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Teen SRC 2019 – The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet by Natasha Farrant

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The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet by Natasha Farrant

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen, opening line of Pride and Prejudice

Do you know Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen? The opening line for it is one of the most famous starting lines of literature. I have tried reading it and I did not get very far into the book before I stopped. My teacher librarian from school said that Pride and Prejudice was for older readers because of the old language. Since I wasn’t able to read the original book, why not read a book RELATED to that book? I know, I was weird back then.

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Teen SRC 2019- The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson

So. Hmm. Another love triangle book *cue the ooohs and ahhhs and “NOW KISS!”*

So. Princess Lia is the First Daughter of her country, who is supposed to have the gift of sight. But she doesn’t. And now she is betrothed to a prince of another kingdom whom she thinks is an old smelly hag. So on the day of her wedding, Lia runs away with her servant Pauline. She finds a job as a waitress in a small town, and her life ‘begins’.

Meanwhile: An assassin was sent to kill her because she disgraced her country, and the prince has set off from his country to find Lia. BUT, you do not know who the assassin is and who the prince is. When Lia sees the two strangers, she also does not know that one of them was sent to kill her and the other was supposed to be married to her. So now you have Lia’s perspective, the assassin’s perspective, and the prince’s perspective. AND THEN, OF COURSE, YOU FIND THEM FALLING IN LOVE WITH OTHER. Let me tell you, I did not guess correctly as to who is the prince and who is the assassin. But you will find out at the end of the book.

I give this book a 4/5. I liked the author’s idea of the perspectives and not knowing who the assassin and the prince were. The first half of the book was SO SLOW, but it was introducing the characters.

There are 3 main books in the series and a few novellas. The book following The Kiss of Deception is The Heart of Betrayal, and then The Beauty of Darkness.

Teen SRC 2019 – Taken by Erin Bowman

Taken by Erin Bowman

In Claysoot, there are no men. Only boys. On the occasion of every boy’s eighteenth birthday, they get taken. Gone. Disappeared forever. They call it the Heist. People think that the boys have been taken over the Wall. Gray Weathersby’s birthday is mere months away. He is prepared to meet his destiny until he finds a letter from his deceased mother that made him question everything. What lies beyond the Wall? Climbing the Wall is suicide, but is it really worth being Heisted instead? What secrets is Claysoot’s government hiding from the people? When Clay’s brother was Heisted, where did he go? Is he still alive?

I give this book a 4/5 because this book builds of suspense and secrets so it was harder to write a review about it. But I feel like it was like The Maze Runner; boys get taken away. I did not enjoy The Maze Runner very much (I returned it on page 14) so I was mildly surprised that I enjoyed this book. ANNNNDDDDD, of course, there is a lllloooovvvvveeee triangle.

There are 3 books in the series and a novella. The books following are: Frozen, and the next one is Forged. The novella is Stolen.

Teen SRC 2019 – Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

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Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Gwyneth Shepherd’s beautiful and sophisticated cousin, Charlotte, has been preparing her whole life to time travel. But then, one day, in the middle of class… it’s Gwyneth who takes a trip to the past? When Gwyneth has taken two more uncontrolled leaps to the past, her best friend Lesley convinces her to tell her mother. The Lodge tests Gwyneth for her time travelling skills by watching her as she travels into time once more. When they confirm that she can actually, really, legitimately travel back in time, they enter her blood into a time travelling chronograph so she can travel back smoothly and not have uncontrolled jumps through time. She is also the last time traveller, the ‘Ruby’. Now she must work with the rude, insufferable Gideon de Villiers, the ‘Diamond’ of the Circle of Twelve. Soon after, Gwyneth travels into time to meet the founder of the Lodge, Count Saint-Germain. For some unexplained reason, her mother is strongly against this meeting. Who can Gwyneth and Gideon really trust in 18th century London?

Okay. I give this book a 4.5/5 because this book was REALLY hilarious at times (or maybe my sense of humour is just awful). This book is also quite slow at the beginning, they just kept talking and talking and talking. Late Night Show much?? I think it’s okay considering that there was lots of information about time travelling and I forgave it since it was only the first book. But other from that it was perfectly fine! I’ve actually read this book more than once. *guilty*

This book was actually originally written in German because the author is German. This book is number one of a trilogy, The following books are Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green.

Teen SRC 2019 – Fallen by Lauren Kate

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Fallen by Lauren Kate

“What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours?” 

Fallen is about a 17-year old girl named Lucinda Price; Luce for short. When she was young, she started seeing these black things that she calls Shadows. These Shadows was the cause of the death of her boyfriend Trevor, which is why Luce was sent to Sword & Cross Reform School. On her first day there, she sees a boy. His name is Daniel Grigori. Luce can feel herself being attracted to him. Almost like… they’ve met before. But Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce and seems to actively avoid her in the beginning. But Luce feels the connection, and she thinks Daniel does too. Then, like your regular romance book, comes along another boy (ooh, love triangle!). His name is Cam and he looks like a delinquent. Black hair, and the type that all the girls would fall for. So why does he pay so much attention to ordinary Luce?

I think this book has a slow beginning, because it took me longer than usually takes me to read a book that long. There was mystery in it and you may not have expected the ending. Of course, this book is the first part of a series. In fact, it is also a movie! I give this book a 4/5 because of the slow beginning. The actual plot of the book was not bad, but I cannot give it 5/5 (also because nothing is perfect!).

There are 5 books in the series. 4 of the circle around Luce, and the fifth one is about Cam. There is also a novella.