whose face comes to him in mirrors, whose haunted eyes tell Curtis he has to find some way to intervene. Even if she's in the past, he is sure he can save her, and maybe himself in the process.
✘ WHAT I LIKED
- The writing style in this book is absolutely lovely.
Grief rose, dark-cloaked and dripping oblivion. She wanted to give in - wrap herself in pain and unmake the wretched creature that was Mila.
Gorgeous prose like this fills the book, and I found myself rereading lines like the one I quoted above just because they were so prettily worded.
- This is, at its core, a haunted house story, and a damn fun one at that. I'm a sucker for books where the house itself is half the threat, with sinister scares living inside the walls. The Gravenhearst home, where Mila lives in the past, is a breathing, thinking being, and I so enjoyed watching Mila struggle to dismantle it before it devoured her.
- There are some really enjoyable side characters, like Curtis' best friend Avi (who is so sweet and open and warm and lovable), or his neighbor Mae (a spooky elderly woman who welcomes him and his sister into her home). I found that I actually enjoyed the side characters more than the main characters, which isn't altogether a bad thing, because that happens somewhat often with books I read.
✘ WHAT I DISLIKED
- The main characters just aren't terribly likable characters. Neither of them had specific, fatal flaws; they're just a bit simplistic and frustrating.
On the one hand, Curtis makes one poor decision after another, all the while pushing away anyone and everyone who cares about him, and honestly, how was this kid not arrested at any point during the story? Early in the book, he almost beats another high schooler to death, and all he gets is suspension?
On the other hand, there's Mila, who was definitely more enjoyable than Curtis, but very prone to outbursts that felt a bit forced? Then, when things do look up for her from time to time, she comes across as very fragile, which feels unrealistic after how tough she is throughout other scenes.
- The content regarding mental illness in this book is tough to swallow at times. Curtis' father is mentally ill, and incredibly unstable - even violent, at times - but it felt as though the book straddled a fine line between being authentic, and stigmatic.
- The ending left a lot of loose ends untied. I won't spoil it for you, but some really bizarre shit goes down and I found myself going, "Wait, what just happened?" It just feels very unrealistic - past the point of suspension of disbelief and all that - and I think I would've preferred a very different ending (no spoilers, though!).
✘ FINAL VERDICT
This was a pretty fun read, and as far as YA horror goes, I thought it felt unique and more along the veins of what I expect a good horror book to offer than many other YA horror titles I've read. That said, it's definitely not anything mind-blowing, and if you aren't a horror fan already, this might not be for you.
✘ CONTENT WARNINGS
Parental abuse, violence, ableism, homophobic slurs (which are addressed as problematic).
Thank you to Amulet Books and NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Mila smiled.
The house had made its first mistake. You've shown your hand. You're a thing that's alive.
Anything alive can be killed.
✘ PLOT
Curtis is determined to keep his head down, protect his little sister from their mentally ill and unstable father, and work through his own demons just a little longer - just until his eighteenth birthday, when he can take his sister far away from their broken home. When he stumbles upon a copse of trees that triggers voices in his head, the few whole pieces of Curtis' world start to shatter. Nothing can prepare him for meeting Mila - a girl from 100 years ago, whose face comes to him in mirrors, whose haunted eyes tell Curtis he has to find some way to intervene. Even if she's in the past, he is sure he can save her, and maybe himself in the process.
✘ WHAT I LIKED
- The writing style in this book is absolutely lovely.
Grief rose, dark-cloaked and dripping oblivion. She wanted to give in - wrap herself in pain and unmake the wretched creature that was Mila.
Gorgeous prose like this fills the book, and I found myself rereading lines like the one I quoted above just because they were so prettily worded.
- This is, at its core, a haunted house story, and a damn fun one at that. I'm a sucker for books where the house itself is half the threat, with sinister scares living inside the walls. The Gravenhearst home, where Mila lives in the past, is a breathing, thinking being, and I so enjoyed watching Mila struggle to dismantle it before it devoured her.
