Category: Young Adult

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Sarah

Clearly I’m on a YA fantasy role here with reviews… Sometimes I get so thoroughly immersed in a genre it can be hard to pull myself out to switch to something else, something new and different. As I get to the end of a genre jaunt, however, my reviews tend to become a bit skewed, so take them all with a grain of salt.

Synopsis

Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood – those with common Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court.

Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard, a growing Red rebellion, even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Review

Red Queen is part of a long line of YA fantasy books that have been written in the last five years or so to feature varying takes on power and poverty, haves and have-nots, and each primarily female author’s take on a strong, feminist, protagonist. The books that stand out are those that are spectacularly good or spectacularly bad. Red Queen is neither.

It is an enjoyable book with a serviceable plot and intriguing characters. Were it published at a different time, I would call it unique and original. However, it came out halfway through the present YA fantasy boom and the influence of previous works is evident in Aveyard’s storytelling. Similarities to Graceling, The Hunger Games, Throne of Glass and Shadow and Bone are easy to pick out if you are as well versed in the world of YA fantasy as most of Aveyard’s target readers.

The writing is decent, the twists and turns of the plot and the effort into world building that Aveyard puts forth are not missed, this review would be much more scathing if Red Queen lacked in any of these areas, but it doesn’t have the ineffable “stand-out quality” that makes me remember years down the road, makes me anxiously await the next book in the series. Red Queen is at it’s best, another decent YA fantasy debut, and at it’s worst, another YA fantasy.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Edition: Paperback • $10.99 • 9780062310644 • 416 pages • first published in February 2015, this edition published June 2016 by Harper Teen • average Goodreads rating 4.08 out of 5 • read in May 2016

Victoria Aveyard’s Website

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Red Queen

 

Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Sarah

Time for another beauty by Renee Ahdieh! She is quickly becoming oNE of my favorite authors and when the ARC  (advanced reader copy) of Flame in the Mist came into the store, my coworkers were nice enough to make sure it wound up in my hands!

Synopsis

There was only ever one expectation for Mariko, a prominent samurai’s daughter: that she would marry. Her twin brother was the one trained in the way of the warrior while Mariko was left to nurture her love of science and invention in secret. But on her way to the imperial city, where she was to meet her betrothed for the very first time, her convoy is attacked and everything changes. The assassins kill everyone – or so they think. Despite almost being burned alive, Mariko escapes.

Driven by vengeance, she flees the forest and seeks out her would-be assassins, the Black Clan, joining their ranks disguised as a peasant boy. She’s determined to discover who ordered her death and why – and to make them pay. Little does she expect to fall in love. And never did she expect to have to choose between them and everything she’s ever known. But when the secrets of the imperial city, the Black Clan, and her family converge, choose is exactly what she must do.

Review

Firstly, YAY GIRL POWER! Reading a new book by Renee Ahdieh reminds me just how much I really do love her first duology, The Wrath and the Dawn and The Rose and the Dagger. I had been holding off on reading Flame in the Mist until I was going on vacation because I knew once I got to the really good and juicy parts about halfway in, I wouldn’t be able to put it down – and I certainly did not want anything to interfere with my ability to read it straight through!

As with my review of Wrath and Dawn last week, I marvel over Renee Ahdieh’s storytelling. She creates such compelling characters and intricate plot lines that I love to sink my teeth into. She also has been some of the wittiest protagonists I have ever read to date. Her female protagonists are feminists – proud and fierce but still have their weaknesses and flaws. Her love interests for said feminist protagonists remind me of a certain male in A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy in the sense that they are loyal to their women and encouraging them be themselves 100%.

But back to Flame in the Mist specifically – I love the take on Japanese mythology (it is not at all based on Mulan, whatever rumors you may hear) and how Renee Ahdieh twists in a bit of Robin Hood lore as well (whether it is purposeful or coincidence I’m not sure, but I love it!). Mariko is a protagonist to be admired as well, and Ahdieh’s now trademark style of romance is still swoon-worthy, even for the most callused and cold-hearted of readers. I recommend it thoroughly and I cannot wait for the second book in the duology next May!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Edition: Hardcover • $17.99 • 9780399171635 • 416 pages • published May 2017 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers • average Goodreads rating 4.03 out of 5 stars • read in August 2017

Renee Ahdieh’s Website

Flame in the Mist on Goodreads

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Flame in the Mist

 

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Sarah

It’s been nearly two years since I read my first Leigh Bardugo book, Shadow & Bone, and was introduced to the Grishaverse. I enjoyed it greatly, but when I was reading it, everyone was talking about her newest book, Six of Crows, and how spectacular it was going to be. Well, two years later, I finally made it to Six of Crows on my lengthy TBR (to-be-read) list and I’m so happy I did because… 

Leigh Bardugo

I got to meet Leigh Bardugo! And I completely flipped out. It happened, I was sooooo excited! I promised myself I wasn’t going to freak out, but as soon as I realized there was a chance it might happen, I started freaking out. And I’m just so glad that Six of Crows lived up to the expectations I had for it.

