Skip to main content

Teen SRC 2021 – Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment

While I can’t say I loved absolutely everything about Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter, there are a few things that left me completely astonished. First, the characters. Namely, Maddie and Logan. How – and I repeat – how did the author manage to make me grow so attached to the characters in just a mere 304 pages? It’s like I really know both of them in real life; let me just say the characters are so incredibly lovable and the plot development between them is not only enticing but heartwarming.

One thing I wasn’t super interested in for this novel was the plot. Well, okay, not the actual plot, but rather the fact that the book was marketed as a mystery novel, and yet I didn’t really pick up on any suspense-building, plot twists, or anything like that. It was certainly a very adventurous read, but I’m not sure I would leap as far as “mysterious.”

Overall, I thought it was a sweet book despite the misleading genre; honestly I think there’s more romance than anything, but it’s very well-written and no cliche personality traits in any of the characters. 7/10!

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment

I cannot even begin to explain how much Our Wayward Fate, a teen romance book written by Gloria Chao, blew my mind. See, this was another one of those books I decided to read just from glancing at the cover and barely skimming through the blurb. I was expecting an amusing anecdote, maybe a relatable story at most. What I wasn’t prepared for was the most heartfelt, lovable romance novel with amazing characters.

I’m not going to go through the plot synopsis here, but the general idea of the book was about an asian boy called Chase Yu who moved to a new school in Indiana, with no other asian kids whatsoever. …Well, with the exception of Ali Chu. The two begin to bond throughout the book, but when Ali’s mother forces her to stop seeing Chase, Ali has to find out more about this mysterious classmate.

HANDS DOWN the best plot twist ever. Unexpected, mind-blowing, heartbreaking and the good kind of dramatic. I enjoyed reading this book, 9/10!

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – The One by Kiera Cass

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment
The One (The Selection, Book 3) eBook by Kiera Cass - 9780007581214 | Rakuten Kobo Ireland

At first I wasn’t particularly drawn to the entire The Selection series, because I had read some of the summaries online, and I just didn’t feel all that inclined to read about a bunch of princesses trying to win over a prince’s heart. I decided to give the general plot of The One by Kiera Cass the benefit of the doubt, though, and tried to convince myself that there would be other aspects of the books that I would like. Glad to say I was right about that!

First of all, even though I admit the plot does sound kind of ridiculous, Kiera does have a way of illustrating it and making it feel more real. I actually did enjoy the fantasy, some of the plot twists, and most definitely the romance. I like how you can slip into their world and kind of escape from reality when you are reading.

What did I hate? The characters. For the love of God, could you please give us some actual, decent characters who don’t have the classic “nobody-likes-me” mindset. It gets so annoying, and honestly just gets in the way of most of the other amazing stuff that is worth reading in the book. America’s attitude was just completely off, in my opinion, and the other characters had no personality.

I still feel rather disappointed by this book, but I am glad that there were at least a few things that I found enjoyable. I probably will get around to reading the other books, although I wouldn’t exactly say I’m excited for them; I’d say maybe a five out of 10 for this novel.

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Written by Olivia X
2 Comments
Six of Crows eBook : Bardugo, Leigh: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

I’m going to be honest, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a book that I had been highly anticipating for the longest time. It had been on my TBR for months and I was really excited when I finally got to read it. What I didn’t know was that the book would turn out to be quite a big disappointment.

At first I thought the book was pretty interesting, but I think this book introduces a bit too many characters right at the beginning. I thought the introduction/1st sentences were good, but by the time I got to the second chapter, I really didn’t want to read the book anymore. That’s literally all I have to say, the rest of the book was just a repetitive pattern of flipping back, being bored, and pushing through every word.

I have to say though, I did like most of the fantasy aspects of the novel, and honestly after reading They Both Die at the End, nothing can really have a lower rating than that one. I just didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, but it still gets maybe six out of 10.

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – Better Together by Christine Riccio

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment
Better Together by Christine Riccio

I’m not gonna wait for the conclusion. I would give Better Together by Christine Riccio a seven out of ten for the writing and a hundred out of ten for the cover. I’m sorry, try to prove me wrong; there are literally two sides to the cover, each illustrating one sister.

The writing itself was more of a short anecdote that I found to be lighthearted and entertaining. There are no really heavy or deep concepts in this book in my opinion, I think it was just a casual, fun, read. That being said, I really loved the writing style and the character development in this book, along with the plot twists. I absolutely loved the contradiction of the two personalities of the sisters too as it made the book extremely satisfying to read. Overall I just think it was a light sort of book, the type that gets you out of a reading slump; I’d give it- oops, that was already covered in the introduction, wasn’t it?

