Category: book review

book review · books · I love books · reading · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: Fire and Ice (Spirit Animals Book 4) by Shannon Hale

byjehunterLeave a comment

Middle Grade Fiction Book Review: Fire and Ice (Spirit Animals Book 4) by Shannon Hale

There is one things I really love the Spirit Animal books for, and that is for a quick audiobook on a short road trip, or for a week long audiobook during my Monday to Friday commute. Like a typical Spirit Animal book, this one followed the same process of the Green Cloaks searching for talismans, but it also brought in some deeper elements. My favorite part of Fire and Ice in particular was the setting.

IMG_5170

The audiobook was again read by Nicola Barber, who does a great job with the narration.

JEH

book review · books · Covers · I love books · reading · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Sometimes the problem with borrow e-books (or audiobooks) from the library is that they expire and if I haven’t read them fast enough then I need to go on the wait list to borrow them again. This happened with Their Fractured Light.

IMG_5163

Their Fractured Light is the third and final Starbound novel. I was pleasantly surprised by the first book in the series, but was a bit disappointed to find that each book in this series has two different main characters. Their Fractured Light follows Sophia and The Knave on their fight to save the galaxy. While the story does intersect with the characters from the first two books, this story is mostly about Sophia and the Knave.

All in all, the book was solid. I liked the experience of seeing a new world, getting to know a different piece of this galaxy, but I didn’t like the characters quite as much as I did in the first two books, probably making Their Fractured Light my least favourite book in Starbound. Still a solid read and enjoyable book. I plan to one day read more books by Amie Kaufman and Meaghan Spooner, especially Unearthed, which was just released this month.

4/5 Stars

JEH

book review · books · I love books · reading · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: Prodigy by Marie Lu

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Prodigy is the second book in the Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu. This book has a fairly high rating on Goodreads, and I have some friends that just love this series. I think the books are okay, but I don’t seem to find them as engaging as some people.

IMG_5173

Prodigy once again follows June and Day as they struggle against the government. I think my main reason for disengagement with this story is the lack of detail. I feel more confused about the world it is set in than knowledgeable. I like the story, I like June’s character (more so than Day’s), but I’m sad to say that I just don’t love it. This book is a bit along the lines of The Hunger Games and An Ember in The Ashes, both of which I love. So maybe Prodigy just has too much competition. Still, it is a good read, especially if you are a die-hard fan of dystopian young adult books.

3.5/5 Stars (rounded up to 4 on Goodreads)

JEH

book review · books · Covers · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

I picked up Anna and the Swallow Man from my local library on audiobook when I was browsing for a new listen. The story is about Anna, a young girl orphaned during the second World War, and her subsequent journey through Poland. I loved this book. The audiobook was only five hours long, but excellently narrated. The touch of fantasy in the novel was just right, and all of the characters were well developed.

IMG_5161

Books about the great wars can be depressing, this is heavy stuff, but it’s something I think is important to know about so that it never happens again. My heart ached for Anna through most of this book, but the narrative gave me cause to hope. The prose was lyrical, and the language delightful, I found it very easy to fall into this book and to keep listening.

5/5 Stars

JEH

book review · books · Covers · I love books · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

I’ve mentioned this book before. It was one of the books I listed in My 2017 Reading Roundup but it’s taken me a long time to get around to posting my review of it. And of course the gorgeous picture.

I actually own a hardcopy of this book, but it is on loan to a close friend of mine at the moment. I really liked this book, and as my friend also loves Star Wars, I knew she would enjoy reading reading. So, what’s it about?

Lost Stars is a loose, young adult romance, Science Fiction, of course, since it’s set in the Star Wars universe. The most interesting thing about this book was the timeline, it takes place over the timeline of the original trilogy. Of course, the basic premise is that one of the characters ends up on the rebels side, and the other on the side of the empire. This was a great idea for a romantic novel, and I loved the behind the scenes look at the Death Star.

IMG_5168

Claudia Gray is a great writer. So the book had an excellent pace and two strong lead characters. It kept me reading, which can be a challenge for a romance, since most of the time you know where the story is going.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

4.5/5 Stars

JEH

book review · books · reading

What I’m Reading: Murder on The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

byjehunterLeave a comment

I’m behind in posting reviews of books I’ve finished reading, so I’ll start with this one. Since I first saw the preview for the new Murder on the Orient Express movie, I’d wanted to read the book. I saw this copy at a local drugstore and purchased it on a whim. Doesn’t it have a lovely cover?

