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Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated Schasm (Schasm, #1) in Books
Jan 12, 2018
[Shari J. Ryan] did a fantastic job of character development in [Schasm]. This is a very character driven novel that keeps you guessing. Chloe's struggle with her "illness" and even more so with her mother is the center of this story. It gets even more complicated when Alex enters. I still am not sure what is the truth in this book but it left me wanting more. It is a nice non vampire, non sex driven YA romance twist.
mmb02191 (81 KP) rated I am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) in Books
May 29, 2018
Subpar writing (2 more)
First person point of view
Angsty/whiny characters
Seemed like a good premise
I really wanted to like this book. It sounded like it would be good, the story sounds very interesting. However, I just couldn't look past how annoyingly it was written. I read a lot of YA novels because I am a middle school teacher, but this was definitely one of the worst. I couldn't get more than halfway through.
School Shooting examined
There are a lot of school shooting YA books. Out of all of the ones I've read this one is handle the best.
Valerie is caught up and under suspicion of aiding in the shooting for writing in a book when she was stressed or been bullied. Valerie never wanted anyone to die and saved lives when the shooting happens but it doesn't help that the press don't care about that. This book is well written and deals with a hard subject matter to grasp. Unfortunately we live in a world where these events keep happening more and more frequently. This book explores why and people emotions of it and it written so well.
Valerie is caught up and under suspicion of aiding in the shooting for writing in a book when she was stressed or been bullied. Valerie never wanted anyone to die and saved lives when the shooting happens but it doesn't help that the press don't care about that. This book is well written and deals with a hard subject matter to grasp. Unfortunately we live in a world where these events keep happening more and more frequently. This book explores why and people emotions of it and it written so well.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Prudence (The Custard Protocol, #1) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
I absolutely adore Prudence, both the book and the girl. I don’t have a single bad thing to say about it other than I wish I had the next book in the series right now, because I’m quite unhappy to leave her world.
Gail Carriger has a knack for making incredible characters full of life and wit and hilarity. Every story I’ve ever read by her has made me want to jump right into the book and live there. It doesn’t even matter which character I’d be, as long as I was there. Added to that is her eloquent, witty, and distinct writing style. I wholeheartedly recommend Prudence to any fan of YA fiction, drama, romance, adventure, or supernatural adventures in an air ship.
Gail Carriger has a knack for making incredible characters full of life and wit and hilarity. Every story I’ve ever read by her has made me want to jump right into the book and live there. It doesn’t even matter which character I’d be, as long as I was there. Added to that is her eloquent, witty, and distinct writing style. I wholeheartedly recommend Prudence to any fan of YA fiction, drama, romance, adventure, or supernatural adventures in an air ship.
Annie Chanse (15 KP) rated Poe in Books
Dec 19, 2017
I really liked this book quite a bit FOR THE MOST PART. It was incredibly well-written, and it was quite unique. It was paranormal, but not cheesy, pg-13 YA paranormal. This combined Russian history and demons and seraphs and Rasputin and love and demented siblings and Bohemian artist types and etc. etc. etc. It was a lot of fun. However, the ending was a bit less than satisfying. I'm not sure if there is going to be a second book... by the way it ended, I'm assuming there will be, but I wasn't EXPECTING a second book, and as such, the ending really disappointed me. It didn't tie up the main freaking plot point or several of the smaller ones. That just bugs me to no end. However, it still was a really good book. Or at least, it WILL BE, as long as there is a second book to help me finish up the story the author started in this one. :-D
Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated Our Chemical Hearts in Books
Sep 15, 2018
An okay YA
I ummed and ahhed about the rating for this book, round up to 4 or not but I’m sticking where I am. There is so much I liked about this book, not least the fantastic male POV narration.
Henry is the narrator of this tale and he was the biggest strength of this book. A young man experiencing his first love but someone who was the best friend a girl could have. Grace was complex, understandably so. Her issues prompt compassion but the impact on Henry is difficult and there was just something about her that from Henry’s perspective, saddened me.
