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This Light Between Us

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
This Light Between Us cover

I recently had the opportunity to read an Advanced Review Copy of This Light Between Us (thank you Netgalley and Tor Teen!). It’s an important story, historically, which mainly focuses on a Japanese teenager, Alex, whose pen pal is a French Jew. I enjoyed it a lot.

Alex and Charley become pen pals when they’re young. They keep writing to each other as they get older and World War II approaches. Not everything is rosy. Alex and his family are put into Japanese internment camps, while Charley’s letters become more sporadic and her situation becomes more dire as well.

These characters drew me in. Charley is a girl full of life and excitement; Alex is a quiet boy who likes drawing cartoons. I wanted to find out what happens to them. Do they ever get to meet? This book draws you in and makes you want to read more.

I liked the settings in this book as well. Alex grows up in Bainbridge Island, which I’ve been to more than once (although not in the 1940s). The book takes you to Japanese concentration camps and through war-torn Europe (which I’ve also been to, yet not during a war). I didn’t have trouble picturing any of these places. The book does include some French and German in the book, and a very small amount of Japanese. Since I speak German, passable French, and a tiny bit of Japanese, I didn’t have trouble understanding it. I imagine that most people would be able to deduce some of the meaning from the context.

The following paragraph contains a minor spoiler. Not everybody in this book lives happily ever after. If you’re looking for a story that leaves you with joy and happy tears, this isn’t the one. However, it does have a realistic ending.

If you’re looking for a book that takes you into the head of someone in World War II, I highly recommend This Light Between Us. Not enough time has been spent in most history classes talking about the Japanese internment camps in World War II, which is a shame. This book does exaggerate a few historical details, but it does include many that were true (I sometimes look these things up and I love history).

Another book similar to This Light Between Us, where a large part of the story takes place during World War II in an internment camp, is The Last Year of the War (I linked to the review). Although this book is classified YA, this is a book that would also hold interest for adults that don’t often read YA as well (the main character is around 19-20 at the end of the story).

Father of Lions

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Father of Lions cover

I recently read Father of Lions, which is about how one man saved some of the animals from the Mosul Zoo. Thank you Bookish First for an Advanced Reader Copy! I was able to get 15 free books from them in 2019; if you’d like to get free books too, you can sign up too, and if you use referral code 56cf541090ca608b4 you can help me get free books too! Anyway, this book takes place in Iraq, which helps me cover that country for my Read Around the World Challenge.

In the last few years, you may have heard the story about how ISIS took over much of the Middle East (and has been ousted from most of the area now). I never really thought about what it would have been like to live through it. This story allows you to feel what it would have been like to live in that area when religious extremists take over.

It primarily follows Abu Laith, an animal lover known as “the father of lions” who looks a little like a lion himself. Most of his zoological education came from The National Geographic Channel. That doesn’t stop him from buying a lion cub and becoming a self-proclaimed zookeeper. The actual owner of the Mosul zoo lives far away and is mostly concerned about the money the zoo brings in. I like this character and his concern for animals.

The world turns upside down when ISIS takes over the city. The residents welcome them at first. ISIS is friendly and takes away the roadblocks. Unfortunately, they don’t stay friendly. They start imposing their version of Sharia law, which is quite restrictive. Food and other resources become scarce. While they have trouble eating, the animals start to starve too.

Abu Laith does the best he can to take care of these animals, even though he’s not trained to care for them. He eventually gets help from outside of the country to save what animals he can. Corruption within the country makes even that difficult. You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens.

I liked this book for several reasons. Father of Lions has a unique setting and describes the living experience of living there well. I also like how this was based on a true story. People who are interested in contemporary history, the Middle East, or in animals would love this story. It’s not a YA book, but it’s a book that would interest people of all ages. I definitely recommend it. You can pre-order this book now, even though its release date is January 14th.

Every Other Weekend

By Brookelorren on 1 Comment
Every Other Weekend cover

Teens have a lot of problems to deal with. Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson deals with topics that far too many of them face. I recently had the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review (thank you Netgalley and Harlequin TEEN/Inkyard Press for the opportunity!). I enjoyed this book, which deals with a lot of these topics.

