Category: Young Adult/ Teen

Books, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor

you can find the book at:

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goodreads summary:

Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all common parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.

Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked “King City” by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deerskin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can’t seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.

Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton’s son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane’s started to see her son’s father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it.

Diane’s search to reconnect with her son and Jackie’s search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: “King City”. It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures…if they can ever find it.

my review:

Rating: ★★★★☆

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

Welcome to Night Vale holds up as a beautiful read, and when taken out of context of the podcast can be a little confusing (maybe more for newer readers), but I still think that the universe is such a mystery and compellingly written. Older fans will get the references and enjoy the what they fell in love with, plus some answers to other questions. A great mix of dark humour, horror and science fiction and really great to read despite its failings as it comes to a close.

The writing of this book was so excellent and very conversational. I think the audiobook for this novel would be so fantastic, especially if they had the voice of Cecil for the audiobook. The characters within the book are so diverse and, of course, so weird. Not only are they distinct, but brimming with charm and the authors do a great job of crafting two complex main female characters.

My main fault with the novel is that the book felt like it lost tension and excitement towards the end. It’s difficult to decide what felt was so incredibly disappointing, but it may be that some fascinating things were introduced toward the end of the book that is never explored, a painfully missed opportunity. Also, I wasn’t satisfied with any of the explanations surrounding Troy, or the man in the tan jacket. Given that I’m really invested in the podcast, I walked away from the book feeling slightly let down.

Overall, a strange yet weirdly charming novel that leaves you delightfully bewildered.

Books, Contemporary, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble (unavailable)
Author Bio

goodreads summary:

Iris’s father, Ernest, is at the end of his life and she hasn’t even met him. Her best friend, Thurston, is somewhere on the other side of the world. Everything she thought she knew is up in flames.

Now her mother has declared war and means to get her hands on Ernest’s priceless art collection. But Ernest has other ideas. There are things he wants Iris to know after he’s gone. And the truth has more than one way of coming to light.

my review:

Rating:★★★★☆

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

The title, Fire Colour One,  refers to the Yves Klein painting FC1, I googled it- it looks cool, but the book is Iris who lives with her mother, Hannah, and stepfather in America until Hannah announces one day that they are returning to the UK to see Iris’s father, Ernest, who is dying. Hannah is desperate to get her hands on Ernest’s art collection. Iris has no recollections of her Dad other than what her mother has told her. She has grown up with the knowledge her father wanted nothing to do with her. Gradually, Iris and Ernest start to bond and Iris hears Ernest’s side of the story, and the life he has lived ever since her mother left him years ago.

Continue reading “BOOK REVIEW: Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine” →

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

BOOK REVIEW: The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1) by Samantha Shannon

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1) by Samantha Shannon

you can find the book at:

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Amazon
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Author Website

goodreads summary:

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

my review:

Rating:★★★☆☆

 

The novel follows Paige, a dreamwalker in 2059, her ability alone makes her a criminal. But when she accidentally kills someone, she is sent to a prison-like place which is controlled by creatures called Rephaim who want to use the voyants abilities for their own gain. She is assigned to a keeper called simply “Warden”, a mysterious man who takes a deep interest in her. (lmao you can already tell can’t you?)

I know this sounds stupid, but I feel really guilty for not liking this book as much as I should have. For the past two years, in every trip to the bookstore, I always saw this on the shelves and really wanted to read it.

The author creates a fantasy novel that is already familiar and fundamentally over complicates it by throwing in new words for things that already existed making it such a long-winded read that’s so overly descriptive, it all sounds original. The book, primarily, is a massive info dump, making it difficult to read. The novel prioritises action over a plot that makes more sense and better character development.

The characters were too dull in my opinion. You could probably kill them all off, and I wouldn’t care at all. They lacked any sort of personality or development that was built gradually. It felt as if the author only included such moments at the time it felt appropriate and useful to the plot.

Despite all the cons in this book for me, what really dragged it down to three stars was the romance. So forced and completely unnecessary, with no decent development at all. It literally comes out of nowhere. Paige gets captured by the Rephaim and is told that she is part of Bone Season XX. The Rephaite catches people and saves them for every 10 years to compete in this unique contest to see who gets to be their exclusive servant. Paige is then picked by the Warden to be his individual slave. And their romance is literally stretched throughout the novel, the gradual development just didn’t feel realistic because of the situation. It is a master/slave type of a relationship, which felt so disbelieving and was slightly uncomfortable to read.

Paige as a character was completely weak. People hail her as such a strong woman, but the author has literally only created a character with one good quality, the power everyone is using her for, and even she doesn’t realise it fully. She just felt too predictable. Also, I did like her growing relationship with Seb. His character was interesting since he was the only one of the leading group with no ability, but it’s a shame it didn’t last long.

I will probably read the next book in the series. Hopefully, the info dump had lessened, but the prospect of an eight-book series does not excite me at all, maybe the sheer number of books is what made it felt stretched out.

Overall, I think the writing is well done, and the action scenes were exciting and thrilling, but the plot and characters were all over the place, and the flashbacks which tried to give insight just took too long, and some scenes felt non-contributing to the book or could have been shortened.

