Review Crew - book reviews by teens, for teens

Louisa Alcott’s book, Rose in Bloom, is a highly engaging and unique story for all readers. It follows Rose, a young woman who has returned from Europe and finds her cousins and friends all grown up. Throughout the course of the novel, Rose struggles between self-discovery and societal pressures towards marriage. As she learns more about herself and life, Rose finds that she can take control of her future and be her own person. Rose is a very philanthropic and independent character and the plot will pull you in; it’s a must read for everyone! You should totally give it a shot-I’m sure you’ll love it!

The Liar's Wife begins as the typical waking up, going to work, and returning home without any excessive excitement. This however all changes from one accident. This nearly fatal accident leads the main character, Ella, into a situation that she cannot escape from or rather who she cannot escape from. Her past and her work colleague start to meddle in her present situation in several ways that only can be told through the pages of this book. Who is the man that claims so boldly to be her husband?

This book is utterly amazing. The Fault in our Stars is about two teenage cancer survivors who fall in love. Its in Hazel’s perspective as she experiences everyday life. Hazel and Augustus Waters meet at a cancer survivor support group, in a place they call “the literal heart of Jesus ”. Hazel and Augustus start being around each other more and Hazel gets Augustus to read a book she loves. “An Imperial Affliction.” He falls in love with the book as well. It brings their relationship to so many different places. Green’s vocabulary is extraordinary, and the way he displays her thoughts is beautiful. This book really made me feel something, its a tragedy, but so romantic. Reading it, you get to experience not just their relationship, but also Hazel’s life with cancer, her relationship with her parents, and other relationships important to her. The Fault in our Stars is such a wonderful book. It feels real, even though it is fiction.

In Venom Vol. 5: Venom Beyond, Eddie Brick meets a few foe, Virus!
This is the fifth volume of Venom by writer Donny Cates. After the events of
Absolute Carnage and Venom Island, Eddie Brock wants to find out more about
his son Dylan's powers, so he looks to The Maker, AKA Reed Richards from the
Ultimate Universe. But when the mysterious Virus shows up, Eddie and Dylan
fall through a portal into a new world! And on this world, there are new
enemies, such as Codex! I liked this volume, and thought the alternate world
version of Annie added some interesting ideas to the story. If you liked
Absolute Carnage and Venom Island, then there is a good chance that you might
like this volume! This collected edition collects issues #26-30 of Venom, and
the Venom story from FCBD 2020. This volume deepens the Venom lore and sets
the story up for King In Black.

In this volume of The Immortal Hulk, the battle between the Hulk and General Forteen ends! Now that Rick Jones is back, he knows where to find Shadow Base Site B, so Jones, McGee, Red Harpy and the Hulk launch an attack! One of my favorite things about this comic was Joe Bennett's artwork. While this volume is a little creepy and violent, you'll probably enjoy this volume if you are a fan of The Immortal Hulk by All Ewing. This volume, collecting issues #21-25, concludes the first half of The Immortal Hulk.

Ten Thousand Skies Above You I enjoyed immensely.
I picked this book because, well, I judge books by their covers. I mean just look at the cover, it's skillfully done! When reading the book there were some slow parts but it makes it all worth while once you get to one of the groundbreaking plot twists. I recommend this book to people who love a little bit of romance, mystery, fantasy. This swept me away to a new world, and while I can't say I can relate to Marguerite (because, well, I have traveled to other dimensions first hand) I liked the story, it has a excellent structure and build up. I like the first one a bit better but again this one was executed well too.

When Alice ends up in Paris for the summer her whole world changes. When her grandmother passes away she inherits a mysteriously locked apartment in Paris. Upon finding the apartment, she acquires help from a cute Parisian student named Paul. Paul and Alice quickly become friends and realize there may be more to their friendship. Between figuring out a mysterious apartment from World War 2 and a budding romance this book is a keeper! Couldn't put it down.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is about Starr Carter who is constantly switching between her Garden Heights self and Williamson Prep self. She switches her speech, personality, and behavior to match where she is at. After a shooting with her childhood friend, Starr finds it increasingly difficult for both Starrs’ to remain separated. Angie Thomas does a wonderful job at making you love some characters, hate others, and at times make you feel genuinely uncomfortable along with an ending that will make you feel satisfied. All in all, I loved this book and at times could not set it down and would recommend this book with a 5 out of 5 stars.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is about a futuristic society that revolves around conditioned people. People are made by machines that condition them emotionally and physically for a certain job. Since people are conditioned to perform certain tasks they are happy and content. This book follows Bernard who actively questions the system and is unhappy. Throughout the book, it brings up the question of whether it is better to have an orderly and perfect society or for people to have emotions and free will. Aldous Huxley does a wonderful job of building a world where individuality is erased. The book was an interesting read and would give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

