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Teen SRC 2021 – Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

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 – Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Hi everyone! So I looked at my review history and I actually wrote one for Red Queen (Book 1 of the series) in 2017!? That’s wild. But anyway, it also means that this is long overdue, but I sincerely hope my writing has at least improved to make up for it!

*SPOILER ALERT!* I will talk about things that happened in Red Queen, so if you have yet to read Book 1, please do that first!

“No one is born evil, just like no one is born alone. They become that way, through choice and circumstance.”

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is the second book in a scintillating fantasy series. It follows Mare, Cal, and the Scarlet Guard as they figure out their next steps after the intended execution in the Bowl of Bones that didn’t end as planned. Things are grave, seeing as Maven and Queen Elara have planted a huge target on the backs of the exiled prince and the little lightning girl, convincing the world that they murdered the late King Tiberias.

The story itself definitely wasn’t as good as Red Queen, but to be fair, not many sequels can beat their predecessors. Despite that however, it certainly wasn’t bad. It was a fast-paced, plot-driven book, and I enjoyed the re-read! I think the only thing that threw me off was the characters. I didn’t connect with them very much, and Mare is far from my favourite protagonist. However, I do have to commend Ms. Aveyard on her ability to write realistically, because humans are flawed, and she was able to portray that through her characters, even in such a wildly supernatural world.

Glass Sword felt a lot like a preparatory book for King’s Cage (which I will try to write a review for as well). It was great in its own way, but nothing substantial really occurred. It was also a tad bit overdramatic at times, but that did add to the atmosphere, so no complaints from me LOL.

Overall, I would rate this novel a solid 7/10. It has all the components of a great dystopian/fantasy novel; it simply pales in comparison to the first book. There are some brutal scenes that may be hard to read, but other than that, I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy/superpowers, and wouldn’t mind a side of romance!

Teen SRC 2019 – City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Hey guys, I’m finally back from vacation and ready to do some serious catching up on my reading 🙂

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is the first book of the Mortal Instruments, an iconic series about the world of Shadowhunters. In a nutshell, the story takes place in a universe where Downworlders such as werewolves, vampires and warlocks roam freely amongst mortals. There’s a group of enhanced humans called the Shadowhunters who are tasked with managing them and battling any supernatural forces that pose a threat to humanity. I described the world in more detail in my review of Lady Midnight so go check that out if you want to get a better feel for their setting.

Let’s start off with, this series is pretty darn amazing. it has an amazing plot that keeps on developing and some of the best character relationships I’ve ever seen. It’s an extraordinarily popular series and it’s not difficult to see why. City of Bones is the perfect debut, starring strong, classic, female protagonist Clary Fray who finds out that she’s actually a shadowhunter. From there on, she makes life-long friends within the community with whom she gets into many adventures. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good supernatural story 🙂 Final rating is a 9/10 because the plot has just started developing but later sequels get even better!

Teen SRC 2018 – Weave A Circle Round by Kari Maaren

Teen SRC 2018 – Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren

Image result for weave a circle round

Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren

Weave A Circle Round is a book about a 14 year old girl named Freddy. She just wants get through her high school life but when a pair of reality-disobeying weirdos move in next door, life gets complicated.

This book is certainly strange. It starts like your typical high school drama book, slowly starts to add light mystery and supernatural elements, then completely flips everything on its head by adding something from an entirely different genre without warning! Now, you could see this as a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, this book could sound like it has no sense of direction, but on the other, you could see organised chaos(which I think is what the author was going for). But which hand is the right one, and which one’s the left? In my opinion, both kinds of people should read it.Read More

Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant

Image result for zenn diagram bookOkay, I’ve got your next great read!

Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant is such a fun book to read. It’s about senior Eva Walker who is a math genius. She isn’t popular, but she’s fine with that because she has a super power. Whenever she touches people (or if she even touches their belongings), she sees a vision of their emotions and childhoods. She has spent her whole life trying to avoid touching people because her super power is a lot to deal with and it makes it hard for her to connect with others.

This all changes when she meet the new boy in school, Zenn. He needs her help in math and goes to her for tutoring, but the more they get to know about each other, the more they are drawn to each other.

Eva is funny and self-deprecating, and such a fun character. If you’re looking for a good romance with a bit of a twist, try this one out. You won’t regret it!

Teen SRC 2017 – Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell

Image result for frozen charlotte by alex bellHi, guys! So I just finished an awesome book called Frozen Charlotte, but before I start, I just want to warn you that if you don’t like scary stories, don’t read this book!

It is about a girl named Sophie who was playing with an ouija board with her best friend, and that same night, her friend dies! She then goes to Scotland to visit her relatives, but Sophie suspects that their mansion is haunted.

Sophie quickly learns that her cousin, Rebecca, has died in an incident. One of the cousins, Lilias, tells Sophie that the little Frozen Charlotte dolls that are in Rebecca’s room are haunted, and if they are let out, they kill people in their sleep. Sophie starts to believe the stories, and she realized that the killer may lurk right beside her…

I had goosebumps throughout the whole story, but I really liked this book. I give it a 4.5 out of 5!