BOOK NOOK: Reviews and Thoughts:

I read anything i can get my hand on! I love young adult books but I will read anything minus pure romance. I love fantsey and mystery but i am growing to love other types of books. In the fall i am going back to school to be theater teacher. I also recently stared book volging here is my link! https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLmauro1

Eye of Minds

 

 

 

                                                                 Eye of Minds

By L

 

Rating 4

 

Book in a pinch: Ready Player one for the YA world

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is a thriller book with unexpected twists along the way.

 

HOOK

By the end of the third chapter I was hooked and wanted to keep reading. Once the world was discussed I was hooked and needed to read more. I enjoy how the story balance both character, story and world building to give me a good experience.

 

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

The world building in this book was so important and that is why it was a bit slower to read this novel. The world is so different then our world so a lot needs to be explained to us but I loved how the world was built so well.

 

  • FLOW / PACING

The pace was mostly fast but with slow parts thrown in and that mostly was used to built the world for the reader. The book also uses the pacing to build/ hide some secrets from the audience that becomes obvious at the end.        

 

CHARACTERS

I enjoy when books have a trio of characters the really carry the story and I enjoyed it in this book. It was very obvious the something was not right in this story but the characters is what I kept wanting to learn more about and excited to see them again in another books in the future.

 

THE ENDING

The end of the book was a game changer and I am excited to see where the story goes next

 

Check out my non-spolier review of James Dashner book mash up

The Maze Runner

 

The Maze Runner

By L

 

Rating 5

 

Book in a pinch: The new Hunger Games.

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It does fall into some of the typical dystopia troupes but does them in a unique way.

 

HOOK

This book immediately captured my attention the second I met Tom. I had to know what was happening to him and where he was. The story started off with a bang and did not stop until the end of he novel.

 

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

The world building is very important in this story and also since we visited many different locations especially towards the end and they all were so well explained and I love being exposed to such a new world. It was a very well-build world and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next in the series.

 

  • FLOW / PACING

This is a very quick pace novel and It really was like train going along the tracks so fast and it did not have much breaks but it still allowed us to get to know the characters on a individual level and it made me not only care about the big picture but also about the characters.          

 

CHARACTERS

I think Thomas is one of my favorite Male characters. I enjoyed him so much because he is such a complex character because of what happen in he past and I loved all the others that we met in the novel. They are all so funny and unique and loved meeting them in this novel.

 

THE ENDING

The end of the book was a game changer and I am excited to see where the story goes next

 

Check out my non-spolier review of James Dashner book mash up

SPOILER ALERT!

The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily

 

The Twelve Days of Dash And Lily

By L

 

Rating 5

 

Book in a pinch: The prefect sequel to Dash and Lily Book of Dares,

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is still a romance at the heart of the novel but a darker story in some ways.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

It took me a little bit more time to get into this story but once Dash made his holiday plan I was hooked. The character of Lily changed much more then Dash, so her chapter did not captured me as much towards the start of the novel. I understand why that happened but it made me grow even more love dash throughout this book.

 

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

New york was once again another character and it really became another character in this story and I love how the kept building the world.

 

  • FLOW / PACING
  • This story pacing was a little bit slower but I still enjoyed it I liked how the story pacing still kept me engaged and pushed me to get to the end of the story.

 

CHARACTERS

The characters did change in this novel and I enjoyed those changes because I thought they could happen in real life. Lily change did make me sad because I felt for her character but towards the end of the novel I understand how complex her life was becoming. It made sense how lost she felt and how even Dash could not help. I grew to love dash even more and still love them as a couple.

 

THE ENDING

It was a cute ending with a little bit more heart to it.

 

Check out my non-spolier series review of the dash and Lily books:

Dash and Lily Book of Dares

Dash and Lily Book of Dares

By L

 

Rating 5

 

Book in a pinch: The prefect geeky book lover romance

 

 

Go into this one knowing

At the heart it is a love story but such a cute one for book lovers everywhere.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

The story captured me the second Dash for the red journal. I love the opposition chapters from both characters and the story captured me so fast. The characters immediately unique and I wanted to learn more about them.       

