Category: Book Reviews

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legran..

Posted 07/09/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

If Stephen King wrote YA fiction, this book would be right up his alley. Don’t believe me? An evil creature – demon, devil, who knows? This thing comes from somewhere beyond our wildest imaginations. It feeds on teenage girls – at least until it can break free of its anchor. Doesn’t that sound like something straight out of a Stephen King horrorfest? Well, it does to me. Marion is sweet, plain, and well, the mountain on which her family leans. She can’t afford to be fanciful or whimsical. She can’t afford to take a break, because what will her mother or Charlotte do without her? But she’s so much more than that. She plays such an important part in the story and it’s so hard to talk about her without giving things away. Zoey is sweet, loving, but can hold a grudge like no one’s business. Her hatred of the […]

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Yo..

Posted 06/30/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I didn’t even know this book existed until Adrienne Young mentioned it and the second book in the Sky in the Deep series, The Girl the Sea Gave Back, in an Instagram post. I decided to see what she was referring to and I am so glad I did! This book has a feel to it that is hard to describe. The Gods seem almost like Norse Gods of old, yet they’re clearly not real Norse Gods. The book also has a very Braveheart and Last of the Mohicans feel to me, but that could just be me. I guess it’s the whole clans and being the last of their clans thing that makes me think of those. I love Eelyn’s character. She’s a warrior, she’s brave, she’s proud. She’s also scared out of her wits, afraid to die, and afraid to love. Her loyalty to her clan, the Aska, […]

No Fences in Alaska by Glen So..

Posted 06/29/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

For the love of all that is holy, get a box of tissues before you read this book. I’m not even kidding. You will need them, especially towards the end. Harper Lyons may not be your “typical” teenager, but I have to say, there were a few girls like her in my high school. Chases the boys, has sex, does drugs, drinks, you name it, she’s probably done it or thought about it. But Harper doesn’t really want to be that way, does she? This book will hit you right in the feels, if you’ll forgive the expression. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be furious. Glen Sobey writes teenage angst and problems with the best of them. Do all such stories get happy endings? No, sadly they don’t. But you’ll love the ending of this one… mostly. The way Glen Sobey writes his books, you’d think he has some sort […]

Again, but Better by Christine..

Posted 06/14/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I read this book for Barnes & Noble’s new YA Book Club. I hadn’t even heard of the book and didn’t know who the author was, although once I saw her YouTube channel name, I vaguely recognized who she was. I have to say, I wish she’d gone back and watched some of her own videos when writing this book. The biggest problem is that the characters don’t grow and develop, they either stay exactly the same or they devolve. The character development was great in the beginning and then just started to fall apart. You’re not only still cringing at Shane in Part 2, you might find yourself cringing even more than you did before. And don’t even get me started on Shane’s parents. I get that there are parents like that in real life, but seriously, Shane’s father is just plain scary at times. Also, in the words […]

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

Posted 05/11/2019 by Charli in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

After seeing a couple of reviews that panned this book, I decided to give it a shot. I just wanted to see what the big deal was. I chose the audiobook version which seemed to be how everyone else was consuming this book. That and I’d honestly never listened to an entire audiobook before. Too bad I kept falling asleep. The story does tend to seem a bit disjointed. It bounced between Mia and Brynn, Then and Now, and intersperses bits of both The Way into Lovelorn and Return to Lovelorn in there as well. It isn’t a bad book, just a bit confusing and honestly, the person who did commit the murder really is forgettable, but I think this character was meant to be forgettable. It’s the entire reason it is such a surprise this person did it. Between the slightly confusing mix of past, present, characters, and books, […]