Tag Archives: young adult

2015, meme, top ten tuesday

[Top Ten Tuesday] – #74 – Characters I Didn’t Click With

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be a fun way to share a condensed version of potential rambles and thoughts that I have.

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This Week’s Theme:
Characters I Didn’t Click With

Initial Thoughts:

The defining characteristics for characters to be “click”-worthy generally involve their presence to make me empathize with their conflict and connect with them on their journey. I don’t have to necessarily enjoy how they act but it’s more asking yourself “is there a sense of coldness or feeling of being in arms-reach to the character” that’s on display here for me to not feel fully invested in their dilemmas.

I will speak of this from two fronts: books and films, as I do, with unpopular opinions abound.

Continue reading [Top Ten Tuesday] – #74 – Characters I Didn’t Click With →

2015, ARC review, Book Review

[Review] Zeroes — Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

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Book Title:        Zeroes (Zeroes, #01)
Author:               Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti
Number of pages:  560

Synopsis:

zeroes - scott westerfeld - book coverEthan, aka “Scam,” has a way with words. When he opens his mouth, whatever he wants you to hear comes out. But Ethan isn’t just a smooth talker. He has a unique ability to say things he doesn’t consciously even know. Sometimes the voice helps, but sometimes it hurts – like now, when the voice has lied and has landed Ethan in a massive mess. So now Ethan needs help. And he needs to go to the last people who would ever want to help him – his former group of friends, the self-named “zeros” who also all possess similarly double-edged abilities, and who are all angry at Ethan for their own respective reasons. Brought back together by Scam’s latest mischief, they find themselves entangled in an epic, whirlwind adventure packed with as much interpersonal drama as mind-bending action.

(re: Goodreads @ Zeroes – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

— The superpowers in this story aren’t all otherworldly. There’s a human quality to many of their abilities that exudes a magical realism vibe
— Cultural diversity seen through a multi-POV narrative that seamlessly jumps from one voice to another in building perspective
— Limited world-building is not problematic as readers are on the same knowledge playing field as the characters themselves
— Writing is wonderfully paced; 560-pages feels easy breezy
— The romance subplot isn’t too heavy although there’s a cautionary love-v/triangle happening; there are ships you can jump aboard on

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Initial Thoughts

This book is incredibly fun. I will now proceed to hype this book up.

Full disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of Zeroes from the Book Blog Ontario Meet-Up. I extend thanks to Simon Pulse for providing me with the opportunity to review this book.

Continue reading [Review] Zeroes — Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti →

2015, ARC review, Book Review

[Review] Dream Things True – Marie Marquardt

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Book Title              Dream Things True
Author:                    Marie Marquardt 
Number of pages:   352

Synopsis:

dream things true - marie marquardt - book cover Evan, a soccer star and the nephew of a conservative Southern Senator, has never wanted for much — except a functional family. Alma has lived in Georgia since she was two-years-old, excels in school, and has a large, warm Mexican family. Never mind their differences, the two fall in love, and they fall hard. But when ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) begins raids on their town, Alma knows that she needs to tell Evan her secret. There’s too much at stake. But how to tell her country-club boyfriend that she’s an undocumented immigrant? That her whole family and most of her friends live in the country without permission. What follows is a beautiful, nuanced, well-paced exploration of the complications of immigration, young love, defying one’s family, and facing a tangled bureaucracy that threatens to completely upend two young lives.

(re: Goodreads @ Dream Things True – Marie Marquardt)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

— Set in Georgia (USA) and encompasses POC (Mexican) families, undocumented immigrants, race and discrimination, power and privilege, drugs, rape, and exoticism, among others
— Narrative is told in sporadic alternating perspectives between both MCs; writing integrates Spanish dialogue
— The romance jumps the gun; a bit instalust-y after a few chapters
— If you’ve seen “The Proposal” (with Bullock/Reynolds), it feels like a toned down YA version of that
— An important diverse read with revelations that seem a bit easy but speaks to the concern of white privilege; it’s a bit of a toss-up in terms of enjoyment

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Initial Thoughts

Dream Things True is a very difficult book to review.

Full disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of Dream Things True through Netgalley for an honest review. I extend thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with the opportunity to review this book.

Continue reading [Review] Dream Things True – Marie Marquardt →