Fantasy

In the third installment to the beloved Percy Jackson series, we reunite with Percy and friends once again, in another harrowing quest. When the goddess Artemis is believed to have been kidnapped, after a mysterious disappearance, it's up to Percy and the gang to find her before the Winter Solstice, where Artemis' vote on the Olympian council may just determine the fate of the war between the titans. Additionally, Percy is also tasked with finding the monster who Artemis was supposedly hunting before her disappearance--a monster that may have the ability to destroy Olympus.
Just as the other two novels thus far, The Titan's Curse is another exciting and suspenseful addition to the Percy Jackson saga. The anticipation of seeing how each and every book builds up to the other and seeing how the story begins to reach its climax is very exciting. The Titan's Curse details into more of Percy and Annabeth's dynamic, and we see other new characters being brought to the spotlight. As always, I was entertained by many of the Greek mythology references sprinkled throughout the book, and how Riordan puts his own spin on these old myths. I also enjoyed, like in the other two books, how we were slowly able to watch how everything begins to unfold, and how new information is brought to light. Because of The Titan's Curse, and its other two counterparts, I am eager to see how the series will reach its finale, and how everything we've learned so far builds up to the climax of the series. Overall, Riordan crafts another thrilling addition to his series, and I am eager to learn more about Percy's future adventures.

Reviewer Grade: 11

Harry Potter is an unusual boy who lives with his uncle, Vernon Dursley, his aunt, Petunia Dursley, and his over pampered cousin, Dudley Dursley. He has constantly faced neglect and cruelty at their hands ever since he got left on their doorstep 10 years ago. Since then, strange things that he couldn't explain seemed to happen around him, especially because of the fact that they detest the "ugly" lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He was punished for this even though he didn't understand why any of these things happened to him. Little did he know that he would receive a mysterious letter, that his uncle confiscated immediately, that would reveal to him that he wasn't just a normal kid, but a wizard who is old enough to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When the letters continue to come, his uncle takes his whole family to hide out for a few days. His uncle soon learns that hiding from wizards isn't so easy and Hagrid, the groundkeeper at the school, finds him and takes him to help him navigate this new world. Not only this but Harry also founds out that his parents weren't killed in a car crash like he was told, but were actually murdered by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort. He tried to murder Harry too, but when he tried to his power broke and all that Harry was left with was his scar. Most reckon that he died, but Hagrid doesn't believe that, that is true. This synopsis sums up the perfect prompt for the story of Harry Potter. As the book goes on he meets many other amazing characters including his best friends Ron and Hermione and the eccentric headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. I would recommend this book to anyone even if they don't like fantasy because it feels so relatable.

I liked this book for a multitude of reasons. It wasn't predictable, it had amazing characters, and a set-up for an amazing series where each following book complements the impressiveness of the last. I was not the one who decided to read this book. The first person who read it to me was my mother and I am so glad she did. This is not only one of the best books that I have read all year, but probably all of my life.

Reviewer Grade: 8

The second installment to the Percy Jackson series, Percy, after successfully finishing his first quest, is now faced with another task. The borders that protect Camp Half-Blood are slowly dissolving, and more and more dangerous mythical creatures are finding their way in, disrupting the safety of the campers. To help preserve Camp Half-Blood's peace, Percy and his friends embark on a journey to the Sea of Monsters, in order to find the highly coveted, magical Golden Fleece.
I really enjoyed The Sea of Monsters, mainly because we were able to see more of Percy and the gang's adventures, but also because of the other characters we met in this novel. Tyson, while a surprising addition to the cast, easily won my heart, and I loved his innocent and kindhearted character. I also appreciated Riordan fleshing Clarisse out more and liked how we were able to understand her more. After reading the book, I found that Clarisse wasn't the typical "bully" we thought she was from the first book. Of course, I also liked reading interactions between Percy and Annabeth, and it was exciting to see how Annabeth and Luke's backstory began to reveal itself.
Once again, The Sea of Monsters was just as entertaining and humorous as The Lightning Thief, and I enjoyed the creativity that Riordan manages to inject into his stories.

Reviewer Grade: 11

The sequel to the dystopian novel, Scythe, Thunderhead delves deeper into Citra and Rowan's stories. Citra, now newly ordained Scythe Anastasia, is an up-and-coming junior Scythe, and already has begun to stir the pot in the community. With her unique gleanings, and progressive thoughts and opinions, Citra becomes a highly respected and wise Scythe, a Scythe who even the Thunderhead recognizes of value. Rowan on the other hand, after escaping the Scythedom, becomes the feared Scythe Lucifer, a black-cloaked vigilante Scythe who gleans Scythes that are driven by corruption. An equally as fast-paced and page-turning novel as the first book in the trilogy, Thunderhead was a fantastic installment to the series. I especially loved how this novel dived deeper into the inter-workings of the Thunderhead, and it's thoughts and opinions. I found it to be very interesting to see how an inanimate being like the Thunderhead, could still have morals and a conscience. This book, just like the first book in the Scythe series, was just as beautifully written, and the plot twists continue to be well developed and unexpected. The cliffhanger was also very interesting, and it was enjoyable to see the Thunderhead and it's "character development" that led to said cliffhanger. Overall, this novel was just as good as the first book in the trilogy, and I could not recommend it more.