H20 by Virginia Bergin starts off with Ruby Morris, a Britain teenager whose life is going wonderful, she’s young, pretty, and just got herself a boyfriend, Casper. Caspers' parents come home in a panic and rush everybody inside. There was something in the rain that if one drop touched you, you’d die. Ruby has to find some way to survive with minimal water and food. Virginia Bergin does a wonderful job of painting a vivid picture of how it like to live with minimal water and the struggles that come with it. This book was well done and the narration style of the book is unique and entertaining. I would recommend this book with 4 out of 5 stars.

A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck is about an awkward high school freshman Matt and his best friend neighbor, Tabby. If everything went according to plan Tabby would find out Matt was madly in love with her and she would fall into his arms. But that's not how it worked. Tabby falls in love with a senior on Matt’s basketball team, Liam. Jared Reck does a great job in making the characters' emotions come to life in a realistic awkward teenager kind of way. This book made me laugh, cringe, broke my heart, but still left me with hope. It would not give this book justice to say it was some romantic comedy because it becomes so much more. I would recommend this book with a 4 out of 5 stars.

Are you a fan of true crime novels? Do you just love the excitement, the suspense of solving mysteries? Or do you like art and the masters like Leonardo de Vinci? This book is for you. Well on the outside this book might just seem like another true crime story it is really different. I always liked crime novels and tv shows and I was and still am interested in the work organizations like the FBI do to prevent crime. This book has a different approach to your classic true crime novel by not just focusing on how the FBI solves murders but by focusing on how one man (the author) went undercover in the FBI to help recover some of the world's most famous stolen art pieces. It centers around his life and shows other things than just his cases, like how he was suspected of killing his friend. It also tells the story of how he founded the FBI's Art Crime Team. Well this book may not be for everyone if you like a good true crime book this book may work for you. It is slow in parts but makes up for that by telling stories that seem absurd to realize actually happened.

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo is the second book in the King of Scars duology, and the 7th book set in Bardugo’s Grishaverse. It follows Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina after the events of King of Scars as Ravka is pushed down the path towards war. In my opinion, Rule of Wolves was better than King of Scars and closer to the level of Six of Crows. I loved the dynamics between Nikolai and Zoya as well as being able to see some of the Crows, even if it was only for a few pages. In addition, I thought the conclusion was a very satisfactory ending to the story (a certain couple finally getting together was especially exciting). Though it wasn’t perfect and it contained a few characters I didn’t really like, the rest of the story made up for it. For fans of Leigh Bardugo who have read her other books, I highly recommend Rule of Wolves.

In this amazing autobiography, Peg tells the story about how she got polio and cheated death. When Peg found out she had polio her life changed. When she got to the hospital, she was terrified! When Peg meet her roommates, she realized that this was not the end of the world. She fights her battle with polio and wins it with the help of doctors therapists and her family. This book will entertain with ages from 6 to adult! I defiantly recommend this to read is your looking for a short great read.
Reviewer Grade: 7

I expected this book to be decently interesting but I found that I couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in a day. It tells the story of Nora Seed, who, after taking her own life, finds herself in the "Midnight Library," in which every book is a different life that could have been hers had she made a different decision in any given moment. She explores several of these lives, trying them out, in an attempt to find the right one that she really wants.
Nora is a relatable, three-dimensional character with an arc of development that was touching and well-done. The development of the book's themes, too, was immaculate, and they were crafted and portrayed in a way that hits the reader hard. If you're looking for a heartfelt book about self-discovery, regret, potential, and the joy of life, I would highly recommend.
Content-wise, there's the occasional swear word, and two mentions of the main character having sex, but it wasn't described and there wasn't anything graphic. I'd probably give it a 14+ age rating.
Reviewer grade: 11

