Tag: ya

Uncategorized

Fake Plastic Girl Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: Fake Plastic Girl
  • Author: Zara Lisbon
  • Book Form: Ebook ARC
  • Publisher: Henry Holt
  • Genre: YA, Mystery
  • Rating: ★★★


Henry Holt has acquired the YA thriller Fake Plastic Girl and its untitled sequel, by Zara Lisbon. Inspired by The Great Gatsby, the novels are set in the 21st-century world of the Rich Kids of Instagram, Hollywood style. Publication of the first book is set for winter 2019.

– Goodreads

I received a copy of Fake Plastic Girl from Netgalley/Henry and Holt in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Fake Plastic Girl was quite an interesting read. It’s not like anything I have read. I read a lot of YA Contemporary, so it was nice to have something fresh in the genre. 

This book is about a girl, Justine, who happens to become friends with mega pop star, Eva Kate Kelly. This book is largely about the growth of their friendship over about a month. It was interesting to see how Justine changed and evolved when she entered the world of the famous – which was a place she always wanted to be. Eva-Kate created this persona of her, which she ultimately took on and became. 

So this is both what I loved and hated most about this book. A large part of the book focused on Taylor Swift. Like whole chapters. I’m still confused by that. I think the MC measured life/memories with Taylor Swift albums, but it was so much more in depth than that. At times I wasn’t sure if I was reading the MC’s thoughts on Taylor or the author’s. That took me out of the story a bit. I am a HUGE Taylor fan, so at first with all the references, I was super excited. Then, there was this quote, 

“No, no. Make no mistake, true snakes in this story wear Yeezys.”

I mean, COME ON. That’s a great line. I have to give it to Zara Lisbon. But after a while, all the references got to be too much, and I feel like the story was muddled. It almost turned into a book more about what she thought about Taylor, than what was happening with Justine and Eva-Kate. 

The book had a very abrupt end. When I started the book, I didn’t know it would be part of a series. I felt this novel was mostly just a really long setup for the true story, which will happen in book two. There will be a sequel in 2020, but I still wanted more. I gave three stars because, honestly, I will read the sequel. I want to know what happens. But the story didn’t just wow me.

Until next time…

Uncategorized

Shadow Queen Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You
  • Title: Shadow Queen
  • Author: C. J. Redwine
  • Book Form: Ebook
  • Pages: 416
  • Genre: Fantasy, YA, Retellings (Snow White)
  • Rating: ★★★★


Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

– Goodreads

This book took me a bit to get through. It wasn’t the writing. It wasn’t the story. It wasn’t anything about the book.

I think it was me.

I was on Team Snow White this month. We won! YAY! But at first, I was not excited. Snow white is my least favorite fairy tale. And I think I just had a mental block of ‘I don’t want to read about this chick. I hate her.’ But really, this book was great! And C.J. Redwine is the sweetest! If you ever see her ask her about her worst wardrobe malfunction. You won’t be disappointed.

Now, for the review.

I loved how badass Snow White, er, Loralei was. She was amazing. She was a warrior through and through who could think on her feet and could always find a way out of sticky situations. She always put the good of her people and her kingdom before the good for herself, and that’s what makes a really great leader.

Kol was nice too. I liked how he and the Eldrans could turn into dragons and had a human heart and a dragon heart. That was a unique twist on the story and really caught my attention.

Irina was awful, as all villains are. But this book makes you think about her. It shows you backstory and things that happened to her. It makes you feel for her. Like CJ said in her chat, she was one decision away from being good or evil. You could really see that in this book and you kind of feel for her.

Overall, I gave this book a 4/5 star rating. I loved the battle at the end. I loved the action scenes, and the relationship that unfolded between Loralei and Kol. Places were slow moving for me, but again, that could have just been my mental block against Snow White.

This is a good, clean read for young readers who are maybe above their aged reading levels. Read it if you love Snow White. Read it if you love fantasy, action, and dragons. I’ll be reading the sequels.

