Review: Awaken

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was surprised to see a young adult book that shares my view of the dismal public school system and the likelihood that virtual schools will replace them. In this case, the schools have become targets and children are dying so the government backs a digital school where all learning happens at home. The propaganda about the dangers of the world become so accepted that few people involve themselves in face to face human interaction. As with anything, there are two sides to the story and a group of people are fighting the digital school and digitized society.

I like the fake, sterile world created and I like the fighters, regardless of how unrealistic both sides are. Good battle, well drawn lines between groups and the ending also has the potential to be a beginning if the book turns into a series.



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Review: The Compound

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Intriguing book. There is so much post-apocalyptic literature out there but this book takes an opposite stand - what if you had a safe haven and planned to wait out 15 years of nuclear fallout, the walking dead, radiation poisoning and other threatened events? What if you could spend 15 years in an underground, protected compound?

I would like to see this as a more in-depth book. More info on the supplies and the design....explanations of air and water systems...understanding of supplements. As it's lacking these details, it's a quick read and one that gives enough information to make you think about the what-ifs. I loved the ending and am happy to see that this isn't yet another trilogy but instead wraps up nicely.



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Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Perhaps this is a better book in written form but it's audio version is horrible. It's a 10 disc book and I listened to the first 6. The entire first disc (a little over an hour) is nothing but Todd whining. Most of the second disc (another hour) was mostly dedicated to his stupid decisions, his incapability to form an independent thought and his temper. Oh, and I then endured an entire section of a book where the primary female character refuses to speak. It. Was. Terrible.

I'll be honest, the local dialect was annoyingly filled with 'ain't's and double negatives. Again, maybe in written form you can adapt but in audio it was a constant stream of bad language. And don't even get me started on "effing." Either get up the nerve to actually swear or leave it alone but to make every tenth word be "effing" was annoying. It's not a word. It's a pronunciation of an abbreviation for people that don't want to use real words. F---ing converted to "effing."

This book has 8,114 ratings and over a 4 point average so I tried to stick it out, convinced that I would eventually get to something that made it worthy of reading. Never happened. I quit and never finished it.



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Review: The Naturally Clean Home: 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Non-Toxic Cleansers

The Naturally Clean Home: 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Non-Toxic Cleansers by Karyn Siegel-Maier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm already on board with natural cleaners and make many products, which means I've read several books and spent a lot of time researching online. This book, however, would make a great reference to have on hand. It's small enough to fit in the cabinet with your supplies and has ideas on everything from fabric softener to ways to clean copper or keep deer out of your flowerbeds. I've been wanting to expand my understanding of the correct uses of essential oils and this book helped me organize my ideas so that I know when to use eucalyptus or citrus oils or mints. Very well organized and easy to read.



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Review: Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



There are books with great cover summaries but poorly planned plots. This is one of them. The idea - a walled society where the insiders adopt the children of outsiders and a midwife rebels against the society - was interesting. Gaia and all of her supporters made a never-ending series of decisions that showed consistent lack of planning or understanding. And the number of coincidences required to make everything turn out was ludicrous. I also fail to understand the people. I have a sense that the insiders were supposed to be a cruel, uncaring, living-it-up group but they raised children, educated them, married, worked, loved. The leader was intended to be cruel but except for behavior related to the loss of a child, it wasn't obvious. There were public hangings on a regular basis but the apathy of the public and the bizarreness of the crimes was unexplained. The society has DNA testing and an ability to track births which makes the premise of finding a coded list to be completely unnecessary. I read the book...it was okay...nothing that I'd read again.



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Review: Ark Angel

Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



My kids and I have enjoyed all of the Alex Rider books so far but this one simply didn't hold our interest. Perhaps it's because we switched from audio to book format for this one but it just wasn't the same. Or perhaps it was too much of the same story? Regardless, I simply couldn't make myself finish it.



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Review: Ashes (Ashes Trilogy #1)

Ashes (Ashes Trilogy #1) by Ilsa J. Bick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A new trilogy to love! I'm new to the whole zombie theme and I'm surprised by how much I like them. And these zombies aren't even the reanimated dead - more like humans that have changed.

One of my favorite things about this book is that the author didn't feel that anything was off-limits. So often, you have a heroine or hero and their love interest that survive everything, regardless of how implausible. In this book, bad things happen to good people. And people that appear good may actually be bad, bad people end up as good. fabulous ending left me wishing that Shadows (thanks, Wikipedia!) was available and ready to read!



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Review: Museum of Thieves

Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I can't believe I liked a tween book this much, but I did. The city and the guardians aren't they main story - it's more about this wild museum and it's belongings. I enjoyed the story and the rooms. It had the sense of Hogwarts in that it shifted and changed where you were going but it was nothing like Hogwarts in it's inhabitants and belongings. Imagine a building that stores everything that mankind has eradicated for it's dangerous-ness. And then imagine if all of those dangerous things tried to escape. It was a great read and one I'll encourage my kids to read in a year or two.



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Review: The Calling

The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It's hard to like a book when you don't like the protagonist, but I did. Hazel is an unimpressive leader, an enabled alcoholic and a poor decision maker, but her story was good enough to overcome that. I enjoyed knowing the killer before the climax and the stories of each 'victim' were compelling in their odd combination of hope for release and fear of death.

While the story was good enough to get me to read more by the author (which, by chance, I can't as they won't reveal their actual identity) I won't be reading another book featuring Hazel.



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Review: The Nature of Jade

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was clearly a teen book, yet different from so many. The main character, Jade, is 18 and a senior. She is an excellent student, volunteers at a zoo...and has panic attacks and fears. I liked the elephants, the boyfriend's family, the insight into friends getting ready to separate, and her relationship with her family.

The writing is beautiful and descriptive and the words paint an image in your mind as you read. I'm a Sarah Dessen fan and feel that this book is a strong competitor for hers.

In the book, I wish things were better for Oliver, though. Poor kid never got a break. I would like a second book that explores Sebastian's life and learn what happens to everyone in the next year. Her parents' lives are changing, Oliver's world is turning upside down, Jade is starting a new life - there's so much left to say.




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