Tag: Fantasy

Fantasy · Fiction · Romance · Young Adult

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

youwanttoreadthistrustmeLeave a comment

35120779

Title: Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

Editor: Marieke Nijkamp

Page Count: 320

Series: N/A

Publishing Date/Publisher: September 18, 2018 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR)

Format: eBook

Review:  It can be very difficult to rate short story anthologies because the content is so varied; however, I think that 3 stars would be my average rating.  As expected, some stories I enjoyed more than others, but overall I was impressed by the diversity of characters represented.  There were LGBT characters, gender fluid characters, persons of color, persons of different religions, and of course, all characters had some sort of disability, whether it be physical, intellectual, or emotional.  Some of the genres covered were horror, science fiction, fantasy, and romance.

There were a couple stories where it was not clear what disability the character had.  The descriptions were very ambiguous, and if you did not know that this was part of an anthology featuring youth with disabilities, you would probably miss the fact that a disability was even involved.  It would have been nice if  the authors had covered what inspired the characters they created in their short bios at the end of the anthology.

Another thing that really stood out to me is that the title of the anthology does not adhere to person first language (i.e. Stories Starring Disabled Teens vs. Stories Starring Teens with Disabilities).  Admittedly, I am very aware of this distinction due to a training I received at work, so perhaps it does not stand out to others the way it does to me.

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

 

Fantasy · Fiction · Young Adult

Long May She Reign

youwanttoreadthistrustmeLeave a comment

Image result for long may she reign

Title: Long May She Reign

Author: Rhiannon Thomas

Page Count: 422

Series: N/A

Publishing Date/Publisher: February 1, 2017 by HarperTeen

Format: Hardcover

Review: This book was not my favorite, but I must give it credit for originality.  Our unlikely and antisocial heroine, Freya, inherits the throne after an unexpected tragedy.  Much to her dismay, she is forced into the role of queen.  Fearing that the event that led to her newfound power was the result of foul play, Freya decides to find the perpetrator of the horrific crime through…wait for it…SCIENCE.  Of course in the meantime, Freya decides to make the best of her circumstances and becomes a reluctant, albeit conscientious, ruler.

There are parts of the book I liked, but it was by no means a page turner.

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

Fantasy · Fiction

The Name of The Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One

youwanttoreadthistrustmeLeave a comment

2495567

Title: The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Page Count: 722

Series: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1

Publishing Date/Publisher: 2008 by DAW Books, Inc.

Format: Paperback

Review:  This book is the first installment of a long saga.  Although I am not usually partial to such lengthy epics, I found this one to be rather enjoyable.  The beginning was a bit slow, but I was assured by one of my colleagues (the one who made the initial recommendation) that it would soon pick up speed if I invested a little time.  She was absolutely right, and I soon found myself drawn into a tale of loss, betrayal, love and resilience.

At times I found this story to be rather stressful.  The storyteller, Kvothe, relays many near death experiences, and there are many moments when he is facing imminent danger.  He always manages to come out on top due to his own cleverness and resourcefulness, but I still found myself experiencing secondhand anxiety.  To me, this is the mark of a very talented writer, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre (and has a lot of spare time and/or patience to get through a long book).

I was not as keen on the chapters that took place in the “present”, but these were added sparingly throughout the story, so I cannot gripe about them too much.  I will probably get to the second book in this series eventually, but due to the lengthy nature of each book, I will probably wait until my next maternity leave to tackle it (hopefully a couple years from now).  Considering that the author still has not released the third and final book of this series, I am in no rush to get through the second.

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

Fantasy · Fiction · Young Adult

Rebel of the Sands

youwanttoreadthistrustme2 Comments

Image result for Rebel of the Sands

Title: Rebel of the Sands

Author: Alwyn Hamilton

Performer: Soneela Nankani

Length: 9 hr, 35 min, 55 sec

Series: Rebel of the Sands, Book 1

Publishing Date/Publisher: 2016 by Recorded Books

Format: eAudiobook

Review: I have been on a fantasy kick lately, and I am very excited about this series.  More often than not I will read the first book in a fantasy series, and then move on.  Not the case with this series.  I was downloading the second book before I even finished this one in anticipation of continuing the story.

