Book Review – Page 46 – The Constellation of Moon

Orgo Runners: The First Collection Review

Posted on September 19, 2018

Orgo Runners: The First Collection by R.J. Furness (Illustrations by Amy Leslie)

R.J. Furness, author of the “dissent” books, brings you Orgo Runners…

This the first of many AMAZING adventures, featuring the orgo!!

In a future ice-age…

Living in Port Harmony, Fayth and her friends are among the greatest at riding orgo! But when they are forced to become Food Runners, they embark on a dangerous journey to deliver supplies to Scorr Tanta.

Will their skill at riding orgo help them succeed in their mission?

Rating:

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start this by saying I love my little orgo and if you follow me on Twitter you may have seen Trey going on adventures under the tags #iwantanorgo and #orgoadventures. The latest one was visiting Paddington Bear.

So now unto the actual review of the book.

The first few pages I read were very confusing and it took me a little bit to actually get into the story (I just felt like I was thrown into it and couldn’t grasp well what was going on). But afterwards, it started on a good foot and stayed there. I love the creatures, do not like the way people are treated.

Without spoiling much, I can say that the subplots in each adventure (and in all adventures over all because some carry over) keep you wanting to go on reading just to figure out if your guess is right, or if they’ll make it, or what new thing Ink will manage to produce and use.

It is also lovely they are a rag tag bunch of teenagers trying to make the most of their lives and managing as best as they can (and the fact that they don’t have everything in control, or all the answers at any given moment was refreshing to read, and to see them fail sometimes and just wipe off the dust and keep trying a different way).

The little search game had me looking for them in every illustration until I figured it out (the illustrations are very cute too and made it a bit easier to imagine things) which was a lovely bonus to the book (and I found them all! woohoo).

Moon recommends

Try out Orgo Runners. I would also recommend checking out The Apprentice Witch.

Book Review

It Ends With You Review

Posted on September 17, 2018

It Ends With You by S. K. Wright

‘If I’d told the truth, it would have been fiction’

Everyone loves Eva. Beautiful, bright, fun, generous – she’s perfect.

So when her dead body is found in a ditch in the local woods the only thing anyone wants to know is: Who could have done this?

It has to be Luke, her boyfriend. He has the motive, the means, the opportunity and he’s no stranger to the police.

Even though the picture is incomplete, the pieces fit. But as time passes, stories change.

Told from six narrative strands, this cleverly woven and utterly compulsive novel challenges preconceptions; makes you second, third and fourth guess yourself; and holds an uncomfortable mirror up to the way societies and systems treat those they perceive to be on the outside

Rating:

The best way to describe this book is to say that it started not too creepy and then it kept throwing plot twists at you that were surprising.

I loved finding out all of Eva’s “dirty” secrets and seeing how even then everyone was still sure Luke had done (despite the evidence that was shown). It was also sad to see how people react when someone comes from a less privileged background or are just different and that was quite interesting to read too.

The many relationships between families, between friends, between couples, and teachers, students, figures of authority and in general society were quite interesting to see.

The format made it fun to read (I do wonder if it will “age” well, as who knows how long some of the things used will stay). And even though I usually do not like having too many POV, this book makes the most of it and does it well.

Moon recommends

Read It Ends With You, I read it really fast and didn’t want to put it down. You may also enjoy One of Us is Lying or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (coming out next year). They’re all along the same vibe and lines and all good to read.

Book Review

Shallow magic and straight on abuse

Posted on September 13, 2018

The Lost Witch by Melvin Burgess

Thirteen year old Beas’ life goes through a rapid change when she suddenly starts to see and hear things that others can not. Confused and a pretty scared, she seeks comfort from her parents, that, convinced that she’s mentally ill, wants to take her to the hospital. At the same time, Bea is being approached by a group of witches that says that her visions is a sign of her special powers. They also state that she’s now in danger, because of the evil Hunt, wanting to destroy everything good and bright in the world with their dark magic. Conflicted and scared, torn between the (maybe not so safe) safety of her family, and her want to help out the other witches, Bea is soon (literary) dragged into a dark story of conflicting magic and straight on abuse.