Orphaned and alone, Odie and his brother, Albert are sent to Lincoln Indian Training School where they spend the next four years of their lives. However, the superintendent is cruel and abusive, and after committing a grave crime, Odie is forced to run away. Together with his brother, Mose his friend, and Emmy, an orphaned girl, Odie and his newfound family take a canoe down the Minnesota River with plans to go to Saint Louis and settle down with their family. During their odyssey, the friends change in different ways as each of them grapples with their heart's truest desires.

This book is an allusion to a different popular story, and I loved the different references and allusions. The main characters are all children, but each of them brought me so much insight into the world and what it means to "find what's in your heart". The novel is also full of great surprises that kept me wanting to read even more! It's mostly an adventure novel, but there is some romance and elements of fantasy and magic, so there's a bit of everything for everyone. The ending was also beautiful, and although it was a bit sad, it was fitting.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, published the year she turned 20, marks the beginning of one of the 21st Century’s favorite genres - science fiction. Written as a series of letters, the story is narrated by an explorer who encountered and rescued a scientist in the far north of Europe. He recounts an adventure told by the mysterious scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who had been fascinated by mysticism and modern science since childhood. Destroyed by grief from personal loss, Frankenstein spent his adulthood constantly occupied with experiments. The experiment that brought him near death and freezing to a stranger's ship had toyed with human life as we know it.

The book follows this experiment and Frankenstein himself as they goes through grief, excitement, devastation, apathy, loneliness, and fear. Mirroring experiences Shelley had gone through in her own devastating adolescence, Frankenstein is an achingly heartfelt book to feature such an absurdly impossible plot. This combination illustrated by such a talented author makes for an excellent book, and allows readers to experience a story that has deservedly become a hallmark of modern literature.

Note: For a book written by a woman, there are shockingly few female characters, and seemingly none with importance to the plot. But readers must remember - such gifted writers do everything for a reason. I would recommend looking into the moon as a symbol for maternity, and to the lack of female characters as an element that relates to the chaotic cycle of the story. This book is often a required part of high school curriculums, and therefore includes powerful themes that rest just behind the inherently dark storyline.

I was viewing some of the recommended books in the PPLD website and I
found this book. The title seemed suspenseful and interesting, and it drew me
in, so I decided to read this book. It's about mysteries wanting to be
discovered and uncovered. Years ago, the "Atargatis" filmed a documentary
about bringing ancient life back and discovering mythical creatures. It was
all going fine until the crew disappeared- and what's weird is how footage of
the crew getting slaughtered by mermaids got leaked out. Because of this, the
public grew suspicious and began to wonder if this was just to mock. Because
of this, Theodore Blackwell is curious and forms a new group of people to
voyage to the Mariana Trench. Each person in the crew has their own specialty
and has their own reason of wanting to explore the same area. Along the way,
they discover that a lot of the "myths" are true while finding fheir way to
safety.

This book is about a girl named Aven who has no arms. Avens parents
get a job which makes them have to moves to an amusement park in Arizona. She
struggles because people look at her like she dose not belong, someone even
asked her if her having no arms in contagious! She meets a boy named Conner
with Tourette's, and they become good friends. They think there has been a
murder at the amusement park and try to solve it while over coming stuff they
both have been struggling with. This book will leave you wondering what is
going to happen next, with a big twist at the end. This book is a must read
for anyone that wants an entertaining book with twist hidden in it.

This book is about a boy, Amal Shahid, who gets treated differently
because of his race. He had always been smart, artistic, and poetic, but
because of biases in his school, his good work is ignored and he is only seen
as disruptive. Everything goes downhill for him one night in his
neighborhood. A group of white teens and a group of black teens fight and he
is caught in the middle of them. He is caught in the middle and is charged
guilty of a crime that he didn't commit, and he is sent to prison. This ruins
everything for him, including school and college plans. I think that this is
a really interesting and informative book, but it uses a lot of slang
language and harsh language such as swearing too, so younger ages should be
aware.