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: ZOM-B (ZOM-B #1) by Darren Shan

by Zaheerah1 Comment on BOOK REVIEW: ZOM-B (ZOM-B #1) by Darren Shan

you can find the book at:

GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Author Website

goodreads summary:

Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting plot and hard-hitting and thought-provoking moral questions dealing with racism, abuse of power and more. This is challenging material, which will captivate existing Shan fans and bring in many new ones.

my review:

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

“Trust no one. Always question what you’re told. Don’t believe the lies that people feed you, even if they’re your teachers or parents. At the end of the day you have to work out for yourself what’s right or wrong.”

I would just like to disclose that I love Darren Shan’s books. The Saga of Darren Shan inspired me to become an author and is one of my favourite vampire series ever. But I’m just so disappointed with this entire book, and I’m not sure if I want to continue the series.

The summary says it’s ‘a hard-hitting and thought-provoking moral questions dealing with racism.’ But honestly, it was all bullshit. As a Muslim, who has grown up in the UK, I am so thankful I’ve never faced people like B in my life. I don’t tolerate racism in real life, and nor will I tolerate it in fiction unless it educates the readers. I felt like Shan should have written those scenes differently

B is literally a TSTL character with no redeeming quality. With a non-existent moral compass, B literally has no sense of right or wrong. They pretend not to be racist, but really was, and was extremely cruel to anyone. There’s a scene where they tried to buy alcohol but is denied because they are underage, so they made fun of the Arab man when he denied the sale. A teacher makes a comment about their racist dad, so they slashed the teachers’ tires?

B is also a huge bully. I had really hoped B would grow up and realised their racist behaviour, and hopefully, stop acting in that way. But they don’t, and blames it all on their dad and is weirdly hellbent on pleasing their dad. Later, when the zombies are overtaking their group, B‘s dad tells them to sacrifice the black boy to save themselves, and B actually did it. Then blames their dad, despite the fact that it was their action.

‘He turned me into a killer. He made me throw [….] to the zombies.’ Ummm, B, your dad didn’t make you do shit. B easily had the choice to say no, but they didn’t. And once they come to the realisation that everything they had done was wrong. It was too late, and honestly, B got what they deserved.

The novel does show what influence poor role models can have on children’s behaviours, but honestly, B’s character was too inconsistent, and the likeability in this character was way too low. The art in the book was actually really great, and I liked them. Overall, the zombie scenes were few but were good, it’s just damn shame than B’s is so unlikeable that I’m not sure if I want to continue this series.

Books, Contemporary, LGBTQIA, Romance, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

You Can Find the Book At:

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Amazon
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Author Bio

GoodReads Summary:

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common.

But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

My Review:

Rating: ★★★★★

(spoilers in review)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a story of two friends, Ari and Dante, who meet at age 15 and forge a friendship through a summer of sheer boredom. Their developing friendship is sweet and playful, making it a fantastic story of friendship which later develops into love.

The story is narrated by Ari a loner who lives in a state of constant anger: at the secrets, his family keeps from him, at his father for not being open. Then he meets Dante, who is his opposite. Dante’s quick to laugh, an artist and a philosopher. Except as it turns out, they are not so different after all. Ari learns to let go of his anger and goes through a series of moments of self-discovery. It’s fascinating to see that Ari’s narrative is somewhat unreliable because it is apparent that Ari represses his feelings because he doesn’t know them either – and his actions speak louder than his words.

However, I really wished there had been more of a development with Ari and his brother. The mystery behind his brother was absorbing and I wished it was followed through to the end. The ending of the book also felt rushed and abrupt.

Overall, Aristotle and Dante is an engaging coming-of-age story and a thoughtful exploration of identity and sexuality. This story is heartwarming and an extremely worthwhile read.

Books, Contemporary, LGBTQIA, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp


you can find the book at:

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Amazon
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Author Website

goodreads summary:

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival

my review:

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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

Initially, I’m very iffy when it comes to books with multiple POVs. But for this story’s case, it suited. TIWIE is a novel that gripped me at every page, portraying an all too realistic scenario, one that no one can ever imagine occurring happening in their lifetime, but has already occurred 15 in the US alone this year (source: Wikipedia).

In 54 minutes, every student and teacher present in the auditorium of Opportunity High School, Alabama, is fighting for their lives against one boy, one of their own. What was frightening about this story is that it can happen everywhere. But there’s a difference between hearing about that and being thrown into such situation.

This book follows a few different characters during the hour that the shooting takes place. Each character is so completely different and so important in their own ways. I think the central aspect which I really enjoyed was the diversity of the characters. There’s a scene where Tomas is worried for Fareed and how, his faith and heritage, may portray him as a threat to the police officers was a touching moment for me because of how real it was. I really hope more authors begin to write about marginalised character because, honestly, I’m all for seeing more Muslim characters in novels.

However, I do believe the psychology behind the perpetrator’s act was a bit foolish. It boils to the simple “He was evil,” and that’s it. We never really find out why Tyler did it— he goes from being a supportive brother to someone who beats and abuses his sister. It’s too simplistic, and I think that was a fatal flaw in this novel, along with missing out a chance of looking at the psychology of teen shooters and focusing more on the cheap thrills.

Overall, it was an exciting read. Though some scenes felt strange, I don’t want to judge because who on earth would know what they’d do in this situation when they don’t know what else is going to happen?