Rating 🐖

I don’t often write a straight forward bad review, but folks, this is it. Even if I dislike a book, there’s often something to the story or the writing style that I appreciate. In The Lost Witch however, this is not the case.

The story balances somewhere between MG and YA, which I think adds to the odd writing style. Almost all of the story is explained and spelled straight out rather than figuratively told, which adds up to no feelings being felt during the reading. The magic and the way this whole fantasy world is working seems random, and I just don’t get it. There’s also a ridiculous amount of exclamation marks.

The biggest problem is though (surprisingly) not the writing style or the construction of the fiction universe. It’s the events of the story itself. The story where thirteen year old Bea, alone and scared, gets kidnapped, physically and psychologically abused, and then put on trial and blamed for it all. Without any form of hint from the moral in the story, the authors way of depicting it, or the after word that this is the wrong way to go about it. It’s not just conflicting, its distasteful, at the very least.

Dr. Bea does NOT approve

If you wanna read something about magic and witches, but without pedophile sex scenes and victim blaming, I recommend The Magisterium-series instead.

Book Review

Lovely, Dark, and Deep Review

Posted on September 7, 2018

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Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen

What would you do if the sun became your enemy?

That’s exactly what happens to Viola Li after she returns from a trip abroad and develops a sudden and extreme case of photosensitivity — an inexplicable allergy to sunlight. Thanks to her crisis-manager parents, she doesn’t just have to wear layers of clothes and a hat the size of a spaceship. She has to stay away from all hint of light. Say goodbye to windows and running outdoors. Even her phone becomes a threat when its screen burns her.

Viola is determined to maintain a normal life, particularly after she meets Josh. He’s a funny, talented Thor look-alike who carries his own mysterious grief. But the intensity of their romance makes her take more and more risks, and when a rebellion against her parents backfires dangerously, she must find her way to a life — and love — as deep and lovely as her dreams.

Rating:

You know how they tell you to write the book you’d like to read and haven’t found? For me this is the book I wanted to read but hadn’t found. However, I did not write, instead Justina did.

We follow Viola’s story through this book, she is a browncoat, which in geekspeak means a fan of Firefly, and is also crazy about doing bake sales for charity (that is something I am not that familiar with except as a concept but all the food she cooks throughout the book made me hungry and I wish we had some recipes to go with it). Then as she is having a normal day, she collapses and voila, turns out she is allergic to the sun (and light).

Now, in case you didn’t know, I am photosensitive myself (I was born like this) and I have written a little about it on a reality check post. And I really want to highlight that this book does a wonderful job at representation of photosensitivity. It is well researched, it is good at explaining how it affects and changes your life (it was very intersting for me, since I have adapted to it as I grow, rather than having to do so in one go, and I kept nodding at the things they would try and going “yeah, done that”) and it is also a good story. It follows her journey to coping with her new life, and how her family relationships change, but it also has a romance subplot which I enjoyed (even if at times it was quite sweet) that in itself deals with loss and grief.

Lovely, Dark, and Deep is a very uplifting book, it keeps reassuring you that you’ve got this regardless of how many lemons (or killer sunrays) life throws at you.

Moon recommends

That if you know me, or are curious about photosensitivity, you go and buy this book and read it. It genuinely is the book I didn’t know I needed. And if you’d like a younger and more sweet book, try The Ice Garden.

Book Review

City of Ghosts Review

Posted on September 3, 2018

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City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

Rating:

Ghost story: Check. Middle Grade Cuteness: Check. Schwab as author: Check.

This is a gorgeous story, and I am glad Victoria has decided to do Middle Grade because it is deliciously her flavour but with a cuter side in it (it doesn’t stop having this particular darkness in the stories and dealing with death and bad stuff).

Meet Cass, who had a near death experience and now can see ghosts. Meet Jacob who is a ghost and her best friend. And then get moved to Edinburgh and meet a very dangerous ghost.

Cass has a lot of learning to do and also a lot of adapting. One of my favourite things was the way Cass struggled with the difference between British and American English. It rang true for me as I had that same issue and it was very confusing to have to change the image of a word to a different one (I still sometimes say pants instead of trousers) and yes, I know some people found this annoying but when you are coming from one place and this is suddenly thrown into you, it is confusing. And also, don’t forget Cass is young, she will notice things in a different way.

