King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
by Roger Lancelyn Green
- Classic, Fiction, Fantasy, YA
- 13+ for violence and complex plots
- Published March 1st, 1995 by Puffin
- ★★★★★
Showing posts with label ya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ya. Show all posts
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
Dragonsoul by Kayl Karadjian
*This book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects or influences my opinion of the book.*
Dragonsoul
by Kayl Karadjian
- Fiction, Fantasy, YA
- 11+ for minimal violence and language
- Published October 19th, 2016 by Kayl Karadjian
- ★★★★★
Escape From Asylum by Madeleine Roux
by Madeleine Roux
- Fiction, Horror, YA
- 13+ for mild violence
- Trigger Warning: violence, homophobia, transphobia
- Published June 14th, 2016 by Harper Collins
- ★★★★★
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
13 Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
- Fiction, Realistic Fiction, YA
- 13+ for complex themes and mature content
- Trigger Warning: suicide, sexual assault, rape, self-harm, bullying, adult content
- Published October 18th, 2007 by Razorbill
- ★★★★★
The Selection Series by Kiera Cass
by Kiera Cass
- Fiction, Coming of Age, Dystopian, Futuristic, Romance
- 11-20 age range
- published April 24th, 2012 by Harper Teens
- available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AbeBooks
- Overall Rating ★★★★★
"For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined."-Goodreads
Overall Review
However, it is my absolute hate for ALL things romance that causes me to give the series four stars instead of five. I did love this book though and think all teenagers or others that love YA should read it. The writing was good, and most of the characters seemed relatable. Personally, I relate most to Eadlyn, a strong, independent, caring girl in line for the throne, that believes that men will slow her down or distract her from her duty. If you're looking for a book to read and you just can't decide, the Selection series should definitely be on your radar. No matter what it seems, this is not your average romance novel with girly girls who'll give up their life for someone they just met. (For goodness sake the first time America and Maxon meet America yells at him.) I wish I could be more like the strong independent, and brave women in this story. To be honest, I cried multiple times PER book, an impressive feat seeing as the only other book I've cried about is Allegiant.
Individual Ratings
*Spoilers ahead!! Read at your own risk.*
- Sturdy character development
- Relatable characters
- Interesting and unique plot
- Interesting plot
- Annoying love triangle *cue eye roll*
- (Mostly) Characters stay true to themselves
- Brave, independent heroine
- America stops being STUPID (Seriously America get a grip!)
- Shows the consequences of rebel attacks through main character deaths (I know it's sad, but do you want a Breaking Dawn situation where there's a lead up to a big battle only to end it with a handshake? Huh, HUH????)
- Shows that women can lead the country too (Go Eadlyn!!)
- Displays that no matter how good the cause, people won't change if they don't want to
- Eadlyn is a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man!
- (Eadlyn in general because she's my favorite character and I wish she was real because I would no doubt 150% be BFFs with her!!)
- True love is a force to be reckoned with (EW! Why must all good characters fall in love?!)
- Even the "best" people, can have ulterior motives (I'm looking at you Marid!)
- Some rules are made to be broken
Character List
*Spoilers ahead!! Read at your own risk.*
- America Schreave: Main character, wife of Maxon and mother of Eadlyn, Ahren, Kaden, and Osten, formally America Singer, formerly a 5
- Maxon Schreave: Beloved prince of Illéa, husband of America, father of Eadyln, Ahren, Kaden, and Osten, son of King Clarkson and Queen Amberly
- Aspen Leger: Ex-boyfriend of America, palace guard, wife of Lucy Leger, formally a 6, became a 2 when he became a guard
- Amberly Schreave: Queen of Illéa, wife of King Clarkson, mother of Maxon, formally a 4
- Clarkson Schreave: King of Illéa, husband to Queen Amberly, father of Maxon
- Eadlyn Schreave de Koskinen: First female heir of Illéa, daughter of America and Maxon, sister to Ahren, Kaden, and Osten, wife of Eikko
- Ahren Schreave: Husband to Camille, brother to Eadlyn, Kaden, and Osten
- Kile Woodwork: Selection participant, son of Marlee and Carter, brother to Josie
- Eikko Koskinen: Prince Consort of Illéa, husband of Eadlyn
"I am a graduate of Radford University with a B.S. in History. I grew up in South Carolina and currently live in Christiansburg, Virginia with my electrical engineer hubby, car-obsessed son, and princess-loving daughter. I'm a #1 New York Times bestseller, woohoo! I'm also a valued customer at my local cupcake shop.