For me, this book had two phases, a stronge first half or more and a weaker latter part. I think there’s is a realism in where this book journey goes but I cannot deny a little dissatisfaction. However, the writing was generally strong and the characters interesting. I would definitely read more from this author.
Henry is the narrator of this tale and he was the biggest strength of this book. A young man experiencing his first love but someone who was the best friend a girl could have. Grace was complex, understandably so. Her issues prompt compassion but the impact on Henry is difficult and there was just something about her that from Henry’s perspective, saddened me.
For me, this book had two phases, a stronge first half or more and a weaker latter part. I think there’s is a realism in where this book journey goes but I cannot deny a little dissatisfaction. However, the writing was generally strong and the characters interesting. I would definitely read more from this author.
Book Divas (227 KP) rated By a Charm and a Curse in Books
Dec 21, 2017
Engaging Read
This book has it all; mystery, romance and suspense. It kept me so engaged that before I knew it I was turning the last page. For me, the pace went by way too fast but honestly, it is a well-paced read with beautiful characters and swoon-worthy moments that had me oohing and aahing. I believe that readers both young and old will find this to be a delightful read.-YA/NA Book Divas
{I requested a review copy via NetGalley and Entangled Teen and made no guarantee of a favorable review. The opinions expressed here are unbiased and my own.}
{I requested a review copy via NetGalley and Entangled Teen and made no guarantee of a favorable review. The opinions expressed here are unbiased and my own.}
Kaz4ray (17 KP) rated Turtles All The Way Down in Books
Feb 5, 2018
Focuses on YA mental health (2 more)
Really well developed characters that you grow to care about
Great descriptions of the main characters and the thought processes behind their actions
I absolutely adored this book. Ive read a few John Green books in the past but didn’t ‘get’ him the way others do. This is the first one of his books I have connected with. I really cared about what happened to the main character and her ‘boyfriend’. The book kept me riveted till the very end. I enjoyed the writing style and might now revisit Green’s other books and try them again.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Fading (Fading, #1) in Books
Sep 5, 2019
DNF @ 32%
It may seem a little unfair to rate this book when I didn't finish it, but it didn't grab me at any of that 32%. I was bored with it; I wanted more of our heroine and hero together and they'd only just met (sort of, anyway). The whole <spoiler>rape</spoiler> thing, having just read a book based around the same thing, [b:Going Under|17337522|Going Under|S. Walden|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364409096s/17337522.jpg|24070983], I was a little jaded with the subject anyway.
I think I'm just off NA at the minute and will be doing a stint of YA Contemporaries instead.
It may seem a little unfair to rate this book when I didn't finish it, but it didn't grab me at any of that 32%. I was bored with it; I wanted more of our heroine and hero together and they'd only just met (sort of, anyway). The whole <spoiler>rape</spoiler> thing, having just read a book based around the same thing, [b:Going Under|17337522|Going Under|S. Walden|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364409096s/17337522.jpg|24070983], I was a little jaded with the subject anyway.
I think I'm just off NA at the minute and will be doing a stint of YA Contemporaries instead.
A Bibliophagist (113 KP) rated Warcross in Books
Jan 27, 2020
Decent characters (2 more)
Plot
Pacing
YA formula (2 more)
Predictable
Not enough of the game
YA VR fun
I really enjoyed this book, as VR stories are some of my favorite types and rarely done well. This one was done well enough but suffered the large YA pitfall of there would be no story had people actually communicated with each other.