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And of course, I have been to Edinburgh a few times, so it was delightful to see Cass trekking through it and remembering being there, it just made the visualising of the story that much more real and tangible.

Moon recommends

If you like Schwabs particular style but prefer a lighter younger version, go read City of Ghosts. Otherwise you may like This Savage Song, or Vicious?

Book Review

Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? Review

Posted on September 1, 2018

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Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at “normality” for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for the new friends she never expected to make – who each have their own reasons for being there. Luckily Olive has a plan to solve all their problems. But how do you fix the world when you can’t fix yourself?

Rating:

My first Holly Bourne book was It Only Happens In The Movies, and I absolutely loved it, it was a different kind of contemporary book. So when this little one came out and it touched on kindness and mental health I knew I had to read it.

It did not disappoint. Olive has issues, and she is sent to a camp as a possible treatment. There she meets other people with different mental illnesses, and she starts going off on her own theories of how to fix herself.

I love the part maths took here (and the character that brings them into place), and Olive was in part lovable, part I wanted to tell her to stop and listen and just not do what she was doing. But then I have had a lot more years of experience than she does in the book, and I did do some crazy things regarding my mental health when I was Olive’s age.

However, this book made me quite emotional and I kept wanting to read it and not stop. Plus it touches on being kind to yourself, and starting there but also on doing small acts of kindness to others. Which is always a good thing and it is lovely to see that promoted.

Moon recommends

Maybe just go read more of Holly’s books? I have reviewed It Only Happens In The Movies here so you can check that one out, or go buy this book.

Book Review

Undead Girl Gang Review

Posted on August 28, 2018

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer…before the killer strikes again.

Rating:

This novel was a refreshing voice and it made me laugh. It was also quite good to have a witch that is not your usual witch, and I loved it. I also loved how her spells turn out.

I read this in a couple of sittings because it was just fun and cute and I kept wanting to know what Mila was doing and pondering exactly why the girls had been killed and by whom.

The twists made me laugh (mushrooms, mushrooms), and it just felt like a fun book yet it was dealing with death and difficult things happening. People think the girls died by a suicide pact, so with this premise Mila starts trying to prove it wrong, and it is a sad book.

Yes, there are zombies but it definitely isn’t your usual zombie story at all! But it does challenge the mean girls and it challenges Riley and Mila’s friendship and it is good, and interesting.

I think the best way to describe it is a refreshing fun out of the norm book.

Moon recommends

I think you should read Undead Girl Gang. If you like mysteries and thriller like, try One of Us is Lying, or if you prefer something funny, try Heretics Anonymous.

Book Review

The Book of Boy Review

Posted on August 26, 2018

The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert-Murdock

Boy has always been relegated to the outskirts of his small village. With a large hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, he is often mocked and abused by the other kids in his town. Until the arrival of a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus. Impressed with Boy’s climbing and jumping abilities, Secondus engages Boy as his servant, pulling him into an expedition across Europe to gather the seven precious relics of Saint Peter. Boy quickly realizes this journey is not an innocent one. They are stealing the relics, and gaining dangerous enemies in the process. But Boy is determined to see this pilgrimage through until the end—for what if St. Peter can make Boy’s hump go away?

This compelling, action-packed tale is full of bravery and daring, stars a terrific cast of secondary characters, and features an unlikely multigenerational friendship at its heart. Memorable and haunting, Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s epic medieval adventure is just right for readers of Sara Pennypacker’s Pax, Adam Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale, and Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Echo.

Rating:

Oh my gosh, this was such a cute read. Boy is such an interesting character and it immediately made me feel like I was 1350.

The way Boy talks is very much from a different time, and at first I wasn’t sure what exactly his secret was, but I have to say I loved it (I do not want to spoil you, but that was my favourite part and how that mixes with the adventures of Secundus).

Boy is delightful, the lines between heaven, hell and earth blur beautifully. Relics are all the rage and life is so different, yet at the same time some things don’t change, do they? It not only mixes fantasy but religion, beliefs and a simple way of life. And it was very interesting to see Boy talking to animals and understanding them.

