These Books Among Us

Hey all!!! So...you may notice that I might be posting a little less frequently with my book reviews from now on because we have almost caught up to where I am now. Don't worry, I will make sure to keep posting other things like general updates and possibly reviewing movies or shows or something, but I'm not sure yet. I'll keep you updated though!! XO Dana

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi (416 pages) Date Read: 14 August 2016 My Rating: 4.75 Stars Synopsis: The bestselling author of the Shatter Me series takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places. There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other. But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can...

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror by John Ashbery Date Read: 13 August 2016 My Rating: 4 Stars Synopsis: John Ashberry won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. Ashberry reaffirms the poetic powers that have made him such an outstanding figure in contemporary literature. This new book continues his astonishing explorations of places where no one has ever been. My Review: "Versions of cities flattened under the equalizing night. The summer demands and takes away too much, But night, the reserved, reticent, gives more than it takes." - As One Put Drunk into the Packet Boat There are so many emotions in this collection: loneliness, grief, sadness, hope, longing, fear--they are all so strong but not overpowering. I love whenever he talks about stillness and silence. Those moments are so peaceful and full of possibility. It almost makes you ache to be in one of those moments...

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (428 pages) Date Read: 13 August 2016 My Rating: 4 Stars Synopsis: There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books. Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August ju...

The Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo (68 pages) Date Read: 12 August 2016 My Rating: 4 Stars Synopsis: Limited collector’s edition of the final book features an exclusive Darkling prequel story! Before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy of extraordinary power. Get a look into the past that forged a brutal and brilliant leader. My Review: "Fear is a powerful ally, but feed it too often make it too strong, and it will turn on you." Can I just say that I love Leigh Bardugo for giving us all of these short stories to keep us in the world of the Grisha? If you read this, thank you so much for writing it!! Okay, now onto the review (which will include spoilers, so read at your own risk): This is a very interesting and kind of unexpected view into the Darkling's past and childhood. It's strange to see him any less than what he is painted as in the novels. Now, it has been a while since I read the Grisha trilogy, but I feel like I appreci...

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne (328 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Read: 5 August 2016 Synopsis: Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016. It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. My R...

The Raven's Prophecy by Leigh Bardugo (192 pages) My Rating: 5 Stars Date Read: 31 July 2016 Synopsis: This record is for the manual included within Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven's Prophecy Tarot. The manual does not include a separate ISBN and is not sold separately. The iridescent sheen of a raven's wing reveals a tantalizing glimpse of the future. A tattooed hand, sinews roiling like ley lines, peels back the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next. With art and instructions by Maggie Stiefvater—New York Times bestselling author of the Raven Cycle series—The Raven's Prophecy Tarot reveals the wisdom of dreams, helping you harness the opposing forces of intuition of cunning, Moon and Raven, spirit and intellect. Inspired by Stiefvater's artist mentors, this deck is a path to a more creative life for everyone. My Review: I have always wanted to look into Tarot and learn more about it. I got this set as a birthday present and I kn...

Little Knife by Leigh Bardugo (32 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 30 July 2016 Synopsis: In this third Ravkan folk tale from Leigh Bardugo, a beautiful girl finds that what her father wants for her and what she wants for herself are two different things.  It is a companion story to the third book of the Grisha Trilogy, Ruin and Rising, and the stories “The Witch of Duva” and “The Too-Clever Fox.” My Review: This is one of the companion stories to the Grishaverse novels, and I loved it. I really respect when authors put together stories that would be in the folklore of the world they built. I can imagine Alina or Nina getting told this story when she was a kid. I loved how this story was so much about girl power and a woman's rights to her own personhood.  I enjoy any kind of fairy tale, but I especially love one that takes place in a world I adore. The language used was very mysterious and lyrical, much like the Grimm Brothers or Hans Christian Anderson ...

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski (422 pages) My Rating: 3.5 Stars Date Read: 21 July 2016 Synopsis: Following your heart can be a crime A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It means one celebration after another: balls, fireworks, and revelry until dawn. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for Arin's freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself? For Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. She's working as a spy in the court. If caught, she'll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she can't help searching for a way to change her ruthless world . . . and she is close to uncovering a shocking secret. This dazzling follow-up to The Winner's Curse reveals the high price of dangerous lies and untrustworthy alliances. The truth will come out, and when it do...

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (613 pages) My Rating: 3.5 Stars Date Read: 14 July 2016 Synopsis: By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz. Common enemy, common cause. When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love. But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stor...

The Accident Season by  Moïra Fowley-Doyle  (290 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 10 July 2016 Synopsis: It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom. The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear. But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free? My Review: This book is truly haunting. It's creepy, but not in a gross way, that makes you feel anxious throughout the story. It was a very quick read, but it didn't feel rushed at all. Even with the fast paced movement of the story,...

Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski (362 pages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Read: 7 July 2016 Synopsis: On Marin’s island, sunrise doesn’t come every twenty-four hours—it comes every twenty-eight years. Now the sun is just a sliver of light on the horizon. The weather is turning cold and the shadows are growing long. Because sunset triggers the tide to roll out hundreds of miles, the islanders are frantically preparing to sail south, where they will wait out the long Night. Marin and her twin brother, Kana, help their anxious parents ready the house for departure. Locks must be taken off doors. Furniture must be arranged. Tables must be set. The rituals are puzzling—bizarre, even—but none of the adults in town will discuss why it has to be done this way. Just as the ships are about to sail, a teenage boy goes missing—the twins’ friend Line. Marin and Kana are the only ones who know the truth about where Line’s gone, and the only way to rescue him is by doing it t...

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (439 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 3 July 2016 Synopsis: Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted. For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him. Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path My Review: I am actually giving this a 4.5-5 Star review. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this series. I have loved and lost characters and little bits of my heart and soul because of it. This series, but specifically this book, is just so beautifully written. Every moment is circular in the end. Each character is written with so much care, affection, and love that it breaks my heart. Ma...

Hello All!! I forgot to do an update on Friday because life has been kind of hectic, so here we are on a Monday! It's the start of a new week, so that means a refresh, right? Please? It has been super hot where I am, so I have been feeling kinda crappy, but I am going to power through it! Reading: I saw a post from EpicReads with a challenge, since the Olympics are going on right now, to read ten books in ten days! So that started two days ago, and so far, I have read the two books necessary!! Just eight more to go!!! I have a list of the books I am planning on reading, so I don't have to make any decisions! I just finished Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi (that review will be up on the 28th) and I am going to be reading The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski today! (Hopefully I can finish it on time!) The books (in order) that I am going to read for the challenge are: -This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab, -Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi, -The Winner's Kiss by Mar...

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (391 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 1 July 2016 Synopsis: There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up. Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel. My Review: This series keeps getting better as is goes on (something I think every series should do, in my opinion). It's not just about the characters getting to the destination of the entire plot, but more about their own relationships with one another on the journey itself. One of my favorite things about this series is the writing style. It is dreamlike in a way that everythi...

Exist by Jennifer Cazey Daniels (385 pages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Read: 28 June 2016 Synopsis: They called us Benders, I preferred the term extraordinary. I suppose the world feels better when it can classify things and put us in neat, tiny boxes. We were far more than a word or classification. But it made it easy for people to find us, to segergate us and watch us. I wasn't like all the rest; there was something different about me, a path I was to follow, great plans people saw for what I would become and do one day, until, he (Aden) broke my heart and I ceased to exist. I'm Ember. You can't see me or hear me, but I can see and hear you. I can read your thoughts, know your intentions, motives and emotions. To the world I no longer exist and I need your help. If you're reading this then somehow we've made contact. I need you to help me exist again so that I can save the one I love and the world. My Review; This book has a super interesting concept ab...

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (442 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 22 June 2016 Synopsis: If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take? Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself. One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams. And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things. Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake. Of The Raven Boys, Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Maggie Stiefvater's can't-put-it-down paranormal adventure will leave you clamoring for book two." Now the second book is here, with the same wild imagination, ...

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (378 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 20 June 2016 Synopsis: Alternative cover edition here Winning what you want may cost you everything you love They were never meant to be together. As a general's daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can't help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other. Set in a new world, The Winner's Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart. My Review: This was a very interesting concept for a book series. The nations and the struggle between them was base...

All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher (338 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 18 June 2016 Synopsis: Heartfelt advice for teens from Carrie Hope Fletcher—star of stage and computer screen, and honorary big sister to thousands of “Hopefuls” The only thing bigger than Carrie Hope Fletcher’s hair is her heart. Eternally upbeat, this 22-year-old dynamo has sung her way to fame, both as Éponine in the London cast of Les Mis, and on her wildly popular YouTube channel, It’s Way Past My Bedtime. But here’s her not-so-secret: This rising star was once a high school misfit. Carrie’s youthful fans come to YouTube to hear her talk music, books, and whatever comes to mind! But when they write to her, they want advice most of all. In All I Know Now, Carrie tackles every tough topic, from how to apologize (“Don’t make excuses but do explain.”) to how to handle bullies (“Punch them in the face. Kidding! Kidding!”). Carrie grew up just one step ahead of her teen and tween fans. She...

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (352 pages) My Rating: 3.5 Stars Date Read: 17 June 2016 Synopsis: A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs. A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows. My Review: I enjoyed this book. I think it was a great set up for what is to come ...

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh (420 pages) My Rating 4.5 Stars Date Read: 24 May 2016 Synopsis: The darker the sky, the brighter the stars. In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever. Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. Bu...

