Rash is a book about a so called “perfect” society, where anything moderately dangerous is outlawed. After Bo has had a run in with the law for the third time he is sent to a work camp to serve time for his crimes. His old A.I from when he was in school promises him freedom. Can he do it? Meanwhile Bo runs into many dangerous things on his time in prison.
Scat, by Carl Hiaasen, was about a mean science teacher who disappears on a school field trip. Two students go on a journey to find their teacher. There are many plot twists and the book also goes in depth about all the characters. Over all this book was amazing and highly suggested for anyone who wants an easy read.
Reviewer Grade: 8
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon introduces a little girl named Minli, who lives in a town that goes through difficult times, with people each working from dusk till dawn. Minli though, seems to think that with the stories that her father tells her, there is some hope left. So, Minli sets on a difficult journey to meet the Man in the Moon (told in one of her father's stories) that will give her a fortune to help her family and the town that she lives in. When I started this book I couldn't put it down, the author of this book made this story seem like many stories, which is why I continued to read and finish this book. If I were you I would definitely read this book.
Reviewer Grade: 8
This book was about a boy and he is captured by berserkers and was taken on a great journey to find who he truly is. He learned to defeated some of his greatest inner demons and learned that there are two sides to every story. Also he learned the value of humbleness and that good thing come at a price. He also learns that patients there is beauty in everything. For a grade I give this book a 4.5. I loved this book. It was about an amazing adventure into new places and a road to self discovery. I had mighty beasts and gentle giants. It is a great book for teens and would recommend it for anyone that loves books with great quests and beasts with two sides. A light side that brings love and acceptance, and a dark side that brings chaos and hate. I hope anyone who reads this loves it as much as I did. The only thing I did not like about this book is that my favorite characters did not end up in a relationship, but there are other books in the series I have yet to read.
Actual Rating: 4.5
Reviewer Grade: 8
I’ve been following Sam Sykes on twitter for a while, and given my affinity for both well-crafted fantasy worlds and action-adventure stories, it was only a matter of time before I picked up a copy of The City Stained Red, the first book in Sam’s Bring Down Heaven series.
At almost 650 pages, The City Stained Red is a doorstopper of a book, but a fast, fun, vicious read. The book follows Lenk, an adventurer that some readers may recognize from Sykes’ previous series, The Aeon’s Gate Trilogy (though reading that series first is by no means a prerequisite for Bring Down Heaven). Lenk has finally decided that he’s done with killing, and wants to put aside his sword and pick up what he believes will be a normal life in the trade hub city of Cier’Djall. He and his friends, Denaos the thief, young wizard Dreadaeleon, khoshicht (Sykes’ clever take on elves) archer Kataria, healer/priestess Asper, and dragonman Gariath have killed scores of people and monsters. With the money owed to them for their services, they could happily retire from their violent lives. However, the man who owes them is not so easily found.
Cier’Djall is a massive, sprawling city, and the wealthy who rule over it have made their gold by selling silk produced by enormous spiders. However, the beautiful silk-draped spire that towers over the city leaves long shadows. In darker corners of the city, some of the poor are disappearing, and the ruling fashas may be to blame. Two rival churches seek to position their armies within the city, and tensions are running high as negotiations between them loom. Then, there’s the small matter of the local thieves guild and their ongoing conflict with a new but powerful cult that claims to have demons backing them. This is reality in the city where Lenk hopes to find Miron Evenhands, the priest at whose behest they have been doing what they do best. Cier’Djall is a bonfire piled high, drenched in oil, and awaiting a spark, and Lenk and his friends are unwittingly bringing lit torches through the gates.
The City Stained Red takes a page from A Song of Ice and Fire by presenting chapters from the perspectives of each member of Lenk’s band of adventurers. After arriving in Cier’Djall, they split up to try to located Miron, each using their unique skills and connections to make their way through the city. Denaos has connections from his previous life in the thieves guild, the Jackals. Dreadaeleon seeks the assistance of the Venarium, the wizard’s alliance. Asper, a follower of the same church as Miron, travels to the various temples in the city. Kataria finds herself in Shichttown, a slum where the non-humans try to live out of the way of the fiercely racist upper class. Gariath attempts to gather information from another dragonman who works as a bodyguard for one of the fashsas. Lenk is trying to cope with the fact that his pursuit of retirement may lose him the closest thing he’s ever known to a family. None of them are remotely ready for what they find.