Synopsis

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price – and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge; a sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager; a runaway with a privileged past; a spy known as the Wraith; a Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums; a thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction – if they don’t kill each other first.

Review

If Wonder Woman: Warbringer was a disappointment to me, Six of Crows is a redemption. I have now read three Leigh Bardugo books, Shadow and Bone, her first (review to come in a few weeks) novel and the first in the Grishaverse, Wonder Woman: Warbringer, and now Six of Crows, also set in the Grishaverse established in Shadow and Bone. And I know I read the second two a bit backwards (Wonder Woman isn’t even available to the general public yet), so it was incredibly refreshing to return to a world of Leigh’s own creation.

Leigh Bardugo’s writing is funny, insightful and full of surprising little twists that make every page fly by. Her characters are rich and well developed with enough backstory and interesting plot lines to make any of them seem like the main character. Told in 5 alternating perspectives – I can’t wait to find out her reasoning for excluding on of the 6 from having POV chapters – each chapter leaves you wanting more. Additionally, each of the characters’ motivations for participating in the heist are clear and they make a very dynamic group of players.

The plot is complicated, but not to the point that it becomes difficult to follow. It is easy to track and remember what is going on, even if you have to step away from the world of Leigh has created for a few hours. It ends with a mix of conclusion and cliffhanger – I cannot wait to start reading Crooked Kingdom!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Edition: Hardcover • $18.99 • 9781627792127 • 480 pages • published September 2015 by Henry Holt & Company • average Goodreads rating 4.46 out of 5 • read in August 2017

Leigh Bardugo’s Website

Six of Crows‘ Website

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Six of Crows

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renee Ahdieh

Sarah

The Wrath and the Dawn was a book I picked up after seeing/listening to a panel about diversity in books. Along with Sabaa Tahir, Marie Lu and Aisha Saeed, Renee Ahdieh shared some very insightful points about diversity in books. I’ve now covered three of the four author’s debut books and I look forward to reading Aisha Saeed’s Written in the Stars very soon!

Synopsis

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch… she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Review

When I decided to start a YA book club for teenagers at the book store I work at, I really wasn’t sure what sorts of books they would really take to. We selected The Young Elites by Marie Lu (review to come!) as the first book and thankfully all the girls (all 3!) who attended raved about their love of fantasy. It made me seriously wish there had been such a breadth of choices in the genre when I was in high school. After The Young Elites, we moved on to The Wrath and the Dawn, because I was also trying to make my way through all of the authors I had seen speak on a We Need Diverse Books panel at Book Con and like Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes, I was just so excited to read about some ethnically diverse characters in The Wrath and the Dawn.

Renee Ahdieh is officially one of my favorite storytellers. She has a way of telling a story that hearkens back to the times when oral storytelling was the only way of storytelling. As I’m currently reading her newest book, I found it only appropriate to rave about her first duology. The synopsis accurately captures the essence of the plot, but the characters are very complex and the publisher’s marketing materials (the synopsis) doesn’t quite capture their essence. Shazi is a fiercely loyal and very opinionated character who does not change her mind easily. She is easily one of my favorite female protagonists and is exceptionally well rounded. Khalid is rich in his depth and motivations and the two are very well matched both in temperament and strength of will and character. The characteristics of the romance aspect of the story make it very accessible for readers who are looking for a more “traditional” YA and it’s a great transition into fantasy for those who aren’t entirely sure how to flex their imagination muscle (i.e. brain) to enjoy a magical world that has it’s roots in our own world but with some delightful twists and turns that are both unexpected and spectacular.

The first book ends on a pretty huge cliffhanger, but as both books are readily available, you won’t have to wait long to know what happens!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Edition: Paperback • $10.99 • 9780147513854 • 432 pages • originally published May 2015, this edition published April 2016 by Speak • average Goodreads review 4.16 out of 5 • read in May 2016

Renee Ahdieh’s Website

The Wrath and the Dawn on Goodreads

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Wrath and the Dawn

Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Everland by Wendy Spinale

Sarah

I read Everland in one beautiful day sitting on the beach in the Bahamas. Last spring I decided I was going to catch up on my reading and for a five day vacation, I brought 10 books and I finished 7 of them (the total included graphic novels). I’d been meaning to read my ARC of Everland for quite some time and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. Whenever I happen upon a book that has any reference to Peter Pan in the description, I will read it. I shamefully must admit that I have yet to actually finish the original Peter Pan, but I’ve read just about every adaptation and retelling I have ever found.

