My Review of: Storm Warning by Monica Hughes

Storm Warning by Monica Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: In this chilling, thrilling, underwater adventure, readers explore the world of a sunken wreck and the secrets it holds – secrets that have the power to heal, and to destroy.

My Review: Not much of a description on goodreads, I have to say. I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did, to be honest. I grabbed it off of my shelf because it was a small book, and it was something to read while my kobo and my phone were charging. I didn’t know too much about diving, but the idea interested me, and I thought I’d give this book a shot. And that was an awesome idea. I’m glad I read this book, after having it sit on my shelf for who knows how long. It’s about this girl Sandra, who has basically been stalking this guy Bryan, for some scheme her and her parents have come up with to find a wrecked ship that was previously owned by his family. I honestly thought she was some kind of gold digger at first, but that changed when I realized what her plan really was. Eventually she stayed at his house with his crazy family, and then the story took a different turn. Suddenly it was this awesome diving adventure turned murder mystery, and that’s when it really hooked me. Everything started moving faster and I couldn’t put the book down. Definitely check it out if you get the chance to! Thanks for reading.

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My Review of: Tell Me My Name (Fated Stars 0.5) by Mary Fan

Tell Me My Name by Mary Fan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: In Mary Fan’s second novella, a girl wakes up in an icy cell, alone and frightened. She has no memory of who she is or how she came to be there.

She does know that she must get out, at all costs. And that escape must start with remembering the simple things – her own name. Her place of origin. Her possible powers.
When a group of dark magicians reveal themselves to be her captors, she finds herself in the clutches of those who will stop at nothing to uncover the secrets locked within her lost memories. With her life fading under their merciless spells, the need to escape becomes dire.

But can she get out when she doesn’t even know who she is? Can she count on one unlikely ally for help? Or is it already too late for her, a girl without a name?

Tell Me My Name introduces the main characters in Mary’s new fantasy series, Fated Stars, with the first book, Windborn, due in 2015.

My Review: To be completely honest, I wasn’t completely sold on this book from the beginning when I started reading it, but it grew on me. That completely changed, however, at the end when I was dropped from the story. My interest was lost when the main character started explaining the book from the very beginning. The point of view kind of shifted, and instead of being her, it changed to you listening to her tell you all about the book, and then explaining what was going to happen in the next book. It might just be a preference, but I like to figure things out myself, not have the character tell me what everything’s about like an article. Whatever the reason was, it completely turned me away from the book, and it’s a good thing it happened at the end. I liked the story, I liked the characters, they were interesting, and everything was pretty cool until that big thing happened at the end. It’s about a girl who’s been imprisoned in a jail cell made of ice, for whatever reason. She has no memory and has frequent panic attacks. There’s a boy helping her, and getting abused for it by his “master”. That’s basically the story. I requested this book from netgalley expecting more than it was. Definitely check it out and find out for yourself. Thanks for reading.

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My Review of: SLAM (The Psionics 0.5) by Tash McAdam

SLAM by Tash McAdam
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: Telepaths, torture, mindwipes … the Institute has it all, and they use each of their brainwashed children as weapons, the way they see fit. To control society, repress its people. To make certain that they stay in power, no matter the cost. Serena’s baby brother Damon is one of those children, and these days he’s so altered that he doesn’t even recognize her.

When it comes to getting Damon away from those who kidnapped him, there’s nothing Serena won’t do. Even if she has to kill him to save him. First, though, she must prove to her father that she has what it takes to be a soldier against the insidious threat of the Institute. Her first mission has to be perfect.

But with inaccurate intelligence, unexpected storms, and Gav Belias, people’s hero of the Watch, on the prowl, will she even survive? If she doesn’t succeed, they’ll never let her go after her brother.

And that would be unthinkable, when it was her fault that he was taken in the first place.

Slam is Tash McAdam’s first work with Glass House Press, and serves as a prequel to her series The Psionics, with the first book, Maelstrom, due in 2015.

