Review: The Apple Tart of Hope

Author: Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

Started reading: August 22nd 2022

Finished the book: August 23rd 2022

Pages: 201

Genres: YA, Fiction

Published: June 5th 2014

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.88

My score:

Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old Oscar Dunleavy is missing, presumed dead. His bike was found at sea, out past the end of the pier, and everyone in town seems to have accepted this as a teenage tragedy. But Oscar's best friend Meg knows he isn't dead. Oscar is an optimistic and kind boy who bakes the world's best apple tarts; he would never kill himself, and Meg is going to prove it.

Through interwoven narratives, the reader learns what really happened to Oscar. His sweet life had turned sour after Meg's family moved away. Though Meg didn't know it, Oscar had a manipulative bully plaguing him with toxic humiliation. Meg must confront the painful truth of Oscar's past six months—and the possibility that he might really be gone. Surrounded by grief and confusion, she starts to put the pieces back together. With a poignant ending and memorable characters, this story of love and friendship reminds us to keep hope in our hearts.

Two WWII Reviews: Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation & The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

 

I'm waaay behind on reviews, so I decided to review these two WWII books together and put my reviews for them in one post.

Both books that definitely distressing. 

Let's dive right in!

Review: Rose Petal Graves (The Lost Clan #1)

Author: Olivia Wildenstein

Started reading: May 23rd 2022

Finished the book: June 8th 2022

Pages: 368

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: March 29th 2017

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads score: 3.75

My score:

Synopsis

I wasn't the type of girl who believed in fairytales, much less tales about faeries, but that changed the day the fae walked into my life.

Staying away from my lakeside hometown was the plan, but Mom died suddenly. Dad said she suffered a stroke after she dug up one of the ancient Native American graves in our backyard. Creepy, I know. Creepier still, there was no corpse inside the old coffin, only fresh rose petals. As we made preparations for her burial, unnervingly odd and beautiful newcomers poured into my small town. A coroner with emerald eyes and black hair, much too young for the job. An arrogant blond socialite, who lived to get under my skin. And a tattooed Native man, who wasn’t supposed to be alive. By dying, my mother had inadvertently revived an age-old feud between the fae and the tribe that hunted them. A feud that was about to tear my world apart.

Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Started reading: May 4th 2022

Finished the book: May 26th 2022

Pages: 541

Genres: YA, Dystopian

Published: May 19th 2020

Source: Bookbox

Goodreads score: 3.82

My score:

Synopsis

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Review: Fire & Heist

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Started reading: April 16th 2022

Finished the book: April 29th 2022

Pages: 290

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: December 4th 2018

Source: Fairyloot

Goodreads score: 3.43

My score:

Synopsis

Leading your first heist is a major milestone in Sky Hawkin’s family—even more so than learning to talk, walk, or do long division. It’s a chance to gain power and acceptance within society. But stealing your first treasure can be complicated—especially when you’re a wyvern, a human capable of transforming into a dragon. Embarking on a life of crime is never easy, and Sky’s mission uncovers deep secrets about the mother who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family’s wealth and rank in their community. With a handpicked crew by her side, Sky knows she has everything she needs to complete her first heist—and get back the people she loves in the process. But instead, she ends up discovering a dark truth about were-dragon society—a truth that is more valuable and dangerous than gold or jewels could ever be.

Review: Of Tainted Heart (The Quatrefoil Chronicles #2)

Author: Olivia Wildenstein & Katie Hayoz

Started reading: March 27th 2022

Finished the book: April 26th 2022

Pages: 430 / 13:24:00

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: July 29th 2021

Source: Audible

Goodreads score: 4.48

My score:

Synopsis

SLATE
Somehow, we survived. It was supposed to be over. No more curses. No more magic. Just a calm, little life in Brume. For the first time ever, I’m ready for calm. So. Damn. Ready. Just so happens that the girl I love doesn’t like to leave things unfinished. Fine. So our little crew will assemble the Quatrefoil and bring magic back to the world. We’ve already faced death. This can’t be worse.
Or can it?

CADENCE I could have let things be. Maybe I should have let things be. My crew is alive. Slate is by my side. And life is returning to normal. Except the university is a giant pile of rubble. Papa is still stuck in a wheelchair. And a girl is dead. If magic can change all that, I want to try one last time to bring it back.
Hopefully, I won’t regret it.

Review: Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1)

Author: Christopher Paolini

Started reading: September 12th 2021

Finished the book: December 8th 2021

Pages: 503

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: August 26th 2003

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.92

My score:

Synopsis

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.
Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Review: What She Found in the Woods

Author: Josephine Angelini

Started reading: July 29th 2021

Finished the book: July 30th 2021

Pages: 400

Genres: YA, Mystery, Thriller

Published: December 1st 2020

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads score: 3.96

My score:

Synopsis

This is Magda's last chance. Recovering from a scandal at her elite New York City private school that threw life into a tailspin, she is shipped off to live with her grandparents in the Pacific Northwest for the summer.
Medicated and uninspired, Magda spends her days in a fog wandering the forest behind the house. But then she stumbles upon Bo. He's wild and free, and he can see the real her. Magda starts believing she might be able to move on from her past and feel something again.

But there's more to this sleepy town than she thought. And what Magda finds in the woods near Bo's forest home is the beginning of a whole new nightmare...

Review: Out of My Mind

Author: Sharon M. Draper

Started reading: May 29th 2021

Finished the book: June 6th 2021

Pages: 295

Genres: YA, Realistic Fiction

Published: March 9th 2010

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.37

My score:

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk.

She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever.

At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.