Reviewer Grade: 11

It's hard to express how beautifully written this book is. A novel that follows a dystopian plotline where the world has found a way to eliminate all diseases and achieve immortality, from start to finish, Shusterman keeps you hooked. We meet two teenagers, Rowan and Citra, both of whom are selected to become "Scythes," people whose jobs are to randomly kill, keeping the population under control. While the plot sounds intriguing, the way Shusterman tells the story makes it even more so. The extensively detailed world-building that was created in this story was beautiful and made the novel seem thought-provokingly realistic. I couldn't wrap my head around on how the author could think up of such creative details, such as the rules all Scythes must follow, and the premise of "splatting" and "gleaning." While the novel is supposed to be fantasy, it's written in a way that seems all too realistic. The way Shusterman writes makes all of his characters come to life, and the small details he injects into characters makes them seem shiveringly human. While reading, I completely could understand each and every character (even the minor ones) and their actions. Every single character in this novel is written in a completely realistic way-- fatal flaws and all.
The plot twists also completely awed me. Scythe is one of those novels that sprinkle in tiny minor hints that may seem insignificant at first, but come together to form a huge, whopping plot twist. I can honestly say that before actually reading the twists, I would have never guessed any of them. The plot also flowed very naturally, so much so that all the twists included all seemed to be important, and not just stuck in for shock factor. Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the journal entries written before/after each chapter, and when reading them, I was awed at the depth and meaning included in them. It's pretty rare for a book to make you think so hard, but this book was one that made me contemplate many, many things. I would recommend this book for anyone, and although it's listed as Teen Fiction or YA, I believe that due to the very meaningful way this story is written, anyone can read this novel, also including the next two books included in the trilogy.

Reviewer Grade: 11

The Hunger Games is a thrilling novel that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I read it. It is a dystopian fiction novel with lots of action aspects as well. I chose this book because I heard many great things about it, and I absolutely loved it!
In the setting of The Hunger Games, there are 12 Districts that the people live in. Many years before the story takes place, there were 13 Districts. However, there was a rebellion against the government, and the Districts lost and the 13th District perished. The government holds annual Hunger Games to remind the citizens what happened during the rebellion. The Hunger Games takes two kids from each District and force them to compete in a fight to the death match in an arena. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute when her little sister’s name is drawn during the Choosing Ceremony. During the Hunger Games, she makes friends and enemies, and learns some of the schemes behind the government.

This novel was so entertaining and I was hoping that it would never end. I think people who like action and dystopian novels would like this book, and if they don’t mind some violence.

Reviewer Grade: 8.

The second book in the Red Rising trilogy, Golden Son continues Darrow's quest to tear apart the Society from within. After having succeeded at the Institute, Darrow is now serving as a lancer in the House of Augustus. A Peerless Scarred of the Academy, his goal is to kill off the Bellona family before they kill him, and overthrow ArchGovernor Augustus of Mars. However, when a mishap throws his plan into jeopardy, Darrow finds himself leading a civil war among the Golds. While he's one step closer to overthrowing the tyrannical rule of the Golds, is at worth it at the cost of losing his friends, love, and loyalty?

Just like the first book, I couldn't set this one down once I started reading it! It's action packed and kept me on my toes the entire time, and the sci-fi elements were fantastical and literally out of this world. I like reading about Darrow's growth and how he's come to trust and see friendship in the Golds, and that while he's still fighting for the same purpose, he's opened his heart to the possibility of reforming the Golds rather than destroying them. Overall, the book is a great reference to power struggles and the inequity of class divisions. I loved all the allusions to Greek mythology, and the philosophical quotes and pieces. I can't wait to read book three and see Darrow's dream finally come true!

"Echo" is a fun fantasy book that follows the journey a harmonica takes. It is about the musical people that interact with the harmonica and their journeys, showing how powerful music can be. We meet so many fun people that are going through hard times. We meet Friedrich, a young German boy living in Germany at the beginning of Hitler's career, Mike an orphan who would do anything for his brother, and Ivy, a girl confused by why social concepts are the way they are. The only thing that connects them is the harmonica. The story of the harmonica starts at the very beginning of the book and ends at the very end, making it an underlying second plot/ backstory.

"Echo" is a very fun fantasy/historical fiction book. The beginning intrigued me and was very good at capturing readers. When it gets to the middle parts when we are following different characters it does sort of feel like it is dragging on, but this is made up for with the ending. The ending was beautiful and made me so happy. Pam Muñzo Ryans writing is always so descriptive and it was great at describing music and how it feels in this book. You get to see major historical events' effects on some of the people that it would affect the most. It is a book that makes you think not only about what has happened in the past but also about the small things in life. I liked the backstory about the harmonica, it made the journey that much more special. There were some moments when we were left in the dark, aka cliffhangers and they were full of suspense. The ending as said before was beautiful, it brought everything together and resolved the suspense from the cliffhanger. Overall, this book is great. It has fantastical parts, historical parts, and musical parts, all with great writing.

Dune is a sci-fi series written by Frank Herbert depicting detailed politics with twists and turns. The first one begins with the story of a boy called Paul, the son of a duke. His journey begins on Arrakis, a desert planet filled with a valuable resource called spice. When the duke’s palace is attacked, Paul must flee and find refuge in the desert. This book was entertaining for me, but it goes a little heavy into politics and there are a lot of things you need to pay attention to in order to understand the story. I lost interest in the overall series after the first 4 books as it just gets so weird with mystical stuff in the world. The genre it fits into is not scifi, but a mix between fantasy and scifi.

I was completely enthralled with this book from start to finish. Not only is Schwab's writing style elegant, making it easy to disappear in the book and forget that time exists, but the story: Addie LaRue selling her soul for immortality with the price of forced to be forgotten by everyone who meets her, was every bit as enticing as any other action-packed fantasy novel. And although she is cursed to be forgotten, her life changes when she walks into a ragged bookstore, only to be surprised when a young bookkeeper remembers her. With romance, dark magic, and heartbreaking twists, this book was impossible to put down.