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Teen SRC 2021 – The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski

Written by Alina C.
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The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski follows Kestrel as a seventeen year old girl and a general’s daughter. Her destiny is already set for her; join the military or get married. However, her still naive mindset from being sheltered all her life, has different ideas and paths that could cause an avalanche of disasters. Each mistake takes the price of hundreds of lives, each choice comes with harsh consequences, and how much will it take for her grow out her shell and open her eyes to the cold, back stabbing world.

“But when you are faced with only two choices— the military or marriage—don’t you wonder if there is a third, or a fourth, or more, even, than that?”

The story is set in a world where war is at the edge of commencing, with rebellions standing up after the Valorians, white and fair, raided and overtook the land, enslaving the surviving Herrani, dark skinned and native to the land. Her less open minded friend dragged her out to a slave auction resulting in Kestrel impulsively buying Arin after learning about his ability to sing. This is one of the many choices her naive mind caused as she had made two mistakes here; buying a slave she has no need for making her engage in unnecessary problems, and buying him for a ridiculous price, thus the title “The Winner’s Curse.”

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Teen SRC 2020 – Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie

Written by Alina C.
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Bone Crier's Moon - Purdie, Kathryn

Bone ​Criers have a sacred job. Them alone can keep the dead from preying the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes with a great sacrifice. The gods order a promise of dedication to their duty. And that promise includes the life of the Bone Criers’ one true love. Ailesse has been molded since her first breath to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers. But first she must successfully complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she loves. Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier which he wasn’t supposed to wittiness, and now he seeks revenge. Along with his companions’ whose family has also been taken as sacrifice by Bone Criers. But when he finally kidnapped one, his craving for vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fate has already been tied. Sabine, Ailesse’s best friend, never had the guts to take part of the Bone Crier’s work. But when Ailesse had been caught, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means breaking their traditions or acting against their matriarch just to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. And to just make circumstances even worse the matriarch seems to be harboring dark secrets and Sabine only has one year to save Ailesse, or they will all die.

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Teen SRC 2020 – Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Written by Alina C.
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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

Trevor was born from a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time where that could be punishable by law for five years in prison. As he was living evidence of his parents “crime”, he was kept indoors most of his childhood. His mother hid him as well as she could as the government could take him away at any time. Finally when that era ended, did Trevor and his mother able to live freely. And it was then that he had to set foot into the ocean of possibility only made possible have a long struggle. The book takes you through a journey about a imp child who turns into a man in a environment where he wasn’t suppose to even exist. He is accompanied by his fearless, passionately religious mother, who is determined to keep her son safe from the cycle of poverty, cruelty, and brutality of the world.

This book was so beautiful and humorous. I have watched his shows before with my family online and its focused on race, police brutality, prejudice, hate speech, and many other important topics that needs to be discussed. He really brought the book to life and the audio book was even better. There is so much dark humor in there and he manages to talk about those topics that usually makes us feel uneasy. And I have to say, I love his mother. She is hilarious as well, strong minded, and basically amazing. She taught him many important lessons and guided him gently along the way through his dark and daunting life.

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Teen SRC 2020 – China Rich Girlfriends by Kevin Kwan

Written by Alina C.
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China Rich Girlfriend - Kwan, Kevin

On the eve of Rachel’s Wedding, she should be overjoyed by her beautiful ring, wedding dress, and a an who is willing to give up all his inheritance  just to marry her. But yet, she grieves of the thought that her birth father won’t be able to walk her down the aisle. That was the case until an announcement made a huge turn in events. In this second book, Carlton a Ferrari crashing bad-boy, Colette a celebrity who is constantly chased by paparazzi, and Rachel’s unknown father who she has been dying to meet. While Astrid is learning that having a newly tech, billionaire husband has a downside. Drama, gossip, rumors, and secrets unfold as they travel through auctions, clubs, estates, and VVIP after after parties.

