All posts tagged book reviews

When We Were Vikings

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
When We Were Vikings cover

I recently read When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald. A big thanks to Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for offering me an Advanced Review Copy! I really enjoyed it, although it was different than anything I’ve ever read before.

Zelda is fascinated by Vikings. Her favorite book is Kepple’s Guide to the Vikings. Early on in the book, she discovers that archaeologists discovered that one of the viking warriors which were once thought to be a male was actually female, and she finds this very inspiring. Zelda lives with her older brother and thrives on rules and routine. She also happens to have fetal alcohol syndrome.

Throughout the book, we watch, through Zelda’s eyes, as she gains independence and even bravely faces danger.

What I Liked

When We Were Vikings has such a unique voice! I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a book from the point of view of someone with an intellectual disability. I did read the Forrest Gump duology, but I think that might be in third person, and that was years ago. Zelda sees the world in a much different way than I do, but she has a fairly good memory, is brave, and is trying to become a better person.

Her brother, Gert, is in a difficult spot, and part of me feels sympathy for him, but part of me doesn’t. He’s faced with the difficult situation of taking care of his sister and dealing with unsavory family members. Gert makes a few bad choices that end up affecting Zelda.

One of the topics that Zelda is interested in is sex. She just turned twenty-one and thinks that she and her boyfriend Marxy might want to try it. It’s a fairly big topic in this book. It’s probably an important topic to include because people some people probably have incorrect ideas about how intellectually disabled people feel on this topic. There is a trigger warning in this book as there is an attempted sexual assault.

Is This Book Controversial?

Although I liked this book, it could potentially be a controversial book. Lately, a lot of people have criticized some authors for writing books with main characters that are unlike them. I personally think we should write the characters in our heart, and if we are writing about someone in another culture, we need to do our best to represent the character well.

I doubt Andrew David MacDonald was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Nevertheless, I think he did a good job in portraying Zelda in a realistic and compassionate way. I only know a few intellectually disabled people, but I would hope they’d like the book. I haven’t heard anybody say this book has inaccuracies, which I have with American Dirt.

Conclusion

When We Were Vikings is the story of an intellectually disabled girl trying to gain her independence, and I recommend it if you’re looking for that kind of story. It does have a happy ending, for the most part, and I am hopeful for this character’s future. It was interesting to step into her head for a while.

Don’t Read the Comments

By Brookelorren on 6 Comments
Don't Read the Comments cover

I have had the hardest time staying on top of my reading schedule lately! Netgalley was kind enough to allow me to read an ARC for Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith, and I finished it two days after it came out! Maybe that’s normal for some people, but I try to review the books by their release date (I have a couple other books to read ASAP too). Anyway, I have to thank them and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read this book, which I really enjoyed.

Divya is a famous streamer in the Reclaim the Sun fandom. The game sounds really awesome–you drive a spaceship through the galaxy and try to claim one of trillions of planets. It seems like Minecraft in space, except it’s an MMORPG. It helps pay the bills–ever since her parents divorced, finances have been difficult. Divya earns enough money to help pay for rent, food, and her mom’s last semester in college. Things are going okay–until some trolls, who don’t like her as a female gamer, decide to troll her in real life.

Aaron loves playing Reclaim the Sun as well. His parents aren’t hard up for money, but mom wants him to be a doctor. Aaron wants to write for video games instead. He has a job for ManaPunk, an indie gamemaker, only Jason, the head of the company, hasn’t paid him for a lot of the work he’s done.

Video games with villains and trolls? What more could you want? My guess is that, if you loved the Warcross duology, you’ll love this book too. They have a lot of similarities.

Themes

This book had me at video games. Reclaim the Sun as a video game is well fleshed out and is something I think would be cool to play. So many people love to watch video games stream as well. Mr. Smith also included references to Ultima Online–I loved that game. I had a character named Lorren, who was a mage, and I cosplayed her when I went to the UO World’s Faire one year. Fun times. This book was a lot of fun too. They even went to a video game convention in the book.

