Literally Lenny: young adult

What's it about?:

"Gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she’s fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.
When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan’s palace—she’s determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan’s secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she’s a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she’s been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.
Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about Djinn and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change." - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. I generally have a really hard time accepting sequels to books that I absolutely adored, and this definitely is one of them. I loved the adventure and unknown in the first novel, and this sequel just made it seem like every other fantasy novel, which really disappointed me. It was still a good book, don’t get me wrong! It definitely does not deserve anything less than a 3 star review, but I wish I could give it 5.

Storyline:

I wanted more Amani and Jin, plain and simple. But instead, I got Amani and the Sultan and Sam. While it did make for a more “dynamic” book, it wasn’t exactly the adventure I was hoping for. I wanted another adventure with Amani and Jin together, and instead we got just Amani. The two of them together make for a better story, in my opinion, so when I realized this was going to be centered around mainly Amani with a little bit of Jin, I was quickly disappointed.

Characters:

Amani: A badass with a gun. Basically. Even when the entire world was against her, she didn’t give up. She has a big heart and an incredible brain. There’s no one like her. However. I found her to become boring and monotonous after a while. I absolutely adored her in the first book because she defied all odds set against her. We got to know her and her story, which I enjoyed much more than being introduced to a whole slew of new characters and their own backstories.

Jin: My favorite character in the entire book, which is probably why I didn’t LOVE this book because he made very small appearances and I really just wanted to see him and Amani be the dynamic duo again.

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What's it about?

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life." - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

This book is so insanely important to read, especially in this day in age. This book is relevant to everything that our society has been facing for the past couple years.

Storyline:

Absolute perfection. All you really hear when these tragedies happen are what the news outlets have to say about the story, but you never hear from the actual people it directly affected. I found that it was also important to see not only the short term effects it had on society, but also the long term effects. Many people forget about these tragedies because they were not involved, but what we don’t realize is that people continue to struggle day-to-day with the memories of what happened, and that’s important to acknowledge. Tragedies don’t just vaporize as if they never happened. They’re still there, having an everlasting effect on people’s lives that the rest of society likes to just ignore or forget about.

Characters:

I like that Angie Thomas was able to write about so many diverse characters in such a realistic way, without it seeming forced.

Starr: The girl who saw it all. Strongest and bravest girl to have ever fictionally existed. Probably one of my favorite fictional characters of all time as well. She was so REAL. Angie Thomas nailed the mindset of a teenage girl going through a tragedy.

Chris: The white boyfriend who saw no difference between black and white. An outlook that I think the entire world could benefit from. He was that typical preppy high school boy who had absolutely nothing wrong in his life, but that never stopped him from wanted to be 100% involved in Starr's life.

Khalil: The boy whose life ended too soon. The alleged “drug dealer” and “gang banger” who supposedly “deserved” what was coming to him.

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Disclaimer:

I was kindly sent an e-ARC of this book by MacMillan publishers. All opinions are my own.

What's it about?

Celestine North lives in a society that demands perfection. After she was branded Flawed by a morality court, Celestine's life has completely fractured; all of her freedoms are gone. Since Judge Crevan declared her the number one threat to the public, she became a ghost on the run with Carrick, the only person she can trust. But Celestine has a secret; one that could bring the entire Flawed system crumbling to the ground. A secret that has already caused countless people to go missing. Judge Crevan is gaining the upper hand and time is running out for Celestine. With tensions building, Celestine must make a choice: save just herself, or risk her life to save all Flawed people? And, most important of all, can she prove that to be human is to be Flawed? - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

First of all if you haven't already read my review for Flawed, read it first. If you've already read that, you'll know that Flawed was one of my top reads of 2016, and Perfect will likely be a favorite of 2017.

This book was phenomenal. I loved being back in Celestine’s world because Cecelia Ahern completely thrusts you into the world with very little introduction and very little backstory (which I love in a sequel). She gets right to the point!

Characters:

Celestine- Honestly, she really irked me in the first half of the first book because she only conformed to society instead of thinking for herself. But in Perfect, she made a complete 180° change. She finally became her own person, stopped caring about what society thought of her, and did what was morally right.

Carrick- I didn't know what to think of Carrick in the first book because to me, he seemed quite unimportant. But in this book, you saw way more of him, thus allowing his character to truly develop in front of you. You're able to understand more about him and what makes him so mysterious.

