Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe By: Benjamin Alire Saenz

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Aristotle doesn't like boys, he never has. He feels that they are mysteries, ones that he can't solve. Most of the time he doesn't even want to be a boy. Someday he thinks he will be a man and understand the world, but how he will get there, he doesn't know. His parents never speak of his brother, he's been in prison ever since Aristotle was small. They won't speak of his brother, his father won't speak of the war, nobody talks about anything, especially Aristotle. He was born knowing how to hide his feelings, he's good at it. Until he meets Dante. Aristotle has never meet a boy like Dante. Dante isn't afraid to be who he is, and with Dante, Aristotle learns to accept himself. Aristotle doesn't understand how he feels about Dante, he doesn't understand why Dante makes him feel this way. Aristotle doesn't realize it yet, but he loves Dante, he just doesn't know why. Or how?

This has been and will always be one of my favorite books. I have never before felt such a deep and personal connection with a character. The way Aristotle grew throughout the book physically, mentally, and emotionally depicted what most kids go through during this part in their lives. How he grew from being a confused lost young boy to a strong man was inspirational. The connection him and Dante shared was beautiful. They complemented and offset each other, they helped each other grow and develop. Something I have learned from this book is that we all have a little Aristotle and a little Dante in all of us. We just need a partner to help us find it

5/5 stars.

The Forever Song By: Julie Kagawa

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Alison Skemento, a fringer turned vampire with a seemingly unreachable goal. Her and her somewhat dysfunctional vampire coven are on a mission across the world to stop the psychotic vampire Sarren from releasing his mutated version of the red lung virus called requiem. She is fueled by revenge due to the death of her lover Ezekiel. He was abducted by Sarren, he was tourchered for hours before he was brutally killed. Allison heard the whole thing via demented voice recording. As she travels she keeps hearing Sarren's sick and twisted message in her mind "Sing my little bird and make it a beautiful song" followed by Zekes cries of agony. But when she finds Zeke back from the dead new surprises are in store. He is a childer of Sarren, a vampire who is controlled by their Sire. Zeke is a vampire, a blood sucking demon who shall never once again regain his innocence. Allison is a monster trying to helplessly cling to her only shred of humanity left. Allison, her Blood Brother Jackal, and her sire Kanin, this team of wayward vampires must find a way to change the fate of humanity.

Once again Julie Kagawa has thrilled her readers with a new installation of the Blood of Eden. The third and finally book is a true literary masterpiece. We see the depths of human emotion from each and every character. Love, hate, rage, desperation, and above all fear. I feel that Julie Kagawa can do no wrong when it comes to dystopian societies. She keeps her readers on the edge of there seats for all 485 pages.

Anna and the Swallow Man By: Gavriel Savit

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All seven year old Anna knows on a Krakow morning is that her father has to leave for a few hours. He leaves her with a family friend.

And never returns.

Anna is left alone in 1939 Poland without anyone. She is scared and hungry and alone. That is when she meets the Swallow Man, a mysterious man who can speak to words. Something about the way that the Swallow Man can weave so many languages the way that her father could (and taught her to) gains Anna's trust. So she travels with him, learning the ways of the road, war, and meeting many people along the way.

The main thing that I liked about this book was how it has many extended metaphors that slowly dissolves into reality as Anna becomes less naive and begins to better understand the world.

The main thing that I did not like about this book was that it was very sad. This is by no means a feel good book of any sort! It also had a lot of considerably difficult vocabulary and a disappointing ending (I can't say anymore about that though.)

Overall I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Hollow City by: Ransom Riggs

Wikipedia

In a world full of mystical time loops, blood sucking hollowgasts and flying ymbrynes, one group of kids dare to dream, dreams of freedom, dreams of saving their beloved Mrs. Peregrine. In this second novel of the Mrs. Peregrines home of peculiar children series, the children must embark on a dangerous quest to London in hopes to save the ymbrynes and defeat the wights once and for all. Will they be able to save Mrs. Peregrine before time is up? Will Jacob finally understand his powers? Will anyone survive? (buy it here!)

The Liberation of Gabriel King by: K.L. Going

This book falls into the category of Historical Fiction.

KL Going

Gabriel King is a wuss. He is literally scared of almost everything he encounters, and he especially doesn't
want to go to the fifth grade. Frita, his best friend, will take no more of this. She wants to be able to experience with fifth grade with her best friend. So, to solve this problem, Frita decides that they should make Gabriel more brave. Gabriel makes a list, a long list, of his fears to cross all of them off, so that he will be brave enough to go on to the fifth grade. With this, great tribulations and challenges continually come his way.

I really liked the plot and the idea of the book, but the writing just made it all the worse.

What I didn't like about this book was that it wasn't very descriptive at all, and since it is set in a different time period, there was a lot of room for mistakes for me to make.

I give this book a 2 out of 5 stars.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Image from Amazon.com

I'm a sucker for fun covers. It was the cover of this book-- and maybe all of the awards plastered on it-- that made me want to read it at first. It was the story and the characters that forced me to stick around.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is about two boys growing up in very different families. Ari's brother is in prison, and his dad still struggles with the things that he witnessed during the Vietnam War. Dante's obsessed with knowledge and learning, and that's probably the result of his very educated parents. Even though both boys are loaners in their own ways, when the they meet, they immediately become friends.

