Book Review: Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)

review_paperandfire

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Author’s website | Amazon | Barnes and Noble |

my rating: ★★★★☆

Ink and Bone was one of my favourite reads of last year (and as you can tell, it became one of my favourite books ever), and I’m pleased to say that overall, Paper and Fire is a worthy sequel.

PAPER AND FIRE follows Jess and his friends as they attempt to save on of their own from the hands of the Library. But it ends with them being on the run and targets of the Library’s deadly automata. This sequel was much more intense and brutal than the first as no one is safe from The Archivist.

I’ll always prefer the first book but PAPER AND FIRE was no means a disappointed but an exciting development to the series. It was amazing to enter the world of The Great Library again. Caine’s ability to write believable, diverse characters is just amazing and she is excellent at pacing and this series has so much going on to keep readers entertained. It was interesting to delve deeper into the world that the Postulants live in and, especially, about the Library and its violent methods of control.

Continue reading “Book Review: Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)”

Book Review: bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Author’s website | Amazon
Rating: 3 stars

“one day I will tell you what I’ve been.

It will scare you.”

Before reading Bone, I was completely unfamiliar with Daley-Wards’ writing.
I must say, after reading it I have no regret on this purchase. Bone is a beautiful collection of poems. While I preferred the shorter ones, it was still a beautiful collection of poetry and prose in which she paints a detailed picture that made it a pleasure to read. I’ll keep this short but here’s a few snippets which I liked;

 

 

Buzz Book: 2016 Young Adult Fall/Winter

30074913Buzz Books gives reads the chance to sample forthcoming young adult novels month ahead of their publication. I wasn’t sure if these technically counted as reviews since it’s just samples but I’ll be giving my opinion on them and whether I would put them on my TBR.

A great variety of excerpts in the YA genre. I love that Buzz Books offer a collection of snippets from exciting new releases. But it’s a shame that barely any of these books piqued my interest and the ones that did don’t have a request link to NetGalley. But these five especially caught my eye.

28367581Melissa de la Cruz, SOMETHING IN BETWEEN (Harlequin Teen)

When your country doesn’t want you there, how do you know where you belong?

Jasmine de los Santos has been pushed by her Filipino immigrant parents to over-achieve, be the best she can be, work as hard as she can at school and reach for the American Dream. She’s thrilled to be named a finalist for the National Scholarship Award and prepares to go to Washington, D. C. to receive it. But when she brings home the paperwork, she learns that she and all her family are in the country illegally.

I think Something in Between is one of the better excerpts in this, and it sounds similar to The Sun Is Alsos Star by Nicola Yoon. Luckily this one was available n Netgalley so I hope I get lucky with this one because it sounds interesting.

 

28217813Nadia Hashimi, ONE HALF FROM THE EAST (HarperCollins)

 

Internationally bestselling author Nadia Hashimi’s first novel for young readers is an emotional, beautiful, and riveting coming-of-age journey to modern-day Afghanistan that explores life as a bacha posh—a preteen girl dressed as a boy.

I was SO upset when I didn’t see a Netgalley link at the end of this one.

 

25546710Chelsea Sedoti, THE HUNDRED LIES OF LIZZIE LOVETT (Sourcebook Fire)

A teenage misfit named Hawthorn Creely inserts herself in the investigation of missing person Lizzie Lovett, who disappeared mysteriously while camping with her boyfriend. Hawthorn doesn’t mean to interfere, but she has a pretty crazy theory about what happened to Lizzie. In order to prove it, she decides to immerse herself in Lizzie’s life. That includes taking her job… and her boyfriend. It’s a huge risk — but it’s just what Hawthorn needs to find her own place in the world.

From the description alone, I wasn’t impressed which is usually the case with me and contemporary novels. But from reading the excerpt, Hawthorn is a strange narrator and I really want to find out what happened to Lizzie Lovett.

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Josh Sundquist, LOVE AND FIRST SIGHT

On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?

As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a charming, quiet girl named Cecily. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. 

