What I've Read Lately - June

June started off not so great, but picked up pretty well by the end, so I guess I can't complain with my picks overall.  I did read two more novels that I don't mention here, both pretty good, actually, but they came from the adult fiction section of the library and, although one might be okay for an upper grade reader, the other was shockingly inappropriate for teens and even more sensitive adults.  So, I won't even bother mentioning them here.  All told, I managed to read 12 books this month (some were very hard to put down, and some I so desperately wanted to be done with I was practically speed reading), so now I am finally caught up and on track with my goal of reading 100 books again this year.

Unmarked, by Kami Garcia, was a lot like the first book in the series, Unbreakable (see mini-review here), and yet a lot not like it either.  It started out pretty much the same, minus the troublesome details (whew!), but it had less action, less following around the clues, less fighting supernatural/paranormal entities, and a whole lot more wondering what the heck they should be doing now.  I think the benefit of solving the detail problem balanced out the drawback of having less mystery and excitement, so I would say the two would rate just about the same in my opinion.  The story definitely does not end with this book, however, and there is no mention of a third one on the author's website, but this one was published in 2014, so a final installment should be out by now, but it isn't so maybe it is never coming.  We pretty much are left knowing what we suspected for most of the second book, but we don't know HOW it is going to come about, so . . . I would wait to even start this 'trilogy' until there was a definite indication that it will ever be finished.  (Reading Level: 5.0/ Upper Grades)

About a year ago, I read a pirate story that was sorely disappointing (see review here), but I am happy to say that I finally came across one that was not.  Daughter of the Pirate King, by Tricia Levenseller, was everything a pirate story should be.  It was a swashbuckling adventure with a female heroine that was fun to read.  Along with the action, there was intrigue and secrets, one of which we discover about the heroine herself near the end of the book which is actually quite surprising and offers a nice twist to the classic pirate novel.  There isn't really any romance per se, but there is a relationship developing that is so obviously going to turn into a romance before the series is over that it might as well be.  There was nothing really deep here, but if you are looking for a nice entertaining story you should give this one a try.   (Reading Level: ?/ Upper Grades)

I wanted to like The Bone Witch, by Rin Chupeco.  I really did.  I read 96 pages of it, I wanted to like it so badly.  After reading the first chapter, I thought it was going to be really good, but pretty much everything that came after that was JUST SO BORING.  By page 96 nothing much had really happened and I couldn't take it anymore.  I decided to quit.  But then I thought, maybe I'll go back to it after reading a different book.  Then I read somewhere that it is only part one of a trilogy, and decided that I surely couldn't take that.  So.  Another book abandoned.    (Reading Level: ? / Middle Grade+)

Bad Blood, by Demitria Lunetta, wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't all that good either.  It is about a girl, whose family is from Scotland, who keeps having weird dreams of girls from hundreds of years ago learning magic and getting burned at the stake and stuff like that.  It is pretty predictable - it doesn't take very long to figure out exactly what is going on.  And the writing isn't all that great, either.  I'd skip this one, unless you feel the need to read every book out there that has something to do with witchcraft and psychic connections.   (Reading Level: ?  / Middle Grade+)

So, I didn't actually finish reading The Valley of Secrets by Charmian Hussey.  By the third chapter I could tell that I wasn't in the mood for it.  I thought it was going to be a creepy Gothic family secrets kind of story. It was actually part of the whole 'Save the Rainforests' movement of the 80's and 90's.  You know, the kind where they tried to get kids so enamored with the jungles that they would somehow do something to save them.  Not that I don’t want the rainforests saved or anything, but, having grown up in the 80's, I have ingested enough rainforest propaganda to last a lifetime.  Aside from that complaint, it didn't seem to be  a bad story - it reads like a bedtime story or fairy tale – but it should be shelved in juvenile fiction, not the YA section (the protagonist is a teen, so...)  Today’s kids, not having been bombarded with rainforest propaganda left and right, might find it entertaining.    (Reading Level:  ? / Middle Grade+)

Savage, by Tom Sniegoski, was not good.  Not good at all.  It was a book about animals getting all mind-controlled by a storm and killing everybody in sight.  And that was pretty much how the entire book went - one scene after another of our teenage friends (I think that word is used like 150 times in this book!) getting attacked by swarms of animals and barely making it out alive.  It was soooooo tedious.  Like a bad (very bad) B movie.  It makes me wonder, how do these books' authors get to be New York Times bestsellers?!?! (Because this is not the first time I have seen that blurb on the cover of a really not great book.)  I even told my husband, people who don't like to read probably read a couple of books like this and gave up.  Seriously.  It's not the worst book I've come across - I actually managed to finish it - but probably only because I'd already abandoned two books in the first ten days of this month.  Uuuggghhhh.  I hope things start looking up from here.   (Reading Level: ? / Middle Grade+)

