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Teen SRC 2021 – #murderfunding by Gretchen McNeil

#MurderFunding - McNeil, Gretchen

A fast-paced creepy book with many gory murders, #murderfunding by Gretchen McNeil makes up for its poor characterization and cheap tropes with action scenes and suspense. 6/10 for incredibly poor representation (POC especially, watch out) and cringe-worthy teenage slang. Seriously, I don’t know how editors approved the “teen” slang in this book–I’d rather hear teenagers speak like any regular adult than speak like they did in this book. “For reals” made an appearance, and an attempt to say that a character was “salty” (see: frustrated, annoyed) resulted in “less salted”. I LAUGHED SO HARD.

Anyway, I didn’t love this book much, but it was fast-paced and emotionally bland enough to get me out of a reading slump, which is great. There was some attempts to be political in this book, but they failed incredibly hard–resulting in an almost conspiracy-like feel. I did enjoy the formatting of discussion forums/articles on the Internet, but once the Russian meddling plot line was added, that began to feel cheap, too.

Overall, if you’re looking for a quick, creepy thriller, this is it. Otherwise, find something else.

P.S. This is the sequel to #murdertrending, which I read but then forgot mostly about. It is possible to read #murderfunding (2nd book) without having read the first (which got better ratings than this one, btw), but there is some confusing vocabulary to get through at the start. My suggestion: pick up #murdertrending first, then this one if you enjoy it. Happy reading!

Teen Book Review – Warcross by Marie Lu

Warcross

Hey all, long time no see! I hope everyone is safe and healthy 🙂

Recently, I re-read Warcross, the first book of a duology by one of my favourite authors, Marie Lu.

The story takes place in a futuristic world, when real life is drab and grey and run-down, so people all over the world put on a pair of high-tech glasses daily to enter the colourful and vivid virtual reality of Warcross. 18-year-old Emika Chen, our protagonist, is a bounty hunter, and tech genius. She catches criminals the police don’t have time for by hacking through the dark web, and it’s her only source of income. However, when a hack goes wrong, and she accidentally reveals herself to the creator of Warcross, her life takes a DRASTIC turn.

I honestly really liked this book! It was jam-packed with action, which is one of my favourite things about Marie Lu books, so I was super glad this was no exception! As well, the world is very realistic, because it’s not hard to believe that in the future, we could have something similar to Warcross. That made the reading experience a lot more immersive, as what Emika was going through seemed super probable, it wasn’t hard to connect to the story and its characters. I also very much enjoyed the plot twists although I was able to guess a few of them. They made sense, and weren’t a complete shock, which can actually detract from the actual writing. All in all, I give this book an 8.5/10. It was a great read!

Teen SRC 2020- Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui

Have you ever wondered what a dragon tasted like? Would it taste like chicken, maybe beef? Or maybe you’ve been wondering what a cockatrice would taste like served in a good stew. After all, a snake/chicken hybrid would seem to make an interesting dinner combo. Or maybe, you’ve been wondering about the morality of eating fishmen. Unlike mermen, they have fish heads, and though they seem semi-sentient, it wouldn’t hurt to try one… Would it?

These are the questions Delicious in Dungeon set out to answer, as Ryoko Kui serves up a masterful manga, seemingly to answer the age-old question of “What would happen if Gordon Ramsay got trapped in Middle Earth?”

The story begins, as a cave opening is discovered, leading to an underground kingdom covered in gold. A distraught king emerges from its entrance, promising all of his treasure to whoever defeats the insane magician who sunk his kingdom underground in the first place, before crumbling to dust. Word of the king’s promise spreads like a wildfire, as numerous guilds gather to try to navigate the labyrinth-esque kingdom, now infested with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Laios is the leader of one such guild, before his party is decimated and his sister is eaten by a dragon. Laios and his crew rush back into the kingdom of gold in an attempt to save his sister, but soon run out of supplies. They are saved by a dwarf named Senshii who teaches Laios and crew how to properly cook and eat monsters, as the adventure to save Laios’s sister begins.

