Fiction

In a world where Titans and Olympians exist, Circe is born. Daughter of the sun god Helios and ocean nymph Perse, Circe is not as beautiful as her sister, or as powerful as her brothers. And having an unusual fascination for mortals, Circe is shunned and ignored by her family. After learning she is a witch, Circe is exiled to an unknown island where she will be a prisoner forever. There, Circe learns to hone her witchcraft, finds love, and learns that her divinity doesn't come from her immortality, but her will to live.

This author also wrote The Song of Achilles, and both books are so good! I loved all the references to Greek mythology and Circe's powerful perspective. Circe, of course, is my favorite character, and her growth from a meek push-over to a fiercely independent and resolute person was such a relief. If you like Greek mythology, romance, and coming-of-age, this book is perfect for you!

Anya and the Dragon is a captivating, magical book for any reader looking for a coming-of-age adventure tale. Anya, the only Jewish girl in her Russian village, is being evicted from her home because her family can’t afford to pay the anti-Semitic magistrate’s ridiculous fees. When a family claims they’ll pay her if she captures the last dragon in the region, Anya can’t resist the opportunity to help out her family. But it turns out, an evil Varangian warrior wants to use the dragon for nefarious purposes. I found it to be an incredibly unpredictable book, filled with plot twists and character development. I enjoyed seeing Anya change from a girl trying to make a living to a young woman determined to support her family. Although there were many characters that were difficult to keep track of, overall, this was a phenomenal book that kept me turning to the last page.
Reviewer: 8th Grade

This book has an amazing magical twist on the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. So, before I start this review, I want to warn y'all that it will be harder to catch on without that background knowledge. Now, onto the review!

This book, as above mentioned, has a twist on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. But, this book also touches on some racial issues (all good and supportive), so I would definitely consider this a YA novel. The magic in this is somewhat hard to keep up with but again, stunning and creative. This book touches on the bloodlines of all the knights but there is also magic from other lines.

Bree just got into Early College with her best friend and is trying to escape her hometown - and the grief associated with it. Losing her mother has been harsh, and After Bree is starting to take over. But one chaotic night on her first day switches her college experience-for better or for worse.

Nick stepped into Bree's life as a mentor to help her get her adjusted, but ends up as a strong support system for her-and begins to depend on her for support as well. Nick Is a part of one of the most important bloodlines, but all he wants to do is escape it. Bree helps, but can you ever escape your destiny?

Speaking of Nick, Bre and Nick have a romantic relationship-which I think is kinda cute- but if that makes you uncomfortable then just put that into consideration. It is not excessive, like maybe a 5 out of 10, but it IS important to the plot. This book is stunning and will keep you up till midnight. Gripping, fun, and creative, this is the ideal book for anyone who likes fantasy!

Reviewer Grade: 8

State of terror was was a great read. Multiple terrorist attacks take place across the world, which causes turmoil. Can the US Secretary of State find out who’s behind these attacks before it’s too late? Can she help prevent the next attack? I liked the plot twists in this book. State of Terror was unpredictable and keeps readers engaged throughout the book. I would definitely recommend reading State of Terror.

After having recovered all three pieces of a map leading to legendary treasure, Alosa and her crew are leading a fleet and bringing the pirates that kept her captive to justice. But when her previous captor, Vordan, reveals a secret, Alosa and her crew find themselves in a deadly race against her father, the feared Pirate King. Calling upon her siren sisters of the sea, and her loyal pirates above on land, Alosa promises to end the tyranny of her father and become the Pirate Queen. Without a doubt, she knows that she will take her father down...she is, after all, the daughter of the Siren Queen.

This sequel to Daughter of the Pirate King didn't disappoint! It's very refreshing reading about a female pirate with a female crew that the best on the sea. Alosa is iconic for her wit, selflessness, and fierceness when defending her crew and those she loves. Her blooming relationship with Riden is neither too fast or too slow, and I liked how Alosa grew as a person more after meeting him. In the end, Alosa gets to keep both parts of herself--her siren side and her human nature--and it's the perfect ending to a new beginning.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is a literature novel that has a unique writing style. Bennett switches between characters quickly which can be hard to comprehend at times. Eventually, the style becomes common and the book begins to flow better. The story line follows Desiree Vignes and Stella Vignes, the twins, and their daughters, Jude Winston and Kennedy Sanders from 1968 to 1986. Bennett does an stunning job at conveying the contrasting lives of these girls and the hardships that each one goes through, produced by their own actions or not. Yet, the lesson they learn is that all secrets will be spilled and how you react matters most.

One of the greatest science fiction novels of the past century, Jurassic Park is a genius blend of thrills, likable characters, and philosophy deep enough to interest more mature readers while allowing younger adults and teenagers to be invested as well. The story revolves around a group of temporary advisers to an eccentric millionaire who has created his own dinosaur theme park. The park becomes far more dangerous, however, when a series of events leave the beasts free to roam the island.
The main cast is a group of fully realized characters of a variety of backgrounds, working together from their respective roles of the island to ensure their survival along with the others. Far from being simple Godzilla style creatures of destruction, the dinosaurs feel like characters of their own, with intelligence (especially among the raptors) and capabilities that are both realistic and terrifying. The scenes involving both the human and dinosaur cast are tense but still controlled, and no situation feels contrived or forced.
Jurassic Park is a classic novel for young adults or older people, perfect for anyone interested in a book that will keep them turning the pages until it's over.

