Young Adult/ Teen – Page 14 – as told by zaheerah

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Machination & Counterpart

September 4, 2016April 8, 2018by Zaheerah2 Comments

review_machination_counterpart

* I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.

I originally read Machinations but never wrote a review for it and since then, I also got a Kindle copy of its sequel so I decided to do a double review.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

When I first requested this on NetGalley, I didn’t think much of it. I just wanted something sci-fi to read but, I have to admit, I was pretty impressed.

Plot-wise, I really liked it. This kind of plot had always low-key been my favourite. The Machination series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where machines have risen against humanity. Following Rhona Long when she is killed on a rescue mission gone and later wakes up in a new body, a clone of herself. While I wished the description of the machines themselves were more detailed (like the higher echelon) but I was quite satisfied with the overall way the world works.

Continue reading “Book Review: Machination & Counterpart” →

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Rebel of the Sands

August 25, 2016September 26, 2018by Zaheerah2 Comments

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

[EDIT 14/01/17: I’m adding link’s to Fatima and Aimal‘s review of Rebels because I urge you all to read them. Their criticisms were more well explained than mine]

I have never wanted to finish a book so quickly than this one. And I don’t mean it nicely. I was expecting this. I should’ve turned the other way when I saw it in Waterstones. I should’ve trusted my gut feeling and not listened to the random girl talking to her friend who said this was ‘the best book she’s ever read,’

Originally, I was intrigued by the Western/ Middle Eastern concept but only after a couple of pages, I realised how terribly clichéd it was and decided that this fusion was a terrible idea and she didn’t pull it off if you ask me.

I’m guessing the western concepts were the dustbowl towns and gun-toting civilians and when it came to the Middle Eastern aspects it was folk tales and mythology. As much as I loved Aladdin and Thousand and One Nights, it shouldn’t be the only model for stories about the Middle East and its people and culture. Desert, magic, threats of forced marriage and oppressive family. Rebel of the Sands is just one of many that are part of the YA fantasy boom that utilises Islamic folklore as the main concept of their novels but fails so badly. Her fusion felt so forced and artificial, more western than Middle Eastern. You could easily tweak a couple of things and just like that, the backdrop could easily become the dystopian USA. (And it breaks my heart knowing that publishers PREFER this, knowing that somewhere a Middle Eastern writer has probably written a fantasy book with their own folklore twist but their voice was passed over and they have to watch Hamilton and so many others make their debut from barely even touching their culture.)

The world-building was nothing special, and that’s a damn shame considering the concept and so much could’ve been done with it. The way this world runs was so confusing. These people drink yet pray so I’m assuming the predominant faith is Islam. If it isn’t, Hamilton hasn’t done much to clear the air since it’s entirely ambiguous. (Is there even a time period? Where are we?)

I keep reading all these 5 star reviews where they gush over Amani and Jin, but honestly, I don’t see it. And why I can understand with other YA couples but, with these two, I see absolutely nothing and I’m pretty sure you’re all lying to me about their relationship being amazing. Amani and Jinn have zero chemistry. Amani rarely acknowledges her feelings for Jin. And his introduction was so funny, I couldn’t stop laughing. We were only eight (eight!) pages in and she spent like a paragraph on how beautiful Jin was despite her being really anxious about to do a shoot off to win money, she still has the time to mention how extremely beautiful this random boy is. (Also, don’t you just love it when soldiers are chasing you and the only way you can hide is by kissing a boy you barely know #justgirlythings.) There’s also a huge time jump of around two months where these two supposedly become greater friends and I was so annoyed. The beginning could’ve easily been cut to allow us to see their friendship develop.

I have to admit Rebel of the Sands does pick up around the 200 page mark where what you’re promised to find is actually introduced to the story. It takes a very long time, though, and by the time I got there I was bored. I have no faith nor interest that the sequel will even be an improvement.

Paperback, 358 pages

Published February 4th 2016 by Faber & Faber

ISBN: 0571325254

Books, Contemporary, LGBTQIA, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel

July 28, 2016April 8, 2018by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Author’s bio | Amazon | BookDespository
Rating: ★★★★☆

As an Iranian-American, Leila’s different enough but if word got out that she liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when Saskia shows up, Leila begins to struggle to sort out her feelings.

I really wanted to love this book. It’s diverse, challenging, and absolutely needed in YA. But Farizan’s writing style doesn’t appeal to me at all. What I liked about Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel was that it captured the awkwardness of high school. Leila has a great and sarcastic sense of humour. Her small comments were really funny and I think she’s a well-rounded protagonist. I liked reading about her cultural conflict, in both her sexuality and future. While I can’t relate to the former, I could certainly relate to the latter. This kind of cultural conflict introduces a newer perspective that isn’t really discussed in young adult literature.

However, the story, overall, felt extremely simplistic in terms of plotting and characterisation. And I felt like the story focused way too much on Saskia as an attempt to bring in some drama when Farizan gives us so much more than the novel could’ve focused on if the plot hadn’t revolved around Saskia so much. (Leila’s family, Lisa’s family history, the way she used the Twelfth Night was a favourite part of the novel and I really wished that was introduced earlier into the novel and developed more.)

Despite the problems I had with Farizan’s characterisation, I did enjoy Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel. While the plot was a little cheesy and predictable, but the romance between Leila and a certain character was adorable, and I loved their backstory. I know I’ll be reading more from Farizan.

