Month: June 2015

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: Miss Mabel’s School for Girls (The Network Series #1) by Katie Cross

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: Miss Mabel’s School for Girls (The Network Series #1) by Katie Cross

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Author Website

GoodReads summary:

Never underestimate the power of a determined witch.

Letum Wood is a forest of fog and deadfall, home to the quietly famous Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, a place where young witches learn the art of magic.

Sixteen-year-old Bianca Monroe has inherited a deadly curse. Determined to break free before it kills her, she enrols in the respected school to confront the cunning witch who cast the curse: Miss Mabel.

Bianca finds herself faced with dark magic she didn’t expect, with lessons more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Will Bianca have the courage to save herself from the curse, or will Miss Mabel’s sinister plan be too powerful?

my review:

Rating: ★★★☆☆

~ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~

Bianca Monroe is a witch, stuck with a dominant Inheritance curse has been placed on her mother and grandmother. The witch behind the curse is none other than Miss Mabel of Miss Mabel’s School for Girls. The school is the most prestigious one in the Witches’ Network and every year, it hosts a Student Competition, the prize of which is private lessons with the school’s High Witch. Within the first few hours of arriving at the school, Bianca volunteers for the Competition – the first first-year volunteer in centuries. But what she doesn’t realise, and what she has been warned about, is that winning the Competition was the easiest part – Miss Mabel is cunning and ruthless, for which Bianca could be the perfect weapon.

For a debut author, the world of The Networks is good – I read a lot of fantasy and paranormal books, and witches are amongst my least favourite premises. I love the concept, but the stories aren’t executed well enough. Katie Cross did manage to make it work for me. The writing is decent and sets the fast pace quite nicely.

Bianca was a good protagonist. For once, I’m glad I wasn’t irritated continuously at the action of the main character. She’s determined but doubtful, and the lengths she was willing to go for her family are commendable. Miss Mabel’s School for Girls is about young women growing up and taking on responsibilities of adulthood, witching, and the good of the witch networks. There were no love triangles! (I’m pretty sure there are only three male speaking characters) It was refreshing to see female characters that don’t revolve around the male character.

However, I felt like the development between Bianca’s relationships with her family should have been emphasised more. They are an essential aspect of the events that occur, and the stakes are high against them, yet I felt no sympathy towards them because I didn’t feel Bianca’s love for them. Also, I know Bianca quickly masters particular skills for the sake of the story, but it still felt too convenient. Despite her years of training, there are some forces too powerful for Bianca to have performed as she did.

Books, Contemporary

BOOK REVIEW: The Color of our Sky by Amita Trasi

by Zaheerah2 Comments on BOOK REVIEW: The Color of our Sky by Amita Trasi

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble (unavailable)
Author Website

goodreads summary:

A sweeping, emotional journey of two childhood friends—one struggling to survive the human slave trade and the other on a mission to save her—two girls whose lives converge only to change one fateful night in 1993.

my review:

Rating: ★★★★★

“The truth remains quiet inside us,floundering like a battered bird,desperately wanting to spread its wings and fly away.

~ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~

The Colour of our Sky is a profound story about the concept of the caste system in India, of how much that system decides the road people’s lives take.

Mukta was born into a lower caste, one in which the women dedicate their lives to becoming prostitutes for their goddess. When Tara’s family takes her from there, the two girls become more closely intertwined than either could ever have guessed.
Until Mukta is kidnapped in the middle of the night, and Tara just watches.

Within each character is complexity, no one is just ‘good’ or ‘bad’, there is a deep shame, determination, and love. Tara grew up in a middle-class home in India, is continuously reflecting the different ideologies she grew up with. Tara, in a moment of emotional difficulty, makes a decision that will haunt her well into adulthood–until she realises she can’t rest until she makes things right.

It’s beautiful and terrifying at the same time. A novel that will continue to make you think for a long, long time.

Books, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

by Zaheerah2 Comments on BOOK REVIEW: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Author Website

 

my review:

Rating: ★★★★☆

“You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”

 

Laia is one of the Scholars – now ruled over by the Martial Empire – many of whom are poor and illiterate. When her brother is arrested by the Masks, she seeks out the Resistance for help. However, they demand that in return she must enter Blackcliff Military Academy as a slave to spy on the Commandant. Elias – the son of the Commandant – makes up the other perspective in this book.

The two main characters each have their own point of view, which I loved and was captivated by both. Laia and Elias have some major internal struggles going on. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt strongly for the characters, and the plot kept me going and I couldn’t put this book down! Both are unsure of the person that they are and what kind of person they want to be. It was beautiful to see them find the strength within themselves to survive in the very different but equally challenging positions they are in. It was lovely seeing their stories intertwine and seeing these similarities come to light. I was engrossed in the story, while it was slow-paced and the action not present throughout, I never felt the lack of it. A right balance was offered.