 

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

As a New York City person I loved having New York almost as another character in the story. I enjoyed seeing how the characters related to new york and it was such a fun way the city was built through the writing.

  • FLOW / PACING
  • The pacing was very quick and that was largely due to the due to the narrators telling the story. It was a very fast pace story and I wanted to see when these characters would come face to face.

 

CHARACTERS

I really loved the characters and both them as individual characters and also then being in a relationship and they worked so well together. I really enjoyed them so much and they are really what kept me wanting to keep going in this story.

 

THE ENDING

It was such a cute ending and I am so happy we get to go back to this world and characters in the sequel.

 

 

Check out my non-spolier series review of the dash and Lily books:

 

Vass in the Night

Vassa In The Night

By L

 

Rating 3.5

 

Book in a pinch: Very odd fantasy retelling

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is a un clear story that may go over your head and you may need to re-read this story to get the whole picture.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

It took a while for me to get hooked into this story because it was so odd. Once she was trapped in the story I wanted to see how the story would end but it was so complex and very un clear that much of the story went over my head.    

 

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

The world building in the story was very complex and It took awhile to really learn what this world was that you were in. The audience is at slight disadvantage because they have no concept for this world and the main character does. I am still not totally sure I fully get the world but it was super cool to read about.

  • FLOW / PACING
  • The book pacing was odd for me because it was supper slow and super fast but not the same throughout the novel. I think the pacing in the novel threw me for a loop and made me feel off balance.

 

CHARACTERS

I liked learning about the characters but it took me awhile to like/ love the,. They were fun to read about but it was hard to get connected them.

 

THE ENDING

It was such a odd ending and I am still not sure I get it totally.

 

Check out my video review 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Unscripted Life

My Unscripted Life

 

 

 

Book in a pinch: Summer romance meets Hollywood movie set YA EDITION

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It story with s big focus on the romance.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

I was hooked from page one. I LOVE summer romances with Hollywood connection and this one hooked me even more when Dee became a PA on the movie set, I loved seeing the relationship develop that way.                        

 

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

I love the setting of both the small town and also the movie set. I really felt like It could be an actual movie set and that the world building made me feel like this place actually existed and I also like the elements of small southern town that we had been exposed to.         

  • FLOW / PACING
  • This is super face pace novel and only took me a day to read. It was a story that had to know how it would play out as quickly as I could.

CHARACTERS

I really loved both of the main characters and wanted them to be happy. I love how we saw so much self-discovery changes occurred for this character and I felt that they were well-rounded characters the romance was a big focus of this novel but no their only focus and I liked that a lot.

 

THE ENDING

We had a ending with conclusion and I loved books that give you that moment and explains what happens after the so called prefect ending.

 

 

 

Three Dark Crowns

Three Dark Crowns

By L

 

Rating 3

 

Book in a pinch: War between Magical sisters for the Crown.

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is book one in a series. The story is told from three different point of views.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

  • I was hooked into this story after I met all three sisters. I loved learning not only about each of them but also about the powers and their strengths and weakness after I met each of them and was introduced to their world. I had to read more. Each sister was so well rounded from their first chapter I had to learn more about the characters.
  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • The world building to this story was so important because it is the first book in the series. You were as a reader thrust into this world and then you uncovered the world as you went along. The way you learned about the world felt natural and I was not overwhelmed as a reader and most of my questions were answered.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • I thought the flow of the story was a very soild and I had a hard time putting the book down because I had to know what happened.

           

CHARACTERS

  • This book is very female heavy and the only men you really see are the boy the girls interact with. The female power of leadership is so strong in this book and men have limited political control. I also really love all the female characters and the friendships we are exposed to. I don’t have a favorite character so far because meeting them all has been so fun.
  • CONFLICT
  • I love the conflict because you knew what the end point is but you had no clue how the story would progress and the sisters meeting and the showing of their powers and what would happen really made me stay on the end of my feet.