Kindle Edition, 304 pages

Published October 7th 2014 by Algonquin Young Readers
ASIN: B00KNCWLP2

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Schism

July 25, 2016April 8, 2018by Zaheerah1 Comment

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

*This review is not spoiler-free*

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

Set years after a virus wiped out the older population, the only survivors are prepubescent children. SCHISM follows Andy and her friends as they are forced to love their home in Bermuda and return to the US. Soon they band together with other fellow survivors in search of a new home.

SCHISM wasn’t all that bad. It was adventurous and fast-paced. I’ve been wanting to go back to reading more dystopian types of books. And I guess I was sort of satisfied. But my opinions on this book were quite divided.

A big weakness of this book is that, in my opinion, too much happens. In this one book alone, the time frame is quite long and wasn’t delved into that much. So much happens that the suspense that should be there didn’t have much of an impact because whatever issue there was, it was basically resolved in the next few pages.

As I was reading, I kept thinking that this one book could’ve easily been written as two, maybe three. Many things happen and could’ve been much better if they were expanded on.

Like more time spend in Bermuda to help us understand how they developed their skills. (because I don’t think it’s possible to be naturally good at being a doctor – there’s a reason why they train for so long and it didn’t seem plausible that Andy could ‘inherit’ her father’s medical skills.)
The pacing in this novel was sub-par. One moment they’re in Bermuda, next, they’re in New Mexico, Colorado and finally New York. Like I mentioned before, if expanded more, the events in book one alone and would’ve been a much more enjoyable book if most of the scenes weren’t skipped over in favour of the more boring ones. (they get to the US by boat- the journey and implications alone with such an act could’ve been really interesting to read about)
Character-wise, it’s lacking in diversity. It felt like the author was ticking off some imaginary tick box on what to include in a dystopian novel. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is smart. (see: Andy inheriting her father’s skill) They were all black and white, fitting the stereotypical qualities you usually see in novels like these.

Overall, I believe the author had something with this novel. So much could’ve been explored in terms of setting, history and development.

Kindle Edition, 274 pages

Published March 14th 2016 by Delirious Pixie

ASIN: B01D0KTJYO

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Hush, Hush

July 19, 2016April 8, 2018by Zaheerah1 Comment

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

HUSH, HUSH is the story of Nora Grey and how her life becomes anything but average when she is seated next to the new kid, Patch Cipriano, in her Biology class.

This really isn’t much of a review. Just me complaining, really, of how extremely terrible this book was. I’m not going to even follow my usual review format because I don’t think this even deserves a well, written review. Even if I absolutely despise a book, there’s usually a couple of redeeming factors but with this, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing

Ok, who lets a gym teacher teach Biology? I understand if he was a supply teacher but, no, this school let this poor excuse for a teacher teach Biology. (and half the stuff he was teaching I’m sure didn’t have anything to do with Bio)
This is also the same coach who allowed a male student to openly harass a girl in class, in front of the entire class by telling everyone exactly how to tell when a girl is turned on
Nora brings it up to the teacher that he’s ignoring her basic right as a student to not be harassed like that in school. His response? Just wait it out. And then proceeds to tell her that she should tutor the very boy who is making her uncomfortable.
- No teacher should condone the abuse Patch does to Nora.
I’ve seen Patch very high on YA Book Boyfriend lists and now that I’ve read it… I’m so confused as to why? Even if he does he better in the next book, his behaviour now is frankly quite disgusting and it’s quite scary to see people crown him as an amazing love interest.
For a girl aiming for the big Ivy league schools, Nora shows no sign of actually caring about her grades. The idea of Nora being smart is just told to us. We never actually see how smart Nora is. (Every chance she gets it’s ruined because she’s distracted by Patch the trash)
Patch sends the majority of this novel just stalking and sexually harassing Nora. And it actually confounds me that we’re supposed to be swooning at this. Are we really supposed to be finding a boy who continues to make unwanted advances on a girl who has repeatedly told him that she doesn’t like him attractive? He is manipulative, abusive and just plain disgusting.
“If rape, murder, or any other miscreant activities were on Patch’s mind, he’d cornered me in the perfect place. ” That is what the PROTAGONIST thinks of HER LOVE INTEREST.
Very stereotypical female enemy. You know the drill. I think the words slut and bitch were chucked around.
A pathetic excuse for a best friend. I liked Vee to start with. She was almost a redeeming factor but halfway through she stopped being a best friend. No best friend would make you go out with a guy you’ve told her is making you uncomfortable. Vee is the worst and their friendship is just so BAD.
One example of Vee being the shittest friend I’ve ever seen:
“He dragged me out the front door and shoved me against the house.”
“But he was drunk, right?”
“Does it matter?” I snapped.
“Well, he has a lot going on. I mean, he was wrongly accused of being messed up in some girl’s suicide, and he was forced to switch schools. If he hurt you—and I’m not justifying what he did, by the way—maybe he just needs … counseling, you know?”
“If he hurt me?”
“He was wasted. Maybe—maybe he didn’t know what he was doing. Tomorrow he’s going to feel horrible.”
I ALMOST DROPPED THIS UGLY BOOK. YOUR BEST FRIEND TELLS YOU THAT A BOY ATTACKED HER AND YOU BRUSH IT OFF BECAUSE HE WAS DRUNK? WHAT KIND OF A FRIEND ARE YOU?

I’m going to stop here because that’s all the sections that I bookmarked but I think you get the gist. I hated everything about this book and its attempt to justify harassment by covering it up as a so-called love story is actually quite worrying.

Paperback, 391 pages

Published October 13th 2010 by Simon & Schuster BFYR

ISBN: 1416989420

Category: Young Adult/ Teen

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