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TeenTober 2019 – Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Legendary by Stephanie Garber is the second book in the Caraval trilogy. There will be Caraval spoilers in here so beware but none for Legendary.

While Caraval was written in Scarlett’s perspective and didn’t give us much insight into Tella’s personality, Legendary is entirely narrated by Donatella. For this reason, it took me a while to warm up to the book because obviously, I’d developed a connection to Scarlett in the last one and switching it up so drastically did not endear to me. I came around eventually though I still wasn’t as taken with it as I was Caraval.

In Legendary, Caraval is to perform at Empress Elantine’s 75th birthday and Tella plans to use this chance to find out Legend’s true name and fulfill her part of the promise she made with a “friend”. When Caraval starts though, Tella realizes that this performance is quite a bit different than the previous and that the dangers may no longer be a part of the game but as real as you and me.

I would give Legendary an 8.5/10 because I wasn’t very impressed with the ending… I was expecting a few mindblowing plot twists like Stephanie delivered in Caraval but I was VERY disappointed with the actual results. That said, I did enjoy the story and plotline overall and I’m definitely going to give the final book a read!

Teen SRC 2019 – Take Your Last Breath by Lauren Child

Take Your Last Breath by Lauren Child

The sequel to Look Into My Eyes, this book was highly anticipated (by me) and I was not disappointed in any way. Following the same characters, Ruby has found herself with yet another mystery to solve, and this time it takes place on the wide-open ocean.

One thing I love about the series is that Ms. Child gives peeks into what’s happening with the villains/culprits such as short conversations or a simple description of their actions which gives you info not even Ruby has. This has always kept me completely intrigued with the story as every time this happens, I feel as if I should be able to figure the mystery out but I still never do 🙁 When the plot twist is finally revealed I go back to all the little details and just question HOW I didn’t manage to figure it out.

Final rating from me is a 10/10 because this series just can do absolutely no wrong. I loved it from start to finish and was hooked from the first sentence. I’ve grown up with Ruby and re-reading the series now has just made me realize how lucky I am to have had her as a role model during my same years of “pre-teen awkwardness”. Highly recommend to any mystery lovers regardless of age or gender as well as someone looking for a book that will get them thinking.

Teen SRC 2019 – See How They Run by Ally Carter

See How They Run by Ally Carter is the second book in the Embassy Row trilogy. Since I described the story in my review for the first book already, I’m just going to give a very basic bit of context and focus on my thoughts in this one. If you feel like you’re missing some of the details, please read my review of All Fall Down and it should fill you in.

On Embassy Row, embassies of all the countries stand side by side on one street so with two steps you could go from America to Iran. Grace, the protagonist, lost her mom 3 years ago and the entire plot revolves around her death and the causes of it.

Ally’s plots are always amazing so I wasn’t surprised when I found myself waking up early to finish this book. Her plot twists are UNREAL and I can never seem to guess them. This book was a bit more cliche then the last one but thankfully it wasn’t too much so or else I might not have enjoyed it as much as I did because sometimes a little cliche can really help your story.

The final rating is an 8/10, it’s good writing and a VERY good plotline but I don’t think I liked it as much as the first book. Currently reading the last book and I’m hoping I get so shook I have to put the book down and scream 🙂

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 – Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Hey guys! I finished the sequel to Uglies: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld; so here’s the review for y’all 🙂

*Note: I’d recommend you read my “Uglies” review first. It’ll help you get a way better feel for the series and understand my synopsis a bit more, I wouldn’t want you to get lost and not want to read the book because of that.

My thoughts (no spoilers): I remember saying Uglies was fairly fast-paced but didn’t leave much of a long-lasting impression on me and Pretties is a little bit better than that. It too has a very gripping plot that made me unable to put it down but once I finished, aside from maybe an hour of that “returning to reality” feeling, I was fine. What this means is that it’s a really good plot but the emotional side of the book could be improved. Overall it’s a 4/5 stars from me, not unreal but a very good read nonetheless. In reference, I will definitely be reading the rest of the books but not necessarily crying over them.

Synopsis (a few minor spoilers that you can also get from reading the back cover): Tally is finally pretty. She now parties every day in New Pretty Town with her best friends and her biggest worry is whether she’ll pass the initiation to become a member of a Pretty clique. But one day, she gets a letter from her past that acts like the pulling of a plug. All of a sudden, her old memories are flowing in and she remembers the dark side of being pretty.