Tag Archives: YA

Book Review: Thorn Jack (Night and Nothing #1), by Katherine Harbour

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I borrowed Thorn Jack, by Katherine Harbour, from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
They call us things with teeth. These words from Lily Rose Sullivan the night of her death haunts her seventeen-year-old sister, Finn, who has moved with her widowed father to his hometown of Fair Hollow, New York. After befriending a boy named Christie Hart and his best friend, Sylvie Whitethorn, Finn is invited to a lakeside party where she encounters the alluring Jack Fata, a member of the town’s mysterious Fata family. Despite Jack’s air of danger and his clever words, Finn learns they have things in common.

One day, while unpacking, Finn finds her sister’s journal, scrawled with descriptions of creatures that bear a sinister resemblance to Jack’s family. Finn dismisses these stories as fiction, but Jack’s family has a secret—the Fatas are the children of nothing and night, nomadic beings who have been preying on humanity for centuries—and Jack fears that his friendship with Finn has drawn the attention of the most dangerous members of his family—Reiko Fata and vicious Caliban, otherwise known as the white snake and the crooked dog.

Plagued with nightmares about her sister, Finn attempts to discover what happened to Lily Rose and begins to suspect that the Fatas are somehow tied to Lily Rose’s untimely death. Drawn to Jack, determined to solve the mystery of her sister’s suicide, Finn must navigate a dangerous world where nothing is as it seems.

Review:
I’m a sucker for old school, dangerous, horrific fae. And this book has them in spades. So, A+ for that. But the writing was often confusing, the plotting dragged at times, and it tried so hard to be mysterious and goth that it came across as forced.

I’m not saying I didn’t like it. It was amusing enough. I just wasn’t blown away by it. Plus, I was left with questions. For example, Finn couldn’t see the fae for most of her life, didn’t even know her sister could. But she sees them just fine in the course of the novel, is shown to have seen them in the past. So, how’d she stay so clueless? Or what was the cause of the insta-attraction between Finn and Jack? Sorry, the little bit we’re given didn’t convince me at all.

The writing, other than being overly dramatic and unclear at times, was mostly ok. But there were some issue with repeat words that started to feel like nails on a chalkboard. I plan to read the rest of the series, though.

Lady of the Sea

Review of Lady of the Sea (Aureate Chronicles #1), by Heather Zwygart

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I downloaded Lady of the Sea when it was free on amazon, completely because I was entranced by the cover. It’s gorgeous. I don’t think I even read the blurb. And then when I noticed the authors name is Heather  Zwygart, I decided to read it right away. I promised myself that this year I wouldn’t reach December with an author beginning in Z being the last left in my alphabet challenge.

Description from Goodreads:
Avelessa has always had someone in her life to make decisions for her. With no family left and her mentor near death she has to make the biggest decision of her life. 

She goes in search of a pearl, known as Sol Fyre, all the while crossing the boundary the Elders put in place for their safety. 

She discovers a few things along the way. The Elders are keeping secrets. And humans… well they are not as evil as she has been taught to believe.

Review:
This is 100% a YA novel and I have 100% gone off YA books. But even if I set that aside, I was disappointed. I thought it inconsistent, juvenile (yeah, I know YA), unfocused and incomplete, being that it ended on a cliffhanger.

The writing was ok, but the editing was a little rough. Most of the book is Avelessa doing unimportant things with the two boys who she coincidentally meets as soon as she comes ashore, which irritated me. I kept thinking, don’t you have more important things to do? Her choices made little sense to me, she waffled back and forwards about her decisions, the emotions whipped around so fast I couldn’t follow them, I dislike love triangles, I don’t see why if a novel is set in 1850 New Zealand a European has to be one of the main heroes, and I needed more information about the world.

This really might be a matter of the wrong book for the wrong reader and others might enjoy it a lot more than me. But I can’t say the story lived up to that beautiful cover.

Book Review of The Bicycle Spy, by Yona Zeldis McDonough

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Last year I won a copy of Liberty, by Kirby Larson. When it arrived in the mail, this book, Yona McDonough‘s The Bicycle Spy was mysteriously included. I figured it was a surprise gift or extra bonus or promo or maybe someone somewhere’s mistake. But there it was either way.

Description from Goodreads:
Marcel loves riding his bicycle, whether he’s racing through the streets of his small town in France or making bread deliveries for his parents’ bakery. He dreams of someday competing in the Tour de France, the greatest bicycle race. But ever since Germany’s occupation of France began two years ago, in 1940, the race has been canceled. Now there are soldiers everywhere, interrupting Marcel’s rides with checkpoints and questioning.

Then Marcel learns two big secrets, and he realizes there are worse things about the war than a canceled race. When he later discovers that his friend’s entire family is in imminent danger, Marcel knows he can help — but it will involve taking a risky bicycle ride to pass along covert information. And when nothing ends up going according to plan, it’s up to him to keep pedaling and think quickly… because his friend, her family, and his own future hang in the balance.

Review:
Now, this is written for 3rd to 7th graders, according to the info page in the front of the book. So, I’m hardly the target demographic, being almost 40 and all. But I want to give it to my 9yo and be able to discuss it with her, so I went ahead and read it too. The writing is appropriately simple and it trims some very thick themes into fairly thin ideas, such that a child can grasp it.

I do think it shies away from really engaging the subject matter. Because of this I think they’d need a little knowledge of WWII to really understand it. A lot is explained, but I still feel a minimal base knowledge would be needed or at least appreciated. But Marcel is a sweet character and his story is interesting enough, though again fairly simplistic. I think a 3rd to 7th grader would likely enjoy the book. I’m hoping mine will, especially given the state of the world at this moment.

What I’m drinking: Green matcha, which I’ve had several times in cafes/restaurants. This was the first time I tried making it at home though, and I’d call it a moderate success.