Tag: rating 3 star

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

BOOK REVIEW: Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

you can find the book at:

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goodreads summary:

Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home.

But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.

Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince . . . but realizes she doesn’t want a fairy tale happy ending after all.

my review:

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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

I’m so disappointed with this book because it had the potential to be brilliant. Like other Cinderellas, Nicolette is at the mercy of her cruel stepmother and sisters. She’s treated like dirt and forced to work as a servant in her own family home. Unknown to her stepfamily, Nicolette has a talent for engineering and hides her mother’s old inventions away in her workroom. She plans to sell her designs to make enough money to leave and, hopefully, repurchase her family home from her stepmother’s clutches.

The concept is fantastic. Nicolette wants to save herself, remove herself from her toxic environment but on her own terms. The emphasis is not on romance but on the importance of friendship. And the importance of loving yourself rather than loving the prince. But there is no climax. The story flows quick and easy, but there’s nothing that fuels excitement, no internal conflict that was satisfying to read.

Overall, this book was enjoyable. How likely I would recommend this book will be varying, depends on my mood I think. But the ending was was cute, and honestly one of my favourite for a fairy tale retelling.

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:

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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, 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:

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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.

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: End of Days by Susan Ee

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: End of Days by Susan Ee

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goodreads summary:

End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy.

After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.

When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

my review:

Rating:
★★★☆☆

It begins right where World After left off—Raffe with Penryn in his arms, flying, and Paige sitting on Beliel’s body which is being carried by scorpion-tailed locusts. While Word After left me disappointed, I’m not gonna lie so did this. While WA was good for the last 30%, this whole book was a mix of really good/really disappointing.

The character development in this book is very profound. Penryn has always been an independent and strong female character, but in this final installment, Susan Ee takes her badass quality to a whole new level. Raffe, on the other hand, has always been a fierce believer but in this book, the battle between his responsibilities and his heart gets tougher. He’s not just an archangel; he’s a warrior. The story, pacing, and my overall excitement gives this book 3 stars. However, there were many disappointing scenes.

The romance in this series has always been subtle yet powerful. I really enjoyed their relationship because of their intense chemistry, but at some parts, I was disappointed. Especially when they’re lying in bed together, it turned a bit too desperate for me. She moved his hand so it would be on her nipple?????? I didn’t find it at all sexy or steamy but slightly creeped out at Penryn’s actions and Raffes response.

Penryn used to be smart but lost most of it as the story progressed. She let herself be manipulated and used for the most pathetic of reasons. She was seriously a TSTL character with Beliel, she knew he was manipulative, but she still let herself be tricked by him, all so she could spy on more of Raffe’s memories. Her actions probably resulted in the deaths of dozens of humans, those hellions she released must have killed a few people when they escaped, but that thought never crossed her mind.
Also, why was Paige the chosen one when it came to the locusts? How could she control them? Where did that power and ability to come from? Did Doc engineer it that way? If so, how? And why Paige? I felt like it was only put in to have that whole dramatic moment where Penryn was told her sister would be their savior.

That one page where Layla comes back on her side was way too convenient. One minute she was happy with being evil and then she turns back around to coincide with Raffe and Penryn needing help. I felt like a better ending would have been Raffe returning back to heaven, taking all the angels with him, as he initially promised with Penryn.

Overall, an unsatisfying ending to what could have been a decent series.
Books, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/ Teen

BOOK REVIEW: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

by Zaheerah2 Comments on BOOK REVIEW: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

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goodreads summary:

If you could read my mind, you wouldn’t be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam’s weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet’s Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more “normal” than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

my review:

Rating:
★★★☆☆

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

This is the first book I’ve requested from NetGallery, and I’m so glad that they accepted. I’m not a big fan of contemporary YA novels- to be honest, they bore me. But I’ve enjoyed Tamara Ireland Stone’s previous novels,so when I read the description for this, it sounded interesting. And it was.

