Tag: reading

Review | Hex Vet: Witches in Training by Sam Davies

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Have you ever wondered where witches’ cats go when they pull a claw? Or what you do with a pygmy phoenix with a case of bird flu? Nan and Clarion have you covered. They’re the best veterinarian witches of all time—or at least they’re trying to be. When an injured rabbit with strange eyes stumbles into their lives, Nan and Clarion have to put down their enchanted potions and face the biggest test of their magical, medical careers. Hex Vet: Witches in Training is an original graphic novel suitable for kids of all ages! From popular web cartoonist Sam Davies (Stutterhug), this book explores a truly spellbinding story about sticking together and helping animals at all costs. Perfect for fans of The Tea Dragon Society and Steven Universe!

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This was a super adorable graphic novel perfect for young readers! In it we follow two very different apprentice veterinarian witches as they have a day full of unexpected issues. It was a fun adventure and was a great introduction to the characters and their differing personalities/challenges. It was a fun, quick story and a great set up for further volumes. The colors were more of a restricted palette, but fit the theme perfectly and suited the setting and characters. The perfect word for it really is adorable and I look forward to seeing more of the series and characters.

Happy reading!

Review | Crystal Cadets by Anne Toole

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Cadets Go! Join this team of darkness-fighting, world-saving, power-packed teen girls from all over the world on their first adventure!

Zoe has always felt out of place; her foster parents are great and all, but she’s long felt like something was missing. That is, of course, until she discovers a mysterious gem left to her by her birth mother and her whole universe gets flipped around! When the crystal grants Zoe mysterious powers of light she becomes the Diamond Cadet, and she’s not the only one; suddenly she’s meeting new friends who shoot flames and glowing green arrows. It’s all fun at first, but when The Darkness possesses Zoe’s foster parents her only choice is to join this wild group of action-hero girls, traveling the globe to defeat The Darkness and find a cure!

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I found this one when browsing the selection of items in Comixology and upon Katie O’Neill was the illustrator I had to pick it up. This was such a fun read, following a group of girls as they locate more of the Cadets and work to banish ‘the darkness’ from the world, while accepting that it will never truly be gone. They definitely had Sailor Moon vibes in some ways, but with a fun spin of added mythological companions and modern settings. There’s some squabbling within the group of girls which sometimes seem natural, but other times a little extreme. The art style is bright and fun, which perfectly fit the characters and theme of the story. It looks like there won’t be any more to this series, but it did end in such a way that it would be easy to see further issues/volumes.

Happy reading!

Review | Ski Weekend by Rektok Ross

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Six teens, one dog, a ski trip gone wrong . . .

Sam is dreading senior ski weekend and having to watch after her brother and his best friend, Gavin, to make sure they don’t do anything stupid. Again. Gavin may be gorgeous, but he and Sam have never gotten along. Now they’re crammed into an SUV with three other classmates and Gavin’s dog, heading on a road trip that can’t go by fast enough.

Then their SUV crashes into a snowbank, and Sam and her friends find themselves stranded in the mountains with cell phone coverage long gone and temperatures dropping. When the group gets sick of waiting for rescue, they venture outside to find help—only to have a wilderness accident leave Sam’s brother with a smashed leg and, soon, a raging fever. While the hours turn to days, Sam’s brother gets sicker and sicker, and their food and supplies dwindle until there isn’t enough for everyone. As the winter elements begin to claim members of the group one by one, Sam vows to keep her brother alive.

No matter what.

Filled with twists, secrets, and life-changing moments, Ski Weekend is a snow-packed survival thriller featuring a diverse cast of teens that will appeal to fans of One of Us is Lying and I Am Still Alive.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

When I first read the synopsis of this book I was really excited as I am definitely in the mood for survival/spooky/thriller books. At first I had a hard time connecting with some of the characters and felt that they were a little too cliche in some ways, but once I got a bit into the book they developed more and gained more depth which made them more relatable. None of them were perfect and there were certain thoughts and actions that had me rolling my eyes a bit, but I feel that was intended in some cases. I did really enjoy how much we really get to know the characters in this extreme situation which was a nice facet of the story.

Since I live in an area where there are isolated places/roads where people have gotten stuck and lost before, the setting and scope of this story was very realistic to me. The suspense was well written and kept the tension high as the story went on, which made it hard to put it down because I had to know what was going to happen to the characters. If you’re looking for a fast, suspense filled survival story, this would fit the bill.

Make sure to come back to the blog on release day to read my Q&A with Rektok!

Happy reading!

Review | Rebel Girls Powerful Pairs: 25 Tales of Mothers and Daughters

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What do Beyoncé and Blue Ivy and Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst have in common? What about Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton and Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk? They’re all incredible mother-daughter duos who have used their creativity, cleverness, and unique talents to do something remarkable—and they are all featured in Rebel Girls Powerful Pairs: 25 Tales of Mothers and Daughters.