I chose to read Passenger, by Alexandra Bracken, next, because after the last five books I needed something good and I really, really enjoyed her Darkest Minds trilogy.  It wasn't as great as I was hoping.  Not bad, but it could have been much better.  The heroine ruminates on the same points too many times, the love story is absurd in the amount of time it supposedly develops, and there are places where the story just plods along.  It does do a much better job of dealing with the concept of time travel (the driving force behind the story) than a whole lot of other books out there, the action scenes are pretty good, and it ends with an unexpected cliff hanger, so I'll read the second book and see what happens.  (Reading Level: 6.5/ Upper Grades)

What can I tell you about Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz?  Well, it was kinda weird.  Possibly the strangest premise of any book I've ever read, and that's saying something.  But that's good, because it means that it was original - a person can only read so many girl-discovers-she-has-super-powers books before getting desperate for something different.  Anyway, this book has been described as a 'gritty, romantic modern fairy tale,' but really I only agree with the gritty part.  It was disturbing to say the least, and thought-provoking, and heartbreaking.  But very well written - very simple, but packing a powerful punch.  Definitely for the upper grades, though, due to the subject matter.  (Reading Level: 4.1/ Upper Grades)

I loved, loved, loved Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke.  It was a bit bizarre and completely unique, and the voice . . . WOW.  The story is actually told by three different characters and all of them - just wow.  This is the first book I've read in a long, long time that I would rate 5 stars without a doubt.  There is just something about it.  It's probably not for everyone, but if you are a fan of Brenna Yovanoff and Maggie Stiefvater, there's a good chance you'll like this book.  (Reading Level: 5.1/ Upper Grades)

Avenged, by Amy Tintera, is the sequel to the book Ruined.  And by sequel, I mean part two, because the story doesn't come to an end.  Which I am quite bummed about, because Avenged just came out and I hate having to wait a year to see how a story continues.  Anyway, this is a fantasy series, set in a Middle Age type world where some people fight with swords and some people fight with their powers.  As far as this type of fantasy goes, it seemed much more Middle Age fantasy, and less race-with-magical-powers fantasy (even though the whole powers thing was a main point of the story), so if you aren't a big high fantasy fan but do enjoy historical fantasy, you might like it.  This installment started off a bit slow, but picked up with the action, adventure, intrigue, and romance in the second half of the book.  Not up to par with Tintera's first series, Reboot, but not bad, either.  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)

Dreamers Often Lie, by Jacqueline West, follows a pretty novel concept.  It is about a girl who is really into theater (I know, not novel), who's father died somewhat recently (also not novel), who was hospitalized with a traumatic head injury (yes, I know), and now sees hallucinations and has lost time and waking dreams (just wait!).  What she sees are characters from Shakespeare's plays, and they stand around and perch on her bed (etc.) and talk to her (in Shakespearean English, sometimes with their own words and sometimes quoting their lines from the famous plays), commenting on whatever is going on at the time, be it conversations she is in the midst of with other, real people, or just her solitary musings.  It is pretty interesting.  And there is a whole love triangle thing, with rival suitors . . . . I didn't really like the way the main character made so many stupid decisions, and I didn't really care for the ending (I mean the very very ending), but I didn't really hate it either and I get what the author was trying to do with it, so, I guess I would say this is a good solid three-star book.  If you like Shakespeare, you'll probably love it.  Or, on second thought, you might absolutely hate it.  How about you try it out and see.   (Reading Level: ? / Middle Grade+)

The Suffering Tree, by Elle Cosimano, is another book with parts that are unique and parts that are not.  I have to say, it was pretty good.  The only thing keeping it from getting a 4 star rating from me is that it was missing that something special (language, voice, etc.) to push it over the edge.  The story involves cutting, so I thought I was not going to like it at all (I've come across too many of those, honestly, and I just haven't enjoyed them.)  But, as it turns out, the issue was presented very well and had an important role in driving the story along (in a number of different ways - well done!)  As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of genealogical mystery (well, not so much of a fan when the dead-ends of my research leave the mystery unsolvable, but anyway . . . ) which was a big premise in this story.  It is set in the present day, but it has flashbacks to the 1700's to help us figure out the mystery/secret along with the characters.  I'd figured it out (mostly) by the middle of the book, but I didn't know how the characters were going to get to the bottom of it and how it would all pan out in the end, so it was still a nice, suspenseful read.  (The ending, by the way, was perfect.)  And look at that cover - it doesn't get any better than that.  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)

Well, by the middle of the month I had hoped things would be looking up, and I guess they did.  I read my first 5 star book in I can't tell you how long, and would rate two of the others at 4 stars, which is still pretty rare for me (what can I say, I'm picky).  Not only that, but I got to enjoy reading some fresh and new concepts, instead of just new versions of the same old thing.  I've got nine books waiting on my bookshelf right now, so let's hope July goes as well (or better!!).