- There are some really enjoyable side characters, like Curtis' best friend Avi (who is so sweet and open and warm and lovable), or his neighbor Mae (a spooky elderly woman who welcomes him and his sister into her home). I found that I actually enjoyed the side characters more than the main characters, which isn't altogether a bad thing, because that happens somewhat often with books I read.
✘ WHAT I DISLIKED
- The main characters just aren't terribly likable characters. Neither of them had specific, fatal flaws; they're just a bit simplistic and frustrating.
On the one hand, Curtis makes one poor decision after another, all the while pushing away anyone and everyone who cares about him, and honestly, how was this kid not arrested at any point during the story? Early in the book, he almost beats another high schooler to death, and all he gets is suspension?
On the other hand, there's Mila, who was definitely more enjoyable than Curtis, but very prone to outbursts that felt a bit forced? Then, when things do look up for her from time to time, she comes across as very fragile, which feels unrealistic after how tough she is throughout other scenes.
- The content regarding mental illness in this book is tough to swallow at times. Curtis' father is mentally ill, and incredibly unstable - even violent, at times - but it felt as though the book straddled a fine line between being authentic, and stigmatic.
- The ending left a lot of loose ends untied. I won't spoil it for you, but some really bizarre shit goes down and I found myself going, "Wait, what just happened?" It just feels very unrealistic - past the point of suspension of disbelief and all that - and I think I would've preferred a very different ending (no spoilers, though!).
✘ FINAL VERDICT
This was a pretty fun read, and as far as YA horror goes, I thought it felt unique and more along the veins of what I expect a good horror book to offer than many other YA horror titles I've read. That said, it's definitely not anything mind-blowing, and if you aren't a horror fan already, this might not be for you.
✘ CONTENT WARNINGS
Parental abuse, violence, ableism, homophobic slurs (which are addressed as problematic).
Thank you to Amulet Books and NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
But some people are just starfish - they need everyone to fill the roles that they assign.
Kiko's story is so tough to read at points - not only due to her childhood trauma, but also due to her struggles as a biracial young woman in a rural town. Her father is Japanese and her mother is white, and her mother has spent Kiko's entire life shaming her half-Asian appearance, name, and culture.
She once told me she wished she had given me and my brothers more "traditional" names because she was "kind of over the Japanese thing." You know, because being Asian is a trend or something.
On top of growing up with a narcissistic mother who has essentially ruined any chance at self-esteem Kiko ever had, she is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and suffers from extreme social anxiety. As someone who has suffered from severe anxiety my entire life, Kiko's mental health struggles are portrayed in a way that I related so hard to.
Normal people don't need to prepare for social interactions. Normal people don't panic at the sight of strangers. Normal people don't want to cry because the plan they've processed in their head is suddenly not the plan that's going to happen.
While I will say that this book comes with serious content warnings for childhood sexual abuse, familiar abuse/neglect, and mental health illnesses, the story is simultaneously just as touching as it is heartbreaking. I spent the entire story rooting for Kiko because I wanted so badly to see her heal and move forward in life. Akemi drew such a beautiful story, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA contemporaries and is not going to be too upset by the aforementioned triggers.
While this book does also involve a romance subplot, I was pleased to find that it rarely felt like the forefront of the story; first and foremost, Starfish is the progression of an incredible young woman learning how to accept herself for the first time.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
Kiko's story is so tough to read at points - not only due to her childhood trauma, but also due to her struggles as a biracial young woman in a rural town. Her father is Japanese and her mother is white, and her mother has spent Kiko's entire life shaming her half-Asian appearance, name, and culture.
She once told me she wished she had given me and my brothers more "traditional" names because she was "kind of over the Japanese thing." You know, because being Asian is a trend or something.