The story follows Emika, a scrappy teen living in the slums of (I think New York). As YA books tend to do, she is a normal, poor, orphan girl, who happens to be able to afford to dye her hair rainbow, and oh, I forgot to mention, very good at hacking. The world is fully submerged into the Nuerolink, which are AR/VR glasses almost everyone has, that handle the internet, gaming worlds, infrastructure etc etc. The most popular aspect is a game on the Nuerolink called Warcross, a rather simple Team vs Team capture the flag with power-ups and battling. Football move over, Warcross is where it's at. Because the nuerolink is so ingrained into society, a seedy underbelly of gambling and dark web has cropped up, and Emika makes her pennies as a bounty hunter for people who gamble in Warcross games. On the eve of the Opening of the biggest Warcross Tournament of the year (which takes up like... 6 months of the year...) Emika is being threatened with eviction, failed to get a bounty that would have fixed her situation. So as far as YA tropes go we can check off "ordinary, but special girl of poor circumstances".
Emika and her roommate, even though they are facing a looming eviction, log into the neurolink to experience the opening day ceremony. This is where Lu really introduces the ability of the nuerolink and where we can underline the "special" aspect of our tropey lead, as she somehow hacks herself into the opening game ceremony, revealing herself to the world. This is probably a good place to point out that hacking in this book is pretty much just Emika saying "I hacked into this thing" and little more than that. She runs a program here and there, that always does what she wants. Honestly as the story progresses I forget that she hacks, but the book doesn't let you forget that she's "super good at it".
Now fearing more than just eviction, but fearing for her freedom as she just did something very illegal, Emika is surprised when her world is turned upside down and she's spirited away by the Nuerolink creator to Tokyo. The creator being hot boy Hideo, whom she has been just ever so obsessed with since she was a kid, and much to her fantasies, he thinks she is special and needs her hacker expertise to track down someone that's been messing with the code in the game. BUT she needs to do it from within the game. So now she's going to be in the big game of the year as a player, a spy, and a hacker. Somehow juggling the investigation and playing a game professionally that she's the only kind of dabbled in (as far as we know, YA spoiler alert, she's super good at it).
I know I sound snarky, and like I didn't like the book, but I did. once you just accept the YA formula and that this book will be full of it, you can just lean back an enjoy the ride. Emika finds herself in a deep plot that involves other players, the dark web, and the ghosts of Hideo's past. Of course because YA Hideo is just smitten with Emika from the get go. She's great at the game, everyone acknowledges how special she is, but the big YA factor I struggled with over looking was the utter lack of communication. This whole book could've ended in a few chapters had the characters just communicated with each other. But there was always some kind of personal justification for why they couldn't just talk to each other.
I found the game world to be well thought out and interesting, just unfortunately it didn't get nearly as much page time as I'd like. I get that the story is about the scheme around the game, and not the game, but Lu introduced her as a player so I wanted more. I wanted more intereaction with her teammates, more development. She never felt like she was part of the group to me, which made it harder to believe in the second book when they all go out of their way to help her. The romance with Hideo was heavy-handed but cute, so I didn't mind it. But I kept finding myself wanting more gameplay. It's called Warcross for goodness sake.
One thing I have to commend Lu on is that it has a decent number of legitimate twists. Twists that made me actually gasp once or twice. That kept me intrigued and made me read it in a day. But unfortunately, while a fun little romp, the story's reliance on bad communication and YA tropes to advance the plot made the book lack a soul that really could take the story to the next level. I didn't care too much about anyone. I just wanted answers more than anything. But instead, we get a mysterious bad guy being cryptic, even though if he wasn't cryptic we could have avoided a lot and Emika always winning cause she's special. Though most of the information she gets is freely given to her and had nothing to do with her skills as a hacker.
When my boyfriend asked me if I liked it, I shrugged and said "yea it was fun, can we go get the second book". But I didn't have the overwhelming desire to tell him the plot or anything else as I do with books that truly resonate with me. To be fair when I did attempt to describe it the soap opera YA aspect seemed glaring and he just rolled his eyes.
Absolutely worth a read, especially if you enjoy this genre. But just don't go in expecting it to be special, it follows the YA formula to a T.