I love this series. Its sassy, funny, bold, and so much drama! Reading this book was so enjoyable and relaxing. Even though I prefer the first book as it focused more on Rachel and Nickolas, but I think the second one was more pointed towards Carlton and Colette. I am still really fond about the story but I just wished Rachel and Nickolas had more depth in the plot. I would rate this book 7/10 and I definitely plan on watching the movie when it comes out.

China Rich Girlfriend and Kevin Kwan’s other works can be found here.

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Teen SRC 2020 – The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

Written by Alina C.
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The Conference of the Birds - Riggs, Ransom

The Conference of the Birds starts just where the Map of Days ended. Jacob and his friends left against Miss Peregrine’s wishes in order to save Noor. There he learns from H that there is a prophecy taking shape and it has intertwines Noor into it. Jacob had been given a mission of deliver Noor to V, save Noor, and save the peculiardom. Simple enough right? Except V is the most powerful out of Abe’s former ally and she most definitely doesn’t want to be found also Noor is being hunted which puts their whole group in danger and makes everything harder. Now Jacob has to take a leap towards the Conference of the Birds.

This was really disappointing. All four book before this one I loved, but while reading this one I was basically begging for it to end. In “A Map of Days”, the whole plot was steady and at a good pace, slowly revealing the new side of the peculiar world to the reader. This new book however was a hot mess. I didn’t even like this new story line, as the whole prophecy felt like a waste of time. In the first couple books the character worked hard in defeating the “bad guy” just for the “bad guy” to comeback through a “prophecy”; which is just a list that the wights have to follow. Also in A Map of Days, I enjoyed it as the characters showed hints of growing and developing. They have been through so much, surely Jacob would act and think differently in the new book right? But he didn’t evolve at all and all the characters just felt flat. The whole romance part was flat as well. And so was the whole outline of the story. I would rate it 4/10, I liked the idea of the book, but the details were flat. So in summary, I would have enjoyed the book if only it was executed in a different way.

You can find more of Ransom Riggs’ works here.

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Teen SRC 2020 – Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Written by Alina C.
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Title details for Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - Available

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan stars Rachel Chu, an economic professor in NY dating Nicholas Young, her boyfriend of two years. She agrees to visit her boyfriend’s family in Singapore for the summer. She expects a humble experience and just spending quality time with the one she hopes to marry. However, she is faced with massive parties, homes that looks like palaces, and with the man every girl in Asia wants to marry right by her side, she is basically a prey with a huge mark on her. Not only does she have to deal with all the constant rumors and two sided people, but her significant’s mother definitely hates her guts. Nicholas Young’s mom, Eleanor Young, is very strict about who her son should, or shouldn’t marry. And conveniently, Rachel is probably the highest on the “shouldn’t marry” list. As she tries to survive in this new environment, she will have to decide who is her allies and who is her foe.

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Teen SRC 2020 – Lady Smoke (Ash Princess Trilogy #2) by Laura Sebastian

Written by Alina C.
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Lady Smoke - Sebastian, Laura

Lady Smoke has been born and the Ash Princess has fallen. Theo already feeling more like herself again; no longer wearing a crown of ashes and has her rightful title now. However, her people are still being tortured and enslaved under the Kaiser and Theo is miles away from her throne and country. In order for her to get those back she will need to secure an army. And securing an army meant she had to trust the dreaded pirate, Dragonsbane, who is also her aunt. According to Dragonsbane, the only way Theo can get an army is if she marries a husband; something an Astrean Queen hasn’t and shouldn’t do. She seeks help and allies from anyone that she can reach, but every time she gets so close, she falls back down again. As she fights to unravel the secrets and mysteries, she realizes that Dragonsbane is harboring secrets of her own. On top of that, Blaize has been having strange episodes and Theo has taken Prinz Soren, the Kaiser’s son, hostage. Will they still be able to survive the enemy’s attacks if they were already internally ripping each other apart?

