WWW Wednesday: March 29 2017

Hey guys! It’s been a month since I did one of these so I thought I’d update you on what I’m reading. 

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Samantha @ Taking On a World of Words where you answer the following questions: 

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

My main read right now is my ARC copy of Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner. I’m a little over halfway through and I’ll just leave you with this gif, it accurately portrays my feelings on this book: 

PAIN.

I most recently finished Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. I liked it, but it’s probably best suited for people who want to learn about Norse mythology and who didn’t grow up with these stories. Neil Gaiman hasn’t added anything new to the myths (which is fine!), he just retells them, so it’ll work perfectly for those who want easy access to the stories. They’re a lot of fun, I’d definitely recommend it. In short: Thor is kind of an idiot and Loki is a slippery SOB.

AND THEN I FINISHED THE RAVEN CYCLE. [insert another crying
gif] I have a lot of feelings. A lot. The Raven King isn’t quite as good as the previous three, but come on, who cares. All in all this series gets a 5/5 from me. I want more. Now.

 

 

 

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I don’t know yet. I think I might go on to History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera, because I’m sure after I finish Goodbye Days I’ll want to cry some more… Other than that I’m planning on finishing that Norwegian zombie trilogy (I morgen er alt mørkt #3) I’ve written about in wrap-ups before. 

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Have you read any of these? What are you currently reading? 

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Beautiful and important: George by Alex Gino [REVIEW]

Title: George
Author: Alex Gino
First published in August 2015
Tags: Middle Grade, Contemporary, LGBTQIA (T)
Source: Storytel (audiobook app)
Rating:

“When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl.

George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her (4th grade) teacher announces their class play is going to be “Charlotte’s Web.” George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part …because she’s a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte – but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.”

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“Mom, what if I’m a girl?”

A mini-review for a mini-book. It’s short and sweet and definitely worth picking up because oh my god, this book is so lovely. I adored it to pieces. I listened to it on audio, and it was such a pleasant experience. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Devoured in one sitting

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Today’s theme is a “Read In One Sitting Theme: ten of the shortest books I’ve read, top ten books I read in one sitting, ten books to read when you are short on time, top ten books that will make you read the whole day away, etc.”. I went with books I read in one sitting, or mostly one sitting. I won’t be including graphic novels or any type of cartoon or manga. 

The list goes from most recent read to the least recent. 

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Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

This book straddles the line between middle grade and young adult, so it’s easy to read, plus it’s pretty short (just under 200 pages). That makes it an easy book to read if you have some extra time one day. I really recommend it, it will hit you right in the emotions. 

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The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

This is a quick and easy read with both humor and seriousness. I loved the spin on the Chosen One trope and I imagined all the “indie kids” as the cast of The Vampire Diaries.

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Most of us want to forget this exists, but at least it was quick to read?

Another effed up tale: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas [REVIEW]

Title: Dangerous Boys
Author: Abigail Haas
First published in August 2014
Tags: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller 
Source: Purchased
Rating:

It all comes down to this. Oliver, Ethan, and I. Three teens venture into an abandoned lake house one night. Hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding. The other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder…? Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece the story together – a story of jealousy, twisted passion and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful faces…

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Okay, so last year I read Abigail Haas’ Dangerous Girls. It was one of my favorite reads of the year and I knew I had to get my hand on this one again. I have a thing for stories about messed up teens that mess with your head. The two books are not connected whatsoever despite their similar titles, the only common ground is the fact that they’re both thriller novels about teens where someone’s dead but we don’t know why or how. 

We have the narrator Chloe, who’s just graduated and dreams of getting out of the town and go to college like all her friends. However, her mother suffers from severe depression (which was written very well, I thought) and Chloe realizes she has no choice but to stay home and take care of her. Enter Ethan, a sweet and handsome boy she quickly becomes attracted to. They start dating. And then, enter Ethan’s older brother, Oliver. He’s  what you could call a typical “bad boy,” who seduces and gets under your skin even though he’s a giant jackass. Pretty sure Oliver is a sociopath. 

What we know from the beginning is that Chloe’s pulling one brother out of a burning lake house, while the other one is left to die inside. Now, why were they at the house? Which brother’s dead? Was it an accident or was it murder? 

A+ characters, C+ plot: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray [REVIEW]

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Series: Gemma Doyle #1
First published in December 2003
Tags: Young Adult, Historial Fiction, Fantasy
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository | B&N
Source: Library
Rating:

A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy—jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.

Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions “for a bit of fun” and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the “others” and rebuild the Order.

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I’d heard a lot of good things about this, but it didn’t quite reach me even though it was good. 

So this is a young adult series from before YA was cool, i.e. before Twilight. Nice. It’s set in the Victorian era (although it’s probably not the most historically accurate book ever) in an all girl’s school. The atmosphere is kind of gothic, which I enjoyed. 

We meet Gemma, who grew up in India but after her mother’s death (which she foresaw in a mysterious vision) is sent to England to go to school. There she meets three girls; Felicity, Pippa, and the outcast Anne, and together they stumble into a world of magic and powers. 

February 2017 Wrap-Up

This month was yet another good reading month. I think it’s a good idea to start the year strong, that way I can afford some slumps later. 

The titles take you to the book’s Goodreads page or my review if I have one. 

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George
by Alex Gino

This is a middle grade book about a trans girl named George who’s dying to play Charlotte in the school’s production of Charlotte’s Web. I listened to this on audio, and it was wonderful. I love that George knows all along who she is and that she’s trans, it’s just a matter of getting other people to understand  that she’s a girl. 

5/5 stars

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Orbiting Jupiter
by Gary D. Schmidt

Oh man, open the flood gates. This is another short middle grade novel, but the themes are mature and this easily slides into young adult/teen territory. I won’t say much about what it’s about here, but you can read my review of the ARC if you’re interesting. It’s an incredibly emotional book that will leave you in a pile on the floor screaming WHYYYY. 

4.5/5 stars

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