To start off, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and feels like they need something harder than Shadow and Bone, or Legend. (both are great books btw there's reviews for those elsewhere) Slight disclaimer: it is more of a mature book than the two mentioned before. Still great. One of the reasons this book is so highly recommended by me is because I am a hardcore fantasy lover, and Brandon Sanderson has a way of creating fantasy universes in his books and making them intricate and complicated enough to make a good trilogy out of them... one of the best trilogies I have ever read. But enough ranting, onto the review.

The world where Mistborn takes place is known as Luthadel, and the whole realm is controlled by a mysterious figure known as the Lord Ruler. The social rankings are basic. Skaa (slaves, basically), peasants, and Noblemen. The only other possible social group is the Mistborn, who have magical powers... and only occur in noblemen. Mostly. Vin is a skaa who escaped from her plantation and was taken into one of the rebellions. Her brother was an influential character in her life- taught her not to trust anyone by betraying her himself. The one thing keeping her in this band of misfits is her "Luck", and the band leader realizes that things go better when she's around. But when her rebellion gets overthrown and she gets taken in to be trained as a Mistborn, that one rule she lived is becoming harder and harder to follow.

Kelsier's only goal is to overthrow Lord Ruler. He's the strongest Mistborn around... and maybe ever. He's the only known skaa Mistborn, and the entire crew depends on him. He leads his crew around, preaching his vision of freedom to skaa plantations, trying to get them to form his task force to make his dream come true. His crew of Mistings is slowly growing. One day, he runs into a girl who calls herself VIn, who seems to have Mistborn powers as well... without even realizing. Despite her reserved and untrustful exterior, she could, if trained properly, change his life... forever.

As you can see, the story of Mistborn is detailed and complicated, with social classes, characters, powers and so much more. I would highly encourage and recommend this book to any fantasy lover who is willing to embrace a challenge... and fall in love with it.
Reviewer Grade: 8

There's Someone Inside Your House follows Makani Young as she tries to escape her past and create a new life in small-town Nebraska with her grandma and two best friends. She also is developing a crush on town outcast, Ollie. Suddenly, members of her small high school are found viciously murdered, one after another, and her and her friends will have to scramble to find the killer before they become their next victim.
I originally read this book because of the movie coming out under the same name, based on the book. In the trailer, the story seems to follow a serial killer who kills his high school victims while wearing a mask of the victims face, while seemingly holding them accountable for their past digressions. Obviously, this sounds amazing to read, so I read this book. The result was somewhat disappointing. For one, the actual murder mystery at the center of the story is no where near as interesting as the one the film outlines. In fact, despite the pretty good terror the book can get across, its pretty typical. When the murderer is revealed, both them and their motive are pretty disappointing. Other mysteries also turn out to be pretty disappointing, like some of the characters pasts or motives. Furthermore, the murder mystery isn't really the center of the story. More time seems to be devoted to what is meant to be a romantic subplot, but quickly becomes the main plot, leaving the vicious massacres on the side. Now, on the good side, the romantic subplot is pretty good, even if it takes up way too much time. As I said, the murder scenes have a lot of good tension and gore, all told from the victims perspective. The trauma the characters go through is pretty well explored, and the characters themselves are pretty well rounded, well characterized, and pretty funny. And even if the story was basic murder mystery, it was still a fun murder mystery.
All in all, while I found this book pretty disappointing, I do think its a fun ride. This would be a great read for fans of mystery, thrillers, pretty cool gore, and emotional love stories!

All These Bodies follows the country wide mystery of the Bloodless Murders, murders that leave every victim sucked dry without signs of struggle or bloodstains. Michael Jensen, the son of the sheriff who has followed the mystery as a hopeful journalist, one day witnesses the aftermath of the final murder in his hometown: the Carleson's family is found dead, with every ounce of their blood found drenched on one Marie Catherine Hale. As the nations whips itself into a frenzy over a fifteen-year-old murderess, Michael scrambles to, with Marie's help, solve the mystery of the Bloodless Murders, no matter how fantastical the answer may be.
I really wanted to like this book. See, I bought it impulsively about a month ago, hoping for a classic "How evil is the child that has done evil things?" that has been done so well in the past (None Shall Sleep, House on the Cerulean Sea, Good Omens, etc.). I was looking for some fun prose, debates on nature versus nurture, and a good thriller mystery. This book, sadly, did not live up to my expectations. For one, the writing is surprisingly prosaic for Kendare Blake, who's written other books I love. One could see this as an attempt to show that a teenager is telling the story, as the jist is that Michael is writing this story, so it makes sense that the writing is very to the point. However, even if this was intentional, it doesn't change the fact that the writing isn't very fun to read. There are some well written scenes that get across the small town vibe and deep horror of the book, but most of it was very simple. For another thing, I don't really like the way Marie was characterized. She's introduced as this worldly, weary teenager that has seen and committed many horrors. But despite this powerful image, for most of this book Marie seems very powerless and apathetic. This could be seen as accurate regarding her trauma, but it makes her much less of her own character and more a thing for Michael to protect and the world to judge. Finally, while some scenes were very scary, many of them simply described a maybe scary thing and didn't drive home the terror of the moment. Again, this could be accurate since many of these moments weren't necessarily scary out of context, but again, less interesting. The general theme of this book seems to prioritize the realistic over the dramatic, which is to be commended, but does decrease certain people's, including my, general enjoyment. Still, this book had a good ending, solid characterization, some good discussions on the public court, and accurately depicting the suffocating small town aesthetic.
All in all, this book could still be enjoyed in someone likes realistic writing, the 1900s aesthetic, discussions on justice, and nebulous mysteries, and I recommend anyone to read Kendare Blake's other works!