Poison: A Book Review

Hello!

Poison by Bridget Zinn

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend. But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses. Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

{kindly taken from Goodreads}

My Thoughts: This was such a fun and well-written read! I haven’t read a good fantasy/fairy tale novel in a while, so it was a refreshing change of pace. And, dare I say it, I think it might be one of my favorite books of the year so far! :)

Kyra made a terrible mistake when she missed her shot at killing the princess. Now she is on the run, always fearing that a guard is around the corner. What I loved about Kyra was her feisty spirit and sense of adventure. Despite her flaws {she doubted herself a lot} I still found her to be a likable character. Even better? She was fully developed, and I loved learning little details about her life as the story continued on. The other main character, Fred, was developed as well, and, not to spoil anything, his true identity really surprised me! The supporting characters were for the most part, strong. My favorite would have to be the princess, even if she only came for the last 1/3 of the book!

The plot had so many twists and turns; it was very entertaining to read! The action continued throughout the entire story, and there were no true slow spots. I think the little details were worked in well, and a good amount I had no idea were coming. The pace of the story was good, although a few points felt a bit rushed.

Overall, this was a delight to read! I could only hope for more by Bridget Zinn, but unfortunately, she passed away in 2011. Thus, I feel that I should just share her amazing book even more, right?!

Pros: Well-developed characters and strong, well-written plot.

Cons: Nothing big!

Heads Up: Budding romance, but I think that this makes a good in-between middle grade/young adult novel, subject wise.

Overall: I give it 5 stars {*****} and I recommend it for ages 12 and up.

Have a lovely night!
B

Take Your Last Breath: A Book Review

Hello!

Ruby Redfort: Take Your Last Breath by Lauren Child

Summary: Everyone’s favorite girl detective is back for a second mind-blowing installment, packed with all the off-the-wall humor, action, and friendship of the first book. This time, though, it’s an adventure on the wide-open ocean, and Ruby is all at sea. . . . Can she crack the case of the Twinford pirates while evading the clutches of a vile sea monster as well as the evil Count von Viscount? Well, you wouldn’t want to bet against her.

{kindly taken from Goodreads}

My Thoughts: I fell in love with the daring and ever-so amusing Ruby Redfort in her first book, and ever since, I couldn’t wait to read the second one! Lauren Child always delivers a strong story, and this book was no exception. Ruby is still spying for Spectrum, and yet again, she needs to use her code-cracking intelligence to figure out what in the world is going on in the ocean near Twinford. Well-developed characters, a thought-out mystery, and suspense to keep you turning the pages all added up to make for a very good book :)

Ruby is thirteen years old, so she has a bit of a difficulty dealing with school, friendships, AND spying. Instead of making her too high-action and intense, Child went in the perfect direction of letting the reader be able to relate with Ruby. Despite her insanely cool job, I found Ruby to be very realistic and easy to connect to – all good points in my book. I said this before, but I didn’t find Ruby to be that annoying. She was just fun to read about! Clancy was still a strong supporting character. As her best friend, it is to be expected that he would support Ruby, but I think he developed more of his own identity in this book. One thing I would have liked to seen was to have let the argument “steam” over a bit more between Ruby and Clancy. It set up an interesting conflict, but they made up far too quickly.

The mystery was really thought-out! It was quite intricate, and there were a lot of details. Using diagrams and explanations, though, the author was able to keep the reader on the right track. It could have a big mess if it weren’t for the updates every few chapters! I really liked the use of codes and diagrams in the story. It made it more interactive for the reader, thus making it more entertaining to read. {Seriously. I wanted to know what the code was so badly, I went on the site to find the answer!} I am excited to see where Ruby is going to go in the next book, partly because this one left on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Overall, this was a terrific read! It can be difficult to find strong middle grade reads, but I will be sure to share Ruby Redfort for any tween looking for a good book. Recommended!

Pros: Strong mystery/story and well-rounded characters.

Cons: The relationships between the characters could have been strengthened.

Heads Up: Ruby, ahem, has a bit of an attitude, but I think her loyalty, intelligence, and bravery could kind of overlook that.

Overall: I give this 5 stars {*****} and I recommend it for ages 11 and up.

Check out the official Ruby Redfort site here.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

The Lucy Variations: A Book Review

Hello!

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Summary: Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.That was all before she turned fourteen. Now, at sixteen, it’s over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of the Beck-Moreau family expectations. Then Gus gets a new piano teacher who is young, kind, and interested in helping Lucy rekindle her love of piano — on her own terms. But when you’re used to performing for sold-out audiences and world-famous critics, can you ever learn to play just for yourself?

{kindly taken from Goodreads}

My Thoughts: I haven’t read a Sara Zarr book before now. GASP. I know. I am happy to say that The Lucy Variations was a lovely beginning to what I am sure will be a long Sara Zarr love :) The writing was superb, and the story had a lot of emotion and power.

Lucy has played piano for as long as she has remembered – until the day she quit. Lucy has a lot of pressure on her from her parents, her grandfather, and even herself. All of these expectations shaped her as a person, and it made her quite the dynamic and developed character. I really enjoyed seeing her growth as she discovered that she has the power to make her own decisions. The relationships created by Zarr were well-developed as well. There were so many – Lucy and her brother, Gus, Lucy and her mom, Lucy and her best friend, Reyna, etc. – yet they all flowed together and added to the story.

