Kate Mester
Upsides: Just as good and fast paced as the first. Few questionable audio voices, but overall a very enjoyable listen. Actually gasped out loud at one of the plot twists, usually I see these coming and didn't here! The downsides as I see them: Even more personally violent than the first. Characters have family killed in front of them, etc. And the thread is lost on why the Scholars/Empire are fighting in first place, although their motivations aren't super necessary to a fast moving plot.
Lushly written fantasy on the costs of beauty and human cruelty. The world building is excellent, but building the world slows the pace down at the beginning. As more is revealed about what lurks under the surface of a beautiful society, the pace picks back up and speeds to a relative cliffhanger of an ending (this is the first of a series). Will definitely be booktalking this memorable story.
Elegantly emotional and beautifully written. I teared up at the end. Though written for a younger audience, I think my Battle kids will really enjoy this next year.
Adorable. Love that the romance (& mention of sex) was super respectful and consensual. My main quibble is that for a character who's obsessed with coding and a plot that takes place entirely at a coding conference competition, we barely see or learn anything about the coding project. More details wanted there!
Total escapist fun, a YA Knives Out. The characters are never deep enough to emotionally invest in but the mystery/game is fun and the end solves the why of the inheritance but sets another piece of the family mystery afoot. This will definitely sell to mystery/puzzle/game fans.
Unfortunately anything I read from Summers will always be compared to Sadie, which was excellent, and this didn't quite measure up. I'd also say this isn't technically YA, as the main character is 19, her sister is 25, everyone else is an adult. Perhaps New Adult, though that designation doesn't seem to be taking off. This book is about cults & religion & their intersection and finding a sense of belonging with a (less than compelling) through line about sibling bonds, but I didn't feel like this story had anything new or fresh to say about any of these topics. Like in Sadie, the story is told in 2 timelines - Bea's sections, which are used to give background to Lo's main story, are told in 3rd person about a year before Lo's sections, which are in first person and present day. The sections for each sister are labled by time, but the transitions within the sections were really jarring with no textual separation, though hopefully that is a fault just in the eARC (read thanks to Netgalley!) text and won't be true in the print edition. I think the main problem was this story hinges on your ability as the reader to be really emotionally invested in Lo and Bea's story and it's outcome as they fall into and out of (maybe) The Unity Project, but I was never emotionally invested and never felt compelled to find out what was happening, because it all seemed inevitable or too convenient/unrealistic. I read through to the end to finish the eARC and not because I was invested in the story, and that's not how I want to feel about a Summers book. I'll will still booktalk this, because I'm very interested to hear teen reactions.
Highly adorable first-teen-romance story. It accurately captures all the fizzy stomach feels and the desperate/manic need to be around each other. It's fantastical and overly-romantical in a rom-com too-much way. Both voices were done by teen actors that were excellent and believable.
Straight ahead realism, will be highly relatable for teens across gender and ethnic spectrums. All real teen stuff handled and written very well: sex, alcohol/drugs, depression/suicide, parental smothering, dating/friendships
This is Part 1 (of 4) of the manga adaptation. This might gain the book some new fans, but Cath is much hard to understand and empathize with here without her inner monologue and motivations.
Definitely see the appeal for teens. Too repetitive and trite for me now, but 16 year old me would have liked it.
Light and fun and sweet. They're really funny together, of course. The audio book is the only way to go here, as they're just off-the-cuff riffing on what they've written, and I'm sure I'd be annoyed at how all over the place it is in text form. The part where they describe the pictures of each other that are in the book was really a gem.
4.5. It took me a long time to read, not just because it's over 500 pages, but becauseI kept putting it down and then coming back, partly due to the intensity of the story. Adeyemi does not shy away from real violence, torture, and death to/against characters that you care about. Though none of it is gratuitous and it all makes sense within the story, it's tough and intentionally so, because this is a larger allegory around BLM/POC lives and the police state/structural racism/white patriarchy that doesn't value their very existence. That she takes on these major themes within a realy well written YA fantasy with Nigerian magic is a testament to her awesome ability. I didn't love the romance but again understand it in the plot. The audio is by my favorite narrator (and best in the game), Bahni Turpin, and I recommend it if you can devote the time to it.