Things I hate:
When people fail to use turn signals, flying, salads.
Things I love:
Office supplies, boy bands, desserts." Kiera Cass's Official Website
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
by Gabrielle Zevin
- Fiction, Coming of Age, Utopian, Sci-Fi
- 10+ for complex themes
- published May 15, 2007 by Square Fish
- available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AbeBooks
- ★★★★★
"Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It's quiet and peaceful. You can't get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere's museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe's psychiatric practice.Opinion
Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver's license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she's dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn't want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?
This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned."-Goodreads
I loved this book! It was so original and I've never read anything like it. I feel the theme of the story is learning to adapt and love yourself. At the beginning of the book Liz finds herself depressed and struggles until finally she overcomes it. Although I completely detest classic romances, (girl meets boy, boy changes girls life, they fall in love, they live happily ever after) I think that Zevin did this expertly. The novel is a coming of age, ironic considering the main character dies right? Liz is a great role model for any young girls struggling with their life. It shows that you can overcome anything with the right people helping you.
I recommend Elsewhere for anyone who enjoys coming of age stories, alternate realities, or complicated love stories. Also, anyone fighting depression should really read this, it could do a lot of help. The novel could also be helpful for people suffering after a death of a loved one. It may be fiction, but it gives hope that there can be life after death, and it can be great. I couldn't wait to finish the book, but now I wish I could read it again for the first time. As someone who doesn't really care for religion I loved this book, however if you're really religious, this may not be your book seeing as it replaces heaven.
Author Bio
"Gabrielle Zevin is the New York Times Best Selling author of eight novels. For adults: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014), The Hole We’re In (2010), and Margarettown (2005). For young adults: Elsewhere (2005), Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (2007), and the three books in the Anya Balanchine series, All These Things I’ve Done (2011), Because It Is My Blood (2012), and In the Age of Love and Chocolate (2013). Her books have been translated into over thirty languages.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry has spent over four months on the New York Times Best Seller List, reached #1 on the National Indie Bestseller List, and has been a bestseller in multiple countries. The Toronto Globe and Mail called the book “a powerful novel about the power of novels.”
Her debut, Margarettown, was a selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program. The Hole We’re In was a New York Times Editor’s Choice title. Publishers Weekly called The Hole We’re In “a Corrections for our recessionary times.”
Her best known young adult novel is Elsewhere, an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book. Of Elsewhere, the New York Times Book Review wrote, “Every so often a book comes along with a premise so fresh and arresting it seems to exist in a category all its own… Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin, is such a book.”
She is the screenwriter of Conversations with Other Women (Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Eckhart) for which she received an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best First Screenplay. In 2009, she and director Hans Canosa adapted her novel Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (ALA Best Books for Young Adults) into the Japanese film, Dareka ga Watashi ni Kiss wo Shita. She has also written for the New York Times Book Review and NPR’s All Things Considered. She began her writing career at age fourteen as a music critic for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.
Zevin is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in Los Angeles."-Gabrielle Zevin's Website
Diary of a Teenage Zombie by Kristy Berridge
by Kristy Berridge
- Fiction, Horror, Dystopian, Mature YA
- 15+ for mature content, violence, and cussing
- published September 8, 2014 by Shadow Ink Press
- available on Amazon, MineEye, Barnes & Noble, AbeBooks, etc.
- ★★★★★
"Dear Diary. Today I ate the mailman. My bad.Strengths
Being seventeen is hard―Katie Palmer has to deal with school, pimples, hormonal boys, and malicious cheerleaders. After the Zombie Apocalypse, though, she no longer sweats the usual teenage drama.
Athletics star by day and flesh-eater by night, Katie’s done well to hide her transformation from friends and Zone-sanctioned security, but now someone or something’s onto her secret and if she doesn’t feed soon she’ll start falling apart.
Dead bodies are piling up and all the evidence points to Katie’s blood-stained hands. Will she end up killing the competition before security discovers she’s rotten underneath?"-Kristy Berrige's Blog
Characters
The characters are strongly built and realistic. (Besides the whole zombie thing!) Katie acts like a normal teenage girl struggling to fit in. Haven't we all had rumors spread about us? Or been teased? I know I have! Berridge brings these fictional characters to life.