 

THE ENDING

The ending really shocked me in regards to what we learned about the girls powers and I can’t wait for book 2.

 

Check out my non-spoiler video review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNI2B4NiNkM

Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity

Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity

 

 

Rating 3

 

Book in a pinch: Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda meets Paper town

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is a trans story and is the primary focus of the novel.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

It took me awhile to get hooked into this story but once I met the character of Chunk and they started the road tip I got a tad more invested. The story also included flashbacks inspired by paintings and it took me a couple of those to get use to that story telling device.                        

SETTING / WORLD BUILDING

I liked the setting it was told through especially the road trip through various states and the feelings those states have about trans people. But the world felt very natural to me and also the various real places I liked learning about.

   

  • FLOW / PACING
  • The pacing of this book was made choppy by the flashbacks and I thought that it made me fall out of the story and not really be in. So that was a downside for the pacing but I loved the pacing of the road trip story.

CHARACTERS

  • I really enjoyed the character of Chunk but had trouble liking jess throughout the novel. It was mostly because of all the issues Chuck saw in Jess, I saw as well. I grew to like Jess more but there were times that I did not like him.
  • CONFLICT
  • The conflict was a slow burn and both focused on the internal struggle of jess and also his changing relationships with chunk and his dad. It was more about self -acceptance and coming of an age story with a lot of emotional heart.

 

THE ENDING

The ending was a little bit abrupt and I wanted a little but more from the story rather then a quick closure.

 

Dead House

Dead House

By L

 

Rating 5

 

Book in a pinch: Psychological horror novel meets the format of Illuminae

 

Go into this one knowing

That some can see it is creepy and it does really mess with your head. The story is told from a non-linear way and also is told through various types of found documents.

 

Ask yourself these types of questions HOOK

The way the format of the story was set up was my hook and I wanted to know who these characters were and what was the “Incident” and it made me wanted to race through this story.

           

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • The story does have a pretty gritty world but it comes from mostly the journal entries and the video entries but I liked the world building because it was not always 100% clear if this was a real story or a story with magical elements and that made the story super creepy.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • The unique way this story was told really made me want to push to the end of this book to unravel the mystery so this book had no pacing issues.

CHARACTERS

The characters of the girls were at the heart of the story and depending on what part of the story I was in changed how I viewed the characters very much. I loved learning about the characters and trying to figure out how they were present in the story but the characters could be both unlikeable and unreliable at points to add to the creepy factor.

  • CONFLICT
  • The mystery and finding out the truth is what pushed me to read this story so fast and it was a very well paces mystery.
  • DIALOGUE
  • Since the story was told through various found documents I think the dialogue of this story always felt like I had a buffer between the characters but for this book it worked.

 

THE ENDING

The ending was prefect because however you saw the story is how you could view the ending.

 

 Here is my non-spoiler video review:

Dead House

By L

 

Rating 5

 

Book in a pinch: Psychological horror novel meets the format of Illuminae

 

Go into this one knowing

That some can see it is creepy and it does really mess with your head. The story is told from a non-linear way and also is told through various types of found documents.

 

Ask yourself these types of questions HOOK

The way the format of the story was set up was my hook and I wanted to know who these characters were and what was the “Incident” and it made me wanted to race through this story.

           

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • The story does have a pretty gritty world but it comes from mostly the journal entries and the video entries but I liked the world building because it was not always 100% clear if this was a real story or a story with magical elements and that made the story super creepy.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • The unique way this story was told really made me want to push to the end of this book to unravel the mystery so this book had no pacing issues.

CHARACTERS

The characters of the girls were at the heart of the story and depending on what part of the story I was in changed how I viewed the characters very much. I loved learning about the characters and trying to figure out how they were present in the story but the characters could be both unlikeable and unreliable at points to add to the creepy factor.