My Review: I requested this book from Netgalley, because the synopsis made it sound pretty cool, and also because it reminded me of a book series I’d read in elementary school. I didn’t think it was too bad, but the style of writing wasn’t my favourite, and I also didn’t know it was a prologue, so I was a little surprised. I guess I didn’t read the whole synopsis before I requested it. Those aren’t the things the dropped the rating, however. The story seemed interesting enough, but it didn’t completely grab my attention from the very beginning, like I was hoping it would. Basically, it’s about a girl who’s in this institution, named Serena, who has been training for the past two years, or that’s what I got out of it anyways, and will be “set free” from her life as she’s grown to know of learning and fighting, and sent out into the city to become some kind of super telekinetic soldier. I’m not too sure how far into the future this is, but there’s cool futuristic body armor and people have gained telekinetic abilities. Her brother, who me may or may not get to know in the first book, was kidnapped and is pretty much a background character. We learned basic things about him, but we didn’t get to meet him, and apparently it wasn’t her first goal to get him back because she didn’t. I’m torn between if I should continue reading and track down the first book in the series when it’s released, and if I should just say it was a good try and move on. Definitely check it out for yourself, though. Thanks for reading.

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My Review of: The Glass Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy #2) by Charlie N. Holmberg

The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: Three months after returning Magician Emery Thane’s heart to his body, Ceony Twill is well on her way to becoming a Folder. Unfortunately, not all of Ceony’s thoughts have been focused on paper magic. Though she was promised romance by a fortuity box, Ceony still hasn’t broken the teacher-student barrier with Emery, despite their growing closeness.

When a magician with a penchant for revenge believes that Ceony possesses a secret, he vows to discover it…even if it tears apart the very fabric of their magical world. After a series of attacks target Ceony and catch those she holds most dear in the crossfire, Ceony knows she must find the true limits of her powers…and keep her knowledge from falling into wayward hands.

The delightful sequel to Charlie N. Holmberg’s The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician will charm readers young and old alike.

My Review: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for a review. And man, am I glad I requested it. After reading the first book I really wanted to read more, so I requested this one and downloaded it immediately. Delightful is an awesome word for this book, and even though I don’t like magic very much, I absolutely loved these books. I think it’s one of my new favourite series. The story takes place three months after the last book. At the end of the last one Ceony, the main character and the apprentice to Emery Thane, a paper magician, looked into a fortuity box, and was told Emery’s future. It was with her. Since seeing that she hadn’t been completely focused on her studies, but instead on her teacher. Most of the book was focused on that, but also her learning new spells, and eventually, another face off with yet another blood magician, and a new addition, a gaffer. Someone who broke their bonds with their own magic element, and chose another one. The one thing they want? Lira unfrozen. Not a good idea, right? So Ceony fights and fights, and fights some more, in the last half of this book. And then Emery Thane fights. I was not expecting a chapter from his point of view, but I was pleasantly surprised on how much I liked seeing things from his side for once. It’s an awesome book, and I definitely recommend you check out the series. Thanks for reading.

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My Review of: The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.

Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

My Review: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review, and am so glad I requested it now. I wasn’t sure if I’d completely love it by reading the description, but was pleasantly surprised. Though I’m not completely sure what time period this book is set in, most likely the early 1900’s if I imagined correctly, and I’m not a big fan of magic, but the magic in this book was so intricate and subtle that I couldn’t help but love it. I had to read it over after I finished it because I realized that I was so caught up in finishing it, I couldn’t remember anything except the beginning and the end. I’m glad I re read it. It’s an awesome book, and the story is amazing. Ceony is a good character, and Emery Thane is a good teacher. I really hope what happened at the end really happens, and isn’t just a prediction. It’s adorable. And she saved his life. What more could he ask for? Definitely check this book out if you get the chance, you won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading.
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My Review of: Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers’ bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover.

A coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face-to-face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren’t the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is there at all.

My Review: First of all, I read this book for one of my modules in my English class. Honestly I probably wouldn’t have picked it out in the bookstore for any other reason than the cover is kind of cool. However, I’m glad I got the chance to read it. It’s a really great book, and I think more people should know about it, because then I wouldn’t have had to read it only for a project. Whatever. Anways. Although this book is kind of old, It’s an amazing story about a young man, Richie or better known as Perry, who graduates high school and finds himself with no where to go. So he joins the army. The book starts and him an a group of newbies are at the airport, getting loaded onto an airplane that will take them straight into a war. They go through training, and eventually are sent out into the field. It’s a war, so obviously there’s some fighting going on, but Perry and his group are determined to get through it. Some are injured, some are killed, but some end up getting to go home after it all. One of the parts that really stuck out in my mind, was when Perry shows up and everyone’s trying to get out of there alive. There are dead bodies everywhere, and to protect them, the end up stripping them and putting them into a pile, and burning them, trying to take the dog tags of the dead with them as they’re going. Crazy, right? I love how I was able to see the characters grow from nervous teenagers to hardened young men, through the fight. They really changed, and not always in a good way. Definitely check this book out if you get the change, it’s an awesome read.

Thanks for reading.
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