All posts by mspelmanlibrarian

Uncategorized

Nemesis (review by Sofie K ’20)

Leave a comment

Nemesis (Project Nemesis, #1)Nemesis by Brendan Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Every two years, Min dies.

It’s always the same man, time and time again. He appears sometime on her birthday, kills her, then she wakes up the next day as if nothing happened. She doesn’t know why, or what Noah, subjectively the town’s most attractive (and rich) boy, has to do with it, but it happens. On top of it all, a giant asteroid called the Anvil is threatening to destroy Earth… in like a week.

I really wanted to like this book. I hadn’t seen this premise too often before in books, so it seemed that it would live up to the hype. But it just didn’t make sense. The twists came out of nowhere (they were barely hinted at), so they felt super jarring, and the storyline with the asteroid seemed really separated from the plot. When Reichs tried to tie it all together at the end, it just felt really forced. It’s overall not a terrible plot, it just seemed disappointing compared to what it could have been.

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Rebel of the Sands (review by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1)Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A cleverly built, intricately weaved world sets the stage for our peek into the life of a desperate gunslinger in a world that has no patience for women with minds like hers, and no future for people born in places like her homeland. Hamilton seamlessly accomplished what must have been an incredibly difficult narrative feat: creating a character coldhearted enough to survive the vicious sands of her homeland, but also one human enough to still create interest and sympathy within readers. While quite a few cliche YA twists could be seen coming from a mile (or a couple chapters) away, Hamilton manages to overcome them in a page turner rife with themes not quite so common in her genre, from the fact that family isn’t always there for you, to the limits of humanity, and that kindness is not always the keystone to living.

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Emergency Contact (review by Ms. Pelman)

Leave a comment

Emergency ContactEmergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Told in alternating points-of-view: Penny, a college freshman and Sam a drop-out who works at a coffee shop. Penny is navigating her first year away from her mom (it’s just the two of them, and their relationship is close, but rocky), and chasing her dream of becoming a writer. Sam is nursing a broken-heart, while trying to make ends meet. In fact, his life is kind of a mess and he’s just trying to keep it together. The two are introduced by Penny’s roommate because the two have a complicated family history. When Penny finds Sam on the street during an awkward and distressing moment, she helps him out. From then on Penny becomes Sam’s “emergency contact” and their ’round-the-clock text conversations will alter their lives forever.

Funny and heartfelt; engaging and entertaining, Emergency Contact will appeal to readers who enjoy the snappy, witty dialogue found in John Green novels, and the characters you come to love in Rainbow Rowell books.

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Foundryside (review by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

Foundryside (Founders, #1)Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sancia Grado is quite possibly the best thief in Tevanne. Not in the least because of what exactly the metal plate in her head can do–but it’s safer not to talk about that. She’s still not quite sure how stealing a box from one merchant house turned her into the most wanted person in Tevanne, and the only one capable of communicating with the powerful artifact that has the entire city foaming at the mouth.

Gregor Dandalo is the only living son of the family controlling another one of Tevanne’s four merchant houses and trying his best to bring order and law to the commons: the only part of the city not controlled by the merchant houses. It seems like a stroke of excellent luck when he manages to find the thief who blew up half the docks stealing from a merchant-house safe. Then, he spots the assassins and well, things get complicated.

Orso Ignacio, employee of the Dandalo merchant house, might have made a mistake when he bought an artifact from an excavation site without his employer’s permission. Especially now that the key’s been stolen and he has no hope of learning from the scrivings it contains. Hopefully, the thief Gregor has ‘arrested’ can get the key back in exchange for her freedom.

Bernice is a gifted scriver, and has no idea how she got caught up in fixing her bosses stupid mistake. At least the scenery’s nice.

Bennett’s novel is a study in intricate world-building, and he crafts a diverse cast characters, from heroes to villains to antiheroes, with compelling backstories and motivations all the while seamlessly weaves in ethical quandaries that dissect the foundations of each character. Although sometimes his writing became unnecessarily wordy, this book is an excellent starting point to a very intriguing fictional universe. My main issue is with the side characters. While some are nicely fleshed out, the background villains seem flat and evil for the sake of evil. The romance is also lacking chemistry and feels shoehorned in for no good reason, which is a shame, considering the amazing characters involved in the relationship.
-Anya W. ’20

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen (review by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

Lovely, Dark, and DeepLovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Viola Li has a Plan. After the end of her first trip with her aunt, to Africa, she’s working on several more bake sales to raise money for the causes she’s written about. A few more of her scheduled vacations, and she’ll have just the right resume for acceptance as a journalism major to her dream school in Dubai.
Except, as it turns out, sometimes the malaria vaccine can give you extreme, permanent, photosensitivity. Thanks to her professional disaster manager parents, Viola’s entire life and all her plans for the future are permanently deconstructed within a week. All that’s left now is figuring out how to cope.

Chen’s novel is a good beach read, and typical YA. The romance, while not badly-written, is not particularly epic-it would have had the same impact as a friendship. However, her writing is excellent at evoking empathy within the reader, and breathes life into her main characters.
-Anya W. ’20

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (review by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

The Poet XThe Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What’s a girl to do when she’s got too much to say and no one to pour it out to? Fill journal after journal with words turned into verse, spilling her story across pages for no eyes but her own. A diary of free verse is an indulgence Xiomara can allow, one not banned by the strict rules of her cold home, but what about a poetry club? A boyfriend? A crisis of faith? Covering for her brother? As the walls close in, Xiomara has to grow up and decide what’s important, and how far she’s willing to go to keep it.