However, this isn’t really a complete story. The beginning doesn’t spend any time at all fleshing out the characters before everything changes for them. Rather than laying a foundation, Tahir pushes us right into the action. While this would annoy me for most books, but with Embers, it worked, and I was sped through this. It’s getting a sequel, and I’m glad because this is in no way a functional standalone, that some people thought it would be, since so many storylines were left unresolved. I thought it was well-paced and remained engaging throughout. There are a lot of flaws to point out, and a lot could have been improved.

Another aspect that had room for improvement was the romance. I’ll give Tahir credit, as I didn’t find it as bad, but I had a hard time buying some of the attractions between characters because they rarely interact. Overall, I had a fun time reading this, it’s an alright starter for a promising YA fantasy series. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for book 2!

Books, Contemporary, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Author Website

goodreads summary:

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

my review:

Rating: ★★★

~ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~

Nicola Yoon’s debut Everything, Everything was nothing like I expected it to be, and I was impressed. Madeleine (Maddy) has spent her whole life in confinement. She has never been to a regular school and does not have real friends because she cannot go outside and it is extremely difficult for her to make her mother allow anyone to come inside. Maddysuffers from SCID, a disease that means that she’s allergic to the outside world; even a minute outside could break Madeleine’s weak immune system.

Though Madeleine dreams about the outside world, she is as happy as she can be in her home filled with books. But then a new family moves to the house next door and Madeleine gets increasingly intrigued by Olly, the boy next door. Through online chat, they connect and Madeleine starts to think that maybe she would rather have a couple of days in the dangerous outside than a lifetime in the protection of inside.

Madeline was an enjoyable character to read about. I understand her since it was her first love in a lot of ways I justified her actions as she doesn’t know anything else. She just wants to live her life while she can. I assumed Olly was going to be an irritating, ‘bad boy who lives next door’ but I’m glad I was wrong. He was caring, funny and, overall, a decent male character. Character development was clear in each and every character.

There isn’t a lot to say about the setting as its mainly all in Maddy’s house but it was great to see things through the eyes of someone that lived in her house for seventeen years without leaving it.

The writing style was also great, and inside there are illustrations, IM chats, and it was really cute! With EE I was most excited to see how Yoon uses short chapters, consisting of instant messages, emails as well as illustrations to tell the story of Madeleine and Olly. The illustrations, made by Yoon’s husband, are beautiful and I have a feeling my Fire HD screen did not do justice to them, which means I definitely need to get my hands on a physical copy of this novel.

However, there were a few plot inconsistency and things that irked me but they’re all spoilers

  • Why did no one question that fact she never had a proper diagnosis? Considering the high expensive equipment she needs, it just doesn’t seem plausible that any doctor would allow this to happen.A girl with a rare disorder like Maddy’s couldn’t possibly go unnoticed. 
  • Why do the nurses that always looked after Maddy never thought anything was wrong, I presumed they were trained to know how to take care of a patient in that situation?
  • Like at one point Maddy runs out of the house to Olly (because his father is abusing him) and she’s out there in seconds. But, previously, we’ve been told there’s this whole airlock thing on the door that one must go through.

Overall, I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book, but towards the end and its change in narrative, it felt rushed and was slightly odd, if I’m honest.

book tags, Books

The Liebster Award

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on The Liebster Award

liebsteraward

The Liebster Award is a way for members of the blogging community to recognize new bloggers/blogs. It is a fun way to support our fellow bloggers and create a sense of community. The rules seem to vary a little depending on who is giving the award but here are the basics:

  • Nominate ten blogs and let them know you have nominated them
  • Each nominee must have under 1000 followers
  • Provide a link to the blog that nominated you
  • Answer the questions that they have provided for you
  • Create ten new questions for the blogs that you have nominated
  • Create a post that includes all of this information

I have been nominated by

I have nominated

  • lol im fairly new to wordpress, so I dont follow many people and the people I do follow have already completed this challenge ://///
  • But I nominate anyone who wants to take part in this!

Brittanymariereads’s Questions

1. If you could choose any finished series to come out with one more book which series would you choose?

Penryn and the end of days by Susan Ee. I really didnt like the ending of End of days as I said in my review of the book I think the author wrote the first book, maybe vaguely planning for a series but uncertain if she wanted to write one. Then that book took off and suddenly she had to produce an actual series that she really hadn’t planned for. It was also changed from 5 books to 3 which I don’t mind but ending for the series was seriously unsatisfactory!!

2. If you could choose any series to become a television show which series would you choose?

This book isn’t in a series, but I would choose The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller (link goes to my review of the book). I absolutely loved this book, I’m currently taking Classical Civilisation and starting A2 at the time of writing this. For the first year we read and analysed The Iliad by Homer. Patroklos was one of my favourite characters, and this book is from his POV about the events leading up to the Trojan War and his presumed relationship with the hero Achilles. I would prefer to see this book become a TV series than a movie as there’s so much detail in this book.

If I had to choose a series, I would choose The Shades of London by Maureen Johnson. The Name of the Star is one of the favourite books which takes a new spin on the tale of Jack the Ripper, with the main character coming to terms with her supernatural abilities. Definitely, recommend!