Adam’s parents are separated. He insists that they’re not getting a divorce. Jolene’s parents are divorced. One weekend, they find themselves moving into the same apartment building. Their parents have the same custody arrangement: every other weekend. Over the course of the year, they develop a friendship (which slowly grows into more), learn about life, and deal with problems that many teens face.

Good Things

If you were to break down this book into topics teens face, you’d run into quite a few. Some of the topics covered in this book include parental divorce, forgiveness, and dealing with adults that try to take advantage of their perceived authority. This book also covers being honest with yourself. But this book isn’t preachy.

The characters are great. The male MC, Adam, has anger issues with his parents. The female MC, Jolene, comes with a whole family full of baggage. They work well together, and their fears about the future are valid. I especially wanted to hug Jolene sometimes. She’s so excited about film, yet who knows whether she’ll be able to get into the film program she wants to get into? Her parents are trash.

Adam’s story unfolds slowly, leaving us to wonder for most of the book what happened to cause his parents to separate. I won’t spoil anything here, but I will say I had an aunt and uncle who went through something similar, and it really can be difficult on the family.

I also enjoyed the voices of the characters. We get to read this story from both Adam’s and Jolene’s points of view. I did sometimes get them mixed up? But it wasn’t too big of a deal.

Trigger Warnings

There is an attempted sexual assault in Every Other Weekend, which could be a trigger for some people. You can probably figure out what’s going to happen from a mile away, and it is stopped before it goes too far. However, if that sort of thing bothers you, you might want to skip the chapter it occurs in (which you can probably guess?).

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a feel-good book with teens dealing with separated parents, I highly recommend Every Other Weekend. There were points in this book where I didn’t want to put it down, and I wanted to read just one more chapter. It has great characters, deals with important topics, and is written in a style that made me not want to put it down. The book also has a satisfying and realistic ending. I’d also like to read other books by this author someday.

Every Other Weekend comes out on January 7th.

Les Misérables

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Les Miserables cover

The longest book I read in 2019 was Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. I had meant to read it for years, but kept putting it off. It’s really long! If I read it in print form, it would have been 1463 pages! Fortunately, I listened to it on audiobook instead. Even still, the version I listened to was 60 hours and 26 minutes long. There are different translations; I bought this one.

If someone were to try to query this novel today, they’d have a hard time getting it through an agent, I think. The story is epic in scope, and while it spends a lot of time focused on Jean Valjean, it meanders and talks about many other characters that touched his life in one way or another, digresses into discussions about topics as varied as slang and nunneries around the time of the French Revolution, and is VERY long. Still, the writing is brilliant, the characters are vivid, and yes, he does make discussions of French slang interesting. I’m glad he didn’t have to query this book today, because the world is better for this masterpiece.

Les Misérables inspired some of my favorite books, including Legend and Sky Without Stars, which was one of the reasons I was so eager to read this book. Now that I’ve read Victor Hugo’s original, I can say that those books I love so much were loosely based on this book. They all have a guy trying to chase down a criminal, and seem to have a compassion for people desperate to eke out a living, and not a lot else. Still, all three are worth reading.

What I Liked About This Book

There are many things I liked about this book. For one, I loved the setting. Les Misérables is located in many places around France in the decades after the French Revolution, but Hugo brings them to life. I’ll never be able to travel to this time and place in history, but I feel like I visited virtually. Since Hugo lived during this time, I’m sure he’s fairly accurate on the details.

The characters are wonderful and varied. There’s a saintly bishop, a girl who, after making a small mistake in falling in love with the wrong person, is left with a child she cannot care for, and an unscrupulous innkeeper. Of course, there’s also Jean Valjean, a hardened convict turned saint, and his pursuer, Inspector Javert. Looking back from our time, we realize Monsieur Valjean shouldn’t have been sent to prison in the first place, but that was common back then. Then again, less than 100 years prior to this story, cat-burning was an acceptable form of entertainment too.