After a footwar between the Jackals and the Khovura cult spills from the back alleys into the streets, every faction with an interest in controlling the silk trade comes out of their corners swinging, and Lenk and company can do little more than hope to survive.
I absolutely loved this book. Sykes blends dark humor and trope deconstruction beautifully. I’m already reading the sequel, The Mortal Tally, because I couldn’t wait to see what happens to these folks next. Reading about these characters is like watching my college Dungeons and Dragons group in action. There’s violence and bloodshed, but also fervent emotion. It’s a wonderful thing.
Cornelia Funke deserves major praise for Inkdeath, because this book, the last in a trilogy, is every bit as good as the first book (something that does not often happen). It continues where the last book left off, with Meggie’s family stuck in the fictional Inkheart world where her father has become a noble robber called the Bluejay. Because he is the champion of justice and the defender of the poor, he is wanted by many powerful nobles. Most want to kill him; however, one of them, the cruelest of them all, wants the Bluejay to save him. But this noble is the one whose death would set the people of the Inkworld free. The plot stalls a little in the middle of the book, but it is more than made up for by the surprise hero at the end. Like the previous books, it has rich characterization and heavy themes. Plenty of times the characters wonder whether our world is after all more “real” than the fictional world they are stuck in, and they often wonder if after all their entire existence is written out by some far-off author. And the book is so well written that the reader could easily find himself wondering also.
Reviewer Grade: 11
This is the fourth book in the series so it is continuation of Sophie’s story of her fight against a group called Neverseen. They have tried to kill her several times because they view her as a threat. They run to her creator, Black Swan, for help. This is a book of rebellion, betrayal, and Elfin drama. This is a fictional story that is unpredictable and fascinating. It is one of my favorite stories.
Actual Rating: 4.5
Reviewer Grade: 7
Journey To The Center Of The Earth is a wonderful book. In it, the main characters Axel and his uncle find a mysterious message in a book saying that if you descend into the crater of Sneffels before the kalends of July, you will find a passage to the center of the earth. Putting aside all hesitations, they begin their journey and explore the depths of the earth.
Will their journey succeed or will they die in vain? Find out by reading this book. You will not be disappointed! The only bad part is that it's a bit unrealistic. Overall, this is a great book.
Reviewer Grade: 8
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke is the sequel to the book Inkheart and is well worth reading. This book is just as well written as the previous book and has the same well drawn characters, along with epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter as before, though as before it can be somewhat predictable.
It’s a serious book with some heavy themes but it’s much more interesting than Inkheart because it takes place in a world of fantasy. It continues the adventures of Meggie, her father Mo, her newly reunited mother Resa, and the many other characters of Inkheart. It begins when the homesick fire dancer Dustfinger finds a person to read him back into the world of the fictional Inkheart where he was accidentally taken from by Mo. Unfortunately, Meggie, who has long been fascinated by this world, follows him, and one after another most of the characters find their way from this world to the world of Inkheart. There they find many surprises, the biggest of which is that the fictional world no longer follows the course set out for it by its author Fenoglio. Suddenly everyone is forced to accept the fact that they may just be caught up in a story of which they have no control.
Reviewer grade: 11
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is a fantasy book about twelve-year-old Meggie and her bookbinder father Mo who can read things out of books with his beautiful voice. Unfortunately, one of the people that Mo has accidentally read out is the evil character Capricorn from the fictional book Inkheart. Though it has been ten years since this happened, Capricorn is still hunting for Mo so that he can read a horrible monster out of Inkheart to do his evil work. The ending to this book is very satisfying, though it still leaves some questions unanswered which the author comes back to in her sequel Inkspell.
The best part of this book is its believable and completely unique characters, from the sad fire tamer Dustfinger to the cruel, superstitious Basta to Meggie’s stubborn, book-loving great-aunt Elinor. The plot is predictable at some times but at others is very surprising. There are plenty of twists since this book is over 700 pages, which makes it a good book for lazy summer reading.
Reviewer Grade: 11
