This is one of those books that has a terrible description on Amazon and Goodreads. They both call it “haunting.” Amazon says it’s a “story of people finding ways to go on, in an ever-evolving world.” Goodreads says it’s “about coming of age during extraordinary times.” Pardon me if I’m being obtuse, but isn’t every fiction book about people finding ways to go on, in some way or another? If someone hands you a YA book and says it’s about coming of age in an […]
“But some men should be marked. I’m fit for that task. And I don’t feel bad…”
The Female of the Species is another fantastic book from the fantastic Mindy McGinnis. She wrote the dystopian Not a Drop to Drink (Also its follow-up In a Handful of Dust, which I haven’t read yet) and the historical A Madness So Discreet. Her latest book is completely different, a contemporary novel. Alex’s older sister Anna was kidnapped and brutally murdered. They didn’t punish the man who killed her. Alex took it upon herself to punish him. Nobody knows it was her. There is a […]
This is how you do young adult fiction.
Dammit, I knew I should have written this review when I first finished the book, but I decided to push it off because it seemed too hard to try and sum up all my feeeeelings, but joke’s on me, now it’s even harder! Sherman Alexie has been one of my favorite writers since I was in college and one of my English comp teachers made us watch Smoke Signals, which is based off Alexie’s short story, “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” and […]
Stay alive til this horror show is past
This book was great fun! I’d seen it recommended from several other Cannonballers and I think narfna described it as Buffy meets Pride & Prejudice. Not that I’d ever pass up a narfna recommendation but that description was enough to make me request it from the library as soon as possible. Dark Days Club introduces us to Lady Helen Wrexhall, who has just turned 18 and is ready to be presented to society. Her parents both died when she was a child, so she’s been […]
“The world is full of happy people, but no one ever hears of them.”
There’s a certain genre of books for young girls that all follow the same formula. The protagonist has a childhood marked by deprivation, poverty, and hardships, but somehow still maintains an upbeat disposition and inner strength. She grows up (these girls are usually plain growing up, but later blossom into great beauties), finds incredible success in her chosen field, and eventually reaches a point where she no longer has to worry about money, or much of anything really. Her success may be partially attributed to […]
One voice with the burden of representing many in the mainstream YA landscape
I’m going to keep this simple: as much as it was the case with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian I don’t have it in me to *critique* If I Was Your Girl on the same level as I would a more … normative … book. It’s is very simple, mostly very pleasant, with Amanda, a milquetoast, blank-slate protagonist who wants nothing more than to be liked, to fit in, to have friends, to be confident, to be safe, and to be […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- …
- 184
- Next Page »