Crevan- I feel like we did not see nearly as much Crevan in Perfect as we did in Flawed and I'm content with that. While he did add more conflict to the storyline, he is just downright obnoxious! He is the perfect villain in all the wrong ways. Because quite honestly, he reminded me a lot of politicians in our own society. This made the book all the more believable because while the dystopian society may not exist, Crevan's personality definitely does.

Storyline:

I don't know how Cecelia does it, but this is one of the very few books that is captivating throughout its entirety. There's absolutely NO lulls in the storyline. There's constant conflict, always something going on, and the book is nearly impossible to put down. Even from the very beginning, she just launches into the story. There's nothing worse than having a writer slowly get into the plot, especially in a sequel (when you already know about the characters AND the last book left you on a major cliffhanger).

Connection to Nazi Germany:

What made this book so eerily realistic was its similarity to Nazi Germany. Flawed wore armbands that announced their status everywhere they went. They were branded "Flawed" with a permanent mark as a reminder of their inferiority. Crevan was a dictator who solely seeked complete power. He used propaganda to scare people into “behaving” as the perfect human race. The Flawed were seen as disgusting human beings who had curfews, limitations, and less rights.

All of this is exactly what Nazi Germany was, and despite this book being fiction, this dystopian society is far from fiction. Something like Nazi Germany can happen again. There will always be other attempts to “Make the World Perfect Again.” I believe what Ahern was getting at is that although this may unfortunately happen again, it is by no means necessary for it to come to war as it previously has. It can be done peacefully and within the society. We are not that different; we are all human, and we are all flawed. Together we can overcome anything that plagues our society as long we unite as one.

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What's the series about?

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

My Thoughts:

DISCLAIMER:I've decided to do a combined review on these two books because I literally read them back to back (because I was obsessed and needed more) so they might as well be one giant book in my head.

This series is my favorite series of all time. Honestly and truly. If you love historical fiction, I highly highly recommend that you pick up this series because you will not regret it. This isn’t your typical historical fiction novel: it goes back to the 1800s during the Gold Rush where the best mode of transportation was by horse and women were owned by the family male heir.

Characters:

If there’s one character in any novel that I would love to be, it would be Leah. If you ever need a perfect example of women empowerment and strength, look no further. She does not rely on anyone, she takes matters into her own hands, and is the most selfless character in the entire series. Yes, she has her flaws, but so does everyone else in the world.

The supporting characters and their stories were all very realistic with very realistic problems. There was a part-Native American boy who dealt with criticism from others because of his race, a war hero who struggled with his pride, a woman who was oppressed by her husband, and a "villain" who's main vice was greed.

Storyline:

These books and their storylines never get dull. There’s always something going wrong or some badass rescue being made. There’s something for everyone to love in this series. From romance to cowboys, what’s not to love?

Overall, the flow of the storyline is great. There’s no lull in the storyline, there’s no filler. It’s action packed with wonderful writing and wonderful imagery.

I mean, this series is historical fiction, but when reading it, it feels more like just pure history. Minus the magical powers, I would not know any better than to call this series historical. This says to me that Rae Carson did a very in depth research on this time period not only for the historical events, but also on women rights during that time, personal experiences, as well as criticism against Native Americans. It's historical fiction with a little bit of magic, and it's nothing short of amazing.

What's Next?

The next book and FINAL book, Into the Bright Unknown, is set to come out October 10th, 2017 and oh my goodness I cannot WAIT. Look at this beautiful cover.

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What's it about?

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

My thoughts:

This book was strange...strange in the way that I’m not really sure exactly how I feel about it. The beginning was gripping, but as soon as they went off to Caraval, it kind of lost me. I had a lot of hope for this book, as the description reminded me a lot of The Night Circus, one of my favorite reads. But needless to say, I shouldn’t have done that because I finished the book disappointed and wanting a lot more.

Characters:

The characters...I found Scarlett to be obnoxious and prude and Tella to be wild and selfish. The only character I truly enjoyed was Julian which is unfortunate considering that there were so many diverse characters, but they all fell short of what I was hoping for.

Storyline:

The storyline was confusing and strange. It started out really strong, honestly it did. But then it fell off when they got to Caraval...perhaps because there was too much going on and not enough description.

6:20 PM No comments