Every three months, I make goals for myself. I make personal goals, writing goals, and reading goals. One goal I had for myself for the first quarter of 2018 was to begin writing book reviews. That...didn’t go so well. I wrote one review on The Savior’s Champion by Jenna Moreci, which you can find in full on my GoodReads here. However, I’ve read a lot of books during the first quarter of 2018, and I wanted to weigh in my thoughts on them--so what better way than a blog post? Every quarter I’m going to be posting reviews of the books I’ve read during that part of the year. You can find my thoughts on all of these books on Instagram as well.
So, without further ado, here’s everything I read from January 2018 - March 2018.
Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
One line summary: A girl goes through the BREAKS as she grows up in the life of a geisha during WWII-era Japan.
Rating: *****
I picked this book up because I was at a used bookstore that had pretty much nothing interesting to me, and my coworker shoved it in my hands and said you HAVE to read this! I wasn’t super keen on reading a historical fiction book about geishas...but oh my gosh I’m glad I did. This book was fascinating--and to be honest I’m not even sure why. It has a slow, poetic writing style, which normally would bore me. It’s also huge and has really small font, which usually drives me crazy. But I was so invested in this book. The culture is unlike anything I’ve ever read about, and I feel like I learned a lot. There were twists and turns, and I loved the main character through all of it. I feel like I really watched her grow up. Some of it was hard to read, I’ll admit, but it was heartbreaking in a good way. I gave this book five stars because I felt that it was written beautifully, with fascinating characters, an engrossing plot, and a fully-fleshed out world. My only criticism is that it is a book written about a young Japanese girl growing up as a geisha...but it was written by a white American man. This is not an #ownvoices book, but according to my research, Golden really did his work. So you determine how you feel about that.
Genre: Middle Grades Science Fiction/Fantasy
One line summary: A girl, her brother, and a random boy she met in the woods go on a cosmic adventure in search of her father.
Rating: ****
An adorable book! I read this book because I wanted to see it before the film came out. Honestly, the movie trailer really sold me on reading this book, although it seems like the movie will be a lot more in-depth than the book is. I liked it, it was an easy read and had a nostalgic feel for the books I read when I was a kid. However, I don’t feel that it went in-depth enough. It scratched the surface at something. It was quirky and cute, but didn’t leave me changed in any significant way. Overall, I gave it four stars since it was still a pretty good read.
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
One line summary: A closeted gay teen starts an online romance with another boy at his school--but they don't know each others' true identities.
Rating: *****
I loved this book! It reminded me of A Cinderella Story--the one with Hillary Duff--except with two gay teens which definitely raises the stakes. These kids felt so believable too. The teens of modern YA aren’t like the teens of the YA when I was in high school (as they shouldn't be). These characters felt like they really were modern high school students. They were witty and cool, they were curious and emotional. I thoroughly enjoyed the world and characters that Albertalli created in this book. It is a much needed fluffy romance book for LGBTQIA+ teens. I recommend this book to everyone!
Genre: Middle Grades Horror/Fantasy
One line summary: A monster comes to a boy in the night to tell him cryptic stories...but the boy has other horrors to worry about.
Rating: *****
This book was 100% not what I thought it was going to be. My brother purchased this book for me for Christmas, and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it. It was a thin book with illustrations, so I picked it up as a quick read. Oh, boy. I didn’t realize I’d be an emotional wreck afterwards. I actually broke down in tears, which hasn't happened to me in a long time! This book is raw and powerful. In the beginning, I was a tad confused. It comes on strong with the monster imagery and then we learn that the main character's mother suffers from cancer. I thought I knew what this book would be at that point. But no. I didn’t. Not at all. The message is powerful and unexpected. Plus, the illustrations in my edition were breath-taking. I gave this book five stars!
Genre: Comic? Picture book? Who the heck knows. Humor.
One line summary: Jomny the alien is sent to study humans, but finds other silly creatures instead.
Rating: *****
THIS BOOK. READ IT. It’s beautiful and amazing. I follow Jomny Sun on Twitter, and it’s one of the most delightful accounts I’ve come across. When he released a book, I knew I wanted to read it. My coworker lent this to me and I think I finished it in twenty minutes. You can literally read it at the bookstore if you wanted (don’t though, pls support Jomny). It’s a cute little story about an alien who comes to earth to study humans, but can’t find any. The story is much more, though. It’s deep but also silly. It’s seriously so worth the read! And the re-read. And the re-re-read….
Genre: YA Science Fiction
One line summary: A dossier file detailing a young hacker's mission to save her people from an enemy warship, a horrific disease (zombies, basically), and an AI with a god complex.
Rating: *****
This is a bookstagram recommendation! I added this to my GR after hearing everyone rave about it on booksta, and my brother bought it for me for Christmas. I didn’t realize what the format was like until I began the story. I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish this book at first. The dossier format really wasn’t my thing and there was 600 pages of it...but I quickly fell in love with Kady and Ezra and their story. It was somehow so riveting despite the format. I flew through it, and I really love the twists it took. The plot twist was...ho, boy. I was shook. It actually made me yell. It righted itself in the end, but I’m not sure I’m emotionally recovered just yet.
Genre: YA Horror SciFi
One line summary: They tried to make my fave show into a novel but failed miserably.