I also enjoyed the epic scope of this book, even though at times, I wasn’t sure where the book was going. The characters’ lives all intertwine in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. The love of one bishop touches the life of Jean Valjean, who touches other lives. Perhaps that’s a point of the book. Our lives touch others in many ways, for good and bad.

What I Didn’t Like About the Book

I don’t really have anything bad to say about this book, although I would have liked to know more about Thénardier’s sons and what ultimately happened to them. But that’s really a small criticism for a book this long.

About the Audiobook

I listened to this book on audiobook, which has its good and bad points. It made a book of this length easy to digest, especially when trying to read other books too. However, it made some of the French words difficult to listen to. I speak a bit of French, but not enough to hear all the French words and know how to spell them. Or sometimes keep them apart. I tend to find learning things by looking at the written word easier than processing things audibly. Your mileage on the audiobook/printed book may vary. The narrator, George Guidall, did an outstanding job pronouncing all the French words. There are other audiobook versions, but that’s the one I listened to.

Conclusion

If Les Misérables is one of those books you’ve been meaning to read for years, I say go for it. It can be difficult because of its length and age, but it’s worth the trouble. I don’t think it’s a book I’ll reread every year, but I’m glad I read it at least once. There are certainly other classics worth reading, but if you’ve been on the fence about this one, it’s worth the read.

Echoes Between Us

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments
Echoes Between Us cover

I recently read Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry. Thank you Bookish First for the Advanced Reader Copy (I love you Bookish First!). If you’d like the opportunity to get free books from them in 2020, you can use referral code 56cf541090ca608b4 and get your own books too (and help me too). I enjoyed this book and am passing on my copy to my niece.

Veronica is a girl who has a secret. She has a brain tumor… and sees ghosts. Some people think she’s weird, but she pretty much likes to do her own thing. The upcoming school year promises to be lonely for her, as her friends are either going off to college or attending high school part-time. It’s going to be a challenge to find someone to do the senior English paper with.

Sawyer is a swimmer; at first glance, you’d think he had everything. He has a secret too: his mom drinks a little too much on the weekends, and he has to care for his younger sister Lucy a lot. When he moves into Veronica’s first floor (which is said to be haunted), their paths cross. Over times, they discover they have feelings for each other.

There are a lot of things I like about this book. The first thing that stuck out to me about this book was the author’s voice. It had a quality that made me want to read more and laugh out loud at times. The other things I liked about this story was the characters and what they go through. The characters were likeable and sympathetic.

Another thing I liked about this book is the situations the characters had to deal with. Veronica believes she’s dying of a brain tumor. Sawyer has an addiction to jumping off cliffs into water; he also has to deal with his mother’s alcoholism. Fortunately, I’ve never had to deal with either of these situations, but these are serious problems that some people have to deal with. The ghosts add interest to the story.

Although this book isn’t heavy on setting (except for a few haunted places) the rest of the story makes up for it. I enjoyed it a lot and highly recommend it if you’re looking for a contemporary YA book. There were places in this book where I didn’t want to put it down. Echoes Between Us doesn’t come out until January 14, 2020, but you can pre-order it now.

The Christmas Pact

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

Christmas is merely days away, and if you’re looking for something cheery to listen to over the holiday season, you might be interested in listening to one of December’s free Audible Original selections, The Christmas Pact. It’s a cute story about two people who have similar names: Riley Kennedy and Kennedy Riley. They work for the same company, although in different locations. Sometimes their email gets misdirected. Kennedy seems like a jerk: he often reads her email and forwards it with unsolicited advice. Although Riley tries to avoid Kennedy at the company Christmas party, their paths cross.

After Riley mentions that she’s going home for the holidays, Kennedy has an idea. What if Kennedy pretends to be her boyfriend? Riley felt like her mom was disappointed in her because she was single. In return, Riley could accompany him to his brother’s wedding.

And so, the fake dating scheme has begun. As their plan commences, they begin to enjoy each other’s company. They both have pasts that complicate their ability to have relationships with other people. By the time they return to work, they’ve fallen for each other. Neither of them decides to pursue the relationship though. Is that the end for the two? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

The Christmas Pact is only 2 hours and 54 minutes long, so it’s an easy book to get into and finish before Christmas. If you sign up for an Audible membership, it’s free, otherwise you can buy it without a membership. It will be available on Audible Escape in January (after the holidays).