Acevedo’s freeform masterpiece is a touching and realistic portrayal of adolescence. She perfectly captures the mindset of someone on the verge of adulthood–the contrast between affection and suffocation day in and day out. -Anya W. ’20

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (review by Sofie K. ’20)

Leave a comment

Girls Made of Snow and GlassGirls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“If they love you for anything, it will be for your beauty.”

One kingdom, completely immersed in ice, the cruel outcome of an age-old curse. Two stories intertwined, each pivotal to the other. In one: a girl from the outside comes to power beside a widowed king, her glass heart colder than the eternal winter around her. In the other: a girl born and raised within the castle’s walls, created out of snow in the image of the late queen. Her only maternal influence has been her outspoken yet stoic stepmother.

And only one can be queen.

But Lynet doesn’t want the crown. Far from it, actually. She simply wants to find her own path instead of turning into the queen her father wants her to be. Besides, why would she want to take the crown away from Mina, who so desperately wants to rule over the warm, curse-free South she was raised in? Mina has everything: looks, power, composure. She makes a much better queen than the little girl who spends her free time climbing trees and stalking the new surgeon.

But life is never that simple, is it?

Girls Made of Snow and Glass takes the classic tale of Snow White and spins it in a completely new direction. For one, there are no dwarves, and Bashardoust gives Snow White–usually portrayed as a helpless child–a sense of empowerment that princesses in old fairy tales just weren’t given. It’s a fast-paced, emotional journey of self-reflection and learning what it truly means to love. – Sophie K. ’20

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (review by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Five PartsThe Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Five Parts by Douglas Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On a rather boring Thursday, a rather boring (but mostly harmless) planet known as Earth is demolished by a Vogon construction crew to clear room for a new hyperspace overpass, along with most of its inhabitants, who rather unfortunately had yet to invent a method of faster than light travel and therefore had neglected to see the clearly posted notice in Alpha Centauri. Ford Prefect, writer for a new edition of the “Hitch Hiker’s Guide” and alien who’s been stranded on Earth for the past decade-and-a-half is not content with vaporization. He takes up his usual pastime, Hitchhiking, bringing along one Arthur Dent, a boring, regular, specimen of humanity if there ever was one, who also happens to be a very good friend.

One of the landmark novels of science fiction and a great influencer of pop culture, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a must read. Adams writes a ridiculous romp through worlds and galaxies on an unimaginable scale, and mixes ridiculousness with unspeakable horrors in just the right proportion to make his book a comedy instead of a textbook. One of the great advantages of science fiction and fantasy novels is the ability to wave away plot holes with “magic” or “science,” but the methods Adams uses to rationalize his fantastical universe are so creative that they hardly deserve the title of Applied Phlebotinum. – Anya W. ’20

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee (reviewed by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

Outrun the MoonOutrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s tough to be an American born Chinese girl in San Francisco in 1906, and Mercy Wong knows all about it. But, for all that she was born and raised in chinatown, she’ll let it shape her but not define her. So, after she finishes her last year at the only public school in the city open to kids from chinatown, she seizes the first opportunity she can get to con (beg, borrow, barter, blackmail) her way into a better school. After all, St. Clare’s will help her get a foot in the business world, so one day her weak younger brother won’t have to take over her father’s laundry business. Things go all right, at first. Then they devolve. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and Mercy is nothing if not tough.

Lee’s Outrun the Moon is a riveting tale of prejudice, friendship, and loss, set against the wonderfully dramatic background of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Her characters are dynamic and multifaceted, each with their own stories, weaving a well-built picture of many different lives converging by chance. Lee paces her story well for the most part, and my only request is an extra hundred or so pages in the middle to allow more time for characterization. Even though the romance is predictable, it is still fairly sweet, and the rest of the novel more than makes up for it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. – Anya W. ’20

View all my reviews

Uncategorized

Shine by Lauren Myracle (review by Anya W. ’20)

Leave a comment

ShineShine by Lauren Myracle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Victim:
Patrick — Cat’s ex-best friend, currently in a coma the hospital after being found beaten at the gas station where he works, the victim of a hate crime against gay people.

The Investigators:
The sheriff — says it’s probably some out of towners from a nearby college. Case closed.
Cat — has her own ideas about it. After all, the sheriff can’t exactly implicate the son of the man who funds his campaign in a hate crime.

The Suspects, according to Cat:
College Boy — out of towner college boy who mocked Patrick at the gas station before the incident.
Tommy — the richest kid in town. For all that they hung out, he never stopped bullying Patrick. He was present at the party where Patrick was last seen conscious. Also, as Cat can attest, he likes to molest 13 year old girls.

The Witnesses
Beef: Cat’s surrogate older brother, who drove everyone home and isn’t talking.
Bailee-Ann: Beef’s girlfriend.
Robert: Bailee-Ann’s 11 year old brother with fetal alcohol syndrome who was there to watch his sister come home.
Christian: Cat’s older brother. Even if he was willing to talk about what he knew, Cat knows better than to believe in him.

Myracle writes a gritty portrait of small town life. Even her side characters are multifaceted and capable of growth. Shine is well paced and satisfying, with the right number of twists and an ending that is not too neat. Definitely a lovely reason to read away a day. – Anya W. ’20

View all my reviews