Sometimes it takes awhile for a story to really rope in the reader.  This book had me hooked from beginning to end.  Although I am not quite behind the rebellion itself 100% yet, I am 100% behind the heroine of the story, Amani.  This book had just the right amount of action and romance to keep me invested, and it has really set the stage for the books that follow.  I can only imagine that the story will getter better as it continues to build.

The performer they picked for this book was very well chosen.  Her melodic voice is an absolute pleasure to listen to, and I was very happy to discover that she is a woman of Indian/Ghanaian descent.  I looked up a photo of her online, and she is very much what I would have pictured the main character to look like, sans the unnaturally blue eyes.

On a completely different note, I LOVE the cover art featured above.  I was a bit dismayed when I saw that the cover art had been revamped for more recent editions, and I was shocked when I realized that the new cover art for the first book is a bit of a spoiler!  One of the most critical reveals in the story is actually evident on the new cover.  This surprises me, as I would think that such things would be vetted by the publisher BEFORE release.  I’m just glad that I got to the reveal before I started browsing for the second book and saw the new cover art.

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

 

Fantasy · Fiction · Young Adult

A Reaper at the Gates

youwanttoreadthistrustme1 Comment

Image result for a reaper at the gates

Title: A Reaper at the Gates

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Page Count: 464

Series: An Ember in the Ashes, Book 3

Publishing Date/Publisher: June 12, 2018 by Razorbill

Format: Hardcover

Review: Sabaa Tahir continues to impress me.  When I read her debut novel, An Ember in the Ashes, I thought it might be a standalone.  I was very happy to later hear that it would be part of a quartet.  The first book was good, but I did not consider it five star good.  However, each book in the series has gotten progressively better, and at this point, she is in the five star rating range for me.

This is a very unique story, and I enjoyed both the setting and the diverse array of characters.  It has elements of mysticism, rebellion, and just the right amount of romance.  I really appreciate the fact that although love is an important part of the story, the story is not built entirely around romantic love.  The relationships between all the various characters drive the plot, but sometimes not in ways you would expect.

This is one of those books series that is very difficult to predict the outcome of.  The author does a very good job of making the reader empathetic towards the harbinger of doom, and in some ways, you futilely hope for a happy ending for him too.

I am VERY excited for the final book in this series, and I eagerly await to find out when it will be released.

Two final thoughts:

I wish I had been able to enjoy this book in audiobook format (the library system I work for had the hard copy available before the eAudiobook format) because the three readers chosen for this series are all UH-MAZE-ING.  I listened to the second book, A Torch Against the Night, in audiobook format and was completely mesmerized.  I almost wish I had held out a little longer to listen to this third book as an eAudiobook, but alas my impatience to get my hands on it won out.

There has been some controversy surrounding the change in cover art that occurred when the third book was published.  I have very little to say about this, aside from the fact that I admire that the author wanted to have her ethnically diverse characters featured on the front.  My only disappointment is that the character of Laia depicted on the cover does not match her physical description in the book.  The woman chosen to illustrate her is beautiful, but I was under the impression that Laia’s character is biracial.  She is described as having dark hair, golden eyes, and golden skin.  Some of her immediate family members, specifically her mother, are described as being blonde haired and blue eyed.  I was hoping to see a biracial character represented on the cover, but we can’t all have what we want.  Oh well!

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

Fantasy · Fiction · Historical · Romance · Young Adult

The Bird and the Blade

youwanttoreadthistrustme2 Comments

Image result for the bird and the blade

Title: The Bird and the Blade

Author: Megan Bannen

Performer: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 10 hr, 17 min, 3 sec

Series: N/A

Publishing Date/Publisher: 2018 by Harper Audio

Format: eAudiobook

Review: This book surprised me.  I checked it out on my OverDrive app on a whim because it was available.  I gave the brief synopsis attached to it only a cursory glance, so I knew very little diving into it.  Very quickly into the reading, I knew that the story sounded vaguely familiar.  As I listened a bit longer, I realized that it was an adaptation of a story I had heard before.  Although I had some inkling of how it would end, I was intrigued to hear the story from the point of view of a slave girl.