Uncategorized

Scythe Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

Title: Scythe

Author: Neal Shusterman

Book Form: Audio

Pages: 435

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dystopian, Sci-FI

Rating: ★★★★★


Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own. 

– Goodreads

So. This book. Had me ON. THE. FLOOR.

I just. The twists and turns. I can’t even.

Jordan at Words & Whimsy has been recommending this book since I joined back in September of 2018. I kept putting it off. I’ts one of those books where you finally read it and think, WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG!?

This book is about killing. Yes, you heard me correctly. Two teens had run-ins with Scythe Farraday on two separate occasions. He decides to take them both on as apprentices in the art of killing – or as they call it – gleaning. Then shit. Goes. Down.

Citra and Rowan, the two teens that were training under Scythe Farraday, get separated. Citra goes with Scythe Curie, who is compassionate. She brings families over after she gleans their loved one, cooks them supper, and listens to stories about the one they’ve lost. It truly is such a sweet, loving gesture from someone who has just taken someone’s loved one.

Rowan gets stuck with Scythe Goddard, who has much different ideals. I won’t go into too much detail, because I don’t want to spoil it, but his time is much different than Citra’s.

There were times I was reading and my jaw was on the floor. I wanted to cry in despair and sadness over some passages. I wanted to yell out in surprise or anger. You should have seen the messages I sent to friends who had already read the book. It just brought out so many emotions.

The sequel, Thunderhead, is on my TBR next month. No doubt.

This is another 5/5 star book for me. I can’t recommend it enough. There are so many plot twists and surprises. It keeps you guessing. Please read it. You won’t be disappointed.

Uncategorized

Corpse and Crown Review

Courtney/Enchanted.to.Read.You

Title: Corpse & Crown

Author:  Alisa Kwitney

Release Date: February 12, 2019

Book Form: ARC E-Book

Pages: 320

Genre: YA, Retellings, Historical Fiction

Rating: 3.5 stars


Agatha DeLacey’s family isn’t rich or titled, so studying nursing at Ingold’s East End hospital in London is a rare opportunity for her. Despite the school’s focus on the innovative Bio-Mechanical program, Aggie cares more about the desperately poor human patients who flood the hospital, even if that means providing unauthorized treatment after-hours…and trusting a charming, endlessly resourceful thief.

But the Artful Dodger is barely a step ahead of his underworld rivals, the menacing Bill Sykes and mercurial Oliver Twist, and Aggie’s association with him soon leads her into danger. When a brutal attack leaves her blind, she and the Dodger find themselves at the mercy of an experimental Bio-Mech surgery. Though the procedure restores Aggie’s sight, her new eyes come at an unnerving cost, and the changes in Dodger are even more alarming—instead of seeing Aggie as the girl he fancies, he now views her as a potential threat.

As war between England and Germany brews on the horizon and a sinister medical conspiracy threatens to shatter the uneasy peace in Europe, Aggie and the Dodger must find a way to work together so they can protect their friends and expose the truth…even if it means risking their own survival.

– Amazon

First, let’s get this out of the way. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for my honest review.

Now then. Maybe I didn’t fully read the synopsis. Maybe I stopped at ‘oh there’s a nurse treating patients at night on the down low? THIS IS FOR ME!’

I’m a nurse, so I was like, I can totally relate to this character. I would be the one in these times who would try to treat HUMANS in the age of bio-mechanicals. I would take from the hospital I worked at to treat humans at night. Like, this girl is me!

I was wrong. This ended up being more of a Frankenstein retelling. It focused more on the bio-mechanical aspect and the conflict of Germany and England pitting their best bio-mechanicals against each other to see who was superior. Unsuspecting characters turned out to be bio-mechanicals. There was a lot of sci-fi involved, which honestly, isn’t my favorite subject matter. All in all, this book was not bad. The story was intriguing. I just wished that it would have been the story I hoped for. But that’s completely on me, guys!

Final thoughts, if you like Frankenstein retellings, read this. It’s good. It has some wonky put together people in it. If you like sci-fi, give it a go.