What are you waiting for? Go read The Book of Boy.

Moon recommends

When I read The Book of Boy, I was reminded a lot of Cadfael’s mysteries, so why not try Ellis Peters’ books?

Book Review

Black Curtain Call Review

Posted on August 24, 2018

Black Curtain Call by Nikki Welton

When 17-year-old Ivy is wrongly accused of a crime during a live performance in a theater she is desperately trying to save from closing, she must run for her life.

With the help of the director, who owns an ancient key to the theater vaults, Ivy, her best friend, Cole, and her sister, together open a passage to medieval Scotland, where the real knight Macbeth and King Duncan are at the height of their powers. But the escape route comes at an unexpected price: Ivy and her friends must play the roles of their lives, impersonating their real past selves. Unless they learn to trust each other more than the malicious whispers of three prophesying witches, the four of them might be lost forever in the world of royal intrigues and murder. This time Ivy must prevent the crime from happening and capture the culprit, or her own fate will change irrevocably.

If she can uncover the reason why the key thrust her into such a hostile world, Ivy might influence her future by altering the past to save the theater and find her way back home.

Rating:

Disclaimer: I was provided this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

A second disclaimer, I am not a big fan of Shakespeare retellings. But this is probably my favourite one.

As I finished this, my thoughts all end up in one. I wish Ivy had enjoyed the ride more. She’s trying so hard to go back to the theater that it felt like she wasn’t living in the moment. (And I mean, if you’re transported to the past and one of your past selves, why not figure things out and enjoy it?).

The others seem to get into character better. Does that mean Ivy maybe isn’t suited for theater? Who knows? I did ponder on this more than I probably should, but if she can’t act in the past, who says she can in the present?

It was an interesting “retelling” of Macbeth, the idea was way better than the original. However, Ivy’s attitude kept getting in the way of enjoying it as much as I think I would. (Also, why is she friends with Cole? I would’ve ditched him years ago).

If Shakespeare is your thing, you’ll enjoy this book.

Moon recommends

If you like retellings, go read Black Curtain Call. Or you can give The Queens of Innis Lear a go.

Book Review

Heretics Anonymous Review

Posted on August 20, 2018

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry

Michael is an atheist. So as he walks through the doors at St. Clare’s—a strict Catholic school—sporting a plaid tie, things can’t get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. When a girl challenges their teacher in class, Michael thinks he might have found one, and a fellow nonbeliever at that. Only this girl, Lucy, is not just Catholic . . . she wants to be a priest.

But Lucy introduces Michael to other St. Clare’s outcasts, and he officially joins Heretics Anonymous, where he can be an atheist, Lucy can be an outspoken feminist, Avi can be Jewish and gay, Max can wear whatever he wants, and Eden can practice paganism. After an incident in theology class, Michael encourages the Heretics to go from secret society to rebels intent on exposing the school’s hypocrisies. When Michael takes one mission too far—putting the other Heretics at risk—he must decide whether to fight for his own freedom, or rely on faith, whatever that means, in God, his friends, or himself.

Rating:

I loved this book much more than I thought I would. It made me laugh a lot (it definitely touches on the whole divine comedy), and it also made me think a lot (in a good way).

It has the classic “high school” elements, but it also has some interesting family dynamics and cultural differences and that made it so much better. First off there is Michael, who is struggling with moving around because of his father’s job. And it touched me because I have moved around a lot too (not because of my dad all the time but still). And the relationsips between his family were interesting.

Then you get the rest of the group, with Lucy trying so hard for her family and for herself. I really enjoyed her passion and her belief. She believed and it was okay, the book doesn’t tell you “hey, this character’s way is better”, instead it shows you a lot of different ways to view faith (which is something not many YA or even fiction books touch) but Heretics Anonymous does.

Each of the character adds to this book a little bit more and it was so nice to read it.

Moon recommends

I would suggest preordering/buying Heretics Anonymous, regardless of your beliefs. I don’t have many other books that touch on faith as this one does, so it is a tricky one to recommend other books…