What immediately drew me into the story was how cleverly the author organized it.  Each part of the tale peeled back a new layer, and details that had at first seemed minor carried greater significance as more back story was revealed.  By the end my heart was pounding and although I knew the outcome, I was still eager to see exactly how it played out.

My favorite part about the novel was how carefully the relationships were developed.  The story is told from the point of view of Jinghua, a slave girl with a mysterious past.  Jinghua is plain in appearance, but others value her for her intellect and spirit.  She is beautiful on the inside, if not on the outside, and her actions throughout the story reflect that.

If I were to read this book again, I would probably read it in a different format.  The performer had a tendency to exaggerate the waviness of her voice during dramatic scenes.  I found this distracting, so I think I would have enjoyed the story even more if I had been reading it in a physical format.

I was so impressed with this book.  It is a story of loss and love and sacrifice.   It contained all the elements of a great story, and it was beautifully written.  It is hard for me to believe that this was a debut novel.  I look forward to whatever else the author has in store.

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

Fantasy · Fiction · Young Adult

Children of Blood and Bone

youwanttoreadthistrustme4 Comments

children of blood and bone.jpg

Title: Children of Blood and Bone

Author: Tomi Adeyemi

Performer: Bahni Turpin

Length: 17 hr, 51 min, 58 sec

Series: Legacy of Orïsha, Book 1

Publishing Date/Publisher: 2018 by MacMillan Audio

Format: eAudiobook

Review: Let me start off by saying, this book deserves all the accolades it has been receiving.  The world building in this story is truly phenomenal, and the African mythology woven into it is masterfully done.  Although lengthy, the pacing of the book moves rapidly and by the end, the reader is left wanting more.  Luckily, this book has been announced as part of a series, and there will certainly be more to come.

When I first started this book, I was convinced that I would be rating it with five stars; however, as the plot progressed, I found myself becoming increasingly disenchanted by the romantic angle that suddenly emerged midway through the story.  The romance not only seemed unprecedented, but rather forced.  Although I could see what the author was trying to do, it just did not seem to fit right with what I knew about the characters.  I think a romance such as this would need a lot more build up to be plausible, but it was sped along in the interest of furthering the plot.  It is not necessarily that I did not want the characters to end up together, but that I think it could have been done better.  For this reason, I lowered my rating to four stars.

Regardless of how I feel about the romantic subplot, I found this to be a complex and well-written story.  As a history major, I could appreciate the parallels to real life events such as apartheid, colonialism, segregation, etc.  There are many layers to this story, and many layers to each character.  It will be exciting to see where this story goes.

As an additional note, I HIGHLY recommend enjoying this book in audiobook format.  Some stories are just meant to be shared orally, especially those with deep roots in traditional mythology.  Bahni Turpin does an excellent job creating personas for each character, and the accents she created really bring the story to life and lend a little something extra to the listening experience.

Reader: Bekah

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold

Fantasy · Fiction · Young Adult

Passenger

youwanttoreadthistrustmeLeave a comment

passenger

Title: Passenger

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Page Count: 496

Series: Passenger, Book 1

Publishing Date/Publisher: January 5, 2016 by Disney-Hyperion

Format: Paperback

Review: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken was a thoroughly entertaining read. I can quite honestly say I loved every minute of it. The plot is engaging and unique, and the mystery has a way of keeping you guessing well into the second and final book (which I am still reading, review to follow). Without giving anything critical away, the book revolves around Etta, a girl from the 21st century, and Nicholas, a sailor from the 18th. They are tasked with a mission for a man who wants to control time travel, which leads to interesting aspects that have rarely (in my experience) been dealt with in issues concerning time travel. Nicholas is black, which means that he is always acutely aware of the colour of his skin and the attitudes towards it in various times. It was not an awareness I was expecting from a book written by a white author and it was incredibly refreshing. Bracken has a way of writing that invokes confusion at times, but only when necessary. She writes the jumbled thoughts of her characters in a way that puts you there with them, figuring everything out and feeling all of their emotions. It was a captivating read.

Reader: Kymberly

Rating:

All_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_GoldAll_Star_Gold