FullSizeRender (8)

When I was younger, my dad would sometimes bring home BBC Agatha Christie movies from the library. My favorite was Death on the Nile, but I’d never seen Murder on the Orient Express (and don’t even know if there was a previous movie, honestly).

I really enjoyed the book, it was a fast paced, and I kept wondering who did it, and of course I tried to solve the mystery before Poirot. I think I finished the book in two days-it is actually pretty short. After I read the book, I went to see the movie a few weeks later. The cinematography was beautiful, it really made me want to take a train ride, but compared the book, the movie felt slow. So, as per usually, I would recommend the book over the movie anyway.

Have you read the book and seen the movie? What did you think?

JEH

book review · books · Covers

What I’m Reading: Amber Fang, The Hunted by Arthur Slade

byjehunterLeave a comment

I’m going to start this off by saying that I got this book as part of a conference “goodie-bag”. I love vampires, and it’s the right time of year, so I decided to give it a go.

Amber Fang The Hunted by Arthur Slade is a nice, quick read. What I liked about it most was the small, unique differences about this vampire world (and yay, no one glitters!). Because there are so many vampire stories, it is so important for there to be something unique in a vampire book. At least in my opinion. What I liked the least about this book, was it’s length. It was good, and a quick read, but more time could have been spent adding a bit more detail and depth to some parts.

IMG_5989

Amber Fang is a 21 year-old future librarian hopeful, a born vampire who knows little about her own kind. This is listed on GoodReads as book #1, though there is not yet a book #2. If there was, I would likely read it, since the mystery was just beginning to out at the end of this book. If you’re a sucker for all things vampire, then you might want to check out this book.

3/5 stars

JEH

book review · books · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The Darkest Part of the Forest is a beautifully written (and I mean pink-sunset beautiful) novel about a young girl, her brother, a sword, and a forest full of dark faerie folk.

IMG_5988

Probably my favourite part of this book was that it is a standalone novel. After reading a bunch of trilogies or series, sometimes it is so nice to read a book that is just that, a book. Nothing more expected, no more cliff hangers. Hazel, the main character, is strong and headstrong, and contrast nicely to her gifted brother Ben, who is gay. It was really great to see the loves and lives of Hazel and Ben intertwine. The relationship between the two characters is fully explored and deep with complication, just like sibling relationships often are.

The only thing that sometimes wore on me with this book, was the slow, backstory which cropped up here and there. Sometimes it felt like a bit too much of the story took place in the past, but mostly I did see a place for it. And the writing was so good that it made all of the reading worthwhile.

A solid 4.5/5 Stars.

JEH

book review · books · reading · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: The Savage Dawn by Melissa Grey

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: The Savage Dawn by Melissa Grey

I loved The Girl At Midnight series from the first, and really looked forward to the third book. While I enjoyed the Savage Dawn, I felt like not as much happened as could have, and the characters sat around for a long time thinking about what to do.

But, I did love the way Melissa Grey ended the series. With so many series, I find I’m left unsatisfied, that things could have been done differently (Divergent comes to mind). But this ending I felt was entirely fitting.

For those of you who might have read The Girl At Midnight series yet, maybe because you only read series that are completed, now is a great time to settle down with this story.

4/5 Stars

JEH

book review · books · Covers · reading · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: The Death Cure by James Dashner

byjehunterLeave a comment

Young Adult Book Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

It has taken me a long while to get around to reading the last book of The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner. This last book in the series definitely kept me on the edge of my seat as I wondered just how Dashner was going to wrap everything up.

FullSizeRender (2)

Earlier this week, I posted a review for The Savage Dawn, which is also a last book in a trilogy. I wrote about how that book had an ending that fit, and that I liked. Now, I liked how The Death Cure ended the Maze Runner Trilogy, but I’m not sure I got enough information. At the end of a series, I like to have a good feeling that I know how the main character’s life is going to be, and with The Death Cure, I feel that I don’t really know what Thomas’ life will be. I feel like there could be a whole new series of books.

Now, I know that there is a novella that might fill in some gaps, and I haven’t picked it up. I’ve also read some reviews that say it doesn’t really answer the lingering questions. Overall though, the ending was solid, and hey, some people really like the unknown.

4/5 Stars

JEH