I've only listened to 2 essays so far, and neither were great, and yes,this is on me because I didn't check to see the list of contributing authors - but Lionel Shriver is included here. Yep, you may remember Lionel Shriver from such things as using the Brisbane Writers Festival to publicly argue FOR cultural appropriation. Annnnd I'm done here. In case you need further opinions to solidify the point that Lionel Shriver's racist dreck is not worth your eyeballs or ears, I just saw this gem of a 1-star review from fellow Goodreadser Rana from Apr 24, 2015:
ETA: I thought more about this and I remembered the exact point at which I stopped reading. Lionel Shriver's essay; it was horrifyingly racist in that she laments that her choice not to have kids means she won't be passing along her intelligent and literary European genes. If I feel, oh, a little wistful about the fact that the country of my birth, the United States, will probably within my lifetime no longer be peopled in majority by those of European extraction like me, that passing dismay has never been considerable enough for me to inconvenience myself by giving lifts to football practice. Her whole essay was about how it was so sad that her white and educated friends weren't having babies but that developing countries and immigrants were. Yep, that was when I stopped reading.
Impressive continuation that uses the plot action to develop the characters. Another great cover, and I think it will be easy to get kids hooked in to this world, as all teens will be able to resonate with identity and parent struggles. I'm now really looking forward to part three coming out next month, especially with the tension-ratcheting cliffhanger ending!
4.5. Such rich character and world building in such a short novella, truly impressive and created an immersive reading experience! I've been meaning to read her YA Akata series but got here first, and I'm so happy I did. Look forward to book talking this, and the gorgeous and content-matching cover will help to sell. The only slightly off detail was pronoun switching with Okwu, sometimes he and sometimes it. She fixes this in Home.
3.5 She's hilarious and a fantastic comedian, but her bits don't translate into a cohesive story or narrative arc. Recommend the audio if you're reading because she narrates it herself and adds a few extra-book items. The first chapter was a bit hard to listen to because she's all over the place, but she finds the sweet spot after that. Her stories are funny and absolutely brutal and highlight her strength as a person and the work she's put into her career. Need to get copies for the library as we'll definitely have lots of readers for this!
The audiobook was excellent - great voices, music, & production. I loved the Canterbury tales, so I had a real soft spot for this style, but I'm not sure how many middle grade students are going to stick around for something so long and pretty obtuse. The timeless themes and messages of acceptance and love and strength of friendship and community were beautiful, and parts of the book are laugh-out-loud humorous. I felt a true affinity for the characters, and would be curious to see whether this book was a hit with the intended audience and not just adults.
1.5 Such a slog to get through. The opening relationship-establishing dialogue is some of the worst I've ever read, and if this wasn't on the BOB list, I'd have put it down just for that. The action did finally pick up, but it sure did take 150+ pages to get there. This thing is soooo long, and then after the action finally does hit, the ending drags on forever. Being in an almost-death situation with constantly ratcheted stakes is too exhausting for 200+ pages. Also, I understand the appeal of the graphic formula, and while I didn't love it, I did get used to it, but I have to imagine that the grey text on black background would render this book inaccessible to any kid with the slightest vision issue.
A satisfying end to the series. I liked having 2 more narrative perspectives. It got a little exhausting to constantly be in battle mode, but the emotional payoff was also high when we gained a character back and there was some salvation at the end. My holds list for this is deep, so I'll be excited to hear kid opinion of this book.
Great continuation, with just enough info at the beginning to help me remember events of the first book w/o a boring rehash. Impressive world-building, continued interesting character development, and lots of action that is realistically heartbreaking. Looking forward to the third and even more looking forward to Scott's visit to our school in October! The kids and I are so excited!
4.5 This book was like VR, her world building was that encompassing and I didn't want it to end. She's gotten better with every book series. Definitely adult, strong trigger warnings for violence, sexual assault, and addiction. If you want creepy dark gory realistic fantasy/mystery, escape into this.
I actually liked this second book better than the Maze Runner. I'm hoping the big reveal that will end the series will be worth the reader's investment.
Lauren reads the audio, so definitely recommend spending the 4 1/2 hours in a friendly chat with her! The book was as light and fun and enjoyable as I expected, but do make sure you have a copy of the book, or that your eBook/eAudio has a picture file, because she refers to each pic as it comes up in moments of her story, and seeing them certainly adds to the enjoyment.
4.5 Thankful to have Allie back in my life. I'm still catching up on all of her personal backstory of the last 7 years that she's been sharing on FB, but much of what she went through is touched on here. There were a few stories that didn't work as well, but some were peak perfection - insightful, a little sad, brutally honest, and hilarious. Favorites were: Bucket, Cat, Fish Video, and the end essay, the uplifting gut punch of Friend.