  • CONFLICT
  • The mystery and finding out the truth is what pushed me to read this story so fast and it was a very well paces mystery.
  • DIALOGUE
  • Since the story was told through various found documents I think the dialogue of this story always felt like I had a buffer between the characters but for this book it worked.

 

THE ENDING

The ending was prefect because however you saw the story is how you could view the ending.

 

 Here is non-spoiler video review about this book:

Dead House

By L

 

Rating 5

 

Book in a pinch: Psychological horror novel meets the format of Illuminae

 

Go into this one knowing

That some can see it is creepy and it does really mess with your head. The story is told from a non-linear way and also is told through various types of found documents.

 

Ask yourself these types of questions HOOK

The way the format of the story was set up was my hook and I wanted to know who these characters were and what was the “Incident” and it made me wanted to race through this story.

           

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • The story does have a pretty gritty world but it comes from mostly the journal entries and the video entries but I liked the world building because it was not always 100% clear if this was a real story or a story with magical elements and that made the story super creepy.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • The unique way this story was told really made me want to push to the end of this book to unravel the mystery so this book had no pacing issues.

CHARACTERS

The characters of the girls were at the heart of the story and depending on what part of the story I was in changed how I viewed the characters very much. I loved learning about the characters and trying to figure out how they were present in the story but the characters could be both unlikeable and unreliable at points to add to the creepy factor.

  • CONFLICT
  • The mystery and finding out the truth is what pushed me to read this story so fast and it was a very well paces mystery.
  • DIALOGUE
  • Since the story was told through various found documents I think the dialogue of this story always felt like I had a buffer between the characters but for this book it worked.

 

THE ENDING

The ending was prefect because however you saw the story is how you could view the ending.

 

 Here is non-spoiler video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m3BTJb3iek

Revenge of the Evil Librarian

Revenge of the Evil Librarian

By L

 

Rating 3

 

Book in a pinch: Summer camp meets the horror of the underworld

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is book two in a series. It does have a lot of cursing and bad language that are used by the students.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

  • I had not read the first book in the series so it took until chapter 3 or four before I had enough of information about book one to feel hooked in enough to read this story. I did appreciate how complete the recap was and it enhanced my enjoyment and my hook into this new story.
  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • I think this story did set a lot of ground work in boom one for world building but I was able to pick up enough pieces that I was not lost about the demon drama. I loved also love theater camp summer setting as well. I went to very similar camps myself and felt the setting was very accurate.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • After the book one recap the story was moved and was paced and the story keeping making we want to read. The story had a very good pacing throughout the novel.

CHARACTERS

  • I did like the characters especially the demons that we met. I think I enjoyed them more then the humans for a majority of the book but the humans not very unique but hey were fun to follow the drama that occurred. I almost wish would could have seen the story from the demon writer point of view at points.
  • CONFLICT
  • The conflict was two fold putting up the various theater productions and getting rid of the evil librarian. I thought both plots worked well together and both did not drag or and both kept my engaged in the story.
  • DIALOGUE
  • I dialogue was not anything special but does have a lot of cursing as a note.

 

THE ENDING

The ending really ties most thing up but still left the overall story open for my expansion in the future.

 

Check out video mash of non-spoiler review including this book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YuKzTRwIJc

 

 

 

Lock and Key

Lock and Key

By L

 

Rating 3.5 stars

 

Book in a pinch: Moriarty and Holmes in elite private school and the game is afoot.

 

 

Go into this one knowing

It is book one of a series and does a lot of world building at first so the story can be slow at points.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

The story did hook me from page one because it was told from Moriarty sister point of view Moria and I loved seeing this complex story from her POV and I wanted to keep reading from page one.

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • This story is set in a well- developed world that includes a boarding school and I love it. I think it is important to note the world building is very important to this novel and it also does take up some space and that does slow down the story at points. I want to see the impact this world building has on how smooth book two will be.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • As I mentioned below the pacing was slow at points but once you got the middle of the story it did speed up and I became super invested in the story.