Almost Midnight

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Almost Midnight cover

I just finished reading Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell. For the past several Christmases, I’ve read a Christmas book every December (this year I read two!). I originally wanted to read My True Love Gave to Me, but it was already in use at the library. I really wanted to reread “Midnights” again. I remembered that Ms. Rowell published a book which contained that book and another Christmas story, and this one was available at the library.

I don’t usually comment about a book’s cover, but Almost Midnight‘s photo online doesn’t do it justice. This book is gorgeous and sparkly (I read the hardback edition). Another thing to note about this book’s physical format is that it’s dimensions are smaller than your typical hardback–it’s about the same size as my Kindle Paperwhite.

There are two stories in this book, “Midnights” and “Kindred Spirits”.

“Midnights”: This was the whole reason I checked out this book. It’s the story about Mags and Noel, who meet at a New Year’s Eve party when Mags is 15. Over the years, they become best friends and slowly fall in love. Every year, they hang out with each other until midnight… and someone else kisses Noel. It’s their first year of college. Noel was away at Notre Dame and Mags stayed in Oklahoma. She absolutely can’t handle watching him kiss another girl at midnight this year. Well… I won’t tell you what happens, but this story makes me happy cry.

“Kindred Spirits”: This was the first year I’ve read this story. Elena is a huge Star Wars fan, and she decides to get in line to wait for The Force Awakens to release. Coincidentally, the book’s climax takes place 4 years ago to this date. She and two other strangers wait outside the movie theater for four days. It’s not exactly what Elena was expecting. There’s a twist that occurs towards the end that I wasn’t expecting. This story has a great ending too.

This book is illustrated, and the illustrations are really cute. I love how the artist, Simini Blocker, captured the characters.

Both of these stories were wonderful and I would definitely read them again (even though I’ve already read “Midnights” three times now). They’re beautiful stories and Ms. Rowell definitely captures the hearts of these teens in this story.

However, this book is nearly $10 for two stories. Unless you really love the illustrations, it might make more sense to buy My True Love Gave to Me and then buy a used copy of “Kindred Spirits” in Paperback or on the Kindle. My True Love Gave to Me is currently $9.22 on the Kindle or $11.49 in paperback (or less for a used hardback), and you can get “Kindred Spirits” for $2.99 on the Kindle. For just a little bit more you get both of these stories plus several other amazing holiday stories. Definitely read these Christmas stories someday, but they’re available in more than one format and this may not be the best bang for your reading dollar.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

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Blue Lily Lily Blue cover

Blue Lily, Lily Blue is the third book in the fantastic Raven Cycle. I could just save you the time and tell you to read the entire series, but then this review would be really short, right?

Instead, I’m first going to warn you that this post contains spoilers for The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves. If you haven’t read them yet, then don’t read on unless you want spoilers.

Okay, so now that I’ve got all the people who don’t mind spoilers, let’s move on. Blue’s mother is missing! This series is getting a little dangerous. So now the search is getting a little more desperate. In addition to looking for the Welsh king, they now have to find Blue’s mom. Fortunately, they’re probably both located in a magical cave.

In this book, we get to meet Gansey’s older friend Malory, along with a few other characters. Like the rest of the books in this series, the characters are great. I absolutely love how Stiefvater deals with the friend dynamics in this story. Blue and Adam were once an item, but over time, she and Gansey start having feelings for each other. That whole transition phase takes a bit of an adjustment, but I think in real life you’d see that too. We have another couple with a developing relationship in this book, but I’m not giving away spoilers… and this series is a very slow burn in the romance department. But if you’re Blue, do you blame her? If she kisses her true love, he’s going to die!

They’re getting closer to graduation, and some of them have to start worrying about their futures. Blue and Adam have to start worrying, in particular. Blue realizes that her family just doesn’t have the finances for her to go to any school that she’s interested in, and Adam has to worry about finances now. That’s going to cause problems. Adam’s father is a jerk too… more problems.

And then we have another villain, of course.