On a more serious note, this book also tackles the issue of gender harassment in gaming. It’s never been an issue for me, but I understand that it is an issue that some elite gamers face. Page 84 of the January 2018 issue of Wired talks about women in professional eSports like Overwatch and the ladies at the top do face harassment. Divya’s case is probably more extreme, but people do dox one another and it can have some serious consequences. There’s also the problem of “swatting” in the gaming community, which has resulted in people’s deaths.

Another issue Don’t Read the Comments tackles is companies that don’t want to pay for art. There was a recent case, in fact, where Aaron Carter stole art from Jonas Jödicke–Carter told Jödicke that he should feel complimented that his art was stolen. Umm, no. I hope Jödicke sues the pants off him. Anyway, it’s an issue Aaron has to deal with, and deals with magnificently in this book.

Should You Read This Book?

While you probably shouldn’t read the comments if you write a book and people are reviewing your book, you should read Don’t Read the Comments. You should especially read this book if you enjoy gaming or books with gaming like Ready Player One or the Warcross duology. I admit, I haven’t read Ready Player One, but I did see the movie. This is a great book. I haven’t even had time here to talk much about the great characters or setting, but it’s got that going for it as well. I highly recommend this book.

Tweet Cute

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
Tweet Cute cover

When I first saw Tweet Cute up at Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. Fortunately, thanks to them and St. Martin’s Press, I was given an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved it! It’s described as the story of two people who fall in love while sparring on Twitter with witty remarks, but there’s a lot more to this story.

The characters Pepper and Jack are great together. They’re also nicely fleshed out. Pepper is trying to get good grades, which she might take a little too seriously, while Jack is an identical twin who feels like he’s in his brother’s shadow. Their worries are typical of teenagers. I never had to worry about participating in my parent’s business like these two do, but I’m sure that could add a lot of stress to an already stressful senior year.

The enemies-to-lovers romance is well-done, and I can definitely see these two getting together. The story takes place over most of a year, and I love how their Twitter war is first personal, then becomes a game, then goes a little too far.

Although Tweet Cute seems like an adorable story about high school seniors falling in love (and there’s plenty of that deliciousness going on), there’s a lot more depth to this story than the description lets on. It’s a story about family, including parents and siblings that can make life difficult at times, the good and bad things about social media, and misunderstandings with classmates. I didn’t expect this when I started reading it.

If you love food, Tweet Cute is full of gorgeous desserts and yummy deli meals. You might just get hungry reading it. In addition to Pepper and Jack’s parents owning restaurants, Pepper and her sister love to bake. This is one of those books that, if you love to cook, you might just try making some of these recipes yourself.

I personally am not a foodie, but I do like computers and tweet a lot. I was particularly drawn to the computer and technology aspects of this book. Jack is an app developer, and there’s a lot of communication via social media.

There are plenty of reasons to read Tweet Cute. Read it to drool over the gorgeous recipes. The love story between Pepper and Jack is cute. The Twitter conversations and snark is fun. Should I go on? I thought this story was fun. It had a depth to it I wasn’t expecting. It comes out on January 21st, but you can pre-order it now.

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 Queen of Nothing

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Queen of Nothing cover

The Queen of Nothing came out last week and… it was so good! If you’ve read The Wicked King, then you know that the ending of that story left you needing this book. If you haven’t read The Wicked King, I recommend you go read it before you read this review, because it will contain spoilers.

Jude is living with her sister in the mortal world now. She might be used to living in the fairy world, but now she has the same problems as the rest of us mundanes. She has no skills and no status with the government either. So to earn money, she’s been taking odd jobs from a fairy.

All of this changes when Taryn shows up at her doorstep. Jude has to return to fairy to protect her identical twin–and then becomes embroiled in fairy politics once again. I don’t want to give away much more than that, but I will say that the cover of this book is perfect for the story.

What I Liked:

What I like most about the Folk of the Air trilogy, including this book, is Holly Black’s voice. She has a style of writing that draws you in. I love the world she paints and the characters she creates. Plus, I love Jude and Cardan. These books have been criticized in the past as portraying their relationship as toxic, but both characters were toxic. In The Queen of Nothing, both the characters grow and so does their relationship.

I can’t think of anything I disliked. The Folk of the Air books tend to run on the shorter side of fantasy books, but they can easily be read in a day or two. Ms. Black doesn’t pad the books to make the book longer.

Conclusion:

Should you read The Queen of Nothing? If you read the first two books, then yes, probably. There’s a lot less toxicity between Jude and Cardan in this book. If you live for that in this series, then you might not want to rush this to the top of your TBR. I loved this book, however, and will definitely want to give this series a reread at some point.

Other books in the Folk of the Air Series:

That Night

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
That Night cover

School shootings are far too common these days. That Night is a story about two families dealing with deaths from a shooting at a movie theater that killed 18 people. It had a lot of humor in it, but it had its serious moments at the same time. I loved the book and find it hard to believe it currently only has 501 ratings on Goodreads.

The shooting caused Jess to lose her brother Ethan. Her mom walks around in a fog and can’t hold down a job, and her best friend is away at another school trying to cope. Lucas, a boy she thinks is cute but doesn’t really know, also lost his brother.

When Jess gets a job at the same hardware store Ethan works at, he initially doesn’t want her to be around. Eventually, they realize they like each other. But Ethan doesn’t know her secret…

That Night is a contemporary love story that I flew through. I loved the characters, and I loved Jess and Lucas together. The survivors of the shooting all have their own ways of dealing with the tragedy. Jess and Lucas’s families are so different, but they work. I loved the small-ish town setting, where most people know each other and look out for each other.

I love how these characters are funny. It helps lighten up a book that was triggered by such a serious event. Its a book that, even though there’s sadness inside, it’s also accompanied by hope. Sometimes we need a little bit more of that.

In another year or two, there won’t be clusters of empty seats at graduation, or an entire “In Memoriam” section in the yearbook. They’ll move on and try to forget about that night.

p. 301

There are a lot of tragic things that happen in the world. As I write this, there was a school shooting today. Even more than that, I know of so many young people that are depressed. Although a book is unlikely to change that, That Night might be a good book for people who who have experienced tragedy in their life and are having difficulty coping. I really loved this book, and it’s a little sad that more people haven’t read it.

Reverie

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
Reverie cover

I recently had the opportunity to read Ryan La Sala’s Reverie. I have to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

This book has a strong beginning. Kane is trying to piece his life back together after he was found, nearly drowned, near a river. In addition, he may be in trouble with the police. What can be more exciting than that?

As Kane is trying to put his life back together, he discovers that there were people he was close to prior to his memory loss. Or at least, that’s what they tell him. He’s having difficulty figuring out who to trust and he’s a big ball of confusion. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, for me, this book then tries to do too much. Kane finds himself in a “reverie”, which is like a dream that’s been turned into reality. Everybody around the dreamer gets sucked into these reveries. Most people don’t realize what’s going on, but Kane (and a few other people) are lucid during these reveries, and have to make sure that they go smoothly. If they don’t, people can get hurt in real life (I think).

The book is very imaginative. It is pretty cool, seeing what sort of dreams people come up with, and how Kane and his friends move them along. However, these reveries start coming while Kane is still trying to figure out what happened, has the police breathing down his neck, and… for me it was a little overwhelming.

The characters in Reverie were well done. Kane isn’t always the nicest guy in the world, but he’s a consistent character. His sister, Sophia, seems like the nosy (realistic) little sister type. Plus there are friends and a main antagonist. One of the characters, Poesy, is quite the interesting addition to the small town where this book takes place.

There were a few loose ends in this book for me. What happened with the police? It didn’t really explain how they stopped pursuing his case. Also, the characters at the end of the book seem to still be in some danger, and I was still a little worried about them.

While this wasn’t the book for me, I do think there will be a lot of people that will like it. It was imaginative and different. Being La Sala’s debut, I think as an author he has a lot of potential. Reverie doesn’t come out until December 3rd, but you can pre-order it now.