Book Reviews

Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor

April 30, 2019 Leave a Comment

18 hours 20 minutes| Fantasy | Hachette Audio | Release Date: 3/18/2017

We’ve been talking about Laini Taylor on this blog since Daughter of Smoke and Bone was featured in this Wall Street Journal article about new books reaching the Harry Potter generation. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series blew me away and Taylor is back at it again in Strange The Dreamer.

In this book, we meet Lazlo Strange, an orphaned librarian who finds himself the center of a story beyond his wildest dreams. Taylor is one of the best storytellers in YA right now and this book reflects that. The worlds and magic systems she creates are so detailed and creative.

At over 500 pages and 18 hours on audio, there were times where you could feel the page count. In the acknowledgments, Taylor says this was originally one book that got made into two and I think with a little less backstory it probably would have worked as one book but there seems to be no room for standalones in YA

At its heart, Strange The Dreamer is as a unique and original tale of trauma and survival.

….I’m not really a fan of YA duologies. They always feel like one story that has been stretched and padded to become two books instead of a story that needed to be told with two books.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

April 28, 2019 Leave a Comment

358 pages | Henry Holt and Co, | Fantasy | Release Date: 06/05/2012

Wow, reading this book was a blast from the past. Shadow and Bone was first published in 2012, which was our first full year of blogging. The then-unknown Bardugo was part of a group of debut YA/MG authors called the Apocalypsies that included several other YA fantasy powerhouses like Zoraida Córdova, Sara J. Maas, Brigid Kremmer and Marissa Meyer.

On to the book!

Shadow and Bone takse place in the Russian-inspired land of Ravka that has been divided by a dark shadowy wasteland known as The Fold. Wars have broken out at the borders leaving devastation in its wake.

Childhood friends Mal and Alina are soldiers in Ravka’s First Army, which is nothing compared to Ravaka’ Second Army—made up of Grisha, individuals who have mastered the small science (magic) and can wield elements in mind-bending ways. When Alina discovers she maybe one of the most powerful Grisha of all time, she is thrown into the opulent Grisha world and at the arms of the Grisha’s charming leader The Darkling.

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The Loves and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

April 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

Rating: unrated | 336 pages | Scholastic Press | Contemporary | Release Date: 1/29/2019

Rukhsana Ali lives two very different lives. With her friends and brother, she is a happily out and dating her girlfriend Arianna. But when she is among her traditional Muslim Bangladeshi community–which includes her marriage-minded mother–her sexual identity is a closely held secret. When Rukhsana is caught kissing her girlfriend, she finds herself fighting for her happiness and possibly her freedom.

Sabina Khan’s debut is a layered story that takes a close look at how family and identity can sometimes be at odds, but how there can also be a happy medium if you fight for it. Even though Rukhsana doesn’t understand all her family’s beliefs, she still has a lot of love for her culture and traditions that she does not want to lose because she is in love with a girl.

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We Are Here To Stay by Susan Kuklin

April 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Rating: Unrated | 4 hrs and 12 mins | Penguin Randomhouse | Non-Fiction

We Are Here To Stay is a no-frills collection of interviews that gives voice to young immigrants affected by the precarious renewal of Deferred Action against Childhood Arrivals (DACA). It’s not an easy read but it’s certainly an important one. We meet immigrants from Mexico, Samoa, Korea, and Ghana. We Are Here To Stay sheds light on the various reasons families come and stay in America, while also displaying the diversity of the immigrant experience. I think the one thing that stood out is despite all the hardships, many of the individuals in this book still believe that America is the best place for them.

Check out the audio review here!

Kat’s Crooked Kingdom Review (in Gifs)

March 21, 2019 Leave a Comment

I finished Crooked Kingdom so it’s time for a GIF review!

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Black Enough edited by Ibi Zoboi

March 10, 2019 Leave a Comment

I feel like there should be a category on this blog called “Books I Wish Existed When I Was A Teen” because this book would be first on this list.

Black Enough is a wonderful anthology that tells the varied experiences and stories of Black teens; from the suburbs to the hood to the country and even the inner sanctum of heavy metal rehearsals. It’s just a masterful blend of experiences. These are not struggles stories, they are funny, poignant and some of them are emotional but they never “gut” you. One of my favorites was Jay Coles’ Wild Horses, Wild Hearts which I felt was like “response” to Brokeback Mountain.

I think the book is best read straight through. I’m not a big contemporary reader, so I was glad to see there were two magical realism stories. The titular story, Black Enough, I think really sets the tone for the anthology and the last story is meant to be more reflective. I got snippets of black authors I’ve been meaning to read and right now Jay Cole is moving up on my TBR list.

I’m all in for these YA anthologies!

Audiobook Review