The main character Sam was diagnosed with OCD as a child, and she’s been hiding it from her friends ever since- worried that her ‘perfect’ friends would find out that she isn’t like them. She keeps it well hidden, trying to be as ‘Normal’ as possible.Tamara Ireland Stone does a decent job of making Sam real. Her portrayal of OCD felt truthful, and it was obvious that she spent some time researching the topic and taking great care in depicting the struggles that Sam must go through. The novel was engaging and I felt an intensity I truly didn’t expect. Her relationship with her therapist as one of my favourite through the book. She’s a strong presence in Sam’s life, and is such an amazing character.

Sam also meets Caroline who introduces her to the Poet’s Corner. A place hidden beneath the school where a small group of students meet, sharing their burdens in the form of poems. This gives Sam an outlet, and soon becomes more confident and comfortable here. It felt right seeing her happy when she spends so much of her time miserable.

I loved the development between Sam and AJ, but I didn’t like their story. Sam used to bully AJ. This wasn’t just childish jokes, it was extreme bullying to a point where he just stopped speaking and wasn’t until he found music/poems as a way to speak again. This is probably the reason it didn’t get a 5 from me. The way it dealt with the issue of bullying was completely false. Sam may not be a bully, but she does so out of peer pressure.. Bullying is a very serious issue, and this book does not give weight to it. It glosses over the fact that Sam was a bully, peer pressure or not, it was still unacceptable. She feels bad about it, but there is never any feeling of sincerity upon her reflection into it.

Overall, Every Last Word seems like a typical contemporary book but it was enjoyable.

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

BOOK REVIEW: World After by Susan Ee

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on BOOK REVIEW: World After by Susan Ee

you can find the book at:

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goodreads summary:

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what’s left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn’s sister Paige, thinking she’s a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

[..] Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can’t rejoin the angels, can’t take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

my review:

Rating: ★★★☆☆

After reading Angelfall, I had very high expectations for the sequel. And I’m -almost- not wrong.If anything, this book is a page-turner. Like the first book, it has a lot of violence and action. There were definitely a lot of scenes that had me on the edge of my seat. But it all happened at the last 30% of the book.

I did enjoy the development of their family dynamics. Penryn’s mother and her sister page are mainly absent throughout Angelfall, so I liked that they played a more prominent role in the sequel. We get to experience and learn more about their relationship, which is very very complicated. I’m glad the dark humour stayed throughout the book. And the relationship between Penryn and the twins is my favourite relationship in the entire novel. In this book, I felt her struggle more, and it gave her more layers, and she was easier to relate to. Also, the romance doesn’t overwhelm the entire story. It could have quickly been pushed down the route where it was just full-on romance and love triangles and whatnot. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. There’s still that hint of romance, but without distracting too much from the actual conflict.

However, what didn’t work for was the pacing. It just felt too long at the beginning, and I think it’s just that it took a while to really get into the heart of the story. It just felt like a lot of build-ups rather than having its own robust and central plot. The end seemed to be moving towards a more significant conflict, but then it was cut off abruptly. I was also sort of disappointed by the reunion of Penryn and Raffe. The meeting between him and Penryn was anti-climatic. I mean, he thought she was dead, and then it was kind of like

Penryn: yooo I’m not dead
Raffe: k

The scene where he thought she was dead in the first book was so heartbreaking, and then the whole thing where he returned her (supposedly dead) body to her mother even though it could’ve gotten him killed. I guess I wanted the scene to be more emotional…

If the last 25% were the whole book, this probably would have gotten a five-star rating and went straight to the favourite shelf on Goodreads, but unfortunately, the first 75% felt complete filler that could have been sped up a little more. I had to force myself to read and not skim. However, the scenes explaining Paige and what happened to her was fascinating, and the relationship between her and Beliel was really creepy. Overall, it was still enjoyable and exciting, and I can’t wait to read the final book.