Young Adult/ Teen – Page 9 – as told by zaheerah

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

Series Review: Shatter Me

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018by Zaheerah4 Comments

I was initially going to write separate reviews for each book in the Shatter Me series. But I decided that it was going to work much better as one post about the series. I should note that this is only a series review (so far) because I had this planned before Restore Me came but didn’t get time to read it until Restore Me came out. I should warn that this post is spoiler heavy and if you haven’t read it yet and want to read it without spoilers, ignore this.

Judging from the more popular reviews of this series, everyone hated the stylistic choice, but I think it was one of the better parts of the novel. Especially, since I read the series one after the other, it makes sense, and I enjoyed reading the development of Juliette’s journey through this.

Shatter Me

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Shatter Me, in my opinion, is the worst book of the series. If hadn’t borrowed the entire series from the library already, I would’ve dropped the set the second I finished the last page. But I follow Tahereh Mafi on social media, and I really enjoy her personality so I kind of held onto this series, hoping I would somewhat enjoy these books. This is very much a romance novel with a hint of dystopia. Like as if the story forgets it’s in a dystopian setting where the world is falling apart and picks itself up every now and then.

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Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Review: The Wrath & the Dawn

July 9, 2018June 29, 2018by Zaheerah2 Comments

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5)

「Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.」

Every night the bride of the Caliph of Khorasan is killed. Until Shazi volunteers to outwit and kill the king in revenge for the death of her best friend. In the vein of the original 1001 nights, she holds off her death by telling a story every night the extends onto another.

I think The Wrath and the Dawn started off really well for me. It’s plot really grabbed from the very beginning, and it did exceed my expectations. Ahdieh has a gorgeous writing style that suits this novel’s intriguing plot. There’s a lot of quote-worthy lines that I really liked, but it was a shame I didn’t really feel the connection between them for it to really hit deep. There’s a magic system that I enjoyed but isn’t really introduced fully yet which I hope gets developed in the sequel.

Shahrzad is a great female lead. Her charismatic behaviour and sharp wit was amusing and her bravery had me rooting for her from the very beginning. But that very much drops very soon once you realise she has no idea what she’s going despite the story setting her up as this character that knows what she’s doing. How she managed to fall in love with him was questionable considering her aims. Khalid wasn’t even that great anyway. His mysterious persona wasn’t that interesting enough to want to care for him, I just wanted to know why he killed those girls, not really caring for his character. The background characters were actually my favourites of the plot I feel like we should’ve gotten a bit more background information and set up at the beginning of the novel before we get pushed straight into the story. I find it strange that enjoyed the plot of this book but didn’t enjoy its characters.

The Wrath and the Dawn have its obvious appeal to romance and retelling lovers. Despite its flaws, I did actually quite enjoy reading this book. It’s vibrant setting, and secondary characters are its most significant highlights. With a cliff-hanger like that, I do intend to read the sequel.

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Books, Contemporary, Young Adult/ Teen

Review: Something in Between

July 6, 2018June 29, 2018by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)

Jasmine de los Santos is the perfect student. Working hard to please her parents, hoping to get a full college scholarship to her dream college. But the dream is shattered when she is rewarded an award she can’t accept. Her entire family is residing in the U.S. illegally after their visas expired years ago. Now Jasmine’s breaking out and falling in love with the charming son of a Republican congressman. Time is running out, and Jasmine needs to find a way to stay.

I think Something in Between is a fantastic book about identity and one of the many experiences of undocumented immigrants. A significant theme of Something in Between is how children of immigrants are stuck between two worlds, two cultures, and figuring out how to identify when they clash with each other. Jasmine struggles, and her story shows the exploration of cultural conflict and how she learns that neither have to conflict with the other and you can be proud of both.

I enjoyed the dynamics and interactions between Jasmine and her family mainly. There’s a lot of diversity in this book that was really relatable. I wasn’t a huge fan of the drama that occurred within Jasmine and her friends, but I appreciated how in the end they worked it all out and rather than separating, all of them work out their issues and it’s realistically resolved.

The romance between Jasmine and Royce was initially quite sweet and adorable. It starts off with mutual respect between both of them and they slowly learn more about each other. It was later sort of ruined by miscommunication issues. Most of their problems could’ve been solved in seconds if they had just spoken more clearly. The whole ‘Are we still dating? We’re still dating.’ Thing got pretty old really quick. I didn’t hate Jasmine as a lead, but her personality tended to be very dramatic, and I wished the story focused a bit more on her actual family rather than the typical YA drama. She’s quite headstrong, and I liked that. But her family were the stronger aspects of the book, and I wished it was showed more.

There were some aspects that I didn’t enjoy, and one of them was how the Republicans were portrayed a bit too nice. Royce’s father does some terrible things, but they do help Jasmine’s family at one point, but I feel like they were a bit too nice to them when in the book they’re seen dismissing and alienating immigrants in the book.

Overall, it’s quite a good read. This is a very personal story about immigrants and finding out where we belong in a country that doesn’t want you and how the world can be terrible to them. I would definitely recommend it.

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Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Review: Want

July 3, 2018June 29, 2018by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

In a world divided by the rich you and the poor mei, advanced tech is needed to survive the polluted air that covers the city of Taipei. Angry at his city’s corruption which allows the rich to survive while the poorest are left at nature’s mercy, Jason Zhou along with his friends infiltrate the lives of the wealthy yous in order to destroy Jin Corp which manufactures the suits to survive.