3. Which character do you think was poorly cast in a movie based on a book? And who would you have cast instead?
As much as I love Kevin Zegers as an actor, I didn’t like that he was cast as Alec in The City of Bones he appeared too broody and old for Alec. I’m not a fan of The Mortal Instruments anymore (but I do intend to watch ABC’s Shadowhunters). I have no opinion on who I would have liked instead but I would have preferred to have an actor who is gay play Alec, which would be excellent for representation!

4. Which character death was the hardest to deal with and why?

I know people will find this weird but I don’t get extremely upset over deaths in books?? I mean, I feel sympathetic but I’ve never really found a characters death hard to deal with?? (I hope that makes sense)

5. If you could spend the day in any fictional world which world would it be?

The Harry Potter Universe (I want my damn owl, accurate housing place, and wand!!)

6. Imagine that you can have any fictional character “guest star” in a fictional world other than its own. Which character would you choose? Which world would you have them appear in? Why?

I’m not sure! I think everyone fits fine in their actual book universe and I can’t think of anything one I would want to move and appear in another.

7. Which character do you most identify with?

I know this sounds weird but I don’t really identify with characters, I have many favourite characters and there are certain aspects of them that I also share with them but there’s not one character I could identify myself with.

8. If you could choose any book or series to come out with a companion cookbook that contained recipes for food and drinks mentioned in the book which would you choose?

Probably, the Harry Potter universe, it would be amazing to see how the sweets and foods are created. (fun fact – not really – but I’ve bought bertie botts every flavoured jelly beans from a candy store in Brighton once and it was disgusting, I’m not joking, each one tasted like a stink bomb)

9. If you could choose any book or series to be turned into a video game which would you choose?

Either, Harry Potter (you can tell I’m a HP fan right??- and yes I know there is already HP games) but instead of being through harry’s POV, I would want it be from the player’s own character and how they react to the events that happen in the book. (I’m really bad at explaining but I saw a Tumblr text post about it.) OR Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige!

10. If you could choose any supporting character to get their own book or series who would you choose?

Fred and George Weasley because who wouldn’t want a series about them??? or Paige (Penryn’s sister) from Penryn and the end of days because so much happens to her that wasn’t clearly explained in the series!!

My Questions

  • Your favourite past-time.
  • The 3 wishes you’d make if you get Aladdin’s Lamp.
  • One place where you’d like to travel to.
  • Which songs do you like listening to when you are working on a blog post?
  • One skill you’ll love to acquire and why.
  • Where do you get the ideas for your blog posts?
  • What is the best feedback you have ever gotten on a blog post?
  • What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
  • What is your greatest joy in life?
  • Do you ever get “writer’s block,” and, if so, how do you deal with it?

Thank you to Brittany for nominating me!

Books, Contemporary, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

by Zaheerah3 Comments on BOOK REVIEW: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Author Website

goodreads summary:

When sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick is sent to live with her older sister, Ivy, she has no idea that the infamous Ivy Kendrick is Washington D.C.’s #1 “fixer,” known for making politicians’ scandals go away for a price. No sooner does Tess enrol at Hardwicke Academy than she unwittingly follows in her sister’s footsteps and becomes D.C.’s premier high school fixer, solving problems for elite teens.

Secrets pile up as each sister lives a double life. . . . Until their worlds come crashing together and Tess finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy with one of her classmates and a client of Ivy’s. Suddenly, there is much more on the line than good grades, money, or politics, and the price for this fix might be more than Tess is willing to pay.

my review:

Rating:
★★★★★

A review describes it as a cross between Veronica Mars and Scandal, and it is entirely accurate. I have watched both shows (well, a couple of episodes of Scandal), and I can definitely see the inspiration. The high school life of VM and the Scandal theme, though aimed at a younger crowd.

 

Tess Kendrick is a very independent individual. She never intended to become her high school’s Fixer, in fact, she tries to escape. The more she tries to avoid it the more she gets trapped in the political lives of DC’s most important people and their children. Reading about her solving issues and thinking through puzzling problems gives you quite the ride of a read. I am looking forward to seeing Tess’ sister’s character get more developed, the big plot twist towards the end gives us new insight into her character that I certainly wasn’t expecting. I loved Tess’ little gang. Asher is sweet, and  I loved him from the very first time he appeared on the page, who then ends up becoming Tess’ main confidant and partner in crime. Vivvie started off as this adorable, bubbly character who stuck by Tess’ side because she didn’t have anyone else to hang out with, but soon enough the bonds of trust build and they become fast friends. I think she might be my favourite character out of the gang,  Henry, on the other hand, he ended up that character that was way too mysterious, and became too bland for me to be interested. However, I did feel sympathetic towards him due to the circumstances.

There is no romance in this title as it mostly focuses on the political issues, but I’m glad it didn’t because romance in this situation tends to be over the top and too much. The Fixer is one of my favourites reads so far this year, it keeps you engaged whether it be through problem-solving, kick-ass main character who takes matters into her own hands, or through the decent dialogue. Some of the secrets of the book are maybe a little easy to decipher if you pay attention to the right things, but that doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment.