Title: Let Me Hear A Rhyme
Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 384
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Year Published: 2019
Format: Audiobook
"Biggie Smalls was right. Things done changed. But that doesn't mean that Quadir and Jarrell are okay letting their best friend Steph's tracks lie forgotten in his bedroom after he's killed- not when his beats could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a celebration, not after years of having each other's backs.
Enlisting the help of Steph's younger sister, Jasmine, Quadir and Jarrell come up with a plan to promote Steph's music under a new rap name: The Architect. Soon, everyone in Brooklyn is dancing to Steph's voice. But then his mixtape catches the attention of a hotheaded music rep and- with just hours on the clock- the trio must race to prove Steph's talent from beyond the grave.
Now, as the pressure- and danger- of keeping their secret grows, Quardir, Jarrell, and Jasmin are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph's fame, together they need to decide what they stand for before they lose everything they've worked so hard to hold on to- including each other."
My Rating: 4/5
This is a book that has been recommended to viewers frequently by emmmabooks on Youtube and I wasn't too sure if it would be my cup of tea. Needless to say that it is extremely looked over and should have a way larger fan base than it does. This story really comes down to friendship and loyalty that transcends death. What would you do to make your best friends dreams come true, living or dead? I also think that the author did a great job of adding different plot points to keep the story moving (lying to a music exec, finding out who killed Steph, etc). I really enjoyed this book, and it was eye-opening to read about the 90s in Brooklyn. I'm interested in reading more works by the author and hope to get to them soon.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Paper Girls Vol. 2
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, Jared K. Fletcher
Series/Standalone: Paper Girls (Vol. 2)
Genre; Science Fiction, Graphic Novel, Adult
Pages: 128
Publisher: Image Comics
Year Published:2016
Format: Paperback (Library Copy)
"After surviving the strangest night of their lives in the Cleveland suburb of Stony Stream, intrepid young newspaper delivers Erin, Mac, and Tiffany find themselves launched from 1988 to a distant and terrifying future... the year 2016.
What would you do if you were suddenly confronted by your 12-year-old self? 40-year-old newspaper reporter Erin Tieng is about to find out in this action-packed story about identity, mortality, and growing older in the 21st century."
My Rating: 3.75/5
This one just didn't hit it as well as the first one did. I didn't find that the storyline was particularly interesting and I also thought that the plot dragged a bit in comparison. That being said I'm still interested in the storyline and where the plot is going. I do wonder what year we are currently in and I can only presume that it is more futuristic than 2016 based on the final panel. I also hope that we get to know the girls a bit more since they are depending so strongly on each other to make it through.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Series/Standalone: The Conqueror's Saga (Book #1)
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 475
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year Published: 2016
Format: Audiobook
"No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwly likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes the targets.
Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs for a place where he feels safe and when they meet Mechmed, the defiant and lonely song of the sultan, Radu feels that he's made a true friend- and Lada wonders if she's finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But Mechmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against- and that Radu now considers home. Together Lada, Radu and Mechmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point."
My Rating: 2.5/5
I had such high fucking hopes for this in the beginning. I loved seeing Lada as a child and how feisty and fiery she was. Didn't love that she was super mean to her brother but could understand why she was annoyed by his weakness when she was stronger as a girl and less appreciated. That being said the more the story went on the more we strayed from the path of badass. First off al by 4 hours in I thought that there was probably nowhere else for this story to go. And by the end, I just kinda didn't understand the choices for where to wrap things up. Also, there were just too many side characters I didn't care about. Yes, they all played some kind of role but there were just too many things going on. Things I didn't care about.
Now, will I continue the series, no I don't think that I will? I'm going to look at reviews and see if people thought that the series got better by a landslide, but even then, I just don't think I care enough.
On a positive note, I really liked Lada's badass moments when she had them and her unwillingness to bend to her "role as a woman" for the time period.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: The Lost Sisters
Author: Holly Black
Series/Standalone: The Folk of the Air (Book 1.5)
Genre: Novella, Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 50
Publisher: NOVL
Year Published: 2018
Format: Audiobook
"When Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke.
Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.
The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince by master writer Holly Black."
My Rating: 3.5/5
This is such a great novella. I always seem to love them more when I don't even care that much about the main story. What I will say is that I don't agree with anything that Taryn has done but at least we are better able to understand why she has done something. I'm super concerned about where this series is going to take Taryn and Locke. I'm curious but worried.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Ramona Blue
Author: Julie Murphy
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Pages: 408
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year Published: 2017
Format: Audiobook
"Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever.
Since then, it's been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she's fiercely devoted to her family and she knows she's destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family. Now, with her sister, Hattie, pregnant, responsibility weighs more heavily than ever.