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Teen SRC 2020 – The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

https://rosereadblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/7d3b3362437243e343842d3898d29c0b.jpg

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells is an innovative and imaginative book written at the end of the nineteenth century, in which humanity is left scarred by a devastating attack from the Martians. Wells uses diverse language and intriguing metaphors to engage with his audience not only with the themes of his books, but to the world as a whole. In his popular novel, War of the Worlds, Wells uses an extraterrestrial invasion to exhibit and provoke the concepts of life, free will, fate and dominant forces that we cannot control.

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Teen SRC 2019 – Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter

Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter

The thrilling conclusion to the Embassy Row trilogy, this book did not disappoint. Having enjoyed the first book more than the second, I was a bit nervous for this finale. Thankfully, it was very fast-paced and took quite a bit of will-power and some much-needed reasoning from my mom to make me put it down last night. I finished it today morning and I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever read a book of that length.

Synopsis (may include spoilers from previous books but not this one): Grace Blakely has just found out that she is, in fact, royalty. A direct descendant of Amelia, the little princess who survived the royal massacre 200 years ago, her brother is the rightful king of Adria and she is the lost princess. However, she isn’t the only one who knows it and there are forces at work to find and kill her and her brother like they did her mom 3 years ago. This is the story of Grace’s journey in trying to discover what her mom found that lead to this constant game of cat-and-mouse and trying to find out who she can truly trust in this world built from stunning lies.

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Teen SRC 2019 – Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

If this review were being read to you like an audiobook, you wouldn’t even be able to hear it over the sound of my tears. Thankfully, I’m just joking (although that’s not the case for Heartless), surprisingly I didn’t cry for this although it definitely hit me straight in the feels quite a few times.

Crooked Kingdom is the sequel to Six of Crows which I absolutely loved. This is a huge book, hence why it took me so long to finish but I have finally concluded and gathered my opinions.

Spoilers for Six of Crows but not Crooked Kingdom: Following their raid on the Ice Court to rescue Kuwei Yul-Bo, Kaz and the Dregs are working to free Inej from Van Eck’s grasp. OK I’m done, you can open your eyes now LOL.

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Teen SRC 2019 – Back to the Future by George Gipe

Back to the Future by George Gipe

Hey! We’ve all heard of the CLASSIC movie “Back to the Future”, right? If you haven’t, you should definitely check it out. I recently finished the book and I decided that it was too amazing to NOT write a review about it.

This book is about a boy named Marty McFly, going on an adventure back in time. He discovers that his actions for what he does in the past can affect the actual future. If you haven’t watched the movie, drop everything you’re doing right now and watch it (wait- don’t actually do that, I’m just kidding).

I think that this is a great book. It helped me acknowledge how our actions can affect what happens in the future, but once it happens, there’s no going back; we have to live with what has happened and learn to move on from all of it, whether we like it or not.

I know this was a short review, but not all good books need a huge amount of words to describe its greatness. All in all, I’d rate this book a 10/10. It’s a classic must-read (especially if you’ve seen the film) and it helped me realize the importance of our actions.

Thanks for reading my review and I hope you decide to read this when you have the time! 🙂

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 2018 – The Three Muskateers by Alexandre Dumas

SImage result for three musketeers booket in France in the 1620’s, this is a tale of adventure, esponiage, conspiracy, murder, vengeance, love, scandal, and suspense. There is the Comte d’Artagnan, an impetuous young man in pursuit of glory, the evil seductress “Milady,” the powerful and devious Cardinal Richelieu, the weak King Louis with his unhappy Queen, and, of course, the three muscketeers themselves. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, whose motto of “all for one, one for all” has come to represent friendship. With a plot that delivers stolen diamonds, masked balls, stolen letters, and great bouts of swordplay and fights, this book is infinitely entertaining.

This book was so engaging that I managed to finish it almost in one go in a single day. It was one of the first actually classical book I’ve ever read, and it was GREAT!!!!! I seriously recommend this book to anyone who loves action and historical fiction.

 

Teen SRC 2018 – The Kill Order by James Dashner

The Kill Order

The Kill Order by James Dashner

Mark and Trina roamed the Earth like everyone else before the sun flares hit the Earth destroying everything and everyone. They have survived the flares but will they be able to survive the killer virus that is killing everyone?

This book was not nearly as interesting as the rest of the Maze Runner series. The story and characters were hard to feel connected to and there was nothing that made me want to read more. I rate this book a 2/5