Within the very first chapter, I was hooked. Pon has created a story that is fantastic. We’re introduced to the overcrowded smoggy city of Taipei and you’re in with Pon’s vivid imagery and writing. The wealth disparity isn’t so different from real life and this story tackles so many important topics. It is such a compelling read that will satisfy anyone looking for a thrilling and fast-paced read. And it’s cast of characters are so memorable and amazing. I don’t know how many times I can say how spectacular this was to read and experience.

I was so drawn to Zhou as the novel’s lead and his band of friends as they attempt to complete this ambitious mission. Each and every character is vital and the chemistry between them all is so good. They are such a diverse bunch of people and can’t wait to read more about them. The scenes of them just living their lives were really sweet and some of the best scenes in the book.

I did have an issue with the pacing, there were moments where it goes way too fast and then suddenly goes at a snail pace, especially in the middle of the book. And the romance between Jason and Daiyu deserved more time to develop. They’re very quickly pushed together that just needed more time to work better.

Overall, Want reads like a movie we all deserve to see on the big screen. And I loved it. A story about a group of friends infiltrating a corporation with hidden identities, spy actions and damn amazing group dynamics. A futuristic heist story that everyone needs to read.

GOODREADS | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | AUTHOR SITE

Books, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: From Twinkle, With Love

June 29, 2018June 28, 2018by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)

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

Told through letters to her favourite female filmmakers, Twinkle Mehra navigates her journey as she is approached to help direct a movie for her school’s upcoming festival. Wallflower Twinkle grabs at the chance of getting to show off her skills while using it as an opportunity to get closer to her long-time crush, Neil Roy. But she finds herself falling for her producer, Neil’s twin brother Sahil. Suddenly, a mystery person called “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is dead set on it being Neil. Soon, everything spirals out of control but can Twinkle change the script in time?

Twinkle was such an adorable read. The characters are a bit younger than Menon’s debut characters, but you get the same feeling from this cast. Twinkle and Dimple share similar but different struggles when pursuing their passions so if you’re a fan of Menon’s first, you’ll definitely love this. There’s a lot to like in this book. The formatting was cute and worked well. The storyline with her family was one of the better parts of the book.

I enjoyed the dynamics of Twinkle and her friends. It’s more frenemy, but I liked how up and down the relationship went. It was a more realistic portrayal of teen groups in high schools. But I did feel like there was a lack of clarity as to why Maddie left Twinkle.

With everything that was good and enjoyable about this book, there was a lot that I didn’t enjoy. Everyone sort of becomes unbearable. Like all of them. Twinkle becomes really selfish and just belittles everyone around her and never really apologises for most of her behaviour even though she internally tells herself it wasn’t right to do that. And her stringing Sahil long when she begins to kind of date him even though she really just wants to date his popular twin brother, who literally doesn’t even know her. She uses him to try and shoe her way into the popular group, and her attitude towards everyone just didn’t make sense. She learns her lesson in the end, but that didn’t make it any better to read.

Overall, I’m glad I gave this book a chance since I wasn’t a huge of fan of When Dimple Met Rishi. I think I preferred Twinkle’s story over Dimple’s due to personal taste and how the plot developed and was wrapped up in the end. It was a fun, light read and great for the summer!

GOODREADS | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | AUTHOR SITE

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

Mini-review: The Unit & One of Us is Lying

April 5, 2018April 10, 2018by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)

* I received a copy of The Unit from the publisher through NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.

Set in future where the elderly become dispensable (women at 50, men at 60) and are placed into the Reserve Bank Unit where they’re expected to live the rest of their lives. They’re fed well, clothed and have access to many social activities. In return for the comfortable lifestyle, they must partake in medical trials and donate their organs when needed until the final one. The longer you contribute, the longer you live.

The Unit is quite sad since it asks the question of what makes a person indispensable? Why does someone’s life mean less because it doesn’t conform to what’s required? And the government in this book tries to cover it up by treating the people who enter the Unit well. There are a few sweet moments as Dorrit makes new friends and finds a love she never had outside and despite the circumstances, they have a place where they finally fit.

The Unit is an interesting idea but there were so many plot holes and moments of ambiguity that brought down the story a lot.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)

If One of Us is Lying was a tv show, everyone would’ve finished the entire series in a day. (Most likely would receive similar hype as Riverdale and 13RW) Five students enter detentions, but only four come out alive and become prime suspects for the death of the fifth person. Simon, the one who died, ran a blog that exposed everyone’s dirty secrets and had a secret for each suspect. McManus did a damn good job in this. Using very stereotypical aspects of a high school, she gave the characters more depth and substance than I had expected. McManus is very good at writing suspense and making the reader question everything. It’s sort of a mash up between The Breakfast Club, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.

But that’s all the good things I have to say about the series. The first half was thrilling and fun but towards the end it became so disappointing. Using someone’s sexuality and having them be outed against their will shouldn’t have been treated as a plot twist. Their sexuality shouldn’t be something shocking. Also, villainising mental illness was an instant no-no for me. (Trina @ Between Chapters has a more thorough review. There was another I had read but I’ll link once I find it again)

Content warning: a character being outed against their will, harmful rep of mental illness.

Category: Young Adult/ Teen

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