A Serious Proposal to the Ladies by Mary Astell (300 pages) My Rating: 3 Stars Date Read: 22 May 2016 Synopsis: "Springborg's explanatory annotations as well as her knowledgeable exposition of Astell's philosophical positions make available again these landmark texts." -- Ruth Perry, MIT My Review: This was a very interesting read. It is a compilation of, primarily, two essays directed at the women of the Restoration and Revolution period in London, England. While it mainly speaks to women to be more free in their religions, it also talks about women's political freedoms. This seems to be an early feminist essay which calls to give women more power over their lives. I did enjoy the first essay more than I did the second because the second got a lot more religious and quite repetitive. But it was still interesting. If you are interested in early feminist lit or in religious literature, check this book out. I think you would thoroughly enjoy it.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (490 pages) My Rating: 3.5 Stars Date Review: 21 May 2016 Synopsis: If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different. Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind. Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever? The electrifying next installment in the...

Paradiso by Dante Alighieri (464 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Read: 21 May 2016 Synopsis: This brilliant new verse translation by Allen Mandelbaum captures the consummate beauty of the third and last part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The Paradiso is a luminous poem of love and light, of optics, angelology, polemics, prayer, prophecy, and transcendent experience. As Dante ascends to the Celestial Rose, in the tenth and final heaven, all the spectacle and splendor of a great poet's vision now becomes accessible to the modern reader in this highly acclaimed, superb dual language edition. With extensive notes and commentary. My Review: Just like the previous two in this Divine Comedy, this epic poem was very insightful. I have enjoyed being able to look back on the other two and see all of the connections between the three books. Seeing the difference between the poet and the pilgrim versions of Dante was pretty cool too! You definitely have to make sure to read th...

The Moth and the Flame by Renee Ahdieh (37 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 17 May 2016 Synopsis: It started as playful, if barbed, banter before rising to a fateful wager with a most notorious rake—the Captain of the Guard, Jalal al-Khoury—who may have finally met his match in a lovely, if haughty, handmaiden, Despina. But she, too, seems to have met her match in the handsome Jalal. What begins as a tempestuous battle of will and wit in short order becomes a passionate affair spurred on by tragedy of the worst kind. My Review: Oh My Goodness!! Despina and Jalal are the actual cutest! I love their relationship. Getting to see the budding feelings between the two was adorable. I also like the insight of the backstory from the first novel as well. Overall, a really fun story to read!

Hello!! So I thought I would give just a little update for you all on my current reads, movies and shows I've been watching, and just thoughts on what's going on in my life in general. Books: So, I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, my review is scheduled to be published on the 23rd at 12:00, so be on the lookout for that. I can honestly say it surprised me. That's all I'm going to say about it for right now. Before I started reading Harry Potter, I was in the middle of This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab, so I plan on finishing that very soon. After that, I may read either Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski. I haven't decided yet, but it will definitely be one of those two. Movies/Shows: So this past week, I was at Target and I saw Black Swan and Burlesque on sale for $4 each, so I bought those. I love both of the movies and I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was kind of an impulse buy, but,...

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldua My Rating: 3 Stars Date Read: 11 May 2016 Synopsis: Rooted in Gloria Anzaldúa's experience as a Chicana, a lesbian, an activist, and a writer, the essays and poems in this volume profoundly challenged, and continue to challenge, how we think about identity. Borderlands / La Frontera remaps our understanding of what a "border" is, presenting it not as a simple divide between here and there, us and them, but as a psychic, social, and cultural terrain that we inhabit, and that inhabits all of us. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition features a new introduction by scholars Norma Cantú (University of Texas at San Antonio) and Aída Hurtado (University of California at Santa Cruz) as well as a revised critical bibliography. Gloria Anzaldúa was a Chicana-tejana-lesbian-feminist poet, theorist, and fiction writer from south Texas. She was the editor of the critical anthology Making Face/Making Soul: Haciend...

The Mirror and the Maze by Renee Ahdieh (11 pages) My Rating: 4.5 Stars Date Read: 10 May 2016 Synopsis: The city of Rey is burning. With smoke billowing, fires blazing and his people fleeing, Khalid races back to defend his city, and protect his queen. But Khalid is too late to do either. He and his men arrive to find the city in ruins, nothing but a maze of destruction, and Shahrzad is gone. But who could have wrought such devastation? Khalid fears he may already know the answer, the price of choosing love over the people of Rey all too evident. My Review: This was another one of the moments we get to see inside of Khalid's head that I absolutely loved being able to see. If you were a fan of the novels, look into reading the short stories. They will give you a better insight into the characters!

The Crown and the Arrow by Renee Ahdieh My Rating: 4.5  Stars Date Read: 10 May 2016 Synopsis: Seventy-one days and seventy-one nights had come and gone since Khalid began killing his brides. This dawn, Khalid would mark the loss of the seventy-second girl, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. Khalid didn’t know how many more of these dawns he could take. And there was something about this latest girl that piqued his interest. Not only had she volunteered to marry him, but at their wedding ceremony, she had seemed not the least bit afraid. In fact, what he had seen in her eyes was nothing short of pure hatred. She was about to lose her life. Why wasn’t she afraid? Why did she hate him so? He had never before gone to his wife’s chambers before her death at dawn. Tonight would be different. My Review: I love this series and I have enjoyed reading these little snippets into the characters, specifically Khalid, that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to see!!