I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I will say that, even though I borrowed most of the books from this series from the library, I bought The Raven King. I think it was because the library didn’t have it immediately available and I didn’t want to wait. And you’re going to want to finish this series too, because the book ends in a semi-significant cliffhanger. Blue Lily, Lily Blue does wrap up a lot of its issues, but more are coming. You’ll want to have the next book available if at all possible. At any rate, this is a great series and I wanted to continue reading straight through this one.

I have reviewed the earlier books in this series:

The Dream Thieves

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The Dream Thieves cover

2019 has been a pretty good reading year. One of the books I got to read this year was The Dream Thieves, the second book in The Raven Cycle. This book centers around Ronan. Before we continue, this book contains spoilers for The Raven Boys (link is to that review). So don’t read on if you haven’t read the first book and don’t want spoilers for it.

Okay, so now that we only have people that have read book 1 or are okay with spoilers, let’s continue. The Dream Thieves focuses on Ronan, whom we discovered can take things out of dreams. Being a dreamer can be dangerous, we find out in this book. A treacherous man is searching for him. Although they’re sometimes wild and uncontrollable, Ronan learns how to better harness his dream power in this book.

In addition to Ronan’s dreams, The Dream Thieves further unfolds the drama surrounding Blue and the true love she’ll kill when she kisses him. From the first book, we know who is destined to be Blue’s true love, although she’s with Adam. She won’t kiss him because she doesn’t want to kill him, but she doesn’t want to tell him about her curse either. There is a little bit of kissing in this book (not Blue and Adam though). Nobody dies from kissing yet. You’ll have to read on in this series.

Aaaah! How will this end? Fortunately, since the entire series is out, you don’t have to wait to find out. I loved this book and this series. These characters are great. The book is humorous. I wrote down more than two pages of quotes and reactions from this book in my book journal, including passages like:

Matthew Lynch was a golden, indiscriminate pit into which the world threw food.

The Dream Thieves, p. 170

This book makes you want to keep reading more. Will Blue realize who her true love is? How will that work out? Will Ronan be safe? And they’re still looking for the Welsh king… will Gansey find him and get his wish?

Oh, and you’ll be glad you don’t have to wait another year to read the next book. You might want to be prepared to read that right after this one.

If you liked The Raven Boys, then I highly recommend you continue on with The Dream Thieves. Especially if you like Ronan (but who doesn’t like them all?). It has magic, romantic drama, family drama, killers with a soft side to them, rich private school drama, and more.

My review of the first book in the series, The Raven Boys, is available here.

Call Down the Hawk

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Call Down the Hawk cover

Happy Thanksgiving! One of the books I’m thankful I had the chance to read this month was Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater. It is a new series that takes place after The Raven Boys tetralogy. You don’t need to read that series first, but you’ll probably enjoy this new series more if you read that one first.

Ronan Lynch, as you might recall, has the ability to take things from his dreams. They’re not always things that make sense in real life: as an example, electronics that don’t need to be plugged in. When he was a little boy, he dreamed up a baby brother for himself. His own mother was dreamed up, by his father, who was also a dreamer.

It turns out, there are several dreamers out there. There’s also a group of people that are out there killing dreamers. The hunters think they are saving the world by killing these dreamers.

We meet more of these characters that can dream in this book. We also meet the people that are hunting down the dreamers. At first, the book is disjointed in a way, with the dreamers and the hunted living separate lives, but at the end of the book, they find their way to each other. And Ronan has to save himself — and his family — from these killers.

While in the same universe, Call Down the Hawk is different from The Raven Boys. Adam, Gansey, and Blue play very small roles in this book (even though Adam and Ronan are still together). The book seems to be slightly less YA. It’s still good, but it’s different. There’s more pieces to puzzle together in this series. At the end of this book, there are still unanswered questions (which you’ll need to read the second book in the series to find the answers to).

Overall, I recommend Call Down the Hawk, especially if you liked The Raven Boys. There were parts of this book where I was rolling with laughter. Plus the Lynch Brothers are great. I’m thankful that I finally got around to reading Maggie Stiefvater’s books, including this one, this year.