Review: War Storm (Red Queen #4)

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Started reading: March 31st 2021

Finished the book: May 8th 2021

Pages: 662

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: May 15th 2018

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.88

My score:

Synopsis

Mare Barrow learned this all too well when Cal’s betrayal nearly destroyed her. Now determined to protect her heart—and secure freedom for Reds and newbloods like her—Mare resolves to overthrow the kingdom of Norta once and for all… starting with the crown on Maven’s head.

But no battle is won alone, and before the Reds may rise as one, Mare must side with the boy who broke her heart in order to defeat the boy who almost broke her. Cal’s powerful Silver allies, alongside Mare and the Scarlet Guard, prove a formidable force. But Maven is driven by an obsession so deep, he will stop at nothing to have Mare as his own again, even if it means demolishing everything—and everyone—in his path.

War is coming, and all Mare has fought for hangs in the balance. Will victory be enough to topple the Silver kingdoms? Or will the little lightning girl be forever silenced?

Review: Of Wicked Blood (The Quatrefoil Chronicles #1)

Author: Olivia Wildenstein & Katie Hayoz

Started reading: March 15th 2021

Finished the book: April 15th 2021

Pages: 434 / 14:41:00

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: February 2nd 2021

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads score: 4.18

My score:

Synopsis

No rest for the wicked... or the cursed.

SLATE
I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt. Scratch that, I did mean to steal it. Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses. If any of us fail, I’m dead. I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now. The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.

CADENCE
I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft. Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right? Wrong. The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster. But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me. Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without. Something I will fight for, no matter the cost. *Warning: profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind).

Review: Morning Star (Red Rising Saga, #3)

Author: Pierce Brown

Started reading: January 13th 2021

Finished the book: April 10th 2021

Pages: 524

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, YA

Published: February 19th 2016

Source: Ebook

Goodreads score: 4.48

My score:

Synopsis

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.

Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender.

Review: Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #3)

Author: Jenny Han

Started reading: February 6th 2021

Finished the book: March 2nd 2021

Pages: 325

Genres: Romance, YA

Published: May 2nd 2017

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.10

My score:

Synopsis

Lara Jean is having the best senior year. And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends.Life couldn’t be more perfect!

At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks... Until she gets some unexpected news. Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

Review: Kids of Appetite

Author: David Arnold

Started reading: January 28th 2021

Finished the book: February 24th 2021

Pages: 352

Genres: YA, Contemporary

Published: September 20th 2016

Source: Bookbox

Goodreads score: 4.01

My score:

Synopsis

Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell. It begins with the death of Vic’s father. It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle. The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it. But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between.

This is a story about:

1. A coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey. 2. The momentous nature of the Palisades in winter. 3. One dormant submarine. 4. Two songs about flowers. 5. Being cool in the traditional sense. 6. Sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards. 7. Simultaneous extreme opposites. 8. A narrow escape from a war-torn country. 9. A story collector. 10. How to listen to someone who does not talk. 11. Falling in love with a painting. 12. Falling in love with a song. 13. Falling in love.

Review: The Unadjusteds (The Unadjusteds #1)

Author: Marisa Noelle

Started reading: January 2nd 2021

Finished the book: January 10th 2021

Pages: 414

Genres: YA, Science Fiction

Published: November 1st 2019

Source: Digital copy from the author

Goodreads score: 4.26

My score:

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Silver Melody lives in a world where 80% of the population has modified their DNA. Known as the altereds, those people now possess enhancements like wings, tails, and increased strength or intelligence. Although Silver’s parents created the nanite pill used to deliver these genetic modifications, Silver is proud of her unadjusted state.

However, when the president declares all unadjusteds must take a nanite, Silver has no choice but to flee the city with her father and some friends to prevent the extinction of the unadjusteds.

With Silver’s mother in prison for treason, Silver’s father is the unadjusteds’ only hope at finding a cure. But time is running out as Silver’s father is captured by the president’s almost immortal army. Vicious hellhounds are on Silver’s trail, and her only chance to recover her father involves teaming up with a new group of unlikely friends before all humanity is lost.

Review: P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #2)

Author: Jenny Han

Started reading: December 25th 2020

Finished the book: December 28th 2020

Pages: 337

Genres: YA, Romance

Published: May 26th 2015

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.10

My score:

Synopsis

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

Review: Golden Son (Red Rising Saga #2)

Author: Pierce Brown

Started reading: October 27t 2020

Finished the book: December 13th 2020

Pages: 430

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, YA

Published: January 6th 2015

Source: E-book

Goodreads score: 4.44

My score:

Synopsis

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

Review (re-read): To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1)

Author: Jenny Han

Started reading: October 21st 2020

Finished the book: November 22nd 2020

Pages: 421

Genres: YA, Romance

Published: August 7th 2014

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.15

My score:

Synopsis

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed.

But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh.

As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

Review: Red Rising (Red Rising Saga #1)

Author: Pierce Brown

Started reading: August 24th 2020

Finished the book: October 1st 2020

Pages: 382

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: January 28th 2014

Source: Ebook

Goodreads score: 4.25

My score:

Synopsis

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power.

Review: Perfect (Pretty Little Liars #3)

Author: Sara Shepard

Started reading: September 13th 2020

Finished the book: September 27th 2020

Pages: 276

Genres: YA, Mystery

Published: September 1st 2007

Source: Books2Door

Goodreads score: 3.99

My score:

Synopsis

IN ROSEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, FOUR PERFECT-LOOKING GIRLS AREN'T NEARLY AS PERFECT AS THEY SEEM.

Aria can't resist her forbidden ex. Hanna is on the verge of losing her BFF. Emily is freaking out over a simple kiss. And Spencer can't keep her hands off anything that belongs to her sister.

Lucky me. I know these pretty little liars better than they know themselves. But it's hard keeping all of their secrets to myself. They better do as I say... or else!