Shortly after they become friends, Ari and Dante are involved in a horrible accident. This accident, along with the things that Ari continues to learn about Dante and himself, could strengthen or destroy the two friends. In the end, it's a story about friendship, courage, family, and love.

Overall, I'd give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. It's vivid descriptions and heart-wrenching conflicts make it difficult to put down. Aristotle and Dante is clearly deserving of its Stonewall (for authors writing about LGBTQ topics) and Pura Belpre Awards (for Latina and Latino authors), and it certainly lets the readers read and learn from a perspective that may be very different than their own.

I would say, however, that this book would be best for more mature readers who are ready to read about the type of complex relationships and changes that can happen in the early high school years.

All In By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

All In falls into the romance, action, and mystery category, and it is the third book in The Naturals series.

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There is a new murder, and this time, it calls for a field trip. Cassie and the team are taken to Las
Vegas for the investigation. Someone has been killing people in casinos. The person has also been tattooing a series of numbers on the victim's wrists. While Cassie doesn't want to think about it, Sloane, her teammate, has been acting awfully suspicious lately.

All victims have a series of numbers tattooed on their wrist, and they're going to need Sloane's mathematical gifts to find out what they mean. That is if Sloane is on their side.

I liked that this book a had a lot of mystery in it, but not so much that it made it confusing.

There really isn't anything that I can think of that I didn't like about this book.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The Martian By: Andy Weir

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Mark Watney is going to die.

Probably.

He is alone on Mars, everyone thinks he's dead and he has a limited amount of food. Well, that's not too bad right? He can just call Earth and everything will be okay. Great plan! If he had a way to contact Earth. 

So yeah, he's gonna die.

The main thing that I liked about this book was the humor. Even though Mark is in a horrible situation, he kept making some really really funny jokes.

The main thing I did not like about this book was that some of the technical scientific parts were difficult to understand. Then again, the book was very accurate scientifically so I can't complain. Also, there is a large amount of cussing so read at your own discretion.

Overall I would give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Red Queen By: Victoria Aveyard

Mare Barrow is a Red. As in, red blooded. She doesn't have the wealth of the Silvers...or their deadly abilities. At least this is what she thought.

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At seventeen Mare's biggest concern is surviving the upcoming military conscription that has already taken her brothers. But when she discovers a rare ability of her own, a silver ability, she is swept away into the world of the Silvers. A world full of treachery, rebellion and secrets.

The main thing I liked about this book is that there is a big twist (that I unfortunately spoiled for myself). It also takes place in a great world with a rich history.

The main thing I didn't like about this book was that I had a hard time picturing people with silver blood.

Overall I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Insurgent by: Veronica Roth

Insurgent (Divergent Series)

Tris, Four, Marcus, and the rest of their band of Abnegation refugees have taken refuge in the peaceful fields of the Amity farms. They are outsiders, factionless now. After the Erudite simulation which controlled the Dauntless into slaughtering innocent Abnegation, Four and Tris had to leave the city to avoid execution by the Erudite. They try and stay hiding for as long as possible but when Dauntless traitors ( those who were Dauntless but now work for the Erudite) come looking for them they must flee. They take sanctuary with the factionless who, to their surprise, are more like a faction then the actually factions right now. The factionless are banning together to make an uprising against the Erudite. The factionless plan to join forces with the remaining Dauntless and bring down the Erudite tyrants. But when the Erudite start hunting Divergents she must make a choice. She could choose to be selfish and let others die for her decision, or she could be brave. Tris chooses to be brave. She turns herself into the Erudite, knowing that when they are done with their painful research they will kill her. What is so important about the Divergent that the Erudite want to study them before killing them off? What is Jeanine hiding in the Erudite tower?

Veronica Roth has done it again in this wonderful sequel to Divergent. She is truly a magnificent author who knows who to entertain an audience. She develops such a bond between the reader and the Protagonist that you feel as if you are living this story with them. Every page turn is a plot twist, every chapter is a new addition to the already building tension. This masterpiece of a story is thrilling from the first word to the last mark of punctuation.

Divergent By: Veronica Roth

Divergent (Divergent Series)

Tris is a 16 year old girl from Abnegation. This year she will be subject to the simulation which will help her choose her future faction. Will she choose to stay selfless in Abnegation or will she choose one of the other factions. The simulation is made by the government it supposed to help you make this impossible decision. But when her results come back inconclusive she is thrown into a world she never knew existed. “Fear doesn’t shut you down it wakes you up….” page 313 Divergent. Tris chooses to be brave, she chooses to be Dauntless. But becoming Dauntless comes with a price. To join this faction you must pace a growling initiation process, because if you don’t you are factionless. To be factionless is the lowest thing you can be in this dystopian world. Tris must hide her Divergent state and pass a series of physically and mentally daunting task.  But when the Erudite faction has a plan to take down Abnegation, everything Tris has ever none is thrown for a lope. Will she be able to pass these test? Are there others that are Divergent like her? Is what the Erudite say about Abnegation really true? Tris wants answers to all of these questions, and a war between factions may be the only thing that will answer them.