Rating: **
This book was a DNF for me. I skimmed the last third of the book to see what happened, and I like it even less knowing the ending. I picked up this book because I loved the BBC show Class which was tragically cancelled (*shakes fist*). The show is phenomenal, and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes teen drama and SciFi! It is a spinoff of Doctor Who which isn’t my thing, but Class is wonderful. I thought I would try the novelizations that they released after the cancellation...but this definitely did not live up to the show. For one, if I hadn’t seen the show I would have no idea what was going on in the book. The characters and world wasn’t set up or described at all. Luckily, I did see the BBC series, so I had some basis for it all...except some things got lost in translation. The characters acted in ways that didn’t feel true to their TV personas. They were like strangers and felt under-developed the whole time. I wasn’t invested in them or their stories at all, despite having loved the show. I gave up on this book.
Genre: Graphic novel
One line summary: Did a popular fashion blogger murder her new friend? Or is she just really that high...?
Rating:****
I picked up the first volume because O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim novels are some of my all-time favorites! This book doesn’t quite live up to that, but it is definitely intriguing. I loved Snotgirl’s character, but mean girls are my favorite trope. I can see why others might not appreciate her. Her story was really interesting, but also a little bit confusing. It also felt a little incomplete. I know there are more issues coming, but I felt as a volume it should have felt more finished. I’m still very confused as to what is happening in her story. Is she having visions? Is that girl dead or not? What’s really going on? I still have a lot of questions, which is why I gave it four stars. Overall, it was really fun, beautifully drawn, and definitely interesting!
Genre: Middle Grades Contemporary
One line summary: Quirky Stargirl moves to town and turns everyone's world upside down.
Rating: ***
I read Stargirl because I was handing it out to my students at work and I wanted to see what I was giving them. I think it’s a great story for middle grades students to read! It was interesting and the pacing felt fast even though not much really happened. The dynamic of the main character and Stargirl was very fascinating and well-developed. However, I only gave it three stars because it left a little to be desired. This is perhaps because I am an older reader who is used to more complete stories, but this didn’t feel satisfying. I felt that it only scratched the surface at something but didn’t truly get there. I’m not entirely sure what the message of this book is, though I have an idea. It was really cute and I’ll continue to recommend it to my middle school students, but I think I am perhaps a little old for this book.
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
One line summary: A girl's ex-best friend commits suicide but some things don't really add up.
Rating: ***
I am SO. CONFLICTED. ABOUT THIS BOOK. I picked this book up purely because of the synopsis and title. It seemed to intriguing. I thought it had the potential to be really deep and explore mental illness or teen frustrations really well. However, this book didn’t deliver. It wasn’t the book I thought it was going to be. It was a thriller/mystery, when I thought it would be a discussion on mental illness and suicide. I am conflicted because I was really invested in the story--I literally got on the wrong bus twice because I was so buried in this book on my way home from work one day. But by the end I thought it took some weird turns and I didn’t like the way it concluded. I was sucked in, but I didn’t actually like what was happening when I started to think about it. I personally feel the author made some poor choices when this book could have been really great. Three stars since it was a riveting story, but didn’t end so well.
11. The Savior’s Champion by Jenna Moreci
Genre: Adult Fantasy Adventure Romance
One line summary: Tobias is competing in a deadly tournament to win his realm's magical queen's hand in marriage...except my boy accidentally falls for her sister instead.
Rating: *****
One of my favorites on this list. I have been following Moreci’s YouTube channel for a while, and as I learned about this book it seemed like something right up my alley. I had high hopes for it, even after her first book Eve: the Awakening disappointed me a little. I joined her street team and was sent an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was really worried that I wouldn’t like it, and I would have to slog through the whole enormous book. It didn’t feel as big as it was, though, because it was so riveting. I seriously fell in love with the main character, Tobias, as well as many of the other characters. Even though I guessed the plot twist dumb early, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. I kept seeing clues and feeling like I figured it out--then needing to know if I was right. It’s interesting because many others who have read it figured out the plot twist at different stages. The plot twist is a puzzle to be solved. You get the clues literally so early on--the prologue if you really think about it. But everyone puts the pieces together at different times. When will you figure it out?
Genre: YA Contemporary
One line summary: After an incident where he was unfairly brutalized by white cops, Justyce begins writing letters to Dr. King about how racism has become a new beast in 21st century America.
Rating: *****
My other favorite on this list. This is a book that I’ve been recommending to everyone. It is a really important look at police brutality and race relations in our society. It’s honest about how racism is still alive and well in our society, and how complicated the issues really are. It was hard to read at some points, but I also see my own students going through some of the same things as the main character here. It breaks your heart, but it also educates you. Plus, it’s just a really good, fast-paced story. And the romantic subplot is SO. CUTE.
Genre: YA Fantasy
One line summary: A bunch of purple prose about a girl looking for her sister at a carnival thing that might be more dangerous than it seems (except it's really not).
Rating: **
This book really disappointed me. I was excited to read it because bookstagram seems to love it...but I felt that it really left a lot to be desired. It started out with a good premise and poetic writing, but I quickly started to grow annoyed. The writing is too flowery, too much purple prose that just distracts from the boring storyline. I also hated all of the characters. The main character, Scarlett, is pretty annoying, and even though she is in search of her sister, I’m not invested as a reader in finding her sister with her. Scarlett's sister doesn’t seem to want to be found. Plus, the love interest is a terrible guy. He is really mean to Scarlett (he continuously calls her the wrong name, for one. Like that's not cute? IDGI). When we were first introduced to him he was hooking up with her sister. He uses Scarlett at every opportunity and by the end...let’s just say the way the author tries to make up for all of that is such a cop-out. I won’t be continuing this series.
So there you have my thoughts on my first quarter reads! I read some AMAZING books, even if a couple turned out to be duds. Every book's GoodReads page is linked in the title, so check them out if they seem interesting to you!
Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading.
Peace out,
Grace K.
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