Synopsis

London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their night scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders – the German army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.

Unsure if the virus has spread past England’s borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he things can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Swen sets out to save her, she meets a daredevil boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all be living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Swen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook?

Review

The publisher of Everland, Scholastic, was really excited for this book. They sent out manuscripts – unbound sheets of printer paper – to booksellers almost a year before the book’s release. In two years I’ve worked in a bookstore and for the 25 years before that the bookstore had been around, no one can recall being sent an unbound manuscript. Needless to say, as the resident lover of all things Peter Pan at the store, the manuscript found it’s way into my hands.

I enjoyed Everland. It has a clever premise with hints of steampunk and allusions to historical events. It is a quick and enjoyable read, the plot is well paced and well structured. I had found myself in a reading slump before I picked it up to read and Everland is a great book palate cleanser. It is serious enough to hold one’s attention and make you think, but light enough that it doesn’t cause any sort of book hangover that would inhibit one from diving directly into the next book on a lengthy TBR list.

The characters are intriguing, none are exact copies of their original Peter Pan inspirations, but they stay true enough to J. M. Barrie’s characters that certain personality traits and behaviors are predictable. However, Spinale makes the circumstances of those actions a surprise as her setting, while bearing a resemblance to the century-old Neverland, is unique to her story.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Edition: Paperback • $9.99 • 9781338095531 • 336 pages • originally published May 2016, this edition published March 2017 by Scholastic Paperbacks • average Goodreads rating 3.73 out of 5 • read in May 2016

Wendy Spinale’s Website

Everland on Goodreads

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Everland

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Sarah

If I had to pick a favorite genre of of the past year, it would be Young Adult Fantasy. It is the genre I go to when I just want something to read that will keep me occupied and be a fun and enjoyable read. Lately I’ve strayed more towards (auto)biographies, but YA Fantasy will always hold a special place in my heart. As such, I am aware of all the major series, and when Mary E. Pearson visited the bookstore I work at, I knew it was time to pick up her books!

Synopsis

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight but she doesn’t and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom to a prince she has never met. On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets even as she finds herself falling in love.

Review

I am over tropes. I am over love triangles. I’m over stereotypes. I’m over weakass female protagonists. And I’m over high school drama repackaged as YA fantasy. Why do I say all of this? I bet you’re thinking that I’m listing the things I’m over because The Kiss of Deception checks all those boxes. Yes and no.

I love a lot of YA fantasy – Graceling, Throne of Glass, Shadow and Bone, Seraphina (all of which are forthcoming reviews!) – the list goes on and on. But I detest most YA realistic fiction. It’s not an assessment of the genre, simply my opinion – I didn’t like it when I was in high school, I don’t particularly care for it now. Half of the reason I love fantasy is the chance to escape to a place of magical creatures and alternate realities. The other half is for the characters – they are usually pretty spectacular and make for some great role models.

What does all of this have to do with this particular book? When Mary Pearson visited the bookstore I work at, she was part of a panel and asked questions about all sorts of things involved in the writing of great YA fantasy. And her answers? Spot on – exactly what I was excited to hear. The reality of her writing? Eh, not so much. So this is less of a review and more of a rant, but if you are looking for a book that crosses over between realistic YA and YA fantasy, this is the book for you. If that’s not your cup of tea, it’s one of the books on a long list of YA fantasy that you can feel free to skip.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

Edition: Paperback • $10.99 • 9781250063151 • 512 pages • originally published July 2014, this edition published in June 2015 by Squarefish • average Goodreads rating 4.06 out of 5 • read in August 2016

Mary E. Person’s Website

The Kiss of Deception on Goodreads

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Remnant Chronicles

 

Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Young Adult

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Sarah

FUTURE RELEASE DATE: August 29, 2017

When I first saw the trailer for Wonder Woman, I couldn’t wait to see it. When I found out that Leigh Bardugo was writing a YA adaptation, I was even more excited about it! As as new-ish fan of Wonder Woman, I have been keen to get my hands on anything relating to my new feminist hero and when I found out there would be advanced reader copies of Wonder Woman: Warbringer, my coworker and I immediately set about pestering our publisher rep to send us some!

