Category Archives: Young Adult

Children of the Different by S.C. Flynn

Children of the DifferentChildren of the Different by S.C. Flynn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Video Review(7m): https://youtu.be/rT4JXt6uLCU

Basically, a brain disease has killed the majority of the world’s population and the only people that survived were individuals that had something different with their minds. This brain disease, however, makes these survivors go through something called the Changeland when they turn an adolescent. In the Changeland, they must survive this weird dream-like state and either emerge as a person with mental powers or as cannibalistic Ferals. We follow twins, a boy named Narrah and a girl named Arika, as they go through their own Changeland. Within the Changeland they fight for their life against someone known as the Anteater. Outside the Changeland, the twins get separated and Narrah is kidnapped. Arika must now figure out what happened in the Changeland, how it pertains to the real world and find her kidnapped brother.

Our setting is in south-western Australia and right away this made me excited as I haven’t read any books that deal with that area. I knew that the southwest had an interesting climate and was highly diverse, so that was definitely a selling point for me with this book. I got a sense of the growth and forest where the twin’s settlement was, but as the story progressed I was a bit disappointed in the lack of detail describing the landscape. The Changeland was this very weird dream-like area where almost anything could happen. A lot of what happened in the Changeland was random and these parts weren’t my favorite part of the book. I’ve never been a huge fan of dream-like worlds and this one didn’t really do much for me.

I thought the premise of the book was interesting, that there were all these survivors of an apocalypse, and that they changed because of the disease. There is a slight theme about the individuals that survived were people that had things wrong with their mind before the disease. I thought this idea was fantastic and I really wanted the author to explore this theme more. I wanted more information about how the older people felt before the disease and how they feel now, including the difference in how they think, but I never really got that. If this theme was explored more strongly it would have been a much stronger book in my opinion.

I really like reading about siblings in young adult literature. I get tired of romance in YA and it was nice to have the main relationship be a brother and a sister. I thought S.C. Flynn did an amazing job at making sure we understood how close Narrah and Arika were. This was the highlight of the book for me because it is just refreshing to read a book about siblings. They also had a couple of friends that joined them and provided some romance elements but it was toned down because these are just kids that went through adolescence, around 14 years old. Even though I liked the younger cast of main characters, I couldn’t help but think that these adolescents were awfully mature for their age. I guess in a post-apocalyptic world, kids would grow up a lot faster, though. It only makes sense when you are trying to survive that you mature more than most kids do in our world.

In the end, I was a bit disappointed in Children of the Different. I liked the setting, the idea, and the characters, but the construction of the story seemed off. I felt that Flynn gave away too much of the world and plot too soon. We were thrown into the Changeland almost right away, without connecting to the characters, and it made me not really care at first. Once they got out of the Changeland, the characterization got much better. I think the book would have succeeded with a better opening scene showcasing the relationships between the children characters, having fun, and making the world more mysterious. Tension about the unknown should have pushed the story forward but by half way through, we knew basically everything. As a reader, I was just given too much info, too early, and the kidnapping plot/Changeland narratives just weren’t strong enough for me to get sucked into the story. I wanted more mystery and leaving me hanging with questions about this world.

I thought the book was just alright but was happy to see an interesting, unique setting with twins as main characters. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for other things Flynn writes as I think he has talent and his ideas are great. I just wanted more mystery that allowed myself to really start asking questions and try to figure things out.

2/5
10/25 Possible Score
2(OK) – Plot
3(Good) – Characters
2(OK) – World Building
2(OK) – Writing Style
1 – Heart & Mind Aspect

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is the perfect entry point for young adult readers into science fiction. I think going into this book blind is the best, like I did, but if you want more detail read further on.

Kady and Ezra are having a rough day, not only did they just break up, but their mining colony is getting invaded. Both Kady and Ezra escape the invasion in separate ships but the small fleet of survivors are still being chased by the invaders. Things go from bad to worse when the survivor fleet realizes that the invaders used a chemical weapon that changed normal people into murdering psychopaths. Kady and Ezra have lost so much and realize that their love for each other, becoming a couple again, is the hope they need.

I liked this book because it is a fun science fiction book that is told uniquely. The book is told from a series of documents, recorded footage, and chat messages. This gives the book a very tangible feel of authenticity that heightens the reader’s enjoyment. Kaufman and Kristoff mess with the formatting of pages and even add pages without words, just pictures. This is probably the best alternative style formatting of a book since House of Leaves. It is a quick read but an engrossing read. My only issue is that the sections where someone is taking notes on a video they watched is a bit awkward.

I think the break up, get back together relationship is one that most teenagers will connect to. I enjoyed that they realized how much they meant to each other. I really liked how Kady was the techie hacker in this story. Girls doing science stuff should be in books more often. This is definitely a book that showcases her abilities and Ezra seemed more of a side character. The chat messages between the teenagers can be a little cringey at times but I can see where younger readers would giggle from it.

I absolutely loved the A.I. in this book and the idea of a damaged A.I. is one I always enjoy in science fiction. The virus weapon that is spreading ramps up the danger and tension nicely. Overall, it is just a solid plot that is told at a brisk speed. There is more complexity and nuance with things happening than what can be found on the surface and I think more experienced SF readers will appreciate that. This is just a solid book for new and old science fiction readers both.

