Young Adult – Page 49 – Cannonball Read 17

This could have been so much better.

Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1) by Kendare Blake

January 23, 2020 by narfna Leave a Comment

As many reviewers have pointed out before me, this book has a great premise, but a lot of that is wasted on the execution of it. The degree to which you think it’s wasted varies in most of my friends’ reviews, but there does seem to be a consensus that wasted premise is the main problem. It also falls into several YA cliché-traps that I really wish it hadn’t, and just goes far enough in pushing the boundaries of the genre for it to be […]

“Kindness becomes a miracle.”

White Bird: a Wonder Story by R.J. Palacio

January 15, 2020 by cosbrarian Leave a Comment

Julian has a school project, to interview a family member for their biographical story. On a facetime chat, he talks his grandmother into sharing her childhood growing up in wartime France. Hesitantly, she agrees to, and not only to do that but to share parts of her story she hasn’t told before. For Julian and his grandmother are Jewish, and Sara (his grandmother) is nervous about how her history seems to be repeating. We meet her as a child along with her impressive parents: her […]

Shades of Gray

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

January 14, 2020 by Caesar's Wife 1 Comment

One Will Grayson is a teenage boy trapped under his self-imposed ‘rules’ of aloofness and the considerable shadow of his flamboyant and outspoken best friend. The other Will Grayson is a teenage boy trapped under the suffocating shadow of his clinical depression and closeted sexual orientation. Both are surviving but neither are thriving. Neither are fully engaging with life, love, and all the complexities that come with trusting people, showing vulnerability, or being authentic. Through a series of unfortunate and unlikely events, these two Will […]

I really need half stars on this one.

Sadie by Courtney Summers

January 13, 2020 by narfna Leave a Comment

Firstly, I’m nearly certain that I would have given this four stars unreservedly had I not done the audio version. YMMV, obviously, on all books. But here, the audio really pulled me out of the story. I’ll explain. So this book is about bad things that happen to girls, and it’s split into two parts that alternate every other chapter. The first is a fake podcast with a host who is trying to track down the missing 19 year old, Sadie Hunter, after a family […]

“There is nothing lonelier than fear.”

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

January 11, 2020 by narfna Leave a Comment

I gave myself two days to read this book, but I didn’t even need that. I started this book at 8:30 PM on Thursday night, and finished it about an hour after I got home from work on Friday. I just couldn’t stop reading it! I was compelled. If I would have been able to read it straight through like I wanted, I probably would have let my book high give this five stars, but it was broken up by sleep and work, so my […]

“Slick” sci-fi for the middle school set

Friendroid by M.M. Vaughan

January 5, 2020 by cosbrarian Leave a Comment

Danny Lazio doesn’t get along with kids. It’s not really his fault – his single mom does the best she can to provide, but his classmates still come down on him for it. Of course, it probably doesn’t help that he has a bit of a temper, but who can blame him when kids say he has fleas and his mom gets his clothes from the dumpster? It’s fine – having no friends just gives him more time to play his favorite game Land X, […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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