Synopsis

She will become one of the world’s greatest heroes: WONDER WOMAN. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning…

Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law – risking exile – to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.

Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer – a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.

Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies – mortal and divine – determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

Review

I love Leigh Bardugo’s books and I love Wonder Woman. So this should have been the perfect combination of the two, right? Well, mostly right. Wonder Woman: Warbringer is the first of four books in the new DC: Icons series, and also the first book Leigh Bardugo has written that has not been published by the same publisher who did her last 5 books, all set her self-created Grisha-verse. These two facts lead me to wonder, is Wonder Woman: Warbringer truly all Leigh? Anytime one is adapting an already existing character and world, it never feels truly like it is fully the author’s own creation and having read all of Leigh’s previous books, Warbringer left me disappointed.

Comic book stories and superhero adaptations are infamous for having multiple timelines – i.e. Wonder Woman is originally set during WWII, the movie is set during WWI, and in Warbringer, Diana doesn’t leave her home, Themyscira, for the outside world until the 21st century. While many comic book and superhero fans accept multiple timelines, it does get confusing and a little frustrating to accept time and time again. I’m a fan of continuity and linear time lines, it can be difficult to accept three different timelines for the start of Diana’s story.

However, from the start of the publicity push for Warbringer, it has been made clear that this is a different, stand alone book that can be read both by existing and new Wonder Woman fans and I fully support that approach to promoting the book – it is absolutely true – if you know nothing about Wonder Woman, you will love it, and if you already love Wonder Woman, you will at least mostly enjoy it like myself.

The characters are textbook Leigh Bardugo – funny, beautifully diverse, and thick and well-rounded with details and unique qualities. Alia’s friends Theo and Nim are great supporting characters, her brother Jason has his own unique destiny to fulfill and Diana, well, she is a fully realized Wonder Woman. Despite the sense of feeling like we are going back to the beginning, there is nothing lacking in Diana’s character development. Her confidence and charisma are evident, as is her desire to protect human life, despite risks to her own self. The plot is fun and well paced, I flew through Warbringer in 2 days, it definitely kept my attention, despite my occasional frustration.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Edition: Hardcover • $18.99 • 9780399549731 • 384 pages • published August 2017 by Random House Books for Young Readers • average Goodreads rating 4.27 out of 5 • read in July 2017

Leigh Bardugo’s Website

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Wonder Woman (5)

Fiction, Historical, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Sarah

I purchased Leviathan shortly after I started working at a bookstore, nearly two years ago. It was not, however, until Scott Westerfeld came to said bookstore back in the spring that I remembered that I had the book at home, still sitting on my shelf unread. After a friend finished all three in the series in the course of one night, and I watched Wonder Woman, set during World War I as well, that I figured it was about time I finally read Leviathan.

Synopsis

Alek is a prince without a throne. On the run from his own people, he has only a fighting machine and a small band of men.

Deryn is a girl disguised as a guy in the British Air Service. She must fight for her cause – and protect her secret – at all costs.

Alek and Deryn are thrown together aboard the mighty airship Leviathan. Though fighting side by side, their worlds are far apart. British fabricated beasts versus German steam-powered war machines. They are enemies with everything to lose, yet somehow destined to be together.

Review

Like Marie Lu, Scott Westerfeld is an author who walks the line between middle grades and young adult. Each of his series, and there are many, including the Uglies, are accessible reads for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults alike. His effective storytelling and dynamic characters insures that one will never be bored when reading his books and they have great staying power – Uglies, published over 10 years ago, is still a staple in bookstores and on school reading lists.

But I wasn’t particularly intrigued by Uglies, I was much more intrigued by Westerfeld’s take on the start of World War I and his Darwinists and Clankers. The British Darwinists have woven together the “life-threads” of various animals to create everything from great flying whale ships to messenger lizards and many “beasties” inbetween. The German & Austrohungarians have crafted mechanical machines, referred to as “clankers.” Main characters Alek and Deryn are often trying to one-up each other in terms of determining which are better, beasties or clankers. Steampunk definitely suits Westerfeld’s storytelling style.