Readers will celebrate the strength of family bonds through the inspiring fairytale-like stories of authors, activists, skiers, dancers, pilots, hikers, humanitarians, entrepreneurs, and more. Powerful Pairs is part of the award-winning Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series.

Celebrate singing and songwriting with Beyoncé and Blue Ivy. Save frontline soldiers with Marie Curie and Irene Joliot-Curie. And swim across the English Channel with Leena and Bhakti Sharma. Rebel Girls Powerful Pairs showcases many of the wonderful ways mothers and daughters work together to make the world a better, healthier, and more vibrant place.

This collection of 25 stories follows in the footsteps of the best-selling series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. It is illustrated by female and nonbinary artists from around the world.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This may be up there to be my favorite from Rebel Girls so far, I loved the concept of highlighting mother and daughter pairs. As with the other installments we get women/girls from all aspects of life, some historical but mostly current and from many different cultures/locations. I really enjoyed how this volume highlighted the pairs working together, even if they didn’t always agree or get along. It’s full of empowerment, teamwork and accomplishments with a dash of lifting each other up when it’s needed. I think this will be really inspiring to young girls who already have great bonds with their mothers as well as those that want to form a tighter bond with their parents. Again the artwork and storytelling are on point, as with all other installments in the series.

Happy reading!

Review | to drink coffee with a ghost by Amanda Lovelace

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From the bestselling & award-winning poetess, amanda lovelace, comes the finale of her illustrated duology, “things that h(a)unt.” In the first installment, to make monsters out of girls,  lovelace explored the memory of being in a toxic romantic relationship. In to drink coffee with a ghost, lovelace unravels the memory of the complicated relationship she had with her now-deceased mother.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was perhaps my least favorite of Amanda Lovelace’s poetry collections, but only because there weren’t as many poems that I could identify with, so I didn’t feel the same kindship with them. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it, just that I didn’t feel it the same way I’ve felt with her other collections. Definite trigger warnings for toxic parental relationships, death of a parent, self harm and more. The images that accompanied the poems were also beautiful and suited the poetry and theme of the collection. As always the writing and progression of the collection was stellar and kept me engaged throughout the read.

Happy reading!

Review | Keeping it Real by Paula Chase

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Marigold Johnson is looking forward to a future full of family, friends, and fashion–but what will she do when it all explodes in her face? When she discovers that her entire life is a lie?

Paula Chase, the author of So Done, Dough Boys, and Turning Point, explores betrayal, conformity, and forgiveness–and what it means to be family–in this stand-alone novel perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Rebecca Stead, and Ren�e Watson.

Marigold Johnson can’t wait to attend a special program at her family’s business, Flexx Unlimited, for teens who love fashion. But Mari quickly realizes that she’s out of place compared to the three other trainees–and one girl, Kara, seems to hate her on sight.

As tension builds and the stakes at the program get higher, Mari uncovers exactly why Kara’s been so spiteful. She also discovers some hard truths about herself and her family.

Paula Chase explores complex themes centering on friendships, family, and what it means to conform to fit in. Keeping It Real is also a powerful exploration of what happens when parents pick and choose what they shield their children from. Timely and memorable, Paula Chase’s character-driven story touches on creativity, art, fashion, and music. A great choice for the upper middle grade audience.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I haven’t read anything by Paula Chase before, but I fell in love with this one. I really enjoyed that this is more of an upper middle grade age, which is something that you don’t see a lot. The writing style and overall narrative voice were well crafted and had a really good flow, I didn’t really have any spots where I felt like the pace slowed down.

The characters were also well crafted and I really enjoyed the portrayal of different aspects of familial and friend relationships, different youth experiences based on class regardless of friendships and the cultural aspects in the novel. While there were definitely parts of this story that I personally couldn’t identify with, it was still a beneficial story for me to read and experience. Overall this was a great story, with a few twists that were heart wrenching, but so wonderful to read. I will definitely be checking out more of Chase’s writing in the future.

Happy reading!

Review | The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu

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A fantasy about a kingdom beset by monsters, a mysterious school, and a girl caught in between them.

If no one notices Marya Lupu, it is likely because of her brother, Luka. And that’s because of what everyone knows: that Luka is destined to become a sorcerer.

The Lupus might be from a small village far from the capital city of Illyria, but that doesn’t matter. Every young boy born in in the kingdom holds the potential for the rare ability to wield magic, to protect the country from the terrifying force known only as the Dread.

For all the hopes the family has for Luka, no one has any for Marya, who can never seem to do anything right. But even so, no one is prepared for the day that the sorcerers finally arrive to test Luka for magical ability, and Marya makes a terrible mistake. Nor the day after, when the Lupus receive a letter from a place called Dragomir Academy–a mysterious school for wayward young girls. Girls like Marya.

