death (3)

Book Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

Book Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

courtesy of www.netgalley.com 

publish date: May 8, 2018

Sarah Crossan brought me into a world I don't think I'll ever encounter in my own life, but she brought me into it nonetheless. Great job helping me to be a part of someone else's life, especially when I'd have no understanding otherwise.

What it is like having your older brother on death row, having a family that can barely take care of itself, having the seesaw conviction of unconditional love with others telling you to forget about your brother... mix in a great [unexpected] plot twist... creates a story full of sympathy, doubt, and life.

I really enjoyed Crossan's writing style; it helped with the rhythm of the story and with the personalities of the characters. Not quite prose paragraphs and not quite verse novel, the format added motion and emotion to the narrative.

I read this right before I read, The Hate U Give, and Moonrise is it's own unique tale, not derivative or redundant, and it provides a great addition to the repertoire of life stories I never would encounter without the aide of Angie Thomas or Sarah Crossan

I can see this book working for a YA book club, especially because of the moral issues tackled: death sentence, race, poverty, family, and addiction.

I'm looking forward to having this book in my high school library.

Read more…

Book Review: Flutter

Flutter
by Gina Linko
Pub Date: 23 Oct 2012  
read courtesy of Netgalley.com

Note: I, too, received this as a galley copy to review many years ago, but I just got around to posting about it.

This was a quick read, well, a compelling read, because I was pulled along by the plot, the mystery of Emery's illness, and the connections all of the characters had. Time travel always messes with my head (think Back to the Future), so I had fun trying to piece the story together at the same time Emery was. Then... and I agree with other reviewers on this, too ... I had my WTF moment at the end. If I hadn't read the print version and instead read the Netgalley digital version, I might have missed the author's note that she likes to pursue "What if...?". Only this note, that the author was purporting that alternative inevitabilities are her passion, allowed me to understand why Linko surprised her readers with this twist.

Overall, this was good, interesting YA writing. Yet, though I understand why Linko couldn't have built up to this ending earlier, it really did come out of nowhere with the minor exception of a conversation Emery and Ash had late in the story.

This book would be hard to classify as scifi, because it turns into fantasy. Recommend this book to readers who like the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold or the movie The Sixth Sense.

Caution: Spoiler alerts:

  1. Where did Dala go when she fluttered with Emery? If the past was an afterlife, then did Emery kill Dala somehow?
  2. How could Emery take people/things from the present back and forth to the afterlife? Did they temporarily die, too?
  3. Why could Emery see her grandmother, Ash's brother, her mom, but not Ash's mom in the afterlife?
  4. In hindsight, it makes sense that Emery couldn't see Ash's father in the afterlife, but that still doesn't explain why she didn't see his mother.
Read more…

You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz

You Are Not HereYou Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shutz's latest novel in verse is fiction about a Annaleah who has a secret relationship with jock, artist, basketball player Brian, who suddenly dies. Only 3 of Annaleah's friends knew and didn't necessarily approve of them being together. With Brian's death, AnnaLeah is plunged to the depths of despair and now we as the reader find out about Brian from Annaleah. Brian didn't always make time for Annaleah but it is her friend Marissa, who keeps calling her friend (will Annaleah return her calls?), is honest with Annaleah (at times at the expense of their friendship),and provides empathy which Annaleah desperately needs. Annaleah spends her days visiting Brian at the cemetery, and at home in her pajamas, annot talking to her mother. Friends Parker and Jess give a grief book to Annaleah, which she refers to as the "death book" but she does read it and even though she mocks what she must do, Annaleah begins to wade through this book. It is when she takes a job at a pizza parlor that we feel Annaleah confront her pain and loss and begin to try to ease back into her old life, and friends. Girls who enjoy a romance, and a quick read will enjoy this novel in verse about a lost love.

View all my reviews
Read more…

Blog Topics by Tags

Monthly Archives