CHARACTERS

This was a unique way to get to know the characters because it was told from a different character point of view. I grew to really enjoy the character of Moria but also see the two main leads in more of a normal lense because I did not see the story from their POV so I saw them less as always being right and always be wrong but both in shades of gray. I did like the trio dynamics the developed between the characters.

  • CONFLICT
  • The conflict was the letters that were being set and what they mean and also what is it leading James to do. It made the story become very fast pace because I wanted to get to the next clue. So much of what is to come was teased and I expected more in future books.
  • DIALOGUE
  • I think this dialogue was heightened and not typical of kids today that is more because of the story being a Sherlock Holmes story and the dialogue do fit the characters.

 

THE ENDING

The ending was such a tease because it sets up so much for the future but I am excited to see where the long term story goes.

 

Check out my video review where a review of this book is included:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YuKzTRwIJc

 

The Great Shelby Holmes

The Great Shelby Holmes

By L

 

Rating 4 stars

 

Book in a pinch: Holmes and Watson for the middle grade world.

 

 

Go into this one knowing

This book is for middle grade readers and does have a very diverse cast.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

This story hooked me from the first page from both the tone and also the character of Watson. I was hooked by the first chapter and wanted to read even more after Holmes and Watson meet.

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • The story is set in NYC and that is where I lived so it was very easy for me to connect to this story. I could see she also spent a lot of time crafting the world and hope she writes more in this series because it is a very well-developed world.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • This book is very fast paced especially if you have kids that get board fast this book is a such a fast read and the story did not suffer from how fast pace the novel was either.

CHARACTERS

  • I really enjoyed both main characters of the story so much. I loved how the characters were built and their interactions really stole my heart. I hope we get to see these characters again because they were so much fun to read about.
  • CONFLICT
  • The mystery and the relationship between Holmes and Watson really kept me wanting to read especially the mystery. I did not know the ending until the end and that was very hard to do when I read. The characters interaction also brought another level of conflict to the story as well.
  • DIALOGUE
  • The dialogue in this book is very unique especially Shelby but that is because of the character she is and that is stated by everybody how not normal it is. The dialogue of the other characters is so modern day that it makes holmes dialogue even more unique.

 

THE ENDING

I loved how the story wrapped up and how Shelby wrapped up the case it was a very creative ending and I hope we get more stories like this in the future.

 

Check out my non-spolier review of several novels including this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YuKzTRwIJc

 

 

The loose end List

The Loose Ends List

 

By L

 

Rating 3 stars

 

Book in a pinch This book is book about death and grief and romance.

 

 

Go into this one knowing

This book is very romance heavy but no love triangle. It has dose have elements of gay relationships but it is not the primary focus. This book is also a stand alone.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK

The story did hook me because the write tone did draw me in. It made me feel like I was back in high school. The one thing that took me out of the first several chapters of the book was we meet so many characters so fast it was hard to keep them straight. The story took awhile for me to get hook after we meet the young mom on the boat.

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING
  • The world was very easy to connect to do. It is a present day novel so some hints of
  • future science plans. The world that was created on the boat was super unique and I liked
  • that much better then the setting that started the book it was a tad more unique.
  • FLOW / PACING
  • The book pace was slow at points especially when we were meeting all the family
  • members and the people on the boat. It did pick up after their Rio stop. It was a book that
  • I kept wanting to read but, I would put it down if the characters introductions confused

CHARACTERS

  • I did like Maddie as a main character most of the time but she did get on my nerves at points and that was mostly do to her interactions later in the book with her boy. She made choices that just annoyed me and that was mostly due to her relationship drama. I did feel that the world had a lot of characters as well to the point that it was very hard to feel emotionally connected to anyone minus like two or three. The characters did not grab me by the feels throughout his book.
  • CONFLICT
  • The conflict was very much maddie come to terms with her grandma death and also very much a self-discovery novel. The conflict or the major reason I wanted to read was to see how long the grandma lasted and what happen to the rest of the people on the boat. It was like a ticking time bomb book of who was going to die next on he boat. The conflict was more internal with Maddie then external.
  • DIALOGUE
  • I think the uniqueness of the dialogue would have felt out of place anywhere but the boat. The dialogue was over the top and very brash and in your face but the was culture that was create on the boat. So I did feel the dialogue fit the tone of the book.