On top of growing up with a narcissistic mother who has essentially ruined any chance at self-esteem Kiko ever had, she is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and suffers from extreme social anxiety. As someone who has suffered from severe anxiety my entire life, Kiko's mental health struggles are portrayed in a way that I related so hard to.
Normal people don't need to prepare for social interactions. Normal people don't panic at the sight of strangers. Normal people don't want to cry because the plan they've processed in their head is suddenly not the plan that's going to happen.
While I will say that this book comes with serious content warnings for childhood sexual abuse, familiar abuse/neglect, and mental health illnesses, the story is simultaneously just as touching as it is heartbreaking. I spent the entire story rooting for Kiko because I wanted so badly to see her heal and move forward in life. Akemi drew such a beautiful story, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA contemporaries and is not going to be too upset by the aforementioned triggers.
While this book does also involve a romance subplot, I was pleased to find that it rarely felt like the forefront of the story; first and foremost, Starfish is the progression of an incredible young woman learning how to accept herself for the first time.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
I've read almost every piece of work that Joe Hill has graced the world of literature with, and I've loved all of them, but this was exceptionally brilliant. Rather than dwell on monsters and ghosts, the most terrifying aspect of Strange Weather was simply the horror of the human psyche, and how far people will go to inflict pain upon others.
I'll be breaking this up by story, as I typically do with novella reviews. I've combined the content warnings and will add them all at the end of the review, for efficiency's sake. I'm placing these in order of how they are positioned in the ARC, but the final copy may differ.
Snapshot, the first of four novellas, tells a man's boyhood memories of the strange man with the polaroid, and the bizarre things that each photo took along with it. I found this to be my least favorite story in the book, though it was still awfully horrifying to think of a camera that could take away more than just a photo. I found myself undeniably on edge from start to finish, and found it to be an unsettling, unique entrance to the collection.
I have no words for how stunned I was when I realized what a blatantly political direction Joe was taking this story in. Loaded is a perspective-changing story that follows in the wake of mass shootings, and tells of police brutality, racism, gun fanaticism, and hate. The villains in this story are so over the top that you find yourself desperately wanting not to believe in them, despite the fact that, as a citizen of the southern states, I can certainly assure you that I have heard many of these arguments from acquaintances in my own life.
(Note: I'm not interjecting politics into this, and will leave my thoughts on gun ownership out of this, but we've all met at least one person who took things too far, and that's what's happening in this story.)
Loaded absolutely destroyed me. I have never in my life cried through a horror story, yet I could hardly regain composure in one moment before the next event had me sobbing again. The hatred in the villain's heart left me hollow. This was the most horrifying story I have ever read, yet not a moment of it felt like fiction, particularly in the wake of the shootings we've seen over the last few years.
First of all, if you have a fear of heights, this story may not be one you want to take lightly. I don't even have acrophobia, and I still found my stomach turning at many of this story's descriptive moments. When Aubrey's skydiving experience goes wrong, he finds himself in a very interesting set of circumstances, and... well, I'll let you go into this one blind, but trust me, you're in for a really unique (and bizarre) ride.
In Rain, we watch the beginning of an apocalypse through the eyes of a young woman named Honeysuckle. As a rain of crystalline needles kills Honeysuckle's girlfriend and nearly all of her neighbors, she sets off on a journey to inform her father-in-law of his daughter's passing, only to be hunted by members of a local religious cult. As she tries to navigate the empty streets of Denver and avoid being slashed to bits by the next storm, she finds herself in a spiral of terrorism conspiracies.
Like Loaded, this story hit way too close to home for comfort, though not on nearly as intense of a level. Joe let his politics shine through once more with a few catty remarks about a president who's a little too twitter-happy, and I found myself laughing despite the nature of the tale. Of course, you're never left smiling for long when it comes to a Joe Hill book, but I found this to be a fantastic rounding-out of the collection.
All in all, Strange Weather averaged out to a 4.75 rating, which I obviously will happily round up to 5 stars for my favorite horror author. Now, I'm only sad that I have to wait for his next release!