The plot was interesting. I found all of the details about the musical aspect cool to read about, giving the fact that I knew nothing about it when I began. The beginning had me hooked! It was a strong move to start off with a tragedy because it set up the family dynamic of the story. Zarr included flashbacks, but they worked and it was clear that it was back in time. The writing overall was fantastic. My only problem with it was that the pace of the story moved kind of slowly, but it was a nice change after reading an action-packed book!

Overall, The Lucy Variations was a terrific read. I hope to explore more of the author’s books this summer!

Pros: Well-developed characters and solid plot.

Cons: The pace moved too slowly for me.

Heads Up: For a YA novel, this wasn’t *too* bad. There was minor language, and a relationship sort of, kind of developed between Lucy and a married man.

Overall: I give it 4 1/2 stars {**** 1/2} and I recommend it for ages 13 and up.

Have a lovely night!
B

The 5th Wave: A Book Review

Hello!

Isn’t it exciting that it is June 1st?! I only have 26 days to go until school lets out, and then I will be in summer mode :) Lots of little things to love about June, but I am very ready for the heat to go away. What are you looking forward to this month?

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Summary: After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

{kindly taken from Goodreads}

My Thoughts: The 5th Wave has received a lot of buzz lately, in magazines, on blogs, and at bookstores alike, and, to be quite honest, it truly deserves it. When going into it, I was expecting just another dystopian novel, but it left me blown away. Rick Yancey is a powerful writer, and I am sure that this trilogy will only get stronger as the next couple of books come out. The major cliffhanger at the end of Book One has me eagerly waiting for the next one coming out in a year!

The whole plot is centered around the “Others,” which is Cassie’s name for the aliens who attack Earth. When I first read the summary, I was a bit hesitant to pick it up – an alien attack, really? I mean, we’ve already gone through vampires, werewolves, cyborgs… :) However, the author went with the bold, but good, move of creating an entirely new image of aliens. Instead of the classic, cute green monsters that I think of {like below}, the aliens that Yancey wrote about acted, looked, and thought just like humans. It is difficult to explain without revealing too much about the story, but it’s kind of mind-boggling. The entire time I was reading, I wondered how in the world the author came up with such a detailed plot. The writing was amazing and captivated me from the first chapter. One thing I loved is how everything tied together in some way. Even the littlest of details popped up again in the story later, and I was all “Oh right!” before I scrambled back to find the chapter.

Cassie was not my favorite protagonist, but her development was solid. I just didn’t feel much connection with her, but that doesn’t diminish how strong of a main character she was. When I started the book, I didn’t realize that each “book”  {the book was divided up into sections that were called, well, books.} changed points of view, so that was confusing. A bit more clarification on who was talking at the time would have been helpful, because it could definitely change how you look at the story.

Overall, The 5th Wave was a really good book, and I will encourage anyone to read it this summer! I can already tell that it will be a movie in a few years.

Pros: Well-written plot and developed main character.

Cons: The points of view became confusing at times.

Heads Up: Violence and language.

Overall: I give it 4 1/2 stars {**** 1/2} and I recommend it for ages 14 and up.

Have a lovely start to your June!

Bella

Epic

Hello!

Epic {2013}

Stars:

• Amanda Seyfried
• Colin Farrell
• Beyoncé Knowles
• Josh Hutcherson
• Steven Tyler

Summary: Epic tells the story of an ongoing battle between the forces of good, who keep the natural world alive, and the forces of evil, who wish to destroy it. When a teenage girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she teams up with an elite band of warriors and a crew of comical, larger-than-life figures, to save their world…and ours.

{kindly taken from Rotten Tomatoes}

My Thoughts: This was really cute! It was not even close to the standards of some of my favorite animated movies {Toy Story and Up, anyone?} but for a fun flick to watch with littler siblings and/or relatives, it keeps everyone entertained.

Epic follows teenager, M.K. as she helps the forest people in fighting evil forces called Boggans. Admittedly, the storyline is a little… out there. Going into it, I had no idea how the plot was going to be pulled off, but in the end, it wasn’t too bad. It dragged a bit in the middle, and it was repetitive in places. I think that the humor was incorporated nicely, and unlike other movies for this age group, it wasn’t overrun with disgusting, how-do-people-find-this-funny jokes :) One of my main problems with this was that the storyline didn’t feel like anything new. You had the standard inspirational protagonist, the funny supporting characters, and the absent parents. While I think this is the perfect movie for lazy summer afternoons, it wasn’t anything spectacular.

The characters were your basic ones. I thought M.K. was a fairly good role model, as was Nod. They both delivered the message of following your dream, and all that good stuff! Personally, I think Amanda Seyfried and Josh Hutcherson were great choices for the voices, and I would love to see them pursue more voiceover roles in the future. Beyoncé’s character, Queen Tara, was my favorite of them all, and, again, I thought she was the perfect choice for the character. My only complaint in this area was that M.K. seemed to old to me. Seventeen? I think a twelve or thirteen year old would have been a smarter move.

Finally, the animation was gorgeous. I loved all of the colors used, and the settings were beautifully portrayed! Overall, Epic wasn’t amazing, but I don’t think anyone really expected that. For what it is though, it makes great family entertainment.

Pros: Good casting and beautiful animation.

Cons: Boring plot.

Heads Up: Nothing!

Overall: I give it 3 stars {***} and I recommend it for ages 6 and up.

Have a lovely night!
Bella