Monsters Beware! by Jorge Aguirre
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Published: March 13th, 2018
Publisher: First Second
Recommended Age: 8+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Humor, Adventure, Dragons
BLURB:
In Monsters Beware!, the third and final book of the Claudette graphic novel series, Claudette is put to the ultimate test. With her honor on the line will she learn that there’s more to a fight than just winning? Continue reading
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: November 6th, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books
Recommended Age: 14+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Violence, LGBTQIA+, Sex, Power
BLURB:
In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.
Continue reading
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Published: July 11th, 2017
Publisher: Speak
Recommended Age: 10+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Magic, Culture, Friendship, Secret Society
BLURB:
Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she’s albino. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a “free agent” with latent magical power. And she has a lot of catching up to do. Soon she’s part of a quartet of magic students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But just as she’s finding her footing, Sunny and her friends are asked by the magical authorities to help track down a career criminal who knows magic, too. Will their training be enough to help them against a threat whose powers greatly outnumber theirs? Continue reading
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: 2009
Publisher: Razorbill
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Slow-Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Vampires, Love, Dark, Family
BLURB:
The recent Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir’s Academy was the deadliest ever in the school’s history, claiming the lives of Moroi students, teachers, and guardians alike. Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them . . . including Dimitri. He’d rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa–the one she has sworn to protect no matter what–and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago. But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the person she loves most? Continue reading
Amitiés toxiques by Marie Potvin
Ma note: 4 de 5 étoiles
Reçu: Maison d’édition
Parution: Avril 2015
Éditions: Les Malins
Âge recommandé: 10+
Rythme: Rapide
Sujets: Roman, Jeune adulte, Vacances, Histoire de famille, Sœurs, Romance, Paris, Célébrité
DESCRIPTION:
Marie-Douce s’envole pour Paris. Là-bas, elle tombe dans le monde des célébrités! Après une poussée de croissance spectaculaire et les soins d’un styliste, elle est méconnaissable. Que faire lorsque les garçons s’intéressent à elle? Elle a peut-être l’apparence d’une jeune femme, mais dans sa tête, elle est toujours aussi timide et maladroite! Et puis, il y a le mystérieux Lucien qui la trouble tant! La vie sociale de Laura est une catastrophe. Abandonnée par Érica et par Marie-Douce, elle s’en remet à Constance, une fille un peu ennuyeuse. Que fera-t-elle, lorsque Alexandrine tentera de la convaincre de laisser tomber Constance pour rejoindre sa gang? Et comment arriver à ne pas faire de gaffes devant le beau Samuel? Continue reading
I was thinking about books I read when I was younger and then decided to come up with this list to let all of my frustration out! 😉
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: April 5th 2016
Publisher: Tor.com
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 14+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery, Death
BLURB:
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost. Continue reading
Hey, guys!
TGIF! Also, I posted a new video! I don’t mean to brag, or anything, but I have to say that I, for the first time, enjoyed watching my own video and didn’t feel embarrassed about posting it. Maybe I’m feeling more and more comfortable behind the camera? That might be it. And I added some music, to create a lovely ambiance, which I hope you will appreciate!
So, tell me. What do you prefer? Series or standalones?
Lola xoxo
The Aftermath by Jen Alexander
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: gifted
Publication Date: August 26th 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
POV: 1st person & female
Pacing: fast
Genres & Themes: YA, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Romance.
BLURB:
Sometimes, I dream that I’m someone else.
A girl with dark hair who doesn’t worry about hunger
or thirst or running from flesh-eaters.
In her world, those sorts of things don’t exist.
Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville: polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibal Hoarders. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge sometimes with devastating consequences all just to live another day.
With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border.
If they play the game right, they are each other’s best hope for survival and a life beyond the only world Claudia’s ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath. Continue reading
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: NetGalley
Publication Date: August 19th 2014
Publisher: Thomas Nelson / HarperCollins
Pacing: very slow
POV: 1st person & female
BLURB:
In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.
As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.
Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.
Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.
But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?
Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.
Hit or Miss Books 