The return of her childhood friend Freddie brings a welcome distraction. Ramona's friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where it left off, and soon he's talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. But as Ramona falls in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift too, which is the last thing she expected. With her growing affection for Freddie making her question her sexual identity, Ramona begins to wonder if perhaps she likes girls and guys or if this new attraction is just a fluke. Either way, Ramona will discover that, for her, life and love are more fluid than they seem."
My Rating: 4/5
This story is so much more than the description. At its core, I found it to be a coming of age story and then the story of sexual fluidity. Not that I know anything about the secondary topic. I thought it was hard to read at some points to watch Ramona go through the emotional struggles of relationships with everyone in her life. Here is what really threw me off about this story. In the opening description, we are told that Ramona is 6'3 and that just threw me. Every time she had physical contact with people it's all I could picture. On another note, her extreme loyalty to her sister is just amazing, maybe not completely healthy but admirable at points.
The setting was also one that I enjoyed. I think hearing the accents and the way people reacted to certain events was so vivid to me.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Get Over Yourself
Author: Jeremy Whitley
Artist: Emily Martin
Series/Standalone: Princeless Series (Vol. 2)
Pages: 122
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment Inc.
Year Published: 2013
Format: Paperback (Library Copy)
"A new collection of the adventures of everyone's favourite runaway princess, the incomparable Adrienne. This time she's out to rescue her older sister Angelica, the most beautiful princess in the world. It won't be easy though. Not only does Adrienne have to deal with Angelica's legions of admirers and their sibling rivalry, but the King has hired a band of ruthless mercenaries to track her down. Can she save Angelica? Does she want to? And how will she deal with these deadly knights who are after her head?"
My Rating: 4/5
This was such a cute read. I really enjoyed the plot points and the development of our two main characters. I also was excited to see that there was some world-building going on. We got to see some of King Ash's background and why he might be the way he is. I also enjoyed seeing another sister and hearing about how different they were. We are going to see so many of Adrienne's siblings and I just can't wait. Also, this Black Knight and Elves plot could get interesting.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Series/Standalone: The Folk of the Air Series (Book #1)
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 370
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Year Published: 2018
Format: Hardcover Copy (Own it)
First Line: "On a drowsy Sunday afternoon, a man in a long dark coat hesitated in front of a house on a tree-lined street."
"Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Teen years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him- and face the consequences.
As Jude comes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself."
My Rating: 3.5/5
I'd like to start this off by saying that I'm using a new rating system that helps me determine the rating that I give a book. It is pretty much CAWPILE used by Bookroast on youtube but instead of putting 10 stars into the system I'm only putting 5 stars into it because that's what I prefer. So far I've found it fairly accurate. That's one of my 2020 reading goals to look more carefully at what I'm rating things and why they are getting ratings.
On another note here is why this book got this rating. I really enjoyed the characters I thought they were interesting and unique. I loved that aspect of the story. I didn't love Jude's perspective but it was an interesting one to read from. The atmosphere was ok. I was interested in it. Here is the part that really brought it down for me. I didn't really enjoy Holly Black's writing style. It felt to slow for the vast majority of the book. For some reason, it also put me to sleep. I'd read 20 pages and be zonked for the night.
Overall I think that it was pretty good, not great. Kinda just ok. This might be due to the hype around the series. I'm hoping that as I continue on I'll begin to enjoy it more. Only time will tell!
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Book Roast URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsIJyv-pQSrKP4Ogj6WYIdg
Title: Supernova
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series/Standalone: Renegades Series (Book #3)
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 552
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Year Published: 2019
Format: Audiobook
"All's fair in love and anarchy...
The epic conclusion to Marissa Meyer's thrilling Renegades Trilogy finds Nova and Adrian fighting to keep their identities secret. While the battle rages on between their alter egos and their allies, there is a darker threat shrouding Gatlon City.
The Renegades' worst enemy is back among them, threatening to reclaim Gatlon City. Nova and Adrian must brave lies and betrayal to protect those they love. Their greatest fears are about to come to life and unless they can bridge the divide between heroes and villains, they stand to lose everything. Including each other.
Intrigue and action will leave readers on edge until the final shocking secrets are revealed."
My Rating: 2.75/5
This book was doing so well for me in the first half and then after that, I was just upset by how corny things were turning out. I sometimes wish that YA authors wouldn't go for the happy ending. Like I feel like some of the things that happened were ruined by the fact that they were almost immediately fixed or remedied. It was frustrating to watch. Something that really saved some of this series for me was the side characters. Specifically Simon/Dreadwarden and Oscar. I also really enjoyed Honey more than I should have. The final twist also impressed me so I had to bump this up a little bit from my original rating of 2.5.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