THE ENDING

I think the ending was my least favorite part of the book and that mostly because of Maddie and her actions. I did really like the last chapter but then ending was not as strong for Maddie as I would have liked. It also left many things open-ended so small heads up as well.

 

Check out my non-spoiler review mash up where i discuss this book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YuKzTRwIJc

26 Kisses

26 Kisses by Anna Michels

 

 

Book in a pinch - If you are looking for a super light beach read with t a cute romance pick this up.

 

Go into this one knowing: It does have elements of LGBTQ addressed but not the main focus at all. It is a pure romance but nothing else for the reader to become attached to.

 

Ask Yourself these types of questions HOOK 

 

The book took me a couple of chapters to get into. It was a slow book for me to warm up to. I did not think the author voice was that unique but I did like the story. She was able in the first chapter to introduce to me a group of friends and I really wanted to learn more about them. When she started working her summer job and meet her co-worker is when I got hooked.

  • SETTING / WORLD BUILDING 

The book was set in modern day America. It handled a lot of cultural references so common today and was easy for me to place the story. I think the world was not super different from another YA novels. It was nice world that was created but nothing surprised me.

  • FLOW / PACING 
  • This story was a tad slow overall but that was because the premise to kiss 26 boys in a
  • summer was not super imperative to the character. So it felt that point got lost in the
  • novel and it was easy to stop reading and come back. The story was best when she was
  • on the “hunt” for her kisses.
  • CHARACTERS 

    Veda was not my favorite character. She did have a lot of flaws but it was hard to really like her because she made some bad choices throughout the novel and it was hard to always be on her side. She was not too perfect but she made choices that almost made her unlikeable until the end. I really loved the characters of Killian and also Seth. I almost wish we got more info about Seth. He would have been a cool character to get into his head.

  • POINT OF VIEW 

The point of view stayed the same throughout the novel and did not change but I do wish it would have the male POV as well.

CONFLICT 

  • The main plot was her finishing this kissing list but I did not grab my focus as much as “scavenger hunt ” stories normally do. I was more invested in her personal conflict if she was ready for another boyfriend because I was a fan of him a lot. I felt like the conflict was slow and due that book dragged a bit.

DIALOGUE 

I though the dialogue was very good for a high school setting but it did not wow me or make me laugh and it was not super emotional which are some thing I look for in YA romances.

  • THE ENDING 
  • I think ending was rushed and I wanted to see more of what happen after the last page because the ending did not answer all my questions.

 

Check out my Mash up video  review where this review is included:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YuKzTRwIJc

 

 

                       

The Geography of You and Me

 I really liked this book. It stated when Lucy and Owen met in a trapped elevator in New York. The book then followed these characters as they go through a year of their lives in different places both in the states and abroad and how they keep there connection alive. The story was a romance but had so much about self discovery and seeing how much these characters changed made me love them even more.

 

The time frame of the novel also allowed me to become attached to these characters. The locations were always changing but the characters were my constant and that made me like them even more. I loved how the relationship was a def a slow burn but it was a good slow burn and how good that romance was.

 

 

Overall, a very good read with some travel, romance and self-discovary tossed together!

  

The Satistical Probability of Love At first sight

This book did not wow me but that was more because it only took place over a 24 hour period and that did not allow for much character growth for any of the characters. The book went by so fast but was a fun read. I did like the fact of two characters meeting on plane and what happens next but it did not go very deep and that was just because of the time frame of the novel but i liked the characters and I really loved the setting that was built this book just did not have the length to really pack both an emotional punch and make me really invenested in the characters.

 

 

Overall it was a fun read but i wanted a longer novel with a longer time frame.