Intensity
Diary of a Teenage Zombie is the perfect blend of action and description! Berridge knows when to keep the action going and when to slow down and describe the scene a little more. This is a quality that more authors should use in their writing.
Originality
I've never read anything like this book! A soda infecting a whole race, almost to extinction. Who could've guessed that? Not to mention the way that the zombies live among them unknown!
Writing
The writing is good throughout the whole book. I did find a couple of errors, but they were barely noticeable. The reading level changes as Katie goes along, I believe this is to show how she ages and her knowledge expands.
Weaknesses
The Ending
The ending was MY weakness! It had nothing to do with Berridge. She completed a great book with a perfect ending. A cliffhanger again! Why do these authors keep doing this? I really hope there's a next book. If there isn't, I might cry!
Author Bio
"Born in Perth, Western Australia in 1982, Kristy Berridge was ushered into the world in a decade of bad hair, parachute pants, and blue eye shadow. Fortunately, she managed to avoid all three influences by immersing herself in the business of growing up, and hitched a ride with her fun-loving and adventure-filled parents to the sunny state of Queensland. Here she completed most of her education.
Besides learning that boys don't have cooties, and that algebra wouldn't kill her, she pointedly set
the path of her high school career towards success in Art and English-based subjects, and won numerous awards for her efforts.After high school she went on to study Graphic Design and Illustration at James Cook University, and then furthered her studies at the local TAFE College with an Interior Design course. With this knowledge under her belt, she also decided to undertake a three year Design course at Rhodec International in London, to complete her education and propel her towards the successful career she now enjoys.
She currently resides in Cairns, procrastinates constantly, and tries desperately to avoid the delicious temptation that is the peanut butter aisle at the supermarket."-Amazon
Also by Kristy Berridge
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
- Book 1/3 in the Rebel Belle Series
- Published April 8, 2014
- 353 pages
- 12+ years
- ★★★★★
"Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts. Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.
With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more."-Amazon
Wonderland: Classic Fairytale with a Sci-Fi Spin
*I got this book from the author for free, this in no way affects my opinion of the book.*
by Robert McKay
- Book one of the Intergalactic Fairy Tales series
- Science Fiction, Coming of Age
- Includes violence and mild humor.
- Published by McKay Manor August 20, 2015
- 13-25 interest level
All Alice wants to be in life is a pirate. She wants to do what she wants, when she wants with no one to tell her otherwise. One night after sneaking out, Alice finds the perfect opportunity, a talking space ship. She gets on, claiming it as her own, and rides to Wonderland. However, Wonderland isn't all smiles, it's mildly inappropriate people lose their head for disagreeing with the queen, and animals can talk, which isn't always a good thing. On her adventure, Alice makes new friends, some new enemies, and learns many valuable lessons. How far will Alice go for an adventure?
"Robert McKay is a clever nerd, who feels uncomfortable being called such. He believes in the Oxford comma, puns, and true love. Stories that wrap all of these things together, along with some outer space adventure, make his heart go pitter-patter and his days a whole lot brighter. When he’s not writing, he’s probably reading, but if he’s not doing either of those things, he may be found bowling, playing tabletop games, or researching how much it costs to rent a space shuttle."-Robert McKay
Wonderland also features a unique twist on a classic story. Ever since I read Cinder I've loved fairy-tale retellings, and this one didn't disappoint. I recommend Wonderland to any fans of Cinder ages 13-25. Also, if you like space adventures, then this is the book for you. In the end, I loved everything about Wonderland and can't wait for Beauty and the Fleet, the next book in the Intergalactic Fairy Tales series.
*Unfortunately at the moment Amazon.com is the only place to purchase Wonderland.*
Bittersweet Blitz
Bittersweet (Faerie Song Trilogy, #2)
Release Date: 03/24/15
Goodreads Summary:
To save the Faery world and her mother’s life, Lorelei sacrificed
everything, and the dangerous bargain she made in Nevermore had lasting
repercussions. Now safely back in her own world, Lorelei seems the same to her
highschool friends and her supernatural boyfriend. Yet love across dimensions
is complicated, especially when an invisible Veil between the two worlds—the
only bridge that links the pair, is sealing, threatening to separate Lorelei
and Adrius forever.