The story follows Emika, a scrappy teen living in the slums of (I think New York). As YA books tend to do, she is a normal, poor, orphan girl, who happens to be able to afford to dye her hair rainbow, and oh, I forgot to mention, very good at hacking. The world is fully submerged into the Nuerolink, which are AR/VR glasses almost everyone has, that handle the internet, gaming worlds, infrastructure etc etc. The most popular aspect is a game on the Nuerolink called Warcross, a rather simple Team vs Team capture the flag with power-ups and battling. Football move over, Warcross is where it's at. Because the nuerolink is so ingrained into society, a seedy underbelly of gambling and dark web has cropped up, and Emika makes her pennies as a bounty hunter for people who gamble in Warcross games. On the eve of the Opening of the biggest Warcross Tournament of the year (which takes up like... 6 months of the year...) Emika is being threatened with eviction, failed to get a bounty that would have fixed her situation. So as far as YA tropes go we can check off "ordinary, but special girl of poor circumstances".
Emika and her roommate, even though they are facing a looming eviction, log into the neurolink to experience the opening day ceremony. This is where Lu really introduces the ability of the nuerolink and where we can underline the "special" aspect of our tropey lead, as she somehow hacks herself into the opening game ceremony, revealing herself to the world. This is probably a good place to point out that hacking in this book is pretty much just Emika saying "I hacked into this thing" and little more than that. She runs a program here and there, that always does what she wants. Honestly as the story progresses I forget that she hacks, but the book doesn't let you forget that she's "super good at it".
Now fearing more than just eviction, but fearing for her freedom as she just did something very illegal, Emika is surprised when her world is turned upside down and she's spirited away by the Nuerolink creator to Tokyo. The creator being hot boy Hideo, whom she has been just ever so obsessed with since she was a kid, and much to her fantasies, he thinks she is special and needs her hacker expertise to track down someone that's been messing with the code in the game. BUT she needs to do it from within the game. So now she's going to be in the big game of the year as a player, a spy, and a hacker. Somehow juggling the investigation and playing a game professionally that she's the only kind of dabbled in (as far as we know, YA spoiler alert, she's super good at it).
I know I sound snarky, and like I didn't like the book, but I did. once you just accept the YA formula and that this book will be full of it, you can just lean back an enjoy the ride. Emika finds herself in a deep plot that involves other players, the dark web, and the ghosts of Hideo's past. Of course because YA Hideo is just smitten with Emika from the get go. She's great at the game, everyone acknowledges how special she is, but the big YA factor I struggled with over looking was the utter lack of communication. This whole book could've ended in a few chapters had the characters just communicated with each other. But there was always some kind of personal justification for why they couldn't just talk to each other.
I found the game world to be well thought out and interesting, just unfortunately it didn't get nearly as much page time as I'd like. I get that the story is about the scheme around the game, and not the game, but Lu introduced her as a player so I wanted more. I wanted more intereaction with her teammates, more development. She never felt like she was part of the group to me, which made it harder to believe in the second book when they all go out of their way to help her. The romance with Hideo was heavy-handed but cute, so I didn't mind it. But I kept finding myself wanting more gameplay. It's called Warcross for goodness sake.
One thing I have to commend Lu on is that it has a decent number of legitimate twists. Twists that made me actually gasp once or twice. That kept me intrigued and made me read it in a day. But unfortunately, while a fun little romp, the story's reliance on bad communication and YA tropes to advance the plot made the book lack a soul that really could take the story to the next level. I didn't care too much about anyone. I just wanted answers more than anything. But instead, we get a mysterious bad guy being cryptic, even though if he wasn't cryptic we could have avoided a lot and Emika always winning cause she's special. Though most of the information she gets is freely given to her and had nothing to do with her skills as a hacker.
When my boyfriend asked me if I liked it, I shrugged and said "yea it was fun, can we go get the second book". But I didn't have the overwhelming desire to tell him the plot or anything else as I do with books that truly resonate with me. To be fair when I did attempt to describe it the soap opera YA aspect seemed glaring and he just rolled his eyes.
Absolutely worth a read, especially if you enjoy this genre. But just don't go in expecting it to be special, it follows the YA formula to a T.