Content warnings: fat-phobia, ableism, homophobia, racism, police brutality, gun fanaticism, sexism, spousal abuse, child death, extreme violence, religious fanaticism/occultism.
All quotes are taken from an ARC and may have been changed for the final publication. Thank you so much to HarperCollins for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
You can find this review and more on my blog!
I'll be breaking this up by story, as I typically do with novella reviews. I've combined the content warnings and will add them all at the end of the review, for efficiency's sake. I'm placing these in order of how they are positioned in the ARC, but the final copy may differ.
SNAPSHOT - ★★★★☆
The idea that these days had been taken from her struck me as vile. It was a swallow of curdled milk. It was indecent.
Snapshot, the first of four novellas, tells a man's boyhood memories of the strange man with the polaroid, and the bizarre things that each photo took along with it. I found this to be my least favorite story in the book, though it was still awfully horrifying to think of a camera that could take away more than just a photo. I found myself undeniably on edge from start to finish, and found it to be an unsettling, unique entrance to the collection.
LOADED - ★★★★★
All it took to turn a CD into a knife or a tape gun into a .45 was a little imagination, a little panic,
and a lot of prejudice.
I have no words for how stunned I was when I realized what a blatantly political direction Joe was taking this story in. Loaded is a perspective-changing story that follows in the wake of mass shootings, and tells of police brutality, racism, gun fanaticism, and hate. The villains in this story are so over the top that you find yourself desperately wanting not to believe in them, despite the fact that, as a citizen of the southern states, I can certainly assure you that I have heard many of these arguments from acquaintances in my own life.
(Note: I'm not interjecting politics into this, and will leave my thoughts on gun ownership out of this, but we've all met at least one person who took things too far, and that's what's happening in this story.)
Loaded absolutely destroyed me. I have never in my life cried through a horror story, yet I could hardly regain composure in one moment before the next event had me sobbing again. The hatred in the villain's heart left me hollow. This was the most horrifying story I have ever read, yet not a moment of it felt like fiction, particularly in the wake of the shootings we've seen over the last few years.
ALOFT - ★★★★★
Everything gets very surreal when you're falling from twelve thousand feet.
First of all, if you have a fear of heights, this story may not be one you want to take lightly. I don't even have acrophobia, and I still found my stomach turning at many of this story's descriptive moments. When Aubrey's skydiving experience goes wrong, he finds himself in a very interesting set of circumstances, and... well, I'll let you go into this one blind, but trust me, you're in for a really unique (and bizarre) ride.
RAIN - ★★★★★
When the rain fell, most everyone was caught outside in it. You wonder, maybe, why so many people died in that initial downpour.
In Rain, we watch the beginning of an apocalypse through the eyes of a young woman named Honeysuckle. As a rain of crystalline needles kills Honeysuckle's girlfriend and nearly all of her neighbors, she sets off on a journey to inform her father-in-law of his daughter's passing, only to be hunted by members of a local religious cult. As she tries to navigate the empty streets of Denver and avoid being slashed to bits by the next storm, she finds herself in a spiral of terrorism conspiracies.
Like Loaded, this story hit way too close to home for comfort, though not on nearly as intense of a level. Joe let his politics shine through once more with a few catty remarks about a president who's a little too twitter-happy, and I found myself laughing despite the nature of the tale. Of course, you're never left smiling for long when it comes to a Joe Hill book, but I found this to be a fantastic rounding-out of the collection.
All in all, Strange Weather averaged out to a 4.75 rating, which I obviously will happily round up to 5 stars for my favorite horror author. Now, I'm only sad that I have to wait for his next release!
Content warnings: fat-phobia, ableism, homophobia, racism, police brutality, gun fanaticism, sexism, spousal abuse, child death, extreme violence, religious fanaticism/occultism.
All quotes are taken from an ARC and may have been changed for the final publication. Thank you so much to HarperCollins for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
You can find this review and more on my blog!