Recently Read: The Serpent King

Author: Jeff Zentner
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publication Date: 2016
Page Count: 384
Rating: 4/5

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Dill lives in small-town, religious America. His father is a Pentecostal minister of a church that deals in dangerous trusts with God, well he was until he was arrested. Now Dill is feeling stuck in his life and town, trying to make ends meet with his mom and shouldering guilt for his father's actions. The two bright spots in his life are his best friends Travis and Lydia. The three teens battle to both accept and escape their small town as they graduate from high school,

I had heard a lot of good things about this book but didn't really know what it was about when I picked it up so I was pleasantly surprised with the themes that it dealt with. I loved the theme of the small-town struggle and how religion was dealt with in this novel. I haven't read a lot of YA novels that deal with questioning and accepting religion the way this one does. I come from a small rural town myself and know the large part religion plays in the lives of many that live this way. The religion in this novel is intense, bordering on a cult, and it's hold is a vital part of Dill and his character development. I am not religious myself, but I found this element of the novel really fascinating and it felt very authentic.

I loved Travis; he was unashamedly himself at all times, which I admired very much. He is fiercely loyal and adds great contrast to Dill. Lydia, I had some issues with. To me, she almost felt a little too typical teenage-girl-in-a-YA-novel but at times she had moments of growth and development that I appreciated. Dill was a great character, he was real and complicated and deserving of sympathy; he made real and important growth. 

This book did a great job of honestly portraying the struggle that many kids from small towns face when trying to move on to better and bigger things. I really felt for Dill and was happy for the progress he made in this novel; I thought this was a great and unique coming of age novel that dealt with issues beyond the typical YA issues that were still very much real. I'm not the biggest fan of contemporaries, but I really enjoyed this and flew threw it in two days. I would recommend picking this one up if you are a contemporary buff looking for something a little different, or if you aren't a fan of the typical contemporary. I'm very interested to see what Zentner will do in the future. 

Recently Read: We are the Ants

Author: Shaun David Hutchinson
Genre: Young Adult- Magical Realism
Publication Date: 2016
Page Count: 455
Rating: 5/5

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Henry has every reason to wish for the end of the world. His boyfriend killed himself, he no longer speaks to his best friend because of it, he hates school and the bullies, and to top it all off, his dad left the family and Henry blames it on himself. But when Henry is abducted by aliens and told he is the only one that can prevent the end of the world, Henry must decide if he thinks the world is worth saving. 

I devoured this book. I read all 450 pages in two sittings. I knew I loved Henry's narrative voice within the first two pages. Henry is smart and angsty, everything I want in a YA narrator. I thought all of the characters, even the minor side characters, were really well developed and Henry's world felt so real to me. I am a big fan of magical realism and I thought the magical element within this novel of the aliens was perfectly done and unique.  

There is a lot of hard stuff in this book. Henry's life is not a piece of cake and I felt for him. I wanted to reach out to him and offer encouragement. His journey and thought processes felt so real and authentic. I loved the way the relationships developed and changed. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but this book did a great job of portraying how difficult it is to see beyond your individual self to the rest of the world when you are young. I thought the end was perfect as it left a lot up to the reader to decide. This book was entertaining and very impactful. It makes a beautiful but brutal statement about life and the world we live in. 

One of my favorite things about this novel was that Henry is gay, but this novel has nothing to do with him coming out. While I also enjoy novels about gay characters expressing their true selves to their friends and families and think they are absolutely important, that should not be the only way gay characters exist in YA. Henry is gay and his family and friends already know, that is a part of him and a part of the story of course, but it is not the whole story. 

I'm usually not a huge fan of YA contemporary so I have found magical realism to be that added element that really helps me get into contemporary. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. If you are new to magical realism, this would be a lovely place to start as the characters and contemporary issues are very strong and well done, and the magical element is the icing on the cake. The romance in this novel is very well written, (romance is the element of contemporaries that make me hesitant to read them) and I really enjoyed the development and honesty of all of the relationships in the novel. This is a book I can see myself rereading in the future and enjoying it just as much as I did the first time, if not more. 

Let me know if you have any YA contemporary or magical realism suggestions in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday: New Release 2016 (Part 2)

As usual, I'm totally behind in the new release department, so I haven't even read half of the new releases from the first half of the year yet! But, here I am today with ten more 2016 releases that I want to read.
You can see my first list of 2016 releases I want to read here.
Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

1. The Muse by Jessie Burton
Release Date: July 16, 2016
I just bought Burton's debut the other day, and I can't wait to get into it. I already know I will love The Miniaturist and will be wanting this one too. Also very interested in the crossing timelines and art world mentioned in the premise!  

2. A World Without You by Beth Revis
Release Date: July 19th
I have yet to read anything by Revis, but all of her books intrigue me! This one is about time travel and superpowers.

3.  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Release Date: September 6, 2016
The Rules of Civility is one of my all-time favorite books and I have been eagerly waiting for Towels to come out with his second book! Regardless of premise, I was going to be picking this up automatically.

4. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Release Date: September 20, 2016
Love the sound of triplet teen queens. Also love that cover.

5. Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge
Release Date: September 27, 2016
I'm a sucker for Romeo and Juliet retellings and I liked Hodge's dark twist on Beauty and the Beast in Cruel Beauty so I think she will do R&J justice.

6.The Good People by Hannah Kent
Release Date:October 2016
The premise of this one sounds so interesting. 1825 Ireland mixed with magical realism in the form of changelings! I haven't read Kent's first novel, but I really want to and this one sounds great too.

7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition 
Release Date: October 4, 2016
AHHHHH!!!!!!

8. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
Release Date: 2016
Crossing my fingers that this book where women can "manipulate beauty" has some feminist themes!

9. Black Widow: Red Vengeance
Release Date: 2016
I thought book one (Review here) was a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to book two. I'm all about that female super hero action.

10. Captain Marvel Novel by Shannon and Dale Hale
Release Date: 2016
See! I told you, female super heroes.

What made your list? No way I need more books on my TBR, but we all know that's not going to stop me.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I'm Trying to do in 2016

I debated on whether I was going to set goals for this year or not, but I decided to set a few light goals for my reading and blogging life to work on over the year.  

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

1. Read 55 books

2. Read at least five non-fiction novels- I have quite a few nonfiction novels that I have owned for years and have yet to read, I want to get to them this year. 

3. Lay off of Book Outlet for a while- I buy way too many books at one time on that site, and I have so many books from there that I need to read already. I'm going to try to stick to buying one or two books at a time this year. 

4. Go through my books and organize them- I need to go through my books and get rid of what I don't think I will ever read, and put books I have already read but don't plan on rereading in a pile to put in my classroom after I graduate. I have my books separated between my apartment and my parents house, so this will be a bit of a task.  

5. Complete my Classics Club Women's Literature Event list- You can see the list here. I'm really excited for all of these books. 

6. Post at least four Literary Look Posts- I love putting these posts together, but they take a lot of time to research and write up, so I tend to put them off, or push them to the back-burner when I'm busy with school work. 

7. Use my time more wisely- I find myself procrastinating a lot during the semester by just laying in bed and scrolling through my phone. I'm not saying I'm going to stop procrastinating school work, because that would never happen, but I want to make my procrastination time more productive. I want to spend more of that "nothing" time reading, blogging, or doing other stuff that makes me happy and feel productive.  

8. Reread at least five books- I love to reread, and planned to do a lot more of it than I ended up doing last year, so this year I want to make sure I get more rereads in. I won't be making a list of specific books; I'll just pick up whatever I'm in the mood for.  

What are your goals for the new year? Do you track your goal progress through the year, and if so, how? 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Releases on my Radar

I've spent a lot of time on Goodreads browsing the 2016 releases lately, and I've come across quite a few that I'm excited for. I left off some of the more obvious sequels and novels like The Raven King, The Winners Kiss, and Truthwitch in order to highlight other releases, but I'm excited for them too of course. Leave me your link below so I can check out your list and expand my 2016 releases TBR!
Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

Book Titles Link to Goodreads

 

1. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi  
Release Date: May 3rd
I'm really loving how YA fantasy has been taking inspiration from non-western cultures and traditions lately.

2. A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood  
Release Date: March 8th  
This sounds like an amazing collection of historical fiction, girl-power short stories! I love a lot of the authors in this collection, and I have high hopes for this one.

3. The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude
Release Date: May 3rd 
This one sounds like a creepy thriller about small town life and more importantly, look at this cover!

4. The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters
Release Date: March 8th
Cat Winters is doing a retelling of Hamlet in 1902 Oregon featuring the Ku Klux Klan?! Sign me up.

5. All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
Release Date: January 26th
This one sounds really interesting, and possibly a bit complicated. It's got elements of romance, time travel, and magic so you can't go wrong.

6. The Sleeping Prince byMelinda Salsibury 
Release Date: April 26th
The first book in this series was intriguing, but left a lot of things unanswered. After reading the synopsis for this one, it looks like this book is about different characters. I'm confused, yet also interested. And I know people think the cover is beautiful, but I find the prince to be a bit creepy.

7. Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun
Release Date: April 26th  
This premise has got me really intrigued! It sounds like a cool mix of sci-fi and fantasy
 

 

8. The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman 
Release Date: January 26th 
I'm up for any and all historical fiction with fantasy elements.

9. This Savage Song, by Victoria Swab 
Release Date: June 7th
Swab has quite the reputation and I have yet to read many of her works. This one sounds action packed.

10. Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Banderia 
Release Date: January 12th 
This isn't something I would normally pick up, but it looks fluffy and light, which I do get in the mood for every once and a while. 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Debuts!

2016 seems to be the Year of the Contemporary, which admittedly, it not my thing, so this list actually took me a little while to put together. I am really excited about all of these those, and my TBR just grew by ten! I'll be really interested to see what everyone else posted today so I can add even more book to my list!  

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

*Book titles link to Goodreads* 

 

1. Blackhearts, Nicole Castorman-- February 9th  

Pirates! 

2. The Girl From Everywhere, Heidi Heilig-- February 16th 

Time Travel! 

3. A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro-- March 1st     

I'm up to try any Sherlock Holmes retelling. 

4. These Vicious Masks, Tarun Shanker --  February 9th 

Jane Austen meets X-men?? I'm intrigued.  

5.  The Inn Keeper's Daughter, Cindy Trumbore-- 2016

Love the idea of an Irish Folklore retelling!

6. Of Blood and Shadow, Kerri Maniscalco-- 2016 

Jack the Ripper? Female forensic scientist? Yes, please.  

7. The Blood Rose Rebellion, Rosalyn Eves-- 2017 (I'm cheating)

Alternate Victorian London and magic are always fun!

 

8. Fear the Drowning Deep, Sarah Glenn Marsh--September 2016 

Dark and thrilling mystery!

9. Revenge and the Wild, Michelle Modesto-- February 2nd 

The West seems to be a popular YA subject lately. 

10. Sword and Verse, Kathy MacMillian-- January 19th 

This fantasy sounds really great for book and language lovers.