4/5
18/25 Possible Score
Plot – 4(Strong)
Characters – 3(Good)
World Building/Setting – 4(Strong)
Writing Style – 4(Strong)
Heart & Mind Aspect – 3(Good)

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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Recommendation: If you are into YA and you like books with heists and roguish characters, you’ll enjoy this book.  If you don’t really enjoy a lot of YA, this book will seem too simplistic for you.  I recommend a borrow from the library on this one.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a young adult fantasy book that focuses on a group of 6 people that take on a heist job.  This is a multiple point of view, third person story where each chapter is told from the viewpoint of a different character.  The story follows a gang headed by a teenager called Kaz Brekker.  Kaz is approached to do a job, rescuing a scientist that is being held in one of the most guarded facilities.  This scientist has created a lethal drug that turns Grisha, magic wielding individuals, into much more powerful and dangerous people.  The side effect of the drug is that it is highly addictive and harms the user.  Kaz brings together a group of individuals that have some serious personality and ideology differences together to do this job.  Can this gang of unsavory people pull off this most difficult heist and not kill each other?

If the above seems rather formulaic, that is because it is.  This is a rather simplistic book that has been done many times in the past.  Heist stories are extremely popular at the moment but I still enjoy them.  Watching a good heist movie is a lot of fun and reading a heist book can be fun too.  There were moments in this book where I was having a good time.  I thought that some of the backstories of the characters, interwoven into the narrative was interesting, albeit oddly placed.  There were some fun scenes where Inej stole the scene and became my favorite character.  Her acrobatic hi-jinks and backstory was my favorite part of the entire story and the only character I cared about.

Overall though, this was just too easy for me, and for the gang of thieves.  Things just went really well for everyone.  Kaz is set up as this mastermind thief but he had a lot of help from the author.  I don’t mind reading books where the main character can never make a mistake but it bothers me when it is obvious author intervention that gets a character out of a tight squeeze.  There are just too many coincidences and easy resolutions for Kaz.  Even though I liked his backstory, he just was too perfect of a character.  I think that there comes a point, about half way in this book, when the author could have decided to make things more realistic, or just go all “everything works out Fast and Furious on us,” and she chose the easier story to write.  I guess I can’t fault Bardugo for staying with a system that works and sells but I’d like to see some YA fantasy author actually take some risks.

I do want to mention that I just didn’t care for her writing style all that much.  There was a lot of fragments thrown together with commas that made reading the book awkward.  It was so bad that I actually realized that I do this often and need to work on my writing some.  The first chapter, which should have been a prologue, was unneeded and a waste of time to read.  I have never read a first chapter that was so insignificant to a story before.

I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t really care about it either.  I probably will not be reading any of her other books.

2/5

7/25 Possible Score

Plot – 2(O.K.)

Characters – 2(O.K.)

World Building/Setting – 1(Weak)

Writing Style – 1(Weak)

Heart & Mind Aspect – 1(Weak)

 

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Recommendation: If you are a young adult reader I recommend a buy for you on Carry On, with a bump up on your TBR list to high, and if you are a not a young adult reader, a library borrow when you want something light and easy to read with YA romance.  Rowell takes on the “chosen one, magician school” genre with satire, a gay romance, and a story that straddles the line between something clever and fan fiction.

Carry On is a magician school story about a chosen boy that will destroy the great evil plaguing the school.  It is purposefully a Harry Potter rip off and the book is featured in the book Fan Girl by Rowell, where that main character loves this fictional book.  There is as much romance in this book as there is fantasy, so fans that are looking for a purely fantasy book, look elsewhere.  The book is a multiple point of view story that is told in first person.  At the top of each new section, the author makes sure to tell you which character’s point of view we are now seeing the world through.

Simon Snow is the chosen one, the one with the most magic of any magician ever, and his nemesis is called the Insidious Humdrum.  Snow can’t really control his magic but he is able to, in the right moment, stop the Humdrum with a blast of uncontrolled powerful magic.  Baz, his roommate, and his arch rival at their school, is Simon’s worst enemy other than the Humdrum, and a vampire.  The funny thing is that Baz is actually secretly in love with Simon.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell has some great characters that really grew on me.  Simon is just a complete mess, he doesn’t really think anything through, and acts incredibly impulsive all the time.  I like how he is a super powerful magician but can’t really control his magic at all.  Baz is probably my favorite character and in my opinion the main character of this book.  Baz’s struggle to be Simon’s enemy but also having deep feelings for him is interesting to read.  He is the character in this book with the most depth.  Penelope is Simon’s best friend and just overall female buddy.  This completely platonic relationship between Simon and Penelope is fantastic and their friendship is great to read about.

The strength of this book is really the relationship between Simon and Baz.  Simon and Baz’s relationship just kind of makes sense with these two characters and was great to read.  Readers looking for more gay main character relationships in their books should definitely check this book out.  The adolescent romance didn’t annoy me at all and that is impressive considering a lot of YA like relationships annoy me.  I think it didn’t annoy me because these two characters had such a history together.

The characters is what made the book for me and the reason I liked it but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was reading fan fiction through out the entire book.  I guess it makes sense because the book is a fictional book in another book about a girl that writes fan fiction about this book.  Then again, I just wasn’t impressed with Rowell’s writing.  I’ve heard a lot about Rainbow Rowell in the last few years and I’ve wanted to read one of her books but I think the fact that YA is not something I usually enjoy is the reason I felt her writing was weak.  I felt the plot was horribly predictable and the resolution seemed too easy.  I wanted more mystery and more exploring of the school in the book.  The school setting was extremely under-utilized, I think she could of added a lot more imagination, and the magic system needed more conditions and too simplistic.

Overall I enjoyed Carry On.  I don’t read many books with gay romance in them, it was nice to read one that I enjoyed.  If you are a person to gush over LGBQT centered books, I think you’ll love this book, especially if you are a YA reader.  I’m glad I read this, it was an enjoyable quick read, but YA romance books are just not my thing.

3/5 

14/25 Possible Score

Plot – 2(O.K.)

Characters – 4(Strong)

Setting/World Building – 2(O.K.)

Writing Style – 2(O.K.)

Heart & Mind Aspect –  4(Strong)