Determined to find a solution, Lorelei resorts to using her new found
powers. But when her friends succumb to the same mysterious illness that nearly
took her mother’s life, Lorelei can’t help but wonder if her own dark magic is
responsible. Still, the nightmares from Nevermore continue their icy hold.
Someone from Adrius’s past arrives, determined to destroy Lorelei’s world
starting with those closest to her, and Lorelei is forced to choose between her
family and friends and a love that was ill-fated from the start.
“Stay. Just…. Stay.” The
second I said it I felt awful. What was I asking? I knew he couldn’t stay, that
he needed to return to his world to stay alive in mind.
Since the night of the dance we’d carefully stayed away from
discussing our little predicament. We were still at a standoff. He couldn’t
live in my world without magical aids to keep him alive, because of the toxic
nature of our polluted air, and I couldn’t go back to his world, because of a
bunch of angry beings trying to kill me. That left us here. He would have to
return to his world and refuel, to come back to mine. How long the potions
lasted depended upon how much stress he was under. Physical exertion, extreme
emotions all used up the reserve more quickly. Then there was the issue of his
still being tied to Venus, the daughter of the ice witch I killed. A curse had
caused his forced fealty to her. Killing the witch was not only supposed to
save Mythlandria from her destructive wrath, it was also supposed to free
Adrius of the curse that bound him to the ice witch’s commands. Who knew there
was a daughter who would take over the bonds, and that she was also his
ex-girlfriend.
Now she wants me dead in
payment for killing her mother, and as a bonus, I’d be out of the way so she could
get Adrius back in her life. That he could come here at all means the curse is
weakening. I want his freedom, but at which price? Was I willing to kill for
it? I’d have to end her life as well if I was going to destroy the bonds. And I
wasn’t a killer. Even Octăhvia’s death was more of an accident than intended. I
had no idea what awakening the magic would do, or how to wield it. This
arrangement seemed like our only option, for now. And while I hated to see him
leave, there was something comforting in being able to pretend that my life was
normal again. As normal as it ever was. I could enjoy being back home with
friends and back at school which surprisingly enough, I’d missed. It’s amazing
how coming to the edge of your life multiple times will make even the most
mundane routines a welcomed change.
“Think about what you’re
asking me,” he said. “You know why I have to leave.”
He watched me suck in a
breath of regret, as I wished I could take back my self-serving plea.
Pain creased his eyes.
“Sleep soundly, Lorelei,” was all he said. He kissed the top of my head and
turned to go.
The tense set of his jaw
revealed the effort it took to leave. I watched him walk away, biting down on
my lower lip until he reached the driveway.
“How am I supposed to sleep?”
My voice was almost too quiet to be heard over the howling wind. But his
hearing surpassed most mortal’s.
“Warm milk with honey works
well,” he answered my whisper, his back still facing me. “It helps with the
night terrors too,” he added.
“You know that’s not what I
meant.” I moved closer, descending one step at a time until my bare feet hit
the cold of the pavement.
Adrius froze. Electric
pulses crackled between us.
“I was talking about
sleeping without you. Here.”
“You’ve managed to do it
before,” he said cautiously, the strain of his resolve vibrating in his voice.
“I know. But—“
This was wrong. It was
selfish. How could I ask him to stay, when I know that leaving is what would
keep him alive to return to me?
“I’m sorry. I’m being silly.
It’s just I can’t—“
With whipcrack intensity,
his resolve burned away and he rushed toward me and pulled me into his arms.
His touch burned though my shirt as his hands splayed against my back, pressing
us closer. He kissed me, hungrily at first, then it quickly deepened to
ravenous. Matching his fervor, I tangled my fingers in his hair. Every inch of
me was on fire. He gasped, his lips slowing against mine. By the time we
separated, we were both breathless. He leaned his forehead against mine for a
few rapid heartbeats, then pulled back. Our eyes remained locked in a
palpitating stretch of silence that spoke volumes. My head swirled, and all I
wanted was more of where we’d left off.
But he read my intentions. The corners of his lips quirked and he
shook his head. Warm hands slid down my arms with one last caress, before he
disappeared. Gone so quickly I didn’t actually see him leave. Swallowed by the
darkness of the night and the forest that held the secret doorway into
Mythlandria.
GIVEAWAY:
$10 Amazon Gift Card, ebook copy of Fire & Ice (mobi/epub),
signed bookmark, gift card for 5 free ebook downloads from Astraea Press
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