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Moldara #01: Secrets of Moldara

June 18, 2018 / 03 STARS, BEARHART MOLDARA

I went into this book blind and not really knowing what to expect. Sometimes, it is good to go into a book like this, and I had a feeling if I read reviews and talked to people who read this book, it would have tainted how I would feel about it.

The book took place in a small town in Virginia. The protagonist, Lotty, recently moved back to her childhood farm after her grandmother passes away. Since she has been back, she has started to remember things from when she was younger, like stories her grandfather told her before he mysteriously disappeared.

With these pieces of memory coming back to her, she starts to search for the missing puzzle pieces of her memory. With the help of some new friends, she uncovers some truths, but more questions unanswered.

The plot was a little slow for my taste, but it did pick up as the book went on. The world building was very slow as well, and thankfully not an information dump. I do like the world this was set up in, even though it read like a fantasy instead of a paranormal.

Side Note: Paranormals are set in our own world with magical elements. Fantasies are set up in an entirely new world. So when I say this kind of read like a fantasy, it means that it really didn’t feel as if it was set in “a small town in Virginia,” but in its own little world.

This book very much read like a romance to me with some mystery and paranormal/fantasy elements sprinkled in. I am not one that likes to read books with heavy romances; but, overall, I did enjoy the book and would love to read the second one when it comes out next month.

I do have to say that I did not feel as if I was reading from a seventeen-year-old’s point of view, but from someone older. This is something I see a lot of in young adult books, and I am not sure if this is just because in these types of settings, people are tougher and have to grow up more or if it is just because the protagonist is usually put through hell which makes them grow up faster. Either way, I did enjoy Lotty when I didn’t put an age with her.

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How I Rate Books:
All of my books start at three stars ★★★☆☆.
This is different than most because people usually start a book at five stars ★★★★★ and trickle it down from there. I believe this doesn’t actually leave room for a book to grow from my expectations. This leads to some five stars being on the same level as other five stars that I actually ended up enjoying more. Starting at three stars ★★★☆☆ leaves me room to have more control of my ratings.

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Brooklyn Brujas, #02: Bruja Born

June 7, 2018 / 03 STARS, CZORAIDA YA BROOKLYN BRUJAS

Bruja Born Book Cover Bruja Born
Brooklyn Brujas
Zoraida Cordova
Young Adult Fiction
Brooklyn Brujas
2018
EBook ARC
352

Still feeling broken after her family's battle in Los Lagos, Lula invokes a dark spell to bring her boyfriend and others back after a fatal bus crash, but unwittingly raises an army of hungry, half-dead casimuertos, instead.

This book is the ownvoices, and something you don’t see a lot of in the book world. If you are wanting something fresh, possibly a setting you may not be as familiar with and also stuff with supernatural things like vampires and zombies, look no further! Well, actually yes look a little further.. to book one and start there because this is book two. So look to book one and THEN look to this book!

This book was such a ride. I have to tell you, something I love about 2018 is the fact that a lot of books are coming out with the underlining story being something along the lines of a familial bond and how important they are and how self love is one of the most important things to being happy. The sister’s bond and strength in this book, Lula, Alex and Rose, is something that I really connected with. My sister and I are pretty close as well, and I always feel a strong pull to stories that have a focal on sisters.

I was a little put off by this being a sequel told in a different view, Lula instead of her sister Alex, but I slowly did come to enjoy the book. I did not connect to Lula well, and I am not actually sure why. I think it might have been more of the writing for me than the actual character. Some writing styles I can’t get on board with, which is nothing against the author at all. That only means that what doesn’t work for me, may REALLY work for you.

Lula’s journey to finding herself and loving who she finds is something every person, no matter your gender or race or age or orientation, should learn from. More books need to contain aspects of self love and the struggle to get to that point.

Something that I thought really was portrayed well, was the PTSD. The PTSD was translated to the reader really well, which is something I think is hard to do as an author. It is hard to take how one person reacts to something, and have it work for anyone who picks up your book and have them be inspired. If you read the snippet at the top, you see that Lula deals with a lot of deaths in this book. A lot of her friends and loved ones die in a crash and she can’t heal them even though healing is basically what she defines herself as.

Side Note: I also think that finding out that “even though you have a healing power, you can’t heal everything” is something that can be taken as a learning point to anyone. Like even for boring people like me who’s only super power is getting all cats to sit on my lap. I took it as “Even though you are a great listener, you can’t fix everyone’s problems,” which is something that I personally struggle with more than I should. Maybe it should also be “even though you have great skills at getting cats to love you, maybe don’t jump the fence at the zoo in hopes the tiger will cuddle with you”.

In conclusion, I do believe this is a series that young-teen readers should dive into. Not only does it touch on grief and PTSD, but it also shows you how important familial and self love are to be happy. Be aware though, there are some graphic scenes with self-harm, gore, deaths and … well a lot of death.
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My Name Is Victoria

May 6, 2018 / 03 STARS, YA LWORSLEY NOVELS

My Name Is Victoria Book Cover My Name Is Victoria
Lucy Worsley
Young Adult Fiction
Candlewick Press
May 8, 2018
EBook ARC
384

By turns thrilling, dramatic, and touching, this is the story of Queen Victoria's childhood as you've never heard it before. Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Her father is Sir John Conroy, confidant and financial advisor to Victoria's mother, and he has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess that he calls the Kensington System. It governs Princess Victoria's behavior and keeps her locked away from the world. Sir John says it's for the princess's safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it's to keep her lonely and unhappy. Torn between loyalty to her father and her growing friendship with the willful and passionate princess, Miss V has a decision to make: continue in silence or speak out. In an engaging, immersive tale, Lucy Worsley spins one of England's best-known periods into a fresh and surprising story that will delight both young readers of historical fiction and fans of the television show featuring Victoria.

Thank you to NetGallery for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Two girls named Victoria. One is the princess and is held under the thumb of Sir John Conroy, and the other is the companion of the princess placed there by her father to keep an eye on the princess. With the strict living arrangement, the girls find comfort in each other even though they are not completely satisfied with their lives.

I first want to state that this book comes out (again?) on 05/08 and if you like historical fiction books, this book will probably be right up your alley! I like some historical fiction, like The Infernal Devices, The Dark Days Club, and some others but I am not someone who goes out looking for historical fiction. I say that because I want you to go into my review knowing that I am not a big H-Fiction fan and this was written by someone who just thinks they are okay and not the best thing to happen to man-kind.

So, anyway, this book was dragging for me. I am not sure if it was because there wasn’t a lot of action and that the plot was lacking some for me, but for some reason I found myself enjoying it enough to keep going, but had to force myself to pick it up each time instead of reading one of my other books. I take complete blame for that though. I went into this book knowing it wasn’t going to have huge fight scenes and such, but for some reason I was still waiting for them.

The characters weren’t very three-dimensional, but felt as if they had a lot of potential to be so. I found myself caring for the girls and hoping things would turn around for them, but it was more of how an acquaintance feels for someone, and not how a friend would feel, if that makes sense to anyone but me.

I believe this is based off of real-historical events and settings. I’m not a huge history-buff, so I know very little about Queen/Princess Victoria and what all happened during her life. This was very enlightening on what could have happened though. The author, of course, has creative liberties and might have changed a few things, but I believe she tried to stick to the main story as much as she could.

To conclude, I think if I was a bigger fan of historical fiction, I would have enjoyed it more. So I will give this an even three star rating to show how on the fence I am about it.

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Meet Wren!

Meet Wren!

Hi my name is Wren and welcome to my page. I like to read books, listen to books, take care of my plants and pet cats and dogs.

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