Leviathan, told in third person but in alternating perspectives between Deryn (Dylan) and Alek, weaves together a complex tapestry of the motivations behind the start of World War I, blending fact and fiction until you have to forcibly remind yourself that the British didn’t set off across the continent in a giant whale zeppelin. As with Legend, Leviathan is the perfect book for both boys and girls of all ages, especially for teenagers who love a good adventure that doesn’t center on romance.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Edition: Paperback • $11.99 • 9781416971740 • 440 pages • originally published October 2009, this edition published August 2010 by Simon Pulse • average Goodreads rating 3.91 out of 5 • read in July 2017

Scott Westerfeld’s Website

Leviathan on Goodreads

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Leviathan (2)

Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Legend by Marie Lu

Sarah

In May of 2015 I traveled to NYC for my first BookCon, and what an experience it was – completely overwhelming, but wonderful as well. My favorite part of the experience, was a panel with Marie Lu, Sabaa Tahir and Renee Ahdieh and I told myself I would read all of their books! I started with Marie Lu’s Young Elites series, and when I found out she would be coming to the bookstore I work at in September, I figured I should read Legend as well!

Synopsis

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Review

Marie Lu is a fabulous writer. And while not my personal favorite (Sarah J. Maas is), she is my favorite author to share with others. I love recommending her books to people because she has such wide appeal. Boys, girls, lovers of fantasy, science fiction, survival fiction (a la The Hunger Games), there is something in her books for everyone. Her writing is accessible to middle grade through adult readers. As a former middle school teacher, I understand the struggle that arises when trying to find books for 12 year olds that are challenging enough, but also appropriate to their maturity level. Marie Lu is one of very few authors that write about older teenagers in a way that doesn’t make parents of middle schoolers cringe.

In regards to Legend, I love how Marie Lu portrays her characters – June as a rule following member of the military, and Day as a kind-hearted fugitive. As their paths intersect, they both grow and evolve as characters, given the effect that each has on the other’s sense of responsibility and loyalty. Told in alternating perspective chapters, readers get to know both June and Day equally well and both are so intriguing that the balance is near perfect – you don’t want to skip either character’s chapters to get to the other’s.

I have been asked by customers at the store if Legend is too much like The Hunger Games or Divergent and while I mention that they are considered to be part off the same dystopian genre, there is a uniqueness to the diversity of characters that Marie Lu includes, as well as the story telling – in my opinion, she is a better writer than the authors of The Hunger Games and Divergent and therefore a better selection for young readers and budding writers.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Edition: Paperback • $9.99 • 9780142422076 • 305 pages • originally published November 2011, this edition published April 2013 by Speak • average Goodreads rating 4.19 out of 5 • read in October 2016

Marie Lu’s Website

Legend on Goodreads

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Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Sarah

As a lover of WWII historical fiction, I had heard that Between Shades of Gray would most likely be a book I would enjoy. When I happened to find it by chance at a used bookstore in Center City Philadelphia, I knew I needed to get it. After meeting Ruta Sepetys back in January of 2016, I was even more excited to read it!

Synopsis

A knock comes at the door in the dead of night, and Lina’s life changes in an instant. With her young brother and mother, she is hauled away by the Soviet secret police from her home in Lithuania and thrown into a cattle car en route to Siberia. Separated from her father, Lina secretly passes along clues in the form of drawings, hoping they will reach his prison camp. But will her letters, or her courage, be enough to reunite her family? Will they be enough to keep her alive?

Review

First, I read Salt to the Sea (review to come later), in a day and a half – for a slow reader like myself, that was quite speedy. Then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ruta’s storytelling and gnawing, sinking feeling I felt while reading, knowing the MV Wilhelm Gustloff’s fate. And I realized that any writer who can tell a story that I cannot forget must be amazing, so it was time to read Between Shades of Gray.

Ruta turned her magic storytelling to a topic near and dear to her heart – the plight of Lithuanian refugees. The daughter of a Lithuanian refugee who spent years in refugee camps after suffering horrors during the war, she has a unique perspective on a war story not often told. She made the world of the Soviet gulags so real. The absolutely terrifying world of Siberia and the horrors of what the Soviets did to their prisoners. To women and children. I cried. I bawled my eyes out.

Not only to I love Ruta Sepetys’ storytelling. But, I also love how open and welcoming Ruta herself is. I had the opportunity to meet her again last month and when I ran into her outside of her autographing session, I asked her kindly if she had a quick moment. She said yes, and I proceeded to tell her how much not only I love her books, but my sister, Laura, does as well. She was exceptionally sweet and asked if Laura was with me. I said, alas she was not, but would love to have been able to come. Ruta then asked if she could send Laura a message, so I went digging for a notebook, and she said she wanted to send her a video! The result is below.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Edition: Paperback • $9.99 • 9780142420591 • 352 pages • originally published March 2011, this edition published April 2012 by Speak • average Goodreads rating 4.35 out of 5 • read in October 2016

Ruta Sepetys’ Website

Between Shades of Gray on Goodreads

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