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment
Red Queen : Aveyard, Victoria: Amazon.ca: Books

Funny story: When I was around eight, I was strolling around at KidsBooks and found a book with an amazingly intricate cover design. I ended up buying it just for the cover.

Four years later, and I find it at the top of my closet collecting dust. I decided to do some research, and quickly came to realize that the book in my hands was the fourth book in Victoria Aveyard’s viral, best-selling series Red Queen.

I CANNOT BELIEVE I WAITED SO LONG TO START THIS SERIES. Red Queen was actually a book I won for the weekly teen summer reading, and gosh am I glad I read it. Writing style was on point, the “red and silver blood” thing is such a creative twist on real-world discrimination, and the ideas for the plot were simply mind-blowing. Even the covers give you something to cry about. 9/10; totally recommend and absolutely worth your time.

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – As Dead As It Gets by Katie Alender

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment
As Dead as it Gets: Alender, Katie: 8601200550580: Books - Amazon.ca

As Dead As It Gets, a mystery/horror book by Katie Alender, is the third book in the Bad Girls Don’t Die series. This is going to be a relatively short review, just because I’ve already written reviews about the first few books which use very similar writing styles, tones, plot lines, etc.

Again, I thought this was a pretty blood-chilling and relatively thrilling read. I won’t go into detail or be too repetitive about that, though, because there were also other things I liked which I haven’t talked about before. For instance, the title. I mean, come on, you’re going to have to be one bland soul if you see a book titled As Dead As It Gets and have the audacity to walk away without picking it up. 8/10 for this novel, again I found it to be a nice read but not too surprising.

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment
From Bad to Cursed (Bad Girls Don't Die, #2) by Katie Alender

From Bad to Cursed, a teen horror novel by Katie Alender, was another one of those books that I just happened to pick up while browsing through the shelves at a library. I’ve mentioned before that my FAVOURITE kind of book is the “fantasy, horror, and psychological thriller mix that keeps you awake past midnight thinking about the plot” type, and this novel fits the above criteria perfectly.

I think it was a great book, or at least the horror aspects of it were pretty amazing. This includes the plot, villains motives, and pacing, which I thought were on pretty on-point. The characters? Wasn’t necessarily so great.

First of all, what is with the sudden mood changes? One chapter you’re reading about Alexis snuggling against Carter watching Twilight Zone, while the next provides you with a detailed description of how she’s in the bathtub vomiting up some evil poltergeist that just possessed her to kill her family. The thing is, the author doesn’t really introduce these things beforehand, so you’ll often find yourself flipping back a few chapters to see if you missed anything. The characters weren’t very realistic and just rather flat, boring, and predictable. They basically did everything that would help the plot move along/make sense, with no sense of personality whatsoever.

I’d recommend this book, but only if you’re into horror/thrillers like I am. Otherwise, there’s really not much else in this novel that’s entertaining nor worth reading. Again, the horror aspects were intense and the plot was well-developed, making it just interesting enough to read. I think a solid 8/10 is reasonable for me!

Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment

“Every story has four parts – the beginning, the middle, the almost ending, and the true ending.” 

After reading Caraval by Stephanie Garber, it took me all of two seconds to place an order on the second book in the series, Legendary. Without a doubt, it was magical and breathtaking all the same…but there were a few things I disliked, which I’ll talk about later.

To begin, I just want to say that my expectations for this book were ridiculously high, so any criticism is really more of a comparison to the first book inn the series. Then again, there isn’t much to criticize, not when I was so wrapped up in the story that time flew by without me ever noticing. As usual, Garber includes phenomenal foreshadowing, along with the most mysterious plot line you could ever ask for.

Read More
Teen SRC 2021, , ,

Teen SRC 2021 – We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Written by Olivia X
Leave a Comment

We Were Liars – a psychological thriller by E. Lockhart – is about seventeen-year old Candence and how she is struggling to recover from her injury. Something happened two years ago, during her fifteenth summer, that left her with constant migraines and memory loss. Candence doesn’t remember what happened during her injury, and no one seems to want to talk about it, so it’s up to her to figure it out herself.

Personally, I rather enjoyed Lockhart’s writing style. I know there’s a lot of readers out there who find it a little boring, but I think if you stop to think about some of the quotes, there’s more to it than just the story. That’s why I think this novel is like the classic example of “showing, not telling” the reader, because the author put so many layers to the story and in-depth descriptions.

Read More
Teen SRC 2021, , ,