Veronica Roth's Divergent book is truly remarkable. She shows multiple aspects of this dystopian universe which can relate back to many things in today's society. The word choice and description is truly captivating. Every twist and turn the book takes leads to a new and exciting adventure. This book left me breathlessly awaiting its sequel.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless - Amazon

Since the first time I picked up Cinder I have been hungry for everything Marissa Meyer writes.  It was with much anticipation that I waited for the release of her newest book- Heartless.  

In Heartless, Cath is part of a noble family, but harbors dreams of being the best baker in all of Hearts.  However, her mother's dreams include Cath putting aside her ridiculous notions of baking (how un-noble of her!) and instead marrying the King of Hearts!  Not only is Cath not particularly interested in the king, but she finds herself falling for an unlikely love interest instead.  

I really enjoyed this book.  It didn't enthrall me in quite the same way The Lunar Chronicles did, but it was still a fun twist on a classic tale.  As the reader, you will gain insight into how the Queen of Hearts becomes, well, heartless.  You will also get a glimpse into the past of many of the beloved characters found in the Wonderland you are already familiar with.  One of the things I most enjoyed about this twisted tale was the focus being on the Queen of Hearts instead of just retelling Alice's story.  Marissa Meyer can always be counted on to find a new angle to engage her readers!

Overall, I would give Heartless 4/5 stars!

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie

Screenshot from Amazon.com

I go through phases of being obsessed with ghosts. When Discovery Channel has reruns or marathons of A Haunting, I can't help but watch them. The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie is like that, but longer, more exciting, and full of twists!

Sunshine is a teenage girl who has always been different. When she's forced to leave her home in Texas and move with her mother to Washington, she has to leave all that she's ever know behind-- and since she's adopted, there's already not much that she knows about her past. When she arrives in Ridgemont, she begins to notice unsettling things that no one else seems to feel. She hesitates to say that the place is "haunted," but after a terrifying encounter in their new home, she's convinced that something's is wrong. 

With the help of her new friend Nolan, Sunshine must figure out the secrets of her home-- and herself-- in order to save those that she loves from unknown evil forces. 

Overall, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, was exciting and easy to read. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next-- sometimes I had to force myself to slow down! There are some places where I feel like there were opportunities for the author to use more sensory details and description, but that's a pretty minor complaint. The book is apparently based off of a YouTube series that I haven't had a chance to check out yet--I'll get back to you guys when I do!

Overall, I'd give The Haunting of Sunshine Girl a 4.5/5 stars!

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Book on Amazon

Caden Bosch is a teen who has been experiencing some strange things in his life. He joined the track team solely to walk for hours. He has been having strange dreams. And most strangely of all is the ship with the captain, the parrot, and the shipmates. He is torn between his loyalty between the captain and the mutiny of the parrot.
But he is also torn between reality and his own world.


Without explaining too deep [heh. pun], this book does AN AMAZING JOB of symbolizing what it's like to live with a mental illness, and the more I read and discovered how the ship actually worked, I found myself REALLY tied to all of the characters and I understood their struggles with their mental illness and how people felt towards them. As someone who struggles, I empathize with them.

The only problem is that readers might find the beginning very confusing. The pictures are also confusing, but they are VERY important.

Overall, I give this book a 5/5! I'd give it an extra star for it's proper portrayal of mental illness, but alas, I can not. So congrats from a mental illness awareness standpoint.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Book on Amazon

Caden Bosch is a teen who has been experiencing some strange things in his life. He joined the track team solely to walk for hours. He has been having strange dreams. And most strangely of all is the ship with the captain, the parrot, and the shipmates. He is torn between his loyalty between the captain and the mutiny of the parrot.
But he is also torn between reality and his own world.


Without explaining too deep [heh. pun], this book does AN AMAZING JOB of symbolizing what it's like to live with a mental illness, and the more I read and discovered how the ship actually worked, I found myself REALLY tied to all of the characters and I understood their struggles with their mental illness and how people felt towards them. As someone who struggles, I empathize with them.

The only problem is that readers might find the beginning very confusing. The pictures are also confusing, but they are VERY important.

Overall, I give this book a 5/5! I'd give it an extra star for it's proper portrayal of mental illness, but alas, I can not. So congrats from a mental illness awareness standpoint.

The Masque of The Red Death by: Edgar Allen Poe

The Masque of The red death is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe, if your looking for a spooky short story full of symbolism and fun turn of the 18th century words this is for you! Follow the chronicles of a prince as he protects his people against the red death.

I gave this short story 5 /5, its very descriptive and full of symbolism!

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Hitler's Last Days by Bill O'Reilly

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This book is very interesting. It really gives you a much larger scope on just how the end of the Third Reich's role in WWII played out. It gives you about the last 200 days or so of his life. It also gives insights into Patton and Eisenhower(mostly Patton though). It will guide you through Hitler's suicide
and death along with specification on the process it's carried out through. Overall I must say it's just a good book. I must say it's a 5 star book. Not really rereadable but a good book nonetheless. Not as long as others, but just less to talk about.

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