The book that I recommend is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Although I’ve read this book quite a while before, this novel is still very touching and shines in my childhood. The main character Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O’Keefe goes on a journey through space and time, from galaxy to galaxy, as they try to save the Murrys’ father and the world. The novel offers a glimpse into the war between light and darkness, and good and evil, as the young characters mature and develop through their journey. Each of them has a unique ability and the adventurers gradually discover their ability and use it against the darkness (evil). The book is written by Madeleine L’Engle and is a highly suggested piece of literature for teens who are into fantasy fiction.
“I do not believe ambitious men who say the only route to peace and prosperity lies in giving them more power—particularly when they do it with lands and people who are not theirs.”
A behemoth compared to the first two installments in the City of Brass trilogy, The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty is divided into three POVs, in which readers trace the experiences of Nahri and Ali as they gather allies to conquer Daevabad, and Dara, who is now the infamous general of the Banu Manizheh after seizing Daevabad. With most of the emphasis placed on these three characters, particularly Nahri and Ali, I can’t help but notice the inconsistencies of Ali’s character development over the course of the trilogy. Drifting in the boat along the Nile with Nahri, he is hit hard with guilt and grief over his inability to save Mutandhir, who Ali believes is dead.
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert is great. I read it after I finished her most recent series The Hazel Wood, I recommend that as well. But this book has somewhat graphic descriptions, kind of minor love interests, and dual perspectives from the mom and the daughter, it’s really interesting to keep switching and see how their choices impact the present. There’s not much to complain about, although at the start it took me some time to get through it. It’s a creepy mystery that wraps up nicely I’m pretty sure it’s a standalone and this book has witches in it, I really liked the main character Ivy and I would rate this book a 9/10 because I liked the perspectives and Ivy.
First of all, I apologize for the weird picture/amazon purchase thing, I don’t know how to work this website and this was the closest thing I could find to a URL hahaha… if any of you know how I could find a book cover picture next time, please let me know. Now after my summer vacation, I am finally ready to post my first book review! I’ll try not to include spoilers!! (ill try to summarize my review ahhaha)
1. Age-wise, it’s perfect for all you teen readers! Okay, Red Queen was awesome. Especially if you’re a preteen-early teen, and starting out on some teen books, then this book is perfect. It doesn’t have too many romance-y moments (ahem) and the plot is fairly easy to follow. I am 14 and recently read this book over my vacation, and I really enjoyed it.
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos is a dystopian fiction novel that was translated from French by Hildegarde Serle. This book is from the point of view of Ophelia, the main character. She lives on an ark called Anima, and these arks were created after the Earth had exploded and broken into these floating islands called arks. Ophelia has special powers, which are travelling through mirrors and reading objects. Due to political reasons, Ophelia got declared to marry Thorn, who is from an ark called The Pole. Ophelia and Thorn are opposites as Ophelia is tiny and shy, and Thorn is rude and keeps to himself. Ophelia has been accompanied by her aunt, Rosaline and lives at The Pole with Thorn’s grandmother and aunt, Berenilde. At The Pole, no one should find out that Ophelia is Thorn’s fiancé, and a lot of planning had been done to keep her identity hidden even when the ladies move into their enemy’s house to live. This book revolves greatly around a fantasy world and how Ophelia is surviving in it.
Until now, this summer, A Winter’s Promise was probably the book I had the most time finishing, and as I progressed, my interest in it slightly started to become less and less. This book disappointed me greatly as BookTok hyped it up so much for me. I pushed myself so much to read this book, which sucked because this was one of the few fantasy books I had read, and it has pretty much scared me away from fantasy and dystopian fiction. I expected a bit more romance in it and just hoped the plot to flow more smoothly than it was. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters except for Ophelia. I feel like too many things were happening at once, and not explained adequately, or it took a long time to figure out what was happening. The plot, in general, was plodding, and a few things were pretty annoying and repetitive. As much as I wanted to love this book, I had to force myself to finish it and had a hard time even looking at the second book I still haven’t started. On a more positive note, many readers did not like the first book but liked the series because things started progressing after the first book. Hopefully reading the second book might make me change my mind but for now I’m not too impressed.
One thing that did satisfy me about this book was the writing style was really unique which is one thing that really kept me on track to finish it. I also think towards the ending of the book it made a bit more sense and in a way started to tie things up. Hopefully in the second book there’s a bit more romance and affection shown between Ophelia and Thorn and maybe that is why readers enjoyed the second book more and really got hooked. Oh also the covers of this book is so pretty and even the rest of the book covers in the series look so gorgeous.
Rating: 5/10 (Ophelia’s scarf and Ophelia herself really deserve at least five stars).
A book inspired by the history of China in the 20th century, The Poppy War follows a peasant girl, Rin, throughout the novel. She aces the entrance exam for the Empire’s military academy. After entering the academy in the hopes of gaining recognition of the society, she slowly becomes disillusioned by the country’s seemingly meritocratic institution. As an outcast, she is scorned for her skin colour and humble background at the academy. As the story progresses, she discovers her lethal, mystical power gifted by the gods of Nikan and makes tough decisions during the battle against the Federation of Mugen in the Third Poppy War.