Soon she is a hundred miles from home, in a strange and unfamiliar place, surrounded by girls she’s never met. Dragomir Academy promises Marya and her classmates a chance to make something of themselves in service to one of the country’s powerful sorcerers. But as they learn how to fit into a world with no place for them, they begin to discover things about the magic the men of their country wield, as well as the Dread itself–things that threaten the precarious balance upon which Illyria is built.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

First and foremost I really enjoyed the world that Anne Ursu created in this story and could see other stories set in it, the world building and setup were really wonderful (even if the society didn’t have the best standards or norms when it came to the place of females). I enjoyed the theme within this book where Marya isn’t will to accept what society expects of her and other females. It very much lends to breaking expected gender role and challenging societal norms. She’s not willing to just go along with things and is constantly questioning the expectations set upon her.

Ursu’s writing is beautiful and while the pace isn’t super fast, the language used and phrasing is a pleasure to read. There were a few sections that I felt were a tad slow, but the writing more than made up for that. The characters are fully fledged and have multiple layers to them, making them seem more real and easier to identify with.

This story is full of strong themes of feminism, knowledge is power and bucking societal norms, which was nice to experience in a fantasy setting. Though it is longer than most middle grades, it is a great story that I’m sure younger readers will devour.

Happy reading!

Review | Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay

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In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are “routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied” for speaking out. Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and writers Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, and Claire Schwartz. Covering a wide range of topics and experiences, from an exploration of the rape epidemic embedded in the refugee crisis to first-person accounts of child molestation, this collection is often deeply personal and is always unflinchingly honest. Like Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things to Me, Not That Bad will resonate with every reader, saying “something in totality that we cannot say alone.”

Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this provocative collection both reflects the world we live in and offers a call to arms insisting that “not that bad” must no longer be good enough.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This should go without saying (and I knew this going in) but anyone who is a survivor of sexual assault or rape is likely to be very triggered by the stories told in this book. It took me a while to get through because it was so triggering. In it we get a wide range of stories including stories of people who were assaulted as children to people who were assaulted or harassed as adults. It is a very hard read and in some ways crafted to be uncomfortable, but it is a valuable and important collection of experiences. Some of the stories were more clinical or journalistic in a way, but the ones that touched me the most were the personal experiences. As a survivor myself who heard plenty of “it’s your fault,” reading the experiences of people with not necessarily the same experiences but many of the same emotions and thoughts was a comfort even while I hurt for these other people. Again, it’s a very hard read, but it’s also a very important one.

Happy reading!

Can’t Wait Wednesday | 10/13

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Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine. In this weekly post people share a book that they’re excited about being released.

I just heard about this anthology coming out in December and want it in my hands since it sounds so fun.

Join fifteen bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming authors as they reimagine some of the most popular tropes in the romance genre.

Fake relationships. Enemies to lovers. Love triangles and best friends, mistaken identities and missed connections. This collection of genre-bending and original stories celebrates how love always finds a way, featuring powerful flora, a superhero and his nemesis, a fantastical sled race through snow-capped mountains, a golf tournament, the wrong ride-share, and even the end of the world. With stories written by Rebecca Barrow, Ashley Herring Blake, Gloria Chao, Mason Deaver, Sara Farizan, Claire Kann, Malinda Lo, Hannah Moskowitz, Natasha Ngan, Rebecca Podos, Lilliam Rivera, Laura Silverman, Amy Spalding, Rebecca Kim Wells, and Julian Winters this collection is sure to sweep you off your feet.

Happy reading!

Review | The Mermaid Queen by Alane Adams

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Abigail and Hugo have just helped restore the balance of power in Orkney by defeating the powerful alchemist Vertulious when Abigail discovers that Capricorn, the mermaid queen she trusted to help them, has unleashed the powerful Midgard Serpent named Jormungand―who, years ago, encircled the world of mankind and held it captive until Odin banished it to an underwater prison. Capricorn is determined to force Odin to make her goddess of the seas over Aegir, and she’s ready to use the massive serpent to bend him to her will―threatening all of Orkney. Abigail and Hugo must embark on an adventure across the seas to Odin’s island sanctuary to find a way to stop Capricorn and return Jormungand to his watery cell. But when Abigail finds that her powers are not enough, she has to tap into her dark magic again and again. As she is drawn further down this path, a dark presence makes itself known to her―one that may alter her path forever.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

First and foremost, make sure you check out my reviews for the last three books in the series:

Also, happy book birthday to The Mermaid Queen!

This book picked up almost immediately after the ending of the 3rd book, so things in Abigail’s world were pretty bleak while no one else thought anything was wrong. It was great to see her friends band around her to lift her spirits and find out what is wrong. While Abigail was still the main character, it seemed like her friends were able to take on more central roles which was nice. I also liked that with each book we seem to get more figures from Norse mythology. I really enjoyed the story and feel like this series with its mythology driven story will be loved by younger readers. Abigail is easy to identify with, especially with how human she is with her emotions, self doubt and more – but other characters such as Hugo, Calla and yes, I guess even Endera have qualities that can be identified with and understood. Another fast paced and exciting installment to this series – I can’t wait to read more!

Thanks so much to SparkPress for sending me the books in this series so I could review them all. Happy reading!