This reminds me of Not If I See You First but with a male lead instead, and I was SO hooked from the excerpt. (Sadly, no Netgalley link because I really want to read this one!!)

28259085Booki Vivat, FRAZZLED (Anastas)

Abbie Wu is in crisis—and not just because she’s stuck in a family that doesn’t quite get her or because the lunch ladies at school are totally corrupt or because everyone seems to have a “Thing” except her. Abbie Wu is in crisis always.

Heavily illustrated and embarrassingly honest, Frazzled dives right into the mind of this hilariously neurotic middle school girl as she tries to figure out who she is, where she belongs, and how to survive the everyday disasters of growing up. With Abbie’s flair for the dramatic and natural tendency to freak out, middle school has never seemed so nerve-racking!

The art style was enough to put this on my TBR. I’m so interested in this one!

Book Review: My Girl by Jack Jordan

30109213you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Author’s website
Amazon
my review:
Rating:★★★☆☆

*ARC received from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review*

Ten years after her daughter was murdered and only two months after her husband’s suicide, Paige thinks she has nothing to live for. Until she uncovers her husband’s gun and she goes in a desperate search to find out her husband’s secrets.

I have to admit I was not expecting this book to go where it did. And I now feel like I need to read something happy next. My Girl was definitely a weird one. We follow Paige reeling in the aftermath of her husband’s suicide when peculiar things start to occur around her. I really enjoyed the suspense that book starts with but I felt like it ended way too soon and we’re thrown straight into the turning point without a clear introduction. She goes from looking into her husband’s suicide to something completely different which is a shame because a stronger build up and clear insight into the other characters would’ve improved the novel so that transition wouldn’t have felt so strange.

Kindle Edition
Expected publication: July 4th 2016 by JJP
ASINB01F7U2SVG

 

Book Review: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

25322449you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Author’s website
my review:
Rating: 5/5

*ARC received from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review*

Frances only had one thing on her mind –  study and make it into one of the UK’s elite schools. But when she finds out her friend Aled is the mysterious voice behind her all-time favourite podcast she finds a new sort of friendship in Aled and Universe City. But when it goes viral everything comes crashing down, and Frances has to confront her past.

I really enjoyed Radio Silence. Although I do tend to stray away from YA novels that attempt to mix in fandom into its plot because I often find it doesn’t use fandom as well as it could. But I really enjoyed how Alice used fandom to show the beauty and danger of the internet while creating a stable novel about choices, and whichever path you take doesn’t matter, so long as you decide the course of your future. Frances’ experiences felt so true to me, as someone who is currently in the position she’s in- the transition from college to university is scary. Frances has such a significant character development- from a quiet girl who doesn’t feel comfortable about talking what she likes to openly enjoy all the strange things she thought people would judge her for.

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Book Review: Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

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Note: I'm currently on hiatus due to exams, this is queued.

you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Author’s website

my review:
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

~Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review~

Girls had to believe in everything but their own power, because if girls knew what they could do, imagine what they might. 

I have no recollection of requesting this on NetGalley, but I read it anyway since I hate leaving books unread on NG. But this book just wasn’t for me.

In the wake of a popular high school student’s suicide, it sends tremors throughout a conservative town. Hannah befriends Lacey and, together, they form an intimate friendship, luring Hannah into a lifestyle of rebellion and violence, as they bond over their hatred of Nikki, the deceased’s girlfriend.

While the writing was enjoyable, I just found the plot too repetitive and it became tiresome. I haven’t read many books like these – those bad obsessive girls type of books. But this showed me that maybe it’s not my type. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting the reveal and it’s ending – mainly because I didn’t expect Hannah to be capable of doing so. But there’s not much else I can say, I’m very picky when it comes to contemporary, and though the writing style was nice, I just didn’t find it enjoyable to read.

Kindle Edition, UK edition, 368 pages
Expected publication: May 5th 2016 by Little, Brown Book Group
ASIN: B010RGSET0