Psychics have always told Blue Sargent that her true love would die if she kissed him. All her teenage years, she spent swearing off on boys, especially the Aglionby boys or alias Raven boys. Standing next to her psychic half-aunt watching the soon-to-be-dead pass by, she sees a spirit for the first time, a Raven Boy. “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve her half-aunt said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him”.
In Maggie Stiefvater‘s book The Raven Boys we follow Blue Sargent’s life as it tangles with those she dreads the most the Raven Boys. Being the only non-psychic in her matriarchal house she struggles with identity issues and her new-formed friendship with the rich, members of high-class society, the Raven Boys certainly is not helping. But she can’t help but be drawn to the four Aglionby Boys, Gansey who is on a quest that has encompassed the other three, Ronan, the strong hot-headed boy; Adam, the poor scholarship student who can’t fit in with the others; and Noah, the tacit member of the group.
“Adeline has decided she would rather be a tree, like Estele. If she must grow roots, she would rather be left to flourish wild instead of pruned, would rather stand alone, allowed to grow beneath the open sky.”
The quaint, peaceful, French village of the eighteenth century is captivatingly written by V. E. Schwab, setting up an intriguing premise, but what really drew me into The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is its protagonist, Addie LaRue. A strong-willed, independent young woman, Addie, is forced into an arranged marriage with a man she hardly cares about. I feel deeply sympathetic for her situation, and I admire her determination to preserve her freedom. In modern terms, she can be described as a feminist in the medieval age. Her fear of being trapped by a life of domesticity, housekeeping, raising children, looking after her husband, is sure to resonate with countless women today.
Galaxy “Alex” stern isn’t your average twenty-year-old at Yale and she worries she’ll ever be “average”. She can see ghosts. And her ability brings misery to her when she gets involved in a low-level drug deal. In Leigh Bardugo’s new dark twisty thriller, Ninth House, we follow the life of Alex stern, the only survivor of a multiple homicide that she shouldn’t have survived. When laying in the hospital bed she is allowed to turn her life around and begin fresh at the prestigious Yale University, she knows it’s bound to come with a catch. And what’s the catch? She is to be the newest member of the “ninth house” a secret society flourishing in yale looking over the arcane proceeding of the “ancient eight”.
Her life becomes intertwined with the dark secrets that run through New Haven’s secret societies when there’s a dead girl on campus, and only Alex seems to think there’s more to the story than meets the eye. She often wonders why doesn’t she just let it go; the societies have come up with a neat answer to the girl’s death. It would be convenient for her to just let it be, focusing on the new opportunities Yale brings her. But she feels for the girl, she knows what it feels like to be not cared for, to be pushed under the bus with a “nevermind’. She knows what it feels like to fight the world for the injustice it brings to you, “I want to survive this world that keeps trying to destroy me”. Following the girl’s death, she discovers drug deals, corruption, and cover-ups. She finds the truth beneath the facade run by the secret societies, dark ambition, and sinister motives to get power.
Leigh bardugo has created the best-written morally grey character that I just couldn’t help but sympathize with. Leigh’s world-building is amazing and mesmerizing and something I got lost in. Although the book proved to be more dark and troubling than I had expected, the brutal past of the characters just added to the full effect of the book and I loved every single second of reading it. If you liked The Atlas Six or Dance of Thieves,this fantastical world created by Bardugo is a perfect addition.
Regarded as one of the best representatives of the high fantasy genre, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss has earned great acclaim and a massive following. Now an innkeeper of the Waystone Inn, Kvothe Kingkiller, tells the Chronicler the story of his life in the style of a memoir. He recounts his journey from his childhood, the murder of his parents, to his days at the University.
“I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me.”
As a coming-of-age novel, Kvothe takes the center stage in The Name of the Wind. Of all the characters, I dislike him the most. After witnessing his parents’ gruesome death at the hands of secretive, mythical figures, he enters the University with the hope that he will gain the information he needs to avenge his parents. After he is admitted, however, he seems to wander aimlessly during his time at school. He was banned from accessing the Archives in his early days at school, which was essentially the only viable route for accessing the information needed to solve the identity of his parents’ murderer. He doesn’t make serious attempts to regain access for 90 percent of the plot. The times when he does make an attempt to do so are done halfheartedly at best. Kvothe soon becomes involved voluntarily in the drama and the petty rivalry of his classmates. The memory of his parents’ murder gradually slips from his mind while his school work, friends and rivals soon consume all his energy. When he isn’t studying or going on adventures outside school, he devises plots to trip his rivals at school, namely Ambrose, a higher-ranking student. Although Kvothe can be spiteful at times, it is hard not to admire his resilience and courage. His days in Tarbean, a dangerous place for any 12-year-old orphan, are spent in loneliness and abject poverty. Without his family to support him, the young Kvothe is entirely alone. Despite these obstacles, he is able to lift himself out of hardship and gain entrance to the prestigious University using his wit and musical talents.