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Teen SRC 2020 – Such Wicked Intent by Keneth Oppel ( 2nd book of the The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein series)

Written by Alina C.
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Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

Such Wicked Intent - Oppel, Kenneth

In the sequel to “This Dark Endeavor”, Victor, Elizabeth and Henry are trying to transport themselves into a wolf in sheep’s clothing spirit world.be careful of Greeks bearing gifts.After the events of the last book, Konrad Frankenstein is dead. While Elizabeth has lost her fiance and Henry has lost one of his closest friends, the person who lost the most is his twin brother Victor who feels as if he has lost half of himself. Destroyed and completely broken with guilt and grief over the death of his beloved brother and rage over the fact he couldn’t save him, Victor makes a deadly pledge to himself; he will bring Konrad back no matter the cost. However, no mere mortal man can bring a soul back. Or can he? In yet another journey, the trio try to, no, have to bring back the one person they all care and love; again they have to return to the Dark Arts and instead of just dipping their toes in this time, they are required to take a much deeper dive and there are no signs if they will resurface and be sane after this. They will have to travel to places where no living soul has set foot to or ever returned. But as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. their friendship and bonds will be strained again no matter how deep they bury their true emotions, or intentions. They discover unbelievable powers in the other side, but not everything that glitters is gold. Alchemy and overpowering potions will only lend strengths, but won’t survive against time. Slowly, these each of them will go through their own little nightmares controlled by power, greed, pain, and the urge to just feel alive. Will they be able to focus on their goal or will they stray from the path into the darkness? Will they be able to bring back Konard or will they just worsen his fate? And what is the line between their mission and the pit of obsession and madness?

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Teen SRC 2020 – Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian (#1 book of the Ash Princess Trilogy)

Written by Alina C.
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Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Ash Princess - Sebastian, Laura

Theodosia was only six years old when her country was stormed and her strong, good-natured mother, the Fire Queen, throat was slitted right in front of the traumatized child. On that day, everything changed and her entire life was no longer steady. The “Kaiser” stole everything from little Theodosia that night: her family, her land, and her name. The distraught child is forced to burying the girl she really was deep under her skin; Theodosia disppeared and in her place was the exact same girl with the same appearance but the glint and fire in her eyes had burned out. She was crowned “Ash Princess”, a title that will haunt and follow her everywhere as she starts the unsure path of her future. For over ten years Theo has been humiliated and held captive in her own palace. She has swallow down her pride and confidence, and relentlessly, publicly abused and degraded by the greedy, cold-hearted, cruel Kaiser and his court. She is defenseless and her physical self is only barely surviving in her new world. Then, one day, the Kaiser forced Theo to do an unthinkable to someone she has always seen as her only living parents and the last twinkle of hope inside her. With the blood on her hands and the last drop of hope sucked out of her, the Kaiser was obviously amused but clueless to the fact that he has gone so far even his own are no longer loyal to him. She soon finds out that her people are still fighting for her. They may not have enough man power yet, but the tables are about to turn. And power isn’t always won on the battlefield. For years she had been forced to stand and watch her people suffer underneath the Kaiser. All of the chaos starts now and all the silence stops.

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Teen SRC 2020 – This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Written by Alina C.
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This Dark Endeavour - Oppel, Kenneth

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

In this prequel to Mary Shelley’s Gothic classic, Frankenstein, 16-year-old Victor Frankenstein undertakes a dark journey that will shift his life into a new shape that no one predicts. Victor’s twin, Konrad, has fallen ill, and no doctor is able to cure him even after performing drastic operations. Reluctant to let go his brother, Victor calls on his attractive cousin, Elizabeth, and best friend Henry on a hazardous search for the ingredients to create the forbidden Elixir of Life. Impossible odds, perilous alchemy and a bitter, sour love triangle that threatens their quest at every turn. Victor knows he has no option of failing. But his victory depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science, love, and loyalty. Along the way he has to decide how much he is prepared to sacrifice, a piece of him, his love, or his own inseparable twin.

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