The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (by Karina Van Glaser)

Posted on October 14, 2017 by setaian

Young Readers / Young Adult

The Vanderbeekers live in an old three storey brownstone in Harlem, NY. Two weeks before Christmas they learn that their curmudgeonly landlord, The Beiderman (Mr Beiderman) won’t be renewing their lease and they will have to leave their beloved home.

Not only will they have to move, they might have to leave New York. The five Vanderbeeker children have just 11 days to convince him to let them stay.

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is completely charming. It’s obviously written for young readers (10~13 years old) but I loved it and I’m not too far away from 50. Kids will love it, parents will love that their kids love it and it’s a great book for reluctant readers. There isn’t really anything bad I can say about the book. I’ll be buying a few copies for stocking stuffers.

5 Stars.

Bend (by Nancy J. Hedin)

Posted on March 11, 2017 by setaian

Young Adult / LGBT

As a young gay woman living in a deeply conservative and religious community, Lorraine’s main goal in life is to graduate from school and go to college. And the further from Bend, Minnesota the better. Then Charity arrives in town. She’s the daughter of Bend’s most conservative preacher and like Lorraine, gay.

But along with Charity comes family upheaval. A long hidden secret and a family crisis threaten to destroy more than just Lorraine’s dreams of college.

I love this book. It’s whimsical, innocent, perhaps even a fairy tale but it also tackles some very dark issues. It’s the very best that Young Adult fiction can be.

Yellow, Orange, Red, what it means. YOR-Guide

Many thanks to Anglerfish Press for providing me with this Review Copy.

The Sun Is Also A Star (by Nicola Yoon)

Posted on January 23, 2017 by setaian

Young Adult / Contemporary Romance

In the last desperate hours before she and her family is deported, Natasha goes to the INS office in the hope her appeals have been heard and she can stay in the US. As her day progresses she touches the lives of many different people some in small ways and some in life-changing ways.

Daniel is supposed to be attending an interview to discuss his application to study at Yale, but when he sees Natasha, eyes closed and headphones on dancing to some unknown song and oblivious to the world around her, he is immediately captivated.

They spend their day, her last day together, and as the day progresses grow closer.

The Sun Is Also A Star is one of those very rare books that is perfect in every way. It is achingly beautiful, poetic, heart breaking…and life affirming. There isn’t a single bad thing I can say about this book, and it’s Young Adult, normally I would have lists. 5 Stars

Yellow, Orange, Red. What it means. YOR-Guide

The Hunt (by Chuck Wendig)

Posted on March 15, 2016 by setaian

Young Adult

A friend from before. A friend who abandoned her when she was at her lowest comes to Atlanta for help. She’s pregnant and it quickly becomes apparent she was drugged and raped. Atlanta agrees to help and finds herself battling an organised prostitution ring run by killers.

Facing one dead end after another, Atlanta does what she does best. Burn it all down and see who crawls out.

I’m so addicted to Atlanta Burns. She’s a pill popping, shotgun wielding anti-hero who delivers her very own brand of justice. If Dirty Harry was a High School senior and female, he’d be Atlanta Burns.

There is a fair bit of violence and drug use and I guess I should, reluctantly give that warning, but honestly I’d recommend this book to any young adult and most definitely to reluctant readers. 5 Stars.

Orange, Red, Yellow. What it means: YOR-Guide

Cold Burn of Magic (by Jennifer Estep)

Posted on October 6, 2015 by setaian

Young Adult / Urban Fantasy

Lila lives in a town ruled by magical mobsters. After her mother was murdered by the most violent of the mobsters she went into hiding living in a tiny room in the basement of a library and making money by robbing cashed up tourists.

When she steps in to rescue Devon, the son of one of the crime bosses she suddenly finds herself reluctantly pulled into the world. Forced to work as his bodyguard. If she can survive a year she will earn her freedom, but with one attack after another, Devon is proving to be a dangerous person to be around.

Really great book. Loved every single moment. That is all.

Orange, Red, Yellow. What it means: red-orange-yellow-guide

Uprooted (by Naomi Novik)

Posted on August 8, 2015 by setaian

Fantasy

Agnieszka lives in a small village in a valley at the very edge of the kingdom. Just beyond her home is the Wood, a malevolent and magical forest full of evil and magic. All that stands between the wood sweeping through her village is a cold and driven wizard known as the Dragon. For his services in battling the wood, every 10 years the village must offer up one girl who will act as his servant for the next 10 years and live with him in his tower.

Everyone knows that the next girl he will choose will be Kasia. She is both beautiful and a good cook. She has been preparing for the day the dragon will come and take her since she could talk. So when the dragon arrives and chooses Agnieszka –– clumsy, dirty, tree climbing Agnieszka, everyone is stunned, but before anyone can say a word she is whisked away to the tower to begin her new life.

The Dragon went to the village to find a servant. He wasn’t expecting to find a witch. But Agnieszka is no ordinary witch. She can read and cast spells that have been lost for many thousands of years. In her is both the power to destroy the kingdom and the power to save it.

I’m completely speechless. Uprooted is perfect. In every way. It finished perfectly but I still wanted (want) more. As soon as I read the last lines, I wanted to read the whole thing again. It’s that good.

Orange, Red, Yellow. What it means: red-orange-yellow-guide

Bruja (by Aileen Erin)

Posted on May 23, 2015 by setaian

Young Adult (Vampires / Werewolves / Witches)

Despite escaping from her coven, Claudia remains blood-bound to Luciana, the coven’s leader. She, along with a small group of witches who left with her, has found sanctuary with the werewolves but Luciana can still invade her dreams and the blood-binding makes it possible for her to take Claudia’s power.

Desperate to break the binding, Claudia travels to Peru in search of a mysterious and possibly extinct group of white mages but she finds herself facing witches even more evil than Luciana.

I loved this book. The characters are wonderful and the story is great. It’s like Claudia reaches out of the book, grabs you by the scruff of the neck and drags you through the pages. Honestly, I don’t give up sleep for very many books but I just couldn’t put this one down.

Many thanks to Ink Monster & Netgalley for providing me with this ARC Yellow,

Orange, Red. What it means: red-orange-yellow-guide

Atlanta Burns (by Chuck Wendig)

Posted on January 16, 2015 by setaian

Young Adult???

Atlanta Burns just wants to be left alone. Then one day as she’s walking home from school she comes across a gang of bullies beating on someone and she steps in. In very short order the bullies are on the ground with a face full of bear mace while she and Shane make their getaway.

With Shane spreading the word about what she has done she soon finds herself the defender of the weak and the deepest, darkest nightmare of the bullies. But with a town overflowing with white supremacists, gangsters, rednecks and corrupt police, her life is only going to get more complicated.

Atlanta Burns isn’t my typical book but I guess the one recurring theme in most of the books I read is they are about strong and determined women. Well, Atlanta Burns is about the strongest of the lot. She reminded me more than just a little of Tank Girl –– a comic book heroine from the late 1980s. So if you’re in the mood for a kick-ass anti-heroine who takes on the bad guys and somehow manages to scrape through and be the last one standing, Atlanta Burns is your woman.

Awesome book!!!

Many thanks to Skyscape and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Yellow, Orange, Red –– what it means: http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Avoiding Alpha (by Aileen Erin)

Posted on May 7, 2014 by setaian

Young Adult

Tessa who is both a witch and a werewolf is not having a very good day. Her best friend Meredith was cursed years earlier, a curse which trapped her werewolf and prevented her from shifting. Now she has suddenly fallen violently ill and as her life is slipping away, it is left to Tessa to save her. But saving her might only be possible if she makes a deal with the devil, the witch who cast the spell and is leader of a powerful coven of witches.

Avoiding Alpha is such a great book. It sits somewhere between a long novella and a short novel, but despite its length (or lack of it) it packs in a whole bunch of story. Aileen Erin has managed to deliver a book which sets the scene and introduces characters who will take the stage in Alpha Divided (due out in October), but she has also given us a book which stands on its own merits. It never drags and is entertaining to the last page turn.

Many thanks to Ink Monster and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Yellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Dreams of Gods and Monsters (by Laini Taylor)

Posted on April 27, 2014 by setaian

Young Adult / Fantasy

(this review may contain minor spoilers for Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

The Seraphim (angels) and the Chimaera (monsters) have battled for dominance in Eretz for more than 1000 years. After a forbidden love between Akiva (a Seraphim warrior) and Karou (a chimaera woman) is discovered, both are sentenced to death. But Akiva escapes and when his love is killed he embarks on a path of revenge. Using the knowledge he gained from Karou he sets into motion a plan which will finish the Chimaera forever.

Days of Blood and Starlight

The Chimaera have been destroyed. Their resurrectionist who was the only one who stood between them and defeat has been killed.

But what follows war isn’t peace but genocide. The Seraph set about killing the fleeing chimaera, defenceless civilians. When Akiva discovers that Karou survived he is wracked with guilt over what he has done. With a small band of Misbegotten Seraph warriors he sets about righting a wrong and protecting the fleeing refugees.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters

The last of the Chimaera find themselves allied with a group of Seraph warriors, the Misbegotten. But mistrust and enmity follow them with every step. If they are to have any hope of standing against the Seraph armies arrayed against them they will need to learn to trust –– but 1000 years of mistrust is difficult to overcome.

Akiva and Karou also need to overcome the mistrust that has replaced their love because of what Akiva did. But they need to find that love if their audacious plane to defeat their enemies and usher in an age of peace is to succeed.

This series is difficult to review. I finished it well over a week ago and the words have simply eluded me. Honestly this entire series is so beautiful that anything I say just won’t be enough.

I’m a bit of a collector of tattoos on Pinterest, and every now and then I see a tattoo that just makes me shake my head and think, ‘are people really that dumb’. One which immediately springs to mind is the guy who was tattooed with an F-14 Tomcat with “Iceman” underneath…I just thought to myself ‘you idiot’.

Well, I was thinking to myself, if you are going to tattoo yourself with words, they might as well be beautiful words. I’ve seen quite a few tattoos inspired by this series, mostly on women, and every time I just think to myself, ‘well done, that’s cool’. And that’s about all there is to it, these books are so wonderful that they deserve to be tattooed onto people’s skin, so let me leave you with this.