Jenn
This was a well-researched, engrossing, and important read. I was equally amused, horrified, and shocked at some of the decisions, actions, and cover-ups that contributed to and resulted from the Chernobyl disaster.
For as much as I shook my head in horrified amazement to some of the design decisions, deliberate withholding of information, and poor manufacturing practices, I was equally impressed by the heroism and dedication of the Soviet people when the time came to rescue others and attempt to mitigate or prevent further radiation exposure from the accident.
This was a cute searching book (where you have to find a character within the illustrations). I was very easy to spot the monster, but the things the monster was doing when you found him were entertaining.
This book also attempted to teach you shapes. In the top right corner was the name of the shape and an example of what it looked like. Within the page illustration itself, all of the shapes that fit that description were colored in - everything else on the page was black-and-white line drawings. They included standard shapes (square, rhombus) and non-standard shapes (kite).
On the dust jacket, it's mentioned that the author has a previous book, “Have you seen my dragon?,” which we will need to check out as well.
I loved Little Critter's attempts to help his dad, which generally ended in disaster. Even more, I loved that in every illustration, there was a small mouse and spider who reacted to Little Critter's “helping.” They were adorable and the unsung heroes of the story, for me. This will be a great book to read to the girls, then read again and point out the mouse and spider. We could see if the girls agree with Little Critter that he was helpful, or with the mouse and spider who were, in general, horrified.
This is a great story about a young girl trying to create an entry for an art contest. She starts off feeling inadequate, but finds help and inspiration along the way.
I love that this book has an own-voices author who introduces her readers to her culture in a subtle, natural way. Yasmin is an adorable protagonist whose feelings and reactions feel very true-to-life.
The illustrations are very cute and they convey a great sense of the character's emotions.
I was surprised and excited to find a section at the end of the book where the author had included some discussion questions for the readers, a short dictionary of common Urdu words, fun facts about Pakistan (I didn't know the Indus River was home to a rare type of dolphin!), and a how-to for making a bookmark.
I'm still processing what I think and feel about this book. On the surface, it's a fairly easy-reading story about two women and how their lives intersect. However, there is a lot to unpack about race, privilege, and ethical behavior.
All of the characters in the story were complex and flawed, and in turns I both understood where they were coming from, sighed in frustration at their actions, and rolled my eyes. They weren't “good” or “bad,” but that grey mix that we all have. They each carried the burdens and prejudices from their pasts and these definitely influenced the actions they took.
This was a good book to put yourself in the shoes of each character and think about what you might do similarly or differently if you were in their situation.
I loved this story. It was a great example of YA - coming of age and romance, but without being too heavy or too fluffy.
This isn't about any real secrets - the cover pretty much tells you everything - but the way the story is told and the gamut of emotions that Evie displays are great and you'll be falling in love and dealing with heartbreak right alongside her.
The bright cover is just gorgeous as well, as well as the postmark in the corner.
SpoilerAt the end, with Preston morose over some girl he met in Scotland.... Does anyone else feel that this has sequel potential? Edited to add: Just saw there is a sequel. LOL!
I really love the creativity of this book! The format and storytelling is unique and refreshing. The only downside to this book was that I didn't get invested in the lead characters until about 1/3 of the way through. They were both rather unlikeable personalities, but each had their own redemption arc that made up for a lot of the rocky beginning.
This was a good book. It was interesting and I came to really like the characters a lot. The plot wasn't for me - I'm just not into “heist” scenarios. I love the Grishaverse that it is set in, though.
So I had a lot of mixed feelings when reading this. There were at least two ships that I was really rooting for, but then the story would talk veer into talking about talking about the heist or whatever and I'd put the book down.
There was some mention of characters from Leigh's first series, which I appreciated. I really liked that series.
If I had to give this book a vibe, I'd say... Vegas Pirates.
All that said, I'm starting Crooked Kingdom tonight. :)
I'm not generally a fan of short stories, because I often feel that too much is left unsaid, or that I don't get enough time to understand the world or bond with the characters.
However, Veronica Roth did an amazing job with these 6 short stories. I felt deeply all of the emotions the characters felt and loved the complicated beauty of the situations they found themselves in.
These stories were thought-provoking and left you with just enough of a taste to keep you wanting more.
Since this is a series, I feel that this first book has a lot of set-up: getting to know the characters, slowly getting to know the world and the magic system, and getting to know the history.
To be honest, it was a little too slow for my